Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ will take place closer to the events of the previous season than Season 2 did with the events of Season 1, and will be the first season of the series to take place during the winter. Executive producer and showrunner Craig Silverstein discussed the story implications of this in an interview with SFX Magazine.
This timeline is likely unsurprising to fans of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, as the third book — which Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 will adapt — is also the only one of the original five to be set in the wintertime, too. As such, only a few months will have passed between the events of Seasons 2 and 3, whereas there was a year between the events of Season 1 and Season 2.
Silverstein explained that this shorter time jump represents how things have changed for Percy. Now that “Percy is quite used to this world,” Silverstein said, “it’s become a year-round thing for him:”
“One of the reasons I think Rick did that was because Percy is quite used to this world … He doesn’t know everything about it, but he’s accepted who he is in this world, and is fully active on missions. It’s become a year-round thing for him.”
He then set the scene for how Season 3 kicks off, with events and a status-quo again familiar to book fans. Episode 1 will see Percy “mid-mission,” amid an ongoing “war [that] has been heating up with the Titans and the rogue demigods:”
“So [in our first episode, set a few months after season two] we catch them mid-mission as the war has been heating up with the Titans and the rogue demigods. The Olympus-aligned demigods have been engaged in clashes all over the world, and there’s a battle of recruitment going on.”
It is clear, then, that when audiences tune into the first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 on November 20, they will join the characters right in the middle of all the action.
What Is Thalia Up to at the Beginning of Percy Jackson Season 3?
Craig Silverstein also discussed where audiences will find Thalia Grace at the start of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, and what role she will play in the new season.
He indicated that Thalia is working through her feelings about Luke’s betrayal — something she has really only heard about. Given their extremely close relationship, having been on the run together before Annabeth joined them, it is understandable that Thalia may want to “see for herself”who Luke has become:
“Even though she’s been told all about Luke, she wants to see for herself.”
Season 2 introduced the idea that Percy and Thalia are two sides of the same coin. Silverstein talked about one line in particular that spelled out the “energy” he is going for when it comes to their dynamic:
“The line in the book that we loved about her is right at the end of book two, where Percy’s looking at her, and it’s like, ‘This might be my best friend or my worst enemy, and I don’t know which it is.’ I’m writing that energy and putting that question to the test.”
Of course, one of many similarities between Percy and Thalia is how much they care for Annabeth Chase. The crux of the plot of The Titan’s Curse, the book by Rick Riordan which serves as they early in the season.”
This gives Percy and Thalia a shared mission, and the two “have to deal with each other:”
“When the one thing standing between them, Annabeth, is taken away early on in the season, they then have to deal with each other.”
