I'm happy and sad, but glad nonetheless. I'm also haunted by the bird worm in Papa Titan's eye, who are they? Are they Hooty's dad/mom? What does it mean!?
I think the most pathetic thing about Belos’s death was that he compared himself to Eda, saying he struggled with a curse just like she did. If makes me think back to Hunting Palisman where both of them reunite with the kid they’re mentoring. While Eda treats Luz with love and kindness, Belos actively uses his curse to threaten Hunter. Eda has come so far in accepting her curse, it’s been one of the most significant struggles in the entire show. So to see Belos use his as a last ditch effort is nothing short of insulting.
Comparing himself to Eda was really an insult! She shied away from the people she loved because she felt guilty of having hurt her father, although she couldn't help it. While Belos always blamed others for his actions and refused to take any responsability.
I love the part where Belos assumes his human form and blames all the awful things he did on a curse in an attempt to manipulate Luz through her compassion, and Luz just stares at him with an unimpressed look, like "Really, you think that's going to work? After everything that's happened, after everything you've done? You think I'm going to buy into your lies again?"
I love how much she's grown. You just know that Season 1 Luz would have probably fallen for that, but not S3 Luz. Not after everything she's seen him do, not after her conversation with the Titan where she really realized there was nothing genuine about him and that he was a lost cause to try to save. She learned you simply can't save everyone, and there are people who are beyond saving. The imagery of Luz simply standing over him as he melted away without saying a word is a strong one. You know you're fucked when even the ever-forgiving Luz just watches you die in silence without even attempting to help you.
@@StarcoFanatic So then uh..... Was her nightmare at the beginning and Eda's nightmare NOT backtracking on their character development? Cause Eda made peace w/ her dad, and Luz had that talk w/ Camila in For the Future. Maybe it's some realistic and psychological thing. Plus I've been told Willow's breakdown in FTF and Amity's "top student once" and Student Council moments also weren't backtracking on their development so..........
@@dylansharp8471 I'm curious define why you think it's backtracking on their character development, because their nightmares were just their fears and insecurities brought front and center.
@@dylansharp8471 I didn't really see those as backtracking. I saw them more as the final test of their character arcs. The final confirmation of if the characters reached where they were supposed to and where they need to go from there.
I LOVE that in that moment he's going on about "human this" and "human that" when he's a pile of goop and Luz is a demigod, helps show how narrow his view of things are, *chefs kiss*
The worst part is that he was definetly able to see every single little dirty thing he did, and could do nothing to stop it. If that's enough to make anyone mad, I can't even imagine what the Titan went through.
AND in the book, Dorothy (luz) being blessed by the Good Witch of the North (papa titan), the Wicked Witch (belos) could not attack her directly (shown during his final moments) "For I am the Good Witch Luz!"
After reading this I had a brief moment where I actually thought Dorothy had curbed stomped the witch as she melted. Now I can't get that image that out of my head lol
ya but I wish we could have seen Luz answer the Collector's worry of doing the forgiving wrong with Alfred's quote on the Joker that some men just want to watch the world burn and that Belos is one of those men
Exactly. There will be people that will not change no matter how many chances. Belos had plenty of chances to change and fit in with Caleb but he chose not to. He continued believing witches were evil until his bitter end.
For sure! TOH really showed that some kindness can go a long way, but it doesn't mean that everyone is capable of changing and I think that's beautiful.
Philip’s/Belo’s death is even more poetic when you realize it was done by the Titan’s son (Belos constantly claimed he was in service to the Titan to manipulate everyone), his great, great, something niece (If Caleb & Evelyn being Eda’s ancestors is to be believed), and the last person to be controlled & manipulated by him- Raine. His crimes came back to bite him.
@@randomrhino7500 I think it’s best hunter and Caleb weren’t there. Hunter couldn’t take anymore at that rate.. and I believe that moment when belos crawled past Caleb that’s when Caleb had given up on him truly…
Like Odalia as a mother and wife! I guess she became neutral by the end, but her relationships look like it ended. Gosh Im glad they didnt stick her in the final credits. Kikimora was kinda nice tho, but she wasnt seen as "Oh I have turned my ways 180 degrees", but she looks more neutral.
I think it's really great the Hunter wasn't there for Belos death. He's trying to heal from everything and Belos already set him back onc when he possessed him. Belos does not deserve to force himself into Hunter's life anymore, not even as a nightmare of his death. Hunter left Belos behind already and a lot of times being forced in a situation where you face you abuser, whom you loved for a long time before realizing you were abused, while said abuser is in a desperate situation, begging for help, can set someone's healing back for months. Belos also did not deserve to see Hunter once again just like he didn't deserve to see Caleb
I think it was a good thing too, because I believe in Thanks to Them, Hunter said that he wanted to never step foot in the castle again, which is also him separating himself from the life full of abuse and false love.
Belos being stuck in a state of arrested development; thinking he can still be that hero who hunts witches. Guy killed his own brother; then blamed it on the witches, corrupted his own body, and blamed it on dark magic, and began sipping his own Kool-Aid so hard, he has a multi-layered mind-space working 24/7, performing the longest sequence of mental gymnastics known to mankind. Papa Titan also doing a lot to lay it out clearly for Luz (who's so pure that she STILL compared herself to Phillip). It's funny; Luz is his exact opposite, having grown out of her fantasies of being a hero, and instead naturally becoming one. Belos had to lie, steal, and cheat his way into everything; and earned his bad ending. Meanwhile; Luz struggled to get anything, working hard to forge bonds, and earned her happy ending. Also love that Belos may have stolen the titans body, but Luz was gifted his soul at the end.
I do so love Belos' pathetic demise. It reminds me of Light Yagami's own end in Death Note, at least in the manga. He's not given a dignified death, he dies kicking and screaming, terrified of the exact same fate he had subjected millions to. In both cases, it's meant to highlight that those characters are NOT the tragic saviors they wanted to be perceived as, instead showing them for what they really are: immature, narcissistic monsters.
One storyline missing from the show was "Who was Evelyn?" All we know about her is that Flapjack was her palisman and that she drew Caleb to The Demon Realm. Based on her portrayed appearance, her name similarity to Edalyn and the owl stopper on the vial of Titan's blood, I'm 99% certain she was a Clawthorne and a direct ancestor to Eda.
I kind of hope that we get that spin off (the Young Eda one) and maybe even a Caleb story. Sure we'll know what things have to happen but we don't know how and I want confirmation on these things.
I definitely felt like they wanted to definitively answer that with all the hints that point to that fact, but, I think leaving it open-ended was the best choice in the long run. It gives us something to speculate on long after the show is over, but it's open enough that it could be a plot thread they explore if there's ever a continuation.
it's implied that Caleb and Evelyn are the progenitors of the clawthorn family especially since papa clawthorn looks suspiciously like an elderly hunter, but it shouldn't be too much for say a comic featuring a time pool to figure it out.
Probably Eda’s ancestor. Hinted at with the names, Edalyn, Evelyn.. even the palisman is a bird.. shown that only birds were a Clawthorne trait.. Eda has an owl, Lilith a Raven, Gwen a hawk, and Dell a cardinal. Much like Flapjack. Evelyn also looks like Eda. The large hair, the red dress, and bird palisman. I assume this is always why he hated her. She’s a wild witch that was descended from his brother’s lover..
Since ghost Caleb wasn't there to see Belos's death, Luz was given Belos the same look Caleb gave him. Luz walk away from Belos not telling him a word is very powerful. Also, Belos's death was fitting and he gets killed by Eda, King, and Raine, he ruined their lives over the years and he underestimated them. Eda is a descendant of Caleb and Evelyn and Belos's great great great grand niece. King, Belos used King's dad and abused his father's glyph magic over the centuries (King's dad tried to hide the magic from him also King's dad bless Luz the power she needed to defeat Belos. Raine is what Belos did to Raine and everyone in the Boiling Isles. Belos used Raine's body and Eda's loves Raine. Being killed by these 3 is very poetic justice.
Raine may not have been able to fight Belos head on for long but they were able to help end Belos's reign of terror. (Pun not intended.) Raine even said it was "kind of satisfying."
@@Stargazer_Ley After what Belos did to Raine, Raine had every right to kill that monster. Belos never once told Eda that he's her great great great grand uncle...though he didn't even care anyway.
@@AH-is5yg Oh absolutely. I'm glad Raine got a chance to end Belos. They were able to make an impact at the end of the story. They were also powerful enough to stop Belos. They fought back and I think that is what helped Luz fight Belos. Raine wasn't sidelined during the fight. They did something important and that's acknowledged at the end.
@@Stargazer_Ley glad Eda King and Raine were there helping Luz fighting Balos. The show started with three main characters and the final battle ended with them. Glad Raine got to be there
I love the titans line about "you assume belos comes from a genuine place." It helps to emphasize that not every villain deserves redemption or understanding. Some evil people aren't misunderstood, but instead they are just plain evil. Lately there have been to many shows that are line "violence is never worth it" and "everyone deserves a second chance" but that gives kids a false ideology. Sometimes the only way to defeat a foe is to destroy them. Some people may be misunderstood, but there are also people who are just Hitler. And it's OK to punch Hitler. He's literal Hitler!
I saw another theory video that said they thought Luz used the very last little bit of power she had left to summon the boiling rain because even in that moment she couldn't stand to kill him but knew that was the only way to get rid of him. So she used the rain as a way to allow nature to take its course. Which would explain why it only lasted like 10 seconds and was so heavily emphasized why she was protected against it.
The idea that a short lived storm kicked up and washed away all that was left of Belos is not infeasible as similar storms have been used in other animated series. All Might's punch in My Hero Academia which created a tornado and caused it to rain for a short while after. Or Sasuke's Fire in Naruto, creating a depression and thus causing a lightning storm to boost the power of another of his attacks. Luz ripped Belos free of the heart and all the chaos he created trying to bring that power under his control could have had any number of effects. Eda, Raine and King were all blown away! Of course the idea of it not even being conscious could be argued. Luz is not going to kill him and remains a pure uncorrupted character. But she still isn't or can't bring herself to save him. Deep down she just wants him to go away. The Power she gained from the Titan, calls the storm and washes Belos away but she herself is protected from its effects indicating that this was of her own creation or is just naturally immune. Coincidence or latent desire the effect was the same. Who can say how the power of a Titan would respond to its wielder in such a circumstance?
IMO This rain,which kinda ended Belos,have special meaning. Water is a sign of purification. Water helps you to see,what things really looks like. Normaly you clean up sth dirty. But this time real dirt is underneath cover, underneath every single lie Belos/Philip told. Also rain is like a force of the nature. The Boiling Isle itself revenged on Belos and for me it's greater than if it was done for anyone.
Its a great ending. Even as he dies he avoids responsibility. "It was a curse that forced me to do those horrible things." That right there showed everything. He both admits the things he did was terrible and refuses to accept responsibility. Evan as he lies he refuses to admit he did anything wrong. You see the first and most important part of forgiveness is admitting fault. I believe anybody can be forgiven but to do that you have to admit you did the wrong thing, show remorse, and willingness to change. Belos, he can't even fake being the villain in his story.
I think that's why Luz simply stood there silently. She couldn't even begin to believe his audacity, that he'd STILL try to deceive her after everything. That was when she decided to not even bother trying to save him. You know you're fucked when the ever-forgiving positive Luz just watches you die silently without even lifting a finger to help you.
I adored how Titan Luz was silently glaring at Belos while he went on his "poor me, nobody understands me" schtick, because she finally realized that he never wanted to be redeemed after her optimism burned her more than once. He had literal CENTURIES to redeem himself, and yet he dove into horrible shit like Tom Riddle, King Galbatorix, and The Lich King, all immortals in their own worlds, did. His last words, "We're human, we're better than this!," is ironic, since Belos long since shed any humanity he had left after shanking his brother Caleb and trying to commit a fucking genocide on an entire race.
I think ultimately the best part of Belos' death is that in the end, his single greatest and most enduring strength; his deceit and cunning fails him. He's come back from the brink of death so many times just through perserverance and manipulation, but it's just not enough this time. His lies have caught up to him, he's played every card, made every gambit and he has *nothing* left. So he panics, his lies get sloppy and the cracks show in his facade of deciet and Luz sees right through it. She knows him by now, knows exactly what he's capable of and takes no chances. He's already dying, and all she has to do is wait for the rain to finally shred him apart. He fucking fails at the *one thing* he's always had, and pays the ultimate price
One of the biggest differences I’ve always seen between Belos and Luz is that Belos would never hold himself accountable for anything while Luz holds herself accountable for everything distinctly including things that are in no way her fault.
9:30 I LOVE this line because every time you hear it, it sounds like Belos is going to say *"You'll be just as bad, just as conniving, just as evil, and just as unforgivable-"* you think he's going to say *'me'* as that's Luz's greatest fear, that she's like him. But he proves himself that he *IS* all those things and that Luz is not like him when he says *"-as those witches!"* Idk its just such an awesome line for me as it always gives me that feeling of him saying *'me'* and then him not... awww its so good.
I kinda find it very poetic that Belos is stomped out by actual residents of the Boiling Isles, and a couple leaders of the rebellion no less. Two witches and a Titan were the ones who ultimately squashed him like a bug, a pest. They reclaimed their power and their home just like they worked to do. Luz didn’t feel the need to step in and do it herself, she didn’t need to deliver the final blow and be the ultimate savior, she just watches. She lets it happen and lets her friends, her family, finish him off and save their home from him once and for all. It was an excellent choice.
I like the fact that the first draft of the owl house had the boiling isles literally be hell and I find it fitting that a man so afraid of the devil became him instead.
I love that Belos, the human supremacist, was ironically the most inhuman character in the show, what with his monstrous form and complete lack of humanity, empathy or compassion. When he tells Luz she'd be just as bad as witches by letting him die, the traits he describe fit him to a tee. He's the most conniving, deceitful and evil character in the show, yet he deludes himself and acts like a tragic hero and victim of wild magic😂
more often than not, people who like to see themselves as having the moral high ground and act in accordance to what they consider is the "right" way act in very monstrous ways because they already see all their actions as better than those beneath them and so don't question that they might be doing wrong and continue to act in this deluded sense of self-righteousness; acting for what they consider as a "greater good".
Belos was the definition of someone who couldn’t be helped and Luz realized that after multiple attempts of trying to reason with him the fact that Belos tried to make it seem like his curse was the issue made me laugh because he was like that way before his curse was at the state it was in.
Yeah. There shoulda been more, but nooo, Disney had to cancel it. I'll admit I'm still a little salty. But hey, the ending we got is still pretty good. I'll definitely have some nostalgia for it.
I’ll bet Dana had the plot of season 3 all figured out before it was cancelled. I think when Disney shortened it, the writing team had to work around telling the story in a different way. I think Dana even said The Collector wasn’t originally in the show! Even if, dare I say it, season 3 was perhaps just a little rushed due to it being shortened in such short notice (especially when you’ve been working on your story for YEARS and now you have to rework the official ending) you cannot deny the show had great writers who made the best of what they had and I love it. Thank you, Dana Terrace and crew.
I love how in the final confrontation when Belos is begging Luz to save him, she just stands there in the same manner as Caleb with that same chilling look of disgust.
nobody is beyond redemption until they *choose* not to be redeemed. belos is the perfect example of this. he had so many chances to improve and be better, so many chances to stop. so many people that WANTED to help. the difference between him and other characters in this show who got redemption arcs is at the end of the day, they were able to stop and ask themself "Is this a good idea?" they were able to look at themselves even if it was hard, even if it hurt, and try to be a little better. even if they didn't know how. amity thought she'd never be able to be happy, and STILL chose to try and be a better person and apologize for what she did. lilith had just realized just how BADLY she'd fucked up and even when she's realized she's wasted her whole life on one horrible selfish choice, she tried to go and be better. hunter's entire life was uprooted and belos was going to take him back in hollow mind, was praising him and giving him that opportunity to fall back under his wing, and he STILL made the hard choice. STILL stood up even when his entire world was falling apart, when he'd just lost everything. the collector made desperate bids to fix their horrible mistakes and in the end did what was right. but belos? belos had his chances. amity and hunter slapped at the hand trying to help them but they eventually took it, and they made that choice themself. belos CHOSE to never reflect. belos CHOSE to fall deeper. belos chose to go beyond that point of no return and then some. belos is a fantastic, complicated and nuanced villain. but he is still a villain. and at the end of the day? the only one responsible for his fate is belos. he made his choice.
Yeah he was definitely unworthy of redemption but he could have been if he chose to try I mean Endeavour from mha was a terrible person for what he did while blindly trying to achieve his ambition but once he actually looked at his actions he was ashamed and dedicated himself to trying to be better redemption isn’t about deserving to be redeemed it’s about being willing to try
For me, the fact Belos died ordinarily and without any final grand spectacle on his behalf was a fitting way for him to go. In my opinion it proved that no matter how many palismen he consumed, no matter how drastic the measures he took to avoid death were, it still came either way and he died plainly and the same was as a human, witch, or demon might have died. The fact he died as Phillip, not Belos or whatever you call his possessing-the-Titan form, also helps tie into that. It all really just highlights that he wasn't the god and savior that he thought he was. And I'm happy with that final puncture to his ego. (tbh it kinda reminded me of book Voldemort's death)
It's funny because you can see parallels between Belos's actions toward the people and the boiling isles. Belos lived his life manipulating and harming people to get his way even if it meant also losing his sanity. I believe that in the final ending between Belos and Luz, you can see the different paths both of them chose though they had the same upbringing and ideals they had. Even in his last moments, he tried manipulating his way out of things only to meet one person who couldn't be swayed although they were almost the same. It shows he never accepted defeat and thought he could manipulate his way out of things. His ignorance was what brought him to such power and what defeated him in the end. Although it may seem strange that he died by getting stepped on it's fitting since he never saw witches as people to begin with, always thinking they were beneath him and "stepping" on them to show he was better than them because he was human. So the best way to kill the oppressor is to use the same way they used to abuse their power stepping on them to show how little they actually were.
I really like this explanation of ending up getting stomped on being a reflection of his own treatment of the witches and how despite spending so much time among them, he never learned how to see them as equals. It's a really good way to look at it.
Ahhh... one little thing, Belos and Luz didn't have the same upbringing and ideals. Belos grew up learning to hate and burn witches, Luz grew up loving witches and even wishing to be one
@@queenperrytheplatypus458 we could compare it to caled and phillip. caleb and phillip both had the same upbringing, but caled chose to see witches for whop they actually were and phillip rejected this train of thought. even after being given countless chances by witches and humans alike, he was still willing to lie and cheat his way into being a saviour.
It would have been epic if, like Plankton in the first SpongeBob movie, after trampling him, they would have taken what was left of Belos in a small truck to a prison.
I love how in the last scene with Belos, Luz is the actual one who's carrying out the Titan's will that Belos claimed so long to be acting on. She stands before him as the hero he fooled himself into believing he was.
not only that but she shows as a human standing tall and glowing, not even the acid rain affects her and Bellos is groveling on the floor, a pile of mud of a monster begging for mercy unable to ustain himself
After the last episode I must say Belos is clearly one of the best villains in modern time. His character shows us that some peoples actions are affected by the society. Back in the human realm during the 17th century he was really affected by the society which made him the witch Hunter we all hate and love at the same time. Some people say that he should have change since he was So long on the BI but when you kill your own brother there's no coming back because if you then stop you realize you killed him for nothing and your life becomes terrible. We even see he regret killing Caleb. And he was still trying even in his last moments. He tried to manipulate Luz for the last time so He could continue with his goal. That's some Real determination there. As I say. "The show is only good as it's villain" And only few villains can compare to Belos
Belos comparing himself to Eda by saying that his curse was what made him evil is the most disgusting lie he has ever told. Because of her curse, Eda broke up with Raine to protect them, hid herself away to keep others safe, and then learned to live with her curse fully. She was forgiven by her father, got her mother out of a bad situation, and reconciled with her sister. Belos killed his brother, killed innocent Palisman, and killed many Golden Guards before Hunter FINALLY broke the cycle and got free with the help of Flapjack, his Palisman who was there at the start with Caleb, and reunited with him after his death. Belos is not redeemable nor is he good. He is evil, and a monster.
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you”
I love how luz asks papa titan if hurting belos will make them just as bad as him and hes like “whaat?? Of course not!” I hate when characters say they’re “refusing to stoop to the villains level” when giving them what they deserve for their actions. You can’t compare punishing a tyrant to being a tyrant yknow 😭
@@scribblerstudios9895 i laughed hysterically when 1st hear that line. Iroh is usually empathic towards others. But his niece he's like "nah this bitch cray, end her nephew"
@@tobsonasanya4765Yes but he realized his actions. He acted on his feelings of anger from his son’s death. But the important thing is that once he goes through the stages of grief, he realizes that what he was doing was actively putting others through the same grief he went through. He grew and accepted that he was wrong
I think it`s very fitting to show how pathetic Belos was, he literally had everything some people want: power, loyalty, respect, there was almost nobody that didn't fear him or didn't follow his orders to the letter, he could've lived a pretty good life like that, but his desire to kill all witches, his hatred, blinded him so much that despite having everything, he couldn't live with it, it's almost like Zuko in avatar, but while zuko gave up everything to do what was right, Belos gave up everything to do what was wrong
I think it's very worth reminding that King, Eda and Raine living in a hell of Belos's making. The system was opressive against them and they've lost a LOT living in it and fighting within it, so I find it poetic that they stompted his ass down. It's people of the Isles saying no. Also, I feel like Hunter already stood up to and showed that he's better than him. Hunter being at the end would have to take from this beautiful bow on the top just to have another scene with their confrontation. Great essay!!!
Phillip/Belos is a brilliant example of writing a villain. Although the trope of the main antagonist of the story just wanting control is very realistic and still good, this brings a whole new scary viewpoint from the other perspective. Belos didnt want control per say, he wanted to be "the hero", usually the goal that falls into the hands of the protagonist / good guys of the story. Once he lost all his control and humanity he shouldn't have wanted to continue his journey but he did and fought with what little was left of him to complete what he wanted to do even at the cost of not being able to reap the "benefits" of his work; again, parallelling what usually is the main characters job. Belos has all the activity of a main character or good guy, and yet is as evil as can be. Which in my opinion makes him even more terrifying
Fantastic video! I actually liked that Hunter didn't confront him at the end. Like his connection to (and creation by) Belos is irrelevant, and he's just off to live his best life.
I kinda pity Belo's. I imagine that when he saw the isles and recognized that the witches weren't the evil demonic monsters he believed in he probably went mad at that point everything he believed right down the drain. His hate grew even stronger for the witches because they didn't meet his expectation of being the evil beings he had imagined which makes his character seem even more evil when you realize that he tried to shape the Isles into his preferred image of being a hellscape filled with evil.
I have a head canon about that: Caleb is the better witch hunter between the two. Philip wanted to be good at it too but found out that witches weren't evil and all they were trained for were useless. Thus, he went down his path to have a sense of purpose.
An interesting example that people conflate with redemption is the Diamonds in Steven Universe. Yes, Steven tries to prioritize forgiveness but getting basically cut in half (removing his gem and half of his makeup) left him with intense PTSD and hatred for the Diamonds, resentment towards his mother, and violent thoughts about White Diamond. Not to mention his burnout on dealing with the aftermath of the war and several other people and gems he didn't redeem or befriend. He literally views the Diamonds as monsters, which by all accounts they are. He just took the path that would cause less universal damage, not necessarily the path he thinks the Diamonds deserve, and it's basically an option fueled by nepotism. If Rose was actually a Quartz and Pink a completely separate being, the universe would continue to be colonized and destroyed, and White Diamond wouldn't even come close to realizing she would do anything wrong, and Steven would have died way more easily, way earlier for multiple encounters he actually survived in canon.
I don't think he hates the Diamonds per se but he certainly wants nothing to do with them. It's not about his feelings but what works better for peace.
In trying to save humanity Belos lost his own, I think he is the closest thing to a true demon in the demon realm, great video by the way as all of them are!
one thing i haven’t seen anyone talk about is how Luz IS actually "the chosen one." not in the traditional sense of being born special or arbitrarily prophesied for greatness, but as in being *literally chosen* by the closest thing the show has to a god- the titan himself- to inherit his magic. out of everyone on the boiling isles, the titan only showed Luz the glyphs, saved her from death, and gave her the last of his magic. he CHOSE her- -not because she was powerful, but because she was kind. he saw how much she loved the isles and the creatures that live there, how hard she worked to understand them, not because she wanted to control them like philip, but to be a part of them. how her kindness and optimism changed the lives of so many- eda, amity, willow, hunter, and king. how she always tried to protect and help everyone, even if meant putting herself at risk. the titan watched her grow into a hero through her own brave, selfless actions, and chose her to save the world. it’s a really neat subversion of the chosen one trope, and i think it’s really sweet luz got her childhood fantasy fulfilled in the end- just not in the way she expected.
I honestly didn't want to see Owl House end, BUT Watching and Dreaming gave it a worthwhile sendoff. Luz befriending and protecting Collector while he learned how to make friends, and about the concept of mortality. When Luz briefly died I actually cried a bit even more so when King and Eda went berserk. Loved how down to Earth and chill Papa Titan was, and the epilogue.
I think the biggest difference between Philip and Luz is that Luz wanted to be a part of the Boiling Isles, a part of this strange and magic world just the same as any other being in it, Philip always looked down at everyone and everything, believing he was superior to all the witches and demons, thinking he was better just by virtue of what he was by comparison. So I think it was perfect that Luz, who only wanted to learn and grow and understand this bizarre and crazy world and all its people was ultimately given its gifts freely and, in the end, looked down on the creature Philip became through his self centered self importance in pity and disgust.
Belos is my favorite character in this show. He is far from a good person, but as far as character development goes, he is amazing. As many redemption arcs as there are in modern media, it's always a delight to see the inverse, a complete downward spiral. Belos believes so deeply that the ends justify his means, so much so that he is willing to pose as a witch for lifetimes and toil away alone to enact a plan to commit mass genocide. He clearly didn't enjoy it, (at least the long wait it took) and he feels heroic for enduring it as a result. And if the witches of the Boiling Isles were true villains, he would be right. But he didn't allow himself to emphasize with them or see them as anything more than the impure monsters he was told they were. This ending is perfect for him. He doesn't go down with a fight, because without magic he's weak. And he doesn't slip away because he's told too many lies to be trusted now. He dies to the boiling rain, a poetic fate for someone who longed for the rain of the human realm he longed to feel again. And despite it all, he still believes he was right. Heck, since Eda pretty much indulges his last words suggesting that humans are better than witches and stamps the last bit of life out of him, he probably STILL thinks he's right in the afterlife. And it makes you wonder . . . what would Belos have done if he DID accept he was wrong? I'm not suggesting it could've happened, given how we've seen no evidence of that amount of self-reflection in him, but this is all purely hypothetical. What would he have done if he admitted he'd been wrong? I imagine he would have died anyway. He would have realized he'd become a greater monster than those he'd tried to destroy, and he would've accepted that there was no going back to his old life or finding peace in his new life. So he would've ended it. At least that way, he could see Caleb again.
ya just imagin during the scene he just has a complete emotional breakdown realizing everything he did was for nothing and basickly begging for death or something like that
Suicide would also be deeply ironic for him as well, as traditionally suicide- through the lens of religion- is viewed as a permanent and immediate damnation to Hell forever by God with no exceptions.
I think kings dad saying at the end that “you think that belos’s motivation comes from a genuine place, when it really doesn’t. He just wants to be the hero of the story.” I think that’s a really powerful message for kids to take away. Not everyone is genuine with you, and it’s still taking me some time to learn that. Even after all this time, part of me wanted belos/Phillip to have a smidge of good left, to realise his mistakes, or to really be cursed. But no- I think Luz’s decision to step away was a good way to portray how a lot of victims of manipulation feel. They just want nothing to do with them. Then they let their loved ones just crush them 🤣
I think there's a message in the show that anyone can be redeemed, but not everyone will be. Redemption isn't something that arbitrarily happens to a person, it comes to those who are willing to take responsibility for the harm they've caused and change. Belos and Odalia weren't willing to do that, so even when forgiveness was offered to them, it would never be accepted and the hurt they caused would never end. Good people offered to help them along the path of redemption, but they refused to change, so their destruction can only be blamed on themselves. You can offer forgiveness to someone like Philip, but unless he receives it with repentance, you don't have to try and protect him from the consequences of his actions.
Belos sees himself as the hero. The one that sacrificed himself to protect all humans from witches. And ironically his destruction caused witches to flee into the human realm
Imagine finding a way to extend your life for 4 centuries, and still failing to achieve anything of lasting substance. The biggest lasting impact that Belos had on the Boiling Isles was him repositioning the Titan’s left arm, so the birds that nest there now have to roost sideways.
I know time constraints could be the reason hunter wasn't there but I honestly am glad that he wasn't. Their relationship is very representative of abusive parent and child. I like that hunter was not involved it shows that his win wasn't getting his own back but accepting himself and his chosen family
This is a fairly refreshing perspective. The first bit of community media I looked at after the show ended was one Lily Orchard and wow she just had nothing but contempt for the show.
I thought being curbed stomped was a tad disrespectful which was the point I guess but I just love that to the very end he’s evil no second thoughts no nothing he’s all in
Absolutely agree on the message and theming of kindness but I say it goes a step further. Mattholomule is also a perfect example of Luz extending her kindness to someone that is mean to her and Gus was ready to write him off as just a nuisance rather than give him a chance. As you said, helping only works when the other person wants it and Luz was the one to pull Matt out of that habit of being the way he was. In the looking glass graveyard we get a further look that he was never truly shown kindness and resigned himself to just being inferior while also giving the same thing he had been given to him at Glandus, mistreatment. It was only because of Luz and Gus extending some sort of kindness to him he actually changed and in a way was just being an unruly kid unable to ask for help from his peers.
The psychology of Belos fascinates me. He was fairly young (or it's implied he was, anyway) when Caleb fell for Evelyn, which means he was probably around the Hexsquad's age or younger when he killed Caleb. That kind of act done by an adult can fuck up their mentality, but for a child, who then (I assume) was also trapped in the demon realm, now alone, viewing everyone around him as an enemy with no way to get back to the human world? It's messed up, and of course all he could do was double, triple, quadruple down on his hatred for witches as a means of survival. He could never admit the truth because it would destroy him to accept that he killed his own brother for no reason. And thinking about where he came from, it makes sense. A little boy growing up in a town mercilessly opposed to witches and everything associated with them, it's basically a cult, and he's just a kid doing what the adults tell him to. Since he was older, Caleb was mature enough to think critically and realize that Evelyn wasn't the evil witch his town always told him to fear. But with Philip, he wholly believed in the cult-think... and with that in mind, of course killing Caleb would be the correct choice, if the alternate was that his soul would be doomed to hell by a witch. After that Philip just had to hold onto that mentality to survive. He had to tell himself over and over that he made the right choice, because there was no one else to tell him. There was no one else to comfort him in his grief. There was only witches, and THEY made him do it. And he internalized that line of thinking to the point that, even when he got old enough to think critically, it was too late to change his mind. Even if a witch was nice to him, even if they proved him wrong, his brother was still dead and nothing would change that. The grief and anger needs to go somewhere, and he decided to place it in revenge. It doesn't justify his actions but damn if it isn't interesting to think about.
He did deserve his fate, still one can’t help but understand how he ended this way I’m some ways, he reflects on what Luz could have been Phillip was an outcast in both the Demon Realm and the human realm On Earth, he was an orphan with his brother Caleb and wandered into Gravesburrow, which their Purtian Neighbors made it hard for them to fit in because they were strangers and different To fit in, the brothers became Witch Hunters, with Phillip the more of a zealot But it’s always been him and Caleb against the world, as Caleb was the only person he can rely on Then Caleb met Evelyn Clawthrone and was spirited away to the Boiling Isles Phillip caught up and saw his brother in a relationship with a Witch Philip was brought up by the Puritans to believe Witches are monsters, servants of the Devil, and they ensared his brother In a fit of rage, he struck down his brother, but blamed the Witches for causing the situation to happen. Even while a part of him was fascinated in exploring this world. Being the inquisitive nerd Luz is, he still sought to destroy it all to protect humanity back home He brought back his brother as a Grimwalker, but over time, the good natured personality the Grimwalkers inherited from Caleb, made then question and betray Phillip He killed them, and recreate them again and again, until he was used to it, seeing them as puppets made in the image of his brother to be used as such Alone, having no one to drag him out of his loneliness and fear, he became the narcissistic Emperor Belos Luz always sympathized with Philip, seeing they were both misfits that simply wanted to belong in the world, and both became castaways to the Boiling Isles. At first Luz thought she found a kindred spirit, until the revelation he was Belos broke her for a time By the finale, she saw he can’t change, Nor want to change, he won’t stop as long as he’s alive. So she knew he was no longer worth it. Yet understand why he became this way, as if things were different it might have been her. She was blessed to found other misfits and friends to save her from her loneliness, and give her reason to become the hero witch she always wanted to be Phillip only had Caleb, and that want was an obsession that broke him into murdering the one he loved and rationalized it’s the Witches’ fault it all happened So while Belos was an irredeemable villian. It’s still fascinating how complex he was making his character all the more interesting
I wish Hunter got to see Belos when he was defeated. Like before he disintegrates Belos sees Hunter & reaches out to him saying " Caleb" to which he indignantly responds "My name is Hunter".
I just FINALLY watched this on D+, and I think the specials, and the whole 'Collector Arc' were just about as strong as the creators could make them given the runtime crunch they had to work with.
I cried so hard from the very beginning, I loved it. Honestly, with the hand Dana and the others were dealt, I am FLOORED that the finale felt as complete as it did. There will be things that I wish we could have seen, I would have liked some closure on the Wittebane brother arc, but all things considered, I could not have imagined a better finale.
I think it's fitting that Hunter, Lilith, and Amity got sidelined for the final battle. Their lives under Belos were defined by competition and isolation. Their arcs are all about letting go of ambitions in favor of deep, genuine connection. In the end, they're right where they need to be. Doing what they can, where they can even though their magic is exhausted. Showing up for the people who need them.
something i feel fits quite well is this: belos was almost if not literally a cancer to the boiling isles, and as many have been saying his death was not one befitting a villain, not a monster or even a parasite, he was a cancer, and he got the death, of a cancer
What makes Belos’ death so satisfying is HOW he died. Whenever a villain meets their end, they’ve either been shot, stabbed, drowned, eaten, blown up, or turned to dust. The only problem is that they happen so quickly. Belos’ demise was dragged out, and he suffered every second of it. As Luz stares daggers at him for pathetically attempting to manipulate her by appealing to her sympathy, the boiling rain comes pouring down on him, while Luz in her Titan form remains unharmed. Belos’ whole body begins to dissolve (ironically in the veins of the Wicked Witch of the West), reducing him to nothing but a pile of slime and bones. Then he has the nerve to claim that her letting him die makes her no better witches. And then in his final moments, all that’s left of him is his slimy skull, and Eda, King, and Raine furiously marched up to him and stomp all over him, guaranteeing that any remaining traces of his physical existence are completely gone. For 100s of years, Belos was determined to destroy all witchkind, but in an ironic twist of fate, it was witches that destroyed him.
Well said. The idea that not everyone can be redeemed or will want to be your friend or whatever is an important lesson which a lot of shows aimed at kids miss. As for Belos' end, I thought it was so effective that Luz doesn't say a word to him, she just looks at him in pity and/or contempt. Also fun that she became what he lied about being: she communed with the Titan of the boiling isles, she unlocked a new powerful magic from the Titan himself. She SAVED the Boiling Isles. Also: I love the animation of the Titan Luz fight, sure it's epic but also the absolute joy on Luz's face at casting magic for real, not just with glyphs. Despite the gravity of the situation she is so happy there, and happy to be doing it with her family. The but where her and King both go WEH! Is just adorable❤. I must admit, I thought the Titan was going to have left her with one last gift: a bile sac, so that even though glyphs no longer worked, she could start to learn a whole different form of magic. I guess it would have been a different take on the ending with King's glyphs, so I wasn't disappointed it didn't happen. All in all I liked that it was a genuinely good ending and the bittersweetness was entirely external factors, but within the show itself, pretty much everyone we cared about got a happy ending😊.
Unfortunately for Belos , Luz already learned the truth of how Eda was cursed in the first place. And even if he turned himself back into "Philip Witterbane" when he first met her Luz already found out that this version of himself was an evil fraud who manipulated and hurt others that met him and hasn't changed for centuries. And Luz knew she didn't free him from his so called "curse" because all she did was ripped him away from the Titan's heart. Even he couldn't trick the boiling rain.
"Some people will reject your help regardless of your intentions, because they aren't ready to accept it - and sometimes they never will." Oh. That hit hard. Well done - well done.
He murdered his brother, killed his brother's wife, destroyed a village, took over the boiling isles with an iron fist, imprisoned, murdered many innocents, slaughtered hundreds of Golden guards, Killed Luz, willing to commit GENOCIDE and he refuses to admit his doings. He deserves a painfull death.
I loved how immediately after Philip spun his lie about being cursed and was cured thanks to Luz. The boiling rain came in pelting him to make it clear (even when we knew he was lying) he hasn't changed mentally or physically.
10:56 - I also love that Amity was the one who offered the Collector her hand after he helped her and the others save everyone! Like you noted, she also had to work towards earning forgiveness and friendship - something that both she and the Collector learned to do with Luz's help. Plus, as we all know, Amity has ALWAYS had a gentle side when it comes to little kids, so of COURSE it was her! That moment just makes me so happy 😊
Great analysis. It's also poetic that Eda, King, and Raine were the ones to kill Belos. Eda is implied to be a direct descendant of Caleb and Evalyn, his brother and his wife who's lives he ruined after getting trapped in the Boiling Isles. King is the son of the Titan, the very being he tried to destroy but also pretended to be his shepard in order to manipulate the islands' populace. And then you have Raine, one of the few witches to question Belos' magic system, fought back him every chance they got and was Belos' last victim he used in his evil schemes. The only person mission from the moment would be Hunter as the last of the Grimwalkers who were made as a stand-in for Caleb and killed each one after they tried to rebel against him. But hey, the best revenge was seeing Hunter live a much more fufilled life in BI, surrounded by people who are far better influences than Belos ever was.
I think it was actually very significant that Belos was stomped on by Eda, King and Raine. There was someone on tumblr that worded it beautifully but I can’t remember their name sorry. But they talked about how they all collectively represent the people that he used in order to fulfil his own hero complex. Eda - Eda represents all of the ‘wild witches’ that were vilified and punished for not conforming to his ideologies who he used to build up his own reliability to the rest of the boiling isles. Additionally there’s the speculation that Evelyn was a Clawthrone so it would also mean a lot if one of her descendants were one of the ones to give the final blow as well Raine - Raine represents all of the citizens of the boiling isles who he manipulated and used as puppets like he literally did Raine to get to the collector, Raine being there acts as a last reminder to him that basically everyone on the boiling isles no longer unwittingly suck up to his ego and will dismantle his corrupt system as they (Raine) wished to all along King - Belos used the name of King’s dad in order to be believed and trusted like the cult leader he was, claiming all of his acts as ‘the will of the titan’. To have the son of the titan himself stomp on his face in an act of pure disgust is perfect Whether hunter should of been there idk I personally think the poor boy just deserves to move on and let others stomp on him. Hunter moving on and doing all the things he wanted to that he described to Belos like carving palismen and just being happy is enough of a stomp to the face
Honestly I think it would have been incredibly impactful if Luz said to Belos, after he grabbed her foot and said, _'were humans, were better than all of this!'_ "No we aren't." Because in the end both of them weren't above any of what they went through, they just experienced and viewed the boiling Ilses,it's people, and it's magic differently. Which was perfectly demonstrated at the very end by Luz being a being comprised of literal titans magic, and even being protected by it in the boiling rains. While Belos completely having destroyed his own life, melts in the rain after having spent centuries abusing magic (pretty much against the titans will) and everyone Around him.
I don't think that would've been better this dickhead did not deserve any more of her attention being ignored in his dying moment hurt, Im sure of that, and I think that's how it should be
Yep dude's death was quite poetic, he lived as he died, being rotten, and was killed in the most anticlimactic way possible being stomped to death, no lazers, or big magical blast or any crazy stuff, just death in the most regular way possible because belos- no matter how hard he tried, he will never be anything special and never was.
What I think sealed the deal on Belos's death (TV Tropes took note of this) is that he turned himself back into Philip which has a things going for it. 1. Him morphing into Philip shows his ego blinding him from learning his mistakes since he betrayed Luz centuries ago AS Philip. It also shows Luz that he'll always see himself as this perfect hero when in reality he's a delusional monster. 2.(Maybe something I noticed but I may be overthinking it) He still wore his witch hunter ensemble, meaning he was ultimately planning on doing witch genocide again, he was just going to wait for the opportune moment to strike. 3. (Same with 2.) He said "dark magic" which is also false since BI shows no history of "dark magic", he was probably appealing to Luz's love of fantasy due to her hobbies on earth. 4. Comparing himself to Eda, Luz's second mom who looked after her and loved her unconditionally while Belos only liked Luz cause she was human.
It's definitely a more fitting and poetic end imo, Belos's final moments were at the hand (or feet in this case) of the same people he set out to oppress and genocide. Even if Luz is the main character, she was never Belos's main target, just a persistent obstacle to overcome.
@@golden-prism thank you so much that means a lot I'll be sure to watch your channel more often it's always thoughtful when RUclipsrs reach out to individuals
Aww, thank you! And of course :) I’m here mostly to ramble about fictional stories but I want to build a kind and supportive community as well. Besides, being kind costs nothing! ❤️🙏
@@golden-prism kindness is an absolute powerful thing that cost absolutely nothing and I always wanted to do YouTubing but lol me rambling about nonsense is boring when nobody is actually your friend so I haven't do it yet
I think it's funny that Belos says, "we're human, we're better than this" because at the time, neither Luz nor Belos are human. Belos is a monster and Luz is imbued with the power of the titan, therefore somewhat of a demigod. Belos really grasped
MD here, You know, the way Belos is defeated is pretty unique as far as disney villains go. The other villains have at least the decency of a grandiose. Defeat, whether it was being blown up or disintegrated or stabbed, hit by a car, or falling from great heights to their death. But the way this villain was defeated is actually a lot more fitting to him in a way that's more conceptually simple than you realize. Belos was a cancer in the boiling isles both figuratively and in the end, quite literally. So it seemed almost satisfying for him to be defeated the way he was, literally removed from his perch, the titan's heart, his ultimate source of sustenance, like a cancer.
Despite the shortening, I still feel like this was a good way to finally end Belos. I love how Luz wasn't the one to give the finishing blow. Belos has to be one of my favorite villains in recent memory and a good example that some people are too far gone to be saved. Truly a fitting end to the self-proclaimed "Savior of Humanity/Witch Hunter General".
Idk after seeing how a small bit of goo can make him come back again and again I'm kinda worried that they don't address that king is like "ew it's on my claws" and I'm like cmon again???
I think Eda, Raine, and King represent all the people of the Boiling Isles he hurt. Eda represents the wild magic/witches he destroyed, Raine represents the people who believed his lies and found out what he was really doing all too late, and King represents the present and future children whose lives will be forever effected by Belos’s actions as King is semi immortal and his life will extend through many generations of witches who will be impacted by what happened even though it happened many years before them.
"You'll just be conniving, just as unforgivable and just as evil as those witches!" He is literally just describing himself, but he's just so self-centered that he blames it on the witches. That's just proof that he just can't be redeemed anymore. That's probably what Caleb's ghost was thinking when Belos blamed him for all this happening. Honestly, if he was still alive but was charged for his crimes, I'd give him till the day he freaking dies. All those things he did can't be forgiven. Belos is one of my favorite villains, and his defeat is one of the most satisfying defeats I've ever seen.
One thing I just noticed about Belos, is that he marked Hunter with a coven mark, which means that even if Hunter never betrayed Belos, he still would've killed him in the draining spell.
How are you guys doing after the finale?
I love THe Owl House and it feels a bit sad seeing it end. What it ended with was the best that could be done.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH
Making a plan to destroy disney /j
Tears.
I'm happy and sad, but glad nonetheless. I'm also haunted by the bird worm in Papa Titan's eye, who are they? Are they Hooty's dad/mom? What does it mean!?
I think the most pathetic thing about Belos’s death was that he compared himself to Eda, saying he struggled with a curse just like she did. If makes me think back to Hunting Palisman where both of them reunite with the kid they’re mentoring. While Eda treats Luz with love and kindness, Belos actively uses his curse to threaten Hunter. Eda has come so far in accepting her curse, it’s been one of the most significant struggles in the entire show. So to see Belos use his as a last ditch effort is nothing short of insulting.
Plus Belos willingly did this to himself so he could cheat death and have more power, unlike Eda who never asked for it in the first place.
When Belos tried to play the victim card, my head kept playing that clip from Men in Tights when the crowd was coughing "bulls**t" repeatedly.
Pathetic or glorious?
@dylansharp8471 Well Belos being pathetic is very glorious, so both.
Comparing himself to Eda was really an insult! She shied away from the people she loved because she felt guilty of having hurt her father, although she couldn't help it. While Belos always blamed others for his actions and refused to take any responsability.
The irony that Belos saw all witches as beneath him. He dies beneath witches, stomped out under the shoes of the ones he despised the greatest.
Dang, that _is_ ironic. 😅
Poetic justice at its finest.
Yup and the fact that he only got where he was by the kindness of witches
Now that. IS. Ironyyy 🎶
but... king is barefoot
I love the part where Belos assumes his human form and blames all the awful things he did on a curse in an attempt to manipulate Luz through her compassion, and Luz just stares at him with an unimpressed look, like "Really, you think that's going to work? After everything that's happened, after everything you've done? You think I'm going to buy into your lies again?"
I love how much she's grown. You just know that Season 1 Luz would have probably fallen for that, but not S3 Luz. Not after everything she's seen him do, not after her conversation with the Titan where she really realized there was nothing genuine about him and that he was a lost cause to try to save. She learned you simply can't save everyone, and there are people who are beyond saving.
The imagery of Luz simply standing over him as he melted away without saying a word is a strong one. You know you're fucked when even the ever-forgiving Luz just watches you die in silence without even attempting to help you.
@@StarcoFanatic
So then uh.....
Was her nightmare at the beginning and Eda's nightmare NOT backtracking on their character development?
Cause Eda made peace w/ her dad, and Luz had that talk w/ Camila in For the Future.
Maybe it's some realistic and psychological thing.
Plus I've been told Willow's breakdown in FTF and Amity's "top student once" and Student Council moments also weren't backtracking on their development so..........
@@dylansharp8471 I'm curious define why you think it's backtracking on their character development, because their nightmares were just their fears and insecurities brought front and center.
@@dylansharp8471 I didn't really see those as backtracking. I saw them more as the final test of their character arcs. The final confirmation of if the characters reached where they were supposed to and where they need to go from there.
I LOVE that in that moment he's going on about "human this" and "human that" when he's a pile of goop and Luz is a demigod, helps show how narrow his view of things are, *chefs kiss*
Imagine being King's dad watching Belos spewing BS about him and himself. The amount of cringe and anger is understandably immeasurable.
The worst part is that he was definetly able to see every single little dirty thing he did, and could do nothing to stop it. If that's enough to make anyone mad, I can't even imagine what the Titan went through.
Must be how Jesus is feeling lol
@@that1cat999 Especially 'in his name'. Really one of the most abused religions and sadly enough Internet trolls keep doing it.❤😅🧿
I didn’t realise Belos’ death was a homage to the Wicked Witch. That’s creative.
Ring the bells! The wicked witch is dead!
AND in the book, Dorothy (luz) being blessed by the Good Witch of the North (papa titan), the Wicked Witch (belos) could not attack her directly (shown during his final moments)
"For I am the Good Witch Luz!"
After reading this I had a brief moment where I actually thought Dorothy had curbed stomped the witch as she melted. Now I can't get that image that out of my head lol
@@kylosnow Belos: I’M MELTING~! MELTING~! WHAT A WORLD~! WHAT A WO- **STOMP!!**
The burn 🔥
Not everyone is worth helping, belos is an example.
Horde Prime from _She-Ra and the Princesses of Power_ is another, IMO. :3.
Ask steven universe
ya but I wish we could have seen Luz answer the Collector's worry of doing the forgiving wrong with Alfred's quote on the Joker that some men just want to watch the world burn and that Belos is one of those men
Exactly. There will be people that will not change no matter how many chances. Belos had plenty of chances to change and fit in with Caleb but he chose not to. He continued believing witches were evil until his bitter end.
Jack horner would like to meet him, lol
Not all villans needs to be redeem. The owl house showed it to belos, and his death was the best way to end him.
For sure! TOH really showed that some kindness can go a long way, but it doesn't mean that everyone is capable of changing and I think that's beautiful.
But I still think there’s a missed opportunity of him being stared at by his dead brother one last time
Philip’s/Belo’s death is even more poetic when you realize it was done by the Titan’s son (Belos constantly claimed he was in service to the Titan to manipulate everyone), his great, great, something niece (If Caleb & Evelyn being Eda’s ancestors is to be believed), and the last person to be controlled & manipulated by him- Raine. His crimes came back to bite him.
@@randomrhino7500 I think it’s best hunter and Caleb weren’t there.
Hunter couldn’t take anymore at that rate.. and I believe that moment when belos crawled past Caleb that’s when Caleb had given up on him truly…
Like Odalia as a mother and wife! I guess she became neutral by the end, but her relationships look like it ended.
Gosh Im glad they didnt stick her in the final credits. Kikimora was kinda nice tho, but she wasnt seen as "Oh I have turned my ways 180 degrees", but she looks more neutral.
I think it's really great the Hunter wasn't there for Belos death. He's trying to heal from everything and Belos already set him back onc when he possessed him. Belos does not deserve to force himself into Hunter's life anymore, not even as a nightmare of his death. Hunter left Belos behind already and a lot of times being forced in a situation where you face you abuser, whom you loved for a long time before realizing you were abused, while said abuser is in a desperate situation, begging for help, can set someone's healing back for months. Belos also did not deserve to see Hunter once again just like he didn't deserve to see Caleb
*Caleb
I think it was a good thing too, because I believe in Thanks to Them, Hunter said that he wanted to never step foot in the castle again, which is also him separating himself from the life full of abuse and false love.
Belos is Phillip btw
Belos being stuck in a state of arrested development; thinking he can still be that hero who hunts witches. Guy killed his own brother; then blamed it on the witches, corrupted his own body, and blamed it on dark magic, and began sipping his own Kool-Aid so hard, he has a multi-layered mind-space working 24/7, performing the longest sequence of mental gymnastics known to mankind. Papa Titan also doing a lot to lay it out clearly for Luz (who's so pure that she STILL compared herself to Phillip).
It's funny; Luz is his exact opposite, having grown out of her fantasies of being a hero, and instead naturally becoming one. Belos had to lie, steal, and cheat his way into everything; and earned his bad ending. Meanwhile; Luz struggled to get anything, working hard to forge bonds, and earned her happy ending. Also love that Belos may have stolen the titans body, but Luz was gifted his soul at the end.
I do so love Belos' pathetic demise. It reminds me of Light Yagami's own end in Death Note, at least in the manga. He's not given a dignified death, he dies kicking and screaming, terrified of the exact same fate he had subjected millions to.
In both cases, it's meant to highlight that those characters are NOT the tragic saviors they wanted to be perceived as, instead showing them for what they really are: immature, narcissistic monsters.
One storyline missing from the show was "Who was Evelyn?" All we know about her is that Flapjack was her palisman and that she drew Caleb to The Demon Realm. Based on her portrayed appearance, her name similarity to Edalyn and the owl stopper on the vial of Titan's blood, I'm 99% certain she was a Clawthorne and a direct ancestor to Eda.
I kind of hope that we get that spin off (the Young Eda one) and maybe even a Caleb story. Sure we'll know what things have to happen but we don't know how and I want confirmation on these things.
I definitely felt like they wanted to definitively answer that with all the hints that point to that fact, but, I think leaving it open-ended was the best choice in the long run. It gives us something to speculate on long after the show is over, but it's open enough that it could be a plot thread they explore if there's ever a continuation.
it's implied that Caleb and Evelyn are the progenitors of the clawthorn family especially since papa clawthorn looks suspiciously like an elderly hunter, but it shouldn't be too much for say a comic featuring a time pool to figure it out.
yes, considering eda's mother knew abt philip and eda was the one who found the portal they are probably connected
Probably Eda’s ancestor. Hinted at with the names, Edalyn, Evelyn.. even the palisman is a bird.. shown that only birds were a Clawthorne trait.. Eda has an owl, Lilith a Raven, Gwen a hawk, and Dell a cardinal. Much like Flapjack.
Evelyn also looks like Eda. The large hair, the red dress, and bird palisman. I assume this is always why he hated her. She’s a wild witch that was descended from his brother’s lover..
Since ghost Caleb wasn't there to see Belos's death, Luz was given Belos the same look Caleb gave him. Luz walk away from Belos not telling him a word is very powerful.
Also, Belos's death was fitting and he gets killed by Eda, King, and Raine, he ruined their lives over the years and he underestimated them.
Eda is a descendant of Caleb and Evelyn and Belos's great great great grand niece.
King, Belos used King's dad and abused his father's glyph magic over the centuries (King's dad tried to hide the magic from him also King's dad bless Luz the power she needed to defeat Belos.
Raine is what Belos did to Raine and everyone in the Boiling Isles. Belos used Raine's body and Eda's loves Raine.
Being killed by these 3 is very poetic justice.
Raine may not have been able to fight Belos head on for long but they were able to help end Belos's reign of terror. (Pun not intended.) Raine even said it was "kind of satisfying."
@@Stargazer_Ley After what Belos did to Raine, Raine had every right to kill that monster. Belos never once told Eda that he's her great great great grand uncle...though he didn't even care anyway.
@@AH-is5yg Oh absolutely. I'm glad Raine got a chance to end Belos. They were able to make an impact at the end of the story. They were also powerful enough to stop Belos. They fought back and I think that is what helped Luz fight Belos. Raine wasn't sidelined during the fight. They did something important and that's acknowledged at the end.
@@Stargazer_Ley glad Eda King and Raine were there helping Luz fighting Balos. The show started with three main characters and the final battle ended with them. Glad Raine got to be there
I thought Raine would discover that Belos's weakness was loud sounds as well as Marvel symbiotes.
I love the titans line about "you assume belos comes from a genuine place." It helps to emphasize that not every villain deserves redemption or understanding. Some evil people aren't misunderstood, but instead they are just plain evil. Lately there have been to many shows that are line "violence is never worth it" and "everyone deserves a second chance" but that gives kids a false ideology. Sometimes the only way to defeat a foe is to destroy them. Some people may be misunderstood, but there are also people who are just Hitler. And it's OK to punch Hitler. He's literal Hitler!
I saw another theory video that said they thought Luz used the very last little bit of power she had left to summon the boiling rain because even in that moment she couldn't stand to kill him but knew that was the only way to get rid of him. So she used the rain as a way to allow nature to take its course. Which would explain why it only lasted like 10 seconds and was so heavily emphasized why she was protected against it.
Luz is quite literally the embodiment of "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" in that moment
The idea that a short lived storm kicked up and washed away all that was left of Belos is not infeasible as similar storms have been used in other animated series. All Might's punch in My Hero Academia which created a tornado and caused it to rain for a short while after. Or Sasuke's Fire in Naruto, creating a depression and thus causing a lightning storm to boost the power of another of his attacks. Luz ripped Belos free of the heart and all the chaos he created trying to bring that power under his control could have had any number of effects. Eda, Raine and King were all blown away!
Of course the idea of it not even being conscious could be argued. Luz is not going to kill him and remains a pure uncorrupted character. But she still isn't or can't bring herself to save him. Deep down she just wants him to go away. The Power she gained from the Titan, calls the storm and washes Belos away but she herself is protected from its effects indicating that this was of her own creation or is just naturally immune. Coincidence or latent desire the effect was the same. Who can say how the power of a Titan would respond to its wielder in such a circumstance?
IMO This rain,which kinda ended Belos,have special meaning. Water is a sign of purification. Water helps you to see,what things really looks like. Normaly you clean up sth dirty. But this time real dirt is underneath cover, underneath every single lie Belos/Philip told. Also rain is like a force of the nature. The Boiling Isle itself revenged on Belos and for me it's greater than if it was done for anyone.
Its a great ending. Even as he dies he avoids responsibility. "It was a curse that forced me to do those horrible things." That right there showed everything. He both admits the things he did was terrible and refuses to accept responsibility. Evan as he lies he refuses to admit he did anything wrong. You see the first and most important part of forgiveness is admitting fault. I believe anybody can be forgiven but to do that you have to admit you did the wrong thing, show remorse, and willingness to change. Belos, he can't even fake being the villain in his story.
I think that's why Luz simply stood there silently. She couldn't even begin to believe his audacity, that he'd STILL try to deceive her after everything. That was when she decided to not even bother trying to save him. You know you're fucked when the ever-forgiving positive Luz just watches you die silently without even lifting a finger to help you.
Well said, I agree.
Belos was sooo irredeemable. You can’t forgive someone who isn’t even sorry!
I adored how Titan Luz was silently glaring at Belos while he went on his "poor me, nobody understands me" schtick, because she finally realized that he never wanted to be redeemed after her optimism burned her more than once. He had literal CENTURIES to redeem himself, and yet he dove into horrible shit like Tom Riddle, King Galbatorix, and The Lich King, all immortals in their own worlds, did. His last words, "We're human, we're better than this!," is ironic, since Belos long since shed any humanity he had left after shanking his brother Caleb and trying to commit a fucking genocide on an entire race.
I think ultimately the best part of Belos' death is that in the end, his single greatest and most enduring strength; his deceit and cunning fails him. He's come back from the brink of death so many times just through perserverance and manipulation, but it's just not enough this time. His lies have caught up to him, he's played every card, made every gambit and he has *nothing* left. So he panics, his lies get sloppy and the cracks show in his facade of deciet and Luz sees right through it. She knows him by now, knows exactly what he's capable of and takes no chances. He's already dying, and all she has to do is wait for the rain to finally shred him apart.
He fucking fails at the *one thing* he's always had, and pays the ultimate price
One of the biggest differences I’ve always seen between Belos and Luz is that Belos would never hold himself accountable for anything while Luz holds herself accountable for everything distinctly including things that are in no way her fault.
9:30 I LOVE this line because every time you hear it, it sounds like Belos is going to say *"You'll be just as bad, just as conniving, just as evil, and just as unforgivable-"* you think he's going to say *'me'* as that's Luz's greatest fear, that she's like him. But he proves himself that he *IS* all those things and that Luz is not like him when he says *"-as those witches!"* Idk its just such an awesome line for me as it always gives me that feeling of him saying *'me'* and then him not... awww its so good.
@MintyMakes
and it shows that he never changed and still kept the false notion that he was a hero...
I kinda find it very poetic that Belos is stomped out by actual residents of the Boiling Isles, and a couple leaders of the rebellion no less. Two witches and a Titan were the ones who ultimately squashed him like a bug, a pest. They reclaimed their power and their home just like they worked to do. Luz didn’t feel the need to step in and do it herself, she didn’t need to deliver the final blow and be the ultimate savior, she just watches. She lets it happen and lets her friends, her family, finish him off and save their home from him once and for all. It was an excellent choice.
His whole “I was cursed” bit was hilarious
It was so cute of the way King stomped on Belos/Phillip.
I like the fact that the first draft of the owl house had the boiling isles literally be hell and I find it fitting that a man so afraid of the devil became him instead.
I love that Belos, the human supremacist, was ironically the most inhuman character in the show, what with his monstrous form and complete lack of humanity, empathy or compassion. When he tells Luz she'd be just as bad as witches by letting him die, the traits he describe fit him to a tee. He's the most conniving, deceitful and evil character in the show, yet he deludes himself and acts like a tragic hero and victim of wild magic😂
His final form was a parasitic fungus, the physical manifestation of the cancer he had been on the Boiling Isles.
Just goes to show that human supremacists are scum.
more often than not, people who like to see themselves as having the moral high ground and act in accordance to what they consider is the "right" way act in very monstrous ways because they already see all their actions as better than those beneath them and so don't question that they might be doing wrong and continue to act in this deluded sense of self-righteousness; acting for what they consider as a "greater good".
Even in the end, he didn't accept that he was the villain, saying that she'd be as bad as the witches, not as bad as him.
And the lacking letting go of his delusional; don’t forget that
Belos was the definition of someone who couldn’t be helped and Luz realized that after multiple attempts of trying to reason with him the fact that Belos tried to make it seem like his curse was the issue made me laugh because he was like that way before his curse was at the state it was in.
Luz could have reasoned with him if she said the right thing
@@ItsB1998
Okay Odalia, keep bootlicking.
"this show proves that creativity and passion are not dead" +1
It did feel kind of incomplete, but when you have to condense a whole season to 3 long episodes it’s going to be that way.
Yeah. There shoulda been more, but nooo, Disney had to cancel it. I'll admit I'm still a little salty. But hey, the ending we got is still pretty good. I'll definitely have some nostalgia for it.
I hope people who watch the show in the future understand that
@Kat I mean it was bob iger or chapek (I don't know the name)
I’ll bet Dana had the plot of season 3 all figured out before it was cancelled. I think when Disney shortened it, the writing team had to work around telling the story in a different way. I think Dana even said The Collector wasn’t originally in the show! Even if, dare I say it, season 3 was perhaps just a little rushed due to it being shortened in such short notice (especially when you’ve been working on your story for YEARS and now you have to rework the official ending) you cannot deny the show had great writers who made the best of what they had and I love it. Thank you, Dana Terrace and crew.
idk i felt like it was complete enough
I love how in the final confrontation when Belos is begging Luz to save him, she just stands there in the same manner as Caleb with that same chilling look of disgust.
nobody is beyond redemption until they *choose* not to be redeemed. belos is the perfect example of this. he had so many chances to improve and be better, so many chances to stop. so many people that WANTED to help. the difference between him and other characters in this show who got redemption arcs is at the end of the day, they were able to stop and ask themself "Is this a good idea?" they were able to look at themselves even if it was hard, even if it hurt, and try to be a little better. even if they didn't know how. amity thought she'd never be able to be happy, and STILL chose to try and be a better person and apologize for what she did. lilith had just realized just how BADLY she'd fucked up and even when she's realized she's wasted her whole life on one horrible selfish choice, she tried to go and be better. hunter's entire life was uprooted and belos was going to take him back in hollow mind, was praising him and giving him that opportunity to fall back under his wing, and he STILL made the hard choice. STILL stood up even when his entire world was falling apart, when he'd just lost everything. the collector made desperate bids to fix their horrible mistakes and in the end did what was right.
but belos?
belos had his chances. amity and hunter slapped at the hand trying to help them but they eventually took it, and they made that choice themself. belos CHOSE to never reflect. belos CHOSE to fall deeper. belos chose to go beyond that point of no return and then some. belos is a fantastic, complicated and nuanced villain. but he is still a villain. and at the end of the day? the only one responsible for his fate is belos.
he made his choice.
Yeah he was definitely unworthy of redemption but he could have been if he chose to try I mean Endeavour from mha was a terrible person for what he did while blindly trying to achieve his ambition but once he actually looked at his actions he was ashamed and dedicated himself to trying to be better redemption isn’t about deserving to be redeemed it’s about being willing to try
For me, the fact Belos died ordinarily and without any final grand spectacle on his behalf was a fitting way for him to go. In my opinion it proved that no matter how many palismen he consumed, no matter how drastic the measures he took to avoid death were, it still came either way and he died plainly and the same was as a human, witch, or demon might have died. The fact he died as Phillip, not Belos or whatever you call his possessing-the-Titan form, also helps tie into that.
It all really just highlights that he wasn't the god and savior that he thought he was. And I'm happy with that final puncture to his ego.
(tbh it kinda reminded me of book Voldemort's death)
It's funny because you can see parallels between Belos's actions toward the people and the boiling isles. Belos lived his life manipulating and harming people to get his way even if it meant also losing his sanity. I believe that in the final ending between Belos and Luz, you can see the different paths both of them chose though they had the same upbringing and ideals they had. Even in his last moments, he tried manipulating his way out of things only to meet one person who couldn't be swayed although they were almost the same. It shows he never accepted defeat and thought he could manipulate his way out of things. His ignorance was what brought him to such power and what defeated him in the end. Although it may seem strange that he died by getting stepped on it's fitting since he never saw witches as people to begin with, always thinking they were beneath him and "stepping" on them to show he was better than them because he was human. So the best way to kill the oppressor is to use the same way they used to abuse their power stepping on them to show how little they actually were.
I really like this explanation of ending up getting stomped on being a reflection of his own treatment of the witches and how despite spending so much time among them, he never learned how to see them as equals. It's a really good way to look at it.
Ahhh... one little thing, Belos and Luz didn't have the same upbringing and ideals. Belos grew up learning to hate and burn witches, Luz grew up loving witches and even wishing to be one
@@queenperrytheplatypus458 we could compare it to caled and phillip. caleb and phillip both had the same upbringing, but caled chose to see witches for whop they actually were and phillip rejected this train of thought. even after being given countless chances by witches and humans alike, he was still willing to lie and cheat his way into being a saviour.
@@rtm117 Ya
It would have been epic if, like Plankton in the first SpongeBob movie, after trampling him, they would have taken what was left of Belos in a small truck to a prison.
"Everyone thinks they are the hero of their own story"
- A Borderlands Quote
I love how in the last scene with Belos, Luz is the actual one who's carrying out the Titan's will that Belos claimed so long to be acting on. She stands before him as the hero he fooled himself into believing he was.
not only that but she shows as a human standing tall and glowing, not even the acid rain affects her and Bellos is groveling on the floor, a pile of mud of a monster begging for mercy unable to ustain himself
After the last episode I must say Belos is clearly one of the best villains in modern time.
His character shows us that some peoples actions are affected by the society. Back in the human realm during the 17th century he was really affected by the society which made him the witch Hunter we all hate and love at the same time. Some people say that he should have change since he was So long on the BI but when you kill your own brother there's no coming back because if you then stop you realize you killed him for nothing and your life becomes terrible. We even see he regret killing Caleb.
And he was still trying even in his last moments. He tried to manipulate Luz for the last time so He could continue with his goal. That's some Real determination there.
As I say.
"The show is only good as it's villain"
And only few villains can compare to Belos
good one 👍
Belos comparing himself to Eda by saying that his curse was what made him evil is the most disgusting lie he has ever told.
Because of her curse, Eda broke up with Raine to protect them, hid herself away to keep others safe, and then learned to live with her curse fully. She was forgiven by her father, got her mother out of a bad situation, and reconciled with her sister.
Belos killed his brother, killed innocent Palisman, and killed many Golden Guards before Hunter FINALLY broke the cycle and got free with the help of Flapjack, his Palisman who was there at the start with Caleb, and reunited with him after his death.
Belos is not redeemable nor is he good. He is evil, and a monster.
You're speaking nothing but facts
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you”
A lesson that Christians and other religious dogmatists still haven't learned.
Cringe
@@imtired927 your mom
@imtired927 Cringe is dead
@@imtired927 How do you see a quote so raw yet manage to cringe at it?
When even Luz Noceda is out of mercy, you know you have long crossed every line and burned your every bridge.
I love how luz asks papa titan if hurting belos will make them just as bad as him and hes like “whaat?? Of course not!”
I hate when characters say they’re “refusing to stoop to the villains level” when giving them what they deserve for their actions. You can’t compare punishing a tyrant to being a tyrant yknow 😭
To quote a good uncle "No. She is crazy and needs to go down."
@@scribblerstudios9895Oh man, I love Iroh. But yeah, some people are just not worth it and they deserve punishment.
@@scribblerstudios9895 i laughed hysterically when 1st hear that line. Iroh is usually empathic towards others. But his niece he's like "nah this bitch cray, end her nephew"
@@HyouVizer wasn't Iroh a bad person before though.
@@tobsonasanya4765Yes but he realized his actions. He acted on his feelings of anger from his son’s death. But the important thing is that once he goes through the stages of grief, he realizes that what he was doing was actively putting others through the same grief he went through. He grew and accepted that he was wrong
After everything he has done, Belos's life had to come to an end.
Just wish it could have been a more satisfying one, but that would likely raise the rating to NC-17 from pure, excessively-gratuitous violence.
@@HenshinFanatic
though the good thing about that is that countless children can watch him die somewhat brutally...
I think it`s very fitting to show how pathetic Belos was, he literally had everything some people want: power, loyalty, respect, there was almost nobody that didn't fear him or didn't follow his orders to the letter, he could've lived a pretty good life like that, but his desire to kill all witches, his hatred, blinded him so much that despite having everything, he couldn't live with it, it's almost like Zuko in avatar, but while zuko gave up everything to do what was right, Belos gave up everything to do what was wrong
I think it's very worth reminding that King, Eda and Raine living in a hell of Belos's making. The system was opressive against them and they've lost a LOT living in it and fighting within it, so I find it poetic that they stompted his ass down. It's people of the Isles saying no.
Also, I feel like Hunter already stood up to and showed that he's better than him. Hunter being at the end would have to take from this beautiful bow on the top just to have another scene with their confrontation.
Great essay!!!
Phillip/Belos is a brilliant example of writing a villain. Although the trope of the main antagonist of the story just wanting control is very realistic and still good, this brings a whole new scary viewpoint from the other perspective. Belos didnt want control per say, he wanted to be "the hero", usually the goal that falls into the hands of the protagonist / good guys of the story. Once he lost all his control and humanity he shouldn't have wanted to continue his journey but he did and fought with what little was left of him to complete what he wanted to do even at the cost of not being able to reap the "benefits" of his work; again, parallelling what usually is the main characters job. Belos has all the activity of a main character or good guy, and yet is as evil as can be. Which in my opinion makes him even more terrifying
Watching Belos disintegrate into a skull and suddenly remembering that this is a kids show lmao
Fantastic video! I actually liked that Hunter didn't confront him at the end. Like his connection to (and creation by) Belos is irrelevant, and he's just off to live his best life.
And besides, some victims abandon their victimizers; to see that justified revenge isn’t worth anything
I kinda pity Belo's. I imagine that when he saw the isles and recognized that the witches weren't the evil demonic monsters he believed in he probably went mad at that point everything he believed right down the drain. His hate grew even stronger for the witches because they didn't meet his expectation of being the evil beings he had imagined which makes his character seem even more evil when you realize that he tried to shape the Isles into his preferred image of being a hellscape filled with evil.
I have a head canon about that:
Caleb is the better witch hunter between the two. Philip wanted to be good at it too but found out that witches weren't evil and all they were trained for were useless. Thus, he went down his path to have a sense of purpose.
From what I observed, people who view themselves as "the weaker one" tend to use manipulation to get their way.
An interesting example that people conflate with redemption is the Diamonds in Steven Universe. Yes, Steven tries to prioritize forgiveness but getting basically cut in half (removing his gem and half of his makeup) left him with intense PTSD and hatred for the Diamonds, resentment towards his mother, and violent thoughts about White Diamond. Not to mention his burnout on dealing with the aftermath of the war and several other people and gems he didn't redeem or befriend. He literally views the Diamonds as monsters, which by all accounts they are. He just took the path that would cause less universal damage, not necessarily the path he thinks the Diamonds deserve, and it's basically an option fueled by nepotism. If Rose was actually a Quartz and Pink a completely separate being, the universe would continue to be colonized and destroyed, and White Diamond wouldn't even come close to realizing she would do anything wrong, and Steven would have died way more easily, way earlier for multiple encounters he actually survived in canon.
I don't think he hates the Diamonds per se but he certainly wants nothing to do with them. It's not about his feelings but what works better for peace.
@@JamaicaZ160R1793010Ahave you watched Steven universe future, he legitimately hates them
@@thesummoner6462 Hatred and resentment are two separate things. I said he didn't hate them but I didn't say he loved them either.
In trying to save humanity Belos lost his own, I think he is the closest thing to a true demon in the demon realm, great video by the way as all of them are!
one thing i haven’t seen anyone talk about is how Luz IS actually "the chosen one." not in the traditional sense of being born special or arbitrarily prophesied for greatness, but as in being *literally chosen* by the closest thing the show has to a god- the titan himself- to inherit his magic. out of everyone on the boiling isles, the titan only showed Luz the glyphs, saved her from death, and gave her the last of his magic. he CHOSE her-
-not because she was powerful, but because she was kind.
he saw how much she loved the isles and the creatures that live there, how hard she worked to understand them, not because she wanted to control them like philip, but to be a part of them. how her kindness and optimism changed the lives of so many- eda, amity, willow, hunter, and king. how she always tried to protect and help everyone, even if meant putting herself at risk. the titan watched her grow into a hero through her own brave, selfless actions, and chose her to save the world.
it’s a really neat subversion of the chosen one trope, and i think it’s really sweet luz got her childhood fantasy fulfilled in the end- just not in the way she expected.
Actually the titan gives her the choice and says "so, will you choose your self"
I honestly didn't want to see Owl House end, BUT Watching and Dreaming gave it a worthwhile sendoff. Luz befriending and protecting Collector while he learned how to make friends, and about the concept of mortality. When Luz briefly died I actually cried a bit even more so when King and Eda went berserk. Loved how down to Earth and chill Papa Titan was, and the epilogue.
I think the biggest difference between Philip and Luz is that Luz wanted to be a part of the Boiling Isles, a part of this strange and magic world just the same as any other being in it, Philip always looked down at everyone and everything, believing he was superior to all the witches and demons, thinking he was better just by virtue of what he was by comparison. So I think it was perfect that Luz, who only wanted to learn and grow and understand this bizarre and crazy world and all its people was ultimately given its gifts freely and, in the end, looked down on the creature Philip became through his self centered self importance in pity and disgust.
Belos is my favorite character in this show. He is far from a good person, but as far as character development goes, he is amazing. As many redemption arcs as there are in modern media, it's always a delight to see the inverse, a complete downward spiral.
Belos believes so deeply that the ends justify his means, so much so that he is willing to pose as a witch for lifetimes and toil away alone to enact a plan to commit mass genocide. He clearly didn't enjoy it, (at least the long wait it took) and he feels heroic for enduring it as a result. And if the witches of the Boiling Isles were true villains, he would be right. But he didn't allow himself to emphasize with them or see them as anything more than the impure monsters he was told they were.
This ending is perfect for him. He doesn't go down with a fight, because without magic he's weak. And he doesn't slip away because he's told too many lies to be trusted now. He dies to the boiling rain, a poetic fate for someone who longed for the rain of the human realm he longed to feel again. And despite it all, he still believes he was right. Heck, since Eda pretty much indulges his last words suggesting that humans are better than witches and stamps the last bit of life out of him, he probably STILL thinks he's right in the afterlife.
And it makes you wonder . . . what would Belos have done if he DID accept he was wrong? I'm not suggesting it could've happened, given how we've seen no evidence of that amount of self-reflection in him, but this is all purely hypothetical. What would he have done if he admitted he'd been wrong?
I imagine he would have died anyway. He would have realized he'd become a greater monster than those he'd tried to destroy, and he would've accepted that there was no going back to his old life or finding peace in his new life.
So he would've ended it. At least that way, he could see Caleb again.
ya just imagin during the scene he just has a complete emotional breakdown realizing everything he did was for nothing and basickly begging for death or something like that
Suicide would also be deeply ironic for him as well, as traditionally suicide- through the lens of religion- is viewed as a permanent and immediate damnation to Hell forever by God with no exceptions.
@@UnluckySuperstition he already broke a lot of religious rules already adding one more wouldn't hurt
Yes, me too
Damn I got to read a book
I think kings dad saying at the end that “you think that belos’s motivation comes from a genuine place, when it really doesn’t. He just wants to be the hero of the story.”
I think that’s a really powerful message for kids to take away. Not everyone is genuine with you, and it’s still taking me some time to learn that. Even after all this time, part of me wanted belos/Phillip to have a smidge of good left, to realise his mistakes, or to really be cursed. But no- I think Luz’s decision to step away was a good way to portray how a lot of victims of manipulation feel. They just want nothing to do with them. Then they let their loved ones just crush them 🤣
I think there's a message in the show that anyone can be redeemed, but not everyone will be. Redemption isn't something that arbitrarily happens to a person, it comes to those who are willing to take responsibility for the harm they've caused and change. Belos and Odalia weren't willing to do that, so even when forgiveness was offered to them, it would never be accepted and the hurt they caused would never end. Good people offered to help them along the path of redemption, but they refused to change, so their destruction can only be blamed on themselves. You can offer forgiveness to someone like Philip, but unless he receives it with repentance, you don't have to try and protect him from the consequences of his actions.
Belos sees himself as the hero. The one that sacrificed himself to protect all humans from witches. And ironically his destruction caused witches to flee into the human realm
Imagine finding a way to extend your life for 4 centuries, and still failing to achieve anything of lasting substance. The biggest lasting impact that Belos had on the Boiling Isles was him repositioning the Titan’s left arm, so the birds that nest there now have to roost sideways.
pffft
Idk I think becoming a ruler for a solid generation is an achievement even if it wasn’t his end goal
I know time constraints could be the reason hunter wasn't there but I honestly am glad that he wasn't. Their relationship is very representative of abusive parent and child. I like that hunter was not involved it shows that his win wasn't getting his own back but accepting himself and his chosen family
This is a fairly refreshing perspective. The first bit of community media I looked at after the show ended was one Lily Orchard and wow she just had nothing but contempt for the show.
I thought being curbed stomped was a tad disrespectful which was the point I guess but I just love that to the very end he’s evil no second thoughts no nothing he’s all in
Absolutely agree on the message and theming of kindness but I say it goes a step further. Mattholomule is also a perfect example of Luz extending her kindness to someone that is mean to her and Gus was ready to write him off as just a nuisance rather than give him a chance. As you said, helping only works when the other person wants it and Luz was the one to pull Matt out of that habit of being the way he was. In the looking glass graveyard we get a further look that he was never truly shown kindness and resigned himself to just being inferior while also giving the same thing he had been given to him at Glandus, mistreatment. It was only because of Luz and Gus extending some sort of kindness to him he actually changed and in a way was just being an unruly kid unable to ask for help from his peers.
I found it satisfying that it was Eda, Raine, and King that stomped Belos to death. In a way, they each represented all the people Belos has wronged
The psychology of Belos fascinates me. He was fairly young (or it's implied he was, anyway) when Caleb fell for Evelyn, which means he was probably around the Hexsquad's age or younger when he killed Caleb. That kind of act done by an adult can fuck up their mentality, but for a child, who then (I assume) was also trapped in the demon realm, now alone, viewing everyone around him as an enemy with no way to get back to the human world? It's messed up, and of course all he could do was double, triple, quadruple down on his hatred for witches as a means of survival. He could never admit the truth because it would destroy him to accept that he killed his own brother for no reason.
And thinking about where he came from, it makes sense. A little boy growing up in a town mercilessly opposed to witches and everything associated with them, it's basically a cult, and he's just a kid doing what the adults tell him to. Since he was older, Caleb was mature enough to think critically and realize that Evelyn wasn't the evil witch his town always told him to fear. But with Philip, he wholly believed in the cult-think... and with that in mind, of course killing Caleb would be the correct choice, if the alternate was that his soul would be doomed to hell by a witch.
After that Philip just had to hold onto that mentality to survive. He had to tell himself over and over that he made the right choice, because there was no one else to tell him. There was no one else to comfort him in his grief. There was only witches, and THEY made him do it. And he internalized that line of thinking to the point that, even when he got old enough to think critically, it was too late to change his mind. Even if a witch was nice to him, even if they proved him wrong, his brother was still dead and nothing would change that. The grief and anger needs to go somewhere, and he decided to place it in revenge.
It doesn't justify his actions but damn if it isn't interesting to think about.
He did deserve his fate, still one can’t help but understand how he ended this way
I’m some ways, he reflects on what Luz could have been
Phillip was an outcast in both the Demon Realm and the human realm
On Earth, he was an orphan with his brother Caleb and wandered into Gravesburrow, which their Purtian Neighbors made it hard for them to fit in because they were strangers and different
To fit in, the brothers became Witch Hunters, with Phillip the more of a zealot
But it’s always been him and Caleb against the world, as Caleb was the only person he can rely on
Then Caleb met Evelyn Clawthrone and was spirited away to the Boiling Isles
Phillip caught up and saw his brother in a relationship with a Witch
Philip was brought up by the Puritans to believe Witches are monsters, servants of the Devil, and they ensared his brother
In a fit of rage, he struck down his brother, but blamed the Witches for causing the situation to happen.
Even while a part of him was fascinated in exploring this world. Being the inquisitive nerd Luz is, he still sought to destroy it all to protect humanity back home
He brought back his brother as a Grimwalker, but over time, the good natured personality the Grimwalkers inherited from Caleb, made then question and betray Phillip
He killed them, and recreate them again and again, until he was used to it, seeing them as puppets made in the image of his brother to be used as such
Alone, having no one to drag him out of his loneliness and fear, he became the narcissistic Emperor Belos
Luz always sympathized with Philip, seeing they were both misfits that simply wanted to belong in the world, and both became castaways to the Boiling Isles. At first Luz thought she found a kindred spirit, until the revelation he was Belos broke her for a time
By the finale, she saw he can’t change, Nor want to change, he won’t stop as long as he’s alive. So she knew he was no longer worth it. Yet understand why he became this way, as if things were different it might have been her. She was blessed to found other misfits and friends to save her from her loneliness, and give her reason to become the hero witch she always wanted to be
Phillip only had Caleb, and that want was an obsession that broke him into murdering the one he loved and rationalized it’s the Witches’ fault it all happened
So while Belos was an irredeemable villian. It’s still fascinating how complex he was making his character all the more interesting
He's a dipshit racist that ignored the good around him because it was easier than accepting he was wrong his whole life
I wish Hunter got to see Belos when he was defeated. Like before he disintegrates Belos sees Hunter & reaches out to him saying " Caleb" to which he indignantly responds "My name is Hunter".
Belos became a literal tumor for the Titan
This show was really done dirty by Disney, but even if the ending was a bit rushed by necessity, it was still really satisfying for me.
I just FINALLY watched this on D+, and I think the specials, and the whole 'Collector Arc' were just about as strong as the creators could make them given the runtime crunch they had to work with.
I cried so hard from the very beginning, I loved it. Honestly, with the hand Dana and the others were dealt, I am FLOORED that the finale felt as complete as it did. There will be things that I wish we could have seen, I would have liked some closure on the Wittebane brother arc, but all things considered, I could not have imagined a better finale.
I think it's fitting that Hunter, Lilith, and Amity got sidelined for the final battle. Their lives under Belos were defined by competition and isolation.
Their arcs are all about letting go of ambitions in favor of deep, genuine connection.
In the end, they're right where they need to be. Doing what they can, where they can even though their magic is exhausted. Showing up for the people who need them.
something i feel fits quite well is this: belos was almost if not literally a cancer to the boiling isles, and as many have been saying his death was not one befitting a villain, not a monster or even a parasite, he was a cancer, and he got the death, of a cancer
What makes Belos’ death so satisfying is HOW he died. Whenever a villain meets their end, they’ve either been shot, stabbed, drowned, eaten, blown up, or turned to dust. The only problem is that they happen so quickly. Belos’ demise was dragged out, and he suffered every second of it. As Luz stares daggers at him for pathetically attempting to manipulate her by appealing to her sympathy, the boiling rain comes pouring down on him, while Luz in her Titan form remains unharmed. Belos’ whole body begins to dissolve (ironically in the veins of the Wicked Witch of the West), reducing him to nothing but a pile of slime and bones. Then he has the nerve to claim that her letting him die makes her no better witches. And then in his final moments, all that’s left of him is his slimy skull, and Eda, King, and Raine furiously marched up to him and stomp all over him, guaranteeing that any remaining traces of his physical existence are completely gone. For 100s of years, Belos was determined to destroy all witchkind, but in an ironic twist of fate, it was witches that destroyed him.
Well said. The idea that not everyone can be redeemed or will want to be your friend or whatever is an important lesson which a lot of shows aimed at kids miss.
As for Belos' end, I thought it was so effective that Luz doesn't say a word to him, she just looks at him in pity and/or contempt.
Also fun that she became what he lied about being: she communed with the Titan of the boiling isles, she unlocked a new powerful magic from the Titan himself. She SAVED the Boiling Isles.
Also: I love the animation of the Titan Luz fight, sure it's epic but also the absolute joy on Luz's face at casting magic for real, not just with glyphs. Despite the gravity of the situation she is so happy there, and happy to be doing it with her family. The but where her and King both go WEH! Is just adorable❤.
I must admit, I thought the Titan was going to have left her with one last gift: a bile sac, so that even though glyphs no longer worked, she could start to learn a whole different form of magic. I guess it would have been a different take on the ending with King's glyphs, so I wasn't disappointed it didn't happen. All in all I liked that it was a genuinely good ending and the bittersweetness was entirely external factors, but within the show itself, pretty much everyone we cared about got a happy ending😊.
Unfortunately for Belos , Luz already learned the truth of how Eda was cursed in the first place. And even if he turned himself back into "Philip Witterbane" when he first met her Luz already found out that this version of himself was an evil fraud who manipulated and hurt others that met him and hasn't changed for centuries. And Luz knew she didn't free him from his so called "curse" because all she did was ripped him away from the Titan's heart. Even he couldn't trick the boiling rain.
"Some people will reject your help regardless of your intentions, because they aren't ready to accept it - and sometimes they never will." Oh. That hit hard.
Well done - well done.
He's one of the best villains i've seen.
true
He murdered his brother, killed his brother's wife, destroyed a village, took over the boiling isles with an iron fist, imprisoned, murdered many innocents, slaughtered hundreds of Golden guards, Killed Luz, willing to commit GENOCIDE
and he refuses to admit his doings.
He deserves a painfull death.
i love the fact his demise was him being put on the receiving end of what he had spent centuries doing
stepping on others
I loved how immediately after Philip spun his lie about being cursed and was cured thanks to Luz. The boiling rain came in pelting him to make it clear (even when we knew he was lying) he hasn't changed mentally or physically.
10:56 - I also love that Amity was the one who offered the Collector her hand after he helped her and the others save everyone! Like you noted, she also had to work towards earning forgiveness and friendship - something that both she and the Collector learned to do with Luz's help. Plus, as we all know, Amity has ALWAYS had a gentle side when it comes to little kids, so of COURSE it was her! That moment just makes me so happy 😊
Great analysis. It's also poetic that Eda, King, and Raine were the ones to kill Belos. Eda is implied to be a direct descendant of Caleb and Evalyn, his brother and his wife who's lives he ruined after getting trapped in the Boiling Isles. King is the son of the Titan, the very being he tried to destroy but also pretended to be his shepard in order to manipulate the islands' populace. And then you have Raine, one of the few witches to question Belos' magic system, fought back him every chance they got and was Belos' last victim he used in his evil schemes. The only person mission from the moment would be Hunter as the last of the Grimwalkers who were made as a stand-in for Caleb and killed each one after they tried to rebel against him. But hey, the best revenge was seeing Hunter live a much more fufilled life in BI, surrounded by people who are far better influences than Belos ever was.
I think it was actually very significant that Belos was stomped on by Eda, King and Raine. There was someone on tumblr that worded it beautifully but I can’t remember their name sorry. But they talked about how they all collectively represent the people that he used in order to fulfil his own hero complex.
Eda - Eda represents all of the ‘wild witches’ that were vilified and punished for not conforming to his ideologies who he used to build up his own reliability to the rest of the boiling isles. Additionally there’s the speculation that Evelyn was a Clawthrone so it would also mean a lot if one of her descendants were one of the ones to give the final blow as well
Raine - Raine represents all of the citizens of the boiling isles who he manipulated and used as puppets like he literally did Raine to get to the collector, Raine being there acts as a last reminder to him that basically everyone on the boiling isles no longer unwittingly suck up to his ego and will dismantle his corrupt system as they (Raine) wished to all along
King - Belos used the name of King’s dad in order to be believed and trusted like the cult leader he was, claiming all of his acts as ‘the will of the titan’. To have the son of the titan himself stomp on his face in an act of pure disgust is perfect
Whether hunter should of been there idk I personally think the poor boy just deserves to move on and let others stomp on him. Hunter moving on and doing all the things he wanted to that he described to Belos like carving palismen and just being happy is enough of a stomp to the face
Honestly I think it would have been incredibly impactful if Luz said to Belos, after he grabbed her foot and said, _'were humans, were better than all of this!'_
"No we aren't."
Because in the end both of them weren't above any of what they went through, they just experienced and viewed the boiling Ilses,it's people, and it's magic differently. Which was perfectly demonstrated at the very end by Luz being a being comprised of literal titans magic, and even being protected by it in the boiling rains. While Belos completely having destroyed his own life, melts in the rain after having spent centuries abusing magic (pretty much against the titans will) and everyone Around him.
She gazes at him the same way Calebs ghost does. It's fitting.
Better response would be the following.
Luz: No. I'm human. You? You're just filth in the shape of one.
I don't think that would've been better
this dickhead did not deserve any more of her attention
being ignored in his dying moment hurt, Im sure of that, and I think that's how it should be
I agree and disagree with this comment. While I think this idea is pretty cool, I think Luz not saying anything is fitting
There was a series from a while back that said something like "they always come back if the death was all dramatic". So, this is fine.
Yep dude's death was quite poetic, he lived as he died, being rotten, and was killed in the most anticlimactic way possible being stomped to death, no lazers, or big magical blast or any crazy stuff, just death in the most regular way possible because belos- no matter how hard he tried, he will never be anything special and never was.
he died like that jojo meme scene of the gang beating the crap out of a random guy.
What I think sealed the deal on Belos's death (TV Tropes took note of this) is that he turned himself back into Philip which has a things going for it.
1. Him morphing into Philip shows his ego blinding him from learning his mistakes since he betrayed Luz centuries ago AS Philip. It also shows Luz that he'll always see himself as this perfect hero when in reality he's a delusional monster.
2.(Maybe something I noticed but I may be overthinking it) He still wore his witch hunter ensemble, meaning he was ultimately planning on doing witch genocide again, he was just going to wait for the opportune moment to strike.
3. (Same with 2.) He said "dark magic" which is also false since BI shows no history of "dark magic", he was probably appealing to Luz's love of fantasy due to her hobbies on earth.
4. Comparing himself to Eda, Luz's second mom who looked after her and loved her unconditionally while Belos only liked Luz cause she was human.
It's definitely a more fitting and poetic end imo, Belos's final moments were at the hand (or feet in this case) of the same people he set out to oppress and genocide. Even if Luz is the main character, she was never Belos's main target, just a persistent obstacle to overcome.
The final episode dropped on my birthday and it was absolutely satisfying
Late happy birthday then! 🎂
@@golden-prism thank you so much that means a lot I'll be sure to watch your channel more often it's always thoughtful when RUclipsrs reach out to individuals
Aww, thank you! And of course :) I’m here mostly to ramble about fictional stories but I want to build a kind and supportive community as well. Besides, being kind costs nothing! ❤️🙏
@@golden-prism kindness is an absolute powerful thing that cost absolutely nothing and I always wanted to do YouTubing but lol me rambling about nonsense is boring when nobody is actually your friend so I haven't do it yet
He died as he lived, lying and hating.
I think it's funny that Belos says, "we're human, we're better than this" because at the time, neither Luz nor Belos are human. Belos is a monster and Luz is imbued with the power of the titan, therefore somewhat of a demigod. Belos really grasped
The melting slime mold trying to preach humanity to the demigoddess.
I miss owl house so muuuuuch! what a great ending though
MD here, You know, the way Belos is defeated is pretty unique as far as disney villains go. The other villains have at least the decency of a grandiose. Defeat, whether it was being blown up or disintegrated or stabbed, hit by a car, or falling from great heights to their death. But the way this villain was defeated is actually a lot more fitting to him in a way that's more conceptually simple than you realize. Belos was a cancer in the boiling isles both figuratively and in the end, quite literally. So it seemed almost satisfying for him to be defeated the way he was, literally removed from his perch, the titan's heart, his ultimate source of sustenance, like a cancer.
Despite the shortening, I still feel like this was a good way to finally end Belos. I love how Luz wasn't the one to give the finishing blow. Belos has to be one of my favorite villains in recent memory and a good example that some people are too far gone to be saved. Truly a fitting end to the self-proclaimed "Savior of Humanity/Witch Hunter General".
Idk after seeing how a small bit of goo can make him come back again and again I'm kinda worried that they don't address that king is like "ew it's on
my claws" and I'm like cmon again???
To be fair it was very clear he was weakening at the moment so it could be he died while being stomped on
I think Eda, Raine, and King represent all the people of the Boiling Isles he hurt. Eda represents the wild magic/witches he destroyed, Raine represents the people who believed his lies and found out what he was really doing all too late, and King represents the present and future children whose lives will be forever effected by Belos’s actions as King is semi immortal and his life will extend through many generations of witches who will be impacted by what happened even though it happened many years before them.
"You'll just be conniving, just as unforgivable and just as evil as those witches!" He is literally just describing himself, but he's just so self-centered that he blames it on the witches. That's just proof that he just can't be redeemed anymore. That's probably what Caleb's ghost was thinking when Belos blamed him for all this happening. Honestly, if he was still alive but was charged for his crimes, I'd give him till the day he freaking dies. All those things he did can't be forgiven. Belos is one of my favorite villains, and his defeat is one of the most satisfying defeats I've ever seen.
One thing I just noticed about Belos, is that he marked Hunter with a coven mark, which means that even if Hunter never betrayed Belos, he still would've killed him in the draining spell.
Disney's decision to shorten the show is one of the worst things eve. I loved this show so much it deserves much better.
Getting melted by the acid rain was brutal, it must have been horribly painful. “Kids shows” have the best villain deaths.