"We Take a Zebra to Vegas"[1] is the sixth episode of the first season of the Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Synopsis[]
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover must resist the alluring draw of a casino that feels outside of time.
Plot[]
As Kindness International goes towards Las Vegas, Percy dreams of a man berating an unknown student for failing in his operations and that they can be easily replaced. The man addresses Percy shortly before he awakens. He wakes up to find Annabeth and Grover setting up an Iris Message to camp. As they work, Grover theorizes that Clarisse La Rue stole the Master Bolt and Ares is covering for her. They call camp and are met by Luke Castellan. He tells the three that things at camp are becoming tense and campers are choosing between Zeus and Poseidon. Before Percy can mention they are meeting with his dad, Annabeth ends the call and reveals that Luke hates his father, blaming him for what happened to his mother. However, she also says Hermes will do anything to get into his son’s good graces. They then discuss that they have five days to retrieve the Master Bolt and return it before the deadline. Grover reveals he has been talking to the animals and has agreed to help them escape. Grover gives them Satyr's Sanctuary and lets the animals loose in the middle of the street and the three slip away in the chaos. They spot the Lotus Hotel and Casino and head to it.
Upon arriving in the Lotus, Annabeth warns them not to eat or drink anything as they could become trapped in the hotel for decades or centuries without realizing it. They search the floor for Hermes and Annabeth suggests they split up. However Percy is against it as he is the only one who has never met Hermes. Annabeth goes with him while Grover goes on his own. Grover sees Augustus, a satyr who was close to his Uncle Ferdinand. Augustus runs but Grover catches up with him. He speaks with the older satyr, but Augustus does not remember him. Grover talks about how important he was to his father and mentions finding his uncle’s petrified form in New Jersey. Agustus remembers and offers Grover some of his nachos, but Grover declines. Augustus says he is close to finding Pan and invites Grover to help him, but the young satyr declines as he does not have his Searcher's License. However Augustus insists and Grover gives in.
As Percy and Annabeth walk, he tells her more about his dream, and Annabeth has trouble theorizing why Clarisse would work with Hades. The two find Hermes and ask for his help. The god rejects helping them get to the Underworld until they mention Luke and Hermes takes them to talk privately. Hermes says he was warned to stay away from Luke as his presence will only make things worse and still refuses to help. He shows Percy a memory of him being dropped off at boarding school and Annabeth leaves before the god can show her a memory. As Percy gets up to leave, Hermes reveals Poseidon told him to stay away from Luke and describes that being forced to do nothing to stop his children from suffering has made him feel helpless, a feat not easily placed on a god. Hermes says they are low on time as Percy realizes they have been in the Lotus for days, with the deadline being hours away, and that they pump the lotus flowers into the air. Annabeth reveals she stole Hermes's keys and they struggle to remember their third companion. Upon seeing Agustus, they remember Grover and chase after the older satyr. They chase after Augustus and Percy tackles him to the floor, demanding to know where Grover is.
They find Grover playing a virtual reality game and he gets annoyed when they pull off his headset. He does not remember Percy and Annabeth, but eagerly joins them when they mention he is part of their quest. In the garage, Grover- still not remembering the demigods- reveals he was searching for Pan and actually felt the nature god's presence. They find Hermes's car, a taxi, with a note saying they only have to get the cab on the road to get where they want to go. After deciding who will drive, Percy takes the wheel. After hitting support beams, scraping the side against the wall, and almost getting hit by a truck, they make it to the streets and are teleported to Santa Monica Beach.
After getting over the shock, the three exit the cab and Grover remembers Percy and Annabeth. As Grover questions why he forgot more than the demigods, Annabeth says it is because he was alone while they had each other. Percy goes into the Pacific Ocean and prepares to meet his father. However, he is met with the nereid from the Mississippi who informs him that the deadline has passed and Poseidon is preparing for war with Zeus. She tells Percy his father does not blame him and that he is to return to camp. However, Percy insists to see the quest through and the nereid gives him four pearls so that he, his companions, and his mother can escape the Underworld.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson
- Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase
- Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood
Special Guest Star[]
Guest Starring[]
- Charlie Bushnell as Luke Castellan
- Ted Dykstra as Augustus
Co-Starring[]
Uncredited[]
- Unknown as Nico di Angelo
Differences[]
- Hermes appears, whereas in the books he does not make an appearance until The Sea of Monsters.
- Rather than talking to the Lightning Thief from inside of Tartarus in Percy's dream, Kronos takes on the form of a headmaster sitting in an office.
- Annabeth does not tell Percy about her past while they are in the truck. As a result, Annabeth doesn't figure out the identity of the true culprit behind the theft after hearing about the dream when they leave the casino.
- Percy, Annabeth, and Grover Iris Message camp from a prism in the Kindness International truck rather using than a sprayer at a gas station.
- Annabeth also specifies Chiron's office rather than just camp itself.
- Unlike in the book, Percy is shown to already know about Iris Messages, commenting on how he can never get used to them and joining Annabeth in the prayer to Iris.
- Luke doesn't imply that Annabeth could be thief like in the book.
- Clarisse La Rue is accused of being the true thief, a plot point original to the series.
- Grover and Augustus searching for Pan inside of the casino is a plot point original to the series.
- Rather than taking a taxi to Santa Monica by paying with Lotus Cash Cards, Percy, Annabeth and Grover take Hermes' magical taxicab which teleports them from outside of the Lotus Casino straight to the beach in Santa Monica.
- The three arrive in Santa Monica too late, the Summer Solstice deadline having already passed when in the book Percy makes it back to Olympus just in time.
- The Nereid gives Percy four pearls rather than three and she does not warn him to beware of the gifts or question him if he is able to do the things that a number of famous demigods could do.
Trivia[]
- The title is derived from Chapter Sixteen of The Lightning Thief while the episode itself is an adaptation of Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen.
- At about twelve and a half minutes into the episode, while Grover and Augustus are talking about Pan, a voice can be heard in the background calling for Bianca. This is a reference to Nico and Bianca di Angelo, the children of Hades who were stuck in the Lotus Casino at the time.
- Kronos is credited as Headmaster for this episode, with the Titan taking on the form of the Yancy Academy Headmaster from "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher" in Percy's dream.