Lore Olympus: Volume Ten

Lore Olympus #10

by Rachel Smythe

Hades and Persephone get a modern, romantic reimagining in Lore Olympus, a gorgeously illustrated, Eisner Award-winning comic—now including a never-before-seen bonus short story!

“The Mortal Realm—it’s dying.”

After years of yearning, the big day has finally arrived: Hades and Persephone are getting married! It’s the ceremony of the century, and practically all the gods are invited to celebrate the happy couple. The wedding, full of love and joy, provides a much-needed respite for the pantheon . . . but the newlyweds have no time for a honeymoon.

The king and queen of the Underworld begin unprecedented dives into the dream world to find the god that Kronos took hostage—and, hopefully, to get answers on defeating the furious titan once and for all. During their explorations, they begin to suspect that Persephone’s powers over spring may have been altered. Their theory is proven correct with deadly consequences: When Persephone returns to the Mortal Realm, she ushers in not the regular change of seasons, but a never-ending winter.

And while the gods worry about the total annihilation of the Mortal Realm, Apollo uses the chaos as cover for an attempt to kill Zeus. He claims his dying father’s throne and decrees that the only way to save the Mortal Realm is if Persephone—and her power—belong to him. The others reject his outrageous demand, proposing instead that whoever can fix the failing seasons will be named interim ruler of Olympus. Hope now rests with the struggling goddess to find a way to stop the treacherous Apollo and save humankind—or else be separated from Hades forever.

This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner Award–winning webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 234–260 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Romance, Mythology, Comics, Fiction, Retellings

448 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2026

About the author

Rachel Smythe | #1 New York Times Bestselling Author


Rachel Smythe is the creator of the Webtoon phenomenon Lore Olympus. Debuting on Webtoon Originals in 2018, Lore Olympus captured hearts and minds with its glamorous setting, razor-sharp comedic timing, complex characters in messy relationships, and above all else, its breathtakingly beautiful visuals. Rachel’s craftsmanship and storytelling have seen the series rise to greater and greater success, winning many industry awards, including an Eisner in 2022 & 2023 and an animation adaptation with Jim Henson Studios currently in development.

"IF EYES COULD EAT, LORE OLYMPUS WOULD BE A FEAST." —NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Reviews

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

➛ Volume One ★★
➛ Volume Two ★★★
➛ Volume Three ★★★★
➛ Volume Four ★★★
➛ Volume Five ★★★
➛ Volume Six ★★★★
➛ Volume Seven ★★★
➛ Volume Eight ★★★★
➛ Volume Nine ★★★★

“No matter what, I will find my way back to you. If there is water, I will build a ship. If our love is forgotten, I will fall for you all over again. If I must live as a mortal, I will die in your arms and return home once more. No matter what Erebus, the fates, or the universe has planned for us, I will find my way back to you.”

this tenth, and second to last, volume starts with episode 234, where ten years have officially passed within pages of this story. and it really has been such a powerful treat to follow all of these characters. and getting a late night library wedding in the underworld? just perfection in every way. it just feels so so good and so so deserved for these two.

some pomegranate issues, some work task delegations, some… unexpected wine, and some generational therapy sessions happen within these pages. and the heart of this story is still about healing from abuse, the cycles of abuse, and living past the abuse that will always be in the shadows of your life, even when you have so much light and sunshine making those shadows not as big. so much happens in this penultimate installment, and i truly can’t wait to see how it all wraps up. it’s truly been such an amazing journey.

cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships

other tw/cw i wrote down: medical care scenes, including a magical… child birth scene, blood, possession, poison, captivity

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♡ buddy reading this series with penny
✰ read for free on webtoon

[Jenny Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stop reading these.

[Libbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5✨

I read this for free on webtoons but I will end up buying a physical copy because the art is gorgeous. 😍

Honestly these ratings are purely based on vibes. I'm writing these reviews after finishing the entire webtoon so it's hard to pinpoint specific plots and I noted the ratings whilst reading. The story is so good I love the modern spins and twists on greek mythology and their story.

[emory⋆｡✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

⋆·˚ ༘ ̗̀➛ 3 stars

[Gracie · Rating 2 out of 5]

some flaws became really apparent as the series dragged on. also the art and outfits got worse? i wonder if this was a victim of its own success and the creator was under certain pressures and time constraints.

[Lexi]

06/02/26?!?! Yup. I will be right here!!! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽!!!

[Paula (kotwksiazkach) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished it back on webtoon and, well, what can I say... I was disappointed. The ending feels rushed, there are many loose ends left or just sloppy one sentence explanations.
Because of all that... about 80% of the chapters throughout the series feel completely unnecessary, just dragging it all out. And I hate when stories are being dragged out just to squeeze more out of the fans.

[♡ Dakota ♡ (Sarcasm is my middle name) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Stars.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My precious babies are finally married!

[Charlie D. Van · Rating 1 out of 5]

How did we get here from vol. 1? What happened to the art? The story? What the hell is going on? The time skip did so much damage to this story.

[Milton Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I can and can't believe that this is the final installment of this series! I just love their love, ya know? Hades and Persephone are finally united in marriage. Persephone learns that she traded some of her powers over spring. They both try to find Kronos in a dream world to set a god free. This volume isn't just sunshine and roses and wraps up the series in the best way that it can. Again and again, this is a great retelling of the story and the illustrations are just the best.

Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[alex (existential crisis™️) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

imma just leave this quote here:

“No matter what, I will find my way back to you. If there is water, I will build a ship. If our love is forgotten then I will fall in love with you all over again. If I must live as a mortal I will die in your arms and return in your arms and return home to you once more. No matter what Erebus, the Fates, or the universe have planned for us, I will find my way back to you."


i’m actually so sad that i can’t do some witchcraft and get a hades for myself

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I binged this series and my sleep schedule suffered - fair warning. I kicked my feet and giggled, I threw my phone in anger (at a certain purple man), and Icried in my room at 3a.m. All in all a pretty eventful time, great art, amazing use of colour (I am itching to do a study), would 100% recommend.

[Courtney Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leave it to Rachel Smythe to absolutely wreck me with a wedding scene. This book was so well done, and you can really see the character growth since the series began. I love Hades and Persephone's relationship so much, and I think there were so many relatable moments to my own relationship. The action was nonstop, and I'm curious what will happen in the next installment even though I really don't want it to end. The art style is always so great, and I know these books will always be special to me!

[Roxanne Siel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can we have happy moments already?? I thought with this cover that the story would focus on the wedding and was excited for some humor and romance of the earlier volumes but that lasted 0.2 seconds before one misery after another. I still like the characters but am starting to dislike the neverending problems.

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beuh j'adore, cette scène de mariage hein ? Et Apollon j'ai rarement détesté un perso comme lui, mais il représente tellement bien la masculinité toxique 🤡

[Breanne Beckstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
There were moments I really loved, but overall it felt jumbled

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe there’s only one volume left. This upped the drama of Olympus and the Mortal Realm. There’s so many players in the game too. This series is amazing and I highly recommend to everyone

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is why we should just k*ll abusers—they go without a consequence once and they think they can be king of the gods

[Sofiii · Rating 1 out of 5]

i swear this had potential but the dark romance people got their hands on it

[Vex · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Terrible daughter, terrible wife, terrible Queen. Dud of a Goddess. Once again, my inability to control my powers negatively impacts everyone else. That sweet man is in there, probably defending me. At this point, after all the damage I've caused, do I deserve to be defended?"

No.
No, you really don't, Persephone.
I'm tired of you, your new husband, and everything the two of you stand for.

Volume ten covers the inevitable wedding between our protagonists and a whole lot of angst with little in the way of tangible plot progression. The best scenes are all just of characters casually talking, because any scene that DOES try to progress the story fails miserably at being interesting.

The wedding itself, shockingly, is underwhelming.
You would think that such an event, in an epic mythological romance, would be something to talk about.
But the whole thing is fairly disappointing and comes across like the author wanted to get it over and done with.
Case in point: Persephone's wedding dress.
Hera, goddess of marriage, asks what she intends to wear, and she finds Persephone's answer incredibly weak. Which is fair, considering the dress chosen looks like an undergarment at most.
The goddess states that she has Persephone's "dream dress" aaaaaaand...
...It's the saddest excuse of a wedding dress I've ever laid my eyes on.

Mind you, Persephone is a GODDESS. The woman is a GOD with MAGIC, and no creativity can be given to the design of the dress she's wearing in the comic's most emotionally significant scene?? This wedding is supposed to be the big end goal fans have been foaming at the mouth for.
And Persephone's dress is so boring. Bland. Generic!
She's a spring goddess!
Her dress couldn't so much as have, I don't know, plants incorperated into it?
I feel like if I asked a child to design a wedding dress for her, something more interesting would be made.

And you may think I'm spending too much time harping about such a minor detail, but this encapsulates how lazy the art has become in general. The passion that was originally in the comic has bled out, and everything left is the bare minimum. There are no fun designs anymore or creative visuals. It's the most basic of art direction for the sake of getting the volume finished. It's sad.
And the art itself may be at its most obviously flawed in this volume.
Even the cover looks bad.
Look at Hades' fingers. Really look at them. The length of them. And, as per usual, Persephone's entire face has morphed again. I never knew she was a shapeshifter as well as the goddess of spring.

The artwork is routinely sloppy and so obviously so it actively kills certain scenes.

Moving on to the actual story, after the wedding the main concern is investigating Kronos. They discover nothing. Oh, and Zeus gives birth. That was the most interesting thing to happen, without a doubt. Apollo finally tries to establish himself as a proper villain with the potential to be threatening, but he's written to be so pathetic that he comes off as a joke before he can even accomplish anything.
How am I supposed to take him seriously when EVERY character in the story views him with open disdain?
He's so sad, and it makes anything he DOES accomplish come off as the other characters being incompetent rather than him being capable and intelligent.

As has often been the case with Lore Olympus, the volume shines when it comes to emotionally driven scenes about characters trying to overcome trauma. There are multiple scenes throughout the volume where characters have heart-to-hearts about painful experiences and try to work through them together. These scenes are admittedly beautifully written and will likely resonate with readers who have also experienced such hardships. Childhood trauma, sexual trauma, cycles of familial abuse, etc. The comic touches a lot of subjects and, in my opinion, usually handles them quite well.

But, also as is usually the case with this story, such moments come with the catch that our leads are still total hypocritical scumbags. Them being traumatized doesn't negate their terrible actions or personalities. Like Persephone harassing and threatening to kill a woman because she hit on her husband, despite Persephone and Hades' own romance being the result of an intentional emotional affair. Have we all forgotten that? What high horse does she think she's on?
And to say the only reason she won't kill her is because she "doesn't have time for the paperwork"...
What happened, Persephone?
She was never a good person, but she was never this blatantly immoral on purpose. Indifferent to MURDER.
Her mother was right.
Hades has corrupted her.
Demeter usually is right in this story.
But no one ever listens to her if she isn't echoing Persephone's opinions...

[Michelle Curie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After ten whole volumes and no less than 260 chapters, the charm of this is starting to wear off, even though I am still looking forward to the finale.



Lore Olympus probably needs no introduction if your path has led you to read the tenth review I'm writing for this series centred around Persephone and Hades. We've come as far as watch Persephone move into the underworld with the love of her life (and... death?) and now we do not only get a wedding, but also explore what this commitment has done to the relationship with her mother Demeter. Plus, we face the last big question remaining: is the total annihilation of the Mortal Realm upon us?



I enjoyed Demeter's character development in this. As so often, Smythe uses the gods to examine character dynamics that people will recognise in human interactions. With Demeter, we have a loving mother who wants the best for her daughter, but who thinks that the best for her is what she thinks is best. In here, we get to see her from a seemingly cruel side, but also get a lot of mental work done. It's sensitively written and quite illuminating. We see how her actions harm Persephone, but we also get to understand where she's coming from.



Things are building up for a grand finale. I think the charm for me has partially faded because this is no longer about what it used to be: Hades and Persephone finally get married and their love has been strong and stable for a long time now. The gossipy and light-hearted tone has mostly faded. The shake-ups come from other areas now, namely Apollo, who is planning to take the throne from his father Zeus. Without giving too much away for those who don't know the plot yet — Persephone plays a big role in saving the Mortal Realm and stopping Apollo, which is likely to be the focus of what awaits us in the final volume! It's been five years since I first picked this up, actually feels crazy being able to see the finish line on the horizon now.

[Ric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and I’m so sad that it’s ending with the next entry. This one was pretty solid, I think it feels a bit worse because the last two entries were all timers, but I still enjoyed it. The wedding scene was especially great, I’m glad it lived up to the hype after it finally happened.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[kristyn ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

CERBERUS BEING SUCH A GOOD BOY IN THE LAST CHAPTER!!!! THATS MY BABY!!!

[Hardly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgive me, but the bonus chapter at the end was the best part of the book. Also...these cliffhangers are killing me. CAN'T WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER FOR VOL 11!!

[Marjorie Bérubé · Rating 5 out of 5]

everytime i forget how much I need to see hades and persephone in various outfits being in love and I love every second of it

[Destiny Cejka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great installment to this series. Only one more book I think and I'll be sad when it ends. The artwork is beautiful as ever. And I love Rachel's take on the mythology of this story.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Another beautiful edition in the Lore Olympus series. It just felt a little too jumpy in places.