The Hunger Games: Essential Recap Before Sunrise on the Reaping

This article discusses addiction and mental health.

In 2008, Suzanne Collins — then best known for her work on television series such as “Clarissa Explains it All” and her children’s book series “The Underland Chronicles” — transformed young adult fiction with the release of “The Hunger Games.” The novel blended elements of “The Lord of the Flies” and “Battle Royale” into a dystopian story about the Capitol, a powerful government that forces children to fight to the death in the titular Games. Collins followed it with “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay,” creating a complete trilogy. The books soon became a major film franchise, with “Mockingjay” divided into two movies, following the model established by the final “Harry Potter” adaptation.

The Hunger Games inspired a wave of would-be successors, including “Divergent,” “The Maze Runner,” and “The Mortal Instruments.” Yet none matched Collins’ combination of political commentary, reality-TV spectacle, and a warning about government control. The franchise remains popular, and Collins has since expanded its history with two prequels: “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Both explore the events that shaped the world Katniss Everdeen eventually enters. “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is now headed for the big screen, with Joseph Zada playing Haymitch, alongside Mckenna Grace, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Glenn Close, and Ralph Fiennes. Francis Lawrence is returning to direct. Before seeing the new film, what should you remember about the Hunger Games timeline? Spoilers for everything except “Sunrise on the Reaping” follow.

The first “Hunger Games” novel introduces Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the films, and the nation of Panem. On Reaping Day, the mayor explains that Panem rose from the ruins of North America after a series of disasters, including droughts, storms, fires, rising seas, and a devastating war over dwindling resources. The new nation consisted of the prosperous Capitol and 13 surrounding districts. After the districts rebelled during the Dark Days, the Capitol defeated 12 of them and erased the 13th from history.

Panem emerged from the ashes of what was once North America. The mayor recounts the droughts, storms, fires, encroaching seas, and brutal war that destroyed the old world. The country that followed consisted of a gleaming Capitol surrounded by 13 districts, bringing peace and prosperity — until the Dark Days uprising. Twelve districts were defeated, while the 13th was annihilated.

Katniss comes from District 12, a poor coal-mining region located in Appalachia. The Capitol, according to her schooling, was built in the area once known as the Rockies. When her younger sister, Primrose — played by Willow Shields in the film — is selected during the Reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Each year, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen from every district and sent into an arena. Only one tribute can survive. The Capitol broadcasts the bloodshed as entertainment, while its own children remain safely outside the Games. Victory brings wealth, but surviving comes at a devastating personal cost.

When Katniss meets Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson in the original movies and Joseph Zada in the prequel, he is District 12’s only living victor. He is also visibly struggling with alcohol dependence:

District 12 has produced only two victors in 74 years, and just one remains alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a heavyset middle-aged man, stumbles onto the stage, shouting incoherently before collapsing into a chair. He is extremely drunk.

That humiliating introduction is only the beginning of Haymitch’s story. The novel “Sunrise on the Reaping” reveals that he won the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. Held every 25 years, the Quarter Quells add especially cruel rules to the competition. In Haymitch’s Games, 48 tributes entered the arena instead of the usual 24, doubling the number of young people placed in danger.

Before becoming a victor, Haymitch worked as a bootlegger in District 12, selling illegal alcohol to support his family. Unlike the older man Katniss encounters, however, teenage Haymitch did not drink. He was also surrounded by people he loved, including his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, his mother Willamae, and his younger brother Sid. Whitney Peak, Kara Tointon, and Smylie Bradwell play those characters in the film adaptation. The Games leave a lasting mark on Haymitch, though the details are best left for the new story to reveal.

At the District 12 Reaping, Katniss sees Haymitch drunk and disorderly. Later, she and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, clean him up after another night of drinking. They properly meet him aboard the train to the Capitol, where Haymitch and stylist Effie Trinket — played by Elizabeth Banks in the original films and Elle Fanning in “Sunrise on the Reaping” — are assigned to help them prepare. When Katniss reminds Haymitch that his job is to advise and protect them, he offers only two words: “Stay alive.” Peeta knocks away his morning drink, while Katniss drives a knife into the table between his fingers. Haymitch is reluctantly impressed.

Haymitch and Katniss spend much of the first book and film arguing. Both are stubborn and abrasive, but their relationship changes when they agree to work together to keep the compassionate Peeta alive. Haymitch supports the pair from outside the arena, using sponsor gifts to help Katniss maintain the illusion that she and Peeta are in love. Although she initially assumes he gives poor advice because he does not care, Haymitch recognizes that Katniss can win and begins fighting to keep her alive.

When Katniss and Peeta jointly win the Games by turning their staged romance into a weapon against the Capitol, she and Haymitch share a genuine bond. That connection becomes even more important in the sequels.

At the beginning of “Catching Fire,” Katniss and Peeta live with their families in Victor’s Village, the mostly empty collection of mansions reserved for District 12 winners. Haymitch lives there too. Katniss regularly visits the rough marketplace known as the Hob to buy him alcohol:

The liquor is not for Katniss’ family but for Haymitch, who mentored her and Peeta. He is usually surly, violent, and drunk, yet he did more than his duty by helping two tributes win the Games for the first time. Whatever else Haymitch may be, Katniss believes she will always owe him.

Haymitch later steps in when Peacekeepers brutally whip Katniss’ friend Gale Hawthorne, played by Liam Hemsworth in the films. His past as a victor gives him enough authority to shield Gale from further punishment. When President Coriolanus Snow, played by Donald Sutherland in the original movies, seeks revenge for Katniss and Peeta’s defiance, he announces that only previous victors can be selected for the 75th Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell. Peeta immediately volunteers in Haymitch’s place.

Katniss and Peeta eventually discover that Haymitch has been working against the Capitol. He encourages them to form alliances with victors such as Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason, played by Sam Claflin and Jena Malone. The group is part of a larger plan to rescue Katniss from the arena and turn her into a symbol of rebellion. The escape partly succeeds, but Peeta is captured by the Capitol while Katniss and Haymitch reach safety.

By “Mockingjay,” the relationship between Katniss and Haymitch is badly damaged. Katniss blames her mentor for failing to protect Peeta, who has been captured and tortured by the Capitol during the war. From their underground base in District 13 — a real stronghold of the resistance that survived by hiding from the Capitol — Katniss remains furious. Haymitch argues that saving her was essential because she is the person capable of uniting the rebellion and inspiring the oppressed districts.

Once Katniss becomes the Mockingjay, the face of the resistance, Haymitch offers what support he can. Their relationship gradually begins to heal. The novel also gives them one of their funniest exchanges when Katniss struggles to film convincing propaganda. After she finishes a take, Haymitch’s bitter laugh echoes through the studio before he delivers his verdict: “And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies.”

Haymitch, Katniss, and Peeta survive the war and eventually return to District 12. Peace does not erase what happened to them, however; all three carry profound psychological scars. Haymitch’s history also connects to Collins’ first prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” even though that story takes place years before he is born.

District 12 is central to every major Hunger Games story. It is Katniss’ home, Haymitch’s district, and the place where a young Coriolanus Snow encounters the person who will change his life. In “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Snow is a student at the Capitol Academy and the impoverished heir of a once-powerful family. Tom Blyth plays the younger Snow, known as Coryo, in the 2023 film.

As part of a school assignment, Coryo is tasked with mentoring a District 12 tribute in the 10th Hunger Games: Lucy Gray Baird, a singer from the Covey played by Rachel Zegler. Academy dean Casca Highbottom, portrayed by Peter Dinklage, gives Coryo the assignment as a punishment. But after Lucy causes a stir at the Reaping by hiding a snake in another girl’s dress, Coryo realizes her musical talent and charisma could attract Capitol viewers.

The 10th Hunger Games are the first to be televised throughout Panem. Coryo exploits Lucy’s popularity to win sponsors and public sympathy. His supposedly supportive guidance helps her survive, and Lucy ultimately becomes the victor. That apparent partnership also reveals how Snow learns to manipulate people and turn spectacle into power.

Lucy Gray is the only District 12 victor before Haymitch. Coryo helps her bend the rules with rat poison concealed inside her token and a handkerchief carrying her scent, which keeps certain Capitol muttations away. Casca Highbottom punishes him by forcing him to become a Peacekeeper, but Coryo arranges a posting in District 12 so he can reunite with Lucy. Anyone familiar with “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” knows their relationship ends badly.

In District 12, Coryo’s true nature becomes impossible to hide. He betrays his friend and fellow mentor Sejanus Plinth, played by Josh Andrés Rivera in the film, by recording Sejanus discussing rebellion through a jabberjay and sending the evidence to Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul, played by Viola Davis. During a later confrontation involving Lucy Gray and other residents, Coryo kills Mayor’s daughter Mayfair Lipp, portrayed by Isobel Jesper Jones.

Coryo and Lucy plan to flee together, but Lucy grows suspicious after Sejanus is hanged and Coryo makes disturbing comments about killing. When she escapes, Coryo tries to shoot her, but she gets away. His transformation into the future President Snow is complete, as is his hatred of District 12. That history helps explain why the older Snow is so threatened by Katniss, another determined, brown-haired tribute from the district.

Once “Catching Fire” reveals that Haymitch survived one of the most brutal editions of the Games, the decision to build a prequel around the Second Quarter Quell makes perfect sense. The novel “Catching Fire” includes a brief version of his Games as Katniss and Peeta watch Capitol footage of the interviews, arena, and final moments. “Sunrise on the Reaping” expands that glimpse into a full story.

Haymitch is the franchise’s key link between its different eras. He has direct history with both Snow and Katniss, allowing the series to connect events separated by decades. Like Katniss, he turns the Capitol’s own arena technology against it. He wins after the last remaining Career tribute from District 1 throws an axe at him; the weapon rebounds off a force field and kills her.

Snow takes a particular interest in Haymitch, much as he later does with Katniss. Haymitch understands the threat posed by the president and the Capitol better than almost anyone. In “Sunrise on the Reaping,” he vows to destroy the Capitol and end the Games; the title reflects his hope that no other sun will rise on Reaping Day. Decades after winning the Second Quarter Quell, Katniss helps make that ambition a reality.

After completing the original Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins waited 10 years before publishing “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” then another five years before releasing “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Whether she plans to explore more Games or other corners of Panem remains unknown. The world she created is expansive and complex, and neither prequel feels like a simple attempt to capitalize on the franchise’s success. Instead, both stories deepen the political and emotional history of Panem while adding context to the original young adult trilogy.

Future stories could explore the Games won by victors such as Finnick Odair or Johanna Mason. Another possibility would be a closer look at Plutarch Heavensbee, played by Jesse Plemons in the prequel and by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in the original films. For now, fans will have to wait and see whether Collins returns to Panem. “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

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