Clouds on the Horizon

"**Clouds on the Horizon**" is the twentieth episode of the second season of *The Owl House*, and the thirty-ninth episode overall.

It premiered on May 21, 2022.

## Synopsis

*Everyone on the Isles prepares to celebrate the Day of Unity.*

## Plot

As Emperor Belos makes final preparations on his portal, he speaks with the Collector. He asks Belos if he thinks the Human Realm has changed since he left it. After commenting that he can barely keep his human form, Belos almost strikes the Collector with monstrous extended arm. As he complains about Belos not keeping his end of the deal, Belos watches all the witches of the Isles come to the head for the Day of Unity.

The Day of Unity draws near as final preparations are made. Blight Industries is also supplying the emperor with more Abomatons to provide extra security. All this concerns Alador, who voices his opinions, only to be put down by Odalia, the latter of which instantly brushing away his worries. Amity, Emira, and Edric are sneaking about the factory with a plan to derail the Abomaton production, but Emira and Edric are captured by a big Abomaton. Odalia, annoyed with Amity's meddling, grounds her and the twins.

Back at the CATs' hideout, everyone is preparing to carry out their plan to stop the draining spell. Twenty-four hours remain before the Day of Unity, and at that point, Emperor Belos will activate the draining spell and eradicate all life on the Boiling Isles, more specifically those branded with coven sigils, using the nine types of magic as ingredients for the spell itself. It will be channeled through each of the Coven Heads during the duration of the eclipse. The draining spell cannot be stopped, but it can be corrupted, which involves Eda, as her curse can warp magic. The plan is to have Eda tap into the spell by taking Raine's place as the Bard Coven Head. However, this also means she will have to be given a sigil, and while worried, Eda agrees to go along with the plan.

Meanwhile, Luz has completed her palisman, which has been shaped into an egg, as she wanted to give it the option to decide what it wanted to be. On the other hand, she is worried about what might happen with Eda, who disagrees with joining a coven, but if it means defeating Belos and saving the world, then she is willing to take that chance.

Raine, Eda, and the rest of the CATs board an airship. Before they leave, Luz makes Raine promise to protect Eda. As they leave, Luz and King head for Blight Manor to save Amity, who is locked up at home with her siblings. After being dropped off by Katya, they meet up with Willow, Gus, and Hunter; Hunter tells Luz that Darius ordered him to protect her. He also tells her to avoid mentioning he is a grimwalker to Willow and Gus, as he is still deciding whether he is a witch or human, also mentioning her involvement in helping Belos with the Day of Unity when she tells him to confess but isn't wanting to do the same.

The group then arrives at Blight Manor, and together, they take out the Coven Scouts and Abomatons patrolling the mansion. Luz uses plant glyphs to get up to Amity's window, and the two happily reunite. Luz promises to take her on a special date once everything is over, a date where there will be no mysteries, no monsters, and no duels. Amity likes the sound of that, and then they share their first kiss on the lips, flustering Luz and shocking Amity. The latter then tells Luz about her parents not realizing what they are helping Belos do. She agrees to help her, along with everyone else, and Amity is surprised upon seeing the presence of Willow, Gus, and Hunter. Meanwhile, Eda gets ready to take Raine's place. Raine is unsure about going ahead with this plan, knowing that once she gets a sigil, she will never be able to practice wild magic again. Eda knows this, but she remains committed, and soon, her disguise is ready. Eda prepares to be branded with the Bard Coven sigil through Steve's branding glove.

Luz and her friends infiltrate the Blight Industries factory, disguised as Coven Scouts, with King being assigned to stay behind as a guard. As he does so, he then starts to hear the Collector's voice again before noticing a trail of sweet wrappers leading to Alador. The two have a heart-to-heart, and Alador vents out all his frustrations over how unfair his wife has been treating him all these years. He is now at a point that he feels he should for once stand up to her and be a better father to his kids. King then tells Alador about what the Day of Unity is really about.

The kids' plan to stop the production of Abomatons is halted abruptly, as Odalia sees right through their ruse when they try to infiltrate Alador's quarters. Odalia is also revealed to have given Kikimora a new type of Abomaton, the Abomatron, that she can command. Amity pleads with her mother to see what Belos is about to do will end all of witchkind, but she remains unmoved, even threatening to have Luz taken away from her and replaced with a girlfriend who better suits her standards. Enraged, Amity breaks free from her restraints and informs into a abomination spiked gauntlet to smash the force field created by the Abomatrons. Kikimora also reveals that the Emperor is aware of their plan to stop the draining spell and that the Emperor's Coven has eyes on Eda. Just then, Alador and King arrive, and using a remote control, an outraged Alador disables the forcefield and frees the children. For the first time in ages, he stands up to his wife, who reveals she already knows what the Day of Unity is about, the Emperor having promised to reward her and her family with a life of royalty. Hearing this, Alador is disgusted, and the two engage in a fight. During the conflict, Kikimora captures Hunter and escapes, despite everyone's efforts to stop her. Odalia is able to surround the kids and her husband with all the remaining Abomatons, brushing off Amity angrily disowning her in the process. However, Alador uses his abomination magic to destroy all the Abomatons and part of Blight Industries and turns off the remainder of the Abomatons with his switch. Odalia is defeated, and much to her ire, Alador also resigns as chief engineer of Blight Industries, leaving Odalia no choice but to leave with her entire family turned against her.

Alador and the kids hurriedly board a nearby airship in the hopes of catching up with Kikimora and saving Hunter. However, they discover that "Luz" is Hunter. Per Luz's request, Gus cast an illusion spell over the two to protect him. Therefore, Kikimora actually captured Luz and is now on her way to Belos with the human.

## Cast

* Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz Noceda
* Wendie Malick as Eda Clawthorne
* Alex Hirsch as King & Hooty
* Cissy Jones as Lilith Clawthorne
* Tati Gabrielle as Willow Park
* Issac Ryan Brown as Gus Porter
* Mae Whitman as Amity Blight
* Matthew Rhys as Emperor Belos
* Zeno Robinson as Hunter
* Mela Lee as Kikimora
* Avi Roque as Raine Whispers
* Keston John as Darius Deamonne
* Jim Pirri as Alador Blight
* Rachael MacFarlane as Odalia Blight
* Erica Lindbeck as Emira Blight
* Ryan O'Flanagan as Edric Blight
* Matt Chapman as Steve, Coven Scout
* Grey DeLisle as Katya
* Fryda Wolff as The Collector

### Non-speaking cameo

* Eberwolf
* Amber
* Derwin

### Mentioned

* Owl Beast
* Caleb Wittebane

### Other characters

* Flapjack
* Abomaton
* Abomatron
* Coven Scouts

## Trivia

* **Viewership:** This episode was watched by 0.34 viewers on its premiere.
	+ This was the final episode to air as part of a regular schedule on Disney XD, before *The Owl House* reruns became exclusive to holiday periods on August 18, 2023.
* This is one of six episodes to completely cut the main theme.
	+ This, however, cuts it even shorter.
	+ Like the previous season's penultimate episode, this episode cuts the credits theme, instead playing an extended sequence of the final scene.
	+ Thus, this is the first episode to not include TJ Hill's compositions at all, followed by the next episode. Nevertheless, Hill is still listed for composing both themes in the credits sequence.
* This is the final episode to be animated by Rough Draft Korea.
	+ Thus, this is the final episode to be traditionally hand-drawn on paper.
* The outfit Willow wears in this episode is similar to the outfit worn by her beta design.
* The hidden code can be seen when Willow tries to attack Kikimora. Translated, it reads "Father".
* This is the final episode of the series in which Camila doesn't appear in any way.

### Revelations and significant events

* Emperor Belos has completed the construction of his artificial portal door.
	+ The portal door is revealed to be in the Titan's skull, within the same chamber where Belos, as Philip, previously found the mirror to contact/summon the Collector.
	+ Most of the Titan's Blood within the portal key has been lost, leaving only a sliver of it.
* The general populace of the Boiling Isles is preparing to celebrate the Day of Unity.
* Kikimora got demoted to cargo airship pilot, presumably due to failing to capture any resident of the Owl House, which was her last known mission.
* Judging by how Odalia called Hunter a "turncloak", word about Hunter's betrayal got out in the open.
* Amity, Emira, and Edric try to stop Odalia's supply chain of Abomatons for the Day of Unity, but fail.
* Hooty reveals that he hates wearing clothes, but has to relent in the course of the CATs' infiltration of the Day of Unity ceremony.
* Luz has finished carving the palistrom wood chunk. Instead of an animal, she carved it into an egg so that it could choose its own form, just as she got to choose who she wanted to be.
* Eda managed to recover Luz's cloak, which she gives to King.
* Luz goes off on a mission to free Amity from Blight Manor, succeeding with the help of Willow, Gus, and Hunter.
* Darius has enlisted Hunter as an escort for Luz, and Hunter has recruited Willow and Gus to help him.
	+ However, Hunter did not inform the two about his nature as a grimwalker for their safety.
	+ Hunter also reveals he knows Emperor Belos was actually Philip Wittebane, but he promises not to tell the others.
* Eda disguises herself as Raine in order to take Raine's place and disrupt the draining spell with her curse.
	+ Eda accepts to be branded with the Bard Coven sigil for the sake of the plan.
* Odalia broke Amity's tamagotchi-like communication device as a part of her grounding.
	+ Judging by how the device has organic components inside, it either originated from the Boiling Isles or was at the very least modified there.
* Luz and Amity are reunited, and have their first kiss on the lips.
* Alador has invented a new type of Abomaton, the Abomatron, which Odalia gives to Kikimora.
* Alador suffers from after-effects of the fire flu (sneezing fire).
* King tells Alador about the draining spell and what Belos really wants to do on the Day of Unity.
* Belos is aware of the CATs' plan to sabotage the draining spell.
* Odalia is revealed to be aware of the Day of Unity's true nature, and has conspired with Belos for her family's "prosperity".
* Alador's children inherited the tendency to get a full-face blush when especially angry from him.
* Alador quits Blight Industries and severs his relationship with Odalia while Amity disowns her as her mother, thus leaving Odalia with none of her family on her side.
* Alador joins the kids' rebel group, and they all head to the site of the Day of Unity.
* At the end of the episode, Kikimora kidnaps "Hunter" to hand "him" over to Belos, unaware that "Hunter" is actually Luz under an illusion spell cast by Gus.
	+ This was foreshadowed when the Abomination controlled by Odalia tried to eliminate Gus, Willow, "Hunter" and "Luz": "Luz" used the magic of "her" palisman to run at extremely high speeds and shove Willow out of the way with the magic aura around "her" having the same color as Flapjack's. It was also foreshadowed before Gus used an illusion spell to cast a shadow; "Luz" can be seen with a subtle gap in "her" teeth.

### Continuity

* The events of the episode take place one day after "O Titan, Where Art Thou", as the episode is set at around dusk.
	+ As the Day of Unity is starting in this episode, this means that approximately one month has passed since "Follies at the Coven Day Parade".
* The events between "Edge of the World", "Labyrinth Runners", "O Titan, Where Art Thou" and this episode all occurred within one week, since Willow states that Luz has been gone for that exact amount of time.
	+ Hunter alludes to the events of "Labyrinth Runners".
	+ Gus has kept the magic amplifier from the same episode.
* Darius references Eda's Owl Beast curse corrupting their magic in "Eda's Requiem", which Eda briefly flashes back to.
	+ The plan to use Eda's curse to corrupt the draining spell was proposed to Raine by Darius at the end of "Them's the Breaks, Kid" and rejected by them out of concern for Eda, but after Eda forced their hand in "O Titan, Where Art Thou", the plan was put back on the table.
* When Luz reunites with Gus and Willow, the three of them hold hands in the same manner as when they did the Moonlight Conjuring in "Hooty's Moving Hassle".
* Hunter reveals he overheard Luz finding out Belos and Philip being the same person in "Hollow Mind".
* When in "Edge of the World" King needed to be asleep to hear the Collector's voice, he heard them in this episode when he was awake.
* Amity breaks out of her abomination shackle in the same way Eda had practiced her human workouts in "Eclipse Lake".
* Even though the Collector and Belos were shown to be allies in "Hollow Mind", the Collector is concerned Belos may not uphold his end of the bargain and even ponders about "playing a new game" instead of Belos' "game".

### Production notes

* The kiss between Luz and Amity marks the first LGBT+ kiss between main characters in a Disney show or animated series, as well as the first kiss on the lips between a same-sex couple to be shown on Disney Channel.
	+ It is also the second same-sex kiss in Disney Animation after Barry and Randall from *Proud Family: Louder and Prouder*.
* This episode went through a delay on DisneyNOW, and it did not appear on its release date or the day after until May 23.
* According to Rebecca Bozza, a deleted scene from the episode had Hunter try to follow Luz into Blight Manor, but he would be stopped by Willow and Gus, who tell him to give Luz and Amity a moment. Hunter asks why, and they explain that he'll understand when he's older, to which he responds that he is older.
* Storyboards depict Amity having the portal key around her neck when she confronts Odalia whilst being imprisoned.
* The scene with the Alador-like rat that appeared in Alador's lab was inspired by an earlier scene in the storyboards where Alador struck a pose reminiscent of Remy from *Ratatouille*. In later storyboards by Ben Holm, he drew in a rat that looked like Alador in response, which Dana liked and decided to keep in.

## Allusions

* ***K-pop*** - The four wild witches captured by the Coven Scouts are meant to be a reference to several K-pop artists, namely Taemin, Jessi, Jungkook, and G-Dragon.
* ***Kiki's Delivery Service*** - Kikimora is demoted to delivery service, a subtle pun on the Studio Ghibli film.

## Errors

* While Luz, Willow, and Gus are all holding hands, Willow's left ear is suddenly drawn with a notch in it.
* When Luz and Amity stop hugging, the footage seems to be sped up, as Amity's hand appears for just a few frames before disappearing again.
* Eda suddenly switches from leaning against the railing of the airship to standing up mid-sentence while talking to Raine about getting a sigil.
* Despite the Coven Scout uniform being an illusion casted by Gus, Luz is able to interact with it.
	+ King is still wearing his Coven Scout uniform long after Gus has accidentally deactivated his illusion spells.
* When Raine says that Eda will take their place as Bard Coven head, Lilith has a gray streak on both sides of her hair instead of just her right side.
* When Raine points out that The Draining Spell targets those who have sigils, their Bard Sigil is a bit larger than usual.

## Video

Luz and Amity KISS!! - The Owl House - Disney Channel AnimationOwl House S2B OST – Ep. 20 “Clouds on the Horizon” MUSIC SUITE-2

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Disney Channel on Twitter" (Tweet) (March 15, 2022).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "May 2022 Programming Highlights". *Disney General Entertainment Content* (April 20, 2022).
3. ↑ Clouds on the Horizon concept art by Matthieu Cousin
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Salem, Mitch (May 24, 2022). "Saturday 5.21.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". *Showbuzz Daily*.
5. ↑ https://newsroom.disney.fr/actualites/chaines-disney-channel-disney-junior-bulletin-des-programmes-semaine-33-9bcd-dc71f.html
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/disneychanneljp/status/1594171173306306560
7. ↑ Disney Schedule Archive [@DisneySchedules] (Aug 15, 2023). "The Owl House leaves Disney XD's schedule after Friday.

The late Sunday (Monday) 12-3 am time slots will be replaced with Phineas and Ferb from 12-1:30 am, and Hamster & Gretel from 1:30-3 am, respectively.

Weekdays 2:30 pm is more Gravity Falls. Full series streaming on D+." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2023-08-17. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Twitter.
8. ↑ Bozza, Rebecca (August 13, 2022). "Post Hoot: Clouds on the Horizon with Mela Lee and Shawn Responts! (3:45)" (Video) (English). *YouTube*. Rebecca Rose's YouTube channel.
9. ↑ Cissy Jones (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (1:05:14)". *Instagram*.
10. ↑ Stamenova, Vesela (May 23, 2022). "“Clouds on the Horizon” part 3 The most important incids I have done color for! Homage to @bobo\_doodles K-Pop kings and queen.". *Instagram*.

 Others