Thread by @eddiemikus

The below image appeared earlier today on an Instagram page associated with Sunrise On The Reaping (@agentureickweber)

Let’s take a moment to look at why SOTR might be casting babies and what that might tell us about the film:

https://twitter.com/risereaping/status/1945867838452826542

I put the German on the poster through Google Translate, and the following came up:

“Twins and Triplets

0-12 months

Wanted for Panem.”

This raises a rather obvious question: At any point in SOTR, is there a scene that would involve twins or triplets between the ages of 0-12 months?

Why, yes, there is (SOTR ch. 3):

If you actually read the scene in question, Haymitch is essentially comparing how his two sisters might have turned out (had they lived) to how the Donner twins turned out.

Bear in mind that, at this point of the story, Haymitch viewed Maysilee as “the most stuck-up girl in town” (SOTR ch. 1) and was specially hopin his sisters would not have turned out like her.

Later in the book, we find out that a lot of the traits that caused Haymitch to view Maysilee as the “most stuck-up girl in town” were actually her way of rebelling against the Capitol and its treatment of people in District 12 (SOTR ch. 22).

More importantly, once in the Arena, Haymitch and Maysilee bond by declaring themselves to be found siblings (SOTR ch. 20).

I’ll just drop the thread I wrote on that matter a few months ago:

https://twitter.com/eddiemikus/status/1910155835969257836

To add even more layers to this, Maysilee herself was actually a twin—something that caused no small amount of before the Games due to the fact that defined her identity in ways she didn’t like (SOTR ch. 7, pg. 95)

https://twitter.com/eddiemikus/status/1903473920352657752

Later in the book, however, Maysilee does openly wonder if Merrilee will be a twin once she is gone—a concern I would argue (and have argued—see screenshots below from my “Night, Sis” is brought on by her found sister relationship with Haymitch).

So where does that leave us?

First and foremost, the “Zwillinge und Drillinge” Lionsgate is looking for are most likely Haymitch’s sisters, whose inclusion will foil and prefigure his and Maysilee’s found sibling relationship.

(Hey, if I get that right, it wouldn’t be the first time I called how this series was going to play out Haysilee’s arc. LOL).

https://x.com/eddiemikus/status/1849642405948969471?s=46

Using Haymitch’s sisters to foreshadow his relationship with Maysilee also underscores the extent to which Haymitch lost everyone he loved (his sisters, his pa, his almost-sister Louella, his found sister Maysilee, his Ma, and his brother).

There are a few different ways the film could do this.

One would be for the film to open with a prologue scene that could introduce young Haymitch learning about his lost siblings and then watching young Maysilee and Merrilee interact with each other.

This is essentially how TBOSAS presented Crassus Snow’s death.

Alternatively, the film could show a photograph of Haymitch looking at his sisters and wondering how they would have turned out, with an explicit connection made to the Donner’s.

This would essentially be how the first film handled Burdock Everdeen’s (credited at the time as Mr. Everdeen) death, which is shown with a photo of Burdock being interspersed with him and his crew going into to the mines and to their fates.

There are strengths and drawbacks to both approaches.

The first seems more in line with what I believe is the film’s intent, and would make it easier to present Maysilee as “the most stuck-up girl in town.”

However, the drawback is that there comes a point where there are too many flashbacks, and a young Haysilee flashback would make it more difficult to include other plot-important flashbacks—in particular, one that involves Lenore Dove and some apples (SOTR ch. 1).

Personally, I would rather have a Haydove flashback instead of a Haysilee flashback.

Using a photo to show Haymitch’s twins would enable a flashback to young Haydove while also establishing how the deaths of his sisters impacted him.

Other implications are as follows:

1. Most lines that involve found siblinghood are most likely included. These include “I’ll be your sister” (SOTR ch. 8); “Night, sis” (SOTR ch. 20); “Did you ever want a real sister?”(SOTR ch. 21), and “A sister is someone you fight with and for” (SOTR ch. 23).

2. Willamae Abernathy is definitely in.

This may not have been particularly controversial prior to today, but I see no way Haymitch’s sisters get included but Willamae doesn’t.

3. Pa Abernathy is 50-50 to get in.

I hadn’t seen Pa as particularly likely to get in since he dies years before the book begins (SOTR ch. 1).

However, Haymitch specifically remembers Pa’s reaction to the twins’ death (SOTR ch. 3), so I must assume he would make a flashback sequence should one be included.

3. Merrilee Donner is almost certainly in.

Billy Ray, who is writing the film script, has hinted that Merrilee would be included, and it is almost impossible to compare Haymitch and Maysilee’s sister arcs if Maysilee doesn’t herself have a sister.

https://twitter.com/billyray5229/status/1915567011670937675

By extension, the logical takeaway is that the scene at the funeral where Haymitch mistakes Merrilee for Maysilee is also likely inlcuded, since it would show how close Haymitch and Maysilee became.

I’ll close out this thread by sharing this statement from Suzanne, in which she discussed the role of found siblings as part of her interview with Scholastic that also occurs in the Barnes and Noble Special Editions.

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