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Not wanting to admit the series is coming to an end, I held off on watching the first of the three The Owl House specials, “Thanks To Them.” With the second special, “For The Future” set to premiere January 21 at 9PM, it was time to see what happened to our heroes after ending up back in the Human Realm. Will they be able to adapt to the changes? Will it be a struggle? With everything up in the air, it could go any way.
The episode begins with Luz and Hunter promising to keep each other’s secrets, hoping that once they are ready to tell the others, they won’t hate them. Luz doesn’t want to tell them she helped Belos meet The Collector and Hunter doesn’t want them to think differently of him because he is a Grimwalker. The kids fill in Camila on everything that happened and discus how they need to get back. Camila comforts the kids, telling them they’re safe there. That pesky sludge from Belos that came through the door with them moves outside. That’s not good!
We see the kids all adjust to the human realm in their own way. A new intro plays, showing Luz and Amity telling Camila about their relationship, the kids adjusting further, and them planning how to get back, all decked out in human clothes. As the montage continues, the kids try to open the door to no success, struggle using human items properly and attempt to cook to disastrous results. Vee takes on a new form, Luz and Amity’s relationship thrives with Luz teaching Amity about human things, and Luz even ends up going back to school.
Time has passed since they arrived in the Human Realm, and the kids attempt to learn Spanish from “a scary owl app.” Vee has learned a lot. Flapjack is looking for something and Hunter notices. The kids have turned the abandoned house into a cleaner and safer place, even with their own Hooty drawn on the front door to which horror sounds play. Camila has her work out for her as a sudden mother of six.
Tired of sitting around, Amity, with purple hair dye fading, convinces the group to explore and see if any other travelers from the Demon Realm have left any clues. Amity falls into a hole that Flapjack has made in the floor. Inside, she pulls out a creepy looking box with a scroll inside it. One of the markings looks like the eye from the portal door. The group decides to use their buff brains to see if it leads to anything before telling Luz, so they don’t disappoint her again.
At school, Luz struggles to readjust. Two new students approach Luz and invite her to come to the Haunted Hayride. On the ride home, Camila is forced to stop short when they come across an accident. The Belos sludge again appears on the carcass of a deer that had struck the car.
In the basement, Hunter uses the sewing machine to make a shirt with wolves on it. He accidentally injures himself, to which Gus uses magic to help bandage it up. Gus notices Hunter has been a lot happier since arriving in the human realm. Hunter gets nervous, saying it’s not like he doesn’t want to go back, he’s just looking for ways to pass the time. Gus then asks Hunter what it was like being in the Emperor’s coven. When asked if he misses it, Hunter says he misses knowing who he is supposed to be. Gus shows Hunter a book he read about people in space trying to find a way back home. One of the characters is a clone from an enemy planet. Hunter takes notice and asks what happens to that character. Gus tells him he’ll have to find out, as he opens a door full of outfits, collectables and other objects from the series.
In bed, Luz lies awake. She gets up and grabs her palisman still in its shell. She knocks the hayride flier on the floor, which Amity picks up.
Also in bed, Camila takes notes about the kids and their stories and she suddenly nods off. She dreams of moments from the past where Luz is curious or expressive in a way that others just don’t understand. It then morphs to the moment a guidance counselor gives Camila the flier for the summer camp she sends Luz off to. Luz walks in, waking Camila up. She asks her mom why she’s not mad at her. Camila tells her that she knows what it feels like to want to run away, but in the end, Luz came home. Luz grows upset, feeling bad that her friends are trapped with her, and that King and Eda are trapped on the other side. Camila comforts Luz telling her that everyone makes mistakes, but the important thing is that she learns from them. Outside the house, the sludge appears again, taking another form.
The kids plan to go into town to try and figure out the scroll. They prepare for the journey and Hunter appears in a cyborg outfit, copying a look from the book Gus gave him. Amity begs him to change but Willow loves every moment. Hunter says he’ll catch up with them and they go off. He tells himself he’s proud of who he’s become. Flapjack begins to fly around and lands at the sludge that has made its way in the house. Hunter approaches.
In town, the kids go to a magic shop and get chased out for causing a ruckus. They try the library. Amity tries to get the card catalog cabinet to open and is shocked when a kid opens it up by pulling. She turns bright red and falls as she tries to run out. They go to the zoo and try to talk to a giraffe. No luck. Gus comments how he’s glad they were all banished in their realm! Vee brings them to the historical society, but stands nervously outside after what happened. Willow knows the story and helps comfort her. They go inside and a staff member tells them that Jacob had been fired and they’re all happy he’s not working there anymore. Amity asks Masha if they know what the scroll is. They call it a rebus and a bunch of them were dug up in Old Gravesfield. The scroll is a riddle and the pictures and symbols make up a word. Amity looks harder at the images. They decipher one of the words as Titan’s Blood. Vee comments about Gus, Amity and Willow’s friendship and they admit it wasn’t always that way. Willow pulls out a scrapbook showing all the good times they’ve had together. They take a picture with Vee to add to the collection. Vee spots a map of Old Gravesfield that looks like the scroll. They figure a stash of Titan’s Blood must be hidden there. It just so happens, the Hayride is there too and they plan on surprising Luz.
Luz sits with her palisman wondering what it will be once it hatches. She grows worried it’ll never hatch. Camila tells her it’s time to go. Luz puts her hand down on a glyph she drew and notices it begins to smoke slightly.
Hunter sits in the basement, and gets upset with Flapjack for not telling him the sludge was there. He hears a car arrive home. Hunter puts Flapjack in his cage, telling him that he’ll keep him safe from Belos, and goes upstairs. Luz asks what’s wrong, and he tells her Belos. They go to the abandoned house together with gardening tools and a bat to protect themselves. They burst into the house with masks on telling Belos to come out. They search the house and end up going down to the spooky basement. A piece of furniture rattles from within. They slowly approach, open the door, and only find a possum. The two realize they’re just being paranoid because they want to keep everyone safe. Luz tells Hunter she’ll keep him safe too since he’s family now. Hunter begins to cry and Luz pulls him in for a hug. As they climb the stairs together, Hunter’s shadow looks like Belos. Uh oh!
They arrive home to the others making costumes for the Hayride. Gus and Hunter are going to dress up as their book characters. Camila gets caught off guard asking where they found the book. She begins to slowly crack up about how things just suddenly appear in basements, nervously chucking. “Cool, Humans freak out just like us!” Willow is excited to take part in human traditions. Amity tells Luz they’re going to dress up as characters from Good Witch Azura The Movie 2: The Betrayanning.
Unable to sleep again, Luz takes her laptop into the kitchen. She records a new video diary entry. She talks about thinking she found something, but in the end she only put everyone in danger. She says she has to learn from her mistakes like her mom told her and she knows what she has to do.
The next day they all get dropped off in town for the event, all dressed up. Luz sees her mom off and the others plan their reveal for Luz about the Titan’s Blood. Hunter hears an ominous laugh from the woods. Hunter tucks Flapjack into his shirt. When he turns, his skin begins turning green. A witch trial reenactment goes on and Gus jumps in, using magic. Jacob accuses him of being a demon and gets tackled by security. They get on the Hayride and Masha begins to tell them the story of the mystery of Gravesfield, The Tales of the Brothers Wittebane. !!!!!!
In the year 1613, two orphaned brothers arrive in town, Philip and Caleb. Hunter gets nervous. The two became witch hunters who met a witch named Evelyn. Caleb was enticed by the witch and Philip went to save his brother. They used a secret word to travel between worlds. Neither were ever seen again.
They get off the ride and Hunter hears the laughter from the woods again. He grabs Luz and runs off with her, trying to convince her of what he saw. She asks him why he would be there. He tells her about the Titan’s Blood that they were going to surprise her with. She asks why no one told her and Hunter tells Luz that Luz and Camila do so much for them, they wanted to do something for her. Luz says they need to find the blood first to make sure it’s real. Hunter accuses her of not believing Belos is there and he’s going to prove it. He pulls out Flapjack and tells him to get the rebus. Flapjack doesn’t move. Hunter’s eyes suddenly glow and bulge and his voice grows scary. Luz gets angry at him for how he acted and says he doesn’t know what came over him. Flapjack sneaks the scroll off of Amity and flies back. The two run off into the woods while Amity, Gus and Willow try to find them.
At home, Camila picks up Luz’s laptop and trips. The laptop opens and an entry from her video diary begins to play a video of a younger Luz talking about how they moved to be near a better hospital for her dad. The next entry is one where Luz is mourning her father but the next entries grow happier, as she becomes more into the book her father left her, Azura. Camila is about to close the laptop when the most recent entry begins playing. She’s going to tell everyone after the Hayride that she’s going to stay permanently in the Human Realm. Camila looks shocked, then angry.
Hunter and Luz run through the woods. His sewing injury suddenly stops him in his tracks. When he pulls back the bandage he sees the sludge. His eyes glow again, seeing Belos’s shadowy figure. Luz follows him into the fog. She realizes she can’t get to the Titan’s blood without Hunter and the rebus. She then thinks back to the glyph slightly smoldering. She pulls out a glyph and taps it. It curls up and begins to glow in a small ball of light. She then realizes the glyphs are powered by the magic of the isles, by the Titan itself. The closer she is to the Titan Blood, the stronger the glyph will become. She walks deeper into the woods, touching glyph after glyph.
Back in town, the others look for the missing Luz and Hunter. Amity notices the rebus is missing. Just then, Camila and Vee arrive asking if they know where Luz is. Vee pulls out her “find a phone” app and Luz’s location appears.
Luz arrives at a flooded graveyard. She uses glyphs to build an ice bridge to where she finds Hunter. She finds Hunter acting strange, but doesn’t pick up on it. He tells her to find the Titans blood while he goes and finds his palisman who was spooked off. Hunter’s body has more green on it and he keeps asking if she found the blood yet. She spots Flapjack cowering behind a headstone. Hunter approaches, asking how her magic is working. Horns suddenly shoot out of his head. Luz hears her friends in the distance. Hunter’s voice begins to change. Luz knows it’s Belos. He thanks Luz for her help and says he doesn’t need her anymore. He pulls his hand back to strike her, but misses. Instead, he pulls Titan’s blood out from the ground.
Luz uses glyphs to push Belos back from the blood. He accuses her of not even trying because she’s afraid she’ll hurt Hunter. With her friends in view, he thanks her for introducing him to The Collector. She tells him she thought she was doing something good. Which Belos tells her she in fact did. He thought Hunter was a lost cause, but because of her, he can now finish his work as a witch hunter. Starting with her friends. Belos attacks the group. Amity Willow and Gus pull out their staffs, blocking his attacks. They fly off, engaging Belos, avoiding his attacks and taunting him. Even Vee gets in on the action.
Flapjack turns back into his staff allowing Luz to teleport to Belos. She grabs him trying to speak to Hunter, telling him that she knows he can hear her and to fight Belos off. He tosses Luz aside, and Flapjack begins pecking Belos’ horns. He grabs Flapjack, and cracks him. Before he can absorb his power, his other hand attacks himself, allowing Flapjack to fly to Luz, slowly losing his essence. Hutner begins fighting back, telling Belos he’d like to leave the Emperor’s coven and never step foot in the throne room again. He wants to study magic and learn how to carve palismen. He wants to be a student and play Flyer Derby with his friends. But most of all, he wants to make sure he never hurts anyone again. He tosses the Titan’s Blood into the water. Belos takes control again and dives in. He reaches the vial of blood, but begins sinking to the bottom. Camila dives in and rescues him. Belos’ is expelled from Hunter’s body, holding the Titan’s Blood. He accuses “Caleb” of stabbing him in the back. Luz tells Belos that he did it first.
Belos smashes the vial, the blood creating a portal door. He turns to the group and tells them that they’ll thank him later. He walks backwards disappearing into the portal. Hunter lays still on the ground, and they all try to think of the best way to help him. Flapjack flies out of Luz’s pocket, lies on Hunter’s chest, and releases his glowing essence on Hunter. Flapjack begins to dissolve into the air, as Hunter wakes up. When he comes to, he asks if everyone else is okay. Gus tries to tell Hunter what happened, but he stops him, grabbing his chest, saying he already knows what happened.
Luz walks away slowly, and Amity asks her what Belos meant by her helping him meet The Collector. Luz comes clean, telling them if it weren’t for her, the Day of Unity never would have happened. She tells them about the time pool and how she met Philip and how she taught him the spell. That she set everything in motion. Amity asks why she kept it a secret from them. Luz tells her she thought they would all hate her for it. Just as she’s about to tell everyone she’s going to stay in the Human Realm, Camila grabs Luz and says it’s time Luz took her to the Demon Realm. Luz is taken aback by the proclamation. Amity tells Luz she could never hate her. Camila tells Luz now that she knows what they’re up against, there’s no way she’s letting her go back alone. It’s their duty to help her friends get back to their families. Hunter tells Luz she was tricked and that’s just what Belos does. If it wasn’t her it would have just been someone else and without Luz there’d be no one to fight back. He asks her to fight back, and for extra emotional pulls on the heartstrings, he says to fight for Flapjack. She smiles and says “For Flapjack.”
The portal door begins to fade in and out, about to close. Luz tells them it’s time to head in. Hunter takes the lead heading to the portal. He stops at the edge, grabs his chest and tells Flapjack it’s time to go home. He walks through, followed by Gus and Willow, thanking the Human realm for all the memories. Willow says they’ll be back after they get some revenge! LOL Amity steps forward telling Luz she knows that she has no idea what the future holds, but it’d be great if she were a part of it. She tells Luz no more hiding and Luz tells her that she understands. Amity gives her a peck on the cheek and walks through. Vee hands Camila a bat telling her that she may need it. Vee says she’s not ready to come through with them. She then says someone has to keep up appearances, suddenly transforming into Camila. She hugs Vee and thanks her. Camila asks Luz if she’s ready. Luz asks Camila if she’s ready. Luz picks up her witches hat and Camila tells her “A good witch always has to have her hat.” The two hold hands and walk through the portal together. Vee walks off, realizing Camila still has the car keys!
That was a great way to kick off the first of the three Season Three specials. It felt completely focused, yet full of many great moments. I enjoyed the time jump, showing that things take time and not every problem can be fixed instantly. It provided for some hilarious moments seeing the kids adapt to Human situations and items they’ve never seen before.
I loved how confident Hunter became in himself. Despite being afraid, which is only natural, he was looking out for his friends and his new family. The absolutely devastating moment of him telling Gus he knew what flapjack did and his sacrifice was an emotional one. I was shocked they went that way, actually having a character we care about no longer be with them. Just like how Pochita gives up their form for Denji in Chainsaw Man, it changes the person (is there a crossover The Owl House/Chainsaw Man audience, or is it just me). This one was even more of an emotional moment since we had even more of a connection to the character. The stakes are high as this final round of episodes kicks off.
Seeing Luz and Amity explore their relationship outside of the Demon Realm was adorable. Even though most of the moments were montage moments, they were powerful and felt so natural. They’ve been through these events no one else can understand and it only made them stronger. Seeing Camila being a supportive mom with her pride pin was super cute too.
I was also surprised at how Camila announced she was going to the Demon Realm with them. It also makes complete sense and is absolutely what a mother like her would do. She finally got her daughter back, there’s no way she’s going to let her go on her own again! Camila clearly has guilt, and has to make up for sending her daughter to the camp in the first place, which set everything in motion. It’ll also provide for some great moments in the Demon Realm. Plus, she can meet Eda in person which should provide for some memorable scenes should we get them!
From a technical perspective, I actually loved the longer form episode. It felt more important, and urgent, allowing more story to play out. It was almost more cinematic! Anyone planning to binge all three episodes at once will be in for an absolute treat. I’m still sad we’re only getting these three episodes, but they’re clearly doing the most with each one of them.
I was sad we didn’t get to see any hints about what was happening in the Demon Realm, but from a story perspective, it made complete sense. This episode was just the beginning and I’m sure there’s plenty more we’re going to find out about. I hope Eda, King and the rest are all okay!
Has The Collector caused even more chaos? Does anyone have a plan? What is Belos going to do now? Revenge? I really don’t want this incredible series to end! Hopefully they announce when the third and final special episode will premiere. I’m certain we’ll all be left craving the rest of the story by the end of episode two. Bring it on!
The Owl House Season 3, Episode 2 “For The Future” airs Saturday, January 21 at 9PM on Disney Channel and Disney XD.
