The rumor Mags won the Ninth Hunger Games began on The Hunger Games: Australia website. The website began a fan project in December to name all of the victors.
One poster wrote a French magazine called Cinemaniac interviewed Suzanne Collins. In the interview, Collins said Mags won the Ninth Hunger Games and was the first victor from district four.
Curious, I searched for the article and the magazine. I took one year of French in high school and figured I could comprehend pieces of it.
The problem was no magazine named Cinemaniac existed.
I study web and graphic design in college. This might sound like a wild accusation, but I know how easy it is to digitally fabricate a magazine cover if you have the proper equipment.
Something else made me suspicious about the post as well. The magazine claimed Suzanne Collins said Brutus won the 55th Hunger Games.
In Catching Fire (book), Katniss said Brutus was “at least 40.” If Brutus was 40, the latest he could have won was the 53rd Hunger Games.
This magazine was the same magazine that said Beetee and Wiress won the 35th and 38th Hunger Games respectively.
I have neither read in the book or online nor seen anything in the film to confirm whether Mags actually won the Ninth Hunger Games.
Capitol Couture confirmed Mags was 80 years old, which means she won between the 7th and 13th Hunger Games. Therefore, her winning the ninth games is plausible.
However in the film, Haymitch refers to Finnick as not one of the youngest to win but the youngest to win ever. This word choice implies Finnick may have been the only 14-year-old to win.
This could be a simple case of faulty syntax. Her games would have happened so long ago, people might have forgotten how young she was at the time of her victory.
Mockingjay set photos list Mags as the first victor from four. Considering what a skilled district it is, I would find it difficult to believe someone from four did not win one of the first ten Hunger Games.
However, these photos suggest Finnick was the first male victor from four, which I also find hard to believe (not to mention an elderly male victor was standing in the background of the district four reaping in Catching Fire).
Do you think Mags won the Ninth Hunger Games?