Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 Premiere Review

With a brand new quest and a familiar otherworldly threat, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 premiere takes us on yet another exciting adventure.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 starts on the last day of seventh grade. Percy Jackson (Walter Skobell) wakes up from a nightmare that seems to suggest that his best friend, the satyr Grover (Aryan Simhadri), has fallen into grave danger while on his quest for the god Pan. Anxious to help, Percy gets ready to return to Camp Halfblood with his new acquaintance, the cyclops Tyson (Daniel Diemer), who Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) immediately doesn’t trust. Upon their arrival to the Camp, Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson discover that a lot of things have changed: Tantalus (Timothy Simons) has replaced Chiron (Glynn Thurman) as activities director and Thalia’s tree has been poisoned, putting the Camp and all the demigods in it in grave danger. 

The new characters in the season premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are compelling and interesting. From the very first scene, we realise that things are definitely going to be different this year, as Percy is not alone. Not only is he accompanied by the lovable Tyson, his new friend, but Tyson is also a cyclops who might have more in common with Percy than what we may initially think. Tantalus is also introduced to the audience in the first two episodes of season 2. Thanks to Timothy Simmons’ charismatic and magnetic performance, it’s hard to take our eyes off Tantalus from the very first time he appears on screen. While there is still much to be seen from his character, the first two episodes are an excellent introduction to someone who is going to be such a key player in the second season of the show.

The worldbuilding of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is also expanded upon in the season 2 series premiere, as the audience learns about cyclops and their powers, the significance of dreams and nightmares for demigods, and meet the Gray Sisters, a trio of older women who share one eye and drive a taxi through the New York era. These new elements add a level of novelty to the events of season 2 and give the audience a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 premiere lays a promising and strong groundwork for the rest of the season by exploring the worldbuilding and introducing new characters.

The show also delivers some excellent action sequences and very strong moments in both episode 1 and 2, with the latter featuring an especially exciting chariot race that takes place at Camp Halfblood. While these scenes undoubtedly help with the pacing of the show, it still overall feels like a very slow season premiere. This is particularly true of episode 1, which is full of expositionary voiceover to remind the audience of the previous season and of everything they need to know before watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2.

There are also quite a few changes from the original book, “The Sea of Monsters.” Percy Jackson and the Olympians has moved away from the source material a few times in the past, but the changes in the season 2 premiere feel unnecessary and uncalled for. In particular, the way the show adapts the book in terms of revealing Tyson’s identity and Chiron’s circumstances makes for far less engaging and interesting plotlines. So far, all the changes in episodes 1 and 2 make the story a lot simpler, which ultimately hurts the stakes, having the audience wonder why it was ever changed at all.  

Overall, Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 delivers an enjoyable season premiere that lays a strong foundation for the rest of the show, despite some significant flaws in its writing and storytelling. 

The season 2 premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be available to stream globally on Disney Plus from December 10, 2025.