By Rick Riordan

We have reached the final book of this series, but this is not the last time we will discuss Percy Jackson. For the next two weeks, we will examine the two movies and then the first series of the TV show. I will announce what series I will review next in the final post.

Now that business is out of the way, on to the book.

“Most people get presents on their sixteenth birthday. I get a prophecy that could save or destroy the world.

It happens when you are the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. According to an ancient prophecy, I turn sixteen, and the entire fate of the world is on me. But no pressure.

Now Kronos, lord of time, is beginning his attack on New York City. And the dreaded monster Typhon is also heading our way. So it’s me and forty of my demigod friends versus untold evil…”

This book successfully concludes this series. Things come together very well. Two things: First, this is the final book, and you should know that not everyone will make it out alive. Second, when I finally got this book, I started it in the evening, read it through the second day, and finished it on the third day. So, you will want to set aside some days to go through this book.

Now there are some things from The Battle of the Labyrinth I would like to talk about, Daedalus and the dead campers. The reason I did not talk about this now and not in the Demigod Files is because it is not a full book, and I wasn’t sure how many people would read it.

Firstly, Daedalus is the second character from mythology that Percy dreams about. The first is Hercules, but Daedalus is very different because Percy dreams about many different aspects of Daedalus’s life. I see Daedalus in the book as a reflection of Nico di Angelo. They are both dealing with the loss of someone from their family. Nico has just lost his sister, and his grief is so strong that he is very close to being used as a weapon in the hope of getting her back in the end, he gives up on this and lets her go.

Daedalus is dealing with the death of his son and the nephew whom he murdered. Daedalus has been cheating death to avoid facing the consequences of his actions. In the end, he chooses to sacrifice himself to save the camp and face his fate.

Now on the subject of the dead campers. In the Battle of the Labyrinth, we see two deaths and see what a demigod funeral looks like. The campers we see are Castor, son of Dionysus and Lee Fletcher, son of Apollo. While this book has been compared to Harry Potter, with one difference, there is very little reference to these characters before the book that they die in. We know that Dionysus only has one pair of twin boys at the beginning of this book. The big difference is that Percy’s grief has nothing to do with losing someone he cares about, and more the fact that they died, and if he did things better, they might have been safe. Also, we see Dionysius grieving the loss of his son, which is a major change as it seems that he doesn’t care about any of the campers.

Now for the book at hand and to the end, I have four thoughts.

Firstly, Charles Becondorff. If, like me when first reading these books, you did not know of the existence of the Demigod Files, you will not know who this is or vaguely remember him. So, to insure we regret his death, we hear how happy he is with his girlfriend, how loved he is at camp, and if he survives the war, he is going to university in the fall. This is the type of rhetoric you get in a cop show for someone who is two days away from retirement.

Secondly, the great prophet and more specifically how the misinterpretation of the Great Prophesy has caused a lot of damage in the background of the books. To make things more clear, here is the Great Prophecy “A half-blood of the eldest gods. Shall reach sixteen against all odds. And see the world in endless sleep. The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze.”

The major misinterpretation is the idea that the child of the big three will also be the hero to make the choice. Zeus’ assumption of this reading, you can draw a straight line from this in the 1930s to Luke joining Kronos. Let me explain, if Zeus hadn’t tried to kill Hades’ children and succeeded in killing his lover, then Hades would not have cursed the oracle. If that hadn’t done that, then there is a chance that May Castellan would not have gotten messed up when she tried to become the oracle.

I say a chance because there has never been an oracle who is a mother, and I don’t know if you need to be a virgin to be the oracle. But without this happening to May then Luke would not hate the gods so much. It goes without saying we make our own worst enemy. But there is one thing that Greek mythology has taught us, you can’t beat a prophecy. So even if Zeus hadn’t done anything it still would have happened.

Thirdly, there are so many references to the Iliad from the golden mango incident to Prometheus telling Percy this is the Trojan War, and they are the Trojans. The primary way we can see this is the recreation of the story of Achilles and Patroclus with Clarisse and Silena playing those roles. There are many different changes, from the Iliad, most of which are since this is a children’s book for example while the argument that sparks things off is around property, that property is not a human being. But the main one is unlike Achilles and Patroclus are not in a relationship.

Finally, Selena Beauregard, in rereading the book, is understandable some of her reactions after finding out her boyfriend is dead. After all, if she hadn’t become the spy then Luke/Kronos would not have known that there would be people attacking the cruise ship. When Selena agreed to spy for Luke it is uncertain, but I can guess it was before he left camp. After the next year, he put them all in danger. I don’t know how her scythe charm bracelet worked, how much she was telling Luke vs it just being a listening device. I can understand why she kept silent about the bracelet, especially when everyone is talking about beating up the spy. I can only hope that her sacrifice gets her into Elysium.

I hope you have enjoyed this series and stick around for many more in the future.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.