Execution

Three District 11 citizens being executed by Peacekeepers.

In Panem, an execution was the state-sanctioned killing of citizens by Peacekeepers, typically by hanging or by firearm, as retribution for a perceived crime. This practice is also known as capital punishment. Following the Second Rebellion, the power to carry out executions was transferred over to the rebels.

History

Exterior of the Capitol Arena

During the First Rebellion, the Capitol staged high-profile executions of rebels in the Capitol Arena, which would later be appropriated for the first ten annual Hunger Games. There were also many brutal executions after the Treaty of Treason was signed.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

In the lead-up to the 10th Hunger Games, the District 10 female tribute, Brandy, was shot by Peacekeepers after killing her mentor, and Facet and Velvereen from District 1 were shot dead while trying to escape the Capitol Arena.

Arlo Chance at his execution.

Three formal executions took place in District 12, the first being the execution of ex-soldier Arlo Chance. After killing three people in the bombing of District 12 coal mines, he was sentenced to death by hanging. At the hanging tree, he called for his lover, Lil, to run. His execution inspired Lucy Gray Baird to write "The Hanging Tree" song.

Lil's execution

Lil was later executed for treason as well, alongside Peacekeeper Sejanus Plinth, who had been planning to run away from the districts. The two were described as "weak with terror"; Lil's legs were shaking so badly that she had to be hauled up by Peacekeepers. Sejanus first called out to his friend Coriolanus Snow, who had betrayed him to this fate, and his last act was to cry out for his mother. In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Spruce was hanged alongside his sister and Sejanus.

The Hunger Games

Rue explained that Peacekeepers in District 11 once executed Martin, a developmentally disabled boy, on the spot for stealing. He'd tried to take a pair of night vision glasses from the orchard to play with.

Catching Fire

Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker, was executed for allowing Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark to both win the 74th Hunger Games. His manner of death is unknown, but during her private session in front of the Gamemakers for the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss hanged him in effigy using a training dummy.

The old man about to be shot by Peacekeepers.

During Katniss and Peeta's stop in District 11 on their Victory Tour, an old man whistled Rue's four-note song, and in a show of rebellion, the people of the district performed District 12's traditional three-finger salute. As co-victors Katniss and Peeta left the stage, the old man was dragged up the steps to be immediately killed with a single shot to the back of the head, and at least two more gunshots followed, quite probably signaling more deaths.

Following the uprising of District 8, citizens were forbidden from leaving their homes, and the only time the television didn't display static was when they aired the hangings of suspected instigators in the town square.

District 12's new Head Peacekeeper, Romulus Thread, had a new whipping post, several stockades, and a gallows built in the center of their square. According to Katniss, these new installations were in frequent use, but it's unknown whether anyone was executed.

Mockingjay

After Peeta was rescued from the Capitol, President Snow televised the execution of Peeta's stylist, Portia, and his prep team. By the end of the Second Rebellion, all stylists from the third Quarter Quell were dead, and all but one prep team had been killed. In that same time frame, all but seven Hunger Games victors were killed in the Victors' Purge. 18 died in the 75th Hunger Games, and for 32 of the 34 subsequent deaths, it's unknown how many of them were executions, civilian deaths, or casualties of combat.

One of the district executions in Mockingjay - Part 1

In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, Snow gave a televised speech, announcing that possessing images of the mockingjay would be considered treason, punishable by death. While this happened, two people from District 8 and three from District 11 were hauled out in front of their respective Justice Buildings and a crowd of their peers. With sacks over their faces, each victim was shot once in the back of the head. They are often presumed to be victors due to the purge.

Execution of President Snow

Main article: Execution of President Snow

Katniss aiming to shoot Snow.

Following the end of the war, Snow was tried and sentenced to death. The plan was for him to be shot in the heart with a single arrow by Katniss Everdeen, symbolically firing the last shot of the war. However, she changed her target at the last second and assassinated Interim President Alma Coin instead. In the ensuing chaos, Snow was either trampled to death by the crowd or choked on his own blood.

According to Coin, "hundreds of [Snow's] accomplices" were also awaiting death sentences at the time of his execution, but it is unknown how many of these were actually carried out, if any, under her successor President Paylor. It is also unknown whether capital punishment was retained or repealed afterwards.

Known victims of executions

Jurisdiction	Victims
The Capitol	Brandy - District 10 Facet and Velvereen - District 1 Seneca Crane Portia and Peeta Mellark's prep team Cinna (presumed)
District 8	Rebel leaders Two District 8 citizens (Mockingjay - Part 1)
District 11	Martin Unnamed elderly man Three District 11 citizens (Mockingjay - Part 1)
District 12	Arlo Chance Lil Sejanus Plinth - District 2 (originally)/The Capitol Spruce (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)
Rebels	Coriolanus Snow - Capitol (sentenced) Other Capitol officials (sentenced)
Unknown	Possible executions, civilian deaths, or casualties of combat: Hunger Games victors - various districts Unnamed District 7 stylist, all other Quell stylists, and all but one prep team - Capitol

Trivia

Seneca Crane being let into the room with the berries.

• In The Hunger Games film, Seneca Crane was presented with a bowl of poisonous nightlock berries, whereupon he presumably died by forced suicide. In keeping with classical inspirations for the series, this execution method was apparently common in ancient Greece and Rome.
• While in solitary confinement for assassinating Coin, Katniss thought she was going to be executed.