Why Did Snow Shoot at Lucy Gray? The Twist That Changed Everything

What started as love turned into something darker

If you’ve read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, you probably felt it too — that creeping tension in the final chapters between Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray. What started as an unlikely love story between Capitol golden boy and District 12 songbird ended with gunshots echoing through the woods.

Why? What the hell happened?

I asked my friend Lily this exact thing after finishing the book. She just sighed and said, “Snow was never in love. He was in control.” That hit hard. Because she might be right.

Let’s unpack this, step by step — emotionally, psychologically, and yeah, kind of tragically.

Snow’s paranoia: the seeds were already there

Trust was never his strong suit

Coriolanus had been unraveling long before that day in the woods. After the Games, after the Academy, after killing Sejanus (his so-called friend) — he was no longer just ambitious. He was scared. Of being exposed, of losing power, of losing control. And Lucy Gray? She represented something unpredictable. Wild. Free.

I remember reading the part where she asks about the gun, all soft and subtle. And suddenly he gets this thought — what if she knows too much? What if she turns him in? The fear just floods in. Boom. Snap.

The crazy thing is... he wanted to believe her. But couldn’t. Not really.

Did Lucy Gray actually betray him?

It’s never made 100% clear — and that’s the genius

Suzanne Collins didn’t spoon-feed us an answer. We don’t know if Lucy Gray was trying to leave him, turn him in, or just get away. All we know is that she sang, disappeared into the woods, and Snow panicked.

My theory? She was planning to leave. Not to betray him, but just... leave. She saw the darkness growing in him. Maybe she didn’t know everything, but she felt enough.

And when Snow realized he couldn’t “keep” her — couldn’t control her — his fear flipped to rage. And fear + power + a weapon? Never a good combo.

The gunshot wasn’t about murder — it was about dominance

He needed to prove something (to himself)

Snow shooting at Lucy Gray wasn’t just about eliminating a threat. It was his final act of desperation. A power move. A scream of: “If I can’t have you on my terms, then you don’t get to leave on yours.”

Sounds twisted? It is. But it’s also very human — in the ugliest way.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with my psych professor once. We were talking about abusive power dynamics, and he said: “The moment someone threatens to walk away from someone who needs control — that’s the moment violence becomes most likely.”

Snow didn’t shoot because he hated her. He shot because he couldn’t own her. And that broke something inside him.

So... did he kill her?

The haunting part: we never find out

We don’t see her body. We don’t hear her scream. We don’t even get closure.

She vanishes.

And that ambiguity? It lingers in Snow’s mind too. Decades later, as President, he can’t even say her name. He covers her memory with roses and cold logic. Like he’s still running from that moment.

There’s something deeply poetic — and disturbing — about that.

Final thoughts: it wasn’t about love, it was about power

Snow shot at Lucy Gray not because he stopped loving her, but because his version of love was broken. It was about ownership, submission, usefulness. And when she stepped out of that mold, when she refused to be his obedient muse — he panicked.

He showed us, right there in the woods, the kind of man he would become.

So yeah. Lily was right.

Snow was never really in love.

He was always trying to stay in control. And in the end, he lost something much bigger than a girl with a guitar — he lost the last piece of his own humanity.

Is 165 cm normal for a 15 year old?

The predicted height for a female, based on your parents heights, is 155 to 165cm. Most 15 year old girls are nearly done growing. I was too. It's a very normal height for a girl.

Is 160 cm too tall for a 12 year old?

How Tall Should a 12 Year Old Be? We can only speak to national average heights here in North America, whereby, a 12 year old girl would be between 137 cm to 162 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/3 feet). A 12 year old boy should be between 137 cm to 160 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/4 feet).

How tall is a average 15 year old?

Average Height to Weight for Teenage Boys - 13 to 20 Years

How to get taller at 18?

Staying physically active is even more essential from childhood to grow and improve overall health. But taking it up even in adulthood can help you add a few inches to your height. Strength-building exercises, yoga, jumping rope, and biking all can help to increase your flexibility and grow a few inches taller.

Is 5.7 a good height for a 15 year old boy?

Generally speaking, the average height for 15 year olds girls is 62.9 inches (or 159.7 cm). On the other hand, teen boys at the age of 15 have a much higher average height, which is 67.0 inches (or 170.1 cm).

Can you grow between 16 and 18?

Most girls stop growing taller by age 14 or 15. However, after their early teenage growth spurt, boys continue gaining height at a gradual pace until around 18. Note that some kids will stop growing earlier and others may keep growing a year or two more.

Can you grow 1 cm after 17?

Even with a healthy diet, most people's height won't increase after age 18 to 20. The graph below shows the rate of growth from birth to age 20. As you can see, the growth lines fall to zero between ages 18 and 20 ( 7 , 8 ). The reason why your height stops increasing is your bones, specifically your growth plates.