Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
The contestants return from marbles to find Mi-nyeo alive in the dormitory, spared because nobody chose her as a partner. A player whose wife died in the previous round asks the others to quit, then takes his own life. Meanwhile, masked VIPs arrive to bet on the remaining competitors, and the Front Man welcomes them in the absent host's place while continuing the search for Jun-ho.
The fifth game forces sixteen players across paired glass panels suspended above a fatal drop. One pane in each pair can hold their weight; the other shatters. Gi-hun's choice leaves him last in the crossing order. When Deok-su refuses to advance, Mi-nyeo grabs him and falls with him, carrying out her threat against the man who abandoned her. A former glassworker then identifies safe panels until the Front Man cuts the lights to remove his advantage.
As the clock runs down, Sang-woo pushes the glassworker onto the final unsafe pane, revealing the route for himself, Sae-byeok and Gi-hun. They reach the far platform just before the bridge explodes, scattering glass around them. Jun-ho has meanwhile replaced a VIP attendant and lured a guest into a private room, where he records information at gunpoint. He leaves the guest alive but unconscious, takes diving equipment and escapes into the sea. The Front Man discovers the missing equipment and launches a pursuit.