Why Lucy Gray Wasn’t Katniss & Peeta’s Mentor During The Hunger Games

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!

Despite being a victor in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lucy Gray Baird didn’t serve as a mentor to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark during their Hunger Games for several reasons. According to franchise lore, past winners of Hunger Games events often served as mentors for new tributes in their respective districts. Though it was never meant to be a requirement, the victors were viewed as advantages, giving tributes vital intel and training to win. Whether it was how to survive the games themselves or how to use their skills to acquire sponsors in the hopes of gaining supplies for better chances at survival, victors surely made a difference.

With the help of Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray became the winner of the 10th Hunger Games. In fact, she’s still the first known winner in Hunger Games canon, with Mags Flanagan winning the year that followed. Lucy Gray was sent back to District 12 even though her win was controversial. However, she never experienced any of the real rewards that came with being a victor, nor did she participate in any future Games as a mentor. She was still absent when Katniss and Peeta were reaped for the 74th Hunger Games, but even if she had been around, it’s unclear if she would’ve had a role in the event.

Lucy Gray Couldn’t Be Katniss & Peeta’s Mentor After Songbirds & Snakes

Rachel Zegler’s character wasn’t present in The Hunger Games books and movies because it’s still unknown what happened to Lucy Gray after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. After fleeing from Coriolanus in the woods, her fate remained a mystery. The prequel book implied that the Capitol essentially erased any history of her and the 10th Hunger Games. There were even rumors circulating within District 12 that the mayor had her killed, so in the decades that followed, the story of Lucy Gray was lost.

Even if Lucy Gray hadn’t been forgotten by District 12 and the rest of Panem by the time of The Hunger Games, it’s doubtful she would be permitted to mentor tributes. 64 years later, Coriolanus was the president of Panem, and considering her complicated history with Lucy Gray, he never would have allowed her to be a mentor. He may not have ordered her killing, but the Snow depicted in The Hunger Games story had lost any humanity he had left. There’s no way he would have allowed Lucy Gray to live comfortably as a victor.

Haymitch Was A Better Mentor For Katniss & Peeta Than Lucy Gray Could Have Been

Had things worked out differently for Lucy Gray following her win, Haymitch Abernathy would have still been the better mentor for Katniss and Peeta ahead of their Games. Haymitch may have suffered greatly from his time as a tribute, but that gave him the mental toughness to know what it would take to win. Haymitch won the 50th Hunger Games, which served as the Second Quarter Quell, an event that included four tributes from each district. The increase in tributes made Haymitch’s Hunger Games win even more remarkable. It also allowed him to pass on the importance of physicality, strategic alliance, and mental fortitude.

Lucy Gray may have had good intel to pass on to Katniss, Peeta, and even Haymitch if she was around to be his mentor, but she wouldn’t have been tough enough to get the best out of her mentees. Her Hunger Games win in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was impressive, but it took some intervention from Snow for it to happen. If he hadn’t pulled some of the strings, Lucy Gray probably wouldn’t have survived alone. Haymitch and his link to the rebellion had a much more significant influence on Katniss and Peeta’s fate in the Games.