Well, that was confusing? Are you new to the Percy Jackson community and have no idea what’s going on with the young demigod’s mom? You’re not alone!
The new Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on Rick Riordan‘s hit novels, and follows them quite religiously. At least, more so then the 2010 movie adaptation, but we’re not here to talk about that.
Over eight episodes, the titular character travels across America to return Zeus’s thunderbolt and stop a war among deities.
Walker Scobell stars as Percy Jackson, alongside Aryan Simhadri as Percy’s close friend Grover Underwood and Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena and fellow trainee at Camp Half-Blood.
In the premiere episode, Percy witnesses his mother Sarah (Virginia Kull) being killed by a minotaur after he finds out that he’s a demigod. But as the series continues, it is revealed that she may not actually be dead. Uhh, excuse me? What? Here’s everything we know.
Well, it’s a bit tricky! The first episode, “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher,” introduces viewers to Sally and her loving relationship with Percy. As a single mother, Sally is very close to her son, despite harboring a crucial secret. When Percy lands himself in trouble at school, Sally takes him away to a cabin for the weekend.
There, the mother-son duo meet with Grover, who confesses that he is a satyr assigned to protect Percy. They tell Percy about his demigod status, and explain that the “visions” he’s been seeing aren’t imaginary. Following the big reveal, the three are attacked by a minotaur. During the battle, Sally is struck and crumbles into ash.
“You’re going to need to be brave now. Remember what I taught you, remember the stories I told you… especially the stories,” Sally tells Percy before they part ways. “You are not broken. You are singular. You’re a miracle, and you are my son. Hold fast! Brave the storm. I love you.”
Sounds like famous last words to me.
Then, Episode 2, “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom,” finds Percy waking up in an infirmary at the demigod training facility Camp Half-Blood where he sees Grover at his bedside. “It’s okay, you’re safe,” his friend tells him.
“Did you see it? Did you see what happened to my mom?” Percy asks Grover.
When Grover confirms the events that occurred, Percy leaves the room. However, the topic comes back up later in the episode when Grover has a conversation with the Half Camp-Blood leadership team. “Sorry to interrupt, is now an OK time to talk?” the satyr asks. “It’s Sally Jackson… I think I know what really happened to her. I’ve never seen a minotaur crush a human to death, but I assume they’d get really squishy or something, like an old banana maybe.”
“But she evaporated, like a monster would. So, I went to the Cloven Council and they’ve actually heard of this happening before. When a human is really close to death, Hades can actually reach out and…” Grover is cut off mid-sentence.
“We know,” a leader says before advising Grover to not disclose this information to Percy. “The truth can be very dangerous if it’s handled carefully.” Grover is warned of the “powerful forces” involved in the situation and is told to keep his mouth shut.
At the end of the episode, Percy is assigned to a quest to return Zeus’s thunderbolt, as seemingly requested by his father Poseidon. Grover crashes the heated conversation between Percy and the leadership team, and tells Percy that his mother is alive. “Your mother was stolen by Hades,” he shares. “Which means she’s with him now, in the underworld… If you can find her there, I think you can bring her back.” Encouraged by this newfound information, Percy agrees to embark on the quest. That’s what I like to call killing two birds with one stone!
So, from what has been revealed, it seems quite clear that Sally isn’t really dead at the end of the first two episodes. But will she die as the series continues? Will Percy, Grover, and presumably Annabeth be able to bring her back to the real world? That’s for us to find out.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is streaming on Disney+.