#we've seen it in action. it happened bc SHE was too prideful to protect her literal child

[goldenn-moments]

OH MY GODS OKAY so I know everyone has been drawing parallels between what medusa told the kids last ep and what happened in ep 4, with athena blaming annabeth for percy's wrongdoing vs athena blaming medusa for poseidon's actions. BUT THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER PARALLEL THAT I JUST SAW AND I CANT-

when medusa was trying to convince percy to side with her and abandon his friends, she was appealing to his loyalty to his mother, and his disdain for his father - outright asking him to show his father what it meant to be loyal to one you love, and shaming him when he basically "turned his back on his mother" in her eyes. and they could've ended it there, with the message being no, medusa was blinded by her rage at the gods and couldn't see that the strength lied within trusting his friends. but instead, they went further with it - percy still showed his father (AND athena) what it means to be loyal to one you love.

he showed it in subverting the parallel between annabeth and medusa. he showed it by being the "poseidon" in this situation, his father's son, the one who created a slight against athena's pride that she then took out on her loyal follower - someone she had jurisdiction over - and not letting her take the fall for it. poseidon could have defended medusa, could have protected her from athena's rage and spite. but instead, he stayed silent and let her just fall away to the side, discarded and thrown away, just another monster in the pit.

but percy didn't do that. he saw that his actions had unintended consequences for annabeth, and instead of letting her take the fall, instead of letting her die for what I'm sure he perceived as his fault, he sacrifices himself for her even when he's on death's doorstep. there was much more for him to lose than there ever was for poseidon to lose when it came to medusa, and yet he still made the selfless choice within seconds. he stopped that parallel from coming full circle because he was the person that his father never has been, and he showed his dad what true loyalty means - to sacrifice yourself for those you care about, no matter the personal cost.

idk, I just think it's cool that he still taught the gods medusa's lesson, but he did it by acting out of selflessness, not for the glory or the pride or the esteem that seems to be the gods' language

"The chimera is the demi-god killer. Someone has to stay back to slow her down and buy everyone some time."