Every Brilliant 'Hunger Games' Easter Egg You Missed In 'Song Birds and Snakes'
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The adventures of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) may have come to an end in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015), but fans can once again return to Panem with the latest movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The film, which was released on November 17, gives viewers a peek into the past, following a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) before he becomes the infamous president. As he journeys to mentor a tribute in the 10th annual Hunger Games, he takes several twists and turns, ultimately revealing more than a dozen Easter eggs throughout that point back to the “girl on fire.” Beware: Spoilers are ahead.
For starters, true fans of the series adapted from novels by Suzanne Collins, will note that another District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), has some eerie similarities to Katniss. Not only does Baird bow before her district during the reaping in the very same way that Katniss did in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but she also has a gift for singing which leads her to croon “The Hanging Tree” tune that became a rallying cry for the districts in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
Now, those aren’t the only parallels we found between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and its predecessors. The newest movie is a nearly three hour long feature, but it's more than worth it for you to sit through it trying to find all of The Hunger Games Easter eggs you can. While you’re at it, watch the four other movies in order to try to make sense of each character's connections.
The adventures of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) may have come to an end in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015), but fans can once again return to Panem with the latest movie, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The film, which was released on November 17, gives viewers a peek into the past, following a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) before he becomes the infamous president. As he journeys to mentor a tribute in the 10th annual Hunger Games, his life takes several twists and turns in the movie, ultimately revealing more than a dozen Easter eggs connected to previous films.
Beware: Spoilers are ahead.
For starters, true fans of the series adapted from novels by Suzanne Collins will note that another District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), has some eerie similarities to Katniss. Not only does Baird bow before her district during the reaping in the very same way that Katniss did in the second film, but she also has a gift for singing, which leads her to croon “The Hanging Tree” tune that became a rallying cry for the districts in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
That isn't the only parallel we found between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and its predecessors. The newest movie is a nearly three-hour-long feature, but it's more than worth it for you to sit through to try and find all of The Hunger Games Easter eggs you can. While you’re at it, watch the four other movies in order to try to make sense of each character's connections.
Coriolanus Snow and Roses
President Snow is known for his signature rose boutonniere, and he even has a rose garden at his home in The Capitol. In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, fans learn the origins of his affinity for the flower.
Young Coriolanus's grandmother, Grandma'am, pins him with a single yellow rose on the 10th Hunger Games reaping day, and Coriolanus says that his mother used to smell of roses.
Lucy Gray's Dress
Lucy Gray Baird's rainbow tulle reaping day dress had more significance than just being eye catching. It turns out that the flowers on the dress's bodice are actually Katniss and Primrose, a nod to "the girl on fire" and her sister, Prim, for who she volunteered as tribute in the 74th Hunger Games.
Costume designer Trish Summerville revealed to Variety that she wanted the dress to have a connection to our original hero. "In her corset, I had it all hand-painted with katniss and primrose flowers and snakes," she told the outlet.
Lucky Flickerman's Relationship To Caesar Flickerman
The 10th annual Hunger Games didn't have the same fanfare as those that followed it, but it did have a quirky and energetic host with a familiar last name. Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman is a magician and weatherman who takes on a role as commentator for the games, and you may figure he has a connection to Caesar Flickerman, known for his brightly colored hair and extravagant outfits, and the host for the 74th and 75th Hunger Games.
At one point in the newest film, Lucky expects that the games will wrap sooner than later, though as the tributes survive longer, he realizes he needs to move his restaurant reservation, leading him to make a phone call where he says, "party of two and a highchair," which many are connecting to Caesar possibly being his son.
The Hanging Tree
"Are you, are you, coming to the tree." This phrase may sound familiar if you recently watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. It was part of the song "the hanging tree," which Katniss Everdeen sang as a rallying cry when she accepted the role as The Mockingjay to bring the districts together to rebel against the capitol.
The song is reprised in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, where the audience learns that it was first written by Lucy Gray Baird.
The Mockingjay
The symbol of the Mockingjay has been a powerful image throughout The Hunger Games series. From the pin that Katniss wears in the very first movie, to her becoming the actual embodiment of the bird and helping to lead the districts to rebel against The Capitol, which becomes an issue for President Snow.
In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the audience learns that the Mockingjay is a mutated version of the Capitol's jabberjays, which were used to keep tabs on the districts during the war. During his time as a Peacekeeper in 12, Snow had an immediate dislike for the birds.
Bow and Arrow
Katniss's weapon of choice throughout the series was a bow and arrow. In the latest film, Coriolanus is tasked with convincing his friend, Sejanus Plinth, to leave the arena before they are killed by tributes. It is during that time that he spots a bow and arrow left at the cornucopia of weapons.
Snow's Use of Poison
One of Coriolanus's first poison victims is Dean Casca Highbottom, who runs the Academy and regrets creating the games. Coriolanus swaps one of Highbottom's vile's of morphling, with poison, which ultimately kills him.
In the book Mockingjay, Snow is described as smelling of blood and roses due to mouth sores he gained from drinking poison in order to ward off suspicion that he was poisoning his enemies. Winner of the 65th Hunger Games, Finnick Odair, also reveals that Snow also poisoned his allies.
May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor
Effie Trinket's famous words "may the odds be ever in your favor" get a bit of a remix during the lead up to the 10th annual Hunger Games. While Lucy Gray is being interviewed by Lucky Flickerman, she sings a rousing song that garners tons of praise from viewers, and Flickerman says to her after, "I don't love your odds, but may they be in your favor."
Lucy Gray's Curtsey/Bow
Lucy Gray's bow at the reaping may spark immediate recollection of Katniss's similar curtsy from Catching Fire. Katniss bowed in front of the gamemakers after shooting an arrow into their balcony.
Director Francis Lawrence told ET in an interview that "it was something that I made up on the day and had Rachel do, because we're constantly looking for, in the making of this, little sort of Easter eggs that would excite the fans."
Seneca Crane and Arachne Crane
Seneca Crane met an untimely death in the original Hunger Games after he allowed Katniss and Peeta to become victors. We're introduced to another Crane, Arachne, in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She is selected to be a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games alongside Coriolanus, but she also came to an early end after her tribute attacked her at the zoo. It can also be inferred that both characters are relatives.
Lucy Gray and Corio Plan to Run Away
In Catching Fire, Katniss begs Gale to run away with her into the forest of 12 before the Quarter Quell games, a similar getaway is planned between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus after the mayor of District 12's daughter is killed. Though for different reasons, both couples never end up running away.
It can be assumed that President Snow's past familiarity with District 12 is what allowed him to keep tabs on Katniss's whereabouts in the second film.
Tigress Evolution
Tigress Snow is Coriolanus's first cousin, and we see their relationship deteriorate from a tight, almost sibling-like closeness to distant and broken.
In Mockingjay Part 1, there is a scene where a capitol citizen, and former stylist for the games, helps the rebels hide, and Katniss expresses that she has come to kill President Snow. This is Tigress in her later years, who shares that Snow fired her from her role as a stylist because he believed she was no longer beautiful enough to carry it out.
Hilarius Heavensbee Relation to Plutarch Heavensbee
Hilarius Heavensbee, played by Florian Burgkart, is another presumed relative of a notable Hunger Games character, Plutarch Heavensbee. The latter Havensbee served as the head gamemaker for the Quater Quell and leader of the rebel forces in Catching Fire, and both Mockingjay films.
Director Francis Lawrence's face
Another notable Easter egg that you may have missed if you blinked is director Francis Lawrence's face in the Heavensbee statue that is on display at the Academy.
Lucy Gray Harvesting Katniss Plant
In one of the last scenes where viewers see Lucy Gray, she tells Coriolanus that she is going out to harvest some katniss, her name for a swamp potato.
President Snow's Voice
As the ending credits begin to role in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the voice of Donald Sutherland, who played President Snow in the previous movies, states, "It's the things we love most that destroy us,” which now has new meaning. The quote was originally stated when Peeta was returned to the rebels after being held at in the Capitol following the Quarter Quell, this time it is inferred that it relates to Coriolanus and Lucy Gray.
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