Sunrise on the Reaping Finally Reveals How Haymitch Won His Hunger Games

There have always been a lot of questions about the 73 years of Hunger Games before Katniss and Peeta were selected as District 12’s tributes. Some answers came in the books that followed The Hunger Games, while others arrived in the form of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. One of the biggest mysteries, however, revolved around the 50th Games, when District 12 mentor Haymitch Abernathy emerged as the lone victor. No one was quite sure how Haymitch actually won, but we did know that he has spent 24 years drinking himself away as the result of what he experienced. Thanks to Suzanne Collins’ latest novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, we now know the details of Haymitch’s victory — and what it ultimately cost him.

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Sunrise on the Reaping. Continue reading at your own risk…

Haymitch was reaped into the 50th Hunger Games, otherwise known as the Second Quarter Quell, which featured twice as many tributes from each district. 48 kids and teenagers from the districts were put into the arena, making it the deadliest edition of the Hunger Games in Panem’s history. So how did Haymitch manage to survive it?

Well, we discover in Sunrise on the Reaping that Haymitch had an ulterior motive once the gong sounded and his Hunger Games began. Like many others, Haymitch hated the Capitol, and he had no interest in being part of their narrative. So he was approached by people like Beetee and Plutarch who were secretly planning a new rebellion. His objective was to get beneath the arena and use explosives to blow a hole in a massive water tank, flooding the control center and ruining the Games.

Haymitch knew that President Snow had it out for him, and the President had even made a veiled threat that he would harm everyone Haymitch loved if he didn’t die in the arena. So Haymitch planned on helping one of his allies win after completing his task. But pulling off the explosion caused him to spent most of the early part of the Games on his own.

After the explosion, which didn’t do the damage the Rebels had hoped, Haymitch focused on partnering up with Maysilee, his fellow District 12 tribute who because his very close friend. They worked together as end of the Games drew near, but she was killed by mutts while he wasn’t by her side. Another ally, a young girl from District 6 named Wellie, became Haymitch’s protection mission, but she was ruthlessly killed by a career tribute when there were only three people left.

This left Haymitch no choice but to try and win, and he used the arena against the Gamemakers to try and make a show of things. At the edge of the arena, Haymitch found a cliff, and figured out that there was a force field at the bottom that sent objects right back to where they came from. When the Games came down to just two left, a nasty fight left Haymitch mortally wounded, with his intestines starting to fall out of his stomach. He made it to the edge of the arena and simply dodged and ax throw from his opponent, allowing it to go off the cliff and back up into his rival’s face. Both tributes ended the Hunger Games on their death bed, which Haymitch felt was the best conclusion. He used a final explosive to blow up a generator at the bottom of the cliff as an act of defiance as he died.

[RELATED: Ranking the Saddest Deaths in the Hunger Games]

Except, as we already knew, Haymitch didn’t die on that cliff. The Capitol went to great lengths to keep Haymitch alive in the days and weeks following the Hunger Games. Ultimately, that was likely because Snow wanted to punish Haymitch for his rebellious nature. Haymitch was healed and sent home to District 12, where he returned just in time to see his mother and brother die in a house fire (set by Capitol Peacekeepers). The next day, a trick from the Capitol saw Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove, die in his arms.

By winning the Hunger Games, and refusing to play by the Capitol’s rules, Haymitch lost everything he loved. That’s what caused Haymitch to be the grumpy, disconnected-from-the-world alcoholic that we met at the start of the original Hunger Games book. He spent 24 years dealing with the loss that he fought to prevent and the horrible things he saw in the arena. He also used all that time to push away anyone and everyone, hoping that President Snow wouldn’t find anyone else to punish for his actions.

Long story short, Haymitch won the Hunger Games by doing everything he could to not win the Hunger Games. His intention was never to win, but to help end the Capitol’s reign of terror against the districts. By doing that, he was essentially turned into an example to anyone else who wanted to defy President Snow.

Sunrise on the Reaping is available to purchase now. Lionsgate has already set the film adaptation for a theatrical release in 2026.