Watching your loved ones or your friends die in front of your eyes can be quite traumatizing. And even though Netflix’s Squid Game didn’t delve much into the discussion of mental health, there was one player in particular, Min-su, who had completely lost his marbles after witnessing the death of a fellow contestant, Se-mi, in the second season. Min-su, aka Player 125, had been the shy and reserved kind from the very beginning and over the course of the game had developed an unlikely bond with Se-mi. You can say she was his only friend, and he wanted to protect her at all costs but failed to do so. But after Se-mi lost her life in the game, Min-su held himself accountable and blamed himself for her death. I guess it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Min-su was an overthinker. Throughout the game, Min-su’s bullies, Thanos (Player 230) and Nam-gyu (Player 124), kept picking on him, but Min-su refused to stand up against his bullies because he was afraid of what might come next. He always saw himself as a loser who may accidentally win a fight but eventually will lose the battle, and hence Min-su never made any effort.
However, things took an unexpected turn when Min-su got hold of Thanos’ cross necklace, which had some hallucinogenic pills inside. It’s likely that Thanos popped those pills to calm down his nerves. And you see, it’s quite interesting that even though Thanos was long dead, something he had left behind in the game was still affecting the player’s mental health. Nam-gyu was filled with hatred and angst for Thanos, and as I see it, he had been brutally killing the players as a means to release her internal rage. I guess it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that every time Nam-gyu killed someone, he really believed that he was killing Thanos, over and over again. And ironically, the same thing happened with Min-su when he took those pills. He started to see every other player as either Thanos or Nam-gyu, the very two people who had been harassing him both in the real world and in the game.
During “The Keys and Knives” game, Min-su, under the influence of drugs, started murmuring that Nam-gyu was trying to kill Se-mi. But Se-mi was already dead, which made it abundantly clear that from that point onwards, Min-su lost his mind completely. He came across the shaman, aka Player 044, who called him “shameless,” thereby repeating Nam-gyu’s words, who had earlier labeled him as a loser. His thoughts got into a spiral mode, and he started seeing the shaman as Nam-gyu and ended up stabbing the shaman to death. However, the sight of the blood once again reminded Min-su of Se-mi, and he felt a pang of remorse for his actions, believing that he had stabbed Se-mi in a fit of rage. The thing is, Min-su had never been the same after. He kept hearing the voices of the dead and started seeing things that weren’t real.
During the final game, Min-su popped in the last remaining pill and hallucinated Thanos, his ultimate bully, hanging from the edge of the tower. It was Min-su’s fear that once again kicked in, and the way this imaginary Thanos offered Min-su more pills was evidence that Min-su had become an addict just like his bullies. It was quite unfortunate to see that the lad not only lost his mind but also became a murderer after taking drugs. It’s actually what happens when you bottle up your fears or your emotions for long and are unable to express yourself for whatever reason. I am not saying it was Min-su’s fault that he was bullied, but one can say that he might have been able to deal with it differently or in a better way if he had just tried to confront the bullies instead of giving them the power to control his life.
After taking the drugs, Min-su’s conscience was divided into two parts. While one side of him wanted him to keep taking the drugs and survive till he could, the other side wanted him to jump to his death, as he didn’t deserve to live, not after what he had done to Se-mi and the shaman. The shaman had told Min-su that he should have turned into a ghost a long time ago, which was exactly what Min-su believed after he let his only friend die in front of his eyes because he wasn’t brave enough to protect her. So, Min-su’s conflicted mind was forcing him to make a decision and fast. In Squid Game 3’s ending, he finally imagined Se-mi walking to him and asking him to come with her. Basically at this point, Min-su’s mind had made the decision to take his own, as he no longer could live with the guilt of losing his only friend. Outside Min-su’s hallucinations, a fellow contestant, Myung-gi (Player 333), pushed Min-su off the tower and killed him, ending his pain and suffering forever.
