The Tragic Past of the Castellans: A Closer Look at Percy Jackson Episode 6

The Seer May Castellan and the Oracle of Delphi

Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode 6 delves deeper into the character of Luke and his relationship with his parents, raising the question of what happened to his mother and whether it was Hermes' fault as Luke believes. The catalyst for Percy Jackson episode 6's exploration of Luke was the appearance of Hermes. Percy Jackson's Greek god of travelers was found by the trio of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover in the Lotus Hotel and Casino in what is one of the TV show's biggest changes from the original book thus far. Once the trio finds Hermes, Annabeth attempts to enlist his help by stating they are friends with Luke. This leads to some revelations about his character, Hermes, and Luke's mother. These revelations connect to the various magical items of Percy Jackson's world and tie massively to the future of the show, meaning Percy Jackson episode 6 is filled with foreshadowing. In a story that connects the Castellans to Percy Jackson's Oracle of Delphi, the depth of the family's issues is explored including what happened to May, Luke's blame of Hermes, and the impact it will have going forward.

Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson in Percy Jackson & the Olympians in front of an image of Timm Sharp as Gabe in green smoke and the Oracle of Delphi

In Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode 6, Annabeth confirms to Percy that Luke's mother - May Castellan - is a Seer. In the world of Percy Jackson, Seers are mortals who can see through the Mist. This leads to these mortals seeing terrifying, often traumatic things from the hidden world of Percy Jackson's Greek mythological creatures just as Luke's mother did. However, the book series reveals that May Castellan embraced her ability to see through the Mist and desired to host the Oracle of Delphi given her unique gifts. While Hermes attempted to stop this from happening due to potential dangers, May persisted. Unbeknownst to everyone besides Hades, the god of the Underworld had cursed the Oracle of Delphi so that it would never be transferred to another human body. This caused May's attempt at hosting the Oracle to go drastically wrong, splitting her mind between the mortal and magical worlds. Since then, May began having regular maniacal seizures that caused her mind to be overtaken briefly by the Oracle where she would see glimpses of Luke’s future.

Luke with the winged shoes and Hermes in his mailman uniform in Percy Jackson episode 3

The Blame Game: Luke's Hatred for Hermes

Another thing that Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode 6 reveals is that Luke despises Hermes. According to Annabeth, Luke blames his father for what happened and hates him because of it. While the depths of this story point are not explored to the fullest in Percy Jackson episode 6, they will undoubtedly be a focus in later seasons of the show given their importance to later book entries of the original series. Throughout the Percy Jackson book series, it is revealed that Luke blames Hermes for not trying hard enough to stop May from taking on the Oracle. While later seasons of Percy Jackson are yet to be confirmed, the positive reception from fans and critics has often been cited as reasoning for the cast and crew to remain hopeful for a renewal on Disney+. After this point, Hermes stayed away from May and Luke. This caused Luke to be left alone as a young child who was continuously traumatized by his mother's maniacal, Oracle-infused seizures. This is the core reason why Luke hates Hermes, as the latter abandoned his son with his mother whom Luke was terrified of. This storyline is hinted at in Percy Jackson episode 6 when Hermes tells Percy that Poseidon warned the god of travelers to stay away from Luke and May. According to Poseidon, Hermes needed to stay away from Luke and May as he would just make things worse. Hermes attempted to help anyway, before realizing that Poseidon was right. This is likely what spurred Luke's hatred of Hermes and forced the latter to abandon the former as he believed that, no matter how much he loved Luke and May, he always unintentionally hurt them. This begs the question of whether Luke is right to blame Hermes for what happened. This blame stems from Luke's traumatic childhood and is therefore understandable, but Hermes could not have known what was going to happen to May. Much of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has criticized the gods, especially as parents. This is no different concerning Hermes as the god abandoning Luke to be left alone with a crazed May was certainly the wrong choice. That said, for Luke to blame Hermes for absolutely everything that happened is also incorrect. This blame stems from Luke's traumatic childhood and is therefore understandable, but Hermes could not have known what was going to happen to May.

Percy and Annabeth in the official poster for Percy Jackson and the Olympians next to Luke in Greek armor

May's Role in Luke's Future

As teased by Percy Jackson episode 6, the Castellan family plays a major role in the overarching story to be explored later. Luke eventually becomes one of the primary antagonists of the entire series as he works with Kronos to bring down the Olympian gods. This all stems from his hatred of Hermes, believing that the gods should be held accountable for their mistreatment of mortals. Concerning May's role in this story, her maniacal states were often triggered as she was shown glimpses of Luke's future. May's mind-meld with the Oracle of Delphi meant that she began unintentionally peering into her son's future. She witnesses his eventual transition into being Kronos' mortal host, losing his humanity in the process. She also witnesses his eventual death which saves Olympus. These visions are what caused May to be driven to insanity which would naturally traumatize both her and Luke who had to witness his mother in that state. In Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian - the final book - May is visited by Percy as he wishes to find out how Luke's body could withstand the power of Kronos. May tells him that she gave Luke her blessing to bathe in the River Styx in the Underworld. This allows Luke's body to become immortal save from one small weakness only he knows, explaining how he is able to become Kronos' physical host. As evident, this proves how important May goes on to be in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, all of which is foreshadowed in season 1, episode 6.