Thanks to Them

"Thanks to Them" is the first episode of the third season of The Owl House, and the forty-first overall. It premiered on October 15, 2022. In this episode, Luz and her friends make a daring attempt to return to the Demon Realm.

Plot
As King forces Luz, Amity, Gus, Willow, and Hunter through the portal, it closes on the five, leaving them cut off from the Demon Realm. Luz takes her friends to her house and tearfully greets her mother. Gus, Willow, and Amity help Camila clean up and give her some tea while Luz and Hunter meet in the bathroom privately. Luz and Hunter talk about Luz's fear of the others learning that she unknowingly helped Philip bring forth the Day of Unity as Hunter expresses his fear of how they will learn he is a clone of Philip's witch-hunting partner. They agree to withhold the information for the time being as the others explain current events to Vee and Camila. Camila sets the boys up in the basement and places two extra beds in Luz's room for Willow and Amity. She finds Luz looking at pictures in the hall as Luz apologizes to her mother for leaving in the first place and says while she is finally home, her friends are not.

In the following weeks, Luz and her friends make multiple failed attempts to create another portal. Luz comes out as bisexual to her mom and reveals she is dating Amity, which Camila supports. Vee adopts a new human form when Camila takes the witches shopping for new clothes. They also enjoy being in the Human Realm, as they take great joy in the rain that does not boil like it does in the Demon Realm.

In late October, Luz goes to school as her friends struggle to learn Spanish. Camila comes in to check on them before picking up Luz from school. After leaving, they notice how Flapjack is still pecking at the floor of the old house. When Amity suggests they do more, the others suggest helping around the house. Amity says she wants to explore the town for answers while Luz is in school. Gus backs her up, believing that others could have arrived in Gravesfield before them and Eda. Amity's foot suddenly gets caught in a hole Flapjack pecked, and she finds a small box containing a map. They analyze the map and believe it could lead to something related to the portal. They decide to keep it from Luz as she feels responsible for the failed attempts.

At school, Luz's teacher is discussing The Plight of the Mariner, and, seeing the similarities between herself and the novel's hero, an angered Luz lashes out at her failures with her friends veiled as criticism for the hero's naivety. After class, Luz walks past the art room as the teacher glares at her. At her locker, two new students praise her for her words and invite her to the upcoming Halloween festival, the Haunted Hayride. Luz heads with her mom while picking up food for her friends; as they drive, Camila thinks of things their house guests could eat while Luz points out police investigating a car crash. As they leave, the woman behind the wheel says she almost hit a deer, while her daughter says it was a monster. In the woods nearby, a deer skeleton lies by the trees as green goo leaves it.

That night, as Gus goes to bed, Hunter is sewing and accidentally cuts himself. Gus patches him up, and Hunter excitedly shows him a wolf shirt he made. Gus is glad Hunter is happy and asks about being in the Emperor's Coven. Hunter describes his life in the coven and promises Gus they will get back. Gus shows Hunter a science fiction book he is reading, Cosmic Frontier, and unknowingly describes a character in a situation similar to Hunter. Upstairs, Luz cannot sleep and leaves the room and takes her palisman egg, waking Amity, who notices the flyer for the Haunted Hayride. As Camila thinks of things for their guests to eat, she falls asleep. She starts dreaming about events involving Luz, first seeing Luz showing other kids a snakeskin as they run away. Although she thinks it is cute, nearby mothers say wolves raised Luz, and she defends Luz before ending up in the audience of the production of Romeo and Juliet Luz is in. She laughs when Luz pretends to gut herself but gets furious when people behind her say her daughter ruined the show. She then appears in the principal's office as he tries to convince Camila to control Luz's tendencies by sending her to Reality Check Summer Camp. Camila wakes up to find Luz in her doorway and allows her to sleep with her. Unknown to them, skeletons rest outside, and a figure morphs into a horned rabbit.

The following day, Amity, Vee, Willow, and Hunter, who cosplays as a character from Cosmic Frontier, get ready to explore the town as Luz and her mom are at the vet clinic. Hunter decides to stay behind as they will miss the bus if he changes, and after they leave, he finds a small piece of green goo and realizes Belos is with them. As the four explore the town, they ask about the map they found and inadvertently cause mischief in a magic shop, with Gus and Willow unknowingly harassing other customers, and the library, where Amity freaks out upon seeing a child open a card catalog. At the zoo, they face a giraffe and are terrified by its actual appearance, with Gus understanding why the giraffes were banished from the Demon Realm. As a last resort, Vee takes them to the Gravesfield Historical Society. Upon arriving, they see Masha working there, who informs them Jacob Hopkins was fired for making unauthorized edits to the exhibits stroking his ego and gives them a pamphlet. They tell the visitors their map is a rebus. The group looks around and after decoding the rebus they realize it shows where Titan's Blood is hidden. Vee compliments their friendship, and they reveal they only became friends a few months ago. The four take a picture in front of a framed map of Old Gravesfield and Vee realizes it matches the rebus, and they decide to tell Luz on Halloween. At the clinic, Camila is finishing up, and Luz taps a plant glyph she drew. After moving her hand, she realized there was a slight reaction.

Back in the basement, Hunter is fearful that Belos might be back and inadvertently scolds Flapjack. He apologizes before promising the bird he will protect him. After Luz and Camila return, he tells the former about Belos. The two go to the house, and after Luz gives Hunter a pep talk, they search it. After only finding a possum, they think they are in the clear, but Hunter's shadow sprouts antlers unbeknownst to them. The others work on their Halloween costumes when they return to the house. Gus decides he and Hunter will go as their favorite Cosmic Frontier characters. Camila is shocked they found the books. Amity decides she and Luz will go as Hecate and Azura, respectively. Amity plays one of the movies where Azura gets betrayed by a character that dramatically resembles Luz, causing Luz to feel guilty. After everyone goes to bed, Luz takes her laptop and heads to the kitchen to record a diary entry. She explains how living her greatest desire ruined the lives of her friends and makes a decision.

On Halloween, Camila drops everyone off, with Vee staying behind to handle trick-or-treaters. Luz speaks with her mother as everyone else goes over the plan to reveal the blood to Luz. Hunter hears something in the distance but dismisses it, unaware of the green path growing on his neck. As they explore the festival, they come across a mock witch trial. Gus joins in, saying the prosecutor is guilty and uses an illusion to give him cloven hooves and a tail. The actor runs away, and the other actors and the crowd applaud Gus. However, Jacob arrives and says Gus is a real witch who wants their teeth. He pulls off the boy's ear covering, but no one believes him, and he is subdued by security. At the haunted hayride, Masha explains the story of the Wittebane brothers, Philip and his older brother Caleb, surprising the group. They explain how the brothers came to Gravesfield in 1613 and became witch hunters to fit in. One day, Caleb met a real witch named Evelyn, who spirited him away to another world, with Philip vanishing looking for his brother.

The story sets Luz and Hunter on edge. After the ride, Hunter reveals the plan about the rebus and the Titan's blood. Luz is skeptical, and Hunter requests Flapjack to retrieve the rebus. When Flapjack hesitates, Hunter's voice turns distorted, his eyes turn blue, and he repeats his request angrily. Meanwhile, Camila cleans up the house and finds the laptop. She sees Luz's entries from when she was very young after they moved to Gravesfield, detailing her feelings about her father's death and his introducing her to the The Good Witch Azura, her book report gone wrong actually being an attempt to reach out to her mother and Luz's most recent one, discovering her decision to stay permanently in the human realm. Hunter and Luz run through the woods when Hunter suddenly winces in pain and runs off into a swamp. Amity, Willow, and Gus learn Luz and Hunter are missing and go searching for them, realizing later that the rebus is gone as Camila and Vee show up and join them.

Meanwhile, Luz notices her glyphs are working and realizes it's because of the titan's blood, so she sets off several glyph combos and finds Hunter at the center of the graveyard. She notices the ripped-up rebus, and Hunter asks Luz to find Flapjack. As Luz finds Flapjack shaking behind a tombstone, Hunter reveals himself to be possessed by Belos, and they begin to fight. Belos then discovers a vial of Titan blood, and Luz knocks it out of his hand. Amity, Willow, Gus, Camila, and Vee find Luz, and Belos reveals that Luz helped him meet The Collector. Amity, Willow, Gus, Camila, and Vee are shocked by this revelation. Luz claims she didn't know and only thought she was doing something good. Belos mocks her statement and attacks the witches. They begin an all-out battle, but Belos gains the upper hand. Flapjack desperately tries to get through to Hunter, but Belos grabs Flapjack and severely wounds him. Before making any sudden movements, Hunter starts to fight back and declares that he no longer wants Belos' approval for how he lives his life and to ensure he never harms anyone again, he throws the vial of Titan Blood into the lake; Belos dives in to retrieve it, and Hunter loses consciousness. Camila saves Hunter, and Belos separates from Hunter, taking on the monstrous form he had before. He smashes the vial against an arch, a portal opens to the Demon realm, and he vanishes through the portal, leaving the others to tend to Hunter. Willow tearfully says that Hunter won't wake up, and Luz also reveals the secret about Hunter being a Grimwalker.

Flapjack settles on an unconscious Hunter and gives a few tearful chirps. Using his life force, Flapjack gives his life to save Hunter and leaves everyone crying. Hunter wakes up, with his magenta eyes becoming brown. He says he knows about Flapjack and becomes very upset. Then Luz tells them about her encounter with Philip and starts to announce her decision. Camila quickly interrupts and announces that she will join them in the Demon realm. Luz's friends comfort her,saying they do not blame her as Belos manipulated her. Hunter even states even if it weren't Luz, Belos most likely would've used somebody else instead and declares it's time to fight back against him. The portal starts to close so Hunter, Gus and Willow go through. Before Amity steps through, she tells Luz she wants her to be part of her future and makes her promise not to hide anything from her anymore. Once Luz gives her word, Amity kisses her cheek before stepping through. Vee stays back to keep up appearances, and Camila gives Vee a quick rundown of what to do. Assuring Luz she's ready for what comes next, Camila takes her daughter's hand, and they go through the portal together right before it closes. Vee then prepares to leave and realizes that Camila still has the car keys.