#let it be a sangwoo > ali level of betrayal

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One of the s3 predictions I’ve got that I HOPE FOR is that In-ho, during his games as player 132, was horrendously betrayed by somebody. I want that to be why he lost his faith in people so hard that it’s the mantra and worldview and reason he wakes up every morning with the incentive to prove Gi-hun wrong in his belief of the good of humans.

Which isn’t even a wholly accurate way to view the way Gi-hun is viewing the world. I don’t think he believes every human is good; I think he just wants to help people whether they’re good or not, because no human being should be put through shit like the games these monstrously rich, bored VIPs conceived.

Gi-hun knows how he viewed the horses as he slapped numbers onto them and screamed for them to run, to go faster, and probably sprayed spit over how slow and useless they were if he didn’t win like he hoped to, as if a living creature wasn't the source of his entertainment and (in a sense) greed. I don’t think Gi-hun was out there actively thinking about the inherent objectification of it, or had targeted internal conflict about it, but I do think it put him in a very specific position of understanding when he realized that was EXACTLY the way the VIPs viewed him and the other players in their games. He probably had his ‘oh shit’ moment so profoundly, and was hit so deeply by it that he felt the obsessive need to stop it, purely because he himself knew how it felt to treat something that way. He knew how it feels to be in the throes of gambling addiction, or close to it, and never stopped to really think about it. But the fact the VIPs are doing that to straight-up human beings, with no transparency in the contract they sign before the first round? Horses are one thing, built to race (tho animal cruelty is a whole other argument here), but humans, how could they fucking do that? These are fathers and daughters and families. Not all of them, but many.

So I don’t really think Gi-hun is the exact opposite of In-ho. Lack of faith in humanity versus no faith in humanity. It’s more of a how far are you willing to go for people despite their inherent flaws versus how quickly will you give up/turn against them because of said flaws. In-ho clearly was the latter, and through what trauma he experienced, gave up thinking anything good could come from trusting the human race to not show they’re a bunch of monsters in the end. Which probably started during his time as a cop, and all the gruesome human behavior you’re exposed to in that profession, followed by how he was treated when he leaned into desperate measures to save the love of his life, then ended with whatever the fuck happened to him in his time as a player in the games.

Was it someone or more than one person he tried to help, got close to, and then somehow they used the last of his good intentions to fuck him clean over? Did they manipulate him into almost losing, or take advantage of his skills and intelligence to move forward while he was left (almost) screwed? Did he form a pact or a bond that someone broke when they realized either they didn't want to do it anymore or that they couldn't do it anymore?

Or was it In-ho discovering he was willing to do all of the above himself, that he was willing to prioritize the life of his wife and child over all other human life and that's what breaks him and digs him deeper into this moral hole he buries himself in? Were his actions what convinced him that yeah, if people have something they believe in, something they love, they're definitely going to go after it no matter what it costs, even if it's the life of another human trying to do a very similar thing. Is that what convinces him that every human is selfish in the end, even when what they're fighting for is something good?

God I'm going to be on the edge of my seat wondering what the hell happened to In-ho. Again, I HOPE for a terrible betrayal of some kind.... one that squeezes the last vestiges of naivety and good-heartedness out of him due to the actions of someone else he couldn't help but trust or care for. Torture the man! Let it have been the Seong Gi-hun experience for him! Cut an even clearer path into his deep obsession with the man Gi-hun is and has so far kept loyal to being! Though if it really is just In-ho leaning into being a natural ‘traitor’ himself, that also seems likely. Maybe not as narratively satisfying, but likely. I'm also scared for Gi-hun losing more of his inherent good for the sake of his 'mission,' though the man has been insanely attached to his empathy so far, so we'll see. He's honestly earned getting to fuck over a deserving person or two.