Friday, October 30, 2020

Covention - (The Owl House Season 1 Episode 5) - 'Toon Reviews 42

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Covention

At this point, you can’t help but feel that this show has really hit its stride following an episode as great as “The Intruder.”  It seems to realize where its strengths lie, and they all come together in this following episode specializing in creative world-building while keeping the heart within its characters.  In fact, the episode introduces character dynamics that are complex, yet very fascinating.

For the world-building element, a lot is revealed about how witch magic works in the show when Luz hears about a current covention.  That is to say, it’s a convention where various covens of witches get together to promote their trade to other witches to get them to join.  The convention atmosphere of the event perfectly sells the variety of the various covens, may they feature clever illusions or special magical items.  Each one has different things to explore and witches to meet, the very things Luz could benefit from.  However, to keep the concept intriguing, there’s a major catch.  When witches join any coven, their magic becomes severely limited, only set to do the type of magic their chosen coven specializes in.  This is why Eda resents the very idea of them as well as why she never joined a coven, freeing her up to do every kind of magic.  With this fact, there’s another point of appeal for Eda, for in not tying herself down to one group, she can be her own witch using her powers her way.  That said, this makes her status as the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles full of unfair advantages. As a result of that, there’s a plausible reason for why she's a wanted criminal.

Now, these reveals are fascinating and all, but after this, the world-building takes a backseat after being at the forefront for just a couple of minutes.  However, it works out because what the focus shifts to helps make the world-building that’s available all the more endearing.  In a presentation for the most revered coven that actually allows the use of all magic, the Emperor’s Coven, there’s an introduction to a major player, its leader Lilith.  Her demeanor, posture, and appearance suggest a major focus on elegance and order all presented coldly and menacingly.  It contrasts majorly with Eda’s nature which is much more free-spirited and against all sorts of order.  Speaking of which, if differences aren’t enough, Eda and Lilith are soon revealed to be sisters, and them meeting up in the same place means an inevitable clash of personalities.  Their sisterly connection makes their meeting stand out enough, but Lilith proves to be more complex than her first appearance suggests.  When considering the possibility that Eda’s here to join the Emperor’s Coven, she lets her uptight disposition down and is genuinely excited about it.  Of course, Eda wants nothing to do with covens which makes things tense between these witch sisters again, but still.

Luz, on the other hand, is given a possibly more fascinating dynamic when she accidentally runs into Amity.  Considering Amity’s last appearance portraying her as a mean character with a lust for high status, what’s done with her in this episode is very impressive.  After Luz meets up with her though, Amity is just as uptight and unfriendly as she was before, rubbing it in that Luz has no reason to be at this covention as humans can’t do magic. Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that Amity is very devoted to the hard work that goes into becoming a witch.  Basically, as mean as she is, all that she’s accomplished feels earned, and it also feels unfortunate that Luz’s antics unintentionally took them away.  Still, she does go too far when she ruins some of the ‘offerings’ King obtains from other covens after hearing he’s one of the beings Luz is taking magic lessons from.  Then one of the major things Luz needs to work through takes the forefront.  She once again tries to tie the nature of her Azura books to real life, and uses what Amity did to King’s offerings as a catalyst for a witches duel.  This move ends up putting Luz’s ambitions totally on the line when Amity makes her take a magical oath that if she loses, she must give up learning magic forever.  Add in the reveal that overachieving Amity is elegant Lilith’s star pupil, and it’s no doubt that Luz is in real trouble for failing to separate fantasy from reality.

As the witches duel draws near, the tone is full of uncertainty on Luz’s part, as so far, Eda hasn’t been too productive with teaching her spells.  That said, Luz proves to be very honorable when she hears the strategy Eda has in mind.  She’s rigged the arena so that Amity and her famed abomination will set off a series of traps when taking certain steps, and all Luz has to do is act like she’s casting spells.  Luz is displeased with these arrangements knowing that this means she won’t actually be proving herself to be skilled with magic.  That goes to show how seriously devoted she is to her goals to the point of wanting to achieve them honestly, which are telling signs of true passion devotion.  So while the traps seem to gain Luz an advantage in the duel, it’s clear that she doesn’t want to go through with this, and having them even go off feels accidental.  Still, the-ever skeptical Amity discovers what’s going on, and all seems lost for Luz, but then there’s a twist.  Through her expected sneaky deduction, Eda discovers that Amity had a magical artifact placed on her to make her abomination powers duel-worthy, and Lilith is the culprit behind this.  If losing a simple badge wasn’t enough to ruin Amity’s reputation, her strength being revealed to be a sham in front of a huge crowd is an even bigger blow.  When she runs away in tears upon realizing this, all her previous moments instantly start being repainted in a new perspective.

This leads to the true climax of both character dynamics that really delivers with differences in complexities.  With Eda and Lilith, it’s already clear that their differences don’t stop them from thinking alike as Lilith is as guilty of rigging things for her protégé as Eda is.  Still, give Eda credit; at least she was honest with Luz about the plan unlike Lilith who did it all behind Amity's back.  This goes even further as Eda taunting her sister’s actions reveals a crack in Lilith’s elegance as she snaps, and initiates a true witch’s duel.  The duel itself is a visual highlight for the episode, particularly with how Eda’s powers of manipulating owl faces comes off much smoother than the other animations.  Following this worthy bit of eye candy, Lilith proves to be even more multi-layered.  As Eda laments about her curse and believing she has very little time left, Lilith is genuinely concerned and sorry for her sister.  This turns out to be a ploy for Eda to attack and escape, but how Lilith approaches the act still says a lot on how her heart really isn’t as cold as it seems. 

However, even more heart is found between Luz and Amity via a scene where the latter showcases even more proof of her being more than just a mean girl.  Luz tries to comfort Amity after what just happened, and Amity just vents about how hard she worked to be the best, and how her hopes of joining the Emperor's Coven seem ruined now.  This goes to show that Amity’s philosophies and behavior have deep roots to them, and come from a clear place of devotion to passion.  The distress in her line deliveries is very telling of how much what she’s tried to achieve mean to her, and suggest a lot of pressure she’s been under to make it happen.  The fact that her mentor placed something on her to win a duel must also bring the idea that others don't really have much faith in her.  All of this brings sympathy towards Amity that feels completely earned despite everything.  

Bringing some form of relief to her though is Luz proving that she understands where Amity’s coming from, by showing her the light spell she learned in the last episode.  Amity’s reaction is complicated though as her tone is still cold and she claims that a light spell is not that impressive.  However, she is impressed with ‘how’ Luz did the spell by drawing a symbol, and moreover, she unbounds the oath on her own terms without asking Luz for anything more.  To cap off her show of character for this episode, Amity exits with a poignant statement on Luz’s goals, “Humans have no magical abilities, but I doubt that’ll stop you.”  I don’t know about you, but I find that statement to be very inspirational and truly able to reach out to absolutely everyone.  Not to mention, if you’re as into entertainment history as I am, it’s especially meaningful that this comes from a Disney production. The episode officially ends with a lot of fascination to take in from the featured character dynamics. That said, there’s also foreboding foreshadowing with Lilith getting a message about a figure called Emperor Belos, and promising that Eda’s days of hiding are numbered.

When I say that the series has hit its stride at this point, it relates to how it has everything in place to pull off true packages of greatness with its episodes.  This one is no exception with pleasing environments, creative liberties taken with its magical nature, and interesting multi-layered characters driving everything.  There’s overall a lot to take in here, and just about all of it resonates and inspires.

A+

The Ranking

1.      The Intruder

2.      Covention

3.      I Was a Teenage Abomination

4.      Witches Before Wizards

5.      A Lying Witch and a Warden

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Anne Theft Auto" and "Breakout Star" from Amphibia. 
If you would like to check out other Owl House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
The next Owl House review gives an idea of what antics you can expect to unfold from the pairing of Luz, Willow, and Gus during a moonlight conjuring.

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