I finished The Burning Maze yesterday (spoilers ahead)
And some of y'all need to likeā¦. stop.
I understand being upset when a character dies. Jason is a character Iāve known and adores since I was fifteen. Iām almost 23 now. Thatās eight years. His death hit me hard. I keep having these moments where Iām doing something normal and just feel thisā¦ pang in my chest and remember heās gone.
But Iām scrolling through the tags now (I donāt know why I bother at this point), and I see people getting angry about it. Saying Jasonās death was pointless. Unnecessary. Only for shock value. He didnāt have to die.
Devastating as it isā¦ None of that is true.
Iām a comic book fan. My favorite characters die all the time. Always for shock value, making no true impact on the story only to be brought back a year or two later. Death has no meaning in comic books anymore. If there is anyone who can recognize the hallmarks of a pointless death for shock value, itās me.
With shock value deaths, it comes out of nowhere. It justā¦ happens and youāre like āwait, what?ā And sometimes thatās done very well (Cedric Diggory in The Goblet of Fire). But the kind of death weāre talking about just has that death happen, and thenā¦ almost nothing. Not only was Jasonās death foreshadowed the entire book, but it was foreshadowed in a way that directly contrasts the way it was with Leo. Resourceful Leo, who knew what would happen and went out of his way to make sure he had another chance. Jasonās choice was clear. If has to die for Piper to live, he wonāt hesitate. And he didnāt.
Another element of bad shock value deaths is that they have no further impact on the story.
Jasonās death was a defining moment for every character involved and the series as a whole.
Apollo, who only a few chapters before had been hit in the fact with how young Jason was, sees this heroic, sweet, brave, teenagerā¦ a childā¦ die. Die on his quest. Brutally, at the hands of one of historyās greatest monsters.
He canāt stop thinking about how Jason had already survived so muchā¦ had so much left to doā¦ he didnāt deserve to die! But thatās the point! Death doesnāt care what plans you have! If it wants you, it takes you!
Jason Grace is the traditional hero archetype. While Percy refuses to play by the rules, Jason uses the rules he thinks are just and uses them, while breaking the rules he finds unjust. He is the kind of hero celebrated and romanticized by the Greek Deities, and yes, us as well.
Apollo needed to witness the death of not just a hero, but this hero. This young hero. This young hero who is only one of thousands to die on the errands of the gods. Iām sorry y'all, but it had to be Jason. It sucks, but death sucks.
And yet another hill I will die onā¦ Jason Graceās death is the best death Rick Riordan has ever written. And heās written a fair few, all of them their own brand of devastating. From Michael Yew, buried under rubble without even a body to find, to Zoe Nightshade and her stars, to Luke Castellanās desperate final words to Percy to remember the unclaimed.
Jasonās death has elements of all of these. The unabashed unfairness of Michael, the gutwrenching foreshadowing and acceptance of fate of Zoe, and the final plea to remember of Luke.
And like all those deaths, Jasonās will be remembered. When Apollo goes back up to Olympus, Jasonās words will echo in his mind.
The final lines of the book are a testament to the impact of Jasonās sacrifice.
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