In the penultimate episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the demigod trio finally makes it to the Underworld, learns some of the truth about who stole the master bolt, and tries to save the world.
Episode 7 ‘We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of,’ is from three chapters in the book, chapters 17, 18, and 19.
In chapter 17, ‘We Shop for Waterbeds’, Percy has received his message and gifts from his father’s messenger, and now he, Grover, and Annabeth must make their way to DOA Recording Studios to get into the Underworld. Unlike New York, the trio struggles navigating the streets of Los Angeles while trying to avoid unwanted attention.
When a gang of hoodlums harass them, Percy leads his friends into Crusty’s Waterbed Palace, where they hide from their attackers and meet the proprietor of the store, Crusty. It turns out their reprieve is short lived as they learn that Crusty is the Greek monster Procrustes, the stretcher who tried to kill Theseus.
Annabeth and Grover get captured, but Percy uses his quick wit to outsmart the monster, beheads him, and saves his friends. Fortunately, they are only a block away from DOA Recording Studios. Loaded up with cash from the waterbed palace, they take off for their final destination (Pun very much intended).
In Chapter 18 ‘Annabeth Does Obedience School’ the three arrive at DOA Recording Studios where they encounter a lobby of ghosts and an annoyed Charon, the boatmen who ferries the souls to the Underworld. Complaining about his lack of pay raise, Percy uses the acquired drachmas they took from Procrustes, and bribe their way on to the next boat to the Underworld.
Loaded into an elevator which transforms into a wooden barge that crosses the River Styx, Percy and his friends are crossing into a whole other world. In the land of the dead, they encounter lines of souls, security guards, and a three headed giant dog named Cerberus who could stop their journey before it begins.
Forced to confront the large dog, it takes moments for the canine giant to realize that the three demigods don’t belong in the Underworld. With some quick thinking, that only the daughter of Athena could pull off, Annabeth makes friends with the three headed Cerberus and plays fetch with him.
Distracted, Percy and Grover sneak into the Underworld, as does Annabeth. Alarms go off, and the trio finds a hiding spot in the fields of the dead, but as they hope to stay hidden in the distance Cerberus is wailing because his new friend Annabeth has left him.
Chapter 19 ‘We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of’, brings the demigod trio to Hades, but before they meet the god of the underworld, Percy and Annabeth must save Grover from being sucked into Tartarus thanks to his malfunctioning winged shoes.
As a group, the three enter Hades’ palace to be confronted by an angry god. Hades is irate and wants to make an exchange. They ask why he would want the master bolt, when the god of the Underworld states his real demand. He wants his Helm of Darkness returned. He promises to give Percy his mom if he gives him the helm. Blaming Percy and his brother Poseidon, Hades describes how backed up he is with the extra souls and the fact that he has to hire new staff to maintain the extra workload. Hades asks why he would want a war when it would only backlog everything in the Underworld even more.
Believing that Hades had the master bolt, Percy is upset to learn that he has been carrying the master bolt in his backpack. The same backpack that Ares gave him. The group break their escape pearls and exit the Underworld just in time before Hades and his army can attack them.
Final Thoughts:
There are many changes from the book to the show, but these changes are necessary to help propel the story along in the television format. In the book, the irate and upset Hades makes sense, and provides the comic relief that is needed for this section of the book.
This is also one of the most important parts of the book, because Percy, Annabeth, and Grover realize how much they have been manipulated and that what they thought they knew was wrong. Typical for adventure stories, the heroes always think they know what’s happening when a late third act reveal shows them that this assumption has been wrong.
Both book and show hold the audiences attention and make for great entertainment.