- Airdate: January 16, 2024Corresponding Chapters: 16-17
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover must resist the alluring draw of the Lotus Hotel and Casino that feels outside of time.
"We Take a Zebra to Vegas" includes examples of:
- Adaptational Context Change: The trio are directed by Ares to the Lotus Casino rather than them stumbling there by chance.
- Adaptation Deviation: Percy receives four pearls from the Nereid instead of three as in the book, with the extra pearl being intended for his mother.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- The trio encounter Hermes at the Lotus Casino. In the books, his first appearance is during The Sea of Monsters.
- Annabeth mentions May Castellan's story, which in the books was only really explored in The Last Olympian.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Unlike in the book, the trio are fully aware of the dangers of staying at the Lotus Casino too long due to knowing their Classical Mythology. However, what they don't realize sooner is that the Lotus Flowers are actually being pumped into the air of the building rather than being consumed.
- Adaptational Timespan Change: The summer solstice deadline has already passed by the time the trio reach Santa Monica, whereas they made it with less than a day left in the books.
- Adapted Out: Disco Darren isn't around to befriend Percy and shake him out of his trance, as the three go into the Casino knowing its true nature in this version. Darren is instead replaced by a delusional satyr named Augustus, an old friend of Grover's petrified uncle, Ferdinand.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Grover finds Augustus, he's eating what appears to be a bag of Lotus Flowers. When Grover, knowing the dangers of consuming the flowers, asks him to stop eating them... but he's actually eating corn chips. The Lotus Flowers are actually being pumped into the air of the casino, which is causing its "guests" to forget.
- Breather Episode: The episode is not action-packed, has the same short runtime as "I Plunge To My Death", and focuses more on comedic and emotional moments between characters in and out of the casino.
- Call-Forward:
- The story of May Castellan is brought up in dialogue between Annabeth and Hermes in this episode, well before any of it was established in the final book.note
- According to Becky Riordan, there is in fact a very subtle background reference to the di Angelos in the episode. Heard faintly in the background during Grover and Augustus' conversation, there's a little boy calling out for "Bianca!", who could very well be Nico di Angelo.
- Canon Foreigner: An older satyr named Augustus that knew Uncle Ferdinand is a prisoner of the Casino, and ends up leading Grover off to get lost.
- Demoted to Extra: The titular zebra is reduced to a 'blink and you'll miss it' cameo in which it's briefly seen walking behind a car and out of view in the scene where the newly released animals are wandering around Vegas. And while it can be heard vocalizing offscreen in the truck, it never talks to Percy on screen the way it did in the book. The zebra is also present in the official episode poster
. - Determinator: Percy is determined to see the quest through despite being too late to stop the war.
- Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Subverted. Annabeth turns invisible and pickpockets the god of thieves for the keys to his car. However when they get to the car it turns out Hermes knew what she did and left them a note (addressed to "You Dumb Kids" in all caps) with a map to the underworld, then teleported them to Santa Monica as soon as the car exited the garage.
- Dream Spying: Percy's ability to eavesdrop on immortal deities while he's asleep is established in this episode, an ability that seemingly stuns Annabeth. Luke previously mentioned in Episode 2 that dreams are common in demigods, although Annabeth's comments imply that Percy's in particular are unique, even by demigod standards.Percy: So, I've been having these dreams. For a while, they were weird. Then, like Luke's mom, they got scary. You have these, too, right?
Annabeth: Of course.
Percy: And then this guy started showing up and talking to me, but not like in a regular dream. It's more like he knows we're in a dream. But today... it was different. Like I somehow ended up in his dream, like I was eavesdropping on him, talking to...
Annabeth: Talking to who?
Percy: To the person who stole the Master Bolt for him [The Lightning Thief].
Annabeth: [incredulously] ...You're eavesdropping on Hades conspiring with Clarisse through your dreams? - A Form You Are Comfortable With: In this episode, the mysterious figure from Percy's previous dreams appears in the form of Percy's old Yancy Academy headmaster when speaking to the Lightning Thief in his dream.
- Foreshadowing: The opening shows Percy dreaming of the principal of Yancy Academy — whom he believes is Hades — talking with disappointment to the Lightning Thief in a form of a "student" about almost failing him. Remember in Episode 1, the principal's office was where Grover, Percy's best friend, apparently "betrayed" him when he got him kicked out of school on purpose.note
- Gilligan Cut:Percy (on driving Hermes's cab): How hard could this be?
immediately drives the cab into a support pillar - In-Series Nickname: Percy calls Annabeth "Wise Girl" for the first time.
- Kids Driving Cars: When they get to Hermes' car, Annabeth and Percy initially want Grover to drive since he's 24, but he's too delusional from the Lotus Flower aroma. Percy gets volunteered to drive it, and he crashes it into multiple fixtures around the parking garage before they even leave. Even when he successfully drives into the exit, the moment is ruined by him scraping the car against the side of the entrance for multiple feet.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Luke uses the trope name to describe Annabeth and Percy's bickering during their call. Percy becomes uncomfortable and changes the subject.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: The modernized version of the trope namer is the main setting of the episode. While the trio don't eat any of the fruit, they can't avoid its effects because it's pumped into the air, and they start forgetting things.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Percy driving the cab up the parking garage ramp is treated like an epic task...at least until he stares at Annabeth for a second too long and scrapes the cab against the wall.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Percy realizes that while staying in the casino for twenty minutes, they were in there for two days.
- The Nereid has a mild one when Percy informs her that stealing the Master Bolt was only the beginning of a bigger scheme, something even Poseidon seems to be unaware of.
- Powerful and Helpless: Hermes tells Percy and Annabeth that the hardest thing about being a parent is having to sit back and let your child risk being hurt so they can learn to overcome obstacles on their own. He adds that Poseidon feels this way towards Percy, and that it's especially hard for someone as powerful as a god to feel so powerless.
- The Power of Friendship: Percy and Annabeth theorize that Grover suffered from the effects of the casino more than them because he was by himself and not with friends to help him remember what's important.
- Ship Tease: During the Iris-message to him on the truck, Luke wonders when Percy and Annabeth started acting Like an Old Married Couple. Percy immediately changes the subject.
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: Despite spending no more than twenty minutes inside the Lotus, the trio enter on Tuesday and exit on Thursday.
- You Are Too Late: Unlike the book, the trio are trapped in the Casino long enough for the quest's deadline to elapse. Even with that, Percy is determined to see the quest through to the end, because the war is only the beginning of a much bigger scheme happening that not even Poseidon is aware of.
