Ron Does Stuff

We’re halfway through the first season! Let’s get into it!

Percy and the gang defeat the Medusa in the previous episode, as well as strengthen their bond. What’s going to test that bond now in this episode? We’re going to find out later in the episode, because we’re starting out with a flashback, with Percy taking swimming lessons. Gotta admit, I am immediately reminded of that shot of Logan Lerman under the pool in the movie!

Anyways, turns out that was as much a dream as it was a flashback, and there’s still that voice telling Percy of what’s ahead. I’m sure the book readers already know who this is, but I have no idea, and I am kinda looking forward to the reveal!

We find out that the gang is on a train, and having been woken up by his dream, Percy asks Annabeth about Thalia, who was the last forbidden kid before Percy. And I like how Percy is advocating for these basically abandoned kids, you know? What kind of parents are these, after all? Why are you treating your kids like this?

AND I also like how Annabeth explains how it is for her, who is more understanding of why the system, so to speak, is the way it is. I also appreciated the explanation as to how she can be Athena’s daughter when Athene is very much a virgin goddess. It’s an explanation that makes sense!

We also get more world-building when Percy spots some centaurs running alongside the train they’re riding. Grover says the numbers of centaur have dwindled ever since Pan disappeared. I’m guessing this is going to be explored further down the line!

That is indeed something that’s going to be explored some other time because the gang are accosted by a policeman, since it looks like their cabin has been vandalized. There was a tricky situation there where Annabeth stood up to the policeman that could have been ~controversial~, but of course, Disney isn’t going to touch on that too much.

So, the one who told the police that the kids’ cabin was vandalized was a Karen-type, who turns out to be Echidna, the mother of monsters. She sets one of her children on the kids, but they manage to escape the train and seek shelter in Missouri’s Gateway Arch, which apparently is a temple to Athena. They’re momentarily safe there, but since they’re on a deadline, they have to find another way to get to Los Angeles.

While they’re inside, there’s a little friendship blooming between Percy and Annabeth, but that’ll have to wait as the poison that was in the stinger that the creature stuck into Percy when they were on the train finally starts to work. Echidna has also caught up with them, and the Gateway Arch isn’t offering them any protection, since Athena was embarrassed by the little Medusa head stunt Percy pulled in the previous episode. Actions have consequences, Percy!

They get to the top of the Gateway Arch — I didn’t know you could actually go up it — and Annabeth decides she’s going to slow down Echidna and the Chimera while Percy and Grover continue the quest. BUT, Percy tricks her and locks himself in with Echidna and the Chimera. It’s a battle that he doesn’t win, seeing as he’s poisoned, and during the course of the fight he falls from the highest point of the Gateway Arch…and is rescued by a funnel of water! The caption says it’s Nereid or a Nereid talking to Percy, telling him that his father has always been watching him and has always been proud of him.

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