Ok but in the whole Trials of Apollo series I can’t really think of anyone who was genuinely happy to see Apollo? And not in an ‘oh yay I can kill Apollo’ way. Which, granted, is understandable: most of the time he’s bringing along bad news and prophecies of doom with his presence. And he definitely needed the ego check, don’t get me wrong.
But it’s almost a little worrying at this point? He’s gotten more and more self-deprecating in each book, and it’s especially evident in the burning maze. I mean, an hour or less after literally stabbing himself to try and save his friends he calls himself a coward for not stabbing himself with the intent to actually kill himself.
In the first book he expected everyone to be overjoyed by his presence; now I think he’d be surprised or suspicious if someone even seemed genuinely happy to meet him, considering the only ones who have so far have wanted to kill him. Either that or he’d be embarrassed and guilty because he thinks that as Lester that he’d only disappoint them. As a god he had such a large ego, but it was pretty much all tied to his powers and abilities, so with all that gone? He doesn’t see himself as having any other worth. And most of the people he meets aren’t doing much to refute that.
I do love the opportunity for character development this brings, but it’s still kind of worrying that Apollo can’t see any worth in himself other than his (now absent) powers.