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Labyrinth Runners
For starters, current events set up not just the student body, but really how the whole environment of the school has shaped up as an entity all its own. More students are shown to be taking up more tracks instead of sticking to one, showcasing growth from the concept’s introduction in Season 1. It also means defiance to the entire coven system with everyone exploring all types of magic when many witches have sigils that seal off all but that of their assigned coven. Unbeknownst to everyone, the sigils are actually designed to do much worse than that. Speaking of which, the promise for change also comes with some concern over current events. As Luz tries to send out messages of the bad things she’s learned via Amity’s Tamagotchi device, it’s hard for others to understand them out or get an idea of where she even is.
Things like these are only small signs of Hexside growing to become something bigger, but the real driving force towards that is seen through some characters’ arcs in this episode. The main character here is Gus in a starring role that does great justice for his personality. There’s an establishment of an emotional background to him right at the start with a flashback. Being a child prodigy, he was able to pull off many impressive projects at school, but that led to kids claiming to be his friend taking advantage of him. The instance of that shown in the flashback even drives him to tears, lamenting over being dumb enough to fall for these tricks. It gives a whole new meaning to his constant desires to be seen as a great which have mostly been used in comedic scenes before now. On a magic-level, he also had a tendency to get lost in his own thoughts, and combined with his illusion magic, his thoughts would be projected as a full-on illusion.
It should also be noted that this moment was when he first met Willow who taught him a breathing exercise to calm his thoughts down. In addition to this being a very nice start to this prominent friendship, there’s also a connection to her through Gus getting glowing eyes when he’s lost in his thoughts. This would also explain the reasons for whenever Willow’s eyes would glow too. The flashback sets up a lot of details to make Gus stand as a character better than ever, and it leads to even stronger justice for him in the rest of the episode. Further regarding Willow, bits of the episode also feature welcome development with her and Amity rebuilding their friendship. Through it all, it’s clear that Amity is loyal to her commitment to be a better friend, putting genuine care into her interactions with Willow. However, she seems to hold onto beliefs that Willow is weak and needs protection. She’s good at not coming off as harsh to Willow like she did in the past, but it still doesn’t give Willow the respect she deserves, a clear issue to work through. These character moments easily go well together with the signs of revolution within the school, and they fit well with the rest of the story.
While everyone is still thinking of what’s up with Luz, Gus discovers what’s become of Hunter. After running off after his excursion into Belos’ mind, he’s been hiding out in Hexside, the safest place in his way of thinking. Just after finding him, all the students are called for an important announcement. The head of the illusion coven, Adrian Graye, has arrived and appears to support the newfound sense of rebellion at Hexside. Warning of the emperor wanting to put witches in covens before the Day of Unity, he claims to protect everyone with fake temporary sigils to fend off any coven scouts.
Gus, analyzing the situation carefully, deduces that it’s all a trick into putting real sigils on students, and quickly exposes it. Then, when Adrian is about to enforce a sigil on him, Gus once again gets lost in his thoughts, and his illusion magic enforces them throughout the school. It’s turned into an elaborate labyrinth of memories where no one can tell what’s real and what’s an illusion, especially Gus with one good eye and one glowing eye.
From here, the episode is a mad scramble for all the students to get to safety from the coven scouts and protect their rights to magic of their choosing. It’s a frantic tone to keep up with the action, but the character dynamics are as strong as ever. Gus and Hunter stand out the most as the latter is quick to save the former when things look particularly hopeless. Gus wonders why Hunter just saved him from being put in a coven considering their last meeting while Hunter avoids giving clear answers, at least at first. An encounter with coven scouts, still referring to him as the Golden Guard, puts Hunter into a panic as it reminds him of the trouble he’s in with the emperor.
After they escape them, Gus soon becomes Hunter’s best moral support. Using the breathing exercise he knows, Gus calms Hunter down while Hunter finally opens up about how what and who he followed for his whole life turned out to be so bad. Gus offers words of reassurance, saying that even though there are people who can take advantage of others, there are good people too, like his own friends. This healthy communication gives Hunter the confidence he needs to move forward not just in the current situation, but in becoming a force that’s actually trustworthy and loyal.
On the subject of friendships, significant focus is also on Amity and Willow and how they try to work things out as they run for their lives. They run into coven scouts a lot and have to fight them back. The thing is, even when Willow holds her own well, Amity continues to use words to make it feel like Willow’s actually not as strong as she seems. Again, it’s clearly not malicious, but still gives the wrong feeling that doesn’t do Willow justice.
Soon, Willow has enough of this and calls Amity out for unknowingly repeating what hurt her in the first place. This causes Amity to speak honestly that everything she’s saying and doing is because she wants to protect her after just getting her back as a friend. It’s here where her motives are at her most understandable if they weren’t clear enough already. In response though, Willow makes it clear that instead of protection, what she really wants is for Amity to see her for who she really is, especially regarding strength. It takes a while to see Amity’s response, but when it comes up later on, it’s very satisfactory. Interestingly, Amity isn’t the only one to not fully get Willow. While Gus and Hunter are still making their way through the illusions, they find who appears to be Willow, acting like a damsel in distress relieved to see Gus. She also acts in fear out of Hunter being with him, and while that would make sense on a surface level, it gives no regard to actual events of the series. The thing is, Gus falls for this ploy and believes this is the real Willow. As a way of showing the genuineness of his care for her, Hunter is the one to call the bluff, pointing out his time with her on the flyer derby team where she was captain. Shortly after, Gus is caught by Adrian and the coven scouts while Hunter is retrieved by the rest of the flyer derby team and brought to the student body. This turns out to be exciting setup for how everyone gets out of this situation and bring the many arcs of the episode to solid conclusions.
When Hunter is brought before the other students, he explains what’s happened to Gus and informs them of the danger. In another instance to prove the genuineness of another friendship, Willow is the first one to trust Hunter and convinces everyone that he speaks the truth. What’s more, when everyone sets out to face the opposing danger, Amity finally shows confidence in Willow, believing that the coven scouts are no match for her. On Willow’s end though, she finds a compromise by admitting she could use the help even if she is capable. Given what’s been seen of Amity and Willow throughout the episode, the way the issue of strength and self-worth is worked out is very fitting. Some might understandably say that it would be stronger if it took more than a short B-plot to resolve it, and maybe it being the main plot of its own episode would be a better route. With how interesting things between Amity and Willow's friendship has proven to be, it would have been better to see its storyline last longer. Nevertheless, the bits of it that actually are present work well for the circumstances.
It also ties well into an exciting climax where all the students of Hexside go out and face the coven scouts with an awesome display of magic on all fronts. It’s honestly a very worthy and appropriate follow-up to all the chases of the first act, serving as a turning point in the coven’s pursuit of this innocent school. Of course, Amity and Willow, coming to an understanding, stand out a lot as they combine their abomination and plant magic to beat back some scouts. It’s very symbolic of them coming together as friends again, all thanks to healthy communication.
Within this display of action, Hunter buys the time to track down Gus about to be branded with a sigil once and for all. Adrian plans to silence his never-ending illusions of his thoughts once and for all with the aid of a special mirror. Gus, panicking again, makes his thoughts stronger than ever to the point where they overwhelm Adrain himself. It must be reminded that Adrian is a coven head, and this young student is basically besting him at his own brand of magic.
This doesn’t negate the fact that Gus is still in great pain from his thoughts, but Hunter, having listened to his words, knows how to get through to him. Through viewing what’s going on in Gus’ head, Hunter sees just how much being tricked is harmful for Gus. Again, all the times he tries to present himself as great and inspiring feel like a desperate attempt to reassure himself from falling for tricks. Right now is especially embarrassing for not even being able to see that what looked like his best friend was a fraud. Hunter is shown to have grown from what Gus taught him as he knows precisely what to do. He relates Gus falling for jerks all his life to himself following the emperor his whole life. With the addition of those breathing exercises, Gus is able to escape his own thoughts while Adrian is trapped in his. In the end, Gus is left with the ultimate accomplishment of beating a coven head, and Hunter earns the trust in Hexside. He also proves beneficial in really preparing these talented passionate students for big things to come as the last scene shows him begin to tell everyone about the Day of Unity. After seeing nothing but these students proving their worth and strength for the whole episode, there’s a rewarding feel to come from them entering this fray.
With signs of growth in the many character moments and how the supporting characters become very relevant to the main plot, this episode is admirable as it is. Following a string of very stressful reveals and plot points, this is the kind of reassurance necessary. By the end of it, the cast earns great appreciation as the tide of the current major conflict starts to turn.
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. Labyrinth Runners
22. Edge of the World
23. Them’s the Breaks, Kid
24. Young Blood Old Souls
25. Any Sport in a Storm
26. Separate Tides
27. Escape of the Palisman
28. Wing it Like Witches
29. The First Day
30. I Was a Teenage Abomination
31. Witches Before Wizards
32. Something Ventured, Someone Framed
33. A Lying Witch and a Warden
34. Sense and Insensitivity
35. Hooty’s Moving Hassle
36. Really Small Problems
37. Once Upon a Swap
The next Owl House review mercifully catches us up with the main protagonists and how they approach the Day of Unity and recent big reveals.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Bessie and MicroAngelo" and "The Third Temple" 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.
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