How ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’s Chapter Titles Influenced the Disney+ Show

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series captured the imagination of every young ancient Greek mythology geek. Who didn’t want to discover they were a demigod and go on grand (slightly dangerous) adventures? Now, the Percy Jackson books are finally getting the adaptation they deserve, with Riordan at the helm of a Disney+ original series.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians recently premiered on Disney+—the first season (hopefully, there are many more to come) adapts the events of the first Percy Jackson novel, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. When Percy discovers that he’s the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, his life changes forever. But when Zeus, the god of thunder, accuses Poseidon of stealing his mythical lightning bolt, Percy and his new friends are forced to find the weapon before it’s too late. It’s a fun, fast-paced introduction to one of the most beloved series of children’s books ever.

As the books are all written in first-person, the chapter titles, too, reflect Percy’s state of mind throughout the novel. There are 22 chapters in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, titled as follows:

1. “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”
2. “Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death”
3. “Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants”
4. “My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting”
5. “I Play Pinochle with a Horse”
6. “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”
7. “My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke”
8. “We Capture a Flag”
9. “I Am Offered a Quest”
10. “I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus”
11. “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium”
12. “We Get Advice from a Poodle”
13. “I Plunge to My Death”
14. “I Become a Known Fugitive”
15. “A God Buys us Cheeseburgers”
16. “We Take a Zebra to Vegas”
17. “We Shop for Water Beds”
18. “Annabeth Does Obedience School”
19. “We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of”
20. “I Battle My Jerk Relative”
21. “I Settle My Tab”
22. “The Prophecy Comes True”

Each chapter title briefly explains what happens within the chapter. In “We Capture A Flag,” the demigods at Camp Half-Blood play a spirited game of capture the flag. In “We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium,” Percy, Annabeth, and Grover visit a garden center where they encounter an ancient mythical “monster” who has a strange collection of statues.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ episode titles

When the episodes of the Disney+ series needed titles, the writers didn’t have to think very hard. Though there are only eight episodes in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, each episode is named after one of The Lightning Thief‘s chapters. The episode list for Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 is as follows:

1. “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”
2. “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”
3. “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium”
4. “I Plunge to My Death”
5. “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”
6. “We Take a Zebra to Vegas”
7. “We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of”
8. “The Prophecy Comes True”

There’s no exact pattern to the naming—all of that depends on how much each episode covers and which scenes might have been left out of the adaptation to ensure the pacing worked for the new TV format. It does indicate that the writers stuck closely to the source material, though, and that the narrative’s structure isn’t too different from the original novel. With Riordan working on the show himself—he’s an executive producer and wrote the first two episodes—this was always going to be the case.

The previous Percy Jackson movies strayed a bit too far from the source material, aging up the characters and rushing through the story. Hopefully, under Riordan’s watchful eye and with a talented young cast, Percy Jackson’s story will finally be adapted the way it deserves.

The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are streaming now on Disney+.

(featured image: Disney-Hyperion)