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The animation community has recently gotten the next instalment of the grand finale of The Owl House, a Disney animated television series with a huge impact. It’s drawn a lot of attention from people of all kinds with its creative world, masterful storytelling, inspiring messages, and amazingly crafted and developed characters. Clearly, this show has the makings of a great part of Disney, but the company’s executives have cut it short to only finish its story with three 44-minute specials. This could be a disadvantage, but thanks to the talents of the people behind it, the show pulled off an opening special that made it work; characters, emotions, and storytelling were effective as ever. Now, the time has come to continue the finale with a look at exciting middle part of the ending in this special MC Toon Reviews Shorty. At this point, the restraints of having little time to work with start to show, but the final product still turns out very impressive. Here comes an analysis of what’s next for Luz and her friends as they return to the demon realm to save it and get a clearer idea of what to do…
For the Future (The Owl House Season 3 Episode 2)
(January 21, 2023)
SPOILER WARNING IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SPECIAL YET!
As the show is coming to an end, these specials would naturally aim to go out spectacularly while also take the chance to explore some creative setups. The previous special is already proof of that through taking place entirely in a world separate from the main demon realm. The trend continues with this special where the setup is in a clearer response to recent events of the series. Luz and her friends, Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter, are now back in the demon realm with Luz’s mom Camila joining them as bonus support. The catch is they’re experiencing firsthand how it has changed after being put under new control of an unpredictable being of the stars called The Collector. Through it all, they’re faced with several imaginative changes to the realm as well as how many of their peers have reacted to the changes. Ultimately, there’s a lot set up for what lies ahead for these heroes, and thanks to the talents of the crew behind the show, it all delivers in creativity and character growth.
The most central character journey of the special is easily Luz’s. She’s dealt with a lot in the series for sure with the previous special going all out on how those events have affected her emotionally. The catch is that they run much deeper than one may expect. Last time, she was down on herself for feeling responsible for the suffering her friends and the demon realm were put through. Her guilt was so big that she got the idea that the thing to do was abandon the demon realm where she found true happiness and stay in the human realm that’s left her unhappy. In the review of that previous special, it was believed that since her friends still showed Luz love, there would be no reason for Luz to go through with her plan.
However, that’s not the case as Luz in fact has not changed her mind and continues to insist that her staying in the human realm is for the best. Granted, there was always a hint that there was more she needed to do to overcome her turmoil, but it’s still a concern she remains in this dark a mindset. Despite all disappointment, it is very believable that one heartfelt conversation wouldn’t be enough to change her mind. What’s more, Luz’s feelings on this matter don’t just relate to helping Belos meet The Collector and set their chaotic rise to power in motion. It’s more about her general tendency of messing up that’s putting her down and making her feel like she’s not deserving of the happiness she’s found in the demon realm. Such a relatable internal struggle makes Luz’s role very sympathetic and adds a relatable emotional layer to the following events of the special.
Even as Luz plans to cut this world of magic out of her life, it’s clear that her ties to it are still on her mind. One notable example is her ties to two residents of the demon realm who have become real family to her, Eda and King. It was always sad for this main trio to wind up separated ever since the Day of Unity, but the emotional effects are stronger than ever here.
Where they really hit hard though is an early scene where Luz takes everyone to the Owl House still abandoned and empty from being raided by coven scouts. It’s a very sorry sight and sad reminder of recent events, but the lack of Luz’s found family add to the sadness. There is encouragement with Luz determined to find them no matter how long it takes, but there’s also an air of dread knowing what she plans on doing after that.
Then there’s another magical element firmly on Luz’s mind that greatly reflects what she’s going through. As a continuation of an ongoing trend for her character, Luz thinks a lot about her carved animal companion meant to showcase her status as a witch called a palisman. For a while, she’s struggled with connecting with hers, and having carved hers into an egg that's yet to hatch is a notable visual interpretation of this situation. It’s not surprising that everything she’s been through has made it even harder for her to make the connection.
A conversation with her loyal girlfriend, Amity, serves as a reminder that realizing one’s biggest wish is what’s needed to connect with a palisman. There's also a very welcome answer to exactly how Amity connected with her own palisman, Ghost the cat; this is especially pleasing on account that she was seen with a palisman without any explanation. Apparently, Amity was handed her palisman and had to state her wish just to get it to move. She stated several possible futures before eventually settling on not knowing exactly what she wanted, but she did want to make the choice for herself. This reveal is a strong reminder of the appeal of Amity’s arc as well as a notable element behind later events of the special for herself and for Luz. It's also relatable in a thematic sense where sometimes dreams and wishes aren't perfectly clear, and it takes time to realize them, also in line with where the special goes.
For this moment though, Luz’s deepest wish still hasn’t come to her, and others like being a witch and protecting her friends are marred by her grief and pity over her constant mess-ups. It’s especially telling that these feelings along with her plan on leaving the demon realm are putting a real damper on her when she can’t bring herself to accept Amity’s affection. Luckily, one person in Luz’s life who is aware of what she plans on doing is set on bringing her to a better place.
When Camila stepped in to join Luz and her friends in returning to the demon realm, the setup for preceding events certainly got an added layer of intrigue. This way, Luz’s mom would be involved in the major fantasy elements to get a chance to bond with her daughter and offer a fresh perspective to the adventure. Throughout this special, this fresh perspective is very realized through a running trend of Camila staying positive and looking for appeal in this world her daughter loves so much. She puts in the effort for sure which is great, but it’s clear that she doesn’t have the grasp towards it, understandably making Luz think she’s pretending to like it. Then again, Luz too struggled to adapt to the strange occurrences of the demon realm during her early days.
Adding to the endearment of Camila’s attempts to get around in the demon realm is the context behind some of her major reasons for joining Luz. Even if she can’t adjust herself to this place, she does accept that it’s very important to Luz, and can tell it would be wrong for her to leave it. It’s a very interesting shift from her having Luz promise her to stay in the human realm, especially after learning the real reasons behind her eccentric ways.
Anyway, with Luz still insistent on staying in the human realm, Camila sees that leading her daughter to do what’s best is going to be more challenging than she thought. Through looking for advice, she turns to some of Luz’s good friends, Willow and Gus. Despite not being aware of Luz’s plans, the advice these friends give ends up relating a lot to what she’s going through. They talk about times when they messed things up, but found comfort through talking about them and coming to the conclusion that failing is nothing to be ashamed of. This turns out helpful later on, especially with how it points out that Luz and Camila actually have a lot in common.
In addition to helping Camila, this conversation serves as one of the starting points for development Willow gets in the special. It’s a chance for the special to take the opportunity to make sure everyone in Luz’s friend group comes full circle in their arcs. So far, many of them have already come a long way from where they started. Amity has grown far more considerate and independent after all the events of the series, and after some recent starring roles, Gus has matured into a real voice of reason. Willow, on the other hand, hasn’t had nearly as significant prominently-shown development. For that, having her be the standout friend in this special is a smart move and a good chance to really dive into the deeper areas of her character.
In this case, it’s constantly pointed out that she’s very strong and always knows what to do with nothing bothering her. This can tie in a lot to how she’s always calm and collected when supporting her friends with very little stopping her. Any time she has shown emotional vulnerabilities in the past, it’s never been very long and she’s always able to pull herself together.
However, Camila points out that Willow may be hiding some true feelings, and a visual sign of her plant magic acting up further suggests this. These feelings become noticeable when the group witnesses firsthand what The Collector is doing to the Boiling Isles and its inhabitants.
A look into town as well as the opening scene of this special showing an alternate perspective of Season 2’s end gives much needed context to The Collector’s game, The Owl House. An offer to play it was suggested to them by King as a deal in exchange for setting them free and stopping the Day of Unity. Since it was a ruse King made up as he went along, a lot of questions were begged as to exactly what this game would be like.
Now the audience gets those answers as well as a major extent of The Collector’s powers. They have the ability to turn any mortal being into a puppet which renders them immobile except when taken out to play under The Collector's control. In the case of the Owl House game, the puppets are arranged in scenes based on past adventures King has told them about. It’s basically a role playing game or pretend, and adds an emotional layer with King getting a chance to relive the good days with loved ones after sending one of them away. From the sound and looks of this, there are a lot of issues to take from this course of action through taking away the free will of innocent civilians.
Plus, it’s very damaging to families that are torn apart as a result. Willow especially feels this when she sees that one of the people turned into a puppet is one of her dads, clearly igniting stress and anguish she’s holding back.
At the same time, The Collector’s desire to play is very genuine with them solely using the puppet-turned civilians as play things and nothing more. They don’t abuse them or break them, and only has them dress the scene; what they’re doing is still wrong, but their intentions don’t have a hint of malice. It also helps that King is by their side the whole time to make sure the game doesn’t go too far. In all, this is a very interesting and considerate setup to The Collector’s ways as well as apparent complexities to their character, and it doesn’t stop there.
The rest of The Collector’s role in the special looks into their general nature as a character in their own constructed headquarters as well as hints to their background. The material given further shows that in spite of their actions, The Collector truly is an innocent fun-loving child who just wants to play.
A notable instance of this is shown in their interactions with one person who avoided being turned into a puppet through making a deal with them, Amity’s mom, Odalia. The Collector has her take care of the puppets, as well as the supposed Owl Beast, and do menial work and favors most would expect from a mother. The things they demand are actually reasonable on a childish level, but to Odalia, they’re demeaning and humiliating and don’t live up to her supposed self-imposed potential. Then again, she always did want to associate with the most powerful beings and be ahead of the rest, and now she’s got it. Given all the horrible things she’s done including putting these desires over the well-being of innocent civilians, any drawback she faces is deserved satisfying punishment. It’s like she’s being forced into the role of a proper mother she never really wanted to be, making it concerning that she was once a mother of three.
Speaking of her proper mother role, it’s very indicative of what The Collector really is at the core of everything; just a child. This is further shown with even more interactions with King, who they genuinely see as a true friend, complete with them sharing a room.
It’s also here where the audience gets even broader impressions of what The Collector is really like as King reads them a bedtime story. In this story is a passage that reveals that The Collector is not the only one of their kind. They’re actually part of a whole race of Collectors who, according to the story, preserve all organic life by storing everything away, keeping them from doing anything. One might believe that those Collectors of the past did so by turning such organic life into scrolls that could be used to curse others; after all, this is what was shown with the Owl Beast. The catch is that The Collector doesn’t want to hear the dark part of the actions of their race, further evidenced by them crossing out part of the story and rewriting it. The passage says how playing is more fun and that the other Collectors stink, making the point that they’re different even clearer. While other Collectors wanted to store organic beings just to have them, this Collector wants them as companionship to play with; true friends in a manner of speaking. As a result, what The Collector is doing now is actually far more innocent compared to what others of their kind did.
Another point to this is The Collector asking King to let his stuffed rabbit, Francois, watch over them while they sleep so they won’t be lonely. That there is a telling sign of an innocent desire for friends, and them not wanting to be alone feels very relatable.
Then there is one more area to really bring the genuineness of The Collector full circle. As King is walking through a hall, there are pictures that turn out to be very telling. In a similar manner to another earlier episode, this use of background pictures is effective in delivering backstory. They show The Collector indeed as a child of many others, and as their ancestors performed their usual nature, The Collector just wanted playmates. They got them through a race of young Titans, the very species King is part of. However, there are some depictions of a war between Collectors and Titans that ultimately resulted in The Collector being sealed away. Now they’re basically the last of their kind, just like how King is the last Titan, making it no wonder why they see him as a friend. In all, The Collector comes off as a fascinating character where while their actions suggest the worst, they actually have a lot that many can relate to.
Adding endearment to The Collector’s role in the special is how they are approached by King. Now, King has his own personal matters to deal with, all of which are very endearing. They’re all about salvaging what’s left of his true family he just can’t live without. This is particularly apparent when the Day of Unity’s aftermath left one gone, some turned to puppets, and in Eda’s case, stuck in her beast mode.
It’s revealed that through pulling some strings, he managed to get Eda out of her beast mode and even convinced The Collector to turn her sister Lilith back to normal. Hooty remains a puppet, but a moment where Lilith allows his thoughts to be heard reveals that people are still at least conscious in this state. He also often goes to visit them, bringing him comfort in such stressful times, especially since he has to do this in secret; it’s said that if The Collector finds out that Eda is no longer the Owl Beast, they could turn them all into puppets permanently.
This is very sympathetic, and as an added measure, it’s clear to the characters and the audience that this family just isn’t complete without Luz. For that, there’s an air of sadness where they try to be happy about the good reasons why she’s not with them, but it’s easy to tell they want her around.
Even in the bittersweet undertones of this family dynamic, it’s still good to see them come to rational decisions regarding dealing with The Collector. Just from interacting with them, King can see that in spite of what The Collector is doing, they’re a sympathetic lonely kid at heart with no real bad intentions to their actions. That’s why he plans to get The Collector to set everyone free and put the Boiling Isles back to normal by talking to him. This is an example of how refreshingly mature this show can get in execution, as well as proof of the characters being its biggest strength. King’s plan looks at the big picture of things and considers that there’s truly more to The Collector than the surface suggests. As Eda and the others see where he’s going, an uplifting theme going forward about the importance of understanding becomes clear, and it's a very good fit for this show.
While King certainly has the right idea to get through to The Collector, there’s one force that serves as a major threat to the progress serving as a contrast between them and King. While King has guidance and support from people who care for him, The Collector has and ultimately continues to be guided by one truly bad influence.
The bad influence in question is one being who entered the demon realm right before Luz and the others, Belos. Though he’s now reduced to an unstable creature of muck, Belos retains a very frightening presence whenever he appears throughout this special. There are frequent cuts to him attempting to enact his plan on eliminating all witch-kind starting with trying to find a stable body to possess. All the while, seeing him go about this brings a creepy atmosphere from how he looks and how he speaks.
There’s also something to be said of his mindset as he goes about his business. He’s constantly stalked by his brother, Caleb, who he had murdered centuries ago because he couldn’t accept that he was infatuated with witches and disapproved hunting them. This is symbolized by a bloody dagger floating above him.
The same is also said for spirits of the many clones of Caleb Belos had made over the ages called grimwalkers who were murdered as well after proving unsuccessful; Hunter could have been one of them. The really disturbing thing about all that is that Belos refuses to take responsibility for his own actions, blaming Caleb for everything and showing no sign of understanding at all. This presents Belos as a truly dangerous kind of villain with absolutely no reasoning with, and ultimately someone no one should listen to. The state of the Boiling Isles during his reign as emperor is already very telling of that. Whether these spirits are real ghosts or figures of Belos’ demented mind, this is something he can’t escape and apparently will never admit fault to, making him an inherent horror.
His horrors are expressed in how he attempts to stabilize himself in getting a new body from the revealed place where he makes grimwalkers. They’re featured as severed limbs rising from the ground like a rotted corpse-turned zombie which speaks for itself on a fright level.
When Belos’ grimwalkers turn out to not be stable enough, Belos goes for a whole new approach. After making his way to The Collector’s fortress, he finds something else he can possess in the puppet-turned inhabitants of the Boiling Isles. Since they’re already immobile because of The Collector, having one of them be possessed adds a whole new layer of disturbance. It also strikes on a personal level when the puppet Belos ultimately decides to possess is Raine Whispers, Eda’s love interest. Considering that Raine themselves has suffered quite a lot, it’s very sympathetic that they’re led to suffer even more.
Anyhow, with Belos finally getting his body, he’s free to go about his main plan which in many ways is very close to what he did before. He finds The Collector, and after failing to possess them, he takes advantage of their childlike innocence convincing them that their friendship brought them to life. He also fiendishly turns The Collector against who they see as a friend in King, insisting that he’s plotting to destroy them and that Luz has made it to the demon realm to help.
The Collector uses telekinetic powers to spy on King out of Belos’ influence, and working in Belos’ favor, they happen to hear King say that they need to be stopped for good. This in turn has this major confrontation built on a misunderstanding trope which in most stories is an unpleasing direction that puts a damper on the heart. Even here, it’s clear that things could have been different if The Collector just listened in a little longer. However, given the context of the setup and the characterization, this trope is actually well executed. Belos wants The Collector to think the worst of King, so of course he would manipulate them that way. After all, tricking and manipulating is what Belos does; it’s the heart of his reign over the Boiling Isles and exactly how he moved forward with his plans. Add on the childish personality of The Collector who believably would go along with what they’re told, and it’s kind of no wonder this is the direction the story takes. Because of Belos, King’s plan to reason with The Collector and restore order has a major challenge ahead. However, all other areas of the special offer a logical way for manipulation to be conquered and peace to be reached.
Going back to the role of Luz and her friends, after witnessing The Collector’s game, they figure out that they first must reach The Collector’s lair at the skull of the Titan. Along the way, they’re brought to a refuge safe from all the chaos, the local magic school Hexside. This is where a lot of this main portion of the story unfolds, meaning there’s little time to make actual progress in the primary goal. Still, important developments occur during here, not just for the characters, but also for the state of this world. For one thing, since there was a whole episode devoted to Hexside learning about the Day of Unity, it was necessary to see how they’d respond. There is some intrigue in seeing just that with the school converting to a shelter when the event happened, and then going through another transformation once it passed. When The Collector started their game, they turned all the adults and some students into puppets and took them away along with other civilians of the Isles. Now, the school has transformed into its own civilization inhabited by students. Through brief looks at this shift in tone for the location; Luz’s friends reuniting with close relations from siblings to teammates; and more of Camila reacting to the random horror elements of this witch school in the name of supporting her daughter’s interests; the thought put into the setup is clear. It’s a major example of how this show wanted to do so much, but couldn’t due to being shortened. Still, the setting is still put to good use in advancing the goals of the main protagonists.
One notable strength to the time spent at Hexside is how it makes good use not just of its new atmosphere, but also of the characters in the ever extensive cast.
This is especially felt in the student serving as the self-imposed leader of this civilization, Boscha. This three-eyed witch was created as a standard bully archetype with an athletic flair for the sport, grudgby. Since that was basically all that there was to her, it’s not surprising that next to nothing was done with her in the second season. Now, it’s clear that the crew behind the show have found this new direction with Hexside as a way to give Boscha a well-suited arc. She became leader under the influence of a small red demon apparently all alone after the Day of Unity who later convinced her to have everyone stay put and not face The Collector.
While this does explain why no one at Hexside has made an attempt to get their families back this entire time, this move does bring some frustration on Boscha’s part. Her decision for everyone to do nothing especially stings when accounting for her general one-dimensional mean nature she’s shown in all her appearances. However, the fact that the advice comes from that little red demon does bring some sort of hidden depth to her. It feels like Boscha is acting out a need for companionship in order to function, and since she’s already lost her grudgby team to The Collector, she’d listen to anyone who associates with her. The idea of needing companionship is even further proven with later events of the special. Even if she does ultimately listen to bad advice, there is believable weight to Boscha’s actions, frustrating as they can be.
Despite things working against them as well as her own dark thoughts and even sadder decisions, Luz is still determined to make everything right. Through her own creative thinking, she comes up with a legitimately smart plan of going against the authorities and reaching The Collector anyway. It also helps that Mattholomule, an actually reformed antagonist, is able to give her and her friends access to the place needed to pull her plan off.
Introduced in a memorable Season 1 episode, this place is a lab where students extract their memories portrayed as photos. As a very clever measure, Luz plans to use this photo lab to extract her own memories as a way to find a glyph combo she saw when she helped Belos meet The Collector. This glyph combo is a necessary measure to reach the Titan skull and later face The Collector. Luz taking advantage of what’s available with full knowledge on how to use them is a sign of a great character with credible problem-solving.
This point is further proven with her plan successfully obtaining the memory with the glyph combo they need. However, as shown through this memory coming after a long line of memories of her biggest mistakes and trauma throughout the series, Luz can’t give herself any credit for her strengths. It’s a sad sign that for all her virtues, she can only think of her faults, giving a harsh reminder of how she’s threatening to badly hurt herself by cutting herself off from true happiness. Speaking of which, the rest of this portion of the special manages to use the concept of faults and messing up to its advantage.
Just as the group is about to pull off Luz’s plan, things slowly start to fall apart starting with matters between some of her friends.
It starts with a direction to bring Willow’s conflict back into focus. Seeing Hunter look somewhat despondent here, as well as a tad out of sorts for most of the special, Willow tries to cheer him up with a memory of him on her flyer derby team.
This memory also serves as a reminder of Flapjack, Hunter’s old palisman who sacrificed himself to save his mate, unsurprisingly unleashing some grief within him. This overwhelms Hunter with all sorts of emotions with gratitude and happiness of this friendly gesture and sadness of being reminded of the loss of his palisman.
Ultimately, he says he doesn’t know what to say and Willow takes it like she messed up when trying to look out for everyone. Her reaction is clearly a result of holding in all heavy emotions she’s facing regarding this whole situation, but Hunter has some fault to this too.
He learns that Gus knew that Hunter was a grimwalker since the Day of Unity via a special illusion magic tool and was hoping Hunter would be open himself. Since Hunter never did and still can’t, Gus frustratingly storms off to deal with Willow on his own.
As for Willow, for how strong emotionally she’s been for much of the series, this stressful state puts her at the mercy of Boscha for whom she’s been a notable bully target. For the first time in a long time, Boscha’s condescending remarks on how she’s not as good a leader as she thinks really get to her, and she’s as unpleasant as typical bullies can be. Willow does try to stand her ground and tell her off, but that’s when the group’s whole plan of going behind authority and reaching The Collector starts to fall apart.
It’s all because that little red demon who influenced Boscha’s role over Hexside is none other than a well-known supporting antagonist, Kikimora. Even though she’s no longer associated with Belos or the Emperor’s Coven after the Day of Unity, her lust for power has clearly not gone away. It also means that any hint of goodness inside her in the past was all for naught as this reveal clearly shows she values power over anything and anyone else. Then again, considering that Odalia would stoop to working for The Collector for her own gain despite everything, Kikimora’s selfish obsession with power is kind of all too believable. Anyhow, with Kikimora’s identity reveal, Luz’s plan to get The Collector falls apart as she ambushes everyone and throws them into Hexside’s detention pit. This direction may seem random to some and takes away from antagonists with actual huge potential, but it actually does make good use of the cast. Not only does this make sense for the personas of Kikimora and Boscha, but it also serves as a major catalyst for events going forward. Because of the roles of these tertiary antagonists, turning points are reached for character arcs and one of the biggest themes of the series.
In this instance where Luz and her friends seem down on their luck to make things right for the demon realm, there are three notable character moments. Each of them not only do their part to turn the ensuing drama and turmoil around, but also set up a very good strategy on how they’ll ultimately deal with The Collector.
The smallest of the three yet still worth noting involves exactly how Boscha is dealt with. The character present to confront her in this moment is another notable figure to her, Amity. Looking back at her relationship with Boscha, it should be remembered that even when Amity was hanging out with her, she never enjoyed it, always keeping her distance.
When meeting up with her in the detention pit, Amity is shocked to find that Boscha desperately wants her back in her group. Even if Amity never valued Boscha, she herself was seen as a true friend by Boscha, and all the times Amity left her, including disappearing for months, affected her emotionally. Although, considering Boscha’s other scenes in the specials, it feels like an expansion of her obsession for companionship. She even hurts Amity in her attempts to keep her from leaving, showcasing how unhealthy this friendship truly was.
The resolution to this, however, turns out to be very mature on Amity’s part. Tying back to how she connected with her palisman, she strongly stands her ground atop a huge abomination and sticks to her own choices. Rather than being swayed by Bosha’s begs, Amity says that associating with her would not be right for herself. However, she does understand that Boscha is lost without the right people for her. She tells her things can be made right if she allows them to fight back, in this case, saving Boscha’s grudgy team who were some of the many victims of being turned into puppets. Seeing her motives understood, Boscha ultimately does see sense and becomes integral to setting things right.
Another notable moment involves a compelling resolution to Willow’s arc for the special. After everything that happened with the ambush, seemingly failing to cheer up Hunter, and being put down by Boscha, Willow is faced with very low self-esteem. The pit filling with plants from her magic is a strong visual metaphor of how the stress she’s bottling up has grown out of control. All she can do is lament how she failed to stay strong and will never be able to help her friends properly.
However, in her despondency, there’s a shining character moment in store for Hunter who notices how down Willow is.
As her plant magic intensifies, Hunter is finally upfront with how he feels for her, explaining that she never did anything wrong and that she and Gus are very important to him. In revealing all this, Hunter shows that he does indeed understand what Willow is going through. Then as Gus joins in valuing Willow as she is, she slowly starts to feel safe enough to admit her vulnerabilities.
So with that, Willow willingly lets down her guard, and tearfully admits the troubles on her mind. In a very human measure, she admits that she misses her dads, crying it out all the way as her friends leave her to it. This moment of vulnerability allowing her to break from being strong actually helps unlock something in Hunter.
Admitting how much he values his friends seems to grant Hunter some sort of magical power of flying at great speeds to get him, Willow, and Gus out of trouble. This is not unlike the power he had when he still had a palisman, and now he himself is working that power himself. It’s as if Flapjack may be gone, but he truly does live on inside Hunter, figuratively and literally. This power allows the three to escape the detention pit, and the experience changes them for the better. Willow heals a lot from her turmoil by letting it out and knowing that she isn’t any weaker for it thanks to good friends in Hunter and Gus willing to listen. Hunter even grows as his own individual for telling his friends how important they are to him complete with his own power. Considering these apparent signs of growth here, it’s no wonder the little hints of romantic tension between these two pay off by the special’s end. This is very demonstrative of the great heart and appeal from this dynamic as well as another showing of the importance of understanding.
However, the best of these three character moments belongs to Luz and Camila as it features the clearest ties to the idea of understanding. Considering it also brings a turning point in what Luz has been planning to do for herself, this moment is also very refreshing, a long time coming in fact.
Luz manages to escape Kikimora with Camila, but is once again hard on herself for having her plan mess up. This in turn reminds her of the very reason why she feels she has to stay in the human realm forever. With that in mind, Camila is finally upfront with that matter and talks about it with Luz. It begins with a major underlying factor that despite her plan, Luz in fact doesn’t WANT to leave the demon realm and is only doing so because she keeps messing up. This factor made clear, Camila, who again is very insistent that Luz leaving the demon realm would actually be bad for her, offers Luz worthwhile insight on messing up. She says that messing up is a simple part of living, and to further prove it, she reveals examples of how she, a prominent figure Luz looks up to, has messed up as well.
The examples start off minor at first with somewhat inconsequential incidents like scheduling a wisdom tooth surgery at a bad time and accidentally cursing someone out. Then they start getting heavier and at times more emotional. One involves Camila having been involved in a pyramid scheme for years, like how Luz was often tricked into helping people she shouldn’t have, including right now with Kikimora. Another mess-up was Camila deciding to move to their hometown in the human realm to be closer to the supposedly better hospital for Luz’s dad. It’s telling that Camila considers this a mistake not just because the move was pointless since he passed away anyway, but because of what it acknowledges. It feels like she’s admitting that the society she and Luz were a part of were the real cause of all their problems as opposed to all of Luz’s mistakes.
This ties into what’s said to be Camila’s biggest mistake of all and the one that really gets to Luz. Through explaining it, Camila references the science fiction novel series she loved so much, revealing herself to be a nerd just like Luz. As for the mistake, it’s how Camila failed to stand up for Luz and her true self when life was putting her down and insisted on having her become someone she’s not. It was all in response to how she herself had it hard growing up for being a nerd and trying to keep Luz from facing the same hardships.
As Camila puts Luz’s witch hat upon her daughter’s head and calls her a good witch, she shows love and value for Luz’s true self and a realization that her past actions were wrong. It’s her way of saying that Luz really is a good person as she is, and no mistakes will ever change that. This coming from someone who’s also a nerd who makes mistakes like Luz makes this all the more reassuring.
Really bringing validity and impact to Camila’s words and reveals is how Luz reacts to them, and her arc and the story come to a very compelling place. She ultimately reaches a huge epiphany that the only thing she ever wanted was to be understood. Enhanced by a gorgeous colorful shot depicting her expression, this moment is incredibly definitive of not just this special, but the entire series. Many of its characters are all different in some way and at times have been shown to feel like they don’t belong, or feel unhappy when they try conforming to the norm. It’s only through finding a sense of belonging somewhere or with the right people where they ever felt safe to be their true selves. This was the case with Luz when she found the demon realm, but ridicule for her mistakes in the past have led her to be put down by the mistakes she made in this accepting place.
By hearing that her mom, a great admirable figure she looks up to, also made a fair share of mistakes and was a nerd like her, she’s able to see she’s not alone. It’s particularly easy to see just how refreshing it is for her to realize this and allow herself to be seen as a good witch. After all, if Camila, a nerd like her, can look at her mistakes as a simple part of living and remain a great person, so can she. Now, this show has always been highly relatable, but now it’s more relatable than ever. What Luz goes through can easily relate to people of all kinds. Whether they’re in the spectrum, have some disability, are just plain different from the masses, and especially if they’ve made mistakes, they all deserve to be understood. That way, they can really be proud of who they are and not feel like they don’t deserve to exist or that there’s no place for them. True, some people and societies will never feel bothered to try and understand, but that doesn’t change that there are people out there who will. In fact, some of those understanding types who know exactly what to say and do in certain situations may be closer than they seem if Camila’s anything to go by. The direction of Luz realizing she always wanted to be understood offers powerful reassurance after so much strife.
Then there’s one more measure to sell the power of this moment, one to bring a satisfying payoff spanning across much of the series. With Luz now knowing what she wanted, that’s enough to finally allow her palisman to hatch. The process of its hatching is somewhat gradual as it first emerges as a sparkling purple orb, and then continues to grow as everything comes together. Luz’s palisman, along with Hunter’s new power and stronger connection with his friends, and Amity convincing Boscha to fight back, lay a strong groundwork to bring peace at last.
Once everyone finally regroups, Boscha and many other Hexside students are led to break from Kikimora’s rule while Luz and her friends put together the glyph combo.
They pull it off without trouble, and just as Luz planned, they reach the head of the Titan and aren’t far from The Collector’s lair. So her plan has led to great success, she’s with her mom and all her friends, and now isn’t far from her found family.
This in turn is a perfect place for the palisman to finally take its form. As an interesting touch, this palisman, a creation all Luz’s own, does not in fact have just one form.
Her palisman, named Stringbean, has the ability to transform into all kinds of creatures, bringing validity to the many guesses of her friends. Stringbean herself also brings a clear sense of Luz’s nature. She never conforms to one thing and is open to explore many, and through it all, the loving acceptance of her peers gives both her and her palisman healthy understanding. It’s true that Luz has been through a lot, but it’s very rewarding to see her realize what she always wanted; discover her true self is nothing to be ashamed of; and receive something to represent her positive development as a witch.
This feeling is especially telling as she ends the special with the genuinely happiest demeanor she’s had in a long time. As she admires her palisman while also accepting Amity’s affection she previously felt she didn’t deserve, there’s an actual convincing sense she will make the right decision for herself.
Still, the story doesn’t forget that there’s still one more matter to deal with. The Collector is still under Belos’ influence that King is going to destroy them, and Luz will help now that she’s arrived at their lair. With them having just heard King say words along those lines, Belos’ words feel all the more believable to them.
As a result, the very final scene of the special is The Collector deciding to play a “new game”, snapping their fingers, and the scene going black. Of course, there’s a lot of suspense and an abundance of questions begged over what their new game could possibly be given how unpredictable The Collector is. However, it’s also somewhat exciting to see how Luz and the others will face whatever they have in store in saving their families and the demon realm. This is especially true for Luz after how much she’s healed from her trauma, with her inevitable confrontation with The Collector sure to seal the deal on what she’s going through. After all, she dealt with a lot of manipulation, mostly by Belos, which led to a good share of mistakes. Now she feels better knowing she just wanted to be understood and that she’s not alone in being an eccentric nerd who messes up. For that, she’s set up to be the one to get through to The Collector and understand them just as she wanted others to understand her, setting up promising potential for what comes next.
As an aside, there’s another fascinating lore direction that’s sure to play a role in the coming final battle. Back at the beginning of the special, Luz ended up in the same void she was in during her first attempt at a portal to the human realm. It’s odd that she would end up there while everyone else got to the demon realm with no trouble, almost as if she’s somehow tied to end up there on purpose. In that space, there was a glowing figure who, upon close examination, resembles a Titan who may want Luz there for some reason. Having the appearance of someone so important, there’s little doubt the figure will also have a huge role to play, adding to the grand potential for what’s to come.
Being the middle part of the grand finale of The Owl House, there’s so much explored for such a wide variety of characters in “For the Future.” It’s easy to get the feeling that everything that happens resembles what could have been their own episode if the show’s third season was distributed in a normal full form. However, the execution has all the different ideas come together in a cohesive manner connected by a universal theme of understanding that greatly defines the whole series. The way the characters and the ever-imaginative world develop at the heart of everything adds to the appeal, leaving great satisfaction as well as mystery for what’s to come. After this is one final part to this finale saga and by extension The Owl House as a whole, meaning the end is near and it’s almost time to say good-bye to this great inspiring show. However, with what this finale has pulled off in such a satisfying way so far, one thing’s for sure; this big finish will be an unforgettable experience worthy of the Disney brand (despite what any executives may say).
Highly Recommended
Series Ranking
1. King’s Tide
2. Clouds on the Horizon
3. Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door
4. Reaching Out
5. Thanks to Them
6. For the Future
7. Hollow Mind
8. Enchanting Grom Fright
9. Eda’s Requiem
10. Follies at the Coven Day Parade
11. Yesterday’s Lie
12. Agony of a Witch
13. O Titan, Where Art Thou?
14. Elsewhere and Elsewhen
15. Hunting Palismen
16. Echoes of the Past
17. Escaping Expulsion
18. Understanding Willow
19. Lost in Language
20. Adventures in the Elements
21. The Intruder
22. Covention
23. Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances
24. Eclipse Lake
25. Through the Looking Glass Ruins
26. Labyrinth Runners
27. Edge of the World
28. Them’s the Breaks, Kid
29. Young Blood Old Souls
30. Any Sport in a Storm
31. Separate Tides
32. Escape of the Palisman
33. Wing it Like Witches
34. The First Day
35. I Was a Teenage Abomination
36. Witches Before Wizards
37. Something Ventured, Someone Framed
38. A Lying Witch and a Warden
39. Sense and Insensitivity
40. Hooty’s Moving Hassle
41. Really Small Problems
42. Once Upon a Swap
Stay Animated Folks!
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