The Hunger Games film series contains plenty of gut-wrenching moments that stay with the characters (and viewers) forever, but The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes has one of the most haunting scenes in the franchise. The 2023 dystopian movie is based on Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name and is a prequel to the popular trilogy that occurred 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered to take her sister’s place for the 74th Hunger Games. The film centers around Coriolanus Snow and his villain origin story, which is where the aforementioned haunting moment comes into play.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes gives fans insight into the people who turned Snow into the horrible person seen in the first four movies in the franchise. Of course, numerous traumatizing events shaped Coriolanus into the ruthless future president of Panem. But a few characters in the prequel explain some of his actions and decisions during the 74th and 75th Hunger Games and the Second Rebellion. One of those characters was Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus’ friend turned victim.
The Jabberjays Repeating Sejanus’ Scream After He Dies Is Hunger Games’ Most Haunting Moment
Coriolanus and Sejanus were punished for their actions during the 10th Hunger Games by being sent to District 12 as Peacekeepers, and the two leaned on one another for support. However, Sejanus overestimated his friendship with Coriolanus and trusted him with the information that he was planning to escape the Capitol’s rule by running away. Coriolanus used a jabberjay to record the conversation and then sent it to the Capitol. Sejanus was later hung for his crimes, and Coriolanus stood by and watched it happen while jabberjays flew above and repeated the screams he let out before he died.
Coriolanus (and the audience) had to listen to Sejanus’ screams over and over again, thanks to the jabberjays, and it was the most haunting moment in the Hunger Games franchise. The repetitive screams were a lingering reminder of Coriolanus’ unforgivable betrayal and the first time he ever truly crossed someone to gain power and better his position in Panem. It was an indication of the man he was becoming and how he would kill anyone to get what he wanted. Even though he didn’t physically murder Sejanus himself, Coriolanus later remarked to Lucy that he had killed three people in Songbirds & Snakes, the third person being Sejanus. Related: Every Way Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Foreshadows Katniss’ Future
Songbirds & Snakes’ Jabberjays Make The Movie’s Most Tragic Death Harder On Everyone
Numerous characters died in the prequel (the 10th Hunger Games took place during the story, after all), but the most gut-wrenching death was Sejanus’, and the jabberjay mimicking his cries made it even tougher. Sejanus was one of the few people adamantly against the Games and the Capitol’s rule over Panem. He was a rebel through and through, which made him easy to root for, given that he was reminiscent of Katniss, Peeta, and countless others. So, his death was made more tragic when the jabberjays repeated his screams after he died in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
