Summary
- Lucy Gray's seemingly inconsequential line about digging up Katniss foreshadows Snow's downfall at the hands of Katniss herself.
- The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set 64 years before the events of the original Hunger Games trilogy and tells the origin story of President Snow.
- Lucy Gray's role in the Second Rebellion is significant, as she wrote "The Hanging Tree" and her spirit lives on in District 12 through Katniss, who eventually uses the song to mobilize the people against the Capitol.
Lucy Gray’s final line to Coriolanus Snow in the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, they had a seemingly inconsequential conversation in which Lucy Gray told him, “I think I’ll go dig up some Katniss since we got the fire going.”
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set at the start of The Hunger Games timeline, about 64 years before the event of the first installment in the trilogy. It tells the origin story of Coriolanus Snow, Panem’s ruthless president, when he was just a student in the Capitol and mentor of District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games. Though he proved that “Snow lands on top” throughout The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, in what could be described as a twist of fate, he’d eventually meet his match in Katniss Everdeen, another District 12 victor.
Lucy Gray's Katniss Line In Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes' Ending Foreshadows Snow's Future Conflict
The scene at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is the second time Lucy Gray mentions Katniss. Of course, she was referring to the plant rather than the person, as it would be many years before Katniss Everdeen was born, long after Lucy Gray disappeared in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. When Maude Ivory tries to pick Katniss, Lucy Gray tells her that it’s too early, only to later use it as an excuse to get away from Snow. This also has a double meaning, as it was too early for Katniss to be in the story, but she’d be arriving eventually to destroy Snow.
Lucy Gray also mentions that they “have the fire going,” which could be a reference to Catching Fire, the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy and when the rebellion against President Snow really began. In Mockingjay – Part 1, in a direct address to President Snow, Katniss says, “Fire is catching, and if we burn, you burn with us.” It’s a powerful scene that solidifies Katniss as not just the face and heart of the rebellion, but the person who plans on taking Snow down once and for all. Katniss doesn’t directly kill Snow but contributes to his death, similar to Coriolanus and Lucy Gray in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
How Lucy Gray Was A Factor In Hunger Games' Rebellion (Despite Not Being Around)
Though Lucy Gray was never heard from again after The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and all memories of her and the 10th Hunger Games were wiped from Panem, she nevertheless played an important role in the Second Rebellion. This role was perhaps the most obvious in her song. After Lucy Gray wrote it during The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lucy Gray and Katniss sing “The Hanging Tree” at different points in time. It eventually became a song of rebellion in The Hunger Games that Katniss used to mobilize the people of Panem, becoming Lucy Gray’s secret legacy.
Lucy Gray was also the first and only female victor from District 12 until Katniss won the 74th Hunger Games. While the 10th Hunger Games were long forgotten, Lucy Gray’s spirit lived on in District 12 and Katniss specifically. In The Hunger Games, Katniss became the mockingjay, a symbol of their district that was seen in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. At the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lucy Gray used her singing and the mockingjays against Coriolanus, and Katniss would do the same 65 years later to put an end to The Hunger Games.
