If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
Hollow Mind
The main Owl House group sees that Belos’ influence on his subjects has grown significantly lately. Wild witches usually found near secluded areas like the night market have been swayed to join covens and aren’t comfortable with serving Eda like they used to be. Luz finds it disturbing that people could just easily follow such a cruel tyrant like Belos, but is reminded that he’s been in charge for so long and his subjects are used to it. Really, it can only take something big with legit evidence to get them to stop listening to him. Since information on the emperor is obviously near-impossible to obtain so easily, something in the way of entering his mind seems like the only option. Now, the show has done such a thing before, but reintroducing it here isn’t detrimental at all. If anything, it executes the concept to a much larger extent, further develops it, and above all leaves a totally different emotional response. Luz soon spots Hunter exploring unusual activity from a group of rebels apparently trying to get into Belos’ mind themselves. She jumps up on Hunter which prompts the rebels to flee from the scene, but the potion they set up to enter the mindscape is left behind. It goes off anyhow, and sends Luz and Hunter into the desired location, and from there, the big reveals unfold.
While the previous mindscape was portrayed as a big forest with long lines of trees, inside Belos’ mind, all his accomplishments seem to come in the form of a gallery of paintings. They’re all about his supposed triumphs over wild magic with his coven system, and even how he appointed Hunter as the latest in a long line of Golden Guards. As Luz holds onto her claims that Belos is evil despite what these memories suggest, Hunter, having followed Belos’ rule and guidance for all his life, refuses to see anything bad. There’s also expansion on the established element of ‘inner’ versions of people residing in their minds said to be monstrous. From Luz and Hunter’s observation, the inner-Belos seems to be a frightening creature consisting of lots of eyeballs, but it’s not the only being they find there. There’s also a small child sobbing in a corner, which Luz believes to be the young Belos guilty over his lies. In fact, lies turn out to be the best way to describe the painting gallery. The child leads her and Hunter through a tear in the wall now treated like a sheet of paper. On the other side, they land in a desolate-looking forest more in line with what was previously seen with mindscapes. This means that the memories in the gallery were not true ones, suggesting that the lies have shaped Belos’ mind after he told them for so long. Hunter still isn’t convinced that’s the case, but as he and Luz explore the memories in this area, the truth becomes harder to deny.
Throughout the series, lots of questions have been begged about the meaning behind wild magic, how exactly it’s bad, and how Belos knew about it. Exploring these memories brings clarity to all these details which is huge considering how they’ve shaped the opinions of his subjects. In one memory where Belos warns everyone of wild magic and how he can make it pure again with his coven system, there’s an attack said to come from supposed wild witches.
The truth is the attack was a ruse set up by Belos as well as the Golden Guard in service at the time, a big indicator that the whole idea of wild magic was nonexistent all along.
To further the scope of his lies, another memory has Belos claim to an entire town that wild witch magic has destroyed their residence. It’s pretty obvious that he destroyed the town himself and blamed it on his own fabrications. Taking his word for it, the townspeople were set up to be indoctrinated into covens with sigils placed on their arms to severely limit their magic. As established in an earlier episode, these sigils do more than that as dark gestures put them in a motionless state. When another Golden Guard points out they’re still alive, it’s clear that Belos aims to take more drastic steps. It now is obvious to Luz that no good is coming from Belos’ rule in the slightest considering that he’s actively trying to hurt others. Still, even with all the evidence, Hunter is armed with excuses that the emperor’s ways have always been for the greater good, no matter how hard that is to prove. Such a mindset sets him up for what may be the most shocking reveal of all.
Looking back at that child, despite being sad and guilty earlier, he’s been suspiciously gathering supplies while running through the many memories laughing all the way. Luz and Hunter pursue him into one memory, a very recent one just after the events of “Eclipse Lake.”
Belos is overseeing the reconstruction of the old portal to the human realm, but isn’t alone. He’s suddenly joined by The Collector, formally introduced at last. The Collector is a very peculiar entity trapped in the shadows. Their personality is aggressively jovial and childlike, full of pent-up energy and always ready to play. It must be known though that there’s nothing good about this as the game involves all witches being sacrificed to the Titan, wiping them out. Not to mention, the Day of Unity is now shown to be much darker than previously received. The idea of unity involves using the sigils on witches in covens to drain them of both magic and life so they’ll be unified with the dead Titan, whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles. This does mean that the idea of unity from the head of the Titan appearing in the human realm in a previous episode is kind of off-putting, but the established darkness is still huge.
There’s also a personal reveal with Hunter where after he returns with the old portal key in the memory and leaves, Belos explains something big about his tie to him. All the claims that the Titan has plans for Hunter were a ruse to get him to do what he wants, and if he doesn’t comply, Belos will have him destroyed. This is what finally gets Hunter to know the truth about Belos, but that’s not all. Outside that memory, he finds several broken Golden Guard masks, indicating they’ve all been sacrificed when they no longer complied with Belos’ plans. In fact, in an interesting storytelling move, painings in the background explain a deep basis for this move. They're in relation to the brother of Philip Wittebane meeting his doom by blood after taking a fascination with the demon realm, right down to finding love with a witch.
If that’s not all, the being he and Luz assumed to be the inner Belos was something completely different. It’s an amalgam of all the palismen Belos has consumed warning Luz and Hunter of the dangers of this mind and to stay away from the real inner Belos. That happens to be that small child who was tricking Luz and Hunter with his cries the entire time. He reshapes into the real Belos and apparently wipes out the other mind being, and then he turns fully sadistic when facing those who have entered his mind.
Everything Belos reveals to Luz and Hunter is simply overwhelming and almost hard to take in. Instead of being a problem, it actually fits really well with the frantic and disturbing tone reflective of the discomfort Luz and Hunter are faced with. Hunter comes to the harsh terms that wild magic never destroyed his and Belos’ ancestors and that he’s nothing more than a tool in his sick plans. That’s horrifying enough, but Luz takes in even more disturbing reveals as if she wasn’t already taken aback that witches of the Boiling Isles are basically doomed.
As she calls out how unbelievable it is for everyone to be so easily fooled by Belos for so long, Belos points out that she is no different. It’s at this point where Luz learns the meaning behind his statement of meeting her even though he already did. Belos plays back memories of Luz’s journey to the past where she and Lilith met Philip Wittebane. In other words, even though the audience has technically figured this out, it’s here where the answer is made clear and Luz learns that Belos is actually Philip. She was fooled by him just like the rest of the Boiling Isles, yet it’s still very painful to her. The biggest reason is that it means that her only chance at a way home to her mom was a total untrustworthy sham, making her feel more trapped than ever. She also hears of the purpose behind Hunter’s existence. He’s part of a long line of creatures called grimwalkers, basically clones that take on the form of Philip's brother, the very being Philip killed for simply associating with a witch. This just makes him come off as practically irredeemable since he just destroys them on a whim eventually. Even the name of the grimwalkers, Hunter, reflects this as Philip proclaims himself a witch hunter, doing what he does to rid the world of evil in spite of himself. Considering he’s from the 1600s, it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe he supported the witch trials of the time. Altogether, these answers explain a lot, but Luz’s reactions also reflect the emotional personal toll, and the staging of the scene as Belos explains everything sells the feel.
It’s easy to tell how nightmarish all these reveals feel, but it does eventually come to an end. Eda, King, and Hunter’s palisman have been quick to find a way to rescue Luz and Hunter from Belos’ mind ever since they found out about the situation. It’s hard to do compared to last time since Eda doesn’t have magic now, but they thankfully get help from unexpected sources. The rebels who unintentionally started all this have secretly followed Eda back to the Owl House, and among them is Raine Whispers, who is now known to NOT be brainwashed. They even have help from two established coven heads fully revealed to be against the Day of Unity, Darius and Eberwolf. Although Raine didn’t want Eda to get involved in their plans, knowing that her kid is in trouble and that she’s important to Eda gives them no choice in this matter. This shows that their love for Eda is as strong as ever no matter what has come between them over the course of their relationship, or the implications of what they’re doing now. They still uphold the ruse by keeping their involvement secret, but have a perfect way to help Eda anyway with their own potion to work a mind spell. It works well, but needs a power source, and the best one they have are all that’s left of the titan blood, ultimately leaving Luz completely without a way to get home.
Nevertheless, the desperation of the situation convinces Eda and King to use it, and the potion works, in turn bringing the scene of stressful reveals in the mindscape to an end. However, the effects of said reveals are as strong as ever.
After Luz and Hunter arrive back in the safety of the Owl House, Hunter breaks down over everything he saw. His life is an entire lie, he’s not even a full-fledged witch, and now he has nowhere to go. Eda does offer support to him, but Hunter is so broken over things that he runs off to parts unknown screaming into the night. It’s a realistic portrayal to trauma taken to extreme lengths that are very rare to see. Luz may have had a breakdown of her own earlier with Belos, but when asked about what she saw, she can only stand speechless. After all, learning that she was fooled by the emperor like the masses were; the human she looked up to is a sham; all possible ways to get back to her mom are gone; and that everyone she’s known and loved in the Boiling Isles are in grave danger are not easy things to deal with in the slightest. The fact that her distressed expression is where the episode ends on leaves a justified impression that even with the truth finally known, it’s not exactly pleasing. For that, the only big questions now involve how the protagonists will move forward from everything.
Some shows like to take their time to get to big reveals, and while waiting has merit, they reach some of their biggest heights ever when they finally get to said reveals. What this episode reveals about the lore of the show is crazy and overwhelming to the largest extent, but the intrigue and overall tone have it all work in its favor. The audience is left astounded by the twists and sympathetic for the characters and the world they inhabit as the show is set up for what the reveals mean for the rest of the story.
A+
Fan Art
Series Ranking
1.
Knock,
Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door
2.
Reaching
Out
3.
Hollow Mind
4.
Enchanting Grom Fright
5.
Eda’s Requiem
6.
Follies
at the Coven Day Parade
7.
Yesterday’s Lie
8.
Agony of a Witch
9.
Elsewhere
and Elsewhen
10. Hunting Palismen
11.
Echoes
of the Past
12.
Escaping
Expulsion
13.
Understanding Willow
14.
Lost in Language
15.
Adventures in the Elements
16.
The Intruder
17.
Covention
18. Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances
19.
Eclipse Lake
20.
Through
the Looking Glass Ruins
21.
Them’s
the Breaks, Kid
22.
Young Blood Old Souls
23.
Any Sport in a Storm
24.
Separate Tides
25.
Escape of the Palisman
26.
Wing it Like Witches
27.
The First Day
28.
I Was a Teenage Abomination
29.
Witches Before Wizards
30.
Something Ventured, Someone Framed
31.
A Lying Witch and a Warden
32.
Sense and Insensitivity
33.
Hooty’s Moving Hassle
34.
Really Small Problems
35. Once Upon a Swap
The next Owl House review follows King as he finally gets answers on his origins, but the emotional effects turn out to be very traumatizing.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Toad to Redemption" and "Maddie and Marcy" 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment