Five Things From: The Owl House 2×18, Labyrinth Runners

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 18 of The Owl House, Labyrinth Runners. Which five things stood out and for  what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. First of All

I won’t to get this little moan out of the way as at the end of the day, it is purely a personal preference. I didn’t like how this episode relied on side characters to carry the story at this stage of the season. This is especially true as we have been on a run of very strong episode lately. I don’t like Gus anyway and having him front and centre made the whole thing less important. Not having Luz there made it all lack urgency and I never really found myself fully invested as a result. With that out of the way, let’s carry on…

2. Use Your Eyes!

I did actually feel sorry for Gus at the start of the episode when he realised that once again, a friendship he believed to be real was in fact fake. He found out in an awful way though as the guy was just so stupid in not looking before speaking. Gus was basically right in front of him when he told another student that he was just pretending to be his friend.

3. Paranormatorium

The Paranormatorium has to be one of my favourite names for a room ever! It is just so fun to stay! Hunter was living in there after running away from the Emperor’s coven and we found out that the Emperor wants him found. Interestingly, not all of the coven know the whole story as some were saying that the Emperor wanted them to find Hunter as Belos was worried about him.

4. We finish each other’s…

A moment which really did tickle me was a short exchange between two guards when one accidentally finished the other’s sentence. They were trying to capture Hunter when the first guard said “put him” with the second cutting him off and saying “out of his misery”. The first guard was shocked and said that he was going to say to sleep. An awkward moment where one guard’s bloodthirstiness was accidentally outed!

5. Adrian Graye

We got to meet Adrian Graye in this episode who was the leader of the Illusionist Coven. I loved how they made him like a stuck-up, artsy film director and how he belittled the guards, treating like his own film crew. The poor guys were out of their element and trying their best but he was having none of it. He isn’t on Darius’ level, but he was a very fun coven head and antagonist for the episode.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×17, Edge of the World

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 17 of The Owl House, Edge of the World. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. It was all a dream

The beginning episode seemingly had King’s family appearing at the owl house and being welcomed in for a “getting to know you” dinner by Eda and Luz. First of all I double checked that I hadn’t missed an episode and after that sat thinking that this is all rather rushed and sudden. It turned out that it was all a dream. In hindsight that is a shame for King as now we know he will never get to experience for real what he did in his dream.😔

2. Listen to Hooty!

Before setting off on their journey, Hooty informed the rest of the group that he could hear marching at the edge of the forest. The moment was moved on from very quickly and it wasn’t acknowledged by any of the other characters. I was left wondering what it was about but the answer came to fruition right at the end of the episode as the Emperor’s coven guards surrounded the owl house. People need to start listening to Hooty!

3. Oh Hooty

A few minutes later when they got to the island, Hooty then demonstrated why people end up ignoring him as he spoke absolute rubbish. How did he always think that Luz had three arms?! I guess he at least showed concern when he thought that the extra arm had fallen off.🙈 I still felt it was a little harsh near the end of the episode though when he was unfairly referred to as an ungodly sock monster!

4. The Titan Trappers

We met the Titan Trappers who we believed were King’s family and for a while it looked like all was going well for King. About halfway through the episode you started to think that things were going too well but I loved how they drip fed the reveal. They foreshadowed it by having Tarak say multiple times that King’s dad must have passed down his skull to him. It didn’t really click with me the first time but the second time I did think, “wait, do their skulls come off?” It turned out that they wear Titan skulls on their heads and are more humanoid-like in appearance.

5. King

King is such a good sympathetic character and you could really see how much he wanted this new family he discovered to be the truth. I like how they didn’t go down the route of Luz trying to convince him and then the pair falling out. There was no need to cause a temporary falling out so I’m glad they didn’t. You had Luz solving the mystery with Hooty separate to King being deceived and then the two plots combined when they got to the reveal. It worked better as it didn’t make you pick a side between the two characters.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×16, Hollow Mind

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 16 of The Owl House, Hollow Mind. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. A Half-Century Reign

We found out that Emperor Belos has been in charge of the Boiling Isles for 50 years! This was given as the reason as to why many people weren’t jumping on Luz’s words about Belos being evil. They didn’t just have the people seem ignorant or dismissive; I liked that they gave a reasoning to why they weren’t all rallying in outrage. King worded it very well when saying, “No one wants to think they’ve wasted their life following the wrong person”. That is both true and rather sad.

2. What a Command

When trying to detain a masked group of vigilantes (who we didn’t get to see but I think Raine has something to do with it), Hunter made quite the order. I want to know if “I forbid you to flee” would ever actually work in any situation.

3. Backstory

This episode gave us lots of backstory on Belos and it was all very dramatic. Focussing in more on Luz’s horror as she realised how everything played out and connected together was very well done. Even if you weren’t overly surprised yourself, you still felt the emotion through Luz as she is such an investible character.

4. The Mystery of the Golden Guard

They did manage however to throw in some more mystery and intrigue in regard to the history of the Golden Guard. Hunter is not the nephew of Belos like he was led to believe. They also suggested that Belos kills the Golden Guards as they all end up turning on him eventually. Hunter looks the most like whoever Belos based him on and they are saying that he is something called a Grim Walker…I have so many questions but am very intrigued. It just adds another layer of sinisterness to Belos who could have been in danger of just being a generic dictator.

5. The Collector

Who is this mysterious collector being who was talking to Belos. It was very childlike and playful. It reminded me of a similar entity seen in the Full Metal Alchemist anime. How much is Belos pulling the strings here? Is the collector the one with all of the real power? Overall a damn fine episode!

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×15, Them’s the Breaks, Kid

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 15 of The Owl House, Them’s the Breaks, Kid. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. Key Notes

Luz was experimenting with various glyphs at the start of the episode and was making notes about them in her notebook. One of the notes simply read “petrification-bad”. We then saw that she had a petrified figure that she had practiced on. I hope that it was a toy and not a small, innocent creature that she had practiced on! Also, Hooty ate a demon’s arm and nobody batted an eye! I’m pretty sure it was still attached to the rest of it too!

2. Faust

We spent the majority of the episode in a flashback, looking back at Eda’s time at Hexside school for witches. We met Headteacher Faust and he was a truly terrifying being. Credit to the art department because his design was great! He was extremely strict and had an issue with the squeakiness of shoes, although it was actually the squeaky ones he preferred! How can you trust shoes that don’t squeak?

3. Lateness

Faust also earned himself the line of the episode. His expectations were so high that he wasn’t even happy with the students arriving on time! In his eyes, being on time is the beginning of the road to being late. Is he wrong?

4. Threats

The head of the plant coven was making various threats this episode about turning children into mulch for her garden and poisoning people. It was funny how legitimately annoyed she was whenever she was informed that these things she was suggesting were illegal. If nobody would have warned her, I’m pretty sure that she would have followed through with at least some of these.

5. Raine

I don’t really find Raine that much of an interesting character and nothing that happened in this episode really changed that opinion. What I did pick up on however is that they use the they/them pronouns and a little research confirmed that they are a non-binary character. It is really good to see this type of representation in animated shows and I also like that it isn’t the defining trait of the character. They happen to be non-binary while being a fully formed character too. Win-win.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×14, Reaching Out

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things from. This time we will be looking back at season 2 episode 14 of The Owl House, Reaching Out. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. What a List

Luz had a to do list at the beginning of the episode and let’s just say it was very adventurous. It contained, “make a new portal to the human realm, learn All the glyphs and essentially what boiled down to defeating the Emperor or at least getting some answers out of him”. A good to do list has at least some quick wins and more manageable goals. You need to be able to cross things off of it pretty regularly to stay motivated. 😅

2. No Beating around the Bush

He didn’t appear in this episode in the flesh, but the short cameo via the wizard messaging app got the Golden Guard a spot in this article. When Luz straight up asked him if he was leaving the Emperor’s Coven and was “good now”, he unsurprisingly did not give her a straight answer. The likelihood of that working was minute surely. She did get a cute picture of his Palismen even if he did send it to her by mistake. And no, that is not a euphemism.

3. Jewels

Both of Amity’s siblings had concealment jewels that created an illusion over them so that they appear more conventionally attractive. Surely this does not help with self-esteem and self-love for the young adult in the Boiling Isles. You have to imagine that so many of the teens use them at school and it is everybody presenting a façade rather than showing people their true self. Either that or it just helps with people who can’t be bothered to groom and dress in the morning.

4. Fighter Names

We didn’t see too much of the Bonesborough Brawl but we did get to see both Luz and Amity compete a little bit. Luz’s opponent has to win the award for best fighter name though as he was referred to as “The Flexecutioner”. What a name, flexing those muscles whilst executing folk.

5. Sweet Ending

The end of the episode was quite poignant as we learnt that it was the anniversary of Luz’s father passing away. Her and Amity shared a sweet moment at the end and we saw Luz’s mum remembering the anniversary too. The episode ended their on a sad note which still left you with a little smile on your face. Unexpected but sweet.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×13, Any Sport in a Storm

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 13 of The Owl House, Any Sport in a Storm. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. Hunter

This was another chapter in the inevitable defection of the Golden Guard from The Emperor’s Coven. The episode made it clear at the start that the Coven heads did not respect him. They referred to him as “little prince” and didn’t bother to turn up to the meeting that he was going to lead. He has been gifted his position and has only just began to question if this is actually the path that he wants to be on.

When he said that he hadn’t spoken to witches his own age much before, sure it came with a few funny moments but it is actually quite sad. Seeing him genuinely develop feelings of friendship towards Gus and Willow and not having them throw it all back in his face after the betrayal happened made for a really emotionally investible story.

2. Darius

Hooty better watch out because in only his second notable appearance, coven head Darius is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters. The line delivery of everything he says is just wonderful and I find almost everything he says or does hilarious and leaves me with a big smile on my face. Him developing some respect for Hunter by the end and showing that he does care about his wellbeing was really sweet too. If there is a coven head to redeem, it has to be Darius.

3. Art

On one of the stalls during the…I don’t even know what it was; an open day? A school fate? Anyway, on one of the stalls there was a painting that resembled the Mona Lisa but she was a cyclops. Is this coincidence or has someone in the Boiling Isles made an adjustment to the real Mona Lisa painting that they had somehow seen?

4. Theories

The show created and solved the mystery of the author of the Azura book series that both Luz and Amity are fans of. It felt rather unnecessary by the end as I don’t really know if Luz needed the “lesson” that the whole experience taught her. Surely after all she has achieved while in the Boiling Isles she already knew that you don’t have to be a powerful witch or demon in order to get things done. Hearing the random out-there theories linking to the author such as it being Eda or it being Luz’s mum from a different time were still fun to hear though. There are tv shows that love to pull out ridiculous twists like these purely for the shock factor that it would create. At one point when she was running away, they thought it was Kikimura and I thought that too when I saw the size of her.

5. The Reveal

The funniest tongue in cheek laugh came from the actual revel of who they were chasing. It turned out to be the little creature that just resembles a nose with arms and legs that his been a very minor or background character in many episodes. Amity calling her by her actual name, “Tinella Nosa” (what a name that is) and Luz responding in shock, “she had a name this whole time!?” was brilliant.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×12, Elsewhere and Elsewhen

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 12 of The Owl House, Elsewhere and Elsewhen. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Lets take a closer look…

1. Boards

We got a look at a notice board of sorts in Luz’s room which had a selection of various pictures, notes and messages. As well as a thoughtful message from King about remembering to drink water (he put blood first but then crossed it out), we saw that Luz needed to buy Amity a new glove…just one? Can you buy them not in a pair?

2. What’s in a name

Two points combined into one here regarding names. First of all, since when had Lilith gone by the nickname Lulu? I genuinely was sat thinking “who is this woman?” before realising that it was actually Lilith. The second part related to an elder witch known as “Flora D’esplora”. Luz said that she had questions about her name and I’m pretty sure it is the same as mine: did she steal that name from Dora the Explorer?

3. Revel Responsibly

While looking through a time pool (a much better name than a time puddle), Luz spotted a Viking group looking to revel so hard with one mentioning revelling themselves to death…whatever that means. However, later in the episode Luz takes a Viking helmet from  a skeleton. Was it the same guy? Did he actually revel himself to death? It that’s true then we all need to be very careful with ourselves!

4. Philip

Luz and Lilith met the explorer (Philip) and after this episode, he surely has to be either the Emperor or linked to the Titan in some way. He couldn’t contain his villainous betrayal though as he had to write about it immediately in his journal. If he would have kept it to himself for just a little bit longer then Luz would have been none the wiser!

5. Plot Twist

I was very surprised that since the show was doing a time travel episode, they didn’t go down the road of having them get seemingly trapped in the past or at least overtly tease it. They didn’t need to and I’m not saying that they should have but it just surprised me that it didn’t happen.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×11, Follies at the Coven Day Parade

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 11 of The Owl House, Follies at the Coven Day Parade. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. Messaging

The episode started with Luz creating a message for her mum. Is her phone able to still connect with the human world. That is pretty good reception if so because I can’t imagine that the Boiling Isles is set up with 4G. Luckily, she wasn’t trying to livestream her since there were some pretty creepy and crazy things going on which Luz might want to consider editing out!

2. Amity and Willow

There was a short scene between Amity and Willow which reflected how many friendship groups in real life operate. You have those members of the group who often ended up hanging out together but not usually one on one. When it does happen, it tends to stand out as a sort of anomaly. If anyone has seen Friends, Rachel and Chandler with the cheesecake is a good example of this.

3. Hooty

Hooty is once again causing me to burst out into laughter unashamedly. The exchange in question occurred while Hooty and King were operating a large sculpture of the Emperor from inside it during the parade. One of the guards shouted “Kill the monstrosity” to which Hooty quickly quipped back, “not the first time I’ve heard that.” Self-deprecating humour at its finest.

4. Kikimura

The Emperor’s underling was back, now with added mommy issues. They teased her becoming good but then had her double down on being evil all along. She was rather easily seduced back to the side of the Emperor with promises of a promotion. She didn’t get it, instead being told that being allowed to live was her reward for not following through with her betrayal. This all come from a hedge witch called Terra whose plant themed offense sets her up to be a very interesting secondary antagonist.

5. Reveals

In what appeared to be a slightly meta moment, Willow and Gus reacted very underwhelmingly to the Emperor’s identity reveal. This was surely a nod to how the character’s face had been purposely concealed for so long with a very underwhelming payoff happening. The Emperor did also talk about the day of unity and you have to believe that is where we will reach the season finale with all sorts of magical madness kicking off. I for one can’t wait!

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×10, Yesterday’s Lie

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 10 of The Owl House, Yesterday’s Lie. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. Portals

We jumped straight in to Luz and co having a portal seemingly to the human word open and functioning. It felt like a little bit of a jump but then it turned out that it wasn’t actually a fully functioning portal; she could just appear as a vision or in reflections. Do they actually have an idea about how to get there properly? They said that Eda used to go there all the time so surely she at least knows of a way to get there properly.

2. Doppelganger

The teased “evil doppelganger” of Luz was revealed here and she wasn’t actually evil at all. In fact, she was just trying to find somewhere safe to live and feel loved. The character (Vee/Number 5) was sympathetic and worked well as a way to introduce Luz’s mum into the world of magic and demons (which I’ll touch more on later). I just felt that an evil doppelganger would have made for more fun or it was going to be a part of a bigger plot set up by the Emperor. Instead it is now resolved and it feels like the intriguing mystery has been explained away in rather uninteresting fashion.

3. Snails

As well as trying to pay for coffee with a live racoon, Eda caught the attention of people during her visit by continually asking where she could find snails. Do they not have snails in the Isles? If not then how had she heard of them? If she had just heard stories then she might be a little disappointed as they aren’t that interesting.

4. Mother Knows

As mentioned earlier, this episode had Luz’s mum finally find out about the demon world. At first I felt like the reveal came out of nowhere and felt almost wasted. She seemed to accept things rather quickly and with little fanfare. I should have had more faith though as the episode went on to convey how worried she was about her daughter but also interestingly built some tension between mother and daughter. This was an unexpected development that worked really well: Luz let slip to her mum that she chose to stay there and her mum was mad at this as she felt that Luz must have done it because she was unhappy. They seemingly patched things up towards the end but that underlying tension makes the characters more layered and therefore more relatable and realistic, complete with their own flaws.

5. Verified

The fact that the villain’s main goal in this episode was to get his social media account verified was hilarious in how pathetic it was. It was also sad to know that this reasoning was probably one of the most realistic motivations seen by a character on the show so far.

Five Things From: The Owl House 2×9, Eclipse Lake

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Five Things From. This time we are looking back at season 2 episode 9 of The Owl House, Eclipse Lake. Which five things stood out and for what reasons? Let’s take a closer look…

1. The Emperor

The episode started with our first look at the unmasked Emperor Belos. Despite them holding off on this reveal for a while, he was not someone we recognise. Instead, he seemed to have some sort of mark across his face and that  was his reason for wearing the mask. They didn’t overtly tease a dramatic reveal for a particular character but it just felt strange for them to hold off so long just to pull this out of nowhere “non-reveal” now. Things did however get more interesting later in the episode as it seemed that the Emperor is the one who’s memories are inside that weird memory mouse thing. Does that mean that the emperor is a human?

2. How Time Flies

Eda had a realisation of how quick time flies and it was a way that has happened to so many of us and that is through using a movie as reference. Someone refers to a movie as old or they tell you how many years ago it came out and you realise that you saw it in the cinema seemingly not too long ago. Turns out 30 years have gone by!

3. Kikimura

Kikimura continues to seem very stressed and have next to no chill. She has no interest in considering the safety of her soldiers and it is funny to see them already begin to tire of her. I hope they continue this and we get to see some form of rebellion against her. At the very least, I hope that she gets her comeuppance in her rivalry with the Golden Guard.

4. Golden Guard

Speaking of the Golden Guard, they continue to tease her eventual turn to the good side. He just has a lot of internal struggle to deal with first. It is clear everything that he does, he does because of fear of being cast aside and replaced by the emperor. His position within the Emperor’s establishment has clearly defined him and he can’t imagine what he would be like or be able to manage without it. He’ll get there though by the end. I’m sure of it.

5. Mine Carts

There was a lesson here for us all folks: don’t let video games trick you into thinking racing through a mine in little karts is easy! It is not!