The Lightning Thief

by

Rick Riordan

Thalia is a young demigod who, eight years before the novel begins, began making her way to Camp Half-Blood with Grover as her keeper. Disaster struck, however, when Thalia, Grover, Luke, and Annabeth—who joined the group after running away from home—were attacked on Half-Blood Hill. Though Grover’s instructions were to only rescue Thalia, he followed Thalia’s orders and saved Luke and Annabeth, leaving Thalia as a sacrifice. Thalia then took the form of a huge pine tree on the top of the hill. Thalia suffered this fate because she is Zeus’s daughter, and Zeus broke his vow to stop fathering children after World War II. Thalia and the tree stand as reminders of how dangerous the mortal world outside of Camp Half-Blood is for demigods, especially those children of the Big Three.
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Thalia Character Timeline in The Lightning Thief

The timeline below shows where the character Thalia appears in The Lightning Thief. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
Family Theme Icon
Godliness vs. Humanity Theme Icon
Grover says that Zeus messed up and had a daughter named Thalia 17 years ago. Children of Big Three attract more monsters anyway, but Thalia was also... (full context)
Chapter 10
Friendship and Belonging Theme Icon
...to eat. He also brings reed pipes, but he can only play two songs. At Thalia’s pine tree, Chiron meets the trio and introduces Argus, the head of security with eyes... (full context)
Chapter 16
Friendship and Belonging Theme Icon
...said about nobody turning into a pine tree. Grover brays and confirms that he was Thalia’s keeper and that the two half-bloods who got safely to camp were Annabeth and Luke.... (full context)
Friendship and Belonging Theme Icon
Percy’s nightmare begins normally: he’s taking a test in a straitjacket. Abnormally, though, Thalia is also there in a straitjacket, and she tells Percy that someone has to get... (full context)
Chapter 22
Identity, Heroism, and Normalcy Theme Icon
Friendship and Belonging Theme Icon
...Annabeth’s insistence that the real world is where the monsters are, and he thinks of Thalia. He wonders if he’ll survive until next summer. (full context)
Family Theme Icon
Godliness vs. Humanity Theme Icon
...flying shoes were cursed. Percy points out that this is an awful way to repay Thalia for her sacrifice, but Luke shrieks that the gods let Thalia die—and they’ll pay for... (full context)