The beloved demigod Percy Jackson is back on our screens, as the Disney+ fantasy adventure series returns with its 2nd season, where the stakes (and arguably the production value) are higher. Percy and his best friend at camp, Annabeth Chase, have to figure out how to protect Camp Half-Blood before it is too late, as the final antagonist from last season, Luke Castellan, is back to create more chaos. At the same time, he must also venture out to help and rescue his other best friend, Grover Underwood, who goes missing on a personal mission to find Pan, the Greek god of nature. The first two episodes of Percy Jackson & The Olympians season 2, which have premiered together, cover all these pressing matters and more, as the protagonist also figures out how to save the camp.
Spoiler Alert
Why is Camp Half-Blood in danger?
Season 2 begins with the titular protagonist, Percy Jackson, waking up from what seemed to be a fantastical nightmare about his best friend, Grover. Having realized that he is a demigod, as Poseidon is his father, and even having stopped a war between the gods a year back, Percy is now spending the last few days of his summer break holiday at home with his loving mother, Sally. But it does not take very long for his other best friend from Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth Chase, to make contact with him, despite her having almost ghosted him for the entirety of the holiday. Annabeth suddenly comes to Percy one fine day, aboard a magical taxi being driven by the Gray Sisters, the figures from Greek mythology who have the special talent to predict the future. Because of their supernatural abilities, Percy has them make a prediction about Grover’s current location, as he fears that the satyr is lost, as he had seen in his nightmare, but more on that later.
For now, Annabeth is distressed about her nightmares, in which she had seen Camp Half-Blood being attacked by some ill-intentioned foes, and she believes that this was a premonition. As the taxi leaves Annabeth, Luke, and his new friend, Tyson, at a spot close to the camp, they are suddenly attacked by a group of giants who throw fireballs at them, clearly identifying them as demigods and therefore trying to harm them. The three of them have to run towards the camp in order to take shelter inside, where no monsters can enter. However, as they reach the place and take advantage of the magical barrier that only allows gods and demigods to enter the camp, Annabeth realizes that the attack by the cannibalistic giants from up north must have been a sort of distraction. Since the giants are known to be quite intelligent, it would not make sense that they attacked the camp from behind, knowing well that there would just be trees and the wild forest, unless they did so only to distract Clarisse and the others who have been given the task of protecting the place.
Percy quickly understands that the magical barrier that keeps all monsters and evil-intentioned figures out from Camp Half-Blood itself is in danger, as the barrier is technically kept in place by Thalia’s tree. We had already been told the story of valiant Thalia in the previous season, a demigod who had fought with all her might to protect her friends from villains and who had been turned into a tree by her father, Zeus, after he acknowledged her strength and courage as commendable attributes. To give her sacrifice for the camp symbolic character, Zeus had also granted the Thalia tree the power to project a protective magical barrier that would keep all enemies out of Camp Half-Blood. Now, as the three children rush to the entrance of the camp, where the Thalia tree stands as the lone protector of the place, they realize that the attack by the giants had indeed been just a distraction. While everyone was away protecting the rear side of the camp, Lucas Castellan had returned to harm the Thalia tree with poison so that the tree would die and the barrier would be destroyed, meaning Camp Half-Blood would finally be vulnerable to attacks. Percy and Annabeth catch Lucas in the act but are unable to stop him, as the villainous teenager makes a deep cut on the trunk of the tree using the poisoned blade of his sword and then leaves the place on his Pegasus, warning Percy that they will surely meet again.
As the authorities rush to the spot and the exact damage to the Thalia tree is assessed, it is concluded that the barrier will hold for three more weeks, following which the camp will be totally vulnerable to all attacks, unless the tree can be nursed back to health. This temporary assurance of safety is comforting, but Percy and Annabeth immediately realize that such peace and security will not last long, only because of the callousness of the camp authorities. Dionysus, or Mr. D, is still the camp director; he is as unbothered about serious matters as ever. But the helpful and kind activities director, Chiron, has now been replaced by Tantalus, the king of Anatolia, most famous for the curse on him, which disallows him from touching any food, irrespective of how hungry he feels. It is Tantalus who takes the attack on the camp even less seriously, as he considers it to be just a minor incident, and instead decides to hold a chariot race to uplift the morale of the camp. Despite Percy and Annabeth’s best attempts to convince him and Dionysus to take measures against any more attacks, the two dismiss their concerns and prepare for the chariot race.
Who is Tyson?
Tyson is a new central character in Percy Jackson & The Olympians season 2, who is introduced as a helpless Cyclops whom Sally had met while volunteering at a homeless shelter and brought home with her. Although only Percy, Sally, and the others from the magical world of gods can see Tyson as a Cyclops, meaning that they can see he only has one eye in the center of his face instead of the two that humans normally have, Tyson was still extensively bullied and picked on throughout his life. His timid and lonesome nature made him an easy target for bad people who only wanted to take advantage of him, and so Sally brought him home to raise him like a son. She was also excited to send Tyson to Camp Half-Blood, as she felt that he would find a better life there.
But Percy always felt that Tyson would not even be allowed inside the camp, since he is technically a monster, and no monster is ever allowed inside Camp Half-Blood. But in a desperate situation, when the cannibalistic giants are attacking the trio, Annabeth uses her position as a demigod to grant Tyson entry into the place. Some time later, it is revealed that Tyson is actually a son of Poseidon as well, which means that he and Percy are actually brothers, or half-brothers to be precise. He later reveals to Percy that a sphinx on the streets had once told him that his mother is a naiad, or nymph, and that his father is a god. Tyson had not believed this at the time, since the Sphinx had been bullying him when he had made this revelation, but he now learns that this is indeed his real origin story.
Over the first two episodes, Tyson gradually starts becoming useful to Percy because of his skills in repairing things and also because of his superior hearing, which allows him to listen to things much more efficiently than humans or demigods. But he is also marked by the same desire to meet his father like all the other demigods we have seen throughout the series, and Percy has to tell him that such a meeting will be possible only when, and if, Poseidon actually wants to meet Tyson and acknowledge him as his son. But for now, Percy and Tyson start bonding as brothers, and the two are sure to help each other out numerous times in the episodes to come.
What is the only way to save camp?
Through his repeated nightmares, Percy actually comes up with a way to save Camp Half-Blood as well, for these nightmares are not simple dreams but actual conversations with his estranged best friend, Grover Underwood. After having stepped out on a journey to find the god of nature, Pan, Grover had seemingly found success, as seen at the very beginning of Percy Jackson & The Olympians season 2, when he found the flute played by the god. But he was also hunted down by the demigod followers of Luke, as they seemingly sought the god of nature as well, and as he managed to evade them somehow, he was captured by a gigantic sea monster, as per the plan of Polyphemus. As revealed by Grover in one of Percy’s nightmares, the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, has been baiting and capturing satyrs for some reason, and so Grover is now one of his hostages.
The magical item that Polyphemus has been using is the Golden Fleece, an object that has the power to heal anything and anyone, but more importantly in this context, it gives off the scent of Pan, whom all the satyrs in the world are looking for. Although Polyphemus had used the Golden Fleece on Pan’s flute to lure Grover, the followers of Luke had been searching for the same flute because of the strands of the Fleece on it. These demigods are basically looking for the Golden Fleece because they need it to heal something or someone, which remains a mystery as of now. It is from this very nightmare that Percy realizes the need of the hour—he and Annabeth must set out on a quest to find the Golden Fleece at the Bermuda Triangle, to bring it back and use it to heal the Thalia tree. Successfully doing so will reset the magical protective barrier around the camp once again and save it from any further danger.
Why does Percy feel betrayed by Annabeth?
When Percy and Annabeth approach Tantalus with their plan, he refuses to believe them and instead focuses on the chariot race. However, total chaos ensues during the race, as thousands of monstrous birds manage to break through the weakened barrier and attack the demigods and gods gathered at the stadium. The protagonist is able to drive the birds away by taking advantage of their weakness against high-pitched shrill music, and Tantalus finally takes his words seriously. But the villainous character obviously appoints Clarisse La Rue to be the leader of the quest, since she was the only person to not abandon his chariot race even after the monsters attacked. As Clarisse has to choose her two companions, she picks Annabeth first, and is about to pick Percy when Annabeth whispers something in her ear, and she chooses a different demigod.
This naturally makes Percy feel betrayed by Annabeth, and the misunderstanding and coldness that already existed between them throughout the holidays also play a part. Both had refrained from making contact with each other throughout the month, despite desiring to reach out, seemingly because there is some romantic tension building between them. But for now, the situation is further affected adversely when Tyson reveals what he had overheard at the beginning of the chariot race—Annabeth had told her companion to attack Percy and Tyson and to ensure that they did not win the race. This makes the protagonist feel even worse, as he feels that his best friend has only been trying to hurt him in recent times, despite him being very dedicated to helping her out. What he does not realize, though, is that Annabeth has actually been told by Chiron to stop Percy from going on the quest to the Bermuda Triangle. According to Chiron, the whole situation had been created by Kronos, who wants to get hold of Percy at any cost, and so he orders Annabeth to make all sorts of efforts to stop the boy from venturing out on the quest to find the Golden Fleece. What’s worse is that Annabeth cannot say any of this to Percy, which creates even more of a misunderstanding between the close friends.
Do the kids ultimately set out on a quest?
However, Percy Jackson is not someone to be stopped by obstacles in his way, and so he sneaks out of his room to set out on an adventure by himself after feeling betrayed by Annabeth. He goes to the nearby water body and asks for his father, Poseidon’s permission and blessings, and this is when Hermes appears in front of him. Hermes leads Percy to a cruise ship that is apparently headed to the Bermuda Triangle, meaning that it will take him to exactly where he needs to go. But Hermes also asks Percy to make peace with his son, Luke, despite knowing that the boy has now totally turned evil and is serving the orders of Kronos.
Percy disagrees, and by this time, he is also joined by Annabeth and Tyson. Although Annabeth cannot tell him her exact reason, she tries her best to make Percy understand why she had made the specific choices in the recent past, and their misunderstandings are finally sorted out. Tantalus makes a determined effort to stop the three teenagers from setting out on their adventure but is unable to do so. Thus, at the end of Percy Jackson & The Olympians season 2 episode 2, a new quest begins for Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson as they head towards the cruise ship. As seen in the short end-credits teaser, the cruise ship supposedly belongs to Luke himself, meaning that Percy and Luke will have another face-off, or at least a confrontation, very soon.
