Death's Game - Ending Explained

The series' greatest twist is the identity of the 12th reincarnation: Yee-jae's mother. This reveal recontextualizes the entire 'game' not as a sequence of random lives, but as a carefully constructed lesson in empathy. By living his mother's life, Yee-jae realizes she suffered far more than he ever did (losing a husband and a child) but chose to continue for him. The series finale reveals that after successfully living a long, natural life in her body, Yee-jae is given one final choice. He pulls the trigger of Death's gun and is returned to the exact moment on the rooftop before he jumped. The 'ending' is his return to his original life, now armed with the wisdom of 12 deaths, finally answering his mother’s phone call and choosing to live.

While the primary reading is an anti-suicide parable, some critics interpret the series as a critique of the hyper-competitive Korean corporate culture. In this view, Death is not a literal deity but a personification of the crushing societal expectations that drive young people to despair. Another interpretation suggests the entire 'game' is an internal psychological process occurring in the split second between Yee-jae jumping and hitting the ground—a final, subconscious surge of survival instinct and 'life flashing before his eyes' that gives him the will to survive the fall.