The Hunger Games prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is at once an expansion of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Universe from the books and a pivotal backstory explaining how such a ruthless and sadistic villain like President Coriolanus Snow came to be the man he is. In that sense, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has enough room to carve out its own place in The Hunger Games saga, while also peppering in some key Easter eggs that help shape the future events we will witness in the Hunger Games series.
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The Hunger Games
The first and most obvious connection between The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes and the original Hunger Games Trilogy is the games themselves and the coverage surrounding them. The Hunger Games prequel takes place during and after the 10th Annual Hunger Games – 64 years before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are selected as District 12 tributes for the 74th Hunger Games. Obviously, that earlier time means an earlier – read: more rudimentary – form of The Hunger Games.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ story hinges on the initial idea that the Capitol wants to restore viewership of the games, which has been slipping. It’s for that reason the Mentor/Tribute relationship is re-examined, as Academy Dean and original co-conceiver of the games, Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), thinks that turning the tributes into entertaining TV performers (and not just fodder) is key. It’s a change (entertainment value) that Coriolanus Snow takes to heart at the end of the film (SPOILERS) after he is “rewarded” the chance to be mentored by head gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis). It’s Coryo’s experience in the 10th games that forever makes the ritual more like a sadistic video game rather than a battle royale.
There are any number of stylistic Easter eggs buried in the games, as well. From the more rudimentary concept of the arena and its weapons to the introduction of horrible genetically modified animals as a means of complicating the battle, we get to see where President Snow got the ideas that inspired him to “improve” the Hunger Games and its spectacle. The most fun Easter egg is probably the tribute donations/reward system, which Coriolanus Snow first thinks up and has implemented into the 10th games. The drone technology for delivering rewards turns out to be flawed at first, as the drones crash into their targets rather than making safe deliveries.
Why I Hate District 12
The other big connection between the original Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the role of District 12 in the story. Beyond informing us about why Coriolanus Snow became “President Snow,” the prequel does a masterfully subtle job of delivering brushstrokes of implication for why Snow has such a fanatical fixation and burning obsession with Katniss Everdeen from the moment she starts gaining fame.
The Third Act of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes sees Coryo banished from the Capitol for cheating to help his tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) win the games. Snow is forced to live in District 12 as a member of the Peacekeepers, and for a moment it seems he will find peace there, carrying on a secret romance with Lucy. In the film’s emotionally-harrowing ending, Snow turns on Lucy and his friends, in order to restore his own family’s standing in the Capitol.
It’s made clear in several scenes that key moments from his time in District 12 affected Coriolanus forever. One example is his first learning about the “Katniss” plant from Lucy during one of their best days together; another is the air of rebellion in the district that ends up ruining Coryo and Lucy’s chance for a happy ending. Most of all, the range of experience from being a Capitol mentor to a District Peacekeeper informs Snow of the man he truly is – memories that were no doubt triggered in the original trilogy, when Snow had District 12 destroyed.
Legacy Characters
Obviously, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has any number of legacy character Easter egg – starting with Coriolanus Snow. We get to see famous Capitol fashion designer (and Coryo’s cousin) Tigris Snow (Hunter Schafer) before she converted her body into a human-tiger hybrid. Original game designers Casca Highbottom and Volumnia Gaul are big characters to meet, while Jason Schwartzman has a whole comedic story arc about the first member of the Flckerman family tasked with hosting the Hunger Games as a broadcast TV event.
