Ah, The classic body-switch trope. Alright, let’s see what they do with this…

Once Upon a Swap

So far, The Owl House has spoiled us with an early first season chocked full of plot-centric episodes. We had to pay our dues with a filler episode eventually, and as far as those go, this one isn’t bad. Our lovable trio is out selling human curios in the Bonesburrough markets when they each decide the other has an easy lot in life. Eda thinks King is a freeloading mooch, King believes he can conquer Luz’s teenage social angst and Luz is under the impression Eda can “poof all [her] problems away with magic”. The last remark struck me as a little insensitive considering she’s just learned that Eda is…you know…living under a CURSE. She couldn’t exactly “poof” that problem away…

But, as is some odd, unspoken tradition in cartoons, our main cast decides to reconcile their conflicting views by spending some time in each others’ bodies…eww.

Yet, the results are oddly satisfying. King’s stern, demonic glare transplanted on Luz’s lanky body looks oddly intimidating. Meanwhile, Luz’s features on Eda stray a bit into the uncanny valley, but as I got used to it, I started finding her remarkably cute.

However, like many other shows playing this trope, they somehow maintain their voices across bodies and remain unrecognized despite their swapped features. This could have been an opportunity for the voice-actors to show their range, but I suppose it would have dulled the comedy we got from the situation (or enhanced it, but whatever).

From there, the episode splits off into three different directions, following each character on their escapades. Eda’s journey (as King) is mostly what you’d expect. At first, she embraces the endless showering of affection constantly heaped upon her but soon learns it comes with a terrible price. King’s adventure (as Luz), however, takes a rather surprising turn. I was bracing myself for some cringe-worthy segments of King trying to be his usual ironically domineering self and getting ridiculed by Luz’s teen tormentors. Instead, he rather deftly rallies them to his yoke with his awesome chaos-wreaking talents.

Not that I wasn’t fairly sure of it before, but I think this further confirms the notion that King truly was a king of demons as he so proudly proclaims. He shows a natural capacity for leading and inspiring the loyalty of the unruly, which he no doubt once used to foment armies of wicked demons. Unfortunately, his hold on them is broken when he accidentally destroys their hide-out in a near-suicidal race.

Meanwhile, on Luz’s end (as Eda), she foolishly gets captured by the royal guards and nearly sent to the conformatorium. Intervening on her behalf, however, is Eda’s sister Lillith. From her, we get some much-appreciated connection to the overarching plot. Instead of imprisoning Eda, Lillith seems bent on “persuading” her to willingly join the Emperor’s coven, apparently as they had always dreamed as children.

So, if nothing else we come away from this episode with one tidbit of plot-relevant information. All things considered, I think this was a fun episode even if the premise is a bit hackneyed.

Overall: 7/10