Squid Game: 12 Hidden Details You Definitely Missed
11. Sang-Woo And Gi-Hun Are Both Based On The Director
The final showdown between Sang-Woo and Gi-Hun is appropriate for many reasons, not least of which because their character backgrounds are both based on director Hwang Dong-hyuk's own life, experiences, and some of his beliefs.
Like Gi-Hun, Dong-hyuk grew up with and lived with his single mother in financially troubled Ssangmun-dong, and like Sang-Woo he attended the well respected Seoul National University and had high expectations placed on him. The philosophy of both characters contradict each other completely, because Sang-Woo believes he got to the final game by beating the "losers", while Gi-Hun understands he got there through the sacrifices of the "losers" and never forgets to be grateful to them.
It's interesting to note that even among the actors, Sang-Woo is seen as the most "realistic" character with his survival instincts, and yet even he sees that between himself and Gi-Hun, he trusts Gi-Hun to take care of his mother and do better in life than he would - given that he was ready to commit suicide even at the beginning of the show.
So ultimately, even if he understands both characters intimately, the director still presents Gi-Hun as the one who "wins".