In the first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, audiences and Percy alike witness Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell) poison Thalia's Tree, which grants Camp Half-Blood its magical border that protects the camp from monsters. This marks a change from the book, The Sea of Monsters, in which Luke still does poison the tree, but that fact is not revealed until later in the story.
In both the book and the show, Luke poisoning the tree is a ruthless betrayal, something not uncommon for Luke, as Season 1 proved, due to his past with Thalia herself. Thalia, Annabeth, and Luke spent a long time on the run together.
Thalia's father, Zeus, turned his daughter into a tree after she sacrificed herself for Luke and Annabeth (and Grover, who was their Satyr protector). In her new form, Thalia continues to protect demigods with her powerful border that allows Camp Half-Blood to remain a haven.
By poisoning the tree, Luke weakens Camp Half-Blood's border and allows monsters like the Stymphalian birds from Episode 2 into the camp. One may assume that this is his end goal: to open up camp to monsters, who will then destroy it, making Kronos' rise to power (Luke's mission) even easier.
However, it is not that simple, as the book reveals. For Kronos to rise at all, he must be healed from being chopped up into pieces by his son, Zeus. Luke knows that one way to speed up the healing process would be to use the Golden Fleece, which can heal anything. But the fleece is guarded by the cyclops Polyphemus, and is difficult to find, let alone get hold of.
In poisoning Thalia's tree, Luke hopes to motivate Camp Half-Blood to authorize a quest to find and retrieve the fleece to heal Thalia's Tree. After the demigods on the quest find it, though, Luke would intervene and take the fleece, so he can use it to heal Kronos.
Bushnell's role in Season 2, which premiered its first two episodes on December 10, has been increased from that of Season 1 with his promotion to a series regular alongside Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse). Other regulars include those from Season 1, Walker Scobell (Percy), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth), and Aryan Simhadri (Grover), as well as newcomer to the series Daniel Diemer (Tyson).
How Might the Percy Jackson Show Make Luke Poisoning the Tree Even More Tragic?
In recent interviews, both Charlie Bushnell and Tamara Smart, who play Luke and Thalia respectively, teased a particularly close relationship between their characters in the show.
That is not to say they are not close in the books; they consider one another family in the novels, and their relationship is explored in greater depth in the companion short story The Diary of Luke Castellan from The Demigod Diaries. In fact, both Bushnell and Smart mentioned that this short story influenced the more profound closeness between the two in the Disney+ series.
Bushnell questioned whether Luke has "stronger feelings for Thalia" in an interview with the Monster Donut Podcast at San Diego Comic-Con (commenting later on the video that this was based on The Diary of Luke Castellan).
Meanwhile, Smart told Entertainment Weekly about how "a certain relationship" from outside the books will be explored in the series, which many have interpreted as being Thalia's with Luke.
This is primarily supported by Rick Riordan's revelation in a press conference that more about Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia, not featured in the books, is explored in the show. On top of that, executive producers Dan Shotz, Jonathan E. Steinberg, and Craig Silverstein teased the Seaweed Brain Podcast about how the complexities in these relationships, within what fans have dubbed the Broken Trio, will be key to the series as well.
Given this closeness, Luke poisoning Thalia and risking her life (as, although she is a tree and not a person, she is still alive) to help Kronos shows just how much Kronos' manipulation of Luke and his beliefs and morals impacted him.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
