The romance in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will put a darker tone on Katniss and Peeta’s story. The prequel to The Hunger Games is set to hit theaters in November 2023 and will expand upon the original Hunger Games trilogy's main story, which focuses on heavy themes of war, ethics, and politics. However, the secondary storyline is the romance between Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The arc of their relationship goes from faking a romance to survive to truly falling in love with one another. The prequel's story is the origin of Coriolanus Snow and how he mentored the first female victor from District 12 in the 10th Hunger Games.
With The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' more dramatic plot in mind, it was surprising to see a romantic-looking picture of a young Snow and the female lead Lucy Gray Baird released as part of the first images for The Hunger Games' prequel. As in The Hunger Games, the prequel will focus on weightier themes, with a love story forming between the two main leads as a secondary storyline. However, the nature of this new romance will shine a fresh light on how President Snow views Katniss and Peeta’s dynamic in the original trilogy. This storyline will also explain some of his more heinous motives regarding the couple, especially considering how different the two relationships are.
Katniss & Peeta’s Fake Romance Reminds President Snow Of Lucy
In The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta fake a romance to win sympathy from the Capitol viewers, leading to Katniss threatening a double suicide unless they are allowed to live. Afterward, Snow takes a keen interest in the two teens. Along with his fear that the districts have seen Katniss's act as one of rebellion and not love, he also taunts her, asking if Katniss’s love for Peeta is real. When Katniss tries to say she is indifferent to Peeta, Snow yells at her not to lie to him. His irritation at Katniss may stretch further than inciting rebellion in the districts. It may also be because she reminds him of Lucy.
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lucy Gray Baird is the tribute from District 12 that Snow mentors for the 10th Hunger Games. He guides Lucy to become the victor and later falls in love with her when they return to District 12. While Lucy seems to return his affections, Snow grows suspicious when her ex-boyfriend insinuates that Lucy flirts with many guys and that her feelings for him are just a part of her performer persona. Snow’s assumptions about Lucy not loving him mirror how Katniss initially pretends to be in love with Peeta while his feelings for her are real.
President Snow Hijacking Peeta Becomes More Personal
While Katniss and Peeta’s relationship may have started as pretend, Katniss grows to sincerely love Peeta. This becomes clear to Snow in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. When Peeta is almost killed by a force field in the arena but is revived by Finnick, Katniss shows how devastated she would be to lose Peeta and later declares that she needs him before genuinely kissing him for the first time. Snow is subsequently shown on-screen, noticing these moments in particular. Once Snow has Peeta as his prisoner in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, he continually uses him as a tool to force Katniss through torture and public appearances.
Snow using Peeta as a weapon initially comes off as a calculated move to destroy Katniss. When Snow tells her, “it’s the things we love most that destroy us,” he is referring to Peeta. However, with Coriolanus Snow’s doomed relationship with Lucy in mind, this act may have been more personal than being motivated by malice. In Snow’s mind, Lucy only pretends to love him and believes she turned on him when she discovers his murders. Snow seeing that Peeta earns the affection of the girl he loves may have caused him to become jealous of Peeta and use the hijacking to take away from Peeta what Snow feels was denied to him.
Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes' Romance Will Be The Opposite Of Hunger Games'
The romance in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will depict a different kind of love than in The Hunger Games trilogy. The romance between Snow and Lucy is steeped in toxicity and ends in heartbreak. Snow’s affections for Lucy border on obsessive, as he gets angry when she performs songs that he thinks are about her former boyfriend. His affections are also conditional, as he tries to kill her when he believes she becomes a threat. The Hunger Games prequel should avoid making the mistake of presenting this kind of romance as appealing. Instead, the romance should be seen as a cautionary tale of falling for the wrong person.
This unhealthy relationship is the complete opposite of Katniss and Peeta’s slow-building romance. Rather than obsession and control, Katniss and Peeta’s love is based on mutual respect, a desire to protect one another, and being inspired by each other’s acts of rebellion and kindness. When Peeta discovers that Katniss was originally pretending to love him, he is upset. However, he also goes out of his way to avoid blaming Katniss and instead tries to be her friend. In return, when Peeta is hijacked and no longer himself, Katniss protects him, helps him decipher what memories are real or not, and makes sure he knows in the end that she truly loves him as unconditionally as Peeta loves her.
The Hunger Games prequel provides the backstory for many aspects of the original films, from the origin of the Hanging Tree song to how certain elements of the Games are implemented to why President Snow hates District 12 and Mockingjay birds. However, a look into Snow’s failed relationship with Lucy Gray in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will highlight significant factors in why he acts the way he does in the Hunger Games films, particularly towards Katniss and Peeta. Ironically, both these love stories fit easily with the "real or not real" game featured in the series, and it is painfully obvious which romance is real and which romance never is.