Warning: This post contains major spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Summary

• Lucy Gray Baird's fate in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is left ambiguous, leading to various theories about her possible survival.
• Dr. Gaul strategically sent Coriolanus Snow to District 12 to shape his views on the Hunger Games and lay the foundation for his future.
• The film concludes with a voice cameo from Donald Sutherland, hinting at the destructive power of love and Snow's transformation over time.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ends on an ambiguous note that leaves one wondering what exactly happened to Lucy Gray Baird and how Coriolanus Snow’s hunger for power and prestige pushed him to become the man in The Hunger Games movies. The Hunger Games prequel is set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena and follows the 10th Hunger Games and the aftermath of Lucy Gray Baird’s problematic victory. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes helps answer questions about the large gap in the timeline, but its ending also raises questions.

Lucy Gray Baird as the first winner from District 12, only for her story to be erased by Dr. Gaul and her later disappearance.

Lucy Gray Baird’s Fate Explained - Is She Dead?

Lucy Gray Disappeared At The End Of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes

Lucy Gray Baird’s fate is as ambiguous in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film as it is in Suzanne Collins' book. Coriolanus shoots at her in the woods, but it’s unclear where the bullet actually hit Lucy Gray. It might have simply grazed her, which would explain why she was able to flee so quickly and why Coriolanus never found her. It’s also possible the Capitol found her somehow — on Dr. Gaul’s instructions — and killed her quietly, so she would never be a distraction.

Conversely, Coriolanus was also bitten by a snake in a trap Lucy Gray laid out for him, so it’s possible he was merely hallucinating her in the woods. There are multiple Hunger Games theories about Lucy Gray’s fate, most centering around her having survived and escaped to District 13, as she had planned on going north. What lies outside of Panem is unknown territory within the scope of The Hunger Games franchise, and it’s better to think Lucy Gray somehow survived than believe her dead.

Why Dr. Gaul Sent Coriolanus To District 12 After The 10th Hunger Games

Coriolanus Was Sent To District 12 After He Was Caught Cheating In The Games

Dr. Gaul proved to be calculating throughout The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. She arranged for Coriolanus to be sent to District 12 as a peacekeeper so that he could see human nature as she truly believed it to be — violent. She needed Coriolanus to shed what he believed the Hunger Games to be about, collective punishment of the Districts, and embrace the Capitol’s role of keeping the Districts in check to control their violence.

Gaul thought it got out of hand before, but for the Capitol to survive, it needed a reminder of all that came before. Dr. Gaul knew Coriolanus had to see that first-hand to move forward. Though Coriolanus believed it to be a punishment, Dr. Gaul was grooming him to carry on her legacy.

The Deeper Meaning Behind Tigris’ Final Words To Coriolanus Snow

Tigris’ Final Words Foreshadowed Corialonus’ Future

At the beginning of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Tigris tells Coriolanus that he doesn’t have to be his father, Crassus Snow. It’s clear Tigris believed Coriolanus to be a better man than his dad, who was a cruel general. However, by the end of The Hunger Games prequel, once he'd returned to the Capitol after his time in District 12, Tigris tells her cousin that he looks just like his father.

Tigris could probably see the trajectory of Coriolanus’ life; he’d strayed far from the boy she knew. In one sentence, Tigris was telling Coriolanus that he was turning into the man he never should have been. It’s a dangerous path to walk, but Coriolanus had no issue doing so. In Tigris’ eyes, he was on the way to becoming what she feared her uncle to be — ruthless and hateful. Tigris later helped Katniss and the rebels in Mockingjay, proving that she not only saw who Coriolanus was becoming but, despite their close relationship, couldn’t who he became.

Dean Highbottom’s Hatred For Coriolanus Snow Explained

Dean Highbottom Had A Vendetta Against Coriolanus

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reveals the reason behind Dean Casca Highbottom’s resentment of Coriolanus Snow. Highbottom was once best friends with Coriolanus Snow’s dad, and he became angry after Crassus Snow submitted the idea for the Hunger Games, which Highbottom had only written up as a joke while drunk, to Dr. Gaul. That anger and hatred rolled over to Coriolanus, who, like Tigris believed, was a lot like his father. Dean Highbottom saw a lot of Crassus’ behaviors and traits in Coriolanus, and he wanted to prevent the younger Snow from having wealth and power.

Dean Highbottom's disdain for Coriolanus was justified given the latter eventually poisoned him, thus proving Coriolanus was someone to fear.

Attempting to prevent Coriolanus from winning the Plinth Prize was Highbottom’s way of keeping Snow from influencing the Hunger Games, which Highbottom wanted to abolish. The lack of wealth would have also kept Coriolanus from having power, something Casca feared, especially with his growing relationship with Dr. Gaul Dean Highbottom knew deep down that Coriolanus would only make the Hunger Games worse than they already were, continuing his father’s work and adding to the cruelty of the Capitol’s treatment of the Districts.

How Coriolanus Snow’s Family Really Lost Their Wealth

The Snows Were Poor At The Start Of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie opens with a flashback scene of Coriolanus and Tigris during The Hunger Games’ Dark Days when the Capitol was at war with the Districts. Over a decade later, by the time Coriolanus is in his final academy year, they’re barely getting by financially. The Snows were skating by on their influential name alone until Coriolanus could secure the Plinth Prize money, which he was unable to do.

While the details aren’t mentioned in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film, the Snow family lost their wealth because most of their investments were tied up with District 13. The Snows owned many of the research facilities and factories there, but they lost most of their wealth after District 13 became independent. The rest of their savings were spent during the Capitol siege.

What’s Next For Hunger Games After Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Ends

The Hunger Games Continued For 65 Years

The 10th Hunger Games were largely a disaster, with many of the tributes and the academy students who mentored them killed before even entering the arena. After Coriolanus returns to the Capitol to work with Dr. Gaul, they start planning for the future of the Games. Coriolanus pushes the idea of the Hunger Games being mandatory viewing for the Districts.

The changes implemented for the 11th Hunger Games — many of which extended to the remaining Games — included a home in Victor’s Village, food parcels, and prize money for the winner to entice tributes and encourage volunteers. The 11th Hunger Games was also the first to include a Victory Tour. The 10th Hunger Games may have been a failure, but they set the groundwork for the modern Games viewers became familiar with through the original trilogy.

Why The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Ends With Donald Sutherland's President Snow

The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Ends With A Look At The Future

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes doesn’t have an end-credits scene, but it doesn’t end differently from the original story from the book. Before the credits, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes features a voice cameo from Donald Sutherland, who played President Snow in the other four Hunger Games films. The voiceover was taken from a scene between Snow and Katniss in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, where he tells her, “It's the things we love most that destroy us."

In this scene, Snow is talking about Katniss’ love for Peeta, but it takes on a deeper meaning once viewers learn about his history with Lucy Gray. In an interview with Francis Lawrence, the director of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, he shared that the voice cameo wasn’t a part of the initial cut for the film. Lionsgate used the line in a sizzle reel and the teaser trailer, which inspired Lawrence to add it to the film.

As Lawrence said, including the line in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes gives it a new context. “Part of the reason that [Snow] goes dark is this sort of betrayal of this relationship and this love that he had for [Lucy Gray],” Lawrence explained to People. The voice cameo from Sutherland also served as a great reminder of who Coriolanus became, as he’s more of an antihero in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but an antagonist in the trilogy.

Will There Be A Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes 2?

There Is Still A Lot To Be Explored In The Hunger Games Franchise

Although The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ends rather definitively, the ambiguity of Lucy Gray’s fate could segue nicely into a sequel that explores what happened to her after parting ways with Coriolanus Snow. If Lucy Gray did survive, it’d be interesting to follow her on the next stage in her journey, one that is far from the Capitol and District 12. Hunger Games theories about Lucy Gray and President Coin could also make the sequel Alma’s origin story.

Another prequel focused on Snow could detail the next few decades of his life as Panem’s president. sequel to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Suzanne Collins hasn’t written any more Hunger Games books, but that doesn’t mean the well has run dry when it comes to ideas for what comes next.

Source: People