Blood of Zeus

Blood of Zeus, formerly known as Gods & Heroes,[1] is an American adult animated television series created by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides for Netflix.[2][3][4] Produced by Powerhouse Animation Studios, the series was released on October 27, 2020 on Netflix.[5]

"Gods & Heroes (TV series)" redirects here. For the video game, see Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising.
Blood of Zeus
Teaser poster with its former title
Genre
Created by
  • Charley Parlapanides
  • Vlas Parlapanides
Directed byShaunt Nigoghossian
Voices of
Music byPaul Edward-Francis
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
  • Charley Parlapanides
  • Vlas Parlapanides
  • Brad Graeber
EditorShea Formaneck
Running time25–37 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkNetflix
Picture formatHDTV 1080p
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) –
present

In early December 2020, a second season was greenlit by Netflix.[6] According to the creators, they have five seasons outlined.[7]

Premise

Set in the world of Greek mythology, the series revolves around Heron, the demigod son of Zeus, trying to save Olympus and Earth. Though Heron himself is a character created for the show, the existence of such demigods born of the union between a god and a human is implied to be common in the original myths. The show claims in its prologue to be one of the tales 'lost to history' rather than passed down with our current canon of Greek myths. The show features gods, giants, automata, and mythical mounts from the original tales.

Voice cast

Episodes
No.Title [8]Directed by [1]Written by [8]Original release date [9]
1"A Call to Arms"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Alexia hunts two demons close to a village where Heron works as a miner. As his mother is unmarried and he is thus a bastard, they are mistreated by the villagers. Their only friend is Elias, an elderly man. When a demon attacks Heron, Alexia injures and captures it while it is hiding in human form. Alexia explains that a cult of humans turned into demons is approaching and burns the human, revealing his demonic face to the villagers. Elias explains to Heron that after the Olympian Gods defeated the Titans, giants grew from the Titans' blood. Zeus made a deal with two giants to betray their fellows and throw their corpses into the sea, trapping their souls in a cauldron guarded by Talos. The body of a giant was later discovered by a human cult, who ate the giant's flesh and became the demons. Alexia invites Heron to become one of her soldiers, but he refuses to help save the villagers because of their mistreatment. Men from the village accuse Heron’s mother of being a demon and attempt to burn her, only for her to burn herself to prove she is human after they beat Heron. Knowing war is coming, Elias tells Heron to mine the powerful metal adamantine from the top of a mountain to forge a sword. Elias, revealed to be Zeus in disguise, is confronted by Ares, who is surprised Zeus wants Heron to lead mankind.
2"Past Is Prologue"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Heron dreams of a queen giving birth to two sons, one her husband's and one belonging to another man. Heron brings the adamantine to Elias who begins forging a sword and tells him his dream came from the three Oneiroi, Phobetor, Phantasos, and Morpheus, the respective gods of Nightmares, Illusions, and Visions. Heron confronts his mother who admits she was once Electra, Queen of Corinth, but Zeus fell in love with her and she soon became pregnant. Zeus’s wife, Hera, discovered Zeus’s infidelity and sent the Oneiroi to tell the King of the infidelity in his dreams. When Electra gave birth to twin boys, the King tried to kill the son that was not his, Heron, but Zeus intervened and Electra killed the king. Zeus hid Heron and Electra under a layer of cloud so Hera could never find them, while Heron’s twin brother was left behind and assassinated by an uncle who wanted Corinth’s crown. Realising Elias is his father Zeus, Heron tries to confront him, but finds only the completed sword which Heron rejects by impaling it into a boulder. Alexia’s soldiers are killed by the cult leader but Alexia escapes with a map to their main camp, so a three headed hound is sent after her. Zeus reveals himself to Heron to ask forgiveness but leaves after Heron rejects him. Alexia arrives with the hound chasing her, so she flees with Heron.
3"The Raid"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Hera swears to kill Electra and Heron so Zeus threatens her to leave Electra’s life in the hands of the Fates. In secret Zeus removes the protective clouds so he can see Heron. The demons attacks so the villagers flee to safety through Heron’s iron mine. Heron causes a rockslide crushing several demons, so the Demons leader tries to kill him, Heron only surviving when Zeus sends him telepathic warnings. Electra manages to hide but the demons leader, Seraphim, demands the villagers tell him where Alexia is, but kills them when the Cerberus picks up Alexia's scent. Zeus hides Alexia's scent with a rose bush which accidentally redirects the Cerberus to Electra. Hera and the other Gods confront Zeus, reminding him Electra’s life is supposed to be in the hands of the Fates, and that according to Zeus’ own laws they would be within their rights to execute Zeus to preserve peace among themselves. Zeus is forced to watch as Seraphim executes Electra and takes Heron captive to turn him into a demon. Hera gloats at Zeus’ misery while Seraphim takes Electra’s necklace commemorating Heron and his deceased brother.
4"A Monster Is Born"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Alexia comes across Zeus disguised as Elias mourning Electra before continuing after Heron. Hermes carries Electra’s soul to the Underworld where she chooses to appear to Heron in a vision, reminding him to be strong. Hera appears before Seraphim and after forcing him to kneel before her tells him he is the firstborn son of the Corinthian King. When his uncle Acrisius dropped him from a cliff he was found alive by Electra’s midwife Ariana who fled with him into the woods where she raised him alongside a bear and her cubs. When Acrisius’ sons found them they murdered Ariana and Seraphim’s bear siblings. The mother bear killed all the men except for one of Acrisius’ sons who escaped. Years later Seraphim tracked down and murdered the surviving son before fleeing into the sea where he discovered the corpse of the giant. After eating it’s flesh Seraphim retrieved the Olympian bident that killed the giant and used it to kill the pursuing soldiers, turning those that surrendered into his followers. Hera claims everything is Zeus’ fault for not saving Seraphim the way he saved Heron. Seraphim is suspicious of Hera’s motives so Hera also reveals Seraphim unknowingly killed his real mother, Electra, enraging Seraphim against Zeus.
5"Escape or Die"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Alexia goes to meet her mentor, Chiron in order to translate certain portions of the map she had obtained from the demons. Chiron reveals that the map provides a path through the labyrinth where the body of the Giant that created the Demons is hidden. Alexia tries to leave with this information but Chiron reveals he has betrayed her to the Demons in order to protect his people. He surrenders Alexia and the map to Seraphim but not before discretly covering the map in mud. Hera leads Seraphim to the sword that Zeus forged for Heron, noting that it can cut through anything, including the automaton Talos that protects the chest that holds the souls of the Giants. She also demands that Seraphim kill Heron who has been taken on board a galley where he conspires with other prisoners to break from their shackles and take control of the ship. Hermes reveals to Zeus that he saw Hera conspire with Seraphim and this revelation pushes Zeus to the edge and he rains lighting to earth in order to protect Heron from Seraphim.
6"Back to Olympus"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Saved by Zeus, Heron is taken to Olympus while Alexia and the other prisoners are directed to go to the entrance of the Labyrinth, even though the map was destroyed. Seraphim is directed by Hera to find an artifact called the Cauldron of Darkness. Zeus tries to appease Hera and swear his devotion to her, but she only intends to accept if Heron is killed. Zeus refuses the condition and Hera leaves with her followers to Hades who remains neutral and offers shelter to any god who asks. Poseidon leaves with her. Alexia and the others and met with Chrion who provides a copy of the map to atone his mistake and they make plans to head to the Labyrinth through the Fields of the Dead. Heron is briefly trained and taught to control his anger when fighting before being summoned by the fates who warn him of the influence he will hold in coming events before revealing to him that Alexia and the others are walking into danger. However, Zeus tells him he cannot go to help them as he is not ready.
7"The Fields of the Dead"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Seraphim is given a nightmare by the Oneiros. Zeus banishes the Oneiros and reveals he has helped Seraphim all his life, even saving him from Acrisius’ sons when they killed Ariana. He also reveals Hera manipulated him into killing his mother Electra. Chiron leads Alexia and her followers to the Fields of the Dead, where the Olympians defeated the Giants, and warns them within the mist they must never run in case they disturb the poisoned ground. Several followers are killed fleeing from hallucinations. They make it to the labyrinth’s entrance where Heron arrives and kills the Minotaur. Following Zeus’ clues Seraphim finds Acrisius living in a cave, and kills him. Alexia and Heron find the Giants corpse is missing and Seraphim has them in a trap. Seraphim offers Heron a chance to work together and kill the Gods but Heron refuses. The rest of the followers are killed, leaving only Kofi the gladiator and Evios the thief. Hera attacks Hermes who had been following her and steals his soul-collecting arm brace. Apollo saves Hermes but is injured by Ares who throws Apollo’s body into the sea. Seraphim locates the cauldron and escapes Talos using Heron’s sword. Hera releases the Giant’s souls, returning them to their bodies before fatally injuring Zeus while disguised as Hermes. As Zeus lies dying the Giants begin marching on Olympus.
8"War for Olympus"Shaunt NigoghossianCharles Parlapanides & Vlas ParlapanidesOctober 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)
Hera offers the Giants the oceans if they kill Zeus. Overhearing this, Poseidon returns to Olympus with Apollo, heals Zeus (Zeus used his lightning to close his wound) and reveals where Hera has the cauldron. As the battle for Olympus begins, Heron, Alexia, Kofi and Evios infiltrate the demon’s camp. Zeus and Poseidon kill most of the demons and Giants so Hera attacks Zeus. Heron realises the cauldron is being held high in the sky by Hera’s crows. Zeus overpowers Hera, allowing Heron to retrieve the cauldron, while the leader of the Giants wounds Zeus. Hera is betrayed and almost killed by the Giants' leader, but Zeus sacrifices his own life to save her. Seraphim severs Hera’s right arm, taking the cauldron while Hera flees. Heron engages Seraphim in a fist fight and, accepting Zeus training stabs through his own chest with Seraphim’s bident, impaling Seraphim as well, and summons Zeus’ lightning to finally kill Seraphim. Heron reaches the cauldron and once more traps all the Giants souls inside, ending the battle. The next morning Heron reunites with his friends and is welcomed to Olympus by his several demi-god half-brothers. Seraphim’s soul awakens in the underworld where the bident is retrieved by its true owner, Hades, who offers Seraphim freedom from eternal punishment if he kneels to Hades as he once knelt to Hera.

Reception

For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 8.14/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Reforging Greek mythology as an epic battle royale with slick imagery and sterling voice acting, Blood of Zeus earns a spot on the Mount Olympus of action animation."[10] In a posting summarizing an interview on her podcast with the show's creators, Kate Sánchez argued that the series offers a "nuanced take on anger and how it relates to power" and notes how the series is part of the "continuing trend of adult animation."[11]

References
  1. "Netflix Dates Blood of Zeus From The Same Studio That Brought You Castlevania". Bubble Blabber. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. "Netflix Orders Greek Mythology Anime Series". The Hollywood Reporter. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  3. "Netflix Orders 'Gods & Heroes' Greek Mythology Anime Series". Deadline.com. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  4. Evershed, John (2020). Adult Animation Finally Breaking Free of its Comedy Shackles (PDF) (Report). High Concentrate, LLC in Squarespace. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  5. "New On Netflix October 2020". Decider. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  6. @NXOnNetflix (December 3, 2020). "The Fates have news! Heron's adventures will continue in season 2 of Blood of Zeus. @powerhouseanim" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "'Blood of Zeus' Creators Aim for 5 Seasons, But That's Not Netflix's Style". Observer.com. November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  8. "Gods & Heroes". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  9. "Blood of Zeus – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  10. "Blood of Zeus: Season 1 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  11. Sánchez, Kate (November 11, 2020). "INTERVIEW: Blood of Zeus with Charley and Vlas Parlapanides". But Why Tho? Podcast. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
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