Katniss reflects bitterly on how every major power in Panem has tried to use her, and she recognizes that President Coin now sees her as a danger as well as a symbol. While being prepared for another televised appearance, Katniss is stripped back to "Beauty Base Zero" and reunited with Octavia, Flavius, and Venia. Their plain appearances, shaking hands, and bruises make clear how badly District 13 treated them, and Katniss feels both protective and powerless. When Fulvia and Plutarch react with disgust to the scar left when Johanna cut out Katniss's tracker, Katniss is reminded that even her injuries are being managed for propaganda.

Katniss brings the prep team to the dining hall, where District 13 stares at them as curiosities. Posy gently breaks the tension by complimenting Octavia's green skin, and Gale helps keep the meal from becoming a humiliation. Even so, Katniss remains upset with Gale over their argument about Coin's threat and the immunity deal for the captured victors. On the lift to Special Defence, Gale admits he still believes what he said, and Katniss realizes she cannot control his thinking, even though she wants his support.

In Special Defence, Beetee leads Katniss and Gale into a chamber filled with hummingbirds that District 13 studies for flight technology. Gale immediately begins thinking about how to trap the birds, and Beetee praises his instinct for finding prey's weaknesses, which unsettles Katniss by reminding her of past Games violence. Beetee, still recovering physically, asks after Finnick and says he is making Finnick a new trident. He then takes Katniss and Gale through heavy security into the weaponry section, showing how seriously District 13 guards its military power.

Inside the armoury, Beetee invites Gale to try an advanced bow for future propos and combat, then presents Katniss with a custom black bow. The bow is keyed to Katniss's voice and works with specialized arrows, including incendiary and explosive ones, turning her symbolic weapon into a real military asset. On the range, Katniss discovers she can shoot accurately at long distances and leaves in a much better mood after practicing with the new equipment.

Back on the soundstage, Katniss is dressed in Cinna's Mockingjay costume, with a bloody bandage added to make her look battle-tested. Finnick jokes that viewers will want to kill her, kiss her, or be her, showing that the image itself is powerful. But when the production team finally asks Katniss to deliver a polished slogan for a propo, the line sounds forced and false coming from her. After Katniss shouts it into the cameras, the set falls silent until Haymitch laughs over the intercom and says that this is how a revolution dies, exposing the rebellion's first propaganda effort as a failure.