One of the more difficult-to-swallow elements of The Hunger Games‘ plot may be solved with a chilling fan-theory that suggests Katniss Everdeen’s actions may not have been as in control as she originally thought. The beloved young adult dystopian science fiction series was adapted into The Hunger Games film series in the 2010s, recently re-invigorated by prequel films like The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

An element of the long-term plot of the franchise that remained somewhat puzzling for many years is the reality of who Katniss will choose romantically. Across The Hunger Games movies, protagonist rebel hero Katniss Everdeen is caught in something of a love triangle between her hometown sweetheart Gale and her partner-in-revolution Peeta, who fights with her side-by-side in the games. Despite many feeling as though Katniss had far better chemistry with the former, in a shock to many non-book readers, she actually ends up with Peeta by the end of the story, married with children, no less.

Theory: Katniss Was Hijacked Into Loving Peeta In The Hunger Games

Katniss’ Free Will Was Impeded Upon Early On

There were many reasons that it seemed as though Katniss should have ended up with Gale. However, most of them boil down to the same thing — While Katniss’ relationship with Peeta was more of a political marriage to help fuel the romantic ideology of the revolution and ensure both of their survival in the hands of the cruel Capitol, her feelings for Gale were forced by no such circumstance. It could be argued that Katniss’ feelings for Gale were more genuine, making it feel like tonal whiplash when she ultimately chooses Peeta.

One dark fan theory initially proposed by redditor u/lightning_fire years ago accounts for a more sinister vector by which Katniss’ feelings for Peeta may have developed. The crux of the theory revolves around a brief sub-plot established in the third film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, that goes on to continue through the last film of the initial quadrilology. After being kidnapped by the Capitol, Peeta is injected with a drug concocted from the venom of the tracker jackers, genetically modified creatures made for the Hunger Games.

This drug causes Peeta to become irrationally hostile towards Katniss, attempting to kill her at all costs when under its effects in a process called “Hijacking”. Despite Peeta being genuinely in love with Katniss, the psychological conditioning of the Capitol combined with the drug causes him to see her as a horrific enemy, stopping at nothing to put her down. It’s also shown in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 that the drug’s effects are particularly stubborn, causing Peeta to relapse after initially seeming to be cleared of any symptoms.

According to the theory, Katniss receives a primitive version of the “Hijacking” treatment in the first games when she’s stung repeatedly by tracker jackers. In the books, it’s described that Katniss replays the image of Peeta saving her over and over in her mind, potentially establishing an artificial connection between her and Peeta thanks to the venom’s effects, just as the Capitol does with Peeta intentionally. This would mean that her eventual relationship with Peeta might actually be due to the fallout of a drug-induced Stockholm syndrome rather than genuine feelings.

How The Hijacked Katniss Theory Changes The Hunger Games’ Ending

The Implications Of The Theory Go A Long Way

This theory makes Katniss’ eventual marriage with Peeta seem quite dark in retrospective, with her romantic feelings seemingly only spurred on by the lingering effects of the proto-Hijacking in the intense life-or-death scenario of the games. It does help explain why Katniss chooses Peeta despite clearly seeming to have stronger feelings for Gale, implying that her showy romantic interest in Peeta may have been coming from a very real state of drug-induced mania. If it weren’t for the tracker jacker stings, Katniss might have never had the idea to “pretend” to be in love with him in the first place.

The theory also adds another layer of dramatic irony to the Capitol’s ultimate defeat after Panem’s second revolution. Thematically, The Hunger Games series emphasizes how the Capitol sowed the seeds of their own defeat. If they had never created the tracker jackers, Katniss would have never been Hijacked into loving Peeta, and she might not have ever had the idea to stage their Romeo and Juliet-style suicide pact to deprive the Hunger Games of a winner and force the Capitol’s hand in pardoning them both.

Why The Hunger Games’ Hijacked Katniss Theory May Not Be True

The Theory Is Intruiging, But Far From Airтιԍнт

Convincing though the theory may be, it certainly has its flaws. To suggest that Katniss was able to accidentally gaslight herself into loving Peeta with the same intensity that Peeta is conditioned into hating her by the Capitol is admittedly a bit of a stretch. Rather than causing Katniss to slowly fall for Peeta over time, this theory would be more likely if she was suddenly infatuated with him, though it could be argued that she was and was merely veiling her love for him through the lens of their “fake” relationship in the public eye.

The effects of the Hijacking may last a long time, as shown when Peeta relapses in the final film of the initial series, but to suggest that a less-refined version of the Hijacking formula could actually grow stronger over time in its suggestion doesn’t track with the limitations of Hijacking already established. The idea also somewhat reduces Katniss’ agency in her own story, leaving her love life up to errant drug dosage. In the end, Katniss still had plenty of in-universe reasons to choose Peeta over Gale.

As one of the few fellow Hunger Games winners, Peeta was one of the rare people who could relate to Katniss’ lingering trauma, and they did spend so much time pretending to be in love over the course of their post-victory touring that it’s not a stretch to imagine they would fall in love for real. Gale also became a different person during the war, even implied to have had a hand in the bombing that killed the one person Katniss was trying to protect by volunteering for The Hunger Games in the first place.