Lin-Manuel Miranda Gives the ‘Percy Jackson’ Kids a Wild Time in Vegas

Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) is having dreams again. Call it foreshadowing, or call it a mere nightmare—we’re back in his mind in the middle of the night, where he’s eavesdropping on some important conversation. A deep, faceless voice is talking to someone about stealing the master bolt. He also mentions a big war that lies ahead—something the gods are completely unaware of and unprepared for, something monstrous and dangerous.

Then, the mysterious person (god? demon?) looks straight at Percy. Percy, frightened to the core, wakes up. He’s in the same place we left him in the previous Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode, on a truck full of livestock, headed to Vegas with his friends Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) and Grover (Aryan Simhadri). But what was that menacing vision all about?

The trio have to update Camp Half-Blood on their quest. So, using one of Percy’s drachmas from Luke (Charlie Bushnell), they call up a portal to talk to Chiron (Glynn Turman) to catch him up to speed. But Chiron isn’t around, too busy prepping the kids for war; it’s Luke who picks up the phone instead. Annabeth and Percy bicker over the phone with Luke—“When did you two turn into an old married couple?” Luke jokes—until they give him the big update.

They believe the lightning thief to be Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn), Hades’ favorite daughter. After Grover’s illuminating chat with Ares (Adam Copeland), they all have their eye on Clarisse; she’s the only one strong enough to have stolen the bolt. Luke goes along with the plan. But as soon as Percy mentions the fact that they’re all about to see Luke’s dad, Hermes (Lin-Manuel Miranda), Annabeth cuts the line. Luke doesn’t really get along with his father. He won’t want to talk about why.

After Grover releases all the animals from the truck (those are his friends!) and the trio locate the Lotus Casino, reality starts to bend a bit. Percy is no longer interested in the quest. He wants to play games. Annabeth grounds the boys with some lore: Ages ago, Odysseus ate an intoxicating lotus flower and never left the plant’s side. Now, they’re in the same conundrum. If they eat anything at this casino, they’ll feel drunk, time will feel non-existent, and they’ll be trapped at the lotus casino forever.

The trio splits up: Annabeth and Percy will search one side of the casino for Hermes, and Grover will take the other. As Annabeth and Percy scour for clues, they chat about Luke and Hermes’ odd relationship. Luke’s mom was a mortal seer (basically, she had the ability to see the future) who attracted Hermes, and the pair had Luke together. Due to her abilities, however, Luke’s mom suffered from a mental breakdown. To this day, Luke has blamed Hermes for whatever caused the issues to begin, and the pair haven’t been able to reconcile. Annabeth hopes to lure her friendship with Luke over Hermes’ head—if the god helps them get to the Underworld, she’ll help them reconnect.

Over on the other side of the casino, Grover spots another satyr, Augustus (Ted Dykstra). Augustus ignores Grover’s waves. Is he mad? No; when Grover finally confronts his acquaintance, Augustus simply doesn’t recognize him. He’s chomping away at some snack in a bag, though—oh, no. The lotus flowers have gotten to his mind.

Grover still wants to chat with Augustus, although Augustus has clearly left everyone else’s plane of reality. Augustus reveals that he’s found Pan, the god of the wild, which excites Grover. Maybe they can save the natural world together. Grover isn’t noshing on the nacho chips with Augustus, but it doesn’t matter—as the pair wind their way through the casino, Grover loses track of the world, too. He’s forgotten that he entered with both his friends and a mission.

Somehow, Percy and Annabeth are alright, still chatting up a storm. Percy needs to get the foreboding dreams he keeps having off his chest—even though it sounds a little weird, he’s gotten comfortable enough with Annabeth to ask for her opinion. Is he going crazy? No, Annabeth says. Something is going on. Maybe Hades and Clarisse are scheming in his dream. Still, that doesn’t address the fact that something bigger than the gods is coming. If Annabeth doesn’t know what’s going on, Percy thinks there’s no chance he’ll ever figure it out.

Finally, Annabeth and Percy find Hermes, who invites them to play craps. But there’s no time to waste; Annabeth wants to get right down to business—how in the literal hell are they supposed to get to the Underworld? Hermes won’t tell them, so Annabeth drops her bait: If Hermes helps, she’ll mend his relationship with Luke. This gets the god’s attention.

Annabeth rehashes the events of Hermes’ big fight with Luke, in case he forgot, but Hermes still doesn’t want to reveal the location of the Underworld. His relationship with Luke will always be an issue. Annabeth gives up, Hermes is a lost cause. She storms off, but Percy stays, still furious about Hermes’ complete indifference towards the potential war. But, the god explains, it was Poseidon who told Hermes to stay away from his son at all costs. Because of that advice, Hermes doesn’t want to get involved any more. Hermes feels powerless—but that’s what parenting is.

It’s no use, anyways. Hermes shows Percy his watch. It’s now nighttime—wait, days have passed. Percy runs to grab Annabeth and show her the outside. They didn’t need to eat the lotus flowers, because the poison was being pumped into the air this entire time, just like how Disney makes its entire theme parks smell like tasty snacks. Luckily, Annabeth may have solved their issue: She stole Hermes’ keys, and the god’s car can magically transport you anywhere in the world in seconds.

The lotus effects have finally started to hit Annabeth and Percy, who forget what Grover looks like and start chasing Augustus, thinking the older satyr is their friend. Finally, after a mad dash through a few blackjack tables, they spot Grover playing with a VR headset. He doesn’t remember Annabeth and Percy, but he follows them into the parking lot willingly, unsure of what this “quest” is but ready to complete it.

Hermes left the “dumb kids” a note on his car—as it turns out, Annabeth wasn’t such a great pick-pocket, and he knew what they were doing this entire time. Percy jumps in the driver’s seat and, although he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, follows the instructions, scrapes the car against a few walls, and leads them to California. Right when the kids are about to collide with an incoming truck, they pull up on a dark beach.

This is it. Percy is ready to meet his dad, although he’s nervous. Annabeth and Grover remain on the sand while Percy walks into the water. Here goes nothing.

It’s not Poseidon waiting in the depths of the Pacific Ocean; instead, Percy is greeted by Nereid (Jelena Milinkovic), a sea goddess and friend of Poseidon. Nereid tells Percy it’s too late—Poseidon waited as long as possible, but the summer solstice has passed, and war is now brewing between the gods. Poseidon doesn’t blame Percy. He’s still proud.

But Percy won’t give up. He won’t return to Camp Half-Blood without a fight because he knows—or, at least, he thinks he knows—who stole the master bolt. Nereid chuckles. He’s just like his father. Luckily, the gods are finally on Percy’s side. Nereid passes Percy four orbs, which are basically hall passes to use to get out of the Underworld. But why four?

Four means one for Percy, one for Annabeth, one for Grover, and one for Percy’s mom (Virginia Kull). On Percy’s watch, everyone is going to get out alive.