It’s been almost five years since I first read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, (and two years since the film adaptation came out) and then proceeded to re-read the original trilogy. I wish I would’ve had the time to re-read everything before starting Sunrise on the Reaping, so I had to rely on memory for a lot of the connections. A few years ago, I made a plot post connecting The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to the original trilogy, and now I’m back to connect (what I can remember from) Sunrise on the Reaping to the rest of the series. Some are more direct connections, others more of a stretch, but if you think of anything else, comment below and I can add it!
This post is being continually updated!
Note: In case it wasn’t obvious, this post contains major spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping, as well as the other books in the Hunger Games universe.
Connections Between Sunrise On The Reaping, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and The Hunger Games Trilogy
Page 5 – Haymitch’s dad died in a mine explosion – rumored that he was part of plot to sabotage the mine. We learn that his love, Lenore Dove, is the niece of Clerk Carmine – a minor character that we meet in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and that they’re all Covey (as we could deduce anyway from her name). Most noteably, almost, is Haymitch’s comment about not being a drinker, as we only know him in the original trilogy as being an alcoholic.
Page 6 – Reference to The Meadow, which we know from both the trilogy and Ballad. We meet Katniss’s dad for the first time, and learn his name – Burdock – because of both his bow and arrow for hunting, and that all the mockingjays stop to listen when he sings (which we first learn from Katniss in The Hunger Games, page 43). The apple tree could be a reference to Katniss shooting the apple out of the pig’s mouth during her presentation with the Gamemakers – the tributes are often referred to as ‘piglets’ throughout the book. The apples in the woods are featured more prominently here, being that’s when Haymitch and Lenore Dove officially start to become friends, but Katniss mentions that people harvest apples near the Meadow in The Hunger Games (page 6).
Page 7 – Burdock’s cousins are Everdeens, but his last name is also Everdeen.
Page 8 – Lenore Dove’s name is explained, and Haymitch coming upon Lenore Dove singing in the Meadow is a direct connection to Snow approaching Lucy Gray in the same place, doing the same thing forty years earlier. Tam Amber is referenced (who we also met in Ballad), and we learn that her mom died in childbirth and we don’t know who her dad is. Most importantly, we learn her last name – Baird, just like Lucy Gray.
Page 10 – Lenore Dove talks like Lucy Gray, she has the same mannerisms and way of speaking.
Page 11-12 – Lenore Dove fantasizes of a world without a reaping, which we know that Haymitch will eventually see in his lifetime. We learn that Tam Amber was the one to forge the medallion that Lenore Dove gives to Haymitch, which eventually becomes his token.
Page 16 – We meet a very different version of Katniss’s mom, and learn her first name: Asterid.
Page 21 – Maysilee is reaped, in the same way that we know of from the original trilogy.
Page 23 – Otho Mellark’s live is saved by Burdock – inadvertently setting off a ripple effect that will one day save his future child’s life. Peeta’s dad (assumably Otho) even comes to see Katniss before she leaves for the Games, and says he’ll look out for Prim. (page 37-38)
Page 25 – We meet Plutarch for the first time in the linear narrative of the series.
Page 30 – The tributes don’t get to say proper goodbyes, which mirrors them not getting proper goodbyes in the third Quarter Quell.
Page 40 – We learn that Louella is the only person that Haymitch ever calls sweetheart – which makes him reusing the nickname for Katniss seem less condescending and recontextulizes our understanding of his feelings towards her when she gets reaped.
Page 42 – Maysilee tells Louella that if you let them treat you like animals, they will, so don’t let them. This parallels the 10th Hunger Games where they literally put the tributes into a cage in the Capitol Zoo. We see a few examples, both on the train and in the Games, of Maysilee using utensils – this parallels Katniss and Peeta on their train, and Katniss purposefully eating with her fingers in an uncivilized way after Effie comments on their manners.
Page 45 – Lucy Gray gets mentioned, but mostly to say that no one really remembers anything about her, and that most of what happened anyway was heresay – Lenore Dove never wanted to discuss her, but I’d argue that it’s implied she knew, at least something.
Page 54 – Haymitch sang to Lenore Dove in an old house by the lake – assumably the same house that Snow and Lucy Gray find the hidden weapons in, where they last see each other. We learn that Tam Amber made pins for both Maysilee and Merrilee, the mockingjay pin that Madge eventually gives to Katniss and insists she wears in the arena, (The Hunger Games page 38) and a hummingbird pin. Assumably, she knew at least some of the significance, which is why she gave it to her.
Page 60 – Forty years later, even with all the fanfare and improvements into the entertainment space from the 10th Hunger Games, the Capitol still needs to convince its citizens that they need the Hunger Games.
Page 61 – The tributes are one again referenced as wild animals (which is a parallel to Maysilee’s earlier line of don’t let them treat you like an animal). We see the Academy gym once again, which has been turned into a shadow of the Tribute Center that it will become in the coming decades.
Page 62 – The Peacekeeper first refers to his medallion as his token, and admits that it’s nice.
Page 65 – Live reptile fashion is banned backstage – anything having to do with snakes is a callback to Ballad, both Lucy Gray and Dr. Gaul.
Page 71 – We see snakes again as earrings, and the tributes are forced to wear the same outfits as years prior – we know from Katniss that before Cinna, their outfits were still basically the same.
Page 76 – Maysilee gives the purple and yellow flower necklace to Louella after her death – could be similar to Katniss decorating Rue with flowers in her arena, since Katniss uses purple, yellow, and white flowers then (237).
Page 79 – Snow not being angry, but amused, is the same way he approaches Katniss, and Haymitch says that someday someone will kill him. Haymitch thinks that Snow focuses on the flint striker – likely not noticing it’s a flint striker, but the symbol of the mockingjay and snake. Haymitch makes Snow take responsibility for Louella’s death (similar to what he does later with the Gamemakers and Lou Lou), in the same way that Peeta does in Catching Fire by painting the floor with the image of Rue covered in flowers. It’s also similar to Katniss giving a bow to the Gamemakers after her initial presentation.
Page 87 – We see Wiress for the first time, appearing as their mentor, but she’s much more mentally sound than she is when we meet her in Catching Fire. (This is explained later, that her and Mags get tortured for their involvement in sabotaging the Games.)
Page 88 – Wiress understood the arena more than the Gamemakers did, outsmarting them. Haymitch does the same later on, and so do Katniss and Peeta by threatening suicide, and then eventually fully breaking the arena during the next Quarter Quell.
Page 89 – We see Mags for the first time, as their other mentor.
Page 91 – This is the first year the tributes aren’t in barracks, but instead in an empty apartment building, a precursor to the multi-level building that we know from the later Hunger Games books.
Page 93 – Haymitch remarks that maybe there weren’t always Careers, when talking about Mags – Mags won the 11th Hunger Games, just one year after Lucy Gray.
Page 95 – Mags and Wiress are asking what they want to get out of their Games – Mags says she wanted to protect her District partner, and Wiress was terrified of dying at night. Both get their wishes in the 50th Games, with Mags saving Annie by volunteering for her, and then protecting her allies in the fog. Wiress dies outside in broad daylight (Catching Fire, 334).
Page 97 – Haymitch thinks that if it involves killing someone else, they’d show it on camera – which becomes both true and not true at the same time, and can be slightly foreshadowing Katniss and Peeta in their own Games.
Page 98 – Wiress shares the little song she made up, which is a bit reminiscent of how she acts in the third Quarter Quell, even when her mind isn’t always all there.
Page 100 – The District 12 tributes describe themselves as being “unpredictable” which is what Lucy Gray was, and what Katniss and Peeta become. They’re also the last ones to show up, consistently – “Effie shows up a bit early to take us down because last year, even though we were on time, we were the last two tributes to show up.” (Catching Fire 224)
Page 107 – We learn that Beetee is Ampert’s father, after meeting Beetee years later (or, earlier) in Catching Fire: “Victors’ children have been in the ring before. It always causes a lot of excitement and generates talk about how the odds are not in that family’s favor. But it happens too frequently to just be about odds. Gale’s convinced the Capitol does it on purpose, rigs the drawings to add extra drama. Given all the trouble I’ve caused, I’ve probably guaranteed any child of mine a spot in the Games. I think of Haymitch, unmarried, no family, blotting out the world with drink. He could have had his choice of any woman in the district. And he chose solitude. Not solitude – that sounds too peaceful. More like solitary confinement. Was it because, having been in the arena, he knew it was better than risking the alternative?” (45-46, Catching Fire)(Sunrise on the Reaping, page 367 – Haymitch shows how he pushed everyone away.)
Page 108 – We learn that previously (not sure how long before), Beetee tried to sabotage the Capitol’s communication system, but failed – resulting in Ampert’s reaping. In Mockingjay, he succeeds.
Page 110 – We learn that Beetee was Wiress’s mentor (and they later end up in the Games together in Catching Fire), and that the arena is a machine that can be broken (which they do in Catching Fire).
Page 112 – Beetee was reaped on the day Haymitch was born; he gives Haymitch the packet for light for the potatoes (Katniss means swamp potato); Ampert says that he wishes Maysilee was his sister.
Page 122 – Haymitch once again says that he doesn’t drink.
Page 126-127 – We learn that Snow killed the parade master, with poison – which is how he killed Dean Highbottom, Seneca Crane, and a whole host of other people.
Page 128 – Snow comments that Haymitch’s token is a “striking necklace,” which can be understood both literally and figuratively.
Page 128-129 – This is essentially an entire reference to Lucy Gray – Snow references the Covey, and reads the inscription about “all-fire” (which we first heard used by Lucy Gray).
Page 130 – We hear the Snow family slogan of “Snow lands on top”
PART 2: The Rascal
Chapter 11
Page 145: lone victor
Page 150: Lenore Dove’s mockingjays
Page 158: Haymitch gets a 1 – puts a target on his back in a different way than Katniss’s score.
Chapter 12
160: Mockingjay pin
Page 163: Caeser is host
Chapter 13:
Page 172: Effie
Page 179: snakes, Caesar
Pages 180-181: 10th games, lucky, gaul, May the odds, history etc.
Page 186- snakes
Page 187-188: Haymitch’s interview
Chapter 14:
192: rainbow, the hanging tree
195: old friend in 12
Page 200, 201: Lots of snake references, propos
**Important to note, that this is where we get the warning on AI, via Plutarch: “He sighs when he mentions the tools that were abolished and incapacitated in the past, ones deemed fated to destroy humanity because of their ability to replicate any scenario using any person. “And in mere seconds!” He snaps his fingers to emphasize their speed. “I guess it was the right thing to do, given our natures. We almost wiped ourselves out even without them, so you can imagine. But oh, the possibilities!” Yeah, it’s amazing we’re here at all. Given our natures.” (Pages 200-01).**
Page 207: Wyatt says “We’ve just been trying to look out for her. Does it matter where they took her from, Eleven or Twelve? Aren’t we all on the same side?” – Reminiscent more of the mentality of Lucy Gray’s games, and the next quarter quell
Page 210: Effie is like Cinna – helping Haymitch into his tube, explaining the outfit, and keeping eye contact as he rises up into the arena
Page 212: backpack like Katniss
Page 224 – Haymitch helping a girl from district 11 like Rue
Page 232: “You did this to her. This is who you are.”
Page 242: little ones flock to him
Page 230: fire is catching
Page 268: Maysilee’s blow darts
Page 285: ditches pack in a patch of katniss
Page 287: scent of musk and roses
Page 290: sitting in Katniss arrow shaped leaves, talking about taking down the capitol
Page 295: it has to end somewhere
Page 298: killing game makers
Page 301: nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping
Page 305-6: force field, Maysilee death – things we think we know from the trilogy
Page 308, 309: Mags is referenced as a safe place again – adds background to Catching Fire
Page 313: strapping into trees like Katniss
Page 314: unity
Page 322: poisoned milk
Page 323: these games will have no victor
Page 329: snake eating the rabbit
Page 334-36: Snow shows Haymitch the video of Lucy Gray (and himself) singing, “a familiar tune with unfamiliar words” – words that are familiar to the reader if they’ve read TBOSAS. Effie’s “big big night” is recognizable from The Hunger Games’ “big big day” (page 54)
Page 337: white rose
Page 338: Drusilla wearing an eagle, eagle on the gold staircase ; Mags in a wheelchair and Wiress twitching
Page 340: Reading of the quell card, recap of the quarter quell
Page 346: Snow lands on top reference, and a more detailed version of the crowning/rewatch of the games than we’ve seen before – bloodred rose this time
Page 347: Haymitch is displayed in a giant gold birdcage, and trie to convince Snow that he’s his puppet – much like Katniss tries in Catching Fire.
Page 349: Party at the Capitol Zoo – where the tributes were kept for Lucy Gray’s games to be put on display
Page 350-52: Lucy Gray’s songs live on – Haymitch says that Maysilee’s mamaw used to quote the Covey song lyrics “Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.” Haymitch remembers The Hanging Tree song lyrics, and says that Lenore Dove plays it for Burdock sometimes – Burdock later teaches it to Katniss, which is why she knows it in the trilogy.
Pages 357-8: Burdock sings Lucy Gray’s song The Old Therebefore, and the mockingjays fall silent – something we know from The Hunger Games, that the mockingjays would fall silent when he sings. Unlike the video Haymitch watched of Lucy Gray, these lyrics are unchanged from the ones Lucy Gray sang
Page 359: The three finger salute is shown, with the explanation that it’s “Our way of saying good-bye to those we cherished”
Page 361: Haymitch thinks about wanting to leave – referencing “Snow’s ‘ghastly wilderness'” which is likely a reference to when him and Lucy Gray were planning on running away – and mentions that he’s “no Burdock, with his trusty bow and knowledge of plants” – foreshadowing of Katniss in her own Hunger Games
Page 366-7: Tam Amber says “not again,” likely referencing what happened to Lucy Gray – we also hear Haymitch’s thoughts of Lenore Dove’s name poem
Epilogue
381- fast forward, the Revolution, the epilogue we sort of already knew from Mockingjay hits much different
Page 371-372 – Haymitch mentions Burdock’s leather hunting jacket, which we know Katniss later inherits; We see Maude Ivory’s grave (assumably Lenore Dove’s mother, alongside Lenore Dove’s) and Lucy Gray’s grave – but her inscription still makes it unclear whether or not she actually died.
Page 376 – Plutarch takes Haymitch into the attic of the Justice Building in District 11 – Haymitch takes Katniss and Peeta there in Catching Fire.
Page 377 – Thinking about one day overthrowing the Capitol, which we know happens 25 years later.
Page 381 – The epilogue is a flash forward, almost the same as the Mockingjay epilogue, but from Haymitch’s perspective.
More Connections Between The Hunger Games, The Balled of Songbirds and Snakes, and Sunrise on the Reaping:
There are a lot of other similarities to the other stories in the series – from lines like ‘pure like a dove’ to color connections, here are a few others that I made note of:
Briefly thought that Lenore Dove could be Lucy Gray and Snow’s child, but the math doesn’t line up. It’s more likely that she’s Maude Ivory’s child, but possible that her father is a peacekeeper – perhaps the ‘friend’ that Plutarch has in District 12.
In many ways, the Meadow is as much a character as any of the other characters, appearing across all of the books in the series.
Pure like a dove line – Lenore Dove’s name
TBOSAS – orange scarf that belonged to Snow’s grandmother, Lenore Dove uses orange paint
Tokens used to trust each other in mockingjay – also used in lucy’s games and haymitch’s for unity
unity of the newcomers, unity of the victors at the interview
does prim get reaped on purpose, forcing Haymitch to watch the child of his former childhood friends die? in terms of paper slips, the odds were in her favor – Snow didn’t expect Katniss to volunteer
“There. He’s done it again. Dropped a bomb that wipes out the efforts of every tribute who came before him. Well, maybe not. Maybe this year he has only lit the fuse on a bomb that the victors themselves have been building. Hoping someone would be able to detonate it. […] As the bomb explodes, it sends accusations of injustice and barbarism and cruelty flying out in every direction. Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there can’t ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing is.” (Catching Fire, 256)
“Katniss, when you’re in the arena […] You just remember who the enemy is.” (Catching Fire, 260)
Page 113 – Most of the tributes eating lunch together in the tribute center, is paralleled in Catching Fire: “When we make our way into the dining area, I see some of Peeta’s gang have other ideas. They’re dragging all the smaller tables to form one large table so that we all have to eat together.” (Catching Fire, 228)
“Make your own pack if you’d rather.” (Catching Fire 222)
Katniss is drinking milk when they watch Haymitch’s Games – the edited recap that Haymitch sees after his Games (Catching Fire 195, Sunrise on the Reaping 340)
Catching Fire, page 327 – Katniss remembers Plutarch giving her a clue about the arena and questions why, just like haymitch did
Katniss’s mom Asterid ends up inheriting Maysilee’s songbird (page 172 of Catching Fire)
Catching Fire 331 – things that could come in handy in the games by working in the mines, like blowing things up, they learn too late – but Haymitch knew how
Haymitch gets a score of 1 as a punishment, whereas Katniss gets a 11
Haymitch said only one sweetheart – but later calls Katniss sweetheart, which likely has a lot to do with her being Burdock’s child.
Peeta’s favorite color is orange, like the sunset (52, Catching Fire)
When Caesar asks Katniss how she felt about wearing the outfit at the tribute parade, she says “You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?” (127)
Haymitch describes Katniss and Peeta as the star-crossed lovers from District 12 (page 135) – but that was always him and Lenore Dove
“I almost hear Haymitch groaning as I team up with this wispy child” (201) – but Haymitch did the same, three times in his Games. She just didn’t know.
On page 6 of The Hunger Games, Katniss says that as a child she used to criticize the Capitol, but quickly learned not to. On page 8, she talks about her mother and father and how they met. Page 17, there’s the brief mention of people taking bets and giving the odds on who will be picked – potentially descendants of Wyatt Callow. Page 24 is the first usage in The Hunger Games that we see the three finger salute, but definitely something we see at the funerals in Sunrise on the Reaping.
Page 345 of The Hunger Games, they have to stop them from both dying – killing themselves – which is basically what was happening at the end of Haymitch’s Games.
***
Other Posts About The Hunger Games Series:
“The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” – REVIEW
“Sunrise on the Reaping” – REVIEW
***
“The Hunger Games” Prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is Headed to the Big Screen
The Official Poster for the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie has been revealed!
Connections Between “The Hunger Games” Trilogy and “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”
Connections Between “Sunrise on the Reaping” and “The Hunger Games” Series
Everything We Know So Far about Sunrise on the Reaping
Read an excerpt of “Sunrise on the Reaping”
Book vs. Movie: The Hunger Games – coming soon
Book vs. Movie: Catching Fire – coming soon
Book vs. Movie: Mockingjay – coming soon
buried in a bookshelf 