Warning: spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is based on the book of the same by Suzanne Collins, and among the changes the movie made to the book is the possible death of one character. The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is a prequel to the Hunger Games movies, and as such, it’s set 64 years before the events of the first Hunger Games movie. The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes focuses on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), the last hope for his fading lineage as his family fell from grace after the war and the death of his father.
As Panem prepares for the 10th Annual Hunger Games, there’s a change of plans in order to increase viewership, and so each tribute is assigned a mentor. Coriolanus is assigned to mentor District 12’s tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), who defiantly sings during the ceremony, giving Coriolanus an idea of what he can do with her and win the Hunger Games and more. The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes introduces various colleagues of Coriolanus, among them Clemensia Dovecote (Ashley Liao), whose fate in the movie is different from what happens to her in the book.
Clemensia’s Fate In The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Is Unknown
Clemensia was bitten by Gaul’s snakes
The first of Coriolanus’ classmates and friends that The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes introduces is Clemensia Dovecote, who has no shame in admitting that he has done most of her schoolwork. Clemensia is assigned to mentor a tribute from District 11, and she’s briefly seen doing her best to train her tribute. When Coriolanus proposes a sponsorship scheme and other changes to ensure more viewership of the Hunger Games, Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) asks him to write down his proposal.
Clemensia steps in and claims to share the idea with Coriolanus and says they will write it together because they always work together, but of course, it’s just another case of Coriolanus doing everything and Clemensia just adding her name to it. Gaul sees through her and when they meet with her to discuss the proposal, she tells them her assistant threw the proposal inside a tank of genetically modified snakes. Gaul asks Clemensia to retrieve the proposal from the tank, as if she wrote it, the snakes won’t bite her because they will recognize the smell, but if she didn’t, she will be hurt. Of course, Clemensia is attacked by the snakes, as Gaul knew Coriolanus was the one who wrote the proposal.
Clemensia is last seen being taken away by Gaul’s people after collapsing on the floor as a result of the snake bites, and she isn’t seen during the Hunger Games. In the book, Clemensia is hospitalized and survives, though with mental and physical side effects, and returns to guide her tribute during the Hunger Games, though she was quite cruel to him. Clemensia and Coriolanus eventually reconciled, and she became more empathetic with her tribute, though he ended up dying from poison.
Dr. Gaul’s Snakes Kill Everyone They Bite In Songbirds & Snakes
The deaths of the tributes point to Clemensia’s death
Clemensia’s fate is left unknown in the movie adaptation of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, but the way Gaul’s snakes attack and how deadly they are might hint at her death. When the snakes are released into the Hunger Games arena to avenge the death of Felix Ravinstill, the President’s son, every tribute attacked by the snakes dies. Although the tributes were attacked by many, many snakes, and Clemensia was bitten by fewer, it’s likely that she didn’t survive Gaul’s “test”, hence why she didn’t return to mentor Reaper in the Hunger Games nor was she seen again in the rest of the movie.
Dr. Gaul Hinted That Clemensia Could Survive The Snake Bite
There are some clues to Clemensia’s survival
Even though Gaul’s snakes are deadly and all the tributes bitten by them died in the arena, it’s possible that Clemensia survived the attack. Gaul hints at her survival when Coriolanus asks her if she’s going to be ok, and Gaul’s people inject her with something right after the attack, following her collapse on the floor. This points to Clemensia’s possible survival in the adaptation of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, though it seems strange that she wasn’t seen again in the rest of the movie, not even briefly or as a background character.
Clemensia’s absence could be justified by the side effects of the snake bites being as brutal and shocking as they were in the novel, so she wasn’t shown again in the movie. Of course, the most likely explanation is that the focus of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is Coriolanus and Lucy Gray, and Clemensia’s return risked taking some of their spotlight away. Clemensia’s fate in the movie The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is unknown, but at least she was given another chance in the book.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
- Release Date:
- 2023-11-17
- Director:
- Francis Lawrence
- Cast:
- Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage, Josh Andrés, Josh Andrés Rivera, Viola Davis
- Rating:
- PG-13
- Runtime:
- 157 Minutes
- Genres:
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Writers:
- Michael Lesslie, Michael Arndt, Suzanne Collins
- Studio(s):
- Color Force, Lionsgate
- Distributor(s):
- Lionsgate
- Sequel(s):
- The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
- Franchise(s):
- The Hunger Games
