Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) finally meets his father, Poseidon (Toby Stephens), in Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 finale. While Poseidon’s actions in the episode might initially come across as the bare minimum, Stephens provided insight into a great redemption arc for his character.
Poseidon has never been the most impressive character in the TV adaptation or Rick Riordan’s original book series. The show reiterates that the gods were all pretty terrible according to Greek mythology. However, it casts even greater scrutiny on Poseidon, given its Medusa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) storyline. Additionally, Percy doesn’t express much desire to even be called his father’s son. He knows that Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull) is the woman who raised him, while Poseidon was largely absent from his life.
The show slowly begins to humanize him, especially in episode 7, when he is seen visiting Sally in a flashback. Sally summons him while struggling with Percy, who, unaware of his demigod status, doesn’t understand that his mother is sending him away to school for his protection. In this scene, Poseidon listens tenderly to Sally’s concerns and ultimately backs up her decisions, admitting that she knows best for their son, despite her doubts. However, when he makes his entrance in the finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, just how much has he changed?
What was going through Poseidon’s mind in the finale?
In the finale, Poseidon finally shows up. After Percy travels to Olympus and gets into a heated argument with Zeus (Lance Reddick), the god of lightning prepares to strike the demigod. However, Poseidon appears, stopping his brother’s lightning bolt and promising to surrender the war if Zeus only spares Percy. Zeus ultimately accepts his surrender and leaves Percy and Poseidon to have their first meeting together.
The conversation isn’t too significant. It’s Percy who broaches the hard questions, looking his father in the eye and asking if he ever dreams of Sally. While the question seems to have some emotional impact on the god, he doesn’t respond and ultimately rather callously sends his son back to Earth. Some viewers will be critical of whether this scene really speaks to his character growth. Sure, he prevented his brother from murdering his son, but isn’t that really the least he could do? Isn’t this the only time Poseidon, rather than Percy and Sally, accepted the price of having a forbidden child? However, Stephens suggested there’s more to Poseidon than meets the eye.
He pointed out that Percy likely doesn’t understand the extent of the sacrifice Poseidon has made. After all, viewers don’t even know what the surrender entails and how it will impact his kingdom going forward. Poseidon could’ve bragged about this sacrifice to Percy and even tried to make him feel guilty for all the god did for him, but he doesn’t. Stephens explained, “When Poseidon turns around to Percy, it’s like, ‘You don’t realize what you’ve cost me,’ but he’s not going to let him know that. Instead, he’s like, ‘You’re trouble, but I love you and I’m proud of you at the same time. And I’m willing to save you.'”
Additionally, Stephens interpreted Poseidon’s silence about Sally differently than viewers might have. In his mind, it wasn’t avoidance that sparked the silence. Instead, it was the god choosing to protect his son and to keep his own memories of Sally sacred. Stephens stated, “[Poseidon’s] like, ‘Yeah, I dream about her all the time, and it’s incredibly painful. And if only I could talk to you about it, but I’m not going to do that.’ There is that side of our parents that is always mysterious. You can be incredibly close to your parents, but there’s an interior life and and interior history that you cannot have access to.”
This isn’t just Stephens’ interpretation, but what he subtly reflected through his emotional performance. It doesn’t necessarily excuse the wrongs that Poseidon has committed or make up for all the time he left Sally and Percy alone. At the same time, it does show improvement. For the first 12 years of Percy’s life, Poseidon was so scared of his brother that he pretended his son didn’t exist. Yet, now he is willing to make a sacrifice, the extent of which is only known to him, to stand up to Zeus and save his son.
Meanwhile, it is quite touching to see that he does think of Sally. He didn’t just forget her and return to his godly life, but considers her significant enough to fill his dreams. Poseidon still won’t be winning the “Father of the Year” award any time soon, but Stephens’ emotional performance gives him a new humanness that suggests he might still be redeemable.
(featured image: Disney+)
