#look at what they did to Belos Amity and Lilith in season 1. This isn't a shipping issue this is a WRITING issue

[theprinceandthewitch]

You know, I would probably give some stock to the idea Hunter is excluded from season 1 because of shipping reasons IF the writers were actually patient with their storytelling and didn't make the LITERAL VILLAIN ignore the protagonist just so they could speed run Lilith's and Amity's redemption arcs in season 1

[icy-watch]

Alright the end of season 1!

Lots of things happened.

Luz confronted the Emperor. I'm expecting some parallels from this confrontation in the final showdown between them.

Speaking of parallels, there were quite a few to the first episode. We began in the Conformatorium - breaking in to get King's crown - and the fight, followed by flying away into the night to the Owl House.

I'm almost absolutely certain that whatever Belos is speaking to isn't the Titan. Parts of the Titan are being kept alive, yes, but it's not the Titan who's speaking.

There's a part of me that wonders if Belos is cursed or infected with something. Or, like, there's a parasite or something that's attached itself to him and is the thing speaking to him.

We still need to confront the whole Camila receiving letters from Luz that don't look or sound like they're from Luz.

But first we need to get Luz back to the human world to sort the whole thing out. That's going to be a challenge.

Alright, I'm still debating whether or not to jump to LMK and watch the 5th season next or whether to continue on with TOH. I'm really fine, either way. I do like to hear from all of you, so please let me know.

Under the cut are my correct and incorrect predictions.

Correct

Luz will go to magic school at some point. I’m actually really happy about this.

We’ll meet the series villain close to the end of the season. While he was talked about throughout the season, we finally got to meet the Emperor in ep 18. Can’t believe I predicted that in episode 1.

Luz being banned from Hexside will be reversed at some point. And it was.

Lilith and the Emperor were involved with Eda being cursed. *sad laughter*

Amity and Willow’s friendship didn’t dissolve just bc Willow’s powers didn’t come in when they should have. There was family influence. Knowing what I know now of this whole thing, I’m infuriated for both girls.

Tibbles will come back at some point - the most inopportune time, most likely. He did. And I’m thinking he’s going to come back again.

Lilith cursed Eda, at the Emperor’s behest. Realizing I came up with this while watching ep 10 is weird.

Eda needs help with her curse. Help that only Lilith can give. I genuinely thought this would be more s2, but they really did share the curse at the last minute, didn’t they? Huh.

Lily will be covenless by the end of the season. She is! 

The cloak Eda knit for Luz will be helpful in the rescue mission. Luz did wear it during the rescue mission and she didn’t get hurt while wearing it, so I’m counting this as a win.

Incorrect

The Warden is going to be the antagonist for most of the season. And we haven’t seen him since the first episode.

Amity is going to be a rival for Luz. And this is where I should have realized I can’t always rely on familiar tropes and cliches. 

Amity is very close to joining Luz, Gus, and Willow. I thought this would happen a little sooner than it did in the show, so I’m putting this here.

The reason Eda didn’t join the Emperor’s Coven was the curse. She was cursed in retaliation for not joining the cult coven.

The ring Eda gave Lily will be a catalyst to something. It was just a gesture.

For her initiation into the Coven, Lily cursed Eda.Someone was a little jelly and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Emperor Belos promised something important to Lily to get her to curse Eda. Lily cursed Eda all on her own volition. 

The whistle the Bat Queen gave Luz will be important later in the season. Sad that this didn’t come back and prove to be useful.

Amity’s broken leg will be important to the season finale. Actually, I’m really disappointed she wasn’t around to help out with the shenanigans.

Partial

We’re going to see Willow and Gus quite a bit. And Amity’s going to stalk them to find out where they’re going. Well, we did see Willow and Gus quite a bit.

The shadowy figure that was in Eda’s doorway was involved in her being cursed. Probably not the person who cursed her, but either helped get Eda to that location or abandoned her there. That shadowy person sure was involved in the cursing. Very involved, in fact. So involved, they were actually the person who cursed her.

Amity’s siblings are going to come back at some point and they’re going to be working for the Emperor/in the Emperor’s Coven. They did come back. And they were actually pretty good siblings.

Something’s going to happen to cause a big fight between Amity and the popular clique. There’s already a rift, but things are going to speed up with Luz being in Hexside. Surprisingly, it was Willow becoming popular that ended up causing the the fight.

Unconfirmed

Luz isn’t fully human. I’m feeling this is more of a s2 thing to tackle.

The Emperor’s Coven is completely brainwashed. Possible, although I’m not thinking they’re all mechanical.

Gus is just as powerful as Willow and Luz. *crosses fingers* Come on, s2!

Luz’s magic is raw elemental based. It really seems like it from where we currently are, but there’s 2 seasons left to prove me wrong.

Lily may have been the 1 to curse Eda, but she wasn’t the 1 who damaged Eda’s memories. We still don’t know who altered/ruined Eda’s memories.

The Emperor is involved with whoever is sending Camila the letters from “Luz at camp”. Hoping this is tackled in s2.

Someone is planning on using Camila against Luz. This is assuming it’ll be brought up in s2.

King will be the King of the Boiling Isles by the end of the series. I can already see it now! Everyone’s going to flee in terror.

The character standing next to Belos in the throne room will be important in s2 and s3. It certainly seems like it.

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 2b part 1

episodes 11-15

Episode 11

- Good episode on itself, especially Raine's part is great on the rewatch. But still i can't let go of how Gus and Willow are treated - and in this case, while the scene between Willow and Amity is ok in isolation, i find it questionable within the context of Willow's treatment and Labirinth Runner's 'follow up'.

And, again, not sure about Luz's plot of desperately trying to help Kikimora as projection. I find it a bit too much, i think because by this point in the show the characters show more grounded/realistic emotions in serious situations, meanwhile this was very stylized, and then Reaching Out did similar concept much better.

- 1 second hint of interactions between Amity and Gus because he gave her a book /eye roll.

- Oh, Raine absolutely was trying to spy/get info out of Kikimora here:

- Kikimora makes it seem like Terra rarely emerges from her Greenhouse, so while it's clear Terra is dangerous, it looks like she is not necessary very 'active'. It doesn't seem like even she is a part of some royal court (And it makes sense that Belos would only let someone pathetic and desperate like Kikimora to be 'close', but would not trust super powerful, power hungry witches like Terra.)

- Hooty as the Belos float is so funny.

- Amity and Willow scene is, like, OK, i like that we see that Willow is not all that happy with the current situation between them... but then the follow up in LR just goes in a different direction? Also i hate that they again - albeit more subtly than with Luz and Gus in Glass Ruins - showed that Amity came to Willow because she needed the relationship advice, and Willow was the one who had to reach out and ask her to braid her hair, and then nothing is done with it. If this was the point of conflict in LR it would have been much better, and if not - just don't bring attention to Willow and Gus being afterthoughts for lumity.

- And, again, nothing in this episode would have prevented Willow and Gus from joining the action.

- Amity's abomination glove(mittens?)-weapon is cool, i guess

- Ok, but why is this episode - where Terra is introduced - is the one where Eda suddenly uses plant glyph magic so extensively? I think it's the first and only time?

(i don't think it means anything, it's just amusing)

- Interesting how Terra says that Kikimora hurting Luz and Amity ("a couple of children") would cause a riot. Obviously it's not the entire truth behind her intervention since Belos needs Luz, but it is something that is considered a reasonable argument by Terra (and we know how she feels about hurting children) and is accepted by Kikimora. So it seems like hurting children is something that would cause a stir in the general population... so it's interesting how it would affect Darius' behavior in ASIAS. I think it fits with my reading of Darius's thought process in this Post.

- So the exact date for DoU was just announced?

- "Utopia free of wild magic" - but how does the Human Realm factors in this, or was this aspect just abandoned by season 2b?

- Also what does "free" mean here? Like, destroying the wild magic as magic or killing the wild witches? I guess, killing isn't likely because of the children. But this would make a much better villain motive for someone like Odalia rather than her knowing that the draining spell would kill most of the population: if for her DoU was about sacrificing a few wild witches for the sake of the paradise, and she just couldn't believe that 'proper' witches like she and her family might be affected and hurt, so she wouldn't trust even her children.

Episode 12

- Love Philip's parts and Eda's part but greatly dislike how Lilith is characterized and where the accents are placed in her arc.

- S2b can be so fast-paced when the plot needs to move forward, lol. It is actually weird because in a lot of ways the writing is much stronger, but then the pacing is like that (which is understandable because of the shortening but still gives an odd impression when watching).

- Conflicting thoughts about the Collector. I thought they were added after the shortening to replace something the writers couldn't fit anymore, and so his plot seemed fine as a replacement plot (except the puppets😡). But apparently Collector and the Archivists were always planned, and idk how i feel about it. I think this is something so big worldbuilding-wise that it would need to be introduced much earlier in some way (even just brief mentions here and there of some legends), like the Titan was. And i really didn't have much feelings about Collector's introduction when i first watched, but if i was watching it without the knowledge of the shortening then introducing a major player like this, out of nowhere, might have weirded me out.

- Oh, no, actually i remembered while editing - i think at first i thought the Collector would be some sort of a Machine.

- Ah, forgot that 'cool aunt Lilith' was Luz's idea. Tbh Lilith trying to be cool to make up for her past behavior and ending up cringey would've been better. But yeah, this episode was the perfect opportunity for some conflict or at least awkwardness between the two to be resolved by the end.

- Like, Lilith trying to find her own path and replicate the feeling of power and control she had in her Coven only to realize that she doesn't need it and can have fun with her nerdy architecture isn't a bad plot, actually it would've been cool, but why is a brown woman presented as a bad, corrupt historian specifically to contrast Lilith? Yes, you can have villains of color, but there is context to some of the roles that makes this iffy. And considering the way Lilith behaved around 'mysterious exotic' ruins in King's episode in s2a?

- And does Flora also have slightly darker skin than the character she is supposed to be parodying?

- Also, Lilith's arc could've been connected better to Oh, Titan. And idk, putting the accent so strongly on her trying to be cool and adventurous, it just makes Lilith seem too immature in a very specific way that i dislike. Yeah, you can say it's the point that she is immature, many characters in toh are, and i even said that if Lilith was acting like that because of the awkwardness between her and Luz i woud've liked it. And i liked when Lilith and Eda acted immature around each other in s1 too.

But her writing in this episode reminds me of the trope i personally dislike (you see it in comics) of a white woman who did some questionable things being softened by the writers into a less interesting character whose whole arc becomes about her own 'uplifting' personal journey in a very hollow manner; and while Lilith's case is not as bad, it sours me to this characterization. For me she would have been interesting if she was very gradually softening up and opening up to her nerdy side, but instead it feels like: "look, she is a huge dork now!!!" It feels manufactured. And in contrast, i think s2a had a good balance for Lilith.

- Ok, Eda started calling Gwen 'mom' between seasons. Also King calls Dell 'granpa'.

- King had never met Dell before.

- Lilith's arc and the focus in this episode is just off. I like that it does touch the false propaganda of Belos's regime about the Savage Ages, but, imo, this should've been a bigger focus in Lilith's arc, compared to other stuff. The episode should've challenged her views more (remember the 'degenerate' comment?).

- And also Lilith in s1 was looking down on the humans more than any other character. Even more than school bullies like Bosha. And that's not Belos's doing. But it just never comes up again. She wasn't just repressing her nerdy, dorky side in the Coven, she had some bad beliefs and unhealthy attitudes, and all that is reduced to an almost throw away line in Oh, Titan.

- Anyway, this episode should have been the start of her arc of challenging her views, to be finalised in Oh, Titan in a serious manner.

- And then her seeing through Philip's lies works mostly fine, but it would fit even better if there was more about challenging the attitudes of the EC and the Emperor's influence and unlearning it.

- Also Lilith being a damsel in distress with the Stone Sleeper? This is another thing that makes me feel like her dorkiness is forced in this episode. Yes, she doesn't have her magic, but she is still an ex Coven Head, why was she pulled by her hand and protected by a 14 years old? When she was initially ambushed and taken by surprise - sure, but why after that? She has her palisman, her physical training. She should be the one protecting Luz to contrast the first season.

- And Luz's "should've listened to you!" doesn't work when they had only 1 single one-sentence scene of Lilith trying to warn her about Philip. Meanwhile it would've worked so much better if there was an actual conflict between them that made Luz not listen to Lilith initially. It would've benefitted both of their characters if there was some edge, some complications.

- Why again anyone thought Philip/Belos would be some misunderstood meow meow after this episode? He is a fun villain, but?

Episode 13

- OK, ASIAS here we go... Actually, there would be 1000 more metas by me about this episode so this would be rather short. A note made while editing this: i lied.

- I always headcanoned that Darius and Eber had stayed behind to snoop around.

- Sorry, but Hunter was also clearly rude when he didn't even greet them, instead straight up demanding answers.

- Darius clutching at his cloak x2

- Like, even at his worst Darius is not nearly as bad as the fandom paints him to be. Even after he is set off by his mentor's sigil he is not as mean as the fandom thinks he is. There are two really mean/bad things he does: 1. grabbing Hunter's cloak to mock Hunter's sewing - and still it won't be out of character for s1 Eda, and 2. taking the cloak 'hostage'. But imo i think he would have returned the cloak eventually regardless of what Hunter did, even if out of mere self-preservation. And then in the episode he does return the cloak as he promised when he collects the kids - and if he was as irrationally hateful as fandom portrays him he wouldn't have done it. It makes more sense if he realized by that point he had fucked up.

(And nothing in the episode indicates, of course, that Darius knows about Belos's abuse - and considering even Terra doesn't seem to be close to the Emperor - none of the Coven Heads are - most likely the Coven Heads barely interracted with Hunter in the first place. And no way Belos himself would even get witches get close or be privy to his personal life or break his benevolent granpa mask in public.)

And if you look at the episode as a whole, if you look at Darius' emotional response and at Hunter's own reactions - to me it looks like this was not Darius' usual behavior. Instead it is an extreme thing he did after he got very upset. And, yes, it was a bad thing and maybe, if not for the events of the episode and the power of Willow (who might have parallels to Darius in his youth) reaching out to Hunter - maybe Darius wouldn't have realized how low he had almost stooped.... and it's still just a common trope when a generally good person nearly becames a worse person, but luckily 'the events of the episode happened.' Nothing so exceptional to warrant the fandom's reaction. And sorry to edgelords, but to me it's more interesting narratively too, if it is an extreme episode that pushed Darius too far and not his usual self.

And going back to him mocking Hunter's sewing - rude, but we dont see how the scene would have ended, maybe Darius would've given him some pointers in a slightly mean way if he did not see his mentor's sigil. And, anyway, if that was some dungeon whiteman the fandom would be cooing how he saw his special interest and had to correct the mistakes and rant about it. And then his PTSD was triggered so actually he did nothing wrong.

- Even Hunter's behavior in the scenes with Darius doesn't fit the supposed constant bullying. He doesn't behave like he does with Belos, and he doesn't behave like he does with the adults who are hostile towards him or his friends like Kikimora, Alador, Graye, even the abomination teacher during the flyer derby match. Hunter isn't agressive, always expects some reasonable response from Darius, doesn't gloat like with Kikimora. Yes, in real life it would be more complicated, but this is a narrative in a story.

- Also, while i don't think Darius has the greatest emotional intelligence (but i read it as him having most trouble interpreting his own emotions), my reading of the opening scene is that he realizes that Hunter is causing unhealthy emotional response, that's why he flips from trying to go away while clutching his cloak - which seems to be his gesture of hiding his upset emotions - to a very agitated response when Hunter keeps bothering him, that to me looks like bottled up emotions spilling out rather than outright intentionally directed anger:

(his body language is different and more erratic compared, for example, to his friendly-annoyed reaction to Raine's team name or his more controlled reaction to the Abomaton in ER)

- And he still doesn't cross some lines - he walks by Hunter, but he doesn't shoulder him for example. And that's when he is the most upset and at his worst. Yet certain fans were writing Darius as physically abusive for a supposedly fun 'dadr*ius' event.

- Bosha's part was funny, but the Azura book plot is even worse on the rewatch. Luz and Amity could have just gone on a date or to do research with Lilith as a follow up from the previous episode, or do something with King and Eda so Amity could bond with them. Instead it just eats the limited time that could've gone to Willow, Gus and Darius, doesn't bring anything meaningful to lumity, and it isn't even dumb fun for younger kids, instead just a pure fanservice for fandom adults from social media. (also Matt is basically exploited by a known scammer?)

- Abomination teacher seems to be made into a over-the-top jerk just for the sake of the plot.

- Darius sending the scouts to collect the kids rather than leaving it to Hunter makes sense considering what Terra said in the previous episode about a riot over hurting children. Like, the best case scenario - Hunter just can't convince anyone, but even then, as far as Darius knows, Hunter might tell Belos about the kids not obeying him and who knows whether Belos would want to punish them and their families, or whether the Golden Guard would hold a grudge. And he might still take their palismen. And if Darius was so pragmatic and unfeeling - for the rebellion it would not be a bad thing if the Golden Guard hurts some kids and causes mistrust from the general public or if his actions cause a rift between the Emperor and his 'right hand man'/potential heir.

- Skara straight up cries, but that's not a problem apparently? Imagine if someone made Hunter cry and it was played for laughs?

- Yes, the palismen have to be with Darius for the plot to work, but in the in-universe headcanon reading, Darius could've left the palismen behind - as a consolidation prize for Hunter, since he didn't know Hunter changed his mind, or even as a threat for the kids or because he just didn't care and couldn't bother to take the palismen with him. And if Belos got his palismen snack he might be in a good mood and not even question why Darius overrode the Golden Guard's decisions!

- Willow's scenes in this episode, especially her scene in the cell are so good, but the way she only gets an episode in s2 when it's for Hunter's development, meanwhile the similarities between her guilt and Luz's are never explored? Or that Gus is shown to be protective when it suits Hunter's plot, yet we still don't see a friendship moment directly between Gus and Willow?

- "Can you?" Literally my favourite Darius scene, and when i first watched it, it made it so clear that he had his own morals and was not 100% on the Emperor's side, because there was no point for him to lie here! And the way he acted so serious in a subdued way? Compare him to Terra - who also 'encourages' rebellion, but she always acts the same, there is no emotional substance behind her encourangement. Meanwhile Darius becomes serious and subdued when he is disappointed, becomes more playful (compare how he carefully lowers the cloak in the Blimp scene vs throwing it at the end) when Hunter saves his friends.

- Steve was really barely there until this episode (i couldn't even remember who this was supposed to be the first time). This is the first real development for him, but he was still better received than Darius and got a proper conclusion to his arc in Oh, Titan☹️

- Yeah, i don't actually like how the episode concludes in regards of Darius and Hunter. Not because i think Darius did anything irredeemable and needed to self-flagelate, but because the episode gives an impression that there will be more development between the two, and this is just the start. But if no development was planned/could be fit into the shortened seasons, then they should have had some narrative conclusion to it right here, like Gwen had in her episode, or Steve would have in Oh, Titan, or Alador has the next episode (and then in the Clouds, but even if Alador never appeared again after Reaching Out there was a still narrative conclusion to his and Amity's plotline).

But then, there is no conclusion to Willow's part of the episode either. There was time for a scene of her team cheering her up, but it seems that once she stopped moving Hunter's development the focus just faded away.

- Gus says Hunter types even worse than Perry.

- Would be a good episode, but Azura book plot is such a waste of limited time, and as usual Willow's and Gus's treatment is dragging everything down.

Episode 14

- I'll be honest the first time i watched this, i've skipped through 90% of it because Amity's family annoys and bores me. Luz's plot is good, though.

- My problem with Alador is less about what happens with his development plot-wise and more about 1. The way in the Clouds Odalia was written in such a cartoonishly evil way to make him seem better (problem is not that Odalia is worse, but how it was written - Belos is written as evil and abusive without being like that) 2. Yes, i am bitter that Alador got 2 episodes for his development and both times he verbalized his thoughts and the lessons he learned, while Darius wasn't allowed even one scene of properly explaining his thoughts and motives. And then, ever since the first season Willow and Gus have been constantly pushed aside while the Blight twins got a lot of attention for tertiary characters + the Blight parents' treatment of Willow is just never brought up after s1. 3. Alador is exactly the type of white character who attracts the fans who infantilize him and treat other characters badly.

(Also I just think Alador would be more interesting if more attention was brought to how he used to buy into the ideology of putting the family first, and how he was oblivious to others - like trying to play with Bump's palisman. And by being called out on the treatment of Willow and getting to know Luz and King he would then become better and would be willing to trust the children, while Odalia would stagnant and refuse to listen to anyone.)

- Ok, i admit, compared to what i've remembered Eda does spend time trying to figure out Belos's plans.

- I like how you can see in this episode that the old hexsquad had become a thing when Eda happily brings up Alador while she never even hinted at knowing the Blight parents before, lol

- Yes, i like the progression of Eda opening up and trying to mentor the kids who she barely even knows, but i still hate that her relationship with Willow and Gus - still somewhat present in s2a - is just dropped completely by this point, and instead she gets to mentor Edric. Meanwhile no one among the main adults ever comforts and encourages Willow or Gus like this.

- Luz's plot is great though, and makes more sense than with Kikimora in episode 11.

- I get what they were doing with Amity in the episode, but her getting upset at Luz was so fast-paced.

- Speaking of infantilization - it is spelled in the episode that Alador loved the Brawl, it was good for him, he was not some helpless nerdy baby. Not only it is racist when the fandom turns Darius into his one-dimensional strong protector, but also it's just another case of the infantilization of neurodivergent characters and the screwed whumpified view of abuse survivors that dictates that only a certain kind of person can be an abuse victim worthy of sympathy, and any character who doesn't fit the mold is either ignored or has to be turned into the same stereotype, stripping them of all nuance.

- Sigh, it's a good episode thanks to Luz's plot, but it should've centered her more and focused less on the Blights other than Amity.

Episode 15.

- And yet again Luz clearly says she misses her mom, and the previous episode made it clear how important to her is visiting her father's grave, but no, the fandom really thought her abandoning the Human Realm for good would be the best scenario.

- Faust and Terra are terrible, but so funny.

- Again, Bump and Eda is such an interesting dynamic. And Bump's negative development between the flashback and present day/start of s1 is also so intriguing.

- Ah, yes, a random Black kid is jealous of Raine and acts adversarial, and Eda has to save them. Idk, seems like a weird choice to paint the white child as more virtous in the context of the on-purpose unfair game of "us vs marginalized them". And i've read that Raine was initially supposed to be white too (possibly even a white woman?) before they casted the voiced actor.

It doesn't even work from the pure plot/character perspective, because Eda is not the one to bend under the peer pressure, there is never a plot line where she is tempted with the 'reward' of getting accepted by others to the point that she might turn on Raine. She doesn't seem to be affected by the 'us vs them' aspect of the game that much. Yes, the episode is trying to show the dividing mentality of us vs them, but since it doesn't factor in Eda's decision that much, she isn't tempted by it, it was ok to leave it as the background, the point was already clear enough. So there is no reason to make those kids into adversaries in this way.

Eda is not even shown to be caught up in the competition and her desire to win and show that she is the best (which would have worked better if they wanted to explore her flaws).

Meanwhile the focus should be on whether she is willing to sacrifice her chance for the ribbon and being with Lilith at school to help Raine, who needs the scholarship. Adding those kids for one minute just messes it up.

- You can see that when Terra 'encourages' rebellion there is no change in her behavior, she is still her same happily cruel self, while Darius either becomes more serious when disappointed or softer and more playful.

- Raine's scene at the end is so iconic, just such a good twist.

- It's Mallow time!

- I like how everything here is so beautifully hand-drawn and neatly written, but then a part of the text is just scribbles:

- Idk how i feel about the episode, the ending scene is great and iconic, there was some nice flashback stuff, but it wasn't that great overall.

----

Conclusion:

Overall these are all pretty strong episodes. There is a shift towards very fast-paced openings / starting points because of the shortening, and sometimes it feels off, but i think most times the show handles it pretty well, sacrificing the opening moments but leaving more breathing room for the middle and serious scenes.

Still i don't like certain characterization choices and where the show's priorities are (for example, the Blight family prioritized over Willow, Gus or Darius); and well, some choices are just baffling like the Azura book subplot eating up the already limited time, and the show continues to be really iffy when it uses minor characters of color as adversaries for the white characters.

[charizardstolemynickname]

TOH S3 EP3 REACTION, AKA, THE SERIES FINALE PEOPLE!!!!!!!

I have no idea how long this will take me, just as a warning idk how long it will take me to watch and write all this, its about an hour long episode so

LETS GO!

Woah, instantly, King's dad maybe?? Or just some other titan guy is telling Luz to wake up from maybe the mirror realm thing established? Cool!

Now Luz, how the hell did you get there? "How did I get here?" LUZ DON'T STEAL MY QUESTION

Oh fuck she is in the emporer's.. temple? Already forgot the name, but i assume its some sort of dream as, this was destroyed? By the collector? Who knows really

WOAH guys, Bump as stone ain't funky, i actually came around to liking that guy, they were dolls last time we saw them!!!! Definitely some form of dream

"Don't you remember?" From Amity CONFIRMED to me that its a dream, there is 0 way we are gonna witness a breakup this episode, I refuse

Amity looks so good with this hair I can't lie, idk if I have commented on this before, but if so, I will say it again, she rocks it! And I want her moon necklace and shoes, that's a given

"This isn't a dream, it is a nightmare!" Love that it took until her girlfriend was trying to kill her for her to realise, fucking love Luz man

EDA!!! LOVELY TO SEE YOU, as always. HARPY EDA`1 ...In prison. Well, it is a lovely call back to season 1 episode 1 so I will accept it!

AAHHHH Her first thought after seeing her mum and sister is "THANK GOD, now lets go find king" I LOVE TOH FAMILY

"Dangerous beasts need to be kept in cages" I know this is a dream, but Lilith queen, you ARE a DANGEROUS BEAST TOO, Eda come on, don't fall for this, have a lightbulb moment like Luz

WOAH DON'T BRING HER DAD INTO IT! DON'T DO THAT TO MY GIRL,, she will cry! Collector (I assume its you) THIS ISN'T VERY NICE

King: *gets jump scared by the guy who is trying to kill him and his species and who wear's his family's skulls"

Also King: "Bill! You crazy jerk! How did I get here?" THAT IS AN UNDERREACTION KING....... See, I TOLD YOU it was an underreaction! He is now trying to decapitate you!

WILLOW! Well. What else did you expect from a nightmare Luz?

GUS! GOD I love Gus, even mean dream Gus is iconic, what a performer

HUNTER! "He was more than a paslisman, he was my best friend." ....guys I won't lie, its a bit difficult to still be in denial about Flapjack, ngl.

.....The challenging to a witch's battle thing made the really intense moment, really not tense anymore because it feels like something out of like harry potter or something

"bip. boop." .....Luz, bestie, what are you doing, because whatever it is, its hilarious. "But you aren't amity!" WE ESTABLISHED THIS BRO, whether its a dream/nightmare or some illusion, IT DOESN'T MATTER, it still isn't real.... maybe she was making a joke when she said nightmare.

OOO PUPPET STRINGS! Cute.

Woahhh rubix cubes exist here?! KING EDA AND LUZ REUNITED, "Are you both really here?" AHSUHDKLDF fuck I will cry

"Ray-Ray" I HOPE WE ALL STEAL THIS NICKNAME FOR RAINE

"King is going to hate me for this" AWWWWW, I mean. Totally not aww, the collector is doing evil things. "My powers don't work on king." "The dog?" "Yeah, cause he is a titan" the Collector just told Belos the biggest fucking news, but also Belos calling King the dog just makes me think that King is like scooby doo or somethin

HEY DON'T HIT FRANCOIS, fucking bully you are Belos, that was not cool!

ABSJHNFEOFN OWLBERT AND STRINGBEAN FRIENDS, AND EDA BEING EXCITED ABOUT LUZ'S PALISMAN!

"....Do you not understand what death means to mortals?" Well. As an immortal, probably not, but as a KIDDO, definitely not, again, feel bad for the Collector, if only we get just stick our heads back on after we chop them off (Eda can legit do that tho wait-)

RAINE you are back! Oh well, you were. "Annoying powerful" just say you are jealous broski, Raine IS great, love them

OOOO Amity is moving, slowly. Huh.

ARE THEY PLAYING PACMAN?! AND NOW MARBLES!? Awww, see, they are just a kiddo!

JENGA! Iconic group of games. Poor Collector just wants toys and friends bless them

"The archivists, my siblings" Man, TMA fan in me was like "JON IS YOUR SIBLING?! Makes sense."

......AWWW. WAIT WHAT NO. Okay. so BASICALLY, the Collector's siblings went "go play with the titans, we don't like you" blah blah, and THEN when the collector goes and plays with the titans (especially the little guys, like King) THE SIBLINGS GOT UPSET SO KILLED OFF EVERY TITAN?! But King's dad went to the Collector "YOU are the bad guy, I am hiding king from you and trapping you" DAMN IT

"I know its just pretend, but I don't care, i will pretend for as long as I want"...... Okay well again, THERE IS NO NEED FOR THE HARD HITTING LINES BRO

RAINE ARE YOU BACK?! Hell yeah, bard magic is sick, HELL YEAH, Raine pal don't injure yourself BUT GO SAVE EDA i think Belos means Eda anyway

...this isn't King's heart is it? Like, how would that work? Maybe its King's dad's heart? Idk

NOOO THE GOO GOT ONTO THE HEART, Belos that was mean, BUT RAINE YOU DID SO WELL, IGNORE BELOS YOU DID AMAZINGLY

OKAY so it isn't King's heart, that's good, i was confused

NOOOOOOo STEVE IS A PUPPET, well the whole island is, but still, STEVE I MISS YOU

"None of us felt like we fit in. So we decided to not fit in together" GOD YOU ARE HURTING MY FOUND FAMILY HEART IN THE BEST WAY

TITAN MAGIC!!?? King bestie YOU CAN DO IT

Belos I am being deadly serious what is your plan, I don't get it, you wanna kill all witches and demons, sure, but this is just making the area ugly, turning it into the dead coral reef ain't going to help

...................Okay Belos you are just ugly now. How do you keep getting uglier, its shocking

....................."You just need kindness and forgiveness huh" COLLECTOR BESTIE, OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO THAT WOULD WORK ON, BELOS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESN'T

"But i thought I was doing the right thing" OH MY DARLING COLLECTOR, MY KIDDO, how do you explain this to him, why is THIS the closest i have got to tears

LUZ BESTIE. If I had a nickel everytime Luz got almost turned to some form of stone in a season finale by Belos, I'd have 2 nickels, which isn't a lot, but its weird that it happened twice, right?

.......Alright so why is this not solving itself, am I going to have to wait until the finale minutes to see how Luz gets un-coral-ified?!

WHERE DID SHE GO, okay well now the Collector has a tiny sparkley thing of Luz she will survive, no idea how but still

DOES EVERYONE KNOW THIS IS LUZ, I would be mad as fuck if my ashes were being floated across the city, like, damn, do I not get privacy in death?!

EDA AND KING GOING FERAL BECAUSE OF LUZ'S TEMPORARY DEATH IS ALL I NEED AIUSDAOWDEJWAOR

Poor collector, he is just a kiddo, he doesn't understand, bless him

waIT NO DON'T LET GO OF LUZ, SHE IS NOT REALLY GONE DUMBASS

SEE! The little sparkley thing is vibing, in the mirror, realm bit

OH ARE WE AT THE BEGINNING AGAIN! WOO........ Okay why does King's dad have a mini Hooty in his eye and have a "Bad girl coven" t-shirt?! I LOVE HIM, but why is he so short? Is it because they aren't in normal realm so size is weird?

"I am both King and Queen, best of both things" IS THAT A HANNA MONTANNA REFERENCE?!?! IS KING'S DAD A HANNA MONTANNA FAN!? also does that mean gender is just, none existant here? SLAYY

"What? Have you been drinking Eda's homemade apple blood?" BEST RESPONCE TO THAT QUESTION

WAIT DON'T DIE KING'S DAD, NOOOOOOOOOO

.....Does this make Luz a titan? Temporarily one. "Eda the owl lady? Send her my regards. Big fan" AKJFSNFJ:EDOFL

Okay so yeah, he is huge, did think so.

RIP KING'S DAD, I WILL MISS YOU AHHHHHHHH

I will end it here for part one, its now been an hour and a half since I first started the episode and I am half way through so!

[redbusters]

The Owl House: Season 2 Trailer and Poster Analysis/ Speculation

i wasn't sure i was going to make a post about this, but i had SO MANY THOUGHTS so here's everything that stuck out to me while i scrubbed through the trailer and looked at the poster.

firstly, this shot immediately tells us that the door will be important. as we know, belos is rebuilding it, and his plan clearly heavily uses travel to the human world. why is he so fixated on this? is it just part of the plan, or is there another reason? what are belos's motivations?

next, luz immediately appears in front of the door. firstly i'm so proud of her for her improvement it casting magic. secondly, it sticks out to me that when the door disappears, luz appears in front of it. this leads me to think about a lot of things. does belos need luz in some way to activate the door? how does this connect to the letters being sent to her mom? why was eda such a threat to belos in the first place? the curse is going to kill her, isn't it? why capture her and petrify her himself? it seems like a waste of time. why is he still apparently chasing them? is it his need for order or is it something bigger? this is all pure speculation but i think it's interesting.

this next shot interests me. eda seemingly can use magic to some extent, but we see her curse worsen as she does so. if you pay close attention, you'll notice this:

her non-grey eye changes slightly in hue. this just tells me that the curse is still getting worse, and they need to find a cure.

next thing i notice is we get this shot of amity. out of everyone in the intro, she doesn't get a cool animation showing off her powers, she's just the transition. this to me hints a bit at her possible reluctance to go against the emperor. knowing her parents, it's definitely going to be hard for her to get to the point where luz, gus and willow are.

next up, these 3 shots. a few things immediately jump out to me. firstly, we get a glimpse of each coven leader in the bubbles at the top. second, what seems to be our 3 villains besides belos. his right hand men, so to speak. we have lilith rise first, and she was our season 1 villain. then this mysterious owl mask person. i think this guy will be our main antagonist for season 2. his mask makes me wonder. what's his connection to owls, and by extension eda/the owl house? and finally, we see kikimora enter. i think she will be the direct threat to our protagonists for season 3. i will touch on these shots again later. we also see directly after this a shot of all 3 in belos's hand as a transition, symbolizing that they all are or were under belos's control. could this mystery person and kikimora perhaps be turned against belos the same way lilith was? only time will tell.

next, we get this shot of belos. this gets me thinking quite a lot. this shot is just really cool, but also the castle is featured VERY prominently in the shot. i'm guessing the titan will be a big deal in this one. also, do we get more hints of how the emperor's powers work? to me it looks like he's harnessing lighting directly from the sky. could this possibly lend credence to the theory that belos is a human? or does he need to use power directly from the island and from palismans for some other reason?

this part is where i think back to the villain shot from earlier. ive included an image from the season 1 trailer and the season 2 trailer. as you can see, the intro plays out almost exactly the same after this point except for two key differences. the one being pointed out here is the lighting. we switch from broad daylight to sunset. could this symbolize our transition into a darker story? but something my friend @sleepy-sphinx said got me thinking. " i bet [the] season 3 [intro] will have them at night". everything immediately clicked for me. we have three antagonists besides belos. three changes to the sky. and three confirmed seasons. this leads me to speculate that season 3 will be the last season of the owl house, ending similarly to how gravity falls did. this idea makes me sad, but I'd much rather it go out as it was supposed to than drag on for too long or end early. EDIT: according to dana's twitter, i was correct in this assumption! season 3 is the last season with 3 44 minute specials.

lastly before i get onto the poster, the final change to the intro. this is no theory thing i just think it's really cool that they changed the title card to fit with luz's new knowledge of magic :)

finally, the poster. there are a few things that jump out to me:

1: it is solidified again that eda's curse is clearly worsening. she doesn't have much time left and they need to find a cure.

2: lilith seems to be trying to reach out for her sister, but holding herself back. she seems to be improving, but lilith is not on the good guy side yet.

3: amity is once again separated from willow and gus. just more evidence that she will be harder to convince than gus and willow were.

4: mask guy is once again in shot, seemingly running towards our trio. this solidifies my theory that he is our main antagonist of this season, as a replacement to lilith.

5: and finally, the titan is featured very prominently, directly behind belos. it's definitely going to be important this season.

EDIT 2:

6: something i'm only just noticing now is that the holes in king's face match the skull of the titan. could this perhaps indicate that they are connected in some way? i'm not going to say king IS the titan yet, there's not enough evidence... but there's definitely something to this. it also explains the weird parallels king has had to belos.

that's pretty much all i've got! i'm looking forward to what the crew has in store for us this season :)

[kitty-kedi]

My favorite thanks to them moments (part 5)(cause this episode is to good not to)

Yess hunter!!! Tell him!!!! 😤

This is one of the highest moments for hunter so far in my opinion. He may have know that below was evil but like he said in 'labyrinth runners' sometimes you just wanna keep lying to yourself for the sake of everything going back to how it was, even if that wasn't always better. So I'm very proud of hunter in that aspect.

I have said it once and I'll say it again, Camila is SO much better in canon than in fanon and that's a rare occasion.

I loved how she just didn't hesitate. Mama is a vet, found mother of six, and a good swimmer? My gosh the creator know how to make every character so likeable in this show!!!

What did she think he liked like?🤔

She's like, " I knew you had to have something bad from all your scars and stuff but seeing it in person is. WHOLE other thing!!!" I also like how amity Luz and Gus have the same face like " oh no what's he planning now" I don't know if it's just the screenshot but vee looks mad as well Wich rightfully so.

I'ma be honest I did not notice the brown eyes until someone pointed it out.

Oh poor hunter..😿 he has so many new scars now, Wich is gonna take some getting used to but.....why flapjack......I mean I know why but like did he not already have enough trauma Dana? What sickly beautiful thing are you creating. Also willows reaction to grimwalkers is definitely going to be brought up again right?

.................it's better than I could have ever dreamed of. 🥹

Now on the topic of where Luz was gonna stay I changed back and forth a bit. At first I always saw and thought of Luz and amity living in the human realm together with access to a portal door of of course. Then I heard more theories and reasoning and started to HEAVILY lean on the fact that Luz was gonna stay in the demon realm, I mean look at the evidence from 'hunting palisman' to found family. The only thing that seemed out of place was her leaving Camila. I had just originally thought that that was vees purpose as a character actually. That they would build on her and Camila's bond more and it would go from there. With all the popular headcanons of Camila character the aspect of Camila going to the demon realm just never felt right to me. But this episode makes my mind take a total 180 spin on that aspect and I love it!!! (Also luz's face looks really cute in this screenshot )

Show this scene to someone who hasn't seen the show, this perfectly sums up both of their characters as of now.

It's great to hear that Gus wants to come back to the human realm again and that he isn't done with it. He still loves human stuff just as he started and I love that for him. Willows lines in this episode are just.........my gosh I love what shes become😂💞. I want to see her get revenge!!! I want the whole main cast to get their own special hit at belos👊. (Except Lilith since she already got her turn)

Not as much Camila and vee content as a was expecting there to be but I still love um 🥺💕

Vee and Camila parallel Eda and Luz to me in a way. The first one shows the more boss - apprentice sorta dynamic if you know what I mean Camila strictly telling vee what to do, like how Luz used to work for eda back in early season 1. And then the second being the found family aspect and how much they really have grown to care about eachother.

The owl house always makes me laugh with things like this. 😂

......where's the egg?...….... Ok yea yea the Camilia and Luz scene was cute as well as the lumity scene but.....THE EGG!!!!! Part of me wants to believe one of them has it hidden somewhere with them. Or vee will have to come back and give it to them but, I feel like the next specials are gonna be really, REALLY angsty and im scared. 😥

[i-love-hobbies]

Eda's reckless behaviour and overall mental health

Summary

Eda is a genius, but is very emotional when making decisions (not anger, but fear, stress ect.)

Her reckless behaviour and apple blood problem in my opinion are her ways of running from reality.

In season 1 she made a bit of progress on this issue. Then the finale happened. Then she made again progress and s2ep7 did a complete reset. And she is making progress now again.

Eda's intelligence

She's been a criminal for thirty years. She has been in the shady business for an extremely long time. Yes magic definitely helps but you also have to find a way to be on top of the game, so you can survive.

Remember Tibbles' shrinking potion. She can't really use a lot of magic if she is shrinked or poisoned and dead, can she? Not to talk about her enemies which you'd think would attack her now that she is magicless.

They haven't on screen, yet. The only ones that tried are Adegast and Tibbles and they both died without her using any magic (or close to nothing).

Now we know that she doesn't make plans a lot on screen. In s2ep3 especially she just let's Luz make the plan but that's because she is her mentor.

In s2ep6 Luz used sleeping needles which is wild magic so no, it's not knowledge coming from Hexside. Also the pickpocketing Luz mentioned.

Teachers don't do the tests instead of students.

She teaches her everything that isn't glyphs. I wouldn't be surprised if she has told stories to Luz about her best "outsmarting everyone in the room" moments.

Now we have seen some of her problem solving on screen. One of which was in ep.18 fight only using her channelled magic trough the staff (im not taking credit for noticing this, have no idea who did though) and used the bridge.

Also if she can telepathically talk to her staff. Owlbert saving Luz was probably her idea.

She had her impact on Raine's rebellion as well, without having magic or turning into a harpy.

"You are not our mom!"

"Wow, we actually helped people this time!"

"Bye, mommy Eda!"

In the back of her head she knows exactly what to do, everytime something happens.

Eda's mental health

Eda's curse and the nightmares it causes. The father incident. The fact that she probably thought Lilith was scared of her.

Lilith's hidden guilt and her taking her father's eye out don't mix well together. I wouldn't be surprised if they barely spoke even if they lived in a house together.

Her losing Raine.

Her faith in the emporer being broken.

She has seen a lot of death, that does impact people.

Season 1

At the beginning of the series she was making a lot of bad choices which don't aline with her experience.

The series starts with her getting caught by Warden Wrath. Instead of just sneaking, they were just walking comfortably in the corridors.

They are kids, one from another dimension, but her... She doesn't know better? And for a paper crown that she can replace by stealing from someone else.

Next episode we are introduced to her morning drink later on confirmed to be for adults only. And that drink didn't get a mention for the rest of the season. In that episode she is also not the most clear-headed. She didn't try to sneak, she didn't use potions. Didn't try to plan.

A list about her being impatient can go on and on.

So when does she think. When she realises it's dangerous (aka when it's right in her face). Literally in the first episode the moment she started doing stuff is when she got caught and spat on the warden's face.

In episode 2 she didn't do that because she didn't know if Luz was alive and had a hard time bottling her feelings. Like if Luz proved to him to be hard to keep tight up he could have killed her, the girl that came back for her and her son yesterday. And she proved to Eda that she is a little dangerous the previous episode with her fireworks.

Eda was rational again, after she was with both King and Luz.

As the series went on though she started to calm down a bit.

Firstly, the fact that she was so focused on fixing her card problem, after Tibbles scammed her, that she trew them away in another dimension.

I was wondering how she overcame it so quickly.

It also shows her knowledge of how to handle this type of problems which brings up a question. How did she learn it?

Secondly let's compare the first half of the season to the second.

1. Everything I already pointed out and was hiding the curse. The stuff that happened in ep.5. Her refusal to be parental in ep.7. Body swapped.

2. She gets scammed again (this time though, how do you expect that someone was digging their own grave). Didn't use a sleeping spell on the slitherbeast immediately instead was just standing there. Got caught by the fun police. Worsened King's stage fright.

In ep.15 because of her ignorance Luz and Amity almost die. Except that is not the full story. She had at this point a lot of faith in Luz and this was her friend's mind.

For Amity it's not that she hated her. Amity actually saved her in ep.12. It's because she wasn't that important for her to realise. "Omg Willow is at the very least extremely mad at her."

It's again a refusal to think, but for a stranger and not really on purpose. It was just a habit of hers.

Episode 18 and 19

At the beginning of the episode. Eda hid the curse, again.

When she learned that Lilith had kidnapped Luz. She didn't try to make a plan. She just revealed herself in all her glory while her magic was disappearing.

Shot the staff in a wall while she was having no idea, what that was supposed to accomplish.

Luz showed up and she finally started thinking.

Afterwards Lilith said we all know what and for the first time Eda's anger was the leader of her choices and Luz almost fell on to the spikes.

So then, for the very least a night, she was stuck in her mind with something, that was chasing her. She woke up to Emporer Baby the B*tch, who was telling her, he was about to go after Luz.

And no she didn't believe in Lilith, but was so overwhelmed. It was insane. So she begged. After some more running, she woke up to Luz in the Comformatoriam.

Next, she was about to get petrified and for awhile this was the calmest things have been since she got caught. Then Lilith shows up (ah yes she existed).

King jumped "She was trying to help!". Wait King was there.

Petrification beam go.

PURE PAIN!

Then she got the idea for all of them to fly away. Lilith shared the curse making the confusion even bigger. Then her magic is gone (that was a thing). She learned that the portal is destroyed. Now she was living with Lilith and might have starved to death with everyone else in the house.

After all of this she not only tried but HAD TO pretend that she was mentally stable, so they could survive this mess.

Season 2A

In episode 1 she told Luz not to go after big bounties and then tried to steal from a coven's ship.

At this point her emotions are the only thing that made decisions while they were also getting hidden. Don't get me wrong she did help and should, especially Luz but it's ALL feelings. She didn't think about consequences, which sometimes are good.

She didn't attack Lilith cause it's just not the time, she's scared from her own anger. Plus she can't really stand being with the roller coaster of emotions, that came with being in one room with her.

This didn't mean she didn't work with her and hadn't listened to the backstory, though.

The episode ends with her and everyone else not being close to dieing. Finally!

So now what? She tried to think about Lilith? Yeah, she probably preferred not to.

Then her glyph almost kills King, but Lilith showed up and helped. This is probably a familiarity she missed. So again she decided not to process it, but it definitely sticks.

She also didn't notice Luz being hurt.

Next episode, we saw Eda taking a shower which means she has healthy coping mechanisms, at least one, self-care and is not yet a workaholic.

Luz's apple blood joke is concerning.

After the events of episode 3. Luz probably told her that Lilith stayed with her and King, instead of just leaving them, get killed by Jean-Luc.

Then Eda still isn't certain where she stands about everything and Lilith just left, with her final act being, giving King mental issues.

Throughout this whole thing her mom was there with her cures/annual accidental attempt to kill her favourite daughter.

In this episode, Eda fell for apple blood signs. Rationality is out of the window.

In ep.6 she decided to help, with students getting palisman. Again not thinking about all the trauma, but finally doing something against her first instinct.

In ep.7 she heard King's "Le-" and refused to fully process, where the heck is he gonna go.

She also punched someone, cause this is gonna work?

Now she has reconnected with Raine having no idea should she even think of a romantic relationship again? And decided to be useful at least for something since she "can't raise kids".

She was helping and being very good at it, but it came from fear of loneliness.

Then she heard that Belos has a plan and just is overwhelmed. What if the kids get hurt, is she powerless?

Oh, look! Raine might be dead!

Next episode she overworked herself.

In between ep.8 and 9 she was trying to scare the beast into transforming. (She is losing her sanity. Literally the previous episode told her not to do that.)

In episode 9 again it's all emotional. She wants to feel better and be stronger, so she told King to blast her (almost blasting Amity), hit fool's blood even though Amity said the lake is further ahead.

Luckily she showed progress too.

She ate voles, which was against how she was feeling.

In ep.10 she was scared of letting Luz in the portal. I'm not saying she wouldn't have before, but I don't think it was easy.

Right now, after s2ep10, I think she isn't the most mentally stable. But she is definitely working on it.

[tedturneriscrazy]

🎶Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door🎵

I wonder if anything will happen in this episode.🙂

(I say as if I didn't watch the episode twice before going to bed and writing this post)

I don't think I'll ever not be amused by the way Hooty just...does things with his face

Seems like he found a thesaurus at some point

Okay so it's canonically spelled "Hootsifer," good to know

Also, this is really all we get of Lilith, huh?

His little hoot/coo at Lilith's letter❤❤❤

To borrow a meme format: If I had a nickel for every time Alex Hirsch was involved in a show where one of the characters was experiencing pubescent voice cracks, I'd have two nickels, which isn't very much but it's weird that it happened twice

Eda's face🤣

As much as this bit is played for laughs, Eda's clearly still shaken by what happened last episode

Jeez, Luz, priorities /j

Pictured: Hooty

The way King talks about being pelleted implies this is something Hooty does on the regular

Hooty's plan to help King is literally a Buzzfeed quiz? Okay then

Betcha never expected lore from Hooty, eh?

"DO NOT INTERRUPT"

Officially a "type of worm"

The dance being a grievous insult wasn't exactly from nowhere, but still funny nonetheless

WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING COCCOON

Tiny Nose playing Switch definitely seems to be drawing from Dana's real life experiences

Wait, Hooty and Tiny Nose are friends?

Well shit, turns out she could use magic this whole time. Guess her going Super Saiyan wasn't just the power glyph.

I am extremely skeptical of your medical credentials, TN

I have so many questions about the methodology they used for the blood test(s)

I think Hooty may have misinterpreted what King was looking for

I'm still amazed at how King has had, and continues to have, moments in the show with some of the greatest emotional weight

Ooh, sound powers!

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CRUMBLE!!!"

It just occurred to me that that segment consisted mostly of Alex Hirsch talking to himself

Hello not-at-all obvious setup

Today I learned that Hooty is the baker of the house. Maybe he'd critique Amity's fairy pie.

Aaaaand there's the sleep inducing

Oh shit

In hindsight the Owl Beast being part of a dream sequence is rather obvious

Wow, Eda, tell us how you really feel about the Owl Beast

Oh we're just gonna ride aboard the Trauma Express today, huh?

Oh, I guess Lilith did make an appearance, after all

Damn, Gwen, not even looking

Oh shit dad issues

Sandy Cohen?! (To anyone who gets that reference, hi. How are your 30s treating you?)

Well, I know who Peter Gallagher voices now, anyway

Oh dear...

(Also, bright flashing lights triggering the curse? There's an epilepsy allegory in here somwhere)

Blood and eye injury? Gotta stretch that Y7 rating

Now we have some context for that look on Eda's face when Lilith mentioned their dad: good old fashioned guilt!

I desparately want to make a "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" joke, but I'm better than that

New memory! Raine!

Oh no...

I get the feeling I'll hate this part, too

They were exes!😢 Guess the fandom called that one

The reasoning for them being exes is understandable, all too real, and goddamn heartbreaking

That said, the fact they never stopped loving each other🥺😢😭

I do hope we can see Raine again under less...traumatic circumstances. Maybe that wedding that was mentioned?

Oh shit, are we getting into the Owl Beast's memories?!?! What a tweest!

Bet nobody expected Cloaked Moonface to show up in the frickin Hooty episode

(Also, holy shit I briefly forgot this was the Hooty episode)

Who is this mysterious cloaked figure? And why are they so tall and long?

So the curse was a sealed beast this whole time. Damn.

And it was just picked up as beach junk to sell as a trinket. So much for it being connected to Belos. (Not that people will stop trying to do so)

Who had "experiencing sympathy for the Owl Beast" on their Bingo cards for this episode? Yeah, me neither.

And here we have the necessary Eda coming to terms with her curse segment. More accurately, Eda and the curse coming to terms with each other.

Goddamnit why does it have to be cute

"It's like sandpaper" IT'S LIKE A CAT I FUCKING CAN'T

Insert Steamed Hams reference here to kill the mood

New transformation!

Oh no she's hot!

No, Hooty, you made it surprisingly much, much better!

She might have a problem pushing people away and holding onto guilt, but Eda always knows that she looks damn good

Oh right, Luz having girl problems. Fuck, so much is happening in this episode!

"Cotton-candy-haired Goddess" LUZ! 🤣

Attuned to other people's emotions = being a fucking creeper

Oh Luz, what happened to you back home?

Also, 99.999% certain Amity would love your cheesiness

That's...rather morbid, Hooty

So much lore development, including the fact the Owl House has a basement

Classic inanimate object silhouette fakeout gag. Subversion in 3...2...1...

There it is!

I can't imagine being pelleted is a fun experience.

Honestly I have so many questions about how Hooty got Amity there in the first place, but I'm not so sure I actually want to know the answers to any of them...

Cue much panicking

Wow, I'm really getting some Into the Bunker flashbacks

Oh this is gonna be amazing isn't it

I commend Luz for not actually dropping dead of embarrassment

Seriously, how can Hooty set all this up so fast yet not hold a pen?!?!?!

Poor Luz, she thinks this is destroying her chances

Meanwhile Amity is just "Oh, Titan, is this actually happening?!"

The way she's fixing her hair!❤

Goddamnit Luz let this play out, she's so clearly into this!

"Again?!" Okay who do I have to kill?

Luz is luzing it

Nooooooo....

JUST TALK FOR FUCK'S SAKE (aka how like 95% of issues in literally any plot could be solved)

Noooo Amity's so heartbroken right now💔

This isn't what either of them wanted!

To be fair, Hooty, Luz had a part in this too. Not that she can be blamed entirely. Poor thing clearly had some awful experiences back home...

Now Hooty is McFucking losing it

Why did I think he was gonna say "Looks like I'm gonna have to JUMP!" I think I've watched too much Homestar Runner (jk there's no such thing)

Those pulsating organs are still gross

Eda swooping in to save her son (No, really, he actually is now)

I'll say things get weird when Hooty gets upset!

Yes, King! Save them with your voice powers!

Damn that is some romantic lighting, and Luz is enjoying the eye candy (cotton candy, if you will)

Luz's reaction to Harpy!Eda is the family-friendly summation of how the fandom has reacted.

Hooty really just tearing up the landscape in remorse

Mother-daughter moment about love life!

I appreciate not just Eda's encouragement but her actually asking Luz what she wanted

God, Eda is best mom

Also, OH FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?!

OH SHIT

THESE ADORABLY AWKWARD NERDS❤💜💙

"I'm not as cool as you think" could be interpreted as self-deprecating, but here it seems...oddly reassuring?

The way Luz eloquently says how she wants Amity in her future...beautiful❤

Luz making some good faces

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

YOU CUTE DORKS I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

THERE IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

LOOK HOW HAPPY SHE IS

WE WERE LOSING OUR SHIT OVER A PECK ON THE CHEEK THREE WEEKS AGO AND NOW LOOK WHERE WE ARE HOLY FUCK

Awkwardness is still there, but that's to be expected

BET Y'ALL DIDN'T EXPECT THAT TRAILER SHOT TO BE IN THE HOOTY EPISODE HUH

THE WAY LUZ RUBS AMITY'S HAND😭😭😭😭😭

(And yeah, it's gonna still be scary, but only because it promises to be so wonderful)

Let's give it up for Hootsifer, goddamn!

Let'a also appreciate just how fucking funny it is that Lumity becomes official in the Hooty episode

Fus ro WEH!

Hooty actually saying "Luz's new GF" out loud...

In just about any other show the love interests getting together would be a climax/culmination of the entire plot. Here? It's actually used to advance the plot, and that is brilliant!

Dana Terrace and the crew really just knocking it out of the park again and again, huh

"They're adorable, and deserve all the happiness!" Well said, Hootsifer. Well said.

Probably for the best they had Hooty promise that. As much as what happened/progressed, there was a lot of property damage.

OH SHIT ONCE AGAIN

King's dad/relative! And he's voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson!

GODDAMNIT HOOTY

Wow. Just...wow. This episode.

King has voice powers! Harpy!Eda! Lumity are girlfriends for real!!!!

How do you pack so much into a single episode?! And so expertly?!

I had my suspicions before, but this confirms it: The Owl House is the greatest show of all time.

And we have two episodes left until the hiatus! And 11 episodes in the season after that! What are we in for?!?!?!

I, for one, can't wait to find out!

[takerfoxx]

The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 1, "Stranger Tides," First Impressions!

Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's whaler's life for Luz!

Now, if you'll recall, a common problem I ran into while reviewing season 1 is that while I was definitely enjoying it, it was so episodic that I often found it difficult to find something new to say about each episode. There wasn't a whole lot carrying over from one episode to the next that I could really sink my teeth into and fill out a full review, with the plot not really kicking in until the final two episodes.

Fortunately, I did not have that problem here, and now that season 2 has started, I have PLENTY to say about its debut episode.

So, this is what you'd expect for the first episode of the new season, an episode basically intended to bring everyone up to speed on how the characters are dealing with the ramifications of the previous season and introduce a few new elements that will set the tone for the season to come.

And basically, things at the Owl House are...not really great. I mean, sure, everyone got away and it looks like Emperor Belos hasn't really made their recapture a priority (most likely deliberately), but thanks to Lilith deciding to share Eda's curse to neutralize it, they both have found themselves powerless. They're not completely without magic, but what they have left is so meager to be practically useless. All expect for Eda's detachable limbs. Those still work. For Luz, as she never had magic to begin with and had to work extra hard to get around that handicap and find ways to keep up with everyone else, that means she's suddenly the breadwinner of the family, the one with the most power despite living with two (previously) notoriously powerful witches, and thus has taken up bounty hunting (sort of ironic, if you ask me). For Lilith, that means coming to terms with losing literally everything important to her, from her power to her position as the Emperor's Coven's poster girl, having been replaced by a spoiled teen prodigy (and oh, ho, ho, we will get to him!) as well as her own feelings of guilt for having cursed Eda in the first place.

Actually, guilt is the main motivator in this episode. Luz feels guilty for having gotten Eda trapped and that Eda now has to prioritize what little money they have for Luz's sake, which motivates her to take on more and more dangerous bounties to try to make it up to her. And Lilith feels rotten for the curse and that the fix ended up sapping Eda's powers, so she's driven to find some way of making herself useful, which fills out this episode's A-plot and B-plot.

Meanwhile, Eda herself is...handling things like a champ, actually. Sure, she's not thrilled about losing her power, nor does she care for the sudden dip in respect from the locals as a result, but she's not wallowing in self-pity. No, she's working and innovating, finding ways to adapt and keep ahead of the game. And to rip off the Empire too, because fuck those guys.

So anyway! Let's start with our A-plot: Luz the bounty hunter. She's doing her best to keep her spirits up and keep food on the table, but bounty hunting is a tough job and because everyone knows that Eda is powerless, the bondsman has no problem ripping them off because he knows he can get away with it. Furthermore, with the portal gone, Luz's messages to her mom aren't getting through, which is weighing on her mind.

Okay, we already know that Luz's mom is probably going to get involved this season. I predict that at some point, Emperor Belos completes his repairs of the portal, and when he does, all those unsent message will suddenly spill out all at once, giving good ol' Mama a heart attack.

Sort've serves her right though, because, you know, G-RATED CONVERSION THERAPY!

But anyway, she overhears Eda talking about eschewing her booze in favor of getting Luz food she can actually eat, so she resolves to make it up to her by taking on the biggest bounty of them all, which so happens to be a magical creature called a Selkie-dama, which requires her to join a ship that's setting out to do that so she could get a cut.

A ship that just so happens to be under the command of Lilith's replacement, who also so happens to be the mysterious spy working for Emperor Belos that we met last season, whom we will get to!

Anyway, they fortunately rush through the bit of Luz proving herself to the crew, because who cares, King finds out agent's private room (in a reveal that calls back to a similar scene in Gravity Falls) and gets captured, and they find the Selkie-Dama, in which Luz shows us how far she's come by utterly wrecking shit.

Unfortunately, the bounty is stolen by a mysterious figure, and Luz isn't about to get ripped off again, so she goes after them, only to find that that SURPRISE, it's Eda, who figured she'd cut out the middleman and just steal the bounty directly, because you have to admit that that does make sense.

But anyway, none of that matters, because that's when HE finally is properly introduced.

Hear that? That's the sound of thousands of thirsty fangirls (and quite a few fanboys and fanenbys as well) shrieking.

Meet the Golden Guard. Yes, he's arrogant. Yes, he's sassy as fuck. Yes, he's voiced by Zeno Robinson. And according to his brief appearance in the OP...

HE'S A PALE-HAIRED PRETTY BOY, Y'ALL!!!

So. We now have this season's small antagonist.

And since Luz is the only resident of the Owl House with any real power (Hooty aside, but we'll get to that) and now with Amity as Luz's close friend (more on that later as well), that makes him Luz's new rival! Ooooh, I can smell the Enemies to Lovers fics already!

Yeah, it's gonna be a HUGE ship, but that's no prediction, everyone knew that anyway.

But while I doubt they're actually going to get together (though count on our bi-queen Luz getting smitten once she sees his face), I do smell a redemption arc for this guy. I mean, why would they make him so likeable otherwise?

Yes, he was a jerk, but he was a jerk in an endearingly entertaining sort of way.

But beyond that, I do note that he also has a tech-powered staff (seems to be the same one that held the palisman that Belos fed off of last season, but with an upgrade), and wields the same flesh-based magic as well. Now, his ears do show that he's not a human, but I still wonder if all that tech magic (which has to be manipulating the flesh of the Titan itself) is either a crutch for the magicless or a shortcut for those who want power fast.

Also, in addition to slotting in as Luz's rival, he also has taken Lilith's place as the face of the Emperor's Coven and also uses Eda's "BYYYEEEEE!!!" catchphrase, he's set up to be a foil to just about everybody!

Anyway, he's not here to take them out just yet, but instead forces them to kill the Selkie-dama. They don't, of course, and instead trick him into thinking that they did, but it does show that 1. Emperor Belos is content to leave them be for the moment, and 2. Emperor Belos is seeking the destruction of magical creatures. Huh.

Also, called it on Luz becoming Eda's teacher when it comes to glyphs.

But speaking of rivals and ships, the question over all of this is Amity, who's been MIA with a broken leg for a while. No doubt she's not going to be upset about Luz being stuck in the Boiling Isles, but if Luz does start crushing on Prettyboy Golden Guard, I can see her feel all sorts of upset about that. I still thinking that Lumity is endgame, but now she's got to work for it, and there is going to be angst.

Anyway, our B-plot has Lilith trying to make things up for Eda, by putting together a scrying potion to spy on the Emperor's castle. Nice, will probably be important later, but the real important part, in addition to her getting over her pride (not an easy thing) was the surprisingly touching friendship she's building with Hooty of all people! I didn't see this coming, but they honestly have some great comedic chemistry.

And honestly, I can see it. Lilith's first introduction to Hooty was him opening a can of whoopass on her and her men, and now he does it again to save her from the fire bees. Sure, he's weird and annoying, but he's strong and competent as hell, something that she would naturally respect. I honestly like what they have building, and the Lulu and Hooticifer nicknames were adorable.

And now, onto our brief glimpse of Belos, who still managed to steal the whole damned episode with just a few words. We see he's gone that long, white hair thing going for him, so not a rogue palisman. So, human or shortcut-exploiting conman. Regardless, just as he seems content to leave the Owl House be despite Luz having the key (which will definitely be important later), he also seems aware of the scrying, and has no problem letting it go on.

Okay, this season is shaping up to be a great one. And next episode is an Amity episode, in which her parents meet Luz, so let's fucking GOOOOOOOOOOO!!! on the Lumity teases and oh God NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! on the awkward cringe comedy that is sure to result!