The following contains spoilers for The Owl House, now streaming on Disney+.
The Owl House recenty returned for the latter half of its second season after a disappointing cancellation announcement from Disney. Where the first season and a half were about Luz crafting a found family and a new relationship with ex-enemy Amity Blight, the latter half of the second season has sped up the narrative. Emperor Belos is no longer a name without a face, and his backstory has been revealed as deeply entwined with that of Luz. Luz's relationships are now the emotional center of the show, and a tonal shift has overtaken the narrative.
This tonal shift takes pace in conjunction with a change in narrative. The environment of the Boiling Isles began as one of non-traditional fairytale wonder, but recent changes toward non-coven witches have changed the atmosphere. As Emperor Belos ramps up his anti-wild magic propaganda, so too does the populace of the Boiling Isles become more opposed to the ideology thereof. Even more, Belos' motivations have revealed that the man may very well be plotting the extermination of the witches of the isles.
Wild Magic Is Owl House's Religious Minority
The first season of The Owl House established that there are two major systems of magic in the Boiling Isles. The first is Wild Magic, a system by which witches have no clan or guild by which they operate and can use a large variety of magic. The other is Coven Magic, wherein witches only focus on one of the nine varieties of magic, but share strength with the other witches within their coven. Witches who use Wild Magic are pressured in the Boiling Isles to join a coven majorly through social pressure.
As Belos' plan has come more into focus, however, pressure on Wild Magic users has quickly turned around. No longer are Wild Magic users simply pressured to become part of a coven. Now, they are slowly being treated like outcasts. In one episode, Eda is denied help from other members of the criminal underground because she is not part of a coven. The fact that witches are beginning to be not only divided among whether they are in covens, but wild witches are being treated as second-class citizens, is telling of the plans which Belos has in store.
Belos' Plans Confirm The Impending Genocide
Belos' history has demonstrated that the emperor has a disdain for those who do not like his own brand of magic, but the long-held hero of the land has now shown his full hand. Wild Magic was actually a beautiful system used by the Boiling Isles until Belos staged a false-flag attack and used propaganda to turn local witches against Wild Magic. He also used technology to make the witches believe that his coven system was stronger than theirs, and that he was a trustworthy magic user.
Many of the aspects of the strategy that he is using, as well as the "Day of Unity" apparently having something to do with the extermination of all witches, confirm that Belos' goal as a witch hunter is exactly that. All of these strategies prove that Belos is planning a genocide of witches, and what's worse, he is using strategies that are easily recognizable as methods for genocide. He personally has minimal plans for the witches of the boiling isles. Rather, he plans to use the sentiments of the populace and turn them against wild, more powerful witches, then destroy the witches in covens on the day of unity.
In spite of the fact that these ideas are recognizable in Luz's homeworld of earth, the idea of genocide seems majorly lost in the Boiling Isles. However, many sentient races have been hunted to extinction, and the last 50 years of history in the boiling isles has proven deeply problematic for the population. As Belos has gained more power, the history of the isles seems to have turned more violent and less peaceful, and crime seems to have become more common, all of which seems to be by design to weaken and kill the witches of the Boiling Isles.