Percy Jackson And The Olympians - General Discussion

[DearEvette]

2 hours ago, norcalgal said:

I’d have to go back and rewatch the whole Capture the Flag sequence but I don’t recall Annabeth doing anything to help Percy. She invisibly watched while Clarissa and her fellow Ares kids ganged/beat up on Percy. Further, it wasn’t Percy who actually got the other team’s flag, so no glory there for Percy. Is the “heroism” Percy getting shoved into the river, having the water heal his wounds? Asking a real question here about where Percy showed heroism in the whole CTF sequence.

Mind you... I haven't read the books but the way I read the scene was, capturing the flag wasn't the goal for Percy, it was a mis-direction.  Luke (who is kinda captain exposition)  basically tells one of the other campers that the strategy was Annabeth's and she was Percy where she wants him.   While Everyone else is preoccupied with the game she isolates Percy for a reason.

Cut to Percy all alone, away from the action,  flossing on the rock.  I feel like Annabeth, knowing Clarisse's M.O. (corner your prey when they are alone) purposely parked Percy all by himself on that rock to lure Clarisse there so Percy could fight her.

The flag game was small potatoes. The important part was Percy defeating a relatively powerful demi-god in a decisive way in view of a place where his father would logically be -- i.e. a body of water -- so he could notice Percy.  Percy fighting Clarisse breaking Clarisse's special weapon -- which I assume was a gift from her father given how heartbrokenly she screamed when it happened -- was the real act Poseidon needed to witness.

Unlike Clarisse, I got the impression that Annabeth never doubted that Percy killed the Minotaur.  And she figured that if he could do that then Clarisse would have been no problem for him.  So if you think about Luke's 'ten moves ahead' comment, it seems like Annabeth engineered her whole capture the flag team strategy just to put Percy in a place to be claimed.

From a classics standpoint it also makes sense.  Athena is the goddess of wisdom.  But she is also the patron goddess of heroes. So the show seems to be imbuing Annabeth with these traits.

Interestingly, someone on twitter noted that Percy's fight skills got better, less clumsy,  and more assured the closer he got to the water.

[norcalgal]

2 hours ago, Affogato said:

Annabeth’s argument was that she was more experienced and Percy was completely out of his depth. They were valid points. He will need to prove himself before he can make life and death decisions for others. He was not in charge even if it was his quest. No one was following him. 
 

a hero is brave. 

Maybe I’m taking the bus scene too literally, but what decision was he making for others wanting to get off the bus?  It’s Percy more so than AB or Grover all the nasties want to kill. Percy was willing to get off the bus by himself - no one need come along. 
I totally understand that AB and Grover have more experience with the mythical world, but instead of framing it in that context (e.g, that they’re more experienced than Percy), the writers/director filmed it so AB came across as Bossy-Pants telling newbie what to do merely because he’s the newbie. 

50 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

The flag game was small potatoes. The important part was Percy defeating a relatively powerful demi-god in a decisive way in view of a place where his father would logically be -- i.e. a body of water -- so he could notice Percy.  Percy fighting Clarisse breaking Clarisse's special weapon -- which I assume was a gift from her father given how heartbrokenly she screamed when it happened -- was the real act Poseidon needed to witness.

Unlike Clarisse, I got the impression that Annabeth never doubted that Percy killed the Minotaur.  And she figured that if he could do that then Clarisse would have been no problem for him.  So if you think about Luke's 'ten moves ahead' comment, it seems like Annabeth engineered her whole capture the flag team strategy just to put Percy in a place to be claimed.

Thanks for explaining in a way that makes sense and is plausible. I wonder if the target audience (preteens/teens) could pick up on Annabeth’s strategy…

[tennisgurl]

I read the first book ages ago, so far this seems like a mostly faithful adaptation. I have some issues, like I am already over people being so needlessly vague whenever Percy asks a legit question and its tiring how many people are such dicks to him, but those are issues I have with the book as well. I really like the cast, the young actor playing Percy is really charming. I also think the effects look really good, the furies look suitably creepy and the creatures and monsters all look very cool. 

I wish we could have kept Medusa around a little longer, I loved this interpretation of her. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E04: I Plunge to My Death

The heroes search for a refuge in St Louis, and come face to face with the mother of all monsters.

Premiere Date: January 2, 2023  Disney+ 

[PurpleTentacle]

This seems solidly to be for little children and little children only. The story is overly simplistic and the acting from the child actors is horrible. Aryan Simhadri does an okay-ish job, but the other two are just attrocious.

Maybe this might be watchable with very thick nostalgia goggles, but sadly I don't have those for this franchise, so I think I'm out.

 

But as long as I'm here:

How the hell does Percy not get that the prophecy means that he'll lose his mother and how does Annabeth not get that either? Isn't she supposed to be the smart one? It's really not all that cryptic. Pretty straight foreward as prophecies go.

At least for Percy we already knew that he was a complete moron, since he brought his only friend on a quest where the oracle warned him that his friend would betray him. But I thought Annabeth had some brains.

 

Echidna: "Of course they're [the monsters you killed] like me. They were my children."

So far the kids faught the Minotaur, the Harpies and Medusa. None of which are Echidna's children. So what the hell is she on about?!

 

Grover: "There is an athenian temple in... somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?"

Annabeth: "Yes, except it's not all that hidden."

Great job editor, you took the one take where Aryan Simhadri forgot to say "a hidden athenian temple" and now the whole conversation doesn't work. You can really see how much care was taken with this show.

 

How exactly did sending Medusa's head to Olympus embarrass Athena? They never made any of that clear. I thought Percy's argument last episode that it was an offering was a solid one.

Also her willingness to let her daughter and other kids die over emberessment doesn't exactly make me want to root for any of this. It's probably in character for her, but man it makes it hard to root for the stupid quest these stupid kids of asshole gods are on. What do these kids care? They should just run and hide, let the asshole gods fight it out and rescue Percy's mom in the fog of war.

On 12/24/2023 at 6:11 AM, Bookworm 1979 said:

Well, if you study up on your Greek mythology you'll find that all the gods are assholes in their own way.  

I mean yes. But preventing Dionysos from drinking, that's a new low. Even for Zeus, who has always been the biggest asshole of them all.

On 12/23/2023 at 7:40 PM, Dani said:

It’s a gag designed for a target audience of preteens. 

Can't argue with that. Kids will laugh at the stupidest shit.

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, PurpleTentacle said:

This seems solidly to be for little children and little children only. The story is overly simplistic and the acting from the child actors is horrible. Aryan Simhadri does an okay-ish job, but the other two are just attrocious.

Maybe this might be watchable with very thick nostalgia goggles, but sadly I don't have those for this franchise, so I think I'm out.

 

But as long as I'm here:

How the hell does Percy not get that the prophecy means that he'll lose his mother and how does Annabeth not get that either? Isn't she supposed to be the smart one? It's really not all that cryptic. Pretty straight foreward as prophecies go.

At least for Percy we already knew that he was a complete moron, since he brought his only friend on a quest where the oracle warned him that his friend would betray him. But I thought Annabeth had some brains.

 

Echidna: "Of course they're [the monsters you killed] like me. They were my children."

So far the kids faught the Minotaur, the Harpies and Medusa. None of which are Echidna's children. So what the hell is she on about?!

 

Grover: "There is an athenian temple in... somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?"

Annabeth: "Yes, except it's not all that hidden."

Great job editor, you took the one take where Aryan Simhadri forgot to say "a hidden athenian temple" and now the whole conversation doesn't work. You can really see how much care was taken with this show.

 

How exactly did sending Medusa's head to Olympus embarrass Athena? They never made any of that clear. I thought Percy's argument last episode that it was an offering was a solid one.

Also her willingness to let her daughter and other kids die over emberessment doesn't exactly make me want to root for any of this. It's probably in character for her, but man it makes it hard to root for the stupid quest these stupid kids of asshole gods are on. What do these kids care? They should just run and hide, let the asshole gods fight it out and rescue Percy's mom in the fog of war.

I mean yes. But preventing Dionysos from drinking, that's a new low. Even for Zeus, who has always been the biggest asshole of them all.

Can't argue with that. Kids will laugh at the stupidest shit.

Or, perhaps, you aren’t considering all the implications of the prophecies. Or the kids age and circumstances. 
 

Echidna was the mother of many monsters, and exaggeration is not unknown in a villain. Ghere is also the grandmother, great aunt thing. 
 

i assume Athena is embarrassed because Annabeth should know better than to pull a stunt like that. Perhaps another parent might not be embarrassed, though. 
 

actually preventing Dionysus from drinking is kind of brilliant, I thought. It also lets us know the Gods are petty, tight off the bat. 
 

i’m impressed with the acting, I’m surprised you’d choose this show to hate watch. But it is a slow season, I suppose. It is much better than the CW esque movies. 
 

this was short for an episode, but next time looks like fun. 

Edited January 3 by Affogato

[tv echo]

A Hero's Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will premiere on Disney+ on Jan. 31...

Next On Disney+ | January 2024
Disney Plus   Jan 1, 2024

[norcalgal]

10 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Grover: "There is an athenian temple in... somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?"

Annabeth: "Yes, except it's not all that hidden."

Great job editor, you took the one take where Aryan Simhadri forgot to say "a hidden athenian temple" and now the whole conversation doesn't work. You can really see how much care was taken with this show.

The part of this episode that made me go huh?! was when Grover said Pan disappeared and it was because of humans. How?!  Why?!  This show seems to want it both ways in terms of whether or not humans can see the mythical world/creatures.  Grover’s horns were visible throughout but humans didn’t see the horns, nor did humans see the centaurs running alongside the train. But apparently, humans could see Pan and had something to do with Pan’s disappearance?  Consistency, thy name is NOT this show. 

[DearEvette]

I liked this portrayal of Echidna.  I mean her mythological claim to fame is being a mother of some of the most famous monsters in mythology. So her I thought her introduction of 'I am a mom' and her whole schtick of being the parody of a soft spoken suburban mom in her faux Chanel jacket and mom jeans was great.

9 hours ago, Affogato said:

i assume Athena is embarrassed because Annabeth should know better than to pull a stunt like that. Perhaps another parent might not be embarrassed, though.

I feel like Athena would not be a proponent of 'soft parenting' LOL.  Given that she is a martial Goddess, I feel that she'd be a hard ass.  So yeah, this feels on point that she would not be amused.  But to allow a monster into your 'temple' so they can desecrate it (I mean punching a hole through the arch is messing up the perfect math symmetry) is a bit much to teach your kid a lesson.

9 hours ago, Affogato said:

actually preventing Dionysus from drinking is kind of brilliant, I thought. It also lets us know the Gods are petty, tight off the bat. 

Yeah.  I like this.  I took Latin for all of my four years in college and had to be immersed in the classics of which mythology texts were a huge part.  And the one thing I learned was that the Gods were petty as hell.  Childish, jealous just total assholes. LOL.

10 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Can't argue with that. Kids will laugh at the stupidest shit.

They really do.  But to be fair, having been around grown ass men watching episodes of Jackass, laughing at stupid shit is a joy reserved for all ages.

 

11 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

The part of this episode that made me go huh?! was when Grover said Pan disappeared and it was because of humans. How?!  Why?!  This show seems to want it both ways in terms of whether or not humans can see the mythical world/creatures.

I don't believe he said Pan disappeared because of Humans.  He just said he disappeared thousands of years ago.   As a result of his disappearance he was no longer there to look over the natural world.  His terse response of 'Humans' to Percy's question of why there weren't as many centaurs riding around was referring to the fact that since Pan was no longer around to prevent it, humans were able to encroach on the natural spaces, i.e. the rise of industrialism, that in turn led to fewer natural spaces for the centaurs to ride so there are not as many riding around or there are just less of them period.

[margol29]

Reading through these comments made me think that AB should not be a demi-god. Both her parents are gods. That would not make her a half-blood but a full blood? 

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, margol29 said:

Reading through these comments made me think that AB should not be a demi-god. Both her parents are gods. That would not make her a half-blood but a full blood? 

Spoiler

If you mean Annabeth, her mother is Athena and her father is a mortal.  Apparently sex wasn’t involved  athena came from Zeus thoughts and Annabeth from Athena’s thoughts with Annabeth’s father as the inspiration. That would be the ‘gift’ conversation. 

 

[margol29]

19 hours ago, Affogato said:

  Reveal spoiler

If you mean Annabeth, her mother is Athena and her father is a mortal.  Apparently sex wasn’t involved  athena came from Zeus thoughts and Annabeth from Athena’s thoughts with Annabeth’s father as the inspiration. That would be the ‘gift’ conversation. 

 

Spoiler

I thought it was mentioned that she was an outcast because she was a daughter of Zeus?

 

[Guest]

On 1/3/2024 at 2:36 AM, PurpleTentacle said:

How the hell does Percy not get that the prophecy means that he'll lose his mother and how does Annabeth not get that either? Isn't she supposed to be the smart one? It's really not all that cryptic. Pretty straight foreward as prophecies go.

🤷‍♀️I didn’t think that the prophecy means that he will lose his mother just because prophecies in mythology are anything but straight forward. Just like I feel certain the friend that betrays Percy either won’t be Annabeth or Grover (I haven’t read the books) or it won’t be a true betrayal. 

On 1/3/2024 at 2:36 AM, PurpleTentacle said:

Grover: "There is an athenian temple in... somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?"

Annabeth: "Yes, except it's not all that hidden."

Great job editor, you took the one take where Aryan Simhadri forgot to say "a hidden athenian temple" and now the whole conversation doesn't work. You can really see how much care was taken with this show.

When I watched he said, “…hidden somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?” 

23 hours ago, margol29 said:

Reading through these comments made me think that AB should not be a demi-god. Both her parents are gods. That would not make her a half-blood but a full blood? 

Her father is mortal. In the recent episode, she compares how her father treated her to how the Gods treat their kids. 

[Bookworm 1979]

7 hours ago, margol29 said:

I thought it was mentioned that she was an outcast because she was a daughter of Zeus?

Thalia (the one who was turned into a tree) is a daughter of Zeus.  Maybe that's who they were talking about?

[Mr. Sparkle]

Hi all, there's a new full forum here:

Full Forum. 

I'll be closing this thread and setting up episode threads this weekend. 

If you have any ideas for threads you want, please PM me.