‘Percy Jackson’: Why Did the Winged Shoes Pull Grover Into Tartarus?

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In Episode 7 of ‘Percy Jackson,’ the trio of Annabeth, Grover, and Percy finally came a step closer to the mystery of who stole Zeus’ master bolt when they reached Hades’ palace. Between being attacked by Cerberus and Annabeth getting stuck in Asphodel Meadows, there was seemingly no end to various dangers in the Underworld. One unexpected thing happened to Grover as soon as he came even remotely close to Tartarus when he was suddenly almost sucked into a dark hole. Why did the Winged Shoes turn on Grover and attempt to pull him into Tartarus?

  • Article Breakdown:
  • Winged Shoes almost pulled Grover into Tartarus because they were cursed to pull both Percy and Master Bolt into Tartarus.
  • Luke Castellan gifted the shoes to Percy; however, Percy decided against wearing them due to being Poseideon’s son and gifted them to Grover.
  • It was never Grover that was targeted; however, Luke had no idea about it, and his plan was doomed to fail from the start.

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ read at your own risk.

Winged shoes were always meant to pull the wearer into Tartarus

We know that the biggest mystery of this season is who stole Zeus’ Master Bolt, and in one of our previous articles, we already discussed that it was Luke Castellan and that Zeus was never connected to the plan that Luke had developed with Kronos. Even before he was manipulated by Kronos, Luke had plenty of reason to hate the gods and to see the status quo fall.

Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes whom we met in Episode 6, had begun questioning the Olympians ever since his father “abandoned” both him and his sick mother. After seeing the fate of Halcyon Green and his close friend Thalia Grace turned into a tree, this questioning turned to resentment and hatred, and Luke began viewing all of the Olympians as evil, corrupt, selfish, and unworthy of worship.

All of this made him a perfect ally for Kronos. The evil Titan King contacted Luke in his dreams and gradually manipulated him to his cause, ordering him to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness, the legendary weapons of Zeus and Hades, respectively, which would start a civil war amongst the Big Three gods, as both Zeus and Hades would blame Poseidon because his son Percy Jackson was living in New York.

Even before Percy arrives at camp, half-blood Kronos, through dreams, warns Luke that Percy will be coming, and a second part of the plan is put into motion.

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Luke was the one who gave the shoes to Percy

Those Winged Shoes that Grover was wearing as a gift from Hermes to his children. We know that in various depictions of Hermes, he usually wears winged sandals, but he decided to gift a version of this symbol of power to his children as well, providing them with flight and somewhat increased speed. They look like Converse Chuck Taylors, but have an “H” as a symbol of Hermes instead of a star.

The pair that Luke gave to Percy, however, was cursed. Luke was aware that Percy, being a part of the prophecy, would be successful in eventually retrieving the master bolt because Ares put it in the backpack that Percy was carrying while going to the Underworld. The plan was as soon as Percy got close to Tartarus, he was supposed to be sucked into a pit and delivered to Kronos along with the master bolt.

But Percy gifted the shoes to Grover and almost caused Grover to be sucked into a hole. Percy didn’t mean harm to befall Grover; the only reason why he declined the flying shoes was because he didn’t feel comfortable flying while Zeus was the god of the Sky and Percy was the son of his most bitter rival.

In short, Luke planned for Percy to be wearing the shoes, which would cause him to be sucked into Tartarus and delivered to Kronos, Percy accidentally and unknowingly gifted the shoes to Grover ruining Luke’s plans.

The only reason why Grover managed to resist the pull of the Tartarus is because the shoes were too big for him, being meant for Luke and Percy, demigods and they fell off his feet being sucked into Tartarus.

If Percy was carrying them, and they were the right fit, he most likely wouldn’t be able to resist the pull.

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