Gargoyles Season Two, Volume Two Finally Coming? - Tentative Plans Announced

[cabel]

Been rewatching the series in anticipation of my S2V2's arrival. Some I hadn't watched since I first bought them. A fact I instantly regret. I'm almost caught up to Dread's reviews.

 

[nygma619]

I'm pretty much Jekyll and Hyde on the Avalon 3 prtr.

Jekyll likes the fact that it expanded on Tom, Katherine, and the Magus; along with their journey's guarding the eggs.

Especially liked the introductions of Angela and Arthur Pendragon. Especially the later's showdown with Macbeth.

Also Magus's ending felt poetic, and he had fully redeemed himself in my eyes.

However Hyde feels that the negatives all revolve around one character that keeps it from being greater. The Archmage.

For starters, there isn't much too him beyond being a typical cliched sorcerer. I thought that was fine in a smaller Tony Dracon type role. HOWEVER in a poignant story like this he leaves something to be desired IMO. At least with Doc Ock, we got to see his fall from grace in Spectacular Spider-Man and why he feels the need to want power after getting stepped on by others before hand. With Archmage he lusts for power BECAUSE?

I also have trouble trying to justify Archmage saving himself from death beyond him surviving the fall so he'd be able to go back in time. But then why bother going back in time to save himself to begin with then? It all feels like an unnecessary headache. I can get my head around Xanatos going back to give himself instructions since he would still be in the living and able to do so.

Even then the Archmage in all his arrogance never struck me as the type to go back in time just to give himself greater power IF HE ALREADY HAD THE POWER TO. He struck me as the type that would cut to the chase and head right to Avalon.

To me those things keep this 3 prtr. from ranking among the other multi parters like Awakening, City of Stone, and Hunter's Moon.

Another thing, how come you never see 3-5 parters in animation much if at all anymore?

It also marks a departure from playing things "safe" or to a formula to risk offering something truly new for fans of the show.

Yeah I thought taking the time skip showed they didn't want to stay in a comfort zone of any so...... oh wait, wrong thread.

Also you left out The Green as far as episodes in which the manhattan clan appear.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

For starters there isn't much too him beyond being a typical cliched sorcerer. I thought that was fine in a smaller Tony Dracon type role. HOWEVER in a poignant story like this he leaves something to be desired IMO. At least with Doc Ock, we got to see his fall from grace in Spectacular Spider-Man and why he feels the need to want power. In Archmage he lusts for power BECAUSE?

For starters I have trouble trying to justify Archmage saving himself from death beyond him surviving the fall so he'd be able to go back in time. But then why bother going back in time to save himself to begin with then? It all feels like an unnecessary headache. I can get my head around Xanatos going back to give himself instructions since he would still be in the living and able to do so.

Even then the Archmage in all his arrogance never struck me as the type to go back in time just to give himself greater power IF HE ALREADY HAD THE POWER TO. He struck me as the type that would cut to the chase and head right to Avalon.

On your last point, he needed to... he didn't have the talismans until they were brought to him.

As for his motives, I think had we gotten the "Dark Ages" comic, this would have been expanded upon. We basically saw him at his climax.

As for the loop. This looks like a job for...

There's been a little debate in the comment room, regarding the Archmage time travel loop, time travel in general, and the subject of free will in the Gargoyles universe. I posted my two cents, but thought I should include it here too, in case anyone missed it:
Oh, I'm probably going to regret this, but...
Gary, Gary, Gary> Yep. There is a loop. And you're comparison to the classic "Kill your own grandfather" chestnut doesn't parallel.
I could show you this pretty easy on a diagram, but it's a little more complicated in type. But let me give it a shot.
The grandfather thing is a "non-working" paradox. The timestream short circuits. [No cheating, now. No "Well, it turns out the man I always thought of as my grandfather wasn't really my biological grandfather" and no "He had sex with my grandmother just before I killed him." None of that.] I go back in time to kill my grandfather. He dies. My father's never born. I'm never born, therefore I don't exist to go back in time to kill my grandfather. Since I don't exist, my grandfather never dies. So my father is born, and, subsequently, so am I, allowing me to go back in time to kill my grandfather. And so on, and so on, and so on... It iterates without fusing. Again, short circuit.
Compare another chestnut that I made up a few years ago. I am a historian. My specialty is Abraham Lincoln. I travel back in time and meet him just before he's scheduled to give the Gettysburgh Address. To my horror, I discover that he's got writer's block. The most famous speech a president ever gave, and Abe can't think of what to write. I panic. And "write" the speech for him. Of course I didn't compose it. I simply write down the Gettysburgh Address from memory. Abe loves it. Gives the speech. Reporters transcribe it. Historians put it in history books. I study it and go back in time. Time flows unbroken. It is a "working" paradox. A paradox that doesn't short circuit the time stream. Now it raises a HUGE question? Who composed the Address? Not Abe, he got it from me. Not me, I got if from a history book. Not the historians or the reporters, they got it from Abe. The answer is it was born with the timestream, created by God or the Big Bang or whatever. It is mysterious. But it works.
The best example of a working paradox story I've ever read is Robert Heinlein's "All You Zombies". It's a brilliant, subversive little piece of work.
The Archmage (and/or the M.I.A.) loop has much more in common with the Gettysburgh chestnut than the Grandfather chestnut. It is a working paradox. Simpler even than Gettysburgh. You are the Archmage. Once upon a time, you were a kid. Then you grew up to be a man, and you wind up falling into a chasm. You're rescued by a "STRANGER" who looks something like you, but not quite. The "Stranger" mentors you and gives you power and actually changes you so that you look more like the stranger than like your old self. Then the "stranger" sends you back in time to that point where you rescue your old self. Now to that old immature version of you, you seem like "the stranger". You mentor the old you, you give him power. Then you send him back to effect the rescue. It's a loop, because you don't go back again. You continue forward until Goliath does you in. There's a beginning and an end and a loop in the middle. It IS a paradox. But it's a working paradox. There's no short circuit. Time flows. THERE IS A BIG QUESTION! Where did the Archmage get the idea to save himself. Well, he knows to do it because his old self was a "witness" to the rescue. His old self was the rescuee. But where did the IDEA come from? Again, a quirk of the timestream.
Many people have asked me why I made this the time travel rule in Gargoyles. It's a very conservative approach. You can't change history. Period. Sure we may not know the whole story. But what happened, happened. We can't change it. That's the rule as I established it in "Vows," and as we stuck with throughout the series. Why? Time travel is all theoretical. I could have chosen any rule I wanted. I could have chosen no rules. Why did I chose this rigid approach? Basically, cuz I thought it was MORE fun. I hate feeling cheated at the end of stories. Time travel stories are easily subject to this abuse. So many great Star Trek episodes full of time travel, wind up wimping out in the end. Cheating. Using non-working paradoxes or breaking any semblence of rules they've already established. I always felt ripped off. I didn't want that for Gargoyles. Also it presents our characters with a greater challenge. Griff vanished in WWII. Goliath goes back in time to change it. AND HE CAN'T!!!!!! So he has to find another way to solve the problem. It also explains why our guys just don't go back and fix things so that the Wyvern Massacre never happened. Once you open a a can of worms, you're stuck with a lot of worms (or worse, you pretend they aren't there). That seemed lousy to me, so I made it clear that once an event is absolutely known, you can't dodge it. Only work within it's frame. It's all a matter of opinion, but that seemed like MORE fun to me.
And now...DAH DAH DAH. Predestination vs. Free will. This is an ancient argument. God is omniscient. He knows what Eve is going to do. So she had no free will, right? Well, most theologians would say she does. Eve is created with free will by God. She doesn't have to take that apple. Cain doesn't have to kill Abel. Sure, God knows that Eve is gonna take it, that Cain is going to kill, but he doesn't impose that knowledge or his authority on either Eve or Cain. (He's God. He can make those subtle distinctions in his creations.) The fact that Mom tells you not to eat the cookies and nevertheless knows you're going to, doesn't mean that you have no free will. You could surprise Mom and skip 'em. Now you can't surprise God. He's God. So he knows ahead of time what you're going to do. But it's still your choice. Nothing touched your free will.
Now, I'll admit, that at times in Gargoyles, that distinction seems less clear. I'm the main (though not the only) god of the GargoylesUniverse. (At least I used to be.) But, obviously, I'm not GOD, and I don't have his subtle powers of creation. But I tried. I suppose it's tough to figure how the Archmage could choose not to save himself. But I think the key is that he wouldn't want to choose anything other than what he did. So his free will isn't touched. Griff chooses to fight in the Battle of Britain. He chooses to risk his life. He doesn't know about Phoenix Gates or time travel. But he knows the risks of war. He doesn't make it home for forty years. Maybe that's a consequence he couldn't predict, but it's better than dieing. His free will isn't missing from the equation just because the time stream (or God or whatever you believe in) knows that he's not coming back even before he departs. In GONE WITH THE WIND, Rhett Butler doesn't join the Confederate Army until he knows the Confederacy is doomed. HE KNOWS. But that doesn't effect his free will. We all make decisions. Maybe someone out there knows the results. God. Or a psychic palm reader living in Petaluma. Or your Uncle Ralph, who did the exact same thing when he was your age. But the fact that someone else know, whether we know they know or not, does not effect our free will.
Anyway, that's my two cents. (GDW/1-26-98)
Hey, Gary (and everyone)... You asked me further questions about time. The answers all come down to Point of View. You didn't comment on the "religious" aspects of my comments, but frankly, they seem unavoidable.
PoV. To Goliath, in the 1990s, the past seems fixed. The present and future, not. To Goliath in 1940, the past and present seem fixed, and the future seems fixed for a few decades, and then past the mid-nineties, not. To Greg Weisman, in his capacity as god of the Gargoyle Universe, the past, present and future seem fixed.
But what does this mean? It means we are bound by what we know and nothing more. What does "fixed" mean? Goliath realizes that Griff can't return to his clan in the forties, because he didn't return in the forties. But that doesn't mean Goliath cannot affect their mutual futures, by bopping Griff forward to the nineties.
Greg Weisman knows that something big happens in the year 2158. But he doesn't yet know all the results of that. For that matter, Greg has a lot of knowledge about what happened in 984. But what exactly happened between 984 and 994? I've got a basic idea, but there's room for movement. There are facts I can't dodge, therefore facts that my characters can't dodge. But that doesn't remove their free will.
Pre-destination does not NEGATE free will, unless the character abdicates free will in the mistaken belief that he or she has none. And even then, the "act" of abdication is a choice, an act of free will.
One other note: the Gettysburgh Address in my previous example could be called a "time circle". Unbroken. No beginning or end. The Archmage is not a circle, but a loop in a straight line. Think of a roller coaster. It goes along straight for 100 yards. Then it begins a loop-de-loop. We travel up and backwards and around and then the track flattens out again at the eighty yard mark. For twenty yards the tracks run side by side, or put another way, since the track is unbroken, lengths of the ONE track run side by side. Then one length, "the younger length," heads back into the loop, while the other "mature" length continues forward on the straight flat track.
Hope this helps. (GDW/1-27-98)

 

[Wheels]

Just a heads up. I nominated the show for inclusion in the Animated TV Shows Tournament

 

[cabel]

Almost as soon as I finish watching S2V1, V2 arrives in the mail!

 

[Dread]

Glad to see some more attention here now. How about some more reviews? I know I'm ready.

Having completed the third of the five multi-part arcs offered in "GARGOYLES" as well as past the midway mark for the series in general, this next episode "SHADOWS OF THE PAST" officially kicks off the era of the show dubbed the "Gargoyles World Tour". As Tom said at the end of "AVALON - PART THREE", Avalon doesn't send those where they want to be, but where they NEED to be. And you'd better get used to hearing Tom say that, because you will hear that line in recaps so many times you may scream. While Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx have successfully defended Avalon from the Archmage and his cohorts (or the Weird Sisters and their cohorts, depending on how you look at it), their voyage home to Manhattan proves to be a long and arduous one. As the "world tour" arc split the cast of the show for an extended period of time, it has become a somewhat controversial run of the show for even its hardcore fans. Fortunately, one of the strongest episodes of that run as well as the show in general is served up as its opening chapter, "SHADOWS OF THE PAST". It offers the usually tremendous animation from Disney Japan - an episode animated by them is like a sundae with an extra scoop of ice cream and more sprinkles - as well as quite an emotional roller coaster for the series' male lead Goliath as some skeletons in his closest come out to roost.

Spoiler

As noted before, the mists of Avalon are capable of transporting people across time and space, although the island itself has a will beyond that of those who seek to live or leave it. To this end Goliath, Elisa, Angela and Bronx all have roles to play in challenges around the globe. These challenges will either aid someone across a hemisphere or put right an ancient wrong, and/or develop one of their characters further and resolve some hidden turmoil. Seeking to go "home", Goliath and his friends wind up in Scotland, around the site which used to hold Castle Wyvern back in the middle ages. By now said castle was loaded up brick by brick by Xanatos and put atop his skyscraper, so now all that remains is a vacant pit. Yet upon reaching these lands, Goliath is haunted by visions of things which may or may not be real. The deeper they go into the caves, the worse it gets, and more maddened Goliath becomes around his friends. They become separated in the caves (which served as the Archmage's lair in "LONG WAY TO MORNING" and "AVALON - PART TWO") as Goliath comes face to face with two ghosts from his past - Hakon the Viking and the Captain of the guard. They've festered their vengeance against Goliath for a thousand years and now pit him in their scheme to manipulate the cave's magics to regain their lives in exchange for his. But in the end, can even old ghosts find redemption?

Many times I have gone on about Goliath's many noble and understanding qualities - it's hard not to when those qualities are often on display in contrast to those of Demona or some other villains. Yet Goliath works where many heroes of his ilk fail because it is often shown that not even his armor is without cracks or flaws. This episode brings us back to "THE AWAKENING" and reestablishes the mood and tone from the Wyvern massacre for Goliath as a trauma he still has not moved past. While overall Goliath may be a merciful and understanding guy, even he has his limits and when Hakon and the Captain led the slaughter of his clan back in 994, there was no denial that he was after revenge - Goliath even bellows about it when it is denied. As he explains to Angela, while in the end he DID choose to save Princess Katharine, that didn't change the fact that he did want to slaughter the pair for their crime, and a part of him has never recovered from failing to avenge his people. We see Hakon killing a sleeping gargoyle at the start of every episode, and Goliath's anguish afterwards as the backstory is recapped every week, after all. It is rare for the lead hero in many genre cartoon stories to have emotional baggage regarding failure to kill an enemy off, and regretting their inability to do so. We get the feeling that Goliath may not be especially proud of these desires, but they're his feelings and he admits them. While Hakon's status as a brutal butcher is clear, to a degree affairs are more complicated for the Captain, who was the only human at the time who was the gargoyles "friend", who still betrayed them to the Vikings.

After a very long time, we get another look at Hakon (Clancy Brown) and the Captain (Ed Gilbert) after they fell to their deaths in "THE AWAKENING - PART TWO". And they are very much dead; their souls have simply remained in the cave due to either the magical inscriptions forged by the Archmage or their own hatred preventing them from "moving on" (or a bit of both) - the episode keeps that ambiguous and it is richer for doing so. As ghosts the pair naturally have developed many supernatural powers, such as casting illusions or animating stone itself, their plan is to drain Goliath's life force and use it to return themselves to flesh. Their attempt to drive Goliath to madness with their visions almost works, if not for an honest mistake - their ignorance of Wyvern's survivors. It makes perfect sense that neither would know that Demona, or Hudson, or the Trio actually survived the attack - they were busy being corpses after all. While Hakon is still the same petty, cowardly warlord he was in life, living only for revenge, some prodding by Goliath reveals that the Captain's hatred is for someone else - himself for betraying the gargoyles. After a thousand years, the Captain sees his chance at literally redeeming his soul and attacking Hakon, saving Goliath from their fate. Themes of revenge, protection, and redemption seem consistent throughout the series and this episode embodies that in spades; a moral that it is never too late to try to make amends for a mistake, rather than deny it forever as Demona seems stuck doing, certainly is a fine moral for a piece of fiction to have. Along with all this is terrific animation from Disney Japan, who seem to have a lot of fun with an army of stone gargoyle "zombies". We also get out first glimpse of Goliath, Elisa, Angela and Bronx interacting while on the road, which is something we'll come to get comfortable with in future episodes. Angela naturally gets to see what is left of the home where her egg was laid and the remains of her ancestral home, as well as get thrown neck deep into ramifications of the massacre which led to the flight to Avalon. While her life there may have been mostly a paradise until the Archmage's attack, it didn't come without a lot of tragedy beforehand. The slow burn romance between Elisa and Goliath is a subplot which would snake through the entire series, and the time the two spend with his biological daughter - as well as Goliath truly coming to terms with that responsibility - makes for great stuff not only here but in future episodes of the "world tour".

Overall, "SHADOWS OF THE PAST" is a terrific start to the "world tour" arc by following up on some unresolved emotions from "THE AWAKENING" within Goliath as well as crafting a genuine spiritual battle out of the perennial themes of revenge and redemption. Mixing horror with action with some tremendous animation at the peak of the show's potential, it's another example of the show at its best, which wins bonus points for doing it with a set up which took the stars of the show out of their comfort zone and embarked on a new status quo.

The "world tour" sifts onward with "HERITAGE", which is the first episode of the tour to take our four travelers (Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx) to a location where none of them had ever been before at any period of time as well as introducing another culture's mythology into the plot. While the animation isn't as pretty as "SHADOWS OF THE PAST" and with the delving into Native American culture risked some cliched scenes with Elisa (since she was half Native American, half African American), the result is a perfectly adventurous episode about appearances being deceiving which also adds some members to the "third race" of the show.

Spoiler

As Tom restates in the recap segment, Avalon doesn't send you where you want to go, but where you need to be. Of course, "need to be" may not necessarily entail the needs of the travelers themselves. While "SHADOWS OF THE PAST" allowed Goliath to expunge some unresolved feelings as well as do some ghost-busting, this episode involves the affairs of others who need a nudge in the "right" direction. When their skiff is attacKed by a sea serpent, the three gargoyles are separated from Elisa, who vanishes beneath the waves and seems to drown. Refusing to believe their friend lost, the gargoyles wind up on the shore of Queen Florence Island, Canada where Goliath vows to continue their search regardless of risk. There, they encounter the mysterious Raven who claims to be the leader of a tribe of gargoyles there who have come under attack from humanity. Meanwhile, a half drowned Elisa washes up on another section of the island and is found by Natsilane (or "Nick") and the mystically attuned Grandmother. Grandmother speaks of the supernatural history of the Haida people which has caused the island to be sickly and unbalanced. Unfortunately, Nick is very much a modern man wanting to avoid the "superstition" of his people's old ways and refuses to believe any of Grandmother's claims about ancient battles on volcanoes.

I'll be blunt; once I saw Grandmother and her noticeably pointy ears, I knew she was more than likely one of "Oberon's children" like Puck in "THE MIRROR" was and thus didn't doubt her claims of the magical legacy of the island in the slightest. Once that is realized it doesn't become hard to assume the Raven is another trickster who isn't what he claims, either. However, the episode itself isn't exactly about a mystery, it's a play about learning to accept the past rather than denying it in order to move forward. It also showcases Elisa in a different way in that her many experiences with the gargoyles have changed her philosophy in regards to the supernatural or mythological, and broadened her horizons. The Grandmother's treatments save her life and Elisa manages to quote Hamlet in trying to get Nick to accept his destiny (or "heritage", if you will) and face the Raven on the mountain to save the island. The gargoyles of course learn a lesson about not always believing what they are told either, although since Goliath is nowhere near as monolithic in his views of morality as Demona is, this is nothing new; it's just a new experience with Angela along. Thus, an episode which may have seemed old hat if our stars were alone has more meaning now that they're meeting someone new and being seen through their eyes. A fairer criticism could be that the Native American garb and decorations in the episode may be closer to more readily seen "plains Indians" than ones who were natives of Queen Florence Island, although that is likely due to a lack of time to prep for the episode and/or not having a Native American consultant on the film (as "TUROK: SON OF STONE" many years later would have). To a degree, some traces of "HERITAGE" may be seen years later in the YJ episode "DENIAL" which is also about a man of science being convinced that life is more fulfilling once the unknown is embraced instead of being adamantly denied. We naturally see in Nick perhaps where Elisa started out in Season 1, although she was probably far more receptive at first. By this stage, Elisa's learned to roll with and accept a great many more things than when we first met her. Coming off of "SHADOWS OF THE PAST", it is harrowing for the gargoyles to be separated from Elisa, but it all turns out well in the wash.

This is another episode which showcases the laws by which "Oberon's children" have to abide by, and how those rules can be bent. Forbidden to directly interfere in the affairs of mortals, the most they can do is manipulate or trick or even threaten rather than take direct action. In a larger way, "HERITAGE" also shows us that some "gods" or spirits to other cultures, such as that of the Raven, may actually be real and simply be what those native people called the particular "third racer" who was in their area; or what said "third racer" wanted to be called by them. While that may not make this episode in itself better, this episode lays out the foundation for other gods and legends of other cultures being real and open to exploration and confirmation in future episodes. Up until this point, this episode has mostly dealt with Scottish history and mythology; "HERITAGE" makes clear that the mythology and history of any land or its people were fair game and could be seamlessly inserted into the lore of the unique universe "GARGOYLES" was broadening.

By itself, "HERITAGE" may not be the strongest episode of the show, but it represented a lot of important things, and by itself is a perfectly fine outing. It was the first but not the last episode to expand on the mythology of another culture with our heroes as well as be able to see them through the eyes of others. And while it would focus on some of the metaphysical aspects of Native American culture, it's at least far removed from "BRAVESTARR".

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

Disney just gave the show some attention on their official blog.

http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2013/09/15/gargoyles-in-quotes/

 

[cabel]

I've been thinking a lot lately about what a great Gargoyles video game would be like.

Kind of similar to Arkham City. Open world with the gliding mechanic. Main story with various side stories. Hidden pieces of the Phoenix Gate hidden throughout Manhattan that unlock self contained stories set in the ancient past. During the day you can play as Elisa to advance the story from the detective side of things.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

I've been thinking a lot lately about what a great Gargoyles video game would be like.

Kind of similar to Arkham City. Open world with the gliding mechanic. Main story with various side stories. Hidden pieces of the Phoenix Gate hidden throughout Manhattan that unlock self contained stories set in the ancient past. During the day you can play as Elisa to advance the story from the detective side of things.

Yeah. Demona as the Big Bad of the game, working on a plot to destroy humanity. Xanatos' machinations... you could even work the Illuminati in, too.

I'd love to see it.

 

[cabel]

Yeah. Demona as the Big Bad of the game, working on a plot to destroy humanity. Xanatos' machinations... you could even work the Illuminati in, too.

I'd love to see it.

Side quests with Dracon, The Pack, Sevarias, Thailog.

Make as many characters playable as possible to change up gameplay. Bronx can't glide, so he has to climb up and down buildings and leap rooftops. Hudson uses a sword. Steel Clan/Xanatos' armor can fly and shoot lasers. Mutates also fire energy blasts. Demona has magic, Macbeth has his arsenal, etc.

Should the story more or less cover the series, or take place after?

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

Side quests with Dracon, The Pack, Sevarias, Thailog.

Make as many characters playable as possible to change up gameplay. Bronx can't glide, so he has to climb up and down buildings and leap rooftops. Hudson uses a sword. Steel Clan/Xanatos' armor can fly and shoot lasers. Mutates also fire energy blasts. Demona has magic, Macbeth has his arsenal, etc.

Should the story more or less cover the series, or take place after?

I'd do a story set after #12 of the comic book.

 

[cabel]

I'd do a story set after #12 of the comic book.

Might be tricky for newcomers. A lot of backstory.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

Might be tricky for newcomers. A lot of backstory.

Well, you'd have most of the voice actors there recording the video game... do a motion comic of the comic book with those voice actors and include it as an extra disc with the game. That could work.

 

[cabel]

Well, you'd have most of the voice actors there recording the video game... do a motion comic of the comic book with those voice actors and include it as an extra disc with the game. That could work.

If they were to ever make a complete series bluray collection, I would include a motion comic.

But I meant the series in general. Not just the comic. Sure the game could provide text entries, video clips, and whatnot to provide the backstory, but I'm of the "show, don't tell" mindset. Anything that takes time away from the actual gameplay should be kept to a minimum. Plus, it would never successfully translate the experience of the series in my opinion.

So my thought is, dedicate one game (maybe two) to covering the events of the series. If successful, future games could be dedicated to Weisman's sequels and spinoffs.

 

[Dread]

Video games have tons of cut scenes and monologues these days. I am sure a game could fill in enough of the exposition at the starting chapters before getting into the newer stuff. Even the Slave Labor Graphics comics had a two page splash which summarized the TV series for readers who'd maybe forgotten some tidbits during the decade between new material.

Anyway, my schedule has been tighter lately, how about two more quick reviews?

With the series' two main leads (along with Angela and Bronx) engaged in a world tour far away from the Manhattan isle, what're the rest of the clan members doing? Fortunately, the show decides to take a break from the opening of the "world tour" to shine the spotlight back on the familiar cast back in NYC to see where things have gotten to. The result is "KINGDOM", the 39th episode of the show and the final episode offered on the "Season 2, Volume 1" box set offered by Disney in 2005. Hardcore fans more impulsive than I was had to wait eight more years to pick things up from here. The "world tour" arc earned some criticism from even ardent fans, for reasons such as removing the core cast from the show for quite a length of time. Having seen the entire show including the tour, I never felt such pangs of drought for them, likely due to the show offering looks back at the old gang at key intervals. Having the first take place after only three episodes was wise.

Spoiler

Quite a lot happens within this episode, which sees appearances by the rest of the Manhattan clan as well as the mutates in the Labyrinth along with Xanatos and Owen. In the end, however, it's an episode about showing responsibility even when it is unwanted, and the dangers that come from shirking it too long. By this stage Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx have been missing for some time, and while the rest of the clan have searched for them, Brooklyn has a bit of unwilling responsibility upon his winged shoulders. Having been tapped by Goliath as his second in command back in "UPGRADE", Hudson reminds Brooklyn that as noble as it is to continue hoping and searching for Goliath, the role of leader is one which is now his to take. Having no doubt imagined such a role would not happen for a good many more decades (if the realities of such a role were fully embraced to begin with, which they may not have been), Brooklyn is unwilling to take up the mantle - not only due to inexperience or anxiety, but it means embracing the very possibility that Goliath could be gone forever and never coming back. Such a thing doesn't become real until you take Goliath's role in the clan, after all. Then there's no denying that Goliath is gone, and that his disappearance is a fluke or short term dilemma. Hudson, for his part, seems aware of all this and probably watched Goliath have his own pangs regarding becoming leader - after all, Demona was the one who convinced Hudson to relinquish the role to him after "LONG TIME TO MORNING". Having once been leader himself, Hudson is aware of the responsibility and its burden, but throughout the episode keeps giving Brooklyn the nudge he needs. Unfortunately, Brooklyn's own initial misgivings about the role cause him to second guess his own sound judgments, which lead to a slew of problems and consequences later on.

The main plot parallels this, but is perhaps not quite as interesting. Much like Brooklyn, Derek Maza/Talon has shirked his role as leader of the Labyrinth, which consists of not only his fellow clan of mutates but a slew of homeless and down on their luck people. Unlike Brooklyn, however, he doesn't have a clan full of allies or patient mentors; he has Fang who seems intent to fill that vacuum and take over the Labyrinth himself with the aid of a few good crooks and a cowed Claw. Unlike Brooklyn, Talon has seemed to retain his own impulsiveness, and his initial suspicion that Xanatos is responsible for the disappearance of Goliath and his sister turns out to alert the manipulative tycoon to their disappearance in the first place. This leads them on a wild goose chase, giving Fang the time to capture Maggie the Cat and become a far more tyrannical leader of the Labyrinth after finding a cache of weapons left over from Cyberbionics. My big problem with Fang is not exactly in how he was written but that his voice actor, James Belushi, seems to almost overact in terms of the constant one-liners. I almost expect Fang to be standing on a stage at a bar somewhere doing stand up before the rest of Oberon's Children; while that is understandable given that this was years before "ACCORDING TO JIM" when Belushi did make his living on stand up, I think it made Fang come off as more comical than dangerous. That isn't to claim that Fang isn't funny or that Belushi doesn't give him character; my claim is that these become problems in an episode where Fang is supposed to be seen as conducting an ambitious and dangerous coup. Fang's next appearance in "THE RECKONING" where he isn't the main heavy is a far better use for him. There is a lot of action and peril here, I just often struggle to take Fang seriously the more he talks like he's walked out of the Bob Hope school of acting. Of course, Fang is nowhere near as vicious as Wolf or some of the other villains in the show; he knows when he's beaten, and his willingness to surrender when it is convenient to avoid a worse thrashing do make him come off as more sniveling. For the record, one of Fang's minions, Chaz, seems to dress exactly like Ox from the Enforcers did in the original AMAZING SPIDER-MAN comics of the 60's which cause me to almost expect to see Fancy Dan and Montana turn up somewhere. In the end, the moral is that avoiding responsibilities can be dangerous for those around you if you take too long, as there usually are others who're more eager to take that gap who may not be as nice. The scenes with Maggie and Claw are also quite good.

The animation is about standard for episodes not done by Disney Japan, although there are a few errors here and there with wrong characters popping up when they shouldn't. The core story beats about the responsibility of leadership and the trials of facing that responsibility for both Brooklyn and Talon are the real meat of the episode. As funny as Fang is, I just don't think he works well as a main villain for an episode. This show usually doesn't do villains who seem to exist for laughs in the same way that many cartoons of the 80's and early 90's did; Fang would all but fit in with the original Shredder or Hordak or Tex Hex in that he offers as many one-liners as he does electrical bolts. Having Fang try to fill the void that Talon refused to felt organic, I just don't think Fang has the weight to carry an episode as the lead villain as well as the show's other many great lead villains. Again, prior and subsequent episodes where Fang doesn't have to be the main heavy work better; Belushi is funny in the role and when that role doesn't hinder the danger factor for an episode, Fang works. In the end he isn't entirely evil, just one of the sort who sees his mutation as an opportunity to bully others; a jerk, basically. In all fairness, it is the fact that "Gargoyles" had redefined what it meant to be the lead antagonist in animated programs, as well as secondary or tertiary antagonists, which causes Fang to stand out. Stick him in a typical episode of, say, "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" from 1992, and he'd probably end up upstaging even the Shredder there and taking over the city. "Pizza, PIZZA!? WHAT DO NINJAS AND PIZZA EVEN HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER!?" I can almost imagine him quipping. I suppose what makes the show good is its variety in its villains, from the tragic (Demona, Macbeth) to the charmingly manipulative (Xanatos) to the hopelessly insane (Hyena, Jackal, maybe Sevarius) and power mad (Archmage). I suppose there's room for a goofy cornball in the mix like Fang.

Great episode, and a good opportunity to see what the Manhattan clan was up to. It's a rare episode without either Goliath or Elisa, but it works out quite well. Not so well that it's worth being the last episode of "GARGOYLES" on DVD for 8 years, but that is naturally nothing the creators intended. Not only is it an episode which catches up with the rest of the cast, but it offers organic developments on previous episodes and subplots as well as an interesting character play about responsibility. It utilizes all the strengths of the series, which is why it works even without the usual leads of the series.

After a quick check back on the Manhattan clan, it's back to the world tour for Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx. The next episode, the first of the "Disney Movie Club Exclusive" Season 2 Vol. 2 set which was being sold by Buena Vista themselves on eBay before being offered on Disney's own website to the masses, is "MONSTERS". For some this will either be the episode where Angela's biology is confirmed in no uncertain terms, or an episode which risked jumping the shark - or some other mythological water beast.

Spoiler

The mists of Avalon once again send the foursome to Scotland, and once again they run afoul of a monster within the water. This time, Angela is the separated party member as the gang run afoul of not only Dr. Anton Sevarius and the Elisa-dubbed "Xanatos Goon Squad" from "THE AWAKENING", but the legendary Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. At this point, I imagine there may be some in the audience who rolled their eyes or threw up their hands. Nessie!? Come on now! I, however, wasn't one of them and for a very critical reason. Throughout this show's run, it has created a universe in which many myths and history surrounding Scotland turned out to not only be true, but to have existing ramifications into the modern day. Having successfully accepted that, at what point do I draw a line in the sand and say, "I could swallow stone gargoyles coming to life or mutants but ____ is just too much"? I saw it as taking a more modern urban legend from Scotland and using that for ore for a story; the gargoyles themselves hail from the middle ages, while Nessie accounts start in the 20th century (with roots in the 6th century account of St. Columba). With that settled, I had no problem going into a plot about Nessie because I felt the universe the show has created has become vast enough that any mythology, urban legend or historical mystery was fair game. Angela winds up a captive alongside Nessie in Sevarius' lab, and manages to encourage the creature's survival with her company and good nature - which is good as old dastardly Anton simply wants Nessie to lure out her mate, the larger "Big Daddy". The scenes between the two might have been too much, but when even Anton mocks how "saccharine" they are, what's to get upset about?

Besides, if even "Lupin the Third" in the 1970's could have an episode about Nessie, why can't "Gargoyles" in the 90's? At the the latter is more fitting.

Besides the usual wonderment whenever Tim Curry shows up to voice Anton, this episode also furthers along the subplot regarding Goliath coming to terms with Angela and what she means to him. While Elisa has immediate suspicions about Angela's parentage and Angela wishes Goliath would elaborate, Goliath sticks to the manta of their clan that they are all equals of the rookery and one can't or shouldn't show favoritism between biological relations. This may be very true, but one gets the sense that Goliath is sticking to this precisely because he is having trouble adjusting to the reality that he is now a father with the child of a woman he's had a very violent divorce with. Goliath didn't expect to survive being frozen in stone with the clan in 994 some thousand years later and he didn't expect to be reunited with a now young adult daughter after such times. After all, he's barely adjusted to the existence of television and now he's a dad? It's perfectly understandable that he'd need time to adjust (even to the point of denying the obvious), although we can also see how that hurts Angela, who wants to know more about herself and her family. Anton mistakes Angela for one of the Loch Ness gargoyles and takes a blood sample, and faster than you can say "Maury Povich", confirms the obvious - Goliath, you ARE the father! Naturally, there are a lot of battle sequences as the Nessies are saved, gargoyles are rescued, and the villains seem to go down with their ship (or submarine). We also see how the Loch Ness monster is exploited as a tourist attraction for the locals of the area seeking to score quick bucks, even without the monsters being officially confirmed - a theme which will come up later in "BUSHIDO". We get a rollicking underwater battle between the gargoyles, the brute squad ("I am the brute squad!") and the monsters, the end of which most of that Xanatos goon squad don't survive. As always, this show managed to mix in real danger by managing to show or imply death without annoying censors too much; the irony of course is that censors forget that incidents without consequences have the opposite effect on young viewers than those that do. Naturally, Dr. Sevarius survives to scheme another day; as an evil scientist motivated by conducting scientific experiments for profit regardless of ethics or morals, he's as close to a Mr. Sinister figure that the show has. Perhaps it's all the years growing up on X-Men, but every franchise seems to need a mad scientist type, and Anton serves that in spades. While Goliath may not be ready to admit he's Angela's father and adjust the laws of his clan even when he, her, and Bronx are all that represents it, it is especially harrowing when Angela almost drowns, and then they share a moment at the end. Goliath's not where he should be in terms of fatherhood, but he'll get there. The show's slow burn approach to a lot of emotional and character subplots may only have been allowed because of the sheer volume of episodes which had to be filled - a luxury Weisman didn't have with "YOUNG JUSTICE" where character beats were done in broader strokes - but it only enhances the pay off at the end. For her part, Angela is patient about it to an extent, even if she certainly isn't about to let such matters gestate too long.

The animation for this episode is fine, up to the usual standards of episodes not done by Disney Japan without any major animation errors. It is the first episode to tackle a major legendary figure in modern folklore, but far from the last. It confirms the heritage between Goliath and Angela in no uncertain terms and kicks that arc of Goliath getting out of denial and protectiveness to eventually settle on being a father as well as a clan leader. Such an arc doesn't happen overnight, and it shouldn't to be done properly. While Angela does show some inexperience here, it's also something which will change over time. Furthermore, it continues the set up of the world tour, which sees our two leads, our newest starring character and the clan mascot travel to new threats and new lands and learn more about themselves as they help others or run across new and old enemies.

The "world tour" succeeds for many reasons, one of which is because it made it harder to guess where or what our heroes would be facing each episode, and "MONSTERS" embodies that in spades.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

Having completed the third of the five multi-part arcs offered in "GARGOYLES" as well as past the midway mark for the series in general, this next episode "SHADOWS OF THE PAST" officially kicks off the era of the show dubbed the "Gargoyles World Tour".

And it kicks off with one of my all time favorite episodes.

As Tom said at the end of "AVALON - PART THREE", Avalon doesn't send those where they want to be, but where they NEED to be. And you'd better get used to hearing Tom say that, because you will hear that line in recaps so many times you may scream.

Heh, I think it stopped with "Golem".

Fortunately, one of the strongest episodes of that run as well as the show in general is served up as its opening chapter, "SHADOWS OF THE PAST". It offers the usually tremendous animation from Disney Japan - an episode animated by them is like a sundae with an extra scoop of ice cream and more sprinkles - as well as quite an emotional roller coaster for the series' male lead Goliath as some skeletons in his closest come out to roost.

I don't blame Michael Reaves for calling this one his favorite.

Yet upon reaching these lands, Goliath is haunted by visions of things which may or may not be real. The deeper they go into the caves, the worse it gets, and more maddened Goliath becomes around his friends. They become separated in the caves (which served as the Archmage's lair in "LONG WAY TO MORNING" and "AVALON - PART TWO") as Goliath comes face to face with two ghosts from his past - Hakon the Viking and the Captain of the guard.

Not even death can keep a character from recurring! But I don't think the Captain is coming back this time.

Many times I have gone on about Goliath's many noble and understanding qualities - it's hard not to when those qualities are often on display in contrast to those of Demona or some other villains. Yet Goliath works where many heroes of his ilk fail because it is often shown that not even his armor is without cracks or flaws.

Exactly, and I wish more series would attempt it.

This episode brings us back to "THE AWAKENING" and reestablishes the mood and tone from the Wyvern massacre for Goliath as a trauma he still has not moved past. While overall Goliath may be a merciful and understanding guy, even he has his limits and when Hakon and the Captain led the slaughter of his clan back in 994, there was no denial that he was after revenge - Goliath even bellows about it when it is denied. As he explains to Angela, while in the end he DID choose to save Princess Katharine, that didn't change the fact that he did want to slaughter the pair for their crime, and a part of him has never recovered from failing to avenge his people.

In a way, this episode reminds me of stories about Batman encountering Joe Chill, or Spider-Man encountering the Burglar. Although with a much more supernatural bent. Also each character reacts differently in each situation, but my mind does go there.

It is rare for the lead hero in many genre cartoon stories to have emotional baggage regarding failure to kill an enemy off, and regretting their inability to do so. We get the feeling that Goliath may not be especially proud of these desires, but they're his feelings and he admits them.

You will never see a Transformers show where Optimus Prime regrets not killing Megatron when he had a chance.

And they are very much dead; their souls have simply remained in the cave due to either the magical inscriptions forged by the Archmage or their own hatred preventing them from "moving on" (or a bit of both) - the episode keeps that ambiguous and it is richer for doing so.

I don't think the Archmage forged those ruins, but they may be why he set up his lair there.

Funny enough, I know someone who doesn't care for this episode BECAUSE of the ambiguity. Me, I think mysteries can enrichen a world. We don't have all the answers in real life, why should Goliath?

Their attempt to drive Goliath to madness with their visions almost works, if not for an honest mistake - their ignorance of Wyvern's survivors. It makes perfect sense that neither would know that Demona, or Hudson, or the Trio actually survived the attack - they were busy being corpses after all.

I think they may know about the Trio and Hudson, since we didn't see them among the illusions. They did haunt that area and castle.... go back to episode two, Owen even mentions that the locals consider the castle to be haunted when Xanatos is preparing to disassemble the castle.

But Demona likely never returned to Wyvern after the massacre, so it makes sense that they would think she was one of those killed.

Themes of revenge, protection, and redemption seem consistent throughout the series and this episode embodies that in spades; a moral that it is never too late to try to make amends for a mistake, rather than deny it forever as Demona seems stuck doing, certainly is a fine moral for a piece of fiction to have.

I love Demona as much as anyone, but let's face it... she's a stupid *****. It can be said that the entire series is about why she (and people like her) are wrong.

When their skiff is attacKed by a sea serpent,

Which will happen AGAIN at their next stop.

Unfortunately, Nick is very much a modern man wanting to avoid the "superstition" of his people's old ways and refuses to believe any of Grandmother's claims about ancient battles on volcanoes.

To be fair, I can't blame him. Would you?

I'll be blunt; once I saw Grandmother and her noticeably pointy ears, I knew she was more than likely one of "Oberon's children" like Puck in "THE MIRROR" was and thus didn't doubt her claims of the magical legacy of the island in the slightest.

I don't remember my first impressions of the episode, so I don't remember what I assumed about Grandmother. But she seems to be the most benevolent member of the Third Race we've encountered at this point in the series. Puck, Weird Sisters, Raven... yeah, Grandmother seems more trustworthy than they do.

It also showcases Elisa in a different way in that her many experiences with the gargoyles have changed her philosophy in regards to the supernatural or mythological, and broadened her horizons.

And she features in the series' second nude scene. Granted, she's covered in a blanket, but still...

The Grandmother's treatments save her life and Elisa manages to quote Hamlet in trying to get Nick to accept his destiny (or "heritage", if you will) and face the Raven on the mountain to save the island.

Because this show can never have too much Shakespeare.

The gargoyles of course learn a lesson about not always believing what they are told either, although since Goliath is nowhere near as monolithic in his views of morality as Demona is, this is nothing new; it's just a new experience with Angela along.

And for Angela, look at the previous example where she was shocked that Goliath wasn't telling the truth. Lies and dishonesty are probably new things for her, growing up basically in paradise close to her rookery siblings as well as the Princess, Tom, and the Magus. But she's learning fast, she picked up on Raven before Goliath did.

Forbidden to directly interfere in the affairs of mortals, the most they can do is manipulate or trick or even threaten rather than take direct action.

Yup, hence why the Weird Sisters needed the Archmage's commands as an excuse to take action in "Avalon" as well as Demona and Macbeth's permission to link them in "City of Stone." ... and it took them twelve years to get there.

Up until this point, this episode has mostly dealt with Scottish history and mythology; "HERITAGE" makes clear that the mythology and history of any land or its people were fair game and could be seamlessly inserted into the lore of the unique universe "GARGOYLES" was broadening.

"All things are true. But few are accurate."

And while it would focus on some of the metaphysical aspects of Native American culture, it's at least far removed from "BRAVESTARR".

I'll give "Bravestarr" credit for trying.

The result is "KINGDOM", the 39th episode of the show and the final episode offered on the "Season 2, Volume 1" box set offered by Disney in 2005. Hardcore fans more impulsive than I was had to wait eight more years to pick things up from here.

Yes... we did.

Better late than never.

The "world tour" arc earned some criticism from even ardent fans, for reasons such as removing the core cast from the show for quite a length of time.

The World Tour was an aspect of the show I wasn't crazy about when it was first airing. But as I got older, I grew to appreciate it. Now I not only can't imagine the show without it, I don't think the show would be as rich as it was without it.

Having seen the entire show including the tour, I never felt such pangs of drought for them, likely due to the show offering looks back at the old gang at key intervals. Having the first take place after only three episodes was wise.

"Kingdom" was one of the only two episodes to air out of order. Originally it aired after "Grief". And after a two month hiatus. Plus, all the major hiatuses during the second season hit DURING the Tour... which made it seem much longer than it actually was.

My big problem with Fang is not exactly in how he was written but that his voice actor, James Belushi, seems to almost overact in terms of the constant one-liners. I almost expect Fang to be standing on a stage at a bar somewhere doing stand up before the rest of Oberon's Children; while that is understandable given that this was years before "ACCORDING TO JIM" when Belushi did make his living on stand up, I think it made Fang come off as more comical than dangerous. That isn't to claim that Fang isn't funny or that Belushi doesn't give him character; my claim is that these become problems in an episode where Fang is supposed to be seen as conducting an ambitious and dangerous coup. Fang's next appearance in "THE RECKONING" where he isn't the main heavy is a far better use for him. There is a lot of action and peril here, I just often struggle to take Fang seriously the more he talks like he's walked out of the Bob Hope school of acting. Of course, Fang is nowhere near as vicious as Wolf or some of the other villains in the show; he knows when he's beaten, and his willingness to surrender when it is convenient to avoid a worse thrashing do make him come off as more sniveling.

I enjoyed Belushi, but I think it works because Fang wasn't even a recurring villain. He was a main villain once, then a stooge in "The Reckoning." Then, by the time you get to the "Bad Guys" comic book... yeah. I don't think he was designed to be a long term, recurring villain like, let's say, Jackal and Hyena.

Stick him in a typical episode of, say, "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" from 1992, and he'd probably end up upstaging even the Shredder there and taking over the city. "Pizza, PIZZA!? WHAT DO NINJAS AND PIZZA EVEN HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER!?" I can almost imagine him quipping.

I would totally watch that.

I suppose what makes the show good is its variety in its villains, from the tragic (Demona, Macbeth) to the charmingly manipulative (Xanatos) to the hopelessly insane (Hyena, Jackal, maybe Sevarius) and power mad (Archmage). I suppose there's room for a goofy cornball in the mix like Fang.

Variety is the spice of life. Add in villains who appear later like John Castaway, the upper echelons of the Illuminati, and... should the series ever return, hopefully Queen Mab... and the villains all differ.

At this point, I imagine there may be some in the audience who rolled their eyes or threw up their hands. Nessie!? Come on now! I, however, wasn't one of them and for a very critical reason. Throughout this show's run, it has created a universe in which many myths and history surrounding Scotland turned out to not only be true, but to have existing ramifications into the modern day. Having successfully accepted that, at what point do I draw a line in the sand and say, "I could swallow stone gargoyles coming to life or mutants but ____ is just too much"?

It's funny, I can accept all this... but I can't accept let's say, Demona and Elisa Maza ever becoming best friends; or Brooklyn hooking up with Angela. You can make your universe as weird as you want, so long as you do it well and keep your characters consistent.

"The Goliath Chronicles" wasn't "weird". But it was dumbed down, characters behaved grossly out of character. It was a debacle. I can buy into a legal battle where Goliath's very sentience is being judged by humans... whether or not he's a sapient being or an animal. That's fine, and would make a fascinating episode. But some goons robbing a jewelry store and framing Goliath for it, and him being put on trial for armed robbery.... that's too much. And yes, they did that.

Angela winds up a captive alongside Nessie in Sevarius' lab, and manages to encourage the creature's survival with her company and good nature - which is good as old dastardly Anton simply wants Nessie to lure out her mate, the larger "Big Daddy". The scenes between the two might have been too much, but when even Anton mocks how "saccharine" they are, what's to get upset about?

God bless Tim Curry.

Besides, if even "Lupin the Third" in the 1970's could have an episode about Nessie, why can't "Gargoyles" in the 90's? At the the latter is more fitting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN44ZOvsJZk

Sorry, could not resist.

This may be very true, but one gets the sense that Goliath is sticking to this precisely because he is having trouble adjusting to the reality that he is now a father with the child of a woman he's had a very violent divorce with.

This is easily the biggest issue, that and he fears what Angela might become under Demona's influence if she dwells on the biological connection.

Goliath didn't expect to survive being frozen in stone with the clan in 994 some thousand years later and he didn't expect to be reunited with a now young adult daughter after such times.

A lot of people don't realize he was committing suicide there.

We get a rollicking underwater battle between the gargoyles, the brute squad ("I am the brute squad!") and the monsters, the end of which most of that Xanatos goon squad don't survive.

Poor competent blonde goon, may your remains as Nessie chow be at peace.

For her part, Angela is patient about it to an extent, even if she certainly isn't about to let such matters gestate too long.

Can't wait for her to make it to the City of Lights.

 

[cabel]

Allow me to share my fanboy moment of the week.

https://***********/greg_weisman/status/381267172166602752

 

[Dread]

Very cool, cabel! Now, allow me to share more long winded reviewifications.

The "Gargoyles World Tour" continues on with "GOLEM", which once again deposits our four heroes (Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx) to another land and allows them the opportunity to encounter another figure of legend. Much like "SHADOWS OF THE PAST", this episode features the return of some previously appearing characters, only begins a trend of having said characters appear alongside a change of scenery and another culture's figure of myth. In addition, yet another new villain is introduced who will have another role to play towards the end of the series/season.

Spoiler

Here's the scenario. The mists of Avalon send the quartet to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic (and as this is 1995, not long after the fall of the Soviet Union). The city has had a sporadic history of strife, and for the moment the streets are ruled by gangster Tomas Brod (Clancy Brown, who sure got a lot of work on this show before "Superman:TAS") and his gang, who plague the area with violence. Not long after arriving, Goliath runs afoul of his old friend Halcyn Renard (once again voiced by the late, great Robert Culp) and Renard's lackey, Preston Vogel. Unfortunately, the head of Cyberbionics is not entirely in the mood for visitors and is heavily involved in Prague's recent struggles since he's currently employing the services of Brod. Elisa and the others quickly meet Max Loew and his friend Janus, who are delving into their own legendary quest. Max is the descendant of Rabbi Loew, who summoned a clay Golem in the 1500's to protect the land from torment and sieges. Having been left in a synagogue since then, Max has received strange dreams telling him how to reactivate the Golem to rid the area of Brod and his gang. However, it is the Golem who is the target of Renard's desires, as he seeks to cheat death by transferring his mind into its body. Goliath is forced to confront his friend when he becomes corrupted by the Golem's power and rampages through Prague.

Much like with "HERITAGE", Elisa and the gang encounter someone else in another land who is coming to grips with the idea that the old stories and legends of their culture are more real than they'd been led to believe. In this episode's case, it is the old Jewish myth of the golem. Not too many other cartoons at the time were willing to deal with much in regards to Jewish heritage or characters who were Jewish unless it was a "very special" episode. Recall that in "X-MEN", such ties to Magneto were all but removed in his origin flashbacks (even if part of why it was done was probably a fear that World War II would have aged him too much). Kitty Pryde's heritage was shown in "X-MEN EVOLUTION" but that wasn't until 2000. Thankfully, the producers and writers of this show seemed eager to expand upon the universe of the show and embellish the mythology from other cultures and lands - without simply relying on the myths that viewers were most familiar with. Namely, Greek and Norse myth due to previous cartoons, comics, and films even in the 90's were myths that even most kids knew about and while "GARGOYLES" would eventually dip a toe into that lore, they were in no rush to and were eager to instead introduce viewers to different legends of different cultures. The legend of the Golem fits right in with the series in more ways than one - after all, Elisa spends a lot of time around her own "stone guardian" fighting evil around her hometown and now around the world. Thus, much as with Nick in "HERITAGE", Elisa is there to help ease someone else into embracing the supernatural, or at least broadening their horizons, for the greater good. This time, with stone guardians and mobsters, Elisa certainly has more experience and empathy. The design for the Golem itself is quite good; simple but fitting without a lot of needless details. He reminded me a little of Nimrod from the X-MEN, who was himself a Biblical reference so it all comes full circle.

As for Renard, the plot allows him and Goliath to once again have a play about integrity, only reversing the focus from "OUTFOXED". This time it is Renard who has to relearn what it means to have integrity as he comes to terms with his own failing health and mortality. To a degree this is a bit of a bizarre plot for Renard; there are perhaps a hundred different ways he could have tried to cheat death or even gain a new body without mystically inhabiting a stone Golem in Prague, but the parallels between Max and the Golem with Elisa and Goliath make it work out. Issues of mortality came up with Xanatos in "THE PRICE", but we can sympathize more with Renard since he is a dying old man and not simply eager to cheat death for his own ego per say. The angle of someone becoming corrupted by stolen magical power despite their seemingly noble intentions would come up again in subsequent episodes, in particular "EYE OF THE STORM". Renard isn't interested in becoming the Greatest Praguian Hero and quickly winds up fighting Angela, Goliath and the others before being convinced that facing death with dignity is a better fate than cheating Max Loew of his destiny or Prague of its champion. Unfortunately, while Max eventually retakes command of the Golem and takes down Tomas Brod, the hi-tech hovercraft that Renard paid Brod with would allow him to menace everyone again later on in "TURF". Overall, the episode manages to successfully mingle a return of Renard and a role reversal of his character theme of integrity while mingling a mobster plot with a revelation of another land's legend. I kept wondering what would have happened had Renard taken a chill pill and agreed to serve as Prague's superhero while within the Golem's body, but in the end the lesson was about facing one's responsibilities and hardships with dignity without seeking to flee from them or scheme out of them. And in the end Goliath is willing to forgive Renard once Renard realizes he's wrong and seeks to make amends.

A critical scene comes at the end when Goliath refuses to accept Renard's offer of a flight back to NYC, finally understanding the purpose of their Avalonian voyage. To a degree you could argue that this was Goliath "putting his money where his mouth is" in regards to the lesson of the episode. Rather than take an opportunity to cheat the responsibility handed to him and the others by destiny, Goliath realizes it serves a greater purpose and is willing to go on with it, despite missing his friends and home desperately. This is naturally a turning point in the "world tour", which may as well close off the first "act" of it if you chose to separate the roughly 19-20 episodes of it into sections. While Goliath and Elisa are still eager to get home (and Angela is eager to see this "Manhattan" her father keeps telling her about), from this point on the quartet (and especially Goliath) embrace the task Avalon has given them to aid in affairs around the world instead of them being obstacles towards going home. While their travels may make them weary, Goliath begins to accept that Avalon will send them home once their tasks are fulfilled. Much as Renard was wrong to cheat death with something underhanded, it would be wrong for Goliath to cheat Avalon out of the task it has send them on - especially after the land protected the next generation of his clan for so long. Besides, after this episode we don't hear Tom telling us where Avalon sends you in recaps anymore, and that's what really matters.

Animation was on par with non-Disney Japan episodes with some good action and a solid retelling of an old legend from Biblical lore. Robert Culp does another fantastic job and on the whole another solid adventure for the "world tour" era. The next episode, though, kicks things up several notches at least.

 

[Dread]

Had to post this in two posts, because I keep breaking the SHH character limit. That's a sign I'm jazzed, folks!

The "Gargoyles World Tour" has its fans and critics, but surely all of them should manage to unite behind episode 42, which offers "SANCTUARY" from many other episodes of the "world tour". To be blunt, it offers just about everything a fan of "GARGOYLES" at this point should want the most out of an episode - or at least me. It unites THREE of the series most notable villains together under one plot as well as offers a progression of their storylines from earlier in the season. It embellishes Angela's biological ancestry in more certain terms and even propels the long gestating romance between Elisa and Goliath forward a baby step. Frankly, the only thing this episode lacks is animation by Disney Japan; but at this point, that's just asking for the moon.

Spoiler

The mists of Avalon have sent our stalwart quartet - Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx - to Paris, France, the city of lights (and love). Elisa even laments being unable to share the city with Goliath once he and his gargoyle companions turn to stone for the day. However, a daylight sight seeing tour of Paris can't go without incident for Elisa - Avalon didn't send them there for a vacation. She spots Macbeth and Demona's human form together on the street, and they seem to be in the middle of a romance. She also picks up her local French newspaper which cites a "monster" sighting at Notre Dame, which is presumably more proof that Demona has set up shop in France. This is the first time we've seen either Demona or Macbeth since "AVALON - PART THREE" when the Weird Sisters released them from their control, zapped their memories of their service together for them and the Archmage (basically, everything the two did since "HIGH NOON") and sent them on their way. Yet even given that, it seems highly unusual that Demona and Macbeth would be together for any major purpose - even Elisa saw "CITY OF STONE". It all winds down to a plot involving Demona founding her own company around the human identity she must assume during daylight hours, and the real "monster of Notre Dame" turns out to be her real partner in crime - Thailog from "DOUBLE JEOPARDY". Seriously, at this point do I even need to continue? The episode all but writes itself here; thankfully, it's written skillfully by Cary Bates anyway.

This episode is a success for many reasons, but among them is it progresses the subplots of virtually every character here (aside for maybe Bronx, but he'll get his due soon) while uniting them in conflict against each other. Angela's patience in regards to being told about her lineage since "MONSTERS" once again reaches its end as she all but demands that Goliath or Elisa tell her once and for all whether Demona - the lady gargoyle she only knows as Archmage's mystically enslaved pawn who was attacking her home and family during "AVALON - PART THREE" - is indeed her mother. As stated before, Goliath has many reasons for not being eager and willing to be honest with Angela about her heritage. He's still adjusting to the very concept being a father not only as an individual who went through losing his family but as someone who made a seeming commitment to suicide, and has faced no end of trials in addition to his rigid dedication to the "all are equal rookery members" mantra of his clan which he sticks to like a crutch. Furthermore, Demona is the very definition of "complicated baggage" in Goliath's life. She was the love of his life who ultimately become corrupted by her own vengeance and turned against him and the few survivors of his family he had left, and has become consumed by her anger. Goliath is fearful of Angela learning more about Demona not only because it might endanger her (Demona has been willing to attack and try to kill fellow gargoyles if they get in her way, even without magical mind control), but because a part of him fears that she would be corrupted, too. The horrible irony is that despite growing up on an island in which Goliath's dream of gargoyle/human coexistence became reality, if anything risked Angela siding with Demona's POV long term, the reluctance of a father to acknowledge her would make for an awfully compelling motivation. The inclusion of Thailog in this episode likely doesn't help as he was Goliath's first exposure to the possibility of a "son" that the character ever had, and he turned out to be such a monster that he even gave David Xanatos pause. Usually it takes the threat of being torn to bits by his fiance in his own bedroom to do that to Xanatos.

But, that's just the first course. In this episode we see how quickly Demona has adjusted to the unfortunate circumstance of turning human during daylight hours (a "gift" from Puck from back in "THE MIRROR"). It makes a degree of sense that she'd be able to do so since unlike Goliath, she's had to live in the regular world for centuries between the dark ages and modern day. The growing pains that he and some of the other gargoyles have in their adjustment are pains she's already gotten past, such as culture clash or understanding things like technology or corporations. "THE MIRROR" showed us that Demona at least is well versed enough to have her own mansion and employ minions. To this end Demona has realized a human form has more uses than trying to beat up Elisa; she forms the identity of "Dominique Destine" and founds the corporation "Nightstone Unlimited" alongside Thailog, using the $20 million (in 1995 dollars) that he successfully stole from Xanatos in "DOUBLE JEOPARDY". The amnesia zap that the Weird Sisters hit her and Macbeth with left her in a better position than he, as Macbeth lost knowledge of her human form from "HIGH NOON". Still motivated by revenge, her plot is to pretend to fall in love with Macbeth, marry him, then have him declared legally dead so his own vast estate from a thousand years becomes part of "Nightstone Unlimited" too. Considering that Macbeth's been love sick for centuries, this is a horribly cruel thing to do to him even before the angle of wanting to keep him locked in a cell for all of eternity - especially since Demona's blaming of him for the loss of her Scottish clan and a potential "betrayal" was merely a figment of her spiteful imagination.

Onto Thailog, character born partly out of the producers and voice director's desire to allow Goliath's VA Keith David to cut loose. Ever since he escaped the explosion at the end of "DOUBLE JEOPARDY", I was already partly shipping him with Demona because it seemed to make sense. Demona fell out of love with Goliath over such "weaknesses" as even handedness towards humans or general mercy in general (among other things); here in Thailog was a chance to have a version of Goliath without all those pesky "details" about him she didn't like. After all, Demona was willing to magically enslave Goliath in "TEMPTATION" to once again have him at her side. Yet thankfully "SANCTUARY" doesn't keep things blandly simple or cut and dry; Thailog exists for more than to fulfill Demona's fantasies. As I stated in my review for "DOUBLE JEOPARDY", Thailog represents all of the strengths of both Goliath and Xanatos - such as physical strength and a brilliant mind - without the heart and soul of either. It is easy for someone on the outside to consider such things as Goliath's patience or forgiveness towards humans a "weakness", same as Xanatos' loyalty towards Owen or love for Fox. Well, without those things in the way you get Thailog, who was Xanatos' attempt to merge the "best" of himself with the "best" in Goliath which worked too well. And without those things, Thailog is revealed as eternally selfish and without many inhibitions. He's co-founded a corporation with Demona under the legal name of "Alexander Thailog"; curiously, taking the same first name that Xanatos will later use for his own son. And while he plays along with Demona, sharing in her battles and relishing her violence, in the end he's more cutthroat than she is. He helps Macbeth escape and is perfectly fine with allowing them to kill each other (since they're the only two who can) and taking both their fortunes for himself. In essence, he is doing to Demona what Demona was doing to Macbeth - pretending to love to set up a betrayal. A moment where Thailog virtually makes a pass at Angela, his biological sister, further displays his utter lack of any inhibitions or morality; it's all about fulfilling his own desires, and nothing gets in his way - either allies of the moment or even universal taboos. It could be argued that considering how cruel Demona is being to Macbeth and in general how horrible she tends to be that she has this coming, that being betrayed by Thailog is ultimately something which is karmic for her. She wanted a Goliath who was darker like she was; she should be careful what she wishes for. Yet despite that, this show is doing something right because once Thailog reveals his treachery, I can't help but feel a little sorry for her. It helps that one side effect of the amnesia spell was that she forgot all about meeting Angela, so she meets her daughter from Goliath for the first time as well. From here on out, Demona will at least show concern for Angela, which is something which sets her apart from Thailog. I suppose the true success of establishing a truly TRAGIC villain is that even though they are villains, their inner tragedy remains and sparks sympathy for them, even if they're horrible people who do horrible things. Demona doesn't have to just redeem herself after an adventure and become one of the "good guys" for her to elicit sympathy, which is good; too many good villains go through that path and lose a lot of what made them work. Demona's a terrible person, but her tragedy makes it enough for me to sort of want to see her happy, even if its just alongside someone as terrible as she is; unfortunately, Thailog is that in spades. As for Thailog himself, he is probably the closest the show comes to "pure evil" aside for maybe the Archmage or Dr. Sevarius.

Macbeth, while hardly best friends with Goliath and the gargoyles, we see as being capable of moving on from his centuries long vengeance fetish. His desire for revenge on Demona reached a climax at the end of "CITY OF STONE", and maybe that final speech at the end got through to him. He was perfectly willing to move to France and settle down with a new love and at least enjoy the next few decades until she died of old age (in his perspective). That is not something Demona has ever been capable of doing. Like Demona he's a tragic villain, but unlike her he had more legitimate things to spend an eternity trying to avenge - the loss of his kingdom, his love Gruoch, and his son and family due to Demona's eternal treachery. He could have been akin to Elisa to Goliath for Demona, or even akin to how Tom, Katharine and Magus were to Angela, but Demona could never learn to trust or avoid her self perpetuating cycle. Even in "SANCTUARY", Demona is once again ripping his heart out (metaphorically) in service of one of her schemes. Considering where some of Macbeth's appearances end up, both in the season and subsequent SLG comics, I think this episode started him on a journey towards becoming an anti-hero figure. Unlike Demona, for whom such a path might feel like a cop out unless handled perfectly, Macbeth started out a perfectly noble figure, a young man seeking to avenge his father and reclaim the kingdom from darkness, tolerant enough to form an over 30 year alliance with a figure his society considers a "monster" to kill on sight (and not without at least some justification due to Demona's own antics). It is Demona's actions which turned him into what he became by the 20th century, but "SANCTUARY" shows that he was willing to abandon even the pretense of his vengeance crusade or occasional acts of international thievery for a new love. When he is released and gets his rematch with Demona, and his nihilistic version of revenge from "CITY OF STONE - PART FOUR" is reawakened, it is easy to sympathize and note that Demona asked for it.

Angela certainly gets a trial by fire here, meeting her mother in her full "glory" as well as her bastard of a brother in Thailog. In her we actually see more tragedy in Demona in that Angela is proof of how wrong Demona was about humanity even in her own century. Angela literally grew up living the ideal that Goliath believed in back in 994, and it was Goliath's core truths of a belief in redemption which led to that. We watched Demona run "her people" into the ground leading them in the 10th and 11th centuries her way, after all. She really confronts Goliath about his hesitancy (or fear) of explaining Demona's past to her as well as her significance in Goliath's life and she's certainly justified in doing so. At heart Angela is a sweet character, gentle and understanding, but she is a quick study, should never be underestimated and has naturally inherited some of the "fire" of both parents when she needs it. Having gotten around a sense of awe in Goliath since meeting him, she's now prepared to challenge him when she sees an area where he needs challenging, such as this. Elisa also gets some great moments here, especially in the climax. Having been Goliath's closest friend and more than aware of Demona's treachery, she also understands why Goliath would be hesitant to share, although she's certainly on Angela's side here in that Goliath's daughter has a right to honesty and Goliath needs to get over himself a bit for her sake. He will; he just needs a few more episodes and a stern talking to from Elisa's own momma. Their time "raising" Angela together for this stretch also further cements Elisa and Goliath's relationship, which is on that slow burn until the "just kiss already" moment at the very end. In them we see a proper relationship, not without differences of opinion or perspective but at the end full of trust and mutual love.

Thailog and Demona depart together, although by the end we know Thailog is playing her for a pawn and using her to his own selfish ends; that comes to a head in "THE RECKONING". The resolution with Macbeth is also a sound one; convincing him to not give up on love just because he was tricked by Demona. This episode has a lot of action and solid animation, with good use of scenery from Notre Dame to Macbeth's estate. The dialogue is as crisp as ever, with some of Demona's lines to Goliath seeking to make him jealous of Thailog coming off especially well ("Jealous AND paranoid!"). Macbeth returns in "PENDRAGON" and that's also a solid episode; he's a far more riveting character to me in this series than the far more "famous" and traditional King Arthur.

I could go on and on and on. "SANCTUARY" is one of the best episodes of the "world tour", at least. It packs in all the punch and turmoil of a multi-episode arc in one episode. It develops damn near everyone on screen in some manner, and the cast as usual brings it home (especially David when he gets to play two opposite roles off each other). You can analyze it from many angles and it always holds up. While many episodes of the "world tour" after this are great, if I am honest the tour doesn't get near this peak again until "FUTURE TENSE". Still, "SANCTUARY" is another 20+ minutes of why this show has a devoted cult audience after all these years of all ages, and of why a 31 year old man can watch this show for the first time so long after its cancellation and get as much out of it than a well-to-do prime time drama. It isn't that "they don't make cartoons like this anymore"; most often they don't make SHOWS, period, like this anymore.

Not even Marina Sirtis' almost laughable attempt at a French accent can ruin this one. Besides, she's better at one than Phil LaMarr.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

The "Gargoyles World Tour" continues on with "GOLEM", which once again deposits our four heroes (Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx) to another land and allows them the opportunity to encounter another figure of legend. Much like "SHADOWS OF THE PAST", this episode features the return of some previously appearing characters, only begins a trend of having said characters appear alongside a change of scenery and another culture's figure of myth. In addition, yet another new villain is introduced who will have another role to play towards the end of the series/season.

It's also the last time we hear "Avalon sends you where you need to be!" from Guardian in the recap.

(Clancy Brown, who sure got a lot of work on this show before "Superman:TAS")

Hakon, Wolf, the Captain on this show. Then Weisman would go on to cast him as Rhino and Captain George Stacy on "Spectacular Spider-Man", and King Faraday on "Young Justice." I am betting he'll turn up somewhere in "Star Wars: Rebels"

Max is the descendant of Rabbi Loew, who summoned a clay Golem in the 1500's to protect the land from torment and sieges.

Fun fact, real person: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel

Not too many other cartoons at the time were willing to deal with much in regards to Jewish heritage or characters who were Jewish unless it was a "very special" episode. Recall that in "X-MEN", such ties to Magneto were all but removed in his origin flashbacks (even if part of why it was done was probably a fear that World War II would have aged him too much). Kitty Pryde's heritage was shown in "X-MEN EVOLUTION" but that wasn't until 2000.

I forget, did they go beyond showing her lighting a menorah for Hanukkah? As for Magneto, that was done at a time when Marvel was trying to retcon him into a gypsy because they were afraid of having a Jewish supervillain.

Elisa is there to help ease someone else into embracing the supernatural, or at least broadening their horizons, for the greater good.

Elisa also seems even more badass than usual in this episode. I'm certainly not complaining.

Renard isn't interested in becoming the Greatest Praguian Hero

and quickly winds up fighting Angela, Goliath and the others before being convinced that facing death with dignity is a better fate than cheating Max Loew of his destiny or Prague of its champion.

I the Station Eight Comment Room a few years back, we actually had a pretty long winded debate on the ethics of this whole affair. But yes, ultimately Renard is a good man and watching come down off his power high was sad and interesting.

And in the end Goliath is willing to forgive Renard once Renard realizes he's wrong and seeks to make amends.

I would hope so, Renard forgave Goliath for an incident that more likely than not cost several lives. Granted that was mostly on Demona, but you know not everyone got out of the Fortress-1 when it crashed into the river.

Much as Renard was wrong to cheat death with something underhanded, it would be wrong for Goliath to cheat Avalon out of the task it has send them on - especially after the land protected the next generation of his clan for so long.

That and Matrix may have destroyed the world... or Jackal might have... or... yeah, good thing you got back on the skiff, Goliath.

Besides, after this episode we don't hear Tom telling us where Avalon sends you in recaps anymore, and that's what really matters.

Had to post this in two posts, because I keep breaking the SHH character limit. That's a sign I'm jazzed, folks!

The "Gargoyles World Tour" has its fans and critics, but surely all of them should manage to unite behind episode 42, which offers "SANCTUARY" from many other episodes of the "world tour". To be blunt, it offers just about everything a fan of "GARGOYLES" at this point should want the most out of an episode - or at least me. It unites THREE of the series most notable villains together under one plot as well as offers a progression of their storylines from earlier in the season. It embellishes Angela's biological ancestry in more certain terms and even propels the long gestating romance between Elisa and Goliath forward a baby step. Frankly, the only thing this episode lacks is animation by Disney Japan; but at this point, that's just asking for the moon.

But it would have been nice if this animation studio didn't draw Demona's forehead gold throughout all of Act Three. They got it right at the end of Act Two, but they seemed to be confused throughout Act Three, and this episode marks the first time we've seen her not wearing that thing at night.

Aside from that, no complaints. I've never encountered anybody who didn't like this episode.

Elisa even laments being unable to share the city with Goliath once he and his gargoyle companions turn to stone for the day.

Would she have said such a thing if he were awake? Probably not, you're too guarded about your feelings, Elisa.

Yet even given that, it seems highly unusual that Demona and Macbeth would be together for any major purpose - even Elisa saw "CITY OF STONE".

Or was told about it in copious detail.

It all winds down to a plot involving Demona founding her own company around the human identity she must assume during daylight hours, and the real "monster of Notre Dame" turns out to be her real partner in crime - Thailog from "DOUBLE JEOPARDY".

I love the name of her company, Nightstone Unlimited. It's classy, it's kinda eerie, and yet a real company could get away with it. I think a working name in an early draft was Brimstone... glad they didn't go with that one.

This episode is a success for many reasons, but among them is it progresses the subplots of virtually every character here (aside for maybe Bronx, but he'll get his due soon) while uniting them in conflict against each other.

I know, this episode is bursting at the seams more than any single episode since, "Vows" I think. Both of them could have easily been two-parters.

Angela's patience in regards to being told about her lineage since "MONSTERS" once again reaches its end as she all but demands that Goliath or Elisa tell her once and for all whether Demona - the lady gargoyle she only knows as Archmage's mystically enslaved pawn who was attacking her home and family during "AVALON - PART THREE" - is indeed her mother.

And who knows what else she was told about Demona before Sevarius made his reveal.

As stated before, Goliath has many reasons for not being eager and willing to be honest with Angela about her heritage. He's still adjusting to the very concept being a father not only as an individual who went through losing his family but as someone who made a seeming commitment to suicide, and has faced no end of trials in addition to his rigid dedication to the "all are equal rookery members" mantra of his clan which he sticks to like a crutch. Furthermore, Demona is the very definition of "complicated baggage" in Goliath's life. She was the love of his life who ultimately become corrupted by her own vengeance and turned against him and the few survivors of his family he had left, and has become consumed by her anger. Goliath is fearful of Angela learning more about Demona not only because it might endanger her (Demona has been willing to attack and try to kill fellow gargoyles if they get in her way, even without magical mind control), but because a part of him fears that she would be corrupted, too.

You'd be surprised how many hardcore "Gargoyles" fans seemed to misinterpret what was going on here, and boiled down to "the Gargoyle Way good, human way bad." So, needless to say, I'm relieved you got it on your first viewing. But, as another friend of mine said, while trying to protect Angela from Demona... Goliath was doing a pretty crappy job at being a father by any standards and we both like to think that were Hudson along, he'd have pulled Goliath aside and given him a gentle smack across the head.

The inclusion of Thailog in this episode likely doesn't help as he was Goliath's first exposure to the possibility of a "son" that the character ever had, and he turned out to be such a monster that he even gave David Xanatos pause.

I love how sicked Goliath seems by the thought of Demona and Thailog as mates. Not because he's jealous, but since he considers Thailog to be his son, the whole thing grosses him out. So not only has Thailog tried to kill his three fathers, he's already having sex with one of his father's mates... and this will get even more blatant come "The Reckoning." Oh, Oedipus....

Usually it takes the threat of being torn to bits by his fiance in his own bedroom to do that to Xanatos.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

It makes a degree of sense that she'd be able to do so since unlike Goliath, she's had to live in the regular world for centuries between the dark ages and modern day. The growing pains that he and some of the other gargoyles have in their adjustment are pains she's already gotten past, such as culture clash or understanding things like technology or corporations.

Go back to "Awakening Part Four", sure we're not told she's immortal and wasn't under the sleep spell yet, but there are clues... she definitely knows the world... has no trouble ejecting a computer disc (even Lex hesitated) and understands that firing guns in an Airship could damage it... and has no trouble handling a bazooka, and those things are hard.

"THE MIRROR" showed us that Demona at least is well versed enough to have her own mansion and employ minions. To this end Demona has realized a human form has more uses than trying to beat up Elisa; she forms the identity of "Dominique Destine" and founds the corporation "Nightstone Unlimited"

Yup, the Pack weren't the only ones who got upgraded this season; she received one that she might curse Puck for, but really aids her in her scheming.

The amnesia zap that the Weird Sisters hit her and Macbeth with left her in a better position than he, as Macbeth lost knowledge of her human form from "HIGH NOON". Still motivated by revenge, her plot is to pretend to fall in love with Macbeth, marry him, then have him declared legally dead so his own vast estate from a thousand years becomes part of "Nightstone Unlimited" too. Considering that Macbeth's been love sick for centuries, this is a horribly cruel thing to do to him even before the angle of wanting to keep him locked in a cell for all of eternity - especially since Demona's blaming of him for the loss of her Scottish clan and a potential "betrayal" was merely a figment of her spiteful imagination.

"She was an evil cow." -Marina Sirtis on Demona.

I was already partly shipping him with Demona because it seemed to make sense.

I think a lot of us were at the time. But it's been almost twenty years since this aired, so I don't remember all my theories and reactions.

Demona fell out of love with Goliath over such "weaknesses" as even handedness towards humans or general mercy in general (among other things); here in Thailog was a chance to have a version of Goliath without all those pesky "details" about him she didn't like. After all, Demona was willing to magically enslave Goliath in "TEMPTATION" to once again have him at her side.

Oh, she's still in love with the big guy. It's twisted love that's been corrupted by hate, but it's still in there. I don't think her relationship with Thailog was even about him personally so much as it was about a Goliath she thought she'd want. And I'm sure Thailog knew it.

Well, without those things in the way you get Thailog, who was Xanatos' attempt to merge the "best" of himself with the "best" in Goliath which worked too well. And without those things, Thailog is revealed as eternally selfish and without many inhibitions. He's co-founded a corporation with Demona under the legal name of "Alexander Thailog"; curiously, taking the same first name that Xanatos will later use for his own son.

The name of one of history's greatest conquerors. It says a lot for David's ambitions for Alexander, and Thailog's ambitions for himself.

And while he plays along with Demona, sharing in her battles and relishing her violence,

I doubt that's the only thing of her's he relished. t:

in the end he's more cutthroat than she is.

That, in itself is impressive. It also says a lot because we regard Thailog as being more evil than Demona is, and yet he's not a mass murderer with designs for genocide like she is.

In essence, he is doing to Demona what Demona was doing to Macbeth - pretending to love to set up a betrayal.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer "evil cow."

A moment where Thailog virtually makes a pass at Angela, his biological sister, further displays his utter lack of any inhibitions or morality; it's all about fulfilling his own desires, and nothing gets in his way - either allies of the moment or even universal taboos.

To be fair, he didn't know who Angela was yet. But... I tend to think he'd have leered at her anyway.

It could be argued that considering how cruel Demona is being to Macbeth and in general how horrible she tends to be that she has this coming, that being betrayed by Thailog is ultimately something which is karmic for her. She wanted a Goliath who was darker like she was; she should be careful what she wishes for. Yet despite that, this show is doing something right because once Thailog reveals his treachery, I can't help but feel a little sorry for her.

Yeah... damn her; Weisman and his team created a terrible person who we can't bring ourselves to hate. I've always been impressed by this feat. Xanatos and Demona are the two main villains and we care what happens to them.

From here on out, Demona will at least show concern for Angela, which is something which sets her apart from Thailog. I suppose the true success of establishing a truly TRAGIC villain is that even though they are villains, their inner tragedy remains and sparks sympathy for them, even if they're horrible people who do horrible things.

Yup, and at the same time we can't lose sight of who they are. Understanding someone isn't the same as forgiving them... and in my experience too many fans blur the two.

Demona doesn't have to just redeem herself after an adventure and become one of the "good guys" for her to elicit sympathy, which is good; too many good villains go through that path and lose a lot of what made them work.

Amen. Thank you so much for saying this.

Demona's a terrible person, but her tragedy makes it enough for me to sort of want to see her happy,

Yeah, me too.

As for Thailog himself, he is probably the closest the show comes to "pure evil" aside for maybe the Archmage or Dr. Sevarius.

Weisman was asked about this, and his pick for the closest thing to "pure evil" in the Gargoyles Universe was Proteus.

At this point, Thailog was born close to yesterday. He's a genius and incredibly skilled and sophisticated, but he's also still a child.

He was perfectly willing to move to France and settle down with a new love and at least enjoy the next few decades until she died of old age (in his perspective).

I sometimes wonder if he's been through this before.

That is not something Demona has ever been capable of doing. Like Demona he's a tragic villain, but unlike her he had more legitimate things to spend an eternity trying to avenge - the loss of his kingdom, his love Gruoch, and his son and family due to Demona's eternal treachery. He could have been akin to Elisa to Goliath for Demona, or even akin to how Tom, Katharine and Magus were to Angela, but Demona could never learn to trust or avoid her self perpetuating cycle

He's also a better person than she is. He did take responsibility for things on his own end.

Even in "SANCTUARY", Demona is once again ripping his heart out (metaphorically) in service of one of her schemes. Considering where some of Macbeth's appearances end up, both in the season and subsequent SLG comics, I think this episode started him on a journey towards becoming an anti-hero figure.

I think so too, doesn't mean he and Goliath won't be at odds again; but I think all enmity is gone.

Unlike Demona, for whom such a path might feel like a cop out unless handled perfectly,

Well, there is this line from Greg's document for "Gargoyles 2198":

"This may be her last chance at redemption... or her final opportunity to annihilate the human race."

I really hope this show gets made, for many reasons, but most of all, to see how this is handled. Because, yeah, it needs to be handled perfectly without whitewashing her as a mass murderer.

It is Demona's actions which turned him into what he became by the 20th century, but "SANCTUARY" shows that he was willing to abandon even the pretense of his vengeance crusade or occasional acts of international thievery for a new love.

If you're referring to the Scrolls of Merlin, I'm pretty sure he hoped to use them as part of his vengeance crusade.

When he is released and gets his rematch with Demona, and his nihilistic version of revenge from "CITY OF STONE - PART FOUR" is reawakened, it is easy to sympathize and note that Demona asked for it.

Indeed, she was really rubbing salt in the wound.

At heart Angela is a sweet character, gentle and understanding, but she is a quick study, should never be underestimated and has naturally inherited some of the "fire" of both parents when she needs it.

What do she and Alexander Fox Xanatos have in common? Both have powerful pedigree.

Elisa also gets some great moments here, especially in the climax. Having been Goliath's closest friend and more than aware of Demona's treachery, she also understands why Goliath would be hesitant to share, although she's certainly on Angela's side here in that Goliath's daughter has a right to honesty and Goliath needs to get over himself a bit for her sake.

There is also that little moment where Goliath tells Angela to stay with Elisa at the skiff to protect her from Demona as an excuse to keep Angela away... and you can tell Elisa HATED the idea that she needed protection. Granted she knew why Goliath did that, but... yeah, she ain't no damsel.

He will; he just needs a few more episodes and a stern talking to from Elisa's own momma.

Like I said, I think Hudson would have been a big help.

You can analyze it from many angles and it always holds up.

Part of the reason I think it's so popular.

While many episodes of the "world tour" after this are great, if I am honest the tour doesn't get near this peak again until "FUTURE TENSE".

I think the next two are pretty great. The next three. But we'll get to them.

Still, "SANCTUARY" is another 20+ minutes of why this show has a devoted cult audience after all these years of all ages, and of why a 31 year old man can watch this show for the first time so long after its cancellation and get as much out of it than a well-to-do prime time drama. It isn't that "they don't make cartoons like this anymore"; most often they don't make SHOWS, period, like this anymore.

Agreed.

 

[nygma619]

The animation for this episode is fine, up to the usual standards of episodes not done by Disney Japan without any major animation errors.

Really? I watched the episode again not too long ago, and I thought the animation was the episodes biggest let down. Heck even Greg Weisman feels the animation was some of their weakest.

Though reading all these reviews has given me an epiphany about Demona, if there's just ONE QUOTE from Homer Simpson that she would ever subscribe to using, it's THIS ONE.

Speaking of, I'm kind of disappointed we never got a scene between Demona and Reynard. She'd probably only be able to stand less than 2 minutes hearing him talk about the virtues of personal responsibility, before reaching for her bazooka.

 

[Dread]

Page 3? Some reviews will cure that!

The task of rebounding from an episode like "SANCTUARY" is no easy feat. An episode which essentially unites most of the series' major villains while advancing the plot of its central heroes is an easy standout episode of a season. Regardless, the "world tour" continues on with no sense of hesitation about such matters as our four travelers are once again brought to a different land by the mists of Avalon and entangle themselves in another family drama. To this end we have "M.I.A", which brings us more gargoyles, more time travel and more Nazis.

Spoiler

The skiff carrying Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx takes them to the bank of the Thames into London, England. Fortunately its night so there's no risk of turning to stone this time around, so the entire party once again set out to explore and above all keep a keen eye for why they've been sent here. The "weirdness" seems to begin right off when a monument to the 1940 "Battle of Britain" bares a statue of two gargoyles - one of which is Goliath himself - sparking a time spanning mystery as he was still frozen during this time with the rest of the Wyvern survivors (sans Demona) in 1940. They're soon met by an old cabbie who recalls the battle and is aware of a spooky occult shop, "In To The Mystic" which is open 24/7 and has the strangest merchandise and shop-keeps around. The four soon meet some of the few survivors of a London clan, who resemble creatures based from European iconography (such as Leo, a winged lion, and Una, a unicorn). Not only are the pair isolationists (refusing to help a man being chased by skinhead thugs earlier in the episode), but both seem to know Goliath very well and blame him for the loss of one of their own, Griff. Quickly defeating the quartet with magic and taking most of them prisoner, Goliath awakes to find his friends gone and Una wishing to have him live the same horror that they have for decades. Despite his vow at the end of "AVALON" that the Phoenix Gate never be used again, Goliath is forced to utilize it as it becomes clear that this entire mess began in 1940.

Much like "VOWS" and "AVALON - PART TWO", this is a time travel episode. As mentioned before, time travel can be a tricky plot mechanic which has to be handled carefully to avoid having it become confusing and/or absurd (even for already absurd genre fiction). Fortunately, "GARGOYLES" avoids such troubles by firmly cementing rules for it, same as they usually did for magic. To that end, all time in this universe is constant, and attempts to alter or manipulate it end up confirming it. It becomes apparent as the episode progresses that Goliath is in a time loop, only we begin the episodes sensing the ramifications of the end of it, for those who did not travel through it (Leo and Una). By going into the past from the present, Goliath forms the history that Leo and Una later throw back at him in 1996. Thus, Goliath's seemingly desperate act of going against his own vow to use the Phoenix Gate turns out to be exactly what he had to do, because the time stream noted he'd already done it. Regardless, Goliath runs into these London clan members in their shop in 1940 (where Leo's gray streaks aren't there yet, for a nice detail) and we get to meet Griff (voiced by Neil Dickson). Naturally, World War II and the scourge of the Axis powers in general and the Nazis in particular are ravaging Europe, and it is a scourge which Griff very much wants to defend his land and peoples against. Una, however, considers it a large human problem beyond their affairs, and Leo begrudgingly seems to agree to her isolationist aims. While Goliath awkwardly tries to not give away his reason and purpose for his visit, when he quickly agrees to accompany Griff during an attempt to aid in the "Battle of Britain", things become clear. Highlights include getting to see Goliath take part in a WWII era air battle and of course the appearance of RAF pilot Douglas Bader, a real life WWII era pilot who lost both his legs in service during the war yet still survived a POW camp and went on to become knighted and a friend to the Weisman family. Griff is a fun, swashbuckling sort of character who resembles one of Disney Afternoon's favorite species, a duck/bird/griffin, and he easily becomes the spotlight character of the London trio. Even though Goliath may not be as "smart" as some characters like Lexington or Xanatos, he eventually figures out that trying to prevent Griff's death in 1940 is impossible, and it's up to the Gate to save the day.

This episode did risk turning Elisa and Angela into damsels in distress as they are chained up in the basement, but fortunately that doesn't happen as they're hardly passive captives. The pair manage to convince Leo that if Goliath fled using "magic", then it was to try to save Griff and that he'd return for them. This ultimately leads to Leo confronting Una about the fact that they're not angry with Goliath, but with themselves for refusing to help Griff back in 1940 when he wanted it (Leo especially). Thus, when Goliath comes back to the present with Griff, Elisa and Angela have already convinced their captors to release them; they didn't just sit there and wait for Goliath to save them. Everything is wrapped up into a tight bow with the time loop, which is the best way to handle such things. Griff being transported to 1996 with Goliath still meant he was missing for all those decades for Una and Leo, who were left behind. Animation is by Disney Japan so we get a lot of fluid flying motions and things especially pop for the airborne battle against the Nazis and gargoyle flanked Allies in 1940. Naturally, as urban legends of "gremlins" damaging aircraft started to emerge during WWII, the angle of having gargoyles aid in the war plays off that. Besides, it allows Goliath to stand alongside no end of iconic heroes who got to take on some Nazis in WWII from Superman to Captain America to Wonder Woman and so on. Unlike "HERITAGE", where the alternate clan of gargoyles are frauds created by Raven, this London clan are the first who have been genuinely met who didn't emerge or descend from Scotland. Curiously, they seem to have no issues with giving each other names, which was a big deal for the Scottish clan. It is possible that such a thing was a cultural aspect of the Scottish clan which was unique to them and not other clans in other lands, or it was a cultural norm which over 1000 years was abandoned by more modern clans. Regardless, such meetings reinforce the angle that Goliath clinging into that clan norm to avoid the responsibility and danger of embracing a daughter is a crutch for him, which he has to abandon to move on with her.

"M.I.A." is a great episode introducing a new clan of gargoyles and another fun side character in Griff, as well as constructing a smart time travel story around a simple premise. It offers terrific animation and a place in the story for all the characters, as well as including a real life WWII pilot. It also is one of two episodes which deal with the loss of a member of a family, with the next in this subplot, "GRIEF", up next.

The second episode of what I sometimes refer as a double dose of episodes dealing with losing a loved one is "GRIEF". It offers a more stark portrayal of the mourning of a loved one and the dangers which can arise from failing to accept it. It also offers some great scenery not seen in the show's lore yet as well as the final alliance of one of the gargoyles' long running foes, the Pack. Subsequent episodes would split them up more. It also involves another one of Xanatos' plots and the ramifications of it.

Spoiler

The mists of Avalon send our four travelers to Egypt, where they run afoul of another of David Xanatos' plots to gain immortality for himself. To this end he has sent his usual goon squad the Pack (sans Dingo, who will turn up in "WALKABOUT") to aid in the Emir's attempt to capture the death god Anubis to force him to do his bidding. The Emir has been mentioned in dialogue during "THE EDGE" and "DOUBLE JEOPARDY" so it isn't as if he emerged from nothingness. Coyote 3.0 has been made with a larger body than before and a holographic face, with Wolf, Jackal, and Hyena up to their usual affairs. All Wolf wants to do is fight (and avenge himself on the gargoyles) and Hyena is a psychopath who wants to "interface" with Coyote. However, it is Jackal who begins his descent down what TV Tropes calls the "Moral Event Horizon" where he ceases just being the brother of Hyena and reveals his own disturbing sociopath tendencies. In addition to the usual cast of great voice actors associated with these characters, we get a bonus with Tony Jay voicing Anubis and doing a bang up job as the avatar of death, alongside Tony Shalhoub voicing the Emir - yes, "MONK" himself. "GARGOYLES" never lacked for star talent whether as regular roles or guest stars. What follows is a powerful debate about death and grief between the Emir and Anubis; it turns out that the Emir has little interest in serving Xanatos' goals and instead wants to resurrect his dead son - a feat with the god of death himself refuses to grant under any circumstance. "Death is always pointless - that is the point", is just one of the good lines here. While perhaps not as good as the debate between Xanatos and Hudson in "THE PRICE", it is still pretty riveting stuff. Unlike many shows you can see both points of view without either side seeming right or wrong like a Republic Serial. We can understand that the Emir is mad with grief for his son and will do anything to reclaim him, even capture and possess the god of death himself. On the other hand, Anubis himself is hardly evil or malicious, simply objective in the stance that death has its place in the order of things and its very randomness and universal effect on everyone is something which has to exist and effect the living. His design is simple yet naturally captures the familiar elements of the Egyptian god. And naturally, the angle of a father willing to do anything for a child has parallels back to Goliath and Angela - which become stark during "HUNTER'S MOON".

Our heroic quartet stumble upon the affair and once again battle the Pack, who naturally are meeting Angela for the first time. They manage to defeat the heroes and shackle them to the wall, much to the chagrin of Wolf, who simply wants to execute them now. Despite Hyena's usual mania, it is Jackal who is the truly evil figure here. Once the Emir reveals a spell intended to assume the avatar of Anubis himself, Jackal is inspired by the "original model" of his code name and interrupts the process, assuming the powers of Anubis for himself as a dog god cyborg monster. There are no noble intentions here like the Emir had; Jackal is maddened for power and quickly uses his powers to kill everyone within the vicinity outside the pyramid and control the ages of those around him - aging his allies to adorable toddlers and aging the heroes into ancient feebs. While Cree Summer always impresses me here as Hyena (still her craziest role ever), Matt Frewer gets a lot more to do in this episode and is allowed to go to a level he never reached voicing the Leader in "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" cartoon around the same time. Signs of his sadism were always there, but this episode lays them bare, allowing him to perform them to their ultimate conclusion. Jackal continues his descent into obvious sadism (in my opinion) in "THE GREEN" and the angle of an origin for one of the names of the Pack also comes up in "CLOUD FATHERS". Suffice to say, there was more thought put in than just canines. Considering how often Hyena seemed to upstage him in their appearances until this point, this was a turn I wasn't quite expecting - Jackal to be THAT much of a maniac - but it was one I enjoyed seeing. Naturally, in the end the Emir gets what he wanted but realizes the power over life and death is a power no mortal should have, and that thankfully gargoyles age at half the rate humans do, so they could still move even if aged to 100 or so. Coyote 3.0 also loses another body, although it is always good to see him show up and evolve, even if he is a creation who is heavily controlled and managed by Xanatos - which is understandable considering how many of them have gone stray due to later circumstances. From here on out, the Pack would remain separate, which seems to be for the best anyway. They've all gone different paths since their first debuted; Fox has married up, Wolf is consumed by revenge and hostility, Hyena and Jackal are lunatics, and Dingo is too professional and straight laced.

Great episode, overall. Some terrific performances from guest stars and reoccurring actors alongside another solid adventure which dabbles in Egyptian mythology in its own way. While perhaps not as over familiar as Greek or Norse mythology, Egyptian stuff comes up a lot in cartoons of the past and even present, with no end of mummies or allusions to them from many cartoons of the time or past. "GARGOYLES" managed to utilize that same overdone stuff with pyramids and ancient scrolls from tombs and as usual not only put its own spin on it, but importantly use it to frame an adventurous drama. Sure, there are some animation nitpicks like Elisa's jacket which disappears sometimes but by this stage in viewing the show I'd gone "all in" with the series, which usually meant a lot of those nitpicks became lost as I was engrossed in the episode. Once a show gets to that stage, unless things go off the rails or I find something I feel strongly about (such as my inability to totally buy into Fang as a lead villain in an episode), it's usually as smooth as a rolling stone. That doesn't mean every episode from here on out is perfect or even as good as this one, of course. "GRIEF", however, remains one of the standouts when I think back about the world tour.

For the record, "all in" was a state I got into with "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN" and almost immediately upon diving into "GARGOYLES" after all this time. "YOUNG JUSTICE", for whatever reason, never quite hit this state for me, despite still being very good.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

To this end we have "M.I.A", which brings us more gargoyles, more time travel and more Nazis.

And, unlike other shows, we saw the swastikas.

They're soon met by an old cabbie who recalls the battle and is aware of a spooky occult shop, "In To The Mystic" which is open 24/7 and has the strangest merchandise and shop-keeps around. The four soon meet some of the few survivors of a London clan, who resemble creatures based from European iconography (such as Leo, a winged lion, and Una, a unicorn).

Few survivors. Heh, re-read your comic... London's got a large clan.

Much like "VOWS" and "AVALON - PART TWO", this is a time travel episode. As mentioned before, time travel can be a tricky plot mechanic which has to be handled carefully to avoid having it become confusing and/or absurd (even for already absurd genre fiction). Fortunately, "GARGOYLES" avoids such troubles by firmly cementing rules for it, same as they usually did for magic. To that end, all time in this universe is constant, and attempts to alter or manipulate it end up confirming it.

Exactly, as I've said before I hate it when Marvel and DC play with time travel because it is ****ing ridiculous every time they do. Vandal Savage sends himself back a laptop, his World War II self builds futuristic tanks and weapons and planes... the Justice League comes back in time, and while they destroy the laptop and beat him up, no one in Soviet Russia's science division confiscates any of these weapons and engineers their own? Everything in the present is back to normal because Vandal's new planes crash into the sea? ********!!!!!

Highlights include getting to see Goliath take part in a WWII era air battle and of course the appearance of RAF pilot Douglas Bader, a real life WWII era pilot who lost both his legs in service during the war yet still survived a POW camp and went on to become knighted and a friend to the Weisman family.

There's a great book about him here:

http://www.amazon.com/Reach-Sky-Paul-Brickhill/dp/0899669107

Griff is a fun, swashbuckling sort of character

Oh yeah, he's great. I enjoyed his two appearances on the show and in the comic book. I wish we had gotten the "Pendragon" series so we could have seen more of him.

This ultimately leads to Leo confronting Una about the fact that they're not angry with Goliath, but with themselves for refusing to help Griff back in 1940 when he wanted it (Leo especially).

This show excelled in many areas, but one of them was in writing characters, no matter how minor. Leo and Una are pretty despicable at points in the episode, but we understand why they are the way they are, and they come to terms with themselves and their own guilt, and despite everything are still likable and well-rounded characters. Contrast this with another TV show that is airing now on Nickelodeon, "THE LEGEND OF KORRA" where several members of the main cast are so utterly unlikable for various reasons that even the creators of the show spend half of a season's worth of the audio commentary explaining why the critics are wrong, when they don't seem to understand what the problem is. Leo and Una only appear in one "Gargoyles" story, but are already more well rounded and likable than Korra, Mako, and Bolin on the most expensive animated series ever created.

Thus, when Goliath comes back to the present with Griff, Elisa and Angela have already convinced their captors to release them; they didn't just sit there and wait for Goliath to save them.

And, once again, do that on a Superman or Batman show, and the two leads look weak. One more reason why it's a shame this show doesn't have more geek cred.

Besides, it allows Goliath to stand alongside no end of iconic heroes who got to take on some Nazis in WWII from Superman to Captain America to Wonder Woman and so on.

Makes me wonder what Demona was doing during World War II. Greg has said Macbeth was fighting for the Allies. He's kept his mouth shut about Demona, he won't even drop hints.

Regardless, such meetings reinforce the angle that Goliath clinging into that clan norm to avoid the responsibility and danger of embracing a daughter is a crutch for him, which he has to abandon to move on with her.

Well, the Mayan Clan doesn't have names so much as titles based on which pendant the four pendant bearers are wearing, but we'll get to "The Green."

And right now, my feet are drenched in olive oil. I'll respond to Grief later.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

The Emir has been mentioned in dialogue during "THE EDGE" and "DOUBLE JEOPARDY" so it isn't as if he emerged from nothingness.

There is no such thing as a throwaway line on "Gargoyles".

Coyote 3.0 has been made with a larger body than before and a holographic face,

Once again, I'm impressed. A newbie gets that the head isn't constantly being rebuilt... even many hardcore fans don't realize that the head is now just an image on a screen.

However, it is Jackal who begins his descent down what TV Tropes calls the "Moral Event Horizon" where he ceases just being the brother of Hyena and reveals his own disturbing sociopath tendencies.

Give a sociopath absolute power, and this is what happens.

In addition to the usual cast of great voice actors associated with these characters, we get a bonus with Tony Jay voicing Anubis and doing a bang up job as the avatar of death, alongside Tony Shalhoub voicing the Emir - yes, "MONK" himself. "GARGOYLES" never lacked for star talent whether as regular roles or guest stars.

And yet, it never engaged in stunt casting either. I can't think of a single instance where I would say someone was miscast.

"Death is always pointless - that is the point", is just one of the good lines here.

And it's true. Ironic since religion is centered around looking for a point to death, an aftermath to it. Nope. It simply is.

Despite Hyena's usual mania, it is Jackal who is the truly evil figure here.

Hyena is dangerous, but she's never been very bright. Jackal is more dangerous because he knows he needs to be more calculating with his evil. Both are nuts, but Hyena is Carnage and Jackal is Green Goblin.

There are no noble intentions here like the Emir had; Jackal is maddened for power and quickly uses his powers to kill everyone within the vicinity outside the pyramid

He wiped out an entire town! And those people did not come back to life when this was all over.

While Cree Summer always impresses me here as Hyena (still her craziest role ever),

You obviously missed that "Rugrats" episode where Susie went into the kitchen, grabbed the carving knife and turned Tommy and his little friends into shish kabob, and then finger painting the room with their blood. But Angelica got the blame, naturally.

t:

Matt Frewer gets a lot more to do in this episode and is allowed to go to a level he never reached voicing the Leader in "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" cartoon around the same time. Signs of his sadism were always there, but this episode lays them bare, allowing him to perform them to their ultimate conclusion.

"LET THE PURGE BEGIN!!!! SO SAYS THE JACKAL!"

From here on out, the Pack would remain separate, which seems to be for the best anyway. They've all gone different paths since their first debuted; Fox has married up, Wolf is consumed by revenge and hostility, Hyena and Jackal are lunatics, and Dingo is too professional and straight laced.

Well, Wolf, Jackal and Hyena did reunite off screen at the end of the comic... and a new incarnation was coming, but this was the last of "The Pack."

"GARGOYLES" managed to utilize that same overdone stuff with pyramids and ancient scrolls from tombs and as usual not only put its own spin on it, but importantly use it to frame an adventurous drama.

Michael Reaves wrote the script for "Avatar" in Batman the Animated Series and wanted to play more with real Egyptian myth but wasn't allowed to, so he did so here.

"GRIEF", however, remains one of the standouts when I think back about the world tour.

Agreed.