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Jp12@mail.csuchico.edu writes...
A final comment on the Aurthurian Survivors (old news, I suppose):
You're big on redemption and don't mind having a different interpretation of legends (I do the same when running role-playing games [my Arthur is a mummy]); Why no Lancelot/Guenevere/Arthur reunion at some point? It always seemed like there was a chance to resolve the problems. What's your take on it?
Thanks for taking the time.
John Peacock
Greg responds...
Lance and Gwen are dead. What resolution was necessary had to have taken place in the past if at all.
Chapter XVII: "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time"
Written by Brynne Chandler Reaves & Lydia C. Marano
Story Edited by Michael Reaves
Well, I watched "Lighthouse" again last night with my family. First thing I noticed was the bad "Previously" recap. This is all my fault. The recap features Macbeth, because I wanted to make sure the audience knew who he was. But that blows out the first act surprise reveal that he's behind it all. Up to that point in the story, you'd be thinking Xanatos. But because of the dopey recap, you know it MUST be Mac. Later in the season, after I got hammered over these recaps by the folks on the Disney Afternoon e-Mailing list, I learned never to put anything into the recap that wasn't revealed in the first five minutes of the show to follow. But here's a perfect example of me screwing up my own mystery.
We introduce archeologists Lydia Duane and Arthur Morwood-Smythe. Dr. Duane was named after writers Lydia Marano and Diane Duane. Professor Morwood-Smythe was named after writers Arthur Byron Cover and Peter Morwood. Arthur is Lydia's husband. Peter is Diane's husband. I don't know anyone named Smythe.
Macbeth episodes, at least up to this point, seem to be cursed with mediocre animation. (Of course, everything's relative. Mediocre on Gargs was still better than most series got. But relative to our expectations, this ep is pretty weak.) I bet Elisa would have really looked cute in that red baseball hat if the animation had been even slightly better.
I don't know how clear it is in the prologue. The idea there, was that the wind was blowing through the lyre. The haunting sound drew the archeologists further into the cave. They read the warning which indicates that the seeker of knowledge has nothing to fear, the destroyer everything. They are supposed to hesitate, look at each other, decide that they are seekers not destroyers and then open the chest. Merlin's clearly put a safety spell of some kind on the chest. An image of the old man appears and basically checks to confirm whether the archeologists are in fact seekers or destroyers. Satisfied, the spell disipates. But you can imagine what would have happened if a Hakon type had stumbled in.
Anyway, it never felt like all that came across. Did it?
Brooklyn (re: Broadway): "Ignorance is bliss." In High School, I had a classmate named Howard Bliss. We had chemistry together with Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller once asked the class a question that we all should have known. No one knew the answer, and our own idiocy generated laughter among Miller's students. He just shook his head and said: "Ignorance is bliss." He forgot that he had a student named Bliss. It generated more laughter. I don't know why I told you that. But it's what I thought about when Brooklyn read that line.
There's a semi-heavy-handed "Read More About It" feel to the clock tower conversation regarding Merlin. Goliath practically quotes those public service announcements, saying there are many books about him in the library. I don't mind. I had wanted to cite a few actual books -- like Mary Stewart's THE CRYSTAL CAVE -- but our legal department wouldn't give us clearance for that. Very short-sighted.
A connection is made between Merlin and the Magus. This was not an accident, as at that time, I had planned to have the Magus journey with Arthur on his Pendragon quests to find Excalibur and Merlin. I later changed my mind. But the Magus does at least play a Merlin-esque roll in the Avalon three parter.
I always wonder who was playing in "Celebrity Hockey" that night.
Macbeth's standard Electro-Magnetic weapon was my idea. I didn't design it exactly, but I did make crude little drawings of something that looked vaguely like a staple gun, with two electrodes that generated the charge. I was always proud of that weapon. It was uniquely Macbeth's (and Banquo and Fleances'). Set him apart from all the concussion, laser and particle beam weapons we used elsewhere. (I did the same kind of thing on the Quarymen's hammers.)
It's fun to listen to B.J. Ward voice both sides of the confrontation between Fleance and Duane.
Banquo's model sheet showed him squinting out of one eye. Some episodes, not so much this one, but some took that to mean he only had one eye. So he walks around looking like Popeye for the entire episode. (His big lantern jaw helps accentuate that.) There are a couple of Popeye moments in this ep. But more in his next appearance I think.
It was my idea to just have Mac's mansion rebuilt without explanation. I don't exactly regret it, but it's kinda cheap. We burned it way down. He has it rebuilt. It makes sense. But we usually dealt with consequences more than that.
When he rebuilds it, he installs those cannons. They were supposed to be giant-sized versions of the hand-held E-M guns. But they don't come off that way. Instead they fire at the gargoyles. And mostly seem to destroy the various turrets of Macbeth's own place. Ugghh.
As in "Leader" we get another scene of Goliath and friends confronting Owen at the castle. Looking for Xanatos, when in fact Xanatos isn't the threat. It made sense in both episodes. And it's always nice to showcase Owen a bit. But after two of those in four episodes, I wasn't gonna do that again. (At least not until KINGDOM.)
I love the "Macbeth Theme" that Carl Johnson created for the villain, which is featured at the end of ACT ONE.
Macbeth opens the "second scroll" and starts to read Merlin's seal. This caused tons of fan confusion, as he read "Sealed by my own [i.e. Merlin's] hand". No one seemed to get that he was reading that. They thought Mac was saying that he [i.e. Macbeth] had sealed the scroll. Of course that notion renders the whole thing confusing as hell. But it never occured to us that anyone would take it that way.
We also introduce Jeffrey Robbins and Gilly in this episode. Gilly is of course short for Gilgamesh, one of the legendary characters that Robbins once wrote about. It's just a bit odd, because Gilly is a female.
Robbins is a very cool character. Wish we had had the opportunity to use him more.
I like how when Robbins and Hudson are introducing themselves, Robbins gives his first and last name. Hudson says, I'm Hudson, "like the river". An echo of how he got the name. And a reminder that names aren't natural to him. Even if they are addictive.
John Rhys-Davies is just fantastic as Macbeth. I love his speech to Broadway. It accomplishes everything we needed it too. That line about the "human heart" by the way is a reference to the Arthur/Lance/Gwen triangle.
I also love his line: "I'm Old, but not THAT Old." This was a little hint to what we'd reveal in CITY OF STONE. Sure Macbeth's from the eleventh century, but not the fifth or sixth. It's like someone saying to someone my age, "So what did you do during World War II?"
Lennox Macduff. That was a cool touch. Also a hint as to how Macbeth feels about Shakespeare.
I like the Phone Book scene too. Hudson says "Hmm. Magic Book." Robbins replies: "Aren't they all." Great stuff.
By the way, as Robbins goes through the phone book, scanning names, he passes "Macduff, Cameron". One of my college roommates was Cameron Douglas, who was really interested in his Scotish heritage. That was a mini-tribute to him.
My daughter Erin reacts to the fact that Macbeth threatens to use Merlin's spells on Broadway. She points out that Macbeth had promised to let Broadway go after he had the scrolls. She's surprised he hasn't kept his word. My wife at that point reminds Erin that Macbeth is the villain. Erin gets that. But you can tell it isn't quite sitting right with her.
Later when Macbeth DOES let everyone go without a struggle, Erin is clearly not sure what to make of him.
And on one level, that's exactly as we wanted it. Macbeth is a troubled guy -- a hero who's devolved into a villain. A suicidal villain on top of that, though we hadn't revealed that yet. But he is a villain. Later, it's debatable, but here he's taken to being an ends-justify-the-means kinda guy. And even his ends are hazy at best.
I love Broadway's "precious magic" speech. It's so wierd hearing poetry from the big galoot. But that's so Broadway. The soul of a poet. Bill Faggerbakke was a huge help.
And I love Robbins "They are lighthouses in the dark sea of time..." speech. I love that it's not exactly the title. Brynne and Lydia did fine work on this one.
I wonder what happened to that lyre?
LSZ writes...
Technology:
1) How long did it take for the New Olympians to develop their technology to the level seen in New Olympians?
2) In any respects are any of the three races involved in the Space-Spawn war less advanced than what we've seen of Earthly technology? Meaning is there anything in particular technologically Earth has that the aliens don't have? Like say, Sevarius' genetic manipulation, the NO's anti-gravity, Xanatos' Matrix..
3) How advanced were Gargoyles technologically by the time humanity came along? Stone Age-tech?
4) Castle Wyvern is a large stone-built fortress that looks like it was built using construction techniques and concepts that didn't appear in Europe until after the Crusades(I think). So why, in the Gargoyles universe, are the Europeans of 994 more advanced than in history? What in-universe explanation is there?
5) King Arthur of the 6th century seems to wear at least partial plate armour that didn't appear until the 1400's? what's the in-universe explanation here?
Greg responds...
1. Until 1996.
2. Generally, they are more advanced than us. But I won't rule out the possiblility that we might not be able to surprise them.
3. Not very. It was unnecessary to their life-styles. Humans are a much more adaptable race, for better and for worse.
4. In universe, I don't need an explanation if I don't feel like dealing. They just are. Perhaps less was forgotten. Perhaps magic was involved. Perhaps our knowledge is flawed.
5. He had access to sources of Armor that most people didn't. We assume that these things didn't EXIST until later. All we KNOW is that they weren't prevalent until later.
Vashkoda writes...
Hello again. These questions are about King Arthur. 1) Would he still be alive by 2158? 2) Would Arthur ever be recognized by world leaders as being the actual "King Arthur"? 3) Would Arthur ever rule Britain again? (he's supposed to be the once and future king, right?) 4) Would he ever rule anything? 4) Will he have an heir? 5) You previously mentioned that McBeth wouldn't "inherit" Excalibur from Arthur. Would McBeth ever even own Excalibur? 6) What's the largest number (rough estimate) of knights that you picture Arthur having, from the time he was awakened until he dies? 7) About how many of those knights do you think might be gargoyles? 8) Do you picture Griff staying at Arthur's side until death claims one of them?
(please forgive the obvious "monstly" typo in my previous post. I would really appreciate an answer to those questions)
Greg responds...
1. Maybe.
2. By some. Not all.
3. Once and Future King of something, all right.
4. That would be telling.
5. He might hold it once or twice.
6. I'm not good with numbers. (It's amazing I can count to fourteen over and over again.)
7. See 6.
8. Yep.
Anonymous writes...
You said that in Pendragon Arthur would have a female friend who is an arthurian survivor. You also said you didn't want to have two magic users on Arthur's side. Since three fourths of the female Arthurian survivors are magic users that means Blanchefleur must be the traveling companion.
Greg responds...
Yeah. So?
galvatron writes...
Is the reason that Alexander is considered a Children of Oberon while Merlin is considered a halfling because Alexander is basically more powerful than Merlin?
Greg responds...
Who made those assumptions?
Merlin's technically a halfling because Oberon is his father but his mother is human.
Fox is also theoretically a halfling. Her mother is Titania. Her father is the human Halcyon Renard.
Alexander is technically a quarterling, I guess. He's fully human on his father's side and half human on his mother's side.
Reverend Attila writes...
Meow!! Greg!!!
I have some questions:
Is Ross Perot the current identity of Duvall today?
Is Todd Jensen the current identity of Mr. Duvall?
Is Vinnie the current identity of Mr. Duvall?
BTW, Guess what day today is ;)
Greg responds...
Ahh, April 1st in your dimension Attila. But here in mind it's July 4th. Quite a different holiday.
So no, no, no.
Todd Jensen writes...
Was the list of "eight Arthurian survivors" something that you came up with before you ever began working on "Gargoyles", or was it something specifically designed for the series? I do think that all eight members of the list work as surviving from Arthurian times to the present day even without the specifically Gargoyles-related elements such as Percival heading the Illuminati in it; i.e., the rationale for their survival fits the original legends in general.
Greg responds...
Yes. That list definitely pre-dates Gargoyles with the exception of the Green Knight. Who only occured to me later. (That's why originally, the contest only had seven survivors. When I remembered the Green Knight, I had to add an eighth.)
But the other seven had all been worked out in my head long, long ago. There's a grave in England that many people for years believed held the bodies of Arthur and Guenivere. But I think they made a mistake. I think it contained Guenivere and Lancelot.
Todd Jensen writes...
Just visited "Ask Greg" and read your response to my question about Percival's birth. Thanks for reminding me of Green; I'd been mentally following the Malory version where Percival's father was King Pellinor. (It probably helped here that Pellinor is one of my favorite characters in the Arthurian legend, largely on account of my having been introduced to him through T. H. White. I always enjoyed White's interpretation of Pellinor and his constant hunt for the Questing Beast). But you're correct; Green does indeed hint at Gawain being Percival's father.
(Which, incidentally, means that two of the Arthurian survivors in the Gargoyles Universe would be closely connected to Gawain, even if he himself is long since gone: Percival, if you view him as Gawain's son in the Masterplan, and the Green Knight, who tested him in both his castle and at the Green Chapel).
Greg responds...
Yep. And Arthur, who is Gawain's uncle. And Morgana who is Gawain's aunt. And Blanchefleur, who is Gawain's daughter-in-law. And Nimue, who is...
Well, you get the idea.
By the way, I always like White's Pelly too.
Todd Jensen writes...
Did the two animated suits of armor that guarded Arthur's sleeping place on Avalon belong to anybody prior to their being put there (as in, say, having been worn by Arthur's knights), or were they specially constructed for the purpose of guarding him and used only for that purpose?
Greg responds...
Honestly, I haven't thought about it. But I'm sure there's a story behind how they got there.
Lexy writes...
Hello Greg:)
*checks out the latest Contest guesses* yup, just as I thought, I wouln't have said anything original;) But I _did_ happen to think up some more Q's at work. Exciting hey?
1) You said that there was a rather large gargoyle clan somewhere outside of London. That we just happened to only see Grif, Una, and Leo.
What is their purpose for staying at that store?
2) Do they keep in correspondence with the rest of the clan?
3) How often do they visit?
4) For question one. Was it the clans' idea for the shop or just Una, Grif, and Leo's?
5) When Grif vanshied with Goliath and was missing for all that time, did the clan try and search for him? Where they even informed? (duh but still)
6) Did Una and Leo continue to stay at that store in the hope that Grif would return someday? Or was it just some job that they were assigned and Grif or no they stayed??
7) About Grif and Una. I dont know if someone asked this or not before. I don't recall seeing it. So sorry in advance if this is old news:P But Una seemed to like him a lot. I guess I dont know if they were actually an item or not. Where they? Or was it just Una that felt that way? Or did I totally screw it up again like the whole Angela Gabe thing and she's alone or with Leo for crying out loud??
8) In the event that the answer was "Ya _duh_ they are an item. Haven't you been paying attention in here?". Then will the age differnce that they now have do any damage to the relationship?
Ok, thats enough on that topic. Thanks Greg!;)
Greg responds...
1. To earn money. To pay taxes on the land, etc.
2. Yes, constantly. By telephone and e-mail. Also it's not that far away, so I'm sure they glide out there all the time.
3. All the time.
4. The shop has been there for centuries.
5. Of course. You shouldn't look at this as if Leo & Una are some kind of separate entity from the rest of the clan. They're the breadwinners. (And no one said they're the only two who work at the store, they're simply the ones who do it most often.) They live at the estate most of the time, but when working late (or early at the store) have quarters upstairs where they can retire for a cup of tea or turn to stone or whatever.
6. The store belongs to the clan. I'm not saying they didn't occasionally wish that Griff would fly in a window one day, but basically they assumed that he and Goliath perished during the Battle of Britain.
7. No, you're right. Una was in love with Griff, and he cared for her. They weren't mates -- at least not yet -- but that's the direction they were heading. Now, of course, she and Leo are mates. But that partly resulted from shared grief over Griff's seeming death.
8. I think the fact that in the interum, she mated with Leo will have a larger effect than the age difference. That and the fact, that Griff is back off traveling the world with Arthur
Kayless writes...
About Merlin...
1. Does he use human magic or fae, or perhaps a combination of the two? If he does use human spells wouldn't that be mixing magics, given his half fae status? (The same applying if he uses a combination of spells)
2. Merlin's age various from source to source. About how much older than Arthur is he?
3. How would you describe Merlin's personality? Eccentric but wise and kindly like in T. H. White's story, or a wry, enigmatic codger like in the movie Excalibur?
Greg responds...
1. He can use either, but he has to be careful not to mix. Or if he does mix, to mix very carefully.
2. We talking chronilogically or biologically?
3. Neither.
Todd Jensen writes...
In your opinion, is much of Merlin's status as "the greatest wizard of all time" thanks (from the perspective of the Gargoyles Universe) to his being a biological son of Oberon's? Given how much magic Oberon must have in him, it does seem logical that an offspring of his, even a halfling, would have more magic to inherit than a halfling child of any other fay, or a fully-human wizard.
Greg responds...
Merlin was certainly born with a lot of magical potential. But potential can be squandered. (Just look at my life over the last four years.) Merlin worked to become a great wizard.
Matt writes...
Hello I'm a really big fan of Gargoyles, I watch the show all the time.
Well here's my Q.
Is there anywhere on the web that your spin-offs are in print, or are they only at the gatherings?
Greg responds...
Pretty much only at the Gathering. But you can get a lot of info on them by checking the following ASK GREG archives...
Bad Guys
Dark Ages
Gargoyles 2158
New Olympians
Pendragon
TimeDancer
Todd Jensen writes...
Re your answer to my "Round Table" question:
You're right; I'd forgotten about the Stone of Destiny in its "Sword in the Stone" phase. Well, since your answer reminded me of that, I thought I'd ask a couple of Stone of Destiny questions now:
1. You mentioned having planned to include an episode reflecting the Stone's real-life return to Scotland in the "Pendragon" spin-off. Would the episode have been set during the actual return itself, or afterwards with the Stone already back in Scotland at the beginning of the story?
2. If you had done the episode, would you have explained in it how the Stone of Destiny got to be wherever the young Arthur pulled the sword out of it to become King the first time around (given that in actual history, it would have been in either Ireland or Dalriada at the time, rather than, say, London - where the traditional stories locate the Sword in the Stone)?
Greg responds...
1. The former for sure. The latter if I came up with something.
2. Eventually all would be explained. But I'm not sure how much room for flashbacks I'd have in any one given episode.
Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...
What is Morgana la Fay's current relationship with Arthur? Does she still hate him?
Greg responds...
Hasn't seen him in awhile. A long while.
Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...
What would have Duval's physical cost to using the Grail have been?
Greg responds...
I don't want to say now.
Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...
1. Did you ever have a love-interest planned for Arthur?
2. If so, care to talk about her?
Greg responds...
1. Perhaps more than one.
2. Not at this time.
Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...
Which of the eight Arthurian survivors would have been the female acquantance that would have accompanied Arthur on his quests?
Greg responds...
Blanchefleur.
Aris Katsaris writes...
I'm also glad the prize went to Todd... He's the Arthurian expert over here after all, and if it was not for him *noone* would have guessed Blanchefleur... :-)
Anyway, here's another question concerning Morgana: Changelings were traditionally swapped for mortal children. Is this also the case here? And have you thought about what happened to the mortal child she replaced? (My thoughts on the subject, would most probably represent a story idea...)
Btw.. something else I've thought for a while now... Most modern versions of the Arthur legend have combined a number of characters in one: In "Excalibur" the characters of Nimue, Morgana, Morgause are combined in Morgana. The Merlin mini-series also had Morgana combined with Morgause (even though Nimue was separate). I know that other tales combine the characters of Morgana and/or Nimue with that of the Lady of the Lake.
You seem to be the exception and I'm rather glad of that... (in fact one of the reasons I hesitated early on to place Nimue in my guesses was that I was always combining her with either Morgana or the Lady of the Lake in my mind, rather than a separate character) Anyway, here's a question... I now know that atleast these three characters (Morgana, Nimue, Lady of the Lake) would be separate individuals... How about Morgause? Would you also keep her separate, or would you combine her with Morgana as others have done?
Greg responds...
BENNY SAYS:
vvvbmmaaaaaaaaasddddfytttuip0987665432`7543``````
GREG SAYS:
I know exactly who Morgana was traded for. I pretty much gave it away in my post where I confirmed Todd's guess for the eight survivors.
And yes, Morgause exists as a completely separate character in the GARG-UNIVERSE.
Todd Jensen writes...
Thanks in advance for the prize for winning the "Arthurian survivors" contest, Greg. Now, a couple of questions I'd like to ask about one particular survivor, Morgana:
1. You mentioned in your account of how the "Arthurian Eight" survived that Morgana is a changeling in the original sense (a faerie baby swapped for a human one). Does this mean that, in your Masterplan, she's not actually Arthur's *biological* half-sister or related to him by blood, but instead "adopted"?
2. I also noticed that you spelt her name "Morgana" rather than "Morgan". Were you planning to take this "different form of name" for the character, in the event that she showed up in "Gargoyles" or the "Pendragon" spin-off, in order to avoid getting her confused with Officer Morgan?
Greg responds...
GREG SAYS:
1. "Adopted" suggests her human-parents (Igraine & Gorlois) knew she wasn't theirs and took her in anyway. But see, Morgana's a CHANGEling and there was an exCHANGE. (As I understand it, that's how it was supposed to work.) So no, in my opinion Morgana is not a blood relation to Arthur. Though he doesn't know it. That does NOT mean that Arthur's actual sister isn't part of the tapestry.
2. Yeah, more or less. But frankly, I won't be held to that. Name similarities actually interest me a lot. Coyote Trickster and the Coyote robot. Peter Maza and Petros Xanatos. Carlos Maza and Charles Canmore. These were and were not accidents.
ERIN SAYS:
Me and my daddy were at a party today, and I lost my tooth. On your two questions, the part where you said "the faerie baby swapped", I thought that the word was very amusing for me. It was very vaporizick.
BENNY SAYS:
I love you Mommy and Daddy and Erin and Benny and Norman and Bigtime and Iggy.
Todd Jensen writes...
What sort of antagonist do you picture Duval as being? Do you see him as a very malevolent figure, like Thailog and the Archmage, or a more "greyish" enemy, like Macbeth?
Greg responds...
Both. (And that's not meant to be a smart-ass response.)
Todd Jensen writes...
I'm revising one of my earlier questions here, since you had (correctly) pointed out that I had made it cover way too much ground.
1. How did Guinevere feel about Arthur's alliance with gargoyles - and about gargoyles in general?
2. How did Lancelot feel about them?
Greg responds...
1. Haven't definitively worked that out in my head yet.
2. Ditto.
Todd Jensen writes...
Is there any connection between Duval's Fisher King role (guardian of the Holy Grail) and those rejuvenation drugs that they give the older members of the Illuminati such as Mace Malone?
Greg responds...
Yep.
Anonymous writes...
We know that Nimue, Blanchefleur,Morgana le Fay and Lady of the Lake are the female Arthurian survivors.
You said that one of them would be traveling with Griff and Arthur. I know it can't be Morgana or Lady of the Lake. So it must be Nimue or Blanchefleur and I am guessing it is Nimue. Can you please tell me if I am right ?
Greg responds...
No.
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