Eclipse Lake - (The Owl House Season 2 Episode 9) - 'Toon Reviews 48

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Eclipse Lake

The main trio of the series has recently received major status quo updates.  Being a show that tends to have an idea on what areas have the most exciting potential, it’s a welcome circumstance that the following episode features these updates in action.  Out of it are fresh new tones, solid character and plot development, and interesting concepts to ponder.

The most prominent change explored in this episode is Luz and Amity’s new status as an official couple, mainly through how Amity has adjusted to it.  Having a bigger connection to Luz than just a friend, Amity has now been at the Owl House more often than ever.  It’s a very healthy change for her too, surrounding herself with people she can call true friends, and more importantly, allowing herself to actually be happy with no hesitation.  She’s even shown to have her own palisman she’s clearly close and friendly with, a white cat named Ghost, a reference to Dana Terrace’s own cat.  With that in mind, it’s somewhat concerning that it’s never shown exactly how Amity got this palisman or what it means for her future.  It kind of begs the question what the point of leaving her out of Palisman Adoption Day even was if she was just going to get a palisman anyway.  Despite that glaring issue, this setup is still admirable overall.

It follows up on the promise of showing how Amity goes about her relationship with Luz since they’ve become a couple now as opposed to at the end of the series.  Amity’s first scenes show her lead everyone to set up all kinds of treatment imaginable, from high quality comfort and relaxation, to scanning the perimeter to keep away all distractions.  The purpose for all of this is to take care of Luz who’s fallen ill to a witch disease known as the common mold leaving her noticeably yet a tad humorously delirious.  How far Amity goes to take care of her is reflective of her great care and love for Luz, and presents herself as a girlfriend Luz is very lucky to have.  That said, there’s also an ulterior motive on Amity’s part as a reason for all this is to get validation from Luz that she’s an ‘awesome girlfriend.’  This may come up prominently throughout the episode, but for the sake of representation, it’s appropriate enough for the relationship status to be made extra clear this one time.  The bigger issue is that a reason for Amity trying so hard to prove herself worthy of this status is being taught to see every situation as an opportunity.  Considering her upbringing, anything Amity was taught cannot be good, especially as this behavior brings some memories of how she went about being things like top student.  On the subject of opportunities, Amity soon gets a bigger one when Luz notices her mouse display an important diary entry from Philip Wittebane.  It talks of a voyage to a place called Eclipse Lake, said to be rich with titan blood, the substance needed to travel to other realms.  Since Luz is too sick to go there herself, Eda and King offer to go to Eclipse Lake to get the titan blood, and Amity comes along too as a way to keep being loyal as a girlfriend.  This in turn sets into motion an appealing setup of character dynamics and world building.

At the same time, there’s also development for the arc of Hunter the Golden Guard.  He also has someone to shower with loyalty to large extents, his uncle Emperor Belos.  Speaking of Belos, there’s a huge surprise for his character delivered in an equally surprisingly casual way.  Something like a reveal of his face behind his mask would usually be saved for a big episode like a finale.  Instead, when talking with Hunter, he looks at him in his true form like it’s nothing.  In spite of a chipped ear and green smear across his face, Belos appears somewhat warm and inviting, like any danger with him would not be expected from looks alone.  The same is also true for how fondly he talks of the human realm, which he says to have been to before.  It’s easy to feel some sort of passion he has for that place as well as desire to get a working key for his own portal.  

Still, it’s important to remember not just his tyranny as an emperor, but also how violent and demanding he’s shown to be with Hunter.  This relationship is also psychologically damaging. Belos has Hunter stay behind while other members of the Emperor’s Coven go on an important mission to find titan blood since there are allegedly plans for him on the Day of Unity.  However, Hunter is desperate to please Belos by making up for his last mission, so he sneaks away from these orders to uncover the titan blood himself.  Said desperation only grows throughout the episode, especially as it once again has him compete with Kikimora, also on the mission to almost obsessive and illogical extents. Hunter’s extent is also challenged in some ways, a big example of this being how he’s followed by that cardinal palisman, who’s forbidden from being in Belos’ presence.  The really big challenge though comes when Hunter crosses paths with Luz’s allies.

While getting to Eclipse Lake to uncover the titan blood, Hunter is taken hostage by Amity, Eda, and King, and remains in their custody through the majority of the expedition.  Speaking of the expedition, it’s the big part of the episode to show off all of the major status quo changes at once.  Eda and King use it as an opportunity to try out their new powers where King taps into his voice powers easily, while Eda has to figure out how to unlock her harpy form on command.  For Amity, this is also a welcome growth for her character, going on this mission to prove herself an awesome girlfriend to Luz.  While in this position, she’s also shown to see sense on the Emperor’s Coven.  Her earliest appearances made it seem like joining it was a big aspiration for her, though all her roles afterwards suggested that it was more of a goal forced onto her.  Here, there’s no conflict to her loyalty as she spends the whole mission treating the Emperor’s Coven like the enemy, especially acting with aggression towards Hunter.  Like her getting a palisman, it would have been great to see her publicly denounce the old goal.  I mean, the fact that they have her parents’ abomination robot that almost killed Luz on their side alone could logically be a good cause for a turning point.  Still, her feelings on the coven are outright stated in a later episode, so that's good. Furthermore, it’s rewarding enough that Amity knows the right person to serve, right down to her dynamic with Eda and King.  Despite their quirks and her more intense focus on the mission leading to some banter, Amity still gets along well with these close companions of Luz.  It’s even to the point where she’s visibly worried for their safety in certain moments.  Yes, the mission is a great show of character growth all around, but in Amity’s case, with Hunter around, there are still a few shreds of her old ways.

Throughout the episode, Amity is shown with a device similar to that of a Tamagotchi.  I personally never had one, but remember them being advertised a lot in the late 90s and early 2000s, so the episode stands out as somewhat of an interesting period piece.  Since the messages they send are not so obvious to those who never had one, it’s easy to get Amity’s confusion over what Luz sends her through them.  

However, the Tamagotchi proves just as valuable a big part of the story as much as a reference to a certain era.  To Hunter, one of the messages makes it seem like if Amity fails to get Luz her titan blood, their relationship will be over.  Amity tries to hold onto her belief that Luz would never threaten her like that, but Hunter manages to sway her to believe the contrary with one interesting truth.  Like Amity with Luz, Hunter is trying hard to prove his worth to Belos, all of which depending on the big things he does.  Considering that this is basically the reason behind Amity’s extent, she becomes very anxious and somewhat reckless to succeed her mission without letting anything slow her down.  It even leads her to do things like set Hunter free because of their connection leading to backstabbing, and being left to be captured and chucked off a cliff by Kikimora’s coven scouts.  With the latter, it should be noted that at one point Amity loses her Tamagotchi which is picked up by a scout at a critical time.  Luz learns of the titan blood at Eclipse Lake being fake that could lead to Amity and the others into danger.  She uses her Tamagotchi to send Amity a warning, proving to not see her as worthless.  This could be a good cause for tension, but Amity ends up getting the Tamagotchi back very easily as it’s thrown over the cliff with her, leaving all potential anxiety somewhat pointless.  However, it’s made up for by what becomes of much of the characters going forward.

The episode’s climax starts with Eda managing to contribute greatly to the team by finding a way to unlock her harpy form.  By agreeing to make a deal with the Owl Beast, she transforms, and they all manage to get to the lake in good time.  That said, there are still complications to work through when she needs to resort to her elixir to get out of the form later on.  More character moments build as Amity and Hunter meet up again at the lake, only to find it’s is completely dried up and depleted of titan blood.  Hunter even goes an extreme route of actually digging himself a grave, basically saying that if he can’t get what Belos wants, he might as well be dead.  This also means that Amity won’t be able to fulfill her goal for Luz either. 

Out of this though, Amity does demonstrate a healthy habit by talking about her concerns with King, informing him of how she’s read the Tamagotchi messages Luz sent her.  Like in an earlier episode this season, talking about her problems is key in helping Amity resolve them.  King shows her the proper way to read the messages, and Amity sees them as compliments and warnings of the dangers of Eclipse Lake.  This ultimately enlightens Amity by showing her she was right that Luz would never threaten her, and then she approaches Hunter with what she’s come to learn.  Everything she’s ever done in life, which the audience has seen as being top student or working to join the Emperor’s Coven, was to justify existing.  Consider that another reason to really dislike Amity’s parents by setting up beliefs that love and acceptance only comes from what one can do.  However, it’s also a reminder for why Amity fell for Luz in the first place and why their relationship is worth supporting.  Rather than what she does, Luz loves Amity for who she is, meaning Amity really doesn’t have to try so hard to get validation and worth; she already has it.  

However, while Amity sees sense in this matter, Hunter makes for an interesting clash that some people in this position can be too far-gone.  He notices Amity has the key to Eda’s old portal said to be filled with titan blood.  Since that has his chance to fulfill his goal after all, he attacks trying to take it from Amity.  This in turn leads to one of the best staged and animated battles of the series.  Hunter goes for the key aggressively, but Amity is ready and on the defense with abomination magic to beat him back with the editing and variety of shots aiding in the intense feel.  It even ends with her about to go for the kill with an abomination shard at Hunter’s neck.  While it can be believed that she’ll win, Hunter uses Amity’s love for Luz as an opportunity, threatening to find and attack her if Amity doesn’t hand over the key.  Proving her love to be genuine, Amity complies as long as Hunter and the Emperor’s Coven stay away from Luz. 

Despite this encounter, the episode does end with welcome development for many plot threads and character arcs all around.  When Amity and the others get back to the Owl House, Luz, now fully recovered, further confirms her love for Amity unconditional with a warm embrace.  There’s even some titan blood to show for effort since Amity actually broke the portal key before giving it to Hunter, leaving spots of the substance on one of her mittens.  Since there was a sound of glass breaking when she handed over the key, it could be argued that this was done on purpose.  Even Hunter seems to end in a good place.  It’s debatable if the now broken portal key is even good for him, but he does have some happiness in the form of his cardinal palisman.  The last scene of the episode even shows him understand it, like it’s a sign that he may one day move on to a healthier lifestyle after all.  All of this is a conclusion that both leaves characters in a good place, and builds good potential for where they may end up in the future.

By showing new dynamics from recent changes and effectively moving different plot points along, this episode stands as very insightful and rewarding.  True, some things may happen suddenly and not always make good use of tension, but it’s still a worthy story to play to the strengths of this memorable cast.

A

Fan Art

Series Ranking

1.      Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door

2.      Enchanting Grom Fright

3.      Eda’s Requiem

4.      Agony of a Witch

5.      Hunting Palismen

6.      Echoes of the Past

7.      Escaping Expulsion

8.      Understanding Willow

9.      Lost in Language

10.  Adventures in the Elements

11.  The Intruder

12.  Covention

13.  Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances

14.  Eclipse Lake

15.  Through the Looking Glass Ruins

16.  Young Blood Old Souls

17.  Separate Tides

18.  Escape of the Palisman

19.  Wing it Like Witches

20.  The First Day

21.  I Was a Teenage Abomination

22.  Witches Before Wizards

23.  Something Ventured, Someone Framed

24.  A Lying Witch and a Warden

25.  Sense and Insensitivity

26.  Hooty’s Moving Hassle

27.  Really Small Problems

28.  Once Upon a Swap

The next Owl House review finally features Luz test out a portal back to the human world with surprising and emotionally conflicting results.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Little Frogtown" and "Hopping Mall" 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.