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Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

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Comments for the week ending January 12, 2025

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Interesting thoughts, Bishansky.

Morrand > For one thing, just from the standpoint of what we've seen, I think it's obvious from some of the angles in the series that the front of the Eyrie Building faces toward the city as opposed to the park. The screenshot on Gargwiki from "The Gathering" makes this especially clear (it looks like the park is behind the building). Of course, with all the different animation studios and background artists who worked on the show, I'd guess that we could probably spot some inconsistencies if we looked closely at every episode.

As for the rationale, there's the convenience to residents of the building and/or workers at its various businesses that the main entrance would open onto a bustling thoroughfare full of shops, markets, restaurants, and other amenities. On top of that, I think Xanatos's ego would put stock in having the building face "his" city, as opposed to facing away from it. He doesn't want the residents of Midtown looking at the back of his monument.

Of course, there would presumably be other entrances on the park side, and there would be plenty of vantage points in the building with stunning views of the park. But from a purely symbolic standpoint, it makes sense to me that Xanatos would want to have the front of the building facing the city. Much as the gargoyles face outwards during the day.

Craig

BISHANSKY - Thanks for sharing that with us. It's the kind of information and thoughts that would be well-suited for a "Gargoyles Guide to New York", if someone ever wrote one (which would most likely focus on the real landmarks that had appeared in the series, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Cloisters, and Belvedere Castle, but which could also discuss such matters about the fictional locations). I don't have any plans for writing one; I'll leave that to those who know Manhattan better than I do.
Todd Jensen

Greg B: That is odd, to think the building would be built with its back to Central Park. Do you suppose there would be anything to that besides architectural convenience? Local legend hereabout has it that the Civic Opera House (Chicago) was built in the shape of a throne, with its back facing the east, as a snub by its primary sponsor (utility magnate Samuel Insull) against the interests in the East that had snubbed him on the way up. It's not quite the same thing, I suppose, but I wonder if that could represent something similar.

I have the opportunity to go to Manhattan next month and do some field research, and this may be one of those things I end up looking at.

morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]

Last night, I went to a concert at Carnegie Hall, and because I am who I am, I knew Central Park South was two blocks north, so I was thinking "I am within spitting distance of the Eyrie Building."

Anyway, when we left and walked north, the city blocks in that particular area were fairly thin... not as massive as city blocks elsewhere. And considering how massive the skyscraper is presented in the show, here's what I would guess:

The back of the Eyrie faces Central Park South. I used to think the front would face 58th street. But the building as presented in screenshots like this one (https://gargwiki.net/images/4/4f/Eyrie_Chrysler_Awakening_Part_Three.png) is just too large. As such, I think the front of the building would face 57th street. So Xanatos likely built the building over a chunk of 58th and people driving their cars on 58th would need to go around the building. I think as presented in the series, Xanatos has enough power and influence to do that.

But yes, I definitely believe the front of the Eyrie Building is across the street from the north entrance to Carnegie Hall and a famous restaurant, the Russian Tea Room.

Greg Bishansky

Thanks Todd, it really does speak of the quality of the show when one can make these kind of analyses per episode.
Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

MATTHEW - Thanks for your comments on "Grief". You've got a knack for making some very good, in-depth analyses of "Gargoyles" episodes, and I always look forward to them.
Todd Jensen

"Grief" is certainly one of the darker episodes of Gargoyles and certainly one for the World Tour Arc. But I've always said that Greg has done some of his best work when he covered dark topics, because he's also tends to remember (unlike so many other series or movies) is that darkness for its own sake is just dreary and depressing, it must be tempered with maturity. The nature of grief has been explored in most of his other works: Spider-Man has his internal battle while dealing with the symbiote. The heroes in Young Justice deal with grief and hardships as they deal with battles and friends lost. Ayacayia has to come with the hurt she's caused other families as well as the harm her son has caused before both can rest in peace. His willingness to explore the many differences and how different people react, deal with it, or only find peace through a more permanent end is truly unique. Especially since so many other medias will brush it aside or treat grief as something that can be gotten over by pressing on.

This was also my introduction to Tony Shalhoub, long before Galaxy Quest or Monk and he absolutely knocks it out of the park for a one episode character. Matt Frewer also really nails it. We don't know yet how the Pack settled on their canine theme and naming but this episode gives me the idea that Jackal has long been an admirer of Anubis, in his own twisted way one can admire a death god. Him and the Emir both acting as Avatar brings to mind the quote of testing a man's character by giving him power really demonstrates the difference between the two. Jackal casting aside his usual cold, snarky demeanor and willing to burn down all Creation with a smile on his face, and the Emir finally realizing what a terrible burden it is and that the power over life and death isn't something anyone should have. There's one little detail I like as well from the late, great Tony Jay (who was everywhere in Disney Toons back in the 90's). While he mostly plays Anubis as cold and dispassionate, there's that small line about warning the Emir against bringing back his son and letting him rest in peace. Behind the stoicism there's a quiet bit of compassion, and his warning always felt a bit like yanking his son away from the afterlife wouldn't be the blessing he thinks it is.

Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

CRAIG - Oh, and thank you for your comments on "Flow". I haven't seen it, but I have heard and read about it - including a few shots of a cat that definitely made it clear why you were recommending it to cat-lovers like me.
Todd Jensen

Sorry for the triple post, but I rewatched "Grief".

This is probably one of the darker episodes of the series, particularly thanks to Jackal's actions as Anubis' avatar, destroying or aging everyone and everything around him. I remember, the first time I saw this episode, being creeped out by Jackal aging up Goliath and the others. (We also, perhaps to keep it from getting too dark, have the very funny moment of his turning Hyena into a cybernetic baby and Wolf into a wolf cub.) Though I wonder whether some viewers might have found Hyena's lust for Coyote almost as disturbing (I recall Blaise commenting on her "Wanna make sparks fly?" line here many years ago, wondering what she meant by that and immediately following it up with "No! No! I don't want to know!").

Anubis's depiction is one element that stands out to me. Often, death-gods adapted into animated series and other such media get portrayed as malevolent, even when they weren't shown that way in the original myths (Hades in Disney's "Hercules" is a good example of that; another example is the Banshee in the very next episode of "Gargoyles", "The Hound of Ulster", as I'll discuss when I cover that one). "Grief" doesn't do that to Anubis, however; he's written as impersonal, merely carrying out his function without any hint of malignity. (It makes Jackal's conduct as Anubis's avatar stand out all the more.)

One moment in "Grief" became funnier (well, to me at least) than it was originally intended, when Wolf's grumbling at the start about having to serve as "slave labor". Obviously, nobody working on that episode imagined that someday Slave Labor Graphics would be coming out with "Gargoyles" comics. (I can't remember anyone ever mentioning dynamite in the series.)

I was again impressed by how Keith David did the voice of the aged-up Goliath; it's another testament to the voice acting skill.

Incidentally, I once saw a rather different take of Anubis in a children's series called "MythQuest" that aired some years ago, about a teenaged brother and sister who venture into the worlds of myths and legends to rescue their father, after he was kidnapped by a villainous trickster-god named Gorgos (an invention of the series, which acknowledged that by describing him as the one god who never got any stories or myths - and who therefore wants to wreck all the other mythologies of the world, in revenge; there was a chilling moment in one episode where he succeeds in wiping out an entire mythology - specially invented for the series, of course - so that nobody in the human world can even remember anything about it) and imprisoned in that world. The episode about Egyptian mythology brought in Anubis, here portrayed as a small boy who's wearing a jackal-mask but has a regular human head beneath. (In it, Set was played by Lawrence Bayne, who did the voice of Raven in "Heritage".)


FAVORITE LINES.

COYOTE: I'd sure like to know how you got here, but I'm programmed to shoot first and ask questions later.


JACKAL (gazing up at Anubis): The original model.


COYOTE: Unfortunately, I was not programmed to expect them here. Without definitive orders, they get to live.

WOLF: I'm giving the order.

COYOTE: You don't qualify.

{Wolf snarls at him.}

Todd Jensen

I watched the animated film 'Flow,' and it struck me as a sort of spiritual cousin of the Gargoyles Winter Special. No dialogue, and a simple but emotional story of several animals coming together in the face of a crisis. All the animals behave (more or less) as animals, with very little anthropomorphizing. I found it quite beautiful, and I'd highly recommend it to Todd and any other cat lovers in particular.
Craig

Looked it up and found out that the Ethiopian Bull was also a mythical animal in the bestiaries, so it's more likely to be a case of two connected mythical creatures, or maybe the same one under different names.

Oh, and I'd also noticed the resemblance between the London clan and the fake "Queen Florence Island clan", with both being modelled on symbolic animals.

Todd Jensen

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

MATT - I think it likely that Brooklyn spent some time in England during his Timedancing, given Nashville's familiarity with British slang.

MATTHEW - Thanks for sharing the bit about the Ethiopian Bull. I wonder if it could have helped give rise to the concept of the Yale; a lot of mythical animals do seem to have originated, at least in part, from travelers' tales about animals in distant lands.

Todd Jensen

"YOUR COURAGE, YOUR CHEERFULNESS AND YOUR GARGOYLES WILL BRING US VICTORY"

"M.I.A." was one I managed to catch when it aired, I was too young to understand the intricacies of World War II or the bravery of the service members who fought against the Blitz, or the subtle bits like the London Clan being based on heraldic animals. But our heroes fighting bad guys was simple enough to understand.

Leo and Una's arc in the episode of course harkens back to Demona's own path. The two of them are angry at the wrong people for a decision they made long ago. But unlike her they eventually come to the realization that punishing those who weren't involved will not bring back Griff anymore than it would ease their guilt. So Demona lashes out at humanity and they go back to protecting humanity.

One detail I appreciate more these days is that while the series established rules for time travel it wasn't to the point that it locked the narrative in a certain way. The point of Goliath realizing that Griff's life is going to constantly be in-peril because fate dictated that he not return home that night brings to mind the 2002 version of "The Time Machine" where the lead's fiancée is constantly going to die in more contrived ways. But Goliath figures out that semantics can work in his favor by snatching him away into the 90's. Thus fulfilling the narrative plot point but giving a twist to it that means a character is fated to die simply because. Though I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Goliath has unintentionally done to Griff what happened to him, taken him out of his time into a world that seems strange to him.

The heraldic theme is truly unique and they share some elements with the "clan" Raven conjured. I also have to bring up Neil Dickson who at this point has truly done a lot of the heavy lifting for each of the episodes set in the UK.

By the way, that bit about the yales and having horns they can move around brings to mind the Ethiopian Bull, who is also able to control the movement of its horns.

Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

Thanks for the excellent thoughts, Todd, particularly on the heraldry angle. I don't have anything particularly deep to add, except to note that Robert Cohen holds the unusual distinction of being the only person to write episodes of both Gargoyles and The Simpsons (he's credited with the all-time classic third-season episode "Flaming Moe's," which it's fair to say is somewhat tonally different from "M.I.A.").
Craig

"a mythical beast similar to an antelope but with horns that could move around at will - no relation to a certain infamous Assistant District Attorney" - Todd! HAHA!

Also, you make me wonder whether perhaps Una and Leo had seen the Phoenix flame before.

Matt
"Human problems become gargoyle problems..."

Sorry for the double-post, but one other detail I forgot to mention. When Goliath uses the Phoenix Gate to go back to 1940, and we see Leo and Una's response - Una's expression barely changes, and Leo only looks slightly annoyed. Neither of them appear taken aback at all to see Goliath vanish in a burst of phoenix fire. But I suppose that, when you work in a magic shop, you get used to that sort of thing.
Todd Jensen

It certainly doesn't seem to have occurred to the bots that signing your name with the name of the company (whether real or fictional) they're working for is a surefire way to let everyone else know you're a bot.

Rewatched "M. I. A." today. It's still one of my favorite Avalon World Tour stories, and seeing it again reminds me why. I'm fond of British settings, for a start, and historical time travel - and we get a particularly fun one with another time loop. And we get a few new gargoyles - the first genuine non-Scottish clan to appear in the series: Leo, Una, and Griff. And Griff's a particularly delightful new gargoyle (I don't think we were expecting him to get his own spin-off - sort of - when we first saw "M. I. A.", but more about that when I reach "Pendragon").

We know that the production team had the idea for Goliath taking part in the Battle of Britain for a long time (it's even hinted at in the Series Bible), but the original plan was for Goliath to be awake during the thousand years after the Wyvern Massacre, guarding the rest of the clan that had been turned to stone, and leave the castle during World War II out of the realization that a Nazi victory would be disastrous for Castle Wyvern. Of course, they turned it into time travel instead, and I'm glad they took this approach. I think it would have taken away much of the drama when the gargoyles awakened in modern-day Manhattan if Goliath had already (on his timeline) encountered the modern world (granted, there are some differences between 1940 and the mid-90's, as Griff discovers, but not on the level of those between 994 and 1994).

The London clan certainly seem to have adopted British culture in some ways; they offer Goliath tea, for example (I liked the touch of no sugar because of wartime rationing), and certainly their line of business evokes Adam Smith's famous description of the English as "a nation of shopkeepers". (I doubt that he ever visited the "Into the Mystic" shop, of course.)

Two features of the Dynamite comics may give a new perspective on this episode. First, the part about Leo and Una passing themselves off as wearing masks; since then, we've seen a genuine case of gargoyle masks - and very well-made ones at that - with Dino Dracon's gang. Second and more importantly, we saw in "Dark Ages: Alliance" another use of "human problems become gargoyle problems", one of my favorite lines in the episode, and see how Goliath came by this understanding. (It certainly matches so much of what we've seen of "gargoyle problems" in the series. How often, for example, the struggles over the Scottish throne in the tenth and eleventh centuries led to gargoyle clans getting massacred. Indeed, I've sometimes thought that even the Quarryman threat is ultimately a "human problem", fueled by Jon Canmore/Castaway shooting his brother and being unable to admit that he's responsible for it.)

And Leo and Una's coming to understand the real reason why they were so angry at Goliath - that it was deep-down guilt over turning their back on "gargoyles protect" - echoes Demona and how her attempt to avoid her own responsibility for her troubles (and other people's troubles, for that matter) led to misery for her (and everyone else). Fortunately, they don't go as far down that road as she did.

"Into the Mystic" bore the words "open all night" on its sign, below the shop name. It's certainly appropriate for a gargoyle-run business.

I've sometimes wondered the response the gargoyle war memorial got, given that almost all the Londoners would have seen living gargoyles as mythical creatures. It would have been almost like raising a World War I monument to the Angels of Mons.

Leo and Una were both wearing brooches on their robes with what looked like a griffon's head on them. At first I thought it was a memorial for Griff, but then I saw that they were already wearing them in the 1940 scenes, so there must have been a different reason for them (unless they were an animation error).

Griff recognizes Goliath as "Scottish stock", indicating that the English gargoyles know much about the Scottish gargoyles, even though there are barely any left (the only survivors of the Wyvern clan were all either trapped in stone sleep in Castle Wyvern, away on Avalon, or, in the case of Demona, wandering the world alone and probably making very little, if any, contact with the London clan - and I doubt that the London clan had established communications with the Loch Ness clan). Of course, when we get to meet more London gargoyles in "Clan-Building", we see that Constance's wings look more "Scottish gargoyle" than "English gargoyle"; could there be some Scottish blood in the London clan?

One little touch I really like is Leo and Una warmly greeting Goliath in 1940, to which Goliath looks sad - no doubt reflecting on how differently they'll receive him fifty-five years later.

Back in "Awakening Part Three", Goliath asked Elisa why Manhattan had no walls to keep out enemies, and Elisa offered one good explanation (which Goliath immediately got): the big problems are already in Manhattan. The visit to 1940 offered another answer to Goliath's question: city walls of the medieval variety wouldn't keep out bombers and other military aircraft.

Una mentions having uneasy feelings about that particular night (when Griff won't return); I've wondered whether that was just fear that happened to be fulfilled, or whether (based on her being a sorceress of some skill) it was a genuine piece of foreboding.

A really good World Tour story, as I've said, maybe one of the best.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE LONDON CLAN: As we know, for some variety, the London clan was modeled, not on conventional gargoyles like the Scottish clan, but on heraldic beasts found in England. Particularly prominent examples of these are the King's Beasts (a set of heraldic animal sculptures at Hampton Court, originally built in honor of Henry VIII and two successive wives of his - first Anne Boleyn, then Jane Seymour - though the current ones were rebuilt in 1950 to replace the originals, which had been demolished by Christopher Wren when he was redesigning Hampton Court in the late seventeenth century) and the Queen's Beasts (built for Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and placed at Kew Gardens). Both sets of beasts include lions and unicorns; the Queen's Beasts also include a griffon. Other animals represented in both sets of beasts include panthers (which probably won't show up in the London clan since Talon's already providing that one - though the panthers of English heraldry are rather different from real-life panthers), greyhounds, yales (a mythical beast similar to an antelope but with horns that could move around at will - no relation to a certain infamous Assistant District Attorney), red dragons of the Welsh sort (given the indication in "Dark Ages: Alliance" that gargoyles and dragons are closely related, that would certainly be an appropriate look for gargoyles), bulls (I think that Taurus would similarly view that design as already taken), horses, and falcons (the falcon in the Queen's Beasts, by the way, is a silver falcon). No mention of wild boar or deer among them, though they do have their own significance in British legend that I'll discuss when I get to the Stone of Destiny story in "Clan-Building".

Leo and Una's designs are all the more appropriate given how lions and unicorns have traditionally represented England and Scotland respectively (maybe Una's showing a bit of "Scottish descent" in a different way).

Lions often show up in Arthurian legend, by the way (appropriate, in light of the indications we get in "Pendragon" that the London clan had ties to Arthur's kingdom). In particular, a few such appearances have them becoming friends with one of King Arthur's knights; the story follows a pattern - the knight comes upon a lion being attacked by a serpent or dragon, helps the lion defeat the serpent, after which the lion makes friends with the knight. The most prominent of these tales is the story of a knight variously known as Yvain, Owain, or Uwaine (King Arthur's own nephew, the son of Morgan le Fay, but who had not joined his mother in hating Arthur), who was nicknamed "the Knight of the Lion" as a result of teaming up with the lion. (Another, in Malory, was Sir Percival himself during the Grail Quest - of some note, given what we know about Percival in the Gargoyles Universe). I've suspected for a while that, in the Gargoyles Universe, those lions who became comrades to the knights in question were actually "lion-gargoyles" like Leo. (My suspicion was helped a bit by the revelation of a London gargoyle being named Lunette in "Clan-Building"; Lunette was the name of a major character in the story of Yvain, raising the possibility that she was named after the associate of a human friend of a "long ago" clan member.) One medieval romance even has Lancelot experience a vision during the Quest of the Holy Grail of his son Galahad being transformed into a winged lion to symbolize his achieving the Holy Grail, though I doubt that the Galahad of the Gargoyles Universe was a gargoyle.

Unicorns and griffons don't turn up as often in Arthurian tales. I recall only one story featuring a unicorn in Arthurian legend, a relatively little-known one where King Arthur is shipwrecked on a remote island and there meets a dwarf who'd been shipwrecked there many years before with his son, when the latter was a baby. The dwarf's wife had been with them, but had died in the wreck; a unicorn, living on the island, cared for the baby, however, and suckled it. The properties of the unicorn's milk caused the dwarf-child to grow up to the size of a giant. (I doubt that this tale reflects any actual incidents involving gargoyles during King Arthur's time, however.) There are one or two mentions of griffons, but not very prominent ones. (T. H. White in his "The Sword in the Stone" did feature a scene where a young Arthur is doing battle against a group of griffons and wyverns guarding Morgan le Fay's castle - aided by Robin Hood and his outlaws, in a big crossover moment. Griff has been occasionally described as having a "Robin Hood"-ish tone, by the way.)

FAVORITE LINES.

GOLIATH (to Griff): You saved my life. It was supposed to be the other way.


UNA: Leo's right. The Nazis are a human problem.

GRIFF: What do you think, Goliath?

GOLIATH: I do not presume to advise, but in my experience, human problems become gargoyle problems.


UNA: Please look after him. He's very dear to me - I mean, to us.

GOLIATH: You have my word. I will not let anything happen to him, this time.

UNA: This time?


DOUGLAS BADER: They're real! And they're on our side!


GOLIATH (pulling Griff back to safety, in time to keep him from being run over): Let's not start that again.


GOLIATH: So, Leo and Una's memories of me were accurate, but I couldn't recognize them because I first had to go back in time to meet them.

ELISA: Right. Okay, just explain it one more time. And take it slow.

Todd Jensen

Thanks, Craig!

It's been corrected!

Greg Bishansky

Sorry for the double post. Just want to flag for any Gargwiki editors that the credits for "The Gathering, Part Two" are incorrect. The entry only lists Brynne as story editor and Lydia as writer. Gary Sperling should also be listed as story editor alongside Brynne, Lydia should have story credit, and Gary should have co-teleplay credit alongside Lydia.
Craig

Some of these bots are just lazy.
Craig

Cool!
Concrete

So here is a riddle to guess if you can, sing the bells of Notre Dame,
What makes a monster and what makes a monster into a woman?


Yes, it would seem weird to have a series called Gargoyles and not have some mention of France and its etymological origin.

This episode brings up another staple of Greg's style, the inevitable double-cross amongst villains. Here both Demona and Thailog's treachery is in full display with the latter really demonstrating how vile he is. Unlike in his introduction there's no excuse regarding his origin and how he was raised, Thailog's a manipulative and rotten figure who has no problem using both Demona and Macbeth for his own ends. Ultimately he only sticks with Demona when it becomes clear his desired outcome where she and Macbeth destroy each other isn't going to happen, but seeds of the full extent of his backstabbing nature are spread here. He has no love or loyalty for any of his fathers, why not his lover as well?

There's something pretty twisted about the relationships seen here, Macbeth having to discover that his supposed lover is in fact his worst enemy (and she seems to relish this reveal). Thailog is already leering at Angela (the less said about that the better). Heck, even Demona's relationship with Thailog resembles a twisted version of what she had with Goliath. Kind of ironic that Elisa calls Paris the most romantic city in the world and what we get is drama straight out of a French tragedy.

This is another episode that tests Angela's idealism, last time she saw some of the worst that humanity had to offer and now she gets a double whammy with Demona and Thailog, some of the worst that gargoyles have to offer. But more subtly is that her concept of parentage and what she hopes for from Goliath. It's funny to think of, but she and her clan were raised by Katharine, Magus and Tom so there's already elements of the communal raising that fits in with gargoyle tradition. But her revelation in "Monsters" provides an intriguing bit that gargoyles traditionally don't discover or at least don't place much emphasis on, blood ties. Her curiosity and desire for something closer is a wholly unique trait and a interesting bit of character development. And while Goliath is still a staunch traditionalist, he'll have his own development in the future.

And finally there's the matter of Macbeth. Last time he was an unwilling adversary and here, while not quite an ally (not by his next episode either) he can part on cordial terms with the heroes. And for a brief moment isn't looking for an end to his life.

Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

CRAIG AND MATTHEW - Thanks, again, for your comments on "Golem".

I rewatched "Sanctuary" today. It struck me as yet another logical destination for the World Tour: send the gargoyles to Notre Dame Cathedral, home to the most famous architectural gargoyles in the world. And Thailog almost becomes a "Hunchback of Notre Dame" echo here - which feels all the more appropriate, given that he's recently had a fight with someone clearly based on another of Victor Hugo's leads.

"Sanctuary" has the definite advantage of returning two of the major antagonists of the series, plus the more recently-introduced Thailog (who looks all the more imposing with his new suit of armor - he's clearly taking his own path, further away from Goliath) - with the twist that it starts off seeming to be Demona and Macbeth in another plot as in "High Noon" (but with seemingly no reason for the Weird Sisters to be behind it this time), and then it's actually Demona and Thailog duping Macbeth (as Elisa points out, thanks to the Weird Sisters' forgetfulness spell, Macbeth shouldn't know about Demona turning into a human in the daytime). And a further twist of Thailog secretly moving against Demona (I like the touch of Goliath trying to warn Thailog at Notre Dame that Demona is using him - Thailog is no doubt secretly noting, with amusement, that it's the other way around).

I liked the direction that this episode took. Ever since "City of Stone", I'd gotten to rather like Macbeth, so it felt like a welcome step to have him be the sympathetic figure here - the intended victim of Demona and Thailog, subjected to a cruel deception - someone whom Goliath and Elisa can come to the aid of, and with Goliath even offering Macbeth some friendly counsel. Macbeth will still be an adversary at least once more, in "Pendragon", but it's still a sign that he doesn't need to be an antagonist to be an effective character.

(I also liked the touch of "Dominique"'s transformation coming just as Macbeth was about to share his real life-story with her. I can just imagine his needing to bring up, among other things, that Shakespeare's play wasn't quite accurate.)

A second thread is the result of Angela being revealed as Goliath's biological daughter in "Monsters", with Goliath trying to push her off. He argues that it's because it goes against the Gargoyle Way of communal parentage, but as many viewers have pointed out, the fact that Goliath and Angela are the only members of their rookery generations present weakens the argument. I think it's safe to assume that Goliath's real motive is that he's afraid of what happens when Angela finds out about Demona being her mother (which, of course, happens here), especially with his trying to keep Angela far away from their confrontation.

And we get a couple of hints of Goliath and Elisa's own feelings for each other - Elisa regretting that they're visiting Paris, the most romantic city in the world, while Goliath's in stone sleep (though, as I recall Greg Weisman once pointed out, would Elisa actually have tried to "date" him if it had been at night?), and of course, the bit when Goliath tells Macbeth that the right someone is out there for him, then glances at Elisa. (I used to regularly watch this episode on Valentine's Day.)

The newspaper shot of a gargoyle (Demona or Thailog?) flying across the moon looks rather like the Bat-Signal - which stands out all the more in light of the production team's concern about "Gargoyles" being mistaken for a "Batman: TAS" imitation.

I like the touch of Thailog shouting to Demona, as Macbeth shoots his way out of his cell, "Didn't you search him?" - as a way of drawing attention away from the fact that he was the one who slipped Macbeth the laser pistol.

He also leers at Angela when he first sees her - a disturbing element, given that she's his half-sister. Not that the incestuous nature of that is likely to disturb Thailog in the least. (And note that he's already involved with his own stepmother-of-a-sort, which is almost as disturbing - and clearly neither Demona nor Thailog are concerned about that.)

The finale of Demona and Macbeth's fight takes place in the library; I shudder to think of all the books getting damaged or destroyed as a result.

And one little detail that I noticed in my last viewing (back in 2019) and thought I'd bring up again - Thailog calling Demona at the end "night angel", a clear echo of Goliath's "my angel of the night", but designed to better fit Thailog's far more modern and flippant tone.

All in all, one of the better World Tour episodes, and certainly a big moment in the series.


FAVORITE LINES.

ELISA: I don't believe this. Of all the places Avalon could've sent us, who'd have figured Paris? The most romantic city in the world, and Goliath isn't even awake to enjoy it with me.


DEMONA: It was love at first flight.

GOLIATH: Love, Demona? You no longer know the meaning of the word. Hate is what you live for now.


ANGELA: You never told me that you and Demona were in love.

GOLIATH: You were eavesdropping?

ANGELA: Is it true?

GOLIATH: It was a very long time ago. It no longer matters.

ANGELA: It matters to me, father!


DEMONA: Did you think I'd miss out on my own wedding night?


THAILOG: The newly-weds seem to be having a difference of opinion. I thought it best not to take sides.


GOLIATH: This isn't going to happen. I won't let it happen.

THAILOG: You and what clan?


THAILOG: Teamwork is so overrated.


GOLIATH: Search for that love. She's out there. {He glances at Elisa, who smiles back.} Just make sure that next time you get a good look at her at night.


THAILOG (to Demona): Forget them, night angel. The evening's a wash, but we still have each other.


ANGELA: It's true, isn't it? Demona is my mother. Elisa, I have to know.

ELISA: It's true.

{Angela says nothing, sitting silently in the skiff with a troubled look on her face as she contemplates this revelation.}

Todd Jensen

Sixth!

"Golem" was the episode that got me cautiously on board with the "World Tour," after a couple of misfires. (The next three December episodes following this one shored up my confidence even more.) This was my introduction to the Golem legend. I was immediately fascinated by the myth, and was impressed (still am) by the reverence with which the show treats the culturally sensitive material. I imagine most children's shows wouldn't have even bothered trying to adapt this legend because of the risk of getting something wrong and causing offense; but thankfully, this is an episode where the writers really put the work in and went the extra mile to get things right (thanks in large part, I assume, to Gary Sperling's brother). The "pogrom" sequence is of course a highlight, and quite a shock when I first saw it (I put "pogrom" in quotes because I think that word would technically be anachronistic in the 16th century, as it didn't come into use until about three centuries later, but it certainly applies). It feels odd to use the word "beautiful" to describe that sequence, but the animation certainly is, with the use of shadows and light emphasizing the horror, while also framing the violence in such a way as to make it palatable for an afternoon kids' show without watering it down at all. It reminds me of something out of an old impressionistic German silent horror film. (Unfortunately, none of the German silent films about the Golem were as faithful to the actual legend as Gargoyles was.)

Max is an interesting protagonist. As Todd notes, this episode does again suffer a bit from being a half-hour long and having to jam in all the setup, action, and payoff in less than 21 minutes. (I sometimes wish they'd dropped the "Previously on Gargoyles" segments for the World Tour, as they often weren't all that necessary anyway--sometimes they REALLY stretched to find relevant material--and that extra 30 seconds of story could have made a difference.) But despite the somewhat rushed nature of his arc, Max is a fairly nuanced character. Unlike Natsilane, he has no doubts about his culture; his arc is about overcoming his insecurities about his own worthiness or lack thereof. A struggle all of us can probably relate to at certain moments in our lives (especially when undertaking a new task or starting a new chapter).

Interesting point about Janus's name, Todd. My assumption is that the name was chosen to refer to the Roman god's function presiding over beginnings and transitions (I believe his name was derived from a Latin word for "doorway"), which certainly applies to the character Janus's role as Max's guide in this key moment of change in Max's life. The god Janus was also linked to birth (the ultimate beginning), and one could argue that the Golem itself is born, or reborn, here. And finally, the god also presided over the beginnings and endings of conflict, which certainly applies as well to the events in this episode. "Janus" does strike me as a bit of an unusual name choice for a Czech Hebrew scholar, as the name has a Latin origin.

I already wrote a bunch about my love for Renard when "Outfoxed" came up a few months ago. Culp certainly acts his heart out here to sell a heel turn that could have easily come across as rushed or merely a plot convenience; and then he sells the SECOND reversal just as well! Again, given the half-hour nature of the episode, and the need to tell both Max's arc and Renard's in that short screentime, it's a tall order. While the character writing in this one is definitely pretty solid, I give Culp a great deal of the credit for making this work as well as it does. Even when he's being a colossal jerk, I can't help but find Halcyon oddly sympathetic.

I'm not the biggest fan of Brod, honestly (as much as I love Clancy Brown). I appreciate him choosing the hovership as payment, but he's mostly just a thug, and his accent is a bit too "Boris Badenov" (as Greg even acknowledged when he tried to give Brod a "moose and squirrel" line in "Turf" but was voted down). I do like the opening car chase though, which is a nice "Bond movie" kind of moment for Brod with some really nice Animal-Ya animation (and good use of the actual geography of Prague, the way the show often used NYC...I wish we'd gotten a bit more of this in the World Tour). There's a great little moment where Brod adjusts his rear-view mirror and there's a flash of light. It's those little details from the Japanese animation studios that really elevated their work above the other studios in the 1990s.

Craig

Ah, the Golem, staple of Jewish folklore and prime representative of earthen monsters. I'm not entirely sure where I first heard of golems as a mythical concept but I know it wasn't here because this was an episode I missed when it aired and it would be years later before I saw this one. Judeo-Christian folklore doesn't always get much representation in media, the former less so than the latter. In fact Jewish representation tends to show up usually in the token Hanukkah episode in kid's media.

Brod makes an interesting first impression, he reminds me a bit of Dracon except that he's a bit more hands on and lacks the smarmy demeanor. I feel like I could make a joke about despite masterminding the theft of the Golem, Halcyon gets only a stern lecture while it's the working class guys who take the full punishment. But it does bring to mind Renard and Goliath's discussion on how difficult it is to remain true to one's morals. Besides the whole thing about money means rules for other people, Renard is coming to terms with his mortality and finds himself faltering. It's a sobering reminder that desperation lowers everyone no matter wealth or background, Halcyon's last line about how tired he is isn't just a case about age and illness but also a sad look at how a genius, billionaire innovator just doesn't have the energy for the madcap schemes we the audience have gotten used to here in the show.

Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

I still rather miss snow, since moving to Phoenix almost ten years ago.

I rewatched "Golem" today. Like "Monsters", this one provides another legend that it makes sense for the gargoyles to encounter - this time the Golem of Prague. The Golem's a protector like them; the main difference is that it's an "artificial" one, a clay statue brought to life, while the gargoyles are living beings rather than magically animated statues.

Like "Heritage", we also have another local receiving the call to be a hero. I think they handled it better with Max Loew than they did with Natsilane. He's accepted the Call at the start without a constant resistance, and while he's understandably nervous about it, he still takes on the role - particularly being brave enough to confront Renard while he's in the Golem's body and refusing to back down. He clearly takes the role seriously (and also sees to it that the Golem won't do Brod in).

Another advantage that this episode has over "Heritage" is bringing in an already familiar figure: Halcyon Renard. Now we find out that Renard's integrity has temporarily yielded to his fear of his approaching death (a death which we'll later see in "Here in Manhattan", of course), enough to reverse the roles of "Outfoxed"; now Goliath (assisted by Max) is the one seeking to get through to Renard - and fortunately succeeds. (Maybe a bit on the quick side, but it *is* a half-hour episode, and we already see Renard becoming uncomfortable with the situation before Goliath and Max speak up, when Elisa's telling him off, and he starts stammering that he doesn't want this to happen, that it's not his fault - his saying that shows just how disturbed he's become.)

Max and Janus (I wonder, incidentally, how it is that he bears the same name as a Roman two-faced god - and I'm writing this during the very month named after him; appropriate timing) initially believe that the Golem's possessed when it goes on its rampage, and while I'm not an expert on the Golem legend (I knew the basic story before I first saw this episode), I've read that in some tales about Golems, they do wind up going mad and the rabbi who made them had to deactivate them. (Certainly Renard seemed to have lost it, engaging in a lot of pointless destruction like tying a lamp post into a knot.)

To fill the audience in on the Golem, in case they're not familiar with it, we get the one flashback in the series that doesn't involve the gargoyles or the major human characters connected with them. I remember Jurgan bringing up that it's a chilling depiction of a pogrom. (Not the last time that a Disney animated series would show one, by the way, though the latter occasion - the Hanukkah special in "The Ghost and Molly McGee", went for a much more toned-down version, understandably; we just saw windows being smashed this time rather than people being directly attacked.)

We also get introduced to Brod, who'll be returning a couple of times after this, including "Here in Manhattan". One element about him that I recall definitely got the audience's attention: he decides to be paid, not in money, but in the airship that Renard gave him to carry out the Golem-theft. It brought up comments of his certainly being an ingenious villain from that.

Goliath recognizes at the end of the episode that they're meant to go on this world tour and should see it through. I'm glad that he picked up on that so quickly (relatively) in the World Tour.

The episode could be seen as a testimony to the late Robert Culp's acting skills; look at how Renard's voice changes when he's in the Golem's body. It still sounds recognizably Renard, but tougher.

And we get another "awww" Bronx moment (like the scene in "Heritage" where he's poking his head out of the bush after his fight with the bear, not to mention the Winter Special) when Janus is petting him; the man quickly picked up on Bronx's true nature.

Bringing up morrand's comments on language in "Gargoyles", we do get some spoken Hebrew here, though it's all part of "ancient language for working magic", like Latin. We don't see anyone in Prague speaking Czech.

(Writing this review reminded me of a picture book adaptation of the Golem legend by David Wisniewski that I came across many years ago. I recall it had a lovely depiction of the Golem, staring up in wonder at the sky just after it's been created, and begging Rabbi Loew, when it's time to "shut it down", to please let it go on living to gaze at the beauty of the natural world. I'd like to reread it, but all the copies in the local library are "in-library-use only", and none are being kept at my local branch.)


FAVORITE LINES.

MAX LOEW: What are you looking for?

ELISA: New York.


ELISA: Prague seems about as friendly as New York.


RENARD: Out of my way!

MAX LOEW: No. The Golem depends on me to guide him wisely.


GOLIATH: Renard! Stop this madness! A weak body is no excuse for a corrupt spirit.


GOLIATH: My friend, is this a better destiny? Giving up all you believe in for a piece of clay?


GOLIATH: Your city is in capable hands.

ELISA: And you'll get used to the weirdness.

Todd Jensen

Third!

Definitely snowed in here in St. Louis, MO!

Matt
"Human problems become gargoyle problems..."

Second! And a happy Epiphany for those who mark it today. Be sure to get those Christmas lights down to avoid bad luck, unless you're one of those who are getting iced up today, in which case better luck may be to stay off the roof.

There's probably room to complain that there ought to be more language barriers throughout the series, starting with the clan's initial appearance in Manhattan and going onward from there (e.g., however else you explain Goliath and all's immediate fluency in American English, it doesn't explain Tom's immediate fluency in American English when he shows up later, nor anyone else's in Avalon). It's not much room, though: observing language barriers would only get in the way of the stories being told, generally, and it seems like the better course was just to ignore them, and write their absence off to various factors (mystery off-screen spells, Avalon's magic, and so on).

As much as I think a language barrier between Katana and Brooklyn could make for an interesting complication to their initial relationship (and, for that matter, Brooklyn's relationship to that clan), it would more likely just get in the way of telling the story, and I would not mind the idea that the Phoenix Gate had some generic way to handle that. (Katana and Gnash being bilingual by the time we see them could just be one more sign the Gate had let them go, I suppose, or it just might not matter.) With luck, time will tell.

morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]

First!
Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]