As fans of The Hunger Games continue to dissect Suzanne Collins‘ latest novel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, fans are still identifying Easter eggs throughout the story. This chapter of the story follows Haymitch’s games, and the Second Quarter Quell, which meant that twice as many tributes were reaped. This chapter of the franchise focuses on the power of propaganda and further fleshes out the Capitol’s relationship with the districts as the Capitol continues to suppress any form of rebellion.
There were several Easter eggs introduced in Sunrise on the Reaping that both expanded the Hunger Games universe and connected the prequels to each other and the main trilogy. The best Easter eggs in this latest installment add heartbreaking details to the characters’ stories and make them even easier to appreciate. The Easter eggs introduced in Sunrise on the Reaping highlight the fact that the rebellion against the Capitol was decades in the making.
10
Katniss’s Mom’s Pet Canary
She Was Named After a Tragic Figure
In what was an off-hand remark in The Hunger Games, Katniss’s mother, Astrid, revealed that she had previously owned a canary that was owned by her childhood best friend Maysilee Donner. This makes sense, since District 12 is a coal-mining district that relies on canaries to indicate whether the air underground is safe. In The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, after Louella McCoy is killed in a freak accident, Maysilee names the child who replaces her Lou Lou, since she can’t remember her own name.
This is a heartbreaking Easter egg because it connects the original trilogy to the prequel unexpectedly. There are multiple layers to this tragedy, from the fact that Astrid raises her childhood best friend’s canary after Mayislee is killed in the games to the fact that none of Haymitch or his fellow tributes know the name of the little girl who is forced to be part of the violence. This isn’t about a canary, but rather how Maysilee’s legacy lived on after her death at the hands of the Capitol.
9
The ‘Sickle’ Surname Re-Appears
Fans May Recognize the Last Name From a Previous Chapter
Drusilla Sickle was introduced as the escort of the District 12 tributes for the 50th Hunger Games. She’s a cold and distant figure, who seems mostly unbothered by the fact that a tribute reaped for the Hunger Games is killed immediately. Fans of the book series will recognize the last name “Sickle”, which also appeared in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Agripa Sickle is introduced in the book as an academy professor, and Vypsania is designated as the mentor for District 7’s male tribute.
The Sickles don’t play a large role in the franchise, but the family certainly has a unique perspective on the Capitol. While it’s unclear exactly how the Sickles are related, it’s possible that Drusilla and Vypsania are related, and that they may even be mother and daughter. There is likely more to this family’s story than what has been shown so far, and even though they are minor characters, they illustrate how the Capitol works.
8
“The Old Therebefore” Song
It’s Even More Powerful Now
One of the most profound moments in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is Lucy Grey Baird (Rachel Zegler) singing “The Old Therebefore”. The song is a deeply emotional and heartbreaking ballad that talks about the inevitability of death and the hope of creating a legacy. While music has always played a critical role in the Hunger Games franchise, this song stands out because it’s so powerful.
Learning more about this song’s origin makes it even more devastating. It makes complete sense that such a powerful song about the inevitability of death, but the hope of memory carrying on, is also a District 12 funeral ballad. This song is also a chance to get to know Katniss’s father, Burdock, on a deeper level, since he uses this song to express his own grief and that of his entire community. This song connects Katniss and Lucy Grey Baird, and highlights how music was always an essential part of their culture.
7
Tam Amber and Clerk Carmine Appearance
They’re Lenore Dove’s Cousins
Tam Amber and Clerk Carmine are also minor characters introduced in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as members of the Covey. Lucy Grey Baird is their cousin, and they are re-introduced in Sunrise on the Reaping, raising their niece Lenore Dove. Haymitch gets to know them as he dates Lenore Dove. It’s unclear who Lenore Dove’s parents were, as Haymitch only knows that her mother died in childbirth.
Tam Amber and Clerk Carmine are featured briefly in the story, but their stories are no less important to the universe as a whole. Haymich learns that Clerk Carmine is gay when Leonore Dove mentions that he has a long-term partner. This provides further insight into the fact that the LGBTQ+ community of Panem is oppressed, and that the Covey have to band together to protect one another at all costs.
6
Katniss’s Connection to the Covey
There’s Still So Much About Her Family That’s Not Known
Barb Azure Baird is introduced in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as a member of the Covey. She isn’t mentioned again by name, including in Sunrise on the Reaping. However, given the fact that Sunrise on the Reaping introduces Katniss’s father, Burdock, fans have speculated that Barb Azure Baird could possibly be his mother or grandmother. This is based on the process of elimination, looking at each of the named members of the Covey who are women.
Burdock is mainly shown in Sunrise on the Reaping as Haymitch’s close friend. Haymitch remembers meeting Burdock’s mother as a child, but it’s unclear if she’s still alive at the time of Sunrise on the Reaping. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Barb Azure is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s possible that she was either bisexual or pansexual and fell in love with an Everdeen, or that she chose to be in a Lavender relationship, knowing that the Capitol actively repressed the LGBTQ+ community.
5
Haymitch’s “Sweetheart” Nickname
He Didn’t Just Make it Up on the Fly
Haymitch immediately nicknames Katniss “sweetheart” when he starts mentoring her before the 74th Hunger Games. He immediately comes across as sarcastic and aloof by continuing to call her this. However, in Sunrise on the Reaping, it’s revealed that he had previously given this nickname to his District 12 neighbor Louella McCoy, who is reaped alongside Haymich for the 10th Hunger Games.
Hearing more about Haymitch’s history of nicknaming those he feels close to is one of the most heartbreaking aspects of Sunrise on the Reaping. Haymitch and Louella’s relationship is a sweet and tragic one, since Louella had a crush on Haymitch when she was younger, and the two developed a sibling-like bond while facing the violence of the Hunger Games. Calling Katniss “sweetheart” is a touching and heartbreaking way to pay tribute to Louella’s legacy.
4
Further Exploration of ‘The Hanging Tree’
Arlo Chance Was a Doomed Figure
‘The Hanging Tree’ is one of the most important songs in the Hunger Games franchise. Throughout the series, this song becomes a rallying cry for those fighting the Capitol. Katniss first sings the song in Mockingjay and tells a captive audience of District 13 filmmakers that her father sang it to her as a child. In the book, Katniss’s mother admonishes her father for singing it since it describes the disturbing story of a man condemned to death.
‘The Hanging Tree’ wasn’t always an anthem for the Districts in their rebellion. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lucy Grey Baird writes the song after Arlo Chance, a District 12 rebel who tried to sabotage the district’s coal production, is executed. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Woodbine Chance, a child with Arlo’s last name, is reaped for the 50th Hunger Games before being shot by Peacekeepers. Woodbine’s death and Haymitch’s subsequent reaping in his place give new meaning to the haunting melody.
3
The Importance of the District 11 Attic
It’s a Place Not to Be Overheard
Plutarch Heavensbee is a complicated character who has apparently always been involved in the rebellion against the Capitol from the inside. In Sunrise on the Reaping, he is an up-and-coming TV producer working for the Capitol to film the Hunger Games. Haymitch is never quite sure what to make of him. However, Plutarch pulls Haymitch into the secret attic in District 11 after Haymitch gets drunk during the victory tour, as he remembers his fellow tributes who were killed.
This attic in District 11 was first introduced in Catching Fire when Haymitch takes Katniss and Peeta there after shots are fired by the Peacekeepers during their victory tour years later. It now makes sense why Haymitch would know that the attic in District 11 would be the perfect place for a secret meeting, since it is the one area of the district that hasn’t been bugged. Until Sunrise on the Reaping, it was unclear why Haymitch would know that this attic was a safe space.
2
Possible Tigress Appearance
There’s an Unidentified Woman With Cat Ears
Tigress Snow is introduced in the main Hunger Games trilogy as a former stylist. In Mockingjay, she lets the rebels, including Katniss, hide in her house as they plan their final push into the Capitol. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Tigress is introduced as Snow’s sister, who saw his rise to power from someone who barely survived the aftermath of a catastrophic war to someone who consolidated absolute power by murdering those who stood in his way.
While Tigress doesn’t explicitly make an appearance in Sunrise on the Reaping, there’s reason to believe she’s in the background. While observing Capitol citizens, Haymitch notes that many of them have modified their bodies to include animal features, and specifically mentions a woman who looks like a cat. Maysilee also sees a woman who looks like a cat sitting in the audience during her interview. This could be Tigress, since this woman was close enough to the stage for Maysilee to see.
1
The Training Center is There Because of Sejanus Plinth
The Capitol Had to Make Sure There Were No Other Sejanuses
Sejanus Plinth is one of the most tragic figures in this franchise, as he goes from being Snow’s closest friend to someone Snow betrays without a second thought. Sejanus and Snow become close friends during their time as students. During the Hunger Games where they are both mentors, Sejanus quickly becomes disillusioned by the Capitol and sneaks into the arena to mourn the death of the District 2 tribute he worked with.
Sejanus’s death is one of the saddest ones featured in The Hunger Games because of how deeply he was betrayed by someone he trusted. Before being sent to District 12 as a Peacekeeper, where Snow ultimately betrayed him, Sejanus mentions that his father paid for a new gymnasium so that he could receive a lighter punishment. The implication is that the training center that Haymitch and his fellow tributes use is the Academy’s old gymnasium, which Sejanus’ father paid to replace.