anyway who remembers when zeus told percy that he did well retrieving the master bolt and few heroes could have accomplished as much. man those were the days
Yes! And it's also important to notice, as a reward for returning the bolt, he allows Percy to live, despite the fact that this means the great prophecy might come to fruition.
And he sticks by his words! He never plots or attempts to kill Percy after. The only punishment Percy gets for being a forbidden child is not being allowed to travel through Zeus' domain, and Zeus doesn't take advantage of this to kill Percy when he's flying on his pegasus, or on Apollo and Artemis' chariots in ttc. He established a rule and he followed it.
Then, in TTC, he's not the one who brings up the idea of killing Percy (and Thalia). Athena is the one who mentions the possibility, and when Ares argues that they should kill them and Poseidon goes to defend Percy, Zeus agrees with him, saying that they won't kill Thalia either. He doesn't say "Thalia should get to live but fuck Poseidon's kid". Bc he had already agreed not to kill Percy, and he also wasn't going to be an hypocrite!
I would also like to point out that he listens to what Percy has to say about not being like the titans and sparing Bessie's life even if keeping he alive represents a risk. Percy's words make him think of Thalia, and he takes them into consideration bc he himself is not willing to kill his daughter to prevent the prophecy, even if she represents a risk.
He wasn't willing to kill Thalia when she was born, he tried his best to help her reach camp and get to safety, he mourned her death and now that she's about to turn 16, he's still willing to take the risk and let her live. Despite his scowl at the idea of trusting a hero, his actions show that he's willing to trust Thalia. His reaction to her choosing the hunt even imply he wanted her to be the child of the prophecy, bc he trusted her with the choice.
Then, bc he's not a tyrant, he can't stop the council of voting on whether or not to kill Percy and the ophiotaurus, but he doesn't vote in favor. He agrees to let Percy and Bessie live! And then he throws a party!
HE USED TO HAVE SOME NUANCE AND SOME HONOUR and he used to be a just king! Pjo Zeus, I can't believe I'm going to go to war by your side but at this point! Get behind me!
I can't stand what Rick has been doing to this guy since hoo. All of this, and he's not even going to write them overthrowing him. Honestly, what's the point?
