Disney’s The Owl House is no stranger to body horror, psychological trauma, or morally rotted villains. One of the darkest fan theories floating around centers on Emperor Belos and the Grimwalker clones he obsessively creates and kills. Specifically if he’s been possessing their corpses.
It sounds crazy, but it kinda actually tracks with everything we know about Belos. The need to extend his life span, the grotesque way he practices glyph magic and most of all, his toxic fixation on his brother Caleb. While this theory isn’t confirmed in canon, it fits Belos’s pattern a little too well. Let’s break it down, shall we?
What We Know for Sure (Canon Breakdown)
Before we dive into this fan theory, here’s what the show confirms:
- Belos is Philip Wittebane, a human witch hunter who came to the Boiling Isles centuries ago and tried to access magic through glyphs.
- He consumes Palismen to survive. These creatures are made of solidified magic, and he absorbs their essence to maintain his power, stave off death, and suppress his monstrous form.
- The Grimwalkers are clones of Belos’ brother Caleb Wittenbane. Belos murdered Caleb for renouncing the idea that witches are evil (they were born during the 17th Century) and for falling in love with a witch from the Boiling Isles.
- For centuries afterwards, Belos has desecrated Caleb’s corpse in an attempt to create a “better version” of his brother that accepts his genocidal views. The minute the clones so much as question or annoy Belos, he kills them, then replaces them with a new clone.
- We’ve never seen any other instances of Belos transferring his consciousness into a Grimwalker body. Belos does have the ability to possess people and body-swap magic does exists in the world of The Owl House.
Where the Theory Comes From
The theory gained traction after season 3 episode For the Future aired. Belos, falling apart in his monstrous “goop form” tries to possess a rotting Grimwalker corpse. It didn’t work for long, but it raised eyebrows. Who’s to say he hasn’t done it before?
It’s possible that Belos had been using Grimwalker bodies as literal vessels, bodies to hop into once his own deteriorated past the point of no return. In other words, the clones that were killed were used as backup bodies.
Could Grimwalker Bodies Sustain Him?
One reason this theory makes sense is because of what Grimwalkers are made of. According to the show, Grimwalkers are partially created from Palistrom wood, the same magical material used to carve Palismen. That makes them uniquely suited to hold magic.
It’s also worth noting that Belos has carved glyphs directly into his own body. Those glyphs give him access to wild magic, but also contribute to his decay. Maybe his original human body couldn’t handle it anymore. A Grimwalker body could possibly contain that much power, especially with Palistrom wood in the mix.
That would also explain why Belos needs to consume Palismen souls to survive. They might act as some kind of stabilizer he needs to temporarily function inside a new body. However, several episodes throughout the series have shown him suffering from the after effects of eating Palismen.
By the end of season 2, he’s transformed into a slimy, skeletal creature and seems to have lost any semblance of his humanity. So maybe Grimwalkers aren’t that durable after all…
Caleb and Control
At the heart of this theory is Belos’s obsession with Caleb. In Hollow Mind, we learn Belos keeps remaking Grimwalkers in Caleb’s image, only to destroy them when they fail to live up to his impossible standards.
This isn’t a sign of grief or regret. Belos wants his brother remade to fit his warped worldview. A perfect, obedient version that never strays. One that will always agree with him.
So what’s the ultimate form of control? Possession.
Taking over Caleb’s clone body would be the ultimate violation, forcing his brother’s likeness to become him, literally. Every Grimwalker is a twisted attempt to “correct” the brother Belos couldn’t control in life. Then he discards them like broken masks.
In the end, Belos doesn’t just want to live long enough to carry out his plans of genocide against the Boiling Isles. He wants to do it as the twisted version of his brother that he refuses to let go.
The Cost of Obsession
We don’t know if Belos ever possessed the corpses of Grimwalkers, the theory taps into something that is confirmed in canon. His need for control, his hypocrisy, and the monstrous lengths he’ll go to in order to assert control over everything.
Grimwalkers, Palismen, glyphs, they’re all tools in a centuries-long effort to rewrite the past. To paint himself in the right and justify his actions. And if that means inhabiting a dead clone of your brother to force him into the shape you want? Belos would do it in a heartbeat.
