Katniss Everdeen is no stranger to life-and-death situations. First, she volunteered as Tribute in The Hunger Games, then she was forced to fight to the death again in Catching Fire, and then, most recently, she led a bloody rebellion in Mockingjay, Part 1 . There's no doubt that the Girl On Fire has cheated death plenty of times — but has she run out of chances? Does Katniss die in Mockingjay, and will we see it in the final HG installment coming out this month? Say it ain't so!
Thankfully, Katniss does not die at the end of Mockingjay and, assuming that the filmmakers have stayed true to the original ending written by Suzanne Collins, fans will not have to watch Katniss perish in the finale of the series. Yet just because she survives doesn't mean The Hunger Games has a happy ending for its heroine, however. After getting through two Hunger Games, a bomb strike, and a revolution, Katniss has watched too many people die to truly join society and live a "normal" life. In the end, Katniss would have gladly sacrificed herself to kill President Snow and save her family, but she doesn't get the chance.
Instead of losing her own life, it is Prim, her sister, who dies in the final battle against the Capitol. Yep. Let that sink in for a minute. Prim dies in an explosion during the final battle in the Capitol — an explosion that might have been orchestrated by President Coin. After losing her sister, Katniss realizes that she is being manipulated by President Coin and kills her at President Snow's public execution instead of Snow. Convicted of treason, Katniss is declared insane and, with lobbying from Haymitch, Gale and others, is allowed to move back to District 12, alone.
But, you didn't really want to only know whether Katniss lived or died at the end of Mockingjay, did you? You wanted to know if Katniss chooses Gale or Peeta. I'm a sucker for a good love story, so I'll tell you: it's Peeta (#TeamPeeta FTW). President Coin wasn't the only person who might have contributed to the explosion that caused Prim's death. Katniss suspects Gale was the architect of the bomb, and, no matter the truth, can't ever look at him the same. So, she retires to District 12, where she is joined by Peeta. The two of them are left in peace to deal with their PTSD — both traumatized by their experiences in the Games and beyond.
It's not exactly a picture perfect ending for Katniss and Peeta, and certainly not one audiences might expect from a Young Adult genre. But it's a fittingly tragic finale to such a disturbingly dark franchise.
Want more Hunger Games? Watch Bustle's drunk recap of Mockingjay, Part 1 below:
Images: Lionsgate; Giphy (3)
