The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows Coriolanus Snow and his life before he became the tyrannical President of Panem. He’s a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games and gets assigned to District 12’s tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. So, what happens at the end of the prequel? Here’s the The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ending explained.
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Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie and book!
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Ending Explained: Did Lucy Gray Die?
Lucy Gray Baird’s fate is not clear. Towards the end of the film, Lucy Gray and Coriolanus plan to run away together and escape to the North.
However, Coriolanus later reveals that he killed three people, and Lucy asks who the third one is. Coriolanus lies about this, saying that he killed his old self.
Lucy Gray and Coriolanus arrive at a cabin near District 12’s lake. Coriolanus then finds the weapon he used to kill Mayfair Lipp.
Lucy Gray realizes that Coriolanus could destroy the guns, which would wash away all physical evidence of his connection to the deaths of Mayfair and Billy Taupe. Lucy Gray is aware that she’s the only witness left who could tie him to the crime.
She then tells Coriolanus that she would go dig up some katniss. But Lucy Gray does not come back, so Coriolanus looks for her, bringing the rifle with him.
He finds the orange scarf he gave her but then gets bitten by a snake. This angers him, and he shoots into the trees. He becomes confused about her location when Lucy Gray sings "The Hanging Tree" and the mockingjays pick up the song.
It appears that Coriolanus was able to shoot Lucy Gray, but when he went to the spot where he thought she would be, Lucy Gray wasn’t there. We do not see Lucy Gray again after what happened in the forest.
When Coriolanus returns to the Capitol and converses with Dean Highbottom, the latter asks if Lucy Gray is sad about him leaving District 12. Coriolanus is also informed that people think Lucy Gray was killed by the mayor, but this isn’t confirmed.
Lucy Gray’s fate is left ambiguous, just like in the book. The book emphasizes that Lucy Gray’s fate is a mystery and that perhaps no one would ever really know whether she was alive or dead.
It is also mentioned that Coriolanus would sometimes remember a moment of sweetness and almost wish that things had ended differently. But he did not like love because it made him feel stupid and vulnerable.
And so, he decided that if ever he would get married, he would choose someone he hated so that they could not manipulate him the way Lucy Gray had, or make him feel jealous or weak.
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Ending Explained: What Happened to Coriolanus Snow?
Coriolanus goes back to the Capitol and meets with Dr. Volumnia Gaul. The latter informs him that she ordered him an honorable discharge and that he’s to study under her at the University.
Strabo Plinth, Sejanus’ father, also names Coriolanus his heir, unaware of his role in his son’s death.
Later on, Coriolanus visits Dean Highbottom and gives him Sejanus’ belongings. Highbottom then reveals why he does not like Coriolanus.
It turns out that Highbottom and Crassus Snow, Coriolanus’ father, used to be classmates and best friends. For the final project, the assignment was to create a punishment for one’s enemies so extreme that they would never be allowed to forget how they wronged you.
Highbottom was drunk one night and Crassus got him even more drunk. This was when he came up with the idea of the Hunger Games.
To Highbottom, it was only meant to be theoretical, but Crassus submitted the proposal to Dr. Gaul, and the latter then made the Games a reality. Highbottom never forgave Crassus for what he did.
After Coriolanus leaves, Highbottom takes the morphling, unaware that it was poisoned by Coriolanus. This leads to Dean Highbottom’s death. Coriolanus then says, “Snow lands on top.”
We then hear a voiceover of Donald Sutherland’s President Snow saying, “It’s the things we love most that destroy us.”
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