Plot
Haymitch Abernathy lives in Panem's District 12 with his impoverished mother and younger brother, Sid. Haymitch illegally distills moonshine (for Hattie Meeney) to support his family. He regularly sneaks into the woods to meet his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird, a member of the Coveys, a nomadic musical group forced to settle in District 12.
The 50th Annual Hunger Games reaping is held on Haymitch's 16th birthday. To celebrate the 2nd Quarter Quell, all districts must provide twice as many tributes. At the District 12 reaping, a male tribute attempts to escape but is killed. In the ensuing chaos, Haymitch protects Lenore Dove from the Peacekeepers. District 12's cruel tribute escort Drusilla Sickle, and Plutarch Heavensbee, a cameraman who appears sympathetic to the tributes, then appoint Haymitch as the substitute tribute, re‐staging the reaping. His fellow District 12 tributes include betting oddsmaker Wyatt Callow, neighbor and close friend Louella McCoy, and the rich and callous Maysilee Donner.
Arriving in the Capitol, the District 12 tributes are dismissed as "long shots." During the Tribute Parade, a horse-drawn chariot accident kills Louella. Haymitch defiantly carries her body down the parade route and lays her before President Snow, then mockingly applauds him. Haymitch is taken to Heavensbee Hall where President Snow threatens Haymitch that Gamemakers will inflict a painful death if he continues being defiant. To cover up the parade fiasco, Snow has a drugged body double replace Louella, whom the District 12 tributes nickname "Lou Lou."
With no surviving District 12 victors, the tributes are randomly assigned mentors from previous Games, Wiress of District 3, and Mags of District 4. Competing alliances quickly form between the Career tributes and the other district tributes, who nickname themselves the "Newcomers." During training, Beetee, a former victor cruelly forced to mentor his own son, Ampert (who was reaped to punish Beetee's rebellious behavior), recruits Haymitch for a covert plan to sabotage the arena. Plutarch gives Haymitch information about the sabotage and, to gain his trust, arranges a bittersweet farewell call with Lenore Dove. Haymitch agrees to detonate explosives planted in the arena's underground water tank to flood the arena's computer systems. After the Gamemakers give Haymitch a punitive low score for his parade behavior, he adopts a defiant "rascal" persona in the tribute interviews to attract sponsors.
The Games commence in a stunningly beautiful but deadly arena rife with poisonous hazards. Haymitch abandons the Newcomers' alliance to carry out his sabotage plan. Wyatt is killed the first day. Briefly accompanied by Lou Lou, who soon dies from toxic pollen, Haymitch teams up with Ampert to enter an access channel designed to release genetically mutated creatures ("mutts") and trigger an explosion to destroy the arena's subterranean water tank. However, the ensuing flood fails to fully disable the arena, and the mutts kill Ampert. Later, encountering some Careers, Maysilee saves Haymitch with a poisonous blow dart gun, renewing their partnership.
Determined to find another way to destroy the arena, Haymitch convinces Maysilee to explore its perimeter. They encounter the Careers, and during the ensuing fight, the tributes stumble upon a surprised trio of Gamemakers performing maintenance, whom Maysilee and the Careers kill before fleeing. Haymitch and Maysilee find a power generator at the arena's edge. A protective force field repels objects thrown at it. After splitting up with Haymitch, Maysilee is killed by mutts specifically sent to punish her for killing the Gamemakers. With three tributes remaining, Haymitch seeks out the last remaining Newcomer, Wellie, finding her starving. After leaving to search for firewood, Haymitch returns to find Wellie killed by the final Career, District 1 tribute Silka. In a final confrontation at the arena's edge, Silka is inadvertently killed by her axe bouncing off the force field. After his victory, a grievously injured Haymitch attempts to detonate a final explosive against the force field. He is rendered unconscious by the blast, failing yet again to destroy the arena.
Haymitch awakens in the Capitol and is then forced to attend public events. He realizes that the televised Games have been heavily edited to erase signs of rebellion and to make him look self-serving. President Snow privately tells Haymitch: "Enjoy your homecoming." Upon returning to District 12, Haymitch discovers his home burned down and his mother and brother dead. A reunion with Lenore Dove in a quiet meadow turns tragic when Haymitch unknowingly feeds her a poisoned gumdrop, an act orchestrated by President Snow. Lenore Dove dies in his arms after urging him to prevent another "sunrise on the reaping." Haunted by his losses, Haymitch retreats into isolation and alcoholism in the Victors' Village, distancing himself from former friends to keep them safe. However, during the Victory Tour, Plutarch's encouragement spurs him to keep fighting.
In the epilogue, set after the original series, Haymitch tells Katniss and Peeta about his past, finding solace in caring for gifted goose eggs in memory of Lenore Dove.
