Photo:Murray Close/Lionsgate
Murray Close/Lionsgate
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswillleave you on the edge of your seatuntil the very last scene.
Ahead of the film’s release, PEOPLE talked with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson about the ominous ending, including what they think happened to one notable character and the possibility of a future sequel. Here’s everything to know.
Warning: major spoilers forThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesahead.
Murray Close/Courtesy of Lionsgate
In the end, Spruce and Sejanus arehanged at the Hanging Tree; Snow feels responsible for Sejanus’ death and is wracked with grief. According to Jacobson, Sejanus' death is a “defining moment” that is “essential” to Snow’s transformation into the evil President Snow fans know from the original trilogy.
“Had Sejanus not died, had he not borne the weight of that death — no matter what happened between him and Lucy Gray — he might not have turned out the way that he did,” she adds. “He doesn’t own what he does in the way that [Lucy] does. There’s that moment afterward in the barracks where he falls apart, where he does own it for a moment, and you can see how unbearably painful it is to live with the knowledge of your sins and how much easier it is in a way to justify and rationalize them.”
Does Lucy Gray die inThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?
Lionsgate
With the mayor on Lucy Gray’s trail and Snow nervous about being caught for Mayfair’s murder, the two make a plan to meet at the Hanging Tree and escape District 12. On their journey, Snow lets it slip that he previously killed three people, making Lucy Gray suspicious, since she only knew about two.
Jacobson says that the moment is a major shift in Snow and Lucy Gray’s relationship as they rationalize the bad things they have done in different ways. “These are two characters who are survivors, and she feels that her survival still requires a moral code. He feels that survival at any cost is ultimately justified,” she says. “When he suddenly realizes that she sees him differently, that is the final ingredient to that transformation.”
After some time, Snow goes to look for her and stumbles upon her shawl; as he reaches for it, a snake jumps out and bites him. Believing Lucy Gray planted the snake to harm him, Snow goes on a rampage, shooting his gun into the woods. For a moment, it seems like he has hit Lucy Gray but then she starts singing “The Hanging Tree,” causing countless Mockingjays to join in chorus. Snow then fires at the Mockingjays before breaking down in the woods.
In the end, Snow escapes unharmed, but Lucy Gray’s fate remains a mystery,just like in the book. Though Jacobson notes it was “hard to deliver a mystery ending for a character you love to an audience,” she and Lawrence never considered giving fans any “certainty” about Lucy Gray’s ending in order to stay true to Collins' book. Jacobson, an “optimist,” likes to believe that Lucy Gray made it out alive.
“I 100% believe that she’s a survivor,” she says. “She’s clever. She knows the woods. I think she knows how to take care of herself. And I would love to find out. I hope I’ll get to find out someday.”
Since the book’s release, many have wondered about Lucy Gray’s fate, with the most popular theories being that she returned to District 12 and became the eventual ancestor of Katniss Everdeen or escaped to District 13 possibly becoming the ancestor of Alma Coin.
What happens to Snow at the end ofThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?
Courtesy of Lionsgate
After leaving District 12, Snow returns to the Capitol, where Dr. Gaul informs him that he has received a full-ride scholarship to attend the University.
Additionally, it’s revealed that the Plinth family (oblivious to the fact that he was directly responsible for their son’s death) take Snow in as their heir, paying for his family’s debts, Snow’s studies and giving him a generous allowance.
The film ends with Snow paying a visit to Dean Highbottom ahead of what would have been Sejanus’ 19th birthday to return his former classmate’s belongings.
Did Snow kill Dean Highbottom inThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?
“I think it’s an act of revenge,” Jacobson said of Highbottom’s murder. “It is seizing in that moment that he says to Tigris that [killing Bobbin in the arena] felt powerful. Obviously, you see there and she sees there that he does have this darkness in him that could either be cultivated or softened. [Highbottom’s murder] is pretty darn vengeful, but I also think it’s just ruthless, which is this guy wants to stop me and I will not let anybody stop me now that I am on my way.”
DoesThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeshave an end-credits scene?
Color Force/Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock
Though the film doesn’t include an end-credits scene, the last scene does include a pivotal voice cameo from the original Snow, Donald Sutherland. The film ends with a closeup of young Snow smiling and a voiceover from Sutherland’s Snow, saying, “It’s the things we love most, that destroy us" — a quote he previously said to Katniss inMockingjay – Part 1. Lawrence reveals the line was actually added after the fact when Lionsgate included it in a sizzle reel and the teaser trailer.
“I thought it was just perfect because there was something about that line, that even though it didn’t have that kind of history and intention in the originalMockingjay, suddenly you go, ‘Oh wow, there’s a new history to it. There’s a new context for this line,’ because part of the reason that he goes dark is this sort of betrayal of this relationship and this love that he had for this person,” he says.
“It sums up, partly, the relationship, it gives context to that line in the other movie, but also you’re seeing Snow more formed, and then hearing Donald’s voice, it sort of connects the two,” he adds. “I just thought it was really powerful.”
source: people.com
