Percy Jackson ~ Lost in Adaptation Episode 5
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- Опубліковано 15 січ 2024
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians strays yet further from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.
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Hephaestus' actor Timothy Omundson is genuinely disabled, having suffered a stroke several years ago that paralyzed his left arm (you can see it lifelessly hanging through the whole scene) and weakened his legs so he needs a cane to walk (as briefly seen when he leaves at the end). He's a fantastic actor and it's been great to see him find several roles like this that enable him to work with his condition.
That's really cool!! I'm glad they had good casting choices here. Unfortunately the lighting really worked against them in this specific scene
Should see him in Psych 2: Lassie come home (I think is the name) they have him spend the entire movie in a hospital bed
@@daydreamerX200 And the previous movie had to drop him entirely as he wasn’t yet recovered enough to work again. Which means the subplot of his corrupt past had to be shifted onto another character where it made no sense.
People have been saying he’s too sexy for Hephaestus, but I think disability representation is a little more important than looks.
Damn, I didn't know about that part. Gotta go back and rewatch because that would explain some Lassie moments
I didnt see the chair as a trap more as a fuck you to Ares in a “go on Ares, prove anyone would love you enough to sacrifice themselves for you” kinda way
++++
Thats what I thought!
Nah, its too much headcannon its better in the book.
Yeah, not a trap - a taunt.
I think the point of the chair was that neither Aphrodite or Ares would’ve done it, and he’d never get his shield back, which fits Hephestus’ vibe in this version. Personally, I like how the show is further exploring the idea of the pantheon’s family dynamic, which could lead to some more interesting changes later on, regarding the upcoming Titan war.
If they ever get that many episodes. People won't watch it if the story diverges too much since it can't bank on nostalgia.
I cant understand why so called percy jackson fans would be against new percy jackson content. @@uanime1
@@uanime1I disagree an adaption doesn't need to match up if it does something interesting or has enjoyable versions of the characters. I think the series has what it takes to keep going at least from the view of myself and my wife as an old and new fan respectively.
@@uanime1 it seems like it’s doing well enough so I don’t see why we wouldn’t get that far unless the next few seasons completely screw things up
@@uanime1I think if there’s a good balance between old and new, then fans of the books hopefully won’t mind the changes
They explained the whole “Gods need demigods to break rules” thing when they had Dionysus try to trick Percy into getting him wine when he couldn’t.
You’re right I forgot Dionysus is also a demigod
You’re right I forgot Dionysus is also a demigod
@@FunFilmFare he’s not
@@ashhinman1919technically he was, but yeah not anymore.
The problem isn't that they failed to explain why demigods are useful to the gods, it's that they never explained what the rules are that the gods can't break. Nobody ever says "Poseidon can't steal the master bolt, so he would have had to have a demigod do it, which makes Poseidon's illegal demigod a prime suspect, and also makes that same demigod the only person who can preserve the peace by going to the underworld" They leave out key parts that make it make sense.
The actor for Hephaestus is physically disabled after a stroke in 2017. He uses a mobility aid and I know that he has struggles about facial features due to I think nerve damage (but I could be wrong about that last bit). He's a really great actor and I'm excited to see how he works with Hephaestus, because I know he was also super excited about playing a character who's a god with incredible power and is also disabled.
I understand that the books have a particular portrayal that you envisioned, but disability is not always so "grotesque" or even noticable. Invisible disabilities deserve onscreen representation too, and I'm glad Timothy Omundson (Hephaestus) is so passionate about the project.
100% agreed. Hephaestus doesn’t have to be gross. I really dislike the audiobooks that give him a weird “stupid”-coded voice. The guy built Achilles’ armor and tons of automatons, which Homer found worthwhile adding in a whole chapter for (plus a nice second wife). And he mostly stays out of the family drama, with the exception of freeing his mom, the one who threw him down from Olympus in the first place. He’s high on my list of godly parents.
Seriously though, that complaint makes Dominic look really insensitive.
I get this point but Hephaestus being made conventionally unattractive by Hera’s abuse is a huge part of the myths surrounding him and a huge example of just how petty and mean the god’s are to each other. I also think it plays a huge role in Aphrodites characterization in the book- the fact that she cheats on him with Ares solely because he’s ugly and very obviously physically disabled is a big part of why the readers first don’t like her (at least, that’s how I felt when I first read the book, it really drove home how cruel aphrodite was)
I do think Dom really should’ve mentioned it (especially because
less obvious disabilities to
do get erased), but I also think casting Hephaestus as a very conventionally attractive man whose disabilities are not as evident is kind of crappy? I think invisible disabilities do get a lot of sh*t and we need rep for them, but I also think that we don’t have many characters who’s physically disabilities are extremely evident and go way against conventional beauty standards. Idk, I just think that it sucks a character who was explicitly not conventionally attractive and obviously disabled was cast as someone conventionally attractive and not obviously disabled.
This is just my opinion on it though, and I don’t think changing the character is inherently bad or ableist or ruins the show. But I do also wish they would’ve found an actor who’s disabilities were more similar to book Hephasteus’
@@neonradius Except that there's been multiple characterizations of what "ugly" means for Hephaestus in regards to the gods. One of the more common modern tropes for him is that he ended up looking...normal. Like a normal dude, like he does in the show.
But since the gods are all unnaturally attractive, they consider normal to be ugly. Combine that with having a physical malady and they consider him extremely ugly.
@@Silverizael Exactly, the gods have different standards for what is ugly. Heck a baby could be born with more wrinkles or walks a bit different and they definitely would see that as ugly.
I liked the extra little detail about Ares spending time on his phone starting flame wars. It amused me.
I think the notion is fun, but the line was written in such a OOC manner that it annoyed me to no end
@@notllikethat tbh Ares is the "dumb" side of war, so him using Twitter to get stupid people fighting over irrelevant shit is very on character
That was one of my favorite details so far! Of course the god of war uses twitter!
When I read this I imagend you on a throne saying, "It amused me." 😆 It was pretty cool.
So entertaining.
The trap was meant to make it so that Ares would never get his shield back. Aphrodite would never sacrifice herself for him and Ares obviously can't sit in it himself. It was intended as a Catch 22 where he'd never get it back. He probably expected Ares to recruit someone to get it back for him but never expected Annabeth to be able to talk him down the way she did.
He knew that neither of the two gods would denigrate themselves with the chair and would then be able to in theory blackmail Ares in the future.
Then why was he cool with Annabeth just walking out of there with the shield. Like, what?
@@Vince_ibledid you watch the episodes lol
@@SolitaryLark Clearly. Explain this to me in a way that makes sense. "This way Ares would never get his shield back!" Where is this said in the episode. "Clearly he knew Ares would just use a demigod/someone else to get the shield" then why bother. And why let Annabeth leave with the shield (even letting down the ladder??) but insisting on keeping Percy there. Then let them both go after a minute long talk.
In the books, it makes sense. Percy and Annabeth are genuinely caught in the crossfire. The only danger to Ares and Aphrodite are being humiliated again, which is Hephestus's M.O. in mythology anyway.
@@Vince_ible Hephaestus is testing Annabeth. I thought it was pretty clear
In the books, the goal was to embarrass the two by catching them in this trap and exposing them. Not keep his shield from him. How would that be revenge for Ares sleeping with his wife? It just doesn’t have a good why behind it.
one tiny detail I'd like to add is that in the one version of the myth, the reason Hephaestus trapped Hera on the throne was much more sympathetic. To keep it as short as possible Hera gets herself pregnant with a magical herb but the baby she gives birth to comes out deformed. After being horrified by her son's ugly appearance she legit yeets baby Hephaestus off of Mount Olympus, Hephaestus luckily lives but his legs are permanently disabled. He survives by being taken in by sea nymphs, once he grows up he creates the Golden Throne- not to blackmail his way into an unwilling marriage to Aphrodite but as a way to punish his mother for trying to kill him and disabling him for life. Hera is trapped on the throne and the gods beg to have her released, Hephaestus says 'nah fuck all of you' and goes back home to the island he grew up on. Nothing gets him to leave so eventually Dionysis goes down to visit him, gets him blackout drunk and hauls him back up to Olympus on the back of a mule. Once back on Olympus Hephaestus agrees to release Hera after she admits her wrongdoing, then Zesus shows up at the last min and Hephaestus asks "can I also marry Aphrodite if I release Hera?" and Zesus kinda feels bad for him so he's like "aight". Still not great form from Hephaetus but it makes the whole throne thing a lot less creepy and would show that he wouldn't necessarily be too fond of the gods either. But with all the attempted infanticide and drunkenness I can see why a Disney show went with another version.
P.s. I will note that in another version he is the son of both Hera and Zeus and is thrown off of Olympus by his father for trying to free his mother after Zeus tied her up for trying to kill Heracles... which is wayyyy darker imo.
p.p.s There's also a version where Poseidon, Ares and Hermes were all ready to go to war with each other over Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Hera resolved this by giving Aphrodite to Hephaestus, reasoning that he was the best candidate because he desired her the least.
Just a lil autistic ramble
I haven't read the books but to me Grover made more sense with Ares because it wasn't just about being smart but being empathetic. As he pressed Ares for info he'd massage his ego to calm him and open him up. That just doesn't seem like Annabeth to me. She's far too blunt.
I really liked the episode.
Also saytrs can canonically sense emotion, so that's a fun nod
I love what the ep did with Grover. Not just giving him more to do, but showing his strengths as an equal part of the trio. Instead of just having him as the wacky but liyal sidekick
+
I like your take, but i also agree with the take that they should have switched places to establish character more.
Annabeth needs more work to establish her as the strategic thinker and Grover so far is lacking in the loyalty aspect of his character.
It also wouldn't hurt to see him and Percy hash things out like bros in the tunnel of love while Hephaestus's story is happening in the background and pretty much gets ignored because the adhd kid got something to say (said as someone with adhd who 100% would have ignored it if I had something to say to my friend)
I just think that the episode would have been better with the trap from the book. To me it seems that the to show is still painting the characters as far to smooth, they lack many aspect of the characters so far that made them so different and so relatable.
To me it doesn't look like Hephaestus lives here but instead comes in from the Dedalus' Maze from Book 4. The door even has an orange glow coming from it.
He probably wanted to see if Ares was actually stupid enough to sit onto the chair 😂
Personally I really liked this episode. The chair setup feels to me like neither Ares or Aphrodite were SUPPOSED to be willing to make the sacrifice, it's a taunt. And I liked how Grover was shown to be cunning here. Next season he's gonna need to spend most of the time convincing a cyclops that he's a female cyclops who wants to marry him. This is good setup IMO. Plus it wouldn't be as impactful if someone who was ALREADY ride-or-die for Percy made that speech, because it's all about how Annabeth is learning to be less cynical.
I agree with the taunt.
There is also the fact that hods can Teleport, so for Ares to give Percy the mission to retrieve the shield sounds like a weak task.
But with the whole chair thing Ares has a far bigger reason as to why he doesn't want to do it himself.
it's been established that Percy knows the myths because his mom told them to him. I'm not sure where Annabeth would have learned them (other than the main ones) because she left her dad when she was 8 and we don't even know what he would have told her. at camp, there's obviously more of a chance for her to hear stories but she would most likely only know the ones from her cabin, the ones involving Athena. in the books, it might be different but for the show it makes more sense for Percy to recognize the myth the tunnel was telling because it was pretty much one of his bedtime stories lol
also Percy saying Annabeth is better then him at this, i took it as more so the management of the quest because she's been leading them. Big decisions are made by her throughout the show and Percy says this when a big decision is his to make. so it's not about brute strength or winning individual fights but strategy and looking at the big picture within the quest that she is better than him (which from what i've heard about the book is still in character? isn't she the strategist?)
They have once a week a campfire where they tell stories, have they not?
I believe Annabeth would know about them. She is one of the few Demigods who actually goes out of her way to read books despite it being difficult. And since they aren't myths but defined history facts for them she would only need to learn the right version and not the ten different ones.
I liked that fact that Percy could show that he wasn't an idiot and that his mom taught him stuff.
But I only wished that Annabeth would have somehow let it get through that she already knew the story.
Could have also been fun for them gling back and for on the story or her correcting him on small details that were different. Sally wouldn't be able to know for sure, which myth actually happened, so for Annabeth to offer slight corrections would show her respecting Percys knowledge, while also showing that there are still thingd for Percy to learn
@@jackwriter1908 you might be right, I haven't read the books so my only knowledge is from the show. I was just trying to explain it the way I understood it since Dom asked show only fans for interpretations idk
Hate to admit it but hearing that Ares was played by my favorite wrestler of all time is the thing that convinced me to check out this show
And he’s doing a fantastic job too.
it's a fair reason, he was a perfect casting
He’s *perfect* for Ares, you have good taste
As someone who was never a huge wrestling fan, he's fricken great as Ares.
ah, he was the guy in Money Plane!
as far as changing around some parts of characterization (Percy telling the myth, Annabeth and Grover doing things the other is best at) I think they may be trying to make them a bit more rounded of characters instead of the smart one, or the nice one, etc. Especially since they've established that Sally told Percy a lot of these myths, so it makes sense that he would remember the stories his mom told him. That also makes him less an audience insert having to have everything explained to him.
Also, particularly with Annabeth trying to save Percy, and the big speech about not being like the gods, I think that helps establish them truly becoming friends, and forging that strong bond that they'll have throughout.
This episode also has my favorite line so far "thanks for the emotional abuse and cheeseburgers"
And don't forget that Mr. Brunners classes were the only ones where Percy was truly interested in. So Percy had already lessons from Chiron on all kinds of myths.
@09:55 Presumably, they cast Timothy Omundson as Haphaestus because he can bring a lot of gravitas to the role (as attested by his great portrayal of Cain in Supernatural), and because he has a disability due to surviving a stroke, much like how Forge Daddy is supposed to be "disfigured"
Forge Daddy 😭
Cain was really cool such a shame how he went out.
This coment is great but reading "forge Daddy" has delt me major psychological damage 😅
I think since the show has established demigods can do things on behalf of gods that gods can't, Hephasteus did know Ares would send demigods to get the shield. The chair could either dissaude them or trap them for helping Ares.
I was thinking that. Further it would be logical for Hephaestus to assume Ares would send one of his own kids in which case, revenge by proxy.
Which actually makes a lot of sense with how the gods behave both in the PJOverse and the myths
@@erikdaniels0neh I disagree about that. In the myths the gods did do their own work a lot of the time. Demigods were often on adventures out of their own will or because the God was busy, not because they couldn't be bothered
@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 I can't remember, does the shield count as one of the powerful objects like the bolt or the Trident? What item is the Ares equivalent, was it ever mentioned?
I like how they split up the characters. Thru that miniquest, Annabeth learned the value of Percy has a hero and a friend and Grover learned the to be more confident. Grover is clearly the best at manipulating people or gods by using their emotions againsts them.
The way I rationalised the chair is that Hephaestus expected Ares to force Aphrodite into the chair as a way to break them up while also punishing both of them, but there is little evidence of this it's just what makes the most sense to me.
I also thought about it in that way glad I'm not alone
Why would Ares froce Aphrodite into the chair?
@@4whealwhy wouldn’t he? He doesn’t actually care about anyone but himself… at least in Hephaestus’s eyes (and he’s kinda right)
@@TheIndianDeity Ares was a loving father and son he adored his children and was even willing to be sent to hell for when he protected his daughter from being raped.
He was sealed away in jar when protecting his mother, who hates him. In one myth, when his son was killed, he threw himself on the body and wept for his child.
Like saying Ares only ever cared about himself is massively wrong and shows how little people actually know the god in question.
@@4wheal I know in myth he cares a lot about the people around him… but rn show Ares is somewhat different in that regard. It’s hard to get into without spoiling future events, but right now Ares isn’t fully Ares, and wouldn’t make decisions normal Ares would. But don’t worry it’ll make sense when you see what I’m talking about this season, and for future seasons Ares will go back to being his myth self
12:23 I mean, she also was the one who organized her team to capture the flag and deduced that Percy was a child of poseidon. the whole beheading Medusa was also their jointed plan so like not "she... asisted"
I'd suggest a theory about the whole water park living situation. It could be a labyrinth entrance leading to the forge.
I mean the labyrinth is massive and is constantly opening up and moving so it's entirely possible
@@BlazeDupree1525 and we know he knows about it and has ways of navigating it
That’s some heavy foreshadowing assuming the show gets that far
Heck, it could have been that in the book. Though in the book, it was just a closed amusement park that Hephaestus used for his broadcast, not something he specifically built for the purpose.
@@babs3241 we don't see any mysterious doors in the book and I doubt Rick planned that far ahead, but it works for the show and how it's presented
Sorry to hear the show's not doing it for you currently. I'm really enjoying it and I still feel the spirit of it and the characters in what's presented. And some of the points such as why the gods can't go into other realms and such just didn't occur to me, and I did read the book. And as for the shield problem, I see it as it being an impossible challenge for Ares, since Aphrodite would never do it, showing they do not love one another enough to make such a sacrifice. She won't sit in the chair for his shield, and he won't let go of his shield for her.
Out of curiosity so you feel like this series has any of the humor of the books? That has been my biggest complaint.
@@seanmaddex4104 Yeah, I've gotten some laughs. Things like "Not bad, kid." or "Like Jesus?", Grover and Hades discussing wars like old movies including underappreciated ones, and so on.
thats fair but I feel the books were very funny and hit that tone a lot more where I feel the tone of the show really makes me wish I had that. especially percy's inner monologue that always has me laughing out loud. tonally the show feels bland compared to the books for me.@@Rixec2
Rick made a post explaining that they had to change the sidequest, because all the spiders would have been both a nightmare to animate, and would take up far to much of the effects budget. So they redid it and made the sequence more manageable.
I'm pretty sure the point of the chair was that because it requires a sacrifice, and neither Aries or Aphrodite would be willing to make it, Aries wouldn't get his shield back, pissing him off. Hephestus built the amusement park, because he could. And as someone who had never been to an amusement park (I'm assuming given her backstory) Annabeth would of course be impressed by her first trip to one. To quote the Twilight reviews, "It's not that deep bro".
I was fine with omitting the spiders for whatever reason. I don’t think they’d have looked as cool. Plus, between reading, watching, and listening to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Chamber of Secrets a gazillion times, I feel entitled to skip the spiders in nearly everything, especially if I’ve already read/seen/heard it. I’m no arachnophobe, and I’ll even carefully escort them out of the house or just let the house spiders get on with things, but enough is enough.
@@professorbutters I hate to disappoint, but in that same post, Rick promised some spiders at a later point.
Why bother with a trap at all then? Why not just take the shield and shove it somewhere Ares can't get to?
@@Electric999999 that's literally what he did, there was no way Aries could get it without delegating to demigods, and even if it was hidden, there was a chance it could get found. Why hide it, when he could taunt him.
@@BookBat Aries would just delegate it to a demigod then though, so that doesn't make sense either
Thanks for the video! I think Grover staying with Ares gives him a chance to showcase his empathy, and Annabeth staying with Percy showcases her remarkable character development - her feelings for Percy have changed for the better, and her former ideas about the olympians have been deconstructed for the better. Plus Ares having fire in his eyes would likely end up looking silly + way too weird. Hope the show gets another season!
all of this. Also, that's mostly the answer to all the "but why doesn't is look like they described it in the book?" complaints. It's either budget or it'll look weird when it's not just in your head. I think the amusement park quest was probably both.
Rick actually went on record saying that the Spiders were cut for budget reasons. (And gave the fans a IOU for spiders which is a THREAT)
Concerning the lack of spiders, Riordian stated that they brainstormed a lot of ways to depict it, but it soon became a production nightmare. So they focused on Percy and Annabeth learning to trust each other and Grover's prowess in empathy.
Book Percy is not completely clueless either and Mr. Brunner's is the only class he actually did pay attention to, so it makes sense for him to know stuff about Greek mythology.
I really love how the show is diffusing the whole notion that Grover, Annabeth and Percy have one character trait each, so: kind, brainy, and reckless, respectively. It's not like the book did that to the extreme, but more so than the show I think.
I really like how the show is treating Grover so far.
Show Grover is my fave.
And there is also the fact that it shows that Sally did prepare Percy. It wasn't in the show explained, but I always got the Sarah Connor vibes from Sally in the books. Studying the myths and legends and thinking about counter measures against the different monsters.
Sally acrually teaching Percy something, even if it is just about how toxic and dangerous the godly family is...
Though I do wonder if Percy realises that Poseidon actually has a wife and son who are gods... _"Percy your mother was a side fling"_ would defiently impact hard 😂 and it could have worked well in the context of Percy not trusting his father to help him
I’ve gone back-and-forth on how I feel about the side quests changing for the show. I’ve decided I’m a fan of it because it means that even after reading the books as many times as I have, the show still feels like an adventure. And fans who start with the show will still have an adventure when they read the books!
The one good thing about the show that I don’t think I’ll have to retract is that it’s doing a great job with emotional development. They may be relying on ram knowledge on lore, but they are really going into it with the more touchy feely stuff
That's what is still keeping me on board with the show right now
Not to be indelicate. But are you a moron. The best part of the books was the lore and world building. Leaving that out so they can change the story isn't how it works.
I mean, to be fair, Annabeth hasn't seen a lot of the outside world, so perhaps this shady amusement park did seem amazing to her lol Even when Percy mentions it looks straight out of a horror movie, she just says she has to take his word on it, cause she doesn't know how does that look either. Also, in light of future events (The Titan's curse) this introduction to Hephestus and his inclination to build places like this, with unfortunate consequences to those who visit, makes sense.
I do admit that Percy telling Hephestus's story to Annabeth seemed a bit out of place. If i had to guess the logic behind it, it'd seem like his mom told him the stories about the relationships among the Gods and their dynamics but not about their "work/purpose" and other important parts of the mythology, like the furies or the fates. Sally was more interested in the tea but Annabeth&Grover know the official versions haha and this also adds to Sally trying to paint the Gods in the worst possible light to keep Percy wary of them.
On the point of a half-blood having to be the one to get the bolt because the gods can't directly do stuff like that; in episode 2 they do say Dionysus tries to trick Percy into getting the wine for that exact reason so I'd say the show did set a precedent for the a half-blood needing to be the one to get the bolt.
Yes. And they did have Grover throw out the idea that it had to be a halfblood during this episode.
honestly though that scene makes it seem more like that way only because Dionysus is cursed. There isn't a reason to believe that applies to all things in general
Agreed. Something that plot important should be told out right, not just alluded to. Hell, maybe even stated a few times to make sure the audience remembers. @@swordyshield
@@swordyshield Fair point. Though given that the curse is a punishment from Zeus and the curse doesn't work like that in the book, I wouldn't be surprised if that scene was supposed to be the explanation.
12:12 But, all that was stuff Percy did in the book too. And Annabeth killing the fury actually didn't happen in the book. I just reread the books, and, so far, the show really hasn't omitted anything major that Annabeth did.
It is a real problem when adaptations rely on viewers having read the book. It can lead to so many plot holes for people who aren't familiar with the source material.
You also can't bank on nostalgia if you change too much because people can't be nostalgic for a story they haven't read.
I had a chance to ask some non-book readers on a forum I go to if they'd been confused with anything so far, but they seemed to be able to follow along fine with baseline knowledge of Greek myths. These are pen and paper RPG people, mind you, so their baseline probably isn't representative of the general population's.
@@Agamemnon2
Did they understand why people thought Percy stole the lightning bolt?
I am kinda sad that you’re not necessarily enjoying this show because I’m loving it. It seems that Riordan is using this as a way to showcase how he’s grown as a writer and in his understanding of the characters he’d made so long ago. Plus the heart of story is still there and elevated to me because of the additions that were made and or switched around as instead of several times where Percy is having expedition told to him, he now knows what his mother told him but may just need to be taught the finer details of things. Annabeth is still more experienced than Percy but unlike Percy, she relies more on her book smarts while he is just going off instinct and it seems like he and her are learning from one another how to be more effective in their roles and becoming friends at a bit of a slower pace. Grover is now not just comic relief but is an active member of the group who’s just as vital in figuring out the lightning thief’s identity as the others.
I also think that with this show being made Riordan, he probably knew that several things in the original story just wouldn’t have worked for a tv show like this one or that they needed to be moved around in order to keep audiences interested in order for it to work. I also think he wants viewers, whether they’ve read the books or not, to be able to figure out certain aspects like gods having to use demigods to get other gods items or around punishments by looking at the show and seeing how characters interact or do certain things. The biggest example being how Dionysus tried to trick Percy into getting him wine due to Zeus’ punishment in him being in effect and making it so he wouldn’t be able to do so.
I make a bet that Disney is trying to hard to make then "family friendly" and "that progressive company" since the dont say gay thing
I think you'd really enjoy demigod lover's videos on the series so far.
I get that people all have different experiences with changes, but so far a lot of the creators I've watched who read these as a kid are enjoying the changes, and sometimes it's really fun to experience someone else enjoying it to amp up your own joy/experience.
I don’t think the show portrays the humor from the books very well which was a massive part of the appeal and especially Percy’s character. What are your thoughts on that?
I think they're holding out on naming Riptide until he actually meets his dad
Why would that be? The sword has nothing to do with him. It belonged to Zoe and the Hercules.
@@jazmineraymond7495 Poseidon has this sword after Zoe-Herackles story, and he give this to chejron (as future gift for Percy).
@@songo4950 I was gonna wait to say this till I had the book, but yeah, didn't Chiron say something about Percys dad wanting him to have it?
Having not read the books, I'm following along just fine. Anything that they haven't mentioned has apparently not been important.
I do wonder if Percy's insistence on taking every deadly obstacle head-on is intentional foreshadowing.
Like, is our boy actually suicidal, or is he just trying to quickly fill the self-sacrificing hero role?
I can't wait to see how he will fare once he meets his mother again in the underworld.
Given what happens in heros of Olympus, it's very in character
It is exactly the fact that Percy would rush to sacrifice himself for his friends without a single thought that makes Annabeth in fact “better at this” than him.
Annabeth when things are going down: “I gotta figure this out”.
Percy when things are going down: “I gotta die so my friends can live”.
Guess which one has a better chance of actually completing the quest.
Not the suicidal one.
As brave as self-sacrifice is, it’s not gonna get the lightning bolt back.
Well, Terrence wanted to see Grover’s dark side. And he certainly delivered in manipulating Ares :P
Dom. There is no way they aren’t going to reveal the name of the sword in some cool scene. I feel like it being so iconic to the books means that that it’s going to be an important reveal in the show.
Agreed naming a should be personal to the wielder. It would be anticlimactic for the centar (chronon?) To just tell Percy this riptide and it's only recently the he pick a name honoring his father so it needs to wait
Hope so.
im happy with the changes rick is making to his story to keep it fresh even for book fan like me.
Most people aren't because they want to see the book adapted, not some random version that might fall apart.
@uanime1 see I'd share the same sentiment if it wasn't rick writing it
It is the book being adapted. Did they not do every major thing in the book so far? Yeah some of the details are different but the story is the same. @@uanime1
@@uanime1 That sounds desperately boring. I've read the books already. But to each their own.
@@uanime1 it is being adapted though and fairly well. You shouldn’t expect it to be a 1 to 1 recreation of everything from the book though as even the creator himself said he wanted to make changes
I don’t understand how people can still have this mentality at this point when it’s not going to all of a sudden become exactly like the books
I'm certain hephaestus just came down at the last second, not that he permanently lived there.
Also throwing my hat into the: "the trap wasn't meant to goldify ares or aphrodite it was meant to show that neither would sacrifice themselves"
I honestly love the updates, i think my only complaint is that the pacing is a bit too fast. I wish we had more time of him at Camp Half Blood and bonding/training with Luke.
I actually think they did well with how much Percy bonded with Luke, given the time constraints. I like how they focussed more on Luke than on Annabeth while at Camp Half-Blood. About the only thing I agree with in this video, however, is that the audience might start to forget about Luke. His name really should've popped up more in conversations and we need that Iris message asap! 😅
Luke has been so minimal in this show so far I'm kinda worried it might undercut the twist at the end. I think they were supposed to Iris message back to camp by this point too and that's been either cut or moved.
@@evillittlegoat8338 I just don't think the twist is going to land as well because there's not that much time spent with one another. It was very short interactions. I wish we got more Luke with the other characters as well..
@@evillittlegoat8338thankfully this problem was solved tonight.
@@abookishmess yes, especially more than one brief conversation between Luke and Annabeth probably would've been wise. But I'll wait and see, maybe they'll pull it off anyway. I sure hope so.
following Hephaestus trap making more sense in the book, the trap that would broadcast Ares and Aphrodite's infidelity is also a really clever adaption of a real myth in which Hephaestus made an unbreakable chain that would trap both Ares and Aphrodite in the act so he could humilate them infront of all of the gods
Which was always an odd one for me. Not blaming Riodan, he was following the myth, just that even in the myth going "Look everyone, my wife is cheating on me with Olympus' biggest moron!" wasn't really a big W for Hephaestus.
@@GriffinPilgrim I expect the idea is that it would make Aphrodite look bad.
@@Electric999999 Well sure, but it also sets a pair of antlers on Hephaestus' head.
@@GriffinPilgrimI assume there must be some social concept we simply lack in our modern day compared to the people that told this story...
Maybe he wanted to show us an other myth or disney wasn't ok with the showing the trap that's related to cheating ?
They changed the complication for money reasons. The other one was going to cost too much. I could see how Haephestus already had the ride set up but added the trap when he saw two demigods come in talking about the shield. There’s a chance that Athena is so awful that she told Haephestus to add the trap because she wanted Percy out of the way or for Annabeth to be prevented from embarrassing her further. Also if Annabeth had stayed with Ares she wouldn’t have gotten that info out of him because he wouldn’t have trusted her enough to let anything slip. it had to he Grover because Ares thinks he's just a dumb peacenik.
I do take your point that Percy kind of gave up on his life too easily, but he's kind of bought into the quest now and does think Annabeth would have more luck.
Annabeth
- Figured out that Percy was the son of Poseidon through observation in the toilets (Percy hadn't figured this out himself at that point)
- Used Clarisse's beef with Percy in order to win Capture the Flag (he may have 3v1'd them but that was his whole job, to be a useful idiot)
- Came up with the idea to sit in the back of the bus, explains that the smells hide them from monsters
- Killed the fury's sister, warned the others of their presence before the fighting started
- Came up with the idea to behead Medusa. She directed Percy on when and how to do it, all he had to do was swing
- Immediately recognized that "Auntie Em" was Medusa
- Figured out Hephaestus' entryway contraption just by looking at it and deducing its purpose
- Has been the main decision-maker and leader for the entirety of the quest, showing both her confidence and her hubris in believing her decisions are the best
I could go on...
The fact that you highlighted Percy's strengths as "defeating" monsters and minimized Annabeth's contributions as "helped" really makes it feel like you're diminishing Annabeth's personality to "spouting off facts about mythology." I feel the series has shared the Greek Mythology knowledge between the leads because the series wanted to avoid Annabeth being a walking exposition dump, and instead are showing her intelligence and confidence by making her more involved in the decision-making, planning, and quick-thinking that they need to make it through. I feel like the Capture the Flag part is a huge part of it that you just glossed over. They were outmatched against the bigger, scarier Ares cabin and needed a strategy that used what they had to their advantage.
I'm not upset that they cut down Luke's relationship with Annabeth, I found myself rolling my eyes when it came up in the book. It felt shoehorned and contributed to the "ugh, women, amiright" vibes I got sometimes from the early books. I feel the same about them not showing the Aphrodite cabin the way in the books.
I liked the actress the second I saw her in the trailer. She just radiates calm confidence. And yes, I do want to see cleverness and strategy. That’s Athena’s thing! Honestly, I always back check stuff to the Iliad and the Odyssey, just for funsies.
Her studying the throne of Hera is really in character, too.
I think Hephestus plan was to show Aphrodite that Ares wasn't willing to give up his life for her/was willing to give up her life to get what he wants. It seems like the plan was to get the two back into the ride, discover the shield, end up in a fight over who should sit in the chair, only for Hephestus to come out like "Ha, you've learned the lesson now, ya dicks!" Or, basically all that, with the exception of Ares trying to force Aphrodite into the chair.
It's not like Hephaestus would have the done the same for her as he never actually loved her in mythology and was either froced into the marriage by Zeus or blackmailed Zeus into giving him Aphrodite as a status symbol.
Ares was always more in love with her than Hephaestus was, and seeing that Ares has been trapped before to save someone he loves, I could belive him doing it again
Another alternative; he thought Ares would send one of his own kids to get the shield and then Hephaestus gets revenge via proxy.
This was my favorite episode so far
I also agree!
Mine too! I thought Walker and Leah's acting (and Aryan's as well) was really moving, and even though I haven't read the books and don't know about all the intricacies of plot and character from the original source, so far the story and writing make sense to me and I don't feel lost or confused in the least. It's possible I'm just not picking up on a bunch of other nuances, but honestly, I just don't care that much and I only want to enjoy it for what it is. Maybe my opinions will change in the future depending on where they take the story, but for now I'd say it's a really decent kids/family show that doesn't make me groan or cringe like I thought it would.
Theory: Hephaestus knew that ares would send a third party, and the chair was set up to make sure that anyone who actually got the shield is nice enough to not give it back to ares.
Why bother then? Ares could just easily take back
I am glad to see you acknowledging this shows short comings. While I am still having fun with it there are a lot of problems in my opinion. Relying heavy on viewers having read the books feels very real to me. My husband keeps asking questions I know where already explained in the book but because it has been over a decade I don't remember either and it's making the story feel like it being strung along to get to certain points without the care put in to how they get there.
i think the reason percy’s more aware of greek mythology is partially because they’re using it to help expand sally without her necessarily being present. in episode one it was also established that tv!percy plays mythomagic, which likely will come more into play going forward especially when nico shows up and becomes a recurring character. rick’s approach to the show reminds me a lot of daniel handler’s approach when making the series of unfortunate events show - streamlining some things and retroactively setting up later developments and changing things that he feels no longer fit his vision. because of this i’m super curious as to whether this upcoming episode will feature some kind of nod to nico and bianca and set them up early.
More likely is that Hephaustus built the trap for any demigods that Ares sent his way. Ares doesn't care about his own children, so it'd have to be someone else he conned into it. Hephaustus didn't really give a shit who it was, only that Ares wouldn't get his shield back. Annabeth showing she was better than the gods by trying to free her friend convinced him to change his mind. As for why Hephaustus lives in the Amusement Park, he was banished by Hera and scorned by the other gods, he probably felt like staying in a place he was more comfortable with than anywhere on actual Mt. Olympus.
Grover isn't doing the ride or die thing, but he's doing something that has been built up a bit throughout the show: he's being sneaky. He tricked Ares into revealing he knows who the Lightning Thief is and that Percy is the victim of a conspiracy, something I don't think Annabeth would have been capable of doing at this point due to how young and fresh she is. It's easy to forget that Grover is 24, much older than either Percy or Annabeth.
The amount of coping in this comment is ridiculous. Can we just admit the show is bad yet?
Its not bad. @@blackvendaeta7104
@@blackvendaeta7104I think they heard you the first 11 times
@@blackvendaeta7104 Judging from how many times you posted this, it seems like you're coping with someone disagreeing with you.
Honestly Ares not caering about his kids really pisses me off as in mythology he was probably one of the best fathers out of all the greek gods.
I disagree with your thought that the filmmakers needed people to have read the books. I had not read any of the books before watching the show (I did read The Lightning Thief after episode 5) and I was never confused or lost, nor was there anything I discovered by reading that I had completely missed in the show. (I even pegged the actual thief as soon as we met them . . . Maybe because I am a cynical old sod). Knowing a swords name is not the only way to know it is important. So far I am enjoying this adaptation very much. I think it is universes better than the first several Harry Potter films not least because it allows the magic to be amazing but not AMAZING. There is a lovely matter-of-factness to Percy’s experience that fits both the books and real life.
Yeah it’s would be too much of an info dump to explain it all in the first episode or two. They are going to have to spread it out and explain as the info becomes relevant. Personally I expect a dramatic name reveal for the sword for example. It would be cool, and just knowing it right now doesn’t add anything significant to the story.
I mean, Haephestus could've done that with the shield as a massive taunt because neither would sacrifice themselves so it'd just be right there and Aries couldn't get it. You gotta admit it'd be funny to watch and watch them bicker about it.
I mean, I think you answered your question about who the chair was for XD It's meant as a trap, it's not meant as a thing Ares and Aphrodite can get around/overcome/outsmart. The point is to trap at least one of them or Ares never gets his shield back. Perhaps it's one more instance of 'pushing each other down the stairs to get what we want': maybe Ares would force Aphrodite to sit in the chair and leave her, causing all sorts of relationship issues, perhaps her refusing would also cause relationship issues as Ares won't get his shield back - any way you cut it, either Ares and Aphrodite are separated permanently (one is stuck in the chair) and they are at the mercy of Hephaestus who is the only one who can get them out, or they're on the outs and Ares doesn't have one of his biggest assets of war he's so proud of. It seems like a much more concise way to show character moments with Percy and Annabeth's mindsets than just a net and spiders they have to fight off - there's not much time for character mindset exploration there.
My thought on the chair trap is that it was intended to show Aphrodite how little Ares cares about her as Ares would likely be willing to sacrifice her for his shield possibly even going so far as to force her into it. There’s probably also a certain level of enjoyment to be had from the general aggravation it would cause Ares to be without his shield and to have to come up with a plan to get it back
I laughed out loud at the music choice for the tunnel of love scene. Surprised you didn't mention it.
Very surprised he's skipping over how rick is keeping his rick humor in the show.
For the chair I dont think it was actually meant to trap ares or aphrodite, I think it was made to make ares fight with aphrodite because she wouldn't sacrifice herself for his shield and for aphrodite to get mad that ares cares more about her shield than her
And it plays really well into Percy's fatal flaw which iirc is introduced in book 2
I thought when i first saw the episode that the intent of the trap is exactly what you are saying- to prove that they *wouldnt* do that- in order to do this one needs to have a level of selflessness they would never have, and thus he proves they dont have anything real with eachother, which honestly makes more sense to me than proving something everyone knows is happening is happening, but thats entirely speculation on my part.
Having Annabeth be with Percy and Grover staying behind actually makes a lot of sense imo.
Grover gets a scene that shows that he's actually quite smart despite his self confidence issues and Annabeth gets a scene that shows her personal growth. Her arc seems to be to learn to trust people again since she's been abandoned so many times in the past.
They also used the fact that the show is not exclusively told from Percy's pov to give Annabeth a scene of her own. I believe this is one of the reasons why they introduced Hera's chair.
1:30 -1:40 starting to see why doing this episode by episode might not have been the best idea, like dude they are going to get to everything important it just won't be beat for beat.
I get that January is slow and you need to fill content for it to avoid being penalized by UA-cam though so not worth complaining about much.
Annabeth has never seen movies, and her whole world for half of her life was Camp Halfblood. Of course she’d be impressed by her first amusement park, even if it was an abandoned park built by a god.
I'll throw in my two dracmas into two of the things mentioned in the video:
1) For the motivation as to why Hephaestus uses the chair, I think it is to either trap Ares or Aphrodite as revenge for for their affair. What I think Hephaestus' plan was for Ares or Aphrodite be forced to go into the tunnel themselves, get across the water and then saccrificing themselves to get the shield and contain one of them in the proccess. If it was Aphrodite, then Hephaestus could keep her for himself with no one in the way to stop him, while if it was Ares, then Hephaestus could likely blackmail Aphrodite to realise him for what he wants in the first place, his wife.
What makes me think that other half-bloods is the power of the water pushing any would be heroes off of the edge of the ride to their doom, whether that be through staying on the boat and falling off the edge or Jumping off and drowning or being pulled by the current off the edge. The fact that Annabeth was struggling to swim in the water and needing Percy's help to get out in the first place makes me think that would likely be the case. The only reason the two make it out is that fact that Hephaestus didn't think Ares or Aphrodite would be able to find someone who could get out of the current themselves such as a kid of Poseiden, though I think it should have been brought up about the Big 3 stopping having kids after WW2 to clarify this. This comes back into the episode with Ares maybe being smarter than he looks too as he's the one to give the sids the one to give the side quest to trio in the first place, using both guile and strength to achieve what he wants and points out that Athena's domain is wisdom, not intelligence and trickery.
The only way that breaks this is that Ares or Aphrodite could just bring one of the half-blood kids with them and sacrifice them to get the shield back, but there is something making me think that they wouldn't being their fatal flaws. In Ares' case, this would be pride, he would want to be able to get this back himself or push someone else to fall into this trap unrelated to him in terms of kids, where his honor is on the line. In Aphrodite's case, this would be vanity as she would likely see her kids as an exstention of herself and would not want such beauty touched. This brings us to Hephaestus' fatal flaw, spite. He may of wanted Ares or Aphrodite to sit in that chair but appon realisng he's been outplayed, is willing to settle for Percy instead. It is only when Annabeth is able to convince Hephaestus, that Percy was never doing this out want to do this out of spite but kindness, that Annabeth doesn't want to do this out of spite anymore and that Hephaestus doesn't need to either, that he doesn't need to play the rest of the Gods games and instead imbrase his own self worth.
As for how Hephaestus got there so quick, I would think he would have some sort of alarm installed into the chair and make it top priorty to come once it was activated. How he got there so fast exactly I would not be able to comment on as I don't remember that books that well since my last read of them was a decade ago, but others have mentioned the labyrinth which could possibly be the case, but take this with a grain of salt.
2) As for the actor and his appearance. The way book Hephaestus is described with his shoulders, makes me think of a medical condtion that I have had in the past: scoliosis. I can understand why they didn't use someone with it, as to achieve that effect that your probably looking for, would require someone with a fairly extreme curve. The trouble being that said curves can be straight up dangerous to have since it runs the risk of damaging organs such as the lungs and can make it harder for those with it to work in the first place. Normally when scolosis goes past around 50 degrees on it's cobb angle they will opperate on it as it can be very painful, if not deadly if not treated. Considering that this series could last years, if not longer with sister series, it could be extremely detrimental to the actor in this role.
My own experience with is condition is that my own cobb angle was around 71 degrees when I was opperated on and that I found it hard to breathe, as I could not use most of lungs. I was tired all the time, found I had to sit down a lot and struggled to do school work just because I was exausted. Someone acting with it would have a pretty rough time of it, and again would likely not be able to commit to the years needed to be like that. While I am sad that an actor with scoliosis could not be used, as I don't think I have seen someone with the condition in the spotlight and would love to see it, I am glad they found someone who is disabled in Timothy Omundson. As others has mentioned, he has had a stroke, has minimal use of his left arm and needs a cane to walk. The amount of disabled actors I have seen in major franchises is small, so to go out of their way to make sure that a character with a disabilty in a major role as this is something. I just hope that more franchises follow suit and show that there is more to disabilty than just the more steriotypical roles that are rarely given to us in the first place.
As for Hephaestus' appearance, I think Hera being a little bit vain would look for any little impefection and use that as an excuse to get rid of him. He would also be compared to his older sibbling, Ares, who is this strong and robust man and always be seen as second best. With this mentality being drilled into him, Hephaestus himself would possibly start believing it leading him back to his own fatal flaw of spite and building the trap in the first place. As someone who looks at themself this way despite my parents being supportive, it can be tough despite the fact that most people wont notice but you do and it just leads to this perfectionist side of you pushing yourself to think you should be doing better and more. This really comes back to what he is god over, crafting, the ability to build something beautiful, regardless of what you are.
He likely headed there as soon as they entered the park. Remember the device at the entrance, where Annabeth said that he now knows that they're there?
i'm not mad about the chair. i'm mad about the lack of spiders.
Hephaestus definitely could’ve predicted that Ares would get two demigods to retrieve the shield, as gods often deal with their problems by getting half-bloods to do the work for them.
6:50 that's the point, I think? That Ares and Aphrodite couldn't get the shield back because they would never sacrifice themselves
Or he would send a demigod that he doesn't care about to either sacrifice themselves or, more likely, he would never get it back because no one would. Yeah, it's the point.
So other people in the comments have explained possible plot reasons why the chair would be there as trap for the shield instead of just the trap from the books, but I was too busy focusing on the way the chair was perfectly used to accentuate the point the scene was making, as well as why Percy explained the myth instead of Annabeth.
The myth being told is in two parts, the first part in the tunnel of love when Hera gives birth to a baby, decides it's ugly, and throws it from Mount Olympus. Part two is told by Percy (and importantly he said he learned it from his mom, he doesn't pay attention to Chiron's lessons, we know that. Everything he knows about myths he learned from his mom. Take the Medusa episode when he's told the story and replies "That's not the way my mom used to tell it." Sally has clearly been trying to influence his views on these kinds of things from a young age and the fact that she decided to tell him about the revenge of Hephaestus sticks out to me.) where Hephaestus builds the inescapable chair for Hera and refuses to let her out until Aphrodite is made his wife.
In greek myth and in the Percy Jackson universe, Hephaestus is one of most chill gods, right up there with Hades and Hestia, they just mind their own business. This myth where he takes revenge on his mother and forces a woman who doesn't want him to become his wife is a moment he acts just like the rest of them and does something selfish and stupid (as much as all like to see Hera punished, Aphrodite did nothing, I hate when women in greek myths are forced to marry men they don't want. Anyway.) And it connects back to the line Percy said in the tunnel of love "that this is what the gods are like to each other. This is the kind of family they are."
And Annabeth has now had Percy sacrifice himself for his friends twice and sees that maybe being this kind of person is more important than making a legend out of your own name. And after hearing her decide to try to be better than the rest of their shitty family, maybe Hephaestus has some regrets and he decides that maybe he wants to be better too, so he lets them go with the shield. I thought the scene and the overall message they're trying to send (especially with the inclusion of Hermes next ep) is that the gods can do better and all their excuses are bullshit. People can be good to be each other and it can be worth it. Also Grover playing mind games with Ares was fantastic, don't get how anyone could not love that.
Sorry for talking so much. I think the show is doing great, super excited for the last 2 episodes!
I love your content Dom I know you've had mixed feelings about the series so far but I love hearing your opinion even though I love it.
I've said this on other post, but it's like Percy is the paladin, Annabeth the wizard and Grover the bard. I like it cause it gives Grover more presence than just being there for hapless assistance and comedy relief.
I have to agree with the conclusions reached by some other commenters, the chair is meant to be a Catch 22.
Either Ares sits on it himself and is trapped, forces or convinced Aphrodite to do it punishing her in the process or if he sends a demigod to do it he loses one of his children or ends up never gettin it back because Hepheastus steps in.
I definitely agree with the point about the writers seeming to rely on the audience reading the books. They don’t discuss who this gods are or what they’re the gods of. They don’t bother to explain certain things like Mr. D’s backstory, why he’s at camp in the first place, why he’s so grumpy. They don’t establish why the gods depend on their half-blood children to do their bidding.
I disagree. I thought that scene with Mr. D pretending to be Percy's dad and trick him into providing him with alcohol did a really good job of establishing the rules without being expository in nature.
@@lauradavison8068 That scene makes sense, explaining how gods use their children to do their bidding. But the questions about Mr. D and why he’s at camp and why he has such a stick up his butt remain unanswered. And I don’t like that. It feels like the writers are relying on the readers already knowing this info instead of taking the time to establish those things.
Not to mention, changing it and removing the Spiders removes the introduction of one of Annabeth's main fears and part of her family backstory. I feel like had they kept Haphestus out, Annabeth could have figured out how to break the mechanics of the chair and free Percy. She seemed to be able to figure out the fake trap at the park entrance pretty easily, and we see her fiddle with the gears of the chair anyway. But that could trigger a failsafe and introduce the spiders, giving us both moments and the important character moment for Annabeth. It also gives Percy a chance to use his new powers more to help them escape the spiders. Would have been great
So I assumed that the trap was for Ares and Aphrodite as an attempt to punish them through ares forcing aphrodite to sit on the chair. create infighting kinda thing.
I really liked the playing with the themes of the gods as messed up family because it heavily plays into the thems that are presented in the series overall. similarly I enjoyed PErcy sacrificing himself as that leans closely intohis fatal flaw. and Annnabeth's flaw of hurbis comes in when she tries to work her way around a machine a god set up . thsi additionally sets up the stuff with daedlus.
Also Also I much prefer how grover was done here because it prvodes him with far more of a personality rather than just comic relief. I was worried about his arc of coward to brave man, but I trust Rick Riodan has aplan in mind
YES! THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING HOW LITERALLY DARK THE SHOW IS
seriously, I had to turn off all the lights so I can see the damn show... and even then I couldn't see a damn thing!
I believe they may have left Grover behind with Ares to introduce a Red Herring, creating a misleading impression that Grover could be the actual lightning thief. Additionally, for those unaware, it's interesting to note that Timothy Omundson, the actor portraying Hephaestus, is a disabled actor who experienced a significant stroke in 2017, resulting in paralysis on his left side.
I enjoyed learning about some differences in the adaptation from your video. And yet, I’m greatly enjoying the show and thought this episode was the best so far.
I find it very interesting that you started this series trying to make every excuse for innacuracies but they've grown larger and you're becoming more critical. Personally i enjoy the show, but i didnt mind the spider boat sidequest being changed because it was always hard to visualise in my mind
I think Rick actually made a comment saying that it would have been too terrifying to see in live action.
Percy telling Annabeth what he knows about the god's stories is (in my opinion) just good character building, because the new information she's getting from this is who Percy is. Because of course she already knows the story itself. It's more about her hearing what's underneath the story; Percy's thoughts, feelings and opinions on the matter.
I find it a refreshingly subtle way of building her understanding and appreciation of Percy.
the fact that this show makes us have to jump through hoops to decipher character's motivations 🤦♀ugh
I loved this episode, it really lets Grover and Annabeth shine.
sick fire eyes and giant bike aside, the ares casting was fantastic impo.
i do feel like they are telling us annabeth is The Smart One, but only by giving her some of percy’s realizations and not much else
I think Hephaestus here was just taunting Ares rather than necessarily intending the chair as a 'trap'--display the shield as a trophy, plain to be seen, but locked behind a mechanism which, by his nature, and the nature of the whole pantheon, was basically impossible for him to actually retrieve.
Also, Ares has already SEEN that chair. He knows from experience exactly what it does, which is different from reading the story.
I do think you got a little nit picky about the water park being actually built by Hephaestus at 7:48 . The gods mention all the time in the books the different attractions that Hephaestus builds because he’s bored. It absolutely makes sense for him to build a water park for godlings and monsters.
rick used what is loved perfectly in the style of his universes humor and i loved that whole scene. the kids keep getting better as time goes on. and i like that im not just quoting the show the whole time and the only time i knew what was gonna be said was "you drool in your sleep". personally would never want to watch something where i knew every word spoken the whole way threw. that would be sucking the fun out of it.
I think you've misunderstood the scene with the rollercoaster. The line 'tell me the god of craftsmen didn't build this?' feels appalled, rather than admiring. Like... 'tell me you didn't sell the cow for a bag of beans?'
Always looking forward to these videos. I've had a couple of disagreements with certain critiques in this episode.
I think a reason for the shield on the chair could simply be a taunt/show of power. Sort of "remember what happened to someone who wronged me" while mocking Ares for the loss of the shield. There are other logical reasons that there could be and let's not forget that the gods are portrayed as petty, vain, flawed and not perfect beings so there doesn't need to be a reason. Also was Hephaestus "living" there or was an alarm set up and Hephaestus pops in to see what's up. Or maybe he has aspects in different areas as has happened later in the books with some gods.
I could be wrong but Grover remaining in the diner showed off the empath abilities of Grover to me which hasn't really been shown much. He really seemed to understand Ares.
While Hephaestus is not now a lump of a man with a leg in a brace and misshapen head (i.e. less physically affected by his past falls from mountain tops), I think casting someone who themselves has disabilities after a stroke was really quite important and is worth a mention.
Small things like Ares motorcycle not being made of suspicious material is quite understandable. It is a kids show and there is a difference between reading it and seeing it.
Finally, maybe I overestimate the audience of people who haven't read the books but it was established the Demigods can work around godly rules, with Dionysus trying to get Peter Johnson to get him some wine.
None of this is supposed to be a harsh criticism, just some agreeable disagreement.
I adore Show Grover. He doesn’t really agree with Ares, but he listens empathetically. He knows what he’s doing, (“thanks for the emotional abuse.”)
Riptide is present in all of the Percy Jackson's books, and makes in the last book of the Magnus Chase books. Spoiler,
Magnus's sentient talking sword, Jack, has a huge crush on Percy's Riptide, despite Riptide being neither sentient or talking
Also riptide is female
Grover's empathy is what let him see ares insecurities and use them, i dont think anabeth would have seen them
Yeah, one of my friends decided to drop the show after this one. While I'm not as pedantic as he is about plot changes, this one stretched me really thin as well, cause of all the character changes (I really truly hate that they took out the only challenge the trio solves together), and all the gravitas that gets taken out of the story in order to make room for guest stars.
Gods appearing in the books is a BIG DEAL. Freaking HERMES is a big deal, he's LUKE'S FATHER! And instead they're shoving him in the Lotus Casino one book early because they got Lin Manuel Miranda to play him. And don't get me started about the Fates.
I'm sorry, but Ares will forever hold my heart as portrayed in Xena, warrior princess, by Kevin Tod Smith, may he in peace
I think the reason they had Grover stay behind and talk to Ares is because, from people I've talked to who haven't read the books, they 100% think Grover is the friend that will betray Percy. They're setting him up as sneaky to lead people astray.
I was disappointed that they swapped the spectacle of robot spiders in the tunnel of love for the gold chair, but I guess it was a cost saving thing. Since it was likely WAY cheaper.
Considering the number of movies and tv shows that have had jaw dropping effects with meager budget just in the past couple years. Godzilla and EEAAO have both budgets under 30 million and are fantastic effects. This is disney and they are made of money. They have absolutely no excuse. It sounds like the director and effects head just didnt know how to block and frame a scene
Saw a post from Riordan about this episode. Just like the 100 eyed giant in camp, they talked about and tried to find out some possible way, but just like adding the giant and having it be realistic/on par with the rest of the animation, adding the spidertrap and everything that came with it would have taken too much money or time than what the show could afford/realisticly use, so they came up with Hera's golden throne trap instead. But Rick said he does want to still add both the giant and spiders later down the line if the oppertunity presents itself and they get enough funds.
This whole series is pretty dimly lit, for a lot of the show I’ve felt like I can barely see anything
Watching this with my husband who last read the book when came out (I have reread it probably 10+) when Dodds comes back my husband was confused and said "I guess the monsters don't die?" And he thought Medusa was a new Medusa not the original. I realized then and it's still hasn't been explained (or maybe I missed it) that they haven't explained that the monsters regenerate. There's been lots of small world building details I feel are missing currently, which is confusing to watcher's less knowledgeable of the lore
I guarantee to you that they're saving the Riptide reveal. They're either gonna reveal it in the last episode or when Percy meets his Dad. They're most likely gonna use it as a way of saying his father has been there for Percy. Even when he didn't know it. I don't believe that, but that's just my opinion.
The Annabeth thing is more them relying on what book people know but they do showcase it in a few ways. Annabeth has never been better at this Halfblood thing from a combat sense. That's why Percy is usually the one to fight and kill any monsters they come across. Explaining the greek myths is an important part of her character. But they are emphasizing her knowledge from the actions she takes.
Percy knows that monsters can smell half bloods. But Annabeth had the idea to sit in the back of the bus to hide their smell. Percy knows celestial bronze can hurt him but Annabeth figured out the trap at the entrance of the park was a test and how to solve it. Percy knew Medusa's stare can turn you to stone but annabeth had the idea of placing her hat on Medusa so Percy could cut her head off.
While I definitely agree with you that this adaptation is changing alot from the book. Even making several plot holes in the process. I do still think it's doing enough to warrant things like Percy believing Annabeth is better at this stuff than he is. They've done a good job in my opinion of making it seem like Annabeth always has backup plan. The question is whether or not she's willing to go that far.
For example, at camp she quickly realized he was Poseidon's son. Even placed him near the river so that when he fought Clarice he would have that advantage. Then when he won and was still unclaimed she forced the issue by pushing him in.
But now that they're on the quest and she's gotten to know him. It's getting harder for her to make those choices and please her mother. Similar to what Odysseus goes through in the Odyssey. There's even potential for them to bring this all up later when
Spoiler ⚠️
Luke betrays them. He had the same attitude of trying to please the gods. Then he went on his first quest and it changed him. Only while chose to take down the gods with the help of Kronos. Annabeth might choose to instead side with Percy and focus on changing the way the gods treat eachother and their children.
But Ive been rambling and this is just my opinion. Can't wait to see how the season raps up and your opinion on it.
#listentoEPICtheMusical
The sign-off: do you mean The Lightning Thief musical? I went to see that. Loved it.
I have to agree. It looks like the two women in Percy’s life have prepped him for his future life. It’s clear that Mom taught him as much about the Greek myths as possible, so there’s no need for a Harry Potter like “huh?”, which is more necessary since the reader can’t know the backstory in HP and might know the more famous stories in Greek mythology. Annabeth has superior training, more study, and a better idea of how to connect the dots. As for sacrificing himself: that was always a Percy Jackson thing (and a Harry Potter thing, too). Sorry about bringing in HP, but I think the parallels are deliberate.
@professorbutters 1) You never need to apologize for bringing up Harry Potter to me. Love that series, and I can separate the art from the artist in that context.
2) While that is a great musical, I do not mean the lightning thief musical. Epic the musical is a personal project made by this guy named Jorge Rivera-Herrans. It's a musical based on the Odyssey currently in production. Currently, 13 of the songs have been officially released, while the rest are still in development. I brung it up since I mentioned Odysseus in my comment. Most of the information on the Odyssey that I have is based on it.
Hephaestus: the god of building cool shit. Accurate. :D
Percy's "I'm ok" starts out originally for Annabeth's comfort and assurance, then by the third one, he's saying it for himself. He's scared and trying to stay brave also knowing he literally can't get up after Annabeth tells him to. What makes this scene is Walker Scobell's acting. It's not over the top, it's a subtle shift in his facial expressions, his tension, the quiver in his voice when fear sets in, the twinge of bravery he's trying to hold onto, and his slight movements. It's very real. That was the one part in this episode that really punched me. Acting with that level of subtlety and making it work is very difficult to do. He's an amazing actor. The older he gets, the better he's going to get.
These three kids are nailing their roles. They were perfect choices to embody who the characters are.
Honestly, Hephaestus building an amusement park is kinda cool. Amusement parks have a ton of machinery both showing and hidden as normally the entire place is specifically designed for the purpose of guiding the audience towards the attractions and merch.
If you watch documentaries on how Disney Land was built and how it works, it’s amazing how much engineering, architecture and sociology goes into building, design, and managing those parks.
Hephaestus building a amusement park on his own is a great way to show his god-like craftsmanship, as every minor detail of an amusement park has to be carefully designed to make sure wacky, exciting and dangerous looking pieces of machinery are safe to use and enjoy.
I actually really liked the change Rick said it came from how they originally wanted the scene to be the same as the book but it would have been hell for production and making things like the spiders would have blown the budget and I think the chair works ties in Hephaestus’ backstory gives Percy and Annabeth time with just them to bond and really establish their dynamic and it makes sense it’s a good trap we know gods send demigods to do their shit all the time even easy stuff so there was a high chance he’d send demigods but also if he did come himself he wouldn’t be able to get his shield and neither him or Aphrodite would be willing to sacrifice themselves. As for him living there I didn’t get that vibe at all more that the chair would have some kind of alarm and he went to check it out also gods can be in lots of places at once he could have a him there all the time if he wants and also be in Olympus and in his forge and more.
Also I loved the Ares Grover scenes so much I didn’t care they weren’t in the book
I think teh point is that Ares and Aphrodite wouldn't have done it XD you're right! Hephaestus just wanted to jack Ares's shield and keep it to gloat, and he says "I'm not one to be pushed around," because this is his way of fighting back against Ares being an ass.
Also - Hephaestus wasn't living there!!! THey make a point to show the counter when Percy and Annabeth walk into the park that tracks how many people are inside at all times. Presumably, Hephaestus checked in to make sure it wasn't/was Ares or Aphrodite again - and then he found Percy and Annabeth and knew Ares was using the kids as a loophole to get his shield back, which is just the Way it Works. A sacrifice was supposed to be made, and that was going to be Percy, but then Annabeth says her piece and Hephaestus hears her out and decides to give her what she wants (Percy AND the shield!).
I also feel like he was more of testing Annabeth and trying to see if she was willing to leave her friend behind, and she wasn’t so she passed.
When Annabeth hugged him after jumping out of the water I honestly teared up. Sometimes the fact that i'm watching a pillar of my childhood be adapted with love just hits me like a loving ton of bricks.
As a tv-only viewer this was my favorite episode yet, sorry Dom ^^;; My only real complaint is the godawful park lighting.