I said that "A Lying Witch and a Warden" was a pretty strong start to The Owl House as a series, thanks to properly establishing the main trio, the general setting of the series, and the message of embracing your oddities and knowing who to hang with. By contrast, the second episode, "Witches Before Wizards", decides to take a completely different thematic approach and instead expand on concepts that episode 1 only briefly brushed upon. And yet, it still carries pretty much the exact same flavor of charm and likability, I'd argue even exceeding that of the previous outing.
With the number of beats that needed to be bit in the first episode, Luz's characterization - while a fun and memorable starting point - had to be fairly held back due to time constraints. This story is much more straightforward and is all about her enthusiasm and overconfidence, allowing them to go all out with her quirks, vices, and likability. She goes through most of the episode under the false belief she's a chosen one thanks to her following the rules of fantasy literature, and naively falling for whatever opportunity comes her way. What keeps her from coming off as *too* stupid and gullible is the fact that she's in the kind of environment that's not just unfamiliar in appearance, but also one where it's not immediately evident what kinds of images and faces can be mere illusions. That, and she shows her strength by pretty much entirely defeating the squid guy on her own, proving she can stand up for herself.
This is also another episode that knows to keep its cast of characters tight because the show is still just starting out. As stated before, most of the screen-time goes to Luz and it's put to great use as a means for the audience to get to know her more. But Eda and King get a lot of really fun stuff in there too. We don't learn too much more about them, but that's okay because what's more important in this story is to nail how they work off Luz, which they do spectacularly. King is obviously reluctant to tag along, but there's a sense that the demon-pet does genuinely care about the human's well-being, and Eda only wants Luz to understand that she shouldn't trust what she sees at face value. Eda does come off as a buzzkill sometimes, but it's more in a tough love sort of way and not fully understanding what goes through Luz's head, and they make it clear she does have some faith and goodwill towards her new pupil.
Another difference in this episode was that the animation was sent to Rough Draft Korea. While SMIP's services in the first episode was mostly pretty good, with a couple shining moments, they could sometimes struggle with keeping the characters on-model. RDK does not have this issue, and there's a much more consistently appealing look overall to their work. This goes especially for Luz, where practically every single drawing of her is absolutely adorable. The moments of standout animation are a little lacking, but the immersive environments and confident drawings more than make up for that. Rough Draft's contributions for season 1 of the series are mostly in the front half, but it wouldn't be too long before they started getting all of the high-priority entries.
Overall, "Witches Before Wizards" may be a lighter story in the grand scheme of things, but the characters, subversion, and animation make it a plain fun ride from start to finish.
It becomes immediately evident that Rough Draft's animators tend to draw Luz much more wide-eyed than SMIP generally did. This grotesque sea monster responding to Luz's cliched 'good morning' is one of the episode's better gags.
Hooty's ability to stretch his face is first seen here, and sure enough, there's a handle on the door now, immediately abandoning the initial idea of him 'swallowing' those entering.
Luz's eagerness is seriously both adorable and contagious... I also love how the traditional witch outfit is the first preconceived notion that's immediately shot down. In fact, that cap turns out to be a super-dusty traffic cone. Pretty glorious.
This is probably as good a time as any to discuss the intro as well, as this is its first appearance in the show. It's a very nice, mystical instrumental theme that sets the tone well, with good visuals to compliment it. Not the best I've seen, but above-average in craft all the same.
We haven't even met these three yet, but these poses alone are enough to give a strong general idea on what each one will be like.
And of course, I need to discuss this lengthy tracking shot of Luz flying on Eda's staff. It's unbelievably smooth and goes through a very wide variety of angles and set pieces. Luz looks a little off in the eyes, but it still manages to look excellent in motion so that's honestly nitpicking anyway.
"I shall smite my enemies... ages 6 to 11."
Attractive establishing shot of Bonesboro. Look at how rough, but not necessarily worn-down it looks. A lot of the buildings and structures look crooked in some capacity, and it's very heavy on the browns and reds.
There are a lot of fantastic Luz poses in her little epiphany I could have picked to put here, but these two are probably among the best ones.
This little library is revealed in a panning shot where each level is gradually lit. It's a little on the cliche side, but that's part of the point given what this plot is ultimately about, and it certainly looks attractive.
This joke is just weird; King shows hesitance to Wizard Adegast here, calling him "a weird old man in jim-jams", but then Luz points out he has "a baby fox in his beard". ...Am I missing something here?
I like how Wizard Adegast speaks in phony medieval fantasy talk. It becomes a lot funnier on rewatch once you know what's going on.
Luz asks if she's an optimistic, good chosen one or a "bad girl chosen one with black nail polish and a mysteriously withdrawn attitude."
This is probably the first noteworthy instance of The Owl House being simply masterful at foreshadowing, with one-off, throwaway lines suddenly coming back as major plot points later. Anyone who's familiar with the series will probably know who this particular line is referring to.
This bit where the backlit map blows toward the Azura book, turning the page to this illustration that inspires Luz to go forward with the mission is really beautifully shot. Even the shafts of light behind Luz there really give off a hopeful, optimistic vibe.
I'll go more in-depth later that I'm not really a fan of Hooty, but this bit where Eda has to bang a wall in order to get him to spill the beans on Luz's whereabouts is pretty dang funny.
Compare this shot to the Bonesboro one above. This environment is a lot more purple than brown, making this village appear much more friendly, but they are smart to keep the reds so that it still feels like part of the same world.
Luz be adorkable again. Except this image may look a little unfortunate out of context. That's fountain water, don't worry.
This part of the plot doesn't take up too much screentime, but they parody so many fantasy cliches right here. The Troll asks Luz for his name... which is literally written on a nametag... and she's given a ring on the spot because... why not.
Replacing the purples with greens goes a really long way in suddenly making this setting much more dangerous and sketchy. Gotta love that atmosphere.
A good look at each of the characters Luz encounters on her "journey". Again, mostly throwaways to serve the deconstruction going on, but these designs are way more memorable than they deserve to be.
Easily the best bit of animation in the episode, courtesy of Spencer Wan. It's not even a particularly special moment, but Luz's steps have such a nice fluidity to them, and her twirl midway through is really well done too.
While this wasn't Wan, these strands of magic are really beautifully animated as well. And while by this point we know that this is fake, it's still difficult not to feel happy at just the fact Luz gets a second of self-pride before it comes crashing down.
Not going to lie, the fact all these characters were puppets controlled by a menacing squid-creature is actually a pretty spine-tingling twist.
Another great King line: "I didn't have to be a part of this!" Eda's tired face is what sells it.
The part where Luz is almost tempted to be consumed by her dreams isn't the best example I've seen, but the puppets approaching her with those creepy, open mouths is definitely an effective visual.
You'd think Luz cutting a guy right through the chest would look uncomfortable, even without gore, but the drawing is given just enough care and the body just enough flexibility to prevent that. Luz's stance afterward is also a really strong, confident drawing.
I always laugh at how Eda just swallows him whole without a second thought, and even the show plays this so dang casually. No dramatic music cues, extreme reactions, or anything.
With only a minute left in the episode, Luz gets introduced to the Bones of the Isles in this really ambitious turnaround. The perspective on the characters is downright magnificent, although their rotation unfortunately stops before the background does. Ah well, at least they gave it their best shot.
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