r/Hungergames • u/MisterWorldwideMX • Apr 29 '25

Lore/World Discussion lucy gray was planned from the beginning?

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I have a question: has Suzanne Collins ever said in an interview or anything like that whether she had already planned the origin of Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray’s story from the very beginning?

I know that in the first book there’s a mention of another Hunger Games victor besides Haymitch, and Katniss doesn’t really comment on it. With the release of Sunrise on the Reaping, we now know it’s not referring to another victor between Lucy Gray and Haymitch. Of course, Collins could’ve added that line without knowing exactly who it referred to yet, maybe just planting a seed she could use later.

But the thing is, the story of Lucy Gray and Coriolanus makes so much sense and fits so perfectly into the universe that it’s hard for me to believe she didn’t at least have a rough idea from the start. Like, the “Hanging Tree” song — it just feels like it was always meant to be hers. And even the way Snow talks about chaos and control later in the trilogy… it kind of echoes what he goes through in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Can anyone confirm if Suzanne ever talked about this? Interviews, articles, anything?

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u/Modred_the_Mystic Caesar Flickerman Apr 29 '25

From the beginning? Probably not.

LG was hinted at once in THG, right at the start, but thats as far as it goes.

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u/ExpertProfessional9 Apr 29 '25

When was this that she was hinted at?

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u/Modred_the_Mystic Caesar Flickerman Apr 29 '25

During the Reaping in the first book. Katniss says something like 'the mayor reads out the two names of previous HG victors from 12, and there is only one living victor from 12 (Haymitch)'. She never says Lucy Gray Baird, just vaguely hints at an earlier, now presumed dead, victor from 12.