coriie

Despite the new info about Burdock in SOTR, I do not think that alone was enough get Haymitch to start caring as a mentor, nor do I think it really contributes all that much, actually, to his decision to "choose" Katniss over Peeta in the first games. Obviously he cares that this is Burdock's daughter, but in the end it's really just that Katniss flat out has a better chance of winning, and Haymitch knows it. So he picks Katniss.

...Then they both make it out. And back in the Victor's Village, Katniss has her family to watch over and everything that's going on between her and Gale. She's got plenty keeping her busy. But Peeta is alone, like Haymitch. His family doesn't ever seem to come visit. He and Katniss aren't really speaking. Suddenly this kid is dropping off bread in Haymitch's kitchen every morning and coming by to eat meals, this great kid who shouldn't be alone, but is seemingly nonetheless alone, because why else would he constantly be there? It's been a long time since Haymitch has been the best someone's got. After that realization, how can he help but open himself up a bit further? Cleave open a crack in the fortifications he's built up around his heart?

Then...the Quell. And Haymitch is denied even the chance to volunteer to die in Peeta's place. He has to find a more complicated, creative way to save the both of them. Because at this point I don't think it's fair to say Haymitch chooses Katniss again over Peeta. It's largely out of his hands. Plutarch, the narrative, the rebellion, all of them have already chosen Katniss over Peeta for him. So Haymitch has to resort to making his separate promises to both of them, and trying his best to stay true to those promises, even when they seem diametrically opposed.

I imagine Haymitch is doing a lot of maneuvering behind the scenes at the beginning of Catching Fire, first to get all the other tributes to be willing to die not only for Katniss (who is the established priority of the plan), but for Peeta too. The explanation later given is "well they all knew you'd fall to pieces if Peeta died, Katniss, so they had to keep him alive to keep you going along with them" but... is that even strictly true? Do most of the tributes *actually* believe that? Finnick doesn't. He straight up tells Katniss later that he didn't, not until he actually witnessed Katniss' reaction when Peeta collided with the force field. I have to conclude he's not the only one who had serious doubts about Peeta and Katniss' ~love~. Yet somehow all these people go into Games willing to save Peeta over themselves and a bunch of other people they've known a lot longer, when Peeta isn't even the one labeled as critical to the Revolution. Why is that? Because Haymitch somehow convinces them it's important. That there's at least some validity to Katniss being inconsolable and uncontrollable if Peeta dies, even if they don't believe in the love story itself.

The first part of Haymitch's plan is convincing the other tributes Peeta also needs to be kept alive, and the second part is making sure Peeta is in the right place at the moment of rescue. This is revealed when Haymitch and Katniss confront one another in Mockingjay about Peeta's capture: "How could you not save him?" "How could you let him out of your sight?" Haymitch was banking on Katniss and Peeta refusing to leave one another's side in the arena. It's obviously a dicey gamble, given the unpredictability of the Games and the fact that he's keeping the rebellion a secret from them entirely, but it's kind of where Haymitch has to place all his hopes. Let Plutarch and the others prioritize Katniss, and do everything in his power to make sure Peeta still gets rescued, anyway. It doesn't work, but he does try to keep his promises to both of them. He loves them both the same amount!

I also think it's notable that pre-highjacking, Peeta never genuinely blames Haymitch for choosing Katniss over him in the first games. He only throws it back in Haymitch's face when he's particularly angry at him about something else (as in Eleven's Justice Building on the Victory Tour, when he's made about Haymitch & Katniss keeping secrets from him) or when he's using it as leverage (his bargaining chip to get Haymitch to save Katniss in the Quell). Peeta doesn't blame him, but Haymitch does blames himself, for a long time after. And even though he didn't strictly choose Katniss in the Quell, he blames himself for that, too. That Peeta was taken.

So Haymitch is the one visiting highjacked Peeta everyday in the hospital, and the one keeping tabs on his recovery to relay to Katniss when she refuses to get involved directly. He's the one on the phone begging her to remember their promise to try and save Peeta! I wonder if at the end of Mockingjay, a part of him feels a bit guilty for accompanying Katniss back to Twelve. Obviously he knows there's not really any choice, Katniss does need him more than Peeta in that moment, she can't be sent off on her own. Peeta needs to stay in the Capitol to get the best care, and Katniss is the one who's the least stable. Still, it must feel a bit like he's leaving Peeta behind...again. The boy nobody was able to be there for at his least stable. This boy who's never been anyone's top option or first choice, not until Katniss catches up to her heart (and even that's something that's so tangled nowHaymitch doesn't even want to poke at it.) So he goes home with Katniss but it's still all wrong. Half his family is still missing.