#will solace analysis

In PJO proper we don’t have much of will, only one scene with him.

‘Poison on the dagger,’ she mumbled. ‘Pretty stupid of me, huh?’ Will Solace exhaled with relief. ‘It’s not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes and we would’ve been in trouble, but the venom hasn’t gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar.’ I grabbed a flask. Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink while I held Annabeth’s hand. ‘Ow,’ she said. ‘Ow, ow!’ She gripped my fingers so tight they turned purple, but she stayed still like Will asked. Silena muttered words of encouragement. Will put some silver paste over the wound and hummed words in Ancient Greek – a hymn to Apollo. Then he applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily. The healing must’ve taken a lot of his energy. He looked almost as pale as Annabeth. ‘That should do it,’ he said. ‘But we’re going to need some mortal supplies.’ He grabbed a piece of hotel stationery, jotted down some notes and handed it to one of the Athena guys. ‘There’s a pharmacy on Fifth. Normally, I would never steal –’ ‘I would,’ Travis volunteered. Will glared at him. ‘Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you’ve got, but this is an emergency. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to have a lot more people to treat.’

(TLO pg 90)

Here he quickly takes control of the healing, and makes demands of those around him meant to respect those they’re taking from. He heals Annabeth fully and properly. He has a thing against stealing, and takes job seriously.

In TLH we see Will a few times, first speaking to Annabeth

“Annabeth!” A guy with a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the crowd. “I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!” “Will, I’m sorry,” Annabeth sighed. “I’ll get it fixed, I promise. ” Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. “These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven’t they been claimed already?” “Claimed?” Leo asked. Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, “Any sign of Percy?” “No,” Annabeth admitted.

(TLH pg 45)

Here he’s a bit rougher, focused on the chariot more than the demigods brought in. Then he ignores them right after to focus on Percy once more. This sharper manner of speaking seems likely to be his normal attitude, as even in TLO he gets sharp when not healing someone (Annabeth).

With Leo he’s vague as well, avoiding answering questions while giving him a tour and seeming uncomfortable with Leo:

“Do I get a sword?” Leo asked. Will glanced at him like he found the idea disturbing. “You’ll probably make your own, seeing as how you’re in Cabin Nine.” (TLH pg 79)

“The Titan War,” Leo repeated, “which has nothing to do with this very fine bed?” “The Titans,” Will said, like Leo was an idiot. (TLH pg 84)

He’s a bit rough here, and not the most welcoming, but they’re also worried about Percy still... not that it makes his treatment of Leo any nicer there.

Will doesn’t show up again until BOO, where Percy sees him first in a dream:

‘She’s right.’ Will Solace, head counsellor for the Apollo cabin, put his hand gently on Clarisse’s wrist. Not many campers could’ve done that without getting stabbed, but Will had a way of defusing people’s anger. He got her to lower her dagger. ‘Everyone in our cabin has been affected. It’s not just Rachel.’ Will’s shaggy blond hair and pale blue eyes reminded Nico of Jason Grace, but the similarities ended there. Jason was a fighter. You could tell from the intensity of his stare, his constant alertness, the coiledup energy in his frame. Will Solace was more like a lanky cat stretched out in the sunshine. His movements were relaxed and nonthreatening, his gaze soft and far away. In his faded SURF BARBADOS T-shirt, his cutoff shorts and flip-flops, he looked about as unaggressive as a demigod could get, but Nico knew he was brave under fire. During the Battle of Manhattan, Nico had seen him in action – the camp’s best combat medic, risking his life to save wounded campers. (BOO pg 94)

‘I agree,’ Will said. ‘I wish I was a better archer … I wouldn’t mind shooting my Roman relative off his high horse. Actually, I wish I could use any of my father’s gifts to stop this war.’ He looked down at his own hands with distaste. ‘Unfortunately, I’m just a healer.’ (BOO pg 94)

Will here is... described as someone soft, and calming. Which is strikingly different from the prior depictions of him, and his later depictions. Will being able to calm Clarisse with a single touch makes me inclined to believe he has some ability specifically able to calm people, whether he knows it or not. 

It’s also specified that he isn’t a warrior at all, he’s a healer. But still willing to step into battle to heal his allies.

Will is seen once more at the end of BOO, when Nico is readying himself to interfere with the camp.

Nico was about to attempt it when a voice behind him said, ‘Nico?’ He spun, his sword instantly in his hand, and almost decapitated Will Solace. ‘Put that down!’ Will hissed. ‘What are you doing here?’ (BOO pg 271)

‘Me?’ Nico asked. ‘What are you doing? Getting yourselves killed?’ Will scowled. ‘Hey, we’re scouting the enemy. We took precautions.’ (BOO pg 271)

‘Fine. A very cute little satyr boy.’ Will shuddered. ‘But I delivered it. Have you ever delivered a baby?’ ‘ Um, no.’ ‘I had to get some fresh air. That’s why I volunteered for this mission. Gods of Olympus, my hands are still shaking. See?’

(BOO pg 271)

So first off, Will has delivered a baby just a short while ago... and because he needed air volunteered for a very important scouting mission to keep an eye on the enemy when he’s literally still shaking from the delivery. This is the opposite of responsible, like on several letters.

First off, he’s compromised. He’s literally shaking, he’s not able to act properly.

Second off, he’s notably not a warrior, as said in the earlier quotes. He cannot aid his team in fighting if it came to it and would thus be a liability.

Third, he’s a healer with the enemy right there and a battle about to commence. Whether the camp knew the battle was about to start or not, they do know that they need to keep their healers safe, especially their top healer (as stated by Nico earlier) and the fact that he was sent into the field like that, when he was shaky and not in the right state, is not a good idea.

And they were sent on this scouting mission to interfere with the Romans if necessary, it was a subtle action meant to sabotage them. A healer is 1. Not necessary 2. Actively a liability for not being able to help with the fighting or sabotage

This is proven a bit later, seeing how Nico had to rescue Will who was not able to fight when they were facing enemies

This time the Mist didn’t work so well. One of the onager guards yelled, ‘Hey!’ ‘Got this.’ Will sprinted off – which was possibly the stupidest diversion Nico could imagine – and six of the guards chased after him. (BOO pg 274)

‘And, uh –’ Cecil pointed – ‘somebody better help Will.’ Even in their armour, the Romans were starting to gain on Solace. Nico cursed and raced after them. (BOO pg 275)

It’s notable that he didn’t even lead all the enemies away, and they still had to fight and defeat them which took only a few seconds and that Nico handled the one’s attacking Will in about 10 seconds... making him not only useless in the fight as a whole, but possibly drawing more attention from their surroundings by running around wildly.

It shows remarkable stubbornness on his side, or knowingly misleading those that would approve such a mission to make them believe he was able to. Neither are good things when people’s lives are on the line.

And then of course there’s how he spoke to Nico about his shadow travel

Will said. ‘But, if you’re planning to shadow-travel to that command tent, forget it.’ Nico glared at him. ‘Excuse me?’

‘I just did try it again, Solace. I’m fine.’ ‘No, you’re not. I’m a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you’d be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn’t make it. One more slip, and you won’t come back. You are not shadow-travelling. Doctor’s orders.’ ‘The camp is about to be destroyed –’ ‘And we’ll stop the Romans,’ Will said. ‘But we’ll do it our way. Lou Ellen will control the Mist. We’ll sneak around, do as much damage as we can to those onagers. But no shadow-travel.’ ‘But –’ ‘No.’ 

(BOO 271)

Now, as a disabled person let me tell you that someone who does not have what you have, and is not educated in your illness, telling you what you can and can’t do is the height of frustration. Here Will is declaring himself effectively an expert on Nico’s powers, declaring he knows Nico’s limits more than Nico does. He states that he knows exactly what will happen to Nico (and you can’t even say it’s a prophecy ability as 1. he doesn’t have those abilities and 2. they’re not working at the time anyways).

On top of that, he ignores Nico’s own autonomy and orders him to obey. No matter who the doctor is, they do not get to decide how you act or what you do. Patient consent is extremely important. He can advise Nico, but he cannot order him.

And in this Will is showing that he views himself as the ultimate authority when it comes to any matters regarding health.

This makes me inclined to believe he’s fairly arrogant when it comes to medical matters, and thus isn’t one most patients would want as a doctor. His skill with medicine aside, I have had a doctor myself whose an expert in his field, but after he outright ordered me on what I should do and dismissed my concerns I fired him and found a new one who may not have been as good, but actually respected my choices.

Respect for the patient is an absolutely vital part of being a doctor, and Will does not have that.

And moving back to the times they fought: Nico summoned some skeletons to handle a larger group of enemies and was promptly told off.

‘No,’ Nico said. ‘Let’s give them what they expect.’ He spread his hands. In front of the Romans, the ground erupted. Five skeletons clawed out of the earth. Cecil and Lou Ellen charged in to help. Nico tried to follow, but he would’ve fallen on his face if Will hadn’t caught him. ‘You idiot.’ Will put an arm around him. ‘I told you no more of that Underworld magic.’ ‘I’m fine.’ ‘Shut up. You’re not.’ From his pocket, Will dug out a pack of gum 

(BOO pg 275)

Now, it is notable that Nico was exhausted here but there are several other things to note.

1. Will said he would effectively die using his powers again, obviously this was wrong, proving he doesn’t actually know the powers.

2. Will gets annoyed with him for using his powers, saying he said not to use them, and calls Nico an idiot in the process (they don’t know each other, they’ve only met now and seen each other from afar otherwise from what we’ve seen) which is rather rude to someone you barely know, not to mention as a doctor is even worse.

And it doesn’t get better from there

‘It’s medicinal. Should keep you alive and alert for a few more hours.’ Nico shoved a stick of gum into his mouth. ‘Tastes like tar and mud.’ ‘Stop complaining.’ (BOO pg 275)

‘Thanks for the skeletons,’she said. ‘Great trick.’ ‘Which he won’t be doing again,’ Will said. Nico realized he was still leaning against Will. He pushed him away and stood on his own two feet. ‘I’ll do what I need to.’ Will rolled his eyes. ‘Fine, Death Boy. If you want to get yourself killed –’ ‘Do not call me Death Boy!’ (BOO pg 276)

Here Will is dismissing Nico’s complaint about medicine (which btw, this kind of thing should be taken into account and treated respectfully, Will is acting as a doctor here and telling off his patient for not liking the medicine, rather than explaining that he can’t do much about it he tells him, a weakened and in need patient, to stop complaining).

And right after this, Will both orders him once more to not use his powers, and then also calls him Death Boy, while rolling his eyes and showing clear annoyance at Nico not listening to his orders and nearly mocking him for it, basically saying “it’s your death then” rather than actually giving a reason or just respecting Nico’s autonomy.

On top of that, Nico is also outright upset by being called Death Boy, with a very vehement response that makes me inclined to believe this may be something he’s called by people. Either that or being given a... negative nickname (which it is in this case, he is effectively being killed by his powers and is given a nickname of Death, and on top of that is being mocked at that moment, this nickname is not intended nicely) like that, for one generally hated and dismissed for his parentage is extremely upsetting for him. Possibly both of those things.

Moving on: his arguing in the field of battle when they were scouting also endangered them majorly.

NICO WASN’T SURE whether to kick himself or Will Solace. If he hadn’t been so distracted bickering with the son of Apollo, he would never have allowed the enemy to get so close. (BOO 278)

:) Will distracted Nico when they’re literally surrounded by the enemy, and thus they got attacked by the enemy.

And then there’s how he speaks to Nico about Nico’s treatment from the camp, treatment which we have quite a bit of proof of btw.

‘I don’t want a place in their camp,’ Nico snarled. ‘Or in yours. When this war is over, I’m leaving both camps for good.’ Will Solace made a sound like he’d been punched. ‘Why would you do that?’ Nico scowled. ‘It’s none of your business, but I don’t belong. That’s obvious. No one wants me. I’m a child of –’ ‘Oh, please.’ Will sounded unusually angry. ‘Nobody at Camp Half-Blood ever pushed you away. You have friends – or at least people who would like to be your friend. You pushed yourself away. If you’d get your head out of that brooding cloud of yours for once –’ (BOO pg 279)

We know Nico has been ostracized, we’ve seen it in PJO and HOO. He makes people uncomfortable, people are wary of him, even the pegasi don’t want him near them and Percy has to convince them to let him ride them. Hera herself didn’t want him in the family. Nico is clearly ostracized, and while he’s offered a place at the tables... people are wary of him. The Council of Elders is equally wary and displeased when he (and Mrs. O’Leary) are there.

Basically, we know he’s ostracized, Camp Jupiter is no better (with several noting he makes people uncomfortable and that people watched him warily).

And here Will is blaming all of that on Nico.

This is something that... makes me extremely uncomfortable. I’ve mentioned the options here before, but it means that Will is either willfully oblivious to how Nico has been treated, or knows and does not care or realize the impact, or is outright gaslighting Nico here. None of these are good looks.

And the way he speaks to Nico de-legitimizes his trauma, which as a doctor is a big no no.

He takes Nico stating he wishes to leave personally, and lashes at out Nico in result. I’m inclined to believe Will has some level of crush on Nico here, but how he goes about it is not only extraordinarily unhealthy, but also cruel to Nico.

And Nico isn’t the only one he shows poor doctor practices too.

‘No!’ Will Solace shoved Nico out of the way and got in Octavian’s face. ‘I am a son of Apollo, you anaemic loser.’ (BOO pg 280)

Insulting a sick person’s health... yeah okay, this is a big no, but with his prior displayed lack of care for his patients, or for respecting others, or his general arrogance, it’s not out of character.

And then after the battle is the final part of HOO Will.

Nico happened to glance towards the cabins and saw someone waving at him. Will Solace stood in the doorway of the Apollo cabin, a stern look on his face. He pointed to the ground at his feet, like You. Here. Now. (BOO pg 319)

‘So where were you?’ Will demanded. He was wearing a green surgeon’s shirt with jeans and flipflops, which was probably not standard hospital protocol. ‘What do you mean?’ Nico asked. ‘I’ve been stuck in the infirmary for, like, two days. You don’t come by. You don’t offer to help.’ ‘I … what? Why would you want a son of Hades in the same room with people you’re trying to heal? Why would anyone want that?’ ‘You can’t help out a friend? Maybe cut bandages? Bring me a soda or a snack? Or just a simple How’s it going, Will? You don’t think I could stand to see a friendly face?’ (BOO pg 319)

Now, let’s be honest, people in the infirmary would actually likely be distressed by having Nico there. He radiates death just in general, it’s killed plants many times before, it could have a negative effect on the patients health.

On top of that, Will asked nothing from Nico prior to that, and in fact had been noted to not having spoken to Nico since the battle. And the battle was the first time they met... and they spent most of it when Will trying to boss Nico around and Nico angry with him.

So this demand and criticism of Nico, which basically calls Nico a bad friend? It’s uh... very full of himself for Will to do.

And then of course:

‘You’re so dense,’ Will noted. ‘I hope you got over that nonsense about leaving Camp Half-Blood.’ ‘I – yeah. I did. I mean, I’m staying.’ ‘Good. So you may be dense, but you’re not an idiot.’ (BOO pg 319)

They still barely know each other, yet Will is calling him dense and implying if he wanted to leave he’d be an idiot. Overall, not a very comfortable thing.

Will wants him to stay, yet won’t stop insulting him or ordering him around.

Then of course his catchphrase:

‘Right now you couldn’t summon a wishbone without melting into a puddle of darkness, di Angelo,’ Will said. ‘I told you, no more Underworldy stuff, doctor’s orders. You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary. Starting now.’ (BOO pg 319)

Will once more orders him about his powers, acting as if he knows everything about them.

On top of this, this is two days after the battle and yet he’s now ordering Nico there with no actual medical support? And it’s not “You probably need more rest, you can stay in the infirmary just in case or rest in your cabin” it’s a “You’re coming to the infirmary now whether you like it or not and I won’t tell you the medical reasons for why”.

This is, in case you weren’t aware, not okay!

If Nico needed to be looked over and hadn’t yet, then that’s one thing (something to be said), but it seems Will just wants Nico there, so orders him.

Lack of acknowledging Nico’s autonomy is a common theme that bleeds into TOA as well.

Now, I won’t be doing this much analysis of Will in TOA, as he’s got way too many speaking roles there for me too and you can also check my #anti solangelo tag for more info on TOA stuff (I speak of my most notable issue HERE)

But basically, the lack of care for Nico’s rights as a patient and the ethical issues continue there. I find that the issues shine through the most when interacting with Nico, and with others he seems, if not nicer, less bossy. He still orders people around, still gets snappy regularly, but it’s not nearly the same level as he is with Nico.

He outright dismisses Nico’s comfort in several points,

Will turned to me. “I apologize for my boyfriend.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Could you not—” “Would you prefer special guy?” Will asked. “Or significant other?” “Significant annoyance, in your case,” Nico grumbled. (THO pg 51)

Here Nico seems to not want to be called his boyfriend, but Will steamrolls right over him and dismisses his words. Nico’s comfort in the relationship is important and Will should respect his boundaries. Not that he has from the start, so that’s in character.

I won’t be digging much farther into this ngl, this is already a massive analysis and TOA requires a whole nother set that would be even longer than HOO. So, In Conclusion.

Will is all but unmatched in healing amongst the demigods. He’s powerful, able to do things such as reattach limbs, remove poison, and just generally restore health. He is arrogant though, particularly in relation to his healing abilities. This may be due to him having no skill in other Apollo powers, but it results in him being bossy, snappy, and very full of himself when it comes to the realm of healing. He is capable of a gentle bedside manner for most, but if you don’t obey his orders he gets demanding or rude at best. He doesn’t respect boundaries and is willing to dismiss people’s experiences (either through ignorance or outright malice) in order to get what he wants.

Overall: he’s not a character I like, and that undoubtedly colored this analysis. Most of his speaking lines prior to TOA revolve around Nico, and thus how he treats Nico stars heavily.