#her personality and motives are VERY different from belos but my approach to writing her is the same in like

[crimeronan]

Honestly I'm starting to feel bad for Nova. I know she's the worst and I'm a Devin stan first so she should probably kill herself for everyone's sake. But she's also so pathetic I kinda want to give her a hug?

HELP. FAVE MESSAGE EVER. THE PROPAGANDA IS WORKING 💕🥰👏👍☺️🙏

[purplewizard]

Thoughts and review about Watching and dreaming

(The actual review is in the second part of the post. This review doesn't intend to be "critical" in the fandom meaning of the word. It shouldn't be taken as a complaint or an objective statement about the quality of the show. Criticism [in good faith] is my way of interacting with stories. It's fun!)

Ok, I'm finally over my disappointment with the lack of Wittebros content in the finale. I was salty at first. Now I realize the reaction is unwarranted.

However I still disagree Caleb and Evelyn story is better left unsaid. Yeah it's unnecessary to explain everything and a whole detailed flashback would take away the ambiguity, but it still felt as if something was missing. Like, Evelyn and Caleb are no Rose Quartz. A character need to have more of a presence to truly "haunt the narrative". This aspect of the story doesn't hit the same unless you're invested in the fandom (thus being aware of all the Hollow mind portraits being released on twitter and theories. It doesn't paint the same story picture without all of them). In short, Wittebro subplot gave some depth to Belos, was seemingly building toward something yet it fell flat.

Although it doesn't take away much from the show. More lore would have been good, but it's absence isn't a flaw. I guess that I had a different view of the role served by the Wittebanes-Clawthornes subplot in the narrative. I approached it as an individual character study of Belos (which is why I felt his character arc was incomplete without more info on Caleb), but the crew probably meant for it to be understood in a larger context. Ultimately, the Owl House is story a about building a community, growing as a marginalized person and fighting back against bigotry. The finale handled it's core themes well.

After watching the finale, my friend commented that he loved King's father lines about Belos, because it highlighted the fundamental difference between fighting for your own marginalized community against bigotry vs the hypocrisy of those oppressing others under false concerns ("exposing children to drag/lgbt media is grooming", "critical race theory is an attack on white people", etc.). Which is a really a good point!

Personally, King's dad comments are more interesting from this perspective, because otherwise it's a bit easy to entirely dismiss the debate on the morality of violence. Especially considering how the show presented Luz as a foil to Belos. Obviously Luz was right and needed to be reassured, but there's also value in interrogating oneself on the use violence and punishment (even with the mindset that bigoted ideologies aren't worth debating). It would have been more rewarding if those questions were explored sooner, aside of Luz guilt, with the Titan comments as the show final stance. I think it's more powerful to acknowledge that both characters are deeply human and may have certain things in common, YET they're also very different. Their motivations could have started from a similar place without the same intent. It's the way you act that matter after all. I don't know, Belos being a vainglorious hypocrite doesn't automatically dismiss Luz concerns for me.

There's still some writing decisions that I've found disappointing, but overall I enjoyed Watching and Dreaming. It was well done considering all the executive meddling from Disney. Special mention to the timeskip: all the designs were amazing! (By any chance, does anybody know a shirt similar to the purple one worn by Luz? I may do a cosplay one day...)

Stuff that I enjoyed

Luz Titan form, really badass and edgy in a good way

Eda and King fighting side by side with Luz

The animation was a feast for the eyes. The battles, Luz death and her sinking in the in-between world were particularly well done!

King's Father: "I loaf you" 😢

Raine resisting against Belos possession and trying to stop him. What a legend

Belos taking over the islands parasite style. His fusion with the heart is creepy, it give bloodborne vibes

The Titans lore: if the Titan magic doesn't work on the Archivist, does it suggest that it come from the same source? How long has the Collectors known the Titan race? Lot of ideas to play with

Eda being headmaster of the new wild magic university. She finally transformed the education system that ostracized her and many others into an inclusive one. The show nuance well the idea of being a "rebel". How the trope is viewed as lifestyle choice when in reality people are often first pushed to the margins by society.

Stuff that I found meh

The nightmare sequence: it was too short and didn't bring anything new. We already know those characters hang up. Since it didn't lead to any realization on their part, what was the point? In my opinion, it didn't play enough with the psychological horror aspect to be worth it in itself.

Kaiju belos: it's cool but rather generic and impersonal? I'm under the impression that many shows did it before. He reminded me of Steven Universe corrupted form. The titan corpse possession is great, but a more interesting design(not sure if it's the right term) could have been used for it's outward manifestation.

The anime-ish battle: personal opinion, but it's cooler when protagonist use their regular skills in battle. Luz use of written glyphs is her trademark and a demonstration of her cleverness. The laser magic beams was again generic (I felt the same when Eda and Lilith fought each other in season 1). Nonetheless, it was entertaining and exciting to watch.

Titan luz: love the outfit but not the execution. The whole cast was sidelined hard. It undermines the idea of "weirdos sticking together" and sharing your burden/responsibilities (which was Luz main flaw). Yes Luz was able to live her fantasy and be empowered, but it didn't feel as significant compared to the isles population fighting back against their dictator. I just wish the rest of the cast had played a bigger role.

The Titan guiding Luz all this time: the one thing I genuinely hated. It backtracks the show deconstruction of the Chosen One (which isn't a bad trope in itself tho). Luz finding by herself the glyphs because she's smart and respectful of the Boiling Isles culture was a strong parallel to Philip colonialist-mindset. His belief that his failure to find all the glyphs was because of an external force was a demonstration that he couldn't consider himself responsible for any of his shortcomings. In the end, they were two regular people who made different choices. Sure the Titan tell Luz that he choose her now because of her kindness and give her a choice, but it still diminish her agency in hindsight.

The collector being completely innocent in regard to the Titans genocide. Completely throws out any nuances the character had. All the interesting conflict with King just ceased to exist in favor of misunderstandings. It's a pretty jarring revelation considering how he used to act in season 2. It's fine for the Collector to be a child that doesn't know better on paper. It's not so much the concept that's bothersome, than how he went from an amoral alien trickster to "innocent child that can't tell right from wrong at all". Like what was the point of the character this late in the show if Belos is the main villain? There's a middle ground where the Collector could have some responsibility concerning the Titans disappearance while retaining their childlike naivety (using his power on the Titan will not understanding truly what death is, calling the Archivists for help during a conflict then regretting it, etc.).

Anyway that may seems like a lot of negatives, but it's doesn't ruin the story or anything. It's mostly nitpicking at this point.

In the end, I enjoyed the show a lot. I'd give WAD a solid 7.5/10. It was good, but other "finale" episodes like King's Tide and Yesterday's lie were stronger in my opinion.