Chapter 96: Blight vs. Blight
Art by Crash X Fusion: Clearly, the jury's out...that's all I have to say.
Odalia faces off against Arthur and Destiny in court, but soon discovers that she's the one on trial.Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- All for Nothing:
- Odalia and Mary gathered large amounts of evidence against Arthur and Destiny's work practices to use against them in a legal case, but they barely get to use it when the Blights sue Odalia and win.
- Felicia got her mother testimonies about Lilith from Hexside students and Faust to use in the trial in the hopes that they, along with everything else she did in the past week, would get Felicity's attention. It didn't; it just got Luz's.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- How honest is Mel being about her failed friendship with a pair of siblings being not her fault? And was her expression of guilt real, or an act to get Edric's sympathy?
- Nicole learned the truth about the Day of Unity, but since Odalia refuses to team up with her, she doesn't explain its purpose.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Arthur and Destiny, along with their legal team and witnesses, completely slander Odalia enough to win the trial, gain custody of everything related to Blight Industries, and get Alador the rights to divorce Odalia.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: After what Lilith experienced in court, Hunter tells Abel that he intends to stay at the Clawthorne home and help Lilith in her time of need to repay her doing the same for him.
- Blatant Lies: Hunter denies Flapjack's claims that he's embarrassed about Lilith finding his childhood plush, his reddening face countering his argument.
- Blessed with Suck: Lycans and beast-witches having powerful senses of smell means they can tell when people have had sex. It's also confirmed to be the same for the Fae, as that's the meaning of the rainbow auras Amity keeps seeing.
- Brain Bleach: Seeing Edric and Mel in Ed's room as Mel tries to take off Ed's shirt causes Amity to ask for a bleach potion. It gets worse when she learns her sister and Viney actually did the "Titan's Tango", and seeing the photos of Odalia's affair leaves her too scarred to even look at Lilith.
- Break the Cutie: By chapter's end, the trial's outcome has shaken Amity, Lilith, Edric and most of all Odalia to their cores, leaving them all as emotional wrecks.
- Broken Pedestal: Lilith's officially fallen from grace in the eyes of the public: between her cursing Eda, her deal with Amity, and her affair with Odalia all being revealed, she declares herself the hated Clawthorne sister now.
- Brutal Honesty: Edric and Emira don't hold back on informing the court about Odalia and Alador's neglect towards them when on the bench.
- The Bus Came Back:
- After almost 20 chapters, Kikimora and Pugsley return since "A Coven Day Disaster", the former having a large impact in the trial.
- Nicole reappears after her disappearance in "Shaping Up or Nothing" to recruit Odalia to her cause.
- Call-Back:
- Several events are brought up during the trial, such as Lilith cursing Eda after Odalia suggested it, Amity renouncing the Blight family name, and Odalia's encounter with Grimmhammer, all of which are used against Odalia.
- While chewing out Amity, Edric unknowingly quotes what she said about her living with Luz and raising a kid in "A Very Special Donna".
- Felicia becoming the Emerald Entrails' manager, promoting BIG, and interviewing Donna were attempts to get praise from Felicity.
- The Cameo:
- Amelia and Harlan welcome home Mary and comfort her after the trial.
- Calypso returns home with Nina and finds her family watching the trial's outcome.
- King and Camila are shown at the Owl House, with Acorn having a silent appearance as Hooty bawls outside.
- Beocrow and Cat, while not physically appearing, text Luz to check up on Amity.
- Cerebus Call-Back: Last season in "Everything's Gone Wrong", Odalia threatened to ruin Lilith's reputation for using Amity to spy on her family by exposing her actions to the rest of the Boiling Isles. Now someone else has done the job for her, and Odalia takes no satisfaction over it.
- Courtroom Episode: The trial of Odalia against Arthur and Destiny commences but instead of being about the latter two's unsafe work practices and history of child abuse, it becomes one of Odalia being an unfit mother and wife.
- A Day in the Limelight: Most of the focus is on Odalia, but the entire Blight family (yes, Amity counts) is the general focus.
- Death Glare: Plenty of these are used during the trial, Odalia giving them to Arthur and Destiny, Amity giving them to Gibson, and Cluckington using them on whoever's on the bench.
- Downer Ending: Arthur and Destiny win the trial, giving Alador custody of his kids and everything related to Blight Industries while stripping Odalia of her reputation and the Blight name, dividing the Blight family for good, and dragging Lilith's own rep down in the process. All of this leaves massive emotional distress for Lilith (who has a complete breakdown), Amity (whose innocence is obliterated after seeing the photos of Odalia and Lilith having sex and possibly feeling guilty over her family's division also has a breakdown), and Edric (who's manipulated by Mel into resenting his family.)
- Dramatic Irony:
- Lilith lampshades that Eda's now the beloved hero of the Isles and she's the disgraced Clawthorne Hated by All after everything that was revealed about her in court.
- Alador just drove away one person in his life who had once been a toxic influence on him, only to replace her with three more without even realizing it.
- Driven to Suicide: Subverted. Eda finds Lilith near the edge of the Forest of Fear and worries that she's going to head into it after what happened in court. Lilith confesses that she wasn't going in and went there in order to be alone and think.
- Easily Forgiven: Eda makes it clear she has forgiven Lilith for what she's done in the past with one simple sentence: because she loves her.
- Emotion Control: Mel demonstrates having this ability by exploiting Edric's insecurities about his Middle Child Syndrome and lack of attention from his parents.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Despite their obvious resentment towards people they see as their rivals for their son's attention as well as their mistreatment of their other children, Arthur and Destiny at least show they love each other.
-
Word of God confirms that in her own twisted way, Nicole ultimately cares about Boscha and Athena and wants to protect them.
- Evil Is Petty: Kikimora provides her own statement in court at Felicity's request just to get one over on Lilith by revealing that she cursed Eda.
- Expy:
- Arthur and Destiny's lawyer, Rooster Cluckington III, is one of Foghorn Leghorn.
- Judge Brudy, a demon kangaroo judge, is one of Judge Judy.
- Eye Color Change: Edric's eyes glow red during the trial, showcasing Mel's control over him.
- Foil: Mary is this to Cluckington: both are lawyers, but while Mary is a Crusading Lawyer who wants to help Odalia and sees her desire to change as genuine, Cluckington is an Amoral Attorney who stirs the pot, knows how to play the jury, and makes Odalia out to be as much of a monster as Arthur and Destiny were hoping for.
- Freudian Excuse: Mel acts the way she does because her parents never gave her any attention, which ended up giving her the freedom to travel away from home for long periods of time.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Nicole tells Odalia to pull herself together when she approaches her after finding her crying in the Grunhar home.
- The Ghost:
- Krampus is mentioned in the main series for the first time, as Pugsley hoped to ask him for the new BIG action figures for Krampsmus.
- Sprig is indirectly mentioned when Lilith finds Hunter's frog plush.
- Lilith brings up Vee, her fathers, and the other five basilisks when telling Hunter about the Basilisk Revival Program. She also brings up Eda being friends with the Long family.
- Mel mentions her parents while talking to Edric, their lack of attention towards her being the reason she does what she wants.
- Teri is mentioned by his father during his testimony.
- Nicole mentions her family when she tries to appeal her idea of justice to Odalia.
- Aurore is mentioned by Trini when she begins to recall what Mel did to her.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Mel planned out Edric alienating himself from his family by sending the photos of his mother and Lilith to Felicity, knowing she'd exploit them during the trial. Once that happened, she manipulated Edric's emotions to make him resent his parents and sisters, allowing Mel to claim him as her pet.
- Heroic BSoD: All the revelations during the trial and its outcome leave Amity, Lilith, and Odalia in tears, and the former two end up being comforted by their loved ones while Odalia is left all alone.
- History Repeats:
- The chapter has far too many similarities to "Everything's Gone Wrong". A Blight (Odalia here, Amity in the past) has a Dark Secret revealed without their consent that damages their reputation, the Clawthorne girl they date/dated (Lilith and Luz) heads to the Forest of Fear in a moment of emotional distress, and the oracle who revealed the secret (Felicity and Dolly) gets their nose broken as retribution.
- It seems Mel is beginning to do this as according to Trini, she did what she's doing to Edric now to Aurore and a third person in the past.
- Human Pet: Like in "Turning Point", it's actually "Witch Pet"; Mel plans to keep Edric as hers and make sure nobody takes him away from her.
- Immediate Sequel: This chapter is set on Friday, the day after the previous chapter, shown by how Luz and Amity are still recovering from the injuries they sustained fighting the Grim Goblin.
- Implied Death Threat: After the trial, Luz sends Felicia a text saying "Tomorrow, 8 o'clock. I know where to find your ass."
- Innocence Lost: Slowly but surely, Amity pretty much has her innocence destroyed as a result of walking in on what she thinks is her brother about have sex with his girlfriend, learning her sister actually had it with her girlfriend, the mention of when Emira gave her The Talk (with succubi magazines as preferences) and culminates in seeing the photos of her mother and godmother doing each other.
- Internal Reveal:
- Everyone on the Isles learn that Lilith cursed Eda and used Amity to spy on Luz's family.
- Lilith tells Hunter about Vee and her family in the Human Realm as well as the magical community and Eda's friendship with the Longs.
- Nicole has discovered the Day of Unity's true purpose, not that it's revealed to the readers.
- Eda begins to tell Lilith, Gwen and Dell what she had been through since she ran away from home.
- Karma Houdini: Arthur, Destiny, and Gibson are free to keep manipulating Alador without interference from his family, Kikimora helps make Lilith a potential pariah, and Mel gets Edric all to herself all because they had all the power during the trial. In short, they're all responsible for tearing the Blight family apart.
- Kick the Dog
- Kid Has a Point: When the final verdict is given, Geist realizes he never gave his statement. He retracts it when Emira asks him if it really mattered.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After the trial ends in an upsetting loss, Odalia tells Mary that she's not going to try counter-suing Arthur and Destiny with their original case, likely because retaliating will lead to them revealing how her parents died.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Out of all the villains who appear, Felicity's the only one who gets penance. For supplying the photos of Odalia and Lilith along with bringing in Kikimora to testify and slander Lilith, Odalia punches her in the face and breaks her snout after the trial.
- Leave Me Alone!: Two cases. First, Amity (traumatized by the photos) tells Lilith she doesn't want to see her for a while. Then when Lilith is swarmed by reporters outside the courthouse, she shouts this before flying off.
- Manipulative Bitch: Played with for both genders: Cluckington is an Amoral Attorney who turns the case against Odalia several times while Mel played everybody all so she could make Edric her boy toy.
- Meaningful Rename: Because she's stripped of the Blight name, Odalia has to go back to using her pre-marital one, Grunhar.
- Mythology Gag: The Noodle Incident about Odalia and the abomination clone of Edric stems from a scrapped Owl House episode where she used an Abomaton to claim a part in a musical over Eda, which led to Edric feeling jealous.
- Noodle Incident: During a mother-son three-legged race, Odalia tried to win using an abomination clone in place of Edric. In retaliation, the twins exposed Odalia's cheating by throwing a javelin through the clone's head.
- Not What It Looks Like: Amity walks in on Edric and Mel as the latter is trying to take off his shirt. Amity thinks they were about to do it, but Mel was just trying to find a cat-shaped birthmark Ed claimed he had.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Edric blows up at Amity over their parents ignoring him and Emira but always focusing on her, and it makes her feel so guilty she cries herself to sleep at the end of the night because she keeps hearing his words in her head.Edric: Both me and Em have no reason to be kind to either of them, unlike you. We had to put up with their favoritism towards you for years, because you were Little Miss Perfect to them!
Emira: Ed!
Edric: You know, Amity always had our parents' attention, unlike me. No matter what stupid stuff I did that got me sent to the Healing Coven, they barely paid me any attention. But when Amity burned her memory photos, she was suddenly everyone's priority! When Amity left everyone to live in the Owl House, everyone was concerned about her and our parents didn't even care when I introduced my boyfriend to everyone! They never took the time to have a heart-to-heart with me like they did with you after Luz broke up with you! They never gave me the time of day, it was always you! Always Amity!
Amity: E-Ed… I didn't know you… felt that way…
Edric: Well of course you don't know, because you don't know what it has been like for us. Not that I blame you, but I know you want as little to do with us as possible, you even left us to live with your girlfriend and her family and raise a kid! - Out of Focus:
- Since Luz has to help Calypso and Nina with the sting operation on Sonya, she only appears at the beginning and at the end to comfort Amity.
- Willow, Gus, Skara and Nina appear during the beginning at Geist's bar, and are seen watching the broadcast on the trial's aftermath.
- King, Camila, Hooty, and Acorn make a cameo at the Owl House when King informs everybody about Luz, Amity, and Eda staying at other places for the night.
- Parental Neglect: Mel has suffered from this, with her mother being worst than her father.
- Pet the Dog
- Point of Divergence:
- Lilith is exposed as the one who gave Eda her curse to the rest of the Boiling Isles, something that never happened in canon.
- Alador and Odalia's separation, which didn't occur until "Clouds on the Horizon", both happens early and is officially legalized as a divorce. In fact, they divorced between "Any Sport in a Storm" and "Reaching Out".
- The Resenter: Like Emira, Edric has some resentment towards Amity for always having their parents' attention. At first he doesn't blame her, but Mel's amplifying his emotions makes him furious with her.
- The Reveal:
- Emira and Viney had sex after the former was told Amity was in the Human Realm.
- Emira had to give Amity The Talk and used M-rated magazines as examples.
- Mel was neglected by her parents.
- Hunter has informed Lilith of his encounter with Abel.
- Under the effects of Trini's unknown substance, Odalia had an affair with Lilith at the diner and Mel sent the pictures Trini took of it to Felicity.
- Nicole has learned what the Day of Unity is about.
- Mel caused trouble for Aurore and someone they knew, which is why Aurore hates the Fae. What exactly happened isn't divulged.
- The Foxes live in Metropelvis, and Todd watches Felicia whenever her mother's out and needs someone to do it.
- Emira and Viney had sex after the former was told Amity was in the Human Realm.
- Sequel Hook:
- Luz warns Felicia that she's coming for her for providing her mother with witness testimonies that slandered her aunt Lilith's name.
- The misshapen abomi-monster that may or may not be Darius approaches the old Grunhar home where Odalia is now living.
- Mel still intends to crash the Bonesborough Brawl, now with Edric helping her.
- Mel thinks that nobody is going to take Edric away from her, not even her dad.
- Shout-Out
- Smug Smiler: Gibson shoots such a smile to Amity after giving his testimony, clearly not afraid of her previous threat.
- Tempting Fate: The last sentence of the chapter, "not even her dad" can come as this.
- Their First Time: Apparently, Emira and Viney had sex soon after Viney told Emira that Amity was in the Human Realm.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: With Lilith in emotional disarray, Eda spends the night at her childhood home (which is the first time she returned there since running away) in order to be there for her. Hunter, on the other hand, decides against returning to the castle and gives her a hug to cheer her up.
- True Companions: All of Luz's friends and Beocrow text Luz asking how Amity's doing after the trial. She and Ghost proceed to cuddle with the sleeping girl in order to comfort her.
- Villain Reveals the Secret:
- Kikimora outs Lilith as Eda's curser and Odalia as the one who gave her the idea.
- Thanks to Mel and Felicity, everyone learns that Odalia had an affair with Lilith without knowing it wasn't their faults.
- Wham Episode:
- Arthur and Destiny beat Odalia in a trial that strips her not just of the Blight name, but everything related to Blight industries, forcing her to retreat to her childhood home. Nicole approaches Odalia to get revenge on their enemies which she rejects, but Nicole tells her about the Day of Unity being a lie before departing as the abomi-monster approaches the Grunhar home.
- Lilith is outed as the one who cursed Eda, used Amity to spy on her and Luz, and is revealed to have had an affair with Odalia, which may make her a pariah to the rest of the Isles. Eda and Hunter take to comforting her along with Gwen and Dell, Eda choosing to inform her family of her life while Hunter rejects Abel's suggestion to let them do so and return to the castle, intending to see Lilith's recovery through.
- Mel successfully emotionally manipulates Edric into resenting his family, which leaves Amity (who he now blames for having all of their parents' attention and never receiving any himself) felling guilt-ridden.
- Wham Line
- Wham Shot
- You Remind Me of X: Lilith finds a pink frog plush in Hunter's belongings from the castle, and it unknowingly reminds her of Sprig.
