imagine ur thalia grace. you wake up after being turned into a tree. ur brother is trying to resurrect kronos. poseidon's 13 yr old son is glaring at you like this is your fault. ur not sure why because as already mentioned you were a tree three days ago. he's inexplicably loyal to your little sister. he's apparently one of the most powerful demigods around. he's about to throw hands with you. u have quite literally just woken up. this is him.
I'm kinda proud of myself for getting through the book and the chapter posts in two months. Especially when I took an (unforeseen) extended pause when reading the Lightning Thief lol. I also stayed ahead of the tv show!
Thank you to my old followers for sticking with me in the long wait between book 1 and 2, and also thank you to my new followers for wanting to join in on the ride! I'll take a break before getting into the Titan's Curse to read some other things I've left in my queue for too long. I'll try not to take too long, but if I've learned something in these past few years, getting ahead of the tv show has been a hell of a motivator 😂 So I'll definitely be back before the end of the year, assuming season 3 comes out in December.
And without further ado, my summary of the Sea of Monsters:
Themes:
The power of friendship (aka "Supporting others and having support from loved ones" continued)
I actually didn't expect this theme to pop up again, at least not in a way that I could add new insights to. Here's what I said in my B1 summary: It’s an important driving force for a lot of the characters. When they’re at their lowest, when they think about giving up, they all had someone who picked them back up, someone who eased the pain a little, and that helped them keep going and lift them up. This is an especially important theme for Clarisse, because she had to learn that she can't do everything alone. If she wants to succeed, she needs help from her allies. The empathy link between Percy and Grover, the sole reason Percy was able to know Grover was in trouble, could happen because of how close they are. Tyson was able to come into his own because of the support he receives from Percy. And Percy and Annabeth wouldn't have made it through the Sea of Monsters if they didn't have each other's backs, and they became even closer because of it. This quest, from beginning to end, was about how people are stronger together. The final chariot race was a nice way to cap off this theme, with Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson working together, bringing their strengths to the table and claiming victory because of it. Luke, on the other hand, is still on his own even if he has a bigger following now.
Relationships with the gods (aka "Worship of the gods and broken systems" continued)
Another theme to add onto! From B1, I talked about how demigods’ over-reliance on the gods breeds a flawed and defective system. Another broken system I found in B2 was the way CHB operates, how outdated it is bc it trains demigods for survival in chaotic times, but the current generation lives in an era of relative peace for the West; demigods are then left unprepared when they leave camp.
One subtheme is the gods and responsibility, and I touched back on this in ch 9. But another that became more prominent in B2 is the concept of family with the gods. I introduced it in B1 ch 21, that the gods generally have a loose sense of what "family" is that's not quite the same for mortals. It’s mainly just blood relations and obligations, and not really about bonds between two people. When we're reintroduced to Ares, we see that this is how his relationship with Clarisse works. It's very quid pro quo, that Clarisse brings glory and honor to Ares through her actions and in turn Ares provides aid and answers her prayers. But with the introduction of Hermes, we see a god who considers family to be more than just duty and obligations, and through him we get to learn more about the gods' perspective. We learn that a god often can't act for their children in direct ways and show favoritism, which in the past I had attributed to just Zeus and Poseidon, but maybe it's just especially so for those two. While the alternative would cause more problems, it still contributes to the broken system in place. Demigods don't intrinsically understand that their godly parent can't always give them the attention they need. At the end of the day, demigods are still human with very human desires.
And it's this that Kronos tries to take advantage of. He feeds off the resentment and negative feelings demigods and other beings have for the gods, using it as a way to piece himself back together. He tries to place seeds of doubt in Percy, likely the exact same way he did for Luke, by asking how has Poseidon shown his appreciation, and by the end of the book, Percy has his answer to this. After his conversation with Hermes, he realizes just how much Poseidon has provided for him, which is incredibly ironic given that Luke, Hermes' own son, is unable to understand this.
Fatal flaws
Now that the concept of fatal flaws has been introduced, I'm excited to get into it! Fatal flaws are aspects of a hero that, when left unchecked, will eventually lead to their downfall, and sometimes other's downfalls. When encountering their island, Annabeth explains that sirens reveal the deepest desires of an individual, things even they don't know about themselves. And when she hears and sees them, she finds out that her fatal flaw is hubris, deadly pride. It's a trait a lot of heroes in Greek mythology had and was the reason for their tragic endings; I even suspect that it's the fatal flaw for Clarisse and Luke. For those with hubris, they are overconfident in their skills and believe that they can do anything, or for Annabeth specifically, build or fix or solve anything. In a lot of ways, Annabeth represents the classic Greek hero - hungry to prove herself and ready to make her stamp on history - and it makes an interesting contrast with Percy, who's not very similar to the mythological heroes. That's probably another reason he was the ideal Child of the Prophecy.
It'll be a little while before Percy's fatal flaw will be named, but I want to talk about it too. In a way, what the sirens show Percy also has to do with his fatal flaw: His deepest desire was seeing his loved ones again. For someone with extreme loyalty, Percy values his friends and loved ones above all else, and being separated from or feeling like he had failed them would be especially hard. I've seen some discussion in the fandom of how "loyalty" isn't really a flaw but a virtue, but I think they're missing the point (putting aside how well or not well it's portrayed in the books). The characteristics of a person aren't necessarily good or bad, but it's how they're used that makes the difference. Pride in of itself for example isn't inherently a flaw, it's actually something necessary to have to a certain capacity. Annabeth's confidence in herself is the reason I believe she could stand against Circe for instance. It's only when taken to extremes that it becomes a problem, and the same is true for loyalty. I try not to bring the tv show into my chapter posts, but they really hit the nail on its head with this. If it means Percy can protect his friends and loved ones, he would destroy the world in a heartbeat, or even himself. Nothing else matters as long as those he cares about are safe.
Reevaluating biases of immortal beings
This is a theme introduced in this book, and it'll be expanded on as the series progresses (though if you want to be technical, you can say it came up in B1 with Cerberus). Percy and his friends find that everything isn't just black-and-white, that monsters are capable of both good and evil, much like humans or demigods. And the same is true for other immortal beings, such as Circe. They can have as many differing opinions and outlooks from one another as there are stars in the sky. Tyson is the first to challenge how the characters view monsters, and he proves time and again that cyclopes can be more than the dumb, hateful creatures demigods expect them to be. He's an example that an individual isn't who they are born as, but rather the actions they make. And because of this, Percy was able to see past those biases and feel sympathy for Polyphemus for a moment, although he wasn't deserving of it. The theme calls into question the conventions that categorize the children of the gods/immortals. How are they different from one another? Why are they treated differently? Because they're all children of gods at the end of the day. Chiron offered one answer to this while talking about what a demigod represents: They're the protectors of humanity, the bridge between the mortal and godly worlds. A true hero is one who acts to defend humanity's hopes and livelihoods.
Characters:
Percy: I think for Percy, this book is about him finding his place within the godly world on a deeper level. He's learning more about that world and figuring out what it means to him and how he fits in it. He's coming to his own as a demigod! A significant part of Percy's character that came up is a clash between his low self esteem and his loyalty to his loved ones, which I discussed in ch 6. He was grappling with the revelation that Tyson is his brother and whether it meant he himself would also be considered a monster. But for better or worse, Percy will always prioritize the well-beings of his loved ones over his own insecurities, and in the end he chose Tyson.
I was surprised how much emotional maturity Percy displayed in this book! I didn't really clock it in B1, but it does show up there too, such as Percy choosing not to act on impulses because he knew his mom wouldn't want him to do it. It's really an indicator about how Percy was raised. He's just such a mom friend lmao. He was able to take a step back and reconsider how he was treating Tyson, and try to do better; when faced with feelings of jealousy, he chose not to act on them; when he was given a glimpse of Annabeth's truest desires and how they included Luke, he never admonished her for them; and when presented with the problem of how to get the Golden Fleece to CHB, he chose to trust in Clarisse and have her be the hero. It's interesting to see how all these examples tie into his incredible loyalty. There's some other new qualities I caught: He can't stay mad at his friends for very long lol, and his capacity for kindness has some prominent moments. Percy can be incredibly introspective too, but it doesn't often apply to recognizing his own strengths and good qualities. And romantic feelings, but that's a discussion for another book lol.
Speaking of loyalty and Percy and Annabeth, I can't not talk about their friendship. The second half of the book really drives home how close they already were and also how much closer they became through the quest. I said this in ch 10: Besides Grover, Percy has never been this close to anyone, and I think his friendship with Annabeth is all the more special to him because they were at odds with each other at first. Annabeth saw his flaws, but wanted to be his friend in the end anyway. This was regarding Percy's insecurities about Annabeth's past bonds with Thalia and Luke, that he feels like he maybe can't live up to them. And it's important to bring up now bc it'll be a major point of tension in B3. And that quote also applies to Annabeth: Percy sees both her strengths and weaknesses, and still chooses to be her friend; he sticks by her no matter what. They're able to be vulnerable with each other with no judgment, have hard conversations, and trust each other with their lives.
Annabeth: We learned more about Annabeth's past, her deepest desires, and of course, her fatal flaw in this book. B2 also revealed that Annabeth was at an internal crossroad about which side of the war she should be on. She has her own resentment for the gods that Luke tried to draw out: the little acknowledgement she's received from Athena, the plethora of problems with how the gods run the world, and if given the opportunity, maybe she would do better. But while Luke offers something tempting for Annabeth, she would never be able to grow if she chose him and the titans. She would be like Luke, forever stewing in her negative feelings and feeding her hubris.
And interestingly enough, I think it's when Annabeth learns what her fatal flaw is that she decides where her loyalty should lie. I had been waiting for an obvious moment, but in reality, it was probably more of an unconscious choice Annabeth didn't realize she made (or it was a conscious but quiet choice, it's hard to tell when everything is in Percy's pov lol). I think by seeing Percy's unwavering loyalty to her, the way he accepts everything about her, Annabeth chose to protect the world rather than destroy it, because that's what Percy himself wants. A really good example of how her journey manifests is her treatment of Tyson throughout the book. She starts off with her own prejudices based on her experiences and trauma, but she's able to overcome them and begin healing with Percy's influence. Annabeth and Percy make each other better versions of themselves. And I think the same can be said for a lot of others that Percy meets: through his influence, people are able to be their best selves.
Luke: It's been about a year since Luke had left CHB to officially join Kronos, and during that time, he has fallen deeper into resentments and need for his version of justice. We see yet again how selfish he is, and that he's leaning even more into putting himself and his desires first before anything else, in comparison to Percy who puts others before himself. While Luke believes he's embodying a true hero, his morals are corrupt. This all spells out how much Luke is willing to do anything if it means he can push his agenda and reach his goals, and in turn, toss aside anything or anyone that will prevent him from doing that. But he still represents two warring sides within himself, and Percy's description of Backbiter is a great way to explain it: "I could almost feels the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. I didn't know how the blade had been made, but I sensed a tragedy." It's a bit of foreshadowing for Luke's fate too.
While I read the next few books, I want to see how much Luke's pride affects his actions. As I said for ch 18, I think pride is Luke's ultimate vice - it's the reason for his downfall, and it's a reason he stays with Kronos - and only when he can put it aside will the war come to an end. Luke is blinded by his emotions, but I also think in order to keep his resolve in siding with Kronos, he has to outright reject anything associated with his other warring side, aka his compassion and grace and integrity. Like the death that allowed Backbiter to become one, Luke has to essentially kill his self, his humanity, to eventually be a vessel for Kronos. While we don't see much of this battle within Luke in B2, it'll become more apparent in the sequels.
Clarisse: We get to see a new side to Clarisse that really expands what we knew about her as a character. In B1, she was the stereotypical bully, but in B2 we find that she's so much more than that. While Clarisse has a bit of an abrasive personality, she still cares a lot about camp and the campers she's responsible for; while she hungers for glory, she never tries to steal credit or receive glory if she doesn't feel she earned it. And like other demigods, Clarisse has a complicated relationship with her godly parent. It's revealed that Ares is quite abusive and pressures Clarisse to achieve glory, and witnessing the interaction between the two makes Percy see Clarisse in a new light, and is one of the reasons he gives her a second chance.
Clarisse did a lot of growing up in this book. She has a tendency to be overconfident and therefore underestimate the forces she faces, but her quest has taught her that she can't always see problems as challenges she alone can face head on. In the end, she needs allies to truly succeed. Clarisse at her best is when she puts aside her pride for a better cause, putting aside differences to work with her rivals and face a common enemy.
Tyson: We're introduced to Tyson in this book, and he also grows a lot from how he was in the beginning. Despite his gruff appearance, he's very timid and a sensitive and pure soul. He had to face a lot of hardships in his life as a young cyclops, from being forced to grow up on the streets, to the cruelty he faced from mortals and demigods, to even Percy's immaturity when learning they were brothers. And yet, Tyson never let these adversities define him, he remained kind and loving. Rather than praying for a better life or wishing ill on those who did him wrong, all he asked from Poseidon was a friend. And Poseidon deemed him worthy enough to receive THE friend, one that will stay by his side as much as Tyson will. Honestly, Tyson was a gift to Percy as much as Percy was a gift to Tyson. The quest would have failed without him! At his best, Tyson is a supporter and protector. Tyson always stayed true to who he is, but by the end of the quest, he really embraced it (and consciously chose it), and that allowed his strengths to shine.
Things to keep in mind for the future books and other notes:
Percy's supposed claustrophobia from St Louis hasn't come up again lol
There was never much of a conclusion on Percy's insecurity post-Circe's island, unless that's what his final battle with Polyphemus was for. Will it show up in the future?
I didn't realize it until later on in the book, but how poetic that the god often associated with overindulgence got paired with the man who can't eat or drink for eternity lmao
Something small that came up in this book, but I loved seeing the little bits of adrenaline junky Percy
