Top 5 Hunger Games Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed in Sunrise on the Reaping

The Hunger Games franchise is now officially coming back to the screens with a new prequel movie titled Sunrise on the Reaping, based on Suzanne Collins’ brand new novel of the same name.

The future film, now delving into the events of the 50th Hunger Games and Haymitch Abernathy’s victory, is set to arrive in theatres roughly three years after The Hunger Games’ first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The latter exclusively followed President Snow’s earlier years as one of the mentors for the 10th Hunger Games.

The upcoming movie, however, will likely become a way more exciting instalment for those who missed some tiny details from the original trilogy in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — here are some of the biggest The Hunger Games references that Sunrise on the Reaping may borrow from the novel.

5. Haymitch’s Nickname for Katniss Isn’t Accidental

The first Hunger Games novel sees the start of Katniss and her mentor Haymitch’s relationship (even though they’ve known each other for much longer, but that’s a different story).

The tension between them first rises due to the difference in their attitude, with Katniss realizing she’s about to die in the arena and Haymitch being way too unserious at some moments.

There’s a point when he starts sarcastically calling her “sweetheart,” which didn’t really have any profound meaning until Sunrise on the Reaping arrived.

In the novel, it’s revealed that “sweetheart” was Haymitch’s nickname for Louella McCoy, his fellow tribute and District 12 neighbour who used to have a crush on Haymitch when she was little.

They later bond over their shared trouble during the first days in the Capitol, and years later Haymitch admits he calls Katniss this way because she reminds him of Louella.

4. The Katniss Plants Appear in Haymitch’s Arena

The Hunger Games novel quickly clarifies Katniss and Primrose’s names, suggesting the girls’ parents named them after the plants that grow around District 12.

The Katniss plant is then mentioned in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when Lucy Gray tells Coriolanus Snow about it; it is also featured in Sunrise on the Reaping, with Haymitch noting that the arena of the Hunger Games has the Katniss plants growing around as well.

What makes it even more interesting is that the plant is also mentioned when Haymitch and Maysilee are described sitting around it, discussing their ways to bring the Capitol down.

Eventually it’s Katniss who will end things with both President Snow and his government.

3. Haymitch Was Connected to the Everdeens Long Before the 74th Hunger Games

Haymitch and Katniss’ first encounter in The Hunger Games might have left an impression of them seeing each other for the first time, but that’s not true either.

In Sunrise on the Reaping, Haymitch appears to be a good friend of Burdock Everdeen, Katniss’ father who died in a mine explosion five years before she volunteered for the Hunger Games.

The novel’s epilogue even notes that Haymitch was around when Katniss was born, with him recalling holding her when she was little.

2. Tigris Snow Might Show Up Again Too

Coriolanus Snow’s cousin, Tigris is first introduced in Mockingjay as the Capitol’s former stylist who distanced herself from her oppressing relative years before Katniss showed up.

She then makes a comeback in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which gives Tigris much more screen time to explore her relationship with future President Snow.

In Sunrise on the Reaping, however, she’s not mentioned explicitly, but a subtle detail hints at her presence there too.

During the interviews the night before the 50th Hunger Games, Haymitch observes the Capitol’s audience, noticing a weird-looking woman with cat ears sitting in the front row.

Since stylists are considered the Hunger Games’ elite and would obviously be seated in the front rows, The Hunger Games fans are now convinced everything points to the woman being none other than Tigris.

1. Katniss’ Father Knows Lucy Gray Baird’s Song

Sunrise on the Reaping also emphasizes the importance of District 12’s folklore to its citizens, making it clear that some songs from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes were still pretty relevant at the time when the 50th Hunger Games were over.

After returning home from the Capitol, Haymitch attends his fellow tributes’ funeral ceremony during which his friend Burdock Everdeen sings “The Old Therebefore” as a dirge.

The song first appears in the previous Hunger Games prequel where Lucy Gray Bird was seen singing the same song while trying to appease snake mutations in the arena.

This also connects directly to the original movie series when it’s revealed that Katniss’ mother Asterid fell in love with Burdock after hearing him sing.