Chapter 42: Family Group Therapy
Art by Crash X Fusion: Now tell me: what do you want to say to each other right now?
A family friend comes to help settle the tension between the Owl House residents.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Actor Allusion: When Luz notices how Bill Cipher sounds like King, he changes his voice to sound like Hooty's.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Amity gives Hooty one as thanks for bringing her cocoa.
- Anti-Regeneration: While checking over her injuries, Luz finds they aren't healing as fast as they should and concludes something's hindering her Healing Factor.
- Beyond the Impossible: Implied. The being observing everything is shocked that someone managed to hear them twice.
- Big Damn Heroes: Raine arrives just in time to save Luz, Eda and King from the flying squirrels chasing them by using their music to send them away.
- Bittersweet Ending: More bitter than sweet: Raine helps everyone in the Owl House take the first step towards forgiving each other for all their secrets, but now Emperor Belos is aware of their allegiance to the Clawthornes. Amelia and Cat's parents are taking drastic measures to keep them from seeing Amity because of Nicole and Webstor has been beaten and detained. At least Luz can use Bill to talk with Dipper.
- Brutal Honesty:
- Tom drops a large dose down on Boscha by telling her how her prioritizing revenge and acting like she could never be punished resulted in her not thinking through her revenge plot.
- Amity openly admits during the group therapy session that she's still mad at Lilith and she isn't sure she can bring herself to forgive her yet, even after helping her save Luz and Eda.
- The Bus Came Back:
- The unknown entity who Hooty heard narrating in "The Owl Lady's Daughter" returns, revealed to be who Belos heard last chapter.
- Luz shows Rocky (who was last seen in "Domino Effect") off to Raine during their visit.
- The boy with the bowl cut from the flashbacks in "Friendship Dynamics" returns in present day along with his cronies.
- Dolly and Tyler reappear, now part of the Detention track.
- Moose makes a cameo, acting as his first appearance since his debut in "Doctor's Visits and Party Incidents".
- Call-Back:
- The mysterious being mentions Hooty hearing him at the beginning of "The Owl Lady's Daughter".
- Luz reminds Amity of when she mentioned Raine during their first date. Amity admits she didn't make the connection.
- Boscha's actions throughout Book 1, namely the stunt she pulled in "Everything's Gone Wrong", are brought up.
- Lilith blackmailing Odalia to let Amity stay friends with Luz in "Changes" is mentioned.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Confronted by their parents who attempt to stop them from even mentioning Amity's name, Amelia and Cat lay into them for continuing to listen to Nicole after everything she's done. All four of them brush it off and drag their daughters home.
- The Cameo:
- Puck appears in Amity's nightmare.
- Dolly, Tyler and Kitsuni are shown in the Detention track for one scene.
- Catapult Nightmare: Amity shoots out of bed in a cold sweat after dreaming about Puck's death and the Emperor trying to capture her.
- The Chessmaster: Emperor Belos is a literal one as seen here. He uses an actual chess set to explain to Kikimora how the game (like his plans) require strategy and thinking ahead, how Raine is a pawn to him, and how Luz is the king he's trying to take with the residents of the Owl House being the ones trying to protect her.
- Continuity Nod:
- Boscha is shown suspended due to her actions in Chapter 36. Ms. Traveler's strict "no bullying" policy is mentioned and Dolly and Tyler have started serving their punishment.
- The Abomination Track ghost infestation is brought up.
- A Day in the Limelight: Raine, Amelia and Cat all receive prominent focus in this chapter. Raine visits the Owl House to check up on the Clawthornes and helps them with their current issues while Amelia and Cat try to figure out a way to visit Amity while voicing their anger against their parents for keeping them from doing so.
- Dream Intro: And on two dreams, no less. The chapter opens on Luz meeting Bill in her subconscious, then switches to Amity having a nightmare.
- Epic Fail: The Clawthorne sisters both recognized Raine as the leader of the BAT's. For Eda, it was because she recognized Raine's violin.
- Face Framed in Shadow: Or at the very least, unseen at all; the prisoner Webstor's incarcerated with can't be seen by Webstor since their cells aren't facing each other.
- Flashback: Luz has one to a point after the slayground incident where she tried to give herself pointy ears in order to look like a witch.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: The person who's watching everything and Hooty and Belos can sense.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Whoever or whatever's watching everything is shocked when the Emperor hears him, and this was after being spotted by Hooty before.
- Fright-Induced Bunkmate: Inversions happen twice between Luz and Amity. Luz finds Amity having a nightmare and sleeps with her one night, and the next Amity repays the favor.
- The Ghost: Even when she doesn't appear, Nicole's influence is still affecting people through her "friends".
- There's also Dipper, Duo, the Inner Demon, Ms. Traveler, Anu Bist, the rest of the Blights...
- Gilligan Cut: Luz, Eda and King charge in to catch a Boiling Isles hundun. 20 minutes later, they're running from a tribe of flying demon squirrels.King: How did we not see this coming!?
- Given Name Reveal: The boy with the bowl cut is revealed to be named Horace.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: See Sleep Cute below.
- Guilt Complex: The group therapy session shows how guilty everyone in the Owl House feels due to all the secrets they hid from each other.
- Hates Being Alone: After what happened in the Forest of Fear, Luz is worried about experiencing this, as she's afraid the Inner Demon will come after her again.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Before Raine can properly start group therapy, Lilith jumps right out of the gate saying that she's to blame for her family's suffering, how her selfishness has hurt all of them and how she deserves their hatred. If it wasn't for them saying they want to forgive her at their own pace, she would've left right then and there.
- Immediate Sequel: The chapter follows up on the freaked out reaction of whoever was observing Belos.
- Internal Reveal:
- Luz meets Bill Cipher for the first time and learns how he's known Dipper for years.
- Eda brings Raine up to speed on everything she learned and went through during the final chapters of the last book, especially Belos' origins.
- In Spite of a Nail: Dr. Frakes has constructed her dimensional portal and managed to get a picture of the Boiling Isles.
- It Will Never Catch On: Mattholomule isn't convinced that it's necessary to learn how to to survive a deranged rich tycoon who hunts people for sport.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Having been a very temperamental asshole back home, Tom speaks from experience when he points out that everything Boscha's told him paints her out to be the villain instead of her former friends or her rivals.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: The group therapy session has the Owl crew vent how all their secrets nearly tore them apart; everything Lilith did (the truth about Camila and Odalia suggesting she curse Eda being kept hidden), Eda forcing King to not tell Luz about her curse getting worse, Luz about her new form and Amity about going along with Lilith's orders. Once they've gotten it all out, they start looking at the good that seemed to come out of it.
- Kid Has a Point: After thinking things over, Amity reminds Lilith that her taking her godmother's deal led to Lilith blackmailing Odalia so she and Luz would remain friends while Luz mentions the two stopped her from killing Boscha and that if it weren't for her causing the ghost infestation that led to Amity tutoring her, Prof. Blanc would still be the Abomination Track teacher.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- How exactly did Luz, Eda and King go from hunting a hundun to out-running a tribe of demon squirrels in those 20 minutes?
- Between Bill's nickname for her and her scales, Luz wonders if she's becoming part lizard.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Luz takes note of Bill sounding like King with Bill changing his voice to Hooty's before Luz begs him to switch back. Alex Hirsch voices all three characters and is very versatile.
- Locked in the Dungeon: Webstor and his cellmate are currently imprisoned in the dungeons of the Emperor's castle.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Having just returned to school, Mattholomule asks Gus to bring him up to speed on what happened while he was gone.
- Lilith dismisses her blackmail over Odalia as not being important, while also refraining from telling Luz about Camila or Amity about Odalia's hand in Eda getting cursed.
- Misplaced Retribution: Cat vehemently voices her anger at how her and Amelia's parents are forcing them to stay away from Amity, how Amity suffered so much while the Hierons walk free, and how her parents forced her to join the surgery club just for being involved with the protest at the conformatorium.
- Noodle Incident: Two for Eda: she got high on mushrooms in Arizona (claiming she met a mystical coyote, possibly the trickster god) and dated a palm-reader in New Orleans.
- Not What It Looks Like: Noticing how tired Luz looks plus having seen her go into Amity's room the previous night, Eda asks if something happened. Luz blushingly explains Amity's nightmare (along with her meeting Bill) and Eda gets the picture.
- Out of Focus: Hexside is featured but Willow, Skara and the multi-trackers don't appear.
- Point of Divergence: Eda and Lilith learn that Raine's the leader of the Bards Against the Throne before the first episode of Season 2 and offered membership to boot. Raine also learns that Lilith cursed Eda, something that's never brought up to them in the show.
- Dr. Frakes is said to have spent years building her portal instead of months, implying something happened with the Calamity Trio...
- Rage Breaking Point: Cat seemed to be teetering toward one given how aggravated she sounded at the end of her rant. Amelia ends up hitting hers when she calls out both of their parents for listening to Nicole.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cat's cut off from giving her and Amelia's parents one, but Amelia continues it when they lecture them for attacking a family friend;Amelia: You know what? You're wrong! Maybe you guys need better friends than the Hierons! And not only are Skara's parents fine with letting her see Amity, but they're also not afraid to cut ties with Boscha's family after what they did to the Blights and the Clawthornes! Maybe you guys were friends with Boscha's mom back at Hexside and maybe you work with her now, but that is no excuse for letting her get away with what she did while screwing over Amity because she did the right thing!
- The Reveal:
- Dipper has made a deal with Bill to relay messages to Luz through the mindscape.
- Luz's Healing Factor isn't working as quickly as it was before.
- Tom has a scar on his arm from whatever happened on Mewni.
- The bowl cut boy's name is Horace and he's a student at Hexside in the Construction track.
- Cat's dream is to become a hair stylist.
- Dolly and Tyler are now in the Detention track and Kitsuni is their teacher until Anu Bist comes back.
- Slasher and Calypso cut all ties with the Heirons with the Blights, unlike the Regals and the Harwitches.
- Webstor's been severely injured and locked up in the castle dungeon while the Conformatorium's being rebuilt. Someone else is being detained down there, but their identity is kept hidden.
- Dr. Frakes has been working for Director Gates for years and has built a dimensional portal.
- A minor one, Luz is sleeping in the basement now, having given her room to Amity.
- A Scar to Remember: Tom has a scar on his upper arm that reminds him of the fate that befell his parents.
- Security Cling: The second Amity sees Luz after her Catapult Nightmare, she pulls Luz into an embrace in tears.
- Shout-Out:
- Luz has Batgirl comics and declares Cassandra Cain the best of them. She also mentions Killer Croc.
- Dr. Frakes and Terri's debuts have now linked the series to an A.U. of Amphibia.
- Sleep Cute: The chapter ends with Amity staying with Luz at her request and them falling asleep in a two person sleeping bag, Amity hugging Luz from behind.
- Stating the Simple Solution: It takes Raine pointing it out that the residents of the Owl House decide to have a family meeting/group therapy session.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Determined to see Amity regardless of what their parents say, Amelia and Cat try to sneak out to go to the Owl House. Unfortunately, their parents anticipate this and take them home to punish them after they chew them out.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. To help ease the tension between the Owl House Crew, Raine holds a group therapy session so they can air out their grievances.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Amity shows Hooty some kindness after he brings her some cocoa.
- Title Drop: Eda says it when Raine suggests it.
- The Un-Reveal: Whoever's locked up with Webstor isn't said, and neither is what happened to Tom's parents.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When the surgery club meeting is over, Cat heads straight to a trashcan to throw up. After her rant about how things have gone wrong, she vomits again.
- Wham Episode: A mysterious entity is revealed to be observing everything, Luz meets Bill Cipher who's going to pass messages to Dipper for her, Raine helps put the Owl House residents on the road to recovery, Emperor Belos (now aware of Raine's treachery) chooses to leave them be to get some use out of them and Webstor has now been imprisoned with someone who claims they still have some use to the Emperor's Coven. Dr. Frakes has built her dimensional portal and Director Gates plans to use it to send something to the Isles.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Raine shows shades of this, saying good and bad things can be found in each other and helping the Owl crew move forward so they can recover from their past deception.
- You Are Grounded!: Amelia and Cat's parents ground them for trying to sneak out to see Amity, confiscating their scrolls for good measure.
