Chapter 60: Prelude to War, Part 1
Art by Crash X Fusion: They muzzled a bat. Guess they though he was gonna beat the egg.
As the war against Glandus looms ahead, everyone at Hexside struggles to get organized while others try to deal with Darius' death.Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Ability Mixing: During her fight with the Emperor, Luz places a plant glyph onto Brucy turning him into a thorny club.
- Accidental Misnaming: This time, Eda calls Viney "Vinnie".
- At the end of the chapter, Darius refers to the previous Golden Guard, his mentor, Hunter in wherever he is.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Camila tries to keep a straight face when Luz calls the stress she's dealing with complete "mierda", but lets out a laugh.
- Adaptational Explanation: Alador and Darius' rivalry has no confirmed origins in canon but here, it's a result of interference from Alador's parents who framed Darius' for a crime they didn't commit because they believed Darius was turning Alador against them.
- Principal Bump is shown to have lost his eye during the previous war against Glandus High. "Adventures in the Elements" showed that he helped conquer the school.
- Anger Born of Worry: Eda has every right to be angry with Luz for sneaking out and trying to free the BAT's alone because she played right into Belos' hands.
- Anything but That!: Luz does not take it well when Eda decides to have Amity sleep in the tower as part of keeping Luz from seeing her while she's grounded.
- Batman Gambit: Luz attempts to storm the conformatorium alone with Brucy in order to free the BAT's. Unfortunately, Emperor Belos anticipated this and was waiting there himself to intercept her.
- Because I Said So: As part of Luz's grounding, Eda separates her and Amity and goes to extreme measures to keep it that way, going as far as to have Jerbo and Barcus keep an eye on Amity during school hours and having Willow escort her to Hexside and back home.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: As thanks for not hurting him, Angmar gives Boscha a plant that treats wounds. In return, she decides to befriend him.
- Big "NO!": This is the unanimous decision of all the parents when Mrs. Jeepers suggests recruiting ex-Principal Faust to their war effort.
- Big Sister Instinct: Due to recovering Levi's sister, Amity starts to become overprotective of her and fears leaving her alone for too long lest something happen to her. Lilith calms her down by deciding to call Gwendolyn over to help her watch over her when Amity's not around.
- Bilingual Bonus: Comes as a result of Amelia and Camila's Spanish lessons for Luz. She's not off to a good start, but her use of "mierda"note shows she's putting in the effort.Camila: Be honest with me, the Spanish curse words were the first ones you decided to memorize, right?Luz: Maybe.
- Black Comedy: Hooty gets Lilith's coven scout disguise from the skeleton of one of a few dead scouts half buried in the woods near the Owl House. He casually talks to Clint (the scout he gets the robe from) as if he's still alive.
- Blackmail: To keep Luz in line, Belos tells her not to try breaking out the BAT's again, or he'll execute them and have Amity arrested for aiding Goonla's crew in helping wild witches.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Played for Laughs. While Jerbo and Barcus were assigned by Eda to guard Amity, it's just to keep Luz from talking to her rather than because she's powerful, yet still needs the extra protection.
- The Bus Came Back: Elliot and Tyler make their first appearances since "Blindsided" while Horace returns for the first time since "Stranger Danger".
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Luz doesn't remember every witchling she picked fights with, as Horace learns.
- Call-Back
- Calling The Young Woman Out: Once Luz is brought home by Steve, Eda wastes no time calling her out for her recklessness since Belos had anticipated what she would do and they can't afford to get on his bad side. Since Luz doesn't see sense about why her breakout attempt was so irresponsible, Eda grounds her, limits her freedom for the foreseeable future, and for good measure, moves Amity into the tower with Lilith and Camila and bars Luz from seeing her until she says otherwise.
- The Cameo:
- Steve is one of the scouts who brings Luz and Brucy home.
- Skara and Cat only appear while Amity's briefing them about Levi's sister, the latter remaining silent.
- Graye is one of the attendees at Darius's funeral.
- A younger Geist appears in a flashback hanging out with Odalia, Alador, and Darius, with his sister chasing him because of a prank he pulled on her.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Luz spends the chapter trying to get around her punishment and see Amity, but Eda takes precautions by hiring the rest of her friends to stop her.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Belos doesn't lock Luz up for trying to commit a breakout or arrest Amity for being part of Goonla's crew since he needs the former for his plans and hurting the latter could prevent that.
- Catapult Nightmare: Emily shoots up after dreaming of the moment she was hit with the boiling zit curse.
- Continuity Nod:
- Luz draws a picture of Amity riding the Abomicycle she created in the previous chapter.
- Angmar reminds Boscha of when she met Bria at the grudgby game in "Domino Effect".
- Amelia begins her Spanish lessons with Luz which she discussed with Camila in "No Big Deal". She also establishes her knowledge on law which was hinted back in "Deserve Nothing".
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Luz tries to fight Belos upon seeing him at the conformatorium; even with her ability to cast spell circles, it naturally doesn't end in her favor.
- Curse Cut Short: Luz attempts to call Hunter "a lying piece of shit" only for Belos to summon a monster hand to cover her mouth before she reaches the last word.
- A Day in the Limelight: The Flashback B-Plot puts an extensive amount of focus on the posthumous Darius.
- Dirty Coward: Hexside's seniors only graduated and joined covens early so they wouldn't have to participate in the upcoming war.
- Domestic Abuse: Emily seems to live with Stella and it's strongly implied that she does this when Stella makes the smallest mistake.
- Dressing as the Enemy: To attend Darius' funeral, Lilith sports a coven scout uniform she gets from Hooty.
- Due to the Dead: Several people turn up for Darius' funeral in addition to his family, friends and acquaintances. This includes Lilith, Hunter (both disguised as coven scouts), Alador and Odalia.
- Everyone Has Standards: Panicky and desperate as they were, none of the parents (all of whom are Hexside alumni) want to ask the former Principal Faust to help in the war.
- Flashback B-Plot: Several key points of Darius' past are revealed such as his fallout with Alador and the history of his relationship with Hunter.
- Forced into Evil: This is pretty much the meaning of Rick's message to Luz, as he states that Belos is trying to keep her from choosing her own path and going with what he wants.
- Foreshadowing: Ms. Traveler warns Luz of the dangers of a couple spending every moment together.
- For the Evulz: Implied when Belos has Luz escorted home by Steve.
- Frame-Up: Arthur and Destiny framing Darius' parents for a crime they didn't commit was the reason he and Alador stopped being friends.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Ms. Traveler tells Luz that the Glandus War isn't her fault, since Luz isn't responsible for the actions of Emily and the other Glandus students. This is especially true in Emily's case, while she was a victim of the Boiling Zits incident she is still responsible for her actions now.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Luz is forced to leave the BAT's in prison since Belos will just kill them if she tries to break them out again.
- Given Name Reveal:
- Darius's last name (and Gavin's by extension) is Nightshade.
- Mr. Jeepers, Jerbo's father, is revealed to be named Carl.
- Gossipy Hens: There's an old rumor that Samwitch is so powerful, he was once offered the position of Construction Coven head.
- Hate Sink: Nicole continues to sink lower: after it was revealed last chapter that she helped with the basilisk revival program in return for funding, she oversees the experimentation and interrogation of Megan/Number One, disregarding her as a sentient being but rather the property of the Emperor's Coven and her company.
- Hero Secret Service: Parodied by Jerbo and Barcus guarding the heroic Amity...from Luz and anything they perceive as dangerous to her. What seems to annoy Amity most is when they question what the potential lactose is in the drink she gets at lunch.
- I Lied: Felicia didn't show Luz and Amity's battle against the coven heads to her mother, instead telling her they left the race to make out. Felicity bought it.
- Innocent Bystander: Emily turns out to be one; she saw the mob beating up Luz but did nothing to help her. However, this is only because she was considering stopping it and couldn't act before Eda cursed her and the rest of the mob.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Luz finally has her first battle against Emperor Belos. And just like canon, she loses and gets restrained by the monster arms he summons.
- Gilbert (the LC Harvey) mentions he still attended Glandus.
- Internal Reveal:
- Amity informs Willow, Viney, Skara, Amelia and Cat about Levi and his father being locked up, hence why she's caring for Levi's sister.
- Lilith meets Abel Reisender, who tells her why Flora offered her a job at the Museum of Supernatural History.
- Eda discovers from Gus that Perry didn't return home after the failed raid and meets Grimhilde.
- Luz explains the details behind the slayground incident further to Camila.
- Luz learns several things she wasn't previously privy to:
- She learns from Mai and Kitsuni that she and Amity are controversial figures in other realms for killing the Coachman;
- Thanks to Felicia, she sees what attacked Darius and kidnapped Raine;
- And because of a message from Witch Rick, she discovers Belos' plans for her in the war against humanity.
- It's All My Fault: Between the Boiling Zit incident and Bangles getting arrested, Luz starts to believe the student body's claims that she's the reason the war against Glandus is happening. It's subverted, however, when Ms. Traveler reminds her that Emily and Bangles are the ones who chose to become the people they are now and Luz nor Eda are responsible for that.
- Jerkass Has a Point
- Just Toying with Them: Belos' past mind games have left a deep mental effect on Eda, as she knows it's now a fact that he's messing with the Owl House residents.
- Kid Has a Point: After Eda tells Luz she's forbidden from seeing Amity, Luz reminds her Amity lives with them, which Eda admits is a good point...
- Loophole Abuse: ...so Eda decides to put the girls in seperate rooms for the duration of Luz's grounding while Lilith and Camila make sure to keep her out of the tower.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Luz calls Horace "just another background character" after cutting off his rant to her.
- Mama Bear/Papa Wolf: Several parents aren't accepting of the idea that their children will have to engage in war with another school. Then there's Eda, who's taking every measure she possibly can to keep her kids (which she now sees Amity as) safe, especially Luz after her failed jailbreak stunt as Belos will do anything to capture her.
- Manipulative Bastard: Eda practically lampshades Belos as this, given how he's still playing the Owl Crew by noting him letting Luz go free is another angle he can exploit.
- Multi-Part Episode: Naturally, the title makes this the first of a three-part chapter.
- Mythology Gag: The next trope is inspired by this comic
made by Moringmark. - Noodle Incident: A year ago, the Emperor's Coven inacted a scouting raid on the Owl House with Hooty having killed one of the scouts, Clint.
- Older Than They Look: Mai looks young but she's 500 years old.
- Once More, with Clarity: A Flashback shows Emily's POV when she was hit with the Boiling Zit curse. As it turns out, she really was an Innocent Bystander.
- Only Sane Man: Samwitch Saltstar, Simon and Cain's father, is the one who calms the parents down when they're complaining about the war, encouraging them to support their children.
- Parental Substitute: Hunter tells a disguised Lilith that he saw Darius as a father figure.
- Pet the Dog: Boscha and Angmar exchange kindness they show each other, becoming friends to survive Glandus' harsh environment and because they both need a friend right now.
- Police Are Useless: Justified, surprisingly. The rule about the schools declaring war on each other is older than the Emperor's Coven, so they can't stop it.
- Properly Paranoid: Eda has come to believe that Belos is messing with her family due to his previous actions.
- Purgatory and Limbo: It's implied that Darius is currently stuck in this, given that he's shown interacting with Sir William but can't remember how he got to where they are.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Understanding the concerns of the parents, Principal Bump allows them the option to pull their kids out of school until the war is over.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subverted when Horace attempts to give Luz one for being the cause of the war only for her to ask who he is. Immediately after, Luz gives Elliot a downplayed one when he asks if she's angry that he left the Human Appreciation Society.Luz: Angry? No. Just disappointed. From what I heard, you tend to give into peer pressure a lot, and let other people make choices for you rather than make them yourself. But hey, if that's how you want to live your life, that's fine. You'll just be another drone for a background character rather than being with friends who actually liked you.
- Red Baron: According to Mai, Luz and Amity are known in the Yokai Realm as the "Hellish Baseball Bat Girl" and the "Pink Hellcat", respectively.
- Related in the Adaptation: Darius is shown to be Gavin's father, yet canon never reveals his identity.
- The Reveal:
- The person that's friends with Tres and was captured in the last chapter was the Basilisk Number One, who calls herself Megan.
- Emily was running errands for her parents when she caught sight of Luz being attacked at the slayground. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when Eda cursed the crowd and her ith them.
- While Felicia did get video of Luz and Amity fighting Darius and Eberwolf, she didn't show it to her mom.
- Gilbert transfered from Glandus High to Hexside when he was in school.
- The reason why Alador and Darius had a falling out was because Arthur and Destiny paid off a coven captain to frame Darius' parents for illegal possession of pixie dust.
- Vina was the Head Witch of the Emperor's Coven before Lilith.
- Darius has known Hunter ever since he was a baby and had been tasked by Belos to watch over him when he's not around.
- Gavin is revealed to be Darius' estranged son.
- Morty and Summer attend Hexside: Morty is in the Potions track and Summer is in the Oracle track.
- There's another multi-tracker at Hexside, a bard/healer named Jessica.
- Kitsuni has a younger sister named Mai. Mai states that she's 500 years old while Kitsuni is 5,000.
- Tyler's back in the Oracle track. JP has stated that it's because he's served out his time in the detention track.
- All of Hexside's seniors have graduated and joined covens early just so they won't have to fight in the war.
- Terra left a note for Gus, to keep him from finding out about Perry's capture.
- Sequel Hook: There's no telling what Grimhilde plans to do to Eda.
- Shout-Out: Mai is a confirmed Expy of Miles "Tails" Prower, having his love of examining technology to see how it works. Mai is further compared to Tails as she can spin her 4 tails like helicopter blades to achieve flight.
- Skipping School: Boscha attempts this to get her mind off the war. Unfortunately, she didn't know that Nina serves as the school's truant officer and brings ditching students to school after hunting them down. Nina brags that playing hooky before the war is never gonna happen.
- Skyward Scream: Luz lets one out after Eda keeps her from talking to Amity again before Willow takes her home.Noooo...why must you punish me, Titan!?
- Smart Ball: Simon is ultimately the one who inspires Gus by pointing out the students need a leader to follow into the war.
- Storming the Castle: Luz attempts a single-handed breakout at the conformatorium armed with Brucy only to be restrained by Belos.
- Story Arc: This marks the official beginning of the "Glandus War" arc.
- The Strategist: Gus, Amelia, the Blight twins, Simon, Sioux, Louis, Dusty and Tyler all act as such during the war room scene.
- Tempting Fate
- This Page Will Self-Destruct: After the above Internal Reveal giving by Witch Rick, the same recording warns Luz that the recorder is rigged to explode.
- Tough Love: For the sake of Luz's safety, Eda grounds her and forbids her from seeing Amity as punishment for sneaking out to the conformatorium alone.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness
- The Un-Reveal:
- Eda isn't sure whether she felt the "Breath of the Titan" or not.
- Gus' plan for recruiting a leader in the war is kept in the dark. Grimhilde's plans for Eda are also kept hidden.
- Darius is shown interacting with the previous Golden Guard somewhere.
- The War Room: Heroic example. The Human Appreciation Society's classroom acts as one.
- We Used to Be Friends: Before his falling out with Alador, Darius used to be friends with him, Odalia, and Geist.
- Wham Episode: Luz attempts to break out the BAT's and faces Emperor Belos in battle but fails and gets grounded by Eda while learning the Shapeshifter killed Darius and kidnapped Raine, Nicole begins interrogating Megan/Number 1, Boscha and Angmar become friends and Darius' soul seems to be stuck in an undisclosed place.
- What Were You Thinking?
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Belos was able to predict someone from the Owl House coming to the conformatorium to perform a jailbreak for the Bards Against the Throne and trap them. Since Eda says they need to be smarter if they want to beat him, she may be trying to utilize this.
- You Are Grounded!: For trying to commit a breakout alone especially after being told not to, Eda grounds Luz saying she won't sneak out at night, she'll come straight home after school, she has no crystal ball privileges and she won't so much as talk to Amity until further notice, moving the young witch into the tower with Lilith and Camila so they can keep the girls from seeing each other.
