Previous Next

Summary

Chapter 19

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson arrive at Camp Half-Blood shortly after Clarisse (due to the centaurs’ impressive speed) and find the camp in a state of disarray after several monster attacks. Clarisse drapes the Golden Fleece over Thalia’s tree, at which point it starts to heal. Chiron then announces that Camp Half-Blood will hold another chariot race, and Percy and Annabeth decide to team up: Percy will drive, Annabeth will defend, and Tyson will act as their pit crew. Percy stays late in the stables the night before the race, and Hermes appears. Percy apologizes for not being able to get through to Luke, to which Hermes replies that gods must act indirectly in order to help their children but acknowledges this can lead to resentment—as it clearly did for Luke. He then hands Percy a letter and leaves. The letter is from Percy’s father, Poseidon, and simply tells him to brace himself, which upsets Percy due to its vague and unhelpful nature. 

The morning of the race, Tyson hands Percy a watch and Percy realizes this is what Tyson has been tinkering with all summer. He tells Percy to press the button if he needs help. He then reveals that Cyclopes grow up alone and abandoned, and that he prayed to Poseidon for a friend. Tyson believes their father clearly listened to his prayers; he brought him to Percy. Moved by this, Percy vows to win the race for Tyson. Percy and Annabeth win the race, with the help of Tyson’s watch (which turns into a shield with the push of a button). The campers rush to celebrate Percy and Annabeth and the two tell the crowd they could not have won the race, or found the Fleece and saved Grover, without Tyson’s help. Percy also publicly refers to Tyson as his brother, and the three of them are carried on their fellow campers’ shoulders to receive the victory laurel wreaths from Chiron. 

Chapter 20

Grover is given permission to spend the rest of the summer at Camp Half-Blood before he resumes his search for the wilderness god, Pan. He offers to dissolve the empathy link between himself and Percy, but Percy suggests they keep it in case Grover ends up in trouble again. Later, Chiron tells Percy he smoothed things over with Meriweather College Prep. Though Percy will not be allowed to attend the school next year, he is no longer in any legal trouble for blowing up the gym. He then gives Percy his cellphone so he can call his mom, who is thrilled that Percy is okay. Tyson finds Percy and tells him their father invited him to train for the rest of the summer in his underwater forge. The two brothers share a heartfelt goodbye. 

That night, Percy has a dream in which Kronos taunts Percy for prematurely celebrating their victory. Poseidon then enters Percy’s dream and tells him, once again, to brace himself. Percy is woken abruptly by Grover telling him the Golden Fleece did its work “too well,” and he brings Percy and Chiron to Half-Blood Hill. When they arrive, they discover the Fleece magically resurrected Thalia out of the tree. Percy realizes this was likely Kronos’s plan all along—there is now another child of the Big Three at play who could give Kronos a chance to overthrow Olympus.

Previous section Chapters 17 & 18 Next section Full Book Summary

Take a Study Break