The Hunger Games: Finnick Odair Has A Tragic Secret Past Only Book Readers Know
It's not a secret that the "Hunger Games" franchise is incredibly (and sometimes unrelentingly) dark. The mere concept of the Games themselves — where children chosen from the 12 districts of Panem are forced to fight to the death to show the true might of the all-powerful Capitol — is brutal enough, but through the eyes of Katniss Everdeen (played on-screen by Jennifer Lawrence), audiences watch as the world around her crumbles.
After she thwarts the will of the Capitol by ensuring that both she and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) survive their Games and become dual winners for District 12, Katniss is forced back into the arena for the 75th Annual Hunger Games (also known as the 3rd Quarter Quell) alongside other previous victors. That's where Katniss meets the dashing, charming Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), whom she immediately dislikes.
A native and victor of District 4 who triumphed in the 65th Hunger Games, Finnick was what's known as a "Career Tribute," meaning that he comes from a more well-off district that ensures their young tributes train for the Games for years. Perhaps this is why Katniss mistrusts Finnick at first, but in a scene that doesn't make it to the films, she eventually learns there's much more to him than meets the eye, as do we. Specifically, Katniss learns that, after winning the 65th Hunger Games, Finnick was forced into sex work by President Snow (Donald Sutherland), but survived the ordeal by spending the years collecting the secrets of powerful Capitol denizens.
Finnick might seem arrogant, but he's a fierce ally for Katniss
Finnick Odair seems like a simple playboy at first, when he saunters up to Katniss shirtless and in traditional District 4 garb, and offers her a sugar cube with a devilish grin. After the two escape the arena during the Quarter Quell, though, Finnick becomes a different person ... in that he becomes a shell of his former self. The Capitol is holding his true love, Annie Cresta (Stef Dawson), hostage. As Finnick loses hope, he and Katniss grow closer, a bond strengthened by the fact that Peeta is being held alongside Annie.
Eventually, he makes a startling confession to Katniss. In the third book, "Mockingjay," Finnick and Katniss are working on propaganda films (or "propos") they can use to infiltrate Capitol airwaves, and after Katniss speaks about her love for Peeta, Finnick sits down in front of the camera. Katniss doesn't know what he's going to say until Finnick begins speaking. "President Snow used to...sell me...my body, that is," he tells the cameras. "I wasn't the only one. If a victor is considered desirable, the president gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them for an exorbitant amount of money. If you refuse, he kills someone you love. So you do it."
This is a striking moment for Katniss, who, in this moment, seems to fully realize why Finnick is so complicated. "That explains it, then," she thinks to herself. "Secrets, I think. That's what Finnick told me his lovers paid him in, only I thought the whole arrangement was by his choice." Before he finishes, Katniss even feels like she should ask the cameras to stop so she can apologize — which, frankly, isn't an impulse Katniss feels very frequently.
What happens to Finnick at the end of The Hunger Games franchise?
Once his bravado falls away in the "Mockingjay" book and the two-part film, Finnick becomes an entirely new person. It's safe to say he becomes one of Katniss' most trusted confidantes. As the two shelter together in District 13, feeling helpless while Annie and Peeta remain in the Capitol's clutches, they come to an understanding. Katniss now gets why Finnick felt he had to be charming and "on" all of the time. Finnick, in turn, tells Katniss that he knows she truly loves Peeta, saying that he realized it in the Quarter Quell arena in a moment when Katniss thought Peeta was dead.
Sadly, Finnick ultimately meets a grisly end. Though he does marry Annie when she, Peeta, and fellow victor Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) are rescued from the Capitol by rebel forces, he leaves his new bride behind to infiltrate President Snow's mansion in the Capitol alongside Peeta, Katniss, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hutcherson), and other fighters from District 13.
It's there that the group is attacked by dangerous Capitol-bred mutts as they try to escape the massive sewer system and return to ground level, and after making sure everyone else is safe, Finnick is fatally attacked by the mutated creatures. His death differs ever so slightly between the book and film, but in both, he begs Katniss to end his suffering faster, and she throws an explosive into the sewer to end Finnick's life on his own terms. And even after he gives his life in the fight against the Capitol, Finnick's legacy lives on in the form of Annie and his unnamed son.