Season 2, Episode 1 of the Netflix series Blood of Zeus, titled “A Shadow Emerges,” is directed by Jae H. Kim and Jae Woo Kim and penned by the show’s creators, Charles Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides. The story delves into events that occurred simultaneously during the Battle of Olympus in the Season 1 finale, which covered the perspectives of Heron (Derek Phillips), Seraphim (Elias Toufexis), Zeus (Jason O’Mara), and Hera (Claudia Christian). The Season 2 pilot shifts focus to the perspectives of Hades (Fred Tatasciore), Persephone (Lara Pulver), Athena (Sarah Elmaleh), and Hestia (Vanessa Marshall), concentrating on the Eleusinian Stone, a powerful magical artifact that grants its owner the right to rule Olympus—essentially a Greek god form of Excalibur.
Hades and Persephone
Before the battle begins, Hades and Persephone scheme to send three shadows to steal the Eleusinian Stone while the gods of Olympus are distracted. The Underworld royal couple wants to use the stone’s power to strengthen their bond to the Underworld. Their leadership chains them to the realm, making it painful to leave for prolonged periods. What pains them more is that Persephone must leave the Underworld for six months from spring to summer and can only return for the remaining six months from autumn to winter. Gaining the Eleusinian Stone is the key to their freedom and the only solution to prevent them from being separated for long periods.
The Season 2 pilot makes Hades’ story fascinating for this reason; the God of the Underworld is not portrayed as a typical mustache-twirling villain like in Disney’s Hercules or the Clash of the Titans film franchise. He is a sympathetic character who wants to escape the torment of ruling the Underworld and keep his family united, especially after having children with Persephone who also suffers from her six-month absence. This is why Hades needs the Eleusinian Stone at any cost. However, he and Persephone face complications in their scheme to obtain the stone.
Gaia embraces the mourning Hestia
The main complication is that Zeus (Jason O’Mara) already has plans for the Eleusinian Stone in case Hera gets her hands on it. He sends his sister Hestia to deliver the stone to Gaia (Vanessa Marshall), his grandmother and the mother of all life on Earth. Athena is tasked with protecting Hestia on her mission, but once Hestia leaves the grounds of Olympus, she is on her own. After retrieving the stone from Hecate (Courtenay Taylor), Hestia and Athena fight Hades’ shadows and their Keres allies. Despite the challenges, Hestia, even after mourning Zeus’ death, successfully delivers the Eleusinian Stone to her grandmother, who then hides it in the Hidden Realm where Zeus grew up hiding from Kronos. The Hidden Realm can only be accessed by the titans and those with a high concentration of their blood, such as the giants.
Only demons, humans who have consumed and been mutated by the blood and flesh of giants, have the blood of the power they devoured. The greatest and alpha demon, Seraphim, has the strongest concentration of giant blood for devouring the most blood and flesh. Persephone recognizes this and realizes they can recruit Seraphim to their cause since he died during the Battle of Olympus and just needs passage to the Underworld. With this in mind, Hades places two coins on the dead Seraphim’s eyes to give him passage to the Underworld via Charon’s ferry. The idea to use Seraphim to enter the Hidden Realm is a genius move by the show creators to connect Seraphim and Hades in the “Blood of Zeus” storyline. The next conflict will center around the Mount Olympus succession crisis and whoever obtains the Eleusinian Stone: one stone to rule them all. Let the game begin.
Rating: 9/10