Heartwarming / Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)

"Listen, let's make a pact, right now. No matter what happens, we meet back here next year. All of us. Right here."

Season One: The Lightning Thief

I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

• Percy's bond with his mother is the embodiment of heartwarming, and the moments they have together are proof of that.
  • During his field trip, Percy remembers the time he visited the MET with his mother after gazing at the Perseus statue. She explains to her son why she named him after Perseus:
    Sally: I named you after him because when he was a very little boy, he and his mother [Danae] were placed in a wooden chest and cast out into the sea by a very angry king [King Acrisius]. Alone, afraid. And at night, his mother would whisper in his ear, 'Hold fast, Perseus. Brave the storm that was made to break us for we are unbreakable as long as we have each other.' And against all odds, he managed to find his way to a happy ending.
• The gloomy scenery in Percy's past at Yancy changing to bright lighting when Grover enters his life. He finally has a friend he can rely on and have fun with.
  • The two nonverbally exchanging sandwich ingredients outside the museum. Percy takes Grover's meat while Grover takes more of the vegetables from Percy's sandwich.
• The first time we see Sally Jackson in the present is her sitting outside, soaking in the pouring rain. As we later find out, this is her way of being close to her former lover, Poseidon.
• Chiron attempting to intervene when Nancy bullies Percy. There are multiple points in the episode where he tries to encourage or help Percy in regards to things that aren't related to the world of gods and monsters, and we later find out that he called Sally to let her know about what happened with Grover, if only to make sure that Percy would have the emotional support he needed.
• Before the Minotaur catches up, Sally, knowing she can't enter the boundaries because she's mortal, entrusts Grover to protect Percy with his life from anything or anyone who means harm. Grover swears it^note on the River Styx.

I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

• Percy and Luke's brief conversation about Annabeth, in which Luke calls her his "little sister". Though readers of the book know how things will end they're still in the early stages of their relationship, and Luke's affection for the little girl he met in the alley is clearly genuine.
• Grover goes to the Cloven Council and finds out that Sally is still alive, but Chiron and Mr. D explicitly tell him not to say anything for Percy's safety. Near the end of the episode, when Percy refuses to go on the quest, Grover shows up, blatantly ignoring his orders from Chiron and Dionysus himself. He has decided that he's done throwing his best friend under the bus and explains to Percy that he has a chance to save his mother in the Underworld. This gives Percy the courage to accept the quest and begin reestablishing his trust in Grover.

We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

• When given the opportunity to choose his two quest-mates, Percy, after choosing Annabeth, admits that he had considered choosing Luke as his third companion, but at the last minute chose his best friend, Grover, instead.^{Book Spoiler} Though it was probably a good call he didn't choose Luke after all...
  • After dealing with Medusa, Percy reveals that the reason why he chose Annabeth to be his companion was so he could find a loophole in the prophecy line "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend", seeing as he'd initially believed that he and Annabeth could never be friends. When he sees how truly hurt Annabeth is by this, Percy apologizes and thinks they might have a chance to be friends after all.
• Grover, Annabeth, and even Alecto all immediately avert their gaze from Medusa. Percy is the only one willing to hear her out, remembering how his mother told him Medusa's story and sympathizes with her. Despite Annabeth's warnings, Percy would rather trust his mother's stories.
  Percy: I trust my mom.
• After dealing with Medusa, Grover and Annabeth begin egging Percy on about what he's been so afraid of. He finally confesses what the prophecy told him: that he'll be betrayed by a friend and fail to save what matters most to him. The two are understandably stunned, but assure Percy that they won't betray him. To further convince him, Annabeth tells the group that she actually had a chance to turn Percy over to Alecto, and instead, she killed her sister. Likewise, Medusa had offered to turn Percy's friends to stone to rid him of his fear, and he chopped off her head.
• Grover's Consensus Song. He's trying to keep his new group together the best way he can, and notes that in the song you would say some nice things about the other. Percy even performs said song himself after mailing Medusa's head to Olympus to cheer Grover up. Grover tries to act annoyed but is clearly happy that his friend is taking his advice.
• One reason that Percy decided to mail Medusa's head was so that they wouldn't have to keep Annabeth's hat on it. Now knowing its sentimental value, Percy wholeheartedly agrees that she should keep that connection to her mother.
• Hermes' almost proud grin as he takes the head of Medusa up to the Olympians. One can imagine he probably laid the box at Poseidon's feet himself.

I Plunge to My Death

• Percy says that Annabeth has done more for him than his father and that he would rather trust her than any god. It's a statement that Annabeth is clearly touched by.
  Annabeth: Careful. I think you were about to call me a friend.
• Percy decides to distract the Chimera and buy his friends time to escape, even trapping himself in a room with her, while already dying due to her poison.
• As Percy is falling from the Gateway Arch, courtesy of Echidna, the Chimera, and indirectly Athena, Poseidon saves his son by summoning a waterspout to drag him into the Mississippi River and properly heal him. When Percy freaks out, fearing that he'll drown, his father sends a Nereid to calm him down:
  Nereid: [To Percy] You are frightened. It's alright, Percy. Your father sent me to tell you, it's alright. Just breathe.
  [Percy shakes his head in disbelief and desperately tries to swim to the surface]
  Nereid: Your father is here. He's always been here. It is so hard for him to stand back. To see you struggle. It is so hard for us all... but he's here, and he's so very proud. Trust him. Trust yourself. Just... breathe.
  [Percy, likely remembering his mom's words, calms down... and breathes underwater]
  • The Nereid was sent by Poseidon and her voice sounds a lot like Sally's; she's speaking on behalf of both parents wanting to comfort and help their son.
  • And also note that this is after Percy mailed Medusa's head back to Olympus, which was seen as such a disrespectful act that Athena was willing to allow her own daughter to be killed because of it (despite knowing it was solely Percy's idea to mail the head and signed it under his name). At the same time, Poseidon — who would have also seen or learned of Percy's actions — does not have this stop him when his son's life is on the line.

A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

• When Percy climbs out of the river after falling from the Arch, the first thing Annabeth does is give him a long tight hug, showing how much she cares about him now.
• When Percy suggests sacrificing himself to Hephaestus's throne so they can get Ares's shield, Annabeth snaps and calls him "Seaweed Brain" for the first time.
• Percy asks a favor of Annabeth when he's performing the above Heroic Sacrifice; Annabeth immediately answers that of course she'll save his mother from the Underworld. Percy is touched, even though his request was actually to ask her to find a way to get him out on the way back to camp.
• In an emotional speech directed towards Hephaestus, Annabeth contrasts the kind, self-sacrificing Percy (who's entombed in the throne) with the lying and backstabbing nature of the gods and their mortal children, before saying that she was like that before Percy opened her eyes to how much better she could be. Hephaestus is visibly touched and frees Percy without asking for anything, and promises to put in a good word to Athena.
  Hephaestus: You're a good kid, Annabeth.
  • It's implied that Hephaestus was putting Annabeth and Percy through a Secret Test of Character all along to see if they can change both the gods' and demigods' ways for the better.
• Grover bonding with Ares, the Greek god of war, of all people. In a way, seeing the two bond over various lesser-known wars is pretty nice, considering how Ares has openly admitted to hating kids. Doubles as a moment of Awesome for Grover.

We Take a Zebra to Vegas

• When Percy and Annabeth start casually bickering about the dates they encountered certain monsters, Luke questions when they started acting Like an Old Married Couple. Percabeth is alive, folks!
• There's the fact that Hermes mentions that Poseidon has always sympathized with him about feeling so Powerful and Helpless concerning both Percy and Luke's constant struggles. The Olympians may be a Big, Screwed-Up Family, but while Poseidon empathically wants his immortal nephew to do what's best for his children (just as he does himself), he warns Hermes not to interfere with Luke's life out of concern he'll unwittingly drive his embittered son down the wrong path.^{Book Spoiler} Poseidon's concerns will soon be proven absolutely right in the end.
• When the Summer Solstice unfortunately elapses, Poseidon (who had to leave to prepare for war) leaves the same nereid in Santa Monica with a message for Percy, telling his son that everything wasn't his fault, is proud that he tried his best, and wishes for him to return to Camp Half-Blood for his own safety. Percy, however, refuses to abandon his quest and believes he can still find the Master Bolt before all hope is truly lost. The nereid is enlightened by the son of Poseidon's determination.
  Nereid: [to Percy] So willful, just like [your father]. There is so much of him in you. We all see it. What belongs to the sea can always return. [gives Percy four pearls] Each will provide one of you safe passage back from the Underworld.
  Percy: There are four of them.
  Nereid: Save the world... and then go save your mother.
  [Percy smiles]

We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of

• Hades offers asylum to Percy and his mother when he realizes just what is going on and that if Kronos is communicating with his nephew, it's bad news.^{Book Spoilers} Hades knows the actual reason behind the Big Three swearing to not father demigods, and is well aware that Kronos wants to use Percy to doom not just Olympus, but the world and the Underworld; Hades wants to protect Percy from his evil grandfather's temptations.
  • Additionally, the way Hades immediately believes Percy about Kronos, no questions asked. Although he is understandably shocked and doesn't want to believe it, he knows better than to disregard his nephew's instincts and immediately tries to find a way to protect him.
• In a flashback, when the school principal is reluctant to enroll Percy, he suggests to Sally that she should homeschool her son instead. The principal's concerns are understandable and while it was a pretty cold suggestion (which he solemnly admits), he was at least willing to help provide Sally the resources to do so. Even Percy seems on board with the idea, but his mother still insists on sending him to school anyway.
• In another flashback, a struggling Sally burns a milkshake as an offering to the gods. As it turns out, she used it to summon Poseidon, knowing that she'd have no one else to talk to. She's super tempted to tell Percy the truth and send him off to camp, but she doesn't want to because she wants Percy to be better than what the gods and demigods want him to be. Poseidon is understanding and firmly holds high esteem for Sally and Percy, reassuring her that their struggling isn't for nothing and it'll all make sense someday.
  Sally: I want him to know who he is... before your family tries to tell him who they want him to be. He is better than that. He has better things in him than that.
  Poseidon: Then I think you have your answer. He's going to go to school... and he is gonna learn things that you can't teach him there. And it's gonna be hard for the both of you. It's gonna be torture for the both of you... but he will be stronger for it on the other side. His mother raised him well.
  Sally: ...Do you want to talk to him? I know you shouldn't, but... maybe just to hear your voice.
  [Poseidon turns to his forbidden son sitting alone at the table, unaware of his presence. A long pause, then thunder can be heard.]
  Poseidon: One day... one day, when he's ready. When he knows who he is and where he belongs, and fate has revealed to him his true path. On that day... I'll be right by his side.
  • Despite the two moving on on good terms, it's clear as day to see how much Poseidon still deeply loves and respects Sally Jackson. Given how varyingly flawed most of the gods we've seen and heard of so far are like, it's a nice change of pace to see another god, much less one of the Big Three, be more mature and caring.
  • Adding to this, at the start of the series, Percy (and thus the audience) is told that to get the gods to listen to your prayers, you must burn what matters the most to you. But as shown in this flashback, Sally only had to burn a half-consumed milkshake as an offering to get Poseidon to hear her. This milkshake has no attachment to her; it's not even baby Percy's, just some random person's unfinished treat, yet Poseidon still accepts the offering immediately and shows up in person to listen to her and offer support to Sally's struggles.

The Prophecy Comes True

• Upon finding out that Percy still intends to personally return the Master Bolt to Zeus, Annabeth gives him her camp necklace for good luck.
• Poseidon goes full Papa Wolf and rescues his son before Zeus can strike him dead after warning him about Kronos. He's even willing to surrender his war with his brother if it means Percy is spared.
• Zeus backing off after Poseidon points out that Percy is one of the many heroes inspired by his daughter, Thalia, and gives a small and rare smile of parental affection at the mention of her name.
• While Poseidon's expression when Percy asks if he ever dreamt of his mom can be interpreted in many ways, it's obvious how much Sally Jackson means to the god of the seas.
• Annabeth and Percy celebrating the fact that Grover has finally acquired his Searcher's License.
  • To end the scene, the three of them make a pact to meet at Thalia's tree next summer, further cementing that these three are now well on their way to becoming the Fire-Forged Friends they were in the novels.
  • Grover ends the scene by glomping both Annabeth and Percy, with the former contentedly snuggling into Grover as the trio hugs.
• After a cross-country journey, battling several monsters, and traveling to the Underworld, Percy is finally reunited with his mother. What's the first thing Sally does upon reaching her son? Wrap him in a tight embrace. While it turns out to be a dream when Kronos shows up, after Percy wakes for real, Sally is there to smooth all his fears away, so it's implied that the initial scene isn't too far off.
  • When Sally asks her son what Kronos said to him, Percy hesitates before responding, "Make sure to tell your mom how much you love her today." While Sally seems to be Comically Missing the Point, it's still a sweet sentiment and shows that Percy's not taking any time he has with his newly-returned mom for granted.
• Percy's final words of the first season are a shout-out to all of the people watching who feel like they don't fit in.
  Percy: The stories you heard about Greek gods, heroes, and monsters? I'm here to tell you that they're real. If you ever feel like you don't fit, like the world doesn't make sense, then you might be a part of our world. So don't give up. 'Cause we might need you for the fight ahead.

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