The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Ending Explained: what happened to Lucy Gray and Coryo Snow
CAUTION, SPOILER ALERT. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, is set 64 years before the events of the first film in the original trilogy and tells the story of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and his tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). The film, which premiered on November 17, 2023, in the United States and a day earlier in Latin America, begins by showing little Coryo and Tigris walking the war-devastated streets of the Capitol in search of food. On their way, they encounter Nero Price mutilating the young maiden’s body and a rabid dog that threatens to attack them.
Like the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is divided into three parts: The Mentor, The Prize, and The Peacekeeper. In the first, Coriolanus heads to the Academy hoping to receive the Plinth Prize for his excellent grades. Money with which he could pay for his university studies and prevent the Snow family from ending up in total ruin, at least in the eyes of the Capitol. However, a change of plans occurs, and Dean Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) informs that the top 24 students will become mentors for the 10th Annual Hunger Games tributes to determine who will win the prize. Casca makes sure to give Coryo the worst option, due to an old feud with his father, and promises to do everything possible to prevent him from winning. However, a little hope arises for Coryo when Lucy Gray puts on a great show and catches the attention of many.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Review: The Story Plot
The new film in the Hunger Games saga is set several years before Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, precisely on the occasion of the tenth edition of the games, when Coriolanus Snow is still a young student in Capitol City. At the end of the courses, generally, the most brilliant student of the Academy receives a prize but this time the criteria are different: whoever is the best sponsor for one of the tributes will be able to win it. The story therefore takes place 64 years before the edition that sees Katniss Everdeen as a tribute from District 12: it is interesting – but at the same time disturbing – to observe the structure of the first Hunger Games, the first experiments that then gave shape to the innovations seen in other films.
The human being is punished and at the same time tested in an oppressive and suffocating arena, where the tributes, announced without a name, are treated even more like beasts by the Capitol system. The new film by Francis Lawrence is divided into three parts which help to mark the three stages of evolution of the protagonist: a more than functional division exactly as happens in the novel, which in the case of a feature film lasting 2 hours and 38 minutes certainly helps more to “keep in order” all the narrative connections. A mechanical division is not to be expected, but rather a harmonious and consequential one, even if the intense final part requires a greater sprint from the spectator.
Divided into three parts, the film gradually tells the story of Coriolanus, a young boy from the Capitol, the son of a pacifist general, and the only male heir of what remains of the old illustrious Snow family. Coriolanus lives with his grandmother and cousin Tigris and attends the Capitol Academy, disguising himself well among all the other snooty students in the city and eager for the Academy’s highest prize, the Plinth Prize, given to the most illustrious student with the highest grade point average. On the day of the prize delivery, however, things don’t go as planned.
Coriolanus and all the other students discover that to obtain what they most desire they must participate as mentors in the Tenth Hunger Games, the first Hunger Games in history to be real shows, during which the mentors and their tributes must work together so that these the latter obtain support and donations from the public. Coriolanus becomes the mentor of the District 12 tribute girl, Lucy Gray: a skinny, bland girl with a nightingale voice. For the boy, it becomes a challenge not only against the Hunger Games but also against himself, as he will have to try to make Lucy Gray win and obtain her prize. However, things get complicated when Coriolanus mixes strategy with heart, games with his interest in Lucy Gray in a dangerous game that will lead him to choose between himself, ambition, and love.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Ending Explained: What Happened to Lucy Gray?
Coriolanus Snow is determined to win, so he waits for his tribute at the train station and ends up in the zoo cage, where the tributes are displayed before the inhabitants of the Capitol. Loco Flickerman’s cameras capture his risky move. Once again he gets Lucy the spotlight, which could secure him several sponsors, according to the new rules he proposed to Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis). One day before The Hunger Games begins, mentors and tributes gather in the arena to plan a strategy. Coryo promises Lucy that he will save her at any cost and she asks him to start by believing that she can win. A series of explosions caused by the rebels leaves Snow trapped, but Lucy, instead of taking the opportunity to escape, returns to save him.
During the night and after leaving the hospital, Snow sneaks into the sand and finds a way to help Lucy: he tells her the best place to hide from the other tributes and gives her her mother’s compact with rat poison inside. Once the cannon sounds, the bloodbath begins, but Lucy manages to hide in time with Jessup, the other tribute from District 12. While the tributes are hidden in the middle of the night, Coryo is summoned by Dr. Gaul to remove from the sand his supposed friend Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera), who sneaked away to recover the body of Marcus, tribute from District 2, where Sejanus’ family once belonged.
Lucy Gray’s Victory and Coryo’s Trick!
After rescuing Sejanus, killing a tribute in the process, and gaining the favor of the Plinths, Snow focuses on helping Lucy survive when Jessup chases her, crazed by the rabies he contracted from the bite of some infected animal. After some deaths in the arena, the survivors go after the young singer, who uses the poison to get rid of a couple of rivals. When Dr. Gaul interrupts the broadcast of the games to announce that President Ravinstill’s son due to the previous attack by the rebels and that there will be consequences, even if it means that there will be no victor that year, Coryo understands that she will send the snakes of colors as punishment. So that they don’t attack Lucy, she puts a handkerchief with her scent in the container. The colorful snakes arrive at the arena and attack everyone, except Lucy Gray, who sings to calm them down. Although viewers believe that it is her voice that prevents the attack, Gaul fully understands what is happening, but has no choice but to declare her the winner. Everyone congratulates Coryo, but the joy is short-lived, as Casca informs him that due to his foul play, he will be sent to District 8 to serve as a peacekeeper for twenty years.
The Peace Agent?
In the third part of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Coryo uses what little money he has left to bribe recruiters to send him to District 12. If he can’t achieve glory and keep the Snow family’s good name, he at least wants the girl who captivated them in the 10th Hunger Games. Before reaching his new destination, he is surprised by Sejanus, who decides to follow him to escape the Capitol in hopes of helping the districts. After their first days of training, the newcomers take advantage of the day off to visit the Quemador. While Coryo enjoys the presentation of Lucy Gray and the Flock, Sejanus talks to some rebels, which undoubtedly worries Snow, especially since such actions are punishable by death. After his romantic reunion with Lucy Gray, Coryo confronts Sejanus, who explains that he feels unable to capture and watch the rebels die at the hangman’s tree, so he has decided to help them free an innocent woman and escape with a group of people to the north.
Snow is afraid that this will harm him since everyone considers them friends, so he uses chatter to record her conversation and send it to Dr. Gaul. During another introduction to Lucy, Coriolanus follows Sejanus and finds him meeting with Spruce, Billy Taupe, Lucy’s ex-boyfriend, and Mayfair Lipp, the daughter of the mayor of District 12 and the person responsible for Lucy ending up in The Hunger Games. The singer also arrives at the place, which provokes the anger of Mayfair, who threatens to expose them. To prevent this, Snow shoots Mayfair and when Billy gets upset, Spruce does the same. Although everyone promises to remain silent, the mayor will not stop until the culprit is found and punished. Being targeted, Lucy decides to leave, and realizing that she could be discovered and end up in the hangman’s tree, Coryo decides to accompany her, even though the general offered him to study at the military school in District 2.
What Happened to Lucy Gray?
Before his departure, Sejanus is sentenced to death for treason, leaving Coryo feeling guilty and convincing him that it is best to leave with Lucy. As they walk through the forest, Coryo thinks about her new life with her, but in the middle of the conversation, Snow mentions that he murdered three people. When Lucy asks him about the identity of the third victim, he claims that it is her former self. However, that answer does not convince Lucy Gray. The rain forces them to take refuge in a cabin, where Coryo finds the weapons that could incriminate him. At that moment, he thinks that if he gets rid of them, he could still have a promising future in District 2 and somehow return to the Capitol. Lucy leaves under the pretext of looking for some edible plants and does not return.
Snow goes out looking for Lucy, but the only thing she finds is her mother’s scarf that she gave to the young woman. When he picks her up, he discovers a snake biting her arm, which he considers a declaration of war. In a matter of seconds, the thought of a life with Lucy fades and is replaced by the thought of getting rid of her. Hearing a noise, he shoots and hears a scream, but does not find her body. Lucy Gray sings “Hangman’s Tree” and the mockingjays replicate the melodious sound, hiding her trace. Coryo shoots everywhere, throws the weapons at the bottom of the lake, and returns to base.
