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ordinaryschmuck · 13 days

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What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

Huh. Never thought I’d get to do this again, but oh well.

Salutations, random people on the internet! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And, above all else, I LOVE talking about The Owl House. I have an entire masterpost dedicated to talking about every single episode of the show and I’m halfway through a six-part review discussing everything that I love about it (Part Four's coming when it’s done. Let’s say…late June. Early July at the latest). I figured that after I’d finished that whole deal, I wouldn’t have anything left to talk about when it came to this series. Then, out of nowhere, the show’s original pilot leaked online…Sort of. It’s just an animatic with the show’s original voice cast voicing MOST of the lines, but it’s very much the pilot episode. It’s just not a finished product and I won’t share a link because I don’t think it’s exactly…legal. BUT I will at least share my thoughts about it because, well…Look at my blog. The Owl House has become the BIG THING that I obsess over for a reason and I love that I got to see what’s basically an alternate version of the show that I love. What do I mean?

Well, a pilot is MUCH different from a first episode. Where the first episode is meant to sell the show to the audience, a pilot is meant to sell it to a STUDIO. It can happen at any point of the story or act as the show’s first episode. Just as long as it shows off the characters, concepts, and tone, a studio can look at it, greenlight it, and allow the show to continue, BUT with some extra notes. Sometimes, those notes can change the rest of the series where others can keep the pilot good enough to stay canon. Some best examples off the top of my head are the pilots for Regular Show and Rick and Morty. You can tell that not much changed from the pilots of those shows and what was initially pitched, but there are clear changes in tone, animation, and even personality. Skips sounds a little more illiterate and Benson being more informed of the consequences of something as simple as rock, paper, scissors in the Regular Show pilot and Rick is noticeably more reckless and unprepared for situations in the Rick and Morty pilot. Nothing is set in stone with a pilot episode, even the ones that are canon. For the case of The Owl House, it’s pilot is no exception. A lot of it is just the same as “A Lying Witch and A Warden” at least in terms of plot and themes, but there are so many changes that show off what the series COULD HAVE been instead of what it was. How different? Well, let’s go through it all.

But real quick, I’m not going to do the “Like/Dislike” format I’ve done for previous reviews. Instead, I’m going to look through this pilot, note the changes it has, and share my thoughts on them. There’s also going to be a few spoilers to what happens in this pilot, so if you haven’t checked it out then I suggest giving it a watch wherever you can find it. It really is interesting to get a peak into what’s basically an alternate version of my favorite show.

With that said, let’s get into it.

Some Things Stayed the Same: Like I said, it’s basically an altered version of “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” The plot is that Eda uses Luz to get King back his “crown of power,” with some bits and pieces carrying over. Certain jokes that must have been too funny to get rid of, specific lines of dialogue that hit just the right notes, and some aspects of the characters’ personalities being just the same, proving that they're already perfect the way they are. It’s the changes, however, that makes for something more interesting. For one…

There’s More of an Emphasis on Comedy: As much as I love The Owl House, I’ll always admit that humor isn't its strong suit. It CAN be funny, really funny. But the jokes don’t land as well as something as Gravity Falls or Amphibia. I can say that a part of that could be because Dana Terrace wanted a more serious show, and we definitely get a sense of how serious it could be later in the series. Here, in the pilot, it definitely seems like there was more of an attempt to make the show comedic. King’s crown isn’t in a warden’s cell held within a magical barrier that only a human can get through. It’s in a Principal’s high school, locked in a human locker that Eda and King treat as something devious. Amity’s friends aren’t preppy mean girls who seem like they could cause conflict to Luz and her friends. They’re characters used for jokes who are amazed by Luz standing up to Lilith. There’s less of an edge and more of a lean towards cutesy fun, waiting until the very end to reveal something heavy. To me, it makes the pilot feel MORE like a Gravity Falls clone than the final product. Because while Gravity Falls has its serious moments, it makes it clear that it was a comedy first, both in the pilot and final product. Any moment of heart or drama was overshadowed by one hilarious joke after the other. Now, “A Lying Witch and A Warden” had a lot of jokes too, but there were also these moments that hinted at something more. You have the oppressive looking prison, the grand beam of light hiding human collectibles, a crazy chase from a threatening looking warden. And yes, the reveal that Warden Wrath was trying to go out with Eda was hilarious, but a warden who tortures a prisoner for speaking her truth gives a hint of how dark this world can be. Meanwhile, a principal sending a student to demon detention feels more like a joke, exaggerating how strict some principals can be.

And keep in mind, I’m not complaining about the pilot leaning more towards comedy. I actually laughed a lot more with it than I did with “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” I’m just trying to explain how the tone is definitely going for something different than the full series. It might have that darker twist in the end, but even that is nothing more than a surprise. I'll get into why later, but while it has darker implications, it doesn't detract from the fun times to be had. Not by much. From what I can gather from the pilot, it’s definitely going for a series with goofy, fun adventures with a bit of heart to it. It’s just missing that personal touch that’s in The Owl House. One good example of how?

There’s Not Even a MENTION of Camila: Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me being Camila’s number one fan, to the point where I almost made a side-blog dedicated to her (I really should get on that, though…)

I bring up this change because Camila grounds the story in “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” She draws Luz close to reality and is the first thing that comes to Luz’s mind when in real danger, saying, “If I die, my mom will kill me!” More than that, though, Camila is the one real connection Luz has to the human realm. She has no friends nor adventures, but Luz always has Camila, with even the first episode hinting that. So when Luz starts getting herself into trouble or choosing to lie and stay in the Boiling Isles, it lets the audience get ready for the inevitable drama that could unfold when Luz finally tells Camila everything. By removing Camila, though, the anticipation of Luz telling her mom goes away with her. At least, it tells ME that there’s less of a worry about Luz basically running away from home. Either this version of the show is holding off from that for a future episode or that Luz and Camila’s relationship isn’t close enough where it matters. This is speculation, of course, but I still stand by that a sense of something personal with Luz is lost for the sake of having fun and epic fantasy adventures with entertaining characters. It’s still good and entertaining, and the pilot does offer something else that’s personal, but it’s not the same as The Owl House we all fell in love with. Though, it’s notable that our main cast stayed the same.

Luz, Eda, and King: Overall, I’d say that these three, personality wise, didn’t change much. King’s probably the least altered, being the exact same character he was in Season One aside from MAYBE having a design change (It’s hard to tell through storyboards). As for Luz and Eda, they’re more or less the same. There’s a BIG change with Eda (That I’ll get to later), but her devil-may-care attitude is very much the same, as well as her snark and soft nature towards Luz and King. It’s her magic that gets the real boost, being able to do more like teleport across the Isles and turn into a…softer version of the Owl Beast at will. It’s pretty cool to see the power that this alternate Owl Lady has. And then there’s Luz, who’s still the lovable weirdo we all know. Though, this version seems a lot more dim and I’m not really a fan. How does she mistakenly give a book report in geometry class? How did it take seeing Amity’s witch ears to realize that she belonged in the demon realm? Luz had her dumb moments in the show too, but not to this extent. There was still a sense of maturity and cognitive understanding that made Luz feel like someone that seemed weird but intelligent enough to think herself out of a situation. This Luz seems more weird and focused on using brute force on a problem. In a way, it makes Pilot!Luz more of an…emotionally driven Star Butterfly. A fun and capable character, but not the same kind I had made several posts and reviews talking about how much I love/personally connected to her. But, comparatively, I guess it IS the most minor change that could be done to this character. Now let’s move onto BIGGER changes.

The Boiling Isles: The look and feel of the Isles remains the same, but the fact that it’s more connected to the Human Realm is intriguing. From what I can tell, the Demon Realm treats traveling to the Human Realm like it’s going to a new country. You visit, make some memories, and, for some, send your children over to be a foreign exchange student of sorts. Except that racism seems to be encouraged in this regard as the demons and witches don’t see humans worth breathing the same air as them. And some think it’s more than okay to hunt down and kill if one human trespasses into their realm. And the reason for THAT is implied to be Belos’ doing. Er, I mean–*Checks the leaked pitch bible*--Emperor Pupa? Uh…I’ll just stick with Belos.

And that’s extra fascinating to me because Belos being a witch hunter was a major twist that spoke VOLUMES of the kind of people he represents. To find out that this version is more anti-human makes me curious of what kind of angle the show would have taken. Would Belos have been your bare-bones fantasy villain or would the writers find a different way to tackle his symbolism? And is the reason why the Demon Realm is more open up to the Human Realm because he hopes witches and demons can report about their enemies for a possible invasion? There’s no way to know for sure because that version of the story will never come to be, but it’s interesting to think of all the things we COULD have gotten. The same goes for other characters.

Amity: To think, Amity was considered important enough to be included in the original pitch pilot alongside our main trio. It makes sense. Dana Terrace has gone on record in saying that Luz and Amity’s relationship was something she wanted from the get go, so it’s smart to establish it as quickly as possible. Though the route they take is definitely different. Instead of being enemies to lovers, Lumity, in the original pitch, went for the friends to lovers trope…kind of.

Luz, in this version, is someone so desperate for positive attention and respect that she latches onto the first person in school that was nice to her. Except that Amity was looking for some quiet and just so happened to look like she was supporting Luz when telling everyone to leave her alone. It was an act of kindness, but not one done in generosity. It still meant the world to Luz, though, making her go ALL IN with friendship. Only to be a little too forward and creeped Amity out to the point where she was polite enough to say “Thank you,” but you could see the desperation in her eyes to be anywhere but next to Luz. Yet Luz doesn’t see that. She’s still too focused that someone was actually nice to her that she blindly follows Amity into a new world just to return a weird looking passport. Because Amity’s Luz’s friend now and friends do nice things to each other. Only for Amity to accidentally reveal that she couldn’t care less for Luz and shatter her hopes and dreams in one fell swoop.

In a weird way, I’d say Luz and Amity are off on a better first impression here than in the original series. There’s no attempted dissections or witch’s duels. Just…Amity trying to be polite in Luz’s presence only to act like your typical mean girl when she THINKS Luz isn’t around. Tossing away the drawing is harsh for sure, but here’s the interesting thing: Amity didn’t know she was talking to Luz at that moment. She didn’t even get rid of the drawing until someone drew (haha) attention to it. If anything, it’s worth noting that Amity still kept the drawing on her. Almost like, despite being weirded out by Luz, Amity felt as though the drawing WAS cute and only got rid of it when she thought someone would question her for having it. Can’t have that Little Miss Perfect status shatter over something some human gave her.

Am I reaching as a Lumity shipper? Oh, most certainly yes. But we all know the inevitable conclusion between these two. We know where they’re headed. Dana has been pretty adamant about wanting it from the start and this pilot sets the groundwork well. Knowing where these two will end up, it’s easy to make connections and hypothesize what means what. Plus, look at the face of shock and amazement on Amity’s face when she sees Luz standing up to Lilith. That looks like a girl who’s…feeling things for this human weirdo. They’re not off to a ROARING start, but I can see how things could improve between Luz and Amity. And who knows, maybe this version of these two might end up dating sooner with how quickly they seem interested in each other. Again, am I reaching? Most definitely, but I went without any new Lumity content for over a year so LET ME REACH!

The point I’m trying to make is that this version of Amity definitely seems a lot more chill and polite at the start, even though it’s likely she still has issues of even being FRIENDS with a human. But not everyone starts off polite.

Lilith: Crazy to think that Lilith started out as…basically a one-off villain like Warden Wrath. At least, that’s what I gathered from the pilot. The pitch bible hints that there COULD be more to her, but at the same time she gets sent to a fire dimension and loses a hand. That’s one-off villain energy if I’ve ever seen it. But if she is meant to be something more, I would love to see what differences could come of her being the headmaster of Hexside instead of Bump and how she could either develop into someone better through Luz’s influence as a student or regress into someone worse as she makes Luz’s school life a living hell. Whatever could come from her, it was kind of fun seeing Lilith act as more of a threat with her…out of nowhere ability to turn into a bat monster. It’s a pretty cool design and I love that it was brought out due to Eda’s constant pestering, proving that Lilith is still the same insecure nut that I love. And it is pretty great that this pilot confirmed that Lilith really did dye her hair to look more serious. You CAN’T tell me that’s not why the Lilith we know ditched the curly red hair.

But that’s about it when it comes to changes towards characters and locations. Let’s talk about the potential differences in the ongoing story.

Luz Stays Trapped Instead of Choosing to Stay: I mean, technically she chose to stay by breaking that key for no reason, but that’s more of a consequence of not thinking things through. She didn’t NEED to break the key, Luz could have just as easily pulled it out. Instead, she kicked the dang thing, leaving herself trapped in this new world. And it’s here that I would like to once again point out how this makes Pilot!Luz different and what’s lost by not including Camila. The Luz WE know would have been more careful. She always felt like someone who fought smarter, not harder, even in that first episode. Luz didn’t fight Wrath head on, she rallied a prison riot that distracted him long enough for her to hit a firework ball into his mouth. She’s intelligent and resourceful, where this one…kind of is? It was smart to send Lilith to the fire dimension, but again, not a great plan to break the key. Plus, without Camila, this doesn’t feel like as big of a deal as it could have been. Camila was the first person in Luz’s mind as she destroyed the portal door in the Season One finale. In the pilot, with no Camila, it feels like a non-sacrifice or even that big of a deal. She’s stuck, sure, but Luz doesn’t really seem to care that much. She feels happy being with Eda and King and doesn’t seem to be in that big of a rush to get home. Plus, it’s not exactly complicated to get back. There was a whole line of portal doors in the beginning that Luz could potentially sneak through and there’s not yet an established cannon that makes it seem like getting a new key would be difficult or even complicated. Once more, it gives the impression that this version of The Owl House would be focused less on personal stakes and more like giving Luz that fantasy adventure she’s always been craving for. It would make for a fun show, but not the SAME show. However, it is worth noting that there could be some potential drama. Especially for one twist that was a JOLT to my system.

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

I’ll admit, I feel like the reason why this is so shocking is because of the Eda I know and the Emperor I learned to fear. I mean, Eda, the woman who would sooner eat her own fist before even CONSIDERING helping Belos, even before the witch hunter business, was originally meant to HELP him. Of all the changes that the series could have made, this was by far the biggest. Everything that I thought to be constant turned out to be a lie and I was NOT prepared for it!

But again, the reason why I got that big of a reaction is because it goes against everything I knew about Eda. If this was my first introduction to her, it’d be less of a shocking twist and more of a…hook. Like how Invincible’s first episode (Don’t watch if you’re a baby) ends with a character you THOUGHT you could trust doing this intensely dark thing. The rest of the season is leading you to figure out WHY this was done and how the other characters would react, making you want to see more as the show inevitably leads up to this big conclusion that changes everything you once knew. The same applies here, with the reveal making me wonder why Eda would do this, how long she’s been doing it, how it will affect her relationship with Luz, and whether or not it’d be an easy fix. And much like the ending of Invincible’s first episode (Seriously, NOT meant for babies), this hook makes me interested in wanting to see what comes next. Except I never will know because that came from a version of The Owl House that will never exist.

The pilot is interesting because it shows me what The Owl House COULD have been. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than what we got or even that it’s a better first impression than “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” It’s definitely FUNNIER, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t make the original pitch better, it makes it different. Everything looks the same and sounds the same, but the overall feel of this pilot makes it something that would have had a different story, tone, and ideas on how to develop these characters. Would I have liked it? Absolutely. It seems like a fun time. But that doesn’t mean I like the show we got any less. This was more like…getting a peek into an alternate universe where a show I already love would have been vastly different. And after over a year without any new Owl House content aside from stuff that fans have made, this was a very pleasant surprise that leaves me excited for the NEW fan content that springs from all this.

But that’s enough talking about a show that could have been made. Time to get back to a series that came into existence and I still love so much. See you all then as you all milk this gift that the internet has given you.

#the owl house #luz noceda #camila noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #amity blight #lilith clawthorne #the owl house pilot #what i thought about #the owl house reviews

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xolilith · 1 month

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terminei o documentário sobre clarice lispector e que mulher meus amigos!!!! E sabe o melhor? a vida de clarice era normal, muito normal, mas o que torna a figura, as histórias escritas, é a capacidade de criatividade, de atribuir estética de modo tão íntimo e sincero. Uma vida atravessada pela existência em todas as suas faces.

Maravilhada! Te amo, clarice! E amo sua representividade pra nós mulheres também atravessadas pela existência.

#talk that talk lilith #xolilith reviews

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wearethekat · 3 months

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February Book Reviews: A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow

Picked this new release up because I've found Saintcrow's books engaging in the past. Solveig has a respected position in her father's hall as one of the most powerful magic users seen in generations. But when her brother impulsively kills a man in a brawl, she's sent north with the dead man's kin as a weregild tribute in recompense. As Solveig travels northward, she begins to realize that the Northerners are not who they seem-- and legends she's heard about the evil that lurks there are more than stories.

Saintcrow does an excellent job of establishing Solveig's Norse-inspired home. It's obvious that she's done research into the material reality of the period, which makes for a much more engaging setting than tacking some (inaccurate) horned helmets onto things and calling it a day. The prose is in a high-formal, faux archaic style which personally I enjoy, but some people might find grating.

Where this book fell a little short for me was the pacing. For a hefty four hundred fifty pages, this book does little more than introduce the basic premise before ending on a cliffhanger with little to no plot threads resolved. It takes a hundred pages to cover the initial setup I summarized in two sentences above-- Solveig being sent north as weregild. The slow pacing is exacerbated by Solveig's essentially passive position in the plot. It's an understandable decision based on her situation and reverence for the rules that govern a weregild's behavior-- but it also means that Solveig could be effectively replaced by a very important suitcase for most of the story without changing the plot.

One further side note and caveat about this book. While the first half of the book had worldbuilding I enjoyed, the second half of the book abruptly entered a narrative where every single backstory was cribbed directly from Tolkien's Silmarillion. I don't mean it vaguely resembled the Silmarillion, with a shadowy big bad and orcs and elves. I mean Saintcrow presented the reader with sentences of plot taken directly from it, with only some token name changes. A representative but not exhaustive list of examples: The theft of the Silmarils and the Oath of Feanor

Of Faevril's works he spoke, many works of seidhr wrought by an Elder alkuine's hands in the uttermost West. Of how the Enemy, granted grace and lee to repair damage he had previously wreaked, betrayed that ruth with the murder of Faevril's father and the theft of many great works, as well as a crime so dark the Elder do not speak of it, dimming the light of their home well before Moon or Sun arose. Of Faevril's sons and the vengeance they swore with their wrathful father did Eol speak...

The romance of Beren and Luthien and the recovery of one of the Silmarils from Morgoth

"Whatever he told you was only in service to finding what Bjornwulf and Lithielle won at great cost. He and his brother will slay any who seek to keep the Freed Jewel from them, even their kin-- that is their oath...

Nithraen is a hidden elven cave city that fell in an attack involving a dragon-- which is, of course, the story of Turin Turambar and the fall of Nargothrond.

Aeredh clasped the tall man's shoulder, and it looked like he was delivering even worse tidings than Nithraen's fall, for that was the only time I saw Tarit son of Hajithe pale and almost stagger. The songs say he lost a loved one in the cataclysm, an Elder maid...

An interesting beginning and a standout execution, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequel when it comes out in July. If I wanted to know what happens I would just reread the Silmarillion.

#no I am not getting back into doing regular book reviews I am still fried like an egg #HOWEVER I thought I'd crosspost this since I was obliged to post it on goodreads #the seventy-four knuckleheads writing reviews there may not have read the silmarillion but *I* have #and by jod I'm going to make sure everyone knows it #my book reviews #february book reviews #lilith saintcrow #a flame in the north #silmarillion

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princessofmanyfaces · 11 months

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Six Scorched Roses

A 5 Star read for me | This book is the novella from the Crowns of Nyaxia series (timewise it plays between book one and book two) and I just LOVED Lilith and Vale. They were adorable. They were super non-toxic. Plot was great for a 200 page book. Amazing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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peterstanslizzie · 2 years

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It’s a RELIEF to know that Raine didn’t backstab the group 😅

And they kept their promise to Luz to protect Eda! 🥰 I hope the both of them get married in the series finale 💕. I would so totally cry watching that hehe

I’m sorry but why TF is Odalia in this photo? Her trifling ass does not deserve to be in Eda’s imagination 😒

I’m getting emotional 😪 just thinking about how much Eda and Lilith’s relationship has grown since season 1. Back then, they could barely stand each other and now, they truly care about each other! 😭

Hooty used to annoy the heck out of me TBH, especially in the early episodes. But lately, I’ve been LOVING HIM too 🧡. His friendship with Lulu really boosted his character. And how sweet of Eda to kiss him on the forehead before parting ways 💕. His relationship with Eda has grown a lot as well!

HIS EYES 😍! How precious!!!

#toh #toh spoilers #the owl house #toh season 2 #king's tide #the owl house season 2 #eda and lilith #eda x raine #eda and raine #eda toh #raine toh #raine whispers #lilith toh #hooty toh #the owl house recap #the owl house review

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comiczinefa · 6 months

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New in FA—The Comiczine: Will Morgan is not impressed by the latest iteration of DC's alternate Supergirl, Power Girl.

#DC Comics #Lilith #Omen #Power Girl #will morgan #reviews

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an-aussie-button-masher · 1 year

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns - the superhero strategy game I never knew I needed

I wasn’t sure I’d like playing Midnight Suns, as I’d never been interested in the whole “deck-building turn-based-strategy” schtick, but over 130 hours later I’m wishing I’d played it from day one. Developed by Firaxis Games (the team behind XCOM) and released in December 2022, Midnight Suns is the latest addition to the Marvel gaming library. An adaptation of the comics team known as the Midnight Sons, the game focuses on the lesser-seen mystical and supernatural side of Marvel. It’s also the first Marvel game that allows the player to create their own protagonist; dubbed The Hunter, this entirely original character serves as the player’s avatar throughout the game as they battle the evil demonic Lilith (who also happens to be the Hunter’s mother). As Lilith spreads her demonic influence across Earth, it’s up to the Midnight Suns, their allies in the Avengers, and the newly-resurrected Hunter to stop her at all costs.

GAMEPLAY The game wastes no time in throwing you into the action, teaching you the basic mechanics in a quick and intuitive way. As the game progresses, the sheer amount of different tricks and mechanics you’ll need to master might seem intimidating, but you’d be surprised at how quickly it becomes like second nature. With new heroes, cards, enemies, hazards and mission types constantly being introduced over time, the game feels fresh and engaging for the entire playthrough without outpacing the player. Between missions, the player controls the Hunter as you explore the Abbey, the makeshift home base of the Midnight Suns. Exploring the Abbey grounds and hanging out with the heroes is a “love it or hate it” situation; while some might feel it drags down the action, I personally love it as it fleshes out the characters and expands the lore of the game. The game will definitely take a strong PC to run at high settings - you might run into some strange visual bugs and the odd crash here and there, plus some framerate issues in the Abbey when the two-dozen or so heroes all hang out in the same place. I’ve experienced few, if any, performance issues within the actual missions, and the occasional bugs I’ve run into do nothing to dampen my enjoyment of the game.

WRITING The game’s writing is definitely its biggest strength. The characters are excellently written, with a good mix of humour and seriousness that fit perfectly with each characters’ distinct personality. The story campaign takes much longer than I expected but never felt like a drag, with plenty of exciting twists that caught me by surprise in the best way. While some of the voices can take a little getting used to, especially if you’re more acquainted with the film versions of the characters, the actual performances are top-notch. Every quote out of the characters’ mouths, from story cutscenes to dialogue interactions to even the random one-liners in the midst of combat are both written and voiced near-flawlessly; even generic HYDRA troopers get hilariously terrified as the heroes whittle their numbers down in battle. There’s also plenty of familiar voices in the game that long-time fans will be happy to hear again, like Yuri Lowenthal as Spider-Man and Steve Blum as Wolverine. The golden combination of top-tier voice acting, exciting writing and engaging gameplay is rare, but Midnight Suns has more than proven itself in those regards.

GRAPHICS & AUDIO While not quite as high-grade as the game’s other aspects, the overall graphical quality is still fairly good, save for a handful of lighting and texture bugs that keep cropping up. Some of the characters’ facial models are a tad off, especially if you aren’t playing at the highest possible graphics settings. However, the animations in combat and during cutscenes are superb; every single blow landed by either the heroes or villains has loads of impact to it with perfectly-paced slow-motion that really sells the sheer superhuman strength everyone seems to have. Virtually every card you play is accompanied by a unique animation with cinematic camera angles, turning the otherwise-straightforward card game into a grand blockbuster battle straight out of a movie. The music is often overpowered by all the explosive action sound effects of combat, but taking a moment to really listen to the soundtrack reveals just how awesome it actually is. The battle music is tense and exciting, the boss fight music is heavy and foreboding, and even the main menu soundtrack will get you pumped up before you even hit Continue Game.

ENJOYMENT Simply put, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is downright addicting. Not the “guilts the player for not logging in every day” kind of addicting, but the “game is just that fun” kind. I’m not even much for turn-based strategies or card games, having bought this game because I’m a Marvel fan and wanted to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised by how fun I found the gameplay, and the story had me hooked from the beginning. There’s nothing more satisfying than getting just the right combo of cards to clear out the entire enemy team before they’ve even had their first turn; it turns out the Hulk is really powerful. Who knew? As I mentioned earlier, I personally loved the in-between-mission moments of hanging out with the other heroes in the Abbey, exploring the lore and worldbuilding of this particular Marvel universe. I’m really looking forward to the future of this game - there’s still more DLC planned, and I’m hopeful for plenty of extra heroes and missions. Fingers crossed for a sequel!

Reblogs and likes are appreciated, and thanks for reading!

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dcrankamateur · 8 months

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Power Girl #1 Review

Power Girl #1’s cover promises an ‘explosive first issue’ and, as least as far as the prospects for Earth-Atlantis relations go, delivers on its claims in a fun, action-packed opening salvo to Dr Paige Stetler aka Power Girl’s foray into eco-science. The issue deals with the complex layers of Paige’s identity and how she is effectively held accountable for elements of her identity she has no control over. The story explores the themes individual liberty, environmental sustainability and begins to play around the edges of the question of whether earth would be better off without the Super Family.

The issue opens with a familiar sight: a bunch of poorly groomed bigots with dreadful chants and an even worse imagination for slogans shouting about aliens. Even a loudspeaker can’t save them because absolutely no one is listening. The four panel layout on this page really sells this transition, with the focus panning out, then away from them before shifting entirely to the merry revellers aboard the charity fundraiser boat, with Becca Carey’s ‘ha’s permeating the panel to emphasise the point.

That said, the theme of prejudice far from disappears from the issue. Williams instead keeps it lurking in the background, briefly popping up again as an unidentified male trying to head hunt Paige at her own event.

Anyway, the incredibly expensive alien tech being auctioned off is wanted by a particularly scrupulous new villain Amalak. Amalak’s message to the crew of “desperately ignorant” elderly white men on the docks is that prejudice may be a perfectly reasonable hobby for a gentleman without prospects, but it really isn’t a vocation. While his primary objective is larceny, upon discovering the superhero formerly known as Karen Starr is a Kryptonian, reveals that such is the strength of his hatred that he happens to have brought a weapon with him designed to destroy them. Williams and Pansica use a series of three consecutive panels to draw commonalities between the human protestors, who are delighted to have their point proven by an alien right, and Amalak’s more specific, nuance kind of hatred. He claims that Kryptonians are colonialists, interfering with the natural evolution of others and, in his home world’s case the death of the planet. His indirect critique therefore is that by intervening in the affairs of a planet and people’s lives, the Kryptonians have made them weak by solving all of their problems for them. This begs the question as to whether they are free in the ‘positive liberty’ sense. Are they being equipped with the tools they need to thrive?

The fact that someone out there has created a disease specifically designed to infect and weaken Kryptonians poses an interesting question: do the Supes inadvertently cause the decay of critical thinking and progression?

Paige’s accusation that humanity’s environmental sustainability efforts have been farcical as, to date, a lack of commitment to meaningful change implies that Williams is preparing to argue otherwise. And furthermore, who has a vested interest in ensuring that society does not continue to progress in this way? All, I’m sure, will be revealed.

On a lighter note, the real highlight of this issue for me was Power Girl and Omen’s relationship. Pansica’s art does an excellent job with their body language, emphasising their tender, bordering on romantic, affection. Williams captures their seamless repartee, which is hidden from everyone else in the scene but shared with the reader. Power Girl’s facial expressions are bold and emphatic, which is matched by the dynamic art throughout the fight sequences, with Power Girl finding solutions quickly to the different problems thrown at her.

Overall, a great first issue.

#dc comics #power girl #lilith clay #karen starr #comic reviews #comic books #comics

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marisramblings · 2 years

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Why Lilith Clawthorne can’t (shouldn’t) be Redeemed

Let me get that out of the way first, I love Lilith. The last time I made a post like this, people were jumping down my throat. You can love a character and still critique their actions.

I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around how messed up it is that Lilith cursed Eda and then didn’t tell her anything about it for like 40 years. I know Lilith cursed her not knowing that it was gonna be this damaging. What makes Lilith’s actions so despicable, near irredeemable, is that she said absolutely nothing for decades. If she had come clean immediately after Eda turned into an owl beast, more time could’ve been spent trying to help her. Instead, your “randomly” cursed sister attacks your father, permanently injuring him, and made her avoid him for who knows how many years. This curse was even more stupid because Lilith resented that her mother was focusing on Eda. Ma’am, I hate to point out the obvious, but if one of your kids turns into a raging monsterI you’re probably gonna be more focused on that kid. And guess what? It’s your fault. You’re mad at Eda and your mom due to your own actions. Maybe if you fessed up…hmmm.

For who knows how many decades, Lilith had the gumption to be offended with the lack of her parents’ attention, to brag and boast about her position in the Emperor’s coven, and to make Eda feel small. It makes it significantly harder to swallow that she actually felt guilty the whole time. “ She spent her whole tenure in the coven trying to fix Eda—”no. Tell the truth. Say what you actually did, but instead Lilith has a Freudian slip. “Why were you so easy the curse” really tells you that part of her didn’t feel bad. The most real world example I can even compare to is: imagine you try to make your sibling sick so they fail the ACT and guarantee your odds of getting a scholarship. You end up causing them permanent nerve pain or something like IBS, things that are out of their control, that make them reclusive, and then you still have the nerve to be offended by the consequences of your actions. Because Eda turns into a murderous owl beast on a dime, she had trouble opening up and connecting with people. This caused her and Raine to break up. Eda became a reclusive person, she wasn’t comfortable opening up to people, she became secluded and that’s your fault Lilith! You stole decades of this woman’s life because of your own insecurity and not once did it occur to you to even admit it or apologize. Decades.

I’ll have a separate post complaining about this trope, but the tendency of writers to make people do the most despicable things possible, in hopes of redeeming them, is asinine. Sometimes lines can be crossed and they should stay crossed. You cannot always walk things back. I’m at the point where I don’t want Lilith redeemed for what she did to Eda. I don’t think this is something that can honestly be forgiven. Lilith taking on half of the owl beast curse is the bare minimum, is practically worthless because the owl beast itself isn’t even the most evil part of what Eda’s been going through. It’s how she felt separated from people, how she couldn’t be open, how she had to hide herself away, how she became an outcast, how she couldn’t trust herself around her father, how her mother turned into a mlm hun in order to cure her sick daughter. Lilith fucked up not just Eda’s life, but their entire family‘s life including her own. There were so many things that she could have done, could have said that would make her seem more sympathetic, but she kept this to herself for years and still had the absolute nerve to brag about how it was easy to curse her sleeping sister.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this shouldn’t be in the show, this may be some of the best writing I’ve seen in a kid show in a decade. It is absolutely chilling, so cold, so evil. It’s Slade holding up a bruised, clothes ripped and torn Raven. It’s writing that makes you go “should this be in a kid’s show?” and you say yes, because it is good.

My family had to cut out cable because the bill got too big, so I haven’t seen the last episodes of the season. Basically, anything past Hunter finding out he’s a clone. I think Lilithis a great character. I wish they had used her and Amity as foils to Eda and Luz.

Lilith should not be redeemed. I hope Eda never forgives her. They can have a workable relationship, but it can never be good again.

#tv review #the owl house #toh #the owl house lilith #lilith clawthorne #eda clawthorne #edalyn clawthorne #the owl lady #toh meta #mari’s rambles

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takerfoxx · 2 years

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The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 19, "O Titan, Where Art Thou?", First Impressions!

…fuck Disney for taking this show away from us.

Okay, I’m going to be honest here: for as much praise as I’ve given this season, for as many banger episodes it’s produced, save for a couple of notable exceptions (specifically, Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door), I never really felt like it hit that next gear that elevated things from being really good into something truly great.

Here it finally hit that new gear. This episode was truly spectacular.

There is just so much to go over, so many big and little moments to highlight and dissect. So I guess the only way to properly sort out my thoughts is to go through things character by character and analyze what this episode revealed about them.

LUZ

In any other show, Luz would be the side-character, the unpowered friend trying to keep up, a role usually reserved for the space Gus is inhabiting, the role usually taken up by the snarky male friend dealing with insecurities. She’s not the Chosen One, she’s just some rando that wandered into something so much bigger than herself and really doesn’t belong.

Despite this, the Boiling Isles was everything Luz needed. She now has real friends who truly cared about her and took interest in the same things she was interested in. She has a healthy outlet for her more impulsive tendencies. She has several mentor figures able to guide her along in the way she specifically needed in a way that actually got her excited (and that’s not throwing any shade at Camila, just pointing out that a single parent in the human realm might not have all the tools one needs to handle a kid like Luz), she has an awesome girlfriend that she adores and adores her back and with whom they can help one another work through all of their individual issues and insecurities in a positive manner, and she can finally do magic and go on adventures!

However, she still has no inherent power beyond what she’s managed to cobble for herself through cleverness and determination. She is constantly working twice as hard to be half as good as her naturally magic friends, and while that is a challenge she is more than happy to take on, she can’t help but feel a little insecure about falling short.

As such, overhearing Eda’s plan to send her away hurt deeply, because to her, it was a sign that she still wasn’t good enough, that she would never be good enough, and someone was going to send her away for it.

Again.

EDA

There is a certain type of character that you never want to see cry. The confident, devil-may-care rebel, who doesn’t let anything get them down, who faces the world with wit and spunk and no small amount of contempt.

We tend to look up to these characters, because they are just so cool. The never-say-die renegades, who seem to have everything figured out and is never down for long. The type of person who always picks themselves up, that never lets anything get to them, and always comes out ahead in the end, no matter what is thrown at them.

Eda is very much that kind of person. Throughout the show, nothing seemed to get to her, from being exiled to cursed to hunted to losing her magic. No matter what happened, she just laughed and kept on trucking.

But Eda still has a weakness, and that weakness is the family that she’s built for herself, King and Luz specifically. Without her power, she feels inadequate to protect them, and if anything happened to them, it would be more than she could bear, to the point where she was willing to beg her enemy to keep them safe, even if it meant betraying them and turning herself in to be petrified in order to do it.

I do not want to see Eda like that. I do not want to see Eda cry. But I did. And it hurt.

The fight between Luz and Eda was both incredible and hard to watch. You could tell how much pain they were both in for having to go up against each other, but neither was willing to back down. Luz was not going to abandon her friends and get sent off again, and Eda was not going to allow Luz to put herself in a position where she could be hurt. And while I sort of feel that the resolution with the CATS was a little deux ex machina-y, it still worked, and really helped the two of them come to understand one another a little better.

KING

Poor King.

All his life he’s wanted to be somebody. A ruler. A leader. Someone that people looked up to instead of looked down on. Someone that people respected, feared even. But now that he finally has it, now that he’s finally found out what he is and where he came from, now that it’s finally been confirmed that he was right all along, that he actually IS someone, a child god no less, this little kid wants nothing more for things to go back to normal and for him to just be with his family again.

Like, how must that feel? King is a Titan, the very thing whose bones form the Boiling Isles and is worshipped by everyone. One could not ask for a more royal lineage. And yet he has also realized that he truly is the last of his kind, and that he has unknowingly been living on the corpse of a family member, father or otherwise.

Those scenes of him traipsing across the Boiling Isles trying to come to terms with his destiny were both heartwarming and heartbreaking, from him hugging the bones to actually trying to reach out and help people instead of demanding their servitude, to him lying down in a puddle in the same pose as the Titan’s skeleton. It’s so much to take in, and as he’s grappling with things, he finds himself hit with two completely opposite reactions from two different people, one of them the last thing he needed and the other exactly what he needed.

So let’s start with…

LILITH

Damn, girl.

Lilith’s sycophantic groveling toward King made sense, and it was pretty funny, but it also was really, really pathetic. And while it did make me giggle, the more I thought about it the more I just felt bad for her.

See, we’ve seen this kind of behavior from her before, first toward Belos and then toward Luz of all people when she was trying to teach the Clawthorne sisters glyph magic. And again, while funny, when she was called out on it and asked if this was how she behaved toward Belos, everything just sort of clicked.

Lilith is desperate for positive reinforcement and validation. She grew up in the shadow of her brilliant, yet lazy sister, someone whom she had to work twice as hard as to be half as good, while Eda just skated by on natural talent (you know, sort of like how Luz is doing now, as previously noted). And her mother would overlook her in favor of her more talented sister.

Even cursing Eda didn’t fix this, as while Eda attacking their father might have destroyed her reputation as the golden child, it still made her the most important thing to her parents, since everything now revolved around the curse. And no matter how high she climbed, no matter what she achieved, she never, ever managed to be anything other than second best.

I, uh, guess I have something other than the aromantic thing to empathize with her about.

Damn.

HOOTY

Um, nothing to actually dissect and analyze here, just would like to point out:

Hootycopter. Because of course he can do that.

And…

Yeah.

…

How the fuck did Amity and King survive getting swallowed by this monstrosity?

And is that a smaller Hooty inside his gullet? Are they going to do a Hooty death fakeout, only for the new Hooty to burst out of his skin and be exactly like the other one, and it turns out that that’s just part of his species’ life cycle?

Anyway, now that we’ve cleared the main characters, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The bestest of best side characters, the broiest of bros, the ultimate wingman.

My man, STEVE

What a fucking glow up! To go from a joke character that would just pop in here and there, get a, “LOL, it’s Steve!” reaction, only for him to totally steal the show on his rad motorcycle, giving King the tour and life advice that King needed. Like, King needed to feel normal, so Steve treated him as normal, listening to what he had to say, validating those thoughts, and offering perspective. My dude, yes.

Plus, he’s…handsome? Like really handsome! The fact that they were hiding that face behind that mask for so long is a goddamned crime!

Man, what an arc. To go from funny Lilith simp to occasional gag to badass sexy rebel!

And he’s offering to hook people up with his therapist. He actually went and got therapy. My dude, yes!

And yes, I know that he’s probably Matt’s big brother. Hope you turn out as rad as your big bro, you little turnip. But I doubt it.

MISC.

And now Luz is finally carving her palisman! Now taking votes on what animal it’ll be: cat, bat, snake, or otter. I’m thinking otter personally, but it could go any way.

Or hey, they can throw us a curve ball and do something totally random!

…can someone make a velociraptor palisman? Asking for a friend.

The Collector! Well, looks like that interrupted ritual has given King a connection to them (can't see THAT paying off later!). I truly wonder what their deal is. I mean, they definitely have no problem with mass genocide, but also they do seem like a really lonely kid. Huh.

I also found Luz’s and Raine’s dorky meeting to be adorable, same with Darius’s long-suffering. Anytime you get Keston John just being extra is a joy.

Also, those two digs at the Mouse. Firstly, yes, 20 more adventures would be lovely. YOU ROBBED US OF THE BEACH EPISODE! WE COULD HAVE HAD A LUMITY BEACH DATE YOU ASSHOLES!

Also, the lesbian grandma couple. Don’t think I don’t know what dig that was in reference to. Alex, you salty bastard, I love you.

Oh, and of course, I’d be remiss to mention:

Katya! And...the other two, I guess. My beautiful food fanfiction maybe-vampire queen is BACK! Hold me back, boys! For I must simp!

Hey, wait, can she and Steve be a thing? Come on, dude’s lonely! And hot. And really cool. And she hot and cool too! And I’m not just saying that because my name is also Steve (okay, maybe a little).

Well, one more regular episode to go. After that, the three forty-minute specials, and then it’s over.

…

WE DESERVED A FULL THIRD SEASON! FUCK YOU, MOUSE!

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #hooty #steve #o titan where art thou #review

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ordinaryschmuck · 1 year

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What I Thought About the Series Finale of The Owl House

Salutations random people on the internet who certainly won't read this! I'm an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

And today...we talk about the series finale of The Owl House. Man...What a show. WHAT A SHOW! To accurately convey how much joy and love I've had with this series...is too much to go into for a short intro. Regardless, I cannot believe we're actually here. Especially after such a fantastic season that, let's be honest, had NO RIGHT to be as good as it was. Going in, I was a little worried that the finale wouldn't have the best treatment, what with Disney, the homophobic bastards that they are (that was a joke...kind of), shortening the series and making Season Three have three specials that are forty-five to fifty-five minutes long. But I could not be more pleasantly surprised to find out how wrong I was.

"Thanks to Them" might just be the new best episode of the show, showcasing all of The Owl House's best qualities in just forty-five minutes. Featuring some perfect character-building moments, serious heartbreak, brief but insanely adorable Lumity moments, Camila being the best mom, some surprisingly dark stuff for a kids' cartoon, and practically speedrunning Amphibia's "back to Earth" arc but cutting out all the fluff and saving the goofy antics to montages as it should. Any worries I had about Season Three were pushed away thanks to this special, and I appreciate it.

And "For the Future"...also exists.

Alright, that's not fair. "For the Future" IS a great special, giving some much-needed development from Willow, having a beautiful moment with Luz and Camila, gifting us with Stringbean (who IS perfect. SHUT UP WITH THAT MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY BULLCRAP!), and showing how much of an intriguing character that The Collector is, even if he's not as devious or threatening as we originally predicted. BUT it is held back a bit by a forced redemption with Boscha and all the big story moments with King, Eda, and Lilith happening off-screen, so we can spend more time with Boscha’s forced redemption. There's way more good than bad, but it feels like the bad weighs the good down too much. And, I won't lie, it made me feel a little worried again for the show's future.

Remember how I said in my "A Lying Witch and a Warden" review that a show's premiere doesn't need to be perfect? I stand by that rule, as its job is to illustrate what is to LIKE about the show and leave future episodes to reveal why people should LOVE it. However, for the series finale, it NEEDS to be good. Not perfect, mind you. There can be SOME cracks here and there in the story, but the overall thing has to still be a satisfying conclusion. Because when it comes to a series finale, it can make or break a show. For example, Star vs. the Forces of Evil had an awful series finale with a main character doing the exact thing a series antagonist set out to accomplish and screwing up the world in such a bizarre way that it didn't feel fair for anybody involved. It was so bad that, despite having more good memories than bad ones, it caused me to not want to watch the show again. Contrast this with Amphibia, a show that I didn't love all that much but had a phenomenal series finale that was a perfect conclusion to the story that connected to the show's overall themes and caused me to cry FIVE TIMES when watching it. And even then the ending wasn't perfect. There were still some poorly placed jokes that spoiled moments, a character redemption that wasn't entirely earned, and an incredibly confusing scene between Anne and a specific character (you'll know when you see it). But still, I cried FIVE TIMES for a show that wasn't my favorite. A reaction like that made me believe that I was a little too harsh on Amphibia because why else would its ending make me feel that way?

THAT'S what a series finale needs to do. It must evoke this powerful emotion that this show is finally over and that there won't be any more adventures...Unless the network makes a revival for some reason. Regardless, that's still the goal, and I cannot emphasize how much I hope that The Owl House accomplishes it. The question is: Did it?

...I don't know. I wrote this intro a week ago. How was it, Future Me?

Future Me: AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Awesome. So, let's see what made him react like that as we dive in, one last time, with "Watching and Dreaming."

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

It Just Goes: That's the best part, really. No build-up, no messing around. We're just going RIGHT into it all with everyone getting captured and Luz waking up in a nightmare. And it's a good thing, too. We only have fifty-five minutes, and, apparently, eight of them will get cut for future reruns...Why the f**k do people even bother with Cable anymore.

Anyways, if this special isn't wasting time, I won't either.

*Looks at my intro*

...Anymore. Let's move on to the nightmares!

The Nightmares: Yup. This hurt.

Eda and King's nightmares are pretty basic, with Eda's having more of what we've already gathered and revealing that King might have more trauma than expected regarding the Titan Trappers. It's still well-done and honestly creepy with Bill's blank eyes, but it is still LUZ'S nightmare which hurts the most. All of her fears, anxieties, and guilt are put up on full display, and, yeah, it's what we've seen before, too, especially within this season. What makes this one hurts is because, well...it's Luz. My favorite character in the show and one of my favorite protagonists in anything. To have her fight through her literal worst nightmare, one she probably thinks she deserves to go through is an extra bit of pain I did NOT need. And there might be an extra subtle bit of pain where the explanation behind why she gets out of it was that she fact-checked her own nightmare. Not because her friends were saying things they would never say in real life but because Amity misquoted Azura. Luz believed EVERYTHING the others said, but because Amity didn't say things exactly how she must have imagined it over and over makes Luz realize that it wasn't real. There’s never a moment where she goes, “They don’t really think that way.” At least, maybe not until later, but we’ll get into that. For now, I will say that it was pretty painful to see Luz go through this, but it was also uplifting to see her friends still build her up despite how bleak things were. Because it’s Luz. She has and will forever do the same for them, no matter what, even if it’s hard for her to see right now.

Besides, as painful as this was, at least it wasn’t the MOST painful thing in this episode…That comes later! And we’ll get to that, but respectfully, I’m gonna stall for a minute.

The Nightmares Last…For Seven Minutes: That shocked me. This whole premise of Luz, King, and Eda living out their worst nightmares sound like something that could make up its own episode, but I’m kind of grateful that it doesn’t go on for too long. If we had twenty minutes and several more episodes to go through, I would be mad, but we have fifty-five minutes with a lot to do and no time to do it. So, while I would have loved to watch more, I’m still glad that the nightmares didn’t overstay their welcome. It gave us all the interesting stuff we could ask for, all the pain we DIDN’T want, and led us to…

Luz, King, and Eda’s Reuniting: The tears weren’t falling down my face as I expected, but let it be said that I was still grinning ear to ear at this. Our main trio is back together and it really does feel like everything is right with the world again. I’m not kidding, just seeing these three interact again and goof off in just the briefest of moments made me feel like I was watching The Owl House again. “Thanks to Them” was great in having the main Hex-Squad work together and bond, but Luz, King, and Eda is the show’s main trio. Things never really felt right with them all torn apart like that, even if King and Eda still had each other and Luz still had her friends. And, I won’t lie, it felt weird that so much of this season didn’t focus on them that much. It’s the final season, and we have so much time dedicated more to everyone else but them. Oh, they had great development throughout, especially Luz going through her pain, guilt, and revelations of wanting to be understood. Still, it didn’t feel enough to me, so it’s good that “Watching and Dreaming” is a special that’s all about Luz, Eda, and King TOGETHER as they solve this issue for one last adventure. The series started with them, so I’m glad it ends with them fighting off their greatest challenge yet...Playtime.

The Collector’s Games: Again, this could have been an episode of its own. But, just like with the nightmares, we have so much to do and no time to do it. So as fun as it is to watch Luz, Eda, and King fight through the Collector’s toy chest, I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time on it. A brief montage is MORE than enough for me, even though I wouldn’t mind seeing, well, more.

Plus, if we go on for too long in showing the Collector screwing with our trio, it would make his redemption a little harder to swallow.

Speaking of which…

The Collector: I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t interested in a Collector redemption story. Well, that’s not true. I was mainly against the idea of him becoming part of the gang. I could already tell that they weren’t an evil psychopath like Bill Cipher, but more like a kid that has way too much power. That doesn’t make the Collector evil, it just means he needs to grow up and learn that mortals aren’t playthings. In fact, their idea of mortal life says a LOT about who the Collector is: “Toy’s break all the time. You just fix them.”

So, I do see how it’s possible to redeem him. They’re a kid and he doesn’t know better. Even his backstory helps support that, showing how they were a kid that was playing a game with cute creatures but was blamed for actions outside of his control. The Collector never saw themselves as the bad guy, so it makes sense to try and teach him TO know better. I was never against that…I was just against the idea of them being a part of the family like our other redeemed characters. I love Amity, Hunter, and sometimes Lilith like any other schmuck, but the Collector kind of enslaved an entire civilization to play his games. Redemption is fine, I can see it, but I wanted the Collector to have SOME punishment…And they don’t get it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the final decision the writers made. I truly do believe its smart to let the Collector go off and learn to grow up, only willing to come back if he feels ready to do so. It’s a decent end for a character that…came the f**k out of nowhere and was a last minute addition to making the final season more epic.

Though, I will admit, it is a decent turn of events for making us think that the Collector would be the final boss of the series only to reveal that they’re just some poor kid who doesn’t know what mortality means. It helps make them more of a unique character than just “Diet Bill Cypher,” while not stealing away from the REAL big bad of the series. And on that note, let’s talk about…

Belos Possessing the Titan: Ooooooh, so THAT’S what the f**k was up with the beating heart in the throne room…That had to be planned, right?

Like, I’m sure Dana Terrace didn’t plan things to go exactly as they went in the series, but why else show attention to the BIG FRICKIN’ HEART in Belos’ throne room if there WASN’T a plan ahead of time. And…BOY what a horrific plan it was.

Belos just infecting the Isles with…himself leads to more spectacle than the Collector ever brought. Having a single foe and their minions to fight against is pretty cool, but to have an ENTIRE island and its environment against our characters leads to a pretty epic final showdown, as well as an intense one, if I’m going to be honest.

But what’s even MORE intense was watching Belos get to the heart. I didn’t WANT to see him succeed (who the hell would), so it was great to see Raine do all that they could to prevent it from happening. Plus, it’s cool to see Raine take an active role rather than be pushed to the sidelines or get tortured again (they REALLY deserved that rest in the final moments). They were actually giving it their all, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough due to Raine being exhausted after Belos’ possession and a bit of luck on Belos’ part. The bastard got ONE bit of his glop through and that was all he needed…

However, as awful as it is, this really was a cool way to give the series one last epic battle…And a little something painful. But before we get to that, I need some fluff. Can I get some fluff? PLEASE give me some fluff!

Luz, Eda, and King Showing The Collector Around: …I’ll take it.

I know I said this special has so much to do and no time to do it, meaning we have NO TIME to waste, but this feels like wasting time with a purpose. Not only does it help teach the Collector the value of life, but it sort of makes the show feel like we’re going down memory lane with the characters, revisiting some great hits before we close out for one last time. Not all of them, unfortunately, as we don’t have TOO MUCH time to waste, but it’s still some good sights to see again. Plus, it is pretty adorable to see The Collector genuinely take interest in what Luz, Eda, and King are trying to teach him. Again, the Collector’s a kid. And any kid will learn and understand things that you teach them if you do it in the right way, so it’s sweet…Although…

Collector Trying to Show Belos Love and Kindness: They could have specified that not EVERYONE deserves it.

And it’s…sickly funny? Like, it makes you think The Collector is going to demolish Belos again, only for them to try and show love and kindness. Because of COURSE he would. They were just told that love and kindness is the better option, so he immediately applies it. JUST. LIKE. A KID.

Seriously, I cannot emphasize how much of a well-written child the Collector is, where all it takes is a good talk to make them at least try and do something different if told it’ll be better for everyone. Sure, his immediate actions were incredibly misguided, but, hey, at least it didn’t cause any real damage like–

Luz’s Death: …The amount of times I yelled “No” when this happened was immense…You know that scene in The Punisher where Frank Castle is having a nightmare about being forced to sit and watch as the people he loves die in front of him? The one the internet memed? Yeah, that was literally me when this happened.

This…hurt. It hurt a lot. And I knew Luz’s death wouldn’t be permanent. It’d be f**king CRAZY, even for this show. But there WAS a small amount of fear that it could have been. A fear caused because of one character: The Collector.

This HORRID scene (that I weirdly put in the likes section despite the pain it causes me) has a purpose. It’s to teach The Collector that mortals aren’t just toys that can be fixed when broken. It’s why they try to stop Eda and King for going feral. He now understands that life is fragile and doesn’t want to see anyone else die, even crying for the first time over the stress and pain of it all. Is this a little muddled by Luz (THANKFULLY) coming back to life later? Maybe, but there’s two things I want to say to that:

One. I still think it’s done decently enough. Even though Luz comes back, that brief moment the Collector gets when they think he can’t fix it helps teach them that not every solution is as simple. And because it’s the TITAN that brought Luz back and not the Collector, a character that’s canonically weaker than Titans, it could potentially make The Collector think that death isn’t something THEY can reverse. Meaning the lesson can still stick with him as they realize that even HE isn’t that powerful.

And two. I’D SOONER BASH MY OWN HEAD IN BEFORE ADMITTING THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO LEAVE LUZ DEAD! SHOVE your thematic sense nonsense! Luz does NOT deserve death, and I will forever stand by that statement!

As for the death scene itself…it pains me with how much it mirrors Eda’s goodbye in “Agony of a Witch.” There, Eda was giving her last words to Luz, knowing she won’t bounce back this time. She did so by forcing a smile to keep things light, but the problem is that her EYES betrayed her. Here, it’s almost the same thing. The second Luz realizes what’s happening and that there’s nothing she can do to fix it, she tries to reassure King and Eda that it’s going to be ok, even forcing a smile as there’s tears rolling down her cheeks. And Eda and King are just…frozen. They don’t move, they don’t say anything, they don’t even CRY. They’re too frozen in shock and horror of seeing Luz die before their eyes to react in any way. And when they DO react, all they feel is blind, justifiable rage towards Belos, going feral in trying DESTROY Belos. That’s the power their love for Luz had on them. THANKFULLY, her death wasn’t permanent. And we have one person to thank for that.

The Titan: PRAISE BE THIS SHAGGY MAN!

Also, I LOVE this shaggy man! It’s hilarious to me that the all imposing titan, the very thing the characters LIVE on, is just a big boy hanging out in the In Between while wearing a bathrobe and some PJs. In fact, I’m willing to bet that he has some fuzzy slippers under that…water? Is it water? Whatever it is, I bet he has slippers under there. Plus, he’s such a charismatic goober, trying to lift Luz up despite experiencing…literally the worst thing anyone can experience. But he’s also reasonable and kind of sad. Sure, the Titan has a chance to watch his son live his best life, but he’s still stuck and half-dead in a realm that not even HE can escape from. He’s a chill guy and, honestly, he’s the type of guy I’d chill out and binge TV with if not for the fact that he’s, you know…dead…And fictional.

And to address the elephant in the room, this IS pretty similar to the series finale of…a different show that I’ll be vague about. However, despite the similarities, I do think this scene is different enough and honestly a little better. In that show, it comes out of nowhere and it feels like a cop-out for what could have been a more tragic ending. With The Owl House, we see the Titan running around in the In Between, trying to get Luz’s attention in “For the Future.” Heck, he even shows up for a split second in the opening scene, so we KNOW he’ll play SOME part. Plus, the resurrection makes more sense to me. In that other show, it again feels like a cop out while having this very contrived idea for how the main character will learn to one day take the god’s place. Which, again, comes out of nowhere. But with resurrecting Luz, it’s done as more of a battle strategy to stop Belos from killing everything. I mean, he probably would have done it anyway because of what Luz did for King, but that just proves my point. There’s more reason to select Luz to save and resurrect. One might even call it personal bias. In that other show, the god picks and resurrects the main character because she made a big sacrifice. And that’s a good reason, but it cheapens that sacrifice the character made. Luz wasn’t thinking about sacrificing herself. She was trying to save The Collector and died for it due to a mistake. It’s an unfair ending and the Titan sets out to change that. Call it gratitude for taking care of King, say that it’s him wanting to stick it to Belos, and you can even claim how it’s a showcase of how kind the Titan is. No matter how you look at it’s a great moment with a great character that we only got to really know for a few short minutes.

But I will admit, seeing a Hooty in his eye makes me even MORE questions about what the f**k Hooty is. Seriously, WHAT IS HE!?

But that’s a question for another time. We’ve got a BATTLE to commence!

The Final Battle: AND EVERYONE DOES SOMETHING! That’s the best part, really. For a series finale, you want at least the most essential characters to be doing SOMETHING in the final battle and not have most of them watch as three of girls go off to have an anime battle in space (I SWEAR I love that finale). The Owl House certainly takes advantage of that for its final battle, with every character going off to take care of something.

You have the Collector making sure their castle doesn’t fall and kill everybody, while Camila and the kids do the same kind of damage control INSIDE. I do feel as though that Camila and the kids don’t do that much, large in part in the fact that there’s so much going on, but I’m fine that there’s at least SOMETHING they do.

But while that’s happening, you have King, Eda, and Luz, who is ROCKING that new look, working together to kill Belos! And I could not have asked for it in any other way! While things didn’t go exactly how I imagined it, I always did hope the series would end with the three of them working together to beat the big bad Belos. Not only do we get that, but we also get Luz being the most powerful she’s ever been, an epic guitar version of the show’s theme song (which is always good), and even Raine joining the fight. And yes, the kisses they got from Eda gave me life.

But all of this doesn’t compare to the final bit, where Luz RIPS BELOS OUT OF THE HEART like the parasite that he is! The animation was as smooth as butter, the others giving her backup was perfection, and Luz brings the whole thing full circle by screaming, “NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!”

THIS was everything I could have hoped for with the series finale of the show and so much more! And things get better!

Amity Being the First to Offer Her Hand to The Collector: …Well, not that. Although, that is a pretty sweet moment. Amity, more so than anyone else in the show, understands that people are more complex and have reasons for their behavior. If a person truly wants to help and be better, it’s for the best to offer a hand to help them back up on their feet, and that’s just adorable of her…But you ALL know what I need to talk about.

Belos’ Death: SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW YOU, Belos, for trying to weasel your way out of a just punishment! I didn’t believe his lies about the curse for even a SECOND, and neither did Luz. NOTHING excuses Belos from his awful behavior. Not a curse, not dark magic. Just him and his failure to meet the consequences of his actions.

And watching him melt away in the rain like the wicked witch of the west to then get CURB-STOMPED by Eda, Raine, and King? Yeah, that’s cathartic.

Burn in hell, you evil bastard.

Now, with justice more than served, how about we look more to fluff and–

Reunions: BECAUSE THEY FEEL SO GOOOOOOOOD~!

But, yeah, a lot of fluff and sweetness.

You got Gus and Willow reuniting with their parents, which made me grin from ear to ear.

You have Hunter gaining a father with Darius, which is the happy ending that boy deserves, really.

You have Camila hugging Luz again after (maybe?) thinking she’s dead.

You got Luz and Amity reuniting with a SECOND on-screen kiss (YES)

You’ve got HOOTY hugging Lilith…In a weird display, really.

You’ve got…everything. Everything wonderful, everything is perfect. Because, best of all…

IT’S A HAPPY ENDING: Dana Terrace, you conniving witch of a woman (and I say that affectionately), how DARE YOU make us live in fear by telling us you hate happy endings!

“She didn’t say–”

ShE dIdN’t SaY sHe HaTeS hApPy EnDiNgS! Yeah, I know. She specified that it’s Happily Ever Afters she doesn’t like. But WHAT IS THIS if not a happily ever after?! And for those who hate happy endings, you can hate them all you want but you cannot deny that this one, in particular, is EARNED. These characters have gone through so much hell with things only getting progressively WORSE ever since “Hollow Mind.” So to have an ending where everyone is perfectly happy and living their best lives is more cathartic than watching Belos get stomped into the dirt. And there’s so much thoughts to discuss…Which is why we’re gonna speedrun it. Because if The Owl House can speedrun a season long arc into three specials, I can speedrun my thoughts for its epilogue:

The photos on Luz’s wall are perfect. My favorite is the new and updated Grom photo, which shows Vee looking happy with the others. And a happy Vee is the best Vee.

Luz is going to the University of Wild Magic! She’s still learning magic, even if she can’t do it the way she used to! And going to a school that EDA made helps make it EXTRA sweet.

The future designs are perfect! And they’re all babies! Yes, the kids are young adults now, but they STILL look like babies in my eyes…Except for Gus, who looks like he’s in his mid-twenties–How does witch puberty work again?

Willow’s still doing flier derby, and good for her. It’s good to know she’s doing something that makes her happy and isn’t a stereotypical “she runs a flower shop” ending that some of us (myself included) expected.

Hunter has a new palisman! And no bags under his eyes! He’s finally happy! A happy Hunter! YES!

Hunter and Willow is…kind of canon? I mean, it feels more implied with no kiss to seal the deal, but I like it that way. Not every canon couple needs a kiss to be official in my eyes. Plus, I always find it funny when shows with explicit same sex couples have implicit straight ones. That’s a bit of role-reversal that we can all appreciate given the many, many years when it was the opposite.

Flapjack’s gravestone…Ow.

And it says “Thanks for finding me.” That’s some EXTRA ow.

Boscha’s almost completely blocked behind the credits…I actually appreciate that more than I should.

Kikimora is put on grunt work…Perfect

Lilith is adding a new section to the library…I guess. And the notes on her blueprint for the new library are funny. “Call Flora to show off :3” Love it.

I think Amity’s dressing up and traveling? Probably to find new additions for the library, which is pretty cool.

Scara’s new look is perfect.

The first character we see get a coven patch on screen is the first one to get removed. That’s actually a cool detail that some might miss if they didn’t rewatch this series over a dozen times…like me.

The kids have matching tattoos of Flapjack…Ow.

Eda having a hook for a hand is more appropriate than getting a cybernetic arm from Alador. I don’t know why we didn’t think of that.

King has his initials “King Clawthorne” on his collar now! That’s adorable!

Luz’s King-ceañera! We got a Quinceañera afterall! Even though most with Dominican decent don’t really do that…It’s still adorable!

The final shot…I mean, could you ask for anything better than all the characters saying goodbye to this final goodbye? What a perfect ending…

WHAT I DIS–I said PERFECT–

Actually, no. I told you, it didn’t need to be perfect, and it really isn’t. There’s a few nitpicks to be had.

NITPICKS. Let me specify that none of these really ruin the special for me. They’re just little things that don’t make it perfect. For instance:

If the Collector’s powers don’t work on King, then why was it possible that the Collector levitated King and put him in that nightmare?

Why were King and Eda there having nightmares too? Specifically Eda. Yeah, the Collector was mad at both Luz and King, but why put Eda in the mix too? Lilith was turned back into a puppet for…I want to say spiteful reasons, so why didn’t Eda get the same treatment? I know it’s for the convenience of having them all together, but it feels a little too convenient to me.

It’s pretty vague on how people freed themselves from puppet forms. Amity at least has the explanation that maybe it was the light glyph, but what about Raine? Did Belos’ possession have anything to do with it? If so, why didn’t it work immediately?

Camila and the kids protecting the people inside the Archives is fine, but it does feel a little pointless with how little they do. You might even be able to cut them out and little will change.

Especially since those five got shafted HARD in this special. I’m willing to live with it because “Thanks to Them” and “For the Future” more than compensated for how little we see of them here. Unless you’re Amity, who has VERY LITTLE to do all season, but Seasons One and Two ALSO compensated for THAT so…Pbbt! Still, I feel like others would take issue, so it’s worth noting.

And, as my buddy @l-egionaire pointed out, Luz losing her magic really is kinda pointless. If she’s going to get magic again from KING anyway, why remove it? To me, it feels like a half-baked attempt to give a little bittersweetness to the ending. A good attempt, but THAT’S something that I’d agree is cheapened a little.

Other than that, this finale’s golden.

IN CONCLUSION

“Watching and Dreaming” doesn’t leave me empty…but it DOES fill me with peace. And honestly, that’s better.

I was scared that something bad would happen within this finale, what with the constant “You’re not readys” from the crew. And sure…Luz died…But she got better, so it’s no big deal.

It really is rewarding to see this show get a well-deserved happy ending that came after some large amounts of pain and an EPIC final battle that was all I could ever ask for. There might be some cracks, but that doesn’t stop this special from being a well-earned A+ in my eyes, nitpicks be damned!

And to Dana Terrace and the crew, in the less than zero chance that any of you is reading this…Thank you. Thank you for EVERYTHING.

I’ll be rewatching this show for years to come, and dreaming about what any of you bring next.

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