Sacred Games Season 3 - What We Know So Far

Netflix's crime thriller, Sacred Games, is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra and was adapted for television by Varun Grover, Smita Singh, and Vasant Nath. The series marks the first Netflix original to come from India (via Business Insider) and has proved to be a successful move so far, giving wide audiences access to Indian media outside of Bollywood films.

The crime-filled drama follows a Mumbai police officer, Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan), who, after a call from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), is given the task of saving the entire city from some sort of disaster. The series, which has been positively received overall — it has an average 76% Tomatometer and 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes — has released two seasons so far that are out and available for binging. Considering the season 2 finale ended on a cliffhanger, fans are surely wondering about a potential third season of the series — here's what we know so far.

As of now, Netflix has not released any information on whether or not Sacred Games will return for a third season. It appears it could go either way, seeing as how the show has already utilized all of its source material with Chandra's book, but the second season did end with a cliffhanger which may indicate that there's more to come. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays one of the leads, has spoken about the matter, saying that he doesn't believe there will be a third season. In an interview, he stated, "Whatever had to be said from the original novel has already been said. There is nothing left in Vikram Chandra's novel to be put in season 3."

While this declaration may be disappointing to the show's many fans, it hasn't actually been confirmed by Netflix yet — and it's the streaming platform that has the final say. Siddiqui could have been speculating himself or plans may have changed afterward, but there's no way to know for certain until Netflix makes an announcement.

The second season was released in August of 2019, which seems like too long of a time to have not heard any news on a third season yet. However, the global pandemic of 2020 impacted pretty much every show and film in development, resulting in numerous pushbacks and postponements, so the extended amount of time since the season 2 premiere isn't necessarily indicative of anything concrete.

Any season of Sacred Games wouldn't be complete without its two stars, Saif Ali Khan as Sartaj Singh and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Ganesh Gaitonde. These two are actually the only two cast members to be credited as main characters for both seasons, so we can likely expect the same for any potential third season.

In this crime-filled and action-driven plot, some of the characters were not as lucky to make it out alive by the end of season 2. In fact, some of the deaths were quite shocking, such as that of research and analysis officer Anjali Mathur (Radhika Apte), who was shot by Murad Malcolm (Luke Kenny) while on a case. Another notable death was that of Majid Khan (Aamir Bashir), who was killed by Shahid Khan (Ranvir Shorey) just as he and Sartaj had found the bomb they were searching for. Plus, cult leader Khanna Guruji (Pankaj Tripathi) met his fate when Ganesh killed him.

Those who were lucky enough to not meet their deaths include key characters such as Batya Abelman (Kalki Koechlin) and Suleiman Isa (Saurabh Sachdeva), who would also likely return for a future season.

At the end of season 2, after searching for the nuclear bomb in haste before it went off, officers Sartaj and Majid found the weapon — but Majid was shot by Shahid just as they made the discovery. While the bomb was ticking down, Sartaj shot Shahid, killing him, after Shahid refused to give up the pattern used as a password to unlock the bomb. With time running out, everyone pretty much accepted that the bomb wold detonate — except for Sartaj, who kept attempting to crack the password. Sartaj eventually figured out what the password was — which, as explained by Fansided, was "the shape of the Radcliffe Line or the international border between India and Pakistan during the partition of India." In the end, the shot cuts out before being revealed whether or not the bomb went off.

If renewed for a third season, the plot will likely pick up right where this cliffhanger left off and reveal whether or not the password worked. It's likely that, if the show continued, the password was indeed successful and the plot could proceed to focus on the aftermath of the entire situation. The first two seasons covered the contents of the book it's based on, so the show's writers would have complete freedom of where to take the story next.