Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4531192-20141008075409/@comment-4531192-20141010214425

Himeyuka wrote: Leo did not need a relationship, he had so many friends that loved him, he could have just freed Calypso and the two of them could have been buddies. Instead nooo we get a pairing formed in two chapters whit the most classic misogynistic ending in literature. Guy sacrifices himself and gets the girl? I thought RR would be better than this.

It pains me that a lot of young readers don't see anything wrong with him pairing off all his main characters and having Calypso be a prize for Leo (as it was always about him having his fantasy come true rather than her finding happiness). I would have traded the sappy rooftop moment with Jason&Piper and the horrible Caleo ending with a reunion of Sally and Percy any day. Or Annabeth talking to her step-mom/siblings. Or Reyna reuniting with Hylla. Or Jason FINALLY having a talk with Reyna and setting things straight between the two of them and trying to rebuild their friendship. I wouldn't go as far as to call the ending misogynistic. A cliché, sure. Bad writing, undoubtably. However Rick's track record consists of a bunch of gender stereotype-defying female characters with a few Mary Sues thrown in the mix. Calypso happens to be one of the latter.

The problem with Caleo is not that Leo fell for Calypso. It's the other way around. There was no reason for Calypso to fall in love with Leo unless she was somehow cursed to. If she's been falling for a bunch of handsome Greek heroes all her life I don't see why she would suddenly go for some greasy, skinny son of Hephaestus.