Percy Jackson Timeline: Movies, Books and Series in Story Order

Chris Columbus directed Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), and it is where every version of the Percy Jackson timeline starts. It follows a teenager with dyslexia and ADHD who discovers that his father is Poseidon, while Zeus gives him until the summer solstice to return a stolen master lightning bolt.

The first stretch is a chase. A Fury attacks at a museum, Percy runs with Grover and his mother Sally, and a Minotaur on the road appears to kill her. Percy fights the creature off and wakes at Camp Half-Blood, where Grover turns out to be a satyr and Mr. Brunner is really the centaur Chiron. Hades then claims that Sally is in the Underworld and can be exchanged for the bolt.

The second stretch is the quest. Percy, Grover and Annabeth Chase set out with supplies from Luke Castellan, face Medusa and a Hydra, and lose time in the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas until Poseidon helps Percy escape. In the Underworld the bolt is found inside Luke's gift shield, which exposes Luke as the thief. Persephone turns on Hades, releases Sally and gives Percy the bolt, and Grover stays behind.

The last stretch is back in Manhattan. Percy and Annabeth ride the Empire State Building up to Olympus, Luke ambushes them and lays out his plan to overthrow the gods, and Percy wins their fight and hands the bolt to Zeus. Percy makes peace with Poseidon and returns to camp, and Sally throws Gabe out, after which Medusa's head turns him to stone. The full breakdown is on the Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief page.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), directed by Thor Freudenthal, is the second entry in the timeline and begins with a flashback: seven years earlier, Thalia Grace gives her life to protect her friends, and Zeus turns her into the pine tree whose magic shields Camp Half-Blood.

Back in the present, Luke's poison is killing that tree and weakening the barrier. Annabeth figures out that the Golden Fleece could heal it, but Mr. D hands the quest to Clarisse and turns Percy down. Percy goes anyway, joined by Annabeth, Grover and Tyson, a cyclops who is also his half brother. The Graeae dump them from a cab in Washington, D.C., and Luke's allies take Grover.

With help from Hermes, the group locates Luke's yacht, the Andromeda. They are held captive, break loose, get swallowed by Charybdis and blast their way out, which lands them in Florida. Polyphemus guards the Fleece there, and Luke ambushes the group and steals it. Tyson is shot but lives. Percy beats Luke and then Kronos, who is locked away once more, while the Manticore kills Annabeth and the Fleece revives her.

Clarisse sets the Fleece on the tree, the barrier returns and Thalia comes back to life. Percy is left wondering whether the prophecy was about Thalia all along, so the Kronos storyline stays open. More detail sits on the Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters page.

The simplest way to read the Percy Jackson timeline is by what you are watching: the two films run in release order and story order at once, and neither one closes the larger conflict. In my opinion, that makes the movies a neat two part opening rather than a complete story.

Why does that matter? Sea of Monsters ends on a question, because Percy realizes the prophecy might concern Thalia instead of him, and Kronos has only been locked away again. No third film was made, so film viewers get no answer, and the Disney+ series is where the story picks up on screen, with Season 3 adapting The Titan's Curse.

For families, the films are the quickest way in, with a combined running time of 224 minutes (118 and 106). If you are new to this, start with Percy Jackson movies in order, then try the series for what comes next. You can also see how each film sits in Percy Jackson movies ranked.