Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 Just Crowned Its $4.56 Million Champion

Netflix dropped the second chapter of its high-stakes reality riff on Squid Game, and the ending is what everyone is picking apart. The reveal ties back to a pivotal moment in the finale and has people arguing about what that means for where this series goes next. Fair warning: spoilers ahead.

What Season 2 actually threw at players

The setup stayed familiar: 456 contestants, kids-game challenges, and eliminations marked with ink squibs instead of, well, anything lethal. Season 2 mixed in new games and brought back the big, recognizable sets from the original show for the home stretch. Along the way, players had to survive counting-based eliminations, social pressure rounds, endurance tasks, and group strategy matches.

The production also leaned into some messy, intriguing twists. There was a mutiny during a social game called 'Mingle' (yep, alliances got loud), and a formal dinner that turned into a coin-based decision test. That dinner moment ended up mattering a lot more than it first seemed.

The finale, unpacked

Five contestants made it into the endgame after weeks of shifting advantages and uneasy alliances. The last episode opened with that dinner and those coins, which turned into an elimination mechanic: one person was cut right there, sending four to the final challenge.

Instead of the usual 'freeze or get caught' version of Red Light Green Light, the show flipped it into a race. The finalists had to sprint and stop on a dime while the game watched for movement slips. One player went down in the first cycle. Another got knocked out on a timing mistake. The last two kept pushing until an ankle gave out, leading to one more fall and one last elimination.

That left Player 72, Perla Figuereo, to cross the line first and take the $4.56 million. Netflix even handed her a gold card tied to the prize account, because subtlety is not the brand here.

'Now I can take care of my family.'

• Five finalists started the finale
• Coin-based dinner test eliminated one, four advanced
• Final game: a race version of Red Light Green Light
• One fell on the first cycle; another was out for a timing error
• An ankle injury took out one of the last two
• Player 72, Perla Figuereo, finished first and won $4.56 million
• Netflix presented a gold prize card linked to the winnings
• Season 3 is officially on the way

So, what now?

The way that coin test shaped the outcome is the piece people keep returning to, and it is the kind of design choice that could steer how Season 3 plays. Netflix already confirmed it is coming soon, and given how Season 2 balanced social gambits with old-school arena theatrics, expect more careful meddling to keep everyone guessing.