Claiming the shield of Ares with a particularly clever trap, set to embarrass Ares and Aphrodite for their prolonged affair as so many other traps have succeeded in doing over the centuries, was one of Hephaestus' most proud moments—for he knows just how much his brute of a brother adores that shield of his, and regaining it would be impossible without direct help from Hephaestus himself, which he would obviously never be granting. The icing on the proverbial cake is the fact that the trap had been in a 'tunnel of love' dedicated to highlighting the misery that has been his own immortal life, hoping to elicit some kind of remorse from his adulterous wife and brute brother.

Clearly, it brought no such remorse, for Aphrodite and Ares continue their affair; to make matters worse, highlighting how little each care for Hephaestus and his feelings, a demi-god has been sent to reclaim the shield for Ares, an impossible task, which Ares should well know. As Hephaestus watches this foolish demi-god, floating along on the boat that helped broadcast Ares and Aphrodite to all of Olympus again some time ago, he realizes why this demi-god was sent—jealousy, on behalf of Ares, for this is undoubtedly one of Aphrodite's half-blooded children with the radiant beauty that comes off of the clueless half-blood.

Part of Hephaestus considers allowing the demi-god to be trapped in the golden throne, meant to consume and entangle anyone who sits within it in pure gold, for his own pettiness toward Aphrodite; however, he ultimately decides against it since it will only cause more unnecessary trouble with his troublesome wife, and he figures it'll upset Ares to see the half-blood return unharmed.

"You won't be able to free that shield above the throne," Hephaestus speaks from an elevated platform, looking down at the demi-god that is curiously eyeing potential solutions to this conundrum. "Best to give up and return to the one that sent you, half-blood; this is a trap, you see, and it is impossible to free oneself from it."