RJ Writing Ink

A Series of Essays to Prepare us For the End to The Owl House

Hello, everyone! It’s RJ Writing Ink here with a very special announcement. Starting tomorrow, I will post the first in a series of character studies for fictional works. The work in question is one of the most thought-provoking, character/lore-driven animated series I’ve seen in years, The Owl House.

If you’ve followed my blog since 2019, then you know I’ve been keeping up with The Owl House since its premiere. Debuting in January 2020, The Owl House was the second of two shows that served as spiritual successors to Disney’s defining cartoon of the 2010s, Gravity Falls, the other being Amphibia. This makes sense since a Gravity Falls alumni created both shows, with Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch voicing two of the main characters on The Owl House. All good things end, though, and on April 8th, 2023, The Owl House will reach its conclusion thanks to Disney cutting the final season short. The joke’s on them, though, as they’ve since realized how immensely popular it is. It’s too late, though, since Dana’s already quit. 

While its time on TV got cut short, the show’s staff and fans are making the most of things by enjoying the shortened final season. The first two specials have been solid, helping to wrap up various character arcs in satisfying ways. So, what better way to celebrate the finale than by reflecting on the characters?

Let’s Look at How Far The Owl House Cast Has Come

One of my favorite aspects of The Owl House has been how much emphasis it’s put on developing its characters. They’re not just static; they grow, develop, and change throughout the story. As we head into the finale, you’d hardly recognize several of the cast, both in terms of personality and physical appearance. It might not be for everyone, but that’s the sort of thing that I like to see in shows like Avatar: the Last Airbender, Gravity Falls, Amphibia, and The Owl House. I love it, and having gotten to know many of these characters fairly well, I have a lot of thoughts on them. Thoughts on who they are, where they came from, and how we’ve seen them develop over the show’s run. Thus, I’ve decided to commit them to word to get us pumped up for the finale.

I won’t be doing every character, mind you. I want to do the ones that I think have the most significant development over the show’s run. Even then, that’s still a lot. However, I’m dedicated to this, and I wanna see it through. So, without further ado, here’s a list of the character studies I’ll be posting in the days leading up to the series finale:

• Emperor Belos: the Madness of Religious Fanaticism Personified
• Hunter: Overcoming Domestic Abuse
• Amity Blight: Learning to Define Oneself
• Gus: The Little Brother of the Hexsquad
• Willow: From Wallflower to Powerhouse
• King: From Delusions of Grandeur to Wanting to be Normal
• Eda: Learning to Open Up to Others Again
• Camilla Noceda: Learning to Accept People for Who they Are
• Luz Noceda: the Struggle to Gain Acceptance

I’ve got a lot of stuff to cover, and I cannot wait to share my thoughts with everyone. This is going to be fun!

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

The Owl House Season 2, Episode 4 Review

Ah, parents; the one thing that every living creature in the Universe has in common. They raise us, they help mold our worldview, and, if they’re good at it, they teach us right from wrong. However, as many of us know, being a parent doesn’t exempt them from poor decision-making. Luz’s mom tried to send her daughter to a camp to teach her to be “normal”. Amity’s parents are total scumbags. Though, admittedly, Amity’s Dad has the common sense to realize that his daughter’s relationship with Luz is making her stronger. However, it’s this episode of The Owl House that brings the concept of the loving-but-flawed parent to the forefront as we come face to face with Eda’s Mom.

This episode dropped some big revelations regarding Eda and her family, as well as the world of the show. Thus, major spoilers ahead. Don’t read unless you live watched the episode!

Eda and Her Mom

The episode starts off with a flashback to when Eda was Luz’s age. Having only recently been cursed, her mother, Gwendolyn, is devastated by her daughter’s fate. Not helping the fact is that no experts from the Covens can help her. Ashamed by her curse, Eda ultimately chooses to run away to…someplace else, while her Mom vows to cure her. No matter what.

Cut to the present day, and Gwen shows up at the Owl House, claiming to finally be able to cure daughter’s curse. Eda’s response: hard pass. Eda wants to stick with the elixirs that she knows will work. Gwen, though, presses the issue, and even ropes Luz in on her plans with the promise of information on how to get home.

Very, Very Close To Home

It’s clear that Gwen means well, but it’s plain to see that her efforts are misguided. In particular, her disapproval of Eda’s elixirs hits very close to home. Especially since the world’s still in the grip of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Think of Eda’s elixir’s as like a vaccine. It doesn’t fully get rid of the virus, but it helps the body fight it off if it shows up. It’s not a 100% guarantee, but it’s proven to work, hence why Eda trusts it. In contrast, hearing Gwen decry the elixirs as “nasty concoctions” is a lot like hearing an anti-vaxxer. They may mean well, but not trusting the experts and trying unproven methods instead can make things worse. In this case, Gwen takes all her daughter’s elixirs and subjects her to “cures” that even Luz realizes are a scam. If Luz, of all people, can see them as fake, then it must be fake!

Lilith Almost Succumbs to the Curse

While all of this is going on, Lilith is dealing with her own problems, and they are bad. Very bad. As a result of her Mom focusing all her attention on Eda, Lilith rightfully feels neglected by Gwen. The fact that she’s the one who cursed Eda, and thus created the rift in her family, only makes things worse. And when their Mom comes back and dotes on Eda but neglects her, the stress proves too much for Lilith. Thus, she turns into her own version of the Owl Beast that’s even scarier than Eda’s!

Ultimately, it takes both Luz and King calling her out for Gwen to realize she’s being scammed. After teaching the scammers a lesson, Gwen, Luz, and King work together to feed the sisters their medicine. And in the process, Eda turns the tables on the curse and regains control. None of Belos’ magic required!

Okay, Eda may never be able to do magic like she did before. But, if she were somehow able to turn into the Owl Beast whenever she wants, that would be so cool! Here’s hoping!

Luz Wasn’t the First

In the end, Gwen finally accepts her shortcomings as a parent and vows to find a real solution to her daughter’s shared curse. Consequently, Lilith decides to move back in with her, much to Hooty’s dismay. But before she leaves, Gwen gives Luz a mind-blowing bit of info.

Firstly, though, the flashback at the start of the episode revealed how Eda found the portal to Earth. She literally stumbled across it as she was running away from home, buried in the dirt near her house. How did it get there? Who made it? These are some big questions.

But that’s nothing compared to what Gwen tells Luz. According to Gwen, a substance called Titan’s blood can cause leaks between dimensions. Eda’s portal is likely only one example. More importantly, though, Luz was not the first human to live on the Boiling Isles! According to Clawthorne family lore, another human lived on the Isles, before they vanished one day. However, it’s said that they left something in the library. At last, Luz has a lead on how to get home! But she may not like what she finds there.

About Luz’s Mom

When Luz realizes that summer camp must be over, she thinks her Mom must be worried sick about her, not knowing that someone’s been sending her fake letters. However, things get even creepier in the episode’s final moments when it’s revealed that someone, or something, that looks like Luz is now living with her Mom!

After seeing those fake letters, my theories were that the camp was sending them or something supernatural was afoot. After this episode, though, it’s clear that someone’s using magic to fool Mrs. Noceda. To what purpose, I don’t know, but it can’t be good. At the least, the imposter must be convincing enough to pass herself off as Luz, albeit a version that her mom would prefer. In other words, when Luz gets home and sees the imposter, it’s going to lead to a lot of revelations. For all we know, seeing her Mom prefer her fake could convince Luz to leave Earth behind for good. Either way, a reckoning is coming.

For now, I think that this was a really good episode. It didn’t have the most action, adventure, or shipping, but it focused on the main cast when it needed to. In addition, it gave us a bigger clue to getting Luz back to Earth. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

I Give “Keeping Up A-fear-ances” a 4/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

The Owl House Season 2, Episode 3 Review

Who, or what, is King? Ever since The Owl House began, fans have fallen in love with the diminutive little demon. Not the least bit because A.) he looks like a Cubone, and B.) he’s voiced by Alex Hirsch. But we actually know very little about who he is and where he came from, besides his ranting about himself. Well, after twenty-three episodes, we finally get some hints about the origins of King! And it. Is. HUGE!

Where Did King Come From?

While Luz and Lilith are busy learning how to combine glyphs to create new spells, King tries getting their attention while talking about how he was the King of Demons. When Lilith rightfully calls him out on how crazy his claims are, King ups the ante by taking them to a mysterious island where he claims he ruled from.

This also leads to the three seeing how Hooty can detach himself from the house, and it must be absolutely disgusting.

Surprisingly, the island King takes them to isn’t just a delusional joke. It’s filled with ruins, images, and writing that not even Lilith knows about. If bookworm Lilith doesn’t know about it, then that’s saying something! And the ruins are filled with images of what looks like King in the past conquering his enemies. That, and there’s a hideous fusion rock, bone, and abomination goo that attacks them until Eda comes to the rescue.

It’s at this point where Eda finally tells everyone, the audience included, the truth about King; at least, from what she knows.

BABY KING IS SO KAWAII

Eight years ago, Eda was running from the Emperor’s Coven when she came across the mysterious island. Within the ruins, she found a baby King living by himself. Feeling sorry for him, Eda took him back home with her, gave him his name, and played along with his infantile fantasies of being a King of Demons.

Naturally, the revelation that most of what he considered his past is a fantasy leads the little guy to have a brief meltdown. However, As Luz points out while consoling him, this revelation doesn’t answer everything. Where did King come from, and why was he left inside those ruins? These are some big questions that need to be answered! And it’s this desire to learn more that leads the group to discover something major.

As it turns out, that ruined temple wasn’t where King ruled from; it’s where he was born after hatching from an egg. And that bizarre abomination (who he names Jean-Luc) was created to be some kind of guardian for him. And the images shown weren’t of King. They were of other members of his kind, including his father, who may still be out there!

A New Mystery to Discover

At the end of the day, King ultimately accepts the fact that he was never a King of Demons. However, he seems to be fine with this since he has the residents of the Owl House to help him come to terms with it. Additionally, there’s the revelation that there may more like him out there and that no one, not even the Emperor’s Coven, may know about them.

I can already hear the fans coming up with fan theories about King and his people. Where did they come from, and what happened to them? Why was King left alone? Does the Emperor have something to do with all of this? It’s enough to drive fans nuts!

One thing is for sure, though: I am looking forward to see what The Owl House does with this mystery going forward. Since this comes from The Gravity Falls tree of shows, though, I expect it to be this big, mind-blowing revelation.

I Give “Echoes of the Past” a 4.5/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

youtu.be/3WlSRUhpKtc

This video highlights what The Owl House is about at its core: how it’s okay to be weird. Even if some people won’t accept it, if you look hard enough, you’ll find people who you’ll like you for your weirdness.

t h r e e d a y s ! !#TheOwlHouse pic.twitter.com/j6Qm9VELw3— Dana Terrace (@DanaTerrace) January 8, 2020