In the mid-season episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the trio of young heroes found their way to St. Louis where they faced off against the Mother of Monsters, Echidna, and her youngest child a chimera. When things were looking grim for Percy as he plummeted to the river beneath his father stepped in again to save him, leading us to episode 5 where:
“The quest deepens as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are tasked with a favor from a fearsome opponent.”
Percy surfaces in the river to a helicopter overhead flying toward the Gateway Arch, which is still smoking due to Echidna and her chimera’s attack and is blocked off by the police and fire departments. Three old women sharing a bench and knitting together seem particularly interested in watching Grover and Annabeth as they cut a thread, as are the police. Annabeth decides they’re going to find Percy, and while Grover has a grim outlook on Percy’s fate Annabeth says she knows he’s still alive.
Fortunately it doesn’t take long for the trio to reunite, and while Percy starts to apologize for pushing them into the stairwell, Annabeth interrupts him with a hug. Percy tells his friends that they just need to get to Santa Monica to meet his dad because Poseidon is finally ready to help. The clear problem is the trio is wanted for wrecking the train and the incident at the Arch. Since they won’t be able to get tickets for any fast mode of transportation, they’re left with walking which leads Percy to make an astute observation.
“Hey guys, I think this quest might be harder than we thought.”
Percy’s head is much more into the quest now since Poseidon saved him at the river, leading him to say he needs to take things more seriously. As they hide to let a bike pass Percy confronts Annabeth for being weird around him again, assuming it’s because of the hug, but Annabeth shares the women she saw at the Arch were the fates and when she saw Atropos cut a thread, meaning one of them is going to die … soon.
The bike stops, and its rider asks the trio if they could use some help, pressing them when they continue to deny it by pointing out they’re behind schedule, revealing he knows more than it would appear. The man introduces himself as Ares and explains that if they want his help, they’ll meet him at the diner up the street. He shares the same goal as the trio as Zeus sent out his children to find the Master Bolt as well. The trio make it to the diner and find Ares quickly thanks to his boisterous laugh.
“Give me a second, I’m just starting a fight on Twitter here. Nothing makes me happier than a good old fashioned ‘burn it down!’ fight.”
Ares shares a video of Gabe, Percy’s step-father, insinuating Percy is guilty of everything he’s currently wanted for because he’s always been a troubled child and even insinuates he may have something to do with Sally’s disappearance. With the FBI spreading Percy’s photo around, Ares says their quest is doomed for failure. Ares says that whether or not the bolt is returned Zeus is going to war with Poseidon, which Percy refutes due to what the Oracle said. Ares sparks some doubt by asking if that’s what the Oracle said, or if that’s what Chiron says she meant.
Ares gives a quick rundown on the disturbing and dysfunctional family history starting with the titan Cronus, his grandfather and Percy’s great-grandfather, continuing all the way to now. Ares says it’s in the Olympians’ nature to fight and claims Zeus feels it’s just time for a war, which makes him so happy it brings a tear to his eye. Percy says they’re going to finish the quest and stop the war from happening and asks Ares if he’s really going to help them, to which Ares says he will get them to the Underworld with a plan for invading Hades’ palace by lunch tomorrow … if they retrieve his shield from the nearby amusement park.
Percy agrees to the deal, which Ares quickly adds to by saying Grover stays with him to ensure the trio doesn’t run off. Percy doesn’t want to separate again but Grover points out if Ares wanted them dead, they’d be dead already. Grover walks his friends to the door and says he knows what he’s doing and that he’ll be there waiting when they get back. Percy and Annabeth make their way to the abandoned waterpark.
“I haven’t seen a lot of horror movies, but this seems like exactly the kind of place they suggest to avoid.”
Annabeth shares she’s never seen a movie, something Percy says they’ll have to fix if they’re both still alive in a few days. As Percy goes to enter the gates he is trapped by a mechanism containing celestial bronze, which poses a great threat to Percy as it won’t wound humans but will harm monsters, Gods, and Demigods. After determining the park was built by Hephaestus, Annabeth encourages Percy to push through the gates. The machine isn’t meant to hurt Demigods, it’s meant to scare them and let Hephaestus know when someone is in his playground.
Grover shares that he’s met Ares before and that not only that, he’s an Ares supporter, referencing some of the wars that he’s a fan of and making the God reminisce. It seems Grover has won Ares’ favor. As Percy and Annabeth walk around the park, they deduce that Ares and Aphrodite, Hephaestus’ wife, must’ve met in the park for one of their “flings,” and Ares left his shield in his hurry to leave. One thing is for certain — their family is a mess. The Thrill Ride O’ Love lights up and catches their attention, both of them agreeing they must go on the ride to find the shield.
With Haddaway’s “What Is Love” offering the soundtrack to the ride, the two are treated to a light show that displays Hephaestus’ story. Percy shares with Annabeth that his mother told him these stories and imparted onto him that this is how the Gods treat one another … this is the kind of family they are.
“Maybe you were right. Maybe she should’ve been preparing me better.”
“Maybe she was preparing you. So when you got to us, you’d be different than this.”
The ride rapidly picks up and takes Annabeth and Percy deeper until they’re face-to-face with their goal: Ares’ shield, being held by a statue. To avoid plummeting to their deaths the two jump from the boat into the rapid waters. As Annabeth begins to get sucked away, Percy’s power shows itself yet again. When they wake outside of the water they’re both confused as to what Percy just did, but ultimately he’s not entirely sure himself. Annabeth deciphers the golden throne, statue, and shield all make up parts of a machine.
Meanwhile, Ares is sharing with Grover that he hates kids — all kids, including his own. As Ares was attendance at the Winter Solstice activities, it seems Grover is trying to pry any useful information he can out of the God in an effort to figure out who the real lightning thief is. Grover pinpoints sour point for Ares — his sister Athena — and exploits it by saying he understands Ares’ frustration with Athena always making things more complicated so she seems smarter than Ares. Grover points out that Ares has technically caught the lightning thief — or at least who Zeus believes it to be.
Percy explains how the throne mechanism works, stating that one of them will have to sit in it and not be able to stand in order to retrieve the shield. Annabeth volunteers immediately but Percy stops her by sharing the reason he chose her for the quest — he needed someone that would sacrifice him no matter what. Annabeth is in denial, but Percy has already made up his mind.
“Believe me, I wish there was another way this quest succeeds — I just don’t see it.”
Percy hands her Riptide and heads for the golden throne, stopping before he gets there to ask Annabeth to promise him something. Before he can even say what it is, Annabeth shares that she’s not leaving the Underworld without his mom, but he says he was actually going to ask her to come back for him after the quest is done. Soon after he sits down he begins to be covered in gold, ensuring Annabeth that he’s okay until he can’t anymore. When Percy is fully encapsulated, Ares’ shield falls.
Annabeth steps over the shield to begin looking over the throne’s mechanics to figure out how she can free Percy. A man enters from above and raises a ladder for Annabeth to use to exit, but she refuses to leave without Percy. The man says it cannot be undone and that he knows because he built it, introducing us to another God — Hephaestus. Annabeth continues to insist she won’t leave without Percy. Hephaestus tells her that if she leaves with the shield she will be a hero and will earn her mother’s forgiveness, but right now Annabeth isn’t focused on her mother.
“Eat or be eaten; power and glory and nothing else matters. Ares is that way. Zeus is that way. My mother is that way. He isn’t that way. He’s better than that. Maybe I was that way once, but I don’t want to be that way anymore. I won’t be like all of you. I just won’t.”
Hephaestus frees Percy from the throne and shares that some of the Gods don’t like being that way either and that he’ll put in a good word with Athena for Annabeth. Annabeth and Percy return to the diner with the shield, and Ares loads them up into the back of a semi-truck headed for the Lotus Casino where they can then get a ride from Hermes’ driver. He also provides the trio with clothes, money, and drachmas, and Percy threatens the God before they set off again. While the three of them all know Ares has to be lying to them, Grover thinks he got the secret the God was hiding out of him — he thinks he knows who stole the Master Bolt.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians episodes 1 – 5 are available to stream now on Disney+. Our review for the premiere episodes can be read here, and additional coverage for the series including episodic recaps for the rest of the season can be found here.
