Entertainment

Where Does 'Mockingjay Part 1' End? Spoilers!

by Marisa LaScala

Walking into The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a bit frustrating, if only because of that whole "Part 1" thing. You know you're only getting half the story. But what gets stuffed into that half? Since Mockingjay wasn't written with two movies in mind, there really isn't a natural dividing place. So, if you're a devoted fan of the book series — and who isn't? — you surely want to know what page Mockingjay , Part 1 ends on.

I can tell you, but I have to start with the requisite spoiler alert. Don't read any further if you haven't read the books, or if you want to be surprised about the cliff that the movie leaves you hanging off of. I mean it. I'm about to give away some major plot details here.

Another caveat: It's hard to give an exact page number, because the book and the movie obviously differ. The movie isn't as tied to Katniss' point of view, so there are scenes that take place between other people — like, say, conversations between Plutarch Heavensbee and President Coin — that are invented for the film. It changes the pace of things a little.

Still here? Okay, grab your copy of Mockingjaythis paperback version with the bird flying against a light-blue sky.

I'm not sure if the movie tie-in version, with the flaming mockingjay on a black background on its cover, has different page numbering, or just a different cover. But, if we're all looking at the same paperback, Mockingjay, Part 1 ends roughly around page 182. The book runs about 400 pages, so it's a little less than the halfway mark.

On that page — and remember the spoiler alert — Beetee, Plutarch, and the others are explaining to Katniss why Peeta attacked her after he was rescued from the Capitol. Peeta is in the hospital in District 13, and they're trying to figure out how to undo the effects of his mental hijacking.

That's basically where the movie stops, but not exactly. As expected, the movie adds in a few extra bits — scenes that aren't really in the book — so it doesn't end on the anti-climax of people talking to Katniss while she's lying motionless in a hospital bed, recovering from Peeta's attack.

The movie brings up the idea of planning an attack on District 2, but it doesn't go into Beetee and Gale's plans for traps and bombs, which is basically what the book starts to get into around pages 183 or 184. Team Gale will just have to wait for Mockingjay, Part 2, I guess.

Image: Murray Close/Lionsgate; Scholastic; apriki/Tumblr