The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

A distraught Coriolanus finds himself on a train to District 12 despite requesting any other place—reasoning that “anonymity was a condition greatly to be desired” (323-24). While he travels, he reflects on his meeting with Dean Highbottom and his unethical behavior in mentoring Lucy Gray. Coriolanus notes the media’s unusual silence: “It was as if the Hunger Games had never happened” (330).

Upon becoming a Peacekeeper, Coriolanus is at least pleased that the training makes him too tired to think too much and that he always has enough to eat. He receives a letter from Tigris, informing him that the family home “is officially going on the market now” (336), which prompts Coriolanus to reflect on what he feels is the tragedy of his life. He resolves never to return to the Capitol—only to look up and see Sejanus in Peacekeeper fatigues.

Despite their complicated friendship, Coriolanus is “relieved to have someone to talk to who knew his world and, more importantly, his true worth in that world” (344). Sejanus tells Coriolanus that those back home believe he left out of love for Lucy Gray; his cheating was kept silent. Coriolanus is pleased to hear that a local band—with a singer named “Lucy somebody” (343)—plans to perform in the near future.