The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes introduces a new District 12 protagonist in the form of Lucy Gray Baird, leading to questions of whether she is related to Katniss Everdeen. Interestingly, The Hunger Games‘ prequel ties Katniss and Lucy together in many ways. For one, both have a strong connection to Coriolanus Snow only in very polarizing ways. Similarly, Snow’s hatred for District 12 as seen in The Hungers Games movies can be explained by The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ ending and how Lucy Gray seemingly betrayed Snow.
Despite these loose links, many are wondering if there is a possibility that Lucy Gray Baird and Katniss Everdeen are even closer connected than first thought. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes leaves Lucy Gray’s fate ambiguous which further adds fuel to the fire concerning relationship theories between her and The Hunger Games’ hero of the rebellion. The question remains whether the theories hold any merit, or whether there is no evidence proving a relation between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Lucy Gray Baird and The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen.
Hunger Games Has Never Confirmed Lucy Gray & Katniss Are Related
Despite the popularity of this theory, the Hunger Games franchise has never confirmed that Lucy Gray – winner of the 10th Hunger Games – and Katniss – winner of the 74th – are related. Both in the books by Suzanne Collins and the recent film adaptation, there is no firm evidence that the two protagonists are in any way connected beyond the aforementioned details concerning Snow. As such, these theories remain exactly that: speculation attempting to link together Rachel Zegler and Jennifer Lawrence’s characters in the franchise.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Makes Lucy & Katniss Being Related Possible
While The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes nor the original four Hunger Games movies provide any hard evidence that Lucy Gray and Katniss are related, the ending of the former leaves the possibility for this. At the end of the film, Lucy Gray and Snow come to blows over the latter’s choice to betray his friend Sejanus Plinth, as well as his murder of two people from Lucy’s District. Lucy Gray abandons Snow, leading the latter to chase her through a forest armed with a rifle.
After being bitten by a snake, and suffering hallucinations as a result, Snow believes he sees Lucy and shoots at her. However, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ ending does not reveal whether Snow killed Lucy Gray or whether she escaped. This ending leaves the possibility that she and Katniss are related after all. It could be the case that Lucy survived in the wilderness around District 12, potentially siring children of her own after reuniting with the Covey, her nomadic musical troupe.
Some theories have indicated that Lucy Gray’s potential children are Katniss’ mother or father, linking the two protagonists across generations. Another aspect of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that could support these theories is what is revealed about Lucy Gray’s father. In the film, Lucy Gray mentions that she never knew her father. As such, it could be possible that he had other children in District 12 that are connected to Katniss’ family.
How The Hunger Games Franchise Changes If Lucy Is Related To Katniss
While again, these theories are simply just speculation, the reason for the abundance of queries likely stems from how The Hunger Games franchise would be affected if Lucy Gray and Katniss were related. For one, the potentiality of Lucy Gray and Katniss being related adds a much greater sense of thematic depth to The Hunger Games franchise. Lucy Gray and Snow’s relationship that is explored in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was instrumental in turning the latter into the vengeful, evil, tyrannical president of Panem seen in the original Hunger Games stories.
While the film introduces several other elements of Snow’s life that cause him to turn into the villainous figure from The Hunger Games, it is the perceived betrayal of Lucy Gray Baird that pushes him to return to the Capitol and rise up the political ladder. This story entirely recontextualizes one of Snow’s best lines from The Hunger Games that even plays at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: “It’s the things we love most, that destroy us.” All of this would change even more so if it was ever revealed that Lucy Gray and Katniss are related given the latter’s relationship with Snow in the future.
As is known from Katniss’ journey in The Hunger Games, she and Snow are two sides of the war for Panem. While Katniss’ intent was not to always tear down the Capitol, she is eventually the catalyst for this and is instrumental in the Districts defeating Snow and his government. If Lucy Gray and Katniss are revealed to be related, this story gets another entire layer of context. It would be made even more poetic for Katniss to be the Mockingjay who defeated Snow if one of her relatives was important in Snow’s rise to power.
This would not only tie Lucy Gray and Katniss together, but it would also connect the two different versions of Snow. If the younger Snow from The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes had not wronged his friends or Lucy Gray in order to gain favor with the Capitol, the entire franchise would have been changed. However, Snow made these choices, causing Lucy Gray to abandon him and lead him back to the Capitol. This would mean that, if Lucy Gray and Katniss were related, Snow was the one who inadvertently paved the road for Katniss to eventually rise up as the Mockingjay, essentially making him the architect of his own downfall.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes 2 Could Reveal Lucy Gray’s Family Legacy
Finally, the idea of Lucy Gray and Katniss being related could serve as the basis for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes‘ potential sequel. While a second book has not been confirmed to follow on from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes after the first novel was released in 2020, Lucy Gray’s legacy could serve as the basis for a continuation. That way, what happened to Lucy Gray Baird and the fate of her family could be explored.
That said, it is worth pointing out that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ ambiguous ending works best for the character of Snow and his transition into the president of Panem. Similarly, Katniss’ journey in The Hunger Games works on an emotional, thematic, and satisfying level without the theory of being related to Lucy Gray Baird. As such, this confirmation of whether the two are related is not necessary, but could certainly serve as the basis for a sequel to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes should Suzanne Collins wish to tell this story.
