Here's how Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 shifted gears from Grover and Percy's Empathy Connection in the book

The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, titled "I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals" and "Demon Pigeons Attack", streamed on Wednesday. They faithfully (not accurately) adapt these chapters from the source material published in 2006. The season 2 premiere also unsurprisingly introduced another aspect from The Sea of Monsters book.

One of the important plotlines from the book is Grover's empathy link with Percy. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 also adapts this storyline; however, the series makes a small change to this link. In the series, Grover and Percy's link is natural, while in the book, the link is established.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2: How is the show's empathy link different?

The empathy link works the same in both the book and the second season, where Grover and Percy can see each other despite being miles apart. This link allows them to communicate and learn about each other's locations. Through this link, Percy learns that Grover is the cyclops Polyphemus's hostage. Grover also reveals that Polyphemus lures in satyrs using the Golden Fleece's magic.

He tells Percy that the Golden Fleece can heal anything, giving the latter the idea of using it to heal Thalia's poisoned tree. Grover also explains that this link between him and Percy is natural because of their bond as best friends. However, the empathy link works differently in the book. In the book, Grover establishes the link between himself and Percy.

Moreover, the book also explains that if Grover were to die, then Percy would meet the same fate or go into a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Thus, the empathy link in the Percy Jackson Universe is one of the strongest and most dangerous forces ever. However, it is unclear if a future Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 episode will bring up the dangers of the link or not.

However, this is not the first time that the Disney+ series has made changes for the small-screen adaptation.

The inciting incident is also changed:

Both the book and Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 share the same inciting incident: Luke poisoning Thalia's Tree. This poison weakens the camp's magical protection, making it vulnerable to attack by the monsters. However, the way this incident occurs is different. Luke poisons the three before the book begins, and Chiron is held responsible for the incident, resulting in his firing.

However, Chiron is already fired before the poisoning in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. Rick Riordan and Craig Silverstein addressed this change in the Variety interview. Riordan's words were:

"There is something valuable, in the TV version, about seeing that moment in real time. It’s powerful. It immediately makes you understand the stakes when Luke and Percy lock eyes with each other. The challenge is issued right from the beginning. It’s not as slow burn a mystery as it was in the book, but I think it’s an effective way to tell that story in the new medium."

Meanwhile, Craig Silverstein added:

"When you’re doing the screen adaptation of anything, you want to see it on screen. You want to see your hero and your antagonist face each other, so it was important to see Luke — and Blackjack [the Pegasus he’s riding]."

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Fans expect more changes as more episodes of the second season are released over the next six weeks. How do you feel about them?

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