Owl House Spoiler Recap: Labyrinth Runners

The last few weeks of The Owl House has been crazy as we barrel at high speeds towards the season two finale with no slowing down in sight. “Them’s the Breaks, Kid” showed us how crafty Raine Whispers is, “Hollow Mind” gave us the big Belos and Hunter reveals, “Edge of the World” broke our hearts with King’s origin, and now we have “Labyrinth Runners” with not only a solid Gus episode, but it also was a necessary step in defeating Belos.

The main cast isn’t in this episode, but I didn’t mind it at all. The supporting cast is so strong that it’s great to let them have an adventure of their own.

I have been waiting for a good Gus-focused episode for a while now. Nothing against Lumity, but in “Through the Looking Glass Ruins,” Gus’ story was completely overshadowed by Amity kissing Luz on the cheek. That is sometimes the pitfall of having your B-Plot separate from the A-Plot. That was a fantastic episode for Gus, but it was in the shadow of the series’ main ship.

“Labyrinth Runners” didn’t repeat that by weaving the B-Plot in with the main story. Hunter is there and trying to figure out his own path going forward after “Hollow Mind.” Still, his focus is on Gus, trying to save him from the newest Coven Head debuted, Adrian Graye Vernworth. Willow and Amity are working through their rekindled friendship, but it’s in a context created by Gus. The girls have to team up to save him. Even the teachers and other Hexside students band together to find him and fight for his life. It all comes back to Gus this week, which is the biggest difference to me in how the stories are handled in “Labyrinth Runners” versus “Through the Looking Glass Ruins.”

Gus’ story is hauntingly tragic about the trials of being a prodigy. Oftentimes in media, prodigies grow up to be loners or shallow or bitter. They’re often the groundwork for supervillains and evil geniuses in shows. In reality, prodigies are the opposite. They experience immense pressure at every step. Anything less than perfection can lead to a mental spiral tanking their self-esteem. Burnout is a real danger too which feeds into the vicious cycle of making mistakes, triggering more anxiety, and starting the negativity all over again.

As he goes through all these motions, I think the most telling thing about Gus’ character is where he places blame. He doesn’t turn it on the people who actually hurt him. Those past traumas make him blame himself instead. Gus questions his ability to put trust in others as a safety mechanism. If people hurt him in the past, then why should he trust people now? Thankfully, he’s grown so much and found people who actually care about him. Willow, Luz, and all of his friends don’t care if he’s a prodigy or if he flunks out of Hexside. He’s Gus, and that’s enough for them.

Hunter is very much a narrative foil to Gus in a lot of ways. He was raised to be the best version of the Golden Guard clones as placed on him by Belos. Failure wasn’t an option. When he was unable to meet perfection, it caused Hunter to spiral. His last two appearances led him to have full-on panic attacks as his world violently changed around him.

This allowed for Gus’ growth to be on full display as he passes his knowledge on to Hunter. The ability to teach someone else the lessons you have learned is the best way to show how someone has changed over time. He took the lessons from Willow and taught Hunter how to work through his anxiety in a beautiful moment called back throughout “Labyrinth Runners.” It also helped Willow see that Hunter’s intentions were true as he was being doubted by Bump.

While the story is focused on the prodigy angle, I do appreciate any all-ages media that shows how emotionally and mentally devastating anxiety and panic attacks are. They are a serious issue to young people’s mental health, especially for younger kids who might not realize they’re experiencing it. The simple breathing method is a good little lesson that I really love in this episode.

At first, I thought it was strange that Hunter was the one who saw through fake Willow. The more I thought about it, though, it makes sense. He’s only ever seen Willow in one way and that’s decimating opponents on the flyer derby field. Gus has seen all sides of Willow, even her nervous side. While in the middle of this high-stakes situation, it wouldn’t be weird for Gus to see Willow a little unsure. Hunter has no other context to go off of. We also have to assume he’s familiar with Adrian’s ability to a certain extent since they all used to stay in the castle together. I loved seeing Hunter realize the deception at that moment.

Adrian’s introduction was fantastic this week! His plan trying to trick kids into joining covens is wonderfully diabolical. The presentation that he’s so soft-spoken and even a little disheveled in appearance was a fantastic setup for the viewers and the characters for his lie. We, as the audience, know there are two factions in the Coven Heads: truly evil people like Terra and then Raine’s team leading the resistance. Watching Adrian was on-the-edge-of-your-seat entertainment because we didn’t know which side he would fall on. As Gus calls him out and his plan falls apart, it’s a solid introduction that he’s definitely in with Terra and not to be trusted.

I also adore he’s a campy, evil theatre kid. I was a Theatre Major and I know guest directors we had that were like Adrian. Like the Scout Captain mentioned in the episode, I hated working for those guys.

The Amity and Willow B-Plot was a much-needed story to be addressed. A lesser show wouldn’t even bother and let a younger audience assume Willow and Amity made up. The Owl House is too good for that.

Do you remember Amity in "I Was a Teenage Abomination?” She was horrible to Willow! And while Amity has gone through a satisfying redemption arc, the one dangling thread not fully tied up was her relationship with Willow. I really appreciate that Willow, while with her guard understandably still up, is trying to be open to Amity. If anything, Willow’s doing it with respect to Luz. That’s a heck of a lot of maturity for her character.

There is also the element that Amity doesn’t know this side of Willow. She’s changed so much in their time apart. Since they’ve begun to rekindle their friendship, most of Willow and Amity’s interactions have been relatively low-key situations. I mentioned in my “Any Sport in a Storm” recap that it felt like Willow and Gus had been sidelined for a good chunk of the season; part of that means that Amity hasn’t seen Willow in her own element. All of this is fantastic writing. Physically keeping two characters apart to bring them together after all this time is a fantastic way to let their dynamics clash.

And clash they do! What I liked was it took a very honest step in a forgiveness arc and turned it on its head. Part of redemption is putting in the effort and work to make up for past mistakes. Amity is trying to do that… a little too much! She’s underestimating Willow and not listening or observing her friend. Blinded by trying so hard to protect Willow and make things right between them, Amity completely overlooks the fact that Willow has changed. It’s an awesome moment when Willow literally lifts a stone bookcase off her back to save herself. She rightfully calls out Amity at that moment.

The other half of this that I loved is Amity’s reaction to the moment. She’s not hurt by Willow calling her out. She doesn’t wallow in it. Amity accepts it right away because that is how Willow wants Amity to see her. I doubt that their relationship is completely healed, but that moment was a huge step in the right direction. Especially with the friends holding hands in support at the end of the episode while listening to the truth about the Day of Unity from Hunter.

I adore Principal Bump. I wholly believe he is one of the most underrated characters in the entire series. Already, I’ve gushed about his importance before in “Them’s the Breaks, Kid,” so I won’t harp on that point for now. But Bump is one of the biggest reasons Luz, Eda, and their team even have allies. He’s one of their key supporters.

“Labyrinth Runners” gave Bump another stellar episode to shine. Building on his entire arc of allowing students to practice multiple magic tracks so they can thrive, he continues to show his dislike of the Coven System. The episode opens after the credits with him and the illusions teacher lamenting about how they miss having all of their magic. He’s happy that his students are getting a new path, one that had been taken away from him.

His love for his students, once again, shined this week. Two examples stand out to me above the rest. The first is when Gus reveals Adrian’s plot. Bump’s only instinct is to throw himself in front of Edric regardless of the danger to physically protect his student. The second was the showstopper though. Bump leading his students into battle, his palisman coming off, hair flowing, and throws down with the coven scouts made me fist pump in excitement! It was so good! And the music was amazing in that sequence too! It was my favorite scene of “Labyrinth Runners” and that battle was just a taste of what was to come.

This is exactly how they’re going to stop Belos. Now that Bump and some of the students know the truth from Hunter, you can bet Bump will do everything he can to protect Hexside. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to find a way to remove his kids’ Coven Brands before the Day of Unity. If he ends up sacrificing himself to save his students, I am going to ugly cry so hard, y’all!

Principal Bump is a superstar in this series. Give him all the love, because he will be leading the charge to fight for his kids’ lives.

Finally, this might be a crazy theory, but I think Steve was on to something in “Any Sport in a Storm” when he said that he’s starting to regret his choices being in the Emperor’s Coven. Now this week, multiple scouts expressed their dissatisfaction working for Adrian, with one being Severine quitting on the spot. What if they’re building towards a Coven Scout rebellion? It would be cool to see Hunter take the lead on that if they go that route. If Hunter came back and led, it would be him reclaiming his title as Golden Guard. Not as a pawn but as a way to liberate the people Belos has subjugated. In “Labyrinth Runners,” the scouts still recognized Hunter as their superior. He still has power over them for the moment. By leading the scouts in rebellion, he would take back a name that he is ashamed of and make it his own. He would get to decide the destiny of what it means to truly be the Golden Guard.

Some random thoughts to round out Labyrinth Runners:

-Adrian Graye’s name has to be a nod to Dorian Gray, especially being the head of the Illusion Coven. That’s probably a huge hint to what he’s hiding and what his possible downfall might be.

-In a blink and you miss it shot, the books Hunter’s reading when Gus finds him are all about Grimwalkers which is a cool background detail that Hunter’s looking into his origin.

-I like the small role that Mattholomule plays in this episode. He’s joined the Illusion Track with Gus, a sign of their developing friendship since “Through the Looking Glass Ruins.” He’s also one of the students that fight to save Gus’ life.

-Willow and Amity’s Sailormoon moment only for Hunter to ruin it was perfect.

-Gus finding Adrian’s trinket and pocketing it will definitely come back again at some point.

-I hope Severine is off living her best life in the Tiny Cat Coven!

With only a few weeks left in season two, The Owl House is ramping up so fast! “Labyrinth Runners” was such a key episode. The truth of Belos’ plan is getting out there. It’s time for our heroes to come together to stop it.