Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Kingdom

Welcome back to Gargoyles my friends!

In today’s episode, we’re taking a break from the world tour arc to see what our friends in Manhattan have been up to. Well, as I bet most of you can imagine, they’ve been spending most of this time searching for Goliath, Elisa and Bronx. Afterall, it’s not like either of them to disappear for days on end without telling anyone where they were going. Broadway even found Elisa’s cat, Cagney, alone in her apartment looking like she hadn’t eaten for days. With Goliath gone, the Gargoyles are left to wonder what they should do and Hudson looks to Brooklyn for the answers since Goliath named him his second in command. Brooklyn is not happy about everyone looking to him for answers and assures everyone that Goliath will be back eventually. Obviously, Brooklyn feels he isn’t ready to lead just yet, but it seems he has no choice. The Gargoyles decide to split up and look for clues about their friends’ whereabouts. Lexington listens in at Elisa’s parents place, Broadway has a rather humorous interaction with Matt Bluestone and Brooklyn agrees to see if Talon and the other mutants know anything.

In the time since The Cage, it seems that Talon and the Mutates have taken up residence in the New York sewer systems, referred to as “The Labyrinth” and have declared the homeless people living down there to be under their protection. Personally, I believe no Labyrinth is complete without David Bowie in tight pants, but what do I know? As Brooklyn arrives, we see Fang and two human thugs (one of whom bares an odd resemblance to Pro Wrestler Sgt. Slaughter) shaking down a homeless man for tribute in a fashion similar to Dracon’s protection racket from several episodes ago. When Fang doesn’t like what the man has to offer, he starts roughing him up, forcing Brooklyn to intervene. They tussle for a bit until Talon breaks things up. While Talon is also reluctant to take on the role of leader, he nonetheless admonishes Fang for exploiting the weak instead of protecting them. Maggie feels that Talon should do more about Fang, but Talon is confident that he’ll come around eventually. In any case, it seems Talon doesn’t know what happened to Goliath and Elisa any more than Brooklyn does. Fang suggests that Xanatos may be behind the disappearance, and lays on the whole “he turned you into a monster and tried to trick you into killing Goliath” angle extra thick to make sure he goes off half-cocked, likely so he can enact his plans to take over the Labyrinth. Brooklyn thinks it’s a bad idea since if Xanatos isn’t responsible, the Gargoyles will have tipped off their greatest enemy that their leader is missing and are therefore vulnerable, but Brooklyn hasn’t developed the assertiveness necessary for leadership just yet and allows Talon to rally the Manhattan Clan for an assault on Castle Xanatos.

As our heroes glide towards the Castle, the man himself (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) sees them coming and decides now’s as good a time as any to test out their new security system. After the Gargoyles deal with the giant laser cannons that Xanatos had installed in the castle, Brooklyn and Broadway end up crashing through the roof. It’s here where I’m reminded just how much I’ve missed Xanatos. Only Xanatos can keep his composure after two winged monsters just crashed through the ceiling of his office. Talon barges in, only to get a fist in the gut courtesy of Owen. That may not sound so bad, until you remember that Owen’s hand is now solid stone thanks to the cauldron of life from back in The Price. He may not be able to play the piano anymore, but at least he’s got a nasty left hook. It’s a real lemons and lemonade situation. Anyway, the Gargoyles blurt out that Elisa and Goliath are missing, something that both intrigues Xanatos and annoys Brooklyn since this is exactly what he wanted to avoid. Xanatos claims he doesn’t know anything and even allows the Gargoyles to have a look around and check his computer files to prove he’s telling the truth. Lexington asks why Xanatos was shooting at them if he didn’t know anything to which Xanatos replies “Do I Really Need an Excuse to Have a Good Time in My Own Home.” That may very well be the most Xanatos line I’ve heard in a while. God damn it I’ve missed you Xanatos. Regardless, our heroes find nothing in the castle and Lexington finds nothing on Xanatos’s computer aside from the usual shady dealings. A man has to make a living after all. The Gargoyles head for home, Brooklyn still dejected about how things went down.

Back down in the Labyrinth, Fang, Claw and Fang’s two thugs have found a secret cache of high-tech laser rifles which they plan to use to take over. By the time Talon returns, Fang has already declared himself the new sheriff in town and has locked up Maggie. Talon attacks Fang, but with his gun toting goons backing Fang up, the big cat is overwhelmed. During the tussle, Maggie appeals to Claw’s better nature and gets him to let her go despite his fear of Fang. I have to say, Claw’s fearful miming when Fang asked how Maggie escaped got a big laugh from me.

The following night, The Gargoyles wake up to find Maggie waiting for them in the Clocktower. Maggie brings the Gargoyles up to speed and Brooklyn decides that, whether he likes it or not, he’s the leader now and he has to take charge. And so, Brooklyn leads the assault on the Labyrinth. I really appreciate the look of pride of Hudson’s face as Brooklyn takes charge. He’s been subtly nudging Brooklyn to this point all episode all while being careful not to push him too far. To see Brooklyn finally step up and act like the great leader he knows he will be some day, Hudson can’t help but feel proud. Anywho, The Gargoyles storm the Labrynth and try to put down Fang’s hostile takeover. Broadway and Lexington take out the two thugs in a great fight that tricked me into thinking they’d bashed their heads in with rocks. They didn’t, they just crushed their guns, but I can’t be the only one who thought the former at first when this episode aired. Brooklyn fights Fang but that ends when Fang takes Maggie hostage. Brooklyn agrees to leave Fang alone and let him rule the Labyrinth provided Maggie comes with them. Maggie is pissed at Brooklyn for abandoning Talon, but it turns out this was all a ruse to slip Maggie the key card to Talon’s cell without Fang noticing. Maggie releases Derek and together they subdue Fang. Claw even overcomes his fear and smashes his gun. With Fang vanquished and locked up, Talon declares the weapons are banned in the Labyrinth and that justice will always prevail. Hudson once again looks to Brooklyn, asking what the Gargoyles should do now. Brookyln declares that he will lead the best he can, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be giving up hope or stop searching for Goliath and the others. And so our episode ends with Talon and Brooklyn shaking hands, both having fully embraced their role as leader.

While analyzing this episode, I couldn’t help but be reminded of something Brooklyn said back in Upgrade shortly after Goliath named him as second in command. “Be Careful Out There Goliath, I’m in No Hurry to Replace You.” Now, you could take that at face value since obviously Brooklyn wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to his friend and mentor, but personally, I saw that as Brooklyn acknowledging to himself that, while he’s honored to accept the position of Goliath’s second, he nonetheless has a lot to learn before he’s ready to take Goliath’s place as leader. In this episode, Brooklyn has been forced to step into that role far sooner than he expected, and that self-doubt gets to him. I mean, let’s be honest, Goliath is pretty tough to live up to. Xanatos wasn’t exactly blowing smoke when he called Goliath the greatest warrior alive. Brooklyn may never become as great a leader as Goliath, but I think by the end of the episode he learns that he doesn’t have to be, he just has to be the best leader that he can. Notice how Brooklyn was able to defeat Fang, by trickery and deception. While I doubt that Goliath would disapprove, it’s unlikely to be a strategy he’d employ himself. But that’s a good thing. It shows that Brooklyn is able to step out of his mentor’s shadow and lead in his own way. Good stuff. Altogether, this was a great episode. I liked Hudson pushing Brooklyn towards accepting his new role, Xanatos steals the show in his all too brief scene, and there was even some nice subtle character development in Brooklyn’s quiet looks of dejection when Maggie alludes to the fact that she’s with Talon now. Speaking of, I also appreciate that this is just as much Talon’s story as it is Brooklyn’s. As a character, he’s really come into his own. He’s still a hot head like he’s always been, but that seems to parallel Brooklyn, showing that they both have a lot to learn. Fitting that the final image of the episode is the two shaking hands, having accepted their new roles. Well, I hope you enjoyed this check in on our friends back in Manhattan, because next time we’re back on the World Tour as our heroes arrive in Ireland to learn that there may be more to Bronx than meets the eye. Join us next episode for The Hound of Ulster.