Percy Jackson Season 1 Ending: Who Stole Zeus' Bolt And How The Finale Sets Up Season 2

SPOILERS are ahead for Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, now streaming in full with a Disney+ subscription and Hulu subscription. 

Walker Scobell just led the Percy Jackson cast into victory, and what a heroic journey it was for Percy. The 12-year-old demigod went from only dreaming of the world of Greek mythology while on a school trip to venturing to the Underworld and Mount Olympus to meet both Hades and Zeus in the same week. (Oh, and getting into a fight with the God of War, Ares). What a legend! As we say goodbye to the first season of the TV adaptation of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, it’s time to break down the ending and what it means for the future of the new series.

Across the past eight weeks, we’ve followed Percy Jackson as he learned of his demigod lineage, stepped into Camp Half Blood for the first time and became a certified hero. Amidst Zeus’ Master Bolt being stolen at the top of the season, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover went on a sprawling road trip adventure across the U.S. to prevent a great war. In the finale, we finally learned who was really behind the theft along with what could be ahead for Percy in future seasons.

Percy Jackson Finally Meets His Father

After Percy, Annabeth, and Grover retrieve the Master Bolt, the son of Posiedon decides to venture up to Mount Olympus to personally hand it back to Zeus, even though they missed the deadline to their original quest. Annabeth and Grover are skeptical of Percy being able to walk through the doors of Mount Olympus and leave alive due to him being a forbidden child of the gods, but Percy is determined and he sets forth to the Empire State Building to do so.

When he reaches Mount Olympus, Percy hand delivers the Master Bolt to Zeus (played by the late Lance Reddick) before warning the god about Kronos’ secret uprising in the shadows. The king of the gods accepts the information but intends to continue with his war with the gods, until Percy challenges him in a big way. Zeus is about to strike Percy when Poseidon (Percy’s father) finally makes an appearance. The god of the sea says he will step down with the war as long as he spares his son. Zeus agrees and Percy finally gets to see his father for the first time.

Who Really Stole Zeus’ Bolt

Poseidon cuts their sweet meeting short when he transports Percy back to Earth, where he finds himself back at Camp Half Blood. As previously revealed in a prior episode, the trio of heroes suspect that Clarisse, the daughter of Ares, was the lightning thief, especially since her father was part of the plot, but they need proof. However, when Percy and Luke (son of Hermes) venture out together that night, Percy puts the pieces together. At the top of the series, he is given a prophecy. It read as follows:

Following along with the events of Season 1, most of it had already come true up to “you shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.” Since he doesn’t call Clarisse a friend, but does when it comes to Luke, Percy realizes it was Luke who stole Zeus’ bolt for Kronos. Luke admits the whole thing once he makes the connection and tries to recruit Percy to his cause before Annabeth swoops in and saves Percy.

Where The Finale Leaves The Main Trio

Percy and his friends may have solved the mystery of the missing bolt over the course of the season, but there’s a number of loose ends that remain in play. For one, Luke doesn’t get caught. He exits through a portal that probably leads him to Kronos. Even so, the three have collectively stopped the war between the gods that would have led to war on Earth as well, and that’s a huge win for the young demigods!

At the end of the finale, the trio all go their separate ways, with Annabeth taking a leave from Camp Half Blood for a while to go “be a kid,” such as visiting Walt Disney World. Grover finally gets his chance to join the search for Pan, which he aims to do in the oceans. Percy will resume his life in New York with his mother as a regular kid as well, for now. All three of them agree to meet in front of Camp Half Blood a year from now when they return to camp.

Percy Jackson And Kronos Have Unfinished Business

While Percy defeated a lot of enemies in the first season, the finale leaves a major loose end when it comes to Kronos, the god of time, evil and harvest, and technically his grandfather. In a dream sequence at the end of the last episode, Percy is visited by Kronos where he tells the middle schooler that his “survival is the key” to his return.

As we know now completely, Percy’s quest was as a result of Kronos’ plan to have Luke steal the bolt, for him to be blamed for it, and a great war between the gods to form as a result. Now that that has all been prevented, Kronos will certainly be back to enact more evil and chaos on the world in order to continue to come back and rise in power once again. As the final scene with Percy shows, though, Percy is very much tabling the whole thing for a minute to enjoy his life outside of being a hero. Should the show be renewed, it will then follow the events of Rick Riordan’s second book in the series: Sea of Monsters.

Medusa Returns For The End Credits Scene

That brings us to the end credits of the show. After the theme music plays, Percy’s step dad Gabe Ugliano and his mom have separated and he’s been locked out of his house. However, he stumbles on the Medusa head package that Percy initially sent to Mount Olympus. He opens it and turns to stone. That ending is a bit softer than the book where Percy’s mom kills him with the head herself and sells his petrified body to an art museum as a piece called “The Poker Player,” which then gives her enough money to get a new apartment, start classes at NYU, and make a deposit on a good school for Percy.

There you have it! What a great season!! While Season 2 hasn’t yet been officially renewed,  co-showrunner Dan Shotz told Variety that a writer’s room has been assembled, so we’re hopeful there will be many more Percy adventures ahead.