Board Thread:The Trials of Apollo/@comment-35324803-20180509140036/@comment-35229543-20180603111009

Helldenzian wrote: NyxHemera4562 wrote: Cheetahstar2334 wrote: I agree.

And it seems completely unlikely that a weak mortal like Lester would be able to survive being around Caligula but Jason, the giant killer, the titan fighter, the former praetor of Camp Jupiter, would not.

And poor Thalia and Reyna... Why Lester survived while Jason died? I feel it's because the titular character is never killed in Rick's books. Like in Percy Jackson series, Percy himself never died. In heroes of Olympus, Leo, one of the seven, was brought back. And in TOA, Apollo is the titular character. He or Meg would never be killed. I mean, this isn't Divergent 😁. But Jason's days as a protagonist are over. Now he is a background character whose death won't affect the series at large. I guess Percy too could be killed but hey, to both Rick and us, Percy is the Very First character we meet, so obviously he won't be killed because irl, people would go literally mad and maybe even stampede Rick's house or something. And we didn't get to know Jason the way we got to know Percy, so it doesn't matter either way. Apollo can't die, because he is a main character of the series like you said. Also, Caligula wasn't intent to kill him, but on the other hand, he was intent to kill Jason really and actually, so...yeah.

If Riordan kill Percy somehow, i would be really really and really surprised. Percy is generally fans's favorite character, so, he can't die. Call me a nitpicker, but it's worth noting that in the book, Apollo breaks the fourth wall--meaning that he's aware that it's a book, and he addresses the reader directly. It's mentioned that he's being forced by Zeus to record his mortal misadventures as part of his punishment.So, obviously (and because he's the narrator), Apollo won't die. Everyone else, however, is fair game. It is hinted that there will be even more deaths in the Tyrant's Tomb, so my advice is to stock up on tissues.

On the topic of why Apollo survived and Jason didn't--Caligula needed Apollo alive to perform the ritual, and he was never serious about killing Apollo on the spot. Don't you know you can't just eat a sun god raw? (I recommend Medea's cookbook, titled 50 Ways to Cook Things in Your Grandfather. ​​​​​) Jason and Piper, however, were casualties that he didn't care about. Meg he might've kept alive so he could take her to Nero, but that's it. It is heavily emphasised that Caligula is about as different from Commodus as you can get--Commodus is all about flashy suits, gold jewellery, loud crowds and glitter confetti. Caligula's brutal and direct. You promise him something? Better choose your words carefully, because he'll hold you to that promise. Caligula doesn't play games. He kills, plain and simple. But about the upcoming deaths: I feel as if the Burning Maze was a turning point in the series--the point where things start to get serious. Like the end of Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter. It's when things take a darker turn, where some completely unexpected deaths are hurled at you and leave you sobbing for days after. (For the record, I'm still not over Sirius.) I feel like Rick's just warming up, and everyone in the series (and therefore the fandom) is completely at his mercy. He could kill any one of them at this point.

(Honestly? If he killed Percy or Annabeth, I would applaud him. It takes guts to develop a character so much and end it all with a quick slice of a sword. I mean, I'd have to sue him for heart trauma, but still.)