A Hunger Games Victor Detail Hints That Sunrise On The Reaping Will Be The Last Of The Franchise

Author Suzanne Collins has another Hunger Games book on the way, but an ongoing victor trend hints that this will be the franchise’s final installment. The upcoming novel and movie, titled Sunrise on the Reaping, will follow the events of the 50th Hunger Games, which were won by District 12’s Haymitch Abernathy. This is only one of many spinoff stories fans have been asking for, and hopes are still high that more prequels or sequels will follow. However, based on the existing formula of The Hunger Games, this may be our last visit to Panem.

Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping announcement has been a topic of great excitement, and the reveal that Lionsgate already has a movie adaptation in the works has only added to this. Haymitch’s games were described in some detail in the Catching Fire book, and this uniquely bloody event was begging for its own spinoff. Of course, this is far from the only intriguing story the Hunger Games books didn’t get into. There have been requests for books and movies following Finnick, Joanna, District 13, and more. However, these may never come to be.

Each Hunger Games Book (Including Sunrise On The Reaping) Covers The Games Of District 12’s Tributes

Sunrise On The Reaping Solidifies The Hunger Games’ Victor Trend

Collins has established a specific formula with her Hunger Games books that Sunrise on the Reaping seems to have solidified. Throughout Panem’s history, four Hunger Games victors have come from District 12—Lucy Gray Baird, Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark. Of course, Katniss and Peeta’s story was covered in the central Hunger Games trilogy. Lucy Gray’s 10th Hunger Games, in which Coriolanus Snow was a mentor, was the center of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Now, the last District 12 victor to get its own story, Haymitch, will be the center of Sunrise on the Reaping.

Haymitch Is The Last District 12 Victor To Get Their Own Story

The 50th Hunger Games Will Fill In The Final Pieces Of Snow’s War With District 12’s Tributes

Though told out of order, the overarching story of Collins’ Hunger Games franchise now covers the victors of District 12, who each had a significant impact on President Snow’s rise to power and downfall. Lucy Gray’s supposed betrayal in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is why Snow began to believe in the Hunger Games rather than detest them, determining that humanity is dangerous and must be controlled. Katniss’ story in The Hunger Games saw Snow lose that control, all thanks to a District 12 girl who ignited a fire in the heart of his nation. Now, Haymitch’s story will be the final piece of the puzzle.

Catching Fire already revealed that Haymitch won his games in a similar way to Katniss and Lucy Gray—by using the features of the arena against the Capitol. This enraged the president so much that he murdered all of Haymitch’s loved ones before he could even return to District 12. Since a victor’s friends and family were how Snow controlled them, it’s clear he took Haymitch’s victory very personally. Of course, Sunrise on the Reaping is sure to provide more context as to why, but the boy being from District 12 couldn’t have helped.

It certainly seems that the overarching story of the Hunger Games franchise is Snow’s personal war with District 12, beginning with Lucy Gray and ending with Katniss Everdeen. It will take the release of Sunrise on the Reaping to know how Haymitch fits into this, but the fact that he is the last District 12 victor indicates that this will be the official end of the saga. Snow’s story will be poetically defined by the defiance of his lowest of slaves, and this perfectly serves the themes that Collins covered in The Hunger Games.

Is Sunrise On The Reaping The Final Hunger Games Story?

More Hunger Games Stories Would Be Entertaining, But Might Not Serve The Overarching Themes Of The Series

Collins is a delightfully formulaic writer, with each of her Hunger Games books following a familiar rhythm. The common denominator of these stories is now President Snow and District 12, but with Haymitch’s story now being told, there is nowhere else left to take this. Of course, other highly requested stories could feasibly be made into books or movies in the future. Finnick’s full tale would certainly be interesting, and there is a lot we don’t know about District 13. However, by diving into one of these concepts, Collins would be disrupting the poeticism of what she has established.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was an intelligent addition to Katniss Hunger Games since it retroactively provided context to Snow’s fixation on Katniss. His time with Lucy Gray explained how he came to believe that humanity deserved totalitarian control, somehow making the story of The Hunger Games even better. Sunrise on the Reaping has the potential to do the same, adding to the impactful social commentary of Snow’s battle with District 12’s most surprising tributes. While other spinoffs would be fun, they wouldn’t achieve the same level of impact. More stories are certainly possible, but The Hunger Games may be more effective with this ending.