THE OWL HOUSE 02X16 REACTION & DISCUSSION
Added 2022-05-24 11:10:01 +0000 UTC
Comments
Even though it was already made obvious to the audience that Belos was Philip, I think the dramatic irony surrounding Luz’s eventual realization was very well handled. She was nearly crushed by the revelation that she had inadvertently helped to enable Belos’ rise to power by teaching him the light glyph and helping him reach the Collector in the past. The fact that Belos needed her to complete the time loop could also retroactively explain why he’s been so lenient towards her up to this point, but this episode demonstrated that he’s now willing to go for the kill.
Robert Williamson
2022-05-24 16:08:44 +0000 UTCThis is easily one of my new favorite episodes. I’m glad you all noticed the story within a story that was being depicted with the memory portraits. Philip and his brother grew up in mid-1600s Connecticut, back when witch trials were still a thing, and they were presumably brought up to fear and hate witchcraft. The brother evidently grew past this and fell in with a witch in the Boiling Isles, while Philip’s hatred continued to fester, eventually leading to him to committing fratricide . A lot of people think that the portrait of Belos looking at himself in the mirror was a memory of him cutting his own ears to look more like a witch, and it also appears that he used the same knife to carve the glyphs into his arm. Despite the “they’re still alive” line that might’ve been put there for censorship reason, I doubt those witches lasted long in the snow. Pretty dark stuff for a Disney cartoon, but I am here for it; a part of me wonders if the portraits were the only way for them get Philip’s story past the censors.
Robert Williamson
2022-05-24 15:51:55 +0000 UTC
