Recap:
On the beaches of Montauk, Percy (Walker Scobell) is getting ready for a sword fight with Ares (Adam Copeland) and hopefully a resolution to who the Lightning Thief is. Before a sword clashes on the beach, we are brought back to the training grounds of Camp Half-Blood, where Percy faces Luke (Charlie Bushnell) in a duel.
Luke is teaching Percy how to be successful during a sword fight. Percy may doubt when he will need these skills, but Luke won’t let him quit. Questioning who fights fair; Luke tells Percy that warfare is knowing the rules so that one knows how to use them against an enemy.
Back on the beach, Percy challenges Ares to single combat. If he draws first blood, Percy keeps the master bolt and Ares surrenders the helm of darkness. Annabeth and Grover (Leah Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri) are aghast at Percy’s challenge, while Ares laughs off the notion telling the young demigod that it’s his funeral.
Percy tells the god of war that it was not Ares’ plan, but rather Kronos. Enraged, Ares charges at Percy and the fight begins. Back and forth the swords clash until Ares disarms Percy and throws him to the ground. Thinking he has won; Ares is shocked to see the massive wave building towards shore. Percy tells his cousin that he warned him, and now Ares will find out who he is.
The wave slams Ares to the beach, and while trying to regain his balance, Percy sprints to Ares and slices his leg open, drawing first blood and winning the challenge. Taunting Percy, Ares tells them that the only thing they have won today is an enemy for life. Disappearing, Hades’ helm of darkness is left behind.
Percy notices the lights in the cottage he and his mother rent have turned on, and he walks towards the building. Not finding his mom, Percy is surprised to see Alecto (Megan Mullally) waiting for the helm of darkness. Placing the helmet on the table, Percy tells Annabeth that he has lived up to his end of the bargain and expects Hades to do the same.
Alecto takes the helmet and tells Percy good luck on Olympus. Grover and Annabeth tell Percy that he doesn’t need to go to Olympus, but Percy knows that he must get Zeus’ attention, in hopes of stopping a war from breaking out in the world. Telling Percy that Zeus will kill him, Percy tells Annabeth that he is done running from monsters, that this is too important, and he must try.
Taking off her camp necklace and placing it around Percy’s neck, Annabeth tells him that he will need all the luck he can get. Grover wonders why he just doesn’t tell his story in an email, to which Percy responds where is the glory in that.
At the Empire State Building, Percy approaches the security guard showing him the master bolt and asking to see Zeus. Reaching the 600 floor the elevator doors open to reveal a whole other world waiting for him. Flashing back to his time with Luke, Percy and Luke are talking about how the gods must follow rules, but they have demigod children who can break the rules for them.
Percy wonders why the gods aren’t afraid of the demigods then. Luke tells him that they must be careful. He tells Percy that Annabeth is afraid of spiders, and since she is bigger than them, every time she sees a spider, she squishes them. Luke explains that two things a person never wants to be is small and scary. Small and scary things tend to get squished. (Having this moment between Percy and Luke is an excellent catch up for what was missed from the book. Charlie Bushnell is the perfect Luke.)
Walking through Mount Olympus (which looks impressive) Percy is determined to save the day. Arriving at the throne room, Percy is greeted by Zeus. (Lance Reddick. What an unbelievable tragedy it was to lose Reddick. He was such a talented and gifted actor and would have been a brilliant participant in later seasons of this story. Seeing him on screen, sitting in the throne of Zeus is the perfect visual to describe his power on the screen.)
Saying nothing as he walks towards Percy, Zeus takes the master bolt from his hands, and Percy tells the god that he didn’t steal the bolt, but found it, and tried to get it back to him on time. Zeus tells the young demigod that he failed. Percy admits to his failure but tells Zeus that he had to come to tell him who the real thief is, Kronos.
Zeus doesn’t want to hear what Percy has to say. He tells the young demigod that he knows Kronos is in Tartarus because he put him there. Thanking him for the news, Zeus tells Percy that that is the only reason he is being allowed to live. Zeus tells Percy that he has a war to plan, and Percy is lucky to still be alive.
Telling Zeus that he hoped he would listen, Percy explains that Kronos wants Zeus to fight his father. He wants Zeus and Poseidon to weaken each other. Unwilling to hear it, Zeus listens as Percy explains how weak he already is. Ares, Zeus’ son, turned on him. The gods only follow Zeus because he is strong, what will they do if someone stronger shows up.
Angered by what Percy says, (let’s be honest, Percy has a lot of nerve to taunt Zeus) the god of thunder is about to fry Percy with the master bolt, when his father Poseidon (Toby Stephens) steps in front to save his son. (This is how a long-lost father makes his entrance to meet his demigod son. Bravo Poseidon and the writers who made this scene happen.) Telling Zeus that he surrenders, Zeus is shocked by what he hears.
Poseidon says he just wants his son to be spared. Zeus reminds him that Percy is a forbidden son, and Poseidon counters Zeus by mentioning his daughter Thalia, whose bravery inspires everyone. Speaking in ancient Greek, Poseidon asks his brother who else knows about Kronos. Zeus tells him that Ares, Hades, Hermes, so everyone.
Zeus tells his brother that he will have Athena set up a council meeting where he will declare his swift and crushing victory, and then they will discuss family business. Before departing, Zeus tells Poseidon to make sure that he never sees Percy again.
Poseidon states that obedience doesn’t come naturally to Percy (good inclusion from the book) and Percy admits that no it does not. Blaming himself, Poseidon tells him that the sea doesn’t like to be restrained.
While the god of the sea is praising how much Percy has learned from Chiron, Percy informs his dad that he learned some ancient Greek from his mom. He learned a lot from his mom. Asking his father if he dreams, because Ares said that gods don’t dream, Poseidon tells Percy that Ares is a moron, and of course god’s dream.
Percy wants to know if Poseidon ever dreams about his mom. Unable to answer (but I think the audience knows that yes Poseidon does dream about her) he sends Percy back to Camp Half-Blood via a pearl.
Greeted like a hero, Percy is inundated with kudos and applause from his fellow campers. Annabeth is happy to see her friend and tells Percy not to say anything about Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn). Luke and Annabeth tell Percy that an unfounded accusation would only cause problems. Luke tells them that he asked Chiron to meet away from everyone so they can tell him the truth about Clarisse. Annabeth is going to stay behind while Luke and Percy meet with Chiron.
Fireworks explode into the sky and Percy and Luke walk to their meeting. Percy tells Luke that he’s reflecting on what the oracle said. Empathetic, Luke tells Percy that he understands what it feels like. Recounting the prophecy lines, Percy stops at the line about being betrayed by one you call a friend. Percy deduces that Luke is the one who stole the bolt. (The use of the fireworks in the background as Percy accuses Luke, and then the look that Charlie Bushnell gives as Luke is incredible. Luke is filled with scars from his life as a demigod, and the fact that we see the emotion from Luke come to the surface while his scar becomes more prominent on his cheek thanks to the lighting of the fireworks is incredible visual storytelling.)
Luke tries to explain that he never meant to betray him. The gods are Luke’s enemy. He’s there to recruit others to join him. Luke displays his new sword backbiter which allows him to open secret doors that allow a quick exit. Luke explains how bad the gods are and how terrible they are as parents. Percy tries to explain to his friend that Kronos is manipulating him, but Luke won’t listen. Instead, he says that Kronos helped open his eyes to the truth.
Telling Percy that they will bring the golden age back with Kronos, Percy has had enough mentioning how he met Luke’s dad Hermes. Luke won’t tolerate any conversation about his dad. An epic swordfight commences. Wounding Luke, Percy apologizes and is promptly cut in the arm by Luke. Standing over Percy, when it looks like Luke is about to kill Percy, Annabeth appears, throwing a knife and stopping Luke. Drawing her sword, Annabeth tells Luke that she heard everything. Annabeth is ready to fight, and Luke escapes through one of his doors.
Time has passed and Percy is cleaning out his cabin. Met by Chiron (Glynn Turman), the camp activities director wants to know if Percy wants an armed escort. Percy explains that he won’t be gone long. He wants to see if Hades has given back his mother yet.
Chiron wants to know if Luke’s plan to take down Olympus made sense to him. Percy would be a powerful ally to Luke and his cause with Kronos. Chiron says that the titan can be very persuasive, but Percy states that he is very stubborn. Telling him that he is very proud of him, Chiron is interrupted by Mr. D (Jason Mantzoukas) who is annoyed that Percy is still there.
Meeting Annabeth at the Thalia tree, Percy wonders how Thalia feels about everything. Annabeth talks about what it’s going to be like to go home to her father, who wants to show her New York City, and someplace called Disney World. (Synergy is how a company spell success. Perhaps Disney World could have a whole world devoted to Percy Jackson?)
Percy tells his friend to be a kid. Grover comes running up the hill and tells them that he has his searchers license and can officially begin his search for Pan. Grover informs them that he plans to start his search by checking the seas, and Percy offers some help. Percy tells his friends that they should make a pact that no matter what happens they all meet back on Half-Blood Hill next year.
Returning to the cottage in Montauk, Percy enters the beach house to see his mother standing in the kitchen, excited to see her son again. Sally (Virgina Kull) wants to know what happened, and Percy tells his mom that it’s a long story but a good one. Sally then tells him that it’s time to wake up and she disappears. Walking up the steps is Kronos, who Percy tells to go away. He won, and he’s done with dealing with him. The threat of Kronos is far from over.
Back in his mom’s apartment in New York, Percy is awoken by his mom, and tells her that he had another nightmare of Kronos. Sally wants to know what he said, and Percy lies telling his mother how much he loves her.
Packing for his first day of grade 7, Percy walks out the door warning future demigods that they might be needed for the fight ahead.
In the end credit scene, Gabe (Timm Sharp) is complaining about how Sally is divorcing him, and that he has to pay lawyers fees. Unable to get into the apartment, Gabe picks up the box delivered to Percy, which contains Medusa’s head, and looks at the cursed item, turning the awful Gabe Ugliano into stone.
Review:
This was the perfect conclusion to the season. We finally see Percy meet his dad, and what an incredible entrance for Poseidon to make, saving his son. Zeus is shown, and Lance Reddick reveals on screen what long time fans have always known about him, that he is a god, and is finally given his place as the leader of the gods.
There are multiple changes from the book which helps solidify the story beautifully for television. I really appreciated how quick the resolution is discovering Luke is the traitor. In the book it takes the rest of the summer, and that is way too long for the show. Plus, it would be more believable to see how Luke is discovered quickly. The plan has failed, and Percy and Annabeth are too smart and are on to what Luke is up to.
We still get the battle with Luke, but we don’t need Percy to almost be killed by a pit scorpion in the show. It works in the book but is not needed for the screen.
Everyone was cast perfectly, Charlie Bushnell is going to be a great villain as Luke, and Dior Goodjohn will hopefully get season two to shine as Clarisse.
The main trio of Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri were meant for their roles, and their chemistry helps bind the story and hook the viewers into wanting more.
My only question is, how long until we get a season 2 renewal. Come on Disney+ it’s time to make the announcement.
Episode Rating: A+++++
For even more, be sure to check out this week’s installment of the From Page to Screen series looking at how this episode was adapted from the book series.