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Prophecies in Percy Jackson play a huge role in the quests that the heroes embark on. Many of the prophecies are woven throughout individual books, and some even come back throughout a whole series.

There are currently three different series that fans would refer to as the “Percy Jackson series”: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo.

The first two feature Percy Jackson himself as the main character, and the third follows Apollo as the narrator, with just a few scenes in the series including Percy. 

In the first series, almost all of the prophecies are given by the Oracle, who lives in the attic of the Big House.

However, Rachel Dare eventually becomes the new host for the Oracle of Delphi and gives out Prophecies in the second series.

When the Roman camp is introduced, we see prophecies from the Sibylline Books that were memorized by a Harpy with a photographic memory.

Overall, the prophecies in Percy Jackson are a fun way of incorporating Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion and mythology, as well as keeping the reader guessing as to just what they could mean! 

There are a LOT of Prophecies throughout the three series, so let’s dive right in and take a look at all of them in chronological order!

This post does contain major spoilers for Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo. Please read on with that in mind!

(Also, if you’re looking for a particular prophecy from Percy Jackson, please use the table of contents below to skip to that section!)

Percy Jackson Prophecies In Order: The First Prophecy

The first prophecy is in The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series 

It can be found in chapter 9, “I Am Offered A Quest”. 

“You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. 

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend. 

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.”

What does this mean?

“You shall go west” is Percy, Annabeth, and Grover traveling from New York (where Camp Half-Blood is located) to California. This journey brings them to D.O.A Records, the door to the underworld. 

“The god who has turned” is revealed to be Ares. Ares, with the hopes of starting a war between the gods, helps Luke steal the Master Bolt and plants it in Percy’s backpack.

“You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.” Percy finds the Master Bolt (in his own backpack hehe) and returns it to Zeus on Mount Olympus, located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. 

“You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.” LUKE, you dirty dog, how could you do our boy Percy like that?!?

Luke sets Percy up as he goes off on his quest. We find out that Luke is THE Lightning Thief! 

“And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.” Percy fails to save his mom from the underworld because he does not have enough pearls to bring with him.

Sally Jackson is not lost to us forever, though. She hangs out in the underworld but is eventually returned to the mortal world by Hades as a thank you for Percy returning the Helm of Darkness.

The Second Prophecy 

In Sea of Monsters, we (as the reader) do not know the prophecy till much later in the book. This quest is not given to Percy but to Clarisse, who chooses to not reveal the prophecy until chapter 17, “We Get  A Suprise On Miami Beach”. 

“You shall sail the iron ship with the warriors of bone, 

You shall find what you seek and make it your own,

But despair for your life entombed within stone,

And fail without friends, to fly home alone.”

What does this mean?

“You shall sail the iron ship with the warriors of bone.” Clarisse goes off on her quest aboard the CSS Birmingham gifted to her by her father, Ares.

Ares (in the Riordan-verse) rules over all losing armies, and Clarisse is accompanied by dead, skeletal Confederate soldiers.

“You shall find what you seek and make it your own.” Clarisse finds the golden fleece alongside Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson. It becomes her “own” when Percy gives the fleece to her because it was his quest after all!

“But despair for your life entombed within stone.” Clarisse gets trapped in Polyphemus’ cave.

“And fail without friends, to fly home alone.” Without the help of the other demi-gods, as well as Percy, Grover, and Annabeth, Clarisse would not have been able to get the fleece and save Thalia’s tree.

Clarisse flies home without the other campers to get back to Camp Half-Blood and save Thalia!

The Third Prophecy 

The next prophecy is found in the third book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, The Titans Curse.

This prophecy is given to Zoë Nightshade, which helps guide her quest to save the goddess Artemis. Zoë is a hunter of Artemis, and this quest is a combo between campers and hunters. 

This prophecy can be found in chapter 6, “An Old Dead Friend Comes to Visit”.

“Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan’s curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent’s hand”

What does this mean?

“Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,” Five demi-gods go on Zoë’s quest, Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and Phoebe.

Phoebe gets pranked by the Stoll brothers and wears a shirt laced with centaur blood which causes her to break out in hives. Because of this, Percy has to replace her on the quest.

The “goddess in chains” is Artemis who has been captured by the titan, Atlas, and is forcing Artemis to take over his task of holding up the world. 

“One shall be lost in the land without rain,” The one lost is Bianca who uses herself as a sacrifice to help the others get away from Talos.

“The bane of Olympus shows the trail,” The bane of Olympus turns out to be Ophiotauros (nicknamed Bessie by Percy). They follow Bessie throughout their quest on the trail to Olympus. 

“Campers and Hunters combined prevail,” The campers of Camp Half-Blood work together with The Hunters of Artemis to complete the quest. 

“The Titan’s curse must one withstand,” The Titan’s curse is the curse that Atlas was given to hold up the world. One of the demi-gods has to hold Atlas’ burden that has been put upon Artemis so that she can fight and help win the battle of Mount Othrys.

Percy withstands holding up the world (and he gets his cutie pie little grey streak in his hair which I just love)!!

“And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.” Zoë, at the end of this book, dies (RIP she is honestly such an underrated character) due to the poison that her father, Atlas, gave her. 

The Fourth Prophecy (Battle of the Labyrinth Prophecy)

In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth finally gets to lead her own quest!

We learn most of this prophecy in chapter 4, “Annabeth Breaks the Rules”. However, Annabeth keeps the ending line of the prophecy to herself and does not reveal the final line till page 348.

“‘You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand’ I pressed on. ‘That wasn’t Minos like I’d thought. It was Nico.’” 

“You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,

The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.

You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand,

The Child of Athena’s final stand.

Destroy with a hero’s final breath,

And lose a love to worse than death.”

What does this mean?

“You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze.” Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, and Percy go into Deadalus’ Labyrinth in search of Daedalus.

“The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.” The dead stands for Nico raising the dead, and the traitor is Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis joining Luke and Kronos.

The lost one raised is Pan being found by Grover in the Labyrinth and with his death, his spirit is set free at last. 

“You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand.” Though Annabeth thought that the Ghost King would be Minos, it turns out that it actually meant Nico. Nico decided to help the campers on their quest and because of his help they lived to tell another tail!

“The Child of Athena’s final stand.” Once again this sets us up to believe this line to be about Annabeth but is in fact about Daedalus, who is also a child of Athena. 

“Destroy with a hero’s final breath.” Daedalus in his final stand (wink wink) uses his final breath (wink wink) to destroy the Labyrinth because he tied the maze to his life.

Nico helps with this by freeing Deadalus’ soul so that the maze would finally be destroyed (also Annabeth gets a sick laptop).

“And lose a love to worse than death.” Annabeth loses Luke to a fate that is worse than death which is hosting Kronos in his body. Yeah, Kronos is kind of the worst.

The Fifth Prophecy (“The Great Prophecy”)

This prophecy from Percy Jackson is a little different than the others; it’s also the prophecy that the other four books in the series have been alluding to.

The Great Prophecy has already been told, just not to Percy, so the reader is unaware of what it is until chapter 3 of The Last Olympian, “I Get A Sneak Peak At My Death”.

Annabeth takes Percy to the attic to have the Oracle recite the full prophecy to Percy:

“A Half-Blood of the eldest gods,

Shall reach sixteen against all odds,

And see the world in endless sleep.

The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap,

A single choice shall end his days,

Olympus to preserve or raze.”

What does this mean?

“A Half-Blood of the eldest gods,” Percy is the son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades). He turns sixteen even though he has had a very dangerous life leading up to his sixteenth birthday. 

“And see the world in endless sleep.” The gods use to put the city to sleep to prevent the mortals from getting harmed during the battle between Kronos and the gods at the Empire State Building.

“The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap,” Annabeth’s beloved dagger was given to her by Luke when she first came to Camp Half-Blood.

When giving her this blade he promised to her that they would always be family. When he breaks that promise by betraying camp and working with Kronos that blade becomes the Cursed Blade.

The soul reaped is Luke, when he uses this very same blade to kill himself and take Kronos with him.

“A single choice shall end his days.” The “him” in this part of the prophecy is Luke and not Percy. Percy is the one who has to make the choice between giving Luke the cursed blade or letting him fall to his death. 

“Olympus to preserve or raze.” Percy’s choice ultimately decides the fate of Olympus. 

The Sixth Prophecy (“The Prophecy of Seven”)

At the end of The Last Olympian, Rachel recites this prophecy after she becomes the new host of the Oracle via Apollo. 

“Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death”

This prophecy can be found in chapter 22, “I Am Dumped”, in The Last Olympian, beautifully setting us up for the next series. 

What does this mean?

“Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.” Percy, Jason, Piper, Frank, Annabeth, Leo, and Hazel are our seven demi-gods who answer the call to this quest to once again save the world! 

“To storm or fire, the world must fall.” Strom is Jason and fire is Leo, and one of them must destroy Gaea.

Leo is the one who in the end kills Gaea with his Pyrokinesis which leads to his own death, BUT he uses the Physician’s Cure and is able to come back to life.

“An oath to keep with a final breath,” The oath is Leo’s promise to Calypso to return to Ogygia, and he keeps this oath by traveling back to Ogygia after the fight with Gaea.

“And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death” When Percy and Annabeth try to close the doors of death, they are helped by Bob the Titan (Aka Iapetus) and the giant Damasen who is the antithesis of Ares (meaning he is the only peaceful giant).

Damasen, Bob, Percy, and Annabeth all work and fight alongside one another to close the doors of death so that the monsters would not keep regenerating so quickly in the mortal world. 

The Seventh Prophecy 

We are now in the second series, The Heroes of Olympus, the first book being The Lost Hero.

This prophecy is given to Jason by Rachel before he goes on his quest to find Hera in chapter 10.

“Child of Lightning, beware the earth,

The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth,

The forge and dove shall break the cage,

And death unleash through Hera’s rage.”

What does this mean?

“Child of Lightning, beware the earth.” The “Child of lightning” is Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter who is introduced to us in The Lost Hero.

He’s afriad of Gaea, the earth goddess who is also low-key the earth (it’s very complicated; mythology amiright?). She is the big bad of the Heroes of Olympus series and who our demi-gods must join together to destroy.

“The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth.” The Giants, Gaea’s favorite children, are rising to defeat the gods.

Because of this, seven demi-gods (from the Prophcey of Seven) join together, their purpose being killing the Giants for the second time!

Our seven demi-gods are Percy (child of Poseidon) , Annabeth (child of Athena), Frank Zhang (child of Mars), Piper McLean (child of Aphrodite), Jason Grace (child of Jupiter), Hazel Levesque (child of Pluto), and Leo Valdez (child of Hephaestus).

“The forge and dove shall break the cage.” The “forge” is Leo, a child of Hephaestus; the “dove” is Piper, a child of Aphrodite.

They use their powers to free Hera from the cage that Gaea has imprisoned her in. Piper uses charm speak and Leo uses power tools to break that cranky goddess free!

“And death unleash through Hera’s rage.” Once Piper and Leo break Hera free, she unleashes her divine form and it kills the rest of the monsters that are attacking our heroes!

The Eighth and Ninth Prophecies 

In chapter 12 of The Son of Neptune, Mars sends his son Frank on a quest and gives him the following prophecy.

“Go to Alaska.

Find Thanatos and free him.

Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.”

What does this mean?

Uhhhh…I mean this one is pretty to the point. Off to Alaska!

Ella the Harpy is also introduced in this book. As I alluded to previously in this article, Ella has a photographic memory and tends to spout out random information that she has read at any given time!

She reveals two prophecies to Frank, Hazel, and Percy in chapter 36 of The Son of Neptune. 

“To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion’s crown.

Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown”

What does this mean? 

“To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion’s crown.” The north is Alaska, the location of this quest! Riordan-Greek lore Alaska is beyond the reach of the gods and Gaea is in control.

The legion’s crown is in reference to the 12th legion of Camp Jupiter, who in the 80s tried to fulfill the prophecy of seven by taking down Alycyoneus.

They ultimately lost, leaving behind much Roman battle regalia AND the 12th Legion’s Eagle, which is recovered by our heroes. 

“Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown” Percy can’t drown, he’s the son of the sea god! Boy can literally breathe underwater! However, Percy does fall into a pit of shades off of a glacier. 

The Tenth Prophecy 

The ninth prophecy from Percy Jackson is delivered in two parts by Ella. The first part is in chapter 36 of The Son of Neptune.

“Wisdom’s Daughter walks alone,

The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.”

Ella finishes the second half of the prophecy when the Greek campers come to New Rome and Ella has a verbal vomit moment. She concludes the prophecy in front of both camps, compromising her safety from Octavian. 

“Wisdom’s daughter walks alone,

The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.

Twins snuff out the angel’s breath,

Who holds the key to endless death.

Giants’ bane stands gold and pale,

Won through pain from a woven jail.”

What does this mean?

“Wisdom’s daughter walks alone” Wisdom stands for Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Her daughter this time around really does refer to Annabeth.

Annabeth goes alone into Arachne’s chamber to complete her quest to recover the Athena Parthenos. 

“The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.” The Mark of Athena is a breadcrumb trail that magically leads the children of Athena toward the lost Parthenos. Because the Romans took the Athena Parthenos from the Greeks, it is in Rome! 

“Twins snuff out the angel’s breath,” The twins are Ephialtes and Otis, the Giants created to kill Dionysis.

They have taken Nico di Angelo (Angelo translates to Angel), and put our favorite emo boy in an air-tight jar where it is not possible for him to breath. 

“Who holds the key to endless death.” Endless death is the doors of death being opened by Gaea. This keeps monsters or enemies from staying dead, making it very difficult for our heroes to complete their quest.

Nico, being the son of Hades (and having been to the underworld), knows the location of the doors and has the information to help close the doors of death (if he can get out of that jar)!

“Giants’ bane stands gold and pale.” This is the Athena Parthenos!

It is the bane of the Giants, because not only is it a very magical godly artifact, but if returned to Camp Half-Blood, it would repair the relationship between the Greek and Roman camps which need to work together to end Gaea and her children, the Giants. 

“Won through pain from a woven jail.” While in Arachne’s chamber, Annabeth tricks her into weaving a trap and then convinces Arachne to crawl into it. This allows Annabeth able to snatch the Parthenos from the old spider lady. 

The Eleventh Prophecy  

This one is also from Ella in chapter 31 of The Blood of Olympus, which is setting us up for the third series, The Trials of Apollo. As Nico dreams, he sees Ella rocking back and forth on the roof of the big house reciting part of the Sibylline. 

“The fall of the sun,

“The final verse.” 

What does this mean? 

“The fall of the sun,” The sun is the sun god, Apollo, who is punished by his father, Zeus for helping the demi-gods. Just like in greek mythology, Zeus takes away Apollo’s powers and he falls from Olympus into the mortal world.

“The final verse.” Prophecies are on the fritz, which we find out later is because of Python. Delphi is unable to deliver any prophecy to Camp Half-Blood, setting up our next series, The Trials of Apollo.

The Twelfth and Thirteenth Prophecies

In the first book of the Trials of Apollo series, The Hidden Oracle, prophecy is not exactly working at camp. Apollo, who is now the mortal Lester, has accompanied Meg, a child of Demeter.

They go on a quest to the Grove of Dodona to care for it and regain control so that they can take down the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate are trying to take over all outlets of prophecy. 

The first form of prophecy in this book is delivered in partial lines by the trees in the grove. These lines of verse can be found in chapter 33 of The Hidden Oracle, foreshadowing a bunch of rando information and plot points for the series. 

“Caves of blue.

Strike the hue.

Westward, burning.

Pages turning.

Indiana.

Ripe banana.

Happiness approaches.

Serpents and roaches.”

What does this mean?

“Caves of blue” In The next book, The Dark Prophecy, Meg and Apollo go to find the Oracle of Trophonius, who turns out to be located in the Bluespring Caverns of Indiana.

“Strike the hue” We do not know what this line means exactly! Honestly, it probably means nothing…but let me know your thoughts!

“Westward, burning” In the third book of the series, The Burning Maze, Apollo and Meg travel to California (which is west of New York).

You can probably tell from the title of the book, but Cali is burning! This is due to Helios’ body being used by Medea. 

“Pages turning” Ella is working through the Sibylline Books!

“Indiana” Like I said, Bluespring Caverns is a national park in the state of Indiana. Our dynamic duo travels there in the second book. 

“Ripe banana” Once again…not sure about this line.

“Happiness approaches” “Festus” means happy in Latin! Festus returns to camp with Leo and Calypso in tow at the end of the first book.

“Serpents and roaches” Serpents is Python, Apollo’s nemesis. Roaches are probably Nero who in my personal opinion is a big ole roach of a man. 

The next prophecy comes for the same book, the same grove, and even the same chapter (just turn a couple of pages). This one is in the form of a limerick, and according to Apollo, those are the worst kinds of prophecy one can receive. 

“There once was a god named Apollo

Who plunged in a cave, blue and hollow

Upon a three-seater

The bronze fire-eater

Was forced death and madness to swallow”

What does this mean?

“There once was a god named Apollo” I mean, come on, this one doesn’t need any explanation.

“Who plunged in a cave, blue and hollow” Bluespring Caverns, next book!

“Upon a three-seater” Festus the dragon is the mode of transportation in the next book, and he has room for three butts, being a three-seater.

“The bronze fire-eater” is another line about Festus. He is made of celestial bronze and is a dragon and can breathe fire!

“Was forced death and madness to swallow” When Apollo saves Meg in the next book from the plague of Trophonius, Apollo uses mouth-to-mouth to pull her out of her hallucination. 

The Fourteenth Prophecy 

The next prophecy can be found in the second Trials of Apollo novel, The Dark Prophecy, chapter 40. Meg delivers this prophecy, but it’s really from the Oracle of Trophonius. This is able to happen after Meg sits on the Throne of Memory. 

“The words that memory wrought are set to fire,

Ere new moon rises o’re the Devil’s Mount.

The changeling lord shall face a challenge dire,

Till bodies fill the Tiber beyond count.

Yet southward now the sun must trace its course,

Through mazes dark to lands of scorching death

To find the master of the swift white horse

And wrest from him the crossword speaker’s breath.

To westward palace must the Lester go;

Demeter’s daughter finds her ancient roots.

The cloven guide alone the way does know,

To walk the path in thine own enemy’s boots.

When three are known and Tiber reached alive,

‘Tis only then Apollo starts to jive.”

What does this mean? 

“The words that memory wrought are set to fire.” Ella is working on re-creating the Sibylline Books, and they are tattooing the lines onto her bf Tyson.

Because he is a cyclops they are using an extra hot, extra cool tattoo gun (or maybe it’s more of a stick-and-poke kinda method).

“Ere new moon rises o’re the Devil’s Mount.” El Diablo Mountain is right by Camp Jupiter; the new moon is when an attack will occur. 

“The changeling lord shall face a challenge dire.” The changeling lord is Frank Zhang, who faces the dire challenge of taking down the forces of Caligula and using up his firewood (the one that his life force is tied to…YIKES)!

“Till bodies fill the Tiber beyond count.” The little Tiber surrounds Camp Jupiter, and the bodies refer to those lost in the battle. 

“Yet southward now the sun must trace its course.” In the next book, The Burning Maze, Meg and Apollo travel to California. They are currently located in Indiana by the Bluespring Caverns. So southward they gotta go! And of course, the sun is Apollo.

“Through mazes dark to lands of scorching death.” The maze is the Labyrinth which is currently being used by Medea to burn the greater SoCal area. In this part, we meet some of my favorite dryads.

“To find the master of the swift white horse.” This is Caligula! And the horse is Incitatus; also this horse can talk! 

“And wrest from him the crossword speaker’s breath.” The next oracle they need to save is Erythraean Sibyl, who in Uncle Rick lore gives prophecies in crossword puzzles. 

“To westward palace must the Lester go.” Palace? More like a crap ton of yachts?!? 

“Demeter’s daughter finds her ancient roots.” Demeter’s daughter is Meg, her roots meaning her childhood home. 

“The cloven guide alone the way does know.” GROVER! Grover leads the heroes through the labyrinth. 

“To walk the path in thine own enemy’s boots.” Apollo wears a pair of Caligula sandals to not be noticed by Medea in the labyrinth. 

“When three are known and Tiber reached alive.” Apollo has to find out who the three Triumvirate emperors are (Caligula, Commodus, and Nero) and then return back to Camp Jupiter to get his third and final quest.

“‘Tis only then Apollo starts to jive.” Once he completes the third quest as mentioned above, Apollo can once again be reinstated to godly status. 

The Fifteenth Prophecy 

In chapter 23 of The Burning Maze, Jason reveals to Apollo the truth about the prophecy he was given by The Sibyl.

Jason says that his prophecy was delivered in a series of game show questions, a form of receiving prophecy we have yet to see or hear about till this point. We do not hear the actual prophecy, just what Jason tells Apollo.

“Fine,” he relented. “The  Sibyl said…She told me if Piper and I went after the emperor, one of us would die.” 

What does this mean?

Sadly it means exactly what The Sibyl said. Jason dies at the hand of Emperor Caligula.

The first time I read The Heroes of Olympus series, I was a bit of a Jason hater. However, after reading The Trials of Apollo and a re-read (or two) of the Heroes of Olympus, Jason is one of my favorite demi-gods. SAD!

The Sixteenth Prophecy

Herophile (AKA The Sibyl) sends Apollo a crossword puzzle of prophecies to solve to guide them to her. Apollo finds the puzzle in the labyrinth in chapter 37 of The Burning Maze. 

These are the clues that make up the final message listed below. 

Bronze upon gold

East meets west

Legions are redeemed

Light the depths

One against many

Never spirit defeated

Ancient words spoken

Shaking old foundations

Destroy the tyrant

Aid the winged

Under golden hills

Great stallion’s foal

Harken the trumpets

Turn red tides

Enter stranger’s home

Regain lost glory

In chapter 43, The Sibyl announces that Apollo has finished his puzzle, stating: 

“Apollo faces death in Tarquin’s Tomb unless the doorway to the soundless god is opened by Bellona’s Daughter.”

The rest of the party cannot understand what she is saying, all until Grover squints his eyes and can see that the puzzle spells out “B-E-L-L-O-N-A-S-D-A-U-G-H-T-E-R”.

What does this mean?

Well, we know who Bellona’s daughter is! It’s Reyna Ramierz, the praetor of Camp Jupiter.

In the next book, The Tyrant’s Tomb, Reyna lends her strength (a power of Bellona) to Apollo so he can open up the doors to the shipping container that Harpocrates is trapped in. 

The Seventeenth Prophecy 

As stated earlier in this post, Ella has been remembering the Sibylline Books and tattooing them onto Tyson.

In chapter 9 of The Tyrant’s Tomb, Ella is cross-referencing the prophecy that Apollo received from The Sibyl in the previous book with her tattoos on Tyson’s body (which, according to him, tickles).

She finds this gem of a prophecy right on Tyson’s shoulder:

“A wildcat near the spinning lights,

The tomb of Tarquin with horses bright.

To open his door,

Two-fifty-four.”

What does this mean? 

This whole prophecy is about the merry-go-round that is located in Tilden Park on the street Wildcat Drive. 254 BCE is the code to unlock Tarquin’s Tomb. 

The Eighteenth Prophecy 

Okay, for this one, buckle up. The first part of this prophecy is found in chapter 43 of The Tyrant’s Tomb on Tyson’s spleen. It’s written by Ella from the Sibylline Books. 

The next section can be found in chapter 1 of The Tower of Nero, the final installment of the series.

Meg and Apollo are trapped by some giant snakes. As one lunges for Apollo, the snake does not kill him but instead reveals the next lines of the prophecy. 

After that, the next stanza of prophecy is delivered later by the Grey Sisters in chapter 7.

As Apollo and Meg get a ride to camp, Anger, Wasp, and Tempest give the next stanza (with a small threat from Apollo that may or may not have included their shared eyeball). 

The last section of the prophecy is given by Python spoken through Rachel Dare in chapter 13. It is safe to assume that the whole prophecy is a message from Python to Apollo. 

“O son of Zeus the final challenge face

The tow’r of Nero two alone ascend

Dislodge the beast that hast usurped thy place

The son of Hades, cavern-runner’s friend,

Must show the secret way unto the throne.

On Nero’s own your lives now depend.

A Dare reveals the path that was unknown

And bears destruction; lion, snake-entwined

Or else the princeps never be o’erthrown

Apollo’s flesh and blood shall soon be mine

Alone he must descend into the dark

The Sibyl never again to see his sign

Lest wrestle with me till see his final spark

The god dissolves, Leaving not a mark”

What does this mean?

“O son of Zeus the final challenge face” Apollo, the son of Zeus in this book, faces the final leg of his trials, which is defeating Python. 

“The tow’r of Nero two alone ascend” Meg and Apollo take an elevator alone up to the top of Nero’s tower. 

“Dislodge the beast that hast usurped thy place” Beastie is Python, and he has taken over Delphi. To restore prophecy and the oracle of Delphi, he must be killed. 

“The son of Hades, cavern-runner’s friend, must show the secret way unto the throne.” Nico is friends with the Troglodytes, who are the only ones who know the underground way into Nero’s tower. 

“On Nero’s own your lives now depend.” Once captured by Nero, Apollo and Meg are at the mercy of Nero.

“A Dare reveals the path that was unknown” Dare as in Rachel Elizabeth Dare who just happened to have blueprints for Nero’s tower. 

“And bears destruction; lion, snake-entwined” Nero’s fasces is guarded by Leontocephaline, which fits this physical description. 

“Or else the princeps never be o’erthrown” Someone is required to give up immortality to destroy Nero’s fasces, and without the fasces being destroyed Nero cannot be destroyed. 

“Apollo’s flesh and blood shall soon be mine” Python realllllly wants to eat Apollo.

“Alone he must descend into the dark” Apollo has to fight Python alone.

“The Sibyl never again to see his sign” Unless Python is defeated, prophecy will not be restored and Rachel, the oracle of Delphi, will no longer have the ability to reveal prophecy for the camp. 

“Lest wrestle with me till see his final spark” Python REALLLLY wants to choke Apollo.

“The god dissolves, Leaving not a mark” Python wants to wipe Apollo off the freaking map! Python really needs to chill. 

The Nineteenth Prophecy 

In chapter 37 of The Tower of Nero, when Apollo returns to Camp Half-Blood after, y’know, restoring prophecy and all, Rachel’s prophetic abilities return! She hears Will use the word prophecy, and the next prophecy is given.

As green mist swirls around her, she has a little tumble and is caught by Nico and Will, who hear what just might be the next Great Prophecy! 

“‘Did you hear it?’ Nico asked me. ‘The prophecy she whispered?’ ‘I-I didn’t,’ I admitted. ‘Probably better if… if I let you two figure this one out.’ Will nodded, resigned. ‘Well, it didn’t sound good.’ ‘No. I’m sure it didn’t.‘”

So we don’t actually get to hear the next prophecy until The Sun and the Star, which is co-written by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro.

The Twentieth Prophecy

Though we knew that there was a prophecy about the quest that Nico and Will embark on, we do not get the full prophecy until chapter 5 of The Sun and the Star.

Nico and Will are the only two campers left at Camp Half-Blood, and an unannounced Rachel Elizabeth Dare shows up to tell Nico the prophecy again. Turns out she is turning into a bit of a broken record of an oracle!

She urges Nico to take action so that she can stop repeating the prophecy over and over.

(Also, if you want a full break down of this novel as well as my thoughts and review, check out my The Sun and the Star summary here!)

“Go forth and find the one who calls out your name,
Who suffers and despairs for refusing to remain;

There leave something of equal value behind,
Or your body and soul no one will ever find.”

What does this mean? 

Go forth and find the one who calls out your name: The one who has been calling out his name is none other than Bob the Titan once known as Iapetus!

He is trapped in Tartarus after the events of the battle at the Doors of Death in The House of Hades when he stays back to fight, letting Percy and Annabeth leave. 

Who suffers and despairs for refusing to remain: Bob is suffering because Nyx is holding him hostage in her mansion of darkness located in Tartarus.

Nyx is pissed off because she can’t accept that Bob is no longer the Titan he once was and has changed into a new person (or new Titan I should say…).

She is straight up torturing him and does NOT want him to get back into the world above. 

There leave something of equal value behind: During the whole book, Nico is stressin that he’ll have to leave Will behind or himself; however, turns out what he leaves behind is his inner demons!

(And though this sounds like an angsty tweet, this is actually what happens in the book.)

Nyx turns Nico’s traumas and nightmare into Cacodemons (her and Nico’s babies [it’s as weird as it sounds]), and he lets go of all his past hurt and is able to peace out of Tartarus with Bob, Small Bob, Will, and himself all intact!

Or your body and soul no one will ever find: What would have happened had he not been able to change and grow and let go of his past hurts! He would be chillin in Tartarus forever!!!!!

What’s The Next Percy Jackson Prophecy? 

We have no hints as to what the next prophecy may be, but I would be very surprised if the next Camp Half-Blood book, Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods, doesn’t include a prophecy to guide Percy, Annabeth, and Grover on their next quest.

I’m personally so excited about this release! The OG trio is back and I cannot wait to read a new story featuring my favorite characters. 

The release date for Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods is September 26, 2023, and you can bet your Percy Jackson-loving butts that I have this baby pre-ordered!

This is also perfect timing for a whole Rick Riordan re-read to prep for the new book and the Disney+ series which is set to release December 20th (Merry Christmas to ME)!

I will be sure to bring you along on my re-reading journey and fill you in on all the need-to-know Camp Half-Blood updates September 2023!

Happy reading! I hope you enjoyed this prophetic post 😉

-Paisley

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