So I’m not sure how much of the original person remains into a Grimwalker, if just appearances or something more, but judging by the fact that all Golden Guards apparently turned their back to Belos and I want to believe Wittebro is a good dude, I like to think at least something stays. Maybe little bits of something
With that being said… what if Hunter had dreams about Wittebro’s past but always thought were dreams of himself since there was always someone looking like him although as an older version?
Maybe being in a world of magic and feeling fascinated by it? Almost like seeing it for the very first time?
Maybe exploring and taking everything in like he never did before?
Maybe living, laughing, wanting a future?
Maybe… maybe dark figure facing him, so very angry and hateful. Maybe someone painfully familiar killing him, making him wake up in a cold sweat? Again and again?
This is not really my typical post. So the thing about me is I’m actually secretly a huge nerd who does poetry, but I never feel confident enough to actually share any of it, let alone the ones I write based on fictional characters.
But, being as it’s late at night and therefore all my impulse control is gone, I guess I’m posting this poem I did based on the Wittebros backstory and what we learned about it in Hollow Mind, specifically written from Philip’s POV! Anxiety’ll probably get the better of me in the morning and I’ll delete this in the morning but who knows.
Anyway, here’s my messy little thing I guess?
—————
We were boys - young boys - when the forest first sung
By our cabin, by the trees, by the flowers
And the leaves, and it was in that forest
We first played our games
With masks of wood and the sticks that were our pyres
Where witches burned
Feet dangling over and
There was rope around their necks,
We hung them up high: fuel for the fire.
And glowing with deceit that fire was, on the palms of their hands,
And so tempted you were by the sparks of desire that you left me
Poor me
To follow, so dire
In my attempt to stop you,
Save you from liars,
But in the end it was me - I was the liar
Because as you smiled
And held the hanged ones hand,
I hid behind me a dagger, sharp and light
And we were men - grown men - when the forest was on fire
As the blaze rose high and your voice even higher as the
Fire, oh the fire
You shall burn on that pyre
Where I’ll stand over,
My mission: complete
while the hanged one she weeps and curses my name.
You’ll pay.
You’ll suffer.
You’ll wither.
You hear!
You’ll regret the day you added,
My dear husband to your pyre.
AMAZING!
This verse especially: “and we were men - grown men - when the forest was on fire” really stuck with me!
The real reason why Belos keeps making the grimwalkers of his brother
They’re test subjects, just like the Basilisks.
Belos wants to live forever, and he’s obviously not going to do that in an aging, decaying, maimed body of his, when he has a way to recreate a perfect copy of his old, young and fit body.
This could also explain why he keeps making the Golden Guards younger in each generation.
Notice that he comments only on Hunter’s appearance, not on his personality. He doesn’t care about that, all he wants is a way to create a new body for himself, that will be the same as his old one. I guess he plans to transfer his consciousness to it.
And who on the Boiling Isles makes for a better test subject than another human? Especially one with similar genetics to his own?
So let me get this straight. Belos thought he could turn THIS man. THIS RAY OF SUNSHINE OF A BROTHER RIGHT HERE into an evil servant and then just straight up cloned him 16 times because his manipulations never worked and his clones ALWAYS betrayed him and yet he kEPT GOING???
Wow. Real big brain moment there Belos, I’m sure the 17th TIME IS THE CHARM OH WAIT
(Also here is the initial sketch from my patreon which u should really check out if u want to see more of my fanart right now hfhjgdfg)
Something something parallel between Caleb (dead and haunting the narrative, corpse is a plot point which creates more life in its destruction) and the Titan (dead and haunting the narrative, corpse is a plot point which creates more life in its destruction)
I guess we now know why they both died in the same pose…
Both important father figures from the human and demon realms with a lone, last-of-his kind son, a Clawthorne who is learning about and discovering the heritage he never even knew about; While confronting the respective murderer who still holds a grudge even after all this time, both from the same respective realm as the victim!
Maybe Belos is pained by the memory of the first grimwalker he was trying to make because it was his attempt at reviving the brother he just killed and it failed?
This would add dark context to that memory being lumped in with the Golden Guard deaths… Maybe this first grimwalker died and suffocated with a hand sticking out the grave and grasping for help. Philip grabbed his hand but failed to save the poor kid, who was essentially a still born; Very common back in the day, at least on Earth. And this, combined with Philip’s general cruelty and dehumanizing as he sees convenient, just helped further desensitize Philip to the idea of killing Caleb over and over again, because he’s already done it once so it just gets easier each time.
Last minute prediction before “O Titan where art thou”.
Apparently where going to get a sand animation scene or something like that.
I’ve searched on the internet what sand animation is and—
I don’t know about you, but it looks like we might get something like Philip’s diary entries, but with sand. I’m sorry, I don’t know how to explain it because I’m not a native English speaker.
What if the sand animation scene tells Caleb Wittebane’s story, or that of his wife who seemed to be a Clawthorne? At least, I hope it is because I’m desperate to know more about Caleb and his wife.
I know it’s far fetched, but is that what’s inside the box? Maybe Luz and Eda has to open the box for them to see the sand animation scene? There are boxes behind Eda.
I don’t know if someone already has pointed this picture out. But after Philip killed Caleb, you can see Caleb’s dead body lying on the ground here. Philip is being chased by Caleb’s wife, she’s firing a spell at Philip and he got hit. Caleb’s wife really looks so much like a Clawthorne! The clothes, the hair style and hair color, the everything. This might be a stretch, but could Caleb’s wife have cursed Philip? What kind of spell did she cast on him?
Like Luz loves the Good Witch Azura stories, Philip loved his brother’s made up stories of Emperor Belos and the Golden Guard. Caleb will tell Philip these stories when it’s bedtime, and little Philip just eagerly listens to his big brother while they snuggle in bed, until Philip fells asleep in his arms. When Caleb carved the Emperors mask from wood for Philip as a surprise, it was the most happiest moments of Philip’s life.
1: Huntlow! (Like let Hunter blush at the mention of Willow or something. Please Dana, gimme the crumbs.)
2: The Wittebane brother reveal.
3: The Wittebane brother name reveal, and it being Caleb.
4: Flapjack being alive. (Let the bird live!)
5: Collector lore!
6: Hunter and Luz finding out Belos is Philip.
7: Hunter discovers he’s a Grimwalker. (Sorry, Hunter.)
8: Lots of Belos and brother lore on earth and demon realm. I want to see their dynamic and backstory!
9: Hunter backstory (baby hunter?).
10: Some information on the Day of Unity and Hunter’s role in it.
11: Confirmed Wittebane and Clawthorne connection.
12: Hunter not leaving the Emperors Coven, but questioning its motifs. His trust in Belos is gone. (Just him being a step closer to his redemption arc.)
13: Wittebane brother not being a jerk, I want him to be nice and be an absolute dork.
14: Belos and Hunter confrontation! (Belos is going to remember everything what happened, like Willow did)
15: What happened to the Wittebane brother.
16: Some information on Belos’ curse.
17: Inner child Belos associating Hunter as his brother, and calling him brother. Being extra clingy to him.
18: Hunter wearing the sigil of the Golden Guard, Luz noticing that it is the Gravesfield symbol.
I know I made a theory about this before. But I wanted to make a new, and more detailed theory about it. Some of the topics will come up again.
I’m going to do my best to explain everything as best I can!
First we have to look at the secret code message from season 1.
“Two witches torn apart
Now alone
Two hearts of stone
A curse of feathers and mud
A betrayal of blood”
The message talks about two people and two curses, one of mud and one of feathers. Then the message mentions a betrayal by blood.
I suspect that the two persons mentioned in the message are cursed. These two persons are presumably related, since blood can be another word for blood relative. One of the two could presumably have betrayed the other, and that resulted in both being cursed.
But who would this secret code message be about? Well, at first I thought it would be about the Clawthorne sisters. Eda and Lilith are blood relatives, and Lilith betrayed her sister by giving her the curse of feathers. But when you think about it more deeply… What about the curse of mud? Something clearly doesn’t add up.
And then “Yesterdays Lie” came out. This episode confirmed that Philip Wittebane had a brother, and that he was in the demon realm with him.
“Elsewhere and Elsewhen” confirmed that Emperor Belos is none other than Philip Wittebane, something that the fandom had been speculating for a long time.
“Eclipse Lake,” the episode that came out before “Yesterdays Lie” and “Elsewhere and Elsewhen,” also further confirmed that Emperor Belos is apparently cursed. And what strikes me, his curse is also very similar to that of mud.
To put it briefly. Emperor Belos, aka Philip Wittebane has a blood relative, a brother that is. And he has a curse that is very similar to that of mud.
That’s when I realized, if Belos is the person in the message who has the curse of mud. What happened to his brother? Why is he gone? Could Belos’ brother, his blood relative, be the person in the message who has the curse of feathers?
If you’ve seen any of my posts on tumblr and “Any Sport in a Storm,” you know why I call the brother Caleb.
Someone on Tumblr pointed out that when Eda was fully transformed into the owl beast in “Young Blood, Old Souls,” the owl beast was destroying a banner with Belos’ face on it. This is not Eda, this is the owl beast. The owl beast has taken over Eda’s consciousness. Belos had to cast a spell on the owl beast, so Eda could regained her consciousness, and he could speak to her. Because the owl beast, and not Eda, was destroying the banner with Belos’ face on it, it felt like the owl beast was holding some kind of grudge against Belos. As if the owl beast actually recognized Belos. If the owl beast is really Caleb, this makes everything so clear.
But who could be responsible for both brothers being cursed?
In “Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door,” we found out a little more about the owl beast and his past. We found out that the owl beast is a being with feelings and thoughts of its own, and that it is suffering as much under the curse as Eda.
Not only that, the owl beast also has a past. The owl beast first roamed free, until it was captured by the collector, attached to a curse parchment, and thus became a curse.
Why is the past of the owl beast being shown if the owl beast is not important? No, there is more to the owl beast than simply being the curse of Eda. It is very clear that the owl beast is very important, otherwise the owl beast’s past would not be shown. If Caleb was to be the owl beast, is in my opinion very important though.
The owl beast obviously has some sort of connection and history with the collector. And you know who also has a connection and history with the collector? Exactly, Belos! The collector has a connection and history with both the owl beast and Belos.
i believe the collector is responsibly for both brothers being cursed. Caleb became the owl beast because of the collector, and eventually became a curse. If Belos knows the collector and has a connection to them, then Caleb must have known the collector too, right?
The secret code message talks about a betrayal of blood. These are the options what I think it could mean.
1. Blood probably means blood relative. I believe Philip made a pact with the collector. Why? Maybe he wanted revenge on Caleb. But the collector tricked him, and because of this, both brothers became cursed. Philip technically betrayed Caleb then, because he is the reason they both got cursed.
2. Maybe it’s not about a betrayal by a blood relative at all, but some kind of blood pact Belos made with the collector. Or maybe both brothers made a blood pact? But the collector tricked Philip or both brothers, and because of this the brothers became cursed. A betrayal by blood.
There are so many possible scenarios what could have happened.
I can already see you thinking. “Then what about Hunter? Then how can he be a Grimwalker from Caleb if he is supposed to be the owl beast? You have to have a bone from the person you would like to clone, so Caleb would have to be dead for this, right? And the owl beast is alive.”
Well, maybe there is a logical explanation for that. Here are three options that I can think of.
1. Maybe Belos had managed to get a bone from Caleb before he got the curse of feathers? You can lose a finger or something, and still live. Whether you can live with one less bone without amputation, I don’t know. You can also do many things with magic, anything is possible in the demon realm.
2. We don’t really know everything about the curse of feathers either. We don’t know what it is, how it happened, and how the curse goes into effect. So it’s possible for Belos to still be able to get a bone from Caleb.
3. There is a lot of evidence that there is some kind of connection going on between the Wittebanes and the Clawthornes, and because of this Hunter could be a descendant of the Clawthorne family. Caleb might have been married to a Clawthorne, and together they might have had a son. And that son might be Hunter. Hunter could be the Grimwalker of Caleb’s dead son. That explains why Hunter has witch’s ears. If Hunter were a Grimwalker of Caleb, shouldn’t he have human ears? But how could Caleb’s son have died? Caleb, as the owl beast, might have accidentally killed Belos’ sister-in-law and cousin. Belos says his family is gone because of wild magic, is that what he meant? Hunter said that Belos had found him after an accident with his family by wild magic, and took him in. Maybe Belos had found Hunter’s dead body after Caleb, as the owl beast, killed their family. Took one of his bones, made a Grimwalker, and took him in. If so, then what Hunter said is kind of true.
Speaking of a possible connection between the Wittebanes and the Clawthornes. We know that Caleb was the original owner of Flapjack, right? Dana said that birds are generally a Clawthorne thing. If Caleb were the owl beast, that’s further proof that he married into the Clawthorne family and the connection between the two families. Owls are birds!
“But if Caleb is the owl beast, why didn’t Belos recognized his brother in: Young Blood, Old Souls?” Maybe Belos wasn’t aware of what exactly happened to his brother. Who knows, maybe he only knows that the collector is the reason Caleb is gone.
What struck me, isn’t it strange that Hunter, who is an exact copy of Caleb, is the only one who wears an owl mask when he is the golden guard? Could that be a nod to Caleb being the owl beast?
I wonder why Belos summoned the collector in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen?” Could he have made a second pact with the collector? Could the pact involve his brother? The collector apparently likes to collect unique and rare things. Whether Hunter is a Grimwalker from Caleb or Caleb’s son, he is actually unique and rare. In exchange for Hunter, Belos gets from the collector his brother back, cured of his curse and an extended life so he can bring out the day of unity. Wild witches have taken something precious from him, his brother. So with the day of unity he takes something precious from the witches, their magic. The perfect revenge, right? Plus he’ll be back home with his brother by his side. Okay, perhaps this sounds a little ridiculous. It’s high likely that this probably isn’t Belos’ goal, but who knows
What if Philip and Caleb had some type of Grindeldore relationship going on, but platonic? Philip is Grindelwald in that situation, of course. And Caleb is Dumbledore. If you’ve read the Harry Potter books, or at least watched the movies, ya know what I’m talking about.
(I don’t support Jk Rowlings views, just wanna put it out there.)
Silly prediction for Hollow Mind, because I want more Huntlow. Also because we need more Willow, Willow is the best.
During break, Hunter is video calling Willow. They have developed a crush on each other by now, and they’re blushing during their whole conversation. Sorry, it is how it is. I don’t make the rules. Hunter opens up to Willow about Belos, and how the segil of the Golden Guard prompts him to know more about their family history, and why he can’t do magic. But his uncle won’t tell him anything. Willow inspires Hunter to go into his uncle’s mind, and tells him the story of how Luz and Amity went into her mind, and that he might get answers there. Hunter thinks it’s a great idea.
During the ep, Willow suddenly starts to text Hunter, prompting Hunter to smile and blush. Of course, he got to text her back. Luz is suspicious, and quickly knows what’s up and starts teasing him. To Hunter’s great dismay. But Hunter quickly got saved by the plot, yay plot.
Bonus points if Hunter video calls Willow back at the end of Hollow Mind while having a break down. He opens up to Willow, and tells her what happened. Willow listens, and guides him through his break down.
So because of Flapjack, can we all agree we’re gonna call Philip’s brother “Caleb” from now on, right? Because I know I will.
Dana also likes to give her characters a name with a meaning behind it. For example, Luz means light. Light was the first spell Luz learned.
Interestingly, Caleb was a populair name among the puritans in the 17th century, and was brought by them as a personal name to America. So yeah, this is not a coincidence, I strongly believe Caleb is the name of Philip’s brother.
Caleb means “faithful, whole-hearted, bold or brave. If Philip brother’s real name is indeed “Caleb” , then it looks like he might have been a nice guy.
This also means that he was likely very understanding, and not afraid of the demon realm and witches due to his fearlessness.
Despite Philip’s brother having a biblical name, I don’t think he held strong puritan beliefs, because he carved his own palisman. Perhaps he did held strong puritan beliefs, but lost his faith when he was in the demon realm, unlike Philip? He also seemed to be a dork too like Hunter, I mean who names their palisman Flapjack? So I think he’s good guy. Plus, Hunter deserves to have a good dad, even though he isn’t there.
