Jason and Juno's relationship
For a long time I had a major question about Jason’s backstory. We know that he was left by his mother at the Wolf House when he was two. For an unspecified time he was raised and trained by Lupa before being taken to Camp Jupiter.
However, this time can’t have been very long because Jason has thirteen stripes, one for each year of membership in the legion. Even if they skipped probatio for him since he was a toddler and a son of Jupiter, that puts him at twelve years when he’s fifteen. So we're looking at a year, at max, with Lupa.
Sure, he might have continued to visit and train with her after joining the legion, which is when she gives him the nickname ‘saving Grace’ and all. But Jason, fundamentally, was not raised by wolves. As cool as that would have been – it runs contrary to everything we know about his character.
So that begs the question: who raised Jason? Who were his parental figures?
And then it hit me. Juno.
Juno Believed Jason would Remember Her
We know that Percy retained a memory of Annabeth after all his other memories were taken. She was his anchor. The reason why he didn’t just leave for the sea. Jason has no such anchor. But I don’t think that was intentional.
I’m going to break down the first meeting we get with Juno and Jason, after she’s wiped his memories:
Would you attack your patron? The woman chided. Her voice echoed in Jason’s head. Lower your sword.
Juno here chides Jason, as if she expected him to know her.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “How did you–” Our time is limited Jason. […] This may be the last time I can speak to you.
And she doesn’t even notice when he says ‘who are you’ she just continues on with her message. She acts under the assumption he will recognise her, that what she's saying will mean something to him.
“Look, I don’t know you, and you’re not my patron.” You know me, she insisted. I have known you since your birth.
With this third piece of evidence, she becomes insistent that he should remember her. She's worried.
“I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything.” No, you don’t, she agreed.
And finally, she accepts what Jason has been telling her. She is not Jason’s anchor. But I think she also knows Jason well enough to realise that means he has no anchor at all. He is not close enough to Reyna or his other friends enough to keep a memory of them.
Yet, why would she assume he would remember her? She clearly didn’t think it was a requirement for her spell to ensure it. I think it’s because, ultimately, she is the closest thing to a mother Jason has.
Furthermore, we know that Jason doesn’t have many close connections at Camp Jupiter. People looked up to him, yes, but that’s not the same thing.
His friend’s faces: Dakota, Gwendolyn, Hazel, Bobby. And Reyna. Definitely there’d been a girl named Reyna. [The Lost Hero]
Let’s use Hazel as an example. She’s supposed to be his ‘friend’ but in actuality, he hardly knew her. And she barely knew him:
“You… the great Jason Grace… the praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you…” [Mark of Athena]
This isn’t Hazel’s fault; she was only at the camp for a few weeks before he disappeared. But more importantly, Jason doesn’t let people in. He holds up a façade. He broods rather than expresses his thoughts or feelings.
Jason had tried to act brave at the campfire, but it was just that – an act. [The Lost Hero]
Jason had been trained never to show fear. […] He was supposed to act confident, even if he didn’t feel it. [The Lost Hero]
Everyone seemed to thing he was so brave and confident, but they didn’t see how lost he really felt. [The Lost Hero]
Piper seems to be the only one to notice, and I think that might be because she was given a glimpse at the real Jason via the false memories.
Jason was great, of course. But sometimes he acted so distant […] Piper wondered if she would ever be able to break through that barrier. [Mark of Athena]
And Jason knows this, his barrier keeps people at a distance. Even Reyna - who only ever saw the Roman, the soldier, the leader. Not the person beneath.
Was anyone searching for him right now? What if somebody cared for him that much? [The Lost Hero]
Nobody cared about him, just his big scary daddy standing behind him with the doomsday bolt, as if to say, Respect this kid or eat voltage. [The Lost Hero]
He fears that people won’t come looking for him, because even without his memories I think he subconsciously knows that he doesn't have someone who cares enough to search for him.
So this all implies there is some connection between Juno and Jason. A bond. At the very least – Juno believes there to be one.
Juno as “Patron”
“From birth, you were destined to be Hera’s – to appease her wrath. Even your name, Jason, was her choice.” [Blood of Olympus]
Like a mother, Juno has both love and high expectations for Jason. She pushes him but she also cares for him – in her own way.
She wants Jason to be the leader of her chosen heroes. But Jason doesn’t feel up to it. He’s afraid of failure.
He had a horrible suspicion that he would be expected to lead those other demigods, and he was afraid he would fail. [The Lost Hero]
And he’s right about that expectation. But Juno also understands that such a burden will scare him. At the end of the Lost Hero, when Jason is in Cabin One. He offers a prayer to Jupiter but receives no answer from his father. Instead, Juno shows up and offers him guidance.
In this scene, Jason relates his struggles to Jupiter. He draws a parallel between himself and his father – a father he’s never met.
I think this line is particularly poignant,
“You’ve got to keep me at a distance so it doesn’t look like you’re playing favourites.”
Because I think this is Jason justifying to himself why he isn’t favoured by his father. We know that Jupiter plays favourites all the damn time. Even between Jason and Thalia, Jupiter clearly favours Thalia over Jason. He turned Thalia isn’t a tree to save her life. But let Jason die. And we see it over and over between Jupiter’s immortal children. It seems the pill is easier to swallow if he believes it’s an equal indifference.
And how offered him this explanation? Juno. Because while she is critical of her husband, she generally seems to care for and respect him. A feeling reflected in Jason.
In the scene, Jason prays to Jupiter for aid, for guidance,
“I’m going to try my best. I’ll try to make you proud. But I could really use some guidance, Dad.”
But it is Juno was arrives to give it.
“Did Jupiter send you here to tell me this?” “No one sends me anywhere, hero,” she said. “I am not a messenger.”
Which means Juno came of her own accord – to provide the aid Jason asks for. Many times in the story, Juno claims Jason as her champion. Yes, she does this for all the heroes, but it’s most relevant when it comes to Jason. Jason is hers.
“Like it or not, Jason, I am your sponsor, and your link to Olympus. We need each other.”
This line implies that Jupiter isn’t his link to Olympus. As far as Juno is concerned, and I believe Jupiter is on the same page, Jason is a champion of Juno first, son of Jupiter second. And this position is unique – Juno has no other demigod like that. And even compliments him:
“And Jason – you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion well.” [The Lost Hero]
And she believes that it was a correct choice, not just for herself, but for him as well.
“You were given a destiny,” Hera said. “You were given into my service.” Jason scowled. “[…] It was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone.” “It was the right choice for you as well, Jason,” Hera insisted. [The Lost Hero]
And in the scene, Jason actually lets his façade down for a moment. He admits to her something he admits to no one else: his fear.
“It’s not fair,” Jason said. “I could ruin everything.” “You could,” Juno agreed.
And Juno offers her support – in her own way. She agrees that Jason’s fears are justified, but that she expects him to face them regardless. Despite Jason’s misgivings about his destiny and Juno herself, he accepts the burden of the quest. After telling him this, she gives him a new weapon.
Now, Juno never claims to be a mother to Jason. She never tries to make Jason love her. She even admits that she’s not very good at sympathising with mortals and demigods. But Juno does love Jason. She wants great things for him but she also wants him to be happy, to have friends, to have a home. I think this was why she choose to do that ‘leader swap’ plan over any of the other options. She even gave Jason a pre-packaged best-friend and girlfriend.
The False Memories That Juno Grants – And What They Imply
Juno seems to have a lot of insight into Jason’s personality. More insight that Jason himself has.
Despite the fact it was probably Juno’s influence that meant Jason valued the Roman way, she also saw his inward conflict. The false memories she grants Leo and Piper are not of the current Jason, the façade he’s built up at Camp Jupiter, but his true personality. It takes until Blood of Olympus for that person to finally appear, for the façade to fall away completely.
Now, Jason doesn’t leave behind his duty, he doesn’t completely change. He just allows the part of himself he suppressed to come out – and I think that was part of Juno’s reasoning in sending him to Camp Half-Blood. So wanted to show him another way. And she knew he would be susceptible to it, provided he didn’t arrive with his perceived notions about himself and the Greeks.
It’s not like old Jason was without his rebellions. He tells us about his misgivings on repeat for two entire books – as he realises who he wants to be rather than who he’s supposed to be.
He’d always chafed against the traditions of Camp Jupiter, the power plays, the infighting. [House of Hades]
He had grown up at Camp Jupiter. He’d done well there. But he had always been a little unconventional. He chafed under the rules. [Blood of Olympus]
Even when he chafed against Roman traditions, he thought before he acted. He wasn’t impulsive. [Blood of Olympus]
Despite his attempts to alter his destiny - joining the worst cohort, trying to change the camp traditions, taking the least glamorous missions, and befriending the least popular kids - he had been made praetor anyway. [Blood of Olympus]
And we can see there is an intense focus on keeping all that inside. Of never showing anyone what he truly feels. Before he reached this point in his life, I don’t think he even showed them to himself. These comments in House of Hades, I believe, are Jason realising that he didn’t like being at Camp Jupiter. While we don’t get a POV from Jason in Mark of Athena, he is clearly struggling with his identity.
Before coming to Camp Half-Blood, I think his misgivings were so deep that he didn’t really notice them. It only came out in some of his actions – joining the Fifth, changing the name – but even then, he justified them to himself. They were for Rome.
Once he’d become praetor, he’d campaigned to rename the legion the First Legion rather than the Twelfth Legion, to symbolize a new start for Rome. The idea had almost caused a mutiny. New Rome was all about tradition and legacies; the rules didn’t change easily. Jason had learned to live with that and even rose to the top. [House of Hades]
He’d joined the Fifth Cohort because everyone told him not to. They warned him it was the worst unit. So he’d thought, Fine, I’ll make it the best.[House of Hades]
But someone noticed anyway. And that someone was Juno.
Memory #1
She had liked Jason from the first week they’d met. He was so nice to her, and so patient, he could even put up with hyperactive Leo and his stupid jokes. He’d accepted her for herself and didn’t judge her because of the stupid things she’d done. [Lost Hero 49]
It’s interesting that Jason doesn’t ‘judge her’ in these memories, because the Jason we meet at the beginning of The Lost Hero is pretty judgemental.
Regarding the Wilderness School kids in general:
None of them looked like hardened criminals, he wondered what they’d all done to get sentenced to a school of delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.
Regarding Leo he says:
Jason figured that if this was his best friend, his life must be pretty messed up.
And regarding Dylan he says:
He smiled like he was God’s gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jason hated him instantly.
Jason shows up in the first chapter and judges just about every character he interacts with – often brutally. He isn’t mean or anything – but he makes a pretty clear distinction between himself and the ‘delinquents’ and can’t fathom who he’d become among their number.
Memory #2 & #3
“My memories aren’t fake. They’re so real. The time we set Coach Hedge’s pants on fire. The time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof and I finally got the stupid guy to kiss me…” [Lost Hero 49]
And the moment itself,
“Oh, I’d make up something,” Piper said. “I can be very persuasive. So you want to dance, or what?” He laughed. His eyes were amazing, and his smile was ever better in the starlight. “With no music. At night. On a rooftop. Sounds dangerous.” “I’m a dangerous girl.” “That, I can believe.”
We can see in these memories that Jason doesn’t strictly adhere to the rules. He doesn’t try to be the ideal leader. He’s free. He’s still Jason, of course. But he doesn’t have his façade up. It isn’t until the end of Blood of Olympus that we see this version of him – after his entire character is over. But Juno knew who Jason was, beneath it all.
And I think she knew that Jason would never become that person if he was still at the legion if he still had his memories. While it probably wasn’t the only reason for the leader-swap plan, I think it might have been a key factor. Not to mention, she identified friends that she knew Jason would legitimately come to trust and care about.
The Case Against this
I will quickly mention that time that Juno/Hera vaporises Jason. This is before the schism really starts to affect the gods, though it is definitely still impacts them. In the scene, I believe she is in the form of Hera, Jason uses that term for her at least:
Hera’s eyes flickered with power. “I did warm him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I reveal my true form.”
Furthermore, the goddess is likely the person who taught him to value discipline so much.
“They stood for discipline, honour, strength–” “Good things, then,” Jason said. […] “I mean, discipline is important, right? That’s what made Rome last so long.”
And,
When it came to work and duty, Jason was Roman to the core.
A soldier should follows orders, and she did warm him. I think Juno would have been more upset that Hera, of course. Hera has no real connection with Jason, unlike Juno. So I’d argue that’s where the emotional disconnect comes in.
Juno’s Grief
Juno doesn’t show up much as the series progresses. She has her own issues (running from Zeus/Jupiter). In the finale, we do see her briefly, when she celebrates the successes of the Seven.
“There is still work to be done,” Queen Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. “But my heroes… you have triumphed over the giant as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully.” [Blood of Olympus]
The fact that Hera looks like she wants to hug the group speaks volumes. Because she really is proud of them. They are her heroes. A representation of the family she is trying to repair.
From this point, we don’t see much reference to the goddess until Tower of Nero. When we see her grieving Jason’s death.
Jason dies on March 31, but we seen that Juno/Hera (she isn’t affected by the schism at this point) is still grieving him in June.
“Stop it, all of you.” Queen Hera had been sitting back with a dark veil over her face. Now she lifted it. To my surprise, her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying. “This has gone on long enough. Too much loss. Too much pain. But, if my husband insists on seeing it through, the least you all can do is not talk about Apollo as if he's already dead!” [Tower of Nero]
And,
Queen Hera lifted her veil. As I'd seen in my dream, her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but when she spoke her tone was as hard as bronze. She glared at her husband. “At least Apollo did something.” “Not this again,” Zeus rumbled. “My chosen,” Hera said. “Jason Grace. Your son. And you–” “I didn't kill him, woman!” Zeus thundered. “That was Caligula!” “Yes,” Hera snapped. “And at least Apollo grieved. At least he got vengeance.” [Tower of Nero]
Juno is visibly broken up about the loss of Jason. She resents Jupiter for not saving Jason (remember he saved Thalia by turning her into a tree). We know that Jason has always been searching for his father’s acknowledgement. It doesn’t matter how much Juno loves him – celebrates his achievements, pushes him towards success, or listens to his fears – it is Jupiter's attention that Jason longed for.
She never calls herself Jason’s mother, always patron, because I think she knows that he will always resent her. First, because she is the one who took him from her original family. She doesn’t regret it; she believes it was the best choice for him.
When she takes Jason’s memories, gives him a new home and new life. But he doesn't credit her for it. He blames her. She doesn't make excuses or try to convince him otherwise (though she does provide explanations).
I think all she ever wanted was for Jason to reach his potential and for him to be happy. And he was so close to that dream. Only for him to die young. Only for Jupiter to not care – no revenge, no grief. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was prevented from interfering herself, considering how much trouble she’d been in at the end of Blood of Olympus.
In the end,
Juno loved Jason like a mother – no, she wasn’t perfect. She makes more than a few questionable choices. But she mourns him more than his own father.
Always, it was Juno who stood by him, guided him.
She never expects him to return that love. She doesn’t need to him to call her ‘mother’ (though I think she longed for him to do so) but she will always be a better parent to him than Beryl or Jupiter.