What happened in The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan - Recaptains

The basics

Title: The Titan’s Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3

- The Lightning Thief (June 2005)
- The Sea of Monsters (April 2006)
- The Titan's Curse (May 2007)
- The Battle of the Labyrinth (March 2008)
- The Last Olympian (May 2009)
Spin-off series: Heroes of Olympus

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

It's not everyday you find yourself in combat with a half-lion, half-human.

But when you're the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh, and guess what? The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive...

Read a full summary of The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan below. If you can’t remember what happened in The Titan’s Curse and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

What happened in The Titan’s Curse?

• Grover tells Percy that he has found two demigod siblings at Westover Hall. Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth head over there. Thalia tricks the teacher into thinking they’re students there, but the vice-principal is a manticore and is having none of ti.
• They find Grover, who tells them the VP is on to the two demigods, Bianca and Nico.
• Thalia comes up with a plan to distract the VP, but it doesn’t work. Percy hides in the crowd. Thorn, the VP, sneaks away and Percy follows him.
• Thorn throws a thorn at Percy and it poisons him. Percy becomes weak and has to listen to Thorn go on about The Great Stirring.
• Thorn takes Percy, Nico, and Bianca to a cliff to wait for Thorn’s buddies.
• Percy is able to send a message to Grover nad help arrives.
• Thorn is hit by silver arrows, and in return shoots some thorns at his attackers. The arrows shoot down the thorns. The archers, Hunters of Artemis, come out of the bushes.
• Annabeth climbs on Thorn in order to stab him. The Hunters shoot Thorn and he falls from the cliff with Annabeth still on his back.
• The Hunters set up camp under Artemis’ instructions. Percy chats to Artemis a bit and he tells her what Thorn was waffling on about. Artemis decides she must hunt down a monster that has the power to bring down the gods of Olympus.
• Zoe Nightshade is put in charge.
• Bianca decides to join the Hunters because she wants immortality and a family. Cute.
• Nico is left behind at Camp Half-Blood.
• Percy takes Nico to meet Mr D and Chiron, who tell Percy that under no circumstances is he to go and rescue Annabeth. Mr D thinks Annabeth is probably already dead.
• Poseidon installs a fountain in Percy’s cabin. Cute.
• Percy contacts Tyson, and learns that the Princess Andromeda is heading to the Panama Canal.
• Percy has a dream about Annabeth holding up a cavern’s ceiling, which is a metaphor for the sky. Annabeth has possibly taken over from Atlas.
• Percy speaks to Grover about the dream. Grover tells Percy that Annabeth was considering joining the Hunters.
• Percy tries to speak to the Oracle but gets no response.
• There’s a game of Capture the Flag and the Hunters defeat the Camp Half-Blooders.
• The Oracle leaves the attic to speak to Zoe. This is a massive deal.
• The team are sent on a quest to save Annabeth. Percy isn’t allowed to go on it and is quite upset about this.
• Percy contacts his mother, who has a new boyfriend called Paul. Percy’s mum tells Percy he should do what he thinks is right.
• Percy has a second dream, in which Artemis takes over holding up the sky. He sees The General tell Luke to kill Annabeth, but Luke tells the General that Annabeth should be kept alive as bait.
• Nico eavesdrops on the Hunters as he wants to follow his sister on her quest. Percy promises to look out for Bianca, and ends up following the group himself by flying on Blackjack.
• Percy reaches New York City. Dionysus has found out alrady and tells Percy off for leaving Camp Half-Blood. Mr D lets Percy continue on the quest.
• Percy overhears Dr Thorn say that Annabeth is alive. Percy follows Thorn as he goes to meet with the General and Luke.
• The General makes some skeleton warriors, which he wants to use to kill Zoe and Bianca. Percy intervenes and is almost bitten. Percy flees and is able to warn the group of Hunters.
• A Nemean Lion attacks. Percy feeds it astronaut food in the museum gift shop, and the Lion is so disgusted that it’s distracted, and Zoe is able to shoot it in the mouth with an arrow.
• Zoe gives Percy the Lion’s pelt since the astronaut food was his idea.
• Percy officially joins the quest.
• The group runs into a homeless person who allows them to share his fire. The homeless guy is Apollo, but nobody realises that.
• The group boards a train and Percy bumps into Apollo. He realises it’s him this time. Apollo tells Percy he should seek out the Old Man of the Sea, who is called Nereus.
• Percy has a dream about receiving a sword called Anaklusmos. The girl who gives it to him is Zoe.
• The group arrives in New Mexico. The skeleton warriors also arrive and they have guns. Percy tries fighting them off but they keep putting themselves back together.
• Percy is shot but the Pelt protects him.
• Pan gifts the group an Erymanthian Boar, which takes out the skeleton warriors and takes the group to San Francisco where they end up in the Junkyard of the Gods.
• Ares and Aphrodite are there and have a chat with Percy. Aphrodite ships Percy and Annabeth.
• Bianca tries to steal something from the Junkyard, which awakens Talos. The group have to fight him off, and Bianca takes him out by entering his maintenance hole. Talos short-circuits and is defeated. Grover believes Bianca to be dead, and so the next part of the prophecy has been fulfilled.
• Thalia drives the group to a river. They grab some canoes and head to Hoover Dam, with the help of some Naiads.
• Percy is separated from the group and is attacked by the skeleton warriors again. He escapes and hides amongst a tour group led by Athena.
• A mortal girl called Rachel helps Percy by confusing the skeletons. Percy is able to escape onto the dam and meet back up with his friends. They get trapped but metal angels save them.
• The group heads to San Fransisco, where Percy has to wrestle Nereus. Percy learns that Artemis has been looking for Bessie the Ophiotaurus.
• Thorn shows up and tries to convince Thalia to burn Bessie’s entrails and gain powers.
• Dionysus comes to save the group when Percy calls him for help.
• Grover takes Bessie back to Long Island.
• Percy gives the Pelt to Poseidon.
• The group heads off to meet with Annabeth’s father, who lends them his car. They head up a mountain and are hit by a lightning bolt thrown by Kronos. Thalia thinks it was Zeus.
• They reach the Garden of the Hesperides. Zoe is poisoned. They see Artemis holding up the sky and Annabeth bound in the corner.
• Percy takes over from Artemis and holds up the sky himself.
• There’s obviously a fight, during which the ruins of Mount Othrys start rebuilding. Artemis puts Atlas back in his normal position to bear the sky.
• Thalia and Luke fight and Luke falls into a chasm. He’s still not dead, though.
• Artemis turns Zoe into a constellation as a reward and a reminder.
• The group fly to Mount Olympus on pegasi.
• The gods are having another meeting. Thalia becomes Hunter Lieutenant.
• Ares and Athena want to kill Percy so he can’t become the child of the prophecy. The other gods think this is a silly idea. Poseidon votes for Bessie to live but will stay on Mount Olympus.
• The group heads back to Camp Half-Blood. Percy tells Nico that Bianca is dead, and gives him a figurine of Hades. Nico throws the gift away. He’s very angry with Percy for not saving Bianca.
• Skeletons appear and Nico splits the earth in half and they fall into the gap.
• Percy realises that Nico’s father is Hades. He tells Annabeth.
• Grover tells Percy that he heard Pan in his head saying “I await you”.

Terminology

Olympians: The ruling Greek gods.
Titans: Parents of the Olympians, who were defeated by the Olympians in the Titan war. They have been rotting in the Tartarus (the darkest place of the Underworld) since, and in this book it is revealed that their leader, Kronos, wants revenge.
Camp Half-Blood: The secret summer camp / training facility where demigods go to train for fighting monsters.
Centaur: Half human, half horse. Example: Chiron.
Demigod (or hero): Half human, half Greek god.
Satyr: Half human, half goat. Example: Grover.
Iris message: A message communicated via rainbows between gods or demigods.
The Mist: A magical “cloud” that keeps humans from seeing what’s really there. For example, when humans would come near Camp Half-Blood, they would see nothing.

Greek Gods:

• Zeus: king of the gods, god of the sky and thunder (brother of Poseidon and Hades, husband of Hera)
• Poseidon: god of the sea and earthquakes (brother of Zeus and Hades, Percy’s father)
• Hades: god of the Underworld (brother of Zeus and Poseidon)
• Hera: queen of the gods, goddess of marriage and family (wife of Zeus)
• Ares: god of war
• Athena: goddess of war strategy and wisdom (Annabeth’s mother)
• Aphrodite: goddess of love (wife of Hephaestus)
• Dionysus: god of wine, Camp Half-Blood leader
• Demeter: goddess of agriculture and nature
• Apollo: god of light, music, poetry, prophecy and the sun (twin of Artemis)
• Artemis: goddess of hunt, animals and the moon (twin of Apollo)
• Hephaestus: god of blacksmiths (husband of Aphrodite)
• Hermes: god of thieves, messenger of the gods (Luke’s father)

This is a full plot summary of what happened in The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan. Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!

Other recaps for this series:

• The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5)
• The Battle of the La (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4)
• The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2)
• The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)