The Best Moments From The Owl House Season 1
"The Owl House" follows Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles), a fantasy fangirl who finds herself in a realm known as the Boiling Isles. It's here that she meets Eda the Owl Lady (Wendie Malick), who is hailed, mostly by herself, as the most powerful witch around. Along with her pint-sized demon roommate King (Alex Hirsch), she takes in Luz once she expresses an interest in learning witchcraft. This leads to a season full of magic, vicious monsters, sinister curses, curious creatures, wrenching revelations, and heartwarming moments.
"The Owl House" is both complex enough for older viewers to enjoy and simple enough to keep younger fans' attention. The series has also been praised for its stellar LGBTQ+ representation, especially through the character of Luz. "The Owl House" is so crammed to the brim with memorable, hilarious, and enthralling moments, in fact, that it's hard to narrow down the very best — but somehow, we've found a way. These are the stand-out moments of Season 1 of "The Owl House," from witches' duels to magical dance sequences.
Luz the Human, Warrior of Peace
A good pilot episode is important, and "A Lying Witch and a Warden," the inaugural episode of "The Owl House," is of top quality. It swiftly introduces the world, the central trio, and the overall tone of the series in less than a half-hour.
Luz Noceda is introduced as a nerd and social outcast who is utterly obsessed with a book series chronicling the adventures of a heroic witch named Azura. After Luz accidentally travels to the magical world of the Boiling Isles, she is introduced to Eda. Eda, along with her roommate King, agree to send Luz home as long as she aids them on a quest. They eventually find themselves in a battle with the creepy and imposing Warden Wrath, who has an unwelcome infatuation with Eda.
This leads to Luz, along with a rag-tag group of weirdos, vanishing Wrath with the power of their unique quirks and a barrage of fireworks. It's not only hilarious and extremely satisfying, it provides the first big moment of development for Luz. After this battle, Luz opts not to immediately return to the human world, instead wanting to stay and learn magic. All in all, it's a wonderfully done pilot episode, bolstered by an excellent climax with a massively satisfying moment of victory. This is only the beginning for Luz, but what a wonderful beginning it is!
Eda the Owl ... Monster?!
One aspect of "The Owl House" that has deeply influenced its widespread success is its fascinating ongoing narrative. A major development within that engaging plot is introduced in Episode 4, "The Intruder". While Eda is down for the count after expending her magic, Luz and King take the opportunity to steal her golden elixir. They accidentally destroy the bottle just before the lights go out and an inhuman monster breaks in to eat them. It's a legitimately tense and creepy episode, full of dark shadows, chilling suspense, and an ambient rainstorm.
It's finally revealed, in a truly horrifying moment, that the monster menacing them is Eda, in her cursed form! This form is kept in check only by, surprise surprise, her golden elixir. This is a major beat in the show's narrative, as it raises a lingering question: Who cursed Eda? This also leads to Luz figuring out her first legitimate spell.
Lumity begins
Every show's fandom needs a quality romantic ship to cheer on. For "The Owl House," that ship is "Lumity."
Amity Blight, a witch born to an extremely prestigious family, is introduced as an antagonist. She appears for the second time in Episode 5, "Covention," attending the same magic convention as Luz, King, and Eda. This, of course, leads to her and Luz butting heads, a conflict which even ropes in Eda and her sister Lilith. Luz agrees that if she loses a duel to Amity, she'll never practice magic again. Amity and Luz proceed to engage in a rather one-sided duel, until it is revealed that both Eda and Lilith are cheating in order to aid their respective pupils.
Realizing she's been helped by cheating is a massive blow to Amity's ego, and she runs off. This results in a wonderful moment in which Amity yells at Luz to get her to admit that she isn't a true witch. Luz admits she isn't, but is still going to try her hardest to be one. She even mildly impresses Amity with her basic light spell. This is enough for Amity to rescind her demand. It's a touching moment that forms the foundation of Luz and Amity's bond.
The Owl House sprouts legs
In Episode 6, "Hooty's Moving Hassle," Luz, Willow, and Gus attempt to one-up Amity's friends by having their own Moonlight Conjuring. A Conjuring is basically the witch equivalent to a human sleepover, hence Luz's desire to partake. While Eda heads to a seedy magic market for the night, Luz and her friends attempt their own summoning. This goes south when they accidentally animate Eda's house, along with its sentient door-keeper, Hooty.
The moment when the house sprouts legs and begins marching across the Boiling Isles is a true feast for the eyes. As the visuals and episode title make clear, it's all a blatant homage to Studio Ghibli's "Howl's Moving Castle," but the episode still channels its own unique vibe into every moment. Rampant shenanigans ensue, with the house eventually being attacked by demon hunters. In the end, Eda is miffed about the damage, yet undoubtedly impressed by the kids' conjuring skills. "Hooty's Moving Hassle" is a wonderfully chaotic episode that showcases just how well "The Owl House" balances comedy and action.
Luz, King, and Eda swap bodies
The body-switching episode is a staple of any great fantasy series, and "The Owl House" is no exception. After debating whose life is actually the hardest, Eda, King, and Luz opt for a body swap in Episode 8, "Once Upon a Swap." This leads, of course, to ample shenanigans. The jokes fly fast and furious in this episode, powered by what might be the fastest pacing in all of Season 1.
There are so many hilarious moments here that narrowing them down is difficult. There's Eda getting pet-napped while in King's body, and King using Luz's body to seize control of a group of troublesome young witches. There's also Luz, stuck in Eda's body, learning to manage magic infinitely beyond her understanding. Seeing each character's design tweaked to better represent who is in their body is also a laugh riot. If we must pick one moment to celebrate, however, we choose the episode's end: Complete bedlam breaks out as all three narratives converge in grand chaotic fashion.
Luz learns her second spell
Scared of ending up in Hexside's baby class, Luz begs Eda to teach her a second spell in Episode 12, "Adventures in the Elements." Thus, Eda takes Luz on a field trip to the frozen tundra. It's here that she, in her own kooky way, teaches Luz how to better connect with magic through nature.
Luz and Eda aren't alone, however: Amity is training here as well. In fact, Amity's training seems so much cooler than her own that Luz is embarrassed. Impatient as ever, Luz takes Amity's wand to get a taste of more powerful magic. This results in a snow beast kidnapping Eda and Amity's siblings, which makes Amity storm off and leave Luz behind.
Luz manages to surprise everyone, including herself, by learning new magic on her own. By paying attention to the patterns in snowflakes, she is able to conjure ice magic, which she then uses to save the day. It's a wonderful moment that shows the importance of understanding nature and believing in yourself.
The Sorting Hat's horrific cousin
Sometimes, it's the simplest jokes that end up being the most memorable ones. Episode 13, "The First Day," is an enjoyable romp capturing Luz's first day as an official Hexside student. The episode is full of cute moments, funny lines, and, as usual, fantastic animation. However, this is an episode made great by one particular joke.
Anyone even moderately familiar with "Harry Potter" will know about Hogwarts' Sorting Hat, the sentient piece of headwear that sorts new students into one of the school's four houses. While in a meeting with Luz, Principal Bump tells her that she must pick a singular field of magic to study. Luz, ever the fantasy nerd, asks if there is a magical article of clothing that can choose for her. Bump recalls there did indeed used to be something like that at the school. Cue a horrific and hysterical flashback where a magical hat eats a student with its toothy brim. This morbid, simple, and hilarious moment elevates "The First Day" to must-watch status.
Amity and Inner Willow
Episode 15, "Understanding Willow," is the show's most surreal episode to date, taking place almost entirely in someone's mind. That someone is Willow, whose memories have been lost due to Amity's misguided actions. Amity and Luz are sent into Willow's mind to repair it with a spell from Eda. Once inside, they get a front row seat to some of Willow's most important memories. These include some legitimately depressing ones, which showcase the falling-out between her and Amity. By this point, it's been mentioned in passing that they were friends. Here, we finally see how that bond ended.
Messing around in Willow's mind eventually summons her inner self, who serves as the guardian of her mind and memories. She is not pleased to find them tampering. Unexpectedly, Amity takes this opportunity to show Willow one of her own memories, which explains Amity's cruel parents convinced her that she shouldn't be fraternizing with half-witches like Willow. It's a moment both sad and uplifting, as this confession calms down Inner Willow and allows the duo to fix her mind. This moment is a big step forward for Amity and a tender act of reconciliation between former friends.
May I have this dance?
It's Grom season in Episode 16, "Enchanting Grom Fright," and everyone is excited — except for poor Amity Blight. Grom is much more than a simple prom: It's also a trial by combat, where one chosen student must face a being known as Grometheus. What worse, Grometheus has the ability to morph into its opponent's worst fear.
Luz, ever the altruist, opts to take Amity's place in the fight without quite understanding what she's signed on for. After a genuinely tender moment with Amity, Luz enters the arena to face Grometheus ... which is where things go off the rails. Grometheus takes the form of Luz's mother — or at least a very angry and demonic version of her. Amity rushes in to save the day and has to face her own fear of being rejected by someone she likes. After some mutual reassurance, the pair fight off Grometheus by performing some truly spectacular dance magic. It is then revealed that the person Amity feared rejection from was Luz, confirming Amity is legitimately smitten with her former rival.
To say the "Owl House" fandom blew up over this episode's dance sequence would be a gross understatement. It's a wonderfully animated moment, a fantastic bit of LGBTQ+ representation, and a major step forward in the show's narrative.
The witches' duel
"The Owl House" is home to some tremendous animation. As in many cartoons, however, you can always pinpoint the moments where a bigger chunk of the budget was spent. The reveal of Eda's cursed form and the Grom dance are both examples of the show really flexing its visuals. However, the moment that truly steals the entire season is the epic witches' duel between Eda and Lilith in Episode 18, "Agony of a Witch."
With Eda's curse worsening, forcing her to minimize her magic use, this fight could not happen at a more inopportune time. Despite the risks, Eda brings out the big guns against her sister. This unfortunately results in Lilith revealing it was she who put the curse on Eda during their teen years. Eda responds about as well to this news as you'd expect, tapping out the last of her magic. As the curse consumes her, she bids a tender goodbye to Luz. This battle is one of the most visceral and engaging moments in Season 1, from its spectacular visuals to its shocking reveal.
Luz vs. Emperor Belos
Episode 19, ominously titled "Young Blood, Old Souls," is a genuinely grand finale for Season 1. It marks the first time we get to see the mysterious Emperor Belos in action, and he does not disappoint. Until this point, fans were curious just how powerful and evil he truly is. Needless to say, we aren't left wondering for very long: His malice is on full display here.
Belos reveals to Lilith that he won't be curing Eda like he promised, and that he now plans to turn her to stone. Upon hearing this news, Luz and King get themselves thrown in jail in order to save Eda from this terrible fate. Lilith defects to help spring her sister, and Luz ends up confronting Belos on her own. Luz's Season 1 arc reaches its peak when she throws everything she has at Belos, even managing to damage his mask, which reveals a glowing blue eye.
A good finale feels like a culmination of everything that happens before it. "Young Blood, Old Souls" definitely delivers on this. Seeing Luz, who starts off the season as a geeky misfit, become a truly competent hero is supremely satisfying. Add in the stellar sound design and fluid animation, and you end up with an all-star high point in a fabulous final episode.