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The Owl House Season 2, Episode 20 Review

When I first saw Odalia Blight, I knew I’d hate her guts. She’s abusive, manipulative, controlling, and an all-around terrible mother to Amity and her siblings. She made a very prestigious list in the penultimate episode of The Owl House’s second season. As Emperor Belos prepares to wipe out the Boiling Isles, Odalia proves herself worthy of being on my list of “Worst Moms Ever.”

The Plan to Stop the Day of Unity

There are less than twenty-four hours left before the Day of Unity, where Belos will use the Draining Spell to wipe out everyone on the Boiling Isles and free the Collector. With almost everyone on the Boiling Isles fooled, it looks like nothing can stop Belos. However, the CATTs have a plan, and at its center is Eda.

Having seen how Eda’s curse can warp magic firsthand, Darius, Eberwolf, and Raine decide to use that to their advantage. The plan’s to have Eda pose as a Coven Head, take Raine’s place, and use her to ruin the Draining Spell. It should work, yet…it feels like this will all go wrong.

It’s a Trap

Firstly, there’s the sacrifice Eda will have to make. She’ll have to brand herself with a Coven sigil, sealing her magic away. If Eda’s willing to throw away her freedom as a wild witch, things are truly desperate. However, there’s another reason why viewers should worry. A member of the CATTs might be a spy for Belos, and I’m worried it might be Raine.

It sounds far-fetched, but hear me out: the look on Raine’s face throughout the entire episode as they discuss the plan is extremely uneasy. Could Raine have tried to make a deal with Belos to keep Eda safe from the Day of Unity, or are they still brainwashed? Either way, the CATTs are walking into a trap.

The treachery only gets worse from here.

Odalia Blight’s True Colors

After what happened at Hexside, Amity, Edric, and Emira tried to warn their parents about what they’re helping Belos do. Instead, Odalia Blight grounds them, forcing Luz, Gus, Willow, and Hunter to rescue the Blights from their home. 

A quick side note, when Luz and Amity reunite, the two share their first kiss. This is a milestone in their relationship and a milestone for Disney by having their first same-sex kiss onscreen. One can only assume this is motivated by Disney’s decision to cut the final season down to three specials. One last defiant jab at Disney from Dana Terrace, and I love it.

What I do not love is Odalia Blight, who proves to be even worse than what fans had come to expect. During the episode’s climax, everyone was horrified to learn that Odalia was well aware of the Day of Unity’s story and went through with it anyway. Her rationale is that Belos will make them royalty in the world that comes after. 

Facepalm

I’m sorry, but that deserves a facepalm. How can Odalia Blight think that Belos will honor his end of the bargain? Is she that stupid? Belos has proven time and again that his word cannot be trusted. At one point, King even hears the Collector talking to themselves and starts to doubt what Belos will do. Her family disowns her right then and there, likely for the best. At least Alador realizes he’s been a parent and vows to do better, should they all survive.

Is the Collector the Villain, or Belos?

Then, we have the Collector. When we first saw them as the figure that turned the Owl Beast into a curse, we thought the Collector was evil. As far as we know, he is evil. He helped wipe out the Titans, and is willing to kill everyone on the Boiling Isles to be free from imprisonment. However, the last two episodes made me doubt how evil he truly is. He sounds genuinely lonely and upset at the idea that Belos might betray him. Could he just not realize that what he’s doing is wrong?

It’s just speculation, but maybe someone can help him become a better person if this is true. Someone like Luz, perhaps?

Luz Takes Matters into Her Own Hands

Despite the adult’s best attempts to keep Luz away from the Day of Unity, Luz Noceda refuses to stand back and let Belos destroy the Boiling Isles. So, when Kikimora (who’s been demoted) reveals that Belos knows about what’s coming, she doesn’t hesitate to rush off to help. However, she disguises herself as Hunter and lets herself get captured, meaning that she’ll be taken right to Belos.

If the show were ending next episode, this would be the moment where Luz and Belos would have a rematch for the fate of everything. Yet, since it is not, I’m worried something worse might happen. Something comparable to the end of “True Colors” for Amphibia. What if Luz ends up possessed by the Collector, and the show ends the season on that big cliffhanger. It would leave fans distraught!

The Day of Reckoning

With Amphibia now over, everyone’s attention is on The Owl House. Thus, next week’s season finale is likely going to be all anyone can think about. Can the Day of Unity even be stopped? Will anyone survive? What will Luz’s Palisman end up being?

In a surprising reveal, Luz’s revealed to have carved her Palisman into the shape of an egg. Her reason is that she wants the Palisman to decide what it wants to be. It’s a nice reflection of how Luz wants nothing more than the freedom to choose how to live her life, and if we’re lucky, it will take its final shape by the end of the season. 

But what do you think will happen? I want to know!

I Give “Clouds on the Horizon” a 4/5

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The Owl House Season 2, Episode 17 Review

I don’t know if it was planned or not, but this week saw Amphibia and The Owl House give us a two-part combo of trauma. Three parts if you count the low-key horror show of last week’s “Hollow Mind.” That episode confirmed fans worst fears about the Day of Unity. In addition, it proved that another theory about Emperor Belos was also true. As traumatic as that was, though, it only gets worse. After subverting our expectations about King earlier in the season, this week pulled a brilliant double subversion. We thought we were wrong about King; now it turns out we were right!

A Nightmare Coming for the Boiling Isles

Picking up right after the events of ‘Hollow Mind’, Luz is thoroughly broken by what she saw. She’s horrified that Belos plans to wipe out the Boiling Isles, moreso due to her role in unknowingly helping him. Lilith’s aghast at how Belos used her to carry out his plans of genocide. What’s worse, the Day of Unity’s a week away and they have no idea how to stop it. They don’t even know who to ask for help.

Then, a hope spot surfaces when Hooty coughs up the letter from the being who looks like King. It turns out, it’s from a group of warriors far from the Boiling Isles that believe King is one of them. Thinking they can kill two birds with one stone, Luz, King, and Hooty all set out to meet these people.

What I really liked about this is the fact that it expands the world of the show beyond the Boiling Isles. We already knew the Demon Realm was filled with other dead Titans that Demons called home. However, I don’t think many of us expected to actually see them, let alone travel to one. Needless to say, fanfic writers will have a field day with this stuff.

King’s People Found?

Using a magical portal on the finger of another Titan, the trio travels to the other side of the Demon Realm, to the same Titan from the vision of the Owl Beast. There, they meet an entire culture that looks and dresses like King. Sadly, the demon voiced by Kevin Richardson that we thought might be King’s Dad isn’t his Dad. However, the man believes that King’s Dad was one of their number. Their entire people is a society based around hunting and killing Titans, who they claim to be evil.

For a moment, things start to look up. King finds the sense of belonging he always wanted, and Luz thinks she’s found allies to help stop Belos. Then the second half of the episode comes around, and the subversion, then double subversion begins.

In a conversation with the leader of the Titan Trappers, Bill, Luz learns two horrifying facts. Firstly, the Trappers God is actually the Collector that is working with Belos. Secondly, she learns from Bill’s description of the last Titan, the one the Collector wants dead, is spot on for King. King…is a Titan. A baby Titan.

Brilliant Double Subversion

This is the double subversion I was talking about before. Initially, fans speculated that King might actually be a Titan, or the Titan of the Boiling Isles. However, the show seemed to throw that out the window in “Echoes of the Past”. Now, it got double-subverted by revealing the fan theories were right all along. It was a brilliant misdirection and left me genuinely caught off guard. Well played, Dana Terrace.

Any fan satisfaction we may get, though, is moot, because of what it means. King is the last Titan, meaning that he may truly be alone in the world. Worse, there’s an entire culture that wants him dead, and their god works with Belos. Since King’s blood could be valuable, that makes him a target. Even if he does survive all this, his ultimate fate is no less unsettling. Should he grow to the size of the Boiling Isles Titan, he will eventually die, his body becoming a new island for Demons and Witches to call home. It’s the circle of life, but also very disturbing.

Nothing is the Same Anymore

If last week didn’t make this clear, this week’s episode makes it apparent. The status quo Of The Owl House is now gone. Emperor Belos is now determined to stop the Owl House residents from foiling his plans, as he sends his Coven to arrest anyone inside the house. In other words, Luz, King, and Hooty might not even have a home to go back to.

With only a week left before the Day of Unity, we should expect the rest of the season to occur at a breakneck pace. Luz needs to tell anyone who will listen to her that they’re all in danger. Whether people will believe her is another matter, but she has to try. Otherwise, the home she’s come to love so much will be wiped out.

And they say animation is for kids.

I Give “Edge of the World” a 5/5

Also, shout out to Chris Houghton, the voice of Cricket Green on Big City Greens, for voicing Bill.

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