RJ Writing Ink

A Deep Character Dive into Luz Noceda from The Owl House

Well, here we are, at the end of this week-long, deep character dive into my favorite characters from The Owl House. I decided to save the best for last, the character that I think has changed the most on the show, and is responsible for changing almost everyone else I’ve mentioned. I’m, of course, talking about Luz Noceda.

When we first met Luz, she was a self-assured, confident, and optimistic girl who couldn’t fit in on Earth. So when she found her way to the Boiling Isles by complete accident, she saw this as the chance to live the life she always wanted. To become a great and powerful Witch like her hero, Good Witch Azura! The Boiling Isles proved to be equal parts amazing and difficult. Luz learned how to use magic, she made many friends, and even found love.

However, time and again, she found herself facing great loss, hardship, and evil that threatened to tear her apart. By the time she returned to Earth, she was an empty shell of what she once was. However, the people she met along her journey stood by her like she stood by them, and while she still has a ways to go, she managed to regain the idealism that the world tried to take from her. More than that, though, she found something she didn’t even know she was looking for: people who understood her.

As someone who is himself neurodivergent and can be seen as different like Luz, her story has resonated with me in a way that few characters in fiction ever do. While she goes through hell during her journey in The Owl House and begins to think of herself as a failure, the lives she’s changed for the better tell otherwise. I’m RJ Writing Ink, and as we get ready to watch the series finale tonight, we finish our deep character dive into The Owl House. This is the story of the girl who’s the light that could save the Boiling Isles.

My First Impression of Luz Noceda

When we first meet Luz Noceda in the series premiere, our initial impression of her can be summed up in two words: she’s different. She’s energetic, likes to express herself in ways that others think are weird, and can’t seem to fit in with her peers. This, of course, tends to get her in frequent trouble with her teachers at school, who all just want her to act like everyone else. 

Like I said before, I’m neurodivergent myself, and was no stranger to being treated differently in school while growing up. My behavior was seen as disruptive (which it could be), and I frequently got in trouble with adults trying to keep me in check. I lost count of how many times I got sent to the Principal’s office at one point, and based on what we know, it looks like Luz dealt with similar problems. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have people in my life who knew how to channel my energy toward something positive best. Luz, though, never seemed to have that sort of thing. 

Why Luz Ran Away From Home

Time and time again, people would get frustrated with Luz’s free-thinking nature, trying to make her conform rather than helping her. As we see in the series pilot, it got to the point where her Mom’s convinced the best thing to do is to send her to a summer camp to teach her how to be normal. The universe, though, seemed to have other ideas, as she winds up in the Boiling Isles, a terrifying and wonderful world that seems like a dream come true. 

After spending the pilot helping Eda and King break into prison, leading a prison break, and beating the Warden, Luz realizes that she fits in far more on the Boiling Isles than she does on Earth. So Luz basically says “screw summer camp. I’m going to stay here and learn how to be a Witch.” And thus, Luz begins her new life on the Boiling Isles, something that will be more wonderful and terrifying than she could’ve thought possible.

Learning a Few Lessons

As Luz learns on her second day living in the Boiling Isles, things aren’t going to go like they would in the fantasy books she’s always reading. For starters, she finds out that Eda doesn’t really know how to be a teacher and keeps dragging her heels on her lessons. Secondly, she learns that being a Witch as the Boiling Isles sees it is impossible since they’ve got an extra organ that generates magic for them. Something she very much lacks. Lastly, her wide-eyed and idealistic nature makes her a magnet for trouble, like how she got conned by one of Eda’s rivals. Or almost got dissected at Hexside.

Despite her shortcomings and having to continually re-learn that there’s no shortcuts to becoming a Witch, Luz does start to make a positive impact on those around her. She quickly endears herself to both Eda and King, neither of whom are used to having someone so nice around the house, with Eda coming to view her as the daughter she never had.

Making Friends, and Discovering Magic

Her sneaking into Hexside gives Willow the chance to show her true talents with plant magic and get into the track she’s good at, and provides the Human-loving Gus a chance to meet an actual Human. And while she and Amity start off on the wrong foot at first due to the latter seeing her honest attempts to be nice as malice, the events of “Lost in Language” finally see her start to get through Amity’s barriers. It also helps that both of them share a love for The Good Witch Azura books. 

More than that, though, Luz manages to prove everyone who said a Human couldn’t do magic wrong when she discovers Glyph magic. As the first season progresses, she continues to discover more Glyphs, allowing her to use more and more magic, and she proves to be a natural at it!

Continuing to Make Moves and Shake Things Up

Eventually, Eda makes the decision that she can only teach Luz so much at her home. So, despite loathing the educational system for failing her, Eda gets Luz enrolled into Hexside, trusting that her student will be smart enough to not buy into the “one-track magic” system and be able to change things for the better. Once we learn that Eda had tried, and failed, to do exactly when she was Luz’s age, this vote of confidence takes on new meaning.

As it turns out, Eda’s faith in Luz is well-founded. Despite Hexside trying to force her into a single track, and then put her in detention when she rebels, Luz meets other like-minded students who combine magic as she does. And when they save the school from a Greater Basilisk, they convince Bump to let students study as many tracks as they want. Only in school for one day, and Luz is already changing things for the better!

Luz’s kindness and enthusiasm only continues to change the people around her for the better once she’s in Hexside. Thanks to her shenanigans, she indirectly manages to get Amity and Willow to confront the long-standing issues that caused their past friendship to fall apart, helping Willow get rid of years of repressed anger. She helps Willow stand up to the likes of alpha girl Boscha and win the respect of her teammates. Most significant of all, though, her kindness makes Amity Blight go from hating her to having a massive crush on her!

“Grom Fright” is One of those Moments on TV I’ll Never Forget

Now, because we have to talk about this, it’s time to discuss “Enchanting Grom Fright.” That episode wasn’t just a major episode for the show, but it was a major milestone for Disney as a whole. Fans blew up the Internet when they saw Luz and Amity’s dance, and that only increased when it was revealed that the person Amity wanted to ask to the dance was none other than Luz. Dana Terrace eventually followed this up by not only revealing that Amity was lesbian but that Luz herself is bisexual, a first in Disney’s century-long history. When you consider how Disney, straight-laced Disney, agreed to let this happen, then you know that Luz has to be special. 

Milestones aside, this episode also revealed how deep-rooted Luz’s issues with her Mom are. Not only has she been lying to her about being in the Boiling Isles, but her biggest fear is her Mother finding out the truth. She honestly thinks Camila’s ashamed of who she is, and is terrified at the prospect of telling her the truth. As it turns out, she’s right.

A Deep Dive into Camila Noceda from The Owl House

Oh, Camila, how far you have come.

When we first met Camila Noceda, Luz’s single mother, in the series pilot, a lot of fans were quick to jump on the hate band-wagon. They say she was wrong to try and make Luz change who she is and that she’s not a good parent. While I do agree that Mrs. Noceda’s parenting skills leave a lot to be desired, I never understood why she got so much hate. Her decision to send Luz away was a mistake, but one she made because she wanted what she thought best for her daughter. And as the series progressed and revealed bits and pieces about Luz and Camila’s relationship, fans started to see Camila in a different light, understanding that, while she had her flaws, she tried to be a good parent. Ultimately, the story of Camila Noceda is the story of someone learning to accept people for who they are.

Due to lack of screentime, this deep dive will be written much like the one I did for Gus Porter. Rather than talk about things in episodic order, I’m going to be bouncing around a bit to give us a better understanding of what Camila is like and how integral she is to the story.

Struggling to be a Single Parent

From what we’ve learned, it seems that Camila’s early life wasn’t a very pleasant one. Growing up with a passion for Sci-Fi like the Star Trek expy, Cosmic Frontier, Camila found herself getting bullied a lot when she was her daughter’s age. The only other person that really understood her was her husband, Manny, who proved just as nerdy and as goofy as she was, with their daughter, Luz, inheriting much of his unashamed weirdness. However, everything changed when Manny contracted some sort of illness. While the show never mentions what it was, what we know is that it proved to be fatal. Despite moving to Gravesfield, Connecticut in the hopes of getting better treatment, that decision proved to be for naught, with Manny ultimately passing away, leaving the two devastated.

Both women reacted to Manny’s death in different ways. While Luz wholeheartedly embraced her passions and eccentricities to cope with the loss of her beloved Dad, Camila chose to suppress what she loved, the years of bullying making her think she should be ashamed of it. And while she tried to initially support her daughter’s weirdness and stand up for her, she saw how kids and even other parents were starting to bully Luz. The school principal even made Camila think it was somehow her fault and that she should get Luz to be more “normal” to fit in better.

Having seen all of this, I can safely say that it wasn’t Luz or Camila that were the problem. It was everyone around them that had the problem, wanting them to conform to what they thought was normal. This created a rift between Camila and Luz that made her daughter think she was ashamed of how she acted. All of this culminated in Camila deciding to send Luz to that Reality Check Camp, something both parent and child have come to regard as a huge mistake.

Thankfully, Luz never got the chance to go there, with the shape-shifting Basilisk Vee taking her place, with no one the wiser.

Learning the Truth About Luz and a Hasty Promise

While Camila wouldn’t play a large role in Season One, her influence weighed a lot on Luz, with the events of “Enchanting Grom Fright” revealing her biggest fear was disappointing her mother. It wouldn’t be until the Season Two Mid-finale “Yesterday’s Lie,” that both sides learned the truth.

With Vee having taken Luz’s place and life on Earth and doing her best to fit in, Camila remains none the wiser about the imposter. However, after seeing Vee start to get rid of all of Luz’s stuff, she can’t help but wonder if that summer camp worked too well. Then, the penny drops as Luz gets ahold of her mother and explains where she’s been the whole time. While she doesn’t believe it, at first, Camila plays along, thinking her daughter’s finally returned to her old self. Then she finds out that she isn’t joking.

To her credit, Camila does take Vee’s existence in stride, seeing that she’s just a scared kid trying to find somewhere safe to call home. After giving the museum curator the power of La Chancla, she all but adopts Vee as a second daughter. However, after that’s done, Camila breaks down when she realizes her daughter ran away to another world where she’s had to fight off constant danger and is now trapped in. She starts blaming herself, thinking it’s her fault Luz chose to stay in the Boiling Isles, and Luz doesn’t help matters. That’s when Camila does something that she regrets: she hastily makes Luz promise that once she finds a way home, she’ll stay in the Human Realm. This rash decision will come back to haunt Camila and almost destroy her daughter.

Getting Her Daughter Back and Taking In her Friends

Ultimately, Luz does find a way back to Earth, but in the most traumatizing way possible. The portal back is destroyed, her friends are stranded on Earth, and they have no clue if the Boiling Isles are safe after the Collector’s freed. It’s on this dark and stormy night that Luz returns home, battered, bruised, and with her friends in tow.

The first few minutes of the special “Thanks to Them,” pick up immediately after this, with Camila not even hesitating to take in Luz’s friends while they give the abridged version of everything that happened. Showing just how compassionate she really is, Camila’s more than happy to let the Hexsquad live under her roof, becoming a surrogate mother to each of them in the process.

While the opening montage to the special gives us glimpses of how Camila and Luz help the Witches adjust to life on Earth, I don’t think it does the former as much justice as it could’ve. If you want a glimpse of what we could’ve gotten from The Owl House, then I highly recommend you read the comics created by MoringMark on Tumblr, Instagram, and Reddit.

Post-Season two, he does a lot of comic strips showing the lives of Camila, Luz, and the Hexsquad living together on Earth, and one thing that’s consistent is how grateful Mrs. Noceda is to Luz’s friends. All Camila ever wanted was for her daughter to find friends that cared about her, and while it didn’t go quite how she wanted it to, Luz ended up doing just that. More than that, Luz brought home a girlfriend in the form of Amity, someone that Camila’s overjoyed to meet and is more than happy to have in her daughter’s life. #Goodparenting.

Understanding Her Mistakes and Being There for Her Daughter

As the months pass and the Hexsquad settles into life on Earth, Camila finds herself working harder than ever. She’s gone from being a single parent of one to a single parent of six kids. It’s stressful, as evidenced by the streak of gray in her hair, but she’s still happy to have them around. More importantly, by getting to know some of the people Luz has befriended on the Boiling Isles, she comes to realize that it wasn’t as nightmarish and deadly as she thought it would be.

It’s also around this time, though, that Camila begins to realize how much of a toll the promise she had Luz make is taking on her. Listening to Luz’s video diaries as she falls into depression, Camila realizes how she failed to be there to support her daughter when she needed it. While she ultimately found that support in the Demon Realm, Luz blames herself for everything horrible that’s happened since arriving there, her bright optimism now replaced with depression and self-loathing. Thus, when Camila realizes that Luz intends to keep the promise she made despite not wanting to, she sees this for the red flag it is and immediately rushes to her daughter’s side.

Camila arrives just in time to see Luz and her friends battle against Belos, who tries to murder everyone and almost kills Hunter in the process. After seeing just how evil and monstrous Belos is first-hand and how her daughter’s been fighting him all this time, Camila finally understands why Luz feels so wracked with guilt and regret. Luz doesn’t just want to go back to the Boiling Isles, she needs to in order to stop that monster. So, rather than hold her back anymore, Camila not only encourages Luz to return, but goes with them. She’s not letting Belos get away without getting a taste of La Chancla!

Reconciling With Her Daughter, at Last

Once Camila actually sees the Boiling Isles first-hand, she tries to act all supportive and pretend she’s happy for her daughter. However, Luz knows her well enough to know that the Boiling Isles scares her. Considering how many dangerous things the place has and how the state everything is in post-Day of Unity, any parent would. To her credit, though, Camila can’t help but sympathize with everything her daughter and friends have had to go through at such a young age, understanding that no one should have to endure what they have.

Camila does try her best to be useful, but whereas Luz managed to adjust rather quickly, she struggles. If anything, she proved a hindrance while fighting Kikimora, which also doesn’t help Luz’s mental state. When the two are finally alone, though, and Luz again blames herself for everything, Camila finally has the heart-to-heart that the two should’ve had a long time ago. She admits that she was once a lot like her daughter, being considered an outcast and not wanting her Luz to go through what she did. Now, though, she realizes that it was a mistake trying to make Luz suppress who she is, and sending her to that camp would’ve been a mistake as well. More than anything, Camila should’ve just supported her daughter. This leads to Luz getting the emotional epiphany she needs to unlock her Palisman and make it to the Collector’s home.

I Hope Camila Gets the Happy Ending She Deserves

Going into the series finale, I have no idea how things will end. Will Luz have to choose between staying on Earth or living in the Boiling Isles for the rest of her life? If so, that means she might have to say goodbye to her friends and girlfriend or her mother forever. Or will they find a way to keep the portal between the two worlds open? While I’m hoping it’s the latter, my gut’s telling me it’s going to be the former option, meaning Camila might never see her daughter again.

And you know what? I think Camila might be fine with that now. Thanks to everything she’s experienced, Camila has realized that she doesn’t have to hide what makes her unique to fit in, since there will always be people out there who will like her for her. More importantly, she sees that Luz has found people that love and understand her, something she never got on Earth. So, while it might hurt, I think Camila might ultimately decide to give Luz her blessing to stay in the Boiling Isles for good. Or, at the very least, they’ll return back to Earth with Amity in tow. Ain’t no way Camila’s gonna let Luz lose Amity!

What do you guys think, though? If Luz stays in the Boiling Isles, will Camila support this? Let me know what you think in the comments, and I will see you guys in the final deep dive before the finale: Luz Noceda herself!

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