Season 2, Episode 2 of the Netflix series Blood of Zeus, titled “Weights & Measures,” is directed by Jae H. Kim and Jae Woo Kim and penned by the show’s creators, Charles Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides. The story introduces Seraphim (Elias Toufexis), one of the side antagonists of Season 1, as the new main protagonist of Season 2. This shift occurs because more and more scenes are devoted to Seraphim, unlike Heron (Derek Phillips), the main protagonist of Season 1. Additionally, Seraphim receives more character development, with the aid of Hades (Fred Tatasciore), paralleling Zeus’s mentorship of Heron.
Although it may seem Heron is the main protagonist, he does not have much individual choice in the Eleusinian Stone arc and spends most of his time following Gaia’s and later Zeus’s instructions starting from this episode. This is evident at the beginning of episode 2 when Heron dreams of Gaia’s instruction to save Seraphim, potentially to become the new King of Olympus and keep the gods of Olympus in line. Heron is motivated by an agreement with Seraphim’s belief that the gods do not care about the lives of mortals, and his fury fuels his inherited lightning abilities. From this point on, it is likely that Seraphim will be the main protagonist of Season 2 while Heron takes a back seat for a while before Season 3.
The Three Kings who Stand Judgment
Regarding Seraphim’s fate, he arrives in the Underworld and meets Hades, who offers to give the deceased demon freedom in exchange for not facing eternal judgment. Despite this tempting offer, Seraphim refuses to be a pawn of another Greek God and continues his journey to the Underworld Court. There, he is judged by the three kings who stand judgment: King Minos, King Rhadamanthus, and King Aeacus. The three are also sons of Zeus. They show visual images of Seraphim’s past atrocities, including slaying the guilty and innocent alike as both a human and a demon, which involved the suffering of his mother and half-brother. However, Seraphim was not always evil, as he did show some small acts of kindness, exhibiting true philotimo (love of honor) and agape (highest form of love & charity) to a priestess named Gorgo. This revelation shocks Hades, as he had the same act of love for Persephone before their marriage.
Seraphim and Priestess Gorgo
King Rhadamanthus believes from Seraphim’s past with Gorgo that he has a chance to be redeemed, given the king’s own experience of witnessing years of brutal villainy redeemed by a single act. If some villains can be redeemed, then Seraphim can be redeemed as well. Therefore, Seraphim can avoid Tartarus if he repents and works to improve his standing as a soul and an individual long enough to enter the fields of Elysium. However, Seraphim refuses because he is too prideful to believe he is in the wrong, despite Hades’ protest for him to repent since he had a chance to be redeemed.
Seraphim refuses and continues to insult the three kings, arguing that they weren’t good men in life and questioning why they should be the ones to judge him. To be fair, the three kings are spending eternity as judges of the dead, likely as atonement for their past sins, preventing them from ever resting in Elysium or finding happiness again. Nevertheless, the three kings were given kingdoms, power, and wealth by Zeus for the rest of their mortal lives, and they spent that life as tyrants spreading suffering and pain to many innocents. In the end, the three judges condemn Seraphim to Tartarus for all eternity. This scene alone shows that Zeus is not a good ruler of Olympus because he not only committed infidelity by cheating on Hera but also appointed tyrants to rule the mortals of Greece, which ruined many lives. If Hades is seen as an antagonist of Season 2, it should be understood that Zeus is more villainous than Hades, as the latter is more honorable and responsible than the former when it comes to his duties as a god.
Persephone says her Goodbyes
Following Seraphim’s judgment, Hades and his two children, Zagreus (Kari Wahlgren) and Melinoe (Judy Alice Lee), say goodbye to Persephone (Lara Pulver). This is because Hades and Zeus made a deal with Demeter that Persephone will spend the first six months, from Spring to Summer, in Olympus, while she spends the rest of the year, from Autumn to Winter, in the Underworld with her husband and children. Zagreus and Melinoe do not want their mother to leave but tearfully say their goodbyes to the fury of Hades. This motivates the God of the Underworld to ask Seraphim for help again as the latter faces his eternal penance in Tartarus. However, Seraphim is not eager to talk to Hades as he does not trust him.
Because of this, Hades decides to tell Seraphim the truth that he saved his life by convincing him to eat a giant’s flesh, which grants him the power to defeat his pursuers. This is a shocking revelation, but Hades justified that he had good intentions since he wanted to empower the man whose life was ruined by Zeus and allowed his bident on the giant’s corpse to bond with the demon. However, that empowerment led to the suffering of more innocents at the hands of Seraphim and his demons, so it would have been merciful to let Seraphim die, repent in the Underworld, and find peace again in death. Nevertheless, Hades continues to tell Seraphim that they have a common cause to overthrow Olympus’s status quo as the God of the Underworld explains the origins of the Eleusinian Stone.
The Three Stones
In the past, the gods defeated the greatest monster in history, Typhon, and magically imprisoned it beneath Mount Etna. However, the magic can only be broken if any living soul speaks Typhon’s name numerous times. The power of Typhon is imbued within the Eleusinian Stone, a blue diamond. Hecate (Courtenay Taylor) placed the stone alongside a red and another blue one in a pot for Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades to pick from without looking. Zeus was the first to pick and he took the Eleusinian Stone, allowing him to reign as King of Olympus. Poseidon took the other blue stone and became ruler of the seas. Unfortunately for Hades, he picked the red one and became Lord of the Underworld. However, the random choosing of the stones was rigged by Hera, who used her magic to telekinetically give Zeus the stone when he placed his hand in the pot. Poseidon was given the other blue stone and rulership of the sea in exchange for his silence on the cheating matter. Therefore, Hades, who was unaware of the scheme, was left with the rulership of the Underworld because he was at an unfair disadvantage.
For this reason, Hades desires the Eleusinian Stone and the throne of Olympus to free himself from his eternal duty as Lord of the Underworld and keep his family united forever. He asks Seraphim to enter the Hidden Realm and steal the stone because only titans and giants can enter unrestricted, while gods can only enter if given permission. Despite this, Seraphim again refuses Hades’ request, not wanting to be a pawn once more.
Rating: 9/10