| 1 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toa.png]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | ->''I will never understand how you mortals tolerate it. You live your entire life trapped in a sack of meat, unable to enjoy simple pleasures like changing into a hummingbird or dissolving into pure light.'' |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Creator/RickRiordan's third adventure in ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'', ''The Trials of Apollo'' are just that. Having angered his father Zeus at the end of ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', the sun god Apollo wakes up six months later after face-planting in a dumpster. He quickly deduces he's been turned mortal as punishment and that usually means a demigod will claim his services until his father is satisfied and he can reclaim his godly status. While he initially hopes that demigod will be prior POV character Literature/PercyJackson, a new demigod named Meg [=McCaffrey=] gets to it first. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | At Camp Half-Blood, Apollo is quickly welcomed by three of his children, and learns that the camp has been more or less cut off from the outside world. No new demigods have made it in, and no phone calls, e-mails, or Iris-messages can connect. No one has made contact with Camp Jupiter. No one can receive prophecies. The only way to fix things is a quest, but the only way to get a quest is to hear a prophecy-- as Apollo describes it, a Catch-88; like a Catch-22, but four times as bad. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The sequel series to ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' and ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', it consists of five books: |
| 10 | * ''The Hidden Oracle'', released on May 3, 2016 |
| 11 | * ''The Dark Prophecy'', released on May 2, 2017 |
| 12 | * ''The Burning Maze'', released on May 1, 2018 |
| 13 | * ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', released on September 24, 2019 |
| 14 | * ''The Tower of Nero'', released on October 6, 2020 |
| 15 | As well as two companion books: |
| 16 | * ''Camp Half-Blood Confidential'', released on May 2, 2017 |
| 17 | ** ''Camp Jupiter Classified: A Probatio's Journal'', released on May 5, 2020 |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!This series provides examples of: |
| 21 | |
| 22 | * AbusiveParents: Both Nero and Zeus are this to their respective children. ''The Tower of Nero'' draws sharp similarities between the two, pointing out how they both belittle, use threats and violence to control their children, and how they are both {{Manipulative Bastard}}s that employ WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou while being blatantly in the wrong. The end of Meg and Apollo's CharacterDevelopment journeys are finding two different ways to remove their AbusiveParents' influence: confronting Nero for Meg and ignoring Zeus for Apollo. |
| 23 | * AintTooProudToBeg: Apollo will throw away his own pride in a heartbeat if it gives him a chance to save his friends. [[spoiler:In the Cave of Trophonious, he begs Trophonious to leave Meg alone and take him instead. Later on when Apollo is escaping the cave, he begs one of Commodus's minions to kill him but let Meg live.]] |
| 24 | * AmbiguouslyJewish: Cecil Markowitz, whose surname is so Jewish it hurts, but has no indication at all of being one. Averted with Lavinia Asimov in ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', who wears a Star of David necklace and directly mentions her upbringing to Apollo. |
| 25 | * AndIMustScream: While most gods who fade away [[CessationOfExistence rejoin the Chaos]], it is revealed that it is possible for them to stick around in the universe if they have enough will to tether them. However, they will be stuck in Tartarus as a misshapen essence, eternally suffering and having no way to go back to the surface, since they are but a shadow now. Helios is an example of someone who chose this fate due to his hatred of Apollo taking his mantle. And he has been stuck in this self-inflicted hatred for ''millennia''. [[spoiler:However, this is actually a lie told by Medea. Helios is no fan of Apollo, but his predicament on Earth has nothing to do with hating him. Instead, it is because Medea chained him.]] |
| 26 | * AnyoneCanDie: Played straight when [[spoiler:Jason Grace is killed.]] |
| 27 | * ArtisticLicenseGeography: When first becoming mortal, Apollo lands in an alley in Hell’s Kitchen, where he first meets Meg. There are no alleys in Hell’s Kitchen. In fact, despite what TV tells you, there’s only 5 alleys in all of Manhattan. It also seems to imply Hell’s Kitchen is a rough area, which, despite its history, is currently a gayborhood and a popular place to live for young professionals working in Midtown. |
| 28 | * ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: When Coach Hedge attacks an automaton with a RoundhouseKick, Apollo says that roundhouse is infamously difficult and even Ares has trouble with it. Roundhouse is one of the basic kicks in martial arts. Of course, given that Ares in mythology is a MilesGloriosus and beaten up by pretty much everything, it is possible Ares just ''claimed'' it was difficult. |
| 29 | * AscendedExtra: |
| 30 | ** Apollo, who went from a side character to a main character. |
| 31 | ** The Apollo campers, including Will, Kayla and Austin, by virtue of proximity to the title character. While Will has been a semi-major character since ''The Blood of Olympus'' (thanks to being Nico's boyfriend), Kayla and Austin were only mentioned once in the finale of ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians''. |
| 32 | ** Demeter, by extension of having a relevant demigod child. |
| 33 | ** Several other campers who only get cursory mentions in previous books have larger roles as well. Miranda of the Demeter cabin is a LivingProp in ''The Lost Hero'', but here she's very important to the plot. As is Cecil of the Hermes cabin, who also receives a last name, Markowitz. |
| 34 | ** Calypso goes from being a mere GirlOfTheWeek to a main character in ''The Dark Prophecy''. |
| 35 | * AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: As part of his plan to destroy Camp Half-Blood, Nero had his Colossus Neronus reconstructed and brought to life with animating magic. It stands twice as tall as the Athena Parthenos, and actually ''smashes'' through the magical barrier to Camp Half-Blood. |
| 36 | * AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:In ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', Reyna resigns as praetor to be replaced by Hazel, who in turn is replaced by Lavinia as centurion of the Fifth Cohort.]] |
| 37 | * AuthorTract: The last book is filled to the brim with lessons on how to deal with domestic abuse and abusers both within the actual dialogue and the narration, obviously dispensing advice the author values. |
| 38 | * BeingHumanSucks: Apollo's reaction to his punishment. Throughout the book he often describes how amazing it was to be a god, what with his sun chariot, various magical powers, and divine beauty. It's also noted in the two previous incidents he was turned mortal, he still had at least some of his divine powers. Now that he's ''fully'' mortal he has to deal with the horrors of injury, fatigue, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking acne]]. |
| 39 | * BigBad: Each book has a different one. |
| 40 | ** ''The Hidden Oracle'' has Nero, the Emperor of the East. |
| 41 | ** ''The Dark Prophecy'' has Commodus, the Emperor of the Middle. |
| 42 | ** ''The Burning Maze'' has Caligula, the Emperor of the West. However, Medea is clearly shown as the more dominant figure, considering that more than half of the book is spent on preventing the Burning Maze (which Medea is responsible for waking) from scorching up Southern California. She is even the villain of the climactic confrontation with the heroes. |
| 43 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' features the return of Commodus and Caligula and introduces a new threat: Tarquin. |
| 44 | ** ''The Tower of Nero'' once again features Nero as a primary villain, but Apollo ends up facing [[GreaterScopeVillain Python]] in the climax. |
| 45 | * BigBadDuumvirate: Actually, it's a Triumvirate. Although collectively, they seem to be this to Python. |
| 46 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: The myrmekes, giant mythological ants. |
| 47 | * BigDamnHeroes: |
| 48 | ** Percy Jackson in the finale of ''The Hidden Oracle''. |
| 49 | ** In ''The Burning Maze'', Piper arrives to stab Medea from behind while Apollo is struggling to fight against her magic. Incitatus and the rest of Caligula's army, on the other hand, get squashed flat by the Meliae. |
| 50 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' has twofold. First, Lavinia and the other magical creatures manage to sabotage Caligula's fleet, causing their Greek fire catapults to backfire. Second, Diana and her Hunters show up to save Apollo in New Rome's library, just as he is turning completely into Tarquin's zombie. |
| 51 | ** ''The Tower of Nero'' has [[spoiler:Nico rescuing Apollo by turning the Germanus who is about to kill him into a skeleton]]. Later that book, [[spoiler:Will, Rachel and Lu interrupted Nero sending his guards to kill Apollo after he had Meg cornered and Nico too injured to keep fighting, buying them enough time to escape, recuperate and have another chance of winning the fight. They had also retrieved Nero's fasces, i.e. source of power, allowing Apollo to destroy them and defeat Nero]]. |
| 52 | * BroughtDownToBadass: Despite being reduced to a mortal form, Apollo still possesses strong magic in his music, and his archery skills are still fantastic (though pathetic by his standards). He also heals abnormally quickly, and has been able to summon some of his godly powers in times of great duress. |
| 53 | * BroughtDownToNormal: |
| 54 | ** Apollo is mortal now, not even a demigod. He makes this even harder on himself by swearing on the River Styx not to use his archery or musical talents until he's back to full god capacity, which Will and Kayla immediately tell him off for. |
| 55 | ** Calypso is revealed to have lost her immortality and magic as well, after leaving Ogygia, the difference between her and Apollo being that she ''chose'' that fate. |
| 56 | * TheBusCameBack: Many characters who are mostly glanced over in ''The Heroes of Olympus'' series return with major roles here. |
| 57 | ** Sally Jackson only has a small role in ''The Hidden Oracle'', but it's still a major upgrade from the previous series, where she never appeared. |
| 58 | ** Lityerses, a MonsterOfTheWeek from ''The Lost Hero'', comes back in ''The Dark Prophecy'' [[spoiler:and undergoes a HeelFaceTurn]]. TheStinger of the book features Grover, who serves as one of the main characters of ''The Burning Maze''. |
| 59 | ** Similar to Lityerses, Medea is another of the arc villains who comes back, appearing in ''The Burning Maze''. Unlike him, she remains a villain. |
| 60 | * CallBack: Several. |
| 61 | ** Austin promises that anyone who gives Apollo a hard time will be cursed to only speak in rhyming couplets, just like the Ares cabin was in ''The Last Olympian.'' |
| 62 | ** Nero is revealed to be [[spoiler:TheManBehindTheMan for previous villains Luke Castellan and Octavian]]. |
| 63 | ** Percy laments Meg [[spoiler:being influenced by Nero]] by comparing her to Luke Castellan and Ethan Nakamura, [[spoiler:demigods who sided with the Titans in the original ''Literature/PercyJackson'' series,]] as well as Nico. |
| 64 | ** When Calypso says they had trouble in Albania, Nico tells her not mention Albania, referencing a NoodleIncident from ''The Blood of Olympus''. |
| 65 | ** There were a couple throwaway jokes about a very lost pizza delivery guy showing up at Camp Half-Blood in the first series. In this series, Apollo says he was the one who ordered that pizza. |
| 66 | ** Percy mentions that Annabeth is [[Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard away in Boston for family reasons.]] |
| 67 | ** In ''The Son of Neptune'', a demoralized Percy makes a mental comment about that the message on a T-shirt Iris gave him should say "Hug the Commode". At one point in time, after a particularly emotional flashback, Apollo actually ends up sobbing while embracing a toilet. |
| 68 | ** After they come back from milking the cows in the Waystation, Josephine says that they seem to like Leo, to which he replies, "All da cows love Leo!". This references a time he changed the billboards in Times Square to read "All da ladies love Leo" in ''The Heroes of Olympus''. Also, in the same scene, Apollo has to be reassured that the red cows in question are only being used for milk. If he found out about about what Geryon had been doing in ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Battle of the Labyrinth]]'', he'd be pretty upset. |
| 69 | ** Thalia recalls how the Hunters of Artemis lost a lot of lives during the war with the Giants, and Apollo remembers when Artemis learned of this. |
| 70 | * CallingTheOldManOut: Trophonius does this towards Apollo, claiming that the hardships he faced in life were because he was Apollo's son, and yet Apollo failed to aid him when he needed it most. |
| 71 | * CampUnsafeIsntSafeAnymore: |
| 72 | ** Camp Half-Blood has always been this. However, it's the first time it's shown that the Camp Borders are not infallible and ''can'' be broken through with enough force. |
| 73 | ** Camp Jupiter too suffers this in ''The Tyrant's Tomb''. Though it had been attacked by Gaia's army before, the invaders did not attack all the way to New Rome, like what is happening here. |
| 74 | * CannotSpitItOut: {{Justified|Trope}}. Apollo has connected the dots on ''numerous'' occasions, but because he's stuck as a human, he no longer has access to his divine knowledge and mentions that his mind appears to be muddling at the worst possible occasions. |
| 75 | * CassandraTruth: Very ironically given his relationship to the Trope Namer, Apollo actually does have a clue as to what is going on, but Chiron rather patronizingly ignores him. Most evident in Apollo warning him about how inadvisable a three-legged DeathCourse race through the Labyrinth is given all the disappearances. Even though Malcolm, son of Athena, also makes the same observation, Chiron insists on proceeding and then suffers great guilt when Kayla and Austin go missing. |
| 76 | * CessationOfExistence: Anyone who falls into [[PrimordialChaos Chaos]], as well as any deity who is forgotten, as they will return back to Chaos. [[spoiler:At the climax of ''The Tower of Nero'', Python suffers this fate. Apollo nearly does as well as having his body battered to death, but eventually comes back]]. |
| 77 | * ChangingOfTheGuard: Subverted. While most of the earlier characters are absent in ''The Hidden Oracle'', the new ones are minor roles, and the old heroes take their turns in the adventuring party as the series continues. |
| 78 | * ChekhovsGunman: |
| 79 | ** Python is offhandedly mentioned in ''The Blood of Olympus'' as preventing the gods from accessing the prophecies, but otherwise not important to the plot as the main characters are still facing a universe-shattering threat. As expected, he plays a very large role in this series, considering all the focus on lost prophecies. |
| 80 | ** Rhea, who has been mentioned since as far back as ''The Lightning Thief'', finally shows up in ''The Hidden Oracle''. |
| 81 | * ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: |
| 82 | ** Apollo explains how the Sun can still function despite him, a solar deity, being bound to mortal form by explaining that "Many different belief systems powered the revolution of the planets and stars." Solar gods from other pantheons, like [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles Ra]] and [[Myth/AztecMythology Tonatiuh]], and even scientific laws will take over for him. |
| 83 | ** It's also discussed that the Egyptian figure Har-pa-khered was misinterpreted by the Greeks during their occupation of Egypt as a God of Silence, thus inducting him into their pantheon as Harpocrates. Harpo is aware that he is only among the Greek gods due to said misinterpretation. Given the state of Egyptian gods in the shared universe of the Kane Chronicles this raises a lot of questions. |
| 84 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Rachel acts like this towards Apollo upon discovering there are four other oracles aside from her. |
| 85 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Apollo is an interesting example of this. He frequently says rather outlandish things in his narration. However, if you actually pay attention to how he acts around others, with the exception of when he first visits Percy Jackson, he doesn’t actually act all that strange. He usually acts rather straightforward, although he does complain a bit to Meg. |
| 86 | ** Also, this could be applied to his narcissism in general. While he is narcissistic and certainly has done bad things, in general, his narcissism usually makes him more strange than malicious. |
| 87 | ** While his narrative statements are definitely out there, from his frame of reference, they generally make logical sense. For example, the below statement is extremely silly, but was actually true while he was a god. |
| 88 | --> “One cannot change one’s way of thinking as easily as one might, say, turn into a snow leopard.” |
| 89 | * ComedicUnderwearExposure: Happens to Leo. Festus burns all of Leo’s clothes when they first land in Indianapolis. Luckily, Leo is wearing fireproof underwear, or the situation would’ve been much worse. |
| 90 | * CompanyCrossReferences: When Apollo recites the chant for a ritual to summon Diana, he has to restart after saying 'insert name here' instead of Diana. He got off better than [[Literature/KaneChronicles Sadie Kane]], who almost made that mistake with a spell that could have killed her. |
| 91 | * ConspicuousConsumption: The [[BigBadDuumvirate Triumvirate]] have spent the past two thousand years amassing wealth, and they are ''not'' shy about showing it off. Caligula, in particular, travels around in a fleet of fifty [[UnnecessarilyLargeVessel enormous yachts]], each dedicated to one particular purpose (e.g. a throne room yacht, a dining yacht, a ''shoe yacht''...). |
| 92 | * ContinuityNod: Apollo apparently avoids talking weapons, citing one time in a tavern when he met "[[Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard this god who was smoking hot, except his talking sword just would not shut up]]". |
| 93 | * {{Crossover}}: Aside from the obvious ones, Apollo at one point mentions meeting "[[Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard a hot god and his talking sword.]]" |
| 94 | ** At her family's compound in Brooklyn, Rachel mentions that [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles the mansion next door has "lots of weird goings-on", including penguins waddling around on the back deck]]. |
| 95 | * CrossoverCosmology: |
| 96 | ** Apollo mentions a few other sun gods that'll pick up his slack while he's in human form (plus the scientific working of things), including one that we've never had mentioned before (the Aztecs). |
| 97 | ** In ''The Dark Prophecy'', he complains about having to swerve the sun chariot to avoid running into Chinese celestial dragons and references a past trip to find a type of curry with Indra of Hindu lore. |
| 98 | ** Jimmy (a.k.a. Olujime) is a demigod from a different godly pantheon originating from Africa tied to the Yoruba people. |
| 99 | ** The Samnite and Babylonian pantheons are mentioned in ''The Burning Maze''. Apollo mentions in a flashback that among the gods who had to back away by the Romans' expansion was Marduk, the Babylonian god of water. |
| 100 | ** Apollo mentions how Herophile was painted by Michelangelo for predicting the birth of Jesus the Nazarene. |
| 101 | *** Then again, Apollo calls this ‘some obscure prophecy,’ so it implies he doesn’t know much about who Jesus was. |
| 102 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' mentions Nang Kwak, the Thai goddess of household, at one point. |
| 103 | ** Though [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles Egyptian mythology]] is canon in TheVerse and has crossed over in spinoffs, ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', which features the Egyptian-Greek god of silence, Harpocrates, marks the first time an Egyptian deity actually pops up in the main series. |
| 104 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'', Luguselwa implies that the Gaulish pantheon that she presumably worshiped had been gone for a long time. |
| 105 | ** Persian mythology is dabbled a bit in the last book, ''The Tower of Nero''. Nero's fasces is guarded by the Leontocephaline, protector of Mithra, who was worshiped by the Romans during Nero's time. And Nero's contingent plan in case his Greek fires are sabotaged is [[spoiler:poisoning his tower with Sassanid gas]]. |
| 106 | * {{Cuckoosnarker}}: Even at his most arrogant/obnoxious, Apollo is still pretty good at picking up on social situations (that don’t involve him), and saying something snarky about it in his narration. A few examples: |
| 107 | ** Percy and Calypso meeting again: |
| 108 | --> "I hadn’t witnessed such a tense greeting since Patroclus met Achilles’s war prize, Briseis.” |
| 109 | * CueTheRain: When Apollo and Meg go into the forest to look for the missing campers. Apollo comments that it is "just on the edge of sleet". |
| 110 | * DarkerAndEdgier: The whole series is already contending with ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' as the darkest Riordan series. |
| 111 | ** Right off the bat, you have the main character, who while not particularly bad in action wallows in (albeit G-rated) arrogance, narcissism, and self-pity literally ''every sentence'', rivaling basically everyone, villains included, in the series. He is definitely not your standard children's hero. |
| 112 | ** The history of the Roman Empire forms the backgrounds of the main villains. Needless, to say, numerous...[[DecadentCourt unsavory things]] are to be found there. |
| 113 | ** ''The Hidden Oracle'' reads a lot like a psychological horror fiction at times. People are disappearing without a trace, no help is coming because communication is cut off, and the camp is growing more desolate each day as the survivors start to fear what's coming for them. |
| 114 | ** ''The Burning Maze''. Massively. There is considerably more mention of blood and violence and a HeroicSuicide is portrayed explicitly. [[spoiler:Oh, and JASON DIES without so much as a tender goodbye]]. |
| 115 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' is downright ''depressing'' at times. Mainly because it takes place at the lowest point in Apollo's life, where he's inches away from depression. Not to mention that AnyoneCanDie is in full effect here with a very large amount of minor characters (many of whom Apollo took the time to bond with) getting killed off. |
| 116 | ** ''The Tower of Nero'' has some incredibly chilling moments involving the horrors of tyranny and slavery, and heavily discusses the psychological effects of child abuse. Oh, and forced amputation and a very long TheReasonYouSuck speech gets thrown into the mix as well. Despite the [[EarnYourHappyEnding mostly happy ending]] and more light-hearted moments of the book, one cannot deny how chilling the book can get at some points. |
| 117 | * DarkestHour: The ''Tyrant's Tomb'' is this. [[spoiler:Jason Grace is dead, the Triumvate's first attack has decimated the legion, and they are coming for another one, this time with Greek Fire catapults, the Undead Roman king Tarquin is gathering his army of the undead at the same time, oh and Apollo has been infected with the zombie scratch, [[YourDaysAreNumbered and has days before becoming one of the undead]] and communications are still down so they cannot call for help. As a result, it is one of the most depressing book in the series, with many of the characters feeling hopeless at times.]] |
| 118 | * DeadPersonConversation: In ''The Tower of Nero'', [[spoiler:Apollo briefly dreams meeting Jason. Somewhat subverted since it's not really Jason, but rather a way for Apollo to reflect on the information that he has learned, but the feeling is still the same]]. |
| 119 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Aphrodite, Piper's mother, is not only a ShipperOnDeck, but also a LoveGoddess. [[spoiler:As a result of this and Hera's memory spell, Piper realized her relationship with Jason wasn't real at all and she breaks it up much to his confusion]]. |
| 120 | * DiscontinuityNod: Leo makes a comment about the battle with Gaea taking "forty seconds", a reference to the fact that some dissatisfied fans felt the final battle of ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' was anticlimactic. |
| 121 | * DisneyDeath: |
| 122 | ** Subverted with [[spoiler:Jason in ''The Burning Maze''. It looks like he merely gets incapacitated and Piper can somehow charmspeak him from Death's Door again. Piper's unwavering optimism makes it likelier to happen. But that's not the case. Jason has died for real.]] |
| 123 | ** Played straight with [[spoiler:Frank in ''The Tyrant's Tomb''. He offers last words and sets Caligula on fire with his firewood. However, Arion brings him back, wounded but alive. Turns out he has defied fate and is no longer bound by the firewood.]] |
| 124 | ** Also played straight by [[spoiler:Apollo in ''The Tower Of Nero''. At the climax of the book, Apollo defeats Python by grabbing his tail and plunging him all the way into Chaos, but his body is completely battered by the fall and he dies in the process. However, since his powers were fully revived as he was fighting Python, he eventually comes back to life.]] |
| 125 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: When Nero is bragging about his cruelty in the past to Apollo in ''The Tower of Nero'', his opinion on Christians (whom he infamously burned at the stake by the hundreds) is this: |
| 126 | -->''Of course [the Christian-burning stories] were true. The Christians were terrorists, out to undermine traditional Roman values. Oh, they claimed to be a religion of peace, but they fooled no one.'' |
| 127 | * DontTryThisAtHome: Apollo's brief paragraph while he's attempting his HeroicSacrifice suicide where he explains that self-harm and suicide is ''not'' a good idea serve to remind the audience that he's a character in a mythological story and not meant to be emulated. |
| 128 | * DramaPreservingHandicap: Employed extensively to explain why Apollo has to step up as a protagonist rather than simply unloading his problems onto the demigods of Camp Half-Blood the way he inwardly admits he would normally do. |
| 129 | ** Prophecy is currently offline, meaning that Rachel and others cannot offer supernatural insights or, more importantly, assign quests. |
| 130 | ** The demigod disappearances have Chiron sufficiently worried that he is unwilling to allow the campers to just go charging off into the woods. |
| 131 | ** Nico, the most powerful demigod in the camp, is still recovering from over-exerting his powers in the last series. This prevents him from doing some of his more impressive feats on Apollo's behalf. |
| 132 | ** Communications, including Iris messages, have become unreliable, which accounts for why they cannot just call in other prominent demigods or request backup from Camp Jupiter. ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' reveals that this is because the Triumvirate bound Harpocrates, the Greco-Egyptian god of silence, and forced him to become a network blocker from San Francisco's Sutro Tower. Even after he lays Harpocrates to rest, Apollo notes it'll take time before everything can return to normal. |
| 133 | ** Leo is required to help bolster the Waystation's defenses while Apollo and Calypso pull a raid on a zoo. |
| 134 | * TheDreaded: Caligula. Nero considers Commodus as weak, so why does he keep him around? So he's between Nero and ''this guy''. Nero, [[spoiler:AKA The Beast]], is scared of this guy and wants as much space between the two of them as possible. He's the Neos Helios - The New Sun. |
| 135 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Several for the Rick Riordan Presents line of books, possibly unintentionally. |
| 136 | ** An odd one at that, but in ''The Dark Prophecy'', Apollo mentions Indra, the Vedic Hindu equivalent of Zeus. Indra would be a major figure in the ''Rick Riordan Presents'' imprint's first book, ''Literature/AruShahAndTheEndOfTime'', as [[spoiler:the spiritual father of the titular Aru Shah]]. |
| 137 | ** The Yoruba demigod Olujime appeared in the same book, nearly a year before an Myth/AfricanMythology focused Rick Riordan Presents title, ''Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky'', was announced. |
| 138 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:At the end of ''The Tower of Nero'', Apollo has regained his godhood, but he resolves not to fall back into his previous douchebaggery by keeping in touch with mortals and staying away from Zeus as much as possible. Nico has plans to explore Tartarus and save Bob/Iapetus and Damasen, but has new friends in the Troglodytes and is happy with Will in Camp Half-Blood. The Camp is full of new Demigods, with Chiron securely watching over them and making plans with Bast and Mimir for some sort of cross-pantheon task force. Apollo even visits the Grove of Dodona to inform the trees of the Arrow's bravery and sacrifice. Meg is building a life with her adopted siblings, Lu, and the dryads in her Palm Springs home, which she has converted into a botanical garden. Sally is living happily with Paul and their new baby daughter Estelle, and Percy has graduated from high school and moved to Camp Jupiter alongside Annabeth to attend college. Hazel and Frank are happily leading Camp Jupiter as praetors, and Lavinia is doing well as a centurion. Leo and Calypso continue living in the Waystation alongside Emmie, Josie, Georgina, and the others, with the Hunters, including Reyna and Thalia, visiting often, as Calypso oversees a musical camp to try assimilating into the mortal world. Even Livia and Hannibal, the two elephants, are finally able to meet, and get along well. Finally, Piper is living a quiet life in Oklahoma with Tristan and has moved on from Jason, dating a girl named Shel.]] Dionysus even lampshades this, stating that "some of us do get happy endings". |
| 139 | * EatingTheEyeCandy: Apollo waxes poetic whenever talking about his former (usually male) lovers, but a significant mention goes to Jimmy, a.k.a. Olujime, whom Apollo takes an immediate interest in when he is introduced. Wearing nothing but a loincloth, no less. |
| 140 | * EmbarrassingStatue: Apollo feels embarrassed by the Colossus of Nero made in his likeness, especially because it's completely naked. |
| 141 | * EpicHail: One of the main points of ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' is Apollo and the Romans working to summon a god to help them defeat Caligula and Commodus's army. [[spoiler:The ritual seemingly fails and the Romans make their last stand, but Diana manages to arrive before Apollo completely turns into one of Tarquin's zombies.]] |
| 142 | * EvilInc: Triumvirate Holdings, the corporate manifestation of the Roman emperors' worldly wealth and influence. |
| 143 | * ExactWords: Averted hard with a certain oath. While the Hunters of Artemis swear off the company of men forever, Artemis regards this as a vow of celibacy from ''all'' forms of sexual contact, meaning she doesn't permit her Hunters to form lesbian relationships either, despite the oath only specifying men. |
| 144 | * FallingIntoHisArms: Briefly discussed in ''The Tower of Nero''. |
| 145 | --> '''Apollo (narrating):''' Nico's eyelids fluttered. His pupils rolled up in his head and he slumped against Will's shoulder. It might have been a clever ploy to fall into his boyfriend's arms—I had used the ''catch me, handsome'' fainting trick a few times myself—but since Nico immediately began to snore, I decided he was not faking. |
| 146 | * FallingIntoThePlot: The series begins with Apollo making a TrashLanding after being banished to the mortal world. |
| 147 | * FamilyThemeNaming: [[spoiler:Several of Nero's adoptive children]], introduced in ''Tower of Nero'', share names of ancient Roman origin, with the named characters being Lucius, Aemillia, and Cassius. The [[OddNameOut main exception to this]] is [[spoiler:Meg]]. |
| 148 | * FatalFamilyPhoto: Reading all the talk about break-up, ending, the prophecy Herophile says, and particularly, the IfIDoNotReturn speech in ''The Burning Maze'', you ''know'' that something bad is going to happen to [[spoiler:Jason]], but you can't be sure, since the character has already been BackFromTheDead before. Come Chapter 33, and [[spoiler:Jason is killed permanently.]] |
| 149 | * FauxHorrific: |
| 150 | ** Apollo and Rachel are horrified when the prophecy is finally given... in a ''limerick''! Apparently, only the worst prophecies are in the form of limericks. Which leaves something to be said when the next prophecy comes in the form of a...''Shakespearean sonnet in iambic pentameter''! Which is way worse! And then the worst of all is the final prophecy in ''terza rima'', which is three-line stanzas with an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. |
| 151 | ** Apollo has this general reaction to his now-mortal body. No longer is he an athletic, well-toned HotGod with glorious sunlight pouring off of his very body; now, he's a pimply, slightly flabby teenage boy named Lester Papadopoulos. |
| 152 | * FinishingEachOthersSentences: |
| 153 | ** Apollo is dismayed that Meg is finishing his sentences. |
| 154 | ** Josie and Emmie to each other, in a romantic variant. |
| 155 | * FishOutOfTemporalWater: Calypso has been stuck on Ogygia for a ''[[{{Understatement}} long time]]'' - 3,600-ish years[[note]]To be specific, 3,568 years[[/note]], as she herself mentions - mainly weaving, gardening, and other tasks besides the occasional demigod-hero heartbreak business. So while she'd jump at the chance to leave, explore the world, and experience normal things... it takes some getting used to, particularly since she's no longer immortal or has access to her former powers [[spoiler:(initially for the latter)]], and a normal demigod life typically involves constant danger. The sudden absence of the former, plus having to adapt to the latter, has caused friction between her and Leo in numerous ways, though they still care about each other and are working through it. |
| 156 | * FiveStagesOfGrief: Piper goes through all five stages, albeit not in order, [[spoiler:after Jason is killed. She first denies that it happens ("He's not dead. He's gone through too much to die now"), then tries to think anything that could bring him back ("There's always a way. The Physician's Cure! Leo took it!"), lashes out at someone ("And, Apollo? Don't come back. You hear me? Just-just go. GO!"), becomes depressed (she doesn't talk with Apollo throughout the next day), before she finally accepts it ("It's fine. Just get to Camp Jupiter safely. Let them give Jason the Roman burial he deserves")]]. |
| 157 | * ForbiddenFruit: It is revealed in ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' that Apollo was barred by Venus from pursuing a relationship with Reyna sometime ago. Naturally, he began to lust after her, who up to that point was under his radar. [[spoiler:Turns out Venus did it for Reyna's well-being; with Apollo, a god, wooing her, Reyna realizes that she has been measuring her worth through other people and decides to live a life free of romantic love, joining the Hunters of Artemis.]] |
| 158 | * ForeignQueasine: To the troglodytes, skink soup is treated like a dish prepared with truffles, caviar, and edible gold. To everyone else not named Meg, it's disgusting. |
| 159 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 160 | ** This exchange in ''The Dark Prophecy'': |
| 161 | --->'''Lityeses:''' My friends call me Lit, but my enemies call me Death!\ |
| 162 | '''Apollo:''' [[HeelFaceTurn I'll call you Lit.]] |
| 163 | ** In ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', [[spoiler:when discussing the "soundless god" mentioned in the prophecy, Frank asks if Apollo could know him. Apollo replies that as a god of music, he and the "soundless god" would not have gotten along. The soundless god is Harpocrates, who holds a grudge against Apollo for bullying him during their time on Olympus]]. |
| 164 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'' [[spoiler:when the Arrow of Dodona has an outburst early on and reveals that they feel as if they were cast out from their forest home, unwanted by the other trees, Apollo reassures the oracular projectile that he will bring them back to the grove, but the Arrow is quiet and is not comforted. This is because they have foreseen that they will have to die to serve as Apollo's final weapon against Python.]] |
| 165 | * FormerlyFit: Played with. Apollo as Lester complains that he became "fat" for the entire beginning of the series, pointing out repeatedly his flab and love handles. However it turns out he is mostly exaggerating: other people point out he is "average", not "fat", and that having a perfect six-pack all the time as he did when he was a god is ''not'' something natural for a human. He perceives himself as fat merely because he has been used to a body with zero percent fat in it for millenia. |
| 166 | ** However it becomes more of a straight example by ''The Burning Maze'': while the previous books established he was "flabby" but average, this book reveals that he at least wasn't exaggerating about his prominent love-handles and potbelly, as they get him stuck in the gap under a slightly-opened loading-bay door. A gap that a skinny character like Grover can easily slip through. And more revealingly, a gap that the [[StoutStrength stout]] Coach Hedge can slid through easily... |
| 167 | ** Also played with in the case of Frank Zhang who in ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', thanks to the Blessing of Mars, lost all his extra-fat and had his muscles and height augmented, going from a heavyset and baby-faced boy to a solid, bulky, broad-shouldered young man described as a cross between a grizzly and a linebacker. Upon his return in ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', it is revealed that his natural weight caught up with the "magical testosterone growth spurt" - he returned to being a "big and girthy" guy, and regained his "chubby baby cheeks", while still looking larger and more muscular than before. |
| 168 | * FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow: Apollo still plays his ukulele despite making an oath on the river Styx that he wouldn't until he became a god again. This is how he earns the ire of the goddess Styx, and he attributes the tragedies and deaths that occur during his journey to her anger at his oathbreaking. [[spoiler:When she finally comes meets him on the edge of Chaos in the climax of ''The Tower of Nero'', though, he has come to believe that she didn't actually cause all of his misery, and that her role was mostly to call out his recklessness and humble him.]] |
| 169 | * GasLeakCoverUp: Used literally by Commodus to cover up his attack on the Waystation. Leo even lampshades it the night before. |
| 170 | * GeniusLoci: The Waystation is a rare benevolent example. |
| 171 | * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Occasionally, Apollo will make references that will go over kids’ readers heads. |
| 172 | ** “I played a dozen sold-out shows at the amphitheater in Ephesus. Frenzied young women threw their strophiae at me.” Strophiae is like a bra, so he’s referencing when women throw bras and thongs onstage at concerts. |
| 173 | * GodsNeedPrayerBadly: A variant; Apollo explicitly mentions in his narration that this is more or less how the universe runs (and why he can be AWOL from his duties as sun god - other mythologies can pick up the slack, on top of the scientific reasoning), the deities of this 'verse will fade away if no one remember them or the culture of which they are tied to is gone. Also exploited by the Triumvirate, a trio of Roman emperors who made such a historical impact that they can remain in the world despite that they should have died thousands of years ago. Nero mentions that he almost faded completely during the Dark Ages, before making a comeback thanks to the Renaissance. |
| 174 | * GoodFlawsBadFlaws: A subversion versus Riordan’s other works. Most of Riordan’s heroes “fatal flaws” are either flaws that make them seem nicer or more heroic, or relatively minor flaws. For example, Percy’s flaw is personal loyalty, which makes him just seem more like an AllLovingHero. Leo, Piper, and Frank’s flaw is low self esteem, which makes them just seem humble. Even the flaws that are genuine flaws, like Annabeth’s hubris and ambition, don’t really prevent her from making good decisions. On the other hand, Apollo has what’s generally seen as “bad flaws.” He is [[ItsAllAboutMe vain]] and he struggles with [[LackOfEmpathy empathy]]. These don’t make him a villain. They’re just flaws he works on throughout the series. |
| 175 | * GreaterScopeVillain: Python. He is the one who blocks Delphi and by extension the communication between the Olympians, the demigods, Delphi, and the Greek mythological beings ([[NoDelaysForTheWicked except those allied with the villains]]). However, he is not directly responsible for the series' plot, only stepping down to become the main villain in the last book. |
| 176 | * HappilyAdopted: Georgina loves her moms, Emmie and Josie. |
| 177 | * HappyEndingOverride: ''The Burning Maze'' completely overrode Piper and Jason's happy ending. [[spoiler:Piper realized her affection for Jason was just a case LovingAShadow brought about by Hera's spell and Aphrodite's influence so she broke up with him, leaving him confused. Later, the Triummvirate seriously messes with her father's finance leaving him a wreck of a man. The absolute last straw is Jason's death at the hand of Caligula.]] |
| 178 | * HealingSerpent: In ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', the head healer at Camp Jupiter, Pranjal, reveals that he's a son of [[TropeCodifier Asclepius]]. |
| 179 | * HeartIsAnAwesomePower: |
| 180 | ** Meg is pretty badass for the daughter of an agriculture goddess. |
| 181 | ** Britomartis is the goddess of hunting and fishing nets. She extends this into any man-made contraptions built for these purposes (such as bear traps and elaborate booby traps), as well as safety nets both literal and metaphorical. |
| 182 | * HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Meg, due to her conflicting loyalties to Apollo [[spoiler:and Nero]]. By ''The Dark Prophecy'', however, she has settled on siding with Apollo for good. |
| 183 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Lityerses]] in ''The Dark Prophecy''. |
| 184 | * HeroicSacrifice: A major theme in ''The Burning Maze'', with the idea that sacrifices do not have to be the end of a character arc to be performed or meaningful. [[spoiler:Jason Grace dies in this way, holding off Caligula, but the action is not particularly meaningful to his character despite it buying his friends valuable time. Before that, Apollo intentionally delivers a mortal wound to himself as part of a plan to distract the villains, but he regrets knowing that he did it only because he knew he would be saved.]] |
| 185 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'', [[spoiler:the Arrow of Dodona sacrifices themself to help Apollo defeat Python. Earlier, Lu also sacrifices her immortality to retrieve Nero's fasces, although this involved some LoopholeAbuse as her immortality was ultimately derived from Nero and didn't actually belong to her originally. And at the very end of the story, Apollo/Lester sacrifices himself to kill Python, using his powers to drag Python past the Underworld and Tartarus to Chaos, which disintegrates him, but at the cost of being beaten to death and nearly dissipating himself]]. |
| 186 | * HistoricalInJoke: Oh, so many. |
| 187 | ** Louis XIV's birth after twenty-three years of childless marriage between his parents was widely seen at the time as divine intervention, but Anne of Austria having an affair has long been a popular theory. Apollo being the father makes both theories correct. On top of it Louis XIV's epithet was the "Sun King" and lots of art associated with him was linked to him as Apollo, such as playing him in ballet, hence the epithet. |
| 188 | ** Apollo says, "I'd witnessed Queen Clytemnestra turn homicidal, killing her husband Agamemnon just because he made one little human sacrifice to me. Demigods are an unpredictable bunch." The "little sacrifice" is their daughter, Iphigenia, who Agamemnon sacrifices and Clytemnestra later avenges. However, in the myths/plays, it's Artemis that Agamemnon offends and sacrifices Iphigenia to. However, given how Artemis in this series is much [[AdaptationalHeroism nicer]] than in the myths, Rick likely thought this was a cheeky way of adding a joke about Apollo's lack of empathy. |
| 189 | *** One of the Hunters' names is Iphigenia. In some versions of the story, Artemis rescued Iphigenia on the altar and made her one of her attendants. Riordan appears to be going with this. |
| 190 | ** When talking about his past regrets, Apollo mentions he caused the rancor between John and Paul that broke up the Beatles. |
| 191 | ** Rhea says she divorced Kronos, burned her apodesmos, and "got liberated". Apodesmos was sort of like an Ancient Greek bra, so this is a cheeky reference to the bra-burning feminists of the 1960s. |
| 192 | *** It’s worth noting that women never actually burned their bras at the 1968 Miss America pageant, the event that triggered the term 'bra-burning feminist'. |
| 193 | ** Apollo claims to be proud of his son Augustus/Octavian, the first Emperor. In real life, there were rumors that the actual Augustus, the first emperor, was the son of Apollo. It's likely Augustus started the rumors himself as propaganda. |
| 194 | *** Before Augustus, Apollo was a relatively unimportant god in Roman religion. Augustus caused Apollo to be a much more principal figure in Roman religion. Is Apollo's goodwill due to him being the first emperor or due to him increasing Apollo's status? |
| 195 | ** Apollo says this about Percy and Calypso's awkward hug, implying that Patroclus and Achilles were lovers: |
| 196 | --->I hadn't witnessed such a tense greeting since Patroclus met Achilles's war prize, Briseis. |
| 197 | ** Apollo's quip about the Hessian soldiers: |
| 198 | --->You could not create a race less sympathetic to an attractive, multitalented god like me. (And believe me, Ares had tried. Those eighteenth-century Hessian mercenaries he cooked up? Ugh.) |
| 199 | ** Apollo says that Herophile was painted by Michelangelo because: "Apparently, she was being celebrated for some obscure prophecy long ago, when she'd predicted the birth of Jesus the Nazarene." |
| 200 | *** In real life, Michelangelo did paint the Erythraean Sibyl, who was an Apollonian oracle, for supposedly making extremely precise statements about the coming of Christ. |
| 201 | *** Although the joke here is more that Apollo doesn't seem to know who Jesus is, the most important figure to Western Civilization in the past 2,000 years. |
| 202 | ** Apollo says this about Caligula: "I had to believe that if these mercenaries truly understood whom they were serving, they too would throw down their arms. Surely humans would not blindly follow such an evil man of their own free will—I mean, except for the few hundred exceptions I could think of from human history… But not Caligula!" Caligula was assassinated by the Praetorian guard for his behavior, so at least, if we take the historical sources at their word, he was assassinated because they couldn't stand working for someone so evil. |
| 203 | ** Apollo says he caused the Spartan Earthquake of 464 BC. Apollo gives his only reason as being that he never liked Spartans all that much. People who know a little Greek history know the immediate consequence of the earthquake is that the Spartans were in such shambles the Helots were able to stage a major rebellion and escape. Throughout the book, Apollo goes on and on about how he hates slavery. Rather than just flippantly killing Spartans for fun, it implies that he was helping the helots. |
| 204 | * HomosexualReproduction: Apollo reveals gods are of course capable of this and it is how his daughter Kayla came about. |
| 205 | * HumanityIsInfectious: Apollo starts out bemoaning his new human identity and being the lazy, vain, cowardly jerk he was in godhood, but over time, being with his mortal and demigod companions, who display a level of mental and moral resilience not seen among gods, plus now being a mortal, slowly but surely makes him more humble and selfless. |
| 206 | * HumansAreSpecial: The gods are amazed by the ability of mortals to ''not'' be constantly freaking out over their mortality, when they're a strong case of ImmortalsFearDeath. |
| 207 | * ImmortalsFearDeath: Apollo reveals that the gods are terrified of fading, and they are amazed by the fact that humans can be aware of their own mortality and ''not'' be constantly freaking out over their impending (especially from a godly perspective) deaths. |
| 208 | * InitiationCeremony: Apollo escapes it. Meg does not. And considering who's going to be administering the ceremony... |
| 209 | * {{Interquel}}: The series takes place concurrently with ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard''. |
| 210 | ** In ''The Hidden Oracle'', it's mentioned that Annabeth is visiting Boston for family reasons. In ''The Sword of Summer'', we learn that she is visiting her cousin, Magnus. |
| 211 | ** In the ending of ''The Ship of the Dead'', the third book of ''Magnus Chase'', Magnus calls Annabeth and becomes worried when she sounds like she is in the midst of crying. In ''The Burning Maze'', we learn this is because [[spoiler:Jason Grace is dead. Specifically, the event happens during ''The Tower of Nero'', as Annabeth tells Apollo that she "cried myself sick" upon hearing the news.]] |
| 212 | * ItsAllAboutMe: |
| 213 | ** Apollo. Two of his children's immediate reactions to seeing him mortal is to wonder if this is going to affect their existence and/or supernatural talents, as well. Apollo lauds them for keeping their priorities straight. His being mortal is pretty clearly meant to break him from that and he gets a little better as he goes along. |
| 214 | ** The Triummvirate, all of them, but special mention goes to [[BadBoss Caligula]]. |
| 215 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Jason Grace]] in ''The Burning Maze''. |
| 216 | * KillOneOthersGetStronger: After [[spoiler:Commodus]] and [[spoiler:Caligula]] die, [[spoiler:Nero]] gains their power. |
| 217 | * LightEmUp: |
| 218 | ** Apollo has demonstrated this ability during the brief times he regains his divine power, notably when [[spoiler:Commodus invades the Waystation in ''The Dark Prophecy'']]. |
| 219 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'', [[spoiler:it is revealed that some of Apollo's children inherited parts of his ability. Specifically, Will, who uses this gift to help the heroes navigate the lair of the troglodytes. Notably, this makes him an exact opposite of his boyfriend, Nico, whose gift is CastingAShadow.]] |
| 220 | * LikeBrotherAndSister: |
| 221 | ** Apollo and Meg become this eventually, with Apollo viewing Meg as something of a replacement for Artemis in his human form. [[spoiler:Cemented as of ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', when Apollo states this outright.]] |
| 222 | ** Apollo also considers Rachel as a surrogate sister, particularly in ''The Tower of Nero'', when she gives him a "sisterly kiss" to the cheek before he surrenders himself to Nero. |
| 223 | * LoopholeAbuse: Nero sets the Leontocephaline to guard his fasces because he wants to force Apollo to give up his immortality. [[spoiler:But he never factors in that someone else might be willing to do the job. Better yet, Lu essentially tricks the procedure, because she is not really an immortal, but rather someone who was ''made'' an immortal as a result of Nero's subjugation over her. Rather than becoming angered, the Leontocephaline is [[ItAmusedMe amused]] by her interpretation and willingly lets her have Nero's fasces.]] |
| 224 | * LoveCannotOvercome: As ''The Burning Maze'' shows you, [[spoiler:a relationship that is essentially rooted in a lie does not have much chance of surviving in the long run. No matter how fairytale-ish it sounds like, it soon became clear to Piper that dating Jason was off to a rocky start, as, unlike Percy and Annabeth, they were attracted first and the foremost because of a (literally) divine matchmaker, with no individual feelings involved. Within a few months after the end of the Gigantomachy, once the euphoria had faded, it became too much to bear and she decided to break up with him.]] |
| 225 | * LukeIMightBeYourFather: Trophonius (known child) has it out for Apollo (parent) and only claimed [[spoiler:Georgina]] (unknown child) [[ExactWords as "my sister"]], so it's unclear what exactly is going on. |
| 226 | * LukeYouAreMyFather: A variant closer to "Father, You Are Luke's Father". A child informs their parent that they (the child) has a sibling the parent didn't know existed. |
| 227 | * MagicMusic: Any time Apollo plays, it's enchanting. Even when he's just playing scales. Leading to this humorous moment when Apollo first plays in ''The Hidden Oracle''. |
| 228 | -->I adjusted the pitch, but stopped when I realized Valentina was sobbing.\ |
| 229 | "That was so beautiful!" She wiped a tear from her cheek. "What was that song?"\ |
| 230 | I blinked. "It's called tuning." |
| 231 | ** Played straight later in the book when Apollo uses it to [[spoiler:rescue Meg from tank-sized ants.]] |
| 232 | * TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The Triumvirate are revealed to be the ones who backed Luke and Octavian.]] |
| 233 | * MasterSwordsman: As it turns out, this is a common trait for children of Demeter, which explains Meg's immense skill with her weapons. It's reasoned that they have an exceptional understanding of the need to "reap" (as in reaping what you sow), meaning cutting down their opponents. |
| 234 | * MindRape: Occurs a couple times. |
| 235 | ** In ''The Dark Prophecy'', done to Meg. Also to Apollo, but it leaves him as a super forgetful UnreliableNarrator. Thankfully, both of them eventually recover from it. |
| 236 | ** Happens to Apollo in ''The Burning Maze.'' When Medea is flaying Apollo in order to erase him from existence, the spell causes Apollo to lose his sense of sense and will to live, on top of the agony of being tortured. Luckily when the spell (and torture) stops, he gets everything back. |
| 237 | * {{Minimalism}}: |
| 238 | ** ''The Hidden Oracle'' compared to pretty much every book in the whole Riordan universe. The events are mostly confined in a single location (Camp Half-Blood) with little adventures and more interaction between established characters, fewer mythological beings/monsters present, and the theme is more grounded and humanistic compared to the CosmicDeadline-prone fantasy of previous books. It even features a human being, albeit now a ''de facto'' minor god, as the main villain. |
| 239 | ** ''The Dark Prophecy'' follows suit, restricting the events to Indianapolis, with the Waystation acting as the main hub. |
| 240 | ** ''The Burning Maze'' averts this. The events are still restricted to a specific area (Southern California, to be precise), but it features way more of the mythology, has three large-scale battles, and in general is evocative of the adventurous feel of the first and second series. |
| 241 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' again restricts its events to Camp Jupiter and the surrounding area, has only one large battle, and is more focused on character growth and interaction. |
| 242 | ** The events of ''The Tower of Nero'' are mostly confined to a single area (the New York City area, with much of the action taking place in said tower). However, there are a couple of large-scale battles, and the final confrontation against Python takes place in the caverns beneath Delphi in Greece, [[spoiler:at least until Apollo and Python plunge down through the depths of the Underworld all the way to the edge of primordial Chaos]]. |
| 243 | * MistakenAge: When Nanette first meets Leo, Calypso, and Apollo, she says, "Aren't you children cute?" Apollo, offended, insists they're not children. It's really because both he and Calypso are [[Really700YearsOld several thousand years old]]. However, he sounds like a normal teen who's offended to be called a child. |
| 244 | * MonsterIsAMommy: The Myrmeke queen, who is the leader and mother of a whole colony of myrmeke ants. |
| 245 | * {{Mordor}}: Southern California is slowly turning into this in ''The Burning Maze'', due to the presence of Helios in the Labyrinth beneath the area. Apollo even namedrops the trope namer while describing the Cistern. [[spoiler:When Helios is put to rest, [[NoOntologicalInertia the environment immediately returns to its normal state]].]] |
| 246 | * NarrativeProfanityFilter: There are a few places in the books where someone says something inappropriate in another language and Apollo decides to not directly translate it. |
| 247 | ** From ''The Dark Prophecy'', when Calypso is frustrated: |
| 248 | --->The sorceress muttered another Minoan curse, naming a part of Zeus's body that I did not want to think about. |
| 249 | ** From ''The Burning Maze'', where it is clearly meant to be "son of a ***". |
| 250 | --->She cursed in ancient Colchian, calling into question my mother's past romantic relationships. |
| 251 | * NeverHeardThatOneBefore: In book 2, Apollo meets a Hunter of Artemis named Hunter Kowalski. When he frowns and says "A Hunter named Hunter?", she responds with, "Yeah, I have heard ''that'' a million times." |
| 252 | * NeverMyFault: |
| 253 | ** [[spoiler:Nero]] ensures [[spoiler:Meg's]] loyalty by claiming that "the Beast" is his SuperpoweredEvilSide that can be enraged, and he's valiantly struggling to hold it back. He's lying through his teeth, of course, but it works. Apollo is reminded of how Zeus acted with him when he sees it, including when [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou Zeus blamed his bolt when he was the one who used it]]. |
| 254 | ** Apollo's son Trophonius comes off as this when confronted in his Oracle. Trophonius blames Apollo for not saving Agamethus from Hyrieus's trap... even though Apollo points out that Trophonius should have prayed to Apollo for guidance ''before'' committing a crime, rather than praying to be bailed out when it went south. |
| 255 | * NewAgeRetroHippie: Rhea in the US has become this. |
| 256 | * NoodleIncident: Apollo will often recount past shenanigans he and the other Olympians (and occasionally members of other pantheons and real life/mythological mortals) have gotten into at the slightest prompting, like Athena of all deities bragging about her Scrabble score on game night. |
| 257 | * NotMeThisTime: Apollo twice insists that he did not, in fact, [[DisproportionateRetribution flay Marsyas alive for claiming to be a better musician than him]], but allowed the story to circulate because he enjoyed the notoriety at the time. His credibility is [[UnreliableNarrator questionable]], but considering that he cops to other acts of [[JerkassGods divine douchebaggery]], he ''might'' be telling the truth. |
| 258 | * NoSell: The only weapons that would be useful for battling a monster have to be magical in nature. Because of this, demigods always still fight with ancient, traditional weapons like bows and swords and never more modern weapons like guns or hand grenades as this are all single use, which isn't useful for a demigod fight. |
| 259 | ** Even magical weapons are useless against the ''tauri sylvestres'' (forest bulls) that Apollo and his companions encounter in ''The Tower of Nero''. They shrug off arrows from a god-level bow, swords made from imperial gold and even being at ground zero of a collapsing mansion. |
| 260 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: |
| 261 | ** Apollo is forced to admit (though not aloud) that he and the other Olympians are not as different from Nero as he'd like to say they are. They share oversized egos and Apollo compares his alternate persona as to how Zeus has threatened Apollo in the past. [[spoiler:Apollo cites this comparison in ''The Tower of Nero'' as the reason why he will never want a reconciliation with Zeus, because that will inflate the latter's ego and perpetuate the cycle of abuse]]. |
| 262 | ** In ''The Burning Maze'', Apollo recalls meeting Caligula dressed as Apollo at one of his parties back when he was first alive... and being horrified by the realization that Caligula is almost a better Apollo than Apollo himself. |
| 263 | * TheOathBreaker: Apollo absentmindedly vows on the River Styx that he will no longer play music until he becomes a god. [[TemptingFate So he promptly breaks it]]. It is initially played for laughs. [[spoiler:But as the later books reveal, it has far-reaching consequences as tragedies start to befall on him. In ''The Burning Maze'', Styx appears personally to reveal that Jason and Crest's deaths are part of his punishment. However, in ''The Tower of Nero'', Styx makes Apollo realize that those tragedies were ultimately his own doing and that she was merely calling him out]]. |
| 264 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 265 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'', after dealing with too many bad pieces of news piling up all at once, [[spoiler:most notably Jason's death]], Nico excuses himself in Italian before walking away. Will is surprised, since, according to him, Nico only falls back to Italian if he feels really upset. |
| 266 | ** During the Olympian meeting, [[spoiler:Apollo is surprised to see that Hera, the vengeful wife of Zeus, the woman Zeus cheated on to conceive both Jason and Apollo, is ''mourning'' over not only his predicament but also Jason's death, urging Zeus to admit that Apollo has done his job. As Apollo aptly states: "Who is this woman and what has she done with my stepmother?" She keeps this attitude up even after he has succeeded, and when Apollo is reflecting on his relationship to Zeus, he realizes that he can understand why she's not usually like this.]] |
| 267 | * OffscreenBreakup: [[spoiler:Jason and Piper are no longer an item in ''The Burning Maze''. While Apollo suspects that this was Jason's way to save Piper by encouraging her to move to Oklahoma with few regrets, he shoots this down and says that they broke up simply because of irreconcilable differences.]] |
| 268 | * TheOneGuy: Trophonius is the lone male of the Oracles. |
| 269 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: Python remains at the original Delphi meaning that the Triumvirate are going to be the driving villains of the series. |
| 270 | * PlanetOfHats: |
| 271 | ** The blemmyae are all unfailingly AffablyEvil with a [[CreativeSterility a severe lack of imagination]]. |
| 272 | ** In this case, the Troglodytes' hat is that they love hats as much as they love eating lizards. They also organize their society as a corporation, with ''SCREECH''-Bling acting as chief executive. |
| 273 | * PokemonSpeak: Peaches the karpos is fond of this. |
| 274 | * PottyFailure: Since becoming mortal, Apollo has lost his godly ability to hold his bladder. He wets himself out of fear more often than he would be willing to admit. |
| 275 | * TheProphecy: |
| 276 | ** It's the lack of these being issued that's a major concern this time around. The Python that Apollo slew millennia ago was resurrected during the second Gigantomachy, and subsequently took control of the Oracle of Delphi while the Olympians were embroiled in their Greek/Roman schism. Prophecies are a driving force in Greek mythology, and by extension the Percy Jackson world, and no quest can be issued without one. Without any form of guidance from the prophecies, the Olympians and their allies are essentially left stumbling in the dark without any idea of what to do or what enemies they may face. |
| 277 | ** After saving the Grove of Dodona and stabilizing it they finally get a prophecy in the form of a limerick which terrifies Apollo and Rachel because only the most dangerous prophecies are limericks. |
| 278 | ** ''The Dark Prophecy'' takes this up a notch, as apparently a prophecy in iambic pentameter is way worse than a limerick. Combined with the Shakespearean sonnet, and we get one big massive OhCrap from the god of prophecy himself. These are also given rarely, as every character who has heard a prophecy at least once in their lifetime -- including former Titaness Calypso (who is older than Apollo) -- react in surprise at the sheer length of it. |
| 279 | ** Ella and Tyson manage to deduce parts of the final prophecy in ''The Tyrant's Tomb''. It's written in terza rima, the one used by Dante for ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. |
| 280 | ** After Apollo defeats Python and becomes a god again, Rachel immediately issues another prophecy for Nico's new quest, although its contents are unknown. |
| 281 | * ProphecyTwist: Python's twisted prophecy states that Apollo will fall. [[spoiler:There's nothing to indicate that "fall" means die, instead of [[ExactWords a literal fall]]. Also, there's nothing limiting Apollo from rising again.]] |
| 282 | * PutOnABus: Out of the main characters of the previous series, only Percy, Leo, and Nico appear in ''The Hidden Oracle''. Annabeth is visiting Magnus at Boston, Jason and Piper are attending school in Los Angeles, while Hazel, Frank, and Reyna, while not mentioned, presumably still have other business to do in Camp Jupiter. More and more turn up in later books, however. |
| 283 | * RashPromise: In the first book, Apollo -- er, [[EmbarrassingFirstName Lester]] [[EmbarrassingLastName Papadoupolos]] -- swears on the River Styx that he will not use a bow or a musical instrument until he's a god again (and it is extremely bad for you if you break a swear on the River Styx). He made this vow in a moment of anger, and broke it later. |
| 284 | * RefugeInAudacity: [[spoiler:Will, Rachel and Lu]] pulling their BigDamnHeroes moment in ''The Tower of Nero'', where [[spoiler:Will marches into the Nero's throne room with Rachel and Lu carrying Nero's fasces, the very object keeping Nero alive, yells at Nero for hitting Nico, Will's boyfriend, and commands Nero's servants to move out of the way, just so he could pick up said injured boyfriend and take him aside to heal him after being injured in battle]]. No one stopped him. |
| 285 | * RelationshipUpgrade: In between this series and [[Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus the last]], Nico and Will became a couple. |
| 286 | * ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Apollo's ancient enemy, Python, has taken hold of the Oracle of Delphi, preventing the gods and demigods from accessing prophecies. |
| 287 | ** Invoked by Rachel when she attempts to persuade the Troglodytes to aid them, who recoiled in horror at the thought of a giant reptile controlling their destiny. |
| 288 | * RichesToRags: |
| 289 | ** In ''The Burning Maze'', Meg is revealed to be the daughter of a botanist, born to an ancient lineage of servants of Demeter, who owned a gigantic mansion on a hill just outside Palm Springs. Then Caligula noticed what he had been researching and utterly destroyed his company, forcing the father and daughter to move to an apartment in New York. |
| 290 | ** From the same book, Caligula does the same thing to the [=McLeans=], destroying Tristan's reputation and confiscating their home. He and Piper are forced to move to their ancestral home in Oklahoma. |
| 291 | * RotatingProtagonist: PlayedWith. Apollo and Meg are central protagonists. However, the supporting protagonists change in each book. |
| 292 | * RoyallyScrewedUp: The emperors, notably Nero and Caligula, are ancestors of Augustus. Also, Apollo's, the Olympians. Also, Apollo himself. |
| 293 | * ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Frank chooses to set his firewood alight by himself. Unlike the mythical Meleager, who wasn't informed of the curse and died a jerk, Frank was told of his destiny a long time ago and remains humble, so his death is written off by the Fates.]] |
| 294 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Percy tries to leave the action, and succeeds for the majority of the story. He comes back for a BigDamnHeroes moment, though. |
| 295 | * SequelHook: ''The Tower of Nero'' has a couple: |
| 296 | ** [[spoiler:Nico is planning to rescue Iapetus and possibly Damasen (who are revealed to possibly still be alive) from Tartarus with the help of Will and the troglodytes.]] |
| 297 | ** [[spoiler:Rachel recites a new prophecy, but Apollo doesn't get to hear it. Will does say it sounds bad, though.]] |
| 298 | ** [[spoiler:Chiron is meeting deities from other mythologies -- including a severed head and a cat, implied to be [[Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard Mimir]] and [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles Bast]] -- to discuss a mutual problem.]] |
| 299 | * SeriesContinuityError: Justified, as becoming mortal took a toll on Apollo’s memory. |
| 300 | ** Apollo stated in ''The Hidden Oracle'' that children of Demeter weren't particularly powerful and had powers limited to making plants grow and keeping bacterial fungi at bay and Meg was regarded as being unusually strong for a Demeter kid, but way back in ''The Last Olympian'', members of Demeter's cabin were powerful enough to have turned the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel "into a jungle" when defending the area. He had been busy fighting Typhon while this was happening, so he might not have noticed in the first place. It’s also possible it was a group effort, so each individual could have been weak. |
| 301 | ** Apollo went through a "revelation" that Thalia is his half-sister after trying to flirt with her even though years before in ''The Titan's Curse'', one of the ''first'' things he says to Thalia is "So you're a daughter of Zeus? That makes you my half-sister." |
| 302 | * ShipSinking: |
| 303 | ** ''The Dark Prophecy'' sinks any ships within the Hunters of Artemis, as it's clarified that their oaths forbid romantic relationships of any kind, including those with each other. |
| 304 | ** ''The Burning Maze'' [[spoiler:kills off Jason and Piper's relationship by having them broke up and further buries it as they are revealed to have done so amicably (albeit with Jason not knowing the reason why). Jason's death three-quarters of the way through the book only serves as the final nail to the coffin.]] |
| 305 | ** ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' [[spoiler:puts a halt to any romantic pairing for Reyna when she becomes a Hunter of Artemis. She does say she might consider loving someone again, but it will probably take her centuries.]] |
| 306 | * ShootTheDog: Back during Roman times, Apollo [[spoiler:murdered his former lover, the emperor Commodus, to prevent the latter from doing even more damage before his own people inevitably did him in anyway.]] Notably, it's his one kill that he considers murder rather than any kind of divine retribution. |
| 307 | * ShoutOut: A couple of cases. |
| 308 | ** Percy refers to Peaches only saying his own name as [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 'grooting']]. |
| 309 | ** Apollo observes the myrmekes dragging a [[Series/{{Supernatural}} '67 Chevy Impala]] into their nest. Furthermore, ''The Dark Prophecy'' has two demigod brothers named '''Dea'''co'''n''' and '''S'''t'''an'''. |
| 310 | ** Apollo sings "[[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Love Is An Open Door]]". |
| 311 | ** When Apollo figures out that the prophecy is a Shakespearean sonnet as it is spoken: |
| 312 | --->'''Apollo:''' [[{{Film/Jaws}} We're going to need a bigger notepad]]. |
| 313 | ** The Hephaestus TV in Livia the elephant's habitat is on a channel called ''[[Series/TheRealHousewives The Real Elephants of the African Veld]]''. |
| 314 | ** Apollo wastes no time referencing ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' when [[OurZombiesAreDifferent vryokolakai]] appear in ''The Tyrant's Tomb''. |
| 315 | ** In ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', Frank Zhang says that he is going to pull a [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Wakanda]] at Caldecott Tunnel using CombatByChampion against Caligula and Commodus. |
| 316 | ** In ''The Tower of Nero'', Will Solace references ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' to Apollo, Rachel, and Nico, none of whom understand the reference. |
| 317 | ** One of the lines in the haiku chapter titles of ''The Tower of Nero'' is "[[Theatre/{{Hamilton}} Not throwing away my shot]]". |
| 318 | * ShownTheirWork: The historical events referenced in the book are usually accurate, unless they're changed for comedic effect. For example, Commodus's death is much more accurate than [[Film/{{Gladiator}} other]] portrayals. Apollo also references musicians, for example, that had a significant impact on music that aren't commonly remembered by today's audience. |
| 319 | * SideBet: During ''The Tower of Nero'', it's revealed that the Olympians were taking bets on ''when'' Apollo would succeed at best, and ''if'' he would succeed at worst. |
| 320 | * SmiteMeOMightySmiter: Apollo challenges Zeus to punish him after he breaks his Styx oath for a second time. This is mostly done in an effort to direct his ire away from Meg. |
| 321 | * SoleSurvivor: By the end of ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', [[spoiler:Nero is both the last of the Triumvirate and the last historic Roman ruler remaining]]. |
| 322 | * StopCopyingMe: In ''Camp Half-Blood Confidential'', the chapter "Training Grounds" consists entirely of Apollo leading campers in a military cadence. Partway through, he's accidentally fallen down and hurt himself (and ''still'' singing about it), and the campers keep repeating his words until he threatens them all with death. |
| 323 | %%* Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Subverted when Calypso punches a blemmyae in the face and cradles her hand. At first, the reader thinks this happened because, well, punching people in the face hurts a lot more than the movies usually show, and this is what will actually happen if someone punches another person in the face, especially if they're untrained. However, it turns out that, according to the story, she's only cradling her hand because the blemmyae's disguises are ''literally'' MadeOfIron. |
| 324 | * TheTalk: Percy averts it, but Apollo begins giving one to Meg when [[ItMakesSenseInContext she asks if she can have baby cows]]. |
| 325 | -->'''Apollo:''' Well, Meg, first you would have to have some mommy cows. You see- |
| 326 | * TalkingAnimal: While the previous series have seen specific characters who could understand AnimalTalk (e.g. Percy speaking horse, Grover speaking all), ''The Burning Maze'' introduces Incitatus, a horse who can speak honest-to-gods English. As in, any human could understand him. |
| 327 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: Apollo uses this verbatim when he meets Jimmy for the first time, and doesn't stop even after learning the latter's name, usually with some variation like "Tall, Dark & Jimmy" (punctuation included). |
| 328 | -->'''Apollo:''' (I know that's a cliche, but he really ''was'' all three). |
| 329 | * TemptingFate: Apollo has done this a few times. For example, he broke the first rule of Percy Jackson, and said a task was too easy. |
| 330 | %%* TerribleTrio: The Triumvirate. |
| 331 | * ThereIsAnother: A big part of the series is the revelation that the Oracle at Delphi, which has thus far been portrayed as the all-giving, all-knowing prophetess, is in fact not the only Greco-Roman oracle to exist, just the most famous one. Since Python has sealed Delphi, the heroes have to resort to finding the other lost oracles to prevent the villains from misusing fate. |
| 332 | * TokenHeroicOrc: Sssssarah of the Scythian Dracaneae, Crest of the Pandai, and Luguselwa/Lu of the barbarian nomads the Roman emperors employ. |
| 333 | * TokenMinority: Averted with the titular character, who, despite being a white male, is openly bisexual and has relationships with both men and women. |
| 334 | * TookALevelInKindness: The overarching plot of the series centers around Apollo growing out of his self-centeredness and maturing. |
| 335 | * TrashLanding: |
| 336 | ** When Apollo is cast down to earth he lands in a dumpster. |
| 337 | ** During the three-legged death race through the Labyrinth, Apollo and Meg land in a garbage pile. |
| 338 | ** Apollo vetoes the suggestion to do this when he, Leo and Calypso are being chased. |
| 339 | ** Apollo, Grover, and Hedge land in a dumpster after blowing up Macro's store, although this ends up saving their lives when it conceals them from Incitatus. |
| 340 | * TraumaCongaLine: The entire series is basically this for Apollo. On top of monsters threatening to kill him, which is usual fare for a Riordan’s protagonists, Apollo has a bit [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] events also happen to him. In fact, if you look at the sheer number events that happen to him over the series, he probably has the most traumatic events than other Riordan protagonists except maybe Nico Di Angelo. For example, he’s been beaten, tortured (flayed and burned), nearly watched his children burned alive, [[MindRape mind-raped]], and even [[spoiler:attempted suicide]]. To be specific: |
| 341 | ** In ''The Hidden Oracle'' alone, he is physically hurled out of Olympus, thrown into a dumpster, breaking his ribs, with only a vague idea of what he did wrong and even less of an idea of how to fix it. Two mortal thugs stomp on his face, kicking him repeatedly to the point that he blacks out several times. Then he's nearly killed by plague spirits on the way to camp, and nearly dies soon after that in the woods, having a high fever, possibly hypothermia, and being delirious. He's nearly caught by his worst enemy, Python, and then immediately afterwards finds out that his children have been taken in order to lay a trap for him. Oh, and then while trying to help Apollo find his kids, Meg's taken, Apollo's injured some more, and needs to charge BACK into the woods to rescue her, and he has to sing about his worst failures to get to her. |
| 342 | ** ''The Dark Prophecy'' is a bit of a reprieve for him until the end. In the end, however, he drinks from the Lethe and Mnemosyne, causing him to temporarily lose all memory and sense of self, and then his son's oracle [[MindRape mind-rapes]] him, and he breaks his arm. |
| 343 | ** ''The Burning Maze'' alone has an insane amount of traumatic events for Apollo. First, racking up his usual amount of injuries, he's badly burned. However, it really starts to go bad for him after being captured by Caligula. In order to save the others, he attempts suicide by ''stabbing himself in the heart''. He [[spoiler:watches his half-brother die, still while very badly injured from stabbing himself in the chest after failing to save his brother and the others.]] He also blames himself for his [[spoiler:brother's death, and his new friend Piper also blames him, too]]. He also watches his new friend Crest die. He is then chained up and tortured by being ''flayed and burned alive''. The purpose of the torture is to erase him from existence, so he loses his sense of self and starts to lose his [[DespairEventHorizon will to live]] during the torture, from pain and MindRape. Pretty dark for a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids kids' book]]. It's hard not to feel sorry for him when he starts crying on the plane at the end of the book. Who wouldn't break down after all that? |
| 344 | * TrueCompanions: Apollo and Meg's relationship evolve into this as the series goes on. |
| 345 | * TheUnpronounceable: Alexasiriastrophona, the Olympian virtual assistant. And she insists that her name be pronounced correctly if anybody wants to use her service. |
| 346 | * UnreliableNarrator: Apollo. Where to begin? |
| 347 | ** In particular, his defeat of Python was ''not'' as easy as he made it sound, and he and Daphne genuinely loved each other before she was cursed into despising him. In-series, Apollo also makes some statements that are obviously untrue to the reader. For example, he declares that Percy Jackson adores him while said demigod is holding back the urge to punch him in the face, and he declares his archery skills, which are portrayed as well above average for a mortal, to be humiliatingly bad. To be fair, "for a mortal" is an important distinction. |
| 348 | ** He is also one due to the MindRape in ''The Dark Prophecy''. ItMakesSenseInContext. |
| 349 | ** This also crops up occasionally thanks to his ego. For example, he tells the reader that [[BlatantLies he most certainly did not cry at all when reunited with Meg]]. |
| 350 | * VaguenessIsComing: In the final novel, it's stated Chiron has been meeting with acquaintances from other pantheons, [[spoiler:strongly implied to be Mimir and Bast]], for a "mutual problem" with grave implications [[CrisisCrossover for all of them]]. When Apollo questions Chiron, he simply tells him YouDoNotWantToKnow. |
| 351 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Meg and Apollo. They constantly snipe at each other, mock each other, and find the other incredibly annoying. But they're also willing to die for each other and tend to gravitate toward each other in social groups. |
| 352 | * WellDoneSonGuy: Deconstructed. At the end of the series, [[spoiler:Zeus turns Apollo back into a god after deeming him successful in passing his test. But Apollo, having been living six months with demigods and learning and reflecting on what's important in life, realizes that Zeus's detached, hands-off parenting towards him is no different than Nero's towards Meg. While Zeus seems ready for such a moment, Apollo is disgusted and privately resolves to keep a distance from his father from now on.]] |
| 353 | * WhamEpisode: ''The Burning Maze''. [[spoiler:Jason Grace is killed at the hands of Caligula.]] |
| 354 | * WhatTheHellHero: Piper gives one to Apollo after [[spoiler:Jason dies]]. She claims he doesn't care about them (Piper and Jason), that nothing that happens in his journey will impact his life, and that he's just using them. Piper is right that Apollo has used heroes that way while he was a god. On the other hand, Apollo had just [[spoiler:attempted suicide]] in a bid to save Jason, Piper, and Meg, so clearly Apollo doesn't see them that way anymore. Piper and Apollo later reconcile. |
| 355 | * WhereItAllBegan: At the end of ''The Tyrant's Tomb'', Ella states that with [[spoiler:the deaths of Commodus and Caligula, all that's left of the Triumvirate is Nero, the first of the bunch to be introduced. This means Apollo and Meg will have to return to New York]]. |
| 356 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Literally, in this case. ''The Dark Prophecy'' reveals that ever since his famous battle with Python, Apollo has had a phobia of "scaly reptilian creatures", and can barely even tolerate the snakes George and Martha on Hermes' caduceus. Must make it awkward around his son Asclepius and the snake on his staff. |
| 357 | * WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: A flashback in ''The Dark Prophecy'' reveals that [[spoiler:Nero did this with Meg.... implying that the Beast came out and killed her dad. Since we know that the Beast and Nero are really the same person...]] |
| 358 | * WorldOfSnark: Just like Riordan's other verses, it's rare for more than a page or two to pass without someone snarking. |
| 359 | * TheXOfY: |
| 360 | ** The series title, ''The Trials of Apollo''. |
| 361 | ** The installment ''The Tower of Nero''. |
| 362 | * YouDoNotWantToKnow: In the final novel, when Apollo learns that Chiron's been meeting with acquaintances from other pantheons and asks what it's about, Chiron says he doesn't want to know. |
| 363 | |
| 364 | ---- |
| 365 | ->''The fall of the sun, the final verse...'' |
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