The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes answers a few questions about Katniss’ later story, but it also creates some intriguing mysteries. Though centered on a young President Coriolanus Snow, the Hunger Games prequel also introduces a District 12 girl who has quite a lot in common with Katniss Everdeen. Lucy Gray is different in personality and attitude from the girl who would become the Mockingjay, but they both share a deep knowledge of edible plants and music, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes suggests that this is because of a shared family connection. Still, there are some problems with this.
Throughout Snow’s time in District 12 in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, we see several familiar features of The Hunger Games. The Hob, which was a place that Katniss would trade in the original series, is where Lucy Gray Baird and the other Covey members would perform, and the lake in the woods where Katniss’ father used to take her to swim as a child is revealed to have been a secret getaway for the musical Covey decades earlier. Even Katniss’ name has a connection to Lucy Gray since she was seemingly the only one in District 12 who knew this was what the swamp potatoes surrounding the lake were called. However, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie makes this detail confusing.
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How Did Katniss Get Her Name After Lucy Gray Disappeared?
The Hunger Games movies never mentioned where Katniss’ name came from, so the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film was the first that katniss roots were mentioned on screen. Lucy Gray told Snow about the edible swamp potatoes and said she preferred to call the katniss. This would, of course, stand out to audiences since this was the name of the girl who would go on to be President Snow’s downfall. However, since Lucy Gray implies that others rarely call these tubers katniss, it’s surprising that Katniss Everdeen would receive her name nearly 50 years later.
The lake near District 12 was far beyond where the citizens were permitted to go, so the Covey were the only ones during the events of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes who knew about its location. Additionally, foraging was illegal, and by Katniss’ day, she and Gale were among the few in the District with enough knowledge to do it safely. Since Lucy Gray disappeared at the end of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it seems that the information about katniss plants would have disappeared with her. However, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books, including Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes provided several more hints about how this obscure plant became Katniss’ namesake.
Maude Ivory Could Be How Katniss Gets Her Name In The Hunger Games
In the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie, Lucy Gray told only Snow about the name she liked to call swamp potatoes, but that wasn’t necessarily the case in the book, where Maude Ivory was a far more prevalent character. The little girl was to Lucy Gray what Prim was to Katniss—someone she felt responsible for keeping alive. Therefore, anything Lucy Gray knew about survival would have been passed on to her fellow Covey member. Though Snow’s lover left District 12 and disappeared forever, Maude Ivory was still there, and it’s heavily implied in the books that she had a connection to Katniss.
Katniss’ father was the only other Hunger Games character besides Katniss who knew about the lake near District 12. It was the only wetland in the region and, therefore, the only place the katniss plants could grow. Since he knew this particular name for the edible tubers, Katniss’ father must have known Maude Ivory or was at least her desendent. This is never confirmed in either the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes or Hunger Games books, but given Lucy Gray’s disappearance and possible death, it’s the most viable answer for how Covey knowledge, such as the name of swamp potatoes, lasted through the years all the way to Katniss.
Lucy Gray Herself Could Still Return After The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
Maude Ivory is said to have a near-perfect memory in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, especially for songs, and this information would only be relevant to readers if it were meant to hint that she was responsible for the continuation of Lucy Gray’s knowledge. However, since the prequel story never reveals precisely what happened to Snow’s lover, it’s always possible that she eventually returned to District 12. Lucy Gray even told Snow that she didn’t think she had it in her to run away and that she would eventually return to the Covey. Possibly, after surviving in the woods, she would have returned after enough time had passed that no one would remember her.
If this were the case, it might have been Lucy Gray who passed on the knowledge of her secret lake and katniss roots to Katniss’ father. There are even theories after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that Lucy Gray was Greasy Sae, the old woman who took Katniss under her wing in The Hunger Games. However, if this were true, then all the work Collins did in the book to set up Maude Ivory as a character would have been for nothing. Additionally, the whole point of Lucy Gray’s ending is that, regardless of whether she lived or died, she was free from Panem’s oppression (just like in “The Hanging Tree Song”). Returning to District 12 could contradict this.
The Ballad Of Songbird & Snakes Missed Opportunities To Connect Katniss To The Covey
The mystery of Katniss’ name is far less ambiguous in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book than in the movie since the Hunger Games books had already established that Katniss’ father possessed a rare understanding of the edible plants and the locations surrounding District 12. Since the prequel novel explained that only the Covey possessed this kind of knowledge 50 years before Katniss’ day, it’s evident that Mr. Everdeen had some connection to Lucy Gray’s people, though what exactly this connection is was only implied. Unfortunately, the Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movies missed the opportunities to forge these links.
Another example of how The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes dropped the ball regarding Katniss’ connection to Lucy Gray is “The Hanging Tree Song.” In The Hunger Games books, Katniss explains that the song was banned in District 12 and that her father taught it to her. In the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book, it’s revealed that immediately after Lucy Gray’s disappearance, when she had only performed the song one time, Commander Hoff banned it and discontinued the Covey’s performances at the Hob. This means that the only way Katniss’ father could have learned “The Hanging Tree Song”—or about the plant that would inspire Katniss’ name— would have been through a connection with the Covey. Unfortunately, this impact was nearly entirely lost in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.
- Release Date
- November 17, 2023
- 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
