Eda’s Mom Comes to Town, and Crazy Things Go Down!

The Owl House Season 2, Episode 4 Review

Ah, parents; the one thing that every living creature in the Universe has in common. They raise us, they help mold our worldview, and, if they’re good at it, they teach us right from wrong. However, as many of us know, being a parent doesn’t exempt them from poor decision-making. Luz’s mom tried to send her daughter to a camp to teach her to be “normal”. Amity’s parents are total scumbags. Though, admittedly, Amity’s Dad has the common sense to realize that his daughter’s relationship with Luz is making her stronger. However, it’s this episode of The Owl House that brings the concept of the loving-but-flawed parent to the forefront as we come face to face with Eda’s Mom.

This episode dropped some big revelations regarding Eda and her family, as well as the world of the show. Thus, major spoilers ahead. Don’t read unless you live watched the episode!

Eda and Her Mom

The episode starts off with a flashback to when Eda was Luz’s age. Having only recently been cursed, her mother, Gwendolyn, is devastated by her daughter’s fate. Not helping the fact is that no experts from the Covens can help her. Ashamed by her curse, Eda ultimately chooses to run away to…someplace else, while her Mom vows to cure her. No matter what.

Cut to the present day, and Gwen shows up at the Owl House, claiming to finally be able to cure daughter’s curse. Eda’s response: hard pass. Eda wants to stick with the elixirs that she knows will work. Gwen, though, presses the issue, and even ropes Luz in on her plans with the promise of information on how to get home.

Very, Very Close To Home

It’s clear that Gwen means well, but it’s plain to see that her efforts are misguided. In particular, her disapproval of Eda’s elixirs hits very close to home. Especially since the world’s still in the grip of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Think of Eda’s elixir’s as like a vaccine. It doesn’t fully get rid of the virus, but it helps the body fight it off if it shows up. It’s not a 100% guarantee, but it’s proven to work, hence why Eda trusts it. In contrast, hearing Gwen decry the elixirs as “nasty concoctions” is a lot like hearing an anti-vaxxer. They may mean well, but not trusting the experts and trying unproven methods instead can make things worse. In this case, Gwen takes all her daughter’s elixirs and subjects her to “cures” that even Luz realizes are a scam. If Luz, of all people, can see them as fake, then it must be fake!

Lilith Almost Succumbs to the Curse

While all of this is going on, Lilith is dealing with her own problems, and they are bad. Very bad. As a result of her Mom focusing all her attention on Eda, Lilith rightfully feels neglected by Gwen. The fact that she’s the one who cursed Eda, and thus created the rift in her family, only makes things worse. And when their Mom comes back and dotes on Eda but neglects her, the stress proves too much for Lilith. Thus, she turns into her own version of the Owl Beast that’s even scarier than Eda’s!

Ultimately, it takes both Luz and King calling her out for Gwen to realize she’s being scammed. After teaching the scammers a lesson, Gwen, Luz, and King work together to feed the sisters their medicine. And in the process, Eda turns the tables on the curse and regains control. None of Belos’ magic required!

Okay, Eda may never be able to do magic like she did before. But, if she were somehow able to turn into the Owl Beast whenever she wants, that would be so cool! Here’s hoping!

Luz Wasn’t the First

In the end, Gwen finally accepts her shortcomings as a parent and vows to find a real solution to her daughter’s shared curse. Consequently, Lilith decides to move back in with her, much to Hooty’s dismay. But before she leaves, Gwen gives Luz a mind-blowing bit of info.

Firstly, though, the flashback at the start of the episode revealed how Eda found the portal to Earth. She literally stumbled across it as she was running away from home, buried in the dirt near her house. How did it get there? Who made it? These are some big questions.

But that’s nothing compared to what Gwen tells Luz. According to Gwen, a substance called Titan’s blood can cause leaks between dimensions. Eda’s portal is likely only one example. More importantly, though, Luz was not the first human to live on the Boiling Isles! According to Clawthorne family lore, another human lived on the Isles, before they vanished one day. However, it’s said that they left something in the library. At last, Luz has a lead on how to get home! But she may not like what she finds there.

About Luz’s Mom

When Luz realizes that summer camp must be over, she thinks her Mom must be worried sick about her, not knowing that someone’s been sending her fake letters. However, things get even creepier in the episode’s final moments when it’s revealed that someone, or something, that looks like Luz is now living with her Mom!

After seeing those fake letters, my theories were that the camp was sending them or something supernatural was afoot. After this episode, though, it’s clear that someone’s using magic to fool Mrs. Noceda. To what purpose, I don’t know, but it can’t be good. At the least, the imposter must be convincing enough to pass herself off as Luz, albeit a version that her mom would prefer. In other words, when Luz gets home and sees the imposter, it’s going to lead to a lot of revelations. For all we know, seeing her Mom prefer her fake could convince Luz to leave Earth behind for good. Either way, a reckoning is coming.

For now, I think that this was a really good episode. It didn’t have the most action, adventure, or shipping, but it focused on the main cast when it needed to. In addition, it gave us a bigger clue to getting Luz back to Earth. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

I Give “Keeping Up A-fear-ances” a 4/5

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