The Owl House returned on January 21, with the second special episode of Season 3, "For The Future," and, needless to say, there was a lot that happened . Luz (Sarah-Nicole Robles) and her friends returned to the Boiling Isles with Camilla (Elizabeth Grullon), only to discover that the Collector (Fryda Wolff) has been turning its inhabitants into puppets and using them as literal playthings. All while King (Alex Hirsch) has been acting as his best friend and carefully trying to reason with them. But one of the most exciting things that this episode gave its viewers was the long-awaited reveal of Luz's palisman.
What Is a Palisman?
In the first season, The Owl House introduced the concept of a palisman: a magical creature that acts as a witch's closest companion as well as their most powerful magical tool. The first palisman they introduced was Owlbert, Eda's (Wendie Malick) cute little owl friend who lives on top of her magic staff. Eda explains to Luz that when a young witch comes of age, they carve their palisman themselves from the branch of a special tree called a Palistrom tree. In the Season 2 episode, "Hunting Palisman," Luz's classmates each adopted their own palisman, but when Luz tried to adopt one of her own, none of them wanted to bond with her. This left Luz as the only one in her class, as well as in her friend group, who still didn't have her own palisman.
Then, in the episode "Clouds on the Horizon," Luz finally carved her own palisman, but instead of carving it into a living creature, she carved it into an egg, saying that she wanted to give her palisman the chance to decide for itself what it wanted to be. While a bit disappointing for fans who have been waiting a long time for Luz to get her own palisman, it did give them even more time to speculate on what her palisman would eventually be. But then, right near the end of the newest episode, "For The Future," Luz's palisman hatched from its egg and the world was introduced to Stringbean.
Luz and Stringbean
Stringbean is a snakeshifter, a snake-like creature that can change her shape to look like anything from a bat, to a scorpion, to a dragon. She also has catlike features like triangular pointed ears and tufts of fur on the sides of her face. This, combined with her white face and the purplish-blue shade along her body, gives her a close resemblance to Luz's cat hoodie.
Stringbean's ability to shape-shift seems to be unique to her, as no other palisman so far has been shown to have this power. This makes sense because pretty much everything else that Luz does has been different from other witches. From the way she uses magic by drawing glyphs, to carving her palisman into an egg to be hatched later, Luz has always been great at thinking outside the box. It's only natural that her palisman would turn out to be as unique as she is.
Speaking of boxes, before Stringbean completely takes form, she appears to be just a ball of swirling magical energy. This prompts Luz's mother and each of her friends to guess what type of creature her palisman will be. A dragon? A bird? An otter? A bat? A snake? As it turns out, they were all right! Luz said she wanted to let her palisman choose for herself what she wanted to be, so she decided to be everything! Stringbean didn't want to be stuck in a box where she was forced to just be one thing her entire life. She wanted to be free to change and discover new possibilities for herself, just like Luz did when she first decided to become a witch.
Then, there are the words that Luz said that brought her palisman to life at long last. After Camilla has a heart-to-heart with her daughter where she reveals just how much she truly relates to Luz and how badly she regrets not being there for her when she needed it most, Luz comes to a realization. "The only thing I've ever really wanted... was to be understood!" Up until now, Luz has spent her whole life feeling like an outcast just for being herself. Now that she knows that her own mother was just like her growing up, she finally knows what it feels like to be seen for who she really is. As soon as she realizes this, her palisman's egg hatches in a huge burst of magical energy. All it took was for Luz to come to terms with her true heart's desire to finally bond with her palisman and give it life.
The arrival of Luz's palisman is something that viewers have been awaiting patiently for a long time. The writers really pulled out all the stops and gave this special little witch a magical companion that's every bit as special and one-of-a-kind as she is. Stringbean is the perfect match for Luz, and it's exciting to imagine what the two of them will go through together as The Owl House enters its grand finale.