Forget every villain you’ve met thus far on Squid Game: The Challenge. The most evil, cruel competitor has arrived—or competitors, plural, depending on which way you see the situation that plays out in the marbles game. Whose side are you on?
In the sixth episode of the new reality show, frighteningly titled “Goodbye,” the players are partnered up and sent to play marbles, just like in the original Squid Game. At the end of Episode 5, we learn about the main twist: The players think they’re heading into a celebratory picnic, and must sit by an ally to enjoy sandwiches together. But instead of hoagies, the players find tiny glass balls in their baskets. This means that, heading into Episode 6, they’re going to be competing against their closest friends in the game.
(Warning: Spoilers for Episode 6 of Squid Game: The Challenge.)
For some reason, Players 065 (Dylan) and 399 (Aurora) sit together, even though they have no connection. We haven’t seen much of these two before this episode, but we’re about to get up close and personal in the marbles game. When the pair can’t figure out how they’ll play together, the partnership immediately devolves into complete chaos.
Unlike the series’ other structured challenges, like Battleship and the Dalgona cookie competition, the marbles game is more fluid. Contestants must create their own minigames, like tossing the marbles into buckets, or throwing them into circles to try and see whose is the closest, a la Bocce Ball. If a winner is not determined by the end of the 15 minutes, both players will be eliminated from the competition.
Most teams make quick decisions. Some want to get it over with, and just complete three quick throws, figuring out the outcome as soon as possible. One duo decides to wait until the last minute to throw two marbles and see which goes further. But Dylan and Aurora spend almost the entire time quarreling over what marbles game they want to play. Guys, c’mon—literal children spend less time arguing over their strategies.
Dylan has his mind made up before they’ve even reached the playing field: The pair will throw marbles, a test of agility and hand-eye coordination. He won’t budge. But Aurora is similarly hellbent on steering clear of physical challenge, claiming that would put her at a major disadvantage, as she is someone who is better at puzzles and strategy-based games. Maybe they could play something with betting, she suggests.
Nope. While everyone else plays their games, the clock ticks down. Halfway through, these two still haven’t decided on a game. It’s infuriating to watch at home, so I can’t even imagine the fury these two felt at the moment. Aurora offers up a compromise. What if they left it up to chance and threw a marble in the air, like heads or tails? Dylan says that he’s not leaving $4.56 million up to chance.
But if he doesn’t compromise, he’s going to lose the $4.56 million to pure ego. As background, here’s what we know about Dylan from Squid Game: The Challenge’s official contestant database: “He loves going to the gym and cuddling, and he wants to put some of the prize money toward a big vacation for his mom.” His occupation? “Momma’s boy.” Sure, that’s a real job.
Alas, going to the gym would give him an edge over Aurora. Her bio says that she “is the oldest of six kids” and “has a great strategic mind, so she hopes to excel at games that require critical thinking.” Demanding a strategic style of marbles play, then, would make sense. Being one of six siblings leads me to assume that Aurora has made plenty of compromises during childlike games before, and that she’s tired of it. She’s played as the old Monopoly thimble enough to want to seize control of this challenge.
That’s why I side with Aurora, the only one trying to make compromises in this heated moment. Leaving the marbles game up to chance would eliminate all advantages. Dylan continues to refuse, though, and with just a minute left on the scoreboard, the pair finally agree to throw marbles into a circle. Whoever lands more in the middle would get to survive one more day.
This is where you’ll want to scream at your TV. Aurora and Dylan both miss. Then, Aurora lands one marble. Dylan lands one in the middle right after her. The timer buzzes, the game is tied. Aurora offers a solution: Since she sank the first marble, she should be deemed the winner. Dylan shakes his pouty little head, which results in both of them being removed from Squid Game.
An argument can be made that both Dylan and Aurora botched the game—perhaps Aurora could’ve just agreed to do the marble throwing from the start, since she wasn’t all that bad at it—but Dylan’s poor sportsmanship is enough to prove that he’s the bad egg in this pair. There was no down side of giving Aurora the win, especially since she had made compromises and ended up beating Dylan at his own game. In fact, there was a bigger down side in refusing to allow her to move on: Now, Dylan looks like a total jerk.
Fans of Squid Game: The Challenge should be calling for justice for Aurora, who did everything she could to play a fair and strategic game. If there is to be a Squid Game: The Challenge: All Stars season, Aurora would be perfect casting. I have to admit, however, that Dylan would also be a great returning player, because he’s just too good at being the villain to ignore.
