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Season One: The Lightning Thief
I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher
- In the office at Yancy, Percy keeps telling the adults he never pushed Nancy into the fountain. And then Grover — his first genuine friend he ever made — throws him under the bus and gets him kicked out. While Grover does admit later on that he did this to protect his friend, the look of betrayal Percy gives him is gut-wrenching.
- In the next episode, Percy is still bitter with Grover and makes it clear he doesn't fully trust him. Grover is hurt by this, but understands he has every right to be angry with him, believing that he should've told Percy the truth beforehand.
- In Montauk, Sally tries to explain to Percy that her stories of Greek myths are real and reveals that he's a demigod. Percy understandably doesn't take this news well and doesn't believe her, thinking he is the way he is because he's "broken" and "weird". Sally is incredibly torn that her own loving son thinks so little of himself.Sally: Percy, I know that this is hard to understand, but You Have to Believe Me! This is real.
Percy: [freaked out] No, this is crazy! Okay? I'm not a god! There is something wrong with my brain! I understand that I'm weird, believe me, I get it, but I'm afraid something may be really broken now.
Sally: [close to tears] Oh, baby, no–
Percy: And– and now you're telling me stories, like it's gonna make it okay?! Well, I'm not a baby! I know there's no such thing as monsters, I know there's no such thing as gods, and I know for certain... there's no such thing as demigods! - Sally stays behind to lure the Minotaur away from Percy and Grover (as mortals can't cross the boundary). Percy watches as his mother's captured by the monster and he shouts helplessly for her. When Sally disappears and is seemingly killed, we get a close-up look of Percy's face, looking absolutely devastated as his face slowly morphs into a look of pure anger and contempt.
- And Grover, who has seen the whole thing, looks away in guilt.
I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom
- Percy is saddened over his mother's supposed death, managing to only leak one tear before wiping it away.
- When Percy is introduced to the Hermes cabin, he's obviously nervous and bracing himself to be bullied yet again — when Luke comes over to him, his expression and body language become visibly more defensive, and he's clearly surprised when Luke welcomes him to the cabin and offers condolences for his mother. He's so used to being ostracized by his peers he doesn't even consider Luke might intend to be anything other than cruel.
- Luke telling Percy the story of his best friend, Thalia, the daughter of Zeus and a forbidden child of the Big Three. They both took young Annabeth in after finding her all alone, and then Thalia sacrificed herself to ensure Luke and Annabeth make it to camp.
- Percy burning blue jellybeans in a coffee can and praying to his mother for guidance.
- And, at this point, he's completely unaware that his mother is still alive, as Chiron and Mr. D has forbidden Grover from telling Percy out of concern for his safety.
- During their fight in Capture the Flag, Percy snaps Clarisse's electric spear in half and the way she shouts a Big "NO!" has as much devastation as fury. All the book readers would know that the spear was actually a gift from her father, Ares.
- This moment becomes worse when Episode 5 came out, and Ares not only stated that he hates his own children (marginally less than other children), but calls the solstice event where they give their camp presentation "the worst night of the year". Clarisse cherished that spear as the one sign of approval from her father, and he considers her a nuisance at best.
We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium
- Before leaving camp, Grover tells Percy the rest of Thalia's story, how she sacrificed herself to protect her friends and satyr protector from the three Furies. Her father, Zeus, took pity and gave her another chance at life by changing her into a pine tree.
- Then Percy figures out that Grover was Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth's protector.
- Medusa's backstory. She was a devout servant of Athena though Athena never answered her. She fell in love with Poseidon and only then did Athena pay attention to her, though it was only to punish her. Percy can't help but feel sorry for her since he knows what it feels like to be ignored. And then she bitterly remarks how gods are able to escape punishment for their actions, and leave others to suffer under the wrath of another god's Disproportionate Retribution.
- After dealing with Medusa and Alecto, Annabeth and Percy find Grover gazing sorrowfully upon the petrified statue of his Uncle Ferdinand.note
- One of the reasons why Percy chooses to bring Annabeth on his quest. The prophecy warns him of betrayal at the hands of a friend, so because Annabeth has been cold and standoffish with him the entire time, he figures they will never be friends, and that he can count on the prophesized betrayal not coming from her.
- When he is forced to explain this to her later, Annabeth looks genuinely hurt.
I Plunge to My Death
- Annabeth takes Percy and Grover to the Gateway Arch, which is actually a sacred temple of her mother Athena, which no monster is supposed to enter. However, Annabeth learns from Echidna's Telepathy that she had embarrassed Athena by letting Percy mail Medusa's head to Olympus. In response, she allows Echidna and the Chimera into the Arch, knowing fully well that her own daughter is inside. Annabeth is utterly betrayed and is likely even thinking, "Medusa and Percy were right. Maybe Athena is not as just as I thought after all."
- It's even implied that it likely wasn't Zeus who sent Echidna and the Chimera after the trio, like in the books, but Athena to set an example to her daughter for allowing Percy to "wound her pride".
A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers
- In the Thrill Ride O' Love, Percy and Annabeth watch a silhouette animation of Hephaestus's story, hammering home the tragedy of the smith god. Because he was born disabled, his own mother, the goddess of family, rejected him and physically threw him off of Olympus as a baby. When he returned to Olympus as an adult, he was ecstatic about getting to marry Aphrodite, certain that the goddess of love would care for him, but no, she only agreed to marry him as a bargaining chip and began a millennia-long affair with his brother Ares. Hephaestus's song choice is a none-too-subtle plea to his wife: "Don't hurt me no more."
- When Hephaestus appears on-screen, you'll notice that he is wearing a wedding ring. Even after four thousand years, he's holding onto hope that their marriage vows mean something, anything.
- Percy and Annabeth figure out how the throne trap works, and Percy persuades Annabeth that he should make the sacrifice. She tries to fight him on this (no doubt remembering Thalia's similar sacrifice five years earlier), but Percy stands firm. He knows that she's the better hero of the two of them, and he has every faith in her to stop the oncoming war and rescue Sally from the Underworld. Percy's last words to her are a calm (if shakily spoken) assurance that it will be okay, and he'll be fine until she and Grover return and wake him up.
- Annabeth refuses to leave Percy entombed in the throne, and literally walks over the shield in an attempt to figure out how the machine works to release him. She catches the attention of Hephaestus himself, and when he appeals to her hubris, she defies the lord of the forge. Percy's compassion and loyalty have made her realize that she wants more out of her life than power, glory, and the approval of the capricious gods. Hephaestus is moved and realizes he himself is keeping the cycle of cruelty in motion by holding Percy hostage. Once he sets Percy free, he walks off, head held low, reflecting on his half-human niece's words.
We Take a Zebra to Vegas
- In the Lotus Casino, Grover runs into his old friend Augustus, a Searcher. Augustus is eternally caught in the delusion that he's moments away from finding Pan.
- Annabeth tells Percy about Luke's bitter past. His mother is a Seer, an otherwise normal human who can see through the Mist. She went insane and Luke blamed his father, Hermes, for it ever since.Adaptation Deviation (Book Spoilers)
- When Annabeth and Percy meet Hermes:
- Hermes tells them that he genuinely loves Luke, but he can't help because he was previously warned to stay away from him and the last time he ignored the warning, it made things worse. It's difficult for him, both as a god and a parent, to sit back and do nothing as their child struggles.
- To make it even sadder, Hermes reveals to Percy who gave him the warning and empathized with him.Hermes: It was your father [Poseidon] who warned me to stay away. Said it was awful watching you struggle and feel powerless to stop it. But that sometimes… that's what parenting is.
- To make it more sadder, Hermes had ignored Poseidon's warning just to visit Luke once, only to have his son bitterly lash out at him.Book Spoiler
We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of
- Annabeth nearly gets caught up in the Transflormation in the Fields of Asphodel. In a departure from the myths, Asphodel is not the resting place for neutral souls, but souls bound by regret: what they did and what they failed to do with their time on Earth. Coming minutes after Annabeth played fetch and gave pets to Cerberus, which reawakened memories of the family she left behind in Virginia five years ago, it's clear Annabeth will have some complicated feelings to sort through once the quest is over.
- Sally tries to register Percy to the new school, but the principal — reluctant to enroll Percy due to being informed of his "psychological problems" — suggests that Sally should homeschool her son instead. Percy, within earshot, seems excited about the idea, but quickly downcasts when she stubbornly insists on sending him away. Very lost, Percy confronts his mother about this, thinking she doesn't want him around, and then tells her that he'd never do something like this to her. Sally is at a loss for words and looks like she had just been stabbed by a sword and quickly excuses herself before she can cry in front of her son.Young Percy: Why are you doing this? Why are you trying so hard to get rid of me? ...I would never do this to you.
- Sally and Poseidon's dialogue, about how hard it is for them to keep Percy in the dark about who he is until he's ready. The two ex-lovers never once make eye contact, as if both are afraid and saddened by what would happen if they did. And although Poseidon tries to reassure Sally on her efforts, even he is visibly shaken on how difficult this is for the both of them.Sally: This isn't fair.
Poseidon: No it isn't.
Sally: And I'm failing.
Poseidon: No, you're not.
The Prophecy Comes True
- When Percy recites his prophecy to Luke, he mentions the "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend" line... and Percy's eyes widen with horror. Luke, whom Percy looked up to like a Big Brother Mentor, is the Lightning Thief and is working for Kronos. Everything that had happened (Sally getting kidnapped by Hades, Grover almost falling into Tartarus, Zeus and Poseidon's war, etc.) was all because of Luke. Luke tearfully confirms it, right before trying to recruit Percy to join him. When a defiant but shaken Percy refuses to join him, Luke tries to escape with Backbiter, but Percy intercepts and the two spar (but Luke, being more experienced and having trained Percy himself, manages to best him). Luke is crying as he realizes his recruitment has failed, and clearly regrets hurting Percy, but is still nevertheless completely willing to fight and kill the boy if it meant getting back at the gods.
- Then the other kicker is that Annabeth, using her invisibility cap, had heard everything and uses her knife to stop Luke from landing a killing blow on Percy. Luke is horrified and quickly pulls off a Screw This, I'm Outta Here. Based on how Annabeth was there the whole time, she had figured out Luke was the Lightning Thief beforehand, but the heavy tone in her voice implies that she did not want to believe it.
- Percy manages to land a blow on Luke, and actually apologizes for hurting him. The heartbreak continues when Luke takes a swing at him mid-apology, knocking him down. Percy (while grasping his wounded arm) does nothing but give his former friend an angry glare as he's about to kill him. Even fans of the book can tell that this very moment cements the bitter rivalry between Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan.
- Poseidon is able to save his son and have a proper chat with him for the first time. While he is very proud of Percy, there's a tinge of melancholy in their conversation. Poseidon knows that he was hardly there for him as Percy grew up and is ashamed of it, and he knows his son is going struggle a lot more now with the coming return of Kronos and Percy's involvement in it.
- What pains Poseidon more is when Percy asks him, "Do you ever dream about Mom?" Poseidon's loss of words and cool nature only demonstrate his regret and heartache from his moments with Sally.
- In Loving Memory of Lance Reddick.
