Lucy Gray’s Last ‘Hunger Games’ Line Is A Katniss Reference

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a wonderful film on its very own, but it becomes a masterpiece when you start out to detect all the approaches it connects to The Starvation Game titles saga. The film about Coriolanus Snow’s youth offers a treasure trove of insight into how the Hunger Online games commenced, and how they progressed into the bloody spectacle Snow presided about. But between all the telling particulars, it’s Lucy Gray’s final line in the prequel that most cleverly foreshadows Snow’s destiny.

Spoiler alert: This article discusses the ending of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Because the prequel motion picture is established additional than 60 yrs prior to the situations depicted in the Starvation Games motion pictures, characters like Katniss and Peeta are nevertheless generations away from coming into the photo. But Katniss nonetheless manages to display up in some surprising destinations.

The initially nod to the Snow’s foreseeable future nemesis is through the 10th Yearly Hunger Video games, when Coriolanus spots an unused bow and arrow on the ground as he enters the arena to retrieve Sejanus. Nobody made use of that weapon in these Video games, but it would be picked up 64 a long time later on when Katniss entered the 74th Hunger Online games.

The film also points out the origin for the “Hanging Tree” tune that Katniss famously sings in Mockingjay — Component 1. Lucy Grey is demonstrated composing the track after witnessing Peacekeepers executing a District 12 resident accused of murder. Meaningfully, Lucy Gray’s operate would survive the test of time and become an anthem for the revolt from her just one-time ally, Coriolanus Snow.

But the most overt Hunger Game titles reference is a straight-up shoutout to Katniss. As Lucy Gray exhibits Coriolanus close to District 12, she tells him about katniss, a resilient “swamp potato” that she and her close friends harvest.

This all sales opportunities to Lucy Gray’s ultimate instant, when she realizes she demands to escape from Coriolanus and makes up a quite prescient excuse to get away from him. “I imagine I will go dig up some katniss, considering that we bought the fireplace going anyway,” she claims. The line is a obvious nod that Katniss’ time is coming, and Lucy Grey “digging her up” connects the two gals as leaders in the rebellion from the Capitol. The point out of a establishing hearth is also a clever allusion to the fireplace motif in The Starvation Games. Katniss gained the nickname Female on Fire thanks to her flame-accented outfits, and pointed to the imagery of fire as a symbol of her escalating insurrection.

Right before Lucy Gray goes, Coriolanus stops her with 1 last remark, recalling how she experienced a short while ago reported it was far too early to start off finding katniss. Her last text double as a warning to his potential self: “The planet improvements awfully rapid.”