Chapter 78: Let's Dip Into the Time Pool Again!
Art by Crash X Fusion: Time travel. It's a cornucopia of disturbing concepts.
Luz and Lilith get a lead in making a portal door, and it's Odalia of all people who helps them track down the person they need to ask for help: Philip Clawthorne.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Accidental Truth: The "crab maiden" gag from canon becomes this, as Luz technically is one due to Maya inhabiting her body.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Under Abel's mentorship, Philip managed to find the light glyph before Luz traveled back in time to meet him.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: As Philip is an Adaptational Nice Guy, he's on better terms with all the citizens of Deadwardian-Bonesborough.
- Ancestral Weapon: The Sword of Adam turns out to be one for Amity since Adam was a Blight with skill in Abomination magic and she would later reclaim it. Ghost counts too, since she was Adam's palisman.
- And This Is for...: Before attempting her final claw swipe on Philip, Luz says this will be vengeance for what he did/would do to Puck.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: All season, Luz has been repeatedly reaffirming her vow to kick Belos's ass. She finally does so by beating up Philip the second she realizes they're one and the same, but regrets it since she knows the repercussions she'd face during her previous encounters with him.
- Big "WHAT?!": Eda lets one out after Luz tells her family that Belos was part of it. Notably, the scene switches to the outside of the Owl House when she does.
- Brick Joke: King wanted to lie in Eda's childhood bed back in "Tragedy at Eclipse Lake", and now he and Luz do so while visiting the old Clawthorne home for Lilith's party.
- The Bus Came Back: Vanz Ator makes his first appearance since "The Ballad of Eda: Part 2", though only his past version appears and the fate of his present day counterpart is still unclear.
- Call-Back:
- To "That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles"; Camila shows hesitance at letting Luz spend time around Lilith while Eda and Sandra finally clear the air between them over their one-night fling.
- Alador recalls his attempt to patch things up with his children only to be rebuffed by Emira.
- Donna expresses hope of seeing Amber and Derwin again. "Prelude to War: Part 3" showed the three of them knew each other growing up in Crane's orphanage.
- Odalia gives Luz a Heartfelt Apology for trying to manipulate her into ending her friendship with Amity back in "Blindsided".
- Vanz Ator and Gabriel coming to the Demon Realm had been connected as they arrived within the same group of humans and Philip had brought them there.
- Luz's aichmophobia is seen again, and it's triggered from the Sword of Adam being used against her.
- Luz figures out what Abel meant when he said Belos was looking forward to meeting her, this being the moment she met him in the past.
- The Cameo:
- All the Coven Heads besides Alador and Calypso attend Crane's funeral and Napoli's swearing in as Coven Head, Vitimir remarking how he was apparently the best replacement for the job.
- The Fang brothers briefly appear while Luz and Philip are walking through Bonesborough.
- Composite Character: The Oscornes take inspiration from multiple incarnations of the Osborns.
- Gibson takes the appearance of Norman as he appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, mentions he's something of a inventor himself, and states he never apologizes and how his son will appreciate all that he does for him eventually.
- Teri is also based on how Harry looks in TASM2, while his personality seems to be lifted from how they were developed in both that movie and the first Spider-Man.
- Connected All Along: Abra Blight, who was mentioned in "Breaking Ties", turns out to be the father of Adam, the original wielder of the Sword of Adam and Philip's boyfriend.
- Continuity Nod:
- Crane's death, Terra's controversy, Raine's recovery, and Odalia knowing about Arthur and Destiny working with Alador from "A Coven Day Disaster" are mentioned.
- Skara remembers Donna from when she competed in the Gland Prix.
- Morton mentions the Scal-Mart seen in "Understanding Odalia".
- One of Eda's old books is a "Sabine the Teenage Hex Girl" comic.
- Luz says "lightbulb" after having an idea again.
- Fly fishing is touched upon again; apparently, it's done by using flying boats.
- Luz mentions that possums are definitely real.
- Vanz Ator appears as the Merchant in the past.
- Crush Blush: Eda's cheeks turn red in embarrassment when she tells Raine what happened between her and Sandra out of fear towards how they'll react.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Luz/Maya dominate against Philip during their fight since they caught him off-guard and gave him no openings to retaliate outside of self-defense.
- Dance of Romance: Played With. Lilith and Odalia share a dance while dancing with civilians in Deadwardian Bonesborough, but due to their past romance, it leaves them feeling awkward and they split up to continue their mission of looking into Philip.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Odalia plays a large role in the A-plot by supplying Luz and Lilith with the means to find the time pools before joining them on their adventure.
- To a lesser extend, Dell is given some focus as he spends the day bonding with King by going fly-fishing with him.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Luz and Lilith have no idea that Gabriel is not only a witch hunter, but a member of the Gates family.
- Whoever worked at Grunhar's Garments gave Luz, who has a fear of blades, a sword to go with her Deadwardian outfit. She never actually uses it, not even in her fight against Philip.
- Easily Forgiven: Gwendolyn and Dell hold no ill will over Odalia suggesting the curse to Lilith, even if it led to Dell's Career-Ending Injury.
- Establishing Character Moment
- Expy:
- Napoli McGrady III is based off of Harold from Total Drama, being a keytarist with "mad music skills" and says "Gosh!" Bindell Crocslayer, Flora's assistant, is inspired by Jasmine whose height is attrbuted to her being part giant.
- Teri Oscorne and his father Gibson are parodies of Harry and Norman Osborn from the Spider-Man franchise.
- Foreshadowing: There's a red-eyed human within Philip's expedition that plays a very large role later.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Subverted. Abel tells Lilith to let Luz kill Philip so Belos will never exist and every mistake she ever made will never have happened, but Lilith refuses because there's too many risks to how drastically it could change the future if Luz succeeded.
- Fun with Acronyms: Gibson's weapons company is named S.C.O.R.N.: the Sorcery Circle Operations Rituals Network.
- Get Out!: Nina says this to Skara before kicking her out of her room after Skara asks if she's crushing on Donna. Of course, it just confirms it to the bard.
- The Ghost:
- Per the usual circumstances, Amity, Willow and Gus, with Luz working even harder to bring them home and Odalia offering her services to accomplish that goal.
- Gibson mentions he's been in talks with Arthur and Destiny, who want him and Alador to continue their collaboration of the Abomatonium Project.
- Gilbert, Sully, the Blight twins, the troublemakers, Amelia, Cat and Bo are mentioned when Luz tells Odalia who else knows about the previous three characters being in the Human Realm.
- Nicole is noted as one of the people who tried making an alternate energy source while Prof. Redback had a theory for making it possible.
- William is absent from this chapter, with the Merchant mentioning that he is out of town with his cousin.
- Amber and Derwin are mentioned twice, first by Raine and then by Donna.
- Given Name Reveal: The name of Philip and William's little sister from "Tragedy at Eclipse Lake", who is a witch, is Marilyn.
- Hamster-Wheel Power
- Hard-Work Montage: During "Strangers Like Me", Luz studies Philip's notes and schematics on making a portal door.
- Heartfelt Apology: After her encounter with the spirits, Odalia apologizes to Luz for interfering with her and Amity's relationship as Luz was there for her when she never was and gave her a home where she could be herself.
- History Repeats: Luz is highly disturbed by how similar her life is to Philip's/Belos's, being a human who was adopted by the Clawthornes, entered a same-sex relationship with a member of the Blight family, and evolving into a cambion. On a less disturbing note, she learns that Lilith has a goth phase like she did.
- In Spite of a Nail: Luz and Lilith travel back in time to meet Philip and discover he has bad intentions, but not before Luz teaches him one of her glyphsnote .
- Internal Reveal:
- Skara meets Donna and finds out about her friendship with Nina, quickly realizing that Nina has a crush on the healer.
- Luz tells Odalia that her daughter and friends are stranded in the Human Realm, and that only the twins, the Parks, and Luz's remaining friends know.
- Eda tells Raine about the Glandus War and the seige on the Owl House, the stress leading to her fling with Sandra.
- Odalia tells Luz and Lilith about her trip to the future.
- Luz and Lilith discover that Vanz Ator was a human called the Merchant and they and Odalia meet Adam & Abra respectively.
- Luz, Lilith and Odalia learn that Belos is an ancestor of the Clawthornes and Luz later tells Eda (who tells Raine), King, Camila and Dell.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Enforced. It's implied that Lilith's feelings for Odalia are resurfacing, but she refuses to act on them since Odalia's married and doesn't need any more problems right now.
- Kick the Dog: With Crane's orphanage closing, all the kids will be sent to the new juvenile section of the Conformatorium. And according to Graye, they'll be forced to become coven scouts.
- Let's Just Be Friends
- Locked Out of the Loop: Invoked with Alador; Odalia decides against telling him about Amity's whereabouts or Belos's origins because he's deep in the Emperor's pocket and his parents' clutches right now.
- Luminescent Blush: Sandra's face turns red when she confesses to enjoying her night together with Eda.
- Mythology Gag: The fact that snails were worth more in the Deadwardian Era, which allowed Luz and Lilith to buy things that would be expensive in the modern day, comes from this Moringmark comic
. - No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Upon piecing together that Philip is Belos in the past, Luz and Maya proceed to try taking his life to prevent everything he'll do in the future. They end up having to retreat when Adam and Marilyn arrive to support him and Luz panics from seeing the Sword of Adam and everyone seeing her in her cambion state.
- Noodle Incident: Raine got stuck in their costume when performing Rats for a school play, and their mother spent hours getting them out of it. Apparently, it led to them getting stitches.
- Obviously Evil: Gibson Oscorne is literally described as a red-skinned demon with a goatee and yellow teeth.
- Oh, Crap!: Luz and Lilith each have one at the same time when they figure out that Belos was Philip Clawthorne: Lilith after learning about William and Luz when Philip tells her about his visions. Odalia has the same reascion and so does Eda later on in the form of a Big "WHAT?!"
- Out of Focus: Skara's the only main character outside of the Clawthorne family to appear; everyone else is either mentioned or not.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Luz savagely goes after Philip for his future crimes as Emperor Belos, stopping short of killing him when Adam steps into the fight with his sword scaring her off
- Point of Divergence: What differs from "Elsewhere and Elsewhen"? Eda doesn't attend Lilith's job celebration party which is hosted at her parents' house, Odalia accompanies Luz and Lilith to the past, Philip is revealed to have discovered the light glyph on his own, Luz and Lilith realize that Belos was Philip before the events of "Hollow Mind" take place, and Luz manages to get actual information on building a portal door from Philip, avoiding the All for Nothing quest she had, the Collector's mirror prison is absent which may mean Philip never met them (since Abel's the one teaching him magic) and with no reason to journey to the Head, Luz never sees him use the teleportation glyph.
- The Reveal:
- Adam was Abra Blight's son, Ghost was his palisman, and he created his sword with an all-seeing emerald eye that gives a wielder with no ill intentions armor linked to abomination magic, being the original "Abomi-Knight".
- Gibson worked for Blight Industries' research team until Odalia fired him. Prior to this, he worked with Alador on something called the "Abomitonium project".
- Morton's business is going under due to competition from Scal-Mart, his only customers now being the Clawthornes and Tinella. He's hoping for a turnaround or else he might have to get a job with the Potions Coven.
- Lilith and Odalia went through a goth phase like Luz did.
- The Grim Goblin is considered an urban legend, having an entry in Eda's old "History's Top 10 Plot Holes" book.
- Years ago, people tried to create an alternate energy source for Titan's Blood which the Blight parents, Nicole and someone named Staggitarious tried their hand in. Odalia and Alador succeeded, but couldn't mass produce it since it was impractical.
- There's a large cliffside vault near Blight Industries where failed projects and prototype experiments are kept.
- Blight Industries was created by Abra during the Deadwardian Era.
- Odalia's ancestors ran a tailor shop called "Grunhar's Garments".
- Gabriel Gates was a part of Philip's expedition, and had a sister named Mary.
- Philip's cambion form resembles a bipedial lizard with green and black scales, black wings, yellow eyes and crooked teeth.
- Eda went to New York City after fleeing from Gatesfield.
- Sadistic Choice: Abel offers Lilith one: let Luz kill Philip so Belos will never exist. Lilith naturally refuses and goes to find Luz.
- Secret-Keeper: By the end of the time travel adventure, Odalia is updated on Belos being a human and agrees not to inform anyone else about it.
- Sequel Hook:
- The Abomitonium project may be cause for worry since there was a reason Odalia shelved it.
- Will there be a search for a new owner to Crane's orphanage to keep it from closing down?
- Odalia now knows the truth about Belos and will need time to process everything.
- Lilith decides to use her new job to look into the history of the Clawthorne family. She may also have to deal with her feelings for Odalia resurfacing.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a parody of the lyrics of "The Time Warp".
- Bindell mentions that she once lived in the skies until she left when storks started gentrifying.
- Phil Collins' "Strangers Like Me" is played during the montage of Luz working with Philip and Lilith & Odalia traveling around Bonesborough, ending on the chorus.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Blue Fang lives since Philip Wittebane doesn't let him get killed.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial
- The Un-Reveal:
- There's info on the Grim Goblin in "History's Top 10 Plot Holes", but Luz quickly loses interest in reading anything about him and skips ahead to the page about time pools.
- Luz notices that Adam has purple eyes instead of the same gold as his father: when she asks if there's been other Blights with said eye color or pink eyes like Amity's, Odalia can't give her an answer since she doesn't know anything about the Blight family's history.
- Since Mary Gates is associated with Philip, is she a past version of Bloody Mary?
- Abel confronts Lilith in the past: the question is whether it was the present version, or the one from that point in time.
- If Abel had been Philip's magic teacher, does this mean he never met the Collector?
- Unseen No More: Abra Blight and Gabriel Gates finally appear in the flesh.
- Wham Episode: Napoli becomes the new Bard Coven Head, Luz, Lilith and Odalia meet Adam and Abra in the past while discovering that Belos is Philip Clawthorne, Odalia is given the heads-up on what happened to Amity, Willow and Gus, Eda and Sandra resolve the issues between them, Luz and Lilith reaffirm their familial bond, and Lilith finds she may be falling for Odalia again.
- Wham Shot:
- Luz finds a page in Eda's urban legends book with the Grim Goblin in it.
- Philip's cambion form, which is finally seen (at least in the past).
