#EDA REALIZING RAINE WAS TURNED INTO A PUPPET & SHE HAS TO HIDE NOW

[stanley578]

Sharing my thoughts on/recapping the events of Watching and Dreaming

Holy shit!!! Where the hell do I even begin?! What a fucking epic series finale!! Dana Terrace and her team went out with a bang and knocked it out of the park. It was an intense rollercoaster of emotions that got me on the edge of my seat.

I was right when I said Luz is living in a nightmare set up by the Collector, but thank goodness it didn't last long because she managed to escape it by using the light glyph. And it's also thanks to her good memory about the correct Good Witch Azura quote that she said to Amity back at the Covention. She eventually reunited with Eda and King at a giant Rubik's cube after using the light glyphs to get them out of their nightmares.

It got me worried when the Collector confirmed to Belos that King is a Titan and that Titan's magic cancels out the Collector's and further told him about the heart that's still beating. It unfortunately gave him the idea to possess the Titan's heart, a theory that has been floating around for several months and is now confirmed.

Luz, Eda, and King managed to beat the Collector's games, Pac-Man, marbles, and Jenga, resulting in him to give up and cry on a corner. As Luz tried to comfort the Collector, he told his story that made me sympathize with him and despise his siblings with every fibre of my being.

The Archivists basically pulled a Pink Diamond on him with "a game of hide-and-seek". They made him go to the Boiling Isles to see the baby Titans who were welcoming towards him. However, the Archivists were scared of the Titans' powers so they killed them and the Collector was wrongfully locked up in the in-between realm by Papa Titan. That made me believe that the Archivists set him up by having him face the consequences for something he didn't do. The Collector's feelings of loneliness, insecurity, and being misunderstood resonated with the trio and they decided to tell him their story of how they became friends.

Raine was no longer a puppet and struggled but managed to get rid of Belos off their body and did their absolute best to stop him from reaching the Titan's heart using their bard magic. However, with just a small amount of goop, Belos ended up merging with the heart and started corrupting the entire Boiling Isles.

In the archives, Puppet Amity got to carve the light glyph on the floor, turning her, Willow, Gus, and Hunter back to normal. All of them witnessed every citizen, including Camila, as puppets.

The trio took the Collector to the Grudgby arena and the Knee as they talked about their past adventures that made them grow into who they are now and taught him about real friendship. The Collector began to learn how wrong it is to force people to do things he wants, as well as the concept of kindness and forgiveness. That right there was the starting point of the Collector's character growth and I love it so much. The 4 of them heard rumbling and breathing as the Titan's eye lights up and they realized that it's Belos.

Can I just say how fucking magnificent Matthew Rhys delivered the line as Titan Belos? He definitely captured the evil embodiment and the sadistic nature of that manipulative motherfucker. The Collector flew up to Belos and used the lesson that he learned from the trio, but it obviously backfired. I'm so sorry, kid, but this ain't Steven Universe.

Luz protected the Collector from Belos's attack, causing her to be consumed by the mold and disintegrated into various balls of light. Eda and King were in complete shock to see Luz getting killed. The Collector was so desperate to bring Luz back, but it didn't work, causing him to learn the hard way that his powers can't revive mortals once they're dead. It took that serious loss for Eda and King to go into berserk mode with tears in their eyes and unleash attacks towards Belos.

The Hexside students and the Hex squad witnessed the balls of light floating up and it broke my heart to see puppet Camila crying as she sensed them, too.

In the in-between realm, Luz's soul was saved from drowning by none other than Papa Titan himself, voiced by Arin Hanson. She finally got to meet King's dad who has a glowing yellow left eye, a small Hooty on his right eye socket, wears a bathrobe, a Bad Girl Coven shirt, and glyph pajama bottoms. He was watching King all this time and those who have been kind to him. He also admitted that he imprisoned the Collector in a fit of blind rage while protecting the egg of King.

Papa Titan clarified that while Luz saving her loved ones comes from a genuine place, Belos only cares about himself, his goal to be a hero in his own delusion, and his fear of what he can't control. It brought me so much relief that Luz finally understood the difference between her and Belos. As Belos was about to have full control of the corpse, Papa Titan has decided to use what's left of his life to help Luz defeat Belos once and for all in return for being kind and helpful to King. He even relayed to Luz his message for King which would be revealed later.

Camila was brought back to normal by the Hex squad's light glyph, but they couldn't do magic to save everyone because they haven't had any rest for days, so Camila aided them by drawing glyphs so they can use glyph magic.

Back at the Boiling Isles, the Collector noticed that his hands were infected by the mold. He started to feel empathy, remorse, and grief, experiencing tears coming out of his eyes for the first time. As Belos was about to deliver the final blow, the Collector, Eda, and King were protected by a giant shield. It turns out that Luz has been revived with a badass-looking Titan/witch form. Overjoyed that they're reunited once again, Luz then used magic like a witch for the first and only time with the help of Eda and King to fight off the corruption. This was where the animation style became fluid which I absolutely adore.

The Collector made his way to the archive house to save everyone and used his powers to prevent it from falling. The trio rescued Raine, which made me so relieved that they're okay. Then they went to the Titan's heart where Belos is located. Luz used magic once more to make her way up to the heart and rip Belos out with all her strength. Raine, Eda, and King worked together to fight off the mold and Luz delivers a monologue inspired by her hyperfixation.

"Do not underestimate me, Belos. For I am the Good Witch Luz, child of the human realm, student of the demon realm, and warrior of peace. NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!!!"

This scene right here is the most powerful shot I've ever seen in this series. Luz successfully removed Belos from the heart, undoing all of his moldy corruption that turned into ashes and faded away. The entire area of the isles remained unscathed, though the Titan's placement was adjusted as a result of Belos's possession.

Belos made one final attempt of manipulation by shapeshifting into Philip Shittybitch and trying to convince Luz that he "freed" her from the "curse" that "made him do all the horrible things". Luz did not buy any of his bullshit and suddenly, the boiling rain made him melt into the ground while Luz is immune from that. At that point, he still believed that witches are evil instead of admitting that he's the evil one.

Seeing Belos getting curbstomped by Eda, King, and Raine was extremely satisfying as fuck. Now that his reign of terror has ended for good, the Boiling Isles has become peaceful once again and wild magic is no longer outlawed. King finally saw his dad after his spirit exited Luz's body. King got to hear from Luz the message from his dad: "I loaf you". The trio laid on the grass as all their efforts to thwart Belos's plans have finally paid off.

Watching and Dreaming did something that Change Your Mind from Steven Universe failed to do. It is the fact that not everyone deserves forgiveness and kindness and not everyone can be reasoned with. I read that the criticism of the latter is how unrealistic it is to change everyone's minds. For someone like Belos who is an irredeemable and deluded lost cause filled with unreasonable hatred due to following an outdated and hateful ideology, it is only fair to have his existence completely annihilated as retribution for manipulating the populace with his lies, killing thousands of witches and demons, consuming palismen, attempting a mass murder, mortally wounding Flapjack, and being a complete threat to the Boiling Isles.

The Collector finally got everyone's approval after Amity reached out her hand to help him get up. Everyone reunited with their families after the Collector turned them back to normal. We got to see Amity's reunion with Alador, Gus's reunion with Perry, Willow's reunion with Gilbert and Harvey, the onscreen kiss between the latter two, and Hunter's reunion with Darius and Eberwolf.

I'd like to think that Odalia, Kikimora, Hettie, Mason, Osran, Vitimir, Terra, and Adrian get publicly cancelled by everyone for being accomplices of Belos and his attempted mass murder. Even after being turned back to normal, the 3 coven heads didn't change their ways as they attempted to take over the throne, but Darius and Eberwolf stopped them from doing so. They were like, "Hell no! Fuck off, you 3! We won't let you repeat history".

Back at the owl house, we got to see a second onscreen kiss between Luz and Amity, Camila finally meeting Eda, the Collector turning Hooty back to normal, and Lilith's reunion with Hooty. The Collector gave Francois back to King, but King gave it back to him as something to remember him by, hugging him and whispering, "I hope I see you again". It was a touching moment between them as the Collector finally found a real friend. The Collector decided to go back to the stars to do some growing up and soul searching. While Luz was saddened that the glyphs no longer work due to the passing of Papa Titan, she remained hopeful as it marked the beginning of a new chapter.

4 years later, Luz enrolled in all majors at the University of Wild Magic. We see photos of more adventures in the human realm pinned on the board, including the high school graduation photo of Luz and Vee, as well as a writing scholarship signed by Dana Terrace.

The old house is now owned by the Nocedas and has been completely renovated with a brand new portal that allows travel between realms. As Owlbert flies freely, the credits started to roll and we got to see the awesome timeskip designs of every character and the revelations of other characters in a democratic Boiling Isles.

Willow has short hair, a new pair of glasses, and an Emerald Entrails top.

A teenage Braxas is a healing and beast-keeping student.

Hunter, who is a Palisman carver, no longer has bags under his eyes as he's finally happy, he gets good amounts of sleep, and he has a blue jay palisman named Waffles.

A gravestone to commemorate Flapjack.

Lilith oversees the renovation of the Bonesborough Library and finally acquires a harpy form.

Amity has a badass ponytail.

Skara and Barcus are now teachers at Hexside.

Principal Bump has retired from Hexside and is now a gardener.

Alador has invented a machine and worked with healing witches to remove coven sigils which turned out to be successful.

Darius and Alador might be in a relationship, as hinted by Darius's blushing.

Raine sports white hair and has a fox palisman.

The Keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard and Edric are professors of the University of Wild Magic.

Gus has dreadlocks and is in charge of an exchange program between the Demon and Human Realms.

Eda sports a pirate hook and is the headmaster of the University of Wild Magic.

King appears taller and his horns appear slightly longer.

Vee, Camila, and Luz arrived at the Boiling Isles and everyone surprised her with a King-ceañera as a way to make up for Luz's 15th, 16th, and 17th birthdays after she contributed to rebuilding the Isles for 3 years.

King has acquired the ability to empower glyph magic, albeit with a new language for Luz to learn. King brought Luz to the edge of a cliff as the Collector created a light show of shooting stars. Luz thanked Eda and King for their neverending support. As the light show is about to be over, Luz and everyone gave a one big "BYEEE!!!" to the sky and audience, bringing the series to an end.

To wrap up this long-ass blog, I would just like to say a huge thank you to Dana Terrace and her team for creating a show with a compelling narrative, character development, lore, worldbuilding, representation of neurodiversity, and most importantly, LGBTQ+ representation.

This show has changed a lot of lives with its subject matter that not a lot of cartoons have the courage to depict and it makes viewers feel seen, heard, and validated.

The entire voice cast did a spectacular job in bringing life to the characters that we love and hate. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. 

It’s also thanks to The Owl House that I got to discover the following wonderful reactors on YouTube:

alyciadweeb

BFLReacts

Darqui

Director Nat

EdDaWiz

IAmZamber

Krystalogy Reacts

MikeyVenture

Morgan Terry

Not-So-Average-Fangirl

TheFlamingShark

thethirdbill

Wee Lass Reacts

ZachReacts

It is such a tremendous shame that we won’t get to see the origins of the Bat Queen, what happened to the palistrom seed that Dell gave to Eda, the sibling relationship between Matt and Steve, and many more storylines due to Disney’s cancellation of the show and their shortening of season 3.

Looking at the bright side, the wait for the series finale was totally worth it and I’m glad it ended on a satisfying note.

Titan bless you all! 💖🏳️‍🌈✌️

[animation-recaps-by-sean]

The Owl House For the Future Recap

The gang tries to navigate the Collector’s new playground while dealing with the fallout of their fight with Belos. Spoilers below. 

Cause even the shortened season couldn’t even go without some controversy, Canadian itunes leaked the whole episode two weeks ago. Urg, anyway, like last episode we pick up from the end of King’s Tide, except from the Boiling Isles point of view. The Collector rains down stairs turning people into puppets, including Lilith and Hooty. Oh Hooty, We hardly knew thee.

Once back in the Isles, Camilia has a hard time dealing with both what is normal for the demon realm and what the Collector is doing. But I love her little mom moments with Luz. Willow is trying to be everyone’s rock but this causes her to push down her own fears about her missing Dads. Her stress manifests as planets popping up until she nearly smooshes herself with vines. Hunter summons the magic inside him and talks her down and allows her to cry. It’s so sweet. And they hold pinkies. Oh my shipping heart, let them get together!

Meanwhile at Hexside, the kids have predictably fallen into chaos. Boscha is the puppet Queen of Kikimora whose big villain plan is.. Hide in a high school and pretend to be a teenager. Luz doesn’t see her as a threat. Camilia hitting Kiki face with the bat is fantastic!  

And Boscha, whose friends were some of the only teens taken by the collector, just wants Amity back as queen bee so she could get some kind of normal. But Amity just isn't that person anymore. But she can save her friends. I do find it hilarious that Boscha just wants to be the beta bitch to Amity's queen bee. In the end she redeems herself by leading the other kids against Kikimora, which was a pretty fitting end for her.

Without any palismans to eat, Belos is now falling apart. He sees the ghosts of Caleb and the other Hunters; it's about 50/50 between hallucinations and actual ghosts.

Odalia has escaped puppetification by working with the Collector and by working with, she’s basically a nanny. It is going better for her than Preston Northwest’s attempt to work for Bill Cipher. No Picasso face! I still wonder where Alador is.

Eda and Lilith are being kept safe from the Collector by King. They don't do much here but it's nice to see them.

Now to talk about the Collector. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I’m deeply disappointed that they’re going with a ‘wowowo whiddle baby who doesn’t understand the stuff they’re doing’ character. I really love the sinister build up The Collector had when they were introduced. The creepy cloak when they trapped the owl beast up to his excitement at the day of unity in Hollow’s Mind. But this feels like a very different character. I guess there are more sinister evil Collectors mentioned in the lore, and the Collector who trapped the Owl beast and the Grand Huntsman could be different Collectors. I don’t know, I just didn’t want the big bad to get Steven Universed. We still have Belos at least.  

I do feel like Luz’s Palisman was a cheat too. Oh, a snake shifter. Cool would be cool if I knew what the hell that was Luz. I did love how the palisman got hatched though. I love Luz’s little realization that she just wanted to be understood. And Luz calling her mom a secret nerd! So cute.

I continue to be impressed at the show's ability to organically fit in as much plot as it does. It helps that it was a very lean show to begin with, sneaking in plot and set up in even fillery episodes. As opposed to Steven Universe and Star vs the Forces of We Evil which loved to take many brothers with characters that don't back. Which is fine in theory but it left their finals rushed and awkward when they got cut short. I mean we still got one more episode but we don't have much left to cover. Just Collector/Titan lore (differently involving that gold guy Luz saw in the in-between), maybe some more Belos/Clawthrone history, final battle, and the resolution. There is the Bat Queen stuff but that hasn't been brought up since early season two and will most likely to kept in their back pocket in case of a revival.

Grips about the Collector aside, a wonderful part two. 3 ½ out of 4.