u/TheFantasticXman1

I've been getting into many spats with people online about this topic. How Percy somehow "mistreated" or "forgot" about Nico during the events of Mark of Athena. Did we read the same book?

Percy was the one who insisted they save Nico in the first place. He said they owed it to him for finding the Doors of Death, and even outside of that, this is the same guy that saved the ungrateful and traitorous Ethan Nakamura- an act which ultimately lead to Kronos' subsequent rise. Do you really believe Percy would agree to leave behind a guy that he considered a younger brother?

People act like because he didn't say anything when Jason and Leo pointed out their suspicions about Nico's allegiances, that he wanted to leave Nico behind to die. That couldn't be further from the truth. Jason and Leo were not even debating over leaving Nico behind- they were just saying that they needed to proceed with caution, because Nico has been extremely secretive and lied to many of them in the past- Percy knows this, he's been a victim of Nico's lies before. If Percy just stood up and said, "oh you guys don't need to worry about Nico. He's a good guy and completely trustworthy!" He'd be lying through his teeth- because he DOESN'T trust Nico.

You can talk about Percy's mischaractersation in the book all you like, but I don't think this instance is one of those moments. After years of being pushed away, lied to, and gaslit by Nico, there's only so much Percy is going to be able to take before snapping.