Burdock’s Clues to a Third Prequel and Other Loose Ends in Sunrise

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD for Sunrise on the Reaping

(Feature Image Above: An “Old Appalachian” apothecary in Yancey County, North Carolina. See this local feature article about the “Life-changing Magic of a Mountain Medicine Man.”)

Is there a third prequel coming? Katniss’ father, Burdock Everdeen, might have something to say about it. The first two chapters of Sunrise provide one shock after another, though it is Katniss’ future parents who take the spotlight. Instead of making readers de-code her subtle clues, this time Collins leaves nothing to chance. We are clearly introduced to the teenagers Burdock Everdeen and Asterid March as Katniss’ eventual father and mother. For his part, we learn that Burdock is already a hunter and plant gatherer for the March’s apothecary some nine years prior to Katniss’ birth (generally consistent with Katniss’ story of how her parents met). He also has a dozen precious arrow tips crafted by the Covey’s Tam Amber, who is also the originator of the famed mockingjay pin. Incidentally, given that young Burdock from the Seam could not likely afford them, the arrow tips were likely a gift — perhaps further indicating a family connection.

With this and plenty of other revelations, there is still something big missing. Just how do Asterid and Burdock become romantically involved and eventually married? And how does Peeta’s father ultimately get left out of that picture? Haymitch provides the first major hint that there’s more to this unlikely story, practically teasing us about it. He tells us:

Besides, Burdock’s nuts about her, so I try to be nice even though he’s got about as much chance with her as a mockingjay with a swan. Town girls don’t marry Seam boys, not unless something really goes haywire.

– Haymitch abernathy (16)

Collins then provides a telling scene when Haymitch visits the apothecary to sell his white liquor. Asterid is behind the counter, as he notices the scent of chamomile flowers in a jar, “waiting to become tea and medicine.” He is certain that Burdock has collected these in the woods, further informing us that “he’s added wildcrafting to his game business” of late (15). This intentionally points to The Hunger Games when Katniss had explained how her parents had met, saying, “My father got to know my mother because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies” (HG 8). Then she adds her own teaser, speculating that her mother “must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam.” In this way, Collins creatively has both Katniss and Haymitch creating their own mystique around her parents’ unlikely backstory.

It’s also fun to consider how Haymitch traded with Asterid at the apothecary just as Burdock had done. In this case, Asterid is giving Haymitch “a fair price” on his liquor while throwing in a sprig of chamomile for “good luck,” she tells him (16). When Haymitch asks whether Burdock had told her that chamomile brings good luck, she “blushes a bit,” and he wonders if he’s wrong about Burdock’s chances with her. At this point in Chapter 1 readers still don’t have enough information to confirm he’s Katniss’ future father. We are soon given his last name of Everdeen, however, combined with other clues about his hunting and wildcrafting skills. As early as page 19, this exciting connection is clarified. Haymitch and Blair joke with Burdock about his “girlfriend,” and we can’t help but enjoy their nickname for him, “Burdie,” subtly indicating his special connection with mockingjays and — at least indirectly — the Covey.

Following this bantering between the three friends, Burdock says something curious. Blair asks him, “Her friends know about you, Everdeen?” This intentional question not only alerts us to Burdock’s last name, but also serves as a set-up for Burdock’s curious response. “Nothing to know,” he says with a grin. “Well, not yet anyway” (19). At which point, Haymitch changes the topic as the sound system crackles to life and the reaping ceremony begins.

It is difficult not to speculate that Burdock’s mysterious remark might indicate that a future backstory is in the works. Collins is practically winking at us. We know little about Burdock’s eventual courtship with Asterid and the “haywire” event that pulls them together. And what about the speculation that he and Gale’s father (Blair?) — who also died in the same mine accident when Katniss was 11 — were up to something rebellious at the time? There’s just too much drama in District 12 to permanently ignore.

Doing the math, Katniss will be born during the year of the 58th Games, some eight years after the Sunrise timeframe. There is plenty of time after Haymitch’s Quarter Quell for the likes of Burdock, Blair, and Asterid to continue their own interlaced stories. Could the incident that “goes haywire” simply be Burdock’s high, clear voice? Peeta tells Katniss in the first novel that her father had essentially swept Asterid off her feet with his singing. But is this enough to encourage Asterid to move across class and racial boundaries to live in the Seam? This is certainly possible, though it seems there is more drama to uncover.

One is thus left to wonder why Haymitch (i.e. Collins) would even mention “something going haywire” without revealing the rest of the story? She tends to leave character names and backstories incomplete or anonymous if she’s at least planning to write more about them in the future. And doesn’t she love to group things into threes? Her focus on the number “3” for the structure of her books and numerous plot points is now legendary. Would she really provide two prequels and not a third, if she is able to do so? Perhaps it’s even almost already written, just as Sunrise drafts were already going to editors when Ballad was still in theatres (according to a David Levithan interview on the eve of the Sunrise release). This may admittedly be wishful thinking, but there is no denying that numerous pieces to the full backstory remain blatantly missing.

Other Loose Ends and Missing Favorites

Burdock and Asterid’s intriguing backstory is not the only massive hole in Sunrise. Let’s take a look at some other aspects that have gone strangely missing.

What of Peeta’s Father? We briefly meet a new character during the chaotic reaping — “a big lug of a guy whose folks own the bakery” — Otho Mellark. Haymitch tells us that his “meaty hands dangle loosely at his sides and his feet shuffle back and forth” (23). He further describes Otho’s blond hair and the way Burdock probably saves his life by hitting him in the back of the knee to avoid the gunfire. Otho’s mere existence here makes him a strong candidate to become Peeta’s father. Sure, Collins could be misleading us (as she has apparently done with Burdock’s own complex lineage). However, when Peeta’s father strangely visits Katniss to say goodbye during her own reaping, she describes him as a “big, broad-shouldered man,” one who is not very talkative “in the best of times, and today he has no words at all” (HG 37). This seems remarkably consistent with Haymitch’s description of the big guy in the square during their own reaping. Then as Katniss and Peeta progress through the 74th Games, Peeta’s father curiously becomes the topic of numerous conversations woven throughout their story. Katniss even learns during the famous cave scene that Peeta’s father wanted to marry Katniss’ mother (Asterid). Peeta further explains that Katniss’ father (Burdock) had swept her mother off her feet with his singing. Other than that, just what exactly went “haywire” to pull Asterid toward Burdock? There is clearly more to Asterid and Otho’s story that is simply dropped from Sunrise.

What’s Up with Barb Azure? Aside from the ongoing Lucy Gray mystery (thank you, William Wordsworth!), there is absolutely no sign of Barb Azure in SOTR, though we do have some clues about where she’s not. As numerous fans have noted elsewhere, she does not yet have a gravestone in the Covey graveyard, which logically signals she’s still alive. She didn’t likely leave D-12 either, because of the history lesson Haymitch provides (pp. 37-38) about the Covey. After informing us more about their backstory (fun!) of how they made it into Twelve by hitching up an old pickup truck, he tells us definitively, “returning to [that life] is impossible, since no one can leave 12, and her uncles would never entertain the idea of hitting the road again.” So, Barb is around and has likely assimilated, though she is clearly not performing with them. Only Tam Amber, Clerk Carmine, and Lenore Dove are continuing their public performances. Once again, Collins is signaling a future story based on Barb’s conspicuous absence here. Although she is coded as LGBTQ+ in Ballad, fans have proposed the idea that she could still be Burdock’s mother or other relative. Either way, she seems to be the missing link to understanding Burdock’s lineage.

Where are Cinna and Tigris? It was a further surprise to many readers that neither of these pertinent characters reappeared in Sunrise. Even before this latest book release, fans and other observers have consistently asked questions about Cinna’s origin story in the Capitol, and about how Tigris became permanently estranged from Coriolanus. For his part, Cinna is described as not being entirely “Capitol,” dressing more humbly, not speaking with the Capitol accent, and specifically choosing District 12 for his stylist duties. His additional rebellious activities in support of Katniss’ success finally get him killed. So, where did he come from, and was he already working with Plutarch and Haymitch after Katniss was reaped? It was a solid prediction that we would learn more of Cinna’s own backstory in Sunrise, but it was not to be. The same could be said for Tigris, Coriolanus’ cousin who appeared first in Mockingjay while helping Katniss and her “star squad” continue their quest. Instead of Tigris as the new District 12 stylist, we get Effie — not a bad substitute, but a surprise indeed. Is Collins satisfied with never adding to their respective stories? Perhaps, though there remains a distinct opportunity to close the loops here.

Finally for now, what’s up with Effie’s great aunt Messalina Trinket? She brought some kind of shame on the Trinket family, though not quite as much as being a rebel, Effie notes. A leading theory in the fandom suggests she was some kind of “lady of the night.” Her own name meaning generally supports this idea, as author Valerie Frankel teaches us about the historical, Roman-era Messalina, who was the third wife to Emperor Claudius. “Rather a bad girl,” Frankel says, “Valeria Messalina was “known for promiscuity and finally executed for conspiring against her husband. In art, theater, ballet, and opera, she’s depicted as a sensual and wicked woman” (Sinister Sunrise). So, why does Collins bring up Aunt Messalina’s mysterious history without going further with it? Then there’s Plutarch Heavensbee himself, the subject of nearly unending questions that remain. One big one, however, includes just who his “old friend in District 12” happens to be? Again, why is this mentioned without any follow-up? Are Katniss and Gale’s fathers involved in some sort of rebellious activities down in the mines as has long been suspected? How is Plutarch potentially involved? There is much more to learn about this timeframe.

Going Out on a Limb: Predicting the “Finnick to Johanna Time Window.”

These are the fundamental questions I have come away with. A good bet (as Wyatt might suggest) would have us reading Finnick or Annie’s story about two years from now. Finnick won the 65th games at age 14, which means Katniss would be seven and still learning her skills in the woods with her father (along with “The Hanging Tree” at home, much to the dismay of Asterid!). Annie would win her Games five years later when Katniss was 12, one year after her father dies. Following on the heals of Annie was Johanna Mason’s victory at age 17 in the 71st Games, with Katniss around 13. Any of these scenarios (65th to 71st Games) would provide plenty of opportunities for updates from Twelve while revealing more from Finnick, Annie, or Johanna’s perspectives and backstories.

Even a story from Annie or Johanna’s POV is a possibility, and a less acknowledged backstory is that of Johanna’s own loss of those she loved. She may have lost her family to Snow’s vengeance just as Haymitch did, but for a very different act of defiance. Hers may have involved refusing to allow the Capitol to exploit her body as Finnick was forced to do (suggested by Hunger Games Wiki: Johanna Mason). She could have easily been recruited by Plutarch at some point, since she admits she has no one else alive she loves (CF 347). This is a significant insight that Plutarch even mentions to Haymitch back in 12 following the Victory Tour. After Haymitch states that he has nothing else to live for, Plutarch says, “Then you have nothing to lose. That puts you in a position of power” (SOTR 379). It seems like Haymitch and Johanna were now in the same boat.

That said, one major sticking point to this idea is that Johanna is not portrayed as a sympathetic character who goes into her Games trying to be as nice as possible. Katniss even quips that Johanna “will never win any awards for kindness, but she certainly is gutsy” (CF 347). Will readers support a victor who willingly murders tributes with her ax? Then again, we did not go into the 50th Games with good feelings about Maysilee Donner. And yet, at the sound of the cannon, how many of us were in tears?

Tying all of this together would arguably be the continuing saga of Plutarch’s underground rebellion. In Catching Fire, he reveals to Katniss that “for several years” he has been “part of an undercover group working to overthrow the Capitol” (CF 385). Those “several years” could arguably begin between Finnick and Johanna’s Games. There is clearly more of this story to tell, including which characters were already working with him, and how he tapped into the arsenal of District 13. When and how does Cinna get involved? It would not be surprising to see him reappear after his conspicuous absence from Sunrise. If Collins is to logically continue her ongoing theme of rebellion, the window of time between Finnick and Johanna’s Games couldn’t be much better for relating Plutarch’s final piece of his story.

Until further notice, therefore, this author is going out on a limb (as Katniss might do) to suggest that 1) a third prequel is already underway and could be revealed soon after the Sunrise film, and 2) somehow Annie or Johanna’s story will be featured, with the parallel story of Plutarch’s rebellious efforts and Burdock’s fate back in Twelve. While Finnick is a distinct possibility as well, it’s a bit early for Plutarch’s plans to be coming together, and we probably wouldn’t learn why Burdock dies. Either way, poor Haymitch would likely remain in virtual isolation within such a story, making it easier for Collins to pay only scant attention to him (perhaps a cameo appearance). Of course, I believe we would all be thrilled with any third prequel Collins wishes to contribute, regardless of how many of our collective predictions end up going “haywire.”