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zazzander · 2 years ago

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My Tin-Foil Hat Theories about The Sun and The Star

i.e. I read the TSATS preview and I have the biggest confirmation bias you've ever seen

(feat. all my theories that are definitely WRONG but so far no one has guessed right so I'm just like everyone else, thank you)

So the book starts with an encounter in the Underworld somewhere, because Will and Nico are talking to Gorgyra.

"Nico di Angelo, why don't you tell me a story?" [...] "Tell me about the two of you," she said.

So this is a great opening, because either this is the story they're telling or we're going to get some cool flashbacks later about Nico and Will's past. What is interesting is that, from the canon so far, Will and Nico bonded over Octavian’s death. He is, fundamentally, part of their story.

Then we go into the far less bleak opening scene.

Nico & the Apollo cabin are talking about which character in Star Wars is Nico's favourite / who he'd take on a date. I would have guessed Nico would pick someone who is just like Will - but Nico picks Darth Vader. And, sure, maybe that's just to so show how Cool-And-Edgy Nico di Angelo is.

BUT - it's the opening of the book. What is it has more to it?

Let's think about who Darth Vader is. In the beginning, he was Anakin Skywalker. He was a boy subject to a prophecy that said he was save the galaxy (bring balance to the force), but he was manipulated into joining the dark side. The Emperor (hint-hint, nudge-nudge) kept a tight grip over Anakin. Then there's Order 66 and Anakin slaughtering the younglings. But, in the end, Anakin kills the Emperor and turned back to the light side of the force.

Obviously, our Emperors are already dead. But just think about that plot. A person who was supposed to be a hero, who was manipulated by an Emperor, and eventually tried to massacre a lot of children… Keep that in your head.

Moving on! The voice isn’t a ghost. The dream-giver isn’t dead. That’s why Nico thinks it has to Bob.

Now, Oshiro and Riordan remind us that Jason is very, very dead:

Months earlier, Nico had sensed his friend Jason Grace's death, which had sent him into a tailspin of grief and rage.

So when Nico says this:

Demigods always had vivid-and occasionally prophetic-dreams, but when he slept, the voice became almost unbearable. Help me, please! it called out. I need you, Nico di Angelo. I need you. Well, so did every ghost who visited him. […] But this voice wasn't dead.

We know that it can’t be Jason. Sure, Nico might be wrong about this too – but I feel like that was would be too much of a red-herring. Nico knows what a ghost feels like. If he says it isn’t a ghost, it isn’t a ghost.

The thing is – there is a death that’s, in a way, unaccounted for. In theory, he should have sensed his death as well. But let’s look at the moment:

He might have even said good riddance. But his heart sank as the comet kept gaining altitude. It disappeared into the storm clouds, and the sky exploded in a dome of fire. [Blood of Olympus]

You guessed it (especially if you know anything about this blog, haha).

This is the moment Octavian ‘died’ but Nico did not feel him passing. Of course, that doesn’t tell us anything. It’s a dramatic ending, the book will tell us about Octavian’s funeral soon and that everything will be wrapped up nicely.

After the explosion, Piper and Jason – free-falling and unconscious – were plucked out of the sky by giant eagles and brought to safety, but Leo did not reappear. [Blood of Olympus]

Huh? That’s odd. If Octavian’s body was flung up into the sky, shouldn’t it have fallen down to the earth as well? When they were searching for Leo, shouldn’t have found Octavian? Even if it was just pieces of him? Where is the body?

There is a group funeral. But I’m very much inclined to assume Octavian wasn’t a part of it.

Octavian would be remembered for saving Rome by hurling himself into the sky in a fiery ball of death. But it was Leo Valdez who had made the real sacrifice. [Blood of Olympus]

That’s Nico’s opinion, on the matter of his death. Cleary, Nico doesn’t see Octavian as a hero. So when this happens:

Shrouded demigods, both Greek and Roman, were burned at the campfire, and Chiron asked Nico to oversee the burial rites. Nico agreed immediately. He was grateful for the opportunity to honour the dead. [Blood of Olympus]

Why would Nico honour Octavian and not mention it? Say something like “he wasn’t as excited to see off Octavian, but he did it for the Romans”. So…no funeral?

Clearly Nico believes that Octavian is dead. That’s undisputed. But – like – guys. Where is the body? Nico also thought Leo was dead at this time! If Leo got to escape, is it not also possible that Octavian did as well?

Nico talks about Bob a lot in this preview, which makes sense, of course, and I have no doubts we will be seeing Bob in this book! We might even be rescuing him. But there’s a BIG disconnect is the story: Bob is gentle and considerate – the person sending these vision is not.

They are desperate. They are begging for Nico’s help. But they seem to have decided the best way to do this is by hurting him. Threatening him. I can’t see how Bob would ever do that!

The message comes to Nico through dreams. These aren’t quite prophetic dreams, but instead the kind of dreams that Clovis used to show Nico events and memories. Only this time is a distortion of Nico’s own memories. He sees:

His dead mother

Bianca, dressed as a Hunter of Artemis, at the Lotus Hotel

The bridge at the Battle of Manhattan

Trapped in the jar

His encounter with Cupid

In these dream-memories, the message is repeated: listen. But I want to pick out a few seemingly significant moments. It’s obvious the dream-giver is trying to send Nico a message, but I also get the impression that either they are being intentionally vague or they cannot directly address Nico.

It strikes me that they are reticent to show their true form.

I highly doubt any of the people who show up in the dream are the dream-giver. So we can cross several people off our suspect list. Another assumption/guess of this wild theorising on my part is that the dream-giver is using the people in the dreams to deliver their message. They are speaking through these other characters.

Moment #1

“You have to listen," said Michael Yew, his intense brown eyes brimming with tears. "If you don't, you will share my fate."

I want to pull out this line in particular because it’s almost as if the dream-giver knows the prophecy Nico has been given. Referring to: Or your body and soul no one will ever find. Either a reference to Nico’s death (like Michael’s) or to Octavian’s body and soul being lost.

Sounds like the dream-giver might have prophetic powers…

Moment #2

Then in the dream with the jar, Percy appears. The sight of him comforts Nico, however, that is not the message the dream wants to convey.

Nico reached up to take Percy's hand.

But Percy was now farther away. Even standing with his arms outstretched, Nico couldn't reach the mouth of the jar. […] No, no! His friend was even farther away!

It’s possible the goal of this sequence is to tell Nico that Percy cannot help him. That he shouldn’t help him. That’s a big guess on my part, but if Octavian was the dream-giver, he definitely wouldn’t want Percy Jackson involved on the quest.

This part of the dream ends with a message:

“You have to go," Percy said. "Go where?" he asked, though he dreaded the answer. "We made a mistake," said Percy. "You have to fix it."

The first part makes sense, the dream-giver wants Nico to come help them. Now, what about that “we made a mistake” part. Obviously, this seems to point towards the choice Percy made to not go back for Bob. But here me out, what if Octavian is just being manipulative? What is the ‘mistake’ is that Nico and Percy both chose not to trust Octavian? And that helping Octavian would ‘fix’ it? It’s vague because Octavian knows that Nico will not save him otherwise!

Moment #3

“If this is a god or a demigod or something else," Nico added, “you’re really starting to annoy me.”

Huh. We have a resident annoying demigod…

But this final sequence is so interesting! Like, yes, all the dreams are going over Nico’s past traumas. And that’s super important for the readers to be reminded of what Nico has been through (and Will’s own trauma has been thrown in for good measure!) but this is working double duty.

"Please. Just let me wake up." "You still think this is a dream?" […] Favonius's disembodied laughter floated around him. "Look at you, still thinking this is a dream. You are so cute when you're delusional, Nico di Angelo!"

So, clearly, not a dream. This isn’t just Nico’s PTSD. The dream-giver is very much trying to send him a message.

But also, that line ‘you are so cute when you’re delusional’ – that sounds like someone who’s met Nico before. And they’re teasing him!.

He crossed his arms. "I get it," he said. "I don't need convincing anymore! I'll go to Tartarus!" That's not enough, Nico di Angelo. Look upon me.

The dream-giver speaks through Cupid. They threat him, attack him. But then they change their tact. ‘Cupid’ changes their form.

"Please, Nico. Look at me." The voice had changed. It was warm, like honey, like a late-summer sunset, like the first rush of heat from a campfire. […] Nico turned slowly, and there stood Will Solace, his golden hair lit oh so perfectly in the dreamlike daylight of Salona.

Okay this is the part that where I put on two tin-foil hats. Which you should expect if you’ve read this far. Here me out: Nico once described Octavian as looking like Will (just an unhealthy, paler version). So what if this is doing double duty, again? Nico is likely to listen to Will Solace, his boyfriend, but what if dug out a face close to his own?

“Look at me” / “Look upon me”, is this Octavian saying who he is without actually saying it?

Will shook his head. "It's more than you think. When the time comes, tell me the truth."

So, this line, could go a few different ways. But I think it might actually refer to a future exchange between Will and Nico. It’s not about the dream-giver, but the dream-giver has seen a moment that needs to come to pass in order for them to be helped. More glimpses of the future?

So the dream sequence ends! Wow! It’s intense. But I’m not actually done…

Right after the dream takes place, the Oracle delivers the prophecy. Apparently, Rachel has said this prophecy twelve times. We don’t have a timeline, but that makes it sound like this prophecy has been haunting Nico for a while. This part of the prophecy is the part I’m interested in:

Go forth and find the one who calls out your name, Who suffers and despairs for refusing to remain;

It’s totally possible that this is just a typo on the part of the person who leaked this, because the second line is pretty clunky. However, if we take it at face value, “for refusing to remain”, that… doesn’t sound like Bob.

Bob chose to remain in Tartarus. Maybe he’s changed his mind now, definitely possible. But like… What if Octavian was dragged down into Tartarus, against his will, and he’d be pretty damn unhappy about it!

Anyway – those are my thoughts. The obvious holes in this theory are – well – obvious. How could a demigod survive in Tartarus for over a year? Why would Riordan want to write more Octavian? No idea! I’m not a mind reader! Maybe Oshiro is secretly an Octavian fan!

Anyway, it was mentioned way-back-when that a male character without much exploration would be important in this book. So who knows, maybe it’s Octavian. I for one would think it’d be a very cool plot twist.

Especially if it is a trap!

Especially if we have a call back to the opening and Octavian, like Darth Vader, ends up killing the Big Bad and actually being a hero. Therefore fulfilling that original prophecy that Octavian got from Apollo about being remembered as a saviour.

If you read of all this, thank you! You’re the best!

#even if no one this is actually right #that's totally okay #because gods I love Nico #and Kayla #but especially Nico!!#he deserves the world!!#looking forward to the rest of the book #heroes of olympus #octavian hoo #octavian pjo #tsats #the sun and the star #tsats spoilers #tsats preview #nico di angelo

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aroaceleovaldez · 11 months ago

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chewing on big 3 kids being capable of absolutely devastating natural disasters and apocalypse-level outbursts of power.

Percy who creates hurricanes complete with lightning that pummel titans and flooding and whirlpools that can trap god-powered crocodile kaijus. Earthquakes that erupt volcanoes. Hazel who sunk an entire small island entirely on her own with her final breath, against giants and a primordial goddess of the earth.

If Nico dramatically wilts plants and cracks the ground when he's mildly stressed, and disintegrates enemies down to their skeletons with a single touch or rips their souls out of their still-living bodies, and can command armies of the undead, what happens if he tries to cause destruction? Even outside of total zombie apocalypse or insta-killing a crowd, he's shown enough geokinesis to absolutely be capable of the same destruction Percy and Hazel can manifest.

What about Jason? He can control the winds and storms. There's no way he can't create the most destructive tornadoes with casual effort that he can never justify using for the collateral damage they'd cause. With a single thought he can rip up a town and launch the remnants 50 miles out. (Jason in the center of a Dead Man Walking tornado, vortexes responding to his movements like an avatar...)

And what can anyone do to combat it? How can you fight the wind lifting everything you know and love into the sky, or floods sweeping you away, or the ground giving way beneath you? The Big 3 kids are scary because they are forces of nature, and their whims are the only thing preventing you from witnessing that at any given moment.

#pjo #percy jackson #riordanverse #hazel levesque #nico di angelo #jason grace #sorry Thalia and Bianca [pensive emoji] Thalia's probably just with Percy in hurricane-making club #cause she doesnt have the wind powers like Jason has especially cause those are probably specifically an Hera thing #and Bianca never got to show off her elemental powers u_u though she probably has equal geokinesis to her siblings #listen im thinking about Jason and tornadoes mostly okay #the mental image of *that* being how he defeated Krios in parallel to Percy making the hurricane to fight Hyperion #just tearing up half of Saturn's palace and scattering it across the Garden of the Hesperides #and the rest of the legion can barely see what's happening #they just see the tornado in the shape of a person and the shadow of Jason in the center illuminated by lightning #like YEAH maybe the legion would revere and fear him a little bit after that

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