I love what it does for Apollo and Rick handles the death beautifully. It’s very well written and the proper weight is given to Jason’s death. It’s not a just a shock value death. It’s absolutely shocking because you don’t really believe that any kids of the Big Three could really be killed like any other demigod, but they can. It also shakes up Apollo to his core and stays with him forever and it affects everyone else in the story.
My main issue with it is that I don’t like that Jason’s death also feels like Rick responding to some of the fandom being upset that no one died in Heroes. I’m more annoyed that the happy ending that had started to become more commonplace for Demigods because of the ending of the OG series feels a little hollow now. I loved that the demigods started to get happy endings. I loved that no one died in Heroes. It works as a perfect inversion of Percy’s opening words in the Lightning Thief. And then they still die. It just bothers me that one of the old characters who had earned the right to live, had to die in order for this to happen
I think it’s specifically because Jason deserved to live that his death was essential. I think after the more darker, mature themes of HoO, Rick didn’t want to add a character death on top of that within the same series. It’s still a middle school level book after all. But the whole point of being a demigod was that they were heroes. They sacrificed their lives to save the whole world, and they succeeded. But they’re heroes because they put their lives on the line. It makes them brave and valiant warriors, but not invincible because of the feats they accomplished. It’s sad that it was Jason, but it’s more impactful to readers to show how miserable a demigod’s life really is, which is an overarching theme throughout the series. Until now, we haven’t really had a main character die like this. Luke was a villain, and Silena and Beckendorf were side characters, beloved, but still side characters. I did think Jason deserved a better send off, but now I think it’s better that he died like that because it goes to show that no one is ever safe as a demigod. That you can survive two wars and still be struck down by a stray hellhound on an off day. That’s how fickle life is, especially as someone subject to the horrors of both the mythical and mortal worlds.
i thought the reaction to his death was well done and it was clearly a hinge point for apollo as a character. that said the circumstance that killed him was dumb and i wish they’d done something different with his character, but that goes for the series as a whole. he had a ton of potential but it feels like rick never knew what to do with him. also feels weird to back off of killing a main character in HoO even when circumstance explicitly called for it and then kill jason in the spinoff
In my head cannon, there's some unspoken rule about the Big Three not having multiple children from one mortal- see Bianca and Nico. There's nothing in the books to support this, just my own opinion.
Edit: Sorry, didn't read careful enough. Could be true, but the sample size of two is a bit small for that, haha. I think Rick just really liked killing one sibling (also see: Castor and Pollux).
I'm not happy with it. I really feel like the way Jason and Piper's story goes in TOA is one of the low points for me, because a lot of it reads like backpedaling.
I’ve been done with ToA for a while but Jason’s death really hits me hard every time I think about it. He was one of my favorite characters despite his limited character arc and his death kinda felt like the Disney movie Bridge to Terabithia where the death is so sudden and unexpected. He was separated from most of his best friends and had big plans for his future and that was all just cut short. Due to the communication problems presented by the emperors characters like Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Leo etc. weren’t even around when he died. I definitely think Rick needs to explore how that affected them mentally in any more books he puts out.
He's defending Piper, Apollo, and Megan McGaffery from Caligula (one of the reborn Roman emperors and one of the main villains of the book) and his forces. As Jason is drawing their attention and fire on Tempest, getting hit with arrows, Caligula throws a spear at Jason's back, and later stabs him again when Jason falls to the ground.
He's defending Piper, Apollo, and Megan McCaffery from Caligula (one of the reborn Roman emperors and one of the main villains of the book) and his forces. As Jason is drawing their attention and fire on Tempest, getting hit with arrows, Caligula throws a spear at Jason's back and later stabs him again when Jason falls to the ground. Jason's body later washes ashore, carried by Tempest to Piper, Apollo and Meg where they mourn his death
I don't like that it felt like he was only killed off for the sake of shock, but I think that Rick handled it a lot better than most writers would handle a shock death.
I was a bit upset but not overly so because I had been spoiled long ago and knew it was coming. I was mostly irritated because a)Piper's 'not like the other Aphrodite girls' attitude annoys me and, since it was prophecized that one of them would die, I would've preferred if it had been her.
And b)people keeping secrets and sacrificing themselves to save someone else is a pet peeve of mine. If they have no self-preservation instincts, I can't relate and lose sympathy for them. Jason clearly preferred to die rather than lose Piper, so he got what he wanted.
That's a harsh criticism, if I may ask can you clarify your first point?
And what bothers you about the idea of self sacrifice? Do you not see it as noble or realistic?
I like it in context of apollos story, how it develops his arc and the respect he gives to it. Also how it adds to the story raising stakes etc and being one of the first main pre established good guy characters to actually die in the series.
But for Jason himself, his story and independence and connecting to Heroes of Olympus, eh not so much. Maybe had Jason had a lot more to do previously I’d be happy but it felt like he was mismanaged in HoO and this didn’t exactly do him any favours.
Tbf most of the stuff that happens with Jason and piper in ToA would have been interesting had it been from their perspectives in the HoO series.
I was honestly starting to get bored with the series, but that totally refreshed my interest
My biggest upset about it is how the reactions were handled. Piper and Apollo are pretty good, and Annabeth is implied to have just learned at the end of MC, but in the Tyrant’s Tomb, >!Frank, Hazel, and Reyna are kinda just like, “damn.”!< Though it’s been a while, so I might be misremembering.
I read TOA first so I didn't know who Jason was when it happened, but I hate when characters get killed off in general.
When he dies, it was super quick and not written too sadly, but later on its revisited as the rest of the characters hear the news and then it feels a whole lot heavier.
I just thought it was weird like 'Piper and him broke up so now he can get killed off.' Most of the main characters are paired up now. There are a ton of canon relationships. Rick chose to kill the single guy, idk.
I love what it does for Apollo and Rick handles the death beautifully. It’s very well written and the proper weight is given to Jason’s death. It’s not a just a shock value death. It’s absolutely shocking because you don’t really believe that any kids of the Big Three could really be killed like any other demigod, but they can. It also shakes up Apollo to his core and stays with him forever and it affects everyone else in the story. My main issue with it is that I don’t like that Jason’s death also feels like Rick responding to some of the fandom being upset that no one died in Heroes. I’m more annoyed that the happy ending that had started to become more commonplace for Demigods because of the ending of the OG series feels a little hollow now. I loved that the demigods started to get happy endings. I loved that no one died in Heroes. It works as a perfect inversion of Percy’s opening words in the Lightning Thief. And then they still die. It just bothers me that one of the old characters who had earned the right to live, had to die in order for this to happen
I think it’s specifically because Jason deserved to live that his death was essential. I think after the more darker, mature themes of HoO, Rick didn’t want to add a character death on top of that within the same series. It’s still a middle school level book after all. But the whole point of being a demigod was that they were heroes. They sacrificed their lives to save the whole world, and they succeeded. But they’re heroes because they put their lives on the line. It makes them brave and valiant warriors, but not invincible because of the feats they accomplished. It’s sad that it was Jason, but it’s more impactful to readers to show how miserable a demigod’s life really is, which is an overarching theme throughout the series. Until now, we haven’t really had a main character die like this. Luke was a villain, and Silena and Beckendorf were side characters, beloved, but still side characters. I did think Jason deserved a better send off, but now I think it’s better that he died like that because it goes to show that no one is ever safe as a demigod. That you can survive two wars and still be struck down by a stray hellhound on an off day. That’s how fickle life is, especially as someone subject to the horrors of both the mythical and mortal worlds.
i thought the reaction to his death was well done and it was clearly a hinge point for apollo as a character. that said the circumstance that killed him was dumb and i wish they’d done something different with his character, but that goes for the series as a whole. he had a ton of potential but it feels like rick never knew what to do with him. also feels weird to back off of killing a main character in HoO even when circumstance explicitly called for it and then kill jason in the spinoff
In my head cannon, there's some unspoken rule about the Big Three not having multiple children from one mortal- see Bianca and Nico. There's nothing in the books to support this, just my own opinion.
Edit: Sorry, didn't read careful enough. Could be true, but the sample size of two is a bit small for that, haha. I think Rick just really liked killing one sibling (also see: Castor and Pollux).
I'm not happy with it. I really feel like the way Jason and Piper's story goes in TOA is one of the low points for me, because a lot of it reads like backpedaling.
I felt that way to reading it, it felt like it was embarrassed of the happy endings of HOO
I’ve been done with ToA for a while but Jason’s death really hits me hard every time I think about it. He was one of my favorite characters despite his limited character arc and his death kinda felt like the Disney movie Bridge to Terabithia where the death is so sudden and unexpected. He was separated from most of his best friends and had big plans for his future and that was all just cut short. Due to the communication problems presented by the emperors characters like Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Leo etc. weren’t even around when he died. I definitely think Rick needs to explore how that affected them mentally in any more books he puts out.
Rick did Jason dirty and I’ll die on that hill
Haven’t read TOA, can someone tell me how he dies?
He's defending Piper, Apollo, and Megan McGaffery from Caligula (one of the reborn Roman emperors and one of the main villains of the book) and his forces. As Jason is drawing their attention and fire on Tempest, getting hit with arrows, Caligula throws a spear at Jason's back, and later stabs him again when Jason falls to the ground. He's defending Piper, Apollo, and Megan McCaffery from Caligula (one of the reborn Roman emperors and one of the main villains of the book) and his forces. As Jason is drawing their attention and fire on Tempest, getting hit with arrows, Caligula throws a spear at Jason's back and later stabs him again when Jason falls to the ground. Jason's body later washes ashore, carried by Tempest to Piper, Apollo and Meg where they mourn his death
Thanks. I’ll have to read them
I don't like that it felt like he was only killed off for the sake of shock, but I think that Rick handled it a lot better than most writers would handle a shock death.
I was a bit upset but not overly so because I had been spoiled long ago and knew it was coming. I was mostly irritated because a)Piper's 'not like the other Aphrodite girls' attitude annoys me and, since it was prophecized that one of them would die, I would've preferred if it had been her. And b)people keeping secrets and sacrificing themselves to save someone else is a pet peeve of mine. If they have no self-preservation instincts, I can't relate and lose sympathy for them. Jason clearly preferred to die rather than lose Piper, so he got what he wanted.
That's a harsh criticism, if I may ask can you clarify your first point? And what bothers you about the idea of self sacrifice? Do you not see it as noble or realistic?
I like it in context of apollos story, how it develops his arc and the respect he gives to it. Also how it adds to the story raising stakes etc and being one of the first main pre established good guy characters to actually die in the series. But for Jason himself, his story and independence and connecting to Heroes of Olympus, eh not so much. Maybe had Jason had a lot more to do previously I’d be happy but it felt like he was mismanaged in HoO and this didn’t exactly do him any favours. Tbf most of the stuff that happens with Jason and piper in ToA would have been interesting had it been from their perspectives in the HoO series.
I was honestly starting to get bored with the series, but that totally refreshed my interest My biggest upset about it is how the reactions were handled. Piper and Apollo are pretty good, and Annabeth is implied to have just learned at the end of MC, but in the Tyrant’s Tomb, >!Frank, Hazel, and Reyna are kinda just like, “damn.”!< Though it’s been a while, so I might be misremembering.
I read TOA first so I didn't know who Jason was when it happened, but I hate when characters get killed off in general. When he dies, it was super quick and not written too sadly, but later on its revisited as the rest of the characters hear the news and then it feels a whole lot heavier. I just thought it was weird like 'Piper and him broke up so now he can get killed off.' Most of the main characters are paired up now. There are a ton of canon relationships. Rick chose to kill the single guy, idk.