A Regeneration Pod, also known as a Regeneration Blister, is a large pod on the surface of Tartarus that entities reform in when they die and are sent to Tartarus.
Description[]
When a being, typically monsters, Gigantes and occasionally Titans, die, they go to Tartarus to reform. Their essences are encased in a regeneration pod in which they reform, although the length of the regeneration cycle appears to depend on the regenerating being themselves. Inside the pod, the being regrows until they are ready to break out, fully reformed. The reformed being then eventually makes their way back to the mortal world through unknown means.
As discovered by Will Solace, a single pod can contain a whole flock of reforming Stymphalian Birds and breaking one pod can disturb all nearby pods and cause the residents to emerge. It was also revealed that the contents of the pods are harmful to demigods rather than having the same healing effects upon them that they do on monsters.
If a regeneration pod is broken before the occupant has finished reforming, their regeneration cycle will be interrupted, causing the occupant to begin it anew somewhere else in Tartarus. While the pods are typically easily broken, they can be reinforced to the point that it takes a great deal of power to break them and release the occupant.
Powerful beings such as the protogenoi can manipulate the regeneration cycle of the pods. Nyx was able to trap Bob in a permanent regeneration cycle in his pod in an attempt to force him to become Iapetus again. This resulted in Bob constantly breaking down in his pod and reforming, shifting appearances between Iapetus and Bob.
The pods appear to be able to regenerate the weapons of the occupants as well as Iapetus' Spear, which had been destroyed in battle with Tartarus, reformed in his pod alongside Bob.
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The House of Hades[]
While traveling Tartarus with Bob the Titan, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase encounter a number of regeneration pods, including one holding the Titan Hyperion who had been turned into an oak tree by Percy and the satyrs during the Battle of Manhattan. After Percy convinces him that Hyperion is a bad Titan while Bob is a good one, Bob destroys the pod with his spear, sending Hyperion to reform somewhere else.
By the time that Percy, Annabeth and Bob arrive at the Doors of Death, Hyperion has reformed and is guarding the Doors.
The Nico di Angelo Adventures[]
The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure[]
In a flashback, Nico di Angelo encounters a regeneration pod soon after first falling into Tartarus and pops it, releasing a just reformed empousa. Nico quickly kills the creature who complains that she had just regenerated. As the empousa died standing in her regeneration pod, it simply reforms around her remains to regenerate the monster.
In the present, Nico and Will learn that Nyx had captured Bob's regeneration pod following his death at the Battle for Control of the Doors of Death and has trapped Bob in a permanent regeneration cycle inside in an effort to force him to become Iapetus again.
After arriving in Tartarus, Will becomes interested in the pods and the potential healing properties of the fluid inside on demigods. However, Will inadvertently breaks a regeneration pod and releases a flock of Stymphalian Birds. While struggling with the birds, Will falls on another pod, breaking it, releasing the cynocephali inside and starting a chain reaction that breaks all of the nearby pods, releasing their occupants. With the help of Small Bob and the mania of Amphithemis, the reformed monsters that aren't killed are scared away.
In the Mansion of Night, Nico and Will find Bob's regeneration pod where he is constantly being forced to regenerate into Iapetus before shifting back into Bob. However, Nyx has reinforced the pod to the point that Nico's Sword just bounces right off rather than breaking it. On Bob's suggestion, Will channels his photokinesis through Nico's sword, making it strong enough to break the pod and release a fully reformed Bob.
Trivia[]
- The pods are described as being large blisters on the skin of the primordial. However, after examining some of them, Will Solace comes to the conclusion that the pods are more like embryonic sacks.
Underworld | |
Underworld: | DOA Recording Studios | Doors of Death | Door of Orpheus | Elysium | Erebos | Fields of Asphodel | Fields of Punishment | Hades' Palace | Isles of the Blest | Judgment Pavilion | Persephone's Garden |
Rivers: | Cocytus | Phlegethon | Styx | Lethe | Acheron |
Tartarus: | Mansion of Night | Hermes' Shrine | Chaos | Regeneration Pod |