Here we are, at the end of the season.
Synopsis
The episode opens with Percy walking toward Ares on the beach, swords drawn the two are ready to fight. We cut back to Luke training Percy at Camp, he’s taking the time to train Percy to sword fight but Percy wonders when he’ll ever use any of this. Luke is explaining and showing different swordfighting techniques and as he begins to explain the rules of warfare the current day Percy shouts at Ares, demanding single combat between them, the terms are if Percy draws first blood he keeps the Master Bolt and takes Hades’ Helm from Ares. Percy catches Annabeth up on what she missed in the Underworld, that the Helm and the bolt are distractions to start a war to allow Kronos to go free. Percy asks if Kronos spoke to Ares in his dreams too but Ares states that God’s don’t even dream and no one can tell him how to start a fight.
The swordfight between the two begins and it’s clear that Percy is outmatched in terms of skill or strength, he is up against the God of War after all. Grover wants to help but Annabeth holds him back, he can’t interfere with single combat. Percy is thrown face down in the sand but he stands back up, the ocean gathering behind him, the sea encompasses Ares, passing through Percy completely, and as the God of War, drenched in seawater emerges, Percy quickly slices his foot, drawing fist blood. Ares declares that he will be Percy’s enemy for life, disappearing into shadow and leaving the helm behind.
Annabeth picks up the helm and Percy realises the beach they appeared on his the one he visited every year with Sally. He runs into the house but she’s not back. The Fury Alecto is waiting for them, she was always after the helm, ever since she disguised herself as Mrs Dodds at Percy’s school. Percy gives her the helm, hoping she’ll take it to her master and Hades will free his mother. The Fury wishes Percy god luck on Olympus and leaves.
Though Annabeth and Grover try to talk him out of it Percy feels he must go to Olympus, the last war between gods kicked off World War 2 in the human world and Percy can’t let that happen again when he knows the truth of the master bolt. Annabeth gives him her necklace of beads (more on that later) for luck and Percy goes on his way to the top floor of the Empire State Building.
Percy steps out of the elevator and we cut back to Luke and Percy at camp. They are talking about how there are rules to the world of the Gods, and they create demigod children to help them break the rules often. Luke tells Percy that he’s learning fast but needs to be careful, small things that are scary get squished, Like Annabeth squishes spiders because she’s afraid of them(Again, more on that later)
Back on Olympus Percy walks into a room of thrones, with one in the centre, larger than all the others. He approaches the throne, where Zeus is sat alone. A handsome man in a sharp suit, Zeus stands and approaches Percy who offers him the master bolt. Percy explains that the bolt was really taken for Kronos, who’s trying to escape. Zeus is not surprised his father is coming, but he thanks Percy for telling him, saying it’s the only reason Percy can leave alive. Percy won’t leave until Zeus stops his war, but Zeus states that he will continue the war. Percy explains that this is what Kronos wants, to separate the gods, Ares turned on his father Zeus as soon as he had an offer from someone stronger, the other gods will do the same when Kronos comes. This causes Zeus to throw a lightning bolt at Percy but Poseidon stops him. Immediately surrendering the war as long as Percy is spared. The two speak in Ancient Greek. The gods all know about Kronos now, so Zeus accepts the surrender, he wants a meeting of the gods to announce his victory, and then to discuss Kronos. With that, he leaves Percy and Poseidon alone.
Percy explains that he caught the word “patros”, meaning Father. This is is father. Poseidon is surprised that Percy learned Ancient Greek at Camp Half-Blood but he didn’t, he learned from Sally. Poseidon doesn’t know when Hades will release her, but he will release her. Percy asks if Gods dream, and if Poseidon ever dreams about her. But with a pearl, Poseidon sends Percy back to Thalia’s tree, the border of camp.
The entire camp celebrates Percy’s return, Annabeth is waiting for him too. She immediately hugs him and tells him not to make a scene, Clarisse is still free even though she stole the master bolt for Ares. Later, Luke, Percy and Annabeth meet and Luke explains he couldn’t tell anyone that Clarisse took the bolt, it was an accusation with no proof. Luke says with Percy back it’s safe to tell Chiron, they’ll meet him together away from camp, while everyone celebrates, and Annabeth will watch Clarisse to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Luke and Percy are alone in the forest, with fireworks in the distance. Percy recounts the prophecy, “You shall go West and face the God who has turned.” Ares. “Find what was stolen and see it returned.” The master bolt. “You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.” … Percy realises the reason Clarisse is free and they’re alone is because Luke didn’t tell Chiron a thing, he didn’t tell Chiron to meet them to explain. He set them up, he gave Percy the shoes that almost dragged Grover into Tartarus, if Percy had been wearing them, the shoes would have taken him to Tartatus and delivered the bolt to Kronos. Luke explains that he didn’t mean to betray Percy, he is a friend he just wants vengeance again. He uses the magic of his sword to open a portal out of camp, he’s here to recruit Percy, he wants to take down the Gods and he wants Percy to go with him. Kronos’ rule was called The Golden Age, Luke wants to return to that time. Free from the Gods. Percy won’t go and swings his own sword. Percy cuts Luke’s side and immediately apologises, but before he can finish speaking Luke cuts his arm. Luke approaches Percy as he lays on the grass, clutching his arm. But a dagger flies past, Annabeth removes her invisibility cap, she heard everything. Luke walks through the portal, abandoning his friends and old life forever.
Chiron, some time later, asks Percy if some of Luke’s cause made sense to Percy. He’s worried that Luke will try to recruit him again. Percy is leaving camp to go home and hopefully find his mother. He meets Annabeth by Thalia’s tree, Annabeth is going back to see her dad, who wants to take her to Disney World(The show on Disney+ wants a main character to go to Disney World, cool.) Grover emerges with a flower pin, the quest has shown he’s ready to be a Searcher, he can begin looking for Pan now. The three are going their own ways but agree to return to the tree in a year to meet again.
Percy has returned to the cabin on the beach and although it seems empty at first, Sally is waiting. Percy’s mother has finally been returned. When they embrace Sally’s face falls, sternly she says it’s time to wake up. Suddenly Percy is in a shadowy room, with Kronos approaching him. Kronos says that they will meet in the human world if Percy can survive what’s to come. The real voice of Sally cuts through as she wakes him up. Ready for a new year at school. He begins to tell her about the nightmare, but changes his mind. The two laugh and as Percy gets ready for school, Sally makes blue pancakes. Credits roll.
But after the credits, Gabe is heading into the New York apartment, he’s on the phone confused because he has to pay a divorce lawyer, Sally is finally getting rid of him. At the door of the apartment, there is a box for Percy Jackson, returned to sender, from The Gods. Gabe opens the box and looks at the head of Medusa, turning him to stone in the hallway. A stone cold reminder to not open other people’s mail.
Review
Before saying anything about the episode I want to take a moment to mention Lance Reddick. His version of Zeus was only on screen for one scene, in one episode, but i’ll remember it for a long time. I haven’t actually seen some of the bigger projects he was involved in like Law and Order or The Wire. I remember his voice from the game Destiny, and his appearance as Reggie on Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A voice role and a comedy role probably didn’t prepare me for how serious and scary he could be. He was a perfect choice for Zeus. I understand he was involved in projects that won’t release until later in 2024 and even 2025 so despite passing in 2023, he will continue to command every scene he’s in, i’m quite certain. RIP Lance.
The episode itself was a nice way to wrap everything up. Percy and Ares’ rivalry is truly solidified now and I look forward to seeing it develop further.
I did mention before that I wanted to talk about Annabeth giving Percy her necklace of beads for luck. In the books, everyone at Camp Half-Blood has a necklace and they get a bead for every year they survive. Which is awesome. This is a small detail that could’ve been mentioned in episode 2, and for people that remembered it would be a nice moment, Annabeth giving up her necklace which has lots of beads, reminders that she’s survived, to Percy who has none. It would’ve given the moment more significance that I felt was lacking.
I have one more “in the books” thing to mention with Annabeth. I really don’t like being an “in the books” person because I really do enjoy that there are different ways to tell a story but saying “Annabeth is scared of spiders so she squishes them” just can’t stand up beside “Athena’s rival is Arachne, the mother of all spiders, so spiders are always attacking Annabeth to get revenge for their mother.” That is so much more intense than just having arachnophobia.
I enjoyed the swordfight with Ares and Percy. I have the same issue with it that I have with a lot of the fights in this show but it was done fairly well. It was short, but Ares was shown to be strong and overconfident while Percy was resourceful, using the water to get the win. I am looking forward to how their feud grows, especially when Percy doesn’t have water to rely on.
I liked the scene on Olympus but that place is really empty, there are still so many gods for us to meet so considering Percy Jackson’s track record with casting there’s going to be some exciting characters to get to know next season. I felt that Zeus finding out the war was a setup by Kronos but still wanting to continue the war is the perfect way to sum up the Gods. They are fallible, even when Poseidon surrenders it’s to save his son, was he there listening and decided to keep fighting too? If Zeus had let Percy leave would the fight just have continued even though both of them knew it was a ploy to destroy them? Maybe Luke is right, the God’s are kind of terrible.
On that note, the reveal of Luke was odd. It felt very convenient that Percy figured out he was the one that stole the bolt. He didn’t tell Chiron about Clarisse because he couldn’t? What does that mean? It feels perfect to tell Chiron it was Clarisse that stole the bolt, she’s the daughter of Ares and he’s been so annoying the whole time. He stole the Helm of Hades, he’s got priors for stealing. It would make complete sense for it to be Clarisse and that would mean no one suspected Luke at all, he could’ve done more recruiting while everyone thought the matter was settled. So why did they say he couldn’t tell Chiron it was Clarisse because he knew it was a lie? Does Luke not like to tell lies? He lied about everything so it’s not that. Is there a big camp wide hex that stops lies? Well, he lied about everything, so still no. I don’t think this was well executed at all. But the fight in the forest and the attempt to recruit Percy are fine. Annabeth feeling betrayed by Luke probably should have been a bigger focus here before the cut to some time later when everyone is separating, it might get some time in Season 2 though.
Finally, everyone is splitting up for the Summer, Annabeth is going back to see her dad and go to Disney World, the show on Disney failed to mention how expensive everything is there and how long the queues are, but I hope Annabeth has a nice time all the same. Grover has his searcher’s license, he can go look for Pan now, he thinks everyone has been looking in the wrong place. Grover is going to be the first one to look in the seas, and Percy…
Percy has his mother back. He’s going back to school. I think the metaphor here is pretty obvious. He finally knows who he is, and for the first time he’s got up for school without much resistance. He’s gone from now knowing what he is, to being very aware of who he is and what he can do. The allegory for disability doesn’t need much explaining there but very simply, once you know what you are and what your needs are, things like school are a lot easier to face.
I don’t know if this version of Gabe deserved to be turned to stone. The book version and the movie version? Sure. This guy is just a bit of a loser, I think he definitely deserves a divorce, but turning him to stone seems harsh, a better fate for him is probably leaving him to sit there online betting himself into a slow death. I don’t really want to defend him though, so in the end I do hope his statue falls apart and he turns to dust.
8/10 The show has wrapped up Season 1 well and left me eager to see more. I think there have been missteps on the road to this point but the episode itself delivered in almost every scene.
Before I put this show away for a while, I want to finish up by mentioning a few of the key characters over the season.
Sally Jackson – No notes, this Oliva Rodrigo lover has spent her life trying her best to set her son up for the hardships ahead and even though she might have felt like she failed at times she always tried. If Sally Jackson has 100 fans then I am one of them. If Sally Jackson has no fans then I must be dead.
Percy Jackson – A great character portrayed by a great young actor. Walker Scobell personified Percy almost from the opening scene. Percy has grown into a brave young hero, he’s fought for his mother’s safe return, and he’s fought to stop the war of the gods. He has fought for his friends, his family, and the world. I believe i’m watching Percy, which is the highest praise I can give because that’s a character I have a lot of reverence from and not just anyone can walk into that role.
Annabeth- Brought to life by Leah Jeffries, Annabeth took some time to get going, I think by the end of season 1 she’s turned into a compelling character and I’m excited to see how she’s been affected by spending time with her family, spending time with Percy obviously changed her, no more obvious than when she stood up to Hephaestus, demanding that she wouldn’t be dictated by the way the gods do things. That moment was when Annabeth really arrived for me and she hasn’t fallen short since.
Grover – Book fans hated that Grover gave up Percy to the principal of the school in episode 1, I was okay the change because I felt that it was going to be an arc for Grover where he’d grow into his role of a Protector, but he’s done no real protecting he’s just fumbled about with the flying shoes on crashing into stuff. I felt he was coming into his own when he tricked Ares into giving up information in the diner, but what he gathered from it was that Clarisse stole the bolt, which was wrong. So in the end even that really stellar performance from him didn’t do much to help. Good for him getting his searcher’s licence to look for Pan, hopefully he searches for some personality too. (Sorry Aryan Simhadri you’re a fine actor but you have been served up nothing to do)
Luke – I’ve said it the whole show and I still feel like Luke isn’t interesting. He’s a villain who’s making good points, that’s hard to get wrong, it’s honestly a pretty simple villain archetype but it tends to be really interesting. I can’t understand how they’ve made one of the most charismatic characters a totally lifeless caricature. I haven’t enjoyed Luke from the start and in the end with his plan revealed, I still don’t care about him at all.
Ares – It’s Edge from the wrestling. You can’t go wrong with Edge from the wrestling and they nailed it. Ares is portrayed brilliantly, I love that he spends his spare time starting fights on twitter, that’s very fun. His more serious personality traits are coming over well too, he’s childish and cocky and he’s been punished for it here. He’ll be back with a vengeance and i’m eager to see it.
Overall the whole season gets a 7/10 for me. The character work is almost always stellar and the show has fallen flat sometimes in terms of developing the characters and storylines but the actors involved have brought the show to life. I don’t think they ever really served up a memorable fight scene and and the stakes were hard to really buy into the last few episodes of the show. But ultimately in the end i’ve really enjoyed watching and I will absolutely watch season 2.Until then i’ve got to find something else to watch.