The perils of a demigod existence have already forced Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), Luke (Charlie Bushnell), Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn), and satyr/protector Grover (Aryan Simhadri) to grow up quickly, but their friendships that helped them through hard times are being tested in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. The Sea of Monsters adaptation sends the teens into uncharted waters on their quests to save the kidnapped Grover and find the magical Golden Fleece. These new challenges make them “start to develop the muscles that adult relationships require,” says executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg. They also must deal with the sinister threat of the returning titan king Kronos (Nick Borraine). Another Season 2 storyline that the series will be dealing with in more depth much earlier than in the books: the Great Prophecy.
This “saga prophecy that sits behind the entire Olympian-Titan war,” between Kronos and the Olympus gods who he fathered, “comes forward more here in Season 2,” EP Craig Silverstein reveals. This may shock book readers, since this storyline doesn’t fully emerge until The Last Olympian, the final novel of Rick Riordan‘s original Greek mythology pentalogy. Its origins long predate the events of Season 1 and will have profound impact on Percy’s life, as well as on new demigods that we’ll see in Season 3 (now filming). The prophecy’s importance to the overall story arc certainly justifies its early introduction.
Disney/David Bukach
Percy’s just started to feel like he belongs when he returns to Camp Half-Blood as Season 2 begins, but he won’t be comfortable for long. The Camp’s under attack, Grover is missing, Annabeth’s acting different, and a young cyclops named Tyson (Daniel Diemer) arrives who’s revealed to be Percy’s half-brother. And then this “gigantic thing comes down from above, which is the Great Prophecy” to tell Percy he’s “even more important to this story than you thought,” Silverstein teases.
Where Season 1 explored finding your purpose, Season 2 teaches the value of bravery, vulnerability, and community. Prepare for heartbreak as the sophisticated emotional conflicts reach new depths and painful childhood backstories are revealed. The teens have supported each other through everything. Now, they’re beginning “a really specific chapter in growing up” that shows “what happens when friendships get complicated,” Steinberg says. “Annabeth is squarely in the middle of that.”
Percy and Annabeth are learning how time and circumstance change friendships and the work it takes to maintain them. That last part’s particularly hard amid their conflicting personal issues. Plus, Grover was the glue of their trio. He never returned from his quest to find Pan, God of nature, so his best friends set off on the Sea of Monsters to save him. “We waste no time putting Grover in danger” in the premiere, warns Simhadri. “He stumbles upon this satyr corpse [in Episode 1], which is very telling of what’s in Grover’s immediate future.” Tyson’s presence and Grover’s absence exacerbate Percy and Annabeth’s struggles to understand each other. And then, there’s Luke.
Disney/David Bukach
The real lightning thief reignited the Olympian-Titan war to punish the gods who abandon their half-blood children. “He makes an excellent case” when urging demigods to go rogue for Kronos, Silverstein warns. “We hope that when you hear from Luke, you tilt your head a little bit and go, ‘The guy’s got a point, right?’” Annabeth is torn. On one side, there’s Luke saying, “Come with me, and you’ll see why I want to do this,” Jeffries explains. On the other, there’s Percy declaring, “If you go with him, you’re dead. If you come with me, I will save you from that,” she adds. This highlights their “fatal flaws,” Scobell says.
“Percy, he is loyal to a fault,” Scobell explains. “He’d burn the world down for one of his friends just to save them.” Percy doesn’t see Annabeth do that for him in response to Luke’s treachery, so does she really care? The proud Annabeth wants “to fix everything, and she likes feeling like she can,” Scobell adds, but Luke is something “she can’t fix.”
Disney/David Bukach
“The ability to see the backstory of Thalia [Tamara Smart], Luke, and Annabeth before they arrived at Camp Half-Blood adds a great deal to the story,” says Riordan. “Young Annabeth [played by Jeffries’ own cousin] is just adorable and seeing her confront monsters at such a young age really drives home how terrifying it must [be] to grow up as a demigod.” And it will really drive home why Annabeth can’t easily let Luke go. “People are really going to be taken by” the “intensity” Bushnell reaches this season, Silverstein says. “Luke is stepped up a lot.” As are all of the young cast’s maturing performances.
“These kids, they’re growing with the story,” EP Dan Shotz raves. “You’re going to feel all that weight as the stakes are growing. And now even beginning Season 3, it’s amped up. You feel the shifts in all of them, and they’re knocking it out of the park.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, December 10, Disney+
