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Katniss and a team of rebels from District 13 prepare for the final battle that will decide the fate of Panem.

After young Katniss Everdeen agrees to be the symbol of rebellion, the Mockingjay, she tries to return Peeta to his normal state, tries to get to the Capitol, and tries to deal with the battles coming her way...but all for her main goal: assassinating President Snow and returning peace to the Districts of Panem. As her squad starts to get smaller and smaller, will she make it to the Capitol? Will she get revenge on Snow or will her target change? Will she be with her "Star-Crossed Lover," Peeta, or her long-time friend, Gale? Deaths, bombs, bow and arrows, a love triangle, hope... What will happen?—baileyyybroooks

After Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, accepted the role of the Mockingjay, the symbol of rebellion against the autocratic Capitol, she and the rebels of District 13 poise an all-out war against them; however, this time Katniss has a personal agenda: assassinating President Snow herself to gain revenge not only for Panem's sake but for her own as well.

After accepting her role as the Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen, along with her team, prepares to take their fight straight to the ruthless Capitol. While her mission is to bring President Snow down once and for all, Katniss finds that her squad dies at the hands of either Mutts, Peacekeepers or both. Once in the Capitol, Katniss discovers that there is another threat rising that could decide not only her fate but the future of all Panem.—Blazer346

For all past deaths made as entertainment, and for the insidious modification of Peeta, Katriss deems to strike out on her own to take down President Snow once and for all, but being the Mockingjay, the living symbol of the rebellion now headed by Alma Coin, has its drawbacks. Recognition, for one, and she finds herself saddled with a team of expert warriors (which surprisingly includes the ailing Peeta) aimed to penetrate the Capitol that has barricaded itself behind Hunger-Game-style death traps. As she closes in on carrying out her private agenda through more deaths and mayhem, President Snow himself makes her aware of another threat to peace for Panem equal to himself, leaving her to consider how to truly end the bloodshed.—statmanjeff

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence ) is getting vocal therapy after being nearly choked to death by Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). Once she can speak again, she sees her younger sister Primrose "Prim" Everdeen (Willow Shields) entering Peeta's cell. The hijack programming inflicted on Peeta in the Capitol eventually makes him freak out. He thinks that Katniss is a dangerous Capitol-created mutation, and tells Prim to kill her.

Despite Katniss' desire for revenge on President Snow for what he has done to Peeta, president Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) assures her that they cannot enter the Capitol now; they need to control District 2 first, so Katniss and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) go there with a military escort to film more "propos" (propaganda videos) for the rebel cause. Gale voices his concern that in Peta's current state, Katniss will always chose him over Gale out of pity, but Katniss kisses him to show that he doesn't have to be jealous anymore.

Katniss overhears Gale and Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) discussing a dubious 'bomb trap' which involves setting off an explosive that is designed to send people fleeing in a panic and attract medics to help the wounded, and then deploying a second bomb to maximize the number of victims. Katniss calls it unethical, but Gale retorts that Snow doesn't fight by the rules either. Once in District 2, which remains sympathetic to the Capitol, Commander Paylor (Patina Miller) mentions that the Rebellion needs to capture the Nut, a Capitol headquarters with all their weapons inside, housed within a huge mountain base. Without these weapons, the rebels will remain outgunned by the Capitol, but the forces inside the Nut are dug in safely, so a frontal assault is pointless, and there is little chance that they will surrender willingly. Gale suggests that they bomb the stronghold's weak points and blow the exits, trapping everyone inside so that the enemy is at the very least deprived of their weapons. Katniss protests, saying that there are a lot of civilians in there. With President Coin listening in via hologram, the group eventually agrees that they will strategically bomb the Nut first in order to flush out the civilians by trains, with Katniss outside trying to convince them to surrender. Gale continues to argue the situation with Katniss, pointing out that she has previously shot planes out of the sky in District 8 during her propo tours, but Katniss replies that she was defending herself from military pilots, not citizens. Gale argues that the civilians in the Nut made their choice by collaborating with the enemy, which is the sad cost of war, but Katniss counters that that kind of thinking justifies almost every death, including killing children in the Hunger Games.

When the refugees exit the Nut by train, the situation with the rebel troops becomes tense. Katniss tries to win the refugees' sympathy, but one quickly uses her distraction to hold her hostage. Katniss calmly argues that by killing each other, they are only helping Snow setting the districts up against each other. The man lets her go, and while Katniss continues to call President Snow the real enemy whom they should fight and not each other, another refugee takes a shot at her. Chaos ensues.

In the Capitol, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has dinner with his family and his minister of defense, Antonius (Robert Knepper). Snow criticizes Antonius' for the defeat of their mountain troops, and that rebels are currently marching towards the Capitol. Antonius replies that they can still celebrate Katniss's death and that those rebels can be held off, but Snow replies that Antonius just diverted their best Peacekeepers to the now lost District 2, and if Katniss were really dead, the resistance would have made a martyr out of her already. Snow plans to evacuate the Capitol's outskirts to lure the rebels in, and then let them be decimated by strategically placed bombs and booby traps; they will pay for every victory in blood, captured on camera by the Gamemakers for an eternity. Antonius suddenly starts to choke and drops dead, having been poisoned.

Katniss wakes up from her injuries to find a bald, morphling-crazed Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), who tells her that her clothes are bulletproof, so she survived with a nasty bruise on her chest. Johanna is annoyed with the fact that everyone has to sacrifice themselves for the irreplaceable Katniss, but concedes that with her charm and lovability, Katniss is a better symbol for the uprising than Johanna. Katniss admits that Johanna would have made a better Mockingjay, and visits Peeta, still locked up and strapped to his bed. He is no longer enraged but still blames Katniss for everything, going so far as saying that he would wish that they had never met. Visibly upset, Katniss attends a conference with President Coin and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), telling them she wants to be sent out. Coin disagrees: the districts are now successfully united, so they need Katniss to stay and shoot more propos to show the rebels that she is still alive; she will be taken to the Capitol once they surrender. Plutarch offers no support, so Katniss begrudgingly agrees.

During the wedding party of Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin) and Annie Cresta (Stef Dawson), Katniss enlists the help of Johanna in covering her escape, so she can sneak on board a medical supply hovercraft headed for the Capitol. Johanna convinces Katniss that she can kill Snow, as long as she is willing to sacrifice herself in the process. Katniss goes off to dance with Prim one last time before leaving. After having been dropped off at the rebel base outside the Capitol, Katniss tries to be unobtrusive, but is quickly recognized by almost everyone, believing that she has come to join the fight. Learning that Katniss has fled to the front, President Coin is extremely annoyed by her defiance, but has no choice but to act as if this has been their plan all along, on Plutarch's suggestion.

Katniss reunites with Gale as Commander Paylor summarizes the situation: Capitol citizens are abandoning the streets of the surrounded city, and the Peacekeepers have fallen back to the center, so the united rebels will enter the city's outskirts to help confused citizens. The Gamemakers have placed "pods" all over the Capitol, armed with deadly weapons, similar to traps used in the Hunger Games in an attempt to make this another televised spectacle. The plan is to neutralize the traps and convene at Snow's mansion, to free all of Panem from his tyranny. Gale lets Katniss know that he already suspects that she intends to walk off on her own. Both are assigned to Squad 451, which is commanded by Boggs (Mahershala Ali) and also includes Finnick, filmmaker Cressida (Natalie Dormer), Homes (Omid Abtahi), Lt. Jackson (Michelle Forbes), Mitchell (Joe Chrest), Messalla (Evan Ross), the twins Leeg 1 and 2 (Misty Ormiston and Kim Ormiston) and Castor (Wes Chatham) and Pollux (Elden Henson), an avox (mute). Squad 451 will shoot propos while locating and destroying the pods for morale behind the front lines, to stay as safe as possible. Each member is given a Nightlock pill, which causes instant death if they need to commit suicide to stay out of the Capitol's hands. Boggs has been issued a holo, a device that displays a holographic map and helps to detect pods; however, the information on the pods is based on old intelligence from spies, and new pods have undoubtedly been set up to kill them (Finnick calls it "the 76th Hunger Games"). The holo can also self-destruct if it is in danger of falling into enemy hands.

While camping out in an abandoned restaurant for the night, Katniss and Gale discuss plans to sneak off with the holo on their own when a handcuffed Peeta is unexpectedly dropped off by a military escort; President Coin wants Peeta in the videos as well, to show him actively fighting the Capitol alongside Katniss. The group decides to take turns watching him, as Boggs takes Katniss aside and tells her that Coin originally wanted Peeta saved from the arena, and not her. Now that victory is at hand, Katniss may become a liability for Coin, who wants to be the next President of Panem. Although Katniss has no political aspirations, her allegiance to any candidate carries considerable weight, and as Coin can't be sure that Katniss will endorse her, she prefers to be rid of her now, as Katniss' death would add more fire to the Rebellion; adding Peeta to the team may cause him to kill Katniss in a fit of rage and fear. Boggs tells her that he will not let that happen, and promises her a long life.

During the night, Peeta and Katniss play a game called 'Real or Not Real?' to help Peeta figure out what is real and which parts of his memories are planted by Capitol programming. As day comes, the squad enters an oval courtyard surrounded by abandoned apartment buildings. While they're getting ready to shoot a propo, a pod of machine guns appears that mortally shoots Boggs in his chest and wounds Leeg 1 in the leg. Boggs, with his dying breath, transfers full security access of the holo to Katniss. He also tells her not to trust anyone, and to kill Peeta if necessary. Leeg 2 accidentally activates a trigger hidden under the pavement, releasing a torrent of black ooze which floods the courtyard. While escaping, the fear activates Peeta's brainwashing, and he tries to kill Katniss; Mitchell intervenes and in the process, Peeta shoves him in the ooze which causes Mitchell to fly up and get impaled by spikes.

The surviving members of Squad 451 run inside a building. Jackson, as Boggs' second in command, demands the holo from Katniss. Katniss says that Boggs transferred the voice-activated holo to her (which is true) and that she is on a personal mission to kill Snow, on orders of President Coin (which isn't). Jackson refuses to believe it and reaches for her weapon, but Cressida defuses the tense situation by unexpectedly backing up Katniss's story, claiming that Plutarch wants the assassination of Snow to be televised to quickly end the war. As soon as the rest of the squad exits the building and take refuge in a vacant apartment across the courtyard, Peacekeeper soldiers arrive. The squad watches in horror as the Peacekeepers blow up the building they just left, killing the Leeg twins who had stayed behind. In a sudden broadcast, Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) announces the death of Katniss and her squad as the building blowing up is televised. Peeta is overcome with guilt, and asks for a Nightlock pill to kill himself when he feels he is being hijacked again, but the others refuse. President Snow then pops up on television, calling Katniss a "face plucked from the masses" who lacked leadership, but then Coin takes over the broadcast, defending Katniss as a brave girl who rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army, and asserting that the Mockingjay is still the face of the revolution, even in death.

Given that the holo shows multiple traps on the streets, excluding all the new ones that have undoubtedly been set up, Pollux signs to Castor that they can go down into the underground sanitation system instead, where he used to do slave labor. Underground, they hide from the Peacekeepers but are picked up by a security camera, which is seen by President Snow who is surprised to see Katniss still alive, stating that the arena has now moved underground. In the sewage system, the team decides to rest for the night, as Katniss and Peeta do more 'Real or Not Real' games. Peeta reveals that his capacity to discern fake memories from real ones is getting better. Katniss promises to keep them alive, but then hears something and the group investigates. Suddenly, dozens of hideous, lizard-human hybrid creatures which are called "mutts" (muttations, portmanteau of 'mutt' and 'mutation') appear from all directions and attack. As Jackson is quickly overwhelmed and killed by the weird creatures, the others fight them off and flee further into the sewage system, getting separated and losing Castor along the way when he gets trampled and killed by the mutts. Katniss and Peeta are corralled into a junction area with a ladder leading up to the ceiling where they make a last stand, Katniss with her bow and explosive-tipped arrows and Peeta with his assault rifle. Finally, the rest of the squad finds them and helps fighting off the creatures. Finnick defends himself with his trident, covering the others as they ascend the ladder. Unfortunately, as Finnick tries to escape himself, the creatures grab and overwhelm him. Katniss activates the holo's self-destruct function, and throws it into the melee of mutts and a screaming Finnick. It explodes, killing the mutts, ending Finnick's suffering and collapsing the exit, so that his sacrifice is not in vain.

The surviving squad members end up in an underground space that looks like a subway station, and get fired upon by Peacekeepers. As the floor begins to collapse, lethal beams in the light fixtures evaporate everything that passes under them, killing Messalla who disintegrates into black ash. Peeta panics, thinking he's about to go out of control again, but Katniss stops and kisses him, which fixes him right up. They exit to the surface and Cressida takes them to a fashion shop owned by Tigris (Eugenie Bondurant), who hides them in a secret basement under her shop. Katniss eventually recognizes her as one of the stylists who worked with tributes at the Hunger Games. Pollux weeps over the loss of his brother Castor, while Cressida tends to Gale's wounds, sustained while fighting the mutts. A distraught Katniss confesses that her mission was fake and that she feels responsible for all those deaths. Cressida tells her that they knew all along that she wasn't on a mission ordered by Coin, but everyone, even Jackson, decided it was worth the risk if Boggs thought so. Peeta tells Katniss that if she kills Snow, all deaths, from their first Hunger Games until now, will be for something. He asks Katniss to handcuff him again to be safe from him. While Katniss tries to sleep, Gale reconciles with Peeta, saying that Katniss loves Peeta, not him.

Suddenly, the sound of mortars and guns signals the arrival of the rebels, who are attacking the Peacekeepers in the center. In an emergency broadcast, President Snow orders Capitol residents to take shelter in the presidential mansion, claiming that the Rebellion plans to destroy every Capitol citizen and their way of life. Assuming that the pods near the mansion will be deactivated, Katniss believes that this is her chance to walk with the refugees, infiltrate the mansion and take down Snow once and for all. Gale decides to go with her. Peeta offers to come so he may serve as an distraction, but Katniss doesn't want to lose him again, and asks Cressida and Pollux to stay and watch him. Tigris outfits Katniss and Gale with hooded coats that partially obscure their faces.

As they march towards Snow's mansion with the other refugees, Katniss is almost recognized by a little girl who is carried by her mother. They find themselves enclosed by Peacekeepers who are checking everyone's faces, with no way to go back. Just as Katniss is about to be exposed, the rebels explode a nearby tank, and a panic ensues. Katniss sees the little girl weeping over her dead mother as Gale is captured by the Peacekeepers and dragged away. He screams at her to shoot him with her bow, but she can't. Katniss runs to the front of Snow's mansion, where parents pass their crying children from hand to hand through the crowd to get them through the mansion's gate. Suddenly, a plane with the Capitol logo drops dozens of small, odd silvery pods on little parachutes, reminiscent of the sponsor cylinders sent out to the tributes during the Hunger Games. The crowd watches them fall and some people even reach out for them. The pods then suddenly explode, killing adults and children alike. In the ensuing panic, Katniss sees combat medics rushing in to tend the wounded, among them her sister Prim. Katniss screams a warning at Prim, only for another batch of bombs to drop and explode, knocking Katniss unconscious.

A wounded and burned Katniss wakes up inside Snow's mansion while her mother (Paula Malcomson) tends her wounds. Her old friend Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) informs her that the invasion was successful: from the moment that the Capitol bombs fell on the citizens, the Peacekeepers and palace guards, who also had children among the dead, immediately stopped fighting, and the palace was taken within a short time. From her mother's wordless tears, Katniss learns that Prim has died.

After a brief recovery, Katniss goes to the mansion's garden where Snow is held under guard in his conservatory, but Commander Paylor grants her a special audience with him. Snow apparently has no problems accepting his defeat, and his confinement protects him from Katniss' revenge. He offers his condolences for her sister, calling it an unnecessary and wasteful death, as defeat was certain and he was just about to issue the Capitol's surrender just before the bombs dropped. When Katniss says that *he* dropped those bombs, he admits that he is not above killing children, but would never approve of wasting lives, especially Capitol children. As he coughs up some blood, he praises Alma Coin for making everybody think that he bombed his own people's children to hold back the rebels, and airing it live on TV for everyone to see, which turned every last one of his guards against him; Katniss's sister was unfortunately collateral damage. Snow believes that Coin's secret plan was to let the districts and the Capitol fight to exhaustion, so she could step in herself with the power of District 13's arsenal, and taking Snow's place; he and Katniss have simply been pawns in her game. When a stunned Katniss says she doesn't believe him, Snow answers, "Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen, I thought we had agreed never to lie to each other."

While awaiting an audience with Coin, Katniss confronts Gale with never coming to see her in the hospital, and asks him if the bombs that killed Prim were the 'bomb trap' that she heard him discuss with Beetee earlier. He tearfully admits that he honestly doesn't know whose bombs killed Prim, and apologizes for not protecting her family. Katniss leaves him for good and attends a meeting with Coin and the surviving Victors of previous Hunger Games, including Peeta, Beetee, Johanna, Haymitch, Enobaria (Meta Golding) and a pregnant Annie Cresta. Coin has appointed herself interim President of Panem; elections will be organized in due time, but the people are currently too emotional to vote. Snow will be executed, but Coin fears that also executing his hundreds of accomplices (Capitol officials, Peacekeepers, torturers and Gamemakers) will only feed Panem's need for more vengeance. Her idea is to hold another Hunger Games with Capitol children, and asks the victors to vote on it. Peeta, Annie, and Beetee are strongly against the idea, while Johanna and Enobaria are in favor; Katniss and Haymitch will carry the decisive votes. On the condition that she be allowed to execute Snow, Katniss says 'yes' for Prim; Haymitch looks on in bewilderment, but nevertheless sides with "the Mockingjay," meaning the vote goes in Coin's favor, 4 to 3.

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) dresses up Katniss for the execution while Katniss secretly pockets a Nightlock pill. She marches into the arena, the large parade ground where the tributes used to be showcased, with Snow tied to a pole and the audience watching. President Coin (standing on an elevated stage just behind Snow) addresses Panem, stating that in this historic moment, one shot will signify the end of tyranny and begin a new era, and hoping that Katniss' aim will be as true as her heart is pure. Katniss aims her arrow at Snow, whose unemotional demeanor starts to waver. However, realizing that Coin sacrificed innocent lives and just intends to replace Snow, she shoots Coin instead, killing her. The crowd is shocked as Coin tumbles dead to the ground, while Snow almost chokes with laughter, seeing that his final trick worked. As the livid crowd charges past Katniss towards the laughing Snow, she tries to commit suicide by taking the pill, only for Peeta to smack it out of her hand. Katniss is dragged off into custody while the crowd brutally beats Snow to death.

In a vacant, guarded room, Katniss is visited by Haymitch who says that she didn't disappoint, implying that she did what he hoped she would do. He reads out a letter written to her by Plutarch, who also expresses his approval of Katniss doing the right thing. He regrets not meeting face to face to say their proper goodbyes, but in the light of what happened, it is better that they are not seen together. The fate of the country will be decided that night, when the leaders of the twelve districts will choose an interim leader to replace Coin, with Commander Paylor, who has become "the voice of reason", as the biggest favorite. Plutarch hopes that the country can heal from all the horrors, and will come through on its promise to learn from past mistakes. He has arranged passage for her back to District 12, as it will be better for her to live out of sight. When the time is right, she will receive a pardon from Commander Paylor for killing Coin. He ends by hoping that she can find her peace, as the country will find its own.

Before Katniss and Haymitch board a train to District 12, they say goodbye to Effie. Back in her home in the Victors' Village of District 12, seeing Prim's cat Buttercup causes Katniss to have an emotional outburst over Prim's loss, but she slowly builds herself up again over the next days by hunting. One day, she finds that Peeta has returned as well, planting primroses in her garden -- the flower her sister was named for. They hug and start living together. Some time later, Katniss receives a letter from Annie Cresta, telling her that Katniss's mother is now training new medical units in the Capitol, while Gale has been promoted to captain in District 2. Annie relishes the time she has with her newborn son, who reminds her of Finnick every day. She concludes that despite the suffering, they owe it to the memories of the fallen and their children to make the best of their lives. While Katniss and Peeta are watching a broadcast of Commander Paylor being sworn in as President of Panem, they note Plutarch standing in a prominent place in the crowd, noting that he has managed to "win the games" after all. During a final game of 'Real or Not Real?', Katniss expresses her love for Peeta.

Several years later, Katniss and Peeta are married and have two children. Katniss holds her youngest child, and tells the baby that someday she'll tell them her story, and that she gets through her nightmares by making a list in her head of all the good things she has seen someone do. It is a game that she has played over and over again, and can feel tedious at times... "but there are much worse games to play."