"It's... Hard, when you can't trust yourself. I spent my whole life believing I was doing something good, for someone good. But it was a lie. And some part of me still wants to... believe in that lie."
— Hunter
Original air date: 5/7/2022
Production code: 218
Gus teams up with an unlikely ally when the Emperor's Coven pays a visit to Hexside.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: While trying to comfort Gus from his Illusion-powered panic attack, Hunter tries to do breathing techniques, only to fail by whistling through his Childish Tooth Gap. It’s so hilarious that even Gus can’t help but giggling, calming himself down and stopping his Power Incontinence in the process.
- Always Someone Better: Graye is the Head Witch of the Illusion Coven, yet he is twice caught by surprise by Gus's illusion magic (the second time sending him into a near catatonic state).
- Amplifier Artifact: Graye's mirror earring is a tool used to amplify magic. After his attempt to use it to interrogate Gus ends up Gone Horribly Right, the latter pockets it for himself.
- Attention Whore: Graye attempts to snap Gus out of his Heroic BSoD just so Gus can listen to his monologue.
- Bad Boss: Graye constantly berates his underlings for giving sub par performances, and when they point out the fact that his instructions are vague and make no sense, he tells them they should have 'seen the note within the note'* .
- Bait-and-Switch: Graye pretends to be a defector like Raine, Darius, and Eberwolf, trying to warn the Hexside students that Belos plans to force all the students into a coven before the Day of Unity and offer them a way out through fake sigils. In actuality, Graye is still loyal and merely pretending to be a defector, the sigils that the "Graye" on stage was planning on marking the students with being very real. Only Gus's keen eyes foiled his plan.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Gus gives Hunter a sandwich after he follows Flapjack to the auditorium and finds Hunter living off trashed food. To return the favor, Hunter rescues Gus from Graye even though he has to blow his cover.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: Principal Bump and the students vs. the coven scouts in the climax of the episode.
- Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter. Graye's plan is foiled and Hunter is currently safe, with the episode ending as he starts to fill in the Hexside students and staff about the truth of the Day of Unity and Belos's plans. There is, however, no guarantee that the scouts won't rat Hunter out to Belos, and despite finding support in Gus and the rest of Hexside, Hunter is still obviously nowhere near okay after "Hollow Mind". In addition, the status of Luz and the rest of the Owl House crew is left ambiguous.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: Considering who voices her, what she has to deal with, and what she says when she quits, it isn't hard to guess that Severine is Dana's way of venting about Disney's
less-than-stellar treatment of her and her show right under corporate's nose. - Black Comedy:
- After young Gus manages to calm down and dispels the illusory bullies taunting him, one of them, frightened, quickly blurts out "I don't wanna go!" as he's disappearing.
- A coven scout grabs Hunter and tells another one to "put him —" with the other scout assuming the sentence was "out of his misery" and moving to kill Hunter. His colleague tells him to put Hunter to sleep, clearly disturbed by the fact that he even thought about it.
- The Blank: When Gus conjures up illusions of the Glandus students in a Circle of Shame around him, they are all lacking faces.
- Breather Episode: Zigzagged. On the one hand, compared to the revelations of the prior two episodes, and the direct threat to children's lives that come with them, this episode has slightly lower stakes and a bit more comedic moments, but the students of Hexside's wellbeing is being indirectly threatened by the Coven Sigils, and the actions of the Coven Soldiers make it clear that Belos is not aiming to let any of them be spared by the Day of Unity. By the episode's end, it's made clear that Hexside no longer functions as a safe haven for Luz or any of her friends and all their efforts have done is bought them more time before Belos turns his full attention to them, and it's still unknown how exactly Eda and Lilith fared from the Bolivian Army Ending from the prior episode.
- Buffy Speak:
- Deconstructed with Graye. He uses words like 'mmph' and 'pow' to describe things, even though it greatly interferes with his ability to direct his subordinates.
- Played straight with Hunter. When Gus remarks that his illusion spell is still active, Hunter tells him to "un-spell it".
- Call-Back:
- Two from "I Was A Teenage Abomination"
- In the flashback, Willow is shown here using a small, lackluster abomination to say hi in an attempt to be funny, referencing how she was previously in the Abomination track.
- Once again, Gus offers someone sneaking into the school a sandwich.
- Hunter's runaway outfit consists of multiple cobbled-together elements from outfits he's worn in the past. Specifically, the pants, boots and gloves are from his standard Golden Guard uniform, the shirt is from his Flyer Derby uniform from "Any Sport in a Storm", and the bandanna appears to be the same one he used as a mask in "Hunting Palismen".
- It's subtle, but when Hunter calls Gus a witch, his wording implies he isn’t including himself in the statement, referencing the revelation from "Hollow Mind" that he's actually a Grimwalker.Hunter: Well, you're a witch- unspell it.
- Back in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", the Looking Glass Graveyard Keeper mentions that illusionists have always protected the Galdorstones because "they were the least likely to use them for evil... probably". Here, we find out that the Head Illusionist wants to turn them over to Belos, proving that they were right not to make a blanket statement.
- At the end of the episode, Willow and Gus hug Hunter, which both confuses and embarrasses him as he asks what they are doing, calling back to early in the series where Eda was always baffled by Luz's hugs, apparently a human thing.
- Two from "I Was A Teenage Abomination"
- The Cameo: Bria, Gavin and Angmar have a short appearance as part of Gus's illusions (though their faces are missing).
- Cat Folk: The coven scout named Severine is vaguely feline in appearance, and she mentions having been part of the Tiny Cat Coven.
- Cerebus Call-Back: Gus being fooled by the Glandus High students was played off in the episode, with Gus being distracted by trying to scare them away from the Graveyard. This episode reveals that Gus has self-doubt and anxiety issues, and in the climax one of the illusions he's conjuring has the trio dancing around him in a circle, as Gus beats himself up over having been fooled by them.
- Characterization Marches On: In-Universe, both Amity and Adrian Graye act like Willow is still her more timid and less skilled self from "I Was A Teenage Abomination" rather than the more confident and capable person she's become (though at least in the former's case she's overcompensating over how they've only just reforged their friendship and is falling back on her old habits of protecting her as a child). This allows Hunter, who only met Willow after her development, to see through Severine's impersonation of Willow.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The breathing technique Willow teaches Gus when they first meet to help him calm down. During the episode, Gus teaches it to Hunter to help him calm down. Later, Hunter tries to prove he was helping Gus by mentioning the same technique, which convinces Willow that he is on their side. Finally, Hunter uses it to free Gus from his Power Incontinence.
- Circle of Shame: Gus conjures up illusions of the Glandus students dancing mockingly around him.
- Condescending Compassion: Amity is well meaning, but she's a bit overprotective of Willow in this episode despite the other witch clearly being able to handle herself, overcompensating for how their friendship was only just recently repaired.
- Continuity Nod:
- The flashback to Gus and Willow's first meeting shows the latter in the Abomination track, which she switched out of way back in "I Was A Teenage Abomination". Gus also refers to himself by his full name, as he wouldn't get his nickname until that episode as well.
- Luz once again sends Amity a string of emoji messages like she did back in "Eclipse Lake" and once again Amity is unable to decipher them, though this time the fault lies with Luz for typing in a panic after what happened in the previous two episodes. Amity is able to decipher some of the messages, but without any context behind them.
- Hexside's auditorium has apparently been undergoing repairs ever since the basilisk attack in "The First Day".
- In "Reaching Out", Edric demonstrated an aptitude for Beast Keeping magic and was encouraged to try Potion magic by Eda, while Emira revealed she had been practicing Healing magic. In this episode, they've officially joined those tracks.
- There are multiple references to "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", as it was the previous Gus-focused episode:
- Graye has been searching for the Looking Glass Graveyard for some time, wanting to gift the Galdorstones hidden there to Belos.
- The Glandus High students from that episode also appear in one of Gus's illusions, as do some of the illusions from "Hollow Mind".
- Gus draws a fire glyph to help him and Hunter escape a pair of Coven Scouts, Luz having given him glyph cards in the same episode.
- One of the photos in the illusion in Gus's room shows him attending Mattholomule's birthday party as that episode had ended with the two of them becoming friends.
- "Any Sport in a Storm" also gets quite a few references:
- Gus recognizes Flapjack as Hunter's palisman from when they played Flyer Derby together.
- Hunter spends the episode wearing his Flyer Derby uniform, refers to Willow as "the Captain", and is rescued by the other students specifically because Skara and Viney vouched for him.
- Gus flies on his staff by surfing, which he was shown to be a lot better at than the normal way.
- When Bump says that they have to come up with a plan to rescue Gus, Skara says that it's her favorite part since Willow had established her as having a gift for strategy.
- The illusion of Gus's room shows he kept the Banned posters from "Escaping Expulsion" and surrounds them with photos of him and his friends.
- Several of the areas conjured by Gus's illusions are the Covention center, the fairgrounds, and the romance section of the library.
- Hunter is confused when Gus offers him a high five, since it isn't a normal gesture on the Boiling Isles.
- Edric and Emira are less than impressed when they meet Hunter for the first time, much like how their sister was in "Eclipse Lake".
- Principal Bump has his Palisman Frewin take on his staff form again.
- When Hunter enters the dome of Illusion magic Gus has formed around himself, he receives flashes of his own memories from "Hollow Mind", "Any Sport in a Storm" and "Hunting Palismen".
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: After Gus conjures up illusions that cover the whole school, causing everyone to get lost in the illusions, Hunter takes advantage of the confusion by sneaking into the gymnasium to rescue Gus from Graye.
- Crazy Homeless People: Hunter has officially become homeless after the events of "Hollow Mind", and it's taken a toll on his mental health to the point where he's more openly hostile towards others.
- Creator Cameo: The coven scout Severine is voiced by Dana Terrace.
- Crush Blush: Not Amity-around-Luz levels, but we do see Hunter blush a bit when first seeing Willow again, then he does it another time when Gus and Willow give him a group hug.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Willow, Gus, Amity, Hunter, and to a lesser extent, Principal Bump and the rest of the Hexside students and staff.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Graye trying to force his way into Gus's mind to find out where the Looking Glass Graveyard is, mocking him when Gus complains that it hurts, looks disturbingly like another kind of assault...
- Easily Forgiven: Amity has no problem working with Hunter, even though their last encounter ended with Hunter threatening Luz's life in order to get Amity to give him the portal key.
- Emotional Regression: The conflict between Amity and Willow in this episode comes from Amity unconsciously regressing to how things used to be between her and her plant-controlling friend as overcompensation for what happened between them before they started patching things up, trying to protect Willow like she once did despite the latter clearly not needing it anymore.
- Even Evil Has Standards: One of the coven scouts assumes another scout is telling him to kill Hunter, only for the other scout to explain he meant to put Hunter to sleep, not 'out of his misery' and is freaked out that his coworker jumped to that conclusion.
- Everyone Has Standards: Boscha is shown to be just as horrified as the rest of the students when Graye tries to force an Abomination sigil on Gus.
- Evil Is Petty: When Graye's ruse gets exposed by Gus, he criticises his Coven followers who were helping direct the illusion like a movie with vague unhelpful criticism that doesn't explain what they did wrong —if they even did anything wrong — and then decides to brand Gus with an abomination sigil, despite his noticeable talent in illusions, just to punish the kid for seeing through his trick.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Edric and Emira are unimpressed by Hunter's appearance outside of his Golden Guard garb, with Emira noting that he looks "sickly".
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Hunter tries to come across as intimidating when Gus first finds him in auditorium, until Gus spots his temporary hideout (a dirty sleeping bag surrounded by stolen books and empty chip bags). Hunter cuts off his own dramatic speech to hide the evidence of his squatting there while his entire face turns beet red.
- False Friend: One of Gus's classmates only befriended him so that Gus would do his work for him.
- Fake Defector:
- The Head Witch of the Illusionist Coven pretends like he's rebelling against Belos like Darius, Raine, and Eberwolf, telling Bump that he's going to help protect the students from being forced into a Coven against their will by making an illusion of a Sigil on their wrists in order to fool the people giving out sigils. In actuality, "Graye" is still very loyal to Belos, and the man we see is actually a Scout wearing a Sigil glove under an illusion, so the sigils would be very real. Gus detects and dispels the illusion just before the Scout can mark Edric.
- The students and faculty of Hexside distrust Hunter, fearing he's lying about no longer being part of the Emperor's Coven even with the scouts after him. However, Willow vouches for him after he manages to prove he was helping Gus before he was knocked out, verifying that he wasn't collaborating with Graye.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Hunter and Gus supposedly run into Willow, several details clue the viewer in that she's not the real deal: Amity is nowhere to be found with no comment as to her whereabouts, she's not favoring her arm after the bookshelf fell on her, and she calls Augustus by his full name, something she hasn't done since Episode 3.
- Forced Sleep: The coven scouts do this to Hunter to stop him from interfering with Graye capturing Gus.
- Foreshadowing
- In Luz's garbled emoji message to Amity, one of the only passages that the latter could make out was "don't scare him away". This leads into Hunter having hidden out at Hexside and joining with the heroes in this episode, Luz apparently having expected Hunter to gravitate to a friendly locale after fleeing the Owl House in "Hollow Mind".
- When Gus sends most of the school into an illusion of environments that he's visited, Graye is rather fascinated by the illusion of the Looking Glass Graveyard once he stabilizes things. While it seems that he's more interested in the quality of the illusion itself, upon capturing Gus he reveals that he wants the Galdorstones hidden there as a gift for the Emperor, and since he's been unable to find it on his own he tries to interrogate Gus on it.
- Freak Out: When the Coven Scouts spot Hunter, they explain that Belos has been worried sick, and has sent out a search party to look for him. Hunter, knowing Belos wants to kill him, freezes up completely, and has a panic attack as soon as he and Gus are out of earshot of the scouts, curling up in the Troubled Fetal Position, hyperventilating, and babbling frantically about needing to hide. Fortunately, Gus is able to calm him down using the same breathing technique Willow taught him.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If one looks closely at the mess of Hunter's belongings, numerous books on Grimwalkers can be seen, indicating he's been reading up on them. The titles imply that Grimwalkers used to be more common, but have since gone extinct and faded into legend.
- A Friend in Need: Bump mentions to Hunter how both Skara and Viney insisted on rescuing him from the coven scouts due to their time together on the Flyer Derby team, even though Bump himself personally doesn't trust him.
- From Bad to Worse: Ever since Luz and Hunter were caught invading the Emperor's mind, the Emperor is hell bent on doubling down before the Day of Unity that his scouts have seized control of Hexside, and in the previous episode, have placed the Owl House under siege.
- Glamour Failure: Gus notices an almost imperceptible glitch in the illusion of Graye that is about to give Edric a sigil, which betrays the illusion and allows him to expose Graye's ruse.
- Gone Horribly Right: Graye tries to use his mirror earring to interrogate Gus by examining his memories, wanting the location of the Looking Glass Graveyard. He ends up triggering Gus's Power Incontinence again, this time forcing all those nearby to experience their own worst memories. Graye is still virtually catatonic as the Scouts are leaving some time after Hunter gets Gus to dispel it, having to be literally dragged onto the airship.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- Hunter officially makes one since running away from Belos, deciding to actively fight the Emperor's Coven and revealing what he knows about Belos's plans.
- While Principal Bump has already been shown in an increasingly sympathetic light throughout season 2, this episode confirms once and for all he doesn't agree with Belos's policies. When Graye and the Emperor's Coven troops try to forcibly brand his students, Bump fights them without hesitation, and at the end of the episode he's willing to believe the horrible truth about Belos as revealed by Hunter.
- Heroic BSoD: After falling for Graye's Willow illusion and getting captured, Gus berates himself for allowing himself to be deceived like he was when he was younger.
- Hidden Badass: Severine and Amity both underestimate how powerful Willow is, with Severine mistaking her for just a scared girl and Amity not realizing how much Willow has grown as a person and in terms of power.
- Hidden Depths:
- Gus turns out to have some severe anxiety and self-doubt issues, to the point of subconsciously conjuring illusions to berate himself.
- Besides Edric and Emira officially becoming multi-track students, Mattholomule is now multi-track as well, studying Illusion magic in addition to Construction magic.
- Hide Your Children: Despite the entire episode taking place in Hexside, not a single member of the Baby Class is seen at any point.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Graye's attempt to read Gus's mind backfires and leaves him catatonic.
- Holding Hands: A non-romantic version at the end between Willow and Amity after they've worked together to beat Graye and the Emperor's Coven, to show that the tension between them has been patched up and they've properly mended their friendship.
- Hypocritical Humor: Graye, who has spent the episode bossing around the Scouts like a director and berating them for not being able to make sense of his nonsensical instructions, berates Gus for making it all about him when the boy blames himself for the illusion over the school, telling Gus to focus on telling him about how he knows where the Looking Glass Graveyard is.
- Innocently Insensitive: Amity spends the B-plot underestimating Willow's capabilities, and wanting to protect her like she did when they were younger. To her credit, once Willow states that she doesn't want this and just wants her to see who she really is, Amity immediately realizes her mistake and corrects it quickly, expressing confidence soon after that Willow will be able to take down the coven scouts guarding Graye.
- Internal Reveal: At the end of the episode Hunter is starting to tell Gus, Amity, Willow and the others what he has learned about Belos and the Day of Unity.
- I Want Them Alive!: It’s pretty clear Emperor Belos ordered the Scouts to bring Hunter to him alive, but didn’t tell them why. One mook is about to use a lethal spell on him which leads the other mook to correct him to put him to sleep. Ironically, bringing him to Belos would just result in Hunter's death anyway, and in an arguably more painful manner too, and it's implied that Belos is only ordering Hunter's capture because he doesn't want to broadcast the intent of his true nature by ordering his previous right-hand man killed without an explanation.
- Ironic Echo: Gus says "You've done it again, Augustus," twice during the flashback, first when the Illusionist teacher complements him on his project, and then after running off when he learns that his partner was a False Friend who was just using him to get a good grade without putting in any work.
- The Juggernaut: The Abomaton defeats and captures almost all the resisting students in record time. It is less successful once it faces Amity and Willow.
- "Just Joking" Justification: When the younger Gus overheard his classmate admitting he was only pretending to be his friend so Gus would do his homework, the classmate pretended like he was making a joke.
- Karmic Jackpot:
- Gus gives Hunter, who is secretly crashing at Hexside, his lunch. Hunter repays him by helping rescue him from Graye forcing him into the Abomination Coven and helps him out of his funk later on, helping the school fend the Scouts and Graye off. Even Gus himself admits that Hunter is doing a lot simply for Gus giving him a sandwich.
- Hunter previously going out of his way to help the Emerald Entrails and familiarising himself with Hexside in his attempts to scout talent for the Emperor's coven gives him both a location he feels safe at to hide in after he flees in a panic from the Owl House — it being heavily implied Belos had controlled so much of his life prior to that that he had literally nowhere else he could go— as well as allies who will stand by him in his current crisis, aided by the fact that the threat involves them all as well.
- Kick the Dog: The rest of his actions against the Hexside students could be excused as just Graye simply doing his job. Him trying to force Gus into the Abomination Coven, simply because he exposed Graye's illusion and exposed his plot to mark the students with a sigil without them even knowing until it was too late? Less excusable.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Principal Bump when he prepares to battle the coven scouts, letting his hair down as Frewlin transforms into staff form for battle.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Luz's friends have no idea what happened between her, Hunter, and Belos. Luz tried to fill Amity in, but her string of emojis likely written in her panic over the events of "Hollow Mind" was vague at best. Hunter fills them all in at the end of the episode.
- This also applies to Graye and his Coven soldiers, who are attempting to brand every student in the school as per Belos's instructions, with themselves also having been branded, completely unaware of the truth behind the Day of Unity and that everyone with a Coven sigil will be drained and killed by that point. They also aren't aware of the reason why Hunter ran away from the castle as the two scouts who recognized him think he got lost and offer to escort him back to Belos, completely oblivious to the fact that he ran away because the Emperor wants to murder him.
- Despite being the leader of the Illusion Coven responsible for guarding the Galdorstones there, Graye has no idea where the Looking Glass Graveyard is, going so far as to Mind Rape Gus over it.
- Luminescent Blush: Hunter a couple of times around Willow; first a small one when he first sees her (though she turns out to be an illusion), and then a big one when she hugs him along with Gus at the end.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Once Gus exposes Graye's trick on stage with the coven brand, everyone in the schools gets this, as they realise that the Emperor's coven are now forcing them to get branded whether they consent or not and Graye's solders revel themselves, having surrounded the gymnasium.
- Meaningful Background Event: Hunter's panic attack and Gus's Heroic BSoD take place in an illusion of Gus's room. In both cases, they just so happen to be sitting right under Gus's human treasures that have a label reading "handle with care".
- Mind Rape: Graye attempts this on Gus, complete with Gus protesting about how painful the experience is, in order to discover the location of the Looking Glass Graveyard. Instead, Gus suffers a nasty bout of Power Incontinence subjects Graye to a Mind Rape of his own, forcing him to relive his worst memories and leaving him horribly traumatized.
- Mind Screw: In-Universe. The episode involves Gus accidentally covering a chunk of the school in extremely realistic illusions, making it difficult for students to tell where they are and what's actually around them. Hunter at one point falls down a flight of stairs as he's unable to tell if they're real or not.
- Never My Fault: Graye refuses to take responsibility for the fact that his subordinates are unable to execute his illusions correctly because his instructions are impossible to comprehend.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Graye's attempt to force Gus into the Abomination coven as petty revenge for foiling his plot to trick the Hexside students into getting sigils, and the plot itself, leads to the Hexside students and teachers realizing that they can't trust Belos and turning fully against him. Hunter, who blew his cover to save Gus, even exposes the truth about the Day of Unity to them at the end of the episode, which wouldn't have happened otherwise.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
- Hunter being rescued from the Coven scouts by the Flyer Derby team takes place offscreen.
- Willow and Amity take on an Abomaton while Hunter tries getting though to Gus. They come out of the experience without so much as a scratch.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Hunter, being the more paranoid of the duo, catches onto the fact that "Willow's" behavior is off, and when he threatens her, he takes her fear in response as proof that he's right because the real Willow wouldn't be scared of him.
- Out of Focus: For the first time in the series, Luz, Eda and King are totally absent in this episode. Probably justified as the events of this episode might happen at the same time as the events of "Edge of the World".
- Papa Wolf: Bump and the Hexside teachers show just how protective they are of their students since they're willing to take on the Emperor's Coven and even a Coven head to keep them safe. It does take on a bit of a darker connotation at one point due to their suspicion of Hunter, as they were considering trading him to Graye in exchange for the students' safety. To their credit, they're unaware that Belos wants to kill Hunter.
- Pet the Dog:
- When Amity brushes off Willow taking out a Coven Scout as a lucky shot, said Scout tells Willow that she had him in what is clearly meant to be encouragement.
- The members of the Emperor's Coven who recognize Hunter are clearly shown to be concerned for his well-being and even their offer to bring him back to Belos (who wants to kill him) is out of ignorance of his true nature.
- Plot Hole: While in the Healing Homeroom, Hunter tells everyone that Graye said he'd be in the gym. However, Graye never said this, and Hunter couldn't have overheard it between scenes because he was knocked out by a sleep spell.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Luz tries to tell Amity about the truth of the Day of Unity through her emoji messages, but her panic and distress render most of it too garbled to make out.
- Hunter is too emotionally distressed to really talk about the Day of Unity until the end of the episode, so no one else really knows just how bad it is, or the real reason why the students getting sigils is such a bad thing.
- Power Incontinence: When under stress, Gus loses control of his illusions, which expand outward from him and express his inner thoughts. When Graye threatens to brand him, he casts an illusion that covers half of Hexside, creating a maze of random memories overlaying the structure.
- Power Limiter: Graye's plan in this episode is to force a sigil onto every student at Hexside before the Day of Unity, tricking them into thinking that they're fake. Thankfully, Gus sees through it before he can mark Edric, but Hunter narrowly manages to rescue him before Graye forcefully brands Gus with the Abomination Coven Sigil as payback.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- Graye's initial plan was to trick the Hexside students into thinking they were being given fake sigils using an illusion, knowing that some of the students would fight back were he to simply force them into being branded. It nearly works, only being foiled by Gus's keen eye.
- It's implied that Belos wants Hunter alive so people won't question why he's suddenly ordering the death of one of his highest-ranked subordinates.
- Present Absence: Despite going unseen outside of photographs and only being mentioned a few times, the effect that Luz has had on Hexside over the course of the series is on full display, from the growth that her friends have gone through to the very existence of the multi-track system.
- Prima Donna Director: Graye directs his illusions as if they were movies, handing out vague and unhelpful notes to his subordinates like they were actors flubbing their lines.
- Prisoner Exchange: The Illusion Track teacher briefly talks about handing over Hunter to the coven scouts in exchange for Gus's safety.
- Properly Paranoid: Hunter is understandably jumpy and wary of everyone he comes near. This works out in his favor though, as he manages to see through the fake Willow's act, whereas Gus was completely fooled.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Principal Bump and the Illusions teacher have no problem allowing the students to pursue multiple-track options.
- The Reveal:
- Hunter has been hiding out at Hexside since the events of "Hollow Mind".
- Edric has officially joined the Beastkeeping and Potions tracks, and Emira is now in the Healing Track. Mattholomule is also now in the Illusion track as well as the Construction one.
- The Head Witch of the Illusion Coven is Adrian Graye, and he's an egotistical would-be director who nearly tricks the students at Hexside into joining Covens. Also, Belos is aware of the multi-track students.
- Hunter possesses knowledge of Belos' plans, such as the fact that the emperor and everyone in the castle is travelling to the Head for the Day of Unity.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: While Amity and Willow are on the same side, they initially have trouble working together and get in each other's way multiple times, as Amity's desire to protect Willow clashes with Willow's drive to prove that she doesn't need protecting anymore. Once they manage to talk it out, they become much more in sync, to the extent that they're able to take down an Abomaton with apparent ease.
- Rule of Three:
- The first time the breathing exercise gets used in the episode, young Willow helps young Gus calm down after he gets trapped within his illusions. The second time it gets used, Gus helps Hunter come down from a panic attack after the latter learns that Belos is actively searching for him. The third time it gets used, Hunter tries to calm Gus down after he gets trapped in his illusions again, but because he hasn't quite got the hang of it, he sounds more like he's trying to whistle through an asthma attack, prompting laughter from Gus and breaking the illusions.
- Severine, one of Graye's scouts, is harshly criticized on three occasions, for increasingly petty slights. The first two times, she just sighs, but the third time, she decides she's had enough tendencies and quits on the spot.
- The Runaway: Of the abusive variety. Since "Hollow Mind", Hunter hasn't returned to the castle with Belos after his head and has instead been secretly living in Hexside with nowhere else to go, having literally never been anywhere else that he'd find familiar or safe to hide at besides the school.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: The coven scout Severine, after spending the entire episode being Graye's Butt-Monkey, quits the Emperor's Coven to return to the Tiny Cat Coven.
- Seriously Scruffy: Being suddenly rendered homeless hasn't done Hunter's appearance any favors. He's ditched his Golden Guard getup in favor of his old Flyer Derby uniform under a dirty, tattered cloak, his eye-bags are even more pronounced, and the front lock of his hair is so dirty it looks like he's dyed it brown. According to Gus, he smells pretty bad as well. His living situation is not much better, a dirty old sleeping bag surrounded by stolen books and empty Hex Mix bags, tucked away in the corner of the old, closed-down auditorium.
- Ship Tease: A bit from Hunter towards Willow. He blushes a little when he and Gus first encounter "her" (actually another coven scout in disguise), and it's shown that he respects her quite a bit when he refers to her as "The Captain" and is able to tell that it's an illusion. When he has to fight through all of his worst memories to save Gus, the only one that doesn't involve Belos in some way is the scene of her locked up in jail during "Any Sport in a Storm". He also blushes a lot when Willow pulls him into her hug with Gus at the end and thanks him for his help.
- Shout-Out:
- Amity and Willow make a very Sailor Moon-esque pose after dispatching the coven scouts guarding the gym, complete with appropriately sparkly background and sound effect.
- There's a poster for The Thing (1982) on the wall of Gus's illusory room, of all things.
- Gus's Power Incontinence is similar to whenever Aang enters his Avatar State, complete with blue glowing eyes and a sphere of pure blue energy surrounding himself.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Ever since leaving the Owl House, Hunter had to switch out his Golden Guard uniform with his tattered Flyer Derby uniform and a raggedy cloak to reflect his now homeless situation.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Graye initially sends the scouts to find Gus, preferring to examine the extremely detailed illusion Gus conjured up instead.
- While everyone asks Hunter questions about him running from the Emperor's Coven and what Belos is planning, Edric asks him if he's ever sneezed in his mask. The answer is yes.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Mattholomule; he thinks he can "take" Hunter upon seeing the Golden Guard for who he really is, and when Amity states that Willow will need help in getting to Gus, Mattholomule assumes she's referring to just him.
- Something Only They Would Say: Willow vouches for Hunter when he mentions Gus teaching him the breathing technique that she taught Gus when they first met.
- Spanner in the Works:
- Graye nearly succeeds in his plan to force every Hexside student into a Coven before the Day of Unity without them realizing that the sigils are real before it's too late, only for Gus to notice that "Graye" (actually a Scout) is under an illusion right before he can mark Edric.
- Hunter being at Hexside is far from something that Graye had anticipated, allowing him to help rescue Gus before Graye can force him into the Abomination Coven, ultimately leading to the whole plan being foiled.
- Spotting the Thread: When Severine disguises herself as Willow, she manages to fool Gus. Hunter, on the other hand, sees through her unconvincing act because he only knows the tough-as-nails Willow and Severine's act is far from that.
- Staircase Tumble: Hunter ends up falling down a flight of stairs after being unsure if they were real or part of Gus' illusion.
- Storm the Castle: Initially, it looks like Principal Bump heads to the gym alone to rescue Gus, before revealing that he brought numerous other students with him to fight the coven scouts: Gus's fellow Flyer Derby teammates, the troublemaker/detention students, all three Blight siblings, and Mattholomule. Cue a Big Badass Battle Sequence.
- Synchronous Episodes: It's implied that this episode takes place at about the same time as "Edge of the World", with Luz being absent from class entirely and only communicating with Amity through emojis, which are less than decipherable. Willow also mentions that the woods around the Owl House are crawling with Coven Scouts.
- Take This Job and Shove It: One of the scouts, Severine, has to put up with Graye's abuse and criticism throughout the episode. At the end, when a Guard Captain starts ordering her around, she loses her patience and says her self-esteem has had enough through this rough year and quits the Emperor's Coven, declaring she is going back to the Tiny Cat Coven.
- Teleport Spam: Hunter, as per usual, makes liberal use of teleportation while fighting scouts.
- Tempting Fate: Bump muses that he initially thought that the multi-track system would be more trouble than it's worth. Cue the arrival of Adrian Graye.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: In the beginning of the episode, Amity is discussing what's happened to Luz with Gus and Willow during lunch. When the bell rings to signal the next period, none of the three have touched the food in their lunch trays/boxes, which are still visibly piled to the brim. Gus later gives his uneaten lunch to Hunter after noticing he hasn't been able to eat any real food lately.
- Title-Only Opening: The fourth episode and third in a row this season to not play the theme song.
- Trauma Button: A lot of them are pressed this episode. Gus has issues with being deceived, and his getting tricked by an illusion of Willow contributes to him shutting down from anxiety; Hunter has a panic attack at the thought of being returned to Belos and is tormented by what he saw in the emperor's mind; and Graye's apparently gets pressed during Gus's Mind Rape of him, but it's unknown what it is.
- The Triple: Everyone's questions for Hunter at the end.Skara: What's going on at the castle?
Viney: Did you actually leave the Emperor's Coven?
Edric: Have you ever sneezed with your mask on? - True Sight: Downplayed. When Gus loses control of his illusion, he ends up with one glowing eye that can see through the illusion while his other, normal eye sees the illusion. However, it only lets him see through his own illusion, which leads to him getting tricked by Severine's Willow disguise.
- Verbal Backspace: When Gus first sees Hunter in the auditorium, he asks what the "Golden Guard" is doing there. Once he sees Hunter's makeshift bed, he calmly asks again, using his actual name.
- Victor Gains Loser's Powers: After Graye is defeated by Gus's illusion magic dredging up his worst memories, Gus takes the mirror-shaped magical amplifier Graye showed him for himself.
- Wham Episode: The Blight twins and Mattholomule are now officially multi-track, Graye tries to trick the students at Hexside into Covens, Belos wanting them all in one before the Day of Unity, the Owl House crew are nowhere to be found, and Hunter makes a proper Heel–Face Turn, the episode ending as he prepares to tell the students and teachers the truth about the Day of Unity.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- While Principal Bump has managed to save several students, it is not clear if the rest have been captured or escaped. Given that Graye is more interested in Gus's illusions than doing his job once they appear, in part because Gus has clearly been to the Looking Glass Graveyard, along with the greater crowd of students as the Scouts are forced to flee, it's implied that they may have just escaped.
- Speaking of which, both Cat and the Illusion Track teacher are present in the Healing Track homeroom when everyone is making plans to rescue Gus, but they're nowhere to be found during the fight against the coven scouts. Likely justified by them not having any combat-oriented magic, even though Emira provided medical support.
- Boscha, who was seen during the announcement at the start of the episode, is never seen again after.
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Belos wants to induct every single student into a Coven for the Day of Unity, showing that he means to kill every witch.
- Graye and his subordinates also show no compunction with attacking the rebelling students for the sake of forcing them into covens before the Day of Unity. Graye even tries to force Gus, clearly an Illusions student, into the Abomination coven solely as payback for ruining his plot, and a Scout has to be reminded that they want Hunter alive.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Hunter helps Gus to break himself out of his Heroic BSoD by telling him that he isn't "dumb" like he thinks he is.
- You Have Failed Me: When a Scout tells Bump that this isn't over, Bump points out that Belos will clearly not be happy at how the operation failed in a direct fight against teenagers, implying that it's in his best interest to keep silent.
"Listen. Emperor Belos has been lying to everyone. The Day of Unity isn't about the Titan, or magic. It's much scarier than that..."
