The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Plot Explained

The 2023 Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will follow a young President, Coriolanus Snow, through his first year in brutal Hunger Games. As a teenager, Coriolanus Snow is very different from his older Hunger Games counterpart. However, as his journey progresses, the monster within is slowly revealed.

The film is based on the book of the same name by author Suzanne Collins, which gives audiences a peek into the early days after the first District rebellion and takes the perspective of the Capitol citizens rather than the Districts.

When The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book first picks up, it is only ten years after the end of the District Rebellion and the start of the Hunger Games. Coriolanus Snow was a young child when Panem fell into war, significantly impacting his upbringing.

The Hunger Games prequel demonstrated how hard life had been for the wealthy Capitol citizens since they began to starve without the District’s resources. When the war ended, the Capitol implemented the Hunger Games to punish the Districts, but things were not going well by the 10th Hunger Games.

1. Coriolanus Comes Up With The Hunger Games Sponsor Idea

When Lucy Gray and the other District tributes were brought to the Capitol for the Hunger Games, it was nothing like what was seen in the original Hunger Games series.

The children were thrown into cattle cars with nowhere to use the bathroom. Then, they were kept in a zoo enclosure in the Capitol, where the terrible treatment only continued.

They weren’t offered food or water, and Lucy Gray became so weak that it became even less likely that she could fight in the Games.

Coriolanus brought Lucy Gray a rose and food to win her over. She was intrigued by her mentor, but thanks to her poor living conditions, she couldn’t give him much attention.

This inspired Coriolanus to suggest the idea of Hunger Games sponsors to Dr. Gaul. He argued that more Capitol citizens would watch the Games if they could bet on their favorite tributes and that the show would be better if the competitors were strong and healthy.

2. Coriolanus Snow is Selected for The Hunger Games Mentorship

At the start of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it quickly becomes clear that the Hunger Games are nothing like when Katniss Everdeen was reaped. Though the Capitol citizens despised the Districts, they took little pleasure in watching their children kill one another.

So, to increase interest in the events, the Head Gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, assigned Capitol students to the District tributes as mentors.

The Snow family had lost their fortune during the war and only managed to maintain their status by hiding behind their name. Therefore, Coriolanus, played by Tom Blyth in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie, knew that the scholarship opportunities available for the winning mentors were his best bet to attend University after graduation.

So, Corio became determined to give it his all.

3. Does Coriolanus Cheat?

In the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray did well on her own. Her charisma had earned her many sponsors, and her survival instincts proved effective. However, she might not have lived if it wasn’t for Coriolanus’ interference.

 At this point, Corio had fallen in love with Lucy Gray, and though he couldn’t have a future with her, he wanted her to live. Still, his central motivation in helping Lucy Gray was the betterment of himself and his family.

So, Coriolanus couldn’t afford to leave the Hunger Games in Lucy Gray’s hands. Before she entered the arena, he slipped her a makeup compact filled with rat poison that she could secretly use against the other tributes.

This was risky enough as it was, but later, when he found out about a batch of snake mutations that Dr. Gaul planned to release into the arena, Coriolanus dropped one of Lucy Gray’s handkerchiefs in their cage so that they would become familiar with her smell. Thus, Lucy Gray was able to win the Hunger Games.

4. Who Murders the daughter of Mayor of District 12?

Before Sejuanus was killed, he managed to get Coriolanus wrapped up in the rebel plans within District 12. This was entirely against Corio’s will, and his fear that he would get dragged down into their crimes was part of his motivation for turning Sejanus in.

However, at one point, when Coriolanus was trying to get Sejanus out of a meet-up with Billy Taupe, the rebel’s new lover, Mayfair Lipp, started causing trouble.

Mayfair threatened to tell her father, the mayor, what was going on, which meant that Coriolanus would have also been implicated in the rebels’ crimes. When the girl turned to flee, Coriolanus lifted one of the rebels’ guns and killed her.

In a panic, Corio allowed one of the rebels to take the guns to hide them so that the murder wouldn’t be traced back to them. He tried to go about life as usual, but this specific rebel was caught and killed along with Sejanus.

Since Coriolanus had no idea where the murder weapon was, he could not know if or when it would be found. Sejanus’ death had rattled him, and he grew terrified that he would be the next to hang.

So, he decided that the only option left to him was to escape District 12. The idea of living in the wild did not appeal to him, but he resolved himself with the knowledge that Lucy Gray would be joining him.

5. Lucy Gray Discovers The Truth About Coriolanus

Shortly into their journey, Coriolanus and Lucy Gray came to a lake with a nearby shack and decided to stop there for a while. Unbeknownst to Corio, his companion had begun to assemble the pieces of Sejanus’ death. Thus, when she excused herself for collecting food, she had no intention of returning to him.

However, Coriolanus was too distracted to notice this at first since, in the shack, he miraculously chanced upon the guns used in Mayfair’s murder.

This was Corio’s lucky break. He had found the murder weapons and could therefore hide them and ensure that no one ever knew what he had done. However, at this moment, he realized what Lucy Gray did know, and his entire perspective on her changed.

Suddenly, with the knowledge that he could return and become a war officer; Corio determined that girl he had loved shortly before was his enemy. He chased her through the forest and blindly shot into the trees until he could no longer hear her. Although he never found her body, to confirm she was dead.

6. Who Murdered Casca Highbottom?

Snow was allowed to return to his home with Tigris and his grandmother and could attend University thanks to the generosity of the Plinth family. They had made him their heir since he had been such a good friend to their son Sejanus.

He lied to himself and those around him and said that he and Lucy Gray had parted ways on good terms, and he later found out that the whole of District 12 believes that the mayor, Mayfair’s father, is responsible for the Hunger Games Victor’s assumed death. Everything worked out just fine.

The Hunger Games series revealed how Coriolanus Snow would turn to murder whenever someone got in his way, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes told just how he fell into this habit. It started with Mayfair and Sejanus in what Corio would have called unavoidable circumstances.

 But he fully leaned into his killer instincts when he returned to the Capitol. Dean Highbottom, who had been a nuisance to Snow for so long, wound up with rat poison in his dose of morphine—another murder added to what would end up being a nearly endless list.

7. About The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an upcoming film based on the book of the same name by American author Suzanne Collins. It is a spin-off and a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy.

The film adaptation from Lionsgate is expected to release in late 2023 or early 2024. Director Francis Lawrence will return to direct. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are returning as producers. Collins and Michael Arndt will adapt the screenplay.

The dystopian action-adventure novel follows 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who is chosen to mentor a tribute in the upcoming 10th Hunger Games.