#i’m really doing a muti-part analysis on steve

[justahumblesideblog]

Steve: The Character Arc Given Us Through Subtext Part 1

“Yeah! All hail the Emperor!”

I’m quite aware that Steve is already a very popular character in the fandom for pretty obvious reasons. Before Severine in Labyrinth Runners, he was the only coven scout given a name. Just giving him a name at all, and having him brought up again is bound to make him more memorable to the audience, especially these days when the trend of liking things ironically is so popular (not to say all fans of Steve only like him ironically of course, but you can’t say that the amount of fans who do in S1 at least is zero) Plus his very VERY few scenes gave him a likable if a bit too enthusiastic personality. He is a really easy character to meme and/or put headcanons on, which the fandom has. However, the thing I really like about Steve is how the show is able to have his entire arc happen almost completely off screen up until his character climax right before the Day of Unity.

In most shows, Steve’s presence in the Owl House during this scene would have just been both a visual gag and a reference to his one other speaking scene in the series. Him wearing a shirt with his name on it would have been just a very tongue and cheek method of differentiating him from the other scouts. In reality though, it serves as a way to not only show that Steve is the type of guy to continue a being supportive friend towards Lilith despite her losing favor with the Emperor, but to also quickly establish that King would know Steve on sight when they meet again in O’ Titan Where Art Thou.

“I know you. You’re Steve from Lilith’s party!”

One could even say that the reason Steve wore that shirt to begin with is so Hooty would know he is the coven scout that was actually invited. Then he decided to wear the shirt during his journey of self-realization, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

“*sighs* Steve is beginning to regret his choices”

In “Any Spot in a Storm” Steve literally starts reflecting on the questionable morals attached to Emperor Coven with the idea of kids reluctantly joining creeps into his mind. He’s understanding of why Skara would be so emotionally high to outright punch him so hard that it dents his mask. Short term wise, Steve’s presence in this episode makes Hunter realize the fault in his actions, but looking at this for the long term it doesn’t only let us know what’s on Steve’s mind:

“Darius sent us to collect your recruits”

It also establishes that during the time Steve was questioning his loyalty, he was working under Darius.

Then we have Labyrinth Runners, and while Steve makes no appearance (mentioned or otherwise), it still moves his character arc forward by showing us that another scout getting fed up with the system.

As method before, Severine is the other scout named outside of Steve. We are shown her mistreatment throughout the episode up until the very end when she quits and throws her mask to the floor in a huff. This tells us viewers that the scouts are indeed their own people and have feelings and lives hidden behind their masks. Again, another joke is used to perhaps foreshadow Steve’s offical departure from the Emperor’s Coven.

“Lost your way, little guy?”

Finally, we get to O’Titan Where Art Thou. In his talks with King, Steve shares with him (and with us viewers) a tale of a younger Steve who wanted to be considered one of th best and believed that joining the Emperor’s Coven was the way to do so. He took that dream and made it his reality, only to realize it wasn’t what he wanted. Of course this is clearly meant to mirror King’s childish desire to be king of the demons, only to dislike it once it started to become kinda true, but it also stays completely in character to the Steve we met in S1 up until the Steve we have now. Steve ultimately being the one to comfort King during this time wouldn’t have been nearly as satisfying without the show putting the subtle groundwork to get us to this point.

Then King and Steve go off on a montage that mainly serves as King coming to terms with his heritage and what he wants in his life. However, it also serves as Steve’s little swan song to his life as the excited scout of the Emperor’s Coven to fully embracing himself as part of the rebellion.

Now, I would LOVE to go into as much detail into this montage in this post, but Tumblr only has a limit of ten photos per post soooooo~ I’m just going to briefly touch on this moment for now because it’s everywhere due to the awesome representation.

Back in “Any Sport in a Storm” Hunter mentions that in order to join the Emperor’s Coven, one must be separated from their family and other loved ones forever. One could argue Hunter’s case is more extreme due to his own circumstances, but seeing Steve’s reaction to two sweet old ladies being in love, perhaps there is truth to it. During this moment of the montage, Steve could be mourning all the time lost to his dream of being the best and it just hit him all at once. Ooooor maybe that love is so pure that it moved the passionate man to tears. Probably a mixed of both honestly.

More on the montage and Steve’s ultimate role in this episode in part 2!

#the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh #toh spoilers #o titan where art thou #toh steve #coven guard steve #toh king #toh hunter #character analysis #long post #i’m really doing a muti-part analysis on steve #no regrets #humble offerings (junk)