In training, Plutarch Heavensbee presses Haymitch about why the districts accept Capitol rule, arguing that fear alone does not explain continued submission. Haymitch reacts angrily because Plutarch’s question feels like an accusation against both the tributes and District 12, but Plutarch insists he is asking seriously. Afterward, Plutarch offers unexpected sympathy for Louella’s death and explains that he is assigned to cover District 12, while Haymitch turns his attention back to survival and tries to make Maysilee and Wyatt seem steady enough to join Ampert’s growing alliance.

Ampert brings Haymitch to meet his father, and Haymitch discovers that the man at the training booth is Beetee, a victor from District 3. Beetee reveals that Ampert was reaped to punish Beetee for attempting to sabotage the Capitol’s communications system, and that the Capitol is forcing Beetee to mentor his own son as part of that punishment. While demonstrating how to make a battery from potatoes, copper, zinc, and wire, Beetee quietly encourages Haymitch to think of the arena as a machine with breakable connections, then secretly slips him a packet of useful parts.

At lunch, the possible allies from Districts 3, 7, 8, 10, and 12 gather, and Ampert lays out his plan: instead of letting the Careers hunt everyone else, the non-Career tributes should unite and hunt the Careers first. Wyatt calculates that the idea is difficult but possible if enough districts cooperate. When Haymitch sees the Careers bullying the weak, injured tributes from District 6, he gives them extra food, reassures them that Louella’s death was not their fault, and invites them to join the alliance; Wellie, Miles, Atread, and Velo accept.

The expanded group debates what to call itself and rejects names that sound falsely swaggering. After Haymitch recalls that new miners in District 12 are called “Neddie Newcomers,” the alliance adopts the name “the Newcomers,” embracing the fact that they are not Career-trained collaborators. The new bond changes the mood of training: Haymitch feels relief at not having to view so many tributes as immediate targets, Wyatt finds companionship among District 3’s mathematically minded tributes, and Maysilee unexpectedly becomes popular by transforming everyone’s humble district tokens into polished, meaningful accessories. District 11 still does not commit, though Haymitch wants its strength.

By the end of the session, the Newcomers are more confident and begin planning together on the ride back. That progress is interrupted when the van stops at a grand marble building and only Haymitch is ordered out. Plutarch meets him there and explains that President Snow has reconsidered Haymitch’s public “performance,” making Haymitch realize that he is about to be punished for the defiant impression he created after Louella’s death.