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.

tbh i didn’t mind the “philip is belos” twist being predictable because of how well-done it was. at first i thought the show wouldn’t go that route because it would be too obvious but it still managed to exceed my expectations, so i don’t even mind it at all

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.

Lilith is like a D&D character with hight inteligence but low wisdom

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

"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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I love the fact she counted Star as a Villain

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 thought it was relatively clear that he was consuming palismen specifically to gain power from them and possibly to extend his life, and that's exactly what was causing the "curse" itself--corruption from the consumption of their souls. So I think the comparison to addiction is better. Especially since it's what's actually keeping him from retaining his human form (even if it is giving him power or likely extending his life)

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.

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

5:39 I love the implication that Star was the bad guy in her own show for destroying magic hahaha

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 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.

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.

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.

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

I WAS NOT READY TO HEAR BELOS BE CALLED A “D I L F” TODAY

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.

Honestly, Belos scares me because he is (magic aside) completely realistic. He's a manipulator and abuser, he lies and twists everything to his whims. He's a bigoted monster chasing glory without a care for anyone else, ans that type of evil is all too real.

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.

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 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

If Disney's movie villains have been lacklustre lately, that's only because the real evils migrated to television 😟

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.

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/Philips reveal as a witch hunter immediately reminded me of the VVich finder general from Atun Shei films-

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 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!

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

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.

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

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.

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 always have a liking for villains that are not physically strong but very manipulative and intelligent, and TOH did not dissapoint me

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.

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.

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.

"... 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

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

I remain the belief that Hunter is related to the Clawthorne's ever since his first 'byyeee'

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.

Philip's plan I've seen compared to Palpatine's rise in the Star Wars prequels

Belos can talk to a titan. So can anyone who talks to King...

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

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.

I say Belos is more like the Ultimate Disney Villain.

As Frank Herbert once said "the undeserving maintain power by promoting 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.'

It's crazy you can now say Thanos is technically a Disney villain.

*Belos after the prior Golden Guard asked to many question Belos: Well, nice question, but first I'll give you your reward for the years of serving me, wich is... A LIFETIME OF TANGERINES! *Throw a single tangerine* Golden guard: Thanks, but I think... This isn't worth a lifetime... Belos: Don't be ridiculus, I think it is worth one, I mean *glocks and points gun* If you peel it fast enough...

You know, I feel like Belos's "I'll play" at 0:06 gained more context after learning about The Collector.

23:28 DAM Right Philp puts Glossorick to Shame

33:32 I'm with Soos on this one even I've predicted that plot twist a year ago too

Whatching these while drawing is pure joy, tysm for your work!!

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.

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.

This isn't just how you properly write a villain. But this is how you write manipulation in general.

26:23 Which proves the point that the Disney version of Pocahontas is inaccurate which was NOT true to it's source material

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 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

Based off the portraits and how Caleb is framed, it seems that Phillip looked up to him.

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.

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.

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?

Yeah, there are real examples of zealots and charismatic megalomaniacs who masquerade as messiahs which makes Belos scary(Hitler,the church during the dark ages...)

I always forget how high Belos’ voice is

The reason Belos hates Eda is because she reminds him of Evalyn

oh wait Emporer Belos saying "I'll play" was collector influence

Not only does he end up in a world filled with people he hates, those people used to be the outcasts, the marginalized... but then HE is in their position suddenly. In the Boiling Isles, HE is the outcast. That must have festered. As for John Smith, it is possible he misinterpreted a sort of ritual of fealty. I also can recommend the book: "Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Trial of 1692" by Richard Godbeer (best last name). Connecticut, I think. It uses actual documents to construct a plausible story of the whole thing. It's actually quite dramatic. No spoilers.

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.

The only savage one in the savage ages was a human called Philip Wittebane!

Yep! He’s Frollo through and through Without going “Hellfire” at the moment

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.

as far as I'd know Emperor Belos is not only the Scarcest TV Villain from Disney But the most powerfull

I believe the Salem Witch Trials are talked about a lot more because it was the base for more books and also because it was near the end of the witch 'pandemic' back then. The Crucible romanticized it, and while there were only a few people killed, it was the closest to our time of a witch hunt that I know of. (I am a direct descendent of Susannah Martin by the way.) This is just my own opinion on why its more well talked about and I may be wrong but I do think the Crucible would be the main reason its more talked about.

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.

“Historically the worst thing that can happen to a civilization is a foreign white man showing up and seizing power.” - a surprisingly wise kid in my social studies class