The fourth episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians “I Pluge to My Death” marks the halfway point. Our young heroes have been sent out on their quest to retrieve Zeus’ thunderbolt and return it. And Percy is on a personal quest to save his mother. They’ve already encountered and killed Medusa. And they are actively being hunted by monsters.
At the start of this episode, Percy explores what it means to be a forbidden child. Meanwhile, Annabeth shares her feelings about feeling abandoned. The two are starting to bond more. Percy has this very sweet but naive view of the world and Annabeth is far more of a realist. The two juxtapose each other very well.
Annabeth and Percy
The one thing that this episode demonstrates is how knowledgeable Annabeth is. She seems to understand how the Gods themselves work, how to understand fate, and how quests work. She is essential to this quest and it is very easy to see why Percy chose her.
Percy getting poisoned and the other two just splashing him with water is so funny. Poseidon’s kid must need water. I understand Annabeth’s logic, at camp when he was hurt pushing him in the water healed him. But the real world must separate them from the magic. Or that only worked because Poseidon claimed him at the same moment. Either way, it is made very clear that these kids are on their own. This is reinforced by the fact that Athena seems to have abandoned Annabeth. The kids sent Medusa’s head to the gods and that angered them. But by the end of the episode Poseidon once again claims his son. Helping him against the mother of monsters and guiding him.
Percy grew up kind of resenting his non-existent father and now he is receiving all of this validation and help from him. Annabeth grew up worshiping her mother who has now turned her back on her. These kids are two sides of the same coin but I can see this as a source of tension between them. As the series reaches its halfway point the tension is building nicely and the show continues to be well-paced. That said the fear with short seasons is always that the ending is going to feel rushed, but we will see.
Based on the best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” stars Walker Scobell (“Percy Jackson”), Leah Sava Jeffries (“Annabeth Chase”), and Aryan Simhadri (“Grover Underwood.)
