Every Quarter Quell In The Hunger Games Explained

Contains spoilers for the 2025 novel "Sunrise on the Reaping"

There's not a single iteration of the titular Games in the Hunger Games franchise that's good. In the novel series by Suzanne Collins that kicked off in 2008 with "The Hunger Games" and spawned a literary trilogy and a massively successful film franchise, North America writ large has been transformed into a totalitarian dystopian country known as Panem (taken from the Latin term "panem et circenses," which translates to "bread and circuses"), which is controlled by the all-powerful and wealthy Capitol located in what was once the Rocky Mountains.

Every year, the Capitol sends representatives to all twelve of its districts — many of which suffer through extreme poverty and all of which center around different industries — and "reaps" two children, or "tributes," between the ages of 12 and 18 to play in the Games, where the 24 kids will enter an arena and fight to the death with only one victor remaining. (The whole "one victor" thing gets upended in the very first book and film. Put a pin in that.)

So what's a "Quarter Quell" in Panem? An extra-terrible iteration of the Games, basically. Because the Games are meant as a punishment and reminder of the Capitol's power, every 25 years, they up the ante and throw in a horrifying "twist" meant to make the televised games more exciting for those lucky enough to watch from home and not enter the arena. Collins is, by all appearances, still expanding the world she's created, so it feels entirely possible that she could continue writing novels set in different Games and Quarter Quells ... and "Sunrise on the Reaping," her 2025 novel with a 2026 film adaptation, focuses on the 50th Games. Here's every Quarter Quell in Hunger Games history, explained.

As of this writing, Suzanne Collins hasn't written anything specific about the First Quarter Quell, or the 25th Annual Hunger Games; her first prequel, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," centers around a young Coriolanus Snow serving as a mentor during the 10th Games. We also, as of this writing, do not know who won the 25th Games. All that we know about them, in fact, is what future Second Quarter Quell victor Haymitch Abernathy tells the reader in "Sunrise on the Reaping," explaining that these games "proved particularly heinous, as the districts were forced to choose their own tributes rather than relying on the reaping." In typical reapings, children are chosen at random, and people can volunteer in their stead; this is precisely how our original protagonist Katniss Everdeen ends up in the games as her younger sister Primrose's name is read aloud. Voting for people is ... horrifying.

In "Sunrise on the Reaping," Haymitch recalls that "another Flickerman named Lucky hosted with commentary from a relic of a woman named Gaul" — characters we saw in "Ballad" — but he also notes that Gaul came up with the phrase "may the odds be ever in your favor," which is pretty striking. Beyond that, Haymitch tells us that the first Quell set a few important precedents that remained in future games:

"For this first Quell, the Gamemakers had the tributes kick off the Capitol portion by riding chariots through the streets in district-flavored costumes. Rather than scout a location for the Games, they built an arena for a single use. Also, the Cornucopia made its first appearance, loaded with weapons and supplies, triggering a heated bloodbath when the opening gong sounded."

It's appropriate that Haymitch tells us about the First Quarter Quell ... because the next one concerns him. In the 50th Hunger Games depicted in the novel "Sunrise on the Reaping," Haymitch tells us, outright, that double the tributes will be chosen to commemorate the anniversary. That's right: instead of 23 innocent children dying with one being crowned victor, 48 children will enter the arena and only one will remain standing at the very end of the vicious games. "Forty-eight kids. Minus one. I will never remember all of their names," Haymitch thinks to himself in the novel. "Doubt they will remember mine. There are just too many of us."

That means four kids are reaped from District 12, but amazingly, Haymitch isn't one of them; when the names are read aloud, he's relieved to hear that Wyatt Callow, Woodbine Chance, Louella McCoy, and Maysilee Donner will be heading into the arena. (To be fair, he's not relieved about Louella, a slight 12-year-old girl who Haymitch lovingly refers to as "sweetheart.") When Woodbine makes a run for it, though, Peacekeeper soldiers snipe him in the back of the skull and scramble to find a replacement during a five-minute delay in their feed to the Capitol. Together, Capitol officials Drusilla Sickle and Plutarch Heavensbee choose Haymitch, who catches their attention when Woodbine's mother runs to his side, Haymitch's girlfriend Lenore Dove tries to keep Peacekeepers away from her, and Haymitch intervenes.

Aside from Haymitch's victory — which we learn about from the character's introduction as the only surviving District 12 victor in "The Hunger Games" — we won't spoil the major beats of "Sunrise on the Reaping" here. Just know: double the number of tributes is brutal.

When we first meet Katniss Everdeen in District 12 in "The Hunger Games," she volunteers as tribute in place of her sister and competes in the 74th Games alongside male tribute Peeta Mellark, with whom she strikes up an uneasy bond ... and with whom she fakes a romance at their mentor Haymitch's urging so that they can earn sympathy and gifts from wealthy Capitol donors during the Games. Capitalizing on the sensation of their "romance," the Capitol declares, partway through the Games, that two victors will be crowned if they hail from the same district. Katniss and Peeta reunite and make it to the end together only for the Capitol to reverse course; to force their hand, Katniss threatens them by nearly eating poisoned berries alongside Peeta, which would leave the Capitol with no victor at all.

Tragically, Katniss is paid back in "Catching Fire" in full by an older, vindictive President Coriolanus Snow for the Third Quarter Quell, or the 75th Games ... as he declares that only previous victors can be reaped for the event. Because District 12 only has three surviving victors — Katniss, Peeta, and an aging, usually drunk Haymitch — Katniss and Peeta end up back in the arena. (Katniss's name is the only one that can be reaped, and Peeta volunteers for Haymitch when he's chosen.) Ultimately, the Third Quarter Quell is "extra special" in that it's the final Hunger Games ever — Katniss uses a fault in a force field to blow up the arena, kicking off a full anti-Capitol rebellion and war in the process that topples the regime — but it's genuinely cruel and harrowing to send survivors of the Games back into the fray during the third Quarter Quell.