#the owl house new episode

[just-for-kixs]

My Raeda heart can't do this anymore (King's Tide Spoilers!!)

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Y'all that crack that went right through them, that went right through my heart too.

[sophiathetrainwreck]

god i wished i lived in the timeline where companies respected animation

[immenseheadaches]

hunter is such a crybaby, and i love that for him <3

[gearbroth]

hey there’s that memory from hollow mind :)

Part 2

[cutter-kirby]

I adore Caleb’s expression here. “die faster. bitch.”

[zirconpetals]

I think it's very interesting that Flapjack first tried to bond with Hunter after Hunter had expressed his desire to figure out his own future and "left" him after Hunter finally did just that.

[doesromandoart]

“did you hate living with me that much?”

[ghostleeness]

me (apple blood) and my failed clones whom i love like sons (x)

[howdyboh]

*it's you!

[noahselack]

while making this i fully convinced myself Masha has 2 snakes named Basil and Belial

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

The reason why the toh fandom can have such wildly diverging interpretations of the Wittebane story is because the show did not do its job. How old was Philip when Caleb left? Did Caleb truly believe in witch hunting or was he just playing along to what the town expected? Did Caleb ever tell Philip anything? Did he ever talk to his brother and try to change his mind? How long was Philip searching for Caleb? How did he get cursed? How exactly did the knife fight start? Did Philip kill Caleb accidentally or on purpose? Did he kill him only because he married a witch or because he left him? Or both?

The fact is, we don't have definitive answers to any of these. We only have educated guesses based on portraits barely glimpsed in the show that lack any context, Masha's barebones version of events, and Belos' self-justifications. Casual fans shouldn't have to be knee-deep in fandom just to get the main villain's backstory, especially when said story is the literal basis of the whole plot.

Plus, if you're going to spend the final half of your last season barely exploring the villain's origins, only to completely ignore it in the series finale, then you've written a bad ending.

Update: This is getting some notes so I'm including additional thoughts to the original post. The rest will be under the read more:

Just to add onto this because some folks argue that we don’t need his backstory because we already have the essentials or it’s not really important to the plot. The thing is though is that Belos’ story launches the entire plot of the show, his character and motivation are the direct result of actions that happened centuries before the main characters were born. It needs to be depicted and not largely inferred. 

His story is important to creating a more fleshed out character and can strengthen the themes of the show (the rivalry between Eda and Lilith and Luz struggling to fit in at home are parallels to Belos). Instead the show gives little kernels of his story and character that make him more interesting than just Evil Emperor (the fact that the brothers became witch hunters to fit in, the fact that Belos worst memories are of killing Caleb and making grimwalkers are never touched on again). The first (and last) time we see Caleb in a full scene is in For the Future and it has huge implications for the dynamic between the two brothers. But again, nothing is done with it. It seemed like the show was building up that Belos’ lies and self-justifications would lead to his undoing but it doesn’t. So him dying with his ideology and self-delusions intact feels empty.

The worst part of how the Wittebane story is handled is that since it’s largely inferred and you have to be pretty involved in fandom to have a more nuanced take of it, a casual fan can easily just accept other characters’ views on the matter. Masha says “looks like little bro was jealous of big bro” and it undercuts the story of the Wittebanes (to say nothing of the tonal whiplash). The Titan dismisses Belos as only caring for himself and to be the hero, which while technically true, misses a lot of context and makes it easy to dismiss Belos as a whole as simply being evil and crazy instead of a more layered villain. And it can’t be argued that these are just the characters’ perspectives and we shouldn’t take it at face value because there’s nothing really in the show to pushback against that. 

Now, yes, it is fun to imagine how the Wittebane story played out and in hindsight, it’s probably better that the show didn’t depict the entire story because they probably would have botched it. But the point remains that the handling of this storyline was a mess (and don’t give me the cancellation excuse, the show learned early on about this and wrote all of 2B with it in mind). The Wittebane story and Belos as a whole showcase why setup and payoff matter. You show the villain feels guilt about their worst deeds? What’s the payoff to that? The villain was originally an outsider who tried to fit in and conformed to a town’s toxic ideologies? What’s the payoff? The villain continually lies to himself and commits atrocities to justify his actions? What’s the payoff? 

If you’re going to raise interesting and thought-provoking questions then don’t give the audience a simplistic answer.

[just-for-kixs]

King's character development and relationship development with Luz (MAJOR KING'S TIDE SPOILERS)

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Man King, you really went through some stuff huh. Quite literally made a deal with the devil, or in our case, a fucking god with the mental age of a child. But pushing that aside, I wanted to focus on his relationship with Luz this episode and how his character development surrounding that culminated in his final moments with her. (Let's sprinkle in some stages of grief here too.)

So we all know that during the season 2 premiere, King really didn't want Luz to go back.

At the time it comes off as a little gag, but it's obvious that he's grown attached to her and depends on her for support. She's like a big sister to him, family he's never really had. Aside from Eda, Luz is the only person to ever care for King and actually be friendly to him. He's in this stage of slight denial and bargaining.

After the events of Echoes of the Past and then realizing that Luz might be going back home soon, he starts trying to prepare himself.

At this point, he's come to accept that she's going to leave but he's still trying to find ways to compensate for it. And while he's reached the acceptance stage, there are still parts of him that are bargaining with his own emotions. Through the titan trappers, he's trying to pre-fill that void Luz is going to leave behind. He's trying to create another family for himself.

Yet after this episode, it's revealed that he is completely alone other than those in the owl house. His biological family is pretty much gone. Finding out that you're the same species of something people associate as godlike is also an extremely jarring thing to find out. While, I could talk about King's obsession of power and how he grew from that, I want to mention a different type of growth that went a little more unnoticed.

Once you find out that you're something that has the power to make great changes, a huge amount of responsibility is placed on you. While the owl gang tried their best to not place this burden on King, he's been slowly placing it on himself these past few episodes. Him crying out saying that he could help is evidence for this. He knows that he has the capabilities to help people but he's still a child. Even though he can, he shouldn't have to. Yet he did.

In the season 2 finale, he pushes Luz back home, sacrificing himself in the process. And while I'm sure he's not dead, this marks the final stage of the development of King and Luz's relationship. For the greater good, for the safety of his friends, hell fOR LUZ, he pushes her back to the human realm. Fulfilling that one fear he's had this entire season.

The responsibility he placed on himself helped him make that choice. Now that he knows he's a Titan, he really can't afford to make selfish choices for his own benefit, King knows this. There was no prophecy, no higher up told him to be the better person, it was King's own decision. And it ties nicely in with the whole point of this show. No one can tell you what to do or what to be, there won't be some mystical prophecy to guide you to your destiny, you get to make that choice yourself. And King chose to push Luz away and not just for "the sake of the world" but for her own safety.

I think the quote "you reap what you sow" goes really well with the type of character development they have in this show. Every character experiences direct consequences of their actions. They don't get away with all the shenanigans and crimes they committed, although it sometimes looks like it. It builds over time until it explodes.

In the beginning of the show, all King ever wanted was to have power, to command respect, and instill fear and all those around him. He wanted all of that without the responsibility of being an actual ruler. Yet now, after all that's happened, he doesn't want the respect, command, or fear. Rather, he's embraced the responsibilities. And he follows through with it. Letting go of the one person he was terrified of saying goodbye too.

[ecoamerica]

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[atlas003]

The trailer gave me so much dread and excitement

Have this raeda art for the poor shippers' souls

Bonus angst:

Pose was inspired by this:

[abhainn35]

X-Gaster forcing Cross into his old outfit has the same energy as Belos regrowing Hunter's hair after he cut it off. They both try to escape their abusive guardian/creator by changing an important part of themselves, only to have it reversed and be back where they started. Someone give them both a hug.

[vickysaurus]

"I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity. And today, I'll show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend."

"I volunteer as well. As Luz's girlfriend, I must-"

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up. Luz is counting on me! ...I mean us."

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat. I'm an awesome girlfriend."

"Amity! I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

"Me too..."

[phantom-shell]

Darius and Eberwolf on a train... what do you think Eber's listening to? 

[ecoamerica]

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