The latest installment in The Hunger Games, Sunrise on the Reaping, brings plenty of revelations about Panem’s past. The prequel takes place 24 years before Katniss and Peeta’s time, delving into the untold history of the 50th Hunger Games and the second Quarter Quell. Given how much fans already knew about this particular year, having read about it in Catching Fire, readers were shocked at just how many twists and turns were packed into the new novel. One of the most surprising was that Haymitch was good friends with Katniss’s father, Burdock Everdeen, before the Games changed everything.

With Mr. Everdeen having already died by the time Katniss volunteered in The Hunger Games, fans’ knowledge of him was limited to whatever details Katniss decided to share, which didn’t even include his first name. Once The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes introduced the Covey, a band of traveling musicians who were later forced to settle in District 12, a popular fan theory arose that Katniss’s father could be related to them due to his own musical talent, which he passed down to Katniss. Sunrise on the Reaping has now confirmed this to be the case, but the exact nature of his connection isn’t quite what readers anticipated.

Hunger Games Fans Theorized That Burdock Everdeen Was Maude Ivory’s Son

Although Sunrise on the Reaping doesn’t outright say that Burdock is a member of the Covey, the book states that he’s related to someone in the band: Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird. Haymitch explains that Lenore Dove is Burdock’s distant cousin on his mother’s side. He also says that Lenore Dove’s father is “something of a mystery,” suggesting that she probably gets her surname and her connection to Burdock from her mother. Thus, Burdock is related to the Bairds through his mother, and the only Bairds that readers know of were all members of the Covey.

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This is precisely what fans speculated after the release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and they even had a candidate in mind for Burdock’s mother. The first Hunger Games prequel introduced fans to the three remaining members of the Baird family: Lucy Gray, Barb Azure and Maude Ivory, who were all cousins. Since Lucy Gray disappeared at the end of the story and Barb Azure was dating a girl who lived nearby, making her a member of the LGBTQ+ community, fans suspected that Burdock was most likely descended from Maude Ivory. While Sunrise on the Reaping confirms his connection to the Bairds, it also suggests that Burdock may not be Maude Ivory’s direct descendant after all.

Lenore Dove Baird’s Parentage Could Throw a Wrench Into the Hunger Games Fan Theory

Who Is Lenore Dove’s Mother?

Sunrise of the Reaping doesn’t specify which Baird girl is Lenore Dove’s mother, but it provides a few crucial hints that help eliminate at least one possibility. Near the end of the novel, Burdock brings Haymitch to a secret graveyard just outside of District 12, where the Covey lay their fallen to rest. Haymitch only mentions seeing three headstones, which are for Maude Ivory, Lucy Gray and Lenore Dove. The last Baird cousin, Barb Azure, isn’t mentioned in the book, but it seems safe to assume that, unless she cut ties with the rest of the Covey and was buried elsewhere, she is probably still alive. Since Lenore Dove’s mother died in childbirth, leaving her to be raised by Tam Amber and Clerk Carmine, it only makes sense that she would be buried in the secret Covey plot. In short, Lenore Dove’s mother is most likely either Maude Ivory or Lucy Gray.

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From here, fans have made strong arguments for either girl being Lenore Dove’s mother, but they all depend on what happened to Lucy Gray. Some have taken the inclusion of her headstone as a confirmation of her death. At the same time, the Covey could’ve simply assumed she was dead after being missing for a while and decided to make the headstone so they’d have a place to come and remember her. Haymitch’s description of it being covered in moss suggests it’s older than the other two, which would make sense if they made it shortly after her disappearance 40 years earlier. That said, just because Lucy Gray’s headstone is the oldest doesn’t mean she couldn’t have survived long after she disappeared and even had a child. However, given that Mayor Lipp wanted her dead for her possible involvement in his daughter’s murder, it would’ve been incredibly risky for Lucy Gray to ever return, so the chances that she is Lenore Dove’s mother are slim. Alternatively, Maude Ivory appears to have died prematurely, as she would’ve only been 48 or 49 during Sunrise on the Reaping. This could support the theory that she’s Lenore Dove’s mother.

To make matters even more complicated, Lenore Dove’s character seems to include nods to both Covey girls. After seeing a clip of Lucy Gray, Haymitch speculates that the colorful scraps of cloth hidden in Lenore Dove’s clothing might be remnants of her rainbow dress. He also mentions that Lenore Dove wears a faded green dress for private performances, which could be the same acid green dress that Snow sees Lucy Gray wearing at the Hob. They even share similar names, with both Lenore and Lucy Gray being ill-fated girls in poems and dove being a shade of gray. As for nods to the youngest Baird, Lenore Dove plays the piano, which could be a reference to Maude Ivory since “ivory” is a slang term for the white keys on a piano. Lenore Dove also plays the accordion, another instrument with a keyboard. Finally, Haymitch mentions that Lenore Dove ties her hair back with an ivory ribbon when she performs. Even though she’s also connected to Lucy Gray, Sunrise on the Reaping seems to go out of its way to draw a line between Maude Ivory and Lenore Dove, which could signify that they’re mother and daughter.

Sunrise on the Reaping Raises Even More Questions About Burdock Everdeen

Who Is Burdock Everdeen’s Covey Ancestor?

Sunrise on the Reaping may have revealed a lot about Burdock Everdeen, including his name and his connection to the Covey, but the question of his mother’s identity remains unanswered. The only thing Haymitch says about Burdock’s mom is that she once made some clay out of flour, salt and water for the kids to play with when he was at their house once. This indicates that she was alive for at least part of their childhood, but it’s unclear if she’s still around in the book’s present-day. If she has passed away, then presumably, she’d have to be one of the women in the Covey’s secret cemetery. After all, their headstones don’t reveal when exactly they died. However, this idea presents some potential logistical problems. Burdock’s mother would have died after Lenore Dove’s, so based on the age of the headstones, it would have to be Maude Ivory. Given how low the chances are that Lucy Gray is Lenore Dove’s mother, the chances that Maude Ivory is Burdock’s mother would have to be quite low as well.

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On the other hand, Burdock’s mother could still be very much alive in Sunrise on the Reaping, which leaves one last Covey girl: Barb Azure. Fans were quick to rule her out because of her sexual orientation, but there are a couple of ways that she could still be Burdock’s direct ancestor. First, Barb Azure could be bisexual or pansexual. If this is the case, she could’ve fallen in love with an Everdeen man and started a family with him. Second, Haymitch reveals that LGBTQ+ people now face discrimination in Panem. Since Barb Azure couldn’t openly be in a relationship with another woman, she could’ve entered into a lavender marriage, or a marriage between a man and a woman where one or both parties are LGBTQ+, and had a child with her husband. Depending on how old she was when she gave birth, Barb Azure could be either Burdock’s mother or grandmother.

Another possibility is that, regardless of Barb Azure’s sexuality, she could have simply adopted Burdock and taught him the ways of the Covey. This would mean he wasn’t a blood relative of the Bairds, but he would still be connected to the family. However, given just how many traits he shares with the Baird girls, it’d be surprising if he didn’t share any DNA with them. Even if fans still don’t know the specifics of their family tree, it is exciting to see this Hunger Games fan theory officially made canon.

The Hunger Games

Created by

Suzanne Collins

First Film

The Hunger Games

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Amandla Stenberg, Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis

Where to Stream

Peacock, Fubo TV, Philo