Chapter 80: Understanding Hunter
Art by Crash X Fusion: That kid's in trouble. Someone has to help.
Lilith works to help Hunter wake up from his coma while Eda leads LOWTH and some new allies into facing the Tarot Guild after they kidnap Bo.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Lilith manages to unlock her harpy form to fight back against the winged mechanical creature, inspiring Inner Hunter to do the same and help her banish the Inner Demon from his mind.
- Adaptational Badass: By bonding with her Raven Beast sooner, Lilith now has the same enhanced strength and flight capabilities as Eda.
- Adaptational Explanation: Hunter's scar is given a proper backstory: he was trying to help Belos when he started losing control of his palisman monster form. In rejecting his help, Belos used his sickle hand to attack Hunter cutting him on his cheek.
- Ambiguous Situation: If Terra's in charge of the Tarot Guild, that begs the question of whether she's opposing Belos and hopes to overthrow him.
- Anti-Climax: Lampshaded by Eda, since Grimmhammer is killed by Lupe offscreen before she can even directly face him.
- Artificial Limbs: Dr. Bride constructed a robot arm for Hunter while he was comatose to replace his missing right arm.
- Batman Gambit: Lupe kidnaps Bo knowing Eda would lead the rescue effort since she's one of Luz's friends, thus setting up Grimmhammer as the Fall Guy when the Tarot Guild is busted. At the same time, Sonya calls the press to make Eda look like a hero and diverting attention from the leaders so they can escape and go into hiding until it's safe for them to resurface.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Grimmhammer ultimately turns out to be this, since he's not the true leader of the Tarot Guild and is used as a scapegoat.
- Brick Joke: Skara distracts the school guards to give Luz and Matt an opening to escape school and not be thrown in Detention. Later, Nina sees Skara being spit out of Detention showing the bard got caught.
- The Bully: Riff, a coven scout trainee, made Hunter's scout training a living hell for the boy. His constant putting him down would ultimately result in Hunter stabbing him and leaving him to die while they're on the Knee for their final test.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Bump reappears for the first time since "What Is It Good For", currently working to walk again.
- Eberwolf appears for the first time since "The Ballad of Eda: Part 2", still catatonic from Darius' death.
- After eighteen chapters and an Uncertain Doom lingering over his head, Hardy Boils returns to continue his investigation into Bria's disappearance.
- Call-Back:
- Mattholomule brings up Bria, Gavin, and Angmar threatening Bo just to control him.
- The Inner Demon expresses annoyance with Hunter's inner self dressing up as his favorite literary character, clearly remembering when the Inner Amity did the same.
- The Inner Demon has been feeding on Boscha's trauma, which he swore to do back in "Everything's Gone Wrong".
- Call-Forward: Eda finds Tibbles with the Good Witch Azura books he's been selling, him saying he's got a con in the works with them.
- The Cameo:
- Amity, Willow, Gus, Edric and Belos all appear in Hunter's memories. In the cases of Amity, Edric and Belos, they all appear in the memories of Hunter's most recent interactions with them.
- Hooty is only seen when Eda tells him to protect the house before heading out.
- Verona, Alburno, and Zebiel all appear in Hunter's memory of his training.
- Jon de Plume is seen being healed by Wonder Witch after the raid.
- Emily, Nicole, and Odalia are shown reacting to the news of Grimhammer's death.
- King and Camila only appear to congratulate Eda for taking down the Tarot Guild.
- Raine is shown being updated on Eda's suspicions of the Tarot Guild not being finished off and discussing her memory of Donna.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time Luz and Mattholomule arrive to help at Scal-Mart, Eda, the Parks and LOWTH have busted the Tarot Guild and they're being taken into custody.
- Connected All Along: It turns out that Hunter went into scout training while Venoma, Alburno, and Zebiel were recruits, and he was on good terms with the latter.
- Continuity Nod:
- Eda works with LOWTH in looking into the Tarot Guild, with Gilbert and Sully aiding them after vowing to look into the kidnappings.
- Kitsuni begins teaching self-defense classes, and Eileen signs up for them due to her failed kidnapping.
- Glinda mentions that Lilith met her when she visited her school.
- One of Skara's friends calls her "Ska" again, something that happened way back in "Have a Little Hex with my Friends".
- A Day in the Limelight: The Clawthorne sisters are the focus characters. While Eda leads the Parks and LOWTH in storming Scal-Mart to take on the Tarot Guild, Lilith journeys into Hunter's mind to save him from the Inner Demon.
- Domino Mask: Eda and the Parks all wear these with their crime-fighting outfits.
- Downer Beginning: The chapter begins with Bo waiting for Matt to stop by her place so they can walk to school together, and then she gets taken by Lupe.
- Dream Walker: Professor Snope uses special dream catchers to do this in order to face the Inner Demon.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Justified and exploited. Lilith is unable to remember who Glinda is since it's been a year since she's seen her, and the ex-Glandee keeps her answer vague when questioned.
- Lilith later comes to see that she failed to recognize any of the signs that Hunter's childhood in the Emperor'a Coven wasn't a good one.
- Faking the Dead: It's revealed that Boils survived being thrown to the Basilisk's pit, and went into hiding while waiting for the right moment to return.
- Foreshadowing: There's a purple puddle outside Eberwolf's room at the Healing Coven which mysteriously disappears.
- Freak Out: Hunter panics when he sees his new mechanical arm.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: A rare, exploited averision. Eda was seen as a criminal but is automatically hailed as a hero when she's credited for taking down the Tarot Guild. The "exploited" part comes from the fact that Sonya tipped off the press to her actions and Terra decides it makes a good cover for them and Lupe to lay low.
- I Hate Past Me: Lilith sees her past self in one of Hunter's memories and disapproves of how coldly she treated Hunter. She sums it up as her having turned out just like Vina.
- Instant Costume Change
- Internal Reveal:
- Bump is informed of the changes Faust is making at Hexside.
- Luz learns of the Heiron home being burnt down and Athena and Tom's arrests.
- Lilith meets Prof. Snope for the first time, learns of his vendetta with the Inner Demon and that he was once a girl.
- Luz tells Mattholomule about what really happened to Amity, Gus, and Willow.
- Eda realizes that Donna is the baby that the Owl Beast rescued. While she keeps Donna in the dark, she tells Raine after coming home.
- Killed Off for Real
- Know When to Fold Them: With the attention brought to the Tarot Guild due to the school war and possibly Terra's recent controversy, the higher-ups fake their downfall and go underground until the heat dies down.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Mattholomule is so worried about Bo and why she disappeared, he was willing to do whatever it took to find her. He went as far as to demand Nina answer his and Luz's questions on what she knows about the Tarot Guild and attacked Gavin, Angmar and Ukla when he accused them of kidnapping her.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- As far as Emily knows, the Tarot Guild has been eradicated.
- Eda chooses not to inform Donna of the Owl Beast saving her life, deciding she should approach Eda when she learns of it herself.
- Mythology Gag: Gilbert and Sully playing "Bad Cop" comes from this Moringmark comic
. - Noodle Incident: Hunter's memories show that Luz once built a homemade roller coaster and it's implied they, Willow and Gus got severely injured.
- Not Me This Time:
- Mattholomule attacks Gavin and Angmar the moment he sees them, thinking they had something to do with Bo's kidnapping, only for them to tell him that they didn't even know Bo disappeared.
- Everyone assumes Eda killed Grimmhammer despite her repeatedly saying someone else beat her to the punch.
- Oh, Crap!: Luz can only say "oh, shit" when a newsperson puts their camera on her, meaning Faust will know she ditched school to look for Bo.
- Out of Focus: Lampshaded by Luz, who wasn't involved in resolving either of the main plots. Eda and Lilith are the main protagonists instead.
- Parental Substitute: By the end of the chapter, Lilith accepts that she is this to Hunter now.
- Point of Divergence: Lilith manages to bond with her Raven Beast and gain her harpy form years earlier than she did in the show.
- Relative Button: The Inner Demon demoralizes Hunter further by telling him he's undeserving of Belos's admiration.
- The Reveal:
- Some former Glandus students have been transferred to Hexside.
- Nina knew about Emily being found by the Producer and didn't tell the Emperor's Coven about them because they infiltrated it.
- Tibbles no longer goes by "Grimmhammer" and has a girlfriend named Jeanie. He mentions he had two brothers.
- Scal-Mart is actually the base of the Tarot Guild members and Grimmhammer II's business.
- Snope is a Dream Walker and has been chasing after the Inner Demon through the Mindscape.
- Hunter got his scar from Belos when he was having a Freak Out.
- Lupe is the Big Bad Wolf and the lycan that the Owl Beast saved Donna from.
- Tina was the friend who was nearly kidnapped, thus leading to Donna forming LOWTH.
- The Tarot Guild captured and enslaved the Basilisk Number Six, known as Ivy, who was also the beast they fed Hardy Boils to.
- Grimmhammer II is actually just a figurehead; the real leader of the Tarot Guild is actually the Producer, who turns out to be Terra.
- The Scapegoat: This was ultimately Trembly Grimmhammer's role as the "Boss", meant to throw everyone off in case their operation came close to being exposed.
- Sequel Hook:
- Eda and LOWTH make it their mission to track down the customers, so they can find the remaining kidnapping victims. Boils also offers to work with Eda so he can find Bria.
- After seeing Hunter defend Belos despite his abuse on the boy, Glinda begins to see how she had acted with Emily in the same situation, giving her something to think about.
- Lilith takes in Hunter and puts him up with her and her parents. And tired of seeing the influence Vina had on her through her hair, Lilith seems to have decided to make a change to it.
- Eberwolf disappears and the Healing Coven is now on high alert trying to find them.
- The Inner Demon proceeds to destroy Boscha's mind, revealing he's been doing so for some time.
- Shed the Family Name: Tibbles stopped using the "Grimmhammer" name ages ago, wanting to distance himself from his father.
- Shout-Out:
- Eda wearing a red hat and trenchcoat along with gloves and boots could bring to mind Carmen Sandiego.
- Tibbles' two brothers died and it involved building houses made from straw and sticks, a nod to The Three Little Pigs.
- Skipping School: Luz and Mattholomule, with help from Skara, ditch school to find a lead on Bo. Eda calls her daughter out on this, not to mention she's seen on the news doing so.
- Super Mode: Lilith's newly acquired harpy mode, created from merging with the Raven Beast which gives her the same abilities as Harpy Eda.
- The Un-Reveal: Bo doesn't explicitly state she met Bria before she was taken away and trafficked, so even if it was her, there's no confirmation.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Terra's overall plan for the trafficked witches and taking out the Clawthornes to bring about her "ideal image" for the Boiling Isles doesn't really have any other context.
- Wham Episode: The Tarot Guilt is crippled for the time being with Grimmhammer II being killed by Lupe, who's revealed to be the Big Bad Wolf. Lilith saves Hunter from the Inner Demon and decides to become a Parental Substitute to him hoping to break him free of Belos's influence. Hardy Boils turns out to be alive and offers to work with Eda in finding the trafficked witches while Ivy is freed and escapes. And Terra, now revealed to be the Producer, is planning something and it involves exterminating the Clawthornes before the Day of Unity.
