All the Fan Theories Behind “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Ending

We want to know, what happened to <redacted character name>?!

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. 

After literal years of waiting, it’s safe to say fans are stoked that the long-awaited prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, has finally been released in cinemas.

The prequel film is about the original trilogy’s tyrannical villain, President Coriolanus Snow, before his rise to power. 18-year-old Snow (played by Tom Blyth) has lost the wealth and privilege his family once held after the end of Panem’s civil war. Now he’s tasked with mentoring District 12’s female tribute Lucy Gray Baird (played by Rachel Zegler) for the upcoming 10^th Hunger Games.

If you’ve watched the movie, you’re probably still thinking about what happened to <redacted character name> in one of the last scenes.

DW, we’ve done the hard work for you and scrolled through TikTok for several hours to break down all the theories which have come from the film.

Haven’t watched it yet? You can grab cheap student tickets at HOYTS!

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Unpacking THAT scene.

In one of the final scenes of the film, we see Lucy Gray deduce that Snow has killed more people than she thought. When she leaves to (ironically) collect katniss plants along the river, Snow becomes increasingly agitated before attempting to kill her. 

Lucy Gray’s ending is ambiguous, and she’s not mentioned by name in the original trilogy. But of course, TikTok users and fans have a lot of ideas as to what happened to her.

Fan theory #1: She dies in the forest/river.

The first theory is after Snow’s paranoia gets the best of him and he starts shooting at Lucy Gray and the trees, one of the bullets would have connected and hit her. Even though Snow doesn’t find her body in the clearing, if one of the bullets had landed there’s no way she would have survived.

TikTok user @.luciee.122 hypothesised that when Snow heads down to the river to dispose of the evidence/guns wrapped up in cloth, he was hallucinating and it was Lucy Gray’s body he was disposing of in the river because of how gently he placed the item in the water. WOW.

Fan theory #2: She survives and lives out the rest of her life in District 13. 

@nicky.reardon Do you think President Coin from District 13 is actually Lucy Gray? Or could it be her daughter? New episode of Share Your Screen on Songbirds and Snakes, Jacob Elordi vs Rachel Zegler media response, Elvis vs Priscella movies, and more on Monday🎙️ #hungergames #songbirdsandsnakes #rachelzegler #tomblyth #hungergamestok ♬ original sound - Nicky

If Lucy Gray did survive, maybe she found her way to what was left of District 13?

Nicky Reardon and Coco Mocoe on the Share Your Screen podcast talked about how Lucy Gray may have escaped to District 13 and is President Coin’s daughter in the current series. In Mockingjay, Coin knows almost too much about how the symbol of the Mockingjay affects President Snow. How else would she know all this unless someone taught her? 👀

On the other hand, TikTok user @grace’s theory is that Lucy Gray escaped to Canada where everything is normal and she lives out a “long normal Canadian life”. We’re crossing our fingers this is true.

Fan theory #3: She eventually returns to District 12 under a new name.

Prior to the events in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lucy Gray and her family travelled around Panem in a nomadic group called the Covey. So we know she would’ve been able to survive on her own. There’s a possibility she would’ve been able to live out years of her life in the forest on her own before quietly returning to District 12, under a different name.

TikToker @sn3ph’s theory is that Lucy Gray must have survived because the only person who heard her sing “The Hanging Tree” was Snow. So she would've had to live in order for the song to be passed on to the next generation i.e. Katniss. Which leads us to our next theory…

Fan theory #4: She’s related to Katniss Everdeen?!

While some think that Lucy Gray might be related to Katniss Everdeen, another theory is that Maude Ivory (Lucy Gray’s cousin) is actually related to Katniss.

In the films we learn how Maude Ivory is the only member of the Covey to obtain the ability to recite songs after hearing them once – similarly to Katniss’ father who taught her songs like “The Hanging Tree” and “Deep in the Meadow”. The Covey also lived in the Seam, like Katniss did.

Coincidence? We think not!

With so many theories floating around, it feels like we will never find out what really happened to Lucy Gray Baird.

Suzanne Collins, please tell us what happens 🙏

Header Image: Murray Close/Lionsgate.