#had it not been for s3 being shortened.. WOULD WE BE GETTING OWL HOUSE HUNTER????? WOULD WE- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mdhwrites · 3 months

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Thought you might want to know, but all of Season 2A was written without knowledge of the shortening. Dana Terrace says this at the 16 minute mark of the April 28th Post Hoot.

Thank you! It's neat to know and kind of the assumption I'd had for a long time. In production and being written should be two different phases for a show after all. For the Amphibia outline I did earlier today, it'd mean losing an episode which.... *sigh* But yeah, I've effectively always treated it mostly like S2A was unaffected by the shortening and there are some plotlines I'm sympathetic about with that... But not by much.

Again, I've gone harder into this in the past but S2B had to mostly be the way it was for the sake of S3, full or shortened, unless S3 was DRASTICALLY different than what we got. Hunter needed to be an ally enough to go with them all into the portal so Sport in a Storm, Hollow Mind and Labyrinth Runners would have still happened. You do need to explore Belos and prepare for King's Tide with him so Hollow Mind bare minimum still needs to exist but also for Luz's angst arc, Elsewhere Elsewhen needs to exist. King being a titan needs to be confirmed so Edge of the World needs to exist. We also need to make King the most patient, kind, wisest person to exist so Titan, Where Art Thou needs to happen. And Clouds on the Horizon leads directly into the finale so while a lot of the A plot of that episode is pretty wasteful and lacks payoffs, you definitely still need to include it for where everyone is for the finale unless you alter the finale a lot. And Falls and Follies is a good recap of position and sets the stakes for Raine but... It'd pretty questionable too.

This makes the only episodes who's main plots could really be altered to a drastic degree be:

Reaching Out: Amity's relationship with her father barely pays off and frankly it'd have been almost just as jarring to have King do his conversation during Clouds on the Horizon even without this episode. Otherwise, it shoots the worldbuilding in the head and harms Lumity for the sake of double daddy issues. You also have the confirmation for Eda that The Day of Unity is bad news but no one who lives at The Owl House does anything with that. So let's of setup for effectively no payoff.

Them's the Breaks: I hate that I cannot justify this episode because it is EASILY the most of S2B but... It damages Raine's character, only really shows a potential reason why Eda gave up on the covens but the only story part is the last two minutes. You could have done ANYTHING else, like I dunno, an episode actually about Darius and Hunter/the rebel coven heads, and ended it with the Raine reveal.

That is two episodes. The fact that there are two episodes even is... OOPH, especially when Reaching Out at least has arguments but Them's the Breaks is just Dana gushing about the fanfic she wants to write for her own series. The fact that there are only two, with maybe being able to cut one of Hunter's episodes for his arc, is not good. Not unless the Day of Unity wasn't supposed to be the S2 finale.

And if it wasn't... What the fuck was the original plan?

This is a lot of why I talk about not wanting three seasons. It wanted WAY MORE. I think Dana assumed it'd be so popular and big as to have five or more. There are PLENTY of issues with that conceptually (again, S3 could never have been great) but it is the vibe the story gives. It is too redundant and too slow to be otherwise. TOH's biggest argument against being claimed as having a lot of filler is mostly in that a lot of episodes get a LITTLE done in way or another but it takes very few leaps. When it could do that, actually have a big payoff and move along, it cuts it off at the knees for the sake of 'realism'. This happened with Willow... and also fucking happened with ALADOR. IN SEASON 2B. WHY!? Why would you make a plot point specifically say more work and time will be needed when you DON'T HAVE TIME!?

Even S3 has this. In a season with THREE. EPISODES. Luz has THREE finishes to her arc. In Thanks to Them, she gets reassured by quite literally everyone that she did nothing wrong and should feel confident about her choices before she confidently prepares to head into the demon realm! Then... In show it's like five, ten minutes tops when Luz is self hating and self martyring herself again until the end of the episode has her confidently state that she wants to be understood! And with her friends and new palisman by her side, she will face the Collector!

Only to start the next episode with a dream sequence where she believes everyone fucking hates her, doesn't understand her and that she deserves to be hated. This only gets resolved when the FUCKING GOD of the show tells her she's A-Okay and she has nothing to fear. She's just too gosh darn good in order to have any reason to every doubt herself!

I'm not going to even ask why this happened. I can actually tell you mostly why because Luz is the only character besides Hunter with any character payoffs left to do. So if you want each episode to have a big character moment, Hunter can only replace one of those. They still tried to have Willow do one anyways by dredging up something that hadn't been a thing for TWO. SEASONS. But Luz was still given three different endings.

No, the bigger question to me just fucking HOW!? this sort of thing happens. This has fuck all to do with the shortening after all. Wasted time at this point, moments that mean literally and do nothing, are their choice. They are still the writers who decided to waste all this time despite claiming how much they wanted more time.

It makes it look like any potential S3 would have just been... Well, more of this. More repetition that dilutes its themes and doesn't really go anywhere. After all, if they couldn't fill three hours with actual story and pushing forward the narrative and themes... Why should we assume eight hours would have been suddenly so much better?

I didn't mean to go so hard on this. Sigh. But yeah, there's a lot of reasons why the shortening is not the excuse that people think it is. Why it honestly feels so much like a blessing to the show because people just have this go to statement to try and shut people or shut their own brains up from any issues they might have, even if those issues are self contained to a single episode.

TOH was never perfect and has flaws that run incredibly deep and start early on. No excuse will ever change those facts.

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I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

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#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

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sepublic · 2 years

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I’m seeing people speculate that Season 3 would’ve been about getting back to the demon realm and defeating the Collector, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s the case?

Like obviously that would’ve happened in S3, but probably only later during it. With how we’ve analyzed and speculated certain developments in TOH being a bit rushed and glossed over lately (at least by this show’s standards), the lack of breathing space, four coven heads being unestablished, and Luz’s VERY meta comment about twenty more adventures prior to the Day of Unity...

And I do think that the DOU would’ve happened during Season 3; Possibly originally intended to be the mid-season finale, even! Or at least occur somewhere in 3B... Since our actual S3 is the runtime of six normal-length episodes, it’s possible the Day of Unity would’ve happened in the fourteenth episode of S3’s original plans!

I also have to wonder if we would’ve had an episode exploring Camila and Vee’s side of things prior to Luz’s return, as well as further insight on her past, as well as Luz contacting her mother in the in-between again; But due to the plot having to be truncated, the writers had the remaining blood used up to rescue Luz and Hunter from Belos’ mind!

We know Luz used one finger for her faulty portal, and another would’ve been used to time travel. If the palm is its own portion, with more blood than a finger... Perhaps we would’ve had use Luz use the blood three more times, for other situations (including a return to the in-between to make her case to Camila), before the palm would be used to rescue her and Hunter from Belos’ mind? I dunno, this is all just speculation, but that does seem like the intended setup with Luz using one finger at a time.

Regardless, I do suspect that the DOU was meant to happen during S3, not at the end of S2. We know we would’ve gotten the backstories for Hooty and the Owl House, as well as a Steve and Mattholomule storyline. And even if this phase of the story is going to be given more or less the amount of time it was intended, we should absolutely still be ready to murder Disney for shortening this show.

#the owl house #speculation #meta #luz noceda

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animationadventures · 1 year

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Recreating the Lost Episodes: A Guide

Season 2

As we learned about S2’s production over the past year or so, the mouse’s decision to shorten The Owl House’s third season came around the time “Agony of a Witch” aired. This was around the time the crew had finished writing the first half of S2. They were given a choice, move forward with their intended original plans for the second half or rewrite the second half to accelerate the plot enough that they could wrap up the story with the little time they had left in their generously called “Season 3”.

They chose to accelerate the plot. This is extremely noticeable due to the suddenly announced deadline of the Day of Unity being a month away in “Follies at the Coven Day Parade”. If it weren’t for the cut, would the DOU have been instead announced for anywhere from three to six or nine months away and covered in S3, giving the story enough breathing room to explore character and relationship development we didn’t get?

So, a lot of amazing ideas had to be left as abandoned puzzle pieces, and us fans are left to figure out how they were supposed to fit together for ourselves. For all the fanfic writers who plan to recreate what we lost, this is for you. If I wasn’t already working on long term projects, I would try this myself too.

I have no doubt that the episodes we did get for Season 2B would have still been in the show’s lineup, but likely further down than they ended up being for most of them. Because of the anniversary for Manny’s death being a specific date, I imagine that would have stayed in the same slot for example.

Let’s start with the Bat Queen since that’s the earliest dropped plot thread I can identify. At the end of “Escape of the Palisman”, Luz promised to help the Bat Queen find out her past since she no longer remembered her original owner. As we saw in S2, she never followed up on this. As confirmed at the Gallery Nucleus panel, Bat Queen is not the palisman of the Titan, but rather a giant. So we might have gotten lore on giants in the demon realm, specifically Bat Queen’s owner and how she became who she is now.

Another dangling thread is Jean-Luc, King’s babysitter from his nest. We never see King and the gang try to reactivate him outside of the nest; he just sits in the corner of Luz’s room as a decoration for the rest of the season.

Then there’s the four head witches that didn’t get proper debuts – Hettie Cutburn, Mason, Osran, and Vitimir. We can assign at least two episodes and four at most to fleshing them out, two being if they teamed up the way Darius and Eberwolf did or four if they debut individually like Terra and Adrian.

As far as I can guess, Mason was intended to be involved in a scrapped plot line of returning to the Looking Glass Ruins along with Adrian Graye, as a mirror match to Gus and Mattholomule since they match coven tracks. With old storyboards starting the rumor Mason was Matt and Steve’s father (albeit with the name Ulrich), this could have really boosted Matt’s development of wanting power changing to multi-tracking, sticking with the theme of finding your own way instead of following in your parents’ footsteps.

Another team-up I can see is Hettie and Vitimir since their covens likely work closely in making cures and general healthcare. Hettie was said by Dana to be interesting to the crew, hinted at being creepy and having an interest in bloodwork. So perhaps the pair of them would be assigned to the Titan’s Blood case and eventually woven into King’s plot? Or the two would be split up, with Hettie being involved in King’s Titan plot and Vitimir being involved in Hunter’s grimwalker plot?

I suggested Vitimir being involved in Hunter’s grimwalker plot because the list of stuff needed to construct a grimwalker sounds like a potion ingredient list, and Vitimir is the head witch of the Potions Coven. Belos might have tasked him with gathering the necessary ingredients for a new grimwalker, suspecting Hunter is beginning to betray him like all the others as he grows independent through Darius’ influence and his adventures with the Hexsquad. Since Hunter is such a crucial piece in Belos’ plans, who better to task with the important and rare ingredients of a grimwalker than the head witch of the Potions Coven himself?

Osran is probably the biggest mystery player in how he would get involved. Since the Oracle Coven is all about foresight and contacting spirits, perhaps there’s something to be said about how nobody saw the Day of Unity’s true purpose coming. The Collector using his power to keep oracles from seeing the truth? Belos forbidding any scrying about the DOU? There’s a theory out there that he might have been intended to join the rebellion based on the burned tapestry in “Eda’s Requiem” the BATTs pass after their first raid. Maybe not being able to see the outcome of the Day of Unity gave Osran reason to change sides.

When writing the head witches, it’s best to remember each one has a sense of irony regarding the coven they are the bosses of. Raine is the head witch of the Bard Coven despite having stage fright, Darius is the head witch of the Abominations Coven but hates messes, Eberwolf is a beast tamer despite basically being feral himself, Terra is the head witch of the Plants Coven but has a toxic personality, and Adrian Graye prefers to direct others putting on illusions rather than perform himself. In that vein, Hettie is likely that creepy doctor that enjoys the pain of patients, Vitimir likely neglects lab safety despite working with potions if his toxic breath is a clue, Mason probably prefers to work solo rather than in a team like construction jobs usually require or relies on the power glyphs instead of his strength like normal coven members, and Osran likely is senile and forgetful about the present from constantly looking into the future.

There’s also the matter of Amity still having the portal key in storyboards for Clouds on the Horizon. The Roundtable covered this in their video about season 2, how Amity and Hunter’s duel was likely supposed to end differently but the accelerated plot necessitated a change at the last minute since it was part of 2A. Amity and Hunter probably came to a draw, neither having the information to leverage. This would explain why Amity isn’t upset with Hunter the next time they meet in “Labyrinth Runners”.

The thing with Raine also confuses me. At the end of “Eda’s Requiem”, we see them being restricted by their sigil then seems fine in “Follies at the Coven Day Parade” pretending to be brainwashed. I think them being captured was supposed to be a bigger part of the plot, but again the plot acceleration necessitated a change of what happened to them and the crew couldn’t change it the same way the duel at Eclipse Lake might have gotten. This by extension would have given the BATTs a bigger role too.

Development for the Blight family was also a big thing in Season 2. We properly met Odalia and Alador, Alador got a redemption arc while Odalia got worse, the origin of Amity’s family nickname was revealed, and the twins showed interest in multiple tracks. The one person in the family that really got the shaft was Emira because she didn’t have a B-plot expanding her interests like how Edric got to show his interest in beast-keeping and potions in “Reaching Out”. I have a feeling if it weren’t for the plot acceleration, we would have seen them more. Perhaps Odalia was intended to be the season’s major antagonist similar to how Lilith was in Season 1, appearing to cause conflict in more episodes than just two.

The Collector also wasn’t intended to be part of S2 according to one of the crew’s Post Hoots. Once they learned of the cut, they decided to throw him into the mix early. He’s woven so intricately into the plot now, it’s hard to imagine what the story would be like if he was delayed until later or didn’t show up at all.

That’s all I have for Season 2. I’ll talk about Season 3 in the next part, but that will have to wait until we see how the other two specials play out to see what else was either dropped or squeezed into a montage.

In the meantime, try recreating episodes from what I’ve pieced together so far. Best of luck to all and may the Titan look down on you favorably.

#THE OWL HOUSE #dropped plot threads #hettie cutburn #mason ulrich #vitimir downpour #osran fisticuffs #alador blight #odalia blight #bat queen #raine whispers #the collector #save the owl house #more the owl house

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ideekhay · 2 years

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So we're just gonna forget that there's a massive half-mechanical heart lying around in Belos's castle?

Theory time: At first glance, this seems like a throwaway storyline caused by a shortened S3. It probably is. But this doesn't seem like a plot point that can be completely tossed aside and ignored.

Belos's castle was intentionally built in a pit underground. It's very much a function-over-form building. And it's not just in any pit: it's a cavity where the titan's heart should've been.

However, as of King's Tide, Belos didn't seem to have any intentions past witch genocide and returning to Earth. What's more likely is that the Collector had escape plans of his own, and he'd been getting Belos to unknowingly make preparations for him (think Bill and Ford, Gravity Falls).

If the Collector hadn't cancelled the draining spell without a second thought, I would've thought he had further motives beyond escaping his prison. But nope, he's a just a child psychopath who's been in time-out for too long. Even then though, he's an unfathomably knowledgeable child.

It seems that beyond glyph combos, most of the advanced magic Belos knows has been taught to him by the Collector. Why teach Belos a draining spell specifically to massacre the witches? Instead of thinking of it as draining spell, think of it as a collecting spell. It collects the magic drained from witches into the moon.

However, we might not be getting the full picture by simply assuming the moon is absorbing the magic. Throughout the show, the moon has been a symbolic representation of the titan, from the face on the moon to the depictions in King's nursery. I doubt all that magic was going to the moon just to dissipate: it was going to the titan.

It seems quite ironic that the "spawn of the titan" (the population of the Boiling Isles) is now morbidly returning to its creator. If that rings a bell, you've probably watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, an anime instrumental to many people's childhoods. It's influence on The Owl House is rather significant, ranging from several visual references to Hunter and Rei being clone buddies. The Day of Unity is also a parallel to NGE's Third Impact, an apocalyptic event where a giant woman expands by reabsorbing humanity, becoming God.

Piecing together the titan/moon connection, the artificial heart, and the NGE references, it seems that the Collector's contingency plan for escaping was reanimating the titan. Someway, somehow, it would've freed the collector. Perhaps the titan sacrificed itself to seal off the Collector. Or reanimating the titan would have provided enough blood to free him. Regardless of how this could've gone, it seems unlikely that we'll be visiting this storyline again because of the shortened third season.

Lastly, I do have a bit of speculation as to why this storyline won't be included in the show moving forward. But first, I'd like to give a...

WARNING BEFORE CONTINUING: OLD S2A LEAK

Context: The show's composer, Brad Breeck, uploads OSTs of episodes on his Youtube channel, typically featuring loops of scenes from the episode. However, for the Hunting Palismen OST, the loop he chose accidentally included a deleted scene.

What's so interesting is that this is a fully-animated scene. For those who don't know, here's a barebones list of the cartoon production pipeline (in order): brainstorming, writing, storyboarding, voicing, animating, and editing. Scoring (music) generally occurs around animating. This is a long process— the time between writing and animating can often take over a year. Batches of episodes are concurrently produced. You don't just animate something and decide not to use it. The crew had planned for this storyline.

My point? Something BIG changed last minute for the crew to decide on cutting out a fully-animated scene.

If I had to guess when this scene was scrapped, it was a bit after Season 3 was shortened and the crew was rewriting the main story. I doubt this was a fake leak that was intentionally spread, simply due to the cost of animation. There's many cheaper ways to psych out your fanbase.

#the owl house #the owl house theory #the owl house speculation #toh theory #toh speculation #toh belos #belos #toh emperor belos #emperor belos #toh titan #day of unity #toh spoilers #toh collector #the collector #toh kings tide

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