Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Sunrise on the Reaping.returning Hunger Games characters in the novel. Despite Plutarch's true loyalties, he must maintain the facade of being loyal to President Snow, and arranges for him to meet with Haymitch.

President Snow meets with Haymitch due to his behavior during the tribute parade, which includes one of Sunrise on the Reaping's major deaths. One of Haymitch's fellow District 12 tributes, Louella McCoy, is accidentally killed during the parade. Haymitch takes her body, places it at the gates of President Snow's mansion, and makes a show of clapping for him in an act of defiance. President Snow later threatens Haymitch for his moment of rebellion, which includes a glimpse of what happens to the leader's enemies.

Why President Snow Is So Sick During His Meeting With Haymitch In Sunrise On The Reaping

It's More Than Bad Oysters

President Snow claims that his illness, and the blood-streaked vomiting that comes with it, is due to food poisoning from eating some bad oysters. He mentions that the parade master Incitatus Loomy fared worse than him from the same food poisoning. Haymitch soon realizes that President Snow's illness is not from food poisoning and the tyrant poisoned himself and Loomy. The parade master was poisoned for his incompetence, which led to the parade going awry, the death of Louella, and Haymitch's rebellious moment at the mansion gates.

While Loomy is fatally poisoned, President Snow is able to survive by taking an antidote after ingesting the poison. As evidenced by President Snow's symptoms and his remark that "Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease," the antidote does not work seamlessly, though, and the experience takes a heavy toll on his body. This is similar to what Haymitch experiences later on in the arena when he is poisoned by the stream water and ingests charcoal tablets to combat the poisoning.

The Hunger Games Trilogy Already Confirmed Snow Uses Poison To Deal With His Problems

Finnick Reveals The Truth During Mockingjay

During a key Finnick Odair scene in Mockingjay, the District 4 winner is filmed revealing dark secrets in an attempt to distract the Capitol while the rebels attempt to rescue the captive Peeta Mellark. One of the secrets Finnick shares is that poison has been the key to how President Snow gained power and how he has managed to keep it for so long. Finnick mentions the many mysterious deaths that surrounded Snow, with many of his enemies and allies suddenly dying at feasts to gradually dying over the course of months.

Decades before Finnick was born and learned President Snow's secret, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ending sees the future dictator lethally poisoning another enemy, Dean Casca Highbottom.

These deaths are sometimes blamed on overlooked health concerns or rare viruses. Finnick mentions bad shellfish as another frequent excuse, which is what Snow uses in Sunrise on the Reaping to explain Loomy's death. Decades before Finnick was born and learned President Snow's secret, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ending sees the future dictator lethally poisoning another enemy, Dean Casca Highbottom. Loomy is only one of many in a long line of "problems" that President Snow has dealt with through poison.

Why Snow Poisons Himself Too & How He Survives It

It Is For Political Self-Preservation

The Finnick scene in Mockingjay also explains that President Snow poisons himself to avoid suspicion. If he is drinking and eating the same as his victims, it is more difficult to prove that he is the poisoner, and easier to stay in power. He takes an antidote to survive, probably something akin to the charcoal tablets and syrups that some of the Hunger Games tributes get in the arena during the second Quarter Quell to survive their respective poisoning. Finnick says that the antidotes are not foolproof and lead to blood sores in President Snow's mouth.

This explains why President Snow is bleeding from the mouth when he meets with Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping and in certain moments during the original Hunger Games trilogy. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reveals the origin of President Snow's roses being connected to his grandmother, but according to Finnick, Snow also wears the roses to try and conceal the perpetual smell of blood that comes from the sores in his mouth that never fully heal. These details add another sinister layer to Haymitch's disturbing meeting with President Snow in Sunrise on the Reaping.