"Hunting Palismen" is the twenty-fifth episode of the Disney Channel animated series, The Owl House. It premiered on July 17, 2021, and is the sixth episode in the second season.
Synopsis[]
It's Palisman Pairing Day at Hexside, but Luz doesn't match with a Palisman of her own and soon finds herself on an unexpected journey with a foe.
Plot[]
At his castle, Emperor Belos summons the Coven Heads for a private meeting. As a reward for their efforts, Belos shows them a glimpse of what they are working towards, the Day of Unity: Where the Demon and the Human Realms will be merged into one, in order to purify the Boiling Isles of wild magic. Belos tells the nine Coven leaders that the more their covens grow, the more power they will have to achieve this goal. However, he doubles over in pain mid-speech, causing the Golden Guard to lead him into his throne room. There, he transforms into a raging monster and starts punching a nearby wall. Belos soon comes to his senses, and absorbs the magic of a palisman. Belos asks for more, but the Golden Guard informs him that they do not have anymore, as the palistrom wood has been over harvested. The Golden Guard begs Belos to let him help make more, but as soon as he mentions that he has read about harnessing wild magic, Belos glares at him, ending the conversation topic. Belos advises the Golden Guard to be careful with his studies of wild magic, as their family was destroyed by it, and he does not want to see the Golden Guard get harmed by it too. Belos tells the Golden Guard to find him more palismen, as he can depend on him to do it. Kikimora overhears this conversation through the door, and gets an idea.
Meanwhile, Luz has taken the echo mouse that devoured Philip Wittebane's diary as a pet and hopes it would soon provide the information she needs to return home. However, she becomes sidetracked when Eda announces it is Palisman Pairing Day at Hexside, where Luz and her classmates will receive their staffs as well meet their palismen. Traditionally, witches carve their staffs from the branch of an old palistrom tree, but since they are becoming rare and are under heavy guard, Eda has called in the Bat Queen to bring in some palismen for the students to adopt. Soon, everyone gathered receives their palismen based on their deepest wishes and desires, except for Luz. Palismen choose their owners through emotional bonds, and because Luz has no conviction none of them approach her. When asked what she hopes to accomplish with her magic, she is at a lost. She hopes to return home, but never thought about what to do after, since she cannot use magic in the Human realm. By the time Luz returns home, she is still trying to figure out her goals for the future aside from finding a way home.
Later, Luz discovers one of the palismen had stowed away into her bag, but it did not come for her. She takes it back to the next, but then decides to sit with the other palismen and figure out her future, hoping for one of them to choose her. However, after a long time brainstorming Luz has still not figured out what she wants to do with her magic. Suddenly, her thoughts are interrupted when the nest gets stolen with Luz and the palismen still inside. They find themselves being carried away by an airship, and when Luz climbs aboard she discovers the pilot is the Golden Guard. She tries to seize control of the airship, but the Golden Guard quickly restrains her. However, she manages to knock his staff overboard. Suddenly, they are attacked by a hand dragon creature that causes their airship to crash. When Luz regains consciousness, the bird palisman that followed her frees her from her restrains. She finds the Golden Guard's staff, as well as the Golden Guard alive and without his mask. Before she can get a good look at him, she overhears Kikimora with other members of the Emperor's Coven. She learns that they have found the other palismen, and discovers it was Kikimora who sent that hand dragon to attack them, as she wanted to beat him to the palismen and gain Belos' favor. Kikimora lies to the other coven members that the Golden Guard has been killed and orders the dragon to sniff him out to make sure he is dead. Luz then approaches the unmasked Guard, and discovers that he is only old enough to be a Hexside student. Even though Luz despises the Golden Guard, her good nature will not allow him to be killed at the hands of Kikimora. So, she slaps him awake and informs him what's going on.
Even though he does not fully believe her, they leave behind his cloak for the dragon to sniff out, giving Luz and the Golden Guard time to escape. Luz follows the Golden Guard to the local Emperor's Coven headquarters, but since he is missing his mask, cloak, and staff, the Emperor's guards do not recognize him. He asks Luz for his staff to prove he is their superior, but she hides it behind her back. The Emperor's guards are again not convinced and tells them to go home. Annoyed, the Golden Guard chases after Luz, which comes to an end when Luz uses ice magic to jump onto a roof. She expects the Golden Guard to use magic to come after her, only to realize he is powerless without his staff. But he still manages to climb up. Luz and the Golden Guard are now at a standoff, but then they catch site of Kikimora with the hand dragon, preparing to return to the castle with the palismen. The two of them decide to make a truce and work together to get them back.
Luz's plan is to get palismen away from Kikimora while on route to the Emperor's castle. Using a fire and ice glyph combination, she can conjure up a thick mist, combined with with pollen from sleeping nettle flowers that will create a sleeping induced smoke, forcing Kikimora and her steed to land. The Golden Guard is impressed by Luz's knowledge of wild magic as well fascinated by her glyph magic. He too is interested in wild magic, something that the Emperor does not approve of. Luz is curious to know how the Golden Guard ended up in the Emperor's coven, and so he tells her that he comes from a family of powerless witches. He thought he would never have a future in the Demon realm until Emperor Belos took him in, and him a staff with artificial magic, saying the Titan had big plans for him. The bird palisman has also taken a liking to the Golden Guard, though he does not return the affection because it is made of wild magic.
Soon, Kikimora is on the move and Luz activates the glyph combo, conjuring a mist of sleeping induced smoke. She also gives back the Golden Guard his staff. After Kikimora and the dragon are exposed to the mist, they become drowsy. Luz and the Golden Guard lure them to the gourd where the dragon falls asleep after crash landing. All the stolen palismen are still inside the nest. However, it looks like the Golden Guard is about to double crossed Luz when he aims his staff her. But after Luz criticizes him for what he is willing to do to these innocent Palismen for the sake of the emperor, the Golden Guard lowers his staff and tells her his name is Hunter. Suddenly, Kikimora attacks them. But, because she is still under the effect of the sleeping smoke, she is too drowsy to see who she is attacking. Kikimora almost hit Luz but Hunter protects her and holds her off, giving her time to escape with the palismen. She takes the hand dragon and flies the palismen back to Hexside, where the Bat Queen arrives the following morning to pick them up.
Luz returns to the Owl House, upset that she failed to get a palisman of her own, further doubting her future as a witch. Suddenly, Eda and King show up with a surprise for her. They felt sorry for Luz, so while she was gone, they broke into the Bonesborough Garden Club and stole some palismen wood for her to make a palisman of her own. Meanwhile, Hunter returns to the castle empty-handed. He informs Belos that he was attacked and the palismen got away, but does not tell him about Kikimora, about Luz, or that he let the palismen go. Belos is disappointed with him. Hunter suggests that Belos tell him how wild magic did this to him, but Belos summons a tendril that just barely misses his face. Belos forgives him for his actions, as he knows he can do better. After he is dismissed, Hunter runs into Kikimora, who is surprised to see him alive. Hunter confidently claims to have been picked up by travelers but as he walks away, Kikimora spots a lock of singed hair on his head from their fight, making her suspicious. Hunter then retires to his quarters, where he wishes he knew a little more about wild magic so he can help Belos. Suddenly, he is greeted by the bird palisman, as it has chosen him to become his owner. Hunter is hesitant, because it is not safe for him, but he accepts him as his palisman.
Cast[]
- Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz Noceda
- Wendie Malick as Eda Clawthorne
- Alex Hirsch as King
- Tati Gabrielle as Willow Park
- Issac Ryan Brown as Gus Porter
- Eden Riegel as Boscha
- Zeno Robinson as Hunter
- Mela Lee as Kikimora
- Isabella Rossellini as Bat Queen
- Matthew Rhys as Emperor Belos
- Bumper Robinson as Principal Bump
Additional voices[]
Gallery[]
Video[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first Season two episode where Hooty appears but does not speak.
- This episode premiered on July 17, 2021; Disneyland's 66th anniversary.
- It seems Luz is now keeping the Echo-Mouse from the last episode as a pet.
- The Golden Guard’s name is revealed to be Hunter, and he is Emperor Belos' nephew.
- Its revealed Emperor Belos suffers from a condition that turns him into a raging monster, which is why he absorbs the magic of the palismen.
- Belos says/claims its caused by wild magic and that he and Hunter's family were destroyed by it.
- Starting with this episode, the show’s intro has been updated with Eda's new outfit, King's horn glued back on, and Amity with her new hairstyle, necklace and leggings.
- Amity does not attend school that day, possibly because she is still embarrassed about coming out with her feelings to Luz. Based on Willow and Gus' reaction, it is implied that they knew about it too.
- It is revealed that Luz is from Connecticut, which is the state series creator Dana Terrace is from.
- The demon on Principal Bump's head is revealed to be his palisman.
- It is further revealed that Bump is blind, and has long black hair. He has a scar across one eye while the other is shut.
- Luz introduces her sixth spell: Mist.
- This is the fifth episode in the series were Luz is not seen in her signature outfit, followed by "Understanding Willow", "Wing It Like Witches", "Agony of a Witch", and "Escaping Expulsion".
- While piloting the airship, Hunter is whistling The Owl House theme song.
- The Bat Queen makes her first appearance since "Escape of the Palisman".
- The coded message in the top right hand corner of a staircase, when Luz is being chased by Hunter, translates as "he".
- Sometime after the episode aired, a crewmember leaked deleted footage from the episode of the Titan rising and supposedly destroying a human city. The scene was most likely cut due to containing spoilers.
- Beginning this episode, Hunter stops wearing the Golden Guard mask though he briefly wears it in "Any Sport in a Storm".
Allusions[]
- Sprig Plantar from Amphibia can be seen as a plush toy under a pillow in Hunter's room, while Remy Remington from Big City Greens appears as a plushie on his shelf. The latter's cameo is a nod to his voice actor, Zeno Robinson, who voices Remy in Big City Greens.
International premieres[]
- July 18, 2021 (Canada)
- August 27, 2021 (Singapore)
- September 9, 2021 (Latin America, Brazil)
- September 17, 2021 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand)
- September 22, 2021 (France, Switzerland)
- October 3, 2021 (Israel)
- November 8, 2021 (Germany, Poland, Scandinavia)
- December 23, 2021 (Turkey)
- January 26, 2022 (United Kingdom, Ireland) (Premiere on Disney+)
- February 1, 2022 (Portugal)
- March 2, 2022 (Italy) (Premiere on Disney+)
- March 15, 2022 (Japan)
- September 12, 2022 (Bulgaria, Romania)
- March 15, 2023 (Spain) (Premiere on Disney+)
External links[]
