#Belos was built up as THE antagonist from the very start

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

The Rueful Tale of Philip Wittebane

Why Emperor Belos is the Greatest Villain in Modern Media 

I’ve been sitting on this one for a long time. Full disclosure, I never shut up. My username is no joke. So be prepared for me to go on and on. But I unironically think this character is a masterpiece, that he leaves his contemporaries like Bill Cipher and Horde Prime trailing behind, and I’ve been itching to talk about why. Let’s dive in.

Chapter 1 - The Myth.

Belos is first introduced as an idea, an overarching threat that looms over the heroes and their world. He starts out as an enigma, a mystery, and gradually, the layers are peeled back to reveal the monster underneath. In Season 1, the antagonistic force that The Owl House deals with is less Belos himself, and more the world he creates. Because what he represents is in total opposition to the morals of The Owl House crew and to the very message of this show: Acceptance. This is a through-line that remains consistent about the character to the very end, but we see hints of it from the first episode. Little things like how the prison is called the “Conformitorium.” One of the first things that makes Belos a terrific villain is that his very nature is in conflict with that of the protagonists. This is a battle of ideals, and we as an audience are persuaded to see things the way the heroes do, and understand why Belos is wrong. 

Yet he remains in the shadows throughout the first season, creating slow build-up and a good reveal to his character. Instead, we see the impact that his reign has had on the Boiling Isles, and initially the Coven System is presented as an ideological debate. The story toys with the idea that it might even be a good thing, that Eda is ignorant for her resistance.  For a very long time, we know precious little about Belos apart from his image. Even when we meet him, he is posturing and misrepresenting himself as a prophet for The Titan, and he does it all from behind a mask. Figuratively and literally, he conceals his true nature. We don’t learn the real truth about Belos until Season 2. We don’t even learn his real name. He’s built a mythology for himself in The Boiling Isles, but while other villains might embrace these lies and choose to believe them, Belos is a little different. By no means is he in touch with who he really is or why he feels the way he does…but unlike most villains who fit into this trope, Belos disdains his image as much as he does anything else in the Isles. He prefers his real name. 

As the story of The Owl House develops and the characters are fleshed out, as we learn more about this world, Emperor Belos’ disguise is slowly stripped away, as are the lies and propaganda his regime has established. Supposedly, The Isles were in complete chaos until Belos turned up, yet when Luz and Lillith travel back in time to the “savage ages” we see a world that is happy and free. The clues about Belos are pre-set well before the actual moments of revelation. Notably, a book about Grimwalkers can be seen at the beginning of Eclipse Lake. During the scene where we see him unmasked for the first time, as he shares dialogue with none other than Hunter. That’s not a coincidence, anymore than his nostalgia for the human realm as we learn that he’s been there before. The truth is hiding in plain sight, and many viewers picked up on the hints at the time. That Belos was not who he said he was, that he was likely human. Fans guessed that there was something off about Hunter, and Belos was behind it. 

It is here that Belos deviates from expected tropes. 

When a villain is initially presented as a monster, but the following installment provides them with backstory and context for why they are the person they’ve become…normally, this is the part where said villain gains sympathetic qualities. At least, the memorable villains do. One would assume that in Season 2, when we learn where Belos comes from and why he turned out this way…that we could see things from his point of view. That we could see another side to him. Even if he’s still in the wrong, there must be some explanation for his actions, surely? Something that would earn him compassion from the audience. But that’s not what happens. The scene in Eclipse Lake shows us his face, making it easier to personify him. It shows him being softer with Hunter, gentle with him…but there is still the uncomfortable air of manipulation. Which symbolizes the journey that the audience will take with Belos. Upon learning his origins,  we understand him even better…and as a result, we hate him all the more. Any fragment of fondness is snuffed out when we realize that his more likable qualities are not and were never real. This is why we learn about Philip before we learn who he really is. 

Now typically, the greatest villains are the ones who, in another story, could have been heroes. The villains who have justifiable motives, the villains who feel conflicted about their villainous actions. In essence, the most memorable antagonists are the ones that the audience cannot help but root for, the ones they hope to see redeemed. Prince Zuko from ATLA is an iconic example, Catra from SPOP is another. We as an audience have sympathy for villains who are in pain, who could, under the right circumstances, be brought back into the light. That is fundamentally averse to everything about Belos, not just as an antagonist but as a person. The man is irredeemable, and there are several key moments in the story that prove it. A villain must first wish to be redeemed in order for it to happen, they have to make that decision themselves, and Belos will never do it. Yet he exists as proof that villains do not have to be sympathetic to be well-crafted. They can be complex and multi-layered while still being pure evil. Belos does not earn our sympathy, but honestly, that’s a good thing. A man like him should not inspire sympathy. 

If we want to understand Belos, we’ll have to go back to the beginning.

Chapter 2 - The Past

(Artwork by @a-magpie-in-gravesfield)

One of the signs that a character has been written with care, is that they can be broken down to the essentials and then put back together like pieces of a puzzle. If a viewer can analyze Belos as I’m doing right now, examining his life from start to finish, and understand exactly why he is the way he is...that can only mean he was masterfully crafted. This often traces back to their childhood and family, which is especially true for Emperor Belos. Or should I say, Philip Wittebane. Because a psychiatrist would have a field day with this lonely, hateful old man and all of his hangups, which all stem from his traumatic backstory. Philip’s goal is straightforward and horrifically simple, his motive is unwavering. He wants to eradicate all of the Witches in the Boiling Isles, and then return to the human realm where he likely assumes he’ll be hailed as a hero. (At least initially. That last part would change in Season 3, and I’ll talk about that down the road.) This is in spite of the centuries he has spent in The Demon Realm, interacting with Witches time and again. Nothing has widened his perspective. Nothing will change his mind. There are two reasons for this. The first is plain and simple racism. But the second reason…is Caleb. 

We learn the truth about Philip in Thanks To Them, though the story was heavily foreshadowed in Hollow Mind. Growing up in the seventeenth century, he was raised by his older brother Caleb after they were orphaned. When they moved to Gravesfield, Caleb became a Witch Hunter in an effort to be accepted by the village, and trained Philip in the trade as well. At some point, Caleb encountered the Witch known as Evelyn, and the two of them left for The Demon Realm. Philip set off in pursuit, carrying a jagged knife. From here, we don’t know exactly what happened, and this is where the portraits from Hollow Mind can fill in the blanks. Because even in Season 3, likely due to executive meddling, the truth is still obscured and left ambiguous. However, eagle-eyed fans put the portraits together and deduced how this sorry tale ended. Philip journeyed through the Demon Realm until he found Caleb. By that point, he had already begun to consume Palismen, as Caleb is shown embracing Philip in his hidden, monstrous form. This act from Caleb is a symbol of acceptance, in total opposition to Philip’s mindset. He accepts his brother, even in an inhuman state. But Philip cannot return the favor. Dana Terrace has confirmed that Caleb and Evelyn fell in love, that Evelyn was pregnant. But Philip could not tolerate such a reality. 

It is heavily implied that Philip murdered Caleb, though the details are vague. It’s possible that he was aiming for Evelyn, and Caleb shielded her. That would make a lot of sense, as by his own admission, Philip “tried to save” Caleb’s soul. However, one of the portraits shows Caleb likewise holding a knife, looking frightened and upset, as though Philip has challenged him to a duel. Philip was also stunned into silence at Luz’s accusation that “you did it to him first.” Specifically that Philip/Belos had stabbed him in the back. Whether Luz was talking about Hunter or Caleb, whether or not she knew the double meaning of her words, Belos was clearly thinking about Caleb, evidenced by hallucinating an image of him only hours later. (To see images of all the Hollow Mind portraits in detail, follow this link.)

It’s not clear what the circumstances were, and Belos is not exactly a reliable narrator. The murder of his brother had a profound impact on him that lasted through the centuries. But regardless of the details, Belos being responsible for Caleb’s death is spelled out about as directly as Disney would allow in For The Future, with a hallucination of Caleb that features that same jagged dagger floating over his head. The blade is stained with blood and is pointing at Caleb’s head. It’s an image that evokes thoughts of the Shakespeare play Macbeth - a tragedy that depicts a noble hero descending into darkness and murder. Quite appropriate for Belos, who unfailingly views himself as the good guy, as the savior of humanity, the Witchhunter General. He’ll do “anything” to save humanity from “evil.” To that end, Philip murdered his brother, and not just once. I said before that a psychiatrist would have a field day with this man, and truly, they could write an award winning paper on the psyche of Philip Wittebane,and the way he constantly recreates Caleb’s death by means of the Grimwalkers. 

We know little about them, but Grimwalkers appear to be imperfect clones created from the remains of a corpse. Which means Belos preserved Caleb’s body and harvests his DNA for this project. Every time he builds a Grimwalker, Belos attempts to reset his relationship with Caleb back to a state that he prefers. He tries to rewrite history, rewrite his own memories of Caleb so that he needn’t face the fact that the big brother he idolized, actually evolved beyond his prejudice. But it never works. Each and every time, the Grimwalkers “choose to betray” Belos. Just as Caleb “betrayed” Philip by leaving with Evelyn. This pattern never changes, yet Belos won’t stop trying. Paradoxically, he also seems to give up on the Grimwalkers remarkably fast. We can see the exact moment Belos decides to kill Hunter, and it’s for no other reason than because Hunter has learned the truth and demanded an explanation. It’s not surprising that Belos would define this as a “betrayal” but it does mean we should take that version of events with a grain of salt.

Because Belos is a liar, through and through, and his perception of events is warped by his narcissistic tendencies and his seemingly indestructible bigotry. Rather than try to salvage his relationship with Hunter, Belos wrote him off as a lost cause, contaminated by the truth. How many Grimwalkers were killed for asking a question? For learning something that he didn’t want them to know? For talking out of turn? For failing to live up to the idealized vision of a ghost who they don’t even know about? Belos is an old man knee-deep in denial, and he intentionally perpetuates the cycle of abuse on innocent children for no other reason than because they have Caleb’s face. He wants someone to fulfill his fantasy of Caleb making the “right” choice and helping him wipe out the Witches. He wants to hear Caleb tell him that he was right to do what he did. But it will never happen. 

(Artwork by @pespillo)

Chapter 3 - The Other

Unresolved familial issues aren't all there is to it, though. There are also his values. As we’ve talked about, there are two contributing factors at play. The unresolved issues with Caleb, but that wouldn’t be enough on it’s own to motivate a plan of genocide. Such a thing comes from raw, unfettered hatred of witchkind, from a kind of racism. A fear and intolerance for anyone perceived as "other" and the dehumanization of such people that comes with it. Which feeds into his brother-issues as well. Belos surely blames Evelyn for “corrupting” Caleb. Yet if we want to know where this prejudice began, we need look no further than his upbringing. The man hates Witches, partially because of Evelyn, but partially because he was a Witch Hunter. In Connecticut. During the 1600s. There’s a very simple answer if one does the math. Belos is a Christian man. Specifically, he’s a Puritan. If you know your history, you know the Puritans were a rigid, intolerant society that were so extremist in their faith that it bordered on resembling satire. This is the environment Philip Wittebane grew up in.

Of course, this is never directly spelled out in the dialogue, because doing so on a Disney Channel kid’s show is…never going to happen. But we know it’s true. In Dana’s initial concept, The Boiling Isles was actually supposed to be Hell. Belos is a God-fearing Puritan who believes anything “sinful” is evil and must be purged. Witches were seen as consorts of The Devil, they would be no exception. So there we have it. In the series finale, Dana actually sneaks a more overt reference into the script. After possessing The Titan’s corpse, Belos screams “Finally. I can cleanse this Perdition MYSELF!” The word “Perdition” is defined as “a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and impenitent person passes after death.” Philip despises The Boiling Isles, and he always will. Because despite having lived there himself for centuries, it will always be a land of sin occupied by the Devil’s children. That’s all that matters. 

This outlook is no accident. This is an essential cornerstone of Belos’ villainy and his character, but also of the themes being explored, and the greater story being told. I said before that acceptance is the message of The Owl House, and one of the greatest problems with religion is how intolerant it can often be of anything that does not “fall in line” with its perspective. Belos is a physical manifestation of everything that’s wrong with The Bible, or at least how it’s often interpreted in modern day. He is hateful, prejudiced, obsessed with his own vision for how the world ought to be, and completely incapable of entertaining the notion that maybe he’s wrong, that the world is bigger than his perception of it. He will not tolerate anyone or anything that contradicts his point of view.

Without getting too political or topical, there are many real life parallels to be drawn from the conflict of this show. People fighting for their rights and freedoms against oppression that is fueled and supported by religious communities. Belos proclaiming that he will “cleanse this perdition” is him announcing his (second) attempt to commit genocide on the Witches. In that line, we hear absolute rage toward the world he despises. The mask has completely fallen away, and in that moment, we see Belos for who he truly is. Perhaps the scariest part is how people like him are not uncommon in the world. What’s more, since it bears repeating - this was his second attempt to wipe out all life in the Boiling Isles! People who are evil enough to attempt genocide do not stop just because they didn’t succeed. They keep trying. People like Belos are desperate to erase the group they hate. 

If that wasn’t enough, Belos is even more dangerous, conceptually, than some of his contemporaries. His faith and how he exploits the idea of faith, help him stand out against characters like Ozai from ATLA and Horde Prime from SPOP are cruel, sadistic, and mad with power, just like Belos. The difference is, those characters weren’t raised in a Puritan society. You see, despite his racism, despite his overinflated sense of self-importance…Belos does not have a God Complex. He sees himself as the hero of the story, but not as the Creator. Because of how he was raised, he would never see himself as a God. In his mind, there’s another who occupies that role. When Belos rules the Boiling Isles, notice how the mythos he creates for himself places him firmly as the second in command. He establishes himself as a Prophet for The Titan. He becomes the “Jesus Christ” of the story. Even when Belos is lying through his teeth and propping himself up, his comfort zone seems to be telling himself and the world that he is not self-interested, and is merely representing the will of a higher power.

Herein lies the danger of the lies that Belos is selling. The Coven system is terrifying because it doesn’t immediately seem so bad. Ever since Harry Potter, having magical “groups” for your characters to be sorted into has been the trend. Within the Boiling Isles, the Covens are popular and normalized. It is “cool” to graduate and join your Coven. Never mind that doing otherwise is literally illegal. It is not hard to envision an equivalent to the Coven System being established in the real world as a means to control people disguised as the newest meme, convenience, or fad. The power of a cult can be staggering. Again, I won’t point fingers, but I suspect we all have something particular in mind.

But this works extremely well with The Owl House, with its messaging, and with its protagonist.

This frightening, uncompromising bigotry from our villain, as well as the utter devotion to such values, is part of what makes Luz such an effective protagonist for this tale, and why she makes such a perfect foil to Belos. She is the type of person who Belos should realistically loathe with all his heart. She’s a bisexual neurodivergent woman of color. She is everything that Puritan society would recoil from. Yet that’s mostly saved for symbolism, (again, the religious aspects of this show are kept to subtext) as Belos initially appears to accept Luz and attempt to forge solidarity between the two of them as fellow humans. Whether or not he was being truthful, who knows. You never know with Belos. Perhaps he was simply excited to see another human again after so many years, and therefore willing to overlook her “flaws.” But he did indicate that he would show mercy toward another human as, for the purposes of the show, it’s Witches that he hates. This presents Luz with the opportunity to reject his offer and continue to be a fantastic ally to The Boiling Isles, thereby setting a great example for viewers. Yet, Luz also checks herself. She fears becoming like Belos, even though she needn’t, and she feels tremendous guilt for having inadvertently helped him even though she didn’t know any better. We could all learn from Luz’s attitude.

She and Belos are compared and contrasted quite a bit throughout this show, despite how utterly different they are. The Titan is shown to accept Luz immediately, as opposed to Philip, who suspects that The Titan was deliberately impeding his effort to learn magic. Which creates yet another example of him coping with failure by rewriting history, when he invents the story of being The Titan’s prophet. Through Luz, the duality of Belos is explored and later subverted. We meet Philip Wittebane through his diary, and he seems like a decent man at first. Then we see the truth, first that Philip is truthfully a wicked, scheming murderer…and then we see his real identity. This is, itself, a twist on typical tropes. In any other show, Luz might have clung to the image of Philip, insisting that it wasn’t all an act, that he must be in there somewhere. (This idea is even mocked during his death scene, and we’ll cover that too.) But once again, Philip is not some long-forgotten version of Belos. He changed his name for no other reason than because he was getting a reputation and needed to start over. He prefers the name Philip, for he still sees himself as a human among witches, a hero among monsters. As opposed to Luz, who embraces both realms. She is a “child of the human realm, student of the demon realm.” Even as a teenager, Luz is already wiser than a man who has lived for centuries.

Chapter 4 - The End

The death of Philip Wittebane is appropriately pathetic, and once again plays on the expectation of more common tropes. When he is ripped from The Titan, he materializes as his younger self. He thanks Luz for saving him from the curse that ailed him, causing him to act as evil as he did. Yet it is immediately obvious, to the audience and to Luz, that this is just an act. He compares himself to Eda, but Eda’s curse never affected her personality, and it didn’t take her four hundred years to master it. No, Luz and the others have been fooled too many times, they’re not getting fooled this time. Lesser shows might have had this be genuine. Might have let Philip return as a friend or even pass on, absolving him of all responsibility by having him be “under a spell” for the duration of his crimes. But The Owl House doesn’t do this.

Instead, we get one last half-measure, one final attempt from Belos to manipulate the characters and save himself. He’s always been a charlatan, so this is to be expected. What sells this idea is the expression on Luz’s face. We can see just how done she is with Belos and his lies, and in that moment, clouds gather, and boiling rain falls. Luz is unaffected, and this appears to be no accident - but Emperor Belos slowly dissolves, eventually giving up on the facade. The rain figuratively and literally strips away his disguise, revealing him for the monster that he is. While it’s not clear if this is the will of The Titan, or if it’s actually Luz’s doing, it doesn’t particularly matter. Either way, she doesn’t lift a finger to help him. Either way, the irony of this devout Christian succumbing to what seems to be a literal act of God is absolutely priceless.

In his final moments, Belos demonstrates his fundamental flaw, one last time. “You’ll be just as bad…just as conniving…just as evil…and just as unforgivable as THOSE WITCHES!” For a brief moment, the dialogue sets you up one more time, to think that he’s falling back on expected tropes. The audience expects him to say “you’ll be just as bad as I was.” Or something to that effect. That is the implied ending of that thought, to anyone with a shred of self-awareness. But Belos doesn’t have that. As The Titan said, he cares for nothing but being the hero in his own version of reality. To the very end, he blames the Witche for everything. To the very end, he is incapable of seeing the error of his ways or taking responsibility for his actions. His racism shines through his last words, one final plea for Luz, and the world, to see things his way. “We’re human. We’re better than this!” As if Belos is better than anyone. As if Luz hasn’t made it abundantly clear where she stands. As if Belos didn’t surrender what made him “human” for the sake of fighting the Witches. In his last breath, Philip Wittebane clings ferociously to a world that no longer exists. He is a fossil, a remnant of the bygone Puritan era, extinguished in the light of a brighter, more tolerant future. Belos dies with the past, as well he should. 

At the end of the day, the biggest and most consistent problem with Belos is his refusal to change. He cannot or will not learn any kind of lesson from his experiences. Nothing will challenge his worldview. He is a hypocrite who decries witchkind despite having used more magic than most characters to sustain himself. Not because he is afraid of death, there’s no evidence that he is. (Let’s be honest, the man probably expects admission into Heaven.)  No, he simply wishes to “live long enough to see this through.” In other words, he can’t die until he’s finished his plans for genocide. His bigotry inevitably cannibalizes itself to survive, as is often the case in real life. During Thanks To Them, he spent months recovering from a near death experience in the human realm - he saw for himself how drastically things had changed. He saw the twenty-first century, and this did not deter him one bit. How is that possible? Unfortunately, we don’t see much of his reaction to the modern human realm, but when we next see him, he is attempting to return to the Demon Realm. It’s quite possible that he has no desire to exist in the changed, tolerant world Luz comes from, so he has nothing left to live for but slaughtering The Isles. Because no matter how fancy one dresses up their hatred, at the end of the day hatred is singular. Hatred is alone. 

Well this was a whole freaking thesis. Still, I had fun writing it, and I hope you guys had fun reading it. But for now, that's all from me. Byeeee!

[aquaaquila]

One must remember that while Titan Trappers served under Bill, their God and the figure they looked up to was the Grand Huntsman... who they never actually met, so most likely they confused him with the Collector who is his relative.

The Collector was familiar with them but probably didn't know that Titan Trapper's purpose was always to kill Titans, hence he said they started acting weird. The fact that he's weirded out by them would be world-shattering to the other Titan Trappers. Like it's their God standing right in front of them and is not pleased and even confused with their actions.

Titan Trappers are not evil people. They were incredibly hospitable to Luz and co. and even agreed to help them fight Belos off no questions asked. The only reason they turned antagonistic is because they're a cult that ironically hunted down King and no one figured until later. However their cult was built on lies and Titan Trappers already started to doubt Bill the moment he started to boast about only him being the greatest, as if they didn't matter and it was followed with Hooty and Luz questioning if Titans deserved to die in the first place.

I'm pretty sure it would stay with them even if they still didn't give up just yet on hunting Titans. But once their very God that supposedly gave them the purpose to hunt down Titans flat out said that they did wrong, it was all a lie and said God punished them all, I think all of them would have a turning point. In the end, much like the rest of the Boiling Isles, Titan Trappers were also deceived by someone else, but they were not at fault for this, so they leave to rebuild their culture right from scratch to make amends and quit living in a lie, much like Boiling Isles had to get over Belos.

Bill certainly faced a punishment for what he did, but I think the rest of Titan Trappers just returned home to reflect and probably no longer seek to destroy Titans because clearly, it was never a good thing in the first place.

I can't remember if I've already said it, I don't think I have... But I can see the parallels to Bill and King, with the first and most obvious ones being their appearances; Specifically, Bill's 'costume' and King's natural look. They're both pretenders that way, Bill intentionally, while King was accidental when it came to his past.

They're scrawny little guys with delusions of grandeur, and they rely a lot on the bigger, taller people around them to help out; Such as Tarak and the other Titan Trappers, but even the Archivists. Likewise, King in S1 often had to resort to calling upon Luz or Eda to destroy his enemies for him.

And indeed, that obsession with destroying others to prove their strength is there; But Bill took it genuinely seriously, and because of that is a factor into King being an orphan, the last of his kind. But most of it can be attributed to the Archivists, whom I theorize made Bill immortal, which is why he's still alive even after all these years.

There's their relationships with one Archivist in particular, the Collector: Bill's is insincere and remote, he's using the kid for his own purposes not unlike Belos with the Titan, and also like Belos period. King doesn't do that, but had he met the Collector a lot earlier, he could've! He very well could've. The Collector even mentions Bill as one of the people they felt used and betrayed by, and they mistook King for another in their paranoia and cycle of being hurt.

And what intrigues me is that based on the murals we see, there might've been a giant Titan Trapper that helped the Archivists kill the Titans; Of course, this could be more of a visual metaphor for the group as a whole. But a part of me wonders if this was meant to be Bill in his youth, and that's why Tarak holds him in such high regard. Obviously he's a puny wimp now, but considering it's been probably millions of years since those times, Bill is technically looking great for his prehistoric age.

I can see the parallels between this and the stylized depictions of King's 'original' form as the King of Demons. They're both giant monsters who slay their enemies and have followers, although by the present-day Bill's an actual example of someone past his prime; All of the other Trappers are presumably descendants, because they've never seen a living Titan themselves.

This makes Bill the last of his generation, his 'kind' in a sense; And so is King. Because of Bill and the Archivists; Likewise, Bill can only be the last survivor because of the Archivists, per my speculations. Him, the Collector, and King had their worlds rocked by the Archivists in different ways, as I wonder if Bill wasn't even able to successfully hunt Titans until his 'Grand Huntsmen' came along.

But now he's ruling over people who can only dream of that fame, and King ruled over toys and plushes and the like. The Titan Trappers are fake; They wear fake costumes, they call themselves that despite only one having actually had that experience, it's a delusional dream. And King was also fake, a kid who misunderstood the world around him and was admittedly encouraged to by his mother. Of course, the way Eda feeds into King's dreams is different than how Bill does his younger Trappers.

I dunno; Maybe the Archivists are the older, powerful, magical beings like Eda; Bill and King, as I've explained; And the Collector and Luz, who have their own magic. But Bill's relationship with the Collector is so parasitic and insincere, whereas King looks up to Luz as his big sister and his worst lies to her have been merely kiddish (because he's a kid).

Makes it all the more fitting that King and Bill have a pseudo-confrontation in the finale... Maybe not exactly, because it's ambiguous as to how conscious Bill actually was in his puppet state. You can't help but wonder what happened to Bill and the other Trappers; If him and Tarak were turned into puppets, they must've either arrived at the isles during the two-month time skip, or the Collector's spies scoured the entire planet.

I wonder if the Collector recognizes Bill pre-imprisonment? If he worked with the Archivists, they might've seen him... If they didn't then, they did when Bill needed a new Archivist after the adults ditched him. Oh to see that scene of Bill trying to take his 'rightful place' next to the Collector, only to see an actual Titan there, and King has all the power to destroy this dude. But after all of his self-reflection, and not wanting to enable this behavior from a kid he's trying to make reasonable, King just settles for "These guys make me uncomfortable, puppet them" and that's it.

But afterwards... Did the Collector free them too? And the Titan Trappers were sentenced to community service like Kikimora? Or did everyone agree to turn a blind eye to Bill at least, and he's trapped as a puppet somewhere in the depths of the Archives, or somewhere else, to be forgotten forever...

Okay that last bit sounds too dark for the protagonists and the lessons they're trying to impart to the Collector but man. To be a broken record, I have to wonder if we would've gotten more conflict and a proper resolution between King and Bill.

[bees128]

What Is Emperor Belos’s Plan for the Human World

So here’s my theory and I actually have some Evidence, particularly it’s based on three aspects of the show so far

1 A Major theme that applies heavily to all the antagonistic forces in the show is the weird and interesting being assimilated into something "normal" e.g. destroying the "chaos" of wild witches and brainwashing the children to act like "Proper Witches". 

2 As for Belos himself his character as far as I can tell he really does seem devoted to the titan? He follows the Titan’s will as he sees it. Also of lesser note is that with this most recent fight we have heavy connections between Belos and the manipulation of flesh.

3 The titan is still alive to a certain extent. It’s heart is still beating.

So how do you reconcile those 3 things together? Well something of note is that they’ve gone very hard into showing that the Human World is Weird to the people of the Boiling Isles. Gus has a fan club centered around them, Eda runs her business based on selling our junk as curios and oddities. Sure they exiled giraffes to our world in the past but with the exception of Eda bringing back Human Stuff it seems like No One has access to the human world (or at least no one we’ve met). So we have the human world is wierd and if we fit it into that theme up there Belos must want to assimilate the human world somehow. The question is how? Most people are going with the idea that “Belos wants to bring/force magic into the human world” and not gonna lie I could see that. Alot of the show is based around the destruction and assimilation of religions by Christianity/Catholicism and forcing magic as his “religion” upon a foreign land that none on the boiling isles except Eda, (and now lillith and King) have seen in living memory? A perfect allegory for missionaries spreading catholicism in North America. However, PERSONALLY I have 2 contentions with this. 1 is that Luz while not happy with Belos’s way would Absolutely be Down for magic to spread to the real world. B. Quite Frankly it doesn’t seem climactic enough for me as a BBEG Plan. Think to other cartoons like Gravity falls and SPoP with Wierdmageddon and the Heart of Etheria. I contest that Belos’s plan is going to be more concerted around some Major Event he’s going to try to bring about. But what could this shows Central event be? Well, Let’s talk about the Titan.

Belos serves the “Titan’s will” he doesn’t prostrate himself before it or anything but it’s clear that at least as far as we can see that he considers it a force greater than himself and places great value in it. He built his fortress around the one part of the Titan that we can see is visibly alive, he’s built machinery into the titans flesh (to help preserve/keep it alive?) which stretches throughout the entire fortress. He’s consolidating power through the covens system in the name of the titan. Quite frankly it’s almost like he’s trying to assimilate his castle and through the emporers coven, the strongest sources of magic he can get on the isles, into the Titan.

I Wonder what Else he might Try to Assimilate Into the Titan...

Ok so I won’t beat around the bush anymore. I think Belos is going to try to use the human world in some fashion, to essentially revive the Titan and I feel like theres so many reasons why this works. Narratively theres a couple good reasons, it shows how destructive and harmful the assimilation of religion and culture is in the real world, it’s a plan worthy of of a BBEG centered around a concrete goal that the heroes can have clear objectives on how to stop. It puts Luz in direct personally driven conflict with Belos’s ambitions because instead of bringing magic to the human world, he’s harming the human world in order to achieve a goal that literally no character in the show other than a Titan Obsessed Madman would want, likely in one way or another it will show Camilla in direct danger too which further compounds Luz having to oppose Belos. It fits Belos’s character down to his abilities I mean the man moves flesh so its not too far of a stretch to imagine his plan involves flesh too or that what with his obsession with the titan that his plan might involve the titan. As well as the human world the Boiling Isles is entirely inside of the carcass of the titan so what do you thinks going to happen to Everyone and Everything on the boiling isles if the flesh of the titan starts to grow back? That’s Right guys gals and NB pals ASSIMILATION. (im thinking of that billy and mandy meme where billy from I think the Movie? where a robot billy just keeps yelling ASSIMILATE. ASSIMILATE. ASSIMILATE.) So now Luz now has precedent to not only save the human world, but also demon world as she knows and loves it. Also it answers a question that the audience has had since we first saw the carcass which is what did it look like when it was alive? It gives Belos a motivation on why he suppresses wild witches because they understandably, would be the first to step up to stop his plan, and conversely the more he has people under the coven system the less likely they are to rebel when he tries to consume them all in his grand plan. *cough Cough allegory for capitalism too cough

Belos will have Unity, at any cost.

So we have the What of the Plan and the Why, but all that’s left is the How? Well at this point i’ve kinda run out of compelling evidence so instead of halfbaked theories this here is now in Wild Speculation Territory. The only thing thats certain is that if this theory is true something he’s missing for the revival of the Titan is in the Human World. So i’ve got a couple ideas and im just gonna lightning round them

1 Theres been multiple insinuations that the Boiling Isles isn’t the Only Titan, presumably if there is another in some shape or form it’s somehow in the Human World. Maybe there’s some Key Item from this Titan that Belos Needs to revive the Boiling Isles Titan (im gonna call it the BI titan) what could that key item be?

1a A item to supercharge his Magic for Magic Reasons(tm) so he can revive the titan

1b A Item to make the Titan able to receive Whatever Belos would use from the human world to fill in its flesh (ala anti rejection drugs when it comes to a organ transplant)

1c He has what he needs to Revive the Titan but to take what he needs from the Human World he needs a big portal like a BIG one. And the thing he needs to make a portal of that size (or potentially reopen since because of giraffes we know there was Some Way to the human world that probably wasnt the door unless they like, used shrinking magic on the entire Boiling Isles Giraffe Population, brought them through the door, then unshrunk them all) is inconveniently in the Human World

2 Same as all of 1 except instead of another titan its just something thats there

3 same as 2 except that its a Someone (Camilla?) for Some Reason

4 He thinks what he needs is in the human world but it’s actually in the demon world and Belos is just Blind

5 He has what he needs and instead of needing a really big portal the door is enough, he just needs to fix it and start assimilating

Beyond those I have some more wild Speculation on how they’re gonna deal with the Titan

1. They either destroy Belos or force him into a change of heart somehow

2. They FMA:B this and do a Massive Glyph thats at least as big as his fortress if not Larger to stop belos (likely not murder, maybe through a “trap you in a false world where everything went right for you” or something like that)

3. Luz is the one that gives Magic to the Human world either from the BI Titan or the hypotetical Human World one and the glorious revolution of the people overthrows the tyrants

4. What either Belos or Luz or both be going after is King’s Crown. If Belos doesnt need the crown Luz would and gives it to King and then King and the Titan do a Kaiju Big Battle.

5. They pull a SPoP and its literally the magic of Gay is Too Strong and Saves the Day and they date and kiss and everything is good

The End

[thewiglesswonder]

Am I the only one who feels like how Belos' characterisation was dropped feels almost.......spiteful? Like, I don't follow any of the crew on Twitter, but I've heard that Dana apparently hates Belos, and doesn't like that he was so popular. Is any of that actually true, though?

That sounds... vaguely possible, but I'm not about to go around putting words in the creator's mouth when I have no way to confirm or deny them. What I can speak to is my personal feeling that Belos' potential as an incredibly fleshed out antagonist that is still irredeemable was nerfed in favor of pursuing a flight of fancy (the Collector) and that the show since Hollow Mind suffered from it.