‘Percy Jackson’ Stars Break Down Season 2 Premiere (VIDEO)

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 Episodes 1 and 2.]

A missing satyr, a poisoned tree, a chariot race with a Mariah Carey needledrop, and a son of Poseidon who is definitely not the boyfriend of a certain daughter of Athena. The Percy Jackson Season 2 premiere delivered all that and more in its first two episodes, which came out on December 10 on Disney+ and Hulu.

One episode will premiere each week for the rest of Season 2, and TV Insider will deliver a video aftershow with the cast and creators for fans to enjoy after every episode. Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Daniel Diemer, Dior Goodjohn, and Charlie Bushnell break down the Percy Jackson Season 2 premiere in the video above. They’re joined by the series’ creators, and there’s more to come with author/executive producer Rick Riordan.

Episode 1 begins with Percy at home in New York City with his mom, Sally (Virginia Kull), and Tyson (Diemer), a baby cyclops who’s revealed to be Percy’s half-brother by the end of the episode. Sally took Tyson in as a foster child and can see through “The Mist” that makes his one cyclops eye appear as two to the rest of the world. Annabeth arrives in Manhattan in a hurry to get Percy to go with her to Camp Half-Blood. She had a dream that the camp was under attack, while Percy had a dream that Grover was in danger (dreams are more like premonitions for demigods). They didn’t get a chance to tell Sally goodbye before jetting off in the Gray Sisters’ magical taxi cab (the fate-like trio is played by Margaret Cho, Sandra Bernhard, and Kristen Schaal).

In the cab, the Gray Sisters teased Annabeth by calling Percy her boyfriend. “I didn’t say boyfriend!” she panicked. The Percy Jackson books have been out since the early 2000s, so it’s hardly a spoiler to say that Percy and Annabeth eventually become a romantic couple in later books. It’s one of the most beloved couples in middle-grade and YA literature. The stars have been discussing the “Percabeth” dynamic since Season 1 as well. Where are we on the Percabeth timeline as of the Season 2 premiere?

“Not even close, in my opinion,” Scobell says.

“Definitely not for you [Percy],” Simhadri replies. Scobell agrees, “Not for me.”

Jeffries says that audiences today can easily identify moments that are foundational to a future onscreen romance, but that doesn’t make the scenes inherently romantic.

“I think for how the generation is back then, because it’s not basically filmed off of 2025 type, I feel like back then, for sure, it is nothing,” Jeffries explains. “I mean, not saying it’s nothing, but it’s not a very big deal, if that makes sense. But people who are watching it now and stuff, because in the newer generation, any little thing, you can give someone a hug, and they’re like, ‘Oh! I see, I see it!'”

“That’s so true,” Scobell agrees.

Disney/David Bukach

“I feel like definitely people nowadays are going to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, so much Percabeth! I see it already!’ But I feel like if you actually watched this back then, back in, I don’t know, 2009 or 2019, it wouldn’t be as big if that makes sense. So I feel like it’s a yes and no depending on who you ask and what time frame you’re asking it.”

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“I totally agree with that,” Scobell adds. “Sometimes, if you really look at it, it doesn’t actually lean into it that much. It’s interesting what people consider to be a ‘Percabeth’ thing, you know what I mean? Where, if you put Grover in there, it would work the same way.”

As for Grover, he had the first scene of Episode 1, which showed the satyr on his quest to find Pan, god of the wild. It was there that he encountered a group of demigods working for the treacherous Luke (Bushnell) and the titan king Kronos, and that the magical Golden Fleece was first addressed. Saving Grover and retrieving the fleece are the big quests for Season 2. Clarisse (Goodjohn) will play a major part in the hunt for the fleece.

Check out the full Percy Jackson aftershow to get more behind-the-scenes details about the premiere, including an improvised moment in the wedding dress scene with Percy and Grover, as well as how they got the rights to use Carey’s “Emotions” for the chariot races. Her whistle tones save the day! Brilliant.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Season 2, Wednesdays, Disney+ and Hulu