Any Sport in a Storm

"Any Sport in a Storm" is the thirty-second episode of the Disney Channel animated series, The Owl House. It premiered on April 2, 2022, and is the thirteenth episode in the second season.
==Synopsis==
Hunter goes undercover at Hexside for his most important mission yet. Willow becomes determined to succeed at an exciting new sport.
==Plot==
Hexside is hosting a Club Fair, and Willow is pumped up to start Hexside's Flyer Derby team. Meanwhile, Luz and Amity have started an Azura book club. When Amity finds out the author of the series, Mildred Featherwhyle, is having a signing at the Book Nook, the two are left puzzled. As far as Luz is concerned, the author is from the Human Realm. But according to Amity she is from the Demon. Their books also feature two different pictures of the author on the back cover, one with round ears and one with pointy ears. Curious to find out more, they head off to the book signing. Hunter is also at Hexside, undercover as a potions track student. After being mocked by Darius for being half-a-witch and saying he does not deserve to be among their ranks, Hunter is out to prove himself by finding new recruits to join the Emperor's Coven. The best and brightest witches in all the land. Little does Hunter understand that Darius only suggested this just to make him go away. 
Since Hunter has never been around witches of his age, his efforts to recruit anyone fail, especially when he gets into trouble with Viney's griffin, Puddles, for accidently stepping on his tail. Willow is also having little success in getting witches to join her club. Professor Hermonculus even threatens to shutdown her club out of resentment for Willow dropping out of his Abomination class. Unless Willow can put together a team and participate in a friendly game of Flyer Derby after school, he will not approve of her club. Willow is just wondering where to find some decent players in time, when she and Gus spot Hunter being chased by Viney's griffin. Impressed by his flying skills, Willow offers him to join her team. Going by the name Caleb, Hunter declines her offer, but quickly changes his mind when he finds out she is looking for the best and brightest witches. With Hunter's help, they are able to attract more witches and eventually get two more members into the club, Viney and Skara. Hunter at first thinks they're not good enough: Viney is too busy trying to keep her griffin from attacking Hunter, Skara is distracted by Penstagram, and Gus does not seem to know how to fly. But once on the Grudgby stadium, the team proves their worth. Gus is a natural speed demon, Skara's a strategic wizard, and Viney is the best healer in the school.
Meanwhile, Luz and Amity try to meet the author of the Azura books while at the same time debating over random theories about her, such as having her own portal, being related to Philip Wittebane, or that she is actually Eda or Luz's mother as a teenager, sent forward in time to train her in the ways of witchcraft. They make it for the book signing, only to discover it has been cancelled, crushing their hopes to meet the author. However, they spot someone who looks like the author. When they call out to her she runs away, and Luz and Amity give chase.
Back at school, Willow's Flyer Derby team is up against Professor Hermonculus' team. Even though it is their first game, Willow's team plays very well, and thanks to Hunter, he claims victory for them. Professor Hermonculus reluctantly approves of their club, and Hunter suggests calling their team the Emerald Entrails. Hunter really enjoyed himself, and his new friends owe it to him for making Willow's Flyer Derby club come to life. But then Hunter drops a bombshell when he reveals his true intentions to have them join the Emperor's Coven against their will and reveals his true identity as the Golden Guard. Suddenly, a squad of coven scouts appear, having been sent by Darius to collect Hunter's recruits.
At the police precinct, Willow and her friends are locked in a cell. Hunter doesn't understand why they don't want to join the Emperor's Coven and tries to highlight the benefits, save for having only one day off, and doesn't see what wrong with backstabbing them all, given that the coven heads do it to each other frequently. When he turns to Willow for support, he is disappointed to see her blaming herself for making the wrong call. After Darius takes them away in an airship, Hunter is beginning to regret his actions, especially when he knows the Emperor will take their Palismen. So, he helps his friends escape and protects them when Darius threatens to hurt them, despite everything that’s happened, Hunter hears they do consider him as a friend. Instead of being scolded, Darius is impressed with Hunter. He even gives him a scroll to start a Penstagram account, since it is time for him to make connections outside the castle and around his age. Darius also reveals he was just going to drop the kids off at Hexside as they already have enough recruits. Hunter is relieved, and Darius promises to keep his Palisman a secret from the Emperor. He also think he will make his predecessors proud, magic or not.
Meanwhile, Luz and Amity catch up with the author, only to discover it is Tinella Nosa dressed like her. They also find out the one selling the Azura books is Tibbles, who runs a scamming business in selling human junk that keeps getting washed up on the shores and having Mattholomule edit the author's pictures to appear witch-like; ironically, Amity was the only buyer of Azura, making Tibbles' whole venture futile. After punching Tibbles into the ceiling for mocking them, Luz and Amity leave, feeling disappointed. This means the author is indeed a human, and not someone special who can travel between realms. But they are not upset for long. They both had fun coming up with all those theories about the author. They also decide to make their Azura book club into a writing club as well. They meet up with Willow, Gus, Viney, and Skara, and are shocked to discover their new friend is Hunter.
==Cast==
*Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz Noceda
*Issac Ryan Brown as Gus Porter
*Tati Gabrielle as Willow Park
*Zeno Robinson as Hunter
*Mae Whitman as Amity Blight
*Eden Riegel as Boscha
*Jorge Diaz as Mattholomule
*Keston John as Darius Deamonne
*Kimberly Brooks as Skara
*Dana Terrace as Tinella "Tiny Nose" Nosa
*Ally Maki as Viney
*Noah Galvin as Jerbo
*Parvesh Cheena as Tibbles
===Additional Voices===
*Arin Hanson as Oracle Student
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*This episode introduces a shorter version of the show's intro.
*It is revealed there was another Golden Guard before Hunter and was Darius' mentor.
*This marks the first time Hunter has interacted with witches his age while not on a mission.
*The sigil of the previous Golden Guard looks like Gravesfield's sigil of Luz’s hometown.
*Tiny Nose's name is revealed to be Tinella Nosa.
*Raine, Lilith, Alador, Emira and Willow's penstagram usernames are revealed. Eda has also appeared to have changed her username
**Raine's username "rainey.day"
**Lilith's username "Chilly.Lily"
**Alador's username "Alabomdor_1"
**Emira's username "EM_IRA"
**Willow's username "Hello_willow"
**Eda's username "THEOWLLADY"
*The author of the The Good Witch Azura novels is called Mildred Featherwhyle.
*Luz says in Spanish "hermosa" to Amity, which translates "beautiful".
*The hidden message, located on the bottom left of the prison cell, translates "Above".
*Willow starts wearing gold framed glasses.
*One of the clubs in Hexside is "Arts and Witchcrafts", whose sign is written with the same typography as the Walt Disney Pictures logo.
*When Willow is showing Hunter the pamflet for Flyer Derby after pulling him to the ground, the characters on the pamflet bear resemblance to some of the main characters from the anime series Digimon Adventure.
**Interestingly, before this episode aired, Hunter's voice actor (Zeno Robinson) was revealed to have been cast as the English dub voice actor of lead character Taichi "Tai" Kamiya in the Digimon Adventure reboot series.
*The way Luz and Amity look at the Pentagram on Willow and Hunter and yelling "WHAT?" at the very end is much similar when Amity and Boscha saw the one on Luz, Willow and Gus controlling Hooty in the very end of "Hooty's Moving Hassle".
==Goofs==
*When Boscha pushes Luz and Amity away, Luz's eyes disappear for a brief moment.
*When Gus is telling Hunter about how important this Flyer Derby thing is for Willow, Willow's staff is leaning against the stall behind him, even though Willow ran off with it earlier.
==International premieres==
*April 3, 2022 (Canada)
*April 13, 2022 (Italy) (Premiere on Disney+)
*May 10, 2022 (Israel)
*May 26, 2022 (Portugal)
*June 8, 2022 (United Kingdom, Ireland) (Premiere on Disney+)
*June 14, 2022 (Belgium , The Netherlands)
*June 15, 2022 (Latin America, Brazil)
*July 17, 2022 (France)
*July 27, 2022 (Japan)
*August 3, 2022 (Germany)
*September 7, 2022 (Poland)
*September 21, 2022 (Bulgaria, Romania)
*March 15, 2023 (Spain) (Premiere on Disney+)
==External links==
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pt-br:Qualquer Ajuda é Bem-Vinda
Category:The Owl House episodes
Category:LGBTQ+ representation