Plot Summary of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020) by Suzanne Collins is a prequel book to The Hunger Games trilogy and soon to be released as a movie as well. It is based on the younger days of Coryo aka the sadistic President Coriolanus Snow when he was just a school student and on the brink of being thrown out on the streets.
His family is not faring well after the war and his only hope is to win the expensive prize for mentoring the best tribute at the 10th Hunger Games. He is assigned the District 12 female tribute Lucy Gray Baird who is more into singing and theatrics than killing and violence. As he tries to figure out how to save her and himself with limited resources, he starts falling for her.
Is Katniss related to Lucy Gray?
There are several fan theories that Lucy Gray Baird is Katniss Everdeen’s paternal grandmother since The Hunger Games protagonist learned singing from her father. Singing or any type of music is not really a thing in District 12 and the same is seen in the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
This theory is strengthened when Katniss sings the ‘The Hanged Tree’ which only Lucy Gray and the Coveys knew. Then there is also the symbolism of the mockingjay with both Katniss and Lucy Gray which cannot be a coincidence. With the fate of Lucy Gray unknown in the prequel book, she may very well have been alive and had a family of her own resulting in Katniss’ existence.
However, if we go with the theory that Lucy Gray is killed by Coryo, Maude Ivory, the youngest Covey may be Katniss’ grandmother. All the Coveys know the song but she is the only one who can remember the lyrics in one go despite Lucy Gray being the main singer of their band.
Fans have also noticed that Maude Ivory has a fondness for goats like Prim, Katniss’ sister. Whether Lucy Gray or Maude is Katniss’ grandmother, one thing for sure is that the Everdeens are definitely related to the Coveys.
Why does Coryo regret running away with Lucy Gray?
Despite being in love with Lucy Gray, Coriolanus Snow starts regretting running away with her. From a splinter in his finger to a shortage of water and other resources, he dreams of the escape as just a fun adventurous picnic.
As they venture farther into the woods, he gets a reality check as he wonders how they will survive – they have no food, no home, music is her life, and his future is university or military. When they are about to fish, the idea of searching through the mud for live bait disgusts him. He is horrible at fishing and he is annoyed with the temperamental weather. He wonders how he will build a home and he misses his mansion in the Capitol.
He thinks of himself as exceptional and that since he has a lot to offer to humanity, just surviving is not enough for him. The idea that there will be no need for fame, power or wealth and to survive with no other goal than to survive seems bleak to him.
The last straw is when he sees the gun Spruce stashed in the hut. He realises that he can get his life back once he destroys the DNA on the gun he used to kill Mayfair.
Does Lucy Gray betray Coryo?
The whole fiasco in the end begins when Coriolanus Snow thinks that Lucy Gray betrayed him. Once they reach the hut and decide to take a break, she goes outside to forage for katniss with a knife in the pouring rain. When she doesn’t return immediately, Coryo starts imagining things. He overanalyses their relationship and remembers all the times Lucy Gray said she didn’t like being alone, yet here she insisted on going out alone.
It doesn’t help that during the tense rendezvous scene when Spruce asks why Lucy Gray is present, her ex, Billy Taupe says that she is his girl and she is going with them to District 13. She nods and Coryo is shocked. She then adds that Coryo is dating her cousin Barb and it may seem that she is just lying to diffuse the situation. But it sows the seed of doubt in Coryo’s head for good.
Things seem to be fine with them later when they escape but the biggest mistake that Lucy Gray unknowingly makes is when she picks up on Coryo’s subconscious line of thought. While talking about their new life together, she hopes she doesn’t have to kill anyone else and Coryo agrees, saying three is enough.
He doesn’t think much about it and tries to continue the conversation but she keeps repeatedly asking who is the third person. Coryo’s first two known kills are Bobbins and Mayfair. The third is Sejanus but he doesn’t say it. He tries to buy time and then says the third he killed is his old self.
When Lucy Gray leaves him alone in the hut and doesn’t return, his mind goes into overdrive. He wonders if she will kill him for changing his mind and refusing to escape with her. When he goes out, he notices that none of the greenery is disturbed which is odd since she is supposed to be digging for potatoes. As he starts searching for her, he spirals as he thinks that she is enacting revenge on him since she has realised that he wants to go back.
His guilt also catches up to him and he thinks that she knows he got Sejanus killed from their conversation earlier. The first half of the reasoning is severely flawed, because in no way does he show that he regrets leaving with her so she would not know his plan to return. But it may seem that she may have realised he killed Sejanus and so thinks he will kill her too.
It doesn’t help that when he goes out to search for her, he has a gun in his hand making him even more threatening. Her plan may have been to run and hide or run away to District 13 alone without him. When she lays the trap with her scarf and a non-venomous snake bites Coryo, it suggests that she may be trying to slow him down till she can escape.
Is Lucy Gray alive?
There are two possibilities since Suzanne Collins doesn’t explicitly write about Lucy Gray’s fate. The victor is definitely a fighter from what we see in the arena and the way she lures Coryo by leaving her scarf near a snake. When she realises that he has cornered her, she sings ‘The Hanged Tree’. He thinks that she is hinting she knows about Sejanus’ death but it is yet again another trap.
The mockingjays pick up and start singing, making it impossible for him to pinpoint the source. He shoots blindly till he gives up and decides to go back to treat the snake bite, giving her enough time to escape and find a place to hide. If he miraculously did hit her, she may have probably cried out in pain. A happy ending in this sordid tale is her escaping, scared but unscathed.
How does Coryo go back to the Capitol and on the path of becoming the president?
Coryo betrays Sejanus Plinth by recording his rebel plans in a jabberjay being sent to Dr. Gaul. Since Coryo doesn’t speak in the audio recording, no one knows about his hand in Sejanus’ execution but Gaul. She rewards Coryo by bringing him back to the Capitol and enrolling him in University under her mentorship.
He becomes a Gamemaker and comes up with the ideas that would later be the foundation of the dangerous 74th Hunger Games. Luck seems to favour him too well as it turns out he is also the heir to the Plinths who have no idea of his involvement in their son’s death. Strabo puts it as him and his wife needing a son and someone to live for and Coryo needing parents. They buy the Snow mansion and handle all the finances, leaving it all for Coryo after they die.
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