Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Awakening Part 5

Welcome back to Gargoyles and the Final Part of Awakening. Last time, Elisa defended Goliath as he lay helpless in stone, earning his trust and his friendship. In addition, Xanatos revealed that Goliath’s lover, Demona, was still alive and together, they convinced Goliath to agree to steal back the stolen discs. While Goliath and Demona hunted for one of the discs, Goliath found his old flame to be far more aggressive and antagonistic towards humans than he remembered and found it to be more than a little off putting. Meanwhile, The Trio of Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway go after another one of the discs, only to walk into an ambush.

We pick back up with the trio, Brooklyn humorously commenting that he probably has the wrong floor and the three high tail it back up the elevator shaft. They manage to locate where the disc is being held and, using the fact that they’re huge winged monsters to their advantage, manage to intimidate the scientists into giving it up. However, the guards have caught up to them so Broadway uses the cunning and subtle escape strategy of breaking a window by throwing a refrigerator at it and the three manage to get away with the disc.

Elsewhere, Hudson and Bronx have been tasked with stealing from a heavily fortified underground base secretly located in the New York subway tunnels. However, having already been informed of the monster attack on the Island, the Underground base has beefed up security. Hudson is tough, but he’s not bullet proof and knows that he can’t outfight all of these guards at once so he surrenders. However, the guards didn’t count on Bronx so when the big dog attacks, it causes enough of a distraction for Hudson to fight his way through the guards, grab the disc and escape through the tunnels on top of a moving train.

That just leaves Goliath and Demona (Marina Sirtis, Take a Shot) aboard the air ship. The two Gargolyes break into the main lab and grab the disc, Demona destroying the ship’s navigational controls and sending it plummeting towards the ground, Goliath horrified by Demona’s casual disregard for the lives of others. Back at the Castle, Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) is overjoyed to have the discs and promises that they’ll be put to good use. Goliath tries to leave, having promised to meet with Elisa again, but upon hearing that Goliath is meeting with a human, and much worse, a human female, she is overcome with rage and jealousy. Demona insists that humanity is their enemy and aside from Xanatos, they cannot be trusted and must be destroyed. Goliath understands her point of view, but even if he agreed with her, he knows that he cannot wage war on the entire planet with just seven Gargoyles. Goliath goes on to say that Demona’s new hard and unforgiving outlook is unlike the love he remembers and flies off. Xanatos, watching Goliath on a video monitor from his office, remarks that the Gargoyle has become too difficult to control.

Goliath meets with Elisa who reveals that she saw Goliath and Demona flying away from the air fortress crash and wants to know what’s up. Goliath explains the situation, but it seems that Elisa has been doing some digging of her own. Remember the tracking device she pulled off Golaith last episode, well, she traced it back to a robotics company owned by none other than Xanatos Enterprises. By the way, I can’t help but chuckle at the fact that the name of the company owned by the character played by Commander Riker has the word “Enterprise” in the title. Anywho, what all this means is that Xanatos has been behind everything the whole time, staging a fake robbery in order to trick the Gargoyles into stealing from a rival corporation. That’s right, David Xanatos fulfilled a thousand-year-old prophecy, likely at greater expense to himself than the value of the discs, all to commit an act of corporate sabotage. Sure, he could have just hired some spies, or some professional mercenaries, both of whom would likely have done the job for much cheaper, but it’s never been about the money, it’s about proving how awesome he is. Mercenaries and spies are for basic bitches, but if you send winged nightmares of legend to steal for you, that’s how your enemies know that you are the very definition of Not to be Fucked With, That’s the David Xanatos Way! Goliath is naturally pissed about Xanatos using him and his clan agrees to work with Elisa to bring him down.

Meanwhile, no longer able to count on the Gargoyles’ loyalty, Xanatos feels that they’ve outlived their usefulness and plans to use the discs to bring “Their Replacements” online. While Owen suggests waiting until dawn, Demona steps in and suggests trying them out now, testing his new toys against the Gargoyles. While the trio are relaxing at the castle, they are suddenly attacked by their “Replacements.” Xanatos knows that if there’s one thing cooler than your own Gargoyle army, it’s your own Laser Robot Gargoyle Army! Xanatos orders his robots, nicknamed “The Steel Clan,” to attack and they manage to easily take out Broadway and Lexington while Brooklyn is knocked further down the tower. Just as Brooklyn is about to be blasted while carrying the injured Lexington, Goliath swoops in and smashes one of the robots. As Hudson and Bronx join the fight as well, The Gargoyles begin to gain the upper hand. Goliath and the others manage to destroy the rest of the Robots as Xanatos and company look on, unimpressed. Finally having had enough, Demona pulls out a bazooka and fires it right at Goliath, knocking him off his high perch. It’s here where Demona reveals that she had a hand in the Captain’s betrayal one thousand years ago. The original plan was for Goliath to take the entire clan with him, allowing the Vikings to sack the castle and capture the humans, the Gargoyles then claiming the castle as their own once the humans were gone. However, Goliath’s need to protect the humans doomed the clan in Demona's eyes, Demona herself only surviving because she stayed hidden on the night of the massacre. The slaughter of her people has filled Demona with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance, feeling that all humanity must pay for what they did to their kind. Goliath tries to talk her down by saying that there is good and evil in everyone, human and Gargoyle alike, and also tries to make her see that she is also partially to blame for the slaughter of their clan, the latter only serving to enrage Demona further. Demona is still convinced that humanity is “a poison that must be purged from this world” and I can’t help but wonder what Xanatos, who is standing right behind Demona this entire time mind you, thinks of all this. I mean, a man as rich and powerful as he is, I bet Xanatos has probably thought about wiping out humanity himself once or twice simply to prove that he can, but with no humans left, there’s no one to show off all his cool stuff to. Anywho, Demona makes one last ditch effort to bring Goliath around to her way of thinking but the Gargoyle remains silent. Finally giving up, Demona accepts that her lover is now her enemy and gets ready to fire, but not before revealing her new name.

I have a Name too Goliath. The Humans Gave it to me Long Ago. You should Know it before you Die.

I Am Demona.

What’s interesting about that quote is the part about the humans giving her her name long ago, implying that she’s been awake far longer than than we've been led to believe. Anywho, just as Demona is about to fire, Elisa charges in and tackles her, causing the bazooka to miss and the part of the castle they’re all standing on to start crumbling. With Demona and Elisa both falling, Goliath is only able to save one. He chooses Elisa, but still looks on in horror as his former love falls seemingly to her death. Xanatos, who was knocked out by falling debris, begins to come to only to have a very angry Goliath grab him by the throat and dangle him off the side of the castle. Despite the fact that the only thing between him and oblivion is Goliath’s tentative grip on his shirt collar, Xanatos shows no signs of fear and even continues to taunt the big Gargoyle. Fortunately for Xanatos, Elisa and Hudson manage to talk Goliath down, knowing that killing Xanatos would be the first step in walking the same dark path as Demona. So, Goliath doesn’t kill Xanatos, but instead gives him to Elisa who has enough evidence to make an arrest. Though even as he’s taken away in a police cruiser, Xanatos still smiles his snakey smile, knowing that with his money and resources, prison won’t hold him for long.

Our episode ends with Goliath perched on the Castle, wondering if Demona survived. He also comments to Elisa that it’s nice to know that his kind have at least one human friend in this century. Elisa hopes she’s the first of many, but reassures Goliath that either way, she’s got his back. As the sun rises and the Gargoyles become stone once again, Elisa is left to wonder if the City is truly ready for the Gargoyles.

Part 5, as well as Awakening as a whole, is a simply incredible introduction to what will be an equally incredible series. Everything is established quickly and effectively, including our heroes, their backstory, their new situation, their human ally and two of the series principle antagonists, both of whom are excellent in their own unique way. While I joke and exaggerate, Xanatos is an amazingly interesting character. He’s too smart to come at the Gargoyles directly, instead, choosing to manipulate all elements like pieces on a chess board to maneuver things in just the right way to where he gets what he wants. Sure, his eventual heel turn was pretty obvious, but you still can see how someone would find themselves easily manipulated by his charm and charisma. Demona on the other hand is a more direct and traditional antagonist who is more likely to engage in direct conflict with the Gargoyles. She represents a dark mirror for our heroes and Goliath in particular, as any one of them could have easily been led down her dark path under different circumstances. There’s also mystery surrounding her, especially surrounding how she got her name. This mystery will be further explored as the show continues. However, next time, we are introduced to still more recurring antagonists as we look at “Thrill of the Hunt.”