Luz Noceda & Struggling to be Understood

A Broken Shell of her Former Self

“Thanks to Them” picks up where “King’s Tide” left off as Luz struggles to keep her friends safe in their new surroundings. While the opening montage does show her getting to enjoy many happy moments with her friends and girlfriend, as time passes, her mental and emotional state continue to get worse. By the time the special picks back up, gone is the wide-eyed, happy girl we first met. Luz is a broken girl.

It’s at this point that we’re introduced to the darker aspects of Luz’s life, the negative things that she’s tried so hard to avoid or keep hidden. The years of bullying and ostracism on Earth took a heavier toll on her mind than she let on. Losing her father, the only person who encouraged her uniqueness, left her without anyone who got her, making her think her Mother was ashamed of her. So when she found herself on the Boiling Isles, she thought this was the chance to live the life she never could on Earth.

Then came everything horrible that she went through, all of which she now believes to be her fault. As a result of this, Luz spends much of “Thanks to Them” in a state of depression, openly scoffing at things like the hero’s journey she wanted for herself and feeling consumed by deep self-loathing. Worse, she takes her Mom’s advice of learning from her mistakes to mean that she should follow her promise and never go back to the Boiling Isles.

Almost Unbearable to Look at

Seeing the sweet, compassionate, and energetic Luz broken like this was incredibly painful to watch. What makes it even worse is her remarks in school on how “everyone would be better if the hero never existed at all.” That heavily implies thoughts of suicide, something that she may have gone through with had things not changed. 

Thankfully, Luz finds herself drawn back to the Boiling Isles to save it from Belos and the Collector, giving her a chance to make things right.

Finally Realizing What She Wants

Despite getting reassurance from her Mother at the end of “Thanks to Them,” Luz’s mental & emotional state fares little bettering “For the Future.” Seeing the state her adopted home’s in and what’s happened to all of its people only exacerbates her guilt even further. When all of their plans to get to the Collector’s home seem to fall flat, Luz’s mental state hits a new low, with her once again blaming herself for things that were out of her control. 

I honestly wish that the series had gotten more time to address this, but I still think it does a good job with what it got. In one especially low moment where Luz starts crying about her mistakes to her Mom, Camila manages to step and be the parent Luz needed. She admits that she’s sorry for not trying harder to understand her daughter, and that she never should’ve made her feel ashamed to be who she is. As I said in my look at Camila, it wasn’t Luz that was the problem; everyone else had the problem.

I Know a Little of What Luz Goes Through

Like I said at the start of this whole thing, the story of Luz Noceda resonates with me because I’ve somewhat been where she has been. Like her, I was different growing up due to my ADHD making me act differently. To this day, I still occasionally have problems trying to act in a way that other people consider “normal.” While I was fortunate enough to find people who understood me enough to help me, Luz never had that luxury. Everyone around her kept treating her badly, and events in the Boiling Isles made her think that, despite her best efforts, she only made everyone’s lives miserable. As we’ve seen throughout the series, though, that couldn’t be more wrong. She made so many people’s lives better since coming to the Boiling Isles. Almost all the characters I’ve discussed  in my deep dive owe their growth to Luz. 

She is the light of their lives, which is incredibly symbolic given how her is Spanish for “Light.” And now, her Mom’s able to rekindle that light and help finally realize what she wants in her life: to be understood. And this emotional epiphany proves to be the catalyst that she needs to bond with her Palisman, the snake-shifter Stringbean, once she hatches from her egg. The fact that her Palisman can take any form it chooses not only symbolizes Luz’s desire to define who she is, but its hatching marks her starting to recover from the terrible moment’s she’s gone through during her life. 

I Pray for Luz to Have a Better Future

With the finale airing tonight, the question of what Luz will do when the dust settles remains up in the air. Will she keep her promise and return to Earth? Will she stay in the Boiling Isles, where she’ll not only be happier, but would likely be seen as a hero by its people? Or will she find a way to do both? I’m hoping its one of the latter two options. Whatever she ends up choosing, though, I only hope it makes her happy. After everything she’s dealt with her whole life, she deserves to be happy. 

I’ll be honest. When I first started watching The Owl House, I didn’t expect myself to fall in love with the show as much as I had. It really is one of the best cartoons of the modern era, and I think it’s a real shame that Disney couldn’t see that until it was too late. It’s their loss! And while we may never get the full ending we deserve or crave, I’m not going to be bitter about it. If anything, the fact the show’s staff managed to fill so much into these final three specials makes me like the show even more. 

All right, guys. That’s it for me and my deep dives into The Owl House. Be back tomorrow as I review the finale. Let me know what you guys think, and I will see you guys in my next post.

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