12:13 “How are we gonna get witches to join the emperor’s coven before the day of unity?” “We could force them into it.” “We could add more rewards as an incentive.” “We could do a sexy calendar shoot with Belos.” “….huh?” “Never mind.”
The reveal in Hollow Mind isn't a reaveal to the audience that Phillip is Belos. It's the reveal to Luz that Phillip is Belos, and to the audience that Phillip has engineered Everything over centuries for this ultimate spell that will clearly cause harm to Everyone on the boiling isles that Belos could get his hands on.
agreed!! i always felt it was more of a confirmation that he was phillip and that the real reveal was the "no one ever said being a witch hunter was easy" line and that his plan was to just wipe out everyone on the boiling isles
@@patchodraws9200 I'd say the reveal was more Philip's "I just need to live long enough to see this through" being overlayed with Belos' voice at the end of Elsewhere & Elsewhen
The most terrifying aspect of Belos as a character is the fact that he is human. He's a charismatic bigotted conman, not some ancient evil or emotionless robot. While he is slightly exaggerated, people like him can and certainly do exist. They can be anyone from a cult leader to your next door neighbor, and that's kind of freaky. Humans don't want to see the worst in people, especially those that seem so normal, we don't want to believe that we're the only monsters around, so when we are faced with that fact we freak out.
Uh, I'd say he's tame compared to a LOT of fire and brimstone preachers. From lynching gays to murderering black people to installing a theocracy after taking down our democracy, *they say and try to do some crazy shit.*
It's also scary because Belos would have been considered pretty darn normal and his accomplishments would have been considered even heroic during his time.
A beautiful irony between Belos and Luz is that his whole position is based on people believing he can communicate with the Titan yet Luz has for her time on the Boiling Isles always had the ear of a Titan and once she finds out it’s not a big deal to her.
Did you know that Philip cut his arm with a knife in order to carve the glyphs from his arm and he cut his ears in order to be pointy ears like Witches?
@@KittyMonk I see. That's good. Good video, btw. I love Philip/Belos as villain Can't wait for other videos like Odalia, King, Lilith and maybe Amity (after the three specials of the show). I'm super curious what you are going to say about Wendi from GF.
@@Nobody-tm9vr I'm curious about those specials now. I just finished watching season 2 last night and the way they ended the last episode with a cliffhanger? Returning home to her mom with her friends from the demon realm, "hey mom, I'm back," and ending it there? Kinda makes me think of the way they ended Teen Titans with the episode Things Change.
@@PS4Pat imagine if Disney pulls a completely jackass move And takes away any sort of season 3 💀 I don’t want to imagine a world where owl house doesn’t have any sort of satisfying ending
@@IDontKnow_321 I see where you're coming from. Take Transformers Animated for example. The way season 3 ended, I thought it wrapped everything up decently, but apparently, from what I heard, it was also left on a cliffhanger with Optimus having mentioned that Megatron would stand trial. But as for Owl House, yeah, there's no way they can just leave things like that. I can be, as you said, 'satisfied' with Owl House specials as long as they wrap things up decently. Though if they do manage to find a way back to the Demon Realm, I predict that Amity will choose to stay behind. Even if it means having to live the rest of her life without magic, she'll be willing do make such a sacrifice so she can stay with Luz. Could be wrong, but I'm calling that right now.
I can’t wait for this! Belos is honestly such a well written villain since bill from gravity falls I’d argue, the way he talks, acts, reminds me so much of an abuser/manipulator (which is obvious he is with how hunter is terrified of him along with others who worked at the emperors coven) also I’d like to point out when belos finally showed his face many people we’re disappointed cause he “wasn’t scary looking” but I’d disagree it honestly works in my opinion how he doesn’t look threatening under his mask or how he doesn’t need a deep voice either to be threatening he’s just calm but can be intimidating when he wants to be which is chilling reminds me so much of an wolf in sheep’s clothing and how there can be actual people like him in real life an abuser/manipulator obviously abusers/ manipulators don’t have a “look” or let their true colors show until you’ve fallen into their trap then their true colors start to show. Also how hunter couldn’t open his eyes to that truth despite him being terrified of his uncle before hollow mind but still defending him and making excuses for him is so realistic and painful to watch. I think that’s what makes belos scary you can meet a belos irl and not even know until it’s too late or their true colors show.
Yeah my abuser was really similar to him, I got out 2 years ago but the effects of what hes done are still very much visible. I mean I lived with the guy for 11 years so it's not that suprising but still
True... while bill not really abusive... but he still a really bad guy. Yet people still love him as a character. Me included. Why exactly? Im not too sure...
One of the worst things about Philip is he was in the Boiling Isles for 400 years and despite living among witches for that long he never opened him mind enough to see their thoughts on witches are wrong, his brother did. I like to think Caleb didn't just want to stay because he was in love with that witch, but because he was more open minded and didn't agree with the discriminatory ways of the human world and those didn't exist in the Demon realm. I agree the witch trials are interesting, terrible but interesting. I have a feeling the Salem witch trials are more popular because Salem,Massachusetts has a lot of places dedicated to it, I am not sure Connecticut does. Wait, one of the people in the Connecticut witch trials was named Mathew Hopkins, but wasn't the museum guy named Jacob Hopkin...OH MY GOSH, Jacob is a descendant of Mathew Hopkins and that's part of why he was so paranoid! All theories are canon until the show or it's creator's say otherwise.
Yep. Dana knows what she's doing. One of the reasons I love this show is it's pro-pagan/polytheist/animist message and it's pro-LGBT content, both of which severely anger the hardline sects of Christianity
Connecticut was actually one of the very first places, specifically the Wethersfield settlement, to hold witch trials, predating Salem by about 3 decades. There is a reason Dana chose Connecticut and I'm willing to believe they based it off of Hartford history. I'm actively researching Connecticut history from its beginnings to the end of the witch trials to understand the Wittebane history more. I'm willing to be that season 3 was going to be about exploring Gravesfield but since it was cut so short I don't think we'll have some very important plot points about Caleb and Philip.
Caleb was probably evil and sought to colonize the earth with the magic from the boiling isles. Belos was wary of magic and its influences. His brother was lured in by it.
@@justice8718 that's exactly what belos tells himself every night, "witches are evil" "magic is evil" "caleb was lured in and corrupted" those are the lies he feeds himself.
The parallel between Luz saying “you’re just the golden guard” to hunter and then “you’re just Belos” later to Phillip is honestly heartbreaking to me.
"A man's called a traitor, Or liberator, A rich man's a thief, Or philanthropist! Is one a crusader Or ruthless invader? It's all in which label Is able to persist!"
I feel like Caleb didn't even start out hating witches considering his reaction to a likely witch was wonder so he might have seen all that witch hunting as games or stories Philip fully bought into it
He could have been just as curious about the world around him as Luz, using the opportunity to be somewhere he wasn’t expected to conform to see beyond the social conditioning from being raised as a Puritan. If part of the Grimwalker creation involves basing the personality of the original on the clone, the inevitable conflict of personality makes sense.
The thing is even when raised with propaganda, speaking of which modern society is definitely not free of propaganda either, certain people will react differently to the things that they are taught is bad by society and their family.
@@msk-qp6fn In modern society one is exposed to more propaganda than people in Puritan times were because of the sheer amount of media we’re exposed to whether we want to be or not. Even if you avoid literature, movies, TV shows, social media, people like to make their opinions known.
@Can'tthinkofaname This is going to get into modern politics, but a big example of people refusing to believe actual evidence that’s readily available is anti-vaxxers. There is plenty of scientific evidence to show that vaccinations are more beneficial than harmful, yet through the internet people find and believe, twist facts to make their narrative work. An older example is people who believe vaccinations cause autism, there’s significantly more evidence against than for this but too many parents don’t vaccinate their kids out of fear anyway. In the Information age there’s a certain American politician. Hours and hours have been spent fact checking and factually debunking so much of what he’s said within hours of saying it, in speeches and on social media, but he still has a large fanbase who are known to go to extreme lengths to show support for him despite the lack of evidence for his claims.
@@jbcatz5 but we also have the chance to fight propaganda; if you never got out of your village, and didn't knew what the fuck the world was outside your sight ypu would just believe the propaganda Everyone likes to think they wouldn't be a nazi during nazi germany; you would be
Hunter's creation also really shows how evil Belos is. No duh, but some details one must really look at: 1. Because of Uncle Philip wanting to remake Caleb, his nephew or niece doesn't get to grow up with his/her/their father. Meanwhile the Wittebro kid that Belos does get is subject to conditional love and abuse until the modern one eventually is saved. 2. Yeah creating a clone especially for selfish reasons is problematic enough, but most stories usually just stop at getting DNA from the host without killing them like say with Spider-Man. To make a Grimwalker means having to kill a Selkidomus and a Stonewalker, plus using precious material like Palistrom Wood and Galderstones. So he is creating numerous copies of his brother to mistreat, while lessening important resources and endangering several species, one being extinct. And those like Hunter are stuck with the burden of feeling themselves to be a perversion of life. 3. Not to mention that if others shared the same task as Hunter, many Golden Guards were contributing to the decrease of resources and species that they are infact made from.
I love how the show at first made us think that Belos might be a wise, tragic, calculating and even philosophical/honorable type of villain that genuinely cared for Hunter in his own twisted way... only to later shatter those expectations and show us that he really wasnt any of that, he is just an old, racist, hypocritical, possessive, bitter, overly emotional nutt job with a God/hero complex that is unable to move past his initial view of the world.
Heck, even his one seemingly honorouble act when he didnt kill Luz at the end of S1 and let her go instead, was revealed that it wasnt out of mercy but just because he needed to wait for her to travel back in time and help his past self! (not to mention that not only he never gave a damn about Hunter he never even saw him as a person). The result was one of the greatest villains in Disney's history.
Philip is probably my favorite villain of all time. Of course there are villains out there that seem more eye catching or powerful but the thing that gets me with Philip is all of the themes incorporated into his character. I mean this man has historical, religious, and cult-like themes all wrapped into one and it’s just so amazing. I’m really sad that he got one shot but i still have my hopes up for seeing him in the future
I think Emperor Belos is similar to Jugde Frollo from The Hunchback of Norte Dame. Like Belos, Frollo has a huge hatred of gypsies as during the time period, they are viewed as outcasts and demonic beings and we’re heavily discriminated against. In the very beginning of the movie, he kills Quasimodo’s parents and was about to drown him in a well because he was deformed, but stopped by the Priest and was forced to take care of him. Throughout the movie he tries to manipulate the characters around him. Telling Quasimodo that he will view as monsters because of his appearance, tries to convince everyone around him that gypsies are evil and if aid them will be punished, even trying to manipulate himself that he is doing the right thing by convincing himself that Esmeralda is pure evil when he starts having sexual attraction to her and tries to convert her into to his beliefs or just kill her and all the other gypsies to save France, the will of god, and himself to be put in hell.
Always love a good comparison to one of my favorite villains of all time! Maybe looking at Belos post-reveal from this sort of a lens will make me enjoy him again. Unfortunately, that G-word you're using is widely considered a racial slur by actual Romani people, and I've seen Roma-run accounts/pages say as much.
Especially in the play version where frollo also had a brother who stray away the toxic mindset and had a kid with a Romanian woman but both died to illness i think and frollo reluctantly had to take care of his nephew which was Quasimodo
That's very interesting as in the original text Frollo was a priest and used his position to get away with horrible acts while people assumed he was a good holy man. But keep in mind the original text did not focus on the oppression of Romani people.
Honestly I love how not subtle TOH has been about Belos and what kind of person he is. The Witch-hunter in the world of witches...aka the extremely religious man (given the time period he's from but i know of plenty of people today who'd do the same as him) put into a world where LGBT+ people are openly accepted to the point no one thinks about it. I understand not wanting to be political, but the show has kind of made itself that so I can see why it's so hard to NOT go there when discussing the show. They made Philip/Belos such a distrubingly real person, and that's part of why he's so scary. I'm sure a lot of people from very conservative/religious households have had to deal with countless Philips during their life. Also, Salem is most famous likely due to The Crucible.
Hollow Mind, in hindsight, is like a warped form of Eda's subplot in Knocking on Hooty's Door- Instead of accepting the curse as part of the cursed, Belos only uses others to benefit himself.
This kinda reminds me of what Palpatine once said, "Good and evil is just a point of view" and that line applies to Philip/Belos Philip genuinely believes that witches are eternally evil and making them extinct is a good thing. Pretty sure if he did get back to Gravesfield without being turned to splat, most people will see him as crazy. One possible conversation could go like this: Belos:"I killed all witches to protect you,so you're welcome, humanity!" Humans: "😑Dude,that's genocide" Whether he likes it or not, Luz was right: not only have times changed in the Human realm, but he's more of a monster than any of the witches on the Boiling Isles I doubt even Jacob Hopkins would stand by his side forever
@@jbcatz5 I'm looking forward to Jacob coming face to face with the real Philip. Not saying anything at first, but when things have calmed down after his defeat he just says quietly he has a museum full of stuff he never wants to see again and the kids can help themselves.
@@jbcatz5 Maybe,maybe not. There's a chance Jacob is related to Matthew Hopkins, an actual "Witchfinder General" that was alive from 1620-1647,in other words Philip's time
Belos is even more terrifying in season 2 than he was in season 1, and he was already scary in season 1. Past episodes with him hit differently after Hollow Mind and King’s Tide. Belos is not only one of the best DTVA villains but also one the best Disney villains ever
Philip is a textbook psychopath. He is very charismatic, master manipulator and has the focus of an unsympathetic psychopath. He sees everyone as stepping stones to his ultimate plans and shows literally no remorse even after centuries of manipulation. That’s why he’s so good as a villain.
I would say belos is paying the price for some spell that’s enhancing his life span at the cost of his humanity, the longer he’s alive the more energy is needed to keep up the strain of keeping him alive, and from how his body is reacting now, from falling apart.
Ppl have mentioned plenty about the manipulation and intended genocide of belos but I think there's even more to talk about in regards to his character taking into account the puritans and where he's from. These days we're able to look back and realize the witch trials were mainly a result of fear mongering and manipulation and lies, but back then these people truly believed those lies, belos clearly included in universe. He basically ended up doing exactly what an incredibly religiously abusive home did to him, whether intentionally or not (but judging by how much he seems to believe he's doing the right thing, I'd say not). Changing his mind about witches would be basically like admitting everything he was told since he was born was wrong, something he clearly doesn't want to admit, just like hunter down the line. And there's more then just that, it's been pointed out by fans, but belos appears to be left handed, he is depicted using his left hand constantly outside of certain occurrences and especially writing. Left handedness was considered a sign of evil back then, children were literally beaten into using their right, its such a small detail but it adds so much into showing how much he has been warped by his community and how it still lingers. Between that and Philip's intellect, he's prime material to be hated on earth by his community and yet he still believes in it and conforms into what he's been taught. It kinda almost adds a tragic layer to him, because the isles would've let him thrive, he wouldn't be within a community that would've done this to him and have his brother alongside him. The isles could've been an escape for that treatment as it was for Caleb, but he couldn't break out of it, he'd rather warp his body and sacrifice his brother then accept everything he would've gone through or been taught was for nothing. Like even if belos had successfully eliminated the witches, he would've come home to nothing, he'd be a sad old man with no money, no home, and just stories no one would believe. He was hoping to go back a hero, maybe you wonder if he was trying to prove his own worth to that community, but he did all of that sacrifice for nothing. (Part of me hopes s3 has Philip reflect on that tbh) Its definitely easy to just reduce belos to his murder and manipulation, and fair enough, he is the villian and he's still awful. Its just fascinating that there's this kinda cycle of religious abuse he's apart of and it basically ruined his life, even if the show can't directly touch the religious part, its absolutely there. Hes a man desperate to be the hero of this story and desperate to have everything he was told be right, and desperate that it was all worth it in the end, and it destroyed him and left him with nothing and I think that's a fascinating human take on a villian. He's such an interesting character and the knowledge of the puritan community and witch trials add to him so much.
An institutionalised intolerance for anything other, using scapegoating of people who don’t strictly conform as a pressure release for the pressures of conformity.
You know what I think is THE MOST terrifying aspect about Belos/Phillip's character? He was around during the big Witch Trials in America's history, right? This makes him part of the Puritan groups of that time and as we know, some of them believed that anything that deviated from the status quo was to be considered "devilish" or "sinful." This makes his whole crusade against Katya's fanfic writing, Tin Nose's conspiracy theories and the Eye-Eating Demon's...well, eye eating habits all the more shocking because each of THEIR habits seemed to go against the "normal" way of life people should live. Sadly, this kind of mentality hasn't died out after the Puritan Era went away. You've got parents going up in arms against stuff kids love (ex. D&D, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Owl House.) You've got all these anti-transgender policies in every state in things like sports or even something as stupid as restroom rights...you even have politicians like Ron DeSantis trying to make the LGBTQ+ Community's very existence a "crime punishable by law" (hence his controversial "Don't Say Gay" policy.) The sad part is...Luz and all the other heroes of The Owl House are not only able to fight off Belos but also expose his lies to others. Meanwhile, in the real world; hating gay people, bisexuals, trans folk or even femme boys has become part of our new status quo. We have to put a stop to this right now or we could be living in a similar restrictive society the Boiling Isles has
Great analysis! I thought similar about the Conformitorium prisoners but in a different way: officially, they’re in prison for being weird, really they’re in there because they can encourage rebellion. Katya writes fanfics and dictators always go after intellectuals because they can persuade the masses, and she was also a BATT; Tiny Nose gives conspiracy theories so maybe she could stumble on the truth about Belos; Eyeball Demon I see as a wild witch or somebody who couldn’t use magic.
If you thought Belos was bad now, just imagine if he was born in the Holy Roman Empire instead? He and Caleb founded Gravesfield in I think 1635, which was the beginning of the last phase of the 30 Years War. The 30 Years War brought back a resurgence of witchhunts across the HRE, so I bet Belos would go on a bloody witchhunt quest to slay the ones whom he thought brought war to his home.
@@theemissary1433 Or...imagine Belos during the time of the Crusades, ANOTHER time of religious anguish for a LOT of people; Christians, Muslims AND Jewish folk
@@KittyMonk What's scary is that even in the real world; people are ostracized, persecuted and even punished for being "odd." Just look at all the people who go after Trans folks, girls wanting to play football, boys watching "girl shows" or even people who do LARPing. Even as we speak, Conservatives are currently thinking about destroying the OTHER aspects of Roe V. Wade; namely same-sex marriage, interracial marriage and miranda rights
@@sadlobster1 If he were in the Crusades, he wouldve some prejudice against Muslims. But to be fair, crusaders like in the First Crusade never really cared much about God or the Holy Land, as they were only in it for the loot. They sacked their own Christian cities and towns, and in the one Crusade that we should never talk about (the 4th crusade) they committed the unforgivable sin of sacking the Eastern Roman Captial of Constantinople. So if Belos was just like those crusaders, I bet he would only just care about the plunder.
I still find it super interesting that Lilith, as a member of the Emperor's coven, hasn't been branded into said coven. We don't ever get to see her wrists through all of season one, so it's left deliberately unclear if she has a sigil or not; however, in all of season 2, he wrists are clearly visible and she lacks a coven sigil on either. Not to mention she offers to take Eda's place during the plan to ruin the draining spell, something she shouldn't have been able to do had she been branded into the Emperor's coven, and we distinctly don't see her at all once the draining spell starts, so we have no indication whether or not she was affected by the draining spell.
Yeah, I think it's implied he's getting his immortality through consuming them, likely he only needs one or two every year, but because of the power rush it gives him he over indulges, we know that consuming palismins is the reason for his wendigo affliction from inside his mindscape so I don't think they actually cure his deformation or anything, likely his form has just become unstable from all the power he has imbued it with but he can maintain it so long as he has control, but he loses that control when he goes through withdraw.
I think that we've got so used to sympathetic villains (those who have tragic backstories, or have good reasons to fight the main characters such as protecting their people, helping a beloved one...), that see one who CHOOSES to be bad feels refreshing. And not only that, but he's also good at it: he's cunning and persistent. The first time we saw him unmasked we thought "Hey, he looks nice, maybe he's not that bad after all". And that makes him even more terrifyingly realistic: bad people can seem nice
Belos simply failed to coerce people into bigotry, so he convinced himself it's just proof to show the island folk that they are sinful and must be drained of their life.
He is by far the most insane cartoon character I've ever seen. He's killed so many people. Including his own brother. Rather than get to know their ways and live with them in peace. He's even more evil than Selena the monster Carver.
Yeah the scary part and impressive too i guess is that he maintained this mindset for centuries despite living among the witches. I think most people will start to question themselves after that long of a time
Well ther is a other side of that story. In other fantastic universe there was a phenomenon that caused "witches" pooping up on worlds. Some people said "those guys can do magic, thats cool". Then later on daemons followed right after murdered everyone. And the only worlds that didnt have the problem of "suddenly daemons" were the worlds on which people just do witch hunts againts them and kill everyone.
I think Belos lets the Boiling Isles be this accepting place because he's already convinced that the witches are creatures of sin beyond redemption. No point in trying to "redeem" what Phillip might see as basically hell.
I think we'll get that backstory episode in one of the season 3 specials. My personal hope is that it extends to the present and shows us how much and when Belos realized Luz and Lilith were time travelers. Comments like the obvious "The Emperor looks forward to meeting you" tease and that Eda's petrification wasn't a "real" petrification the first time make me think Belos was orchestrating most of the events up to at least the time travel episode to make sure Luz and Lilith went back and helped him as Philip as they had, which makes him an even more interesting villain in my eyes.
We got three specials and Belos is evil goo now. I feel like the mindscape paintings are the best we might get due to the whole Disney cutting things short thing.
6:26 funny that you mentioned “the cleaved route” Because I honestly expected this to be a jab at star vs anyway. Since the big thing at the end of that is the very thing the heroes in this are trying to prevent. Because even other show writers could see what a bad idea that was.
I love how both Judge Frollo and Belos are both fanatics. They will do anything to achieve their goal. Side note: i also remember a time when I theorized that Belos will take Hunter’s body as a vessel at the day of unity. Since a lot of people thought that Belos uses a Grimwalker to live for 400 years
One thing I've recently thought about is how in some ways, the dynamic between Phillip and the Collector is the opposite of the Core and Andrias. Here, the more serious one is younger and has less power, but is more devious.
I just realized that the outcasts being arrested in EP1 were a reference to the fact that they were the type of people who would have been called witches back in the day.
I think villains are often super ugly or super attractive because being super ugly means they would have been shunned and bullied by their world so they would have had all the reason to despise the status quo and being super attractive means they would have used their attractivness to manipulate people to do their bidding without being conspicuous.
I think villains are super ugly too show the effects and depths of their corruption like Veran from the dragon prince. When Veran uses dark magic he becomes ugly freak to show how corruptive dark magic is.
For the witch trials they originated in Europe, and the original starter of it was seen as a mad man, he went to other towns and eventually people believed it, and it began to spread. Eventually reaching the colonies, and it goes from their. The reason Salem is so rememberd might(I’m not wholly Shure) be due to the play “The Crucible” witch is Hostoric fiction about the Salem witch trials.(real names semi real actions and real deaths) Pretty crazy stuff.
Heinrich Kramer did have the blessing of the current pope, even overturning the Church's official stance than magic and witchcraft were fake. But yeah, people hated this guy when he went on tour.
If you think about it, it makes sense why Philip hates witches, he probably came from a time where accused witches in the human world would be burned and killed.
Belos and Luz are both outsiders. He became a conqueror and she became a defender because they were raised on different values, with Phil considering Luz a race traitor due to her 21st century values and Luz would probably think that the witch hunts of Philip’s era were barbaric even if she never went to the Boiling Isles due to how much society changed between his entry into the Isles and her birth.
This is my son’s favorite show, but I only ever took in some moments here and there. Yesterday he watched season 3’s only episode for maybe the 5th time and I decided to sit down and watch it with him. Now- here I am..scouring the internet for theories and waiting for my 9 year old to wake up so he can explain it all to me before school 😭
One thing that feels weird to me is that one line from 'Separate Tides' where Hunter says, "The Emperor is not a merciful man." but episodes like Hollow Mind have Hunter acting like Belos is a saint. I get that Hunter is saying that Belos isn't merciful to those who oppose him/make trouble, but that line feels like he's acknowledging how awful Belos is, I mean I get in context Eda is a criminal even in that episode as she stole from the ship, but it feels like that line should've come at a different point in Hunter's character arc.
I just wanna say, when I first started watching The Owl House and Amphibia. I considered Andrias to be a better villain. Mostly because I found him to be more charismatic. But after TOH Season 2B? It's definitely Belos who I prefer. I just think he's more interesting, threatening, and well-developed. Andrias is still great though.
I say Andrias is more sympathetic and humane due to him being more fueled by grief and insecurity. Belos on the other hand...well, is just more inhumane due to his apathy.
@@msk-qp6fn Andrias is also extremely direct with the protagonist "Yup, used you" Also, it's explained in the serie that for 1000 years he's been a good person and a nice king... that's somethin
Belos is very much like Claude Frollo from the hunchback of notre dame he was taught to hate a specific group of people(witches or gypsies) . And he believes all those people are evil and he is richous and pure. He sees himself as the hero purging the world of sin and he sees corruption everywhere except within.
Belos is honestly one of the most effective villains I've seen in a while (Which I must say is quite refreshing, seeing Disney movies haven't been adding ANY good ones lately) - even when we first see him we don't know his motives for keeping the denizens of the Boiling Isles under his thumb. But as the story progressed, we get to Hollow Mind... Wham revealing plot point! Worst part is he wouldn't just be against magical beings and all we've seen in the Isles... being a puritan nutjob: he'd also be after Catholics, Jewish people, Native Americans and more!
If homophobia doesn't exist in the Owl House universe Philip would be the only canonically homophobic character being born in the middle ages where you get accused of being a witch just for breathing
He is from 1600s, and that is early Baroque era, not the Middle Ages technically. Medieval era ended in the final decades of 1400s, with events like the Fall of Constantinople and discovery of America.
Actually the witch hunting thing got going during late Middle Ages, after the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum (which during publication was condemned by the Inquisition), and got going in the 16th and 17th centuries, which are associated with the Renaissance. In a twist of events, during Medieval Ages you’d actually be called stupid for believing in witches; The Germanic Council of Paderborn in 785 explicitly outlawed the very belief in witches, and the Holy Roman (Most of Central Europe + Northern Italy) Emperor Charlemagne later confirmed the law. Among Eastern Orthodox Christians concentrated in the Byzantine Empire (Greece, the Middle East and Egypt), belief in witchcraft was widely regarded as deisidaimonia-superstition-and by the 9th and 10th centuries in the Latin Christian West (in those periods Christianity was split culturally between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy), belief in witchcraft had begun to be seen as heresy. Christian perspectives began to change with the influential writings of the mystic poet Dante Alighieri and scholastic philosopher Thomas Aquinas, both of whom believed in astrology, whilst condemning sorcery as moral perversion.[7] Dante also condemned then-current forms of alchemy and divination, whilst Aquinas had a more nuanced and sympathetic view.[8] [9] Towards the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period (post-Reformation), belief in witchcraft became more popular and witches were seen as directly in league with the Devil. This marked the beginning of a period of witch hunts among early Protestants which lasted about 200 years, and in some countries, particularly in North-Western Europe, tens of thousands of people were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death.[10] The Inquisition within the Roman Catholic Church had conducted trials against supposed witches in the 13th century, but these trials were to punish heresy, of which belief in witchcraft was merely one variety.[6] Inquisitorial courts only became systematically involved in the witch-hunt during the 15th century: in the case of the Madonna Oriente, the Inquisition of Milan was not sure what to do with two women who in 1384 and in 1390 confessed to have participated in a type of white magic. Not all Inquisitorial courts acknowledged witchcraft. For example, in 1610 as the result of a witch-hunting craze the Suprema (the ruling council of the Spanish Inquisition) gave everybody an Edict of Grace (during which confessing witches were not to be punished) and put the only dissenting inquisitor, Alonso de Salazar Frías, in charge of the subsequent investigation. The results of Salazar's investigation was that the Spanish Inquisition did not bother witches ever again though they still went after heretics and Crypto-Jews.[11] The Inquisitions were supposedly fighting against heresy (wrong belief), not witchcraft fyi
Philip Wittebane aka Emperor Belos is like a combination of a colonizer and religious fundamentalist. Kinda like The Owl House version of Judge Claude Frollo from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He’s one of the best terrifying Disney villains alongside Judge Claude Frollo, Judge Doom and The Horned King
he is literally just a puritan, which is not to say you are wrong. the puritans were genocidal maniacs who fully believed that happiness is evil (not even joking about that btw, couldn't dance and they even invented food that was supposed to be disgusting but healthy).
36:28 Going along with this, I imagine in Belos’s mind all of their “abhorrent, unholy immoral thoughts and actions” were just further sins to justify his genocide. The more “sinful” they were, the more righteous and pure he was.
In my opinion, Belos reminds me a lot of Judge Claude Frollo from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, who I always thought was more frightening than Maleficent or Ursula. Both of them have hurt and killed many innocent people, but in their eyes they don't see themselves as villains. They both believe with every fiber of their being that they are "saving humanity from evil" and following God's will to eradicate witches/gypsies. Belos/Phillip never mentioned the word God or Bible but it still feels implied. There are two types of villains: those you know what they are doing is bad and relish in it and those who don't see themselves as the bad guy as they do horrific things. The latter is all the more terrifying.
KING'S TIDE SPOILERS belos was such a well writen villan and it made him seem like he would be there untill the end and then the colector shows up kills him and starts destroying everything is honestly such a good plot twist
Belos sort of reminds me of The Lady Bone Demon, from Lego Monkie Kid. Like him she basically manipulates everyone into helping her completely her plan. She constantly tells people that it's destiny. My favourite example is what she did with the Spider Queen, she constantly tells her that if she helps her get what age wants. She'll get her destiny. Later on, she kills Spider Queen, as she's doing it, when SQ agrees the LBD promised her, her destiny. LBD laughs and tells her this IS her destiny
In my AU, the basilisks were like the Anacondrai from Ninjago; a proud, militaristic species who had a tentative truce with the Witches and other demons. But in my AU, Philip pitted the two in a war against each other by blaming murders on each side. The Basilisks would either wipe out the other demons, leaving just the basilisks to kill with glyph magic (Something the basilisks are shown to be vulnerable to in the first day), or the witches would kill the basilisks, allowing Philip, who would lead the witches, to cement himself as a savior and a messiah of the Titan.
It is interesting because the Salem Witch Trials were pretty tame (and quite late) compared to what happened in Europe. The East Anglian witchhunts are taught in schools in the UK and we learned all about Mathew Hopkins. I did witch hunts as part of my A level history, so I did end up learning about Salem (and knew a bit from studying the Crucible before), but otherwise I was more familiar with the East Anglian witchhunts. Think the two main reasons Salem is broadly talked about is due to the US' immense cultural influence and the fact that it is arguably the perfect case study to learning about mass hysteria.
Imagine what would happen after the Day of Unity if the Collector hadn't been freed, yeah Belos would be attacked for potentially killing those people, but there would definitely be people making excuses like "The Owl Lady's curse ruined the magic of the ceremony" or "The human's presence disrupted the spell", there would be hundreds of excuses like that, with thousands of sects dedicated to 'Belos's Greatness.'
He really reminds me of demona from gargoyles. She did not like how humans treated gargoyles. But unlike Goliath who wanted to make peace with them. Demona only wanted them killed.
Well Demona for all her incapacity to admit that a lot of her trouble have been her fault and all the bad decision and crimes she has done in the centuries; well she mantain a little spark of 'humanity' and a need to form connection. Belos? No, Belos is pure unadultered evil
I really love the owl House in every single character in the show is an a or b+ in my opinion and I wish we had a lot more time with these characters and this show but maybe we could get a graphic novel or a special touching on the history of the two brothers here be hoping and thank you for your video
In my opinion, I think Belos' curse is caused by him starting to consume palismen. The collecter probably told him it was the only way to continue living for as long as he has. He came to The Boiling Iles during the witch trials in Conneticut, that was before America was even an independant nation. So, he starts taking them and though he gets extra life, he turns into the monster thing.
40:42 oh GOD. If this ends up being true, then it means that Eda and Lilith are like, Belos’ great great grandnieces or something, which makes this whole thing a family affair where Belos was manipulating one of his brother’s scion (Lilith) and trying to murder the other one. 😶🌫️
I wonder if enough fans wrote to Disney enough about how much this show means to them, if they’ll continue the series. I was considering doing it myself, but I figured I’d put it out there to other fans who would also want to do the same.
I always disliked to even hate the "theory" of Belos was just a descendant of Philip. I mean it's the same problem people still have with the hunter being a grimwalker theory... Whst does we get from it even it is true in the end... Philip being Belos is like the Dabi reveal of My Hero Academia, nearly everyone saw it coming miles away but the reveal was still impactful for the characters and the audience and the twist. The real twist of Philip for me was that they did turn him into a classic Disney villian instead of "misunderstood, tragic villian that ultimately getting redeemed at the end of the story" like 50% of villians nowadays.
The thing you brought up about the collar on the other Golden Guards was interesting. I just took it as era-typical fashion since there were also other aspects of the outfit that were different and more old-fashioned, but the idea of it being symbolism from the creators over him being the only one who survives could also have merit.
To be fair when Belos said for Lilith to destroy Eda's Palismin he may not have known that the reserves of Palismin were running rather low after all it's Hunter who tells him. Also wow I don't think a single moment of this video was wasted great work.
Now after "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" is pretty clear that he definitely knew that Lilith will betray him so he jus give her one more push to be sure that will happen.
Alot of people mostly loathe on King Andrias for his awful crime of action but keep In mind other Disney Channel Villains even the Classic Disney Channel only s minor underrated few mostly gotten away of their crimes and action and they make Andiras here lake all of The Diamonds look misunderstood and Innocent and no difference If either Black Hat or even Alastor gets away with the usual murder without getting scold or there own crime of action. Belos here Is honestly no difference and deserves the worst loathing of a life time and even though The Collector may have done us all of for of kilning him, he still going to posse and control Hunter at time then maybe later whoever else he'll take control over once he gets a proper body for his grand comeback. There are 2 hidden elements not much as pointed out that "The Singing Bone" as the brother killed off his own brother of stealing the fame worthy of killing the boar, only to be called out by someone who found his brother's bone and began to play like a regular flute to literally sing the truth out, and despite not leaving anything trace of his Caleb who don't know off for now; he still murder him and his lover without her being the witness and still got away on that faithful day and surprised his parents weren't concerned at pone point If they did had parents or lived alone there entire life. 2nd this truly reminds me of the situation of the real Boris The Wolf begin hunted by Susie Campbell AKA Twisted Alice, trying to find "the perfect clone" that can make her beautiful enough to become a real angel while with Belos he only wanted Hunter's palesmen to feed his devious temptation but no difference he still wanted to kill Hunter either way for his own ego. 3rdly -and surprisingly- follows Toffee's original goal of destroying the magic -and defend Star, her mother, and Eclipsca, all you want on how god awful the series finale was your still gonna lose- and once every witches and warlocks are killed of good there wouldn't be anyone else to dare face him and no surprised that he wasn't Into Odalia to begin with nor has a lover of his own rights to call his own knowing truly bitter he can be. This still makes me glad Ford didn't end up like Belos here and say what you want about him having the rights to get upset at Stan for destroying his lifelong dream and pushing him the portal when not Instructed on getting read of the journal his way, but feared he could've ended up worst with more his sanity grew and token over to attempt to kill him at one point but highly doubt that wasn't at he cast but there's always AU possibilities In Fan-Fiction Ford could've been his own stand alone villain at one point. One of my previous friends before; that he was successor to Disney's The Horned King, but after watching Season 2 he truly stands out more then just a regular "Spiritual Successor" that could've bee many years ago even In the darkest days of Disney's usual Direct-To-DVD -Sequels but now we still live In answer era were there some well written villains that can doesn't have to be comical or this strictly serious to gain respect but until stand, see some of you In Season or the form s of special if they ever decide to continuation Philip's/Belo's story.
in some ways Owl House is similar to Gravity Falls with it's mystery and characters and has a Powerful Villain except Bill Chiper is insane but Belos is Powerful and sane but still Despicably Evil
What a great video and breakdown! Gotta give you props for having the courage to discuss the sort of political side of Belos, big part of his character, but I didn't have the guts to bring it up in my video lol. Belos really has become one of the most interesting Disney villains we've gotten in a while, no matter what our characters do or think, he's always one step ahead and knows how to gain the upper hand to the circumstances, the puppet master pulling on all the strings, since he's so determined to do anything for his cause, his cause that's fueled by his hatred of witches. Really found this video interesting and can't wait for part 2!
There's a different thought I had with this. There's a line from Sly 2 one of my favorite games. Jean Bison one of the villains is from the 1800s and he's seeking to tame the wild North. Progress delivered at the sharp end of an axe. Sly has this line; "I have feel a little sorry for him. He's just a regular guy from the 1850s. Back in his day, he'd have been a hero. But today he's a villain." It's not exactly the same, but you could say Philip is the same way. Also we don't even know how long he's actually been there or if he did kill his brother. Maybe his brother was killed by someone they thought they could trust. And maybe it's what damaged his original arm. And he could be frustrated with Hunter because he knows it's not his brother. Just a pale shadow put together to bring him and his brother's remains back to the human world.
Philip/Belos is the most intruiging and complex character in the whole show, which is why I'm pretty sad the collector upstaged him. Philip is an excellent villain but they replaced him for a god child. Which also kinda defeats the symbolism behind Belos but oh well I will wait for part 2 before sharing more, I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of those are also likely not gonna be popular but ah well
I think that they should have left belos as a villain and not introduce collector. But I might change my mind with the season 3, after I actually see how they wrap it all up.
33:32 I think that particular reveal was more aimed at Luz instead of us. "Elsewhere, Elsewhen" already makes it pretty obvious to us that Philip might in fact be Belos with the palisman-consuming scene, implying he's been using it to prolong his life. "Hollow mind" just made it official and brought the characters' knowledge up-to-date.
To be honest with your speculations about Philip, I think it was more he wanted to patch things up just to get close to Caleb wife and kill her with "It's her that corrupted. If i kill her, he will return to normal and it undo the spell". And of corse Caleb wanted to protect her and Philip killed his brother. Because that was not a plan he was shocked what he had done, so Caleb wife had enough time to attack him with magic and Philip needed to run away. And of corse, Philip justify this by "it was witches fault he died, i just wanted to save him" thing. And that makes it kinda sad in twisted way, that Philip lie goes so deep even he belive it.
so my theory on the Three Specials (Even though I'd Still Blame Disney for robbing us Owl House fans a full third Season and NO I'm NOT getting Over It) is going to be like the Gravity Falls Weirdmageddtion finale except Luz and Amity and her friends may have to figure out how to get back to The Boling Isles and obviously do a time travel spell so they can Stop Belos from completing the Draining Spell and Stopping the Day of Unity from Happing
It is also important to take Phillip/Belos in his historical context. 17th Century Connecticut. We do not have a precise year he left CT, but it seems to be roughly at the same time Witch Trials were taking place there (Decades before the more well-known trials of Salem). It was also at a time leading up to King Phillip's War when the colonists were badly abusing the natives. For those who do not know about King Phillip's war, King Phillip (aka Metacomet, son of Massasoit, the chief who was in charge when the original colonists in Plymouth arrived). All over New England the colonists were acquiring from the natives, sometimes by stealing it outright or buying it at ridiculously low prices even by the standards of the day. Some others were paying off with whiskey and rum, which did no small damage to people who had no idea of how to handle it and they did even worse, but the point is they mostly felt they were in the right - yeah, monumental entitlement issues. Now Ph. Wittebane left before King Phillip's War actually broke out, but he is definitely the epitome of why it happened. Add to that the fact he is obviously a sociopath and a malignant narcissist and, no wonder he is a villain. He has reason to hate the witches of the Boiling Isles - his cultural upbringing told him they are inherently evil (something his mind was too closed to see that was not true) plus, being unable to accept any blame on himself, he blames them for the way he was treated on the Boiling Isles (his own fault, since his was a liar and cheat during the apparently wholesome Deadwardian Era), the way (in his view) they corrupted his brother (he probably blames them for making him kill his own brother - Caleb was obviously corrupted beyond redemption in Philip's view). However, the fact he wants to be accepted in the human realm as the "Witchfinder General" betrays his own megalomania, in spite of the fact that is no longer a thing any longer and on the very low chance anyone actually believes he is over 400 years old in the human realm, if his story gets out, he would be up on trial for murder (of his brother at least) since there is no statute of limitations in a murder case. I doubt that will happen to Goop-Belos, but then who would believe a glob of goo was a 400-year old jerk (I'll go on a limb and predict he will possibly ally or possess the Gravesfiled museum curator). But when we consider him a giant prick (which he is), we need to realize that part of it are values he grew up with and the rest his own mania. Edit, I see the CT witch trials were covered (I wrote this while listening), but I think the main reason we know more about Salem is that Cotton Mather was a politician and was proud enough of the Salem trials that he wrote about them a lot.
Question: how is it that most kids are allowed to learn/read about stories like Cain and Abel, but when fratricide is referenced in a children's cartoon show, said show almost got cancelled?
12:13
“How are we gonna get witches to join the emperor’s coven before the day of unity?”
“We could force them into it.”
“We could add more rewards as an incentive.”
“We could do a sexy calendar shoot with Belos.”
“….huh?”
“Never mind.”
Oversimplified?
@@LPSHOARDER666 Definitely
@@LPSHOARDER666 I’m glad someone got the reference! Unfortunately since you did, there’ll be a tax for that.
@@rl9217 this outraged his father who punished him severely
@@rl9217 OOOoOoH NOoOoOo!
The reveal in Hollow Mind isn't a reaveal to the audience that Phillip is Belos. It's the reveal to Luz that Phillip is Belos, and to the audience that Phillip has engineered Everything over centuries for this ultimate spell that will clearly cause harm to Everyone on the boiling isles that Belos could get his hands on.
agreed!! i always felt it was more of a confirmation that he was phillip and that the real reveal was the "no one ever said being a witch hunter was easy" line and that his plan was to just wipe out everyone on the boiling isles
@@patchodraws9200 I'd say the reveal was more Philip's "I just need to live long enough to see this through" being overlayed with Belos' voice at the end of Elsewhere & Elsewhen
Lilith is like a D&D character with hight inteligence but low wisdom
Yeah, being smart isn’t the same as being mature, disciplined or experienced.
@@ragg232 yeah
@@ragg232 well, she’s kind of experienced
@@astralaurora4165 That makes me think of when Philip got her with that complement and I think she needs more recognition in her life.
Intelligence- A tomato is a fruit
Wisdom- Never put a tomato in a fruit salad
The most terrifying aspect of Belos as a character is the fact that he is human. He's a charismatic bigotted conman, not some ancient evil or emotionless robot. While he is slightly exaggerated, people like him can and certainly do exist. They can be anyone from a cult leader to your next door neighbor, and that's kind of freaky. Humans don't want to see the worst in people, especially those that seem so normal, we don't want to believe that we're the only monsters around, so when we are faced with that fact we freak out.
Televangelist *cough *cough
Trump and Orban *cough *cough
Speak for yourself I live in Australia and I have love for even the bugs here evil humans are not a surprise for me
Uh, I'd say he's tame compared to a LOT of fire and brimstone preachers.
From lynching gays to murderering black people to installing a theocracy after taking down our democracy, *they say and try to do some crazy shit.*
It's also scary because Belos would have been considered pretty darn normal and his accomplishments would have been considered even heroic during his time.
A beautiful irony between Belos and Luz is that his whole position is based on people believing he can communicate with the Titan yet Luz has for her time on the Boiling Isles always had the ear of a Titan and once she finds out it’s not a big deal to her.
Did you know that Philip cut his arm with a knife in order to carve the glyphs from his arm and he cut his ears in order to be pointy ears like Witches?
I was gonna talk about that in Part 2, like a “what he did after” type deal.
@@KittyMonk I see. That's good. Good video, btw. I love Philip/Belos as villain Can't wait for other videos like Odalia, King, Lilith and maybe Amity (after the three specials of the show).
I'm super curious what you are going to say about Wendi from GF.
@@Nobody-tm9vr I'm curious about those specials now. I just finished watching season 2 last night and the way they ended the last episode with a cliffhanger? Returning home to her mom with her friends from the demon realm, "hey mom, I'm back," and ending it there?
Kinda makes me think of the way they ended Teen Titans with the episode Things Change.
@@PS4Pat imagine if Disney pulls a completely jackass move
And takes away any sort of season 3 💀
I don’t want to imagine a world where owl house doesn’t have any sort of satisfying ending
@@IDontKnow_321 I see where you're coming from.
Take Transformers Animated for example. The way season 3 ended, I thought it wrapped everything up decently, but apparently, from what I heard, it was also left on a cliffhanger with Optimus having mentioned that Megatron would stand trial.
But as for Owl House, yeah, there's no way they can just leave things like that.
I can be, as you said, 'satisfied' with Owl House specials as long as they wrap things up decently.
Though if they do manage to find a way back to the Demon Realm, I predict that Amity will choose to stay behind. Even if it means having to live the rest of her life without magic, she'll be willing do make such a sacrifice so she can stay with Luz.
Could be wrong, but I'm calling that right now.
I can’t wait for this! Belos is honestly such a well written villain since bill from gravity falls I’d argue, the way he talks, acts, reminds me so much of an abuser/manipulator (which is obvious he is with how hunter is terrified of him along with others who worked at the emperors coven) also I’d like to point out when belos finally showed his face many people we’re disappointed cause he “wasn’t scary looking” but I’d disagree it honestly works in my opinion how he doesn’t look threatening under his mask or how he doesn’t need a deep voice either to be threatening he’s just calm but can be intimidating when he wants to be which is chilling reminds me so much of an wolf in sheep’s clothing and how there can be actual people like him in real life an abuser/manipulator obviously abusers/ manipulators don’t have a “look” or let their true colors show until you’ve fallen into their trap then their true colors start to show. Also how hunter couldn’t open his eyes to that truth despite him being terrified of his uncle before hollow mind but still defending him and making excuses for him is so realistic and painful to watch. I think that’s what makes belos scary you can meet a belos irl and not even know until it’s too late or their true colors show.
Hopefully I explained this well 💀
Yeah my abuser was really similar to him, I got out 2 years ago but the effects of what hes done are still very much visible. I mean I lived with the guy for 11 years so it's not that suprising but still
@@vomitingflame9410 I’m sorry to hear that :( I hope ur healing now you deserve so much more, sending lots of good things ur way 🫶🏻
I had a stroke reading that but I agree that not all villains look "scary"
True... while bill not really abusive... but he still a really bad guy. Yet people still love him as a character. Me included. Why exactly? Im not too sure...
One of the worst things about Philip is he was in the Boiling Isles for 400 years and despite living among witches for that long he never opened him mind enough to see their thoughts on witches are wrong, his brother did. I like to think Caleb didn't just want to stay because he was in love with that witch, but because he was more open minded and didn't agree with the discriminatory ways of the human world and those didn't exist in the Demon realm. I agree the witch trials are interesting, terrible but interesting. I have a feeling the Salem witch trials are more popular because Salem,Massachusetts has a lot of places dedicated to it, I am not sure Connecticut does. Wait, one of the people in the Connecticut witch trials was named Mathew Hopkins, but wasn't the museum guy named Jacob Hopkin...OH MY GOSH, Jacob is a descendant of Mathew Hopkins and that's part of why he was so paranoid! All theories are canon until the show or it's creator's say otherwise.
Yep. Dana knows what she's doing. One of the reasons I love this show is it's pro-pagan/polytheist/animist message and it's pro-LGBT content, both of which severely anger the hardline sects of Christianity
Connecticut was actually one of the very first places, specifically the Wethersfield settlement, to hold witch trials, predating Salem by about 3 decades.
There is a reason Dana chose Connecticut and I'm willing to believe they based it off of Hartford history. I'm actively researching Connecticut history from its beginnings to the end of the witch trials to understand the Wittebane history more.
I'm willing to be that season 3 was going to be about exploring Gravesfield but since it was cut so short I don't think we'll have some very important plot points about Caleb and Philip.
Caleb was probably evil and sought to colonize the earth with the magic from the boiling isles. Belos was wary of magic and its influences. His brother was lured in by it.
@@hidinginyourcloset Connecticut is also Dana’s home state
@@justice8718 that's exactly what belos tells himself every night, "witches are evil" "magic is evil" "caleb was lured in and corrupted" those are the lies he feeds himself.
The parallel between Luz saying “you’re just the golden guard” to hunter and then “you’re just Belos” later to Phillip is honestly heartbreaking to me.
"A man's called a traitor,
Or liberator,
A rich man's a thief,
Or philanthropist!
Is one a crusader
Or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist!"
You'd be a good bard.
@@erynnmurphy2996 It's not mine; it's from the musical Wicked. But thank you,
I feel like Caleb didn't even start out hating witches considering his reaction to a likely witch was wonder so he might have seen all that witch hunting as games or stories Philip fully bought into it
He could have been just as curious about the world around him as Luz, using the opportunity to be somewhere he wasn’t expected to conform to see beyond the social conditioning from being raised as a Puritan. If part of the Grimwalker creation involves basing the personality of the original on the clone, the inevitable conflict of personality makes sense.
The thing is even when raised with propaganda, speaking of which modern society is definitely not free of propaganda either, certain people will react differently to the things that they are taught is bad by society and their family.
@@msk-qp6fn In modern society one is exposed to more propaganda than people in Puritan times were because of the sheer amount of media we’re exposed to whether we want to be or not. Even if you avoid literature, movies, TV shows, social media, people like to make their opinions known.
@Can'tthinkofaname This is going to get into modern politics, but a big example of people refusing to believe actual evidence that’s readily available is anti-vaxxers. There is plenty of scientific evidence to show that vaccinations are more beneficial than harmful, yet through the internet people find and believe, twist facts to make their narrative work. An older example is people who believe vaccinations cause autism, there’s significantly more evidence against than for this but too many parents don’t vaccinate their kids out of fear anyway.
In the Information age there’s a certain American politician. Hours and hours have been spent fact checking and factually debunking so much of what he’s said within hours of saying it, in speeches and on social media, but he still has a large fanbase who are known to go to extreme lengths to show support for him despite the lack of evidence for his claims.
@@jbcatz5 but we also have the chance to fight propaganda; if you never got out of your village, and didn't knew what the fuck the world was outside your sight ypu would just believe the propaganda
Everyone likes to think they wouldn't be a nazi during nazi germany; you would be
Hunter's creation also really shows how evil Belos is. No duh, but some details one must really look at:
1. Because of Uncle Philip wanting to remake Caleb, his nephew or niece doesn't get to grow up with his/her/their father. Meanwhile the Wittebro kid that Belos does get is subject to conditional love and abuse until the modern one eventually is saved.
2. Yeah creating a clone especially for selfish reasons is problematic enough, but most stories usually just stop at getting DNA from the host without killing them like say with Spider-Man.
To make a Grimwalker means having to kill a Selkidomus and a Stonewalker, plus using precious material like Palistrom Wood and Galderstones.
So he is creating numerous copies of his brother to mistreat, while lessening important resources and endangering several species, one being extinct.
And those like Hunter are stuck with the burden of feeling themselves to be a perversion of life.
3. Not to mention that if others shared the same task as Hunter, many Golden Guards were contributing to the decrease of resources and species that they are infact made from.
I love how the show at first made us think that Belos might be a wise, tragic, calculating and even philosophical/honorable type of villain that genuinely cared for Hunter in his own twisted way...
only to later shatter those expectations and show us that he really wasnt any of that, he is just an old, racist, hypocritical, possessive, bitter, overly emotional nutt job with a God/hero complex that is unable to move past his initial view of the world.
Heck, even his one seemingly honorouble act when he didnt kill Luz at the end of S1 and let her go instead, was revealed that it wasnt out of mercy but just because he needed to wait for her to travel back in time and help his past self! (not to mention that not only he never gave a damn about Hunter he never even saw him as a person).
The result was one of the greatest villains in Disney's history.
Matthew Rhys voice really adds to his intimation and makes him scarier doesn’t it
Philip is probably my favorite villain of all time. Of course there are villains out there that seem more eye catching or powerful but the thing that gets me with Philip is all of the themes incorporated into his character. I mean this man has historical, religious, and cult-like themes all wrapped into one and it’s just so amazing. I’m really sad that he got one shot but i still have my hopes up for seeing him in the future
He’s not dead have you seen that bit of him that landed on hunter and that end credits scene our boi ain’t done just yet
I think Emperor Belos is similar to Jugde Frollo from The Hunchback of Norte Dame. Like Belos, Frollo has a huge hatred of gypsies as during the time period, they are viewed as outcasts and demonic beings and we’re heavily discriminated against.
In the very beginning of the movie, he kills Quasimodo’s parents and was about to drown him in a well because he was deformed, but stopped by the Priest and was forced to take care of him. Throughout the movie he tries to manipulate the characters around him. Telling Quasimodo that he will view as monsters because of his appearance, tries to convince everyone around him that gypsies are evil and if aid them will be punished, even trying to manipulate himself that he is doing the right thing by convincing himself that Esmeralda is pure evil when he starts having sexual attraction to her and tries to convert her into to his beliefs or just kill her and all the other gypsies to save France, the will of god, and himself to be put in hell.
Always love a good comparison to one of my favorite villains of all time! Maybe looking at Belos post-reveal from this sort of a lens will make me enjoy him again. Unfortunately, that G-word you're using is widely considered a racial slur by actual Romani people, and I've seen Roma-run accounts/pages say as much.
@@lalas181 oh…..ok…my bad. Thank you for letting me know about that. I had no idea that the G-word was as a racial slur.
Especially in the play version where frollo also had a brother who stray away the toxic mindset and had a kid with a Romanian woman but both died to illness i think and frollo reluctantly had to take care of his nephew which was Quasimodo
That's very interesting as in the original text Frollo was a priest and used his position to get away with horrible acts while people assumed he was a good holy man. But keep in mind the original text did not focus on the oppression of Romani people.
Agreed
Honestly I love how not subtle TOH has been about Belos and what kind of person he is. The Witch-hunter in the world of witches...aka the extremely religious man (given the time period he's from but i know of plenty of people today who'd do the same as him) put into a world where LGBT+ people are openly accepted to the point no one thinks about it. I understand not wanting to be political, but the show has kind of made itself that so I can see why it's so hard to NOT go there when discussing the show.
They made Philip/Belos such a distrubingly real person, and that's part of why he's so scary. I'm sure a lot of people from very conservative/religious households have had to deal with countless Philips during their life.
Also, Salem is most famous likely due to The Crucible.
I love how historically accurate he was written. With his hatred of witches, and religous beliefs.
"Why'd they have to make Belos a total DILF" girl SAME I thought I was the only one lmfao.
Hollow Mind, in hindsight, is like a warped form of Eda's subplot in Knocking on Hooty's Door- Instead of accepting the curse as part of the cursed, Belos only uses others to benefit himself.
This kinda reminds me of what Palpatine once said, "Good and evil is just a point of view" and that line applies to Philip/Belos
Philip genuinely believes that witches are eternally evil and making them extinct is a good thing. Pretty sure if he did get back to Gravesfield without being turned to splat, most people will see him as crazy. One possible conversation could go like this: Belos:"I killed all witches to protect you,so you're welcome, humanity!" Humans: "😑Dude,that's genocide"
Whether he likes it or not, Luz was right: not only have times changed in the Human realm, but he's more of a monster than any of the witches on the Boiling Isles
I doubt even Jacob Hopkins would stand by his side forever
Jacob could be a descendant of Philip, maybe the first special will have him possessed by the Belos slime that made it into Gravesfield.
@@jbcatz5 I'm looking forward to Jacob coming face to face with the real Philip. Not saying anything at first, but when things have calmed down after his defeat he just says quietly he has a museum full of stuff he never wants to see again and the kids can help themselves.
Just so we're clear, Palpatine was absolutely evil and he knew it
@@rosesweetcharlotte I know. Just saying,even a broken clock is right twice a day
@@jbcatz5 Maybe,maybe not. There's a chance Jacob is related to Matthew Hopkins, an actual "Witchfinder General" that was alive from 1620-1647,in other words Philip's time
Belos is even more terrifying in season 2 than he was in season 1, and he was already scary in season 1. Past episodes with him hit differently after Hollow Mind and King’s Tide. Belos is not only one of the best DTVA villains but also one the best Disney villains ever
5:39 - 5:50 It's always nice to see Kitty Monk throwing shade at Star Butterfly for her genocide.
Philip is a textbook psychopath. He is very charismatic, master manipulator and has the focus of an unsympathetic psychopath. He sees everyone as stepping stones to his ultimate plans and shows literally no remorse even after centuries of manipulation. That’s why he’s so good as a villain.
and a narcissist. Psycho narcissist (or maybe he is a sociopath-narcissist)
I love the fact she counted Star as a Villain
Well I mean she’s not exactly wrong calling star a villain considering what she did
@@millerkarageanes1562 Genocide, she did genocide. Just say it outright, it's better to be frank.
@@tannerlipoufski1219 true to show how dumb it sounds
The reason why Phillip doing it works is because he’s the villain so they frame it as a bad thing and don’t act like it’s heroic
@@millerkarageanes1562 That's true, but aside from the point.
I would say belos is paying the price for some spell that’s enhancing his life span at the cost of his humanity, the longer he’s alive the more energy is needed to keep up the strain of keeping him alive, and from how his body is reacting now, from falling apart.
Ppl have mentioned plenty about the manipulation and intended genocide of belos but I think there's even more to talk about in regards to his character taking into account the puritans and where he's from.
These days we're able to look back and realize the witch trials were mainly a result of fear mongering and manipulation and lies, but back then these people truly believed those lies, belos clearly included in universe.
He basically ended up doing exactly what an incredibly religiously abusive home did to him, whether intentionally or not (but judging by how much he seems to believe he's doing the right thing, I'd say not). Changing his mind about witches would be basically like admitting everything he was told since he was born was wrong, something he clearly doesn't want to admit, just like hunter down the line.
And there's more then just that, it's been pointed out by fans, but belos appears to be left handed, he is depicted using his left hand constantly outside of certain occurrences and especially writing.
Left handedness was considered a sign of evil back then, children were literally beaten into using their right, its such a small detail but it adds so much into showing how much he has been warped by his community and how it still lingers.
Between that and Philip's intellect, he's prime material to be hated on earth by his community and yet he still believes in it and conforms into what he's been taught.
It kinda almost adds a tragic layer to him, because the isles would've let him thrive, he wouldn't be within a community that would've done this to him and have his brother alongside him. The isles could've been an escape for that treatment as it was for Caleb, but he couldn't break out of it, he'd rather warp his body and sacrifice his brother then accept everything he would've gone through or been taught was for nothing.
Like even if belos had successfully eliminated the witches, he would've come home to nothing, he'd be a sad old man with no money, no home, and just stories no one would believe. He was hoping to go back a hero, maybe you wonder if he was trying to prove his own worth to that community, but he did all of that sacrifice for nothing. (Part of me hopes s3 has Philip reflect on that tbh)
Its definitely easy to just reduce belos to his murder and manipulation, and fair enough, he is the villian and he's still awful.
Its just fascinating that there's this kinda cycle of religious abuse he's apart of and it basically ruined his life, even if the show can't directly touch the religious part, its absolutely there.
Hes a man desperate to be the hero of this story and desperate to have everything he was told be right, and desperate that it was all worth it in the end, and it destroyed him and left him with nothing and I think that's a fascinating human take on a villian.
He's such an interesting character and the knowledge of the puritan community and witch trials add to him so much.
An institutionalised intolerance for anything other, using scapegoating of people who don’t strictly conform as a pressure release for the pressures of conformity.
5:39 I love the implication that Star was the bad guy in her own show for destroying magic hahaha
You know what I think is THE MOST terrifying aspect about Belos/Phillip's character?
He was around during the big Witch Trials in America's history, right? This makes him part of the Puritan groups of that time and as we know, some of them believed that anything that deviated from the status quo was to be considered "devilish" or "sinful."
This makes his whole crusade against Katya's fanfic writing, Tin Nose's conspiracy theories and the Eye-Eating Demon's...well, eye eating habits all the more shocking because each of THEIR habits seemed to go against the "normal" way of life people should live. Sadly, this kind of mentality hasn't died out after the Puritan Era went away.
You've got parents going up in arms against stuff kids love (ex. D&D, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Owl House.) You've got all these anti-transgender policies in every state in things like sports or even something as stupid as restroom rights...you even have politicians like Ron DeSantis trying to make the LGBTQ+ Community's very existence a "crime punishable by law" (hence his controversial "Don't Say Gay" policy.)
The sad part is...Luz and all the other heroes of The Owl House are not only able to fight off Belos but also expose his lies to others. Meanwhile, in the real world; hating gay people, bisexuals, trans folk or even femme boys has become part of our new status quo.
We have to put a stop to this right now or we could be living in a similar restrictive society the Boiling Isles has
Great analysis! I thought similar about the Conformitorium prisoners but in a different way: officially, they’re in prison for being weird, really they’re in there because they can encourage rebellion. Katya writes fanfics and dictators always go after intellectuals because they can persuade the masses, and she was also a BATT; Tiny Nose gives conspiracy theories so maybe she could stumble on the truth about Belos; Eyeball Demon I see as a wild witch or somebody who couldn’t use magic.
If you thought Belos was bad now, just imagine if he was born in the Holy Roman Empire instead? He and Caleb founded Gravesfield in I think 1635, which was the beginning of the last phase of the 30 Years War. The 30 Years War brought back a resurgence of witchhunts across the HRE, so I bet Belos would go on a bloody witchhunt quest to slay the ones whom he thought brought war to his home.
@@theemissary1433 Or...imagine Belos during the time of the Crusades, ANOTHER time of religious anguish for a LOT of people; Christians, Muslims AND Jewish folk
@@KittyMonk What's scary is that even in the real world; people are ostracized, persecuted and even punished for being "odd."
Just look at all the people who go after Trans folks, girls wanting to play football, boys watching "girl shows" or even people who do LARPing.
Even as we speak, Conservatives are currently thinking about destroying the OTHER aspects of Roe V. Wade; namely same-sex marriage, interracial marriage and miranda rights
@@sadlobster1 If he were in the Crusades, he wouldve some prejudice against Muslims. But to be fair, crusaders like in the First Crusade never really cared much about God or the Holy Land, as they were only in it for the loot. They sacked their own Christian cities and towns, and in the one Crusade that we should never talk about (the 4th crusade) they committed the unforgivable sin of sacking the Eastern Roman Captial of Constantinople. So if Belos was just like those crusaders, I bet he would only just care about the plunder.
I still find it super interesting that Lilith, as a member of the Emperor's coven, hasn't been branded into said coven. We don't ever get to see her wrists through all of season one, so it's left deliberately unclear if she has a sigil or not; however, in all of season 2, he wrists are clearly visible and she lacks a coven sigil on either. Not to mention she offers to take Eda's place during the plan to ruin the draining spell, something she shouldn't have been able to do had she been branded into the Emperor's coven, and we distinctly don't see her at all once the draining spell starts, so we have no indication whether or not she was affected by the draining spell.
Yeah, I think it's implied he's getting his immortality through consuming them, likely he only needs one or two every year, but because of the power rush it gives him he over indulges, we know that consuming palismins is the reason for his wendigo affliction from inside his mindscape so I don't think they actually cure his deformation or anything, likely his form has just become unstable from all the power he has imbued it with but he can maintain it so long as he has control, but he loses that control when he goes through withdraw.
So basically a drug addict. But the drug is magic/palisman life force. 💊🔮
Reminds me a bit of quintessence from Voltron.
I WAS NOT READY TO HEAR BELOS BE CALLED A “D I L F” TODAY
I think that we've got so used to sympathetic villains (those who have tragic backstories, or have good reasons to fight the main characters such as protecting their people, helping a beloved one...), that see one who CHOOSES to be bad feels refreshing. And not only that, but he's also good at it: he's cunning and persistent. The first time we saw him unmasked we thought "Hey, he looks nice, maybe he's not that bad after all". And that makes him even more terrifyingly realistic: bad people can seem nice
He does _think_ he is justified and protecting his people(humanity). Doesn't make him sympathetic though
Belos simply failed to coerce people into bigotry, so he convinced himself it's just proof to show the island folk that they are sinful and must be drained of their life.
He is by far the most insane cartoon character I've ever seen. He's killed so many people. Including his own brother. Rather than get to know their ways and live with them in peace. He's even more evil than Selena the monster Carver.
I mean he is a witch hunter from the 1600s Connecticut
Yeah the scary part and impressive too i guess is that he maintained this mindset for centuries despite living among the witches. I think most people will start to question themselves after that long of a time
@@msk-qp6fn Have you ever thought that Caleb wasn't actually a good person and that could convince Belos about the evils of magic?
Well ther is a other side of that story.
In other fantastic universe there was a phenomenon that caused "witches" pooping up on worlds. Some people said "those guys can do magic, thats cool". Then later on daemons followed right after murdered everyone. And the only worlds that didnt have the problem of "suddenly daemons" were the worlds on which people just do witch hunts againts them and kill everyone.
@@justice8718 damn you were damn wrong
I think Belos lets the Boiling Isles be this accepting place because he's already convinced that the witches are creatures of sin beyond redemption. No point in trying to "redeem" what Phillip might see as basically hell.
I think we'll get that backstory episode in one of the season 3 specials. My personal hope is that it extends to the present and shows us how much and when Belos realized Luz and Lilith were time travelers. Comments like the obvious "The Emperor looks forward to meeting you" tease and that Eda's petrification wasn't a "real" petrification the first time make me think Belos was orchestrating most of the events up to at least the time travel episode to make sure Luz and Lilith went back and helped him as Philip as they had, which makes him an even more interesting villain in my eyes.
We got three specials and Belos is evil goo now. I feel like the mindscape paintings are the best we might get due to the whole Disney cutting things short thing.
6:26 funny that you mentioned “the cleaved route”
Because I honestly expected this to be a jab at star vs anyway.
Since the big thing at the end of that is the very thing the heroes in this are trying to prevent.
Because even other show writers could see what a bad idea that was.
If Disney's movie villains have been lacklustre lately, that's only because the real evils migrated to television 😟
Disney's feature and television animation devisions are two separate entities on the inside
Yep
I love how both Judge Frollo and Belos are both fanatics. They will do anything to achieve their goal.
Side note: i also remember a time when I theorized that Belos will take Hunter’s body as a vessel at the day of unity.
Since a lot of people thought that Belos uses a Grimwalker to live for 400 years
One thing I've recently thought about is how in some ways, the dynamic between Phillip and the Collector is the opposite of the Core and Andrias. Here, the more serious one is younger and has less power, but is more devious.
I just realized that the outcasts being arrested in EP1 were a reference to the fact that they were the type of people who would have been called witches back in the day.
I think villains are often super ugly or super attractive because being super ugly means they would have been shunned and bullied by their world so they would have had all the reason to despise the status quo and being super attractive means they would have used their attractivness to manipulate people to do their bidding without being conspicuous.
I think villains are super ugly too show the effects and depths of their corruption like Veran from the dragon prince. When Veran uses dark magic he becomes ugly freak to show how corruptive dark magic is.
damnnn no wonder bill cipher is a hunk! love those edges. hubba hubba
@@thatonkgau5221 ok but I'd still fuck him so what's the truth.
For the witch trials they originated in Europe, and the original starter of it was seen as a mad man, he went to other towns and eventually people believed it, and it began to spread. Eventually reaching the colonies, and it goes from their.
The reason Salem is so rememberd might(I’m not wholly Shure) be due to the play “The Crucible” witch is Hostoric fiction about the Salem witch trials.(real names semi real actions and real deaths) Pretty crazy stuff.
crucible is not entirely real and leaves out most details for the sake of an outdated war era metaphor
Heinrich Kramer did have the blessing of the current pope, even overturning the Church's official stance than magic and witchcraft were fake. But yeah, people hated this guy when he went on tour.
Yeah, the witch trials in Germany were pretty horrific
If you think about it, it makes sense why Philip hates witches, he probably came from a time where accused witches in the human world would be burned and killed.
Belos and Luz are both outsiders. He became a conqueror and she became a defender because they were raised on different values, with Phil considering Luz a race traitor due to her 21st century values and Luz would probably think that the witch hunts of Philip’s era were barbaric even if she never went to the Boiling Isles due to how much society changed between his entry into the Isles and her birth.
I always have a liking for villains that are not physically strong but very manipulative and intelligent, and TOH did not dissapoint me
This is my son’s favorite show, but I only ever took in some moments here and there. Yesterday he watched season 3’s only episode for maybe the 5th time and I decided to sit down and watch it with him. Now- here I am..scouring the internet for theories and waiting for my 9 year old to wake up so he can explain it all to me before school 😭
Belos/Philips reveal as a witch hunter immediately reminded me of the VVich finder general from Atun Shei films-
One thing that feels weird to me is that one line from 'Separate Tides' where Hunter says, "The Emperor is not a merciful man." but episodes like Hollow Mind have Hunter acting like Belos is a saint. I get that Hunter is saying that Belos isn't merciful to those who oppose him/make trouble, but that line feels like he's acknowledging how awful Belos is, I mean I get in context Eda is a criminal even in that episode as she stole from the ship, but it feels like that line should've come at a different point in Hunter's character arc.
I just wanna say, when I first started watching The Owl House and Amphibia. I considered Andrias to be a better villain. Mostly because I found him to be more charismatic. But after TOH Season 2B? It's definitely Belos who I prefer. I just think he's more interesting, threatening, and well-developed.
Andrias is still great though.
I say Andrias is more sympathetic and humane due to him being more fueled by grief and insecurity. Belos on the other hand...well, is just more inhumane due to his apathy.
@@msk-qp6fn Which is hilariously ironic considering Belos is the actual human between the two.
@@msk-qp6fn Andrias is also extremely direct with the protagonist
"Yup, used you"
Also, it's explained in the serie that for 1000 years he's been a good person and a nice king... that's somethin
Belos is very much like Claude Frollo from the hunchback of notre dame he was taught to hate a specific group of people(witches or gypsies) . And he believes all those people are evil and he is richous and pure. He sees himself as the hero purging the world of sin and he sees corruption everywhere except within.
Belos is honestly one of the most effective villains I've seen in a while (Which I must say is quite refreshing, seeing Disney movies haven't been adding ANY good ones lately) - even when we first see him we don't know his motives for keeping the denizens of the Boiling Isles under his thumb. But as the story progressed, we get to Hollow Mind... Wham revealing plot point! Worst part is he wouldn't just be against magical beings and all we've seen in the Isles... being a puritan nutjob: he'd also be after Catholics, Jewish people, Native Americans and more!
I just noticed the first time hunter ask about the human realm he ask about the rain and when he gets there is was raining.
If homophobia doesn't exist in the Owl House universe Philip would be the only canonically homophobic character being born in the middle ages where you get accused of being a witch just for breathing
He is from 1600s, and that is early Baroque era, not the Middle Ages technically. Medieval era ended in the final decades of 1400s, with events like the Fall of Constantinople and discovery of America.
Actually the witch hunting thing got going during late Middle Ages, after the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum (which during publication was condemned by the Inquisition), and got going in the 16th and 17th centuries, which are associated with the Renaissance.
In a twist of events, during Medieval Ages you’d actually be called stupid for believing in witches; The Germanic Council of Paderborn in 785 explicitly outlawed the very belief in witches, and the Holy Roman (Most of Central Europe + Northern Italy) Emperor Charlemagne later confirmed the law. Among Eastern Orthodox Christians concentrated in the Byzantine Empire (Greece, the Middle East and Egypt), belief in witchcraft was widely regarded as deisidaimonia-superstition-and by the 9th and 10th centuries in the Latin Christian West (in those periods Christianity was split culturally between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy), belief in witchcraft had begun to be seen as heresy.
Christian perspectives began to change with the influential writings of the mystic poet Dante Alighieri and scholastic philosopher Thomas Aquinas, both of whom believed in astrology, whilst condemning sorcery as moral perversion.[7] Dante also condemned then-current forms of alchemy and divination, whilst Aquinas had a more nuanced and sympathetic view.[8] [9]
Towards the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period (post-Reformation), belief in witchcraft became more popular and witches were seen as directly in league with the Devil. This marked the beginning of a period of witch hunts among early Protestants which lasted about 200 years, and in some countries, particularly in North-Western Europe, tens of thousands of people were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death.[10]
The Inquisition within the Roman Catholic Church had conducted trials against supposed witches in the 13th century, but these trials were to punish heresy, of which belief in witchcraft was merely one variety.[6] Inquisitorial courts only became systematically involved in the witch-hunt during the 15th century: in the case of the Madonna Oriente, the Inquisition of Milan was not sure what to do with two women who in 1384 and in 1390 confessed to have participated in a type of white magic.
Not all Inquisitorial courts acknowledged witchcraft. For example, in 1610 as the result of a witch-hunting craze the Suprema (the ruling council of the Spanish Inquisition) gave everybody an Edict of Grace (during which confessing witches were not to be punished) and put the only dissenting inquisitor, Alonso de Salazar Frías, in charge of the subsequent investigation. The results of Salazar's investigation was that the Spanish Inquisition did not bother witches ever again though they still went after heretics and Crypto-Jews.[11]
The Inquisitions were supposedly fighting against heresy (wrong belief), not witchcraft fyi
@@small_w8765 oh my god, how long did it take to type this? 😭
My theory is that he had to pretend he's not homophobic to get people to trust him more.
Philip Wittebane aka Emperor Belos is like a combination of a colonizer and religious fundamentalist. Kinda like The Owl House version of Judge Claude Frollo from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He’s one of the best terrifying Disney villains alongside Judge Claude Frollo, Judge Doom and The Horned King
he is literally just a puritan, which is not to say you are wrong. the puritans were genocidal maniacs who fully believed that happiness is evil (not even joking about that btw, couldn't dance and they even invented food that was supposed to be disgusting but healthy).
36:28 Going along with this, I imagine in Belos’s mind all of their “abhorrent, unholy immoral thoughts and actions” were just further sins to justify his genocide. The more “sinful” they were, the more righteous and pure he was.
In my opinion, Belos reminds me a lot of Judge Claude Frollo from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, who I always thought was more frightening than Maleficent or Ursula. Both of them have hurt and killed many innocent people, but in their eyes they don't see themselves as villains. They both believe with every fiber of their being that they are "saving humanity from evil" and following God's will to eradicate witches/gypsies. Belos/Phillip never mentioned the word God or Bible but it still feels implied. There are two types of villains: those you know what they are doing is bad and relish in it and those who don't see themselves as the bad guy as they do horrific things. The latter is all the more terrifying.
Belos is Frollo with Lust exchanged for Pride.
The scariuest villains are the ones who genuinely have counterparts in the real world.
It's crazy you can now say Thanos is technically a Disney villain.
KING'S TIDE SPOILERS
belos was such a well writen villan and it made him seem like he would be there untill the end and then the colector shows up kills him and starts destroying everything is honestly such a good plot twist
I remain the belief that Hunter is related to the Clawthorne's ever since his first 'byyeee'
Belos sort of reminds me of The Lady Bone Demon, from Lego Monkie Kid.
Like him she basically manipulates everyone into helping her completely her plan.
She constantly tells people that it's destiny.
My favourite example is what she did with the Spider Queen, she constantly tells her that if she helps her get what age wants.
She'll get her destiny. Later on, she kills Spider Queen, as she's doing it, when SQ agrees the LBD promised her, her destiny.
LBD laughs and tells her this IS her destiny
In my AU, the basilisks were like the Anacondrai from Ninjago; a proud, militaristic species who had a tentative truce with the Witches and other demons. But in my AU, Philip pitted the two in a war against each other by blaming murders on each side. The Basilisks would either wipe out the other demons, leaving just the basilisks to kill with glyph magic (Something the basilisks are shown to be vulnerable to in the first day), or the witches would kill the basilisks, allowing Philip, who would lead the witches, to cement himself as a savior and a messiah of the Titan.
It is interesting because the Salem Witch Trials were pretty tame (and quite late) compared to what happened in Europe. The East Anglian witchhunts are taught in schools in the UK and we learned all about Mathew Hopkins. I did witch hunts as part of my A level history, so I did end up learning about Salem (and knew a bit from studying the Crucible before), but otherwise I was more familiar with the East Anglian witchhunts. Think the two main reasons Salem is broadly talked about is due to the US' immense cultural influence and the fact that it is arguably the perfect case study to learning about mass hysteria.
Imagine what would happen after the Day of Unity if the Collector hadn't been freed, yeah Belos would be attacked for potentially killing those people, but there would definitely be people making excuses like "The Owl Lady's curse ruined the magic of the ceremony" or "The human's presence disrupted the spell", there would be hundreds of excuses like that, with thousands of sects dedicated to 'Belos's Greatness.'
He really reminds me of demona from gargoyles. She did not like how humans treated gargoyles. But unlike Goliath who wanted to make peace with them. Demona only wanted them killed.
Well Demona for all her incapacity to admit that a lot of her trouble have been her fault and all the bad decision and crimes she has done in the centuries; well she mantain a little spark of 'humanity' and a need to form connection. Belos? No, Belos is pure unadultered evil
I really love the owl House in every single character in the show is an a or b+ in my opinion and I wish we had a lot more time with these characters and this show but maybe we could get a graphic novel or a special touching on the history of the two brothers here be hoping and thank you for your video
I say Belos is more like the Ultimate Disney Villain.
In my opinion, I think Belos' curse is caused by him starting to consume palismen. The collecter probably told him it was the only way to continue living for as long as he has. He came to The Boiling Iles during the witch trials in Conneticut, that was before America was even an independant nation. So, he starts taking them and though he gets extra life, he turns into the monster thing.
40:42 oh GOD. If this ends up being true, then it means that Eda and Lilith are like, Belos’ great great grandnieces or something, which makes this whole thing a family affair where Belos was manipulating one of his brother’s scion (Lilith) and trying to murder the other one. 😶🌫️
Whatching these while drawing is pure joy, tysm for your work!!
Based off the portraits and how Caleb is framed, it seems that Phillip looked up to him.
"... without the face rot, Belos is a _total dilf."_ SO TRUE. As soon as i saw him without that mask I was like that "oh no! he's hot!" Squidward meme
26:23 Which proves the point that the Disney version of Pocahontas is inaccurate which was NOT true to it's source material
I wonder if enough fans wrote to Disney enough about how much this show means to them, if they’ll continue the series. I was considering doing it myself, but I figured I’d put it out there to other fans who would also want to do the same.
Probably a lot but knowing Disney, they didn't care.
@@unbotheredgenz8404 the dipshit who made the call is apparently getting replaced (almost certainly for different reasons).
I always disliked to even hate the "theory" of Belos was just a descendant of Philip.
I mean it's the same problem people still have with the hunter being a grimwalker theory...
Whst does we get from it even it is true in the end...
Philip being Belos is like the Dabi reveal of My Hero Academia, nearly everyone saw it coming miles away but the reveal was still impactful for the characters and the audience and the twist. The real twist of Philip for me was that they did turn him into a classic Disney villian instead of "misunderstood, tragic villian that ultimately getting redeemed at the end of the story" like 50% of villians nowadays.
Has anyone wondered why Lilith has her palacmen? If all who join the emperor's coven have to give them up.
The thing you brought up about the collar on the other Golden Guards was interesting. I just took it as era-typical fashion since there were also other aspects of the outfit that were different and more old-fashioned, but the idea of it being symbolism from the creators over him being the only one who survives could also have merit.
To be fair when Belos said for Lilith to destroy Eda's Palismin he may not have known that the reserves of Palismin were running rather low after all it's Hunter who tells him. Also wow I don't think a single moment of this video was wasted great work.
Now after "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" is pretty clear that he definitely knew that Lilith will betray him so he jus give her one more push to be sure that will happen.
@@evileye6078 that's possible and definitely makes sense.
Alot of people mostly loathe on King Andrias for his awful crime of action but keep In mind other Disney Channel Villains even the Classic Disney Channel only s minor underrated few mostly gotten away of their crimes and action and they make Andiras here lake all of The Diamonds look misunderstood and Innocent and no difference If either Black Hat or even Alastor gets away with the usual murder without getting scold or there own crime of action. Belos here Is honestly no difference and deserves the worst loathing of a life time and even though The Collector may have done us all of for of kilning him, he still going to posse and control Hunter at time then maybe later whoever else he'll take control over once he gets a proper body for his grand comeback. There are 2 hidden elements not much as pointed out that "The Singing Bone" as the brother killed off his own brother of stealing the fame worthy of killing the boar, only to be called out by someone who found his brother's bone and began to play like a regular flute to literally sing the truth out, and despite not leaving anything trace of his Caleb who don't know off for now; he still murder him and his lover without her being the witness and still got away on that faithful day and surprised his parents weren't concerned at pone point If they did had parents or lived alone there entire life. 2nd this truly reminds me of the situation of the real Boris The Wolf begin hunted by Susie Campbell AKA Twisted Alice, trying to find "the perfect clone" that can make her beautiful enough to become a real angel while with Belos he only wanted Hunter's palesmen to feed his devious temptation but no difference he still wanted to kill Hunter either way for his own ego. 3rdly -and surprisingly- follows Toffee's original goal of destroying the magic -and defend Star, her mother, and Eclipsca, all you want on how god awful the series finale was your still gonna lose- and once every witches and warlocks are killed of good there wouldn't be anyone else to dare face him and no surprised that he wasn't Into Odalia to begin with nor has a lover of his own rights to call his own knowing truly bitter he can be. This still makes me glad Ford didn't end up like Belos here and say what you want about him having the rights to get upset at Stan for destroying his lifelong dream and pushing him the portal when not Instructed on getting read of the journal his way, but feared he could've ended up worst with more his sanity grew and token over to attempt to kill him at one point but highly doubt that wasn't at he cast but there's always AU possibilities In Fan-Fiction Ford could've been his own stand alone villain at one point. One of my previous friends before; that he was successor to Disney's The Horned King, but after watching Season 2 he truly stands out more then just a regular "Spiritual Successor" that could've bee many years ago even In the darkest days of Disney's usual Direct-To-DVD -Sequels but now we still live In answer era were there some well written villains that can doesn't have to be comical or this strictly serious to gain respect but until stand, see some of you In Season or the form s of special if they ever decide to continuation Philip's/Belo's story.
23:28 DAM Right Philp puts Glossorick to Shame
As Frank Herbert once said "the undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria"
Hunter got alot of Dune fans in on this show.
33:32 I'm with Soos on this one even I've predicted that plot twist a year ago too
in some ways Owl House is similar to Gravity Falls with it's mystery and characters and has a Powerful Villain except Bill Chiper is insane but Belos is Powerful and sane but still Despicably Evil
as far as I'd know Emperor Belos is not only the Scarcest TV Villain from Disney But the most powerfull
About your question in the beginning, I think it’s fair to say, No, mainly because the collector said “I taught you magic stronger then anybody’s”
I'm getting Undertale flashbacks with how Phillip hates witches. Chara hated humanity. But no where the same!
I always forget how high Belos’ voice is
The only savage one in the savage ages was a human called Philip Wittebane!
What a great video and breakdown! Gotta give you props for having the courage to discuss the sort of political side of Belos, big part of his character, but I didn't have the guts to bring it up in my video lol. Belos really has become one of the most interesting Disney villains we've gotten in a while, no matter what our characters do or think, he's always one step ahead and knows how to gain the upper hand to the circumstances, the puppet master pulling on all the strings, since he's so determined to do anything for his cause, his cause that's fueled by his hatred of witches. Really found this video interesting and can't wait for part 2!
oh wait Emporer Belos saying "I'll play" was collector influence
There's a different thought I had with this. There's a line from Sly 2 one of my favorite games. Jean Bison one of the villains is from the 1800s and he's seeking to tame the wild North. Progress delivered at the sharp end of an axe. Sly has this line; "I have feel a little sorry for him. He's just a regular guy from the 1850s. Back in his day, he'd have been a hero. But today he's a villain."
It's not exactly the same, but you could say Philip is the same way. Also we don't even know how long he's actually been there or if he did kill his brother. Maybe his brother was killed by someone they thought they could trust. And maybe it's what damaged his original arm. And he could be frustrated with Hunter because he knows it's not his brother. Just a pale shadow put together to bring him and his brother's remains back to the human world.
Philip/Belos is the most intruiging and complex character in the whole show, which is why I'm pretty sad the collector upstaged him. Philip is an excellent villain but they replaced him for a god child. Which also kinda defeats the symbolism behind Belos but oh well
I will wait for part 2 before sharing more, I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of those are also likely not gonna be popular but ah well
I think that they should have left belos as a villain and not introduce collector. But I might change my mind with the season 3, after I actually see how they wrap it all up.
33:32 I think that particular reveal was more aimed at Luz instead of us.
"Elsewhere, Elsewhen" already makes it pretty obvious to us that Philip might in fact be Belos with the palisman-consuming scene, implying he's been using it to prolong his life.
"Hollow mind" just made it official and brought the characters' knowledge up-to-date.
To be honest with your speculations about Philip, I think it was more he wanted to patch things up just to get close to Caleb wife and kill her with "It's her that corrupted. If i kill her, he will return to normal and it undo the spell". And of corse Caleb wanted to protect her and Philip killed his brother. Because that was not a plan he was shocked what he had done, so Caleb wife had enough time to attack him with magic and Philip needed to run away.
And of corse, Philip justify this by "it was witches fault he died, i just wanted to save him" thing. And that makes it kinda sad in twisted way, that Philip lie goes so deep even he belive it.
so my theory on the Three Specials (Even though I'd Still Blame Disney for robbing us Owl House fans a full third Season and NO I'm NOT getting Over It) is going to be like the Gravity Falls Weirdmageddtion finale except Luz and Amity and her friends may have to figure out how to get back to The Boling Isles and obviously do a time travel spell so they can Stop Belos from completing the Draining Spell and Stopping the Day of Unity from Happing
please do a video Essay on The Collector some Owl House fans still theorized if he's truly Evil or NOT
It is also important to take Phillip/Belos in his historical context. 17th Century Connecticut. We do not have a precise year he left CT, but it seems to be roughly at the same time Witch Trials were taking place there (Decades before the more well-known trials of Salem). It was also at a time leading up to King Phillip's War when the colonists were badly abusing the natives. For those who do not know about King Phillip's war, King Phillip (aka Metacomet, son of Massasoit, the chief who was in charge when the original colonists in Plymouth arrived). All over New England the colonists were acquiring from the natives, sometimes by stealing it outright or buying it at ridiculously low prices even by the standards of the day. Some others were paying off with whiskey and rum, which did no small damage to people who had no idea of how to handle it and they did even worse, but the point is they mostly felt they were in the right - yeah, monumental entitlement issues. Now Ph. Wittebane left before King Phillip's War actually broke out, but he is definitely the epitome of why it happened. Add to that the fact he is obviously a sociopath and a malignant narcissist and, no wonder he is a villain. He has reason to hate the witches of the Boiling Isles - his cultural upbringing told him they are inherently evil (something his mind was too closed to see that was not true) plus, being unable to accept any blame on himself, he blames them for the way he was treated on the Boiling Isles (his own fault, since his was a liar and cheat during the apparently wholesome Deadwardian Era), the way (in his view) they corrupted his brother (he probably blames them for making him kill his own brother - Caleb was obviously corrupted beyond redemption in Philip's view). However, the fact he wants to be accepted in the human realm as the "Witchfinder General" betrays his own megalomania, in spite of the fact that is no longer a thing any longer and on the very low chance anyone actually believes he is over 400 years old in the human realm, if his story gets out, he would be up on trial for murder (of his brother at least) since there is no statute of limitations in a murder case. I doubt that will happen to Goop-Belos, but then who would believe a glob of goo was a 400-year old jerk (I'll go on a limb and predict he will possibly ally or possess the Gravesfiled museum curator). But when we consider him a giant prick (which he is), we need to realize that part of it are values he grew up with and the rest his own mania.
Edit, I see the CT witch trials were covered (I wrote this while listening), but I think the main reason we know more about Salem is that Cotton Mather was a politician and was proud enough of the Salem trials that he wrote about them a lot.
Question: how is it that most kids are allowed to learn/read about stories like Cain and Abel, but when fratricide is referenced in a children's cartoon show, said show almost got cancelled?
This isn't just how you properly write a villain. But this is how you write manipulation in general.
I just saw this episode yesterday! I figured the two were the same when I saw his face/heard his real voice. Love your analysis!
Your predictions for what happened to the brothers are surprisingly accurate in hindsight