Secret of the Palisman

The Owl House Episode 10 Review

It’s mid-season finale time for The Owl House, and with no word on when the other episodes come out, the show has to stick the landing. The show’s already given us great moments and big mysteries, which I have been avidly keeping track of. In “Escape of the Palisman”, the writers touch on a recurring mystery in the series. In addition, they set up a new one alongside it.

The Power of the Palisman

With the show having focused on each of the Owl House’s residents, the only one left is Owlbert, the headpiece to Eda’s staff. Known as a palisman and created using ancient wood by Eda, Owlbert’s not just a tool; he’s completely sentient capable of feeling pain. This episode sees Luz learning about this the hard way. When she tries using the staff to take her, Gus, and Willow to a sports game, she ends up hurting Owlbert. Like a pet that’s been hurt by its owner, the little owl reacts with fear, going to stay with the Bat Queen. As it turns out, she’s a former palisman that was abandoned. Now she protects other palisman’s from those who’d hurt them.

I thought that this whole story was like watching a pet owner trying to win over an animal that’s been abused in the past. We know Luz never meant to hurt Owlbert, but she still has to show him that she can be trusted not to do it again. It’s a very sweet story that I think pet owners can relate to.

Eda’s Curse is Getting Worse

Meanwhile, King tries to establish himself as king of the local playground and get revenge on some kid who usurped him. His solution? Use Eda, who’s stuck mid-transformation, to scare everyone. It works about as well as you’d think it would. Compounding this problem is the fact that Eda’s elixir is no longer working. Indeed, King’s only able to snap her out of her curse by humiliating himself.

Ever since we learned about Eda’s curse, it’s been the subject of much speculation and fan theories. It’s that big mystery of the show, much like how “who wrote the journals” was the big mystery of Gravity Falls. Like Gravity Falls, though, The Owl House has only given us scraps of information thus far. What “Escape of the Palisman” does confirm, though, is that this could be a big focus in the second half of the season.

An Okay Mid-Season Finale

As far as mid-season finales go, “Escape of the Palisman” was pretty standard. It does set up what the big problem may be in the second half of the season. Beyond that, though, it doesn’t do a lot to grab my attention.

I can think of several Disney cartoons in recent years that have done a great job handling the mid-season finale. Season two of Gravity Falls ended on a massive cliffhanger with the reveal of the author of the journals. Season two of Star vs. saw the main character lose magic book of spells to her arch-enemy. Then, Season three of that same show gave a bombshell revelation that upended the show’s status quo! In other words, these were great mid-season finales. They knew how to draw viewers in and leaving them curious enough to want to come back. “Escape of the Palisman”, though, seems to lack that spark.

There’s no telling when the remaining episodes will come out, given the Coronavirus Pandemic going around. In hindsight, going on break when people need entertainment more than ever could be a bad idea. However, I’ll patiently wait as long as I have to for more of this amazing show to come knocking. I just hope the season finale will stick the landing better.

I Give “Escape of the Palisman” a 2.5/5

Stray Observations:

• King is still cute when he’s angry.
• That snot-nosed kid King was fighting over the slide was actually trying to overthrow him. Nice twist on that joke.
• The Monster Hunters return, now reduced to animal control
• I think Luz copied the move that cheerleader did in the pilot.
• Could one of the palismans with the Bat Queen become Luz’s one day

Favorite Quotes:

• Bow to me, you snotty underlings! Bow!
• Yesss. Appease your master!
• EDAA! That monster took my throne!

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