A translation error «Squid Game» ruined the backstory of Player 388

Fans of «Squid Game» found a mistake in the translation of the third season that spoiled the backstory of one of the players.

Player 388, named De Ho, first came to attention in the second season, where he successfully completed the «six-legged pentathlon» — challenge, which included a series of 5 mini-games involving five people with their legs tied together. De Ho subsequently joined the Giang Huan Rebellion and, given his claims of serving in the Marines, was considered a worthy addition to the team. Already in the process, it turned out that the character had problems with weapons, hardly ever fired at enemies, and eventually cowered in fear in the finale, leaving his friends without ammunition.

The character’s decision was eventually explained in the third season by the fact that he lied about serving in the army and had never held a weapon before — a strange thing considering that men aged 18-28 in South Korea are required to serve in the armed forces for 18-21 months.

However, this explanation sounded only to those who watched the series in English or Ukrainian dubbing or with subtitles, while fans later truthfully translated the original text. It turned out that De Ho did not say that he had not served in the military, but instead said that he worked in a social service; as for the weapon, the character meant that he had never used a weapon in a real battle, but had used it during training.

In South Korea, men who are not eligible for compulsory military service are given the option of alternative civilian service — specifically as social workers. After completing three weeks of basic military training, social service workers are typically required to serve for about 21 months in government agencies, courts, or welfare institutions.

A translation would obviously not accommodate such a long explanation, so it is understandable why it was simplified as much as possible. However, it does change the viewers’ attitude towards the character, who was only afraid that others would consider him less brave or capable. In addition, the series subtly hints at Dae-ho’s complicated relationship with his father, who had somewhat distorted standards of manhood — and in order to earn his respect, the boy probably started lying about his alleged military past, even to the point of getting a Marine tattoo.

• «The Squid Game» — is a survivalist series that originally followed a group of 456 financially challenged people who join a deadly competition to win a large cash prize. In the following two seasons, the winner of the competition, Song Gi-hoon (Lee Jong-che), returns to the deadly arena in an attempt to stop the competition for good and save the new contestants.
• Despite the fact that the third season of «Squid Game» received controversial reviews —79% from critics and only 50% from the audience (the lowest rating in the show’s history) — it has already become the most popular Netflix premiere, collecting 60.1 million views in the first 3 days. This season was indeed the final season for the series, but showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk did not rule out the creation of potential spinoffs, like an interquel, which will take place between seasons 1 and 2. Also, at the end of «Squid Game», we were given a strong hint of the American version of David Fincher’s show, showing Cate Blanchett in the role of a recruiter. It is expected to start filming in December.

Source: Screen Rant