‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Episode 3 Summary and Ending Explained: The Quest Commences

At the end of episode 2 of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians,’ we were able to see Percy realizing that he was the son of Poseidon after the god of the seas claimed him. But more importantly, he had to go on an important quest because his status as a Forbidden Child prompted Chiron to send him on a journey that only he could accomplish. As such, the entire plot line of the early part of the series has been introduced.

Episode 3 discusses more of the preliminary preparations and the early portion of Percy’s quest, especially in relation to the allies that he had to choose to go with him on that journey. So, with that said, let’s look at what happened in episode 3 of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians.’

Percy chooses his allies

After accepting the quest that Chiron gave him not to save the world but to rescue his mother from the Underworld, Percy now has to go to the Oracle because a quest can never be official unless the Oracle says so. The Oracle tells Percy to go to Los Angeles, which is the entrance to the Underworld. As such, his quest has now become official.

Percy is made to choose two allies out of the strongest half-bloods that Camp Half-Blood has to offer. Of course, the first person he chooses is Annabeth because she is the strongest warrior around. However, everyone is shocked to see that Percy, instead of choosing the other demigods, chose Grover as the second of only two allies he was allowed to bring on that quest.

Before leaving for the quest, Percy and Luke meet up as the son of Hermes gives the son of Poseidon a pair of sneakers that could give the wearer the ability to fly. Percy also tries to explain to Luke why he didn’t choose him for the quest, only for Luke to understand Percy’s decision.

Just before departing for the quest, Annabeth visits the tree that her good friend Thalia turned into years ago. Percy learns about what happened to Thalia when she, Luke, and Annabeth made their way to Camp Half-Blood. Zeus actually turned her into a tree as his means of helping his daughter when she was in trouble. Since then, Annabeth had been visiting Thalia to pay her respects to her friend.

Eluding the monsters

The trio took the bus with whatever limited budget they had. While on the bus, Annabeth tries to take charge of the group. She tells Percy and Grover that she is the best person to get out of the bus to buy supplies for the team because monsters are more drawn to the children of the Big Three than any other half-blood.

While in the store, Annabeth noticed that she was being observed and followed. In the bus, she sits beside Alecto, who was one of the furies Hades sent to chase after the heroes. Alecto tries to barter a deal with Annabeth involving Percy and the master bolt. However, it was clear that Annabeth rejected the offer.

The trio was able to escape the bus when the Furies attacked them. This leads them to one of the Satyr paths found in the forests of New Jersey. Unfortunately, they ended up in a situation that was seemingly more dangerous.

The Medusa problem

The Satyr path that the trio took actually leads to Medusa’s lair, as statues of petrified people were outside the building. Medusa reveals herself to invite the trio inside. Meanwhile, Alecto is hot in the tail of the trio but refuses to challenge Medusa for obvious reasons.

While avoiding eye contact with Medusa, the trio was able to learn more about her story and why she wasn’t exactly a true villain. She was once devoted to Athena, Annabeth’s mother, but never got any love in return from Athena. When Poseidon decided to declare his love for Medusa, Athena felt jealous and decided to curse and turn her into the hideous monster who could turn anyone into stone with eye contact.

Medusa offers to help Percy because she has the ability to defeat Alecto and make life easier for Percy and his friends. However, she seemingly asks to take Annabeth in exchange for helping Percy, as she is still angry at Athena for what she did to her.

Percy, of course, decides to reject the offer as he and his friends are now in trouble. They came up with a good plan involving a three-pronged strike that would allow them to defeat Medusa without running the risk of getting petrified.

With Medusa focused on Percy, Grover flew into the scene wearing the winged sneakers to distract the monster. Annabeth puts her invisibility cap on Medusa’s head so that Percy can attack her without making eye contact. Percy uses his sword to decapitate Medusa while the cap is still on her head.

Percy grabs the decapitated head and surprises Alecto by removing the cap to reveal the monster’s eyes just in front of the Fury, turning Alecto into stone and allowing the trio to get the Furies off their tail.

The prophesy of the betrayal

Wondering what to do with the severed head, Percy tells them that they should bury it while it is still wearing the cap to make sure that no one would ever find it. But he gets into an argument with Annabeth regarding the deal that Medusa offered Percy and the deal that Alecto offered Annabeth.

Grover breaks the argument up to tell Percy to become more sensitive to Annabeth’s connection with her mother, as the cap was the only thing that connected her with Athena. Meanwhile, Grover also tells Percy to spill the beans regarding his doubts about his allies.

Percy reveals that the Oracle also told him that one of his friends would betray him. That was the reason why he chose Annabeth as an ally, as he believed that they could never be friends. Meanwhile, he chose Grover because he thought that his best friend would never betray him.

Realizing that Percy was under a lot of stress because of the Oracle’s prophecy, both Grover and Annabeth started to understand the pressure he was under. Still, the problem regarding Medusa’s head was still an issue.

Percy decides to use Hermes’ express delivery to Olympus to send Medusa’s head to the gods as “tribute” because Percy and his allies were able to clean up a mess that the gods struggled to clean up for centuries. The episode ends with the boxed head making his way to Olympus.

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