Petrification, or "petrification in stone", is a capital punishment extant on the Boiling Isles and practiced under the authority of Emperor Belos. As the name suggests, this process magically renders the body of the condemned into inanimate stone. The process is accomplished through a specific spell which, once cast, is irreversible. It is considered a grim fate and generally merited unto grave or routine offenders, namely wild witches.[1]
For her dissidence to Belos' regime, Eda was sentenced to petrification and was only saved by Luz's timely intervention. Her would-be petrification was commemorated as the first to transpire in three decades.[1]
Overview[]
The petrification of condemned criminals is a public event on the Boiling Isles, supposedly in accordance with the will of the Titan. The ceremony is preceded by a drum-line courtesy of the Emperor's Coven and begins when the condemned is brought before the assembled crowd at the Conformatorium. The spell itself is then cast via a magical contrivance which is operated by an executioner. After a brief charge, it fires a magical beam at its target, gradually transfiguring them to stone. The spell must be uninterrupted in its casting to be successful; petrification can be resisted if it is stopped prematurely. When carried out properly, however, the victim's remains are traditionally taken to a graveyard on the grounds of the Conformatorium to be displayed.
Petrification is permanent once enacted and strips the victim of their consciousness, likening the sentence to traditional execution; Luz states outright that being petrified would "kill" Eda. For its gruesome implications, the general public of the Isles appears wary of petrification; the people of Bonesborough saw Eda as a martyr at her petrification, despite her unsavory reputation among them.[1]
The glyph combo from Philip Wittebane's diary tested by Luz on a doll produces the same effect as what the statue does, though the stone that objects turn into seems very brittle, due to turning to dust from a light breeze.
History[]
The unauthorized Boiling Isles history features an illustration of a petrified witch and another of the contrivance responsible. This implies that the spell has existed since the close of the Savage Ages. It has had its place as a means of punishment for at least thirty years.[1]
Following her capture by Lilith,[2] Belos orders Eda to be petrified at sunset. Kikimora later announces the event in a press conference, prompting Willow and Gus to take action against the Emperor's decree. Meanwhile, Luz and King allow themselves to be captured with the goal of infiltrating the Conformatorium and liberating Eda themselves. By overpowering Warden Wrath, Luz is able to locate her mentor, but is unable to free her from her magical restraints. Eda orders Luz to return to the human world for her own safety before the platform she is bound to is raised, which would bring her to the petrification apparatus.
Just before the petrification commences, Lilith and King are thrown onto the gallows as well by Belos in response to Lilith's betrayal. The disgraced coven leader attempts to apologize for her misdeeds, only for the apparatus to complete its charge and fire its deadly magic. Eda takes the blast by shielding her sister and King with her body. Before the spell can be completed, however, Luz damages the machine with a plant glyph, and Lilith is able to help her sister fight off the effects. Meanwhile, Gus and Willow foment unrest in the crowd, culminating in a chant for the Owl Lady's freedom. As the inhabitants of the Owl House escape into the night, Belos announces that the Titan has ordered Eda's life be spared, supposedly so that her fate could dissuade others from the "dangers" of wild magic.[1]
Upon their defection and subsequent capture, Raine Whispers taunted Kikimora by saying they'd "look forward" to their own petrification. Kikimora, however, asserted that finding a replacement for the Day of Unity would be too much of a hassle, and consigned them to an alternative, unknown fate.[3]
While inside Belos' mind and coming upon hall of Golden Guards destroy by Belos, one of the Golden Guards was petrified by Belos for supposedly "betraying" him.[4]
As the Day of Unity is about to begin, Eda was ordered to be petrified again by Belos, luckily, Eda was rescue by the Covens Against the Throne.[5]
When The Collector tormented Luz in her nightmares where she was ruler of the Isles after helping Belos to rise of power and meeting the collector. As she explored the castle, she petried statues of Principal Bump, Boscha, Tibbles, Morton, and almost everyone in the isles in a rivine. Luckily, Luz snaps out of thanks to a light glpyh Amity Blight gave her.[6]
It's possible the petrification punishment sentence discontinued following the death of Belos and the dismantlement of the Coven System.
Sightings[]
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "A Lying Witch and a Warden": | Absent | 10. "Escape of the Palisman": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Witches Before Wizards": | Absent | 11. "Sense and Insensitivity": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "I Was a Teenage Abomination": | Absent | 12. "Adventures in the Elements": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "The Intruder": | Absent | 13. "The First Day": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Covention": | Absent | 14. "Really Small Problems": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Hooty's Moving Hassle": | Absent | 15. "Understanding Willow": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Lost in Language": | Absent | 16. "Enchanting Grom Fright": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Once Upon a Swap": | Absent | 17. "Wing It Like Witches": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Something Ventured, Someone Framed": | Absent | 18. "Agony of a Witch": | Absent | |||||||||
| 19. "Young Blood, Old Souls": | Debut | |||||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Separate Tides": | Mentioned | 11. "Follies at the Coven Day Parade": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 2. "Escaping Expulsion": | Mentioned | 12. "Elsewhere and Elsewhen": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 3. "Echoes of the Past": | Absent | 13. "Any Sport in a Storm": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Keeping up A-fear-ances": | Mentioned | 14. "Reaching Out": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Through the Looking Glass Ruins": | Absent | 15. "Them's the Breaks, Kid": | Appears | |||||||||
| 6. "Hunting Palismen": | Absent | 16. "Hollow Mind": | Pictured | |||||||||
| 7. "Eda's Requiem": | Mentioned | 17. "Edge of the World": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door": | Absent | 18. "Labyrinth Runners": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Eclipse Lake": | Absent | 19. "O Titan, Where Art Thou": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 10. "Yesterday's Lie": | Absent | 20. "Clouds on the Horizon": | Appears | |||||||||
| 21. "King's Tide": | Absent | |||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Thanks to Them": | Absent | 2. "For the Future": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Watching and Dreaming": | Appears | |||||||||||
Trivia[]
- The multi-form, feminine effigy that adorns the apparatus responsible for petrification resembles the Hekataion, a religious icon from Greek and Byzantine art that depicts Hecate in trivium (in triplicate). Remarkably, the fictional Hecate of The Good Witch Azura series is depicted similarly, though with only three faces.
- Befittingly, the Hekataion frequently depicts Hecate holding the keys to Tartarus, in reference to Hecate as a gatekeeper to the underworld in mythology. This is analogous to how the contrivance acts as a means of execution.
- The device also faces the four cardinal directions, which are significant in many pagan and neopagan circles.
- It has been noted that several petrified victims (including those pictured above) resemble the captured criminals who appear briefly in "Agony of a Witch"; as such, Belos's claim that Eda's foiled petrification would be the first in thirty years is potentially untrue.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dana Terrace, Rachel Vine (writers) and Stephen Sandoval (director) (August 29, 2020). "Young Blood, Old Souls". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 19. Disney Channel.
- ↑ John Bailey Owen (writer) and Aminder Dhaliwal (director) (August 22, 2020). "Agony of a Witch". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace (writer) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (July 24, 2021). "Eda's Requiem". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 7. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Zach Marcus (writer) and Bridget Underwood (director) (April 16, 2022). "Them's the Breaks, Kid". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 15. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, Luz Batista (writers) and Bridget Underwood (director) (May 7, 2022). "Labyrinth Runners". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Bosook "Bo" Coburn, Bridget Underwood (directors) (April 8, 2023). "Watching and Dreaming". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 3. Disney Channel.