Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Enter MacBeth

Welcome back to Gargoyles my friends!

We open in the castle where the Gargoyles are going about their nightly business. Broadway is cooking something in the kitchen, Hudson and Bronx are watching Donald Duck cartoon because Disney’s gotta self-promote, Brooklyn and Lexington are playing cards and Goliath is reading in the enormous castle library. However, not everyone is safe and cozy in their homes as we join Xanatos in prison. Oh, who am I kidding? His cell is better furnished than my living room. I guess I was right when I said that Xanatos would be running that prison within a few days. By the way, Jonathan Frakes, take a shot. Anyway, Xanatos only has about a week left of his sentence and, as he says as he meets with Owen during visiting hours, he’s seen it as something of a learning experience. The subject quickly turns to that of the Gargoyles, and Owen suggests destroying them, which would be easy enough during the day. Xanatos considers this, knowing that the Gargoyles would likely act as a hinderance to any of his future schemes, especially if they’re living in his castle, but also acknowledges that they are a unique and, as far as anyone knows, irreplaceable resource that have and may continue to come in handy from time to time and simply destroying them would be a waste. I actually really like this. It illustrates why Xanatos is such a unique antagonist. While the Gargoyles have foiled his plans several times by this point, he never allows the conflict to become personal and only considers destroying the Gargoyles for practical reasons, never vengeful ones. The conversation is interrupted by a tall, bearded prison guard with a Scottish accent who says he has a proposition for Mr. Xanatos. It seems this mystery man is familiar with the existence of Gargoyles and is willing to help Xanatos rid himself of them for a price. Xanatos is intrigued by the offer and asks to know the man’s name. He introduces himself as… MACBETH! Hehe, somewhere, a bunch of theatre nerds are making ridiculous hand gestures in order to ward off bad luck spirits while I sit here chuckling malevolently. My God, I’ve done so many of these articles I think I’m actually turning into Xanatos. Eh, I can live with that. At the time I’m writing this the barbershops are still closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak so it’s only a matter of time before my hair is long enough for that sweet ponytail.

A few points to go over before we move on. First of all, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that MacBeth is voiced by the Great John Rhys-Davies, known for playing iconic roles in both the Indiana Jones and Lord of The Rings Franchises as well as many others over an incredible acting career. And, with Davies introduced, that rounds out the three cast members who were nice enough to autograph my Gargoyles Season 1 DVD (the other two being Bill Fagerbakke and Marina Sirtis if you’re curious). Second, VLN-Research, another website that does Gargoyles articles similar to my own, pointed out something in their review of this episode that I didn’t even think of until now. Why is MacBeth working as a prison guard? We’ll soon learn that he’s clearly a wealthy man so it’s not like he needs the money and if it was to get close to Xanatos, he could have done that as just a regular person or better yet, made the offer through Owen. Furthermore, I actually have a friend who used to work as a corrections officer and while I don’t know exactly what it takes to get the job, I do know that it requires a pretty extensive background check and while I don’t want to get to far ahead of myself, given what we learn about MacBeth later in the series, there’s no way any kind of a background check on him wouldn’t turn up something fishy, but I digress.

At dusk that evening, MacBeth, now sporting some body armor and a sweet black trench coat, makes his way to the top of the castle where the Gargoyles are still stone. Elisa, who, in a nice bit of continuity, is still on crutches from being shot last episode, confronts MacBeth who is surprisingly polite to her, a nice welcome change from Dracon I’m sure. Elisa is obviously suspicious, but she can’t take him in her condition, and even if she could, since he was invited by Xanatos, who legally owns the castle, he’s technically not breaking any laws. Fortunately for the Gargoyles, MacBeth is actually an honorable sort. He has no qualms about killing the Gargoyles if he has to, but he’s not about to stoop so low as to shoot them while they’re sleeping. Interesting that this mentality is not unlike Goliath’s as we saw during the air fortress heist As the sun goes down and the Gargoyles awaken, MacBeth greets them with an offer to stay at his place, but we’ve seen how Goliath gets when you tell him to leave and things soon turn violent. MacBeth is one tough son of a gun who has clearly had dealings with Gargoyles in the past and easily manages to subdue both Broadway and Hudson before distracting the others with a few smoke grenades. As the scuffle causes more and more damage to the castle, Owen tells MacBeth to cut it out. MacBeth, likely fearing the wrath of Xanatos’ lawyers (good lord, can you imagine what THEY must be like? I wouldn't surprised if they were a race of super-intelligent shark-men that Xanatos had grow in a laboratory and had programmed with extensive knowledge of the US legal system and how to exploit it), tells the Gargoyles that they’ll continue this later and makes off with Brooklyn, Lexington and Bronx in his jet. Goliath tries to give chase, only to get zapped by MacBeth for his trouble.

All this chaos forces Elisa to once again reiterate the point that she’s been trying to drill into Goliath’s head for the past several episodes: The Castle Is No Longer Safe! Goliath remains stubborn, claiming that The Castle is all they have left of their fallen clan and he will not abandon it. Elisa again repeats the point that they are not safe. Sure, MacBeth turned out to be the honorable sort, but the next guy Xanatos hires to deal with them could be some lunatic who shows up with a sledgehammer in broad daylight. Goliath still refuses to listen to reason and flies off to save the others. While Hudson and Broadway are hesitant to go against Goliath’s wishes but can’t help but see that Elisa has a point. As much as none of the Gargoyles may wish to admit it, the castle is no longer their home.

Speaking of Castles, it seems Xanatos wasn’t the only rich guy to realize that having your own castle is a baller as hell status symbol as MacBeth lives in a castle of his own, complete with an interesting stained glass window depicting himself and a Gargoyle that bares a striking resemblance to Demona. In the basement, Brooklyn and Lexington have been placed in electrified cages and seem to make the connection between this MacBeth and the character in a play be “Some new writer named Shakespeare.” Curiouser and curiouser. But no time to dwell on that now, the Gargoyles’ top priority should be getting out of these cages, and Brooklyn poking the bars and getting zapped every five seconds doesn’t really seem to be accomplishing anything. Lexington, the more tech savy of the two, notes that the lights seem to dim every time Brooklyn gets zapped, meaning that electrifying the cages seems to use up a lot of power. Lexington suggests that if they divert enough power to their cage, they may reduce the electricity in Bronx’s enough for him to escape. While Brooklyn isn’t thrilled about zapping himself even more, the plan works and Bronx heads out to find Goliath.

Back at the castle, Hudson and Broadway have decided that Elisa is right, no matter what Goliath says, the Gargoyles need to leave the castle, but before they go, the Grimorum, the spell book from back in Temptation, is far to dangerous to be left in the hands of someone like Xanatos. The dude is already so rich, intelligent and charming that it practically qualifies as a superpower in and of itself, imagine how dangerous he’d be with actual magic at his disposal. The Gargoyles try to grab the book, but Owen is standing in their way. Owen may not look that tough but looks can be very deceiving as he actually manages to knock Hudson on his ass in relatively quick fashion. Only a momentary distraction from Elisa throwing one of her crutches allows Broadway to take Owen down long enough in order for our heroes to grab the book.

Bronx, being a dog, doesn’t really grasp the concept of being inconspicuous and runs down the middle of a busy New York City street in his search for Goliath. Quick, someone hide Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis! Goliath meets up with Bronx, in the middle of a crowded city street in plain sight mind you, so much for the whole secrecy thing I guess. Good thing it’s still only 1994, the Gargoyles would’ve been all over social media in seconds if this show were set today. In any case, Bronx leads Goliath back to MacBeth’s castle.

Goliath breaks through the door of MacBeth’s castle ready to tear the big Scotsman a new one, but MacBeth is ready for him and has the home field advantage. MacBeth leads Goliath through a gauntlet of traps and obstacles as they venture lower into the bowels of the castle. I have to say, I absolutely love Goliath in this scene. He doesn’t care what’s put in his way, he is will smash or claw through just about anything if it means getting his hands on his adversary. Eventually, the chase leads Goliath into a hall of mirrors, where Goliath finally asks why MacBeth is doing this. Turns out, MacBeth only asks for money from Xanatos so as not to raise suspicion as to his true motives. What’s more, MacBeth isn’t even really after Goliath and The Gargoyles, but rather intends to use them as bait to draw out his real target, Demona. It’s also revealed that it was MacBeth himself who gave her that name. It seems MacBeth is unaware of the events of Awakening and believes that Demona will come if her clan is threatened, causing Goliath to laugh and reveal that Demona is now their enemy. Upon learning that he set all this up for nothing, MacBeth snaps and starts fighting Goliath one on one, inadvertently setting fire to the castle during the scuffle To his credit, MacBeth manages to last longer against Goliath than any other human we’ve seen so far in the series, but as skilled a fighter as he may be, even he can’t contend with the sheer brute strength of a Gargoyle and retreats while his castle burns, Goliath also fleeing with Bronx and the rescued Brookyln and Lexington.

The Gargoyles are flagged down on a nearby rooftop by Broadway, Hudson and Elisa and Goliath is outraged that the Gargoyles are not defending the castle. Elisa says that she’s found a new home for the Gargoyles and while Goliath is insulted and incensed by the very suggestion, the others finally stand up to him, saying that Elisa’s been right all along, the castle clearly is no longer safe for them and staying there would be suicide. Hudson diplomatically tries to convince Goliath that home is not a building, but rather, home is anywhere that the Gargoyles can be safe and be together. Goliath clearly doesn’t like it, but Hudson seems to have finally gotten through to him. Goliath agrees to join the Gargoyles in the new home Elisa has found for them, but first he needs to take care of something. In the castle, Goliath confronts Owen with a message for Xanatos.

“I have a Message for your Master. We’re Leaving, But We’ll be Back. We’ll be Back to Claim that which is Ours”

And so, with one final solemn look at the castle, Goliath glides off into the night.

Later, we see Xanatos returning home, having finally been released from prison. While he’s none to pleased that The Gargoyles and the Grimorum are gone, Xanatos is nonetheless happy to be home, and after viewing some video footage of MacBeth fighting the Gargoyles, seems intrigued by this new player in the game.

Our episode ends with the revelation that Elisa has set the Gargoyles up in an old Clocktower. While it may not be quite as luxurious as the castle, in time, it may come to feel like home.

Enter Macbeth really shakes things up. It introduces a new character, brings Xanatos back into the action and ultimately introduces the clocktower, which will remain home for the Gargoyles to the remainder of the series (unless you count the non-canon third season which I do not). The central theme of the episode appears to be one of “home.” The opening of the episode where the Gargoyles are all seen relaxing in the castle perfectly illustrates this. This place, unsafe though it may be, is their home, and while leaving it was the right call, you can understand Goliath’s hesitance to leave it in the hands of Xanatos. Xanatos on the other hand, while is obviously given all the amenities during his stay in prison, but it nonetheless is not home. MacBeth on the other hand allows his own rage and quest for vengeance to see his own home destroyed. Speaking of MacBeth, he is a great character and an excellent addition to the Gargoyles’ growing rogue’s gallery, due in large part to Davies’ performance. He’s more formidable than your average human and has enough experience with Gargoyles to know how to take them down. There is also mystery surrounding him. What is his connection to Demona, and more importantly, WHY THE HELL WAS HE A PRISON GUARD!? Anywho, Xanatos is back in the game now and next time, he’ll once again be brought into conflict with The Gargoyles in The Edge.