Chapter 131: Hollow Mind at Last
Art by Crash X Fusion: We're about to journey into the most horrifying, disturbing place any of us have ever been... our heroine's mind.
Luz has gone comatose, forcing Eda to make a heavy choice while Boscha and Hunter travel into Luz's mind and discover some disturbing facts.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptation Deviation: To "Hollow Mind". Boscha goes into Belos' mind with Hunter, who ends up going because Hooty interferes with the teleportation spell. Eda breaking down in tears over how Belos is threatening her kids, which happened in "Edge of the World", also occurs.
- All for Nothing: The Clawthornes making a new portal door and reclaiming the key, as Grimhilde destroys both to bring Bloody Mary back to the Boiling Isles.
- Badass in Distress: After Luz fell into a coma, her inner self was kidnapped by Belos' own and detained in a cage within his memory of the petrification ceremony. This left Luz's mindscape unguarded so the Horned King could feast on Maya.
- Barrier Maiden: Maya takes up this role alongside Luz's inner self to protect Luz's mind from Inner Belos and the Horned King.
- Beauty Is Bad: Siccing Bloody Mary on witchkind to regain her beauty? Yeah, it's safe to say Grimhilde once again falls into this, even though she was still an ugly old bat before it happened.
- Berserk Button: Belos does not take too kindly to Luz saying he didn't deserve the Clawthorne name.
- Big "WHAT?!": Luz's response to Belos wanting to send the Horned King to Earth, Boscha's to learning Bill and the Archangels destroyed Mewni.
- Blood Magic: To create a portal to Earth after Ford left the Demon Realm, Belos gave Staggertarious his own blood to make a new portal with. The end result was Staggs' body being destroyed due to the blood being corrupted.
- Body Horror: When Belos and William emerged from the temple ruins after being freed, their Titan forms were shown to have been corrupted due to their deal with the Horned King and not having anything to eat in centuries. They regain their human appearances after consuming the souls of Vanz' expedition.
- Break the Cutie: Boscha collapses in tears after witnessing how her aunt Delara really perished.
- Brick Joke: One joke that was made in the series' humble beginnings is finally answered. In "Won't Get Away", Luz calls Boscha Ten Shin which Boscha didn't get: when she brings up the name, Hunter reveals he's a triclops monk from Dragon Claw Z who was a rival-turned-friend of the protagonist.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Not counting the ending song in "Brawl Night, Part 2" Stan is seen for the first time since "Closing the Gates" in Luz's memory of the previous Pioneer Day.
- Bloody Mary, now revealed to be Mary Gates, returns in the main series since "A Tale of Two Palismen"note .
- Call-Back:
- Boscha brings up joking with Hunter about King being a Titan.
- One of Luz's memories is the pepper spray incident, which reminds Boscha of how their relationship used to be and how it's changed so much.
- The aftermath of how Philip and William survived being crushed to death in the temple of the Horned King is shown.
- Vanz Ator is shown attending the party hosted at the former Glandus High where the prince and his guests succumbed to the Red Death.
- Eda remembers meeting Grimhilde at Vanz Ator's store.
- Bill explains what happened to him after he entered Luz's mind and got ambushed by Belos.
- Belos recalls when Luz first called him Belos in the Deadwardian Era.
- When Hunter demands Belos explain why he created him, Belos mentions Abel warning him this moment would happen.
- The Cameo:
- Steve appears in Belos' memory of the day after he had been kidnapped by Captain Hook.
- Some characters in Gravity Falls are seen in Luz's vision of the Horned King are consumed by the entity in question. Among them are Lazy Susan, Toby Determined, Rosanna and Reginald, the Gates women, Camila, Masha, Dipper, and the Porters.
- Casting a Shadow: Grimhilde learned some shadow magic from Dr. Facilier, allowing her to keep Sam from stopping her as she escaped with the Clawthornes' portal door and key.
- Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with Bloody Mary about to attack the Clawthornes, Amity, Hunter, and Boscha.
- Continuity Cavalcade:
- Several moments in past chapters are shown as memories; Luz meeting Larry Coppers, the pepper spray incident, Belos making a deal with the Greater Basilisk, the petrification ceremony, and Belos learning about Anne and Marcy from Steve.
- When Hunter calls out Belos for his actions, he brings up having him spy on the Clawthornes and reprimanding Lilith for using Amity the same way, letting Terra keep Gus' father prisoner, double-crossing Luz and killing the BAT's, and allowing Lilith to become a pariah.
- A Day in the Limelight: Boscha, Hunter, and Maya form the three-witch squad trying to save Luz from her coma-like sleep.
- Deal with the Devil: Trapped in the collapsing temple and slowly dying, Philip agreed to become the Horned King's servant so he'll save their lives and pressures William to do the same. Although he hesitates, William accepts so he can keep an eye on Philip from that point onward.
- Didn't See That Coming:
- Belos is taken by surprise when Luz says she doesn't believe that all Humans Are the Real Monsters as he does.
- None of our heroes would've thought Grimhilde stole their portal and key just to destroy them and free a demented mirror demon who used to be a human Witch Hunter.
- Disappointed in You: With what Belos has done, Luz tells him to his face that Adam wouldn't be proud of the monster he's become.
- Distant Prologue: The chapter begins with William expressing grief and disgust over what his brother's become and vows to save Belos from himself or die trying.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Before escaping, Inner Luz locks eyes with the Horned King and has a vision of him loose in Gravity Falls devouring the souls of her human family and friends before moving on to the rest of Earth. The vision leaves the real Luz shell-shocked.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Belos tries to get Luz to accept his way of saving the Isles but considering that he just owned up to wanting to do so at the expense of letting the Horned King wipe out humanity, she naturally refuses because unlike him, she embraces her humanity and knows not all humans are like G.B. Gates and his descendants. She's appalled that he ever believed she'd side with him.
- Eye Scream: Boscha kicks Bill in the eye when he brushes off how he caused Mewni's destruction.
- Flashback B-Plot: Outside of the main events, the chapter builds up to how Belos and William survived being Buried Alive and becoming the Horned King's servants, leading up to William's backing out and Belos killing him as a result.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Instead of using the huge bionic monster form from before, Maya makes herself look like Luz with a crab motif when introducing herself to Boscha and Hunter in Belos' mindscape.
- Hypocrisy Nod: As Hunter is laying into Belos for all of his past offenses towards Luz and their friends, he brings up Lilith using Amity to spy on Luz's family, then his turning around and having Hunter himself do the same thing. Hunter also points out how Belos sees Luz as family but allowed Lilith to repeatedly suffer without ever offering her any help.
- I Choose to Stay: Maya, having gotten used to being in Luz's mind and knowing she has Atticus now, decides to stay in her mind to help her inner self keep Belos and the Horned King from invading it again.
- In Spite of a Nail: Belos still murdered his brother by stabbing him In the Back when he wouldn't agree with his brother's views, Hunter defects from the Emperor's Coven after seeing Belos' true evil, and the Clawthornes have lost the portal key and once again lack a portal door, cutting Luz off from Earth.
- Internal Reveal:
- Boscha is brought up to speed about Luz, Amity, and King's trip to Trapper Island. She also learns Bill Cipher and the Archangels destroyed Mewni, that Belos really was a Clawthorne, and that Luz has been spraying graffiti on the ruins at the Knee.
- Hunter tells Belos that he's learned about Artemis and that they're grimwalkers.
- Everyone in the Owl House learns that Luz and Belos' minds are linked.
- The Clawthornes, Amity, Boscha, Hunter, and Ghost learn that Grimhilde has been working with Bloody Mary.
- Karma Houdini: Turns out Osran was the reason Delara had died, as he told Belos about her doubts in him so he could take her place as Head Witch if the Oracle Coven.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Once Bill loses the upper hand against the Horned King, the triangle decides to retreat.
- Lesser of Two Evils: With how things were looking for the kids and Maya, Luz decides that freeing Bill from his chains was a far better chance they'd survive than outrunning the Horned King was.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Belos fits this to a tee, even if he is a former human. His hatred for the Gates family has grown so that it extends to the rest of humanity, so much so that when he frees the Horned King, he plans to use Eda's original portal to send him to Earth so he can feed on humanity, all to free the Boiling Isles from him. Luz, Boscha, Hunter, and Maya are as horrified as Caleb was when they learn what Belos' plan is.
- More Expendable Than You: As Inner Luz, Hunter, Boscha, and Maya flee from Inner Belos and the Horned King, Inner Belos tells the Horned King to devour Boscha and Maya, but leave Luz and Hunter alive.
- Mythology Gag:
- The first memory Boscha and Hunter look through for the Inner Luz is of the Clawthornes taking The '80s photo seen in "For the Future".
- Luz once showed Hunter what bananas were, a reference to canon-"Hollow Mind" when he had no idea what they were.
- Never My Fault: Subverted by Belos, to the kids' surprise. He takes responsibility for causing his Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and the threat the Gates family has posed since he brought them to the Demon Realm. He also doesn't deny the guilt he feels in murdering William, not that it kept him from doing it.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Why does Vanz Ator keep doing things that help Belos in the long run? Granted, he didn't know what was in the collapsed temple, but honestly, it's a consistent pattern.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Grimhilde destroyed Luz's only way to Earth and freed a great evil who will wreak havoc on the Isles, but her actions were how the Clawthornes finally learned Belos' plans and some of his hidden crimes.
- Noodle Incident:
- Last Pioneer Day, Luz built an effigy of Nathaniel Northwest and gave it the Burning Man treatment in front of the citizens of Gravity Falls, to Stan's amusement.
- One of Belos' memories shows that he fought Lupe in the past.
- No, You: After Luz tells Belos that he didn't deserve the Clawthorne name because of all the atrocities he's committed, Belos angrily says that maybe she doesn't deserve it for not seeing his vision for keeping the Isles safe from the Horned King.
- Oh, Crap!: Eda is shocked when Grimhilde tells her she knows about her portal to the Human Realm and wants it and the key.
- Once More, with Clarity: We see the full memory of Luz's encounter with Larry Coppers and her savagely beating him.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Osran. The minute he caught wind of Delara being suspicious of Belos, he sold her out so he could replace her as Head Witch of the Oracle Coven. He does not be subtle about what would happen if Delara is removed from her position, and it leaves Boscha wanting revenge.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Belos is given two:
- The first is from Luz, who is disgusted that Belos considers them to be family and that they aren't humans because they aren't evil like he believes them to be.Luz: Evil…? No, it's you that's evil. Everything you try to justify just proves how much of a monster you really are! Inside and out, you are nothing but a blind, murderous tyrant and the biggest hypocrite I've ever met. And if you think I'm going to side with you and your plans for genocide after learning about everything you've done that hasn't involved my family, my friends, or any of the rest of my loved ones… you're also the biggest, craziest, most egotistical, hypocritical mother-fucking idiot I've ever met! And one more thing: you never deserved the Clawthorne name!
- The second is from Hunter, who calls him out for his actions and lying to everyone for centuries, ending it by agreeing with Luz's statement that he is a creep.
- The first is from Luz, who is disgusted that Belos considers them to be family and that they aren't humans because they aren't evil like he believes them to be.
- Related in the Adaptation: Lilith and Hunter. Turns out Hunter was created using Lilith's blood sample; this makes them mother and son.
- The Reveal:
- Vanz Ator was there at Prince Prosperous' party when all the guests perished from the Red Death, being the Sole Survivor. Centuries later, he unintentionally freed Belos and William from the collapsed temple.
- Osran told Belos about Delara's visions, leading to her death and his succeeding her as Head Witch.
- The Horned King has been feeding on Bill Cipher (who's been trapped in Belos' mind) since his attempt to take Maya's essence from Luz.
- Grimhilde is the one who sent the poisoned apple blood, with the intent of putting Eda in a death-like sleep in order to claim her portal door and key.
- William was the one who suggested creating the Torso Villa.
- Belos knew about the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and the threat the Gates family would become. How'd he plan on stopping them? Stealing Eda's portal and freeing the Horned King to send him to Earth to feed on humanity.
- The coven sigils are meant to free the Horned King as only Titan magic can do so. It will leave witches powerless, but that will allow Belos to take the Titan's place as their savior.
- The Horned King is responsible for Were-Fever.
- Belos attempted to make grimwalkers of Adam and Evelyn.
- The Titan blood Staggertarious tried to make a portal with was Belos' own blood. The reason the portal failed was because the blood was too corrupted from Belos serving the Horned King.
- Grimwalker deterioration was the result of Belos using the decayed remains of his family. To create Hunter, he needed a fresh DNA sample from a living descendant of William and Evelyn; Lilith's. As his blood donor/source, Lilith is, by technicality's terms, Hunter's mother.
- The Healing coven head before Hettie Cutburn was a bug-eyed demon named Mercilest.
- Bloody Mary is Mary Gates, and her deal with Grimhilde was to free her from the In Between Realm and in exchange, Mary would restore the Evil Queen's beauty.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: At the end of the day, this is what Belos' plans ultimately lead up to, as unleashing the Horned King on the Human Realm is his way of getting revenge for what Gabriel Gates did to his family and to Adam.
- Sequel Hook:
- Bill Cipher and Bloody Mary are now free, with Bill looking up to kickstart Weirdmageddon now.
- Hunter chooses not to inform Lilith of their true connection as he still needs time to process it.
- Boscha declares that Osran must pay for taking her aunt/her cousins' mother away from them.
- Shout-Out:
- In the beginning flashback, William sings "Heaven On Their Mind".
- Luz is shown to have gotten Hunter hooked on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Super Sentai by extension.
- Stable Time Loop: Belos mentions that Luz was the first person to call him that name when she met him in the past, and he started using it after disowning the name "Philip", his human name.
- Talk to the Fist: Eda punches Grimhilde for sending her cursed apple blood that put her daughter at great risk.
- True Love's Kiss: Grimhilde cursed the apple blood so that whoever drank it would have to be woken this way. Once Eda tells Amity, she wastes no time waking Luz up.
- Wham Episode: Bill's free, the Clawthornes know what Belos' plans for Luz and the Day of Unity are now, and Grimhilde destroys the Clawthornes' portal door and key in a ritual to unleash Bloody Mary.
- With Friends Like These...: As it turns out, Osran (who was a family friend to the Saltstars) sold out Delara to Belos so he could take her place as coven head. Boscha is both devastated and pissed he caused her aunt's death.
- You Monster!: Belos is called out by Inner Luz, Boscha, and Hunter for his racist revenge plot and how so many people have suffered so he could see his plans to fruition.
