The 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Ending Explained

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very last scene. 

Set 64 years before the original franchise, the prequel film follows a young Coriolanus Snow as he is chosen as a mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games and paired with a District 12 tribute named Lucy Gray Baird.

Along the way, Snow goes on a journey of self-discovery as he grapples with his blossoming feelings for Lucy Gray and his hunger for power. Though he straddles the line of good and evil throughout the film, he eventually transforms into the villainous President Snow we all know by the end of the movie. 

While we all know how Snow’s story ends in the Hunger Games films, a few characters’ fates are a bit more open-ended in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

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 for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ahead. 

What happens after the Hunger Games in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?

After Lucy Gray wins the 10th Hunger Games, she is sent back to District 12. Meanwhile, Snow is forced to become a Peacekeeper after Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom learn that he cheated. He requests to be sent to District 12 where he reunites with Lucy Gray and Sejanus Plinth, who also becomes a Peacekeeper. However, Snow and Lucy Gray’s sweet reunion is short-lived as Sejanus involves himself with rebels. Hoping to Sejanus him sent back to the Capitol, Snow discreetly informs Dr. Gaul of Sejanus’ plans with the rebels by recording their conversation using a Jabberjay. 

Later at the Hob, Snow, Sejanus and a District 12 citizen named Spruce get into an altercation with Lucy Gray’s ex-boyfriend, Billy Taupe, and his new girlfriend, Mayfair Lipp, who is the mayor’s daughter. Amid the spat, Billy and Mayfair are shot to death by Snow and Spruce, causing the mayor to go on a rampage in town to find their murderers.

In the end, Spruce and Sejanus are hanged 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 in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?

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."

The two eventually make a stop at a nearby cabin, where Snow discovers the weapons used to kill Billy Taupe and Mayfair Lipp. Upon the discovery, Lucy Gray taunts Snow that he has no loose ends to stop him from returning to his past life at the Capitol — other than her — before venturing out in the rain to find katniss plants to eat.

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. 

Following their confrontation, one of the biggest questions that looms is whether their love was real. For Lawrence, he notes that while there's certainly a "magnetic pull" between them, neither one of them is entirely trustworthy. "Nina often says that not everybody's a songbird and not everybody's a snake. And I think that's true," he explains. "They both have a little bit of both in them. He needs her to survive and win the prize. She needs him to survive. Are they attracted? Sure. Do they truly love one another? I don't know."

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 of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? 

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. 

Though the film hints at Snow’s fate in the final scene, the book gives more backstory into the vital role he later plays in the games. After studying under Dr. Gaul, he accepts an internship as a Gamekeeper, where he introduces many new ideas to get the districts involved in the Hunger Games, including the creation of the Victors' Villages.

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 in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? 

During Snow’s visit to the Academy, Dean Highbottom unveils the true backstory of the Hunger Games. He reveals that the idea actually came from both him and Snow’s father, who was his best friend at the Academy. After being tasked with an assignment from Dr. Gaul, the two got drunk one night and toyed around with the idea of the Hunger Games. Though Highbottom never intended for the idea to get out, Snow turned in the paper without his consent, hoping to elevate his own status. He adds that he tried morphling for the first time that night. 

After Dr. Gaul made the Hunger Games a reality years later, Highbottom had hoped that one day the games would die out. However, thanks to Snow’s innovative new ideas, we know that doesn't happen for a long time. As Snow empties Sejanus’ personal belongings, he makes sure to include his old morphling bottles, knowing Highbottom couldn’t resist taking them after he left. The final scene shows Highbottom take a swig of morphling only to come to the sudden realization that it’s been laced with rat poison and he quickly fades. As a result, Highbottom marks the first of many victims that Snow will murder with poison. 

"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."

Does The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes have an end-credits scene?

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 in Mockingjay – 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 original Mockingjay, 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."

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