Annabeth’s mother will not be appearing in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1. Based on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, season 1 will depict Percy’s quest to discover which scheming villain stole Zeus’ prized lightning bolt. Joining him on his quest are his friends, Annabeth and Grover. While Grover is a terrified satyr, Annabeth is the daughter of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Though she has close ties to Annabeth, Rick Riordan revealed that Athena will not be appearing in Percy Jackson season 1. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Riordan explained that a cameo appearance was discussed during production, but it would have been an unfitting and unfaithful depiction. There simply was not enough room for Athena, so Riordan plans to bring her into a future season. Check out his quote below:
“We talked about it. We agreed it would be interesting, we batted her around, and we did some versions of scripts where she made an appearance, but we just had so much else going on. We didn’t have the real estate, because when you bring her in, you want to do it right. So we’re going to save her for, hopefully, a future season.”
Percy Jackson’s Quest To Stay Faithful To The Books
Percy Jackson is a project that is designed to be closely related to the books that inspire it. Riordan has been heavily involved with the production, and his goal has been to ensure that every member of the cast and crew aligns with his vision for the franchise. Unlike the movies, which featured much older versions of Percy and his friends, the Disney+ series features the cast as 12 years old, just as they are in the books.
The entire first season is also aligned with the first book alone. That allows character growth to be expanded on in-depth, instead of in the limited runtime that a movie offers. Characters retain their magical items, including Percy’s Riptide and Annabeth’s invisible Yankees hat. The episode titles even borrow chapter titles from the book, including “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers” and “I Plunge to My Death”.
The show is also specifically tailored to be a family-friendly product, which is exactly what the books were meant to be. Every element of the show has been created with faithfulness in mind, and it’s a major part of Athena’s absence. Athena does not appear in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, so including her would mean rewriting the narrative for a mere cameo appearance. To stay properly faithful to the books, Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 cannot include Athena.
