The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is Suzanne Collins' lengthily-titled prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy, moving decades into Panem's past to interrogate the rise to power of one Coriolanus Snow. Snow serves as the overarching antagonist and obvious "bad guy" for the bulk of the trilogy, only overthrown at the tail-end of the third book, Mockingjay. He is, in many respects, an odd character for a prequel to focus on. While he certainly lived through an interesting period in Panem's history, he acts in the original trilogy as more of a stand-in for the country's ruling class, as opposed to a dynamic or interesting character in his own right.
Collins remedies some of this by setting the book during "Coryo's" youth, allowing her to show him as a more sympathetic character who changes for the worse in a coming-of-age story. But she also makes the savvy choice of including a love interest for Snow, one with all the same marks of tragedy as Peeta and Katniss's romance. With a film adaptation of Songbirds and Snakes on the horizon and set photos hinting at the outlines of the pair's relationship as it'll be presented on-screen, let's explore what makes the couple so very similar to Peeta and Katniss -- and what sets them apart.
Lucy Gray Baird, like Katniss, is the female tribute chosen from District 12, with Coryo assigned as her mentor as part of his post-secondary education. But unlike Katniss, her strength lies not in force of arms but in her beautiful singing voice and winning personality. Katniss was also quite the singer but had to be coaxed out of her shell to show her voice and spirit to the rest of the world. Lucy Gray is a crowd favorite from day one, and Snow capitalizes on this by successfully adding the "sponsorship" system that later ends up as the key to Katniss' survival.
The primary tension of the original Hunger Games was that of Peeta and Katniss's doomed romance. Peeta's feelings for her were honest, ardent and a huge part of what endeared his character to the book's readership. But for Katniss to return home to her mother and sister, she must both rely on Peeta and know she'll eventually be forced to kill him. She has to play up her forced romance with him for the cameras, but she also has to betray him if she wants to make it out alive. Songbirds and Snakes borrows pieces of that dynamic, weaving them into an equally compelling relationship for its own pair of protagonists.
Like Peeta and Katniss, Snow and Lucy are an unlikely pair forced to rely on each other for their continued survival. But unlike the original Hunger Games, the nature of survival takes a decidedly different cant. Peeta and Katniss were equals, dropped into the arena together. Snow is Lucy's mentor and doesn't face the same life-or-death stakes she does. Instead, he's pressured to ensure her well-being so he can continue to provide for his struggling family. The very real pressure of poverty and, well, hunger is just as much of a theme here as in the original books, with constant references to how both Snow and Lucy struggle to feed themselves.
But Songbirds and Snakes' darkest edge comes from another asymmetry between Snow and Katniss. While Katniss struggles with the guilt of eventually having to kill Peeta, Snow knows the entire time that it'll be possible to save Lucy Gray and himself. And -- spoiler alert -- he does so successfully, helping her win the game with what will eventually become his signature weapon -- poison. It's only after that point that things grow desperate, as the pair eventually escapes together into Panem's northern reaches to forge a new life for themselves.
Unable to resist the siren call of the high-status life he could attain in the Capitol, Snow attempts to murder Lucy, with her survival unclear as she escapes amid a pouring thunderstorm. Unlike Peeta and Katniss, they don't get a happy ending. It remains to be seen if the Songbirds and Snakes film will carry over that part of the book, though one way or another, Snow will eventually end up as the heartless villain fans loved to hate in the original Hunger Games trilogy.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes arrives in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.