The penultimate day, rather, the penultimate night of the year and we got ourselves a long one yet again. The last one in this countdown for the year and we have another well-known series that came to an end earlier this year and y’all already know based on the title, it’s The Owl House with the series finale in “Watching and Dreaming” taking the second place spot in the countdown.
I might as well get this out of the way for this one, while I enjoyed the finale and it’s a pretty good one despite, once again, sucks that the season had to be shortened to a set of three specials but it’s a good ass finale regardless...dare I say it, Amphibia’s finale last year was better than The Owl House’s. Mostly because it’s not as impactful as Amphibia’s, I mean, they did and they did follow the playbook with care like with Amphibia’s last year, it’s not as big but both finales were amazing in a span of a year. And it’s not because Amphibia got a full third season and The Owl House did not. Besides, if anyone is to blame for not having a long third season for the show, it’s the higher-ups over at Disney. Thanks a lot for fucking over the show, you fucking bums. Besides, if the series were to have a normal third season...like Amphibia, the first half would probably be Luz teaching her friends how to survive the human realm as we saw in “Thanks for Them”, just without the montage.
So, where we left off from the previous episode that was also in the countdown, at one end of the stick, you have Luz and the others returning to the Boiling Isles where they see what The Collector had done since being forced to leave months ago. A reunion with friends and also a few characters having their emotional moments to set things up for the finale with the two that got their moments are Luz and Willow (and also Hunter), leading to Luz’s palisman finally hatching. And you have the other side of the stick where you have King trying to play nice with The Collector while at the same time, reuniting with Eda and cooking up a plan to convince the celestial being to change everything back to normal but not noticing that Belos got to The Collector first and decides to manipulate him to get what he wants.
And much like the previous episode, you have three plots, in the first half before going down to two in the second with the first part of the stick, or I guess branch, you have the main cast with Luz, Eda, and King attempting to convince The Collector to use his powers for good in an attempt to have everything turn back to normal, not knowing that Belos is one inch closer for committing a mass genocide to intertwine with the main plot while controlling Raine’s body. And with the other side of the branch, you have everyone who was turned into puppets freeing themselves and attempting to reverse the spell that was cast by The Collector to turn everyone back to normal.
And right off the bat, the episode starts with a bang with everyone getting separated courtesy of a pissed-off Collector courtesy of Belos when finding out that Luz made her return to the Demon Realm and the fear that with Luz returning, King will crawl back to her arms. Luz’s friends and her mother are turned into puppets and get sent to the castle and Luz, along with Eda and King, are sent to their respective nightmare bubbles in what is pretty much a reference to the Infinite Tsukuyomi from Naruto...or Mabel’s bubble in Gravity Falls.
While the nightmare bubble didn’t last long, about a good 10-15 minutes top, and going through each member of the main cast with their nightmares with Eda being isolated by her family because of the owl curse to the point where she gets captured, King being hunted down by the Titan Trappers, and, of course, the kit and caboodle of all of this at the start of the episode, Luz dealing with the consequences of her accidentally helping Belos, back when he was Phillip Wittenbane, having to deal with the anger and disappointment from her friends with her taking Belos’ place and out of those three nightmares, Luz pretty much took the cake. And it’s mostly because of the weight that she had to carry since “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” and that interaction with Belos as Wittebane when traveling back in time. The fear of anger and disappointment from her friends because of one fuck up that was by accident but had massive consequences that got their families in harm’s way and most recently, Flapjack being sent to the lobby. And man, The Collector when sending Luz, King, and Eda to their respective nightmare bubbles, is not messing around with him bringing in each of the trio’s own fear on them in an act of retaliation, especially towards Luz.
Of course, the nightmare bubble scenes didn’t last long for the main trio thanks in part to one little oopsie in Luz’s nightmare when a nightmare version of Amity decided to challenge her to a “witch’s battle” and not the correct way to say because of a line from The Good Witch Azura books and her knowing that the real Amity would never misquote a line from the book series that gives Luz the edge enough for her to go from a nightmare she can’t control to a lucid dream and controls it to get out of her bubble, as well as telling Eda and King to do the same, leading to them to finally be freed from the bubble but are trapped inside the pocket dimension. But yeah, we got a reunion after that escape with the main cast since it is the finale after all.
However, even though they’re freed from their respective nightmare bubbles, they’re still inside the pocket dimension and have to continue to be forced to play The Collector’s games at the behest of Belos as he decides to go their separate ways to create an opening for Belos for him to enact a mass genocide. From having the trio put into a bubble as if they’re being used as marbles to getting chased if af The Collector is playing a round of Pac-Man, yeah, this shows why The Collector is a dangerous being. Sure, he’s just a kid, or at least a celestial being taking the form of a kid even though he’s like...what? Hundreds of years old? And when being manipulated by Belos, again, he’s a kid despite being hundreds of years old, kids are often time to be the most manipulated because they don’t know crap, well, aside from seniors whenever they see something on TV. So, after that little reign of terror coming from The Collector when trying to take out the main trio, the convincing comes into play from Luz and the backstory with The Collector.
And boy, what a lore drop we got regarding The Collector. Finding out that the only reason he did all the things he did like transforming the Demon Realm into his personal playroom is because he needed a friend. And not just any friend, but a friend who won’t leave his side and would never lie or betray him to the point where he gets left behind like that person a party group left behind at a restaurant after partying too much. In short, The Collector is just lonely and just tired of the lying and the betrayal. I mean, take a look at his supposed alliance with Belos throughout Season 2 up until “King’s Tide” with the Day of Unity arriving and got left hanging just as he was enacting a freaking genocide. Leaving King to be the one who had to befriend The Collector in the same episode to stop the draining spell and hampers with Belos’ plans, but as a result, to where we are now with everything transforming into his own image. Besides that, he just needed a friend and nothing more and he thought that having King in his social circle would make things for the guy, despite everything he did by terraforming the landscape and turning people into puppets.
Then comes the lore with The Collector. We got to be introduced to The Archivists, okay...not the full introduction and what they look like, but in the form of The Collector’s storytelling through the constellations, are his siblings and according to The Collector...yeah, they’re pretty much assholes for leaving The Collector hanging. Especially with what The Collector thought would just be a simple game of hide and seek with the baby Titans turning into the equivalent of a parent leaving their kid alone at the park without noticing. And if that’s not enough for the celestial being, having to deal with the likes of the Titan Trappers and later Belos before meeting King, it was not a good time for The Collector who pretty much had to defend for himself. Mostly because The Archivists kicked The Collector out of their clique by lying to the kid because of his bond with the Titans as if they think that the Titans are posing as a threat to them. Getting to the point where all of the Titans, but not some, mostly King, had to be taken out one by one. Jesus Christ, I know that they’re assholes for ditching The Collector and stabbing him in the back, metaphorically of course, but to ditch him enough to enact a mass extermination of the Titans down in the Demon Realm? That is an extreme amount of fucked up coming from The Archivists. But besides that, Luz decided to help The Collector by telling and showing him how friendships work.
Yeah, it’s a hassle going into the next scene with Luz, King, and Eda retracing their steps with the events that happened throughout the series with everything coming to be and how a proper friendship would work. You know, a bit of a nostalgia tour since it is the end of the series by going back to the places and the moments of the show that took place while at the same time, trying to help The Collector make friends without trying to scare them and not wanting to rush into judgment. Especially when seeing The Collector attempting to make friends when coming in contact with Matt, Jerbo, and some rando hiding as if they’re worried that they’re going to be turned into puppets. But besides that, that is what Luz, King, and Eda were doing to make sure The Collector uses his powers for good and try to make peace with anyone whenever he comes across with. You know, make a friend with anybody and I mean anyone, including enemies. Which uh...that scene with The Collector trying to use Luz’s teachings to make peace with Belos later...yeah, that’s going to bite him in the ass. And speaking of Belos...
Looks like it’s genocide o’clock for the big bad since it appears that since he was unable to possess The Collector, thus resulting in manipulating the celestial being to make sure that Luz and the others do not interfere with his plans, the heart of the Titan at his castle is the main target. Especially once he leaves Raine’s body despite that Raine trying to remove Belos from their system but Belos doesn’t mind because he (Belos) has already reached the finish line and no matter how hard Raine tries to stop Belos from reaching the heart, and thus...
Belos has finally done it. Transforming himself into a Titan, rather, taking over the carcass of the Titan by having his goop blanketing the heart a la Spider-Man 3 with the goop that turned the suit black. Taking over the carcass, thus, him taking over the driver’s seat as if he’s a Titan Shifter and ready to enact his version of The Rumbling. And that, of course, caught the attention of Luz and the others as we’re nearing the halfway point of the episode. And man, Belos taking over the Titan looks freaking sickly. I mean, that would make the most sense when looking at Belos before reaching the heart. And mind you, that was before The Collector flicked him like a damn bug with him becoming corrupt throughout the series. And now, ready to fuck shit up with him enacting a genocide on witch kind. Though Matthew Rhys in this episode, especially once taking over the Titan’s carcass...ooh boy, what a menacing take.
One quick look at Amity and the others at the castle, the Collector’s Castle, and we get ourselves a subplot with Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter transforming back into normal after being turned into puppets by The Collector. Back to normal thanks in part to Luz’s glyph and now, they have a daunting task to turn everyone back to normal. And I mean everyone from their friends to their families to even Lilith and Camila who had been puppet-fied by The Collector.
Going back to the main plot with Belos turning himself into a disgusting-looking Titan and is ready to enact a mass extermination on the witches of the Demon Realm where you have The Collector trying to play hero by talking to Belos to stand down peacefully. One problem with that is uh...oh yeah, this isn’t Naruto or Steven Universe. The Talk No Jutsu won’t work on Belos. He’s pretty much a lost cause because of him having so much hate that he is labeled as irredeemable. You can’t change the fucker because of his mass hatred towards the witches of the Demon Realm. And when I said that The Collector’s attempt to make peace with everyone using the power of kindness of forgiveness is going to bite him in the ass...boy, that was a big “bite in the ass” moment for the celestial being. Especially once Luz takes the hit from the blast when protecting him, to the point...
She gets sent to the lobby. Taking Luz out of the picture once she took the hit to protect The Collector from meeting the same fate as what Luz is dealing with once her arm and her entire body turn into fungus. Yep, we are really taking the playbook from Amphibia last year. First Anne taking the hit and now Luz. Why do I get the feeling that this might be the trend for Disney animated shows with their series finales? At this point, once The Ghost and Molly McGee reach their finale, you might as well put bubble wrap on her. But yeah, Luz dies at the hands of Belos and you could say that it almost looks like he was finishing the job that he should’ve done back in “King’s Tide” when she was almost petrified. Got sent to the lobby, shocking Eda and King since they along with The Collector got a front-row seat. Not to mention, you have Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter noticing the hail of light glyphs falling and treating it as a going-away present, not knowing on what happened to Luz. And what made things shocking and saddening with this scene with Luz getting killed off by Belos...
Camila. Despite being a puppet, you see tears falling from her eyes as if she knew that there was something wrong with the situation regarding her daughter. Like, goddamn. That would be a parent’s worst nightmare of the idea of losing their kid because of something that went out of control like protecting someone like The Collector from getting hit by Belos. And speaking of The Collector, he tried to do something by snapping his fingers, believing that he could try to revive Luz. Thinking that, like a toy that is broken, can be fixed. Not happening. Not even The Collector can bring the dead back to life through the snap of his fingers because of Belos’ use of the Titan that hampers with his magic. And the look on The Collector’s face, seeing someone die right in front of him and knowing that he’s a kid despite being hundreds of years old, has to be a traumatizing moment for him. And as Eda and King decide to fight Belos in anger after seeing Luz being killed off, speaking of Luz...
Yeah, like Amphibia, I get that they’re sister shows but it does sort of feel like we've seen this movie before, Luz appearing in another world with her back to the in-between world as a crossway between the Demon Realm and I guess the afterlife where she finally comes across with the person who she heard the voice from the start of the previous episode, revealing to be Papa Titan, i.e. King’s father. And much like with Amphibia, I should stop with the Amphibia comparisons, knowing that Luz is young and also the protagonist, it’s not her time to go to visit the lobby just yet because even though Luz is dead...she’s not like...officially dead. More like a death-in-progress. Telling Luz that he can feel the effects of Belos taking over his carcass because he can feel it growing inside him and also telling her to not beat herself up and was hoping for The Collector to do something to take Belos down, but can’t when trying to protect everyone, especially King, which Papa Titan can relate when trying to keep his son safe because that’s what Belos was trying to do, though for the wrong reasons because he’s a complete psychopath when following the old beliefs from the colonial days of “witchcraft bad”. You know, religious persecution in the style of tribalism. But besides that, this scene boils down to, like...I know, I know, enough with the comparisons, Luz gets sent back to the living world, but not before Papa Titan decides to give her a parting gift to give her a power-up, but not before telling Luz to give King a message that had to be whispered to ear and thus...
Luz, back in action and revived with a massive glow-up. Going into her titan form and is ready to haul some ass. And for the entirety of the second half of the episode, we have ourselves a battle with a three-on-one fight to decide the fate of the world with The Collector being sent to the sidelines by helping the others at the castle when helping them to hold the castle from falling as the battle between the two sides becomes intense. And, yeah, the visuals and animation for the final battle look amazing. The use of various glyphs from Luz to the scenery of Luz, King, and Eda outside the planet looks fantastic and the action and suspense scenes with the battle against Belos look amazing and knowing that it is the series finale, the cast and crew had to go all out to make things spectacular and I think it paid off. And as if the three-way team of the main cast taking on Belos isn’t enough for this finale...
Let’s add Raine into the mix to make it a four-on-one final battle once the squad saves Raine from the goop and once again, the visuals, the animation, the suspense, again, the cast and crew had to go all out to make it an epic final battle between the main cast and Raine going toe-to-toe with Belos. Using their powers to remove the mold and land a hit on Belos where he starts to become vulnerable. And to top it all off to wrap up the final battle...the icing on the cake.
The callback to the start of the series. This shot alone with Luz landing the finishing blow onto Belos...in-fucking-credible. Of course, the line of Luz saying “Now eat this, sucka” in a reference to the beginning of the series with the fantasy of Azura from the Good Witch Azura books had to be brought up eventually but besides that, it was bound to happen against the final villain like Belos and shit, this looked class with the animation with Luz firing the blast that would finish Belos off. And it did not disappoint with the visuals and animation as if it’s something coming out of a freaking anime. And I love that as the battle comes to an end. And thus, the end of this whole mess.
But not before we get a well-deserved rot in hell, RIP Bozo #PackWatch moment with Belos finally kicking the dust and being sent to the Shadow Realm. He, as Phillip, tries to manipulate Luz into saving him as the boiling rain comes down and the look on Luz’s face, especially when not feeling the effects of the boiling raindrops touching her, she doesn’t give a fuck about Belos’ attempt to trick her into saving him. She knew that he caused a massive amount of damage that he caused. Him killing her (before getting revived), fucking over the public through manipulation, committing an attempted genocide, and beyond all else, murdering his brother in cold blood because of him (Caleb) fooling around with a witch (Evelyn)...you’d think that Luz would show some remorse but no, leave the fucker to die because he freaking fracking deserve it. And to top it all off, Eda, Raine, and King added the finishing touches by stomping the fucker till he turned into gush like how you would kill a cockroach. It was satisfying and yeah, #RIPBozo #PackWatch, we’re on that Belos Pack even though that happened back in April when the episode came out.
And now, we finally reached to the conclusion of the episode and the series with everyone turning back to normal. Daily life going back to normal. Gus, Amity, and Willow reuniting with their family (minus Odalia even though she’s there, so get fucked), and Hunter, reunites with Darius and Eberwolf with them being Hunter’s parental figures. Soldiers who used to work for Belos now hanging up their stuff to join Steve and the other ex-soldiers, friends reuniting, and to top it all off to wrap up the scene before we get to the epilogue of the episode, everyone returning to The Owl House. Eda giving Raine some rest after the shit they’ve gone through. Hooty transforming back to normal and having a full reunion with Lilith. Camila finally meets with Eda and everything, including King giving The Collector his doll Francios as a gift before heading off. And despite that Luz now has lost her ability to use glyph magic, oh yeah, that happened after her fight against Belos as if her Titan form may have been her Final Getsuga Tensho, and thus, the situation with Belos and The Collector finally comes to an end and with that, a return to normalcy.
Finally, to the final scenes of the series, I know, I know, this is the last Amphibia comparison I would make since this is the end of the series, we got an epilogue with a time-skip with Luz moving out of the house, and ready to go to college. But not in the human realm and instead, she plans on going to the Demon Realm. Hopefully, student loan forgiveness is there in the Demon Realm than here in the Human Realm. And other than that, from seeing the kids as adults to everyone else living their own life leading up to the final scene where they welcome Luz to celebrate her birthday...three birthdays because she missed her 15th, 16th, and 17th birthdays because she had to help the others rebuild. So they had to make it up with Luz’s 18th birthday as a full-on celebration and the visit of The Collector, from the sky of course, ends the series with everyone in attendance going for that fourth wall break and saying to the audience “byeeeee” as the send-off to end the episode.
And thus, that’s the end of The Owl House and despite that the final sets of episodes had to be squished into three specials, not getting a full third season, they went all out with the finale and it looked amazing. The animation, visuals, suspense, and drama from start to finish looked amazing. Sure, there were some moments where I had to draw some comparisons to Amphibia’s finale last year, and sure, it’s not as big as what the show did when compared to The Owl House’s finale, but it’s more than enough to be the proper sendoff and for a show that it got us through the pandemic, mind you, The Owl House was one of those shows that got us through the lockdowns throughout 2020. Hell, I did too when watching the series whenever it was on during the heydays of the lockdown with little to no new content to watch, even though animation did rule the airwaves throughout the lockdown because everyone had to work at their homes, and even though, once again, it sucks that we didn’t get a full Season 3 thanks in part to Disney’s fuckery, I think that it’s a good enough finale to get the sendoff it deserves. And uh...yeah, that’s the end of the road for The Owl House for the series finale to take home the silver medal of the countdown.
This wraps up the number 2 spot on the Top 12 Countdown of the year 2023. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below. I already posted the honorable mentions list on my socials, so go over my Twitter, Instagram, and Threads page to take a look for yourself. Eleven down...only one to go. Which episode and series will be taking the number one spot? And I can already feel like y’all are giving me the side eye for why The Owl House’s finale didn’t get the number one spot because it would’ve served as a send-off. Well...to the casual cartoon fans...you’re not going to like it. Y’all really not going to like it. People who followed me on this page...y’all already know where this is going for who will take the number one spot. Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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