During the 50th Hunger Games, Haymitch was only 15 years old. He formed an alliance with Maysilee Donner and ultimately emerged as Victor in this edition of the Games. The arena in the 50th Hunger Games was a beautiful landscape consisting of deadly poisonous substances.
Key Facts of 50th Hunger Games
- Arena: Beautiful meadow with azure sky. Woods and a snow-capped volcano.
- Head Gamemaker: Unknown
- No. of deaths in the Initial Cornucopia Bloodbath: 18
- No. of days the Games lasted: Unknown
- Victor: Haymitch Abernathy
- Alliances: Career Pack (consisting of 10 tributes), Haymitch’s alliance (consulting of Haymitch Abernathy and Maysilee Donner)
Known Tributes in the 50th Hunger Games
The 50th Hunger Games consisted of twice the amount of tributes as usual. Thus, the tributes totaled 48 in this edition of the Games. Haymitch Abernathy and Maysilee Donner from District 12 are the two known tributes in the 50th Hunger Games. 24 years after this edition of the Games, Haymitch, the male tribute in the 50th Games, becomes the mentor to Katniss and Peeta in the 74th Hunger Games.
Maysilee Donner, the female tribute from District 12, was the aunt of Madge Undersee and a close friend of Katniss Everdeen’s mother. She was also the original owner of the Mockingjay pin.
Arena of the 50th Hunger Games
The arena of the 50th Hunger Games is the most beautiful arena ever created. The arena is described as “the most breathtaking place imaginable”. The tributes are launched into a green meadow which has the golden Cornucopia in the middle. The meadow has patches of gorgeous flowers and brightly colored songbirds fluttering above it. The sky is a clear azure blue and contains puffy white clouds. The meadow stretches for miles around and ends in woods and a snow-capped mountain. The mountain contains a deadly volcano.
Everything in the arena (except the resources available at the Cornucopia) is highly poisonous, including the fruit, flowers, and birds. Even the water from the crystalline stream is poisonous. Thus, the only safe source of water is rainwater.
Major Events of the 50th Hunger Games
This section will cover the notable events of the 50th Hunger Games, including the Reaping Ceremony, the Tribute Parade, the various interviews, and the events in the arena.
The Reaping and Tribute Parade
“He reads from the square of paper in the same onerous voice he used for ours, informing Panem that in honor of the Quarter Quell, there will be twice the number of tributes.”
Katniss Everdeen in ‘Catching Fire’
The 50th Hunger Games is the Second Quarter Quell, which occurs every 25 years. The Quarter Quells are an excuse for the Capitol to introduce a new sadistic twist in the rules of the games. In the Second Quarter Quell, the districts were required to send twice as many tributes to the Hunger Games as usual. This was done as a reminder to the district that for every Capitol citizen who died during the First Rebellion, two rebels gave their lives. As such each district sent two males and two females totaling the tribute count to 48.
Haymitch Abernathy and Maysilee Donner are among the tributes chosen from District 12 to participate in the Games. During the Tribute Parade, District 12 tributes are dressed in highly unappealing coal miners’ outfits.
Interviews
All 48 tributes were interviewed by Caesar Flickerman during the pre-Games interviews. Caesar wears his typical midnight blue suit that twinkles. He has dark green hair, lips, and eyelids. When Haymitch is asked what he thinks of the competition having 100% more the number of tributes, he answers in a snarky and arrogant manner that it does not make a difference to him as they will be 100% just as stupid. Therefore, he thinks that the odds will remain the same. Although he speaks rudely, the audience laughs at his answer and gives him a huge round of applause.
In the Arena
The Games begin in a breathtaking arena, a beautiful meadow with an azure sky and billowy clouds. Eighteen tributes die in the Initial Cornucopia Bloodbath. This creates a record that remains unbeaten until the Games are abolished. The Career Pack, which consisted of 10 tributes, most likely from Districts 1, 2, and 4, claimed all of the food and supplies from the Cornucopia. This left the other tributes with no safe food or drink at all.
Upon discovering a compact backpack at the Cornucopia, Maysilee seizes the opportunity and flees. Inside the bag, she finds a small bowl, dried beef, and a blowgun equipped with 24 darts. Ingeniously, she dips the darts into deadly concoctions, using them to inflict lethal harm on other tributes by embedding the darts into their skin.
Over the next few days, several tributes succumbed to the poisonous substances in the arena. On the 4th day, the Gamemakers introduced a volcanic eruption that killed 12 tributes at once, including 5 Careers. The lava that flows from the volcano destroys half of the arena, forcing the other tributes to take refuge in the woods.
Haymitch and Maysilee’s Alliance
In the woods, Haymitch comes across 3 Career Tributes, 2 of whom he kills with his knife. However, he is disarmed by the third Career and finds himself in a helpless situation. As the Career attempts to slit Haymitch’s throat, Maysilee hits him with a poison dart.
Haymitch and Maysilee strike up an alliance. They devise a system that allows them to get more rest, harvest more rainwater, and steal food from the packs of dead tributes. In the meantime, 5 tributes die, leaving only 5 tributes in the arena.
Haymitch and Maysilee reach the edge of the arena. Maysilee suggests heading back. However, Haymitch refuses, and Maysilee decides to break up the alliance as there are only five tributes remaining. She goes back, and Haymitch is surprised to discover that the pebble he kicks into the force field of the arena bounces right back at him.
Haymitch hears Maysilee scream and runs to her. However, by the time he reaches her, it is too late. Maysilee’s neck has been skewered by the beaks of candy pink birds. Haymitch holds Maysilee’s hand as she dies.
Later, one tribute is killed in combat while the other one is consumed by fluffy golden squirrels. This leaves only Haymitch and the female from District 1 in the arena. The two battle each other, with Haymitch cutting out the girl’s eye and the girl disemboweling Haymitch. The girl throws the axe toward Haymitch, and Haymitch ducks. However, he is aware that the axe is bound to hit the force field and is going to bounce back. This is exactly what happens. The axe hits the force field, bounces back, and lodges itself into the District 1 female’s head, killing her instantly. Thus, Haymitch is the final tribute remaining in the arena, and he emerges the victor.
Aftermath of the 50th Hunger Games
The Capitol is resentful of how Haymitch uses the force field to his advantage. As they believe that it makes them look foolish, they decide to take action. The Capitol, therefore, wipes out Haymitch’s near and dear ones: his mother, his brother, and his girlfriend. This happens two weeks after the Games. Haymitch is devastated and uses alcohol to drown his sorrows.
Being the sole living victor from District 12, Haymitch continues to act as the mentor for future tributes from his district. This is a harrowing experience as none of the tributes make it out alive until Katniss and Peeta. Haymitch lives alone in the Victors’ Village as he continues to abuse alcohol, and his life is ultimately in shambles.
Haymitch holds a great deal of resentment towards the Capitol for killing his loved ones. He translates this resentment into action during the 75th Hunger Games, or the Third Quarter Quell, by organizing an underground rebel network to take down the Capitol. He also acted as one of the major leaders and strategic thinkers during the Second Rebellion.
FAQs
What movie is the 50th Hunger Games in?
The 50th Hunger Games is not shown in any of the Hunger Games movies directed by Francis Lawrence. However, Mainstay Pro has released a short film on YouTube containing the major events of the 50th Hunger Games.
What were the 25th and 50th Hunger Games?
The 25th Hunger Games, or the First Quarter Quell, required the people in the districts to hold an election and vote for the tributes that would be going into the arena. This was done to remind the districts that it was their choice to incite violence during the First Rebellion. The 50th Hunger Games required each district to send twice the number of tributes for the Hunger Games. This was done to remind the rebels that two rebels died for every Capitol citizen during the First Rebellion.
What happens every 25th Hunger Games?
In ‘Catching Fire,’ Katniss says this about the Quarter Quells: “When the laws of the Games were laid out, they dictated that every twenty-five years the anniversary would be marked by a Quarter Quell. It would call for a glorified version of the Games to make fresh the memory of those killed by the districts’ rebellion.” Thus, every 25 years, the Hunger Games would be held with a new sadistic twist introduced in the rules.
