The third and final season of Netflix’s Squid Game is set to drop on June 27, and the just-released trailer for the upcoming instalment promises a return to high-stakes brutality and emotional devastation.

Unveiled during Netflix’s global Tudum fan event on Sunday, the trailer sees Lee Jung-jae’s Gi-hun, aka Player 456, pulled back into the sinister survival competition after the failed rebellion that ended Season 2.

The clip opens on a despairing Gi-hun, asking the puppet masters of the game: “Why didn’t you kill me? Why did you let me live?” His anguish sets the tone for what lies ahead — a more twisted and fatal version of the games that first shocked audiences in 2021.

The two-minute-long trailer offers glimpses of players making their way through a claustrophobic maze and participating in a deadly version of jump rope — the kind where a single misstep could mean instant death. It builds up to a chilling showdown between Gi-hun and the game’s masked orchestrator, the Front Man, played by Lee Byung-hun.

Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game has been Netflix’s crown jewel in its Korean content slate, becoming a cultural touchstone across continents. Season 3 is the final chapter of the saga.

Season 2 had ended on a shattering cliffhanger. After Gi-hun’s attempt to sabotage the games from within, he and his small band of rebels were captured. The finale culminated in the cold-blooded execution of Gi-hun’s confidant, Player 290 Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), by the Front Man. Though the audience learned last season that the Front Man is none other than the mysterious Player 001, Gi-hun remains unaware of this twist.

Several familiar faces are slated to return for the swan song season, including detective Hwang Jun-ho, and players Myung-gi (Player 333), Dae-ho (Player 388), Hyun-ju (Player 120), Yong-sik (Player 007), Geum-ja (Player 149), Jun-hee (Player 222), Min-su (Player 125), Nam-gyu (Player 124) and the pink-suited enforcer No-eul.