The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Chapter 17 Summary & Analysis

Lysistrata murmurs that Jessup has rabies. Rabies returned in the Capitol during the war, when people weren’t vaccinating their pets. Lysistrata suggests it was probably a zoo raccoon that bit him in the neck. In the auditorium, students are terrified. Some mutter that he brought rabies from the districts and will infect the Capitol. Coriolanus watches Jessup pursue Lucy Gray, who climbs into the stands and goes to a concession stand. Coriolanus orders water for Lucy Gray as Jessup starts to climb after her. His coordination is poor, and Coriolanus hopes he dies soon.

The drone flies in with the bottle of water—but as it flies over Jessup, Jessup swings at it with a board. The bottle cracks and Jessup becomes even more agitated. Coriolanus remembers that rabies makes victims fear water. Lysistrata orders him bottle after bottle of water, insisting she wants Lucy Gray to win if Jessup doesn’t. As Jessup corners Lucy Gray, the drones fly in with water. They release the bottles over his head—and Jessup panics. He trips and falls out of the stands into the arena. He lands in a spot with good audio; viewers hear his bones crack. Lucy Gray picks her way down to Jessup and tells him it’s safe to sleep. She strokes his hair until he dies.

Lucy Gray drinks several bottles of water, pours a bottle over Jessup’s face, and closes his eyes with a handkerchief. She scoops up the food parcels Lysistrata sends and then runs into a tunnel, just as Reaper enters the arena. In the auditorium, Lepidus interviews Lysistrata, who firmly insists Jessup was bitten by a Capitol raccoon. Lepidus claws at himself; a raccoon touched his equipment. Finally, though, he asks for Lysistrata’s thoughts. Lysistrata insists Jessup was a protector—and not a protective dog, like Lepidus suggests.

For the rest of the evening, Lucky does a rundown of the tributes and their mentors. He introduces Lucy Gray as the most popular tribute, and Coriolanus crosses Jessup and Lysistrata off his mentor sheet. The rest of the evening is uneventful, so Coriolanus heads home. Grandma’am is already asleep. Coriolanus tells Tigris he wants to tell her about his time in the arena—but he’s afraid it’ll put her in danger. She insists she already knows what happened by looking at the damage to his clothes. She can tell some of the blood on his shirt isn’t his. Coriolanus says he had no choice. Then, Tigris reveals that they got the tax bill today. They’ll lose their home.