The Owl House has already unloaded a ton of lore and character-building across each of the four episodes so far, but "Covention" takes things one step further and pretty much packs the experience with establishing several concept and ideas that will ultimately become arguably the series' biggest themes.
The setup involves Luz and Eda going to a sort of job fair for witches' covens, a required label to represent the type of magic you perform for a living. While there are 9 fundamental covens, there's hundreds of secondary ones as well. And ruling it all is the prestigious Emperor's Coven, meant for only the most elite. That's about the extent of the knowledge we get about the coven system for now, but even beyond that it serves as an exceedingly fun backdrop for all the events that end up taking place within it. It also effectively forwards many of the character motivations, not just in this episode but across pretty much the whole show. For example, we learn here that Eda refusing to join a coven (as she insists it'd be limit her magic) is why she's a wanted criminal in the Boiling Isles. Amity's stubbornness and above-it-all attitude is because of her own desire to join the Emperor's Coven (among other reasons, which we'll get to later). Plus it's simply the perfect setting for two duels of vastly different scales to take place.
Speaking of Amity, this is the first episode that really builds her relationship with Luz, as their interactions in "I Was a Teenage Abomination" were rather limited. Being such a studious achiever, and building off the attitude established in her debut, it's quite expected that she would scoff at and belittle Luz's dreams. In many shows, this would paint her as a bully, and there are definitely points when she acts very irrationally, but you can tell she's trying to validate all the time and effort she's already put into becoming Lilith's student and wanting to prove worthy of the Emperor's Coven. She essentially puts Luz down because of how the human is all ambition with little to show for it. Luz obviously retorts and again uses her fantasy novel logic to trap herself in a one-sided deal, but once she starts trying to offer more compassion (and a bit of potential), Amity starts to show a little of her own. It's quite refreshing to see this character type already start to show significant progression this early on, and sure enough, this is only the start of things to come between them.
But of course, the star of the show is the introduction of Lilith, Eda's sister and leader of the Emperor's Coven. Right off the bat, she presents herself as proud and dignified, if a tad power-hungry. This is pretty much a complete opposite to sarcastic, spontaneous Eda, and this naturally leads to the two bouncing off each other incredibly well. At first, it looks like they're making Lilith the achiever and Eda the loser, but they actually end up for the most part work off an equal playing field, with both outwitting the other in their own way and showing their own impressive tricks as they duel. It helps that it becomes more apparent over this episode alone that despite how different they are by default, they still have a lot in common and even dip into each other's attitudes sometimes, like Lilith cheating by sneaking a construction-enhancement patch on Amity and Eda manipulating Lilith with a heartfelt speech only to make a run for it.
Unfortunately, this heavy focus on the aforementioned characters causes others to get the short end of the stick. Willow and Gus are only in the story to exposition away the general information on the covens to Luz and pretty much become afterthoughts afterward. In addition, King gets a subplot involving him taking advantage of the various free samples from the various coven booths that barely goes anywhere, leaves minimal impact on the story, and just doesn't do anything for me. It felt like they just kind of needed to give him something to do, and this was it. But it's hard to be upset over this or any of the other small flaws I encounter because of how well the episode fares in what it prioritizes.
This is topped off with some solid Sugarcube animation, this time putting more emphasis on the effects than the actual look of the characters. Definitely a logical decision on their part, given the setting and general plot, and sure enough the various magical bursts and spells (especially around the climax) prove especially well-done, topped with Spencer Wan at his best during the fight itself. This altogether makes "Covention" yet another winner in the Owl House's lineup.
We've gotten a glance or two at the Azura graphic novel, but this is the first time we really get a full peek. The semi-realistic designs, perplexing color choices, and uncanny features are almost scarily on-point.
Luz makes Eda take her to the Covention by having King read from the book, torturing the owl lady with the flowery writing and even tossing him in when she tries to escape into this void. Gotta love it when she gets outsmarted like this.
"Alchemists Anonymous" is a pretty cute play on words, and also rather befitting of the show's environment.
With just one image, we can reasonably deduce what each of these covens are solely based on their color and emblem. Some are more cryptic than others, but they are all very distinct and identifiable regardless.
Of course Dana made her self-insert go all super saiyan. And it's hilarious.
We find out that Gus is studying illusion magic, as we get a sample of their work in this little scene. Pretty cool.
The purple coven (fortune-telling) barely gets any coverage in the series (at least as of season 1). This woman here is as much rep as it gets, plus it's just an amusing bit.
...Now that's just freaky.
First time Amity is onscreen throughout the entire episode. The almost timid look on her before she's given attention is the earliest hint we get at her having a weak side. Also, there's a glaring continuity error with the audience; Luz and Eda are nowhere to be seen here, while in the next shot, they're a few rows behind her.
Lilith's introduction is about as graceful and beautiful as you'd expect, with the raven imagery especially standing out.
I love how the remains of Lilith's imagery allow shadows to crawl over Eda's profile. They could've simply conveyed her intimidated, sour mood with just the expression, or even pass the lighting off as artistry, but they actively created a reason for it to look this way.
You may want to compare this run-in with the other instances down the line when we get to them.
Amity feels the need to prove her dominance over Luz by squashing a cupcake and give this smug as hell look to Luz. Again, easy to view her as a bully here, but if you pay attention to how she's written, she's just holding a grudge for all the trouble Luz caused in "Teenage Abomination".
This may be a very simple drawing, but Amity showing this much confidence and rubbing in Luz's hopelessness creates a level of domineering that makes me downright uncomfortable, and I mean that in a good way.
As stated before, this lengthy exchange between Eda and Lilith is wonderfully written and brings out so much character from both parties. Lilith calling Eda a trash collector, Eda revealing Lilith wet herself upon first seeing the EC, and then Lilith becoming unironically excited for a moment when she thinks Eda wants to join before they snap back into rivalry mode... it's all good.
Luz immediately cowering over Eda's attempt to prep Luz is both hilarious and tear-jerking. Tell me you don't feel bad for Luz right here.
This look on Luz isn't as good as the one above, but I always laugh hard at Eda's dumb face here.
This is probably one of Amity's most revealing scenes. She starts her fight by summoning a giant abomination, and she is actively surprised by how it turned out for a split-second before she snaps back into vindictive, bragging mode. Just compare how night-and-day these two drawings are.
Gus starts being supportive of Luz here. This is going to become a running thing for him, and his constant enthusiasm makes me smile.
But maybe not as much as the enthusiasm Eda gets when she busts Lilith for cheating. Again, the fact she resorted to doing this shows her moral slate isn't exactly clean either despite how she initially appeared. "Welcome down to my level!"
But of course, the contrasting personalities still shine through after that, as proven here when Lilith blasts Eda into a wall out of frustration. Satisfied at the opportunity, she steps into battle herself, only to fumble with her staff. Great stuff, and the blue-and-yellow motif only adds to the visual flair.
Upon discovering she was upon enhancement, Amity suddenly starts to feel downright distraught. While she pretty much takes it out on Luz, blaming her for repeatedly getting in the way and making her look bad, her expressions tell a different story: one of self-guilt and vulnerability.
Note must be made of how warm they made this scene of Luz showing her little light magic to Amity, from the staging to the serene sound direction. All she clearly wants is to make peace, despite Amity having just lashed out at her, by openly admitting her novice status.
The vast majority of this fight scene was predominantly animated by Spencer Wan, and this has to be his best work in the series so far. Every motion, no matter how fast, reads well, and the attention to detail is simply unmatched. Plus, unlike SMIP, which seemed to stuck to his pencil test a little too closely, Sugarcube makes sure these movements flow super well when they need to, with the shots with Lilith looking exceptionally smooth.
Unless my sources are incorrect, we're not going to see more work from Wan for quite a while, but man will it be worth it when we do.
This conversation between them afterward is pretty lovely, giving them some much-needed pathos as Eda elaborates her declining health which Lilith genuinely feels sorry for. This does become a means for Eda to escape, but still, it makes their relationship seem all the more real.
Amity isn't showing it in words, indignantly stating "Humans have no magical ability... but I doubt that'll stop you" after unbinding their agreement, but little expressions like this definitely show she's starting to mellow out toward the human visitor.
That humorous tagline takes a different meaning after you've watched the entire season...
Had to get a picture of this unnerving design we see talk to Lilith at the end. The hair being shaped like a claw, the oversized collar covering the mouth, and the one visible wide eye makes it burn in your head.
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