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55 pages 1 hour read

Rick Riordan

The Tower of Nero

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Chapters 9-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary

Apollo dreams he is in Nero’s throne room, where Nero’s children—demigods Nero has captured—attend to him in purple togas. Germani carry in a badly injured Lu on a stretcher. Nero tells his children that he plans to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to Apollo to surrender. Barring which, Nero will burn down New York. Apollo next finds himself flying through stairwells to descend into a cavern beneath Delphi in Greece. Delphi is his most important Oracle, and has been captured by Python, the monstrous ancient snake currently allied with Nero. Python’s voice mocks Apollo, calling him a fool who cannot see the larger picture. Apollo will soon realize he is doing the hard work for Python.

Apollo wakes up 19 hours later. Will gives him fresh clothes, which he had bought especially for Apollo on his last shopping trip. Kayla and Austin, Apollo’s children, visit him, introducing him to three more of his demigod offspring, who have just joined camp. The group head out to the dining pavilion, where Apollo spots Meg playing with the karpos, or grain demon, Peaches. Nico is in deep debate with Dionysus. Will tells Apollo Jason’s death triggered for Nico memories of the loss of his beloved sister Bianca. Nico had even traveled to Hades to try to bring his sister back. Nico has recently been hearing voices calling him back to Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld. Helping Apollo on his quest may help distract Nico. Will, Kyla, and Austin promise to aid Apollo.

Chapter 10 Summary

Dionysus summons Apollo and Meg to his table. He shows them an invitation card that has come in for Apollo, asking Apollo to surrender. Apollo tells the group he and Meg plan to give themselves up, as Lu had suggested, causing the emperor to lower his guard. Meanwhile, a group from Camp Half-Blood can secretly infiltrate Nero’s lair and destroy his reserves of Greek Fire. Lu will help Apollo and Meg destroy Nero’s fasces, the heavily guarded imperial axe that is the wellspring of his power. Nero will then be weak enough to be defeated. Nico tells Apollo the plan is riddled with too many ifs, but he will help out nonetheless. Apollo relates the prophecies he has received. He realizes Nico is the son of Hades (Chapter 1) to whom the prophecy referred. Nico confirms that he is a friend of the mysterious cave-runners. Will deciphers that the “dare” from the prophecy (Chapter 7) is not an action, but a person: Rachel Dare, Apollo’s priestess, who is currently at her father’s estate in New York.

Chapter 11 Summary

Apollo, Meg, and the team of campers plan to go to New York the next day. Apollo heads to the Grove of Dodona, located in the forest near the camp, hoping the proximity to its birthplace will inspire the arrow to give Apollo more advice. The arrow reacts badly to Apollo’s move. It tells Apollo the trees of Dodona will make fun of the arrow for returning without completing its quest. The arrow did not leave the grove willingly but was cast out by its family. Apollo notes the arrow must have had as dysfunctional a family as his. He promises the arrow they will go to Dodona only after completing their quest. The arrow falls quiet, suggesting to Apollo that it foresees Apollo’s quest failing.

Apollo meets Meg on his way back to the camp. He tells Meg he is afraid Nero might emotionally manipulate her again. Meg replies she has grown braver in the last six months and will not fall into her stepfather’s trap again. She must go to New York with Apollo and the others.

Chapter 12 Summary

The group’s first stop in New York is Brooklyn, where Rachel Dare lives in her real estate-mogul father’s mansion. Though Rachel is fully mortal, she has the gift of foresight. Rachel’s room is covered with her prophetic paintings and looks onto the railway tracks next to the Brooklyn River. From her window, Rachel shows the group train cars that have appeared overnight; they are filled with cows who seem to be watching her. She can also spot an enormous mansion in the housing projects across the river. The others cannot see the mansion. Rachel says something strange is going on in the house. Meg thinks the cows are harmless and should be set free, but Nico disagrees.

Chapter 13 Summary

Rachel knows the group is here to get into the Tower of Nero. She has procured the floorplan of the massive building. Nero’s fasces is in a super-secure vault right in the middle of the building and is nearly impossible to access. The only way to the fasces is the nearby holding cell for prisoners. If someone allows themselves to get captured, they could be sent to the cell and thus be theoretically close to the vault. Rachel senses something alive in the vault. Apollo thinks this living thing could be the “lion, snake-entwined” (73) the Gray Sisters mentioned in their bit of prophecy. Sixty feet under the building’s ground level is the heavily guarded storage area for the Greek fire. Nero can use the panic button in his throne room to detonate the fire. His reinforced building will survive the explosion, but the blaze will overtake all of New York city. Nico announces that he can disable the Greek fire with the help of the cavern-runners the prophecy mentioned. These are troglodytes, ancient human-like creatures, whom he has recently befriended.

Rachel is briefly possessed by Python and relays his message: Apollo will soon have to descend alone in the dark and meet his death. As Rachel comes to, Nico observes that the cows have broken out of their cars and are headed toward the Dare estate.

Chapter 14 Summary

Apollo recognizes the cows are “tauri silvestres—forest bulls” (137), creatures with impenetrable hides bred in Ancient Rome. To escape the cows, Rachel leads the group out through another way, but the cattle catch up after wrecking the Dare house. Apollo recalls reading farmers in Ethiopia defeated the bulls by leading them into pits in the ground. Nico finds a dug-up construction site, and the group jumps onto a crane in the middle of the lot. Some of the forest bulls fall into the pit and choke to death in their anger. The rest of the herd, at the edge of the pit, stare at Apollo and the others in rage. The group cannot climb off the crane because the enraged herd is waiting for them on the rim of the pit. Nico examines the pit below them and says the only way forward is “shadow-travel” (144). Creatures of the underworld and the children of Hades can enter shadows to teleport themselves and a few others to any visualized destination.

Chapter 15 Summary

Nico leads the group down the crane to the bottom of the pit. Apollo and Rachel discuss Python’s prophecy. Since it follows the ending pattern of a terza rima—the poetic form in which the last prophecy has been delivered to Apollo—Apollo fears it is true. He is bound to be defeated by Python. Rachel tells him they will both fulfill the words of the prophecy and ensure Apollo wins against Nero and Python. As the group gets on the ground at the bottom of the pit, one of the bulls jumps in after them. It does not choke on its anger and die because its anger at the group exceeds its rage at the pit. Apollo asks Nico to transport Rachel and Will out as he and Meg fight the bull. More cows jump in, and Apollo holds them off briefly by singing. Nico returns to fetch Apollo and Meg.

Chapter 16 Summary

Nico transports Meg and Apollo to a sewer where Will and Rachel are waiting. Nico naps to recover from shadow-travel sickness. Will and Apollo ask Rachel to return since the path ahead is very dangerous, but Rachel reminds them that she is a part of the prophecy and must stay with them. Nico awakens and says he will now lead the group to the cave of the troglodytes. Will has brought along a desiccated lizard or a skink, considered a delicacy by the creatures. The group keeps descending till they reach a natural cavern. Will lights up the dark space by turning his body aglow while Nico announces his presence. The troglodytes (or trogs) appear, humanoid creatures the height of a 12-year-old child. Apollo notes all of them are wearing spectacular hats, which function as both symbol and motif to represent the trogs’ irreverent whimsy and the relative definitions of what is or is not civilized behavior.

Chapters 9-16 Analysis

One of the reasons Apollo is such a dynamic character in this book is that he learns to view the world through the eyes of others, developing the important theme of The Importance of Recognizing Different Perspectives. When Apollo thinks of taking the Arrow of Dodona to its parent grove, the arrow protests fiercely. It fears that it will be mocked in the grove. Apollo notes that he has been viewing the arrow only as an ineffective magical artifact that speaks in annoying Shakespearean English, but the arrow is a sentient being with a complex background. He apologizes to the arrow and promises to honor its contribution to his quest. It is only when Apollo hears the story of the arrow that he realizes his own perspective was limited; he learns the importance of listening to the stories of others and putting one’s self in their shoes.

Another aspect of recognizing different perspectives is appreciating the contributions others can make because of their different backgrounds and experiences. When Apollo mulls the prophecy he has received, his son Will suggests they start with visiting Apollo’s Pythia Rachel Elizabeth Dare, as the prophecy says, “A Dare reveals a path that was unknown” (105). Apollo is struck by Will’s interpretation, as he had not considered this at all. Will’s interpretation shows that a team member may have a different perspective that often provides fresh solutions that may have evaded others on the team.

A motif that occurs in the text is the question of Meg’s loyalty toward Nero. Apollo is wary about Meg’s feelings for her stepfather as she was raised by him from the ages of five to twelve. Thus, Nero has had ample chance to manipulate and abuse Meg, making her believe her survival depends on him. At the end of the first book in the series, Meg briefly returned to Nero, and even now slips up by referring to him as “father” (57) in unguarded moments. Apollo fears that facing Nero again in his tower may trigger Meg’s feelings of weakness. Yet, Meg reminds him that she needs to face Nero again “to see if [she’s] strong enough” (114). Meg needs to exorcize Nero’s pernicious effect and emerge her own person. Meg’s statement shows that like Apollo, she is undergoing her own set of trials to find herself.

Rachel’s joining the action is fitting since she is a Pythia or priestess of Delphi. In Greek mythology, the Pythia receives and relays the prophecies of the Oracle. With Python literally strangling the base of Delphi, Rachel’s visions have diminished. Rachel’s participation in the final battle shows that she is reclaiming her rightful power, which Python the tyrant has usurped. Significantly, Rachel fulfills her bit in the terza rima prophecy by showing Apollo, Meg, and the others a new way out of Brooklyn. She also relays the rest of the prophecy: a three-line stanza and a couplet. The couplet signifies the entire prophecy has been delivered. In this last portion, which Python delivers through Rachel, it is prophesized that “Apollo’s flesh and blood shall soon be mine” (134) and that Rachel will never hear from Apollo again unless Apollo grapples with python and “the god dissolves, leaving not a mark” (134). While at first glance, the words appear bleak, implying Apollo is doomed to be destroyed, Rachel tells Apollo they will have to find a way to fulfill the prophecy in “a way that doesn’t get you dissolved” (147). Rachel’s observation offers a crucial insight on how prophecies work: First, they often contain a hidden meaning that may not be immediately apparent. Second, a prophecy is not necessarily set in stone; gods, demigods, and humans have free will to make it come true in their own fashion.

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