User blog comment:Hermione Chase/"The Blood of Olympus" Expectations/@comment-25380572-20140904042802

Has anybody else noticed that Rick is skirting around the possibility of Jason and Nico becoming romantically inclined, even if it is possibly for the sake of throwing the readers off? Regarding Jason and Piper, all I can say is that they seem to be a very unconventional couple compared to the other canon couples... and many other readers feel this way (besides those who are like 'JASON AND PIPER FOREVER BECAUSE IT'S IN THE CANON TEXT') due to the basis of their relationship. After all, Jason and Piper are the only couple who didn't receive some level of romantic development in the released books; they just kind of happened at the beginning of the series, the couple's only justification  being their false memories and feelings for each other. Plus, there's also the factor that Riordan has gone to great lengths to place emphasis on Piper's charmspeak abilities. I'm not saying he's trying to make Piper out to be a bad guy, but there's a chance she could be working magic on Jason without the intention to, let alone the knowledge that she's doing so. My theory goes back to MoA, where Reyna's confrontation with Aphrodite is mentioned during Piper's POV.



This paragraph is obviously foreshadowing later events, Piper's thought dropped as quickly as it had surfaced, though it's purpose is unclear. In the scheme of things, the context could be overseen as referring to Piper and Jason's relationship, resulting in Reyna becoming brooding towards her former romantic interest, but that may not be the case. The thought is formatted in a way that leaves the reader with a feeling of unease, creating a minor cliffhanger. Rick commented on this passage via Twitter, concluding that, yes, we will find out what Reyna was told in BoO and it is likely more extravagant than gossip about Jason and Piper's love life.

From the start, Reyna and Jason are the first characters most suspicious of Nico. This follows into HoH, where most characters aboard the Argo II are uncomfortable with his presence because he's oh so powerful, dangerous, etc. and all that fun, exaggerated Rick stuff. Approaching Diocletian's Palace in Croatia, we get to read a few paragraphs about the importance of going to Split because Reyna would go there first (also Jason could talk to Diocletian), followed by Nico's offer and Jason being all no omg I don't want to be alone with him. Piper offers to tag along, by which Nico refuses, stressing on the fact that Jason and Nico would be alone. From another perspective, Nico's motive to exclude Piper could be his uncertainty towards what would happen with Cupid, so he wanted as few people on the mission as possible. This might just be me thinking too logically? He obviously knew something would happen with Cupid the moment it was brought up; it wasn't like '''BAM! oh snap Cupid's after Nico, how on Earth could this happen???''', Nico was kind of just playing dumb, in a sense, for the sake of just getting it over with... Maybe.

This brings us to Jason and Nico's run in with Favonius, when he brings them to Salona. Upon Favonius telling them the story of his past love for Hyacinthus, we learn that his love was induced by one of Cupid's arrows striking him.



In our next scene, the boys get to meet Cupid, who's really weird and keeps spitting out cheesy "greeting card messages". The whole concept behind their confrontation with Cupid is questionable, but let's look at the foreshadowing.



I feel like half the fandom ignored this part of the book, but I'm probably wrong.

"Where you least expect me, Cupid answered. As Love always is."

"I would think you'd know better, Jason Grace. Cupid's voice whirled around him. You've found true love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?"

These two quotes raise many questions, considering they were directed towards Jason, obviously pertain to him, and they came from the love God, so obviously he's screwed. The first quote is possibly foreshadowing, or meant to confuse readers. The second quote is pretty much Cupid bluntly confirming that Jason is still uncertain about his relationship with Piper in a teasing manner, which is written off as a question- but again, love God, he knows what's up.



Then, there's this gem, which is possibly more foreshadowing because it doesn't exactly apply to Jason during that given time. Unless Cupid had said it to both boys, in which it might apply to Nico and Percy, yet with the events that follow this, I'm reluctant to have a solid stand point on this quote.



What's the point of Cupid hitting Nico with an arrow that inflicts no physical harm to him? Well, as Favonius confirmed, being struck by one of Cupid's arrows causes you to fall in love- usually the next person you see. Of course, there's the argument that Cupid has two types of arrows (gold, causing you to fall in love, silver, bringing forth the cease of affection), but Riordan has not confirmed that he is abiding by this aspect.

As the story continues on, we find that Jason continues to grow more open minded towards Nico, even becoming defensive over him. Jason, projecting his stuffy, over-caring persona as usual, urges on in attempt to gain Nico's trust and frienship. This builds up to the scene where Nico drinks the poison and immediately hands the concoction to Jason as a sort of trust-trial. Jason instantly takes a sip, creating an unspoken link.

My theory can be completely wrong, but I think there's a reason Rick is branching Nico and Reyna off alone. If he actually is leaning towards romantic ground in Jason and Nico's relationship, I would think Aphrodite might have told Reyna something along the lines of, Jason will end up with a guy/ a descendant of Hades/ a descendant of the big three/etc.. Reyna and Nico will bond through other means, possibly by talking about Percy and Jason, and slowly building up to what Aphrodite told Reyna, even if it has nothing to do with Nico, after all.

With this possibility, I highly doubt Rick will kill off Jason or Nico. It would obviously be cliche to kill Nico, and not to mention poorly organized, as many are suggesting. If anything, Rick would kill Jason before Nico. Although, I do think there is a chance either Percy or Annabeth (likely not both) and Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Piper might have a clearer chance of facing their end in BoO. If he chooses to close the series with Percy dying, for heroic reasons or whatnot, I feel like the whole fandom would be pissed, so he might try to avoid that and kill Annabeth instead.

There's also that cheesy situation between Leo and Calypso, and maybe his death would grant her freedom, or something. As much as I like Leo, I can totally see Rick killing him just to solve all those plot holes as quickly as possible. BoO isn't going to be a giant book. There's also Frank and his firewood, and nobody would really expect it since Frank is such a docile character, so Frank might cut into that idea. Hazel I actually cannot see dying, but we won't know until October. Piper, as much as I have grown bored with her, probably won't die either.

Part of me hopes her and Jason break up and then she proves herself by some extraordinary means, gaining praise and then finally having a name other than Jason's clingy girlfriend. Really, not to be cruel, but she was pretty useless throughout the other books. I'm hoping there's a major plot twist and she excels in her quest.