i was going to say i miss the first series where characters like clarisse, zoe, ethan, silena, and of course luke and annabeth were very prominent and had absolutely no powers. they had magic objects, traits from their parents, special talents, but not superpowers. as much fun as it can be to speculate about what characters are capable of and to powerscale them, it didn't have to be the norm in the series. however, the actual problem, and difference between the first series and all of the sequels, is that the characters all had a narrative purpose in pjo, and a reason to exist in the specific book they were in. each character, major or minor, had a plotline that served the broader narrative. rick didn't have to invent plot points to give each and every individual character a chance to learn a lesson and save the day using their special powers until mark of athena, when you can see the wheels begin to fall off the train and the first brick get launched at jason grace to resolve the question "why doesn't jason just fly away from this angry mob?"
