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mightydragoon · 22 days ago

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What The Bronze Dragon says about Annabeth Chase.

Returning to PJO I also started rereading a good few of the side stories and I forgot about basically all of them. But even I didn't realise how bad the Bronze Dragon was until I reread it.

My feelings towards Annabeth Chase were not as sour as they are today, and even still, I don't hate her. If anything, I'm mainly disappointed with her wasted potential, but also the trajectory in which Rick wrote her and how she is ultimately disappointing more than anything. I think she is a stagnant character who originally might have once had the opportunity to grow but Rick refuses to let her.

And you know on the topic given how much the word "misogynist" is chucked at anyone with even a negative opinion of Annabeth, whether that leans from outright bashing to the slight bit critical let's delve briefly into that and how Rick had misogynist leanings in the series and how that translates into characters like Annabeth.

Part of that, I think, also comes down to the attitude of the time when Rick was writing it in the 2000s, where that was a particular push on "strong female characters" and "pseudo feminism".

This actually connects with the Bronze Dragon ending for reasons I will get into, but for general notes.

I do think Rick was trying in some respects, but it doesn't change how PJO is quite dated in a lot of ways, and how Rick writes women in it is one of them. The dismissal of femininity in the text is part of that and the Goddess are the more clear victims of this, often reduced to caricatures or outright villains compared to their male counterparts. Demeter is one of the most explicit, completely reduced to something ridiculous despite being one of the six Kronids and an Olympian.

But you see, this problem is prominent from how Demeter and Aphrodite's cabins are discussed in the first book alone, compared to Athena.

That becomes harder on examination to believe as a reader, given how the Aphrodite cabin can have members with charmspeak (TLH) and Demeter cabin members with the ability to turn tunnels into jungles (TLO).

Additionally, given how Annabeth goes off how she and the Athena cabin don't have powers (which ironically I think she does but she ignores it because its weaving and it's no coincidence with that being an inherently feminine profession) and she is one of the few characters with a mobile phone (by at least BOTL but possibly as early as SOM which might explain why she was tracked as she was) which is a known signal attractor to monsters.

Or how she feels she is dismissed for being blonde, which in another story might have a semblance of sense but here it doesn't

It feels too performative to take seriously. The Athena cabin are fucking blondes as a reminder and a good chunk of the Apollo cabin are too but the Athena cabin is interesting in how narratively invisible they are apart from Annabeth and Malcolm and I will get into the implications of that one day and what it reflects on Annabeth and family.

I think it's revealing with the exception of Silena (who died rather gruesomely by a Drakon and was a traitor) Rick often presents femininity in a poor light and it reflects in the attitudes he passes onto his female characters like Clarisse and Thalia "death to barbie" Grace in an attempt to be "strong" often try and turn away and dismiss it. Annabeth included.

I don't even want to get into the misandry by the Hunters and gods forbid the Amazons that Rick presented as feminism because ugh.

It's gross.

But nowhere is this element of internal misogyny within female characters stronger than in Piper's story which is basically "not like other girls" in the Lost Hero and maybe one day I will get into how Drew is ironically a deep character due to logical assumptions in how she even became a camp counsellor in-universe and the implications of her being the counsellor of a newly larger cabin in the aftermath of Silena's death despite Rick writing her as a one-off catty villain.

Annabeth had the potential to be a genuinely good character, and even now she is an interesting one when you look into analysing her actions based on her fatal flaw pride. But ultimately, she is not interesting for the reasons she should be.

Forgive me for trying to reread characters and ways they could've been better and how Rick squandered growth in favour of poor and cliched romantic developments that I can't fathom why people fawn over because I have seen more interesting dynamics.

And forgive me for criticising a relationship most people claim is healthy and a gold standard, and seems to normalise the toxic and unhealthy aspects of the relationship.

The fun of an unhealthy relationship in media can be with the author knowing that and expressing that. Even better if there was once a chance it could have been healthy, but one or both parties erased that. The best tragedies demonstrate that.

If Rick wrote Percabeth deliberately as unhealthy or destined to break up man, would I read that? It would've been revolutionary in demonstrating the complexities of relationships and how they might break or why people continue in these unhealthy dynamics. Heck if most fans acknowledged that maybe I wouldn't have the same faults.

But that isn't the case.

There are gaps between fanon and canon in any fandom but nowhere do I think its more explicit than in PJO and especially with how old the fandom is. Annabeth is often wildly misinterpreted by her own fans to fit a more appealing image of her character than canon presents. It's understandable but it is important to grapple with the characters we often see ourselves in in order to improve ourselves as people.

Annabeth herself has nice moments that is nearly immediately chucked out the window in order to make her appear to be superior. In some ways, it makes her even more wasted because she shows some capacity; she could be better but she ultimately can't.

The Bronze Dragon plays a role in cementing that for reasons I will say in a minute with missed opportunities and chances taken, but for the first three books, I didn't have a major problem with Annabeth.

Part of that was because one would expect Annabeth would develop into a more rounded one and go through an arc much like Grover was going through with finding Pan, and the damage done to the world was up to the remnants of nature, and they had to try and protect what was left. She does not, and I will discuss her architecture for a future post and how Rick inadvertently doomed her and her relationship, with what her signifier appears to be in her designs.

Rereading BOTL was the turning point along with others on a discord server changed that perception. She is older so it is harder to excuse her actions and this is when Percabeth was becoming more apparent and romantic but it still blindsided me when the volcano kiss occurred just as much as Percy was when it happened.

I think the confusion is also conveyed in how Annabeth treats not only Rachel but Percy in a hot and mostly cold manner. She is young but Annabeth is also a fictional character at the end of the day and as a reader one would want to see her move past her jealousy, reckon with her flaw and mature beyond what we were introduced to.

We don't get that in PJO. Let me contrast that in an instance where I did see it with another character like Astrid Hofferson. I can see bits of Annabeth and Astrid with how alike they can be in their pride. The difference is Astrid is far more rounded character and her actions are also more understandable as she is determined from the start and intervenes notably when Hiccup screws up a little early on with the Nadder (Stormfly).

Astrid is certainly no friend of Hiccup, no one is but unlike Percabeth she has good reasons with how Hiccup is already naturally isolated, clumsy, her intolerance towards idiocy and is frustrated with how her attempts to be a warrior are thwarted. She also doesn't put Hiccup directly in danger and is more annoyed he is even there in the ring because she believes he doesn't take the endless war they fight against dragons seriously and is putting her life and others in danger.

It's far more natural than hating a camper seemingly on the spot for killing a monster, and losing a loved one in the same place you once did (and not expressing much if any empathy for it) and putting them in danger just to win a game. Not to mention the forced rivalry when there was a missed grievance with the CTF over "oooooh our parents hate each other" and its mainly one sided.

Astrid has legitimate reasons that the audience sees as Hiccup does have an advantage in training and she isn't a fool. But that amnosity leaves her after the romantic flight. From that point, you can really start to see how Astrid respects Hiccup. Respect plays a big role because while Astrid does occasionally hit Hiccup, that's usually at the start of the relationship, where she doesn't respect him and she stops doing it as frequently and as roughly, with the exception of a few friendly jabs later down the line. Annabeth takes an almost opposite approach given the Judo Flip we see in MOA

The conversation as the ships leaves is even more crucial in solidifying their relationship and it being able to stand later. Astrid bluntly puts that Hiccup has lost everything and he must feel horrible. But still questions plagues everyone's mind. Why Hiccup didn't originally kill Toothless and Astrid pushes that point to get the truth from him. It's a genuine question both Astrid and the audience wonder because it forces Hiccup to examine himself and change his understanding. And eventually, he admits why he wouldn't kill Toothless after Astrid points out he is the first to fly one. It's a moment of vulnerability by Hiccup and you can see how seriously Astrid takes it with gentle encouragement to get the truth. And after Hiccup does Astrid shows empathy towards Toothless, noting how scared he must be and that is the trigger for Hiccup to set out and fight the Red Death. And that's just the first film as after that we start to see the pair respect and grow together, especially as the series is expanded in subsequent sequels and the tv show.

Crucially we see that development unfold as the entire cast matures and develops. We aren't just told. The show does a genuinely amazing job with its characters in general but that's besides the point.

We get scenes from Annabeth especially early in the books about her vulnerabilities and a bit in TLO but we don't really get scenes from Percy allowing to be vulnerable to her despite having quite a few conversations together. Percy often says how amazing Annabeth is but we don't see her actions reflect that.

She is propped up as a leader of the Argo in MOA but due to the nature of the POVs requiring every character to have a little mini arc that had every character doing their own thing like Leo getting the scrap metal one chapter. It doesn't really suit.

The main instance where that did actually apply was the initial escape from Fort Sumter (in her POV fitting with the mini arcs mentioned) where she was barking out orders and taking control of the helm and at the start where she was planning the landing and was VERY aware it was meant to be a peace mission. The first paragraph in MOA establishes this.

And we all know how that ends.

The Bronze Dragon only proved to me Annabeth is cemented in ways I didn't realise and while Staff of Hermes proved to me how doomed Percabeth was from a narrative standpoint, The Bronze Dragon broadcasted how ironclad Annabeth's pride, her callousness and the sort of mind games she plays on others like Percy.

Take the first Capture the Flag match in TLT, and even on reread it's kind of incredible that Annabeth and a certain level of contempt that she planned Percy as bait, who she immediately hated for accidentally splashing her with toilet water.

We know why Luke played along in the plan (he is evil and in the first two books he is comically evil and then Rick realised midway he needed to make him sympathetic) but Annabeth is interesting cause of what it suggests of her.

Annabeth's only warning to Percy was to watch Clarisse's spear, nevermind the fact it is electrified or Percy is standing near a creak of all places. At this point Annabeth is still the opinion Percy is moreso Zeus' son so and she did watch over him but she only intervened after the fight was already over

Annabeth comes across as quite a cold individual upon introduction.

She is someone will do whatever it takes to get a victory over a game, despite the real harm that it could bring and it is seriously a missed opportunity that Percy was not genuinely mad with Annabeth over this more. It would've made a much more compelling conflict than the forced Poseidon/Athena rivalry that hilariously is more natural with Clarisse and is generational with Ares with Percy (and probably Annabeth too)

So Annabeth put an untrained camper in the way of five others and could've gotten seriously injured if not killed if it was literally anyone who wasn't Percy. Annabeth is not completely heartless but it does make you wonder if Annabeth had done a similar thing not just to Percy but other campers she is not on good terms with.

She does win here, but her tactic feels very short-term success and long-term enmity. In that logically, she would not make many long-term allies especially if she is willing to pull something like this for just a game. It might also explain the lack of friends she has around Camp despite being there for years.

After all the Hunters are despised for using very dirty tactics in their CTF matches from what we saw briefly in TTC.

So that's the first CTF match and why on earth is this relevant?

Well, it's because the Bronze Dragon itself is about a CTF match. This is a good chance to see how characters have grown a little since that initial one.

We are introduced with the Hephaestus cabin pulling a major upset in CTF the match prior and seizing the flag from the Ares cabin.

Rick is presenting it off as cute, as this point the Percabeth moments are but coded, but it's less cute when Percy asks her to stop and the reason he even accepts is less because he "loves it" and more so because he is used to it, and that is not exactly better.

Annabeth expects Percy to like it, but from Percy it doesn't exactly come across as him liking it. And unfortunately, with Percy's background, we understand why he doesn't.

The bump is interesting because in a sense I do think it's a good example of how Annabeth might think her behaviour is friendly but in reality, it is ultimately harmful to the person she supposedly has a crush on as we see a bit throughout this story. It's not inherently a bad thing to have friendly jabs but the thing with Annabeth is it's hard to discern the difference between what's friendly and what's not.

She is competitive, but as I mention in the Staff of Hermes post, Rick writes Annabeth with an undertone that she constantly dismisses Percy's inherent worth and constantly underestimates and forgets his capabilities. It doesn't come across as playful as Rick is trying to suggest here and it means that even an innocent sentence like this

This comes across with an uneasy light with the case that Annabeth would genuinely prefer that and it fits well with the ending.

Competitiveness between couples is nothing new but it does feel like Annabeth would harm Percy in order to get one over him in order to feel superior over Percy or have Percy believe she would harm him in order to do so.

I feel like this explains the flinches from being attacked in BOTL respectively but also the ending of this particular story.

It's also linked to the general issues in Percabeth that Rick feels the need to dismiss Percy's self-worth in order to boost Annabeth own standing in the relationship.

The Judo Flip is after all not a flaw but rather a feature. It wouldn't have its defenders if it didn't. And Rick encourages through Charlie Beckendorf that if a girl is mean to you, that must mean she likes you....Which....No.

This is the equivalent of a young boy pulling his crush's hair to get her attention, and it's not cute with the genders reversed. Or a good thing to encourage.

Percy himself seems to read Annabeth's behaviour as her genuinely hating him in a way and given Annabeth's past actions where she did legitimately not liked him in TLT and she doesn't exactly act any different towards Percy it's no wonder he feels this way.

Here it's Beckendorf who justifies the behaviour which is fucking ridiculous and infuriatingly wrong to imply any girl who tries to murder Percy secretly likes him. It's such an infantile reaction for anyone's first reaction when in love is to act violently and yet Beckendorf endorses it as a sign for Percy. What's more it is meant to be by Annabeth and it seems to be her "love language," and she seems to bemoan how Percy doesn't get it.

Percy is often treated as an idiot when it comes to love by the narrative and others. In BOTL, there is an underlying indication that they are meant to be fighting over Percy.

It's done poorly done by Rick, given that there is a genuine animosity by Annabeth against Rachel for her being a mortal and while there are hints of her softening in BOTL and Annabeth later saving Rachel's life

(I'm wondering whether or not Frederick got her flying lessons or something, given how technology is not something Annabeth is naturally gifted in like Leo is to explain it. She does manage in this story somewhat to fix Festus but still.)

I despise how they seemingly make up almost immediately in TLO offscreen. I get that Annabeth saved her life, but it feels like Rick is trying to brush off the love triangle and once Rachel was no longer a threat in Annabeth's eyes and show that the two girls are good friends, really!

But Percy also doesn't exactly have a basis for what healthy relationships look like. Yet we know from his interactions with Rachel in TLO, he seems to prefer the more open communication rather than the confusing mind games. He knows one form of abuse through Gabe, but that doesn't exactly mean he can recognise other forms, and he is taught here by Beckendorf that this behaviour is acceptable for romantic relationships. Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty and I don't really think it's been mentioned much but loyalty can be detrimental in a different way than I think Rick presented it as.

In the general narrative, Rick presents it as being willing to burn the world to save one's loved ones but Rick fails to acknowledge what it means when personal loyalty can blind a person to another's faults and how it can destroy the person themselves.

Fatal flaws don't just ruin others; they can ruin the person themselves to be blinded of the wrongs or the flaws of a loved one.

With Annabeth, Percy often builds up Annabeth in his conversations with others, despite us not really seeing that in action. I recall reading MOA recently and getting to the line about Annabeth being no one's sidekick and laughing because up until that point she had played such a passive role in the story and her greatest achievement in that story was trapping Arachne which is immediately deflated with Annabeth taunting Arachne so much, Arachne instantly frees herself and nearly kills Annabeth had it not been for the timely arrival of the Argo.

Additionally having reread the series, Annabeth is an expositor of knowledge like Greek Myths (and occasionally getting them wrong *cough* Cadmus and Europa *cough*) and Rick seems to equate that with strategy and wisdom.

It's telling us how great Annabeth is, without us seeing it. A bit like in Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead we get this.

It's a sweet sentiment but it doesn't really stand.

Whatever the case Percy and Beckendorf go around near the Ant Hill and see a Bronze Dragon and at this point it becomes one of the first signs that Beckendorf is abandoning the game in pursuit of the dragon.

The entire game vs reality plays an undertone in this. Annabeth does eventually realise where they are and the seriousness of the situation and to her credit she does go to rescue Beckendorf but her focus was still on the game and not on her initial surroundings.

I'll get into this with the ending but let's keep it in mind for now because it is important.

Let's note the fact that Beckendorf is badly injured.

Annabeth doesn't immediately rush in to save Beckendorf much to Silena's and Percy's bewilderment but there is a reason for that.

They get the future Festus' head and it is noted that the Myrmekes our monsters, have a very nasty poison and acid. Beckendorf has already been exposed to both and is likely not in good shape.

At this point the focus is on the Myrmekes; all thoughts of the game are out. And we learn about the automatens, the previous guardians of camps. Festus was one such guardian until it went rogue. It becomes clear however, that Hephaestus intervened in unearthing the dragon's body, wanting it to be found.

We get a slightly cute-ish moment with Percy mentioning he would trust Annabeth to reattach his head and then immediately get this

Yet another instance where Percy is afraid Annabeth is going to attack him. This is a constant theme in their relationship but there appears to be a genuine fear from Percy of Annabeth's capacity towards violence. It might be fun for a one-off gag but as seen prior this is constant with Percabeth.

They (mainly Annabeth) fix up the dragon after some time and at this point Percy assumes CTF is over.

(This also suggests CTF matches are usually quite quick but it is important that Percy is mentally checking out of CTF)

Festus nearly immediately goes to attack and fun fact we get a likely indication where Silena uses charmspeak on Festus. It's not explicit but she has a very commanding tone as she speaks to Festus.

They soon race to rescue Beckendorf. We also get hints of how desperate Silena is to rescue Beckendorf and an indication that she is deeply in love with him

But ah yes, demolishing Silena from the stereotypes of her being a typical Aphrodite kid. Stereotypes which Rick created and enforced for the cabin and he continued to reinforce in HOO.

They reach Beckendorf who is still deeply injured.

And while the paralytic might wear off, as mentioned earlier, Beckendorf was still hit in the face with presumably the acid and he got bit in the leg which absolutely doesn't help matters. Either way Festus wrecks shit up and proceeds to nearly wreck their shit too.

Percy now starts to get injured and Beckendorf activates Festus emergency defence mechanism to save it. Unfortunately it goes rogue on them.

Beckendorf starts running but at this point I believe more than anything adrenaline kicked in for him to move but I still doubt he is in good condition by any means. Either way they need to get Festus in a less murderous mood so they can make it for another day.

As they fight it with Festus, Percy notices Beckendorf do something and while Annabeth warns him, Percy stays put and buys Beckendorf the time he needs and succeeds.

What follows is a mildly cute moment (minus the nickname) and what feels like a second of appreciation from Annabeth. We also get some developments with Silena and Beckendorf going to the fireworks together. They head back. But at that point Percy is injured the acid hurting him to the point he is limping.

Funny enough we also get some acknowledgement from Annabeth over Percy's ideas and for a moment, for a brief moment we get what appears to be a sincere moment from Annabeth to Percy.

Then it is immediately ruined by the ending. Oh boy, the ending!

One of the major problems I have with Percabeth is that anytime there appears to be somewhat of a cute moment between them, there is nearly is almost something negative clouding their relationship that makes it impossible to enjoy.

Like with the picnic in Staff of Hermes wasn't enough, and Annabeth didn't seem to appreciate the effort and pressured Percy to do something "special" for the month anniversary (a materialistic and most likely something Annabeth said to pressure Percy) and then immediately after for the second. Not to mention Percy was already doing something for her. Like it doesn't matter Annabeth did do something for Percy in Rome later (one of the better moments of MOA honestly) and proving she could have done something herself for a date.

The real issue was the lack of appreciation and consideration.

This is no exception in what appeared to be a sweet moment turning sour, losing the impact it originally had.

Annabeth's nameless siblings come out of the bushes to capture Percy and Beckendrof, revealing the CTF was not yet over. For Percy and Beckendorf we get a good indication that for them, they had long mentally checked out of the game to prioritise other real life issues.

For a second, one might think maybe Annabeth would give Percy and Beckendorf who are already injured and probably seriously so and clearly not playing the game anymore some slack, but alas. Like mentioned at the start of this story.

The chance to beat up Percy is the best thing that ever happened to Annabeth and here she took it.

It comes across as cruel to do such a thing to Beckendorf and Percy.

Now do I believe Annabeth orchestrated that entire thing to keep them both out of the game? No.

Annabeth was as shocked as everyone else when Beckendorf got kidnapped and she mentioned she was following Percy and Beckendorf. But she didn't let Percy know that.

Annabeth allows Percy to believe she had the capacity to do that. The fact Percy considers Annabeth as perfectly capable of doing such a thing is legitimately kind of awful and it's played as a fun little scene, with the girls getting one over the boys.

Funny enough, I do think another reading in Silena's actions here is that it inadvertently shows that while Silena does love Charlie Beckendorf, when it comes to her own selfish desires, she will prioritise them and allow Beckendorf to be seriously harm in the process. That is not the intended reading but is one I nonetheless made, considering Silena's role as a traitor in the story and how she wanted to protect Beckendorf but got him killed thanks to her spying.

It screams unfairness. It feels like the first CTF, except it kind of feels worse because here was a moment Annabeth could've stepped back and allowed Percy and Beckendorf to get treated for their injuries. Heck, it didn't even need to result in Annabeth "winning". The game like the boys thought could've been over and we might even be able to see the fireworks with them.

In-universe, it feels despicable and there is a real semblance of confusion and disgust over the boys. It feels so laughably bad that Annabeth had the audacity to pull a move like that and then ask Percy out afterwards.

But this how Rick tries to equalise Percabeth. It's how he demonstrates that Annabeth is "strong." And he does that by degrading Percy. Much like the judo flip is meant to present to Reyna she is a warrior which comes at Percy's expense.

It's also presented as a feminist victory with that last line. The girls beat the boys! But it's a pseudo one, one the girls didn't earn in their own merit. Yeah, they won but it didn't feel deserved or satisfying. The victory came at a hollow cost and if Beckendorf and Percy weren't who they were, anyone else would've felt betrayed.

Winning is everything to Annabeth. We saw that from the start and she proves it here. Annabeth does jolt back to reality once she realises when Beckendorf is in danger but she didn't originally notice that and I think that was because of how single-minded she is in winning.

The ending didn't need to be like this. The ending could've been a sweet moment with all parties involved going to the Infirmary and Percy and Beckendorf getting their injuries treated and then Percy getting that invite. It could've had Annabeth continue on their chat about what Percy did to give Beckendorf time to fight Festus.

But that didn't happen.

We just saw that Annabeth is the same as she was in her first CTF as she is now. Willing to occasionally help out, but will still prioritise the game even at others' expenses.

The next final thing to look at is her interview. This is crucial because it is a look inside Annabeth's head and more importantly, how she feels about Percy. While beforehand I might have been able to take the hits as slightly playful and her arguing with Percy as cute, this changes matter.

Annabeth's interview feels like it deliberately cuts into that originally sweet moment where Annabeth showed appreciation for him but also how she can't genuinely say a compliment about Percy without a backhanded one. There can't really be a Percabeth moment that isn't tainted by a backhanded compliment, an insult or something else.

That isn't pleasant to read through, and it's not a good indicator in their relationship.

The nickname Annabeth admits herself is meant to be a dig at Percy's intelligence. Her annoyance at Percy also comes across as personal, as we know Percy is not trying to acting deliberately dumb. But that doesn't matter to Annabeth and from TLT she has always been exasperated by Percy's lack of knowledge as if he wasn't someone new exposed to this culture overnight and it wasn't her job to induct new campers to the system.

It comes across as her internally disliking Percy with how she think Percy does what he does to annoy her and how she constantly underestimates her intelligence and seems shocked whenever he is smart. Annabeth can acknowledge Percy is but its overridden by her own sense of self in that equation.

It has to be her that was directing Percy, it's thanks to her he wins and yet as we see in this story with Percy doing his own thing against Annabeth's warnings (though understandably so) this isn't true.

It's frustrating. Annabeth is still ruled by her pride and it's frustrating that a story about CTF when they are much older was a chance to show how Annabeth has grown since the first one. But she hasn't. She can't. Annabeth is the same as she always was and always will be.

That itself is the greatest tragedy of the series.