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Messalla was part of a TV crew that filmed propos for the war as part of the Airtime Assault. He was the assistant of Cressida, the director. Messalla was originally from the Capitol, but joined the rebels during the Second Rebellion.[1]

Biography[]

Messalla traveled to District 8 along with the rest of the TV crew to film Katniss Everdeen in the hospital there. He was seen scribbling notes,[1] and later helped put together the propos.[2]

When Squad 451 was selected for a mission to go to the Capitol, the TV crew came along as well to continue to film propos for the war. To prepare for a shoot, Messalla helped Katniss with makeup and set off smoke charges for the atmosphere. While they were filming, Boggs, the commander of Squad 451, triggered a bomb that blew off his legs. The explosion also threw Messalla into a wall and knocked him out, but fortunately, he was revived by Finnick Odair and a few others before continuing with the mission.[3]

At one point, the team was forced to find refuge in an abandoned apartment that bore the same floorplan as Messalla's previous residence in the Capitol. Messalla proved himself most valuable, since he knew where people would most likely stash food in the hidden storage spaces. As a result, the team found many canned goods.[4]

Death[]

"Two of Gale's arrows already lie useless beside the wide shaft of golden light that radiates from ceiling to floor. Inside, Messalla is as still as a statue, poised up on the ball of one foot, head tilted back, held captive by the beam. I can't tell if he's yelling, although his mouth is stretched wide. We watch, utterly helpless, as the flesh melts off his body like candle wax."
—Messalla's death[src]
Messala death p

Messala's death portrait.

Later in the mission, when the team was underground in the Transfer and running from the lizard mutts, Messalla fell prey to an unnamed pod. He was trapped in a wide shaft of golden light that radiated from the ceiling to the floor. Gale Hawthorne's arrows were unable to penetrate it, and Messalla was completely still inside the shaft of light as his flesh melted off his body. The other members were unable to do anything but watch him slowly die. Cressida was greatly upset by his death, as he was her assistant and friend.[5]

In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, his death is similar to in the book, as he was hit by a beam of light coming down from the ceiling whilst the team ran through the underground car park. Messalla ran into one of the light traps as the light was on, and he was vaporized by the pod.

Messalla Mockingjay

Physical description[]

Messalla was described as being a slim young man with several sets of earrings. His tongue had also been pierced, and he wore a stud with a silver ball the size of a marble.[1] In the film, his appearance was much the same, except he also had several piercings in his lower lip and one in the bridge of his nose.

Etymology[]

Messalla is most likely named after a branch of the gens Valeria patrician family in ancient Rome, which fits into the series-wide naming theme of naming Capitolites after ancient Greco-Roman figures, mythical or historical.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mockingjay, Chapter 7
  2. Mockingjay, Chapter 8
  3. Mockingjay, Chapter 20
  4. Mockingjay, Chapter 21
  5. Mockingjay, Chapter 22
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