‘The Idol’ Episode 3 Pays Homage to Robert Plant’s “All My Love” in a Twisted Scene

The Idol Episode 3 “Daybreak” sees Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) sinking deeper and deeper under the sway of skeevy nightclub impresario/cult leader Tedros Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), thanks in part to a chilling pep talk from some of Tedros’s followers. Chloe (Suzanna Son) and Izaak (Moses Sumney) reveal that they never say no to anything Tedros demands of them. When Jocelyn scoffs at this, the two acolytes explain that even the bad experiences in life can inspire great music. Specifically, Chloe brings up the tragic backstory of Led Zeppelin‘s “All My Love,” which was written after Robert Plant’s son died when he was only five-years-old. Joss argues that Robert Plant might prefer his son survived, but Izaak and Chloe maintain that the gift of “All My Love” and the countless people “saved” by it outweigh Plant’s loss.

The twisted pep talk seems to sink in because Jocelyn ends the episode allowing Tedros to abuse her with a hairbrush in the same way her mother abused her for years and years.

The teleplay for The Idol Episode 3 “Daybreak” was written by series director and co-creator Sam Levinson, based off a story by Levinson and The Weeknd. It perhaps speaks to both artists’ tastes that Chloe namechecks Zeppelin’s “All My Love” as her example of an artist mourning the loss of a young son and not Eric Clapton’s way more mainstream (and adult contemporary) “Tears in Heaven.” But did Robert Plant really write the song in memoriam for his young son? And what happened to Plant’s son?

Here’s everything you need to know about Robert Plant’s “All My Love” and the role it plays in HBO’s The Idol…

The Idol Episode 3 “Daybreak”: Did Led Zeppelin Really Write “All My Love” about Robert Plant’s son?

In The Idol Episode 3 “Daybreak,” Chloe tells Jocelyn, “Robert Plant had a son who died when he was five years old and he wrote ‘All My Love’ after that, and it’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written.” Jocelyn counters, “Yeah, but I think if Robert Plant had a say in it, he would have chosen his son’s life.” Izaak says, “And that would be a pretty big loss for the world.”

Whether or not you believe Tedros’s acolytes that a banger of a rock song is worth more than a child’s life — I personally don’t, but then I’m not a character in the twisted world of The Idol —  there is some truth to Chloe’s version of events.

In 1968, the same year Robert Plant joined Led Zeppelin, he married first wife Maureen Wilson. The couple soon had a daughter, Carmen Jane, and a son, Karac Pendragon. In 1977, the five-year-old Karac died of a stomach illness while Led Zeppelin was in the middle of their first U.S. tour. Plant and bandmate John Paul Jones wrote “All of My Love” in honor of Karac. The song would appear on the band’s 1979 album In Through the Out Door and is one of only two Zeppelin songs that Jimmy Page did not co-write.

So Chloe is right. “All of My Love” was written in tribute to Plant’s son Karac. Whether or not Chloe and Izaak are also right about the song’s impact outweighing Karac’s life, well, that’s up to you to decide.