YMMV / The Owl House S3E3 "Watching and Dreaming"

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • When the Archivists told their younger sibling to go play with the Titan children, was it really because they want to get their Annoying Younger Sibling out of their hair or was it a pretense to get him to scout out the Titans as a potential rival race? Maybe both?
  • When the Boiling Rain manifests and proceeds to melt Belos, it's clearly not natural, appearing and disappearing rather quickly and in a localized spot, implying that it was summoned by Luz, or the Titan. Did the Titan do it or did Luz? Or both?
    • Not unrelatedly; was Luz in the end unable to cold-bloodedly inflict a coup de gras on her helpless foe, unwilling to expend any further effort on him once he was rendered impotent, or... desirous of seeing his final agonies last as long as possible? Does she even know which?
  • After Luz's Heroic Sacrifice, the Collector starts to cry, not knowing why as he's never felt grief on such a huge level. However, it's highly possible that this is fueled by guilt from unintentionally causing her death, considering that he later understands how it works, causing him to try and save everyone trapped in the Archives.
    • Additionally, he also apologizes to Eda and King for "everything". It's alarmingly possible that he's blaming himself for being manipulated despite genuinely not knowing any better due to being sealed for Titan knows how long.
  • When Amity sees the glowing orbs of light from Luz's death, she says, "What is this?" in a shocked and somewhat disbelieving tone, almost like she's in denial. Is she on some level aware, like Camila, that Luz has just died? Amity looking like she's about to cry when Hunter asks where Luz is supports this.
• Alternative Joke Interpretation: When Belos pleads Luz and him being human means "they're better than this", Eda, Raine, and King arrive, with Eda exclaiming "Well we ain't!" Depending on how you interpret it, she's responding to his assertion about them being human, about them being better than this, or both.
• Catharsis Factor: After spending hundreds of years manipulating and plotting the deaths of all the people of the Boiling Isles, Belos' final death is very, very satisfying. After his connection to the Titan is destroyed, his original human form is melting in the boiling rain, and Eda, King, and Raine crush his skull into a pulp, something Raine lampshades as satisfying In-Universe.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Luz's new method of magic with Stringbean, sans glyphs is left unrevealed, so there's plenty of room for fans to speculate.
  • Similarly, we only see King's new Light glyph, with the rest left open for fans to design their own.
  • Luz's half-Titan form may only be a one-time power-up in canon, but there's nothing preventing fanfics from exploring it for all it's worth.
    • On a related note, how the others outside of Eda, King, and Raine would have reacted to said form.
    • There is also the idea that Luz won't be the only one that can be given the half-Titan form.
    • Finally, since the transformation is the result of Luz being given Titan magic, and King is a Titan, how would the form look if King and Luz somehow found a way for him to replicate it?
  • The ending skips ahead four years and we see several pictures of what the Noceda family and the Hexsquad had done during that time-frame. A lot of it would make excellent content for a fanmade Post-Script Season.
  • Whether or not Vee and Masha managed to get together, and if Vee's other friends know about the Isles now, is also rather unclear.
  • There's also the matter of Amity and Lilith repairing their relationship, which had already been a popular plot in fics.
  • What happened to Odalia and the Coven heads afterward?
  • The Collector's journey through outer space while visiting King, Luz, Eda, and the others if possible.
  • Exploring the various old mysteries of Gravesfield and what made it link to the Demon Realm in the first place.
  • Figuring out how the Portal Door was made for easier travel between realms, since it was implied that the one used after the Time Skip was made by the Collector.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Zeno Robinson manages to pull off a chilling performance during Luz's nightmare sequence, where a puppeted Hunter angrily and painfully confronts the former for letting Flapjack die while she got Stringbean.
    Hunter: Why Luz? Why do you get to have it all? (sobs)
  • You also gotta give credit to Fryda Wolff's acting as the Collector, specifically during the moment where after Luz dies, causing Eda and King to attack Belos in a tearful fury, he tries to stop them out of fear that they might get killed from Belos' attack, only for him to succumb to sadness and starts crying out of guilt for everything he did.
    Collector: I don't want anyone else to go away! I don't want anyone else to go missing! (starts crying) I'm sorry for EVERYTHING! (notices his tears) What is this stuff? Why won't it stop?
  • Arin Hanson, a recurring actor for various characters like the Snaggleback, performs excellently as Papa Titan. He gives off the vibe of a Good Parent when he first meets Luz. The Titan even helps her through her personal struggle by sharing his past regrets. There is even the moment when he knows about the damage Belos is wreaking on the Boiling Isles; he doesn't force her but gives her a choice to use his power to stop Belos' plan. He also manages to be completely convincing as an all-powerful godlike being on top of that.
• I Knew It!:
  • Many fans suspected that the figure in the In-Between Realm was the Boiling Isles Titan and King's father, and that Luz would meet them after dying.
  • After the prior special was released, it was also suspected that Camila and the Hexsquad (barring Luz) would be turned into puppets, exactly what happens here.
  • Another common theory that appeared after the first special was that Belos would attempt to possess the Titan.
  • Many fans were correct that the heart in the throne room is the Titan's heart.
  • Luz's Disney Death was also a theory that proved to be correct in this episode.
  • The promo for this special lead fans to suspect that the Collector would be trapping Luz, Eda, and King in nightmares, proven to be correct.
  • Luz's "Do not underestimate me" and "NOW EAT THIS SUCKA!" Badass Boast was expected to be seeing a reuse in this episode for a good portion of the series' run. And the episode delivers on the expectation!
  • Ever since the season 2 finale (and somewhat even before then), people were guessing that the Collector wasn't evil, just too childlike and oblivious to realize he was hurting people, and he'd be redeemed after getting it explained to him. The previous episode heavily indicated toward the former, while this one fully confirms both.
  • Even before the Content Leak of older Willow, many fans guessed the finale would end with a Time Skip.
  • Ever since Eda first transformed into her harpy form, people predicted that Lilith could learn to do the same with her Raven Beast. The epilogue shows her doing just that.
• Like You Would Really Do It: During the episode, it looks like The Hero Dies when Luz Disappears into Light. But because such an ending would be very anti-climactic — plus the fact that there's still so much of the episode to go when Luz is killed — it's clear that Luz isn't gone for good.
• Narm Charm: On the surface Luz's speech as she tears Belos from the Titan's heart is just as cheesy as every other time she has quoted the Good Witch Azura. However the drama of the moment and the symbolism of Luz's transformation from the start of the show (she uses her own name and calls herself a "student of the Demon Realm") turn it into an awesome moment of triumph.
• Spoiled by the Format: Luz's death occurs about a third of the way through the episode, so it clearly won't be permanent.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Masha. They weren't exactly expected to have a major role, but most fans hoped it would at least be confirmed that they and Vee are dating. But Masha doesn't appear in this episode, not even as a background Easter Egg.
  • Despite having demonstrated her shapeshifting as a big deal at the end of the last episode, Stringbean hardly does anything beyond serving as Luz' staff and pet. The single time her shapeshifting is employed (stabbing The Collector's tongue with a scorpion's tail), it could easily have been done by her teeth, giving the impression that she could've been a normal snake and absolutely nothing in the plot would change.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Camila is seen getting captured alongside the Hexsquad before The Collector give Luz a nightmare about her friends blaming her for all the mistakes she has made on their lives. It would have been interesting to see Luz's mother actually blaming her for leaving home in the nightmare.
  • Unfortunately, none of the Wittebane brothers' backstory was brought up here despite the fact this is the final end of Belos. A lot of things are left in the air such as whether Caleb and Evelyn really were the ancestors of the Clawthorne family, if Belos really saw the ghost of Caleb or if it was a hallucination, and what exactly happened in the fiery conflict that led to Caleb's death. Some even wished for Belos to see Caleb's ghost one last time and realize at the very last moment he's damned as a villain.
  • Hunter was arguably hurt the most by Belos' actions. Had he been present during the latter's defeat, he would've delivered a well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech, topped off with avenging Flapjack's death. Many even want him to proclaim to Belos that he is not Caleb, but Hunter to hammer home on Belos that Caleb is long dead and never coming back.
  • We never do learn who the Bat Queen's owner was, nor how the Owl Beast curse came to be. The Bat Queen's favor also goes unused and we also don't know where the Archivists are now.
  • To some extent, the rest of the Hexsquad not witnessing Luz's Disney Death and seeing her in her Titan form if only to see their reactions to both events (especially Amity's).
  • Darius is one of the people working with Alador on sigil removal research and has some Ship Tease with him. The series ends without disclosing if they patched things up or even why they became rivals in the first place.
• Unexpected Character: Not many people believed that the Bat Queen's babies would return in this episode, since they haven't appeared in the show since the mid-Season 1 episode "Escape of the Palisman", even though the Queen herself appeared in "Hunting Palisman".

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