A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending October 6, 2013

Index : Hide Images

I read from the "Legion" ramble that Coldstone was supposed to shoot Goliath with his concussion cannon rather than a laser. This makes sense, seeing as Lasers generally disable a character in one shot (with some notable exceptions). But what exactly does his concussion cannon do anyway? My first guess is it's like that thing Coyote uses to mess with people's senses, but Coyote's the only one who ever uses it. It's part of what differentiates him from, say, The Steel Clan and Xanatos' Exo Frame. Should we assume that Coldstone has one of those?
ESG

PAUL> Given the occupational hazards of the family business, it's quite possible many Canmores didn't live long enough to have a lot of kids.

And while Jon may have a couple of distant cousins running about it's quite possible none of them are even aware of the hunt.

Algernon
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T blink." ~Tenth Doctor.

"There are no more Canmores, at least not of that line." And "that line" clearly refers to Jon's line.

But that doesn't mean that Jon couldn't have cousins who still go by Canmore.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=1933
Greg Bishansky
Here's the problem with most fanfic writers: they seem to think Dominique is a second life. It isn't. Demona spelled it plainly in "High Noon." She's a gargoyle. Dominique is just a tool to help her in her goals. She'll use the form because she changes into a human, whether she likes it or not, but Dominique is not another life for her.

It was pretty uncommon until fairly recently for people to have only one child, so who knows how many cousins Castaway has?
Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

TODD> Don't forget Fiona. ;)
Algernon
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T blink." ~Tenth Doctor.

Castaway *is* the last of the Canmores; the only other ones left are Jason (who's given up the Hunt) and Robyn (who has her own hunt now as the field commander of the Redemption Squad).
Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Castaway is based in New York, and he seems to be busy consolidating his influence there. Even if he wanted to wage war on gargoyles elsewhere in the world, he doesn't have the means to do so, and I think he's smart enough to know it.

The worst he could do is tip off the Canmores, but they don't have any influence in England anymore as far as I know.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

With all due respect to Arthur and Macbeth, isn't entrusting the gargoyles tu guard the stone a really, really bad idea? If anyone tries to steel it they'll have every reason to believe there are gargoyles in England...and since there are gargoyles in England that's a big problem. Something as high profile as an attempted robbery of the Stone of Destiny is sure to get Castaway's attention. It's extremely fortunate that only Xanatos tried to steal it.
ESG

I didn't know that the Hunter was Macbeth either, the first time I watched City of Stone.

Of course, I was ten years old at the time.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

Watched "City of Stone" with a first-time viewer. Not the most perceptive guy: he failed to realize until the end that the modern day hunter was Macbeth. Though it was pretty funny to hear him hypothesize that the modern day hunter was Duncan's great great great...grandson.
ESG

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=370493&page=4

Dread has now reviewed M.I.A. and Grief.

Antiyonder

Comet> Thanks man, helps a lot.
ESG

Me again.
Algernon

I doubt Mac held Bruce's lineage against him. Royal families being the incestous messes that they are, it'd probably be near impossible to find ANY nobility in Britain that couldn't be traced back to Canmore.
Anonymous

ESG> I find two:
http://nebulan.deviantart.com/art/Hudson-and-His-Mate-189214542
http://harley-1979.deviantart.com/art/A-young-Gargoyle-named-321879336
although I always found the Gargs of the second artist slightly weird. I especially dislike the look of the females. Glad there isn't one in this picture. And I also prefer Hudson with white/grey hair, even when he's young...

Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Has anyone here seen fanart of Hudson in his youth worth sharing?
ESG

I think that Macbeth was more interested simply in protecting his homeland of Scotland from invasion to care about whether the current king was descended from Duncan and Canmore or not. (By coincidence, I was reading about the Battle of Bannockburn earlier today in a new book called "The Plantagenets" by Dan Jones.)

Two thoughts I've had about his presence at Bannockburn:

1. The two things we know for certain about Macbeth's activities between 1057 and 1995 were that he fought on the Scottish side at Bannockburn and took part in the 1950 theft (or recovery) of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey, both motivated by love of Scotland - and both of which clearly had nothing to do with Demona. Though he was undoubtedly pursuing her during those nine centuries, he clearly hadn't been consumed by the hunt; other things had stayed alive in him all that time,

2. By fighting alongside his fellow Scots at Bannockburn, Macbeth became an example of the time-honored concept in legend (along with his former rival, and then ally, King Arthur) of the king who returns when his country needs him - though his return was incognito and presumably nobody at the battle, other than Macbeth himself, knew his true identity there.

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

I guess Enter Macbeth wins the award for worst looking episode of Gargoyles... still better than anything that came from the TGC team...
But which episode had the best animation? I'd say Awakening Part 4 looks absolutely incredible. "I just love the insides of those umbrellas" as Greg mentions in the commentary. Actually the whole part where Elisa gets chased through central park is stunning.

Neill - [neillgargoyle(a)gmail dot com]

It's interesting that Robert the Bruce was descended from Malcolm Canmore. I wonder if Macbeth knew that when he fought alongside Robert against the English?

But I don't think he would have cared, since he never hated Canmore or his descendants as much as he hated Demona. Come to think of it, if Macbeth knew anything about the Canmore family between 1057 and 1995, he probably would have allied with them against Demona.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

I know there are several things wrong about the setup of the scenario depicted in "Ransom," but theoretically speaking, how do you suppose the real Xanatos would have acted were he in that situation?
ESG

Todd> I did not know that! That is interesting! Thanks for sharing that!

Supermorff> Yes, that is true... but James II was the first monarch we hit upon. But you are right.

I'd love to see Brooklyn interact with John Smith, Pocahontas, the Pilgrims, etc. That would be an interesting setting.

Battle Beast - [Canada]
I did it! I watched all 485 Best picture nominees in 365 days!

Whoops, forgot to post said ramble...

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=60

Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"Why try? I know why. The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone..." - Rush

ESG: You might want to read Greg W.'s ramble on "Enter Macbeth," which goes into more detail about how bad the original animation was. Keep in mind that while the finished product we've all seen has weak moments, that's only after the team used a bunch of editing tricks to cut out the absolute worst bits.

As for Vinnie, he's Jeff Bennett doing an impression of John Travolta's character Vinnie Barbarino in the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter." So the accent is a very exaggerated Italian-American one.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"Why try? I know why. The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone..." - Rush

ESG: How is it bad? I discovered that the sequence of Goliath jumping from car to car had TRANSPARENT TAPE holding the cels together, and not only that, but they never finished coloring his wings.

That should tell you everything you need to know, right there.

D. Taina
"The story is told -- though who can say if it be true.." -Shari

Maybe I'm blind,but...how is the animation in "Enter Macbeth" bad? I'm sure it's technically far worse if you decide to go in and examine it frame by frame...but I can't think of a single moment that stuck out to me as bad animation while I was watching it. Is it really glaringly bad and I just don't see it?
ESG

The line of Hunters continued through Canmore's son, Donald... who was never king. So James wouldn't have been a Hunter.
Greg Bishansky
Here's the problem with most fanfic writers: they seem to think Dominique is a second life. It isn't. Demona spelled it plainly in "High Noon." She's a gargoyle. Dominique is just a tool to help her in her goals. She'll use the form because she changes into a human, whether she likes it or not, but Dominique is not another life for her.

PAUL - The impression that I have (though only Greg Weisman can say for sure) is that the Canmore line had drifted away from the royal family of Scotland (presumably the Canmores were descended from a son of Canmore who didn't succeed his father to the throne) enough by James I's time that the Stuarts didn't know anything about gargoyles, and were out of contact with the Canmore Hunters. (And the Canmores - though they must have held onto their Scottishness, judging from Jason, Robyn, and Jon's accents - had probably forgotten that they went back to Scottish royalty and had started the Hunt over a quarrel with Macbeth and his family over the Scottish throne, especially in light of Jason's confession to Elisa that he didn't know what started his family's feud with gargoyles.)

(In fact, while James was descended from Duncan and Canmore, there were a few hiccups along the way. Their direct royal line ended in the late 13th century when its last member, a little girl named Margaret, died from illness before she could be made Queen, followed by several Scottish nobles quarreling over the throne, and Edward I of England deciding to take advantage of the situation to claim Scotland for himself - leading to his carrying off the Stone of Destiny to Westminster Abbey, among other things. Robert the Bruce finally started up a new line, though, leading at last to the Stuarts, and he was closely enough related to Duncan and Canmore for James I to be descended from them.)

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Anything Greg Weisman creates is gold. Why do you bring this up? It's not as if a movie has been announced, and I admit I'm not fond of speculation.
ESG

How do you feel about a live-action movie directed by Kenneth Branagh and Greg as producer/co-writer?
Jacob Stancil
Jacob Stancil

Does Vinnie have a known accent? I figure he must have, but I'm very bad at identifying accents.
ESG

ESG> According to the Greg's timeline Demona woke up first when the skiff reached Paris and quickly made a run for it, Macbeth coming to a few minutes later.

http://s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=700

As for why Demona didn't try to capture him? Where would she keep him? She just woke up on another continent in a boat with her mortal enemy and no idea how she got there. Odds are her first instinct was to find somewhere she could hide out, get her bearing and figure out what to do about Macbeth later.

The fact that her last memory of Mac was him trying to go all murder-suicide on her probably contributed to her desire to avoid a direct confrontation with him.

Algernon
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T blink." ~Tenth Doctor.

I'm having trouble picturing what happened to Demona and Macbeth after Avalon. I mean, they were sent off in the skiff together, presumably landing in Paris. But then what happened? Wouldn't whoever woke up first want to capture the other?
ESG

Battle Beast> James II might not have been much of a king, but you're also descended from all of James II's ancestors. Then again, go back far enough and everyone in the comment room will be descended from some member of the British Royal Family. (And, indeed, every other royal family.) (And, apparently, Odin.)
Supermorff

Speaking of James, was James I of England a Hunter? I know that he was related to the Canmore dynasty (being a descendant of Malcolm Canmore), although I'm not sure that all of them were Hunters.

I guess my train of thought goes something like this:

James I was interested in witchcraft.
James I was related to the Canmores.
The Canmores had a grudge against Demona.
Demona was a witch.

I wonder if those facts have any connection to each other.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

BATTLE BEAST - James II wasn't much of a king, but he does have his own subtle link to the Gargoyles Universe; New York is named after him. He was Duke of York when the British seized New Amsterdam (as it was then called) from the Dutch, and since he was in charge of the operation, New Amsterdam was renamed New York after him.

(I've sometimes wondered whether Brooklyn might visit various colorful events in New York's history, including the British seizing it from the Dutch, during his Timedancing, to tie in with the significance of New York in "Gargoyles". It'd be tempting to imagine him confronting Pieter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, a fiery fellow with a wooden leg - the original "Peg-Leg Pete" - especially after reading Washington Irving's "mock-epic hero" depiction of him in "Deidrich Knickerbocker's History of New York".)

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Fun Fact: Follow the genealogies back far enough, and the British Royal Family are ultimately descended from Odin himself.

So the story is told...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%8Dden#Royal_genealogy

Algernon
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T blink." ~Tenth Doctor.

Strictly speaking, everybody is descended from everybody else...

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/05/the-royal-we/302497/

Which raises the amusing implication that in the Gargoyles Universe, everyone is probably descended from Zeus. :P

Algernon
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T blink." ~Tenth Doctor.

SomeGeek - I'd recommend Awakening. If it doesn't grab them, nothing will. And if it's the only bit of Gargoyles they ever see, then it represents us well.
Greg Weisman

I'm descended from Genghis Khan... when he and his horde swept into eastern Europe pillaging, plundering and having sex with everything in sight.

Doesn't make me special, I believe one in every two-hundred people is descended from Genghis Khan.

Greg Bishansky
Here's the problem with most fanfic writers: they seem to think Dominique is a second life. It isn't. Demona spelled it plainly in "High Noon." She's a gargoyle. Dominique is just a tool to help her in her goals. She'll use the form because she changes into a human, whether she likes it or not, but Dominique is not another life for her.

The reason I wasn't thinking of showing Awakening is because there is a chance they won't see any episodes beyond what I show and my thought process was that with some episodes from different points it can be seen that there is strong story arc and character development over the course. And so just showing Awakenings would minimize that. That said, i'll strongly reconsider it given your collective thoughts on it.
SomeGeek

Some interesting news came my way yesterday!

I had thoroughly researched my family history on my Mother's Mother's side all the way back to the late 1800's in Poland/Russia, so I decided to research my Father's mother's family, and I have since found that I am a decendant of British Royalty, albeit illigitimate...

To make a long story short, I am a decendant of one of James II's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England) illigitimate sons. I found out after reading the Wikipedia, that apparently, James II had MANY illigitimate children.

Not the greatest Monarch to be a decendant of... he only reigned four a little less than four years, and was a philanderer if there ever was one.

My Grandmother, Margaret Smith, was a war Bride who came to Canada in 1947 after meeting my Grandfather in England. He was a War Hero who fought with the Royal Air Force. He was a bombadier, aimed the the bombs and pressed the button. He made 37 runs over Nazi Germany and earned the Distiguished Flying Cross With honors (which is why M.I.A is one of my favorite Episodes). One weekend, Grandpa went to London on R 'N' R with his mate, my Grandmother's cousin. They stayed at Grandma's house (which doubled as a place for soldiers to come and relax and spend the night), and that's where they met.

So, My grandmother's father side decends from James II.

Belive me... there ISN'T ONE royal bone in my body, but it is pretty neat to have traced my ancestry back that far.

Battle Beast - [Canada]
I did it! I watched all 485 Best picture nominees in 365 days!

I agree with the people who suggest Awakening. Gargoyles is continuity heavy, showing episodes out of order lessens the entertainment value, especially if the viewers don't even have a passing knowledge of the show. Besides, Awakening is one of the best episodes anyway.

Here's what I think about the episodes you've picked as "Standalones." MIA and The Price are indeed excellent episodes that require little prior knowledge, they seem like solid choices to me.

The Mirror is a great episode but it loses something if you aren't aware of Goliath, Elisa and Demona's prior characterization.I think it should be seen in order.

Vows is far more continuity heavy than you give it credit for. The episode moves at an exceedingly fast pace, ill suited for a newbie.

City of Stone is characterization heavy, and should probably not be viewed without having grasped Goliath, Demona and Macbeth's characters. One shouldn't show someone the best the series has to offer before they can properly appreciate it.

Avalon...is spoiler heavy, so I'd hesitate to use it. But it is indeed very, very entertaining, and despite being the convergence of so much continuity it doesn't require the viewer know about it all. I agree with this choice.

ESG

Yeah, if you have five episodes, why not just show Awakening? That five parter stands alone pretty well.
Harlan Phoenix
The enemy is clever. We're smaller but whatever. When we put it together, I'll form the head.

SomeGeek> Any particular reason you're not just going for all of Awakening?
Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Pardon as I think out loud/ramble, but I wanted to toss this out there in case someone had an idea that I may have been missing.

I have to pick 1-5ish Gargoyle episodes to show some non-initiated (but genre-friendly) people.

Criteria: *needs to work as a stand alone and *can't be overly preachy with a moral of the story type thing (i.e. they'll never watch Captain Planet)


So i have my mental list narrowed down to either:
A) Vows, The Price, Mirror, MIA (they're able to stand mostly on their own without too much context needed). Though I am considering swapping Vows with Brother's Keeper to give a taste of Xanatos-style scheming (or putting them both in if i can convince them for 5 episodes).

B) City of Stone 1-2-3 (it's such a strong piece, though at the same time I worry that in absence of experience with macbeth and demona there is less emotional pull in seeing their origin story)

C) Avalon 1-2-3 (this holds up easier to follow as a stand alone than city of stone since background and motivation aren't as nuanced)

D) some other mix of episodes entirely?

Anyway, I'm leaning towards "A" but, opinions on A vs B vs C vs D?

SomeGeek

Othello is so fascinating. He has so many inner demons. He's quick to anger and violence, easily manipulated and selfish. Goliath may have his flaws, but on the whole he's a saint. He'll take the moral high ground 99 times out of 100. The same cannot be said for Othello, who is a good guy by circumstance more than anything else. Which isn't to say that he's evil: his actions in "High Noon" proved that he has the capacity for good. But he walks a fine line, and whichever side he's on, he surely has less moral qualms than the rest of our heroes. And to think, he's finally a main character. Reason number 3469 to bring Gargoyles back.
ESG

Yesterday afternoon, the local PBS station showed the second part of "The Hollow Crown", this time adapting "Henry IV Part One". This one would probably appeal to "Gargoyles" fans, since it featured Falstaff and his crew, whom Greg Weisman adapted into the final third of "Bad Guys". An effective adaptation, too (and they're following it up with "Henry IV Part Two" and "Henry V").
Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Oh, so that's how it was. That makes much more sense.
ESG

That below was me.
Algernon

ESG> I'm actually pretty sure the first four or five paragraphs of Hyppolyta are supposed to be from Elisa's POV. Up until this point...

"She was ready to do battle. But he was quiet and reserved. He simply wanted to tell her a story..."

Then it shifts to Goliath flashing back to his Wyvern days. "Hyppolyta" is, by Greg's own admission, pretty stylistic so it might take a couple of rereads to fully unpack it.

Anonymous

Brainiac> How about I start at the top?

I assume Hyppolyta is the subject of the piece. It starts out speaking of the one she loves. Naturally this would be a Wyvern Gargoyle from her own generation, right? But if so, then who? Every male Gargoyles we know of from that generation is interested in another.

What's more confusing is that the piece goes on to say that her love has done some "world-saving." What could this be referring to? It really stretches disbelief to think that the Wyvern Clan has saved the world in the past.

Her love is then compared to a "comic book character." I know Hypollyta isn't narrating, but the piece must be from her perspective, right? A gargoyle that died in the Dark Ages would never use such a term.

It is then said that she loves him for being human. This is extremely bizarre. Is it just a poor choice of words? Such a phrase has come to mean "having significant failings," but when applied to a member of a different species it comes off as comparing them to humans. And she certainly is in love with no human, right?

All this from the first paragraph.

ESG

ESG> What exactly puzzles you about the story? Is the lack of names throwing you off?
Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Has anyone here made sense of "Hyppolyta?" I was going to talk about the parts of it that I didn't understand, but the fact is that the entire piece has me confused.
http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=497

ESG

Tengu!
Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

Ninth!
Spen

Eighth!
Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"For science, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward. Plus there's the money... and I do love the drama!" - Sevarius, "Louse"

Seventh!
Matthew
"Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be!"-Puck

Sixth.
Chip - [Sir_Griff723 at yahoo dot com]
If you are on the wrong road, progress means.. walking back to the right road; ..the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man~~C.S. Lewis

Fifth!
Neill - [neillgargoyle(a)gmail dot com]

Fourth!
Ross

Third time's the charm!
Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"Why try? I know why. The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone..." - Rush

Second!
Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

First!
ESG