Percy Jackson and the Olympians 2×08 Review: “The Fleece Works Its Magic Too Well”

“The Fleece Works Its Magic Too Well” is a bit cramped as an episode, and it fundamentally alters a bit of the story. But it serves as a perfectly good finale to a season that was exceptionally better than the first one.

When “I Go Down with the Ship” revealed the big twist of Sea of Monsters – Thalia’s return via the fleece healing her right out of the tree – I was pretty shocked. I couldn’t fathom why they were dropping that information so early. That’s a big moment in the books, where Percy realizes that he is no longer the only person to whom the Great Prophecy can apply.

But then “The Fleece Works Its Magic Too Well” made another change to the story: the reason why Thalia was turned into a tree in the first place. You see, in the books, the story of her sacrificing herself and Zeus honoring her sacrifice is true. It’s a moment that shows that while the gods may not be hands-on parents, they do – occasionally – care for their children. The show, however, has decided to go another route. I can’t yet say whether or not this change will weaken the overall story. As it stands right now, though, I am not a fan.

It does make for an interesting cliffhanger. The Sea of Monsters was originally published in 2006. The twist is fairly well known at this point. I can see them wanting to make a few changes to keep fans of the books on their toes.

I mentioned in last week’s review that it’s as yet unclear on which side of the conflict Thalia will fall. Luke believes that she would side with him, whereas Annabeth believes that she would side with her. And considering Zeus turned his daughter into a tree for not wanting to be his good little soldier, which is exactly the same reason that Luke wanted to bring her back, we’ll likely have that tension through most of season 3. (Which we’ll be getting sooner than expected! The teaser after the finale revealed that the show will return later this year.)

In fact, the tension between Thalia and Percy is a core component of The Titan’s Curse, which is the book that season 3 will adapt, so it makes sense that they would want to introduce a new aspect to that dynamic. Both are aware of the Great Prophecy, and both will be equally determined to not be the subject of it.

My issue is that it’s unnecessarily demonizing Zeus. I’m sure it’s partially to amp up the tension between Thalia and Percy, as well as further make the audience more sympathetic to Luke’s cause. But there is no need to make Zeus such a villain. I mean, yeah, he’s a jerk, but none of the gods are fully good or fully evil; they’re gods. They are meant to be morally gray, and they all make mistakes and poor choices throughout the series.

Granted, it does give Thalia a reason to be tempted to join Luke and the rogue demigods, when in the book there wasn’t much of one. In fact, right now, it’s hard to understand why anyone would be on the side of Olympus.

However, as much as I don’t like this change, I do have to admit that they handled it well. It’s been teased all season. We got more and more of the story as we went along, until we got to the last episode and were told everything we thought we knew was a lie. It harkens back to “We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort”, which implied that the stories the demigods have been told aren’t necessarily accurate.

On the subject of changes that I do like, Tyson was phenomenal in this episode. I cheered when he came in clutch for Percy, saving him just in the nick of time. I loved that scene in Percy’s dream, where he so quickly agreed to help Poseidon make weapons. And I almost shed a tear when he said that he prayed for a friend and wound up with a brother.

Likewise, Clarisse was pretty great in this episode. Chris’s betrayal would have hit harder if we saw more of him this season, or if there was a moment on the quest where Clarisse mentioned him. But I loved the moment where he told her, “You don’t have any friends,” and she was like, “Wanna bet?” and then Grover and Annabeth bust in on a chariot. I also loved her still being the one to finish the quest by spearing the fleece to the tree.

That said, I do want to see more of Chris. When he tells Clarisse that Luke has done more for him than anyone, I want to know what he’s talking about.

Percy rallying the troops was a great moment. His speech was very inspiring, and I appreciate how it mimicked Thalia with the talk of “we take care of our own”. I loved how he appeared on the hill first, with all the other demigods behind him.

The battle sequence was also pretty great. It seems they were saving most of their budget for fight scenes for this episode, which makes sense in retrospect. It was fast and brutal; I was actually a little shocked at the furor in which Luke punched Percy. I don’t know why, given I know how angry Luke is. They’re at war, and they both knew that going in. But I think you can tell that Percy isn’t trying to kill Luke, whereas Luke is absolutely trying to kill Percy.

Something I appreciated was that Percy disarmed Luke in the same way that Luke disarmed him in the previous episode. Little touches like that, where it shows that the characters are learning as they go, are really great.

I’m wondering about the fate of some of the campers. The rogue demigods (I had to laugh at Grover calling them Kronies, I don’t remember if that’s in the books or not) were definitely fighting to kill, and a fair number of kids got slashed with swords. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about what happened when we come back in season 3.

I am mildly disappointed that we didn’t get the book ending for the siege, aka the Party Ponies. I understand that’s probably a budget issue, but things like that help broaden the world. However, I thought it was hilarious how Tantalus got removed in the show.

I also appreciated that moment between Poseidon and Percy. It serves as a natural contrast to the scene with Thalia and Zeus, where it’s implied that Zeus had Thalia specifically to be his soldier. But Percy was born because Poseidon fell in love with Sally, and I think it was important to Percy to hear that. It goes a long way in explaining why Percy is on the side of the gods and not Kronos.

Season 2 on the whole has been a fantastic season. It was much better than season 1, which I admittedly did like. Being able to flesh out some of the characters has really improved the story, and I think the production quality has greatly improved as well.

All in all, this was a rather enjoyable finale. I’m not a hundred percent sold on the changes yet, but I think it will make for an interesting season 3. And I’m very excited that we don’t have to wait long to find out what happens!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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