The Rise of the Good Witch Luz

The Owl House Episode 19 Review

I’ll be honest with you guys: after the news broke last night about Chadwick Boseman’s passing, I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood to do a review this week. However, after remembering the hype last week built up for us, I realized I needed a pick-me-up. Also, my desire to learn how the season would end was too great to be quelled. Remember everything that happened? Eda succumbed to her curse and got captured by Lilith. We got the first appearance of the show’s apparent antagonist, Emperor Belos. And top it all off, we learned Lilith cursed Eda as kids. Everything had led to Luz hitting rock-bottom, but we all knew that she wasn’t going to let Belos win. As a result, we got to see Luz come into her own as a witch this episode. This marks the rise of the Good Witch Luz.

Full disclosure: due to everything that happened in the finale, I’ll be breaking down a lot of what we learned in this review.

The Good Witch Luz Goes to War

Picking up where we left off, we see Luz’s guilt-ridden over Eda’s capture. And while it’s never addressed, I think Lilith’s last words really got to her:

Go back to your world, human. This one’s ours

The Owl House, Agony of a Witch

Ever since she got to the Boiling Isles, Luz has had to fight to prove that she can stay there. Rather than breaking her, Eda’s capture fills her with more determination than ever. Donning the cloak Eda made for her, Luz vows to save Eda, even if she has to fight the Emperor himself.

Her timing couldn’t be better. Rather than cure Eda like he promised, Emperor Belos plans to publicly petrify her. As the name implies, that means turning someone into a stone statue; according to King, it’s a process that can’t be undone.

Fortunately, Luz and King are able to break into the Conformitorium, and unlike the last time she was there, she doesn’t have to be sneaky. As a testament to her growth as a witch, she proceeds to plow her way through the guards and members of the Emperor’s Coven in search of Eda. In her subsequent fight with Lilith, Luz manages to put the older witch on the defensive. But most impressive of all, in the episode’s climax, she faces down Emperor Belos and manages to shatter part of his mask!

While I think the fights could be more action-packed, I’m impressed with how badass she is. She’s likely the first person to defy the Emperor like this and live to tell about it. And while she saves Eda in the end, I doubt Belos will forget what Luz did to his pride.

The Start of Lilith’s Redemption Arc

Since we learned last week that Lilith cursed Eda, I’ve seen her get a lot of hate on social media. Like, a lot of hate. That said, I refused to let my disgust fully cloud my judgment until I had learned the whole story. It looks like that was the right call, too, as we get Lilith’s side of the story this week.

As stated by Lilith in the episode “Once Upon a Swap“, Eda also wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven when they were kids. However, this episode reveals that only one of them could join, so the two would have to fight for the position. Rather than lose to Eda, Lilith put the curse on her to lock away her magic. The curse was only meant to last a day. To Lilith’s shock, though, Eda chose to forfeit, knowing how much joining meant for her sister. Tragically, Lilith was unable to undo the curse before the spectators drove her away. Thus, Lilith naively trusted the Emperor to heal her, and is shocked when he reveals he had no intention to do so.

What Lilith did to Eda was horrific, and I don’t think she should be forgiven any time soon. Having said that, this episode leaves little doubt that Lilith is a good person, merely misguided by years of guilt and the Emperor’s lies. When she learns the truth, she doesn’t hesitate to turn on Belos and save Eda, risking her own life in the process. After the group flees, Lilith then uses her powers to transfer part of the curse to her. As a result, Eda reverts to her normal form, but can no longer perform magic naturally. It’s implied that Lilith may not be able to, either.

More World-Building and Belos’ Plans

It may have gotten glossed over by everything that happened, but there was some world-building found in this episode. After pausing the screen at the start of the episode, I read a page of the book that King was reading about the history of the Boiling Isles, and put the photo here.

The book reveals that, eons, ago, beings called Titans roamed the Demon Realm, one of them ending up in the Boiling Sea. It’s remains became the Boiling Isles, and its magic is what the islanders drew from for power. The implications here are that there are lands in the Demon Realm beyond the Boiling Isles. Could future seasons lead to Luz and the others journeying beyond the Isles? Just something to think about.

As for Belos, he keeps talking about this “Day of Unity”. While do don’t know what it is, we get hints at what he’s planning. What Belos really wanted from Eda is the key that opens the portal to Earth. He claims he has no intentions of invading Earth, but that could easily be another lie of his. Or it could just be him seeing it as not an invasion, but “liberation” or some dumb excuse dictators give.

Regardless, Luz knows that if Belos got the key, Earth wouldn’t be safe. Thus, in an act of sacrifice, she destroys it, stranding her in the Boiling Isles in the process.

Belos’ plans have not been stopped, though. In the final moment of the episode, we see him constructing a portal-like machine out of the remains of the door to Earth, and presumably other dimensions. It’s a nice shout-out to Gravity Falls, but it only adds to the mystery of what he has planned.

The New Status Quo

So, this episode shakes up the status quo for the series. Firstly, Luz is now in the Emperor’s sights along with everyone in the Owl House. Lilith is now a fugitive alongside her sister. Luz now has no way back to Earth. And lastly, Eda can’t use magic anymore.

When Season Two will come out is uncertain due to COVID-19, but I can think of a few ideas as to what will end up happening. The new season will see the conflict against Emperor Belos begin to take center stage. Meanwhile, Luz will be trying to help Eda regain her powers, stop Belos’ plans, and find a way home. And while this finale could have been a little more exciting, I’m still satisfied with how things turned out. It’s been a good season, and I can’t wait for the next one.

I Give “Young Blood, Old Souls” A 4/5

Stray Observations

• Did you guys see how Luz can use Eda’s Staff to generate magic now, or remotely activate her spell cards? Could we see more of that in Season Two?
• Luz’s spell cards do not work on Earth. My guess it’s because she can’t draw magic from the Boiling Isles from there. So much for using magic when she decides to go back home to Earth.

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