Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: City of Stone Part 4

Welcome back everyone, to the final part of City of Stone. Last time, we learned more of the history of MacBeth and Demona, specifically how they were bound together by magic making both effectively immortal unless one kills the other. In the present, Xanatos and the Gargoyles came up with a plan to reverse Demona’s spell that involves lighting the sky on fucking fire!!! However, while the Gargoyles are away, Demona snuck into the castle and is ready to put the kibosh on Xanatos’ plan, but not before getting all smash happy on the helpless Elisa.

We open out episode with Demona (Marina Sirtis, Take a Shot) ready to smash Elisa, but fortunately, Goliath wasn’t dumb enough to leave her completely unprotected and Bronx pounces on Demona. Bronx may be formidable, but he’s still a dog, so all Demona has to do is scratch him behind the ears and call him a good boy to get him to back down. The loyal watchdog still won’t let Demona near Elisa so Demona will have to settle for killing Xanatos and Goliath instead. As such, Demona sets the timer to detonate the gas prematurely. Demona is confident that there will soon be no one left to stop her, but that’s when MacBeth arrives. MacBeth could give a damn about saving Xanatos and the Gargoyles, all he cares about now is killing Demona and finally ending things for both of them.

We go to another flashback. It’s been seventeen years since last time and it seems in that time someone new has taken up the mantle of the Hunter. Someone influential it seems too as he’s brought a massive invading force from England to wage war with MacBeth. The English are strong, but the combined might of the Scottish army and Demona’s Gargoyles manage to keep them at bay. After a failed attempt to take on Demona one on one, the Hunter orders his forces to fall back. As Demona’s forces regroup, it’s important to note that there are both humans and Gargoyles under her command, showing that MacBeth kept his word and that both races are seen as equals. Later, Demona reports back to MacBeth and it’s clear that the alliance between the two has grown over the years into genuine friendship. Demona almost seems genuinely happy for the first time since before the massacre of Castle Wyvern. She and MacBeth embrace as Demona joyously tells him that it’s only a matter of time before the Hunter is defeated. MacBeth sees this as wonderful news and before leaving to attend to some business.

Said business turns out to be a meeting between himself, Bodhe and Prince Luoch. Bodhe says that the only reason the Hunter has been able to rally the English to his side is because MacBeth has aligned himself with the Gargoyles. Seems the English purged their land of Gargoyles long ago and now see MacBeth as an evil man for aligning with them. If MacBeth denounces the Gargoyles, the Hunter will lose his English support and MacBeth’s armies can crush him easily. Okay, I’ve been mostly defending Bodhe throughout this four-parter seeing his actions as pragmatism rather than cowardice, but this, this is just stupid. The Gargoyles are one of the greatest assets to your army. Sure, getting rid of them may get the English off your back, but then what’s to stop another superior invading force with no such issues to come and kick your ass. Not to mention, you risk pissing off a bunch of winged monsters. That’s almost never a good thing. MacBeth considers the council of his father-in-law because as he says, a Wise King considers all of his options, but that probably was something he should have internalized since, unbeknownst to him, Demona was listening at the window the whole time. It’s been sixty-two years since the massacre of Castle Wyvern and in all that time, after all she’s been through, Demona still harbors mistrust for humans, and seeing this meeting out of context fully justifies that mistrust in her mind.

Sometime later, the English attack once again, only this time we learn that Demona’s Gargoyles have deserted the Scottish armies and without their aid, they’ll soon be overwhelmed. As MacBeth's castle burns, the king flees alongside his wife only to run into the Hunter. The Hunter reveals himself to be Canmore, Duncan’s son whom MacBeth had banished (though anyone with half a brain cell has likely figured that out by this point). It seems Canmore still sees himself as the true king of Scotland and is ready to buy back the thrown with MacBeth’s blood. MacBeth offers Canmore one last chance to walk away, but Canmore, in keeping with the theme of this story, is far too consumed by his lust for revenge to back down. Besides, Canmore has an ace up his sleeve, Demona. Turns out that Demona not only deserted MacBeth, she has aligned with Canmore to destroy MacBeth before he can follow through with his planned betrayal. Ironic, all these years later, we once again find Demona selling out those she had sworn to protect to an invading force. Sixty-two years, and Demona has learned nothing from the slaughter of her clan. MacBeth continuously insists that he would never have betrayed the Gargoyles, but his speeches fall upon deaf ears. As he and Demona argue, Canmore stabs MacBeth in the back and both he and Demona seemingly drop dead. As Queen Gruoch weeps over the body of her husband, Canmore reveals that he slaughtered Demona’s remaining Gargoyles, another case of history repeating itself. Canmore leaves as Bodhe arrives with Prince Luoch. The prince is naturally horrified to see his father slain and swears revenge upon the Hunter as Bodhe places MacBeth’s crown upon Luoch’s head. As her son and father leave to fight the English, Gruoch stays behind for one last moment alone with her beloved. The Weird Sisters arrive to remind us of the whole immortality thing as Demona awakens. Upon learning that her people have been slaughtered, Demona glides off, enraged. MacBeth awakens next, and Gruoch is horrified to see her husband risen from the dead. Given this development, Gruoch feels that MacBeth’s unnatural immortality will earn him a reputation for using dark magic and soon, even his loyal Scotsman will fear him. The only hope for his people is for MacBeth is to remain dead as far as the world is concerned. And so, as the two lovers share one final kiss, MacBeth walks off.

We finally rejoin MacBeth and Demona at the castle. Demona doesn’t really seem concerned by MacBeth’s presence, knowing that MacBeth can’t kill her without killing himself. However, MacBeth doesn’t seem to care. Because of Demona, MacBeth lost his family, his kingdom, everything that ever mattered to him. He is now truly a man with nothing left to lose. After nine hundred years, MacBeth no longer fears his own death, and now, all he lives for is the satisfaction of ending Demona’s life, and his own, by his own hand. The two begin to fight, each feeling the pain they inflict on the other but neither willing to back down. MacBeth blasts a hole through the floor causing both to fall into the lower level of the Castle. Goliath and Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) arrive amidst the chaos, Xanatos having previously mentioned a tapestry that Goliath knew to be a secret passageway into the castle, prompting their return, something that Greg Weisman would later admit was a cheat to get them back to the castle. Xanatos checks his computer and sees that Demona plans to detonate the gas early meaning that not only would the city remain cursed, but the other Gargoyles will die in the explosion. Worse yet, Demona’s changed the access code, meaning that there’s nothing Xanatos can do unless they get the new code from her. Goliath tries to reason with the quarreling immortals but they’re both too far gone at this point.

Eventually, MacBeth throws a grenade, causing them both to fall through the Castle floor to a lower level yet again. The fall knocks Demona unconscious and MacBeth is primed for a killing blow but Goliath stops him, saying that killing Demona won’t solve anything. The Weird Sisters arrive to help Goliath explain how death is never the answer. Duncan having his father killed did not prevent MacBeth from becoming king, Gillecomgain’s death did nothing to ease MacBeth’s pain over losing his father, and, as we learn, his own death did nothing to save his son from Canmore’s army. As Goliath says, death is never the answer, life is. MacBeth sees the wisdom in the words of Goliath and the Triplets, but after all these centuries, he’s just so tired. Tired of waiting forever for a death that will never come, tired of this endless conflict between Demona and himself. He’s probably tried to move on with his life many times. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted the scrolls of Merlin back in A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time because he was hoping for a spell to end his curse so he could finally die or at least remove his immortality so he may live out his remaining days in peace, but that was just another dead end. In the end, as long as both he and Demona lived, he’d always be reminded of what he lost, and he could never let it go. The Sisters use a spell to put him to sleep. Xanatos says that this is fascinating and all, but he kinda needs that access code ASAP. The Sisters then turn their attention to Demona, and using a spell, force her to confront that which she has been avoiding for one thousand years. Who betrayed Demona’s clan? Who betrayed the castle to the Vikings? Who created the Hunter? Who betrayed MacBeth to Canmore? Whose insatiable lust for vengeance has caused nothing but further sorrow throughout the centuries? Finally, after all these long years, Demona, if only for a moment, is able to see the truth. It is not the humans who are responsible for her pain and suffering, she brought it all upon herself. Over time, Demona’s pain has twisted her, corrupted her, turned her into a monster who has done horrible, even unforgivable, things all in the name of a thirst for vengeance that will never be quenched until she can admit the truth and break the cycle. And so, in this one moment of clarity…

The Access Code is

ALONE

Of course the access code is “alone.” What word better describes Demona’s fate? Any and all human allies she’s ever had, the people of Castle Wyvern, MacBeth, even Xanatos, she’s ended up betraying simply because she feels that if she doesn’t, they’ll end up betraying her. And now, she’s become so far gone, that she’s even alienated herself from her own kind, her clan, including one who she once saw as her true love, now seeing her as an enemy. Even her own past-self saw what Demona had become and was disgusted by what she saw. Demona has sealed her own fate and is doomed to be forever alone in this world, and deep down, she knows it. Well, now that they have the code, Xanatos manages to adjust the timer and makes sure the gas will detonate as planned. Soon after, Demona snaps out of the Sisters’ trance and is back to her normal self, I.E. blaming the humans for everything. The Triplets put her out with the same sleep spell they used on MacBeth and teleport away taking both Demona and MacBeth with them, leaving Goliath with more questions than answers. Anywho, Xanatos lights the skies on fire, the people of the city are restored, the Gargoyles have a joyful reunion with Elisa and our episode ends with Xanatos and Goliath agreeing that despite their differences they actually do respect one another and made a pretty good team.

This is a truly incredible four-parter, giving satisfying answers to many of the mysteries that had been set up in the early episodes while still leaving the viewer with a few more, many of which are surrounding the presence of the Weird Sisters. What was the Triplets’ interest in MacBeth and Demona in the first place, why bind them to one another and what fate do they have in store for them now? All questions for another day. The obvious theme of this story was the futility of vengeance. Vengeance was all that Demona was able to live for, and not only did that turn her into a monster, it also brought nothing but sorrow and pain to the people around her, and that ended up bringing nothing but further pain, pain that could have been brought to an end had Demona allowed herself to see the truth. She could have found ways to atone for her mistake, perhaps even moved past it and lived out her life in peace, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps Xanatos of all people had the right idea when he said “Revenge is a Sucker’s Game” because in the end, it never brought any of those who sought it any satisfaction, only more pain. Anywho, next time, we see that we’re not quite done with MacBeth and Demona as they, along with another old enemy of the Gargoyles, inexplicably join forces to menace our heroes once again in High Noon.