[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 Episode 2, “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom.”]
Disney+‘s Percy Jackson and the Olympians brings Rick Riordan‘s books to life. And in Percy Jackson Episode 2, the beloved Capture the Flag scene is taken from book to screen. We had Riordan watch Capture the Flag when he visited TV Insider’s office so he could reveal his favorite moments and give fans a look into how the sequence was created. See his delighted reaction to the scene in the TV Insider video, which includes exclusive footage from Episode 2, above.
The first two episodes of the fantasy series dropped early on Tuesday, December 19 on Disney+ and Hulu — a holiday gift from the studio to eager fans. The Percy Jackson series premiere introduced Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri), Sally Jackson (Percy’s mom, played by Virginia Kull), and Mr. Bruner/Chiron (Glynn Turman). Riordan even made a cameo in the scene where Percy and Grover are in the principal’s office! Percy’s first two monster battles were also shown in Episode 1. First, he fought off the Fury Alecto (Megan Mullally), and then the episode ended with the famous Minotaur scene.
The Minotaur fight happened on the outskirts of Camp Half-Blood, the magical safe haven that protects demigods from monsters. Episode 2 featured more fighting, but this time, it was the fun kind. At least, it was fun for demigods Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries), Clarisse La Rue (Dior Goodjohn), and Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell).
Annabeth, the wise daughter of Athena, stalked Percy throughout camp to see if he could help her secure another Capture the Flag victory. Percy agreed to help carry out her plan, even though she never told him what the plan was, hoping that this would bring him enough glory to catch his Greek god father’s attention and make him claim him. Percy lost his mother in Episode 1 before she could tell him his father’s true identity. He spends all of Episode 2 trying to figure out this mystery. Until he did, he would reside in the Hermes cabin, where unclaimed demigods bunk. (Hermes, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is Luke’s father.)
Percy waits to fight in Capture the Flag (Disney/David Bukach)
Luke, the best swordsman at camp, taught Percy all about glory and why demigods want it. Going on quests, winning battles, and making an impression at Camp Half-Blood are all ways to impress the Olympians and bring honor to themselves and their parents. Killing the Minotaur was a rare and impressive feat, one that angered Clarisse (the fiery daughter of war god Ares). She and the rest of her siblings in the Ares cabin ganged up on Percy in a bathroom at camp. As they shoved his head into a toilet bowl, the water magically shot out at the three teens, busting the walls of the bathroom stalls in the process, confusing Percy and enraging Clarisse, who was then determined to get revenge in Capture the Flag.
In the video above, Riordan watches clips from the scene, providing context to how it was filmed and sharing his favorite moments. One of them is the moment when Clarisse begins her attack on Percy with her electric spear gifted to her by her father. She and her crew then chase Percy down to the beach where an epic fight breaks out between the tweens. This is the moment Percy learns he’s skilled with a sword, and he proves his prowess when snapping Clarisse’s beloved spear in half and winning the fight in which he was outnumbered. The scream Goodjohn let out truly scared Scobell. As Riordan says, “That’s good acting.”
At this point in filming, Riordan reveals, Scobell was already great at the stunts and had to pretend he was a newbie. Showrunners and executive producers Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz tell TV Insider that all of the teens excelled in their stunt training for Capture the Flag and more fight scenes, and as Shotz adds, “Walker is a complete natural.”
“We joked he had one of the best stunt doubles, this woman Cassandra [Ebner],” Shotz continues. “He was on par with her and loved it because they could just play off of each other and he could do pretty much all of his stunts. So Eli [Zagoudakis], the stunt coordinator, and his whole team just worked with Walker with his sword fighting. He was such a natural. He just has this thing in him where he can do it all. And it is by far his favorite thing in the world.” There’s a battle with one Olympian coming later in the season that Shotz shares “was the thing [Scobell] talked about every day, all day, all season,” saying, “One of his pride and joys was that fight.”
Annabeth plans another Capture the Flag victory (Disney/David Bukach)
The Capture the Flag scene is also a point of pride for Shotz and Steinberg. “To be able to take something that so many kids have dreamt about and spend so much time thinking about what it must look like and make it real is great,” Steinberg says.
The sequence ends with Annabeth pushing Percy into the water, suspecting that water would heal his wounds incurred in the Clarisse fight. She was right. Percy couldn’t believe his eyes, but moments later got what he wanted the whole episode: His father claimed him by projecting a trident over Percy’s head, revealing his identity. Percy is the forbidden child of the sea god Poseidon (Toby Stephens). Water heals him because of his magical connection to the sea.
All of Capture the Flag leads to this moment. “Just seeing him get claimed, so much buildup to this moment of who his father is and seeing that moment with a trident over his head is pretty awesome,” Shotz gushes.
With Percy’s true identity revealed, Chiron and Dionysus (Jason Mantzoukas) could tell him of his quest. Percy must embark on a journey with two companions to find the sky god Zeus’ (the late Lance Reddick) stolen lightning bolt. Zeus believes his brother, Poseidon, had Percy steal the bolt in an act of rebellion. The teen must now prove his innocence by going down into the Underworld, where Hades (Jay Duplass) reigns. Next week, we see Percy, Annabeth, and Grover begin their noble quest.
Learn more about the creation of the Percy Jackson Capture the Flag scene in the full video above.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Disney+ and Hulu