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#king clawthorne analysis
sepublic · 1 month
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Alright, let's talk about some details from the TOH pitch bible;
A lot of the stuff is what we've already seen and/or in line with the show. What's interesting is that King WAS a former King of Demons at one point, and we would've had an episode where he runs into his old gang and chooses Luz and Eda over them. It makes me wonder if he even had a connection to the Titan in earlier drafts, if he wasn't recognized as one back in the day because he just wasn't big enough, etc. Eda makes a deal to help remove the collar, which IS the source of King's woes, placed by a 'mysterious wizard', I wouldn't be surprised if it was Obron AKA Proto-Belos.
What gets me is that Tibbles originally started off as a friend to the protagonists, while Bump was an antagonist! Coupled with Tibbles being re-elected as mayor after Bump is deposed for corruption. I like the detail of Bump being a parasite controlling a body from the head, because it carried over into his final design with Frewin, and before we got confirmation Frewin was a separate entity, I loved the joke theory that the imp on Bump's head was the REAL Bump!!! Seems that was always the implied story of the design, I love it. Tibbles being the demon fan of human stuff would eventually become Gus instead, so this is technically Proto-Gus too…?
Interesting how Bump and Tibbles' alignments switch completely with one another, and it makes sense that with Lilith no longer the principal in the final draft, it goes to Bump, who ends up being really chill and a subversion in his own right! Interesting, but I do prefer the final Bump we got, and that's fine by me, because when the concepts aren't as interesting as the final product, it means we got the best possible version.
I've already discussed Obron and William in a separate post, and Pupa is someone we've been told about in a previous livestream. Lilith would've been both head of all covens (and not just the Emperor's Coven) AND principal at the same time, and she seems much more of a jerk to Eda in general; She has no qualms with cursing Eda because of a direct order from Obron.
Apparently the curse would've been an AGING spell, which settles my questions on how it would've been portrayed in earlier drafts! This goes along with Eda's older look. Likewise, there would've been a subplot of Eda considering Luz's sacrifice as a way to restore her youth, which likely goes hand in hand with Obron's orders to bring Luz to her, etc. The 'Bloom of Eternal Youth' quest, which Eda and Lilith go through together as their sisterly relationship is explored, feels like a carryover from this past idea.
I think I prefer the final draft; I like that the curse isn't just aging Eda, but also takes away her magic, makes her turn into a beast, etc. I like Lilith being a lot more complicated in her relationship with Eda, instead of just hating her and cursing her without hesitation. The redefining of the curse makes it less about age, and more a chronic illness metaphor, and I like how Eda in the final draft is upfront about having to learn to live with it, deal with it, on her own terms. She isn't trying to find a cure (although Lilith being promised one by Obron feels like a carryover of Eda's moral dilemma with Luz), and that adds another nice dimension to her conflict with Lilith, as well as Gwen. It's pretty frank in its own right about normalizing disability, and those who play an antagonistic role (however brief) are the real weirdoes for making such a fuss about it.
The Bat Queen would've had more of a recurring role based on the description, which saddens me; I always got the vibe she was planned for more, but between all of the other stuff the show had to juggle, plus the shortening, she ended up getting shafted despite being one of the earlier characters. Sashley, Pasha, and Bruno are also interesting, with Pasha in particular giving me freaking Philip Wittebane vibes with his grossness, beard, and anti-demon attitude; He even starts off as a potential friend to Luz because fellow human, only for his true bigotry to show. Makes me wonder if Philip ended up incorporating Pasha, we also have bodily transformation because of consuming magical stuff... P-names.
(Also, I like how in the drawing of typical Demon Realm denizens, I can see an eye demon who resembles a past drawing of Dana's!!!)
Eda was actually a late bloomer, which creates a parallel with Luz in one way, and their relationship is referred to as sisterly (in the final draft it’s explicitly maternal). So Eda wouldn't have been the talented youth, in fact things may have switched between her and Lilith; Lilith's disdain may have partially come from Eda not being as innately talented as her.
Luz and Amity's dynamic seems like it would've had Amity retain a lot of her more stand-offish, pragmatic personality even as a friend with Luz, and this would've come up more; So basically, she'd remain more like S1 Amity. That, or this part of their relationship would've lasted longer, and then we would've seen character development as Amity unlearns a lot of the issues her parents passed on. I also wonder if the Willow who cameos in the pilot was originally supposed to just be an extra separate from ‘Paulina’, but then they combined the two together.
The themes are exactly as I expected, glad to see they're still there, nothing changed! Luz becoming a witch and defying all odds to do so, putting in real work and passion. Celebrating individuality amidst conformity, plus Luz trying to impose her own fictional tropes onto the world, only to have to put that aside... Just like Wing it like Witches. It seems Amity would've had more involvement with Luz's journey to become a witch, though we still do have a carryover of that disconnect with her rant near the end of Covention.
I love the Demon Realm being situated BELOW the Human Realm, way to be subtle about being Hell you guys lol... Apparently portals to the human world are a lot rarer to find and use, which makes me wonder if the pilot's 'dimension port' doesn't have access to the human world; Meaning Amity is Luz's only way back, so her improved relationship with her is linked to getting back home. There's a gag about the Knee having service with the human world, but I can see how that didn't make the cut, for dramatic purposes; It seems like the premise for a S1 episode or at least a B-plot. Would Luz have struggled to communicate with Camila through this, or would her search for wi-fi be for mundane reasons?
Apparently Luz's magic would've required a lot more steps to complete, and I see why the show simplified things down to just glyphs. I wonder if there was always going to be the connection of glyphs as a gift from the Titan, or if the Titan and her story was going to be less intertwined in the overall narrative. There also don't seem to be nine main covens, just the many, many covens, some of which are pretty ridiculous, and Covention's sub-covens seem a callback to that.
Luz's first spell would've been levitation, and THEN she would've infiltrated Hexside, with Amity being a lot subtler about exposing Luz, though in the final draft she does figure that out as the way to go in I was a Teenage Abomination. Yeah, I prefer Light being her original spell, feels so much more symbolic and personal, etc. I wonder if the Titan is even as much of a character in early drafts, and if there's still the whole connection/relationship with the land and learning to respect it aspect. Some of these hypothetical episodes push the idea of Amity as a more episodic, typical popular kid antagonist, though in the final draft, the show goes through her character development and explores Amity's romantic relationship with Luz and its complications.
It seems the idea of the Mirror Ghost was split into Adegast and Vee, with Adegast being the one who offers the easier narrative for Luz to believe in about becoming a witch (only to be a fraud who uses uncanny puppets), and Vee being a doppelganger whom Luz communicates through with mirrors. Interesting how Yesterday's Lie was born from this. We saw the test animation from Spencer Wan for TOH, so I guess we know what Luz's puppet-doppelganger is called! And we can safely call her Proto-Vee. I wonder if she also would've been a sympathetic character, I always thought she reminded me of Lake from Infinity Train (and speculated her to be as such since Enchanting Grom Fright), and now the similarities are even MORE apparent!
Alas, The Good Witch Azura, or 'The Unassuming Princess' seems like it'd have been a lot less dear to Luz's heart, as the pilot also reflects; In the end, it turns out the author is just Eda's ex using her adventures as basis, and including private information. I remember when I once speculated that Raine, before we saw their face, would've been just like this as the author of Azura... Again, I think I prefer Azura as being a lot less mean-spirited in the final draft, and instead a celebration of who Luz is as a person, her relationship with fantasy and fiction, etc. We also would've had a Luz birthday party, the Quincenera we've been hoping for since S1...! In the final draft (and episode) we still get that Human-Demon Realm disconnect, though by that point, Luz is much more attuned and chill with the isles.
There’s definitely more of an episodic, sitcom feel to this pitch bible, especially when you compare Proto-Yesterday’s Lie to its final version. Makes sense, Dana is pitching this to Disney executives, though her statement on Understanding Willow feeling truly like her show makes me wonder if she always intended to push TOH in that more serious, emotional route we got.
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novelist-becca · 1 year
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Something I just realized:
Every time the end credits music DOESN’T play, is when the owl family is separated.
Agony of a Witch: Eda got captured.
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Clouds on the Horizon: the last time Luz saw Eda alive and well.
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King’s Tide: Luz was separated from King AND Eda.
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The way I see it is that the story’s ending wont play out properly if all three of them aren’t together.
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kindestegg · 1 year
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"Maybe if I ask her real nice, I won't have to turn her into a puppet!"
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So... this line has been puzzling me for a WHILE because it feels like it goes against the idea Collector's go-to default is to just puppet-ify everything.
UNTIL someone in a server I was a part of pointed out that hey, doesn't it seem like Collector is also actively trying to nudge King to play something else? That they're tired of this game?
And I thought about the capture the flag game suggestion.
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"What if we switch it up? We could play capture the flag! Us versus... everyone on the Isles!"
Okay, aside from the obvious commentary that Collector sees himself and King against the world (which is. another thing. I need to write up on *biting down on my arm*), it's interesting this implies the people would probably not be puppets anymore, since you'd probably need people who are conscious to actively play in the game, and the whole "people breathing on the moon" discussion doesn't seem like it would happen if they were considering the people as puppets.
It's also worth noting that Collector turning Lilith and Hooty into puppets happens immediately after King tells him The Owl House Game is like playing pretend...
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And also, after Collector asks King what role he gets to play, and King presumably tells him, he uh, does this...
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Which I'm guessing means he was pretty happy to hear he's going to be the main character. And then immediately after...
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... Do you think there's a possibility Collector's go-to isn't in fact to just capture people as puppets, but interpreted this immediately from King's talk of the Owl House Game?
He also lashes out at King for criticizing him over turning Terra into a puppet, claiming he's just "playing pretend".
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And considering how, from King's talk with Eda and Lilith, he's only losing his fear of making Collector mad NOW...
It's possible most of this was born out of a misunderstanding. Collector interpreted the game as having "lots of players" as puppets, the whole Isles as King put it, and King was too scared to tell him that wasn't it. No wonder Collector lashes out when told not to do so, to him it makes no sense because this is how the game is played in his view.
If he's getting tired of this game though, it also explains why he suggested not turning Eda into a puppet first, why he wanted to play something that would keep people free from such a spell, and even why he seemed slightly disappointed that he ended up turning Terra into a puppet too by the end, which is another sentient playmate lost, even if she made him angry.
So... if all of this could have been avoided if King had told Collector that this game shouldn't entail turning people into puppets, I think I have a hunch of the narrative purpose of all this.
It's telling the truth. King has to tell the truth. That there was no Owl House game, that he made it all up, that he was a scared kid desperate to save the people he loved and the Isles and that yes, he did use Collector.
King wasn't in the wrong for lying of course, because it was this or losing everything he loves. But things have been regardless severely more complicated because of this lie.
And I suspect he knows this, as he says he wants to talk to Collector to solve things. Maybe this talking is him telling the truth after all. He does say this directly after communicating that he's losing his fear of making Collector mad. Maybe he's finally gotten courage to confess the truth.
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It's also worth noting again that Collector... doesn't care that King is lying about some things? He barely reacts with anger or shock at him talking to Eda and Lilith and seeing that they're keeping this as secret from him, he only cares when it sounds like King might want to hurt him.
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It sounds silly when you put it this way, but the biggest obstacle keeping their relationship from fully realizing and them resolving things is just a misunderstanding. King wrongfully believing Collector might hurt him and Collector wrongfully believing King is happy playing pretend with him.
Once they actually talk this out, they can finally resolve things.
... the only problem is that I think if King approaches Collector saying he wants to tell him something now...
Collector might just think it has to do with King getting rid of him, and things might turn for the worst.
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probablyhuntersmom · 1 year
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The scenes towards the end of the finale were like an intersection of multiple characters experiencing the loss of father figures, in different shades:
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Luz's relationship to her late father took on a different form, after King's own father passed on and his glyph magic was gone for good. Manny gifting her the Azura books before his death, and Papa Titan offering her glyph magic before he too passed on, helped Luz find her place in the world and defeat Belos.
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Apparently this scene is what made Sarah Nicole-Robles bawl in the recording studio, right after she recorded the lines.
When these changes happen - when we experience the loss of a person, when our ties with them are wrangled into a new form, against our will - it can be devastatingly painful. Change and transformation make for fancy, dramatic scenes in fiction, and they always incur loss in some form, painful or not. It also made me so emotional when seeing how much 18-year-old Luz resembles Manny, and how her enrolment in the university is linked to both her biological father and Papa Titan.
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King's experience of seeing the majesty of his father, however brief, left him in awe and exhilaration. He can rest in the beautiful knowledge that Papa Titan was watching over him the whole time too. The message that his dad left him, relayed by Luz, is something he'll hold dear forever.
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Hunter will never be truly harmed by Belos ever again. But he can't discard the memories of Belos granting him attachment: even if the attachment ended up not being real in a sense. However, like what can be applied in real-life therapy, he can get guidance on how to rescript those memories.
Belos's lies about having good intentions don't change how it felt real to Hunter all those years ago. Hunter was a young child when receiving this 'love', and in a twisted way...the mission given to him by Belos kept him alive up till he could escape the Coven, because the mission gave his life meaning despite the circumstances being awfully terrible. A child cannot survive without attachment, and needs attachment even if the experience of attachment has been horrendous and scarring. And holy Titan don't get me started on how at age 16 (before the timeskip), he had yet to learn more grisly details about his predecessors - whom he might view as older brothers and fathers whom he never met - and the generational trauma in his Golden Guard family tree:
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which would have definitely been explored before he could experience that amazing hard-won serenity and peace at age 20.
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Even Philip's arc is inextricably tied to his manner of coping with how he murdered Caleb, who was the closest thing he had to a father, given how these two brothers were orphans. In the end, Philip meets his end while Luz gazes upon him the same way Caleb's ghost did. Philip won't be haunted by Caleb's ghost again, and he joins the person who was essentially his father figure in death. Till the very end, he was projecting onto another person because he didn't want to recognize the same traits in himself. He was the one responsible for his father figure's death.
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But grief doesn't mean the relationships in question have ended altogether. It's kind of like what this post about the finale (link) says, and it even extends to the relationship between us fans and the show itself.
The cliché "5 Stages of Grief" is the most commonly mentioned grief model, but I follow the development and advocacy of a newer perspective on grief that challenges it. In fact, the 5 Stages was originally just intended for terminally ill patients, but it was taken out of proportion. I began a serious investigation into the newer models after I went through something that parallels Hunter losing Flapjack...eerily, it happened to me two weeks before TTT's release date. No wonder I feel so close to Hunter as a blorbo, I guess.
Unlike what the 5 Stages of Grief says, grief and linear time don't mix well. Without "stages" to follow, there isn't an expectation of some deadline or permanent end of a tunnel in the newer models. Such pressure wouldn't be honoring the sacredness of connections between us. Instead, less famous grief perspectives like the dual-process model and continuing bonds model, are a better fit to honor relationships that mattered, since they aren't given an expiry date.
I wonder how Luz would be feeling on the day she graduates from the Wild Magic University, and how King feels each time he unlocks his own new glyphs since he is the new Titan to supply the Isles with magic. And I wonder how Hunter felt when his coven sigil was replaced with the Flapjack tattoo, and how he feels when he sees the Gravesfield town seal and Wittebane statues.
There are ways in which they can get creative to integrate their grief (notice I didn't say "get rid of", "remove", "erase" or even "manage"...the pain is what is to be managed, not the grief itself) the best they can. In canon, we have examples such as the Hexsquad agreeing to get their Flapjack tattoos together. Luz letting go of the light glyph sheet here:
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is also a fantastic representation of rituals like sending off a message in a bottle at a beach, tying a message to a balloon and letting it fly away (this happened in Reaching Out, didn't it?), or burning a message in a campfire to let it float up towards the sky in the form of embers.
It is a common recommendation to have exercises like letter-writing where the griever writes to the lost loved one. What many may not know is you can also do the reverse: you writing as your lost loved one, to yourself. Because the griever takes a piece of the lost loved one with them, that the griever has shaped within themselves. This is especially good if you need to extend forgiveness to yourself. An example from a book called Bearing the Unbearable:
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The author felt responsible for the stillbirth of her child, but had a "happy accident" where she intuitively asked for forgiveness and then received it, by invoking the love that her child would have shown to her in a world where said child had remained alive.
I think Hunter in particular could benefit from something like this, writing to himself as the uncle whom he saw as genuine and nurturing, and gaining ownership of that part of him even though Belos was a liar and is now gone for good. It can help him move forward especially since he won't be spared from nightmares in which his loss is re-enacted. With this kind of rescripting, historical accuracy doesn't actually need to matter. After all, our own minds lie to us at times and mess with historical accuracy anyway, like Luz's thoughts telling her she was as bad as Belos, and how true that felt.
A physical loved one is lost to death, and it can feel just as painful - only in a different way - if people become estranged or separated without a literal death having occurred. But the connection to them isn't lost, it is only adapted. The bond continues. For better or worse.
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I believe the pain in grieving is connected to each moment when we remember all over again that the one we loved isn't coming back.
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It's like the needle of a gramophone getting stuck in the loop of an unpleasant-sounding record scratch noise. It's a bit like what C.S. Lewis says in his book A Grief Observed: "In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out." I can't find the other part but he later said something like, therefore if a friendship is lost, the part of you that only that friend could bring out, is also lost. Something in you is locked away forever, though new things can also be unlocked after the loss.
It wasn't shown onscreen but I wouldn't be surprised if it's regular for Luz to come across a meme and be freshly reminded of her dad's absence, because she can't show him that meme. King would be wishing that a new funny cat video he discovers is something his dad could also laugh at along with him. Hunter would be hoping that Flapjack, the previous Golden Guards and Caleb are watching as he brings back palismen.
Bereavement, and any grief that is significant enough to alter our personhood forever, are the forms of love that can never really grasp how time flows in a linear way. They can't be reasoned with, only experienced.
"...the howling at the center of grief is raw and real. It is love in its most wild form" - Megan Devine.
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kingarubin · 1 year
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I was thinking about Collector and remembered that episode from season one. It's similar but at the same quite different to what Collector is going through.
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Both King and Collector just want to spend time playing with their best friend, but things seem to never go they way. They are trying to have fun and it doesn't work.
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And even when they all are together they feel like they don't belong with the rest. The others seem to have so much fun together while they are being left out.
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Also, in both cases a villain took notice of their insecurites and use them to manipulate them.
But despite all these similarities there are major differences between those situations. And the most important one is the motivation behind King and Collector's actions.
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The problem that King was dealing with was that he wasn't anymore Luz's only friend on the Boiling Isles. At first it was just the three of them (with Eda being Luz's mentor, not equal) and now she was meeting more and more new people. King never had any close friends besides Luz so seeing her have less and less time for him was really difficult. King was scared of losing Luz to others.
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King was jealous of Willow and Gus. That resulted in him wanting to separate them from Luz so that she could spend all her time with him. He wanted to have her all for himself.
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That desire manifested in him being desparate to obtain friendship braceletes for them. He needed to have a proof that he is the most important person to Luz, that they really are best friends.
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But in the end the end King learned that it's okay that Luz has other friends. This was represented in frienship braceletes spiliting into four parts. Because you don't have to have one friend, you can have three or more. They all can be friends with each other.
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Meanwhile Collector's problem was that they never really had any friends. Archivists, Belos and even King just wanted to use them. Titans who were kind to him were gone. He never had a chance to learn how to play and be a good friend.
And from what we know it's safe to assume that their way of "playing" by turning people into puppets is something that they were taught by the Archivists.
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Collector was jealous of Luz because she had exactly what they wanted. She came to the Boiling Isles and managed to gain trust and friendship of a lot of people. Collector had no idea how to do that.
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And there was also her relationship with King. King was Collector's best friend, but Collector wasn't King's best friend. King didn't have any close friends before Luz came but Collector had no one (King at least had Eda). King was not only the most important person in their life, he was the only one they had. But Collector wasn't even close to being as important to King as he was to them.
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But unlike King, Collector was never trying to keep King for himself. He doesn't even seem to be a person who would get jealous easily. They released Lilith from the spell and they didn't want to turn Eda into a puppet, instead wanting to convince her to join the game. He wasn't trying to separate King from the others. Because in the end they just wanted to be everyone's friend. They just didn't know how.
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Both King and Collector know what it's like to feel unwanted and alone. They both know the feeling of wanting to spend time with a person that they consider to be their best friend, yet having trouble doing that. And they both know what it's like to feel unimportant to the person that is important to them. Although the circumstances and problems they were facing were quite different.
It turned out to be much bigger analysis that I expected, haha. At first I wanted to just point out similarities that I noticed (since King and Collector are very similar), but then I thought that if I'm comparing those episodes I can also take some time to look at the differences between them. So that would be it. Thank you for reading my thoughts!
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rex-shadao · 1 year
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The Lonely End of Belos
Or why Hunter, Caleb, Evelyn, Lilith, Collector, or anyone that Belos personally wronged didn't get to be the witness to his demise.
I admit, I was a bit unsatisfied with Belos' demise. After all the build up with Caleb hallucinations and Grimwalker bones, I thought he would fall into the graveyard pit, see the ghosts, and realizing all too late it's his fault before he melts into a pile of bones.
Prior to that, before Thanks to Them, I speculated on Belos' fate would be him being hunted down by an angry mob of humans led by Jacob Hopkins believing him to be some kind of cryptid monster either threatening the town... or offer a rare opportunity to get rich on the news. And then he falls apart like an animal.
And when Watching and Dreaming trailer hinted at Belos possessing the Titan, I wondered how they were going to defeat Belos without resorting to revenge or poetic irony (since Belos is this big final boss that the heroes would blow up like with the core). I thought perhaps they would turn Belos into a Palisman tree and make him give back all the Palisman he devoured in a twisted form of redemption. Perhaps they'll remind him of his past and start a mental collapse that causes him to lose control of the Titan as he sees images of Caleb. I was pretty sure Caleb would show up just before Belos dies, giving him the realization that he's damned.
But his actual demise... feels empty. He did fall apart as I expected and there's sense of loneliness in his demise, but... no Caleb. No Evelyn. Nothing hinting to his past. Heck, I don't think the name Philip is even brought up once. It feels like we've been cheated out of a cathartic demise, and I spent the hours since the special aired trying to make sense of this choice and why. Why is there no Wittebane lore.
And ultimately, I make this conclusion:
Belos refused to open up about his past. It's quite telling the Collector spilled everything of his Freudian Excuse from being bullied by the Archivists to being wrongfully imprisoned by King's Dad to his desire for friends and being accepted. Him opening up communications of his insecurities allowed Luz, Eda, and King to empathize and help him. To teach him kindness and forgiveness. To teach him the value of life through death. And through their teachings does the Collector become better and ultimately redeemed.
But Belos? We know he had a traumatic past and a lot of insecurities with his brother. We know he's a lot like Luz and the Collector when he was a child. But unlike them, he never opened up about his insecurities. He forcibly molds them into abstract ideas and rules. For the greater good of humanity. For the good of your souls. He always tries to make it non personal, thinking it makes him selfless and pure.
But what he ends up creating is a caricature of himself. A shallow representation of his former human life. The Hollow Mind portraits released this week on Twitter shows tragedy with the happy memories being free of scratches and burns. Those were the original looks. But in the actual episodes, even the happy memories were scarred and burned. As Understanding Willow reveals, if you burn the memory pictures, you essentially erase them from existence. This means that Belos barely remembers his past. Now that I think about it, Belos never actually used the word brother at any point. Just an old friend. At first, I thought he was trying to avoid triggering trauma memories regarding Caleb's murder, but now I wonder... did he actually forget Caleb was his brother?
Because if he did, then it explains why he never seem to make the connection that Eda and Lilith may in fact be the descendants of Evelyn and Caleb. He only remembers Evelyn's first name but can't remember her face or anything that would link her to the Clawthrones.
And then it hits me. Despite being the big main antagonist of the series... Belos has only one personal connection to our main trio: Luz the Human. Eda, he dismisses her as an Owl Lady outlaw who isn't important in the grand scheme of thing. And King, he thinks it's a weird dog demon, not a baby Titan. But Luz, he's obsessed with because A) she would help him learn the Light Glyph and find the Collector and B) she's the first human he has seen in centuries.
Thus, it is Luz that Belos focuses on the most. It's Luz that Belos wants to form an actual connection since Caleb's death. And when you think about those witnessed Belos' demise... Luz is the only one that Belos has any genuine interactions with. Eda, King, and Raine... they were all background pawns or obstacles, not even worth specializing personal grudges towards like he would with Lilith, Hunter, Evelyn, or even Caleb.
So in spirit, Luz is the last lifeline for redemption and forgiveness. And Belos blew it. He was so obessed with Luz due to her human status but he never gave anything about his past to her (Luz only got Belos' backstory from Masha). He assumes that being human alone is sufficient enough for speaking terms. And he choose the best looking human look for her: A non-broken nose Philip Wittebane. Just as how she saw him in Elsewhere and Elsewhen. The ideal adventurer and hero of the 17th century. He evidently forgot that this bearded Phillip destroyed Luz's respect for him. This Philip lied to her and betrayed her and Lilith. This Philip was not the hero Luz envisioned. After all, the Philip she idolized in the diaries was clean shaven. He could have chosen that form... if he actually remembers that.
And then he sloppily try to make himself sound like he's freed from a curse, sloppily using the term dark magic instead of wild magic, and taking great pains to even say that he did horrible things, even under the excuse of a curse. He has no idea on how to make himself relatable when it's all there within him deep down. He just uses the surface-deep level of relatability and Luz doesn't buy it. And the boiling rain melts away that skin deep humanity, revealing a rotting ghoul barely clinging onto life, screaming of how witches are evil and unforgivable as he crawls to Luz. Notably, he still doesn't give a reason as to why he thinks they're all evil. We all know what it likely is, but Belos never confirms it to Luz.
Belos is virtually on autopilot, repeating the mantra of humans are superior and witches are evil. He never speaks about how Caleb was "stolen" from him by a witch. He never speaks about how Gravesfield taught that witches are evil. His memories almost completely erased by his self-inflicted denial, all he can think of is wiping out witches and saving humanity. A caricature of his former self.
And by failing to swayed Luz, he's completely alone. There is no Caleb now. No Evelyn. No Hunter. No Lilith. No Grimwalkers. No Flapjack. Just Luz whose connection he tries to forge is now a shallow parody because of how much he doesn't understand her at all. But she wouldn't kill him since that would give him a known company at his last moment. Instead he meets his end by those that he doesn't even see as personally important beyond pawns. Though they have a lot of personal grudges against the former Emperor and tyrant, Belos only sees strangers at the end of in his long life.
Philip Wittebane is nothing more than a faded memory of a bygone era. He died with his brother Caleb, regulated to just folklore ghost stories told in Halloween of Gravesfield. To some, they may never really exist in the first place since 1613 is a very long time.
The creature that resembles Philip is just Belos and he is little more but a parody of a man, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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mandareeboo · 2 years
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Things I’ve noticed while re-watching Owl House:
Eda’s been living on borrowed time since season 1. She thought she was going to disappear on that bridge, and she certainly didn’t expect to have her time non-feathered to be doubled. That (and other things) has led her to be much more willing to die in season 2- she isn’t running anymore, but she’s not fighting much either. She plans to go out with Raine. She plans to hand herself over to the Emperor. She plans to die on the Day of Unity with Lilith as long as King and Luz are far, far away. Finally she plans to die in front of the entire city of Bonesborough to give Luz and King a better future
Eda put a LOT of work into being Luz’s mentor. It’s not really mentioned but in episode four she states that she “hasn’t figured out how old Witches performed magic”, but in Adventures in the Elements she has a whole training itinerary planned around elements and how connecting was/is important to old Witches. We also see she had a GIANT stack of overdue library books. I’m willing to bet she put a lot of time and reading into helping Luz with her glyphs.
Luz probably overheard Camila’s statement about Vee being “such a strong girl” and may have been somewhat hurt bc Camila implied she’d not had that before. It’s not intentional on Camila’s part but we all know Luz goes the extra mile to feel ashamed.
Even though Hunter tells Luz to stop messaging him he still apologizes when he sends her a photo of Flapjack. Idk I just think that’s polite and cute.
Of the covens we know the least about Construction magic. With Oracles we at least know about their mummy things they bring out. All we know about Construction is power glyphs and that they seem to almost earthbend
If Alador hasn’t had a day off in five years but has only recently stopped talking to the kids bc of the Abomatons that implies he was still socially active in their lives to some degree.
Belos saying Hunter looked the most like his brother while also having given him that big fuck off cheek scar makes me feel like at one point he really hated that and tried to “change” it
Luz and Hunter are the only characters in the show to have had any prolonged discussions with Belos. Even Kiki only got a few orders and jabs and that’s it. Just a subtle bit of his distaste for Witches even today.
Likewise Luz and Hunter both share the common denominator of being scarred by Belos
Even though Boscha keeps her word not to outright bully the gang after losing in Grudgby she still keeps surprisingly intertwined in their day-to-day lives, even stopping by Luz’s club to pester her AND seeming to be legitimately interested in Luz’s life goals. I feel like in Boscha’s mind she sees it as like. Rival pals.
Despite being a giant bigot Belos still called Kikimora “Kiki” once or twice. It literally doesn’t matter I just find it hilarious. “I hate Witches and witchcraft but I draw the line on not using nicknames.”
Considering King didn’t live in his hatching place OR have the engraving on his collar for like eight years of his life if the Collector hadn’t been busy with Belos he likely would’ve found him instantly with the wanted posters
Lilith saw Eda as “dangerous” and “misguided” and I think a lot of that drew back to when she witnessed the Owl Beast attack and permanently disable their father
Raine only knew Eda for like seven months before she became cursed. They’ve literally known her for most of her life but almost all of that time came from after that point. Idk I just think it’s interesting bc Eda always saw her curse as a burden but to Raine it’d been part of her life so long they probably feel like it’s just... her.
The Day of Unity had basically nothing to do with Phillip going home, it was just a “fuck you all and die” as he left.
I feel like no one really talks about this but Gwendolyn and Dell are Wild Witches. Yes they're both in covens but Dell is secretly regrowing damage done by Belos and Gwen seeks outside-coven help AND steals magic artifacts to try to heal Eda, like none of this is legal
Also I feel like no one talks about how the pain sharing spell and the fist raising Eda and Lily do as kids is probably Wild in origin. No one else uses verbal spells and we've seen organized witches duels today and they don't do that gesture.
Vee is a very quiet and easily panicked girl and while that's perfectly natural after all she's been through when 'Luz' came back from camp Camila probably assumed the worst
Unless we get a flashback to King’s dad or a flash-forward to grown-up King we will never see a grown living Titan.
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aroacemisha · 2 years
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The Wittebane brothers struggled to fit in with their town, and both were offered a different society by the Demon Realm.
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And so was Luz.
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But while Caleb and Luz embraced the Demon Realm and the freedom it offered them, and they found a family for themselves,
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Philip rejected that freedom. But not only did he reject it, he took it away from Caleb too.
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And he almost took it away from Luz.
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He didn’t allow himself to enjoy the freedom the Boiling Isles offered, and he wouldn’t let them do it either. He didn’t allow himself to figure out his own identity and find a purpose in life beyond fulfilling his society’s expectations to a tee, and he wouldn’t let them either.
And no matter how firmly he believes in his own righteousness, all these years later, he’s still haunted by what he did to Caleb.
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As much as he’s convinced he’s right, it doesn’t take away the pain of killing his brother - his only friend and only family - with his own hands, and then going through an endless cycle of cloning him over and over again to try and create the idealized version of him he made up in his mind.
And all these years later, he’s still imitating what Caleb used to look like back in the Human Realm. He still wears his coat, and he grew his hair out to have it in a ponytail.
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He ruined his own life and defined himself around a single purpose he now desperately clings to, because he has nothing else left. He doesn’t have friends or a family because he destroyed that himself, and he doesn’t have a home either - the Human Realm he knew is long gone. All he can do now is either continue his work as a witch hunter, or die. He doesn’t know what else to do with himself, and it’s far too late for him to turn back, so he’s stuck in this prison he built for himself.
While Caleb died long ago, Luz made it out alive.
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She has a family. She has friends. She has a home. She has hopes and dreams, and she has something to do. She didn’t define herself around a single purpose, and she allowed herself to experiment. She refused to let society define her identity or her purpose for her, and she helped others break free as well - be it refusing to conform to societal norms, or standing up to or escaping from an abusive parent.
Philip chose conformity, while Caleb and Luz chose freedom. Caleb’s time in this world was cut short, but Luz continues to live on and fight for others to have freedom too.
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sparklestwi · 5 months
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this is so funny, they act just like me and my brother help 😭😭
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i love them
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flower-boi16 · 2 months
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I absolutely love Eda growing to care for Luz and King over the course of the series; she starts off as a "cookey irresponsible teacher" for Luz, neglecting to teach her magic despite Luz begging her to do so, but over the course of season 1 you can see Eda growing to care about Luz and protecting her, saving her from random beasts and actually starting to try and teach her some real magic.
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Agony of A Witch shows this on full display, Eda growing to be fully attached to Luz and even saying "Thank you Luz for being in my life...".
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Season 2 continues Eda becoming a surrogate mother for Luz and King with Eda's Requiem, where she begins to have a sense of uselessness, knowing that King and Luz are going to return to their "real" parents eventually. She was finally getting to truly care about them and now she's going to have to face having to be alone again. Luz and King are going to go back to their real parents, so they would not need Eda anymore...right?
She's not their real parents, once Luz and King do find their real parents, they'll leave Eda and go back to their true homes...at least, that's what Eda thinks.
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But at the end of the episode, right after almost sacrificing herself and Raine in order to stop the emperor, Eda learns that, although she's not Luz and King's real family, she's still close to them and they are still close to her, and that they may still need her.
She may not be their real mother, but she's still a surrogate mother to them.
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(And then she becomes King's adoptive mother which is literally just perfect)
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Then we move 12 episodes later on O Titan, Where Art Thou. Eda doesn't have a plan for how to beat the emperor, but she doesn't want to crush Luz or King with the truth, wanting them to have one last good day before the entire world goes to shit.
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During the heist, in order to ensure Luz's safety, she asks Raine to take Luz on an airship far away from the day of unity, much to Luz's dismay. She's even willing to turn herself in just so Luz can be in a place where she's safe.
The episode shows how much Luz and King mean to Eda now, showing the found family dynamic that the show has been building since Season 1.
Eda went from being a female Grunkle Stan to being a loving and caring parent for Luz and King, and it's probably one of my favorite arcs in the whole series.
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chriscdcase95 · 2 years
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Someone in The Owl House fandom: “Wait, so homo/trans phobia and racism isn’t a thing on the Boiling Isles ? How does that happen when they have a literal puritan tyrant ruling over them for fifty years ?”
Me: “Well...it makes sense from a backwards sort of way. 
Yes, Belos/Philip Wittebane is a puritan, and given the time and culture he grew up, no doubt having those prejudices and biases ingrained into his mind. It’s just he was thrust into a world full of demons, witches and magic. It’s a world full of what he sees as sin and evil, and a world he intends to destroy.
If Philip were a Calvinist, he would probably see the Boiling Isles as an example of total depravity. Sure, he could try to impose his religious, puritanical beliefs onto the Boiling Isles populations...but that would risk converting them to Christianity and (by his standards and beliefs) saving them.
But Philip doesn’t want that. He wants them to burn. Let them practice witchcraft. Let them (literally) Be Gay and Do Crimes. Let the populations wallow in what he sees as depravity and sin, it’s just more fuel for the fire he plans to light. As far as Philip is concerned, he’s the only pure thing in this world.
In Philip’s eyes, his place in the place is all but assured; he will be like God’s favorite and most perfect angel.
Philip will ascend to heaven; Philip will raise his throne above the stars of God; Philip will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. Philip will ascend above the tops of the clouds; Philip will make himself like the Most High; while the Boiling Isles will be brought down to the pit, to the realm of the dead.
Which makes the irony all the more delicious; since Amphibia and The Owl House’s shared universe is all but confirmed, the actual god of that universe picked Anne Boonchuy as it’s heir (which on another level would have shot Philip’s religious beliefs in the foot) - someone that a person like Philip would associate with Luz, and other such sinners.
As for racism ? Well, there was a whole second part of this essay that would have covered what racist believes Philip could/would of had, but it felt like that was opening a whole different can of worms. The short of it is, while Phillip could have held racist views of his time, it would have more to do with ones “breeding” than actual skin color. But in the Boling Isles, such a thing it wouldn’t matter; a POC Witch is a witch all the same to Philip.
Besides, and while I did wonder if his Coven System would count as a form of segregation, but I came to the conclusion that it’s more of a classism thing. And as we see with the Blights, classism is a form of bigotry on the Boiling Isles.”
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sepublic · 1 year
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The Collector’s story is so sad to me because they really do try!!! They are putting in the effort to be better!!! They defy the other collectors’ policy of imprisonment and genocide, for the sake of the Titans! They go along with Philip’s plans, giving him the draining spell and a bunch of other magic! And they listen to King’s Owl House rules, they’re gradually adjusting their behavior according to his advice, respecting his boundaries, even letting him get away with Eda and Lilith!
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He’s learning. He really is doing all he can to improve, he’s listening. But the Collector isn’t doing it fast enough, they haven’t figured it out quickly; So it feels like for the adults and everyone else around them, they don’t want to put in the effort to teach and rehabilitate this kid. That’s too long and arduous, it’s much easier to stick him in a prison and hide it, or even kill the kid.
The Collector invests so much good-faith effort into changing for people, but those around him? They don’t want to reciprocate the same effort to understand him in return, that’s how it feels. They demand so much but give nothing back, use the Collector. And would rather take the easy route of punishing the kid to make him shut up for their convenience, instead of really working to talk with him at his level, and explain how to get better. There’s this silent, genuine, hurt and confused question echoing from the Collector; “What did I do wrong?”
It really does feel like one big metaphor for neurodivergent kids, and children in general, who are seen as misbehaving troublemakers. And rather than taking the time to understand their perspectives, and communicate to them about the problem, adults would rather just hit them until they’re quiet.
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Because it’s easier, more convenient that way, like sweeping dust under the rug. Even if it just makes this kid who IS willing to improve feel neglected, unappreciated; Allows their problems to fester untouched and unseen, until it boils over and explodes later in life. And suddenly adults are all shocked because He was such a quiet, obedient kid, who could’ve seen this coming?!
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The Collector feels like the collective wrath of so many kids who were treated like inconveniences to deal with, rather than growing children who needed help and guidance. And boy is the Collector messy about it, because they’re tired of playing by other people’s rules and trying to appeal to them with good behavior, in exchange for compassion, because that clearly hasn’t worked out and never will.
They are every child who has asked Why about a rule, and instead of being treated like a person with an honest need to know, was just told Because I said so. They want to get it, but people just prefer them being blindly subservient; People don’t care what the Collector thinks, so why should he feel the same for their judgment? The kid is panicked when he insists King focus on the revision he made to the storybook, the lesson he learned, but he’s still being put away for what others wrote.
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“You can trust me” is something Philip and King have both told them, and maybe that parallels how adults insist children follow their seemingly arbitrary rules even without knowing why, because “It’s the rules” and authority dictates all. So after struggling under that command, of course the Collector is eager to be the one wielding it this time, with his rules...
The rules of a game. The rules of behavior. Both are laws dictated for people to follow, with someone often deciding and being able to change them as they see fit, especially with childrens’ playground games. Life is a big game and the Collector wants to play his own, after all this time following others’ rules; His people’s, the Titans’, Philip’s, and finally King’s.
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There’s a lot to be said about how we expected the Collector to have been someone who didn’t play by any rules, did whatever he pleased. But it might just be the opposite, the kid has never had true freedom, always subject and listening to what someone else tells them, because they’re in charge or it’s the moral thing to do. They’ve been imprisoned their whole life, literally even, and now their desire for agency has burst free.
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The Collector wasn’t the god of chaos we thought they were, but now they will be and we’ve seen why; It’s not because there weren’t any rules for them, it’s because there were too many, and the more you tighten your grip, the more something slips free. Too much authority, too little, the kid needs a proper balance of contradictory lessons, like so many in this show...
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novelist-becca · 4 months
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On this episode of “I noticed another Thing”
I was talking to some people on discord when we noticed the owl beast and snakes on the sign for the University of Wild Magic. And it got me thinking.
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The owl beast (circled in green) is there because Eda made peace with her curse.
The crowns (circled in blue) obviously symbolize King. As does the banner and many badges the staff/faculty wear.
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But I never noticed the snakes (circled in purple) on the sign. I’m guessing it’s a symbol of Luz, because I can’t think of any other snake connection than her palisman.
Case in point, the whole owl family is part of the wild magic uni whether the people like it or not.
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kindestegg · 1 year
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You know, even for just two months, Collector and King's friendship has already developed into something special.
When he and King first meet, Collector can barely keep their hands off of him, dragging him by the hand all over and grabbing him extremely close.
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Come present day when our heroes have actually made it back, however, and Collector barely touches King. The only two times they initiate contact are when King chooses to offer a pinky promise to go talk to the Owl Beast and later when Collector leads King into their shared bedroom. This is good! It shows they learned boundaries and to keep their hands off of King and not smother him.
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Collector's also learned boundaries when it comes to François! Although it was very devious of them to kick their plush under their bed so they could ask for François, they still respect King's decision to not let them hold him, and never touch François during the entire episode.
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And hey, remember how King used to get so sick flying around with Luz that he couldn't help but throw up?
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Look at him riding around with Collector now! Not a green face to be seen. It's likely through gradual exposure and a lot of encouragement and accomodation from Collector he was able to lose his problem with flight.
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Speaking of which, what were the two even doing that they somehow took until nightfall to get to the Archive House? King comments they've "been gone for a while", but Collector declared they should return way back when they had just finished the play session with Terra.
...Were they just doing tricks and flying around having fun? If so, that's kind of cute to imagine, and a nice break from them just playing pretend with those poor puppet-people all the time. It shows they're confident enough to play together in other ways and have a good time.
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I've also touched on this briefly, but it's also cute when you realize that Collector asking what mortals eat was his attempt at joking around with King, who also isntantly recognizes this and doesn't even need to say a thing to show it. That alone says a lot about what stage their communication skills with each other has gotten to.
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King's also starting to trust Collector to the point that he straight up tells Eda and Lilith that he could get Collector to turn Hooty back to normal as if he trusts he can easily sway his opinion by just asking.
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A side note on this, it's interesting to me immediately after being told no King brings up missing Luz.
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It's probably just there for pacing convenience but part of me likes to think it's because he thinks Luz of all people would be the one to see things his way and agree that they should befriend the Collector. She WAS always the optimist of the trio after all.
And Collector doesn't actually seem to mind seeing Eda out of her beast form talking to King, the only thing he really cares about is whether his best friend is looking out for him or not. Being tricked about the Owl Beast situation seems to not matter to Collector as long as King is happy by his side.
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Their relationship isn't perfect. They aren't best friends, despite what the Collector says, because King doesn't see them that way. Collector wants them to be equals and sees them as such, but it takes King almost up until this very episode to realize this and stop fearing a punishment that's not going to come.
Even after things are resolved, they still probably aren't going to be able to call themselves best friends, or even good friends. But they have a budding friendship at the very least, they've grown and learned a lot from each other, specially Collector who was desperately in need of a good role model (and it's funny only titans so far have provided that by pure coincidence).
With dedication from both parts, maybe in the future they can say befriending each other was one of the best decisions they've ever made.
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anthurak · 1 year
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So I recently saw some discussion on Luz being a ‘Chosen One’-type character. And it really got me thinking about how Luz is, if not an outright subversion, certainly a very interesting exploration and twist on the ‘Chosen One’ trope.
See, Luz technically fits most of the criteria for being a Chosen One, namely being ‘chosen’ by a greater/higher power (the Titan) and gifted great power (glyphs) which she winds up using to defeat the big bad (Belos). However, when we look at the context, execution and subtle nuances of Luz’s relationship with the Titan, we see a lot of differences from what we would expect from a more ‘typical’ Chosen One.
Consider for a moment when most Chosen-Ones are actually ‘chosen’. Usually it’s from the moment they’re born, or in some cases even long BEFORE even that. Alternatively it’s at the very start of the story as part of whatever inciting incident kicks off the protagonist’s role in the plot. Basically, a protagonist being a ‘Chosen One’ is almost always closely tied up in whatever is bringing them into the story in the first place.
But that’s NOT what happened with Luz. She’s not some ‘destined savior’ who was singled out by the Titan when she was born, or even when she first entered the Boiling Isles. No, the first time Luz became known to the Titan (barring time-travel chicanery*) was almost certainly when she began to befriend their son.
I mean, think about this: it’s not until episode FOUR that Luz actually becomes ‘chosen’ by the Titan when they show her the first glyph.
On top of that, there is nothing ‘destined’ about the Titan showing Luz the glyphs. I mean I think it’s pretty clear that the first time they showed Luz the light glyph they were simply trying to help Luz and King to pacify Eda. And after that, they kept showing Luz more glyphs… simply because they wanted to.
The Titan didn’t show Luz the glyphs as part of some grand, thought-out plan for her to defeat Belos and bring peace to the Boiling Isles. Luz didn’t pass some ‘secret test of character’ to become ‘chosen’ by the Titan. She was simply kind and befriended King, and so the Titan decided to just… help her out. First by showing her the first couple glyphs and then showing her more because, well… they LIKE Luz.
The Titan may fill the role of some greater, higher power of the series, but when we finally meet them, they aren’t really presented as one. The Titan is characterized as being quite grounded and down to earth. For all of the incredible power and influence they have over the series, the Titan isn’t presented as some ‘godly’ figure, but simply as ‘King’s Dad’. And not even in some ‘all-knowing, omnipotent entity taking on a form the protagonist can comprehend’ way either (see Amphibia’s finale), but instead simply as a person who wanted to do the right thing, made some major mistakes, and now in large part just wants their son and his new family to be safe and happy.
Again, it all frames the Titan reaching out to Luz to show her the glyphs not as part of some grand plan to defeat Belos or some other ‘destined purpose’, but as the Titan simply wanting to help Luz.
Contrary to what I think a lot of people think, I would call Luz’s story fundamentally distinct from the typical ‘Chosen One’ narrative. Despite the surface-level similarities her story might have, there is nothing ‘destined’, ‘predetermined’ or ‘chosen’ about Luz’s story. She really did stumble through Eda’s portal door chasing Owlbert by pure chance. And it wasn’t some hidden, secret, inborn ‘quality’ about Luz that led to her receiving knowledge from the Titan, or even pure, random happenstance either. Luz simply befriended the Titan’s son and slowly grew into his adoptive older sister.
Just as Luz’s friendliness, kind heart and love for the Boiling Isles and its people endeared her to Eda, King, Amity and so many others, it also endeared her to the very Titan themself.
*If anyone is going to bring up the time-travel point, I would like to remind everyone that is the ‘Stable Time Loop’ trope. NOT ‘The Chosen One’ trope.
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ophanim-vesper · 1 year
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So... what did Titans actually look like?
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Upon examining the murals, King, the Titan Trappers and Papa Titan himself, there seems to be inconsistencies with how Titans actually looked like when they were alive and grown.
So, I’ve gathered 3 theories to help explain this!
The Murals Are A Demonization Of Titans
This theory seems quite likely, of course a collection of murals, made by collectors, would depict their enemies as demonic and evil-looking creatures. 
I believe the spell the Collector used to make the Archive House is one created and taught by the Archivists, therefore the murals are according to the Archivists’ tastes and biases.
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I mean, look at this mural. The Titans here are portrayed as skeletal beings (likely based on their now deceased appearance) and their wings are portrayed incorrectly (being on their arms instead of on their back). Plus the Titan Trapper in this mural is portrayed as heroic and valiant, further vilifying the Titans here.
One problem with this theory is that, in a world like the Demon Realm that has Snagglebacks and horrifying Teeth Fairies, it wouldn’t be too outlandish for the Titans to actually look like this, even if they were benevolent.
Plus, the mural in King’s birthplace still shows the same image for the ‘Titan’. Either the mural in that place is reversed (The actual Titan is the one throwing the spear, while the skeletal being is the enemy), or Titans did actually look like this.
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(Interesting detail is that the giant monster here looks more like an otherworldly alien with a star on their chest, the patterns kinda look ‘space-like’ too. Makes you wonder what the Archivists actually looked like).
2. There Are Two Types Of Titans
This was a theory I believed in back when For The Future first came out. We didn’t know much of collectors and titans and the Collector-Titan war, so this made sense to me at the time.
The theory was that one of the Archivists fell in love with the Demon Realm and wanted to live there, so they became a Titan, specifically a ‘yellow-eyed Titan’. This created 2 Titan variants, the red-eyed Titans (the true Titans), and yellow-eyed Titans (Collector-Titans).
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I mainly believed this theory because of the triple parallel it implied. Luz, Caleb and the Collector-Titan were all foreign beings who wanted to live in the Demon Realm, even if it was forbidden, or meant the disapproval of their peers/family members.
Also, I believed King was a descendant of the yellow-eyed titans, seeing how the Titans in the murals had red eyes instead of yellow eyes (though this could’ve been another instance of demonization). Though if this was true, it’d be cool if King turned out to be related to the Collector. One of the Archivists becoming a Titan could also explain why these murals only have 3 collectors instead of 4, one of their siblings was missing and they assumed the Titans did something to them, leading them to wipe them all out.
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However, this theory can easily be debunked, as the mural where a Collector turns into a Titan could just be the origin of the Titan Trappers. Still, this is a nice thought and would make the entire story of the Owl House so beautifully poetic as these 3 separate narratives all carry the same theme.
3. Titans Can Change Their Form
This is the theory I currently believe in the most (though the second one is still my favorite overall). It makes the most sense, is the most realistic, and was somewhat shown in the finale ‘Watching And Dreaming’.
I believe Titans can change their size and shape, going from a more averagely-sized Titan (more closely resembling the Titan Trappers), to a colossal behemoth that resembles their depiction in the murals. I mean, when you live on a planet that you can take up nearly 15% of, it’d make sense that you’d want to change size so you could actually live on the planet. Also, Papa Titan kind of showed this in the finale, when he went from dad mode to bad mode.
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So, much like Globgor from SVTFOE, Titans can simply change from a smaller form to their true colossal form. I imagine the colossal form is when they’re at their fullest potential, so they stayed in this form a lot while fighting the Collectors. The collectors saw this form of them the most, so they assumed this is what all Titans naturally looked like.
But those are my theories, what are yours? If any of you even paid attention to these ‘inconsistencies’. I’m probably just overthinking all of this and there were no inconsistencies, but still. Anyways have a nice day and keep watching and dreaming :)
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