"Witches Before Wizards" is the second episode of the first season of The Owl House, and the second episode overall.
It premiered on January 17, 2020.
Synopsis
An ancient wizard gives Luz a map for a mystical quest.
Plot
Luz wakes up bright and cheerful, happy to see that she is still on the Boiling Isles and the previous day was not a dream. She is looking forward to her first day as a "witch's apprentice". She finds a closet full of what she claims to be witch clothes. She waits for Eda, who had just woken up. Luz is eager to get started on learning magic and getting her own staff, but Eda at the moment is focused on having her morning cup of apple blood first. She explains to Luz that becoming a witch takes time and they are awarded their staffs from school. Since Luz is under Eda's teaching, she will be taking a different approach: She will have to work for her staff. Eda gives Luz a sack of potions to sell to the local of Bonesborough. She advises her to be careful while she is in town, as she has many competitors who would go to great lengths to put her out of business. To make sure she does not get lost or eaten, and if he doesn't want to start paying rent, she forces King to accompany her, much to his annoyance.
While in town, Luz understands that she is the only human on the Boiling Isles, and starts to believe that there is a special reason for it. However, she learns first hand that there is nothing special about life on the Isles. Everyone lives in despair. Before heading home, they have one more package to deliver, which happens to be at a huge fantasy castle home to a wizard named Adegast. He invites them for tea and scones. Luz tells Adegast that she is Eda's apprentice, and starts to express her honest feelings about it. When she first came to the isles she thought she was meant for something special, but instead all she does is chores while everyone on the Isles screams at her or tries to eat her. Adegast sympathies with Luz, and offers her to embark on a noble quest, which she accepts without hesitation. He gives her a map and tells her of a prophecy of a young girl who would claim the Celestial Staff and free the Isles from an ancient evil. A staff that can only be wielded as the "Chosen One".
When Luz returns to the Owl House with the map and what Adegast had predicted, both Eda and King laugh. They tell her that everything he had told her was all nonsense and the map he gave her was a fake. This burns Luz, so Eda and King give some time alone to process everything. However, when she puts the map in the light, words appear reading "The chosen one, the path will only appear to the worthy". This encourages her to believe what Adegast said was true and chooses to head out on this quest. Meanwhile, Eda asks King about Adegast and suspects something sketchy about him. When she goes to check on Luz, she finds her missing. According to Hooty, she went to the forest towards Bonesborough.
While Luz is on her "mythical" quest, seeing enchanted lands and making new mystical friends along the way, Eda and King head back to Adegast's castle, which happens to be abandoned and in ruins. They even find many copies of the map Luz was given. All this gives Eda a bad feeling. They follow Luz's trail to the enchanted lands she passed through, which happened to be all ruined wastelands. They find a puppet who gives them a hint that Luz is walking into a trap, and they want Eda to follow her. Meanwhile, Luz is at the end of her quest and claims that Celestial Staff, fulfilling the assumed prophecy as the Chosen One. Suddenly, everything around her dissolves and a strange tentacle creature appears with the Wizard and all her friends she had made on each tentacle. It turns out the whole thing as an illusion and the creature was a demon Puppeteer who specializes in scamming and manipulates people. He also happens to be one of Eda's competitors in the potions' business and has been using Luz to lure her into a trap. Eda and King arrive to her rescue, but quickly get captured while the Puppeteer sends her back into her fantasy. She almost gives in, but snaps out of it and frees Eda and King. Together, they defeat the Puppeteer and his puppets with Eda eating the shrunken Puppeteer to ensure he won't bother them again.
Afterward, Luz is left feeling confused. She has mixed thoughts of quitting the apprenticeship and disappointed of how the Boiling Isles is not the fantasy world she had always imagined. To cheer her up, Eda takes Luz on a mystery flight to her Staff. She shows her a spectacular view of the Bones on the Isles. Eda and King tell Luz that from up close the Boils can be slimy, very stinky and gross, but looking from a different perspective it is beautiful. Luz asks Eda how she knew that wizard was lying. All she can say is instead of waiting for a prophecy to make her special, the best is to choose for herself.
Cast
- Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz Noceda
- Wendie Malick as Eda Clawthorne
- Alex Hirsch as King and Hooty
- Robin Atkin Downes as Adegast and Centaur
- Billy Kametz as Nevareth
Additional voices
- Arin Hanson as Sea Monster, Sword, Chris, and Cat
- Eden Riegel as Princess
Title in other languages
| Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Spanish (Latin America)
|
Brujas antes que magos | Witches Before Wizards | |
 Portuguese (Brazil)
|
Bruxas Contra Feiticeiros | Witches Versus Wizards | |
 Mandarin
|
好女巫與壞巫師 | Good Witch and Bad Wizard | |
 German
|
Die Auserwählte | The Chosen One | |
 Danish
|
Hekse og troldmænd | Witches and wizards | |
 Spanish
|
Donde esté una bruja que se quite un mago | Wherever a Witch Is, a Wizard Can Remove | |
 Finnish
|
Noita vastaan velho | Witch against the wizard | |
 French
|
Les Sorcières avant les enchanteurs | Witches Before Enchanters | |
 Indonesian
|
Ahli Sihir Sebelum Penyihir | Witch before Wizard | |
 Hebrew
|
מכשפות לפני קוסמים | Witches before wizards | |
 Italian
|
Streghe piuttosto che stregoni | Witches Rather Than Sorcerers | |
 Japanese
|
魔法使いの試練 | Wizard's Trial | |
 Korean
|
마법사와 마녀 | The Wizard and the Witch | |
 Malay
|
Para Perempuan Sihir Sebelum Para Lelaki Sihir | Witches before Wizards | |
 Dutch
|
De poppenspeler | The Puppeteer | |
 Norwegian
|
Hekser foran trollmenn | Witches in front of wizards | |
 Portuguese
|
Bruxas Contra Feiticeiros | Witches Versus Wizards | |
 Polish
|
Wiedźmy przed Czarodziejami | Witches Before Wizards | |
 Russian
|
Ведьмы против волшебников | Witches vs. Wizards | |
 Swedish
|
Hellre häxor än trollkarlar | Witches rather than wizards |
Transcript
| For a full transcript of "Witches Before Wizards", click here. |
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 0.43 viewers on its premiere.[2]
- This is the first episode to have the episode title at the beginning.
- This is also the first episode to be animated by Rough Draft Korea.
- This is also the first episode that plays the theme song.
- The episode completed production on July 26, 2019.[4]
- One of the items that Eda sells is snake oil, an obvious joke at the fact that she is a "snake oil salesman" (or rather saleswoman).
- Although Luz hadn't met her yet, she unknowingly describes Amity Blight when she says, "Or should I be like a bad girl Chosen One with black nail polish and a mysteriously withdrawn attitude? 'I act like I don't care, but I secretly do.'"
- When Luz and the other puppets were walking into the forest, the 2nd code was revealed on the rock, which was cracked into "W-I-C-H-I-Z" and translates into "Witches".
Revelations and significant events
- The mug Eda uses to drink her apple blood reads "30 & Flirty" on the side, indicating that Eda is either around thirty years old or drinking it ironically.
- The owl atop Eda's staff is named Owlbert.
Continuity
- The episode occurs the day following the events of "A Lying Witch and a Warden".
Allusions
- Thor: Ragnarok - The scene where Eda calls her owl staff is similar to an scene in the film where Thor calls his hammer, Mjølnir (disguised as an umbrella), while in Doctor Strange's Sanctom Sanctorum.
- He-Man - The toy sword Luz has is a reference to the He-Man series. It even says a line similar to He-Man's transformation phrase "By the power of Grayskull".
- Metal Gear Solid - The question Nevareth asks about love blooming on the battlefield is an infamous line said by Otacon.
- Harry Potter - Nevareth's cloak is similar to one of the cloaks Albus Dumbledore wears in the aforementioned franchise.
Errors
- When King says "Less talky, more nappy", Eda's hand disappears.
- When Eda and Luz are talking, her eyes disappear in one frame.
- When Luz goes to sleep, the shirt she is wearing is white, but when she wakes up the shirt is grey.
- When Luz dropped the bag when she was with Eda, But when she was pushed out the owl house she still had the bag.
- When Luz rings the doorbell of the wizard's house, the doors open outward. When she and King enter and the scene changes to look back at King and the doorway, the doors are opened inward before they close in the outward direction again.
- When Eda was breaking out of the pink tentacles, she didn't have her staff. But when she fell down from the grasp, she is seen holding her staff again even though the staff was on the floor.
Edits
Southeast Asia
- The word "dumb" and "you fool" is cut in English.
- The stabbing part is cut.
- "My flawless pecs!" is cut in English.
- "He's just a big, slimy jerk!" is cut in English.
- "Big houses always belong to big whackjobs." was shorten to "Big house?"
Memorable quotes
Videos
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Metcalf, Mitch. UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.17.2020. Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on 2020-05-08.
- ↑ "Don't miss out BRAND NEW Show The Owl House starts tomorrow at 9:30pm!". Twitter (August 9, 2020).
- ↑ "Witches Before Wizards (2020)". IMDb.
