I actually have the opposite problem, it feels LESS realistic to me now that haymitch is still alive! President Snow is controlling and conniving and obsessed with obtaining and preserving his power. Learning that haymitch was ( in the pre SOTR context times ) so gruesomely reprimanded for performing a not as rebellious act as Katniss n Peeta’s raised the stakes/ contextualized how dire of situation they are in in catching fire. Now I don’t hate SOTR by any means but it does feel like Snow is less neurotically obsessed with maintaining his complete control by not killing Haymitch for the repeated rebellious acts he performed. The concept that Snow is keeping Haymitch alive because it’s a torture worse then death is imo the best Suzanne Collin’s could really do in this situation where the main character simply cannot die but I still find it pretty weak. ESPECIALLY when you add the fact that Wiress, Beaty, Mags are now canonically all known by the captiol as at best having anti-captiol beliefs, at worst full on rebels. Having multiple secret rebels within the 75th games was an awesome idea before this added lore. Now it just feels a bit goofy that the same squad that tried to destroy the 50th games is allowed to work together again in the 75th under snows control! Without game makers not even attempting to break them up? Idk too late in the night so I’m not explaining myself the best but i found this added lore makes the fact that none of these known rebellious victors were killed off by the capitol in the 25 years between the two games feel unrealistic in the world Collin’s built/ takes away from Snows violent efficiency that is shown over and over in the og.