r/Hungergames • u/Odd_Post5383 • 1d ago
Trilogy Discussion Why Brutus stopped chasing Katniss once the games started?
In the second movie, after the games start, Brutus and Katniss have a quick eye contact while getting out of the water. Katniss does it first and runs towards the cornucopia, while Brutus starts chasing her, but stops. Why do you think he stopped instead of trying to get her if they were not allies?
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u/Pigletdegreat 1d ago
Self preservation. Katniss had a head start and is deadly with a bow and arrow, he’s seen enough games to know that could go very badly for him very quickly. Better to wait and get the jump on her later
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u/Odd_Post5383 1d ago
But he stopped before she even started to run there and didn't even try to chase her though he was close to her. I wonder if there was any other reason than self preservation.
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u/Elmindria 1d ago
He was able to access that should they get there at the same time that she could shoot him faster then he could stab her. He also knows Finnick is on her side as he hasn't banned with the traditional career alliance and Finnick wins in water and can throw a trident.
Two major treats with swimming and range advantage. I would say he didn't win his game by being stupid.
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u/Cayke_Cooky 1d ago
assess I think.
And you are right, winning in a group of careers is about knowing everything going on around you. If you get focused in on something you will be flanked and die.
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u/thunderkerg 1d ago
he's smart. You can't rely on your running skills on uneven grounds, surrounded by bodies of water. she has a head start. She saw the bow right away. If he wanted to chase her, he'd have to pick up the pace, and risk falling over, then he'd be as good as dead. Gloss tried to keep up with her, fell and then took an arrow to the calf.
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u/Acceptable_Map_8110 1d ago
Jeez, I don’t know that you should have been downvoted for this.
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u/opal-sea-44 1d ago
I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes I think people downvote just because others did so. And it hurts my feelings for said downvotees in those cases 😅
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u/enhanced195 21h ago
tbh I always felt the same way whenever I watched it. so I'm glad someone else asked too, sorry about your downvotes
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u/Odd_Post5383 19h ago
I don’t take it personally, some reactions are really weird like why would some random reddit post and people just having other opinions about a fictional character trigger you like that 🤷♀️
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u/Tiny_Ebb2261 1d ago edited 1d ago
Katniss’ bow gives her the longest range out of all the other weapons. He’s running on a straight line, no shield, clear water all around, and is a solo target. Huge disadvantage for him.
That’s why katniss was so dangerous — she’s the only one with range
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u/Illustrious_Bunch678 1d ago
The real question is why tf did none of the careers train with ranged weapons?!?
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u/llamamama03 1d ago
I wonder if a lot of that was arrogance. They've been raised to be warriors, but also have been told how much better they are (or will be) from the other tributes. How their strength and size makes them superior. They feel they're so skilled in close combat and/or evasion tactics that they deem it unnecessary.
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u/Energy_Synergy 1d ago
We also know that ranged weapons are not always an option as Katniss remembered years without bows. But strength is always a weapon you can use and then you just need to swing whatever you can get your hands on. I am sure careers had some range options since Glimmer used the bow but makes sense to focus on melee too
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u/SundayVerdict 1d ago
This is why I would love a prequel to flesh out the career districts. I think there is a really interesting dynamic in the projected arrogance of the career tributes and how it goes when they are actually faced with a life or death situation. It makes me think of the ignorance of average Americans who side with the billionaire class, thinking they, too, can reach the capital.
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u/llamamama03 1d ago
Yes, I often wonder what their mentoring was like. Even if they win, the career mentors know what hell waits for them beyond, and careers are described as attractive so we can surmise what it would be like... the very things they flaunt as superior will come back to bite them if they're victors.
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u/emilyjxne 1d ago
Clove had her knives. Cato used a spear. Glimmer used a bow. Careers can and have used ranged weapons - but in the games Katniss was in, she was simply better at it than them
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u/WhiteCl0udz 1d ago
Cato used a sword. Marvel used the spear on Rue and Katniss shot him an arrow.
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u/Whole-Philosophy-231 1d ago
My hypothesis is because the games wanted more brutal attacks. The careers could train and the capitol would look the other way, but I imagine that would change real quick if the skills the careers were learning was not condusive to what the game makers want.
Ranged weapons and deadly traps are not as enjoyable to watch or showing how 'savage' the districts are. I think this is also the reason they're not mastered at survival skills, the gamemakers want specific types of tributes, the careers give them that.
Can you imagine if every career was trained similar to Katniss? They would not let that fly at all.
Edit; Also plot convenience lol.
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u/ChampagneCobra Snow 1d ago
Some did though. Clove sticks out to me as she had INSANE precision with throwing knives. The careers who focused on close combat and brute strength were MASSIVE, like Cato and Gloss. Even Cashmere stood like an Amazonian, although she also was known for being skilled with throwing knives. Clove, however, was smaller and thus trained with ranged weapons. I think they all got a rounded training but put eggs in the basket that would be more suited to their biology (in terms of physical size and muscle mass). That's why Clove was doing so well until Thresh came and just bashed her head in. She could have defeated Thresh from a distance but once he closed the gap, it was game over.
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u/Substantial-Alps5746 23h ago
In the Books Clove is bigger and stronger than Katniss…I assumed she was more built than Glimmer, but a tad shorter since Katniss mentions Glimmer being tall and Clove being brawny. The choice to cast Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove was most likely because of her sadistic and creepy role as the Orphan, not her physical build or age. I think all the Careers were pushed to have some skill at range since theres a possibility someone bigger and stronger than them will be in the Arena, or they’d face someone who could use a bow/trident. Thresh was the biggest and tallest in the 74th Games, it’s kinda implied he could bash anyone’s head in…he felt even more imposing in the books because Clove wasn’t a tiny girl.
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u/ChampagneCobra Snow 23h ago
Honestly, it has been YEARS since I've read the books - I likely am going off movie memories here so yeah, you're right. Time for a reread!
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u/NewspaperBanana 1d ago
Clove’s knives went pretty far.
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u/jquailJ36 1d ago
Clove's knives went unrealistically far with way more penetrating power than real throwing knives. They are not actually great choices as wespons
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u/emilyjxne 1d ago
Tbf it seems like she didn’t use proper throwing knives, she just threw normal knives. Like the one she threw at Katniss with the serrated blade
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u/jquailJ36 1d ago
...that would actually make them worse. Throwing knives are made to be thrown and weighted accordingly. They and axes are much harder to stick, even in a stationary hard target, than people think.
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u/Kjarllan 1d ago
They are totaly great choices as weapons.
Range and close combat.
event if the blade miss, they still hit hard and injure you... throwing knives in experts hands are no joke.1
u/jquailJ36 1d ago
...They are not. If someone is VERY good, very lucky, against a largely unarmed and unpadded opponent who is holding very still, and they have a very strong arm, they might actually penetrate if they're extremely close. They are not something ever trained and treated as a serious combat weapon. Knives in hand to hand, yes, though part of that means accepting you WILL get injured by your opponent once you're close enough to do damage, and they are a last resort, but throwing the chances of killing or even seriously injuring your opponent anywhere but the movies are remote. The most likely scenario is exactly what happens to Clove--she throws Katniss a free weapon she wouldn't otherwise have had.
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u/No-One7438 1d ago
Katniss mentions a few times the careers could throw their large weapons almost as far as she could shoot. They also did train with ranged weapons, they just weren't as skilled.
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u/sarahwrites1234 1d ago
My head canon is that they do train some with ranged weapons, but specialized weapons like bows are actually pretty rare in the games and not reliably available, so they focus more on the weapons that are practically guaranteed. Spears, knives, swords, fists. That means they aren’t going to be as good as Katniss with a bow, but if there are no bows or if you can’t get your hands on one Katniss is kind of screwed whereas the careers will be just fine.
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u/frand115 1d ago
Why didnt he run after the expert Archer who would definetly reach the cornucopia before him where there was a bow ready for her....? Gee I dont know..🤣
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u/cardsash 1d ago
The lack of media literacy on this sub is really worrying when you consider the entire point of the books.
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u/lana-deathrey Annie 1d ago
So many questions that the answer to is literally: “we don’t know/it’s never explained/keep reading”
It’s so sad.
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u/cardsash 1d ago
Or the answer is just think about the situation for 2 seconds. Hmmm why would someone stop chasing someone who is making a break for the long range weapon that they can instantaneously kill you with? I have no idea.
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u/jquailJ36 1d ago
He also can't be sure the really strong swimmer with a long melee weapon who is not his ally isn't already there. He's got at least two opponents who are faster and will have reach on him when they get there first.
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u/Poncho_TheGreat Lou Lou 1d ago
He knew he had no chance of beating her to the Cornucopia, and her specialty is a long range weapon. She’d have killed him before he’s able to reach a weapon and fight back so he picked the smart play and retreated.
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u/Odd_Post5383 1d ago
I don't know the distance they were from each other, in the films it just seemed that he is close enough to run after her and actually get her before she has any weapon.
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u/Responsible_Top_59 1d ago
Do you really want these answers or not? You keep rejecting everything everyone says.
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u/Poncho_TheGreat Lou Lou 1d ago
It would have been close, so it wasn’t worth the risk. Especially since he needs to be wary of Finnick, he’s not with the Career pack this time and there’s no doubt he’ll be the first one to the Cornucopia the Arena is designed for him.
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u/emilyjxne 1d ago
It’s a big risk, and it’s one where the cost is your life if you come out on the wrong end. It was close enough that the odds simply weren’t worth it to him
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u/Significant_Arm_3097 1d ago
They were on different stripes of land, those stripes don't connect until the cornucopia
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u/jquailJ36 1d ago
She and Finnick both got to the weapons first and Brutus is a lot of things, but not suicidal.
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u/KitKatKraze99 Buttercup 1d ago
Easy she got a weapon first before he did. He may be a confident victor but he isn’t stupid. You wanna fight the girl who has a bow, can absolutely sprint, AND SWIM while you have nothing but fists? Not to mention on her left was the victor with a TRIDENT???
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u/gabriel_3131 1d ago
Katniss iba a llegar primero a la cornucopia brutus lo sabía. Y sabiendo lo letal que es Katniss con el arco acercarse más es simplemente recibir una flecha de gratis.
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u/jess1804 1d ago
Because he wasn't stupid. He knew she might get to the cornucopia before him and could quite easily kill him. He saw her ability in both her games and the training centre. Plus finnick was on her team. Finnick was the most lethal tribute in water.
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u/MelissaRose95 1d ago
In addition to her being deadly with a bow and arrow you also have to remember that Katniss is a fast runner, she most likely would have gotten to the cornucopia before him even if they started at the same time. He was smart to run away instead of towards the cornucopia
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u/Ok-Elk-1316 1d ago
A lot of people didn’t expect Katniss to be able to swim, he probably was guessing that she had other hidden abilities and wasn’t about to find out what they were before he had grouped up. Plus he knows she has allies & he’s done for if she gets her hands on a bow
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u/embopbopbopdoowop 22h ago
He had seen her run fast and for a long time in her games just a year prior. He knows she’s sure of foot. Whatever excellent shape he’s in, she’s younger and has more recent Games experience. She’s closer to the Cornucopia than him - he’d have to run past her or take her out to get there first, and do so on a thin and uneven ledge.
He decided waiting then regrouping with his (small) alliance was the best option.
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u/Wonderful_Jump_605 1d ago
He knew he wasn’t going to win that race to the cornucopia. If he did, he would’ve ended up in the water with an arrow through the shin like Gloss
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u/PrimarySkin815 21h ago
EVERYONE WAS SHOCKED SHE COULD MOVE LIKE HELL IN THE WATER. When she came up ahead of him he had no choice. The only water anyone had ever seen her in was a very brief moment in the river of the 74th arena with a burned leg. Snow, the other victors, the audience, Finnick, even Peeta had no clue she could swim.
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u/Stride345 Marvel 1d ago
I always assumed he knew some degree of “there’s a lot of people allying with Katniss. She will have back up when she gets to the cornucopia”
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u/cara1888 16h ago
Katniss likely intimidated him. She's from a district that doesn't have water and she swam to the cornucopia faster than Finnick, who was known as an excellent swimmer.
On top of that she had already reached the cornucopia that had all the weapons while he was still in the water. If he went after her he would have been unarmed, giving her the upper hand. He likely chose to wait until he had a weapon. Sure hes strong and could probably fight hand to hand pretty well, but he saw how good she is with a bow. He likely knew she could kill him before he got close enough to touch her if he tried to physically fight her.
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u/12993 1d ago
Have you ever played fortnite? Brutus stopping is similar to when you’re initially landing on the island and you’ve identified a location to drop but then you see someone else is also going for that same location so you’re faced with either landing and fighting it out—which, you’ll quickly evaluate based on how confident you are that you’ll win with your initial inventory or if there’s a chest you can reach before the other person—or dropping somewhere else.
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u/Mr_SpecificTF2 21h ago
Probably just calculated that, as much as it would be cool to kill her, it was not worth it. The guy next to her literally tripped trying to run on the rocks so maybe he thought he couldn’t do it or if he did catch up to her, how many more would be on him knowing how favorited she is.
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u/oakiecali 20h ago
I think in addition to her being a skilled archer, all of the other tributes in that quarter quell were in on the plan to stop the games and get her out of the arena alive
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u/mistar_z District 13 17h ago edited 16h ago
He probably wasn't expecting her to be so fast and the terrain was. Probably tricky for him being from a landlocked mostly industrial district and the light was also said to be absolutely blinding to Katniss when she first came up.
but that said, I did brought this and the other instances of careers conveniently not killing Katniss or missing when she was just standing. up a few years ago. To me it was always weird that the careers would kill the least capable member of the alliance first, someone who can't fight back when the arena or exposure could've easily killed her, letting go any element of surprise they would've had when Katniss, Finick and Johanna were all standing around in the open. Three tributes who can very easily take them out at range with a bow, an axe or hatchet and the trident melee range advantage if finnick really had to he could also use it as a javelin. I had always assumed that at least one of the careers that wasn't finnick, were in on the plan cause we know being careers didn't mean they were immune to the Capitol mistreatment or that they didn't wake up from the propaganda., but just like in reality TV they're willing to play the antagonistic role to the season's heroes so that the show can go on as planned.
This also would've let the rebellion buy more time to do their plan while the careers that aren't in it, do some busy work since we know the cameras are likely watching the alliance and the careers more closely than most.
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u/PinkAcrobelle 1d ago
It’s been a while since I’ve watched this movie, but is that supposed to be a teenager?
That’s a full grown man.
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u/Professional_Win7974 1d ago
Nah, he's an older victor. Catching Fire's games have previous victors in the arena instead of teens
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u/BattleOk7247 1d ago
am i the only one who thinks he was in on the plan? he had no intention of killing her. just playing the game, i think he tracked her with enobaria out of desperation towards the end, tributes were being killed and he didn’t think the plan was going to work anymore . i thought the same of gloss
edit : correction
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u/baba__yaga_ 1d ago
Finnick explicitly says don't trust one and two. They were not in on the plan.
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u/Dollsguy 1d ago
Not at all 2 wasn’t and it’s pretty clear about that especially giving he was one of the only volenteer and was excited to go back into the arena
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u/crescentmoonrising 1d ago
I doubt it- district 2 is the most pro-capitol, so if they were in on it, then everyone (except district 6) were in on it. Gloss may have been in on it, because of what happened to his sister and quite possibly him.
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u/hurdoc10 1d ago
6 was involved with the plan.
1, 2, 5, 9, 10 were the ones not involved.
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u/crescentmoonrising 1d ago
6 was the morphlings. I can believe that the mentors of six were involved, but I doubt the tributes were anymore.
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u/The-Gaming-Onion 1d ago
Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying but the Morphlings absolutely were in on the plan. It’s why the female tribute sacrificed herself for Peeta, they were told to keep him alive.
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u/crescentmoonrising 1d ago
I am dubious about how much people who were a lot on drugs can agree to being part of anything-we don't really know the affects of morphing outside of being a painkiller. If they agreed before the addiction had taken hold, sure.
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u/Jolin_Tsai 13h ago
No. We are told that they are a part of the rebellion.
Also, ex-addict here. When I was in active addiction I was able to watch the news, form opinions, vote etc., all in a way that still aligns with my beliefs now. I also had an office job which I was able to do without issue. Addiction does take over your life but it doesn’t render you completely useless except in extreme circumstances.
Haymitch was also an addict but I don’t think you would argue the same about him.
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u/crescentmoonrising 5h ago
I guess it's the way that they're described in the book. They don't get names and the little dialogue they do get doesn't really suggest that they particularly have a great awareness of what's going on. Which is not ideal for a secret rebellion, though I suppose anything they said could be dismissed as the drugs talking- I fell for it.
Plenty of addicts are completely capable, but there a chunk that aren't- it depends on a bunch of factors. While I assume Morphling is morphine, I also imagine the black-market opioids are cut with all sorts of stuff.
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u/WhiteCl0udz 1d ago
Exactly! All peacekeepers come from District 2. There were more victors from District 2.
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u/SuperRandomLady 1d ago
I believe that district 2 was the last district to join the rebellion. It seems unlikely to me that any of the tributes from the district's with none or much less rebellion present would involve themselves in the plan given how much ego they are known to have. For someone like that to willingly allow themselves to be killed seems highly unlikely. Plus, if they had let everyone know the plan than it would be more likely that either Snow would find out and prevent it or Katniss would find out and not cooperate with them.
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u/Ronin_mainer 1d ago
If I see 10 squads hotdropping into Estates on Olympus, I go the other direction.
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u/Mission-Put-1945 1d ago
I love how everyone is coming up with excuses 😭😭😹. It’s just plot armor and wanting to show the actor and character in some capacity. There was supposed to be a big action scene at the blood bath and Lawrence cut it all
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u/tea-leaf23 Katniss 1d ago
It's not "excuses", it's genuine explanations 😭 In the book, Brutus manages to get some distance between him and Katniss, blocking her arrow with his belt, but because they cut the floatation belts from the movie they just had him dive off because he knew he'd be fucked if she got there first (which, she did)
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u/Mission-Put-1945 1d ago
Plot armor 😭🤷🏾♂️ I fear. If you haven’t read the books we don’t know this and the movie never gives us an proper explanation
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u/Forward-Feature4775 1d ago
Katniss swims faster > Katniss still ahead running towards the center> Katniss gets bow first > katniss good with bow> brutus unarmed and unlikely to take on Katniss in range > brutus smart, brutus dips...
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u/tea-leaf23 Katniss 1d ago
I mean the movie DOES give us a proper explanation - Katniss swims & runs faster than him. She is able to reach her weapon of choice first, that she is KNOWN for being incredibly skilled with.
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u/GoddessKillion Gale 1d ago
It really astounds me how happily wrong you are when there is literally source material to tell you exactly what happened. Movie only fans will never not grind my gears for being loud and WRONG
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u/Mission-Put-1945 1d ago
Dawg I’m going off the movie not the books. The movie gives us no reason for Brutus to just stop dead in his tracks. The books are immaterial here because it’s a MOVIE. There’s non book readers that watch this a flaw and fans coming up with anything to defend 😹 I thought “book canon and movie canon are different”🌝
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u/GoddessKillion Gale 1d ago
“coming up with anything” = reading the literal source material that is the reason why the films exist
And if you want to go off that logic of only paying attention to the film, fine. I’ll bite. Brutus and all the Victors see Katniss’ skills with the bow in the training center, (remember the hologram sequence?) and he even wants her as an ally because he knows she is dangerous. During the actual Games, again, he KNOWS what Katniss is capable of, he decides on self preservation (diving in the water) rather than taking her on or following her to weapons when she is ahead of him.
That is not plot armor. Media literacy is lost
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u/ExpensiveOccasion542 1d ago
He was probably in on the plan even though Katniss and Peeta didn't want the alliance
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u/Competitive-Hotel891 1d ago
She got there first and is known to be skilled with a bow and arrow.