A Throwaway Line From Catching Fire Makes Me Want A Hunger Games Book About The 1st Quarter Quell

Summary

• A prequel about the first Quarter Quell would provide fresh and surprising insights into Panem’s history and the origin of the Quarter Quells.
• Exploring the 25th Hunger Games could answer major questions about the Capitol’s decision to start the Quarter Quells and how Panem reacted.
• While
  Sunrise on the Reaping
  focuses on the 50th Games, a book about the 25th Games could offer a more intriguing and mysterious perspective.

The Hunger Games franchise will show the 50th annual tournament in Sunrise on the Reaping, but a throwaway line from Catching Fire makes me want a book about the first Quarter Quell more. Sunrise on the Reaping will unpack the second Quarter Quell, which is also Haymitch’s Games — though Suzanne Collins’ new Hunger Games prequel may not follow the character most fans are expecting. Whoever gets the main point of view in the upcoming prequel, it’s poised to dig into one of the bloodiest Hunger Games tournaments in Panem’s history.

This, of course, is intriguing, but I’m not convinced that it’s better than exploring the first Quarter Quell. Not much is known about the 25th Hunger Games, from the decision to make them different to the tributes and trials they faced. And one Catching Fire line piques my interest when it comes to this particular tournament, as it ramps up the mystery surrounding the initial Quarter Quell.

This Throwaway Line From Catching Fire Makes Me Wonder About The First Quarter Quell

Katniss & Peeta’s Conversation Raises Questions About The 25th Games

Chapter 14 of Catching Fire finds Katniss and Peeta watching Haymitch’s Hunger Games, which will be covered in Sunrise on the Reaping. But while they’re searching for the recording of the second Quarter Quell, they note that the footage of the first one isn’t available. Katniss asks Peeta if the 25th Games is in the collection of tapes they have access to. Peeta tells her no. He then says of the winner, “Whoever it is must be dead by now, and Effie only sent me victors we might have to face.”

It’s odd that Effie wouldn’t send the duo another Quarter Quell to watch, especially with them participating in one.

It’s odd that Effie wouldn’t send the duo another Quarter Quell to watch, especially with them participating in one. That would certainly give them an idea of what to expect, even if they wouldn’t have the opportunity to face the winner in their own Games. And while Peeta assumes this is the reason the tape is absent, it’s never confirmed. Whatever the explanation behind its absence is, Collins raises numerous questions through this one conversation. The author then describes Haymich’s Games in more depth. This is precisely why a book about the first Quarter Quell would be so much more interesting.

I’d Rather See A Hunger Games Book About The 25th Games Than The 50th

It Would Feel More Fresh & Surprising Than Haymitch’s Games

With Collins specifically pointing out the lack of information about the 25th Hunger Games, I’d much rather see a prequel about the first Quarter Quell. After all, it’s an intriguing addition to Hunger Games history, and it’s hardly touched upon in Catching Fire. Readers don’t know what inspired the Capitol to start implementing the Quarter Quells, though we can assume Coriolanus Snow and the current Gamemaker had a hand in it. Showing the first Quarter Quell become a reality would expand Panem’s history. And that isn’t the only reason it’s better than a novel about the 50th Games.

The fact that we already know how Haymitch’s Hunger Games end — and basically get a play-by-play of the tournament as Katniss and Peeta watch the tape — significantly lowers the stakes of this next prequel. Sunrise in the Reaping may still have something to say, but I think it will find it difficult to surprise anyone after Catching Fire. Readers’ knowledge of the second Quarter Quell makes it harder to find a fresh angle, but Collins wouldn’t need to worry about this with the first one. It would be surprising from beginning to end, answering major questions in the process.

A Hunger Games Book About The 25th Games Could Answer Major Quarter Quell Questions

It Could Explain Why The Capitol Started Quarter Quells & How Panem Reacted

The concept of the Quarter Quell is generally accepted by the time Katniss and Peeta compete in theirs, but there are many questions about how these “special” Games first started. It’d be fascinating to see how and why the Capitol came up with such an idea — and how Panem originally reacted. I’d imagine that the districts weren’t too happy with this new take on the Hunger Games, especially if it meant the tournament was less fair for those chosen to compete in it. It’s possible such a development sparked uprisings, and Katniss and Peeta would obviously never hear about them.

The concept of the Quarter Quell is generally accepted by the time Katniss and Peeta compete in theirs, but there are many questions about how these ”
special
” Games first started.

The first Quarter Quell would likely be different from the second and third ones technologically as well, and it could provide an intriguing bridge between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and The Hunger Games trilogy. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes depicts a much less advanced tournament, and what we’ve seen of the 50th Games feels much closer to what Katniss and Peeta experience. A book about the 25th Games could highlight the evolution of the tournament after Snow returns to the Capitol, answering even more Hunger Games history questions.