How Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds & Snake’s Crucial Death Was A “Defining Moment” For Snow’s Transformation

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

One The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes death was vital to Coriolanus Snow’s (Tom Blyth) descent into evil, reveals producer Nina Jacobson. The Hunger Games prequel premiered is based on Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name and follows a young Snow, delving into his early life and experiences and how they led him to become the Capitol’s notorious President. The movie also introduces viewers to some other young students of the Capitol Academy, including Sejanus Plinth (Josh Rivera), who has unusual empathy for a student of Capitol status, with Snow ultimately betraying him and landing him in prison and sentenced to death.

In an interview with People, Jacobson explained why one particular death in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was vital to Snow’s origin story. According to Jacobson, Snow’s betrayal of Plinth and his subsequent death leads to a feeling of loss that the infamous character can’t return from, subsequently putting him on the path to becoming the iconic villain. Check out her statement below:

Had Sejanus not died, had he not borne the weight of that death — no matter what happened between him and Lucy Gray — he might not have turned out the way that he did. He doesn’t own what he does in the way that [Lucy] does. There’s that moment afterward in the barracks where he falls apart, where he does own it for a moment, and you can see how unbearably painful it is to live with the knowledge of your sins and how much easier it is in a way to justify and rationalize them.

Was Sejanus Plinth’s Death Necessary?

Of all the deaths in The Hunger Games series, Plinth’s death in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of the most devastating. It’s hard because, from the onset, Plinth is the foil to Snow’s later villainy, as he rejects status and prestige to try to better the lives of the districts. As a former member of the districts, he could’ve run away with that elevation in wealth and status, but instead always remembered his roots and perspective of the Capitol.

As Snow derails, Plinth shows readers and viewers a hint of humanity, and it’s hard not to root for him and hope that he’ll make it out alive, despite getting on the Capitol’s radar with his rebellion. Some may have hoped that his ending was more ambiguous, such as him simply disappearing. However, the nature of his death and Snow’s betrayal in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes are harrowing, raising questions about whether this tragic death was essential. Jacobson makes a strong argument for Plinth’s death, though, suggesting that Snow wouldn’t be the character audiences know without it.

Indeed, Plinth’s death is the single evilest act that Snow commits in the prequel, especially because he then proceeds to use the Plinth family’s kindness after being responsible for their son’s death. It’s such a dark turn from the Snow viewers met at the story’s beginning. Lucy Gray Baird’s (Rachel Zegler) impact on Snow is more ambiguous given her disappearance, but Snow could never forget the blood on his hands from Plinth. Though tragic, Plinth’s death in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was one of the most significant catalysts in Snow’s eventual descent into evil.