The differences between what, to me, were Percy, Nico, and Jason’s biggest power displays—feel free to comment any other moments from all three for me to analyze, because I’m really interested in this
Contains spoilers for the Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo series (Burning Maze)
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Percy Jackson
The scene in the House of Hades where Akhlys tricks Percy and Annabeth
Ever since I’ve seen that “crystal ball” line it’s stuck with me; it is undeniable proof that something changed in Percy. That and his expressed anger...but what was the crystal ball representing?
It shattered, but what as shattering? his limitations?
in my mind, crystal balls usually refer to something ominous or referencing the future, but in Percy’s case in makes me think of the ball representing his “good”
This is the closest Percy’s ever gotten to living long enough to become the villain
So when he did the thing, it wasn’t necessarily just an outward show of great power (unlike some of the other times) but an internal struggle with himself and his will. he was so tired of being so helpless and being taken advantage of that he fully snapped
His emotions and how they relate to his control over his powers are very intertwined
@him blowing up a toilet at the thought of being separated from Annabeth after Tartarus
The angrier he got, he went from controlling the poison itself to Misery’s bodily fluids—her tears—itself
Thus resulting in the choking and harming of a goddess
To me, it was internal struggle conveyed by the external action of his powers...one that he potentially would have lost had it not been for Annabeth
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Nico di Angelo
The scene in the Blood of Olympus where Bryce Lawrence confronts Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge
Cryokinesis? We’d never seen that before from Nico, but the ground around him blackened and became covered with frost
Nico introduces these empath like abilities where he can have everyone feel his pain/wrath/experience things he has
Was that ever named? ....nope!
That emotional assault alone was powerful enough to have Bryce Lawrence’s nose start bleeding
Bryce started sinking into the ground and couldn’t do anything to stop it
Nico was so overcome w/ anger he couldn’t understand the meaning of “please”
A completely new side of him: but what does that mean? what does it entail?
He references his dad and how Bryce escaped punishment—unworthy of being excused his due time
The significance of justice
Through his conversation with bryce, Nico essentially step by step, question by question erased his existence, claiming he was dead and he had no secrets to tell, and no mouth to speak them with
....not even murder, but erasure of Bryce
The complete eradication of his identity, is a lot deeper, carries so much more weight than if he had just decapitated him right there and then
His powers began internally and then he projected them outwards so everyone could feel his pain, and it continued to be more of a external display after he changed the temperature with the cytokinesis, and then the erasure
That says a lot about Nico as a person because at that point he’s the type of person to keep his emotions bottled up (like his dad) (unlike in his childhood)
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Jason Grace
The scene in the Burning Maze where they are on Caligula’s ship, right before the battle that eventually takes Jason’s life
This scene has so many incredible hints in it; hints at power or feelings that jason’s had this entire time but never got to use or express because comic relief
The switch up between him and Meg was so eery, but so good
The way Jason went from all out raging to deathly still and calm, even when Piper had been just hit, as if they expected to get a rise out of him, speaks volumes
To me, it portrays Jason’s calm acceptance of the prophecy: this was the moment he knew he wouldn’t be walking off the ship
Jason has always been a very internal person, especially compared to someone like Percy who generally wears his emotions on his sleeve, like I feel like unless you were in his or Piper’s POV, you didn’t know what was going on in his head, so him exhibiting this power move at the very end isn’t very surprising
And in the scene afterward, when Jason thrusts his arms out and controls the wind to wreak havoc in the ship, he still manages to avoid directly hurting everyone
Apollo says himself that everyone should have died in the blast but Jason was strong enough to reign the winds in and direct them
This display of a form of control, does this control represent his control over his emotions? Even in the end, he never showed how scared or tired or angry he was, he went out on his terms
Contrary to Percy and Nico’s, I’d classify this power display as very internal, from beginning to end. We’ll never know what Jason was feeling in that moment the way we did with Percy and Nico: was he ever angry at his father and wanted to lash out one more time? Or tired of being a demigod, the way Luke was and Percy was fast approaching?
Even if Uncle Rick had given us Jason’s POV at that moment, I feel like he’d still be thinking just as calmly and calculatedly as he usually did
That’s slightly scary, 1) because it implies Jason wouldn’t have felt anything before he died and 2) that is some serious emotional suppression....is Jason the type to suppress his emotions but help everyone else for the betterment of the team?
I’m could just be dragging and overthinking it...but thoughts???