What Sunrise on the Reaping Means for the World of the Hunger Games

Spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping, A Balled of Songbirds and Snakes, and the original Hunger Games trilogy follow.

Sure, I love fan service as much as the next reader, but Sunrise on the Reaping is more than just backstory. The fifth novel and second prequel to Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games novels follows Katniss’s cynical mentor and fellow District 12 victor, Haymitch Abernathy, during the 50th “Quarter Quell” games. During these games, the number of tributes is doubled as Haymitch, along with three others from District 12, are selected as tributes to participate in the deadly games. Readers of the original Hunger Games trilogy already know what happens: He wins, and after his family and girlfriend die soon after, becomes an alcoholic who’s forced to relive his horror each year as the mentor for District 12 tributes.

Prior to Sunrise, our only knowledge of the events from Haymitch’s games comes from the footage Katniss and Peeta watch in preparation for their own Quarter Quell in Catching Fire. The version of the games they see shows Haymitch as an arrogant loner who runs off on his own for most of the games until he eventually teams up with fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee, until she’s killed by a flock of candy-pink birds.

At surface level, these nuggets of familiarity can easily be categorized as fan service — there’s nothing more delightful than learning the backstory that drove the original series. But, placed with purpose, the parallels to Catching Fire shed light on the Haymitch from 24 years in the future.

By the end of Sunrise, we know Maysilee’s attack was retaliation from the Capitol for killing a Gamemaker in the arena. In fact, there are many aspects of Haymitch’s games that were omitted from the Quarter Quell’s footage; Haymitch’s attempts to destroy the arena are obviously not shown, nor are his discovery of the tunnels beneath the berms. So, it’s devastating when, after Haymitch recovers from surviving it all, he’s forced to watch the censored version of the games fed to the rest of Panem. And when he returns, the Capitol kills his family and love interest, Lenore Dove, as punishment for his actions. Even as readers, our previous knowledge of these events were part of the propaganda the Capitol created. And we believed it.

While the manipulation of truth for the Capitol’s benefit is a heavy theme throughout the prequel, it’s heavily contrasted by the songs and folklore passed down by the Covey and residents of District 12 that continue to drive each protagonist (more on that later). Below, everything we learned in Sunrise on the Reaping and how it changes what we know about the world of the Hunger Games.

What else do we learn about Haymitch?

His birthday is on Reaping Day, which we eventually learn is July 4. (A little too on the nose, if you ask me.)

How does Haymitch enter the Games?

During the District 12 reaping, Haymitch and Lenore Dove watched Louella McCoy, Maysilee Donner, Wyatt Callow, and Woodbine Chance get their names chosen first. Woodbine tries to run away but is killed by Peacekeepers. In a quick turn of events, Haymitch tries to shield Lenore who runs to console Woodbine’s mother. But as a result of interfering with the Peacekeepers, and because a new male tribute was now needed, Haymitch is chosen as a replacement.

Who’s Lenore Dove?

She’s Haymitch’s Covey girlfriend, part of a nomadic people. Before the reaping on his 16th birthday, she gives him the fire starter seen on the cover of the novel. “It’s a thin strip of metal, shaped like a C,” with the head of the snake on one end, and the head of a long-necked bird on the other.

Who are the other District 12 Tributes? And what happened to them?

Louella McCoy: One of Haymitch’s neighbors back in District 12, their families were close, so they were quick to bond after the reaping. Louella dies before the games begin when the District 12 chariot crashes during the tribute parade. Another way of the Capital manipulating the truth, the crash is not shown to the public and Louella is instead replaced with a stand-in (a brainwashed girl from District 11) whom the rest of the tributes lovingly call “Lou Lou.”

Maysilee Donner: She’s the best friend of Katniss’s mother, who we now know is called Asterid. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we learned about how she was the original owner of the Mockingjay pin back in Catching Fire when Madge Undersee gives it to Katniss. She dies when the Capitol programs birds to kill her in the arena.

Wyatt Callow: He grew up on the opposite side of the seam as Haymitch and comes from a long line of people obsessed with betting on the odds of each tribute winning the games. Despite his attempts to defy the odds, he dies trying to protect Lou Lou during the first moments of the games.

These three — and Lou Lou — eventually create an alliance with the other non-career districts called “the Newcomers.”

Do any of the other characters from the original trilogy make an appearance?

Yes, plenty. Three victors and game mentors who helped Katniss and the rest of the rebels in the third Quarter Quell games in the original trilogy are introduced. Mags, victor of the 11th Hunger Games from District 4, and Wiress, victor of the 49th Hunger Games from District 3, are assigned as mentors to the Quarter Quell District 12 tributes since no previous winners are available (we still don’t know what happened to Lucy Baird …). Beetee, victor of the 34th Hunger Games from District 3, also appears as a mentor for District 3 who tragically, after a failed attempt to sabotage the Capitol’s communications system, has to mentor his son, Ampert, in the games. At the end of the book, all three are tortured for their attempts to dismantle the games. We see how their punishment eventually affects them in the original trilogy.

Plutarch Heavensbee also plays a major role here. A cameraman for the District 12 reapings during the 50th Games, we get our first glimpse of Plutarch as he starts to suggest ways of manipulating the reaping’s coverage; he suggests filming Lenore’s tearful good-bye to Haymitch and showing the Peacekeepers controlling the crowd as “It could be an opportunity to hit the ‘No Peacekeeper, No Peace’ angle.” Later, Plutarch sets Haymitch up on a phone call with Lenore to gain his trust; he knows about the rebel plot (given what we know from the original trilogy, that’s an understatement) and shares essential information about the arena to help Haymitch fulfill the plan.

Effie Trinket becomes District 12’s stylist after her sister, Proserpina (who’s part of the district’s prep team as a part of a school project), calls her in to help when their original stylist fails to show up. This becomes the first time District 12’s tributes wear anything beyond coal-miner uniforms.

How does Haymitch win the games?

The last two tributes standing, Haymitch intentionally dodges an ax thrown by District 1 tribute Silka, so it falls on the force field that encompasses the arena boundary. It bounces back and lodges into Silka’s head, killing her instantly. Haymitch — convinced he’ll soon reach the same fate — uses the last seconds of the games to light the fuse of the DIY bomb that Beetee taught him how to make and throws it into the force field.

But what about Katniss?

While the book takes place way before Katniss’s time, her parents are finally given some back story. Her father, Burdock Everdeen, was one of Haymitch’s close friends. For all we know, Haymitch never tells Katniss this, but it does add context to his affection and protection of her.

In fact, Burdock saves Haymitch’s life when he stops him from running into his inflamed childhood home in an attempt to save his mom and brother when he returns to District 12 at the end of the novel. At the funeral for Haymitch’s family and the rest of the fallen District 12 tributes, Burdock sings a District 12 funeral song, the exact song Lucy Baird sang when she was in the arena, indicating for the first time that Lucy was singing for her own funeral.

So do we know what happened to Lucy Baird?

Not exactly. In the days following his victory, Haymitch is fed footage from old Hunger Games. Among them “a girl in a rainbow of ruffles sings a familiar tune.” He imminently clocks the voice as Covey and wonders if this is District 12’s mysterious victor. We of course know this is true, but Haymitch is left with many questions as he eventually pieces together that there might be a connection between Lucy Baird and President Snow. He comes to this conclusion after recalling something Snow said to him in the library:

“Bet I know a thing or two about your dove.”

“Like what” 

“Like she’s delightful to look at, swishes around in bright colors, and sings like a mockingjay. You love her. And oh, how she seems to love you. Except sometimes you wonder because her plans don’t seem to include you at all” 

After one drunken episode, Burdock shows Haymitch a small, secret graveyard with carved headstones — seemingly designated to the Covey. Next to Lenore’s grave is someone familiar:

On a mossy slab of slate:

“— Yet some maintain that to this day

She is a living child;

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray

Upon the lonesome wild” 

So is Lucy Gray related to Lenore Dove?

Probably not, but Haymitch is convinced that Lenore and the rest of the Covey must have an idea of what happened to her and why they refuse to talk about her.

Some more lore for you: When Haymitch first meets Lenore, Burdock calls her “cuz.” Haymitch reflects back on this internally, guessing: “She wasn’t one of Burdock’s Everdeen cousins, but I knew he had some distant ones on his ma’s side.” Some readers on TikTok say this confirms that Katniss has Covey relatives, but that’s up for interpretation.

Are there any new Covey songs?

Sorta. When he eventually returns to District 12, Haymitch is haunted by the untimely death of Lenore His descent into madness is not-so-subtly illustrated by Haymitch being haunted by her “name poem” as it’s continually stuck in his head. The poem in question — I kid you not — Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven — a folksong in the world of the Covey. The poem is written out in its entirety (which if you recall, is a long poem) throughout the entire last chapter. If you’re also struggling to hear the poem as a song — don’t worry. The TikTok musicians are already on the case:

What do we learn from the epilogue?

At the end of the novel, Haymitch is desperate to forget. He isolates himself: “The human contact I allow myself arrives by way of Capitol News, which I play on my television set 24/7.” He hopes to come across Lenore’s ghost, but it’s also a reminder of what the news did to his own story.

The epilogue sends us — seemingly — years after the events of Mockingjay. Haymitch reflects on when he first saw Katniss as a child and how her presence was a reminder of those he lost in his games. (“Burdock was so proud of her, he toted her around everywhere.”/ “Touch and smart, her  hair in two braids then, reminding me for all the world of  Louelle McCoy,  my sweetheart of old.”)

He then reveals his involvement in creating a memorial book, seemingly a record of everything that came before, during, and after the uprising in Mockingjay as an attempt to undo the records the Capitol created before. “What use? What point? To relive the loss,” he initially thought. “But when Burdock’s page came up, I had to mention him showing me the grave. And I felt compelled to tell them about Maysilee Donner, former owner of the mockingjay pin … I finally told our story.”

What should the next prequel be?

While Suzanne Collins hasn’t exactly revealed plans for a third prequel, I have some predictions. If the prequels follow the same “three-act” structure of the original series and the sections each book is composed of, I see the next prequel (if any) will follow one of the secret rebel-insiders that are in both the original trilogy as well as Sunrise. One hope for the next prequel would be more of a backstory on either Plutarch during the 65th games (which Finnick Odair won) or on Beetee when he first tries to dismantle the Capitol’s communication systems. We already know our original understanding of Haymitch’s games was manipulated, so it’ll be a clear progression for the next book to further explore how the Capitol orchestrates the events of the games to its benefit.

Another more obvious choice would be potentially more devastating. In Sunrise on the Reaping’s epilogue, Haymitch refers to Katniss as “not an easy person; she’s like me, Peeta always says. But she was smarter than me, or luckier. She’s the one who finally kept the sun from rising.” Collins makes it clear that although Katniss acted as a hero, she was in fact just lucky. We just read an entire book about the fact that, years before Katniss entered the arena, most of the same players attempted to have Haymitch do the same.

So, what about the other times they failed, when no one from District 12 survived? Each of the prequels so far also follows each main character’s love for a Covey girl. So, I wonder if the third and final prequel in the series will do the same. Maybe there’s another Covey who’s selected in the reaping and failed to successfully follow plans from Plutarch, Mags, Wiress, and Beetee to win the games and become their Mockingjay.

Although The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was primarily about Snow, it’s his connection with Lucy Baird and the rest of the Covey that threads these prequels together. It’s public knowledge that most records of Lucy’s games have been destroyed, so Songbirds is all we have. What else about the Covey and former District 12 tributes have been erased from Panem’s history?