Eda's Requiem - (The Owl House Season 2 Episode 7) - 'Toon Reviews 48

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Eda’s Requiem

With a cast of characters so endearing at the center of this show, it’s practically impossible not to get invested in their adventures or sympathetic towards their plights.  As this episode presents more heavy lore development, the characters being followed are the true hook to everything that unfolds.  In fact, what the characters deal with has got to be some of the most universal challenges ever, mainly for those who know the goodness of having people in their lives.

When it comes to characters who have changed so much throughout the series, Eda is right up there.  Initially an isolated figure mainly getting by through schemes and wit to duck from the law, she’s experienced the benefits of living with others.  Her connections with the likes of Luz and King has become so strong and prominent that it’s allowed a warm and caring side to shine through and bring her true happiness.  It’s clear she owes a lot to them being a huge part of her life, which is why what she faces in this episode is a significant emotional toll.  There’s a slight hint to her feeling lonely from being without Luz who still plans on going back to the human realm when she gets a new portal, but that’s not all.  Eda soon learns of a big race going on where the winner gets to send out a message broadcasted through all of the Boiling Isles, and King could use that to reach his long-lost dad.  The kicker is that while King doesn’t explain it, Eda gets the idea from simple conversations that when King does meet his dad, he’ll leave her too.  Since this means that Eda will ultimately be without any meaningful relationships going forward, she’s left feeling depressed over the potential return of loneliness.  Having others around to care for and connect with has changed her for the better, and she knows it, but now she’s about to lose two people she’s been close to.  In the prospect of being separated from loved ones though, Eda is able to reconnect with someone she was close to long ago.

While hearing of Luz and King’s preparations for the race and potential message, Eda also hears of someone being named the new head of one of the covens, the bard coven.  This isn’t just any witch either as it's someone Eda is well-acquainted with.  The leader in question is called Raine Whispers, and this character is very interesting for someone formally introduced in just this episode.  For one thing, Raine’s gender identity is something not often seen in media, being neither fully male nor female.  Having characteristics of both of them in appearance and being addressed with they/them pronouns, they can be classified as non-binary.  This classification is huge for representation, but Raine themselves are still compelling as a personality.  Being appointed coven head, they seem very prestigious and studious for such a position.  However, they also have a smidge of human humility through easily getting stage fright and therefore not liking to give speeches.  When their connection to Eda comes into focus though, that’s when Raine becomes especially huge.  Throughout Eda’s laments, life goes on for witches of the Boiling Isles as any witch who refuses covens is deemed wild and ultimately taken away.  Eda tries to help, but can’t do much now that she’s stripped of magic, but then she notices bigger help on the way for those innocent witches.  A band of witches appears and intercepts guards of the Emperor’s Coven on patrol with the use of bard magic.  Being the vaguest magic of all up until now, it’s very welcome that this episode shows how it works.  Witches play instruments, and the music manipulates people and objects to be under their control.  The bard magic ultimately proves effective against some guards until the rest of them block out the music, but it’s a welcome magical development all the same.

When the group of witches flee the scene, Eda meets up with them at last, and is quick to uncover the leader of the group, no one other than Raine Whispers themselves.  From this moment, another part of Raine’s character is revealed just by their interactions with Eda and what they have to say about their history with her.  Their group, the Bards Against The Throne or the BATTs, was majorly inspired by Eda.  Flashbacks show that they and Eda were very close when they were young.  One particular memory stands out where they were supposed to give a bard recital, but would rather be with Eda instead.  As Eda could tell that the real reason they were here was due to stage fright that could come from the recital, she told them some meaningful advice about fears.  You can’t run from them forever, so it’s best to face them and conquer them as soon as possible, powerful words to live by in every sense.  Raine would hold onto that message for a long time after that.  Their time in the bard coven helped them learn the true nature of covens and how they only control witches’ magic instead of help it like the emperor says.  With the Day of Unity coming where he plans to unleash a powerful spell, even as a new coven head, Raine is more than ready to do what’s necessary to rebel against his plans.  They and the BATTs spend their days going around intercepting anyone wrongfully arresting any innocent witch for not joining a coven and freeing the victims with bard magic.  Again, this is all thanks to the wise words of Eda Raine held onto for years, meaning that they still thought fondly of her despite being apart for so long.  Along with several present instances of the two blushing at each other, holding hands, and fumbling words a bit, that’s all the proof necessary to show they’re both more than friends. 

Since she feels that she’ll soon be without Luz and King, Eda happily seems to have a new venue for companionship.  Pulling off secret heists to rescue wild witches from the guards is certainly a good opportunity for bonding.  Eda even starts reliving her past with Raine by wearing her hair in a similar style to that time.  They even come up with a clever strategy to potentially stop the big plan for the Day of Unity.  An earlier scene in this episode had Eda play music on a lute, the same one she played in her old days with Raine, to forget the sadness of being alone again.  Doing so allowed her to perform bard magic on a powerful display, but there was a catch.  Because of her curse, the magic would destroy instead of manipulate everything around her.  As Eda demonstrates this for Raine in present day with a warning of the potential dangers, they instead see solid opportunities in their cause from this turn of events.  It isn’t long before there’s a chance to put it into action when the BATTs sense capture of wild witches again. 

This turns out to be a trap from two other coven heads; there’s Darius, the uptight snobbish head of the abomination coven, and Eberwolf, the non-intelligible animal-like yet slightly endearing head of the beastkeeping coven.  They ambush the BATTs while demonstrating highly advanced magic that justify their status in the coven system.  Darius can transform into waves of abomination mush and use it to teleport himself and others anywhere, and he demonstrates this with most of the BATTs.  By the way, it’s very sad that one of the BATTs managed to escape the Conformitorium in the series premiere, but now is back where she started, erasing all her progress.  Eberwolf’s powers are used to a small extent by unleashing monsters and sensing footprints when the situation calls for it.  Basically, it’s very welcoming to start getting to know the coven heads here when it comes to personalities and abilities.  On the latter element, it’s an effective way of raising the stakes and inciting a use of Eda and Raine’s big plan to foil the Day of Unity, especially when they’re the only ones left.

According to Raine, the only way the Emperor can perform his big spell for the Day of Unity is if all the coven heads are present to contribute magic for it.  Since two of the nine are present, they figure they can pull it off by taking them out.  In other words, they’re going to use their bard magic to essentially kill two people with dark implications all around.  As the moving music of Raine’s Rhapsody/Eda’s Requiem plays and the colors and visuals abound, the whole sequence is just as beautiful as it is dark.  However, the darkness starts to overpower the beauty with one implication.  In addition to taking out Darius and Eberwolf, it becomes apparent that Eda and Raine have little chance of surviving this dangerous magic too.  Not only that, but Eda is actually willing to go through with this deadly act.  In other words, she’s doing something where she’ll take her entire life because with two people she’s felt close to potentially leaving, she has nothing to live for.  It’s a very dark and foreboding turn of events, but the willingness to go this far and have it make sense in context is very commendable.  Then in another instance of how meaningful Grom was to many, Raine notices something that Eda has had on her.  It’s a photo of her with Luz and King at that very event.  They can see that Eda has very important people in her life.  That’s all the reason they need to not go through with the plan, and they tell Eda that she should go to them.  Even if they do have other families to get back to, she’s still a big part of their lives and they’ll still need her.  Along with a repeat of the wise words of advice Eda passed onto them long ago, Eda sees the point. 

While her plight is set up for a good conclusion with Luz and King, things sadly do not go as well for her and Raine.  They’re intercepted by Darius and Eberwolf, and while Eda escapes, Raine lets themselves be captured.  The two lovers just got back together on common grounds, and are now separated again by outside forces.  If that’s not enough, the last scene of the episode makes it seem like Raine is about to escape, but then they’re intercepted by Kikimora.  This is in response to their treachery by setting the wild witches free as a coven leader no less, but rather than be executed, they’re intercepted by something they were branded with.  In a last minute lore exploration, there’s insight to the often seen marks on the arms of witches whenever they join a coven.  All that was known about them before is that they cut off access to other magic when they join a coven, but this moment goes a step forward.  At Kikimora’s command, Raine is consumed by something dark emitting from their mark.  They’ll be out of commission, but kept alive because it will be too much of a hassle to get a new coven head before the Day of Unity.  As a result, the audience is left shocked at Raine’s fate, hoping for Eda to one day rescue them, continue to wonder what’s up with the Day of Unity, and be impressed by what’s unfolded.  It’s a lot to take in.

However, while this was the ending point of the episode, there is something legitimately reassuring and endearing to go out on.  While Eda’s off coping with possible losses, the episode focuses on several scenes of Luz and King preparing for the race and King’s eventual message.  The scenes are generally fun and full of activity, but there’s also a lot of mentions of King wanting to tell Eda something, but is worried about how she may take it.  From the sounds of things, it’s easy to believe King really is preparing to leave Eda to be with his dad should he reach out to him, justifying Eda’s worries.  That’s a good move on the story’s part considering that’s Eda’s drive for her actions.  Then the race arrives and at first it delivers on its promise for fun and excitement.  While there are only a few scenes of the race as most of the focus is on what Eda gets up to, what is seen of the race is nothing short of a real thrill.  Despite great effort with Luz’s magic aiding them and them taking the lead for a while, mishaps happen and she and King end up losing the race.  This means they don’t get the right to send King’s message, but Eda shows up to support them at the last minute with a perfect fix.  It’s also self-aware of the real-life change in media consumption with Eda saying everyone’s more into streaming than crystal balls these days; by the way, don’t forget that the best way to support this show is to stream it on Disney+ whenever you can. 

Using her scroll, which acts as phones in this world, Eda records King reading his message as a live video for her social media account.  The actual message is a charming and endearing highlighted, presented in a way believable way an actual child would act to a family member, especially one not seen often or at all.  Cameos of familiar faces demonstrate the video’s reach, but a huge appearance is of a big creature who strongly resembles King, suggesting success in the message’s purpose.  Then there’s the actual message where King mostly talks about looking forward to meeting his dad and all the things they could do together.  However, he also gives a lot of praise to the witch who raised him, Eda.  If that’s not enough, it turns out that King was never going to leave Eda like the sounds of his talks with Luz suggested.  Instead, he says that even though he’s looking forward to meeting his dad, the fact that Eda has treated him like family his whole life means that with her is where she belongs.  After believing she’d be without loved ones, Eda is driven to tears of joy.  What King has said lets her know that no matter what, her connections with the people she took in really do matter.  Some might not find this misunderstanding strong given how convincing what Eda thought King meant was, but the huge relief cannot be overlooked.  There’s true endearment and chemistry here, and further proves that above everything, the great cast of characters practically make this series.

The word to describe this episode is bold.  The themes it tackles are very mature; the characters, their chemistry, and their challenges are presented well; and everything is allowed to express new depth.  Whether it’s to a heartwarming or somber effect, it successfully leaves a strong impact from what this show and it’s extraordinary visions manage to accomplish.

A+

Fan Art

Series Ranking

1.      Enchanting Grom Fright

2.      Eda’s Requiem

3.      Agony of a Witch

4.     Hunting Palismen

5.      Echoes of the Past

6.      Escaping Expulsion

7.      Understanding Willow

8.      Lost in Language

9.      Adventures in the Elements

10.  The Intruder

11.  Covention

12.   Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances

13.  Through the Looking Glass Ruins

14.  Young Blood Old Souls

15.  Separate Tides

16.  Escape of the Palisman

17.  Wing it Like Witches

18.  The First Day

19.  I Was a Teenage Abomination

20.  Witches Before Wizards

21.  Something Ventured, Someone Framed

22.  A Lying Witch and a Warden

23.  Sense and Insensitivity

24.  Hooty’s Moving Hassle

25.  Really Small Problems

26.  Once Upon a Swap

The next Owl House features greatness coming from an unlikely place where Hooty of all characters helps in discovering origins, conquering pain of the past, and bringing a long-awaited couple together.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews are the Amphibia escapades "Scavenger Hunt" and "The Plantars Check In."

If you would like to check out other Owl House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.