Ever since I started reading the books in fourth grade, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been my favorite book series. Of the books, my favorite is the fifth and final one of the series, The Last Olympian. My favorite scene in that book is probably during Chapter 19, the final battle on Olympus, where Luke sacrifices and redeems himself.
The chapter is the climax of five books worth of conflict, all centered around Kronos, the vengeful Titan who wishes to overthrow the gods and reclaim his control over the world. Since the first book, Kronos was a looming threat that gradually gained power through various plots. All of the previous books focused on Percy and his allies' attempts to prevent Kronos from returning. However, with Kronos’ successful resurrection, The Last Olympian deals with the heroes’ last stand as they defend the Empire State Building, where Olympus is located, against Kronos and his army of monsters. Even throughout the book, the situation gets worse as more heroes die and Kronos’ army gets closer and closer to taking the home of the gods.
Eventually, Kronos enters Olympus, and begins laying waste to the eternal city, while Typhon continues his rampage across America. This is the desperate situation the chapter begins in as Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia rush through a crumbling Olympus to confront Kronos. Falling statues and debris pins Thalia to the ground, leaving only the three to fight the Titan. Finally, they reach the Olympian’s Throne Room, confronting Kronos as he destroys the palace. Kronos kills Ethan when he tries to help the trio, and then forces them to watch the situation grow worse using his power over time. Percy sees his friends outside Olympus fighting desperately against Kronos’ armies, while the gods struggle against the monstrous Typhon, who gets ever closer to Olympus. This is perhaps the darkest, most hopeless moment in the series, with the heroes losing on all sides. However, there is a new surge of hope as Poseidon appears, helping take down Typhon, while Luke Castellan, a hero corrupted by Kronos, allowing the titan to take control of his body, fights back against Kronos’ control. This is where perhaps the most pivotal moment of the series takes place, where Luke makes the decision to sacrifice himself to destroy Kronos.
I like this scene the most for two reasons. Firstly, I like how the moment fulfills the prophecy, which states that “The hero’s soul cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze,” in a creative way. While Percy and the audience believed the prophecy referred to Percy’s own death that would preserve or raze Olympus, it was actually Percy’s choice to trust Luke, giving him Annabeth’s dagger, allowing him to make his choice to save Olympus. It’s very common in Greek Mythology for prophecies to occur in ways that aren’t obvious, and I really liked the way the book implemented this.
Secondly, I like Luke’s final sacrifice, as it redeemed the character in a way that was believable. Although he did bad things throughout the series, he also showed some positive characteristics, especially in the first book, and he cared about Annabeth, Thalia, and the others which he travelled with them to reach Camp Half Blood. He also had very understandable reasons to be upset with the gods, including his father, Hermes, who rarely interacted with their children, leaving some of them unclaimed. This final sacrifice shows that despite all his actions, in the end, he was able to overcome Kronos and return from his influence.
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