Squid Game's Lee Byung-hun Just Shut Down 3 Popular Fan Theories

Ever since it was confirmed that the next season of Squid Game will be the last, fans gave gone into overdrive with the theorizing. But one of the show’s lead actors just flat-out confirmed that a few of the most prominent guesses about the upcoming twists are dead wrong. Specifically, Lee Byung-hun shot down three theories, one of which has been a long-held guess by the fandom.

The pressure was on when Byung-hun and his castmate Lee Jung-jae competed against one another in the “Hot Ones Versus” challenge on Jan. 14. One of the spicier questions was Jung-jae, who plays protagonist Gi-hun in the Netflix series, challenging Byung-hun, who plays antagonist Front Man, to spill the tea on one of three selected fan theories. The theories that Byung-hun was presented with were:

1. The island is a ship.
2. Gi-hun is the son of Oh Il-Nam.
3. Front Man is an undercover cop.

All three of these have been popular talking points among fans. Since the location where the deadly games takes place doesn’t seem to exist, some viewers think it could be in constant movement, like within a massive ship or submarine. There’s also been speculation Front Man may be attempting to take down the games from the inside, considering he’s a past winner and his brother is a police officer.

But the second theory is by far the most well-known. Ever since Season 1, superfans have been convinced that Gi-hun is actually the son of the squid games’ creator, Il-nam. However, Byung-hun shot that down.

“Honestly, none were correct,” the actor responded after hearing the list.

Notably, while Byung-hun was resistant to say anything about Season 3, he did lean into a joke about the ultimate cinematic paternity reveal when teasing a future twist.

“The ending for Season 3 is, Front Man will — to your character — he will take off his mask and say, ‘I am your father,’” Byung-hun told Jung-jae, mimicking Darth Vader’s voice.

Since Gi-hun and Front Man are about the same age, that’s clearly a joke. But it could be a bit of insight into another major theory that’ popped up in Season 2. Now, fans are starting to think Front Man is actually Il-nam’s son following a scene in which Front Man revealed he doesn’t drink milk (a trait Il-nam previously said his son had). Maybe Byung-hun was comfortable enough to wipe away the Gi-hun theory because he knew it actually applied to his character.

As for those other theories, it sounds like fans will have to come up with something else to explain the games’ location and Front Man’s hidden motivations.