After being attacked by a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen joins an assault on the Capitol’s armory in District 2. An aggravated civilian named Pugnax shoots her, but she is saved by her bulletproof Mockingjay suit. President Coin refuses to let Katniss join the “Star Squad”, a group of rebels set to infiltrate the Capitol, but Johanna offers to cover Katniss while she sneaks on board a helicopter on its way to the Star Squad. She meets up with the team, which includes Gale, a recently married Finnick, and Peeta, who is still not fully recovered.
Led by Boggs, the team makes their way to the Capitol, evading booby-trapped “pods” placed along the way with Boggs’ holographic map (the “holo”). Boggs is fatally wounded by a pod and bestows the holo to Katniss before dying. The squad accidentally trigger another pod, releasing a flood of lethal black tar, and Peeta momentarily succumbs to his conditioning and attacks Katniss, killing Mitchell in the process. Most of the squad escapes, unbeknownst to the Capitol.
Katniss refuses to kill Peeta, but Gale states that he would kill him if needed. The Capitol broadcasts another message of Snow’s denouncement of the rebellion, but the rebels hijack the air, and Coin gives an impassioned eulogy that rallies the rebels. Katniss and the Star Squad attempt to advance through the sewers but are caught on camera. They are ambushed by genetically engineered “mutts” that kill four squad members, including Finnick.
