This article contains spoilers!
Disney Television Animation announced their order for season one of The Owl House on February 23, 2018. Originally slated to premiere in 2019, the show instead premiered on January 10, 2020, a year later. In the beginning, the show averaged 450,000 viewers per episode premiere. Almost a year later, season two premiered, averaging at 330,000 viewers per episode, a number significantly less than the year before. Yet, what seemed like just another show would turn out to have an impact on millions.
In line with the standards set by most shows, season one focused on introducing the setting—locations such as Hexide, The Night Market, and most importantly, the actual Owl House. Throughout the mundane adventures of season one, we see the protagonist Luz Noceda slowly learn magic. Only near the end of the first season did the show noticeably kick into high gear in terms of the lore and suspense. This was followed by season 2A, which replaced regular episodes in Hexide with new locations, such as Latissa and the Boiling Sea. Among the locations and lore, the show’s creator Dana Terrace has also specified the lead character identifies as bisexual. This allows the animated series to champion LGBTQ+ representation with Disney’s first bisexual lead character, Luz, alongside other queer characters in The Owl House. Unfortunately, Disney ultimately deemed that the show did “not fit the Disney Brand.” As a result, season three was announced to be the last season with shortened episodes.
After the hiatus, the second half of season two aired. This half held more significance to viewers, as it was the last batch of normal episodes before the specials. Needless to say, season 2B delivered just as much as season 2A, if not more. Without time for more slice of life episodes like those in season one, season 2B doubled down on the lore (even more so than season 2A). Season Two, Episode 16 “Hollow Mind” in particular was a bombshell, confirming several fan theories regarding the series’ villain, Belos, and his vengeful past regarding his brother. It also confirmed Hunter as a Grimwalker, something which the series had been setting up ever since his first appearance. The next episode, “Edge of the World” followed this up with even more revelations, such as King being a titan, the very creature that the Boiling Isles is built upon.
After this, all The Owl House had left were the three specials to wrap it all up. This rollout started with “Thanks to Them” which premiered on YouTube shortly after its live premiere on Disney Channel. This was a surprise to many, as typically after an episode premieres, the fan base has to wait months for episodes to be available on Disney+. The premiere on YouTube was a grand success, currently standing at 4.1 million views, and each subsequent special gained more views than the last. It is no wonder this happened, as recent indie animation successes such as Hazbin Hotel and The Amazing Digital Circus started on YouTube. It was at this point that Disney realized their mistake. Despite viewership being low throughout seasons one and two, The Owl House was always big on streaming. The second special, “For the Future,” was ready for as big of a success as the first special, with promos specifically indicating the YouTube premire. However, the whole episode was leaked on iTunes over a month before its release. Spoilers ran rampant through the fanbase as suddenly, the tool that helped The Owl House gain so much popularity quickly became its greatest weakness. I, amongst many others, was forced to quit looking at the internet until the episode came out. It is also a little ironic: despite being forced to shorten its grand third season to three specials and to rush season 2B, Disney still found ways to hurt The Owl House. After the chaos of the third episode, all the fans wanted was a proper rollout for the final special: “Watching and Dreaming.” Thankfully, that is what they got—the perfect finale to such an impactful show.
