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The Owl House Episode 19 Review

I’ll be honest with you guys: after the news broke last night about Chadwick Boseman’s passing, I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood to do a review this week. However, after remembering the hype last week built up for us, I realized I needed a pick-me-up. Also, my desire to learn how the season would end was too great to be quelled. Remember everything that happened? Eda succumbed to her curse and got captured by Lilith. We got the first appearance of the show’s apparent antagonist, Emperor Belos. And top it all off, we learned Lilith cursed Eda as kids. Everything had led to Luz hitting rock-bottom, but we all knew that she wasn’t going to let Belos win. As a result, we got to see Luz come into her own as a witch this episode. This marks the rise of the Good Witch Luz.

Full disclosure: due to everything that happened in the finale, I’ll be breaking down a lot of what we learned in this review.

The Good Witch Luz Goes to War

Picking up where we left off, we see Luz’s guilt-ridden over Eda’s capture. And while it’s never addressed, I think Lilith’s last words really got to her:

Go back to your world, human. This one’s ours

The Owl House, Agony of a Witch

Ever since she got to the Boiling Isles, Luz has had to fight to prove that she can stay there. Rather than breaking her, Eda’s capture fills her with more determination than ever. Donning the cloak Eda made for her, Luz vows to save Eda, even if she has to fight the Emperor himself.

Her timing couldn’t be better. Rather than cure Eda like he promised, Emperor Belos plans to publicly petrify her. As the name implies, that means turning someone into a stone statue; according to King, it’s a process that can’t be undone.

Fortunately, Luz and King are able to break into the Conformitorium, and unlike the last time she was there, she doesn’t have to be sneaky. As a testament to her growth as a witch, she proceeds to plow her way through the guards and members of the Emperor’s Coven in search of Eda. In her subsequent fight with Lilith, Luz manages to put the older witch on the defensive. But most impressive of all, in the episode’s climax, she faces down Emperor Belos and manages to shatter part of his mask!

While I think the fights could be more action-packed, I’m impressed with how badass she is. She’s likely the first person to defy the Emperor like this and live to tell about it. And while she saves Eda in the end, I doubt Belos will forget what Luz did to his pride.

The Start of Lilith’s Redemption Arc

Since we learned last week that Lilith cursed Eda, I’ve seen her get a lot of hate on social media. Like, a lot of hate. That said, I refused to let my disgust fully cloud my judgment until I had learned the whole story. It looks like that was the right call, too, as we get Lilith’s side of the story this week.

As stated by Lilith in the episode “Once Upon a Swap“, Eda also wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven when they were kids. However, this episode reveals that only one of them could join, so the two would have to fight for the position. Rather than lose to Eda, Lilith put the curse on her to lock away her magic. The curse was only meant to last a day. To Lilith’s shock, though, Eda chose to forfeit, knowing how much joining meant for her sister. Tragically, Lilith was unable to undo the curse before the spectators drove her away. Thus, Lilith naively trusted the Emperor to heal her, and is shocked when he reveals he had no intention to do so.

What Lilith did to Eda was horrific, and I don’t think she should be forgiven any time soon. Having said that, this episode leaves little doubt that Lilith is a good person, merely misguided by years of guilt and the Emperor’s lies. When she learns the truth, she doesn’t hesitate to turn on Belos and save Eda, risking her own life in the process. After the group flees, Lilith then uses her powers to transfer part of the curse to her. As a result, Eda reverts to her normal form, but can no longer perform magic naturally. It’s implied that Lilith may not be able to, either.

More World-Building and Belos’ Plans

It may have gotten glossed over by everything that happened, but there was some world-building found in this episode. After pausing the screen at the start of the episode, I read a page of the book that King was reading about the history of the Boiling Isles, and put the photo here.

The book reveals that, eons, ago, beings called Titans roamed the Demon Realm, one of them ending up in the Boiling Sea. It’s remains became the Boiling Isles, and its magic is what the islanders drew from for power. The implications here are that there are lands in the Demon Realm beyond the Boiling Isles. Could future seasons lead to Luz and the others journeying beyond the Isles? Just something to think about.

As for Belos, he keeps talking about this “Day of Unity”. While do don’t know what it is, we get hints at what he’s planning. What Belos really wanted from Eda is the key that opens the portal to Earth. He claims he has no intentions of invading Earth, but that could easily be another lie of his. Or it could just be him seeing it as not an invasion, but “liberation” or some dumb excuse dictators give.

Regardless, Luz knows that if Belos got the key, Earth wouldn’t be safe. Thus, in an act of sacrifice, she destroys it, stranding her in the Boiling Isles in the process.

Belos’ plans have not been stopped, though. In the final moment of the episode, we see him constructing a portal-like machine out of the remains of the door to Earth, and presumably other dimensions. It’s a nice shout-out to Gravity Falls, but it only adds to the mystery of what he has planned.

The New Status Quo

So, this episode shakes up the status quo for the series. Firstly, Luz is now in the Emperor’s sights along with everyone in the Owl House. Lilith is now a fugitive alongside her sister. Luz now has no way back to Earth. And lastly, Eda can’t use magic anymore.

When Season Two will come out is uncertain due to COVID-19, but I can think of a few ideas as to what will end up happening. The new season will see the conflict against Emperor Belos begin to take center stage. Meanwhile, Luz will be trying to help Eda regain her powers, stop Belos’ plans, and find a way home. And while this finale could have been a little more exciting, I’m still satisfied with how things turned out. It’s been a good season, and I can’t wait for the next one.

I Give “Young Blood, Old Souls” A 4/5

Stray Observations

• Did you guys see how Luz can use Eda’s Staff to generate magic now, or remotely activate her spell cards? Could we see more of that in Season Two?
• Luz’s spell cards do not work on Earth. My guess it’s because she can’t draw magic from the Boiling Isles from there. So much for using magic when she decides to go back home to Earth.

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The Owl House Episode 10 Review

It’s mid-season finale time for The Owl House, and with no word on when the other episodes come out, the show has to stick the landing. The show’s already given us great moments and big mysteries, which I have been avidly keeping track of. In “Escape of the Palisman”, the writers touch on a recurring mystery in the series. In addition, they set up a new one alongside it.

The Power of the Palisman

With the show having focused on each of the Owl House’s residents, the only one left is Owlbert, the headpiece to Eda’s staff. Known as a palisman and created using ancient wood by Eda, Owlbert’s not just a tool; he’s completely sentient capable of feeling pain. This episode sees Luz learning about this the hard way. When she tries using the staff to take her, Gus, and Willow to a sports game, she ends up hurting Owlbert. Like a pet that’s been hurt by its owner, the little owl reacts with fear, going to stay with the Bat Queen. As it turns out, she’s a former palisman that was abandoned. Now she protects other palisman’s from those who’d hurt them.

I thought that this whole story was like watching a pet owner trying to win over an animal that’s been abused in the past. We know Luz never meant to hurt Owlbert, but she still has to show him that she can be trusted not to do it again. It’s a very sweet story that I think pet owners can relate to.

Eda’s Curse is Getting Worse

Meanwhile, King tries to establish himself as king of the local playground and get revenge on some kid who usurped him. His solution? Use Eda, who’s stuck mid-transformation, to scare everyone. It works about as well as you’d think it would. Compounding this problem is the fact that Eda’s elixir is no longer working. Indeed, King’s only able to snap her out of her curse by humiliating himself.

Ever since we learned about Eda’s curse, it’s been the subject of much speculation and fan theories. It’s that big mystery of the show, much like how “who wrote the journals” was the big mystery of Gravity Falls. Like Gravity Falls, though, The Owl House has only given us scraps of information thus far. What “Escape of the Palisman” does confirm, though, is that this could be a big focus in the second half of the season.

An Okay Mid-Season Finale

As far as mid-season finales go, “Escape of the Palisman” was pretty standard. It does set up what the big problem may be in the second half of the season. Beyond that, though, it doesn’t do a lot to grab my attention.

I can think of several Disney cartoons in recent years that have done a great job handling the mid-season finale. Season two of Gravity Falls ended on a massive cliffhanger with the reveal of the author of the journals. Season two of Star vs. saw the main character lose magic book of spells to her arch-enemy. Then, Season three of that same show gave a bombshell revelation that upended the show’s status quo! In other words, these were great mid-season finales. They knew how to draw viewers in and leaving them curious enough to want to come back. “Escape of the Palisman”, though, seems to lack that spark.

There’s no telling when the remaining episodes will come out, given the Coronavirus Pandemic going around. In hindsight, going on break when people need entertainment more than ever could be a bad idea. However, I’ll patiently wait as long as I have to for more of this amazing show to come knocking. I just hope the season finale will stick the landing better.

I Give “Escape of the Palisman” a 2.5/5

Stray Observations:

• King is still cute when he’s angry.
• That snot-nosed kid King was fighting over the slide was actually trying to overthrow him. Nice twist on that joke.
• The Monster Hunters return, now reduced to animal control
• I think Luz copied the move that cheerleader did in the pilot.
• Could one of the palismans with the Bat Queen become Luz’s one day

Favorite Quotes:

• Bow to me, you snotty underlings! Bow!
• Yesss. Appease your master!
• EDAA! That monster took my throne!

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