Chapter 82: Shaping Up or Nothing
Art by Crash X Fusion: It shouldn't be that hard to spring a basilisk from a laboratory, right?
Luz and Lilith help an ally who wants to free a friend; Donna and her team team up with the Shadowy Secret Expozers, who've acquired a new member filling in for Eve.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptational Explanation: Hunter didn't explain how he came to desire spending his life carving palismen in "Thanks to Them"; here, he learns about the trade from Dell and both the Clawthorne patriarch and Lilith teach him how to do so.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Lilith has her hair restored to her original red color while keeping some of her dark hair dye.
- Armor-Piercing Response
- The Atoner: Derick Faraday helped Vee, Tres and Megan escape from Hieron Labs because it was what's right.
- Back from the Dead: The end of the chapter reveals that Puck has come back to life, as death is actually temporary for him.
- Blackmail: Performed by Tres: either Lilith helps him spring Megan, or he tells the Emperor's Coven about Hunter being kept in her parents' house. She agrees and tells him she would've helped without him resorting to this.
- Breaking the Fellowship: Eve going missing and the Goblin mocking them over specific traits they show along with soundly defeating them puts a strain on the Shadowy Secrwt Expozers, leading to their splitting apart.
- Break Them by Talking: The Grim Goblin talks down on the Shadowy Secret Expozers for their bad habits and being unable to figure out what happened to Eve. It rattles Linkin so bad, he disbands the SSE.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Megan, who hasn't been seen since "Prelude to War: Part One", and Tres, who last appeared in "After the War", return.
- Cross Drakescale is seen again following his debut in "Hexing Out for a Hero".
- Vanessa Pierce, the actress previously seen in "The Pride Special", is seen in the flesh for the first time.
- While Darryl the Coven Scout reappears after returning in "I Was a Teenage Adult Witch", his partner Jim returns following his own last appearance since "The Rescue".
- Puck Goodfellow reappears 42 chapters after his death in the Book 1 finale. As it turns out, he's appeared more times than this since then.
- Call-Back: Jim's mentioning Darryl having taken sensitivity training brings to mind when he was accused of being Innocently Insensitive towards a disguised Amity at the petrification ceremony, having believed she was an adult with dwarfism.
- Came Back Wrong: It's implied to be the case for Puck and confirmed by the authors.
- The Cameo:
- Raine is shown watching the broadcast of Belos with Eda.
- Hettie appears questioning Swan at the Healing Coven about Eberwolf's disappearance.
- Jim, Darryl, Harlan and Tiny Nose show up at the museum for different reasons.
- The Masterskulls and Odalia appear in a flashback showing how Donna and Emira met.
- Seth is seen among the Septarians when they reach King's island.
- Puck takes the form of Manny to draw Camila out of the Owl House.
- Childhood Friends: Eve and Teri were this, but drifted apart at some point.
- Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with Luz making a deal with the Baron, whose host body is destroyed by Puck, who turns out to be alive and attempts to reclaim Camila as his shadow.
- Connected All Along:
- As it turns out, Teri and Eve were friends as kids but stopped hanging out at an undisclosed point in time.
- The Horned King was responsible for creating the Basilisks, and he fought the Titan as well.
- Continuity Nod:
- Gwen and Dell mention how Lilith's hair used to look like a red cotton ball.
- Luz and Mattholomule are thrown into Detention after Skipping School in "Understanding Hunter".
- Cross mentions taking Beck's self-defense classes, first seen in "Hexing Out for a Hero".
- Jim and Darryl mention the failed mission to locate the Selkidomus.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Luz and Lilith may have prominent roles, but Tres is the leading man for the A-plot, recruiting the two in helping him free Megan from Hieron Labs.
- The SSE, along with the LOWTH, are the main focus of the B-plot. The Blight twins are given as much focus in said plot.
- Dead Guy Junior: Played With. Megan took the name of Derick Faraday's (the coven scout who helped free her, Tres and Vee) daughter, who died from the Red Death.
- Deal with the Devil: To get Baron Samedi to end his deal with Lilith, Luz makes one of her own with him to save Lilith's soul. Samedi asks her to get him another soul, but we're cut off before he says who and it isn't revealed before the chapter ends.
- Disney Death: Puck turns out to be alive, but the revelation behind his return is kept hidden until the next chapter.
- Due to the Dead: After seeing the refrigerated basilisk corpses in Hieron Labs and the alchemists that were dissecting them when they were killed by Tres, Luz cremates the bodies with a fire spell with Tres saying it's what they would've wanted.
- Electric Torture
- Everyone Can See It: Sarah catches on to how Lindsay's focusing on Cross while checking up on her and plays the guy up as a powerful witch since Belos is supposedly very interested in him.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: After following through on her decision to further free herself of Vina's influence, Lilith dyes her hair back to red but keeps a few dark streaks in addition to the white.
- Expy:
- Vanessa Pierce is written as one of Vincent Van Ghoul from the The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.
- All of Korn and the Cerberus sister's friends are based off of characters from Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School: Drusilla is based off Sibella, Helga of Elsa, Belawolf of Winnie the Werewolf, Ester of Phantasma but with her appearance resembling Ember McLean, and Brenda being like Tanis but named after Brendan Fraser.
- The Bloodwater Gang are parodies of Jabberjaw and the Neptunes.
- Todd Treed is a fox demon based off of Todd from The Fox and the Hound.
- Draco is said to be based off of Skeletor/Keldor and King Hiss from Masters of the Universe.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Just before the reveal of the Shapeshifter's identity, the Inner Demon tells Camila that he wants his shadow back.
- Foreshadowing: The Goblin taunting the SSE about Eve's disappearance isn't just a Kick the Dog moment.
- Frame-Up: To save face from Luz burning all the basilisk carcasses, Vitimir agrees to Ruby's suggestion to pin the blame on Nicole since she's now been branded a traitor to the empire.
- Given Name Reveal:
- The names of Philip, William and Marilyn's parents were Damuel and Jocelyn Clawthorne.
- Teri's full name is stated to be "Terrorance".
- Heroic Neutral: Ruby claims herself to be one, given that she helped Lilith find Megan and help her escape.
- Homosexual Reproduction: Tyrone mentions his fathers, and one of them grounded him from cooking for the week.
- Idiot Ball: Nicole firmly holds it and doesn't let go. In her desire for revenge, she tries to murder Luz only for Vitimir to reveal she's essential to the Emperor's plans, then she attacks Vitimir so she can reclaim her company and become the Potions Coven Head. As a result of these attacks, she's branded a criminal and a warrant for her arrest is issued.
- I Hate Past Me: Emira feels this way about how she used to be back when Odalia tried to make her and Donna be friends.
- Immediate Sequel: The chapter picks up the day after "Understanding Hunter".
- Internal Reveal:
- Boscha learns that Athena and Tom were arrested and her home was burned down: it's strongly implied she figured out that Nicole was responsible due to her threat.
- Luz meets Tres, Megan and Vitimir for the first time. She's also been told about Ivy.
- Luz informs Tres about Vee being in the Human Realm.
- Edric meets Cups and Mugs for the first time.
- Lilith meets Ruby for the first time.
- Irony: Luz and Matt are tossed in Detention for ditching school to find one of their friends and manage to escape and ditch again so they could work on the portal to help bring their friends home.
- Jumped at the Call: While Emira gives it some thought before joining LOWTH following the SSE's disbanding, Sioux immediately asks to join despite lampshading how it's too soon to do so.
- Killed Off for Real: Derick died for helping the basilisks to freedom and Tres murders all the alchemists who were examining the basilisk carcasses.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Lindsay begins to wonder if Cross is the new Golden Guard since he wasn't at the parade.
- Luz believes she'll have to face every Coven Head at some point since she's doing it for the third time.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Felicity needles Eda during her supposed interview to get her side of the story behind the Tarot Guild's downfall and is launched into the sky by Hooty.
- Nicole's crazed attempts to kill Luz and Vitimir get her kicked out of the Potion Coven and declared a wild witch. Due to her getting Athena and Tom arrested, Boscha disowns her leaving Nicole with no one left on her side.
- Tres murders all the Hieron Labs alchemists he sees dissecting basilisk remains.
- Lethal Chef: Tyrone's father is said to be one of these, with Beocrow claiming he actually "saw the light" the last time he had Mr. Ironwood's cooking.Beocrow: ...really need more of that food.
- Mythology Gag: Once more, a Moringmark comic provides inspiration, the backstory behind the basilisk's escape and the person who helped them happening here
, albeit with the red basilisk in Vee's place. - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Luz and Lilith brought Tres and Megan to King's island to help them hide from Belos. What they didn't know was that Tres messaged Draco on where to find them and he & Seth's army relocated there to use the island as the breeding ground for their basilisk army.
- Not What I Signed on For: Implied with Megan. After hearing what Draco's plans are for the Boiling Isles, she shows hesitance over helping him while Tres and Ivy are on board with it.
- Opportunistic Bastard:
- Belos takes advantage of Eda stopping the Tarot Guild by saying on the news that his decision to spare her from petrification led to her saving the kidnapped witches, per the "Titan's Will". Eda is obviously pissed that he's using her as part of his propaganda.
- Looking for an exclusive since everybody's praising Eda, Felicity heads to the Owl House to interview Eda
- Point of Divergence: Lilith re-dyes her hair so it's the same red-headed color she had as a child months before the events of "For the Future" come to pass and she regains it naturally.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Tyrone handles the cooking at home because his dad's implied to be an actual Lethal Chef.
- Red Herring: Mel, the most likely suspect of the Shapeshifter's true identity (or at least a form it's taking), turns out to be an entirely different Fae.
- Refusal of the Call: Both Cross and Teri reject Donna's offer to join LOWTH before she can properly pitch it due to her recent piling detentions for skipping school. There's also the fact that Cross refused to be on the student council.
- The Reveal:
- Felicity has an assistant named Todd Treed.
- Boscha has recovered from her paralysis.
- Tyrone has two dads and cooks for them since one's a Lethal Chef.
- Danny offered Cross the spot of representing the Plant track on St. Epiderm's student council, and Beel took the position when he refused.
- There's no official record of Philip or William in the Clawthorne family tree. Marilyn is recorded as an only child.
- Darryl's been taking sensitivity training classes.
- Bangles has a younger sister named Brenda.
- Vanessa Pierce, the actress who was in the movie Skara and Willow saw during their first date, is the benefactor of the SSE.
- Hieron Labs was founded at the beginning of Belos's rule by Nicole's father, Dmitri, who mysteriously disappeared and left his company to be inherited by his daughter.
- Emira joined the Shadowy Secret Expozers as a substitute for Eve until she's found.
- Donna was one of the kids that Odalia once tried to get Ed and Em to hang out with and was pranked by them in retaliation: said prank resulted in a panic attack.
- Staggitarious, the witch Odalia mentioned tried to make an alternate power source for Titan's Blood, was the Head Witch of the Potions Coven before Vitimir.
- Teri used to be friends with Eve and Gibson, while remembering their friendship fondly, holds disdain towards the Shadowy Secret Expozers.
- A coven scout named Derick Faraday helped Megan, Tres and Vee escape from Heiron Labs after having a change of heart due to Megan taking the form of his dead daughter, who's name Megan also took.
- Basilisks were created by the Horned King, who according to Draco "fell from the sky and landed in the Demon Realm". At one point, the Horned King fought the Titan.
- Draco is a basilisk-witch hybrid.
- Puck is revealed to be the Shapeshifter, hence Amity's reaction when she saw Eve's description of him.
- Ship Tease: Lindsay becomes flustered when Cross saves her from a nasty spill, and she wonders if he's the new Golden Guard with Beocrow remarking she's fallen head over heels for the Guard since they rescued her at the parade.
- Shock and Awe: The alchemists at Heiron Labs use stun batons to quell rebellious behavior. Vitimir uses one against Nicole when she attempts to murder Luz.
- Shout-Out:
- Cross and Lindsay's moment in the St. Epiderm cafeteria is the same one Peter and MJ had in Spider-Man, Lindsay even commenting on Cross's eyes.
- Brenda is named after Brendan Fraser, her being a mummy girl being a nod to his starring in The Mummy Trilogy.
- Smashermouth, the expy of Jabberjaw, is named after Smash Mouth and his appearance comes from Arlong of One Piece.
- Know Doubt, the leader of the Bloodwater Gang, is named after Ska band No Doubt, the Clamhead expy is named after Potshot, and Aqua after The Aquabats!.
- Megan's backstory and appearance are inspired by Megan Morse/Miss Martian's in Smallville's Season 11 comics.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Mel gives Edric one of these.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Megan transforming into Derick's daughter caused him to develop sympathy for the basilisks and help her, Vee and Tres escape from Hieron Labs.
- Spot the Imposter: Upon supposedly meeting Manny after his resurrection, Camila tries to bring him to the Owl House to meet Luz. When he refuses, she immediately figures out it's not her husband. There's also the fact that the imposter arrives in casual clothing when the last outfit Camila saw Manny wearing was his work uniform.
- Strawman News Media
- Suddenly Voiced: After having a silent cameo in his first appearance, Cross makes his speaking debut in this chapter.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: All of Boscha's old friends (and Bo) visit her after she's discharged from the Healing Coven to check up on her along with her new friends. The Saltstars are also looking after her now that Athena's in the Conformatorium.
- Toilet Humor: There's only two ways to get out of Hexside's new Detention Hall: the entrance or the "bottom". Luz and Mattholomule agree to use the latter and never bring it up again.
- The Un-Reveal:
- Danny's stomach problems and whatever he was grabbing from his pocket are rather suspicious.
- It's strongly implied near the end Gibson's the Grim Goblin, but there isn't any proof connecting the two.
- What is Ruby's goal? She helped Lilith free Megan and lets Nicole take the fall for everything she didn't do, but she's still Vitimir's aide.
- Whose soul does the Baron want from Luz?
- Wham Episode: Linkin disbands the Shadowy Secret Expozers after suffering a loss to the Grim Goblin, Emira and Sioux join LOWTH, Luz and Lilith help Tres free Megan and the two basilisks reunite with Ivy before joining Seth and Draco preparing to start a basilisk army on King's island, Luz makes a deal with Baron Samedi to free Lilith of hers, Boscha (having recovered) disowns Nicole who's made herself a fugitive for attacking both Luz and Vitimir, and Luz discovers that Puck's alive.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Odalia lectures Emira about the twins pranking Donna in the past, although she cared more about losing a business connection with the Masterskulls than Donna's mental well-being.
- You're Not My Mother: Fed up with Nicole dragging her down to her level and knowing full well she got Athena and Tom thrown in prison, Boscha disowns her and tells her to never come near her again. Nicole is actually shocked by this, but doesn't respond as she has to leave the Saltstar residence before she's discovered.
