The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reveals more about the history of the Hunger Games and Lucy Gray Baird’s influence on the annual horrific competition, all of which changes how one perceives Mags Flanagan’s win. Suzanne Collins’s 2020 novel is a prequel to her Hunger Games trilogy and is set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the 74th Hunger Games. The book, which was later adapted into a movie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), works as President Coriolanus Snow’s villain origin story. But it also introduced a new character — Lucy Gray.
Lucy Gray was the female tribute from District 12 for the 10th Hunger Games, which were quite different from the ones Katniss and Peeta experienced. One of the new things the Gamemakers were trying out that year was the inclusion of mentors. They chose the 24 best students from the Academy in the Capitol, including Coriolanus. He was assigned Lucy Gray, and together, they caused a lot of controversy. Lucy Gray won, but her and Coriolanus’s actions made the Gamemakers reevaluate the Games, and the following year, Mags won the 11th Hunger Games.
Mags’ Hunger Games Win The Year After Lucy Gray Is Now More Impressive
The 10th Hunger Games was a mess and an embarrassment in the Gamemakers’s eyes. Almost everything went wrong, and Lucy Gray and Coriolanus were able to outsmart them (like the rat poison and the handkerchief) and pull out a win. Lucy Gray did it to survive, while Coriolanus wanted glory and acclaim. Nonetheless, they were both punished for their antics. The Gamemakers, which included Coriolanus as he was later pardoned and accepted as Volumnia Gaul’s apprentice, assumingly shifted their strategy for the following year when Mags won.
At 16 years old, Mags was reaped as the female tribute from District 4 for the 11th Hunger Games. Although one cannot know for sure, the rules and regulations likely became stricter that year following Lucy Gray’s win. However, Mags was still the last child standing in the arena, earning the title of the victor of the 11th Games. Given what happened the previous year, Mags’ win is more remarkable than it was before because the Gamemakers undoubtedly made the competition more difficult to avoid what happened in the 10th Hunger Games.
Every Way Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Foreshadows Katniss’ Future
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes takes place 64 years before Katniss Everdeen’s first Hunger Games, but the film has many nods to the Girl on Fire.
What Happened To Mags After She Won The 11th Hunger Games
Once Gamemakers established that mentors would be the former victors from the same district, Mags mentored numerous District 4 tributes, including Finnick Odair, for many years. Sixty-four years following her win, Mags volunteered to be the female tribute from District 4 for the 75th Hunger Games, aka the Third Quarter Quell, in Catching Fire. Quarter Quells were always “special,” and the tributes were reaped from the pool of previous victors for the third one. Annie Cresta, who won the 70th Games, was initially chosen, but Mags volunteered in her place. Sadly, Mags sacrificed her life to save Finnick, Peeta, and Katniss in the second book of the Hunger Games series.
