In this episode Percy chooses Annabeth and Grover to join him on the quest. In the book, Grover was required to join Percy on the quest in order to redeem himself for his failures earlier in the book, and Annabeth more or less volunteers for the quest and Percy accepts her.
In Greek mythology Hermes' own winged sandals - the Talaria - were a gift to him from Hephaestus. Maia was Hermes' mother.
This episode follows the events of a portion of chapter 9 as well as chapters 10 and 11 from the book The Lightning Thief.
In the book Percy gives the flying shoes to Grover right after Luke gives them to him, just before the group leaves Half Blood Hill (or camp), due to the complications between him and flying. In the episode, Percy holds onto the shoes until they arive at Auties M's (aka Medusa), and Grover assumes ownership of them before the fight.
The title of this episode is taken from chapter 10 of The Lightning Thief novel