From A Lifelong Book Fan, Percy Jackson Is Hitting Its Stride

December 17, 2025

10

As a lifelong fan of Percy Jackson and the Olympians‘ source material, I could not be happier that the TV adaptation is finding its stride. Percy Jackson season 1 was a lot of fun for me, but I could feel the unfortunate effects of unstoppable aging setting me at odds with the show’s more child-friendly approach that, when I read the books as a youngster, felt darker, deeper, and more epic.

Upon watching Percy Jackson season 2, episodes 1 and 2, though, I appreciated the show’s ability to mature with its characters. The Percy Jackson I knew from the book series was starting to shine through, partly due to the show growing darker and bigger in scale, and partly due to my own changing mindset that the books were not made for a near-30-year-old me, but the 12-year-old who initially read them.

With this change in mindset, I went into Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2, episode 3, and found the same, more mature tone from its predecessors, though not without the fun and whimsy I knew from the source material. Finally, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is finding its stride, be it down to the show growing stronger in itself, or simply the way I choose to view it.

Percy Jackson Season 2 Continues To Be A Faithful & Exceptionally-Made Adaptation Of The Books

Percy and Annabeth steering a ship in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2

The biggest problems with the Percy Jackson movie series of the 2010s were how it strayed from the source material. 2013’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters included elements from the original book, while also cramming in condensed elements from the succeeding three. This disappointed book fans, myself included, making Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2’s fidelity shine all the brighter.

Here, book fans have the Princess Andromeda, a cruise ship serving as the basis of Luke’s demigod-monster army he is building for Kronos. Gone is the small yacht from the movies that could hold maybe 30 people at most, replaced with a genuinely intriguing blend of realism and myth that truly establishes the threat Luke could pose to Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and the rest of Camp Half-Blood.

Teases of Kronos and the Great Prophecy also make the Disney+ show immensely more faithful than the movies, undoubtedly satisfying fans of the source material, even despite the few changes made to speed things along. What makes all of these familiar beats even better, though, is the craftsmanship involved.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2’s greater reliance on practical sets, costumes, and on-location shooting compares incredibly favorably to season 1’s use of The Volume. The monsters look great, the cruise ship at the center of the episode is vibrant and lively, the practical stunts are good, and the budget of the show brings to life a world I first imagined almost two decades ago, excellently.

Percy Jackson Season 2, Episode 3 Continues To Improve On Season 1’s Already-Decent Aspects

Luke looks upset in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I enjoyed Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, but I could see a few minor cracks. The child actors of Percy Jackson‘s cast, for their age at the time, performed admirably. However, the younger cast meant an equally younger tone, less reliance on acting and dialogue, and action sequences that were frustratingly edited to hide stunt performers.

These still weren’t enough to cause the first season to fail, as I still enjoyed it overall.

Nonetheless, Percy Jackson season 2’s first two episodes already improved on a lot of these aspects, and episode 3 continues to do so. Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Charlie Bushnell have some great acting moments here that build on their show characters, reference what book fans will know, and introduce some intriguing, grey-area explorations of the show’s central war of gods vs. titans.

There is only really one true action sequence in Percy Jackson season 2, episode 3: a two-on-one fight between Annabeth, Percy, and one of Luke’s allies, Allison. Despite its brief length, there were fewer cuts in this fight that allowed more sword-based choreography to shine through, proving that as the show’s cast grows, so too will its budget and tone, allowing more visceral fight scenes to come to the fore.

The Percy Jackson I Love Is Coming To Life

Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), Percy (Walker Scobell), and Tyson (Daniel Diemer) in Percy Jackson & the Olympians season 2

I’ve already alluded to the reality that this review isn’t coming from someone unfamiliar with Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I read and reread the book series endlessly in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Where most kids were Harry Potter readers, I was a Percy Jackson boy through and through, endlessly wishing for an adaptation that meant the latter could rival the former.

Even in my late 20s, I still wear a trident necklace that I haven’t removed in years, keeping such an integral part of my childhood close to me. For this reason, I had to change how I viewed Percy Jackson and the Olympians, especially season 1. I went in expecting this epic adaptation that I’d built in my head for over a decade.

Instead, I found a well-adapted, well-made, albeit less mature, less complex story that I still enjoyed. Between seasons 1 and 2, I’ve changed that view; I realized that I had to stop expecting what I’d constructed in my head, and judge the show for what it is. Percy Jackson season 1 was an introduction that set the groundwork for the world that would be built.

This has caused me to look back on season 1 much more fondly and enjoy season 2 much more. Percy Jackson season 1’s tone matches that of the books, yet I found a disparity. The books I first read as a kid felt much more mature, something I haven’t allowed to change as I’ve grown.

Now, I’ve come to terms with all of this; I’m older now, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians is adapting books that a younger me found intensely gripping. Older me still enjoys those books, but to expect the tone of book 5 or even Percy Jackson‘s sequel series, Heroes of Olympus, in season 1 was unrealistic.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2, episode 3 edges ever closer to that, though. The show is growing, its cast is growing, and the maturity grows along with those things. The Percy Jackson I love came to life in season 1; I just had to adjust my perception of it. Now, with this new clarity and improvements across the board, I am beginning to fall back in love with stories and characters I know so well, and can see them playing out before my eyes.