On August 14th, 2021, we saw the newest episode of The Owl House, “Yesterday’s Lie,” debut on The Disney Channel. That was the last we’ve heard from the series, a top-five cable animated series with kids which has amassed over 58 million views on Disney Channel YouTube since its premiere in January of 2020. The series also has a fair share of older viewers as well, especially given the more mature themes compared to some of the rest of the fare available on the Disney networks.
The Owl House follows Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles), a 14 year-old Dominican-American girl from the fictitious town of Gravesfield, Connecticut. She doesn’t quite fit in at her school, and one day when her mom suggests sending her to a summer camp, finds herself taking a walk through a mysterious portal that brings her to the Boiling Isles. This new world is full of witches, wizards, and demons and is right up Luz’s alley.
While there, she meets Eda Clawthorne (Wendie Malick), “The Owl Lady,” a con-artist who doesn’t quite fit in with the norms of this strange world, even with her outstanding magical abilities. Here, she sells “human artifacts” to patrons of the Boiling Isles, and is endlessly pursued by the Emperor, Belos (Matthew Rhys), for her “wild witch” ways since she never joined a coven, something every witch and wizard must do, devoting themselves to one specific type of magic. Something that Emperor Belos put into place when he became the ruler of the Boiling Isles. Luz inevitably becomes Eda’s apprentice, and along with their demon pet, King (Alex Hirsch), find themselves in wild adventures together, all while Luz tries to stay in their world and go to school with other young witches and wizards, despite having no magical abilities.
On the surface, it sounds elaborately simple. The outcasted kid finds a new family of misfits and feels like they belong. But as you follow the series (all of which is currently available on Disney+), you find a world so rich in detail and story you immediately want the next episode. Every character has an enticing story, the world is elaborate, and the themes skew more adult (in most cases) than the usual kid hijinx of “hey let’s annoy the neighbor or disobey Dad” like one might find in this demographic.
One storyline that fans have latched onto is the budding romance of Luz and one of her classmates, Amity (Mae Whitman). In the first few episodes of the series, it seems as though Amity will serve as one of the main antagonists until you realize there is more going on with her character. Her prankster twin siblings and overbearing parents all give the character depth, and she ends up becoming a main character in her own right. It’s in the episode “Enchanting Grom Night” where the pair must fight a terrifying creature that is manifested out of their greatest fears.
For Luz, the creature turns into a giant version of her Mother disapproving of her, but for Amity, it’s a bit more cryptic until the creature takes the form of a silhouette of Luz reaching into her pocket where a note asking someone out to the school dance with her sits. The chemistry between the pair is palpable and culminates in one of the recent season two episodes where the two finally ask each other out, becoming the first main character LGBTQ+ couple on Disney Channel. Gravity Falls creator and voice of King, Alex Hirsch, even tweeted after the grom dance noting how far the form has come, saying that “In 2012 the Disney censor note on this image (above) would have been: “inappropriate for channel, please revise, call to discuss” (to avoid a paper trail)…Now in 2020 – There’s no note at all. Props where props are due!” He also later congratulated The Owl House team for the achievement as well. Fans went crazy (in a good way) and the characters together can always be found on social media by searching “#Lumity.” While this seems like a particular high-note in the story, we last saw Luz promising her mother she’d return to the human realm, theoretically leaving everyone, including Amity, behind.
While Luz continues to grow, we’ve also learned a lot about Eda’s past, her relationship with her sister Lilith, and a certain curse that can turn her into an owl beast at any given moment. We’re even getting hints at her own love life as we head deeper into season 2, with a “friend” from her past, Raine Whispers (Avi Roque). However, towards where we were left hanging in the series, we learn that Eda can now contain and control her curse, to an extent, and become Harpy Eda. We also have only a bit of knowledge about her sister, Lilith (Cissy Jones), this season. At the end of season 2, she loses her spot alongside the Emperor as head of the Emperor’s Coven to save her sister from being petrified for being a wild witch. She also cursed herself to take some of the brunt of Eda’s curse but after a few episodes at the beginning of the second season, she has since moved back home with her parents and we haven’t seen or heard from her since, aside from one piece of correspondence between her and Hooty, the demon that embodies the Owl House.
King, named because he’s the king of demons, though his crown is from a fast food chain, is another character who has a backstory besides just “talking house pet.” But, again, we’re just starting to get to know it. At first, all we know is that Eda found him on her travels on an island, but throughout the series, we learn more and more. In season 2, we actually go back to the island where he was found and learn he is the son of something, perhaps a Titan, and has mysterious creatures that protect him, showing he is of some importance. Later, he uses Penstagram (social media in the Boiling Isles) to call out to anyone that might have further information. The last we saw before the series took their hiatus is an older possible relative of his that delivers a letter to Hooty asking that it gets to King…spoiler alert: It doesn’t, and caused fans everywhere (myself included) based on YouTube reaction videos and blogs, to literally scream at their screens.
The biggest reason I need closure and for season 2 to complete… THE DAY OF UNITY. Emperor Belos is up to something. He has coven heads hunting down wild witches, they have the portal door to the human world, they’ve entombed Raine Whispers as an almost sacrifice… Something big is coming. There are also so many clues in place (stay tuned for that article) that lead to who the Emperor really is and what he’s about and what connection he has to the Golden Guard, and what this Day of Unity might be. Few series, let alone ones on the Disney Channel literally have me on the edge of my seat, but Emperor Belos’ Day of Unity is the number one reason I need season 2 to come back and finish already.
August 14th, 2021 was the last piece of the story we’ve seen. All reports indicate that when the show returns (it was originally a mid-season break that has now gone on over 5 months in length and counting) we’ll see 11 more episodes of The Owl House, wrapping up the second season. From there, the show has already been renewed for a third season, though unlike the previous two, season 3 will be composed of three 44-minute specials. Creator Dana Terrace has also said that this will conclude the story.
Fans everywhere, including myself, are eagerly waiting for the remainder of season 2. We’ve been left with a great story that has been left in an open-ended state, and while the show is still set to return, no official date has been given for it to resume. Until then, this will be me:
