Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Avalon Part 3

Welcome back to Gargoyles and the conclusion of the Avalon Three Parter. Last time, we learned that The Arch-Mage has been the Mastermind behind everything, including binding MacBeth and Demona together and using them to steel the Grimorum, the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate, all in a bid for ultimate power. To accomplish this goal, he created what is commonly referred to as a Boot Strap Paradox, or at least something with the initials BS anyway. Whatever he did, it depleted my personal supply of Excedrin. Now all that remains is the final battle. Let’s Go!

We open with Goliath, Angela and Gabriel attempting a sneak attack on the Arch-Mage. However, it’s not long before they’re cornered by the brainwashed MacBeth and Demona (Marina Sirtis, Take a Shot). Goliath attempts to break the spell on them by appealing to their better nature, and by reminding Demona that these are the children of her clan, and for a moment, he seems to get through to them. However, Archie arrives and places them back under his thrall. The Gargoyles attempt to steal the Eye of Odin from the Arch-Mage but to no avail. Clearly, this sneak attack has gone sideways and so, with the help of a distraction from Bronx and Boudicca, The Gargoyles retreat.

Back at the Castle, Elisa enquires about the mysterious Sleeping King. It seems that he was one of the greatest warriors who ever lived and sleeps inside a hollow hill in Avalon until he is needed. Well, our heroes are up against three powerful fay witches, two brainwashed immortals and a supercharged megalomaniacal wizard and so far they’ve gotten their asses kicked. I’d say that sleepy is pretty needed right about now. And so, Elisa and the Magus head for the hollow hill. On the way, Magus reveals that he has always loved the Princess, but as Tom grew older, he and Katherine grew closer and eventually fell in love. Magus still loves her but never fought for her as he saw himself as useless without his magic. They reach the hollow hill where the Sleeping King lies and are immediately attacked by hollow suits of armor that Magus disables with a spell. Apparently Magus can tap into Avalon’s magic thanks to his training, but without a conduit like the Grimorum, it takes a lot out of him. Finally, Elisa reaches the resting place of the Sleeping King and says these words: “Arthur Pendragon, King of All Britain, You Are Needed.” And yes, they do indeed mean that Arthur Pendragon. Turns out the Sleeping King is none other than King Arthur himself.

Back at the Castle, Arthur arrives to much fanfare like the absolute boss that he is and our heroes beg the legendary king for his assistance. While he doesn’t know what help he’ll be without the aid of his knights, his magical blade Excalibur or his faithful wizard Merlin, Arthur promises to do what he can. And our heroes are going to need all the help they can get since Goliath’s failed sneak attack has convinced the Arch-Mage not to wait until sunrise and so he's sent Demona and MacBeth to take the castle. Arthur takes Tom, Gabriel and Elisa to deal with MacBeth and Demona, Magus volunteers to take on the Weird Sisters at the hollow hill, and Goliath and Angela will face the Arch-Mage head on at his lair.

At the castle grounds, Arthur and company square off with MacBeth and Demona. In an amusing moment, MacBeth learns of Arthur and expresses excitement at seeing how he’d stack up against the legendary warrior. Things begin to turn in our heroes favor when Arthur learns of the “Share one Another’s Pain” clause of the spell on MacBeth and Demona. You know, it seems to me that if you were going to use these two as your personal enforcers, maybe giving them such a weakness was a really dumb idea. Demona tries to put some distance between herself and MacBeth and makes her way into the Castle. Pretty easy when you have a high-tech laser rifle and all the castle guards are wielding bows and arrows. While Demona is about to blast Princess Katherine into Oblivion, MacBeth has Arthur on the ropes. Elisa arrives and manages to use Demona’s hatred of her to draw aggro and get Demona to attack her instead of the Princess. Elisa and the others manage to restrain Demona long enough for the princess to grab the laser rifle and blast Demona into submission. Laser Rifle Princess, I dig it! Outside, Arthur manages to get the better of MacBeth, breaking his sword and knocking him out with a well-placed punch in the face.

At the Hollow Hill, Magus faces off against the Weird Sisters, The Magus tapping into Avalon’s magic to hurt the Triplets. However, the Sisters don’t really take too kindly to Magus stealing magic from their ancestral home and blast him for his trouble. Magus does his best against the Triplets, but he’s not nearly strong enough to hold out forever, especially since they can tap into Avalon’s magic as well. Magus leads the Triplets into the Hollow Hill where Avalon’s magic is strongest, and, using the very last of his strength, manages to bind the sisters, rendering them powerless, for now.

This just leaves The Arch-Mage. Goliath dive-bombs the evil wizard, but Archie blasts him out of the sky. Archie starts torturing Goliath, speechifying about how he’s waited a millennia to get his revenge on Goliath. Oh fuck off dude! One thousand years may have passed, but you time travelled your way through them yesterday. At most you’ve been waiting about six hours. Archie goes on to say that he could destroy Goliath with a word, but he won’t, because he’s having too much fun. Oh come on man, that’s like Supervillainy 101, if you have a chance to kill the hero, Take It! Somewhere Xanatos is laughing at you. Hell, somewhere Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff Girls is laughing at your dumb ass. Anywho, Angela swoops in to save Goliath and the big Gargoyles gets his second wind. After a lengthy brawl, Goliath manages to remove the Eye of Odin for the Arch-Mage’s forehead. Without the power-boost from the Eye, the raw magical energy contained within the Grimorum overwhelms the Arch-Mage and destroys him, leaving only the Phoenix gate behind.

Finally the battle is over, but all is not happy as The Magus lays dying. Before his passing, Goliath forgives The Magus for cursing his clan all those years ago and says he now owes the Magus a great dept for caring for his children. And so, in a spectacular bit of acting from Kath Soucie and Jeff Bennett, The Magus passes on as Katherine sobs over his body. Finally, The Magus has attoned for his past sins and proved to himself that he could still be useful to his beloved princess.

At the shores of Avalon, our heroes say their goodbyes. Goliath is happy to know that the children of his clan are thriving in their new home as he says goodbye to Gabriel. Angela asks if she could come along with Goliath so that she may see the world and find her place in it. Goliath gladly welcomes Angela to come with them back to New York and join their clan. It seems Arthur is leaving as well, looking for his next great adventure in this strange new world. The captured Triplets also release MacBeth and Demona from their control in exchange for their freedom. Goliath sends the two immortals out on a skiff into the unknown. Finally, it’s Goliath and Company’s time to leave, Goliath taking the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate with him to ensure they’re never used again. However, as Goliath, Angela, Elisa and Bronx shove off, Tom yells out a cryptic warning. “Avalon Doesn’t Take You Where You Want to Go, It Sends you Where you Need to Be.”

Let me first say this. On its own, Avalon is a fine story. It’s far from perfect, the first two parts feel like mostly setup and the Arch-Mage’s plan makes no goddamn sense no matter which way you slice it, but it does introduce some new characters, follows up on the events of awakening, gives the Magus a redemption for cursing Goliath’s clan long ago, and the fight at the end was cool as hell. All things considered, it’s actually a pretty fun episode. However, as a followup to the events of City of Stone and the culmination of this grand conspiracy we’ve been building to since then, Avalon greatly underdelivers. City of Stone is one of the strongest and most well regarded stories in this entire show, and yet, the events of that entire story, Demona and MacBeth being manipulated by the sisters and being bound together for all eternity turned to just so an evil sorcerer can have a couple of goons? That’s seriously underwhelming given all we went through to get here. That actually brings me to Archie himself, the real weakness of this story. First of all, his plan makes no sense and is full of plot holes too numerous to list. One could chalk that up to Archie not thinking things through since he kinda came up with the plan in about twenty minutes. Actually, scratch that, he didn’t even come up with the plan, he just remembered his future-self telling him about it. I’d elaborate further but my head hurts enough as it is. I actually came up with a fan theory that makes Archie’s plan make a lot more sense while discussing this episode with a friend last night, but I dare not reveal it here as doing so would be giving a major spoiler. Don’t worry, we’ll get to it eventually. However, that isn’t even the real problem with the Arch-Mage. The problem is, Arch-Mage just isn’t that interesting a villain. Don’t get me wrong, David Warner is awesome and he brings his A-Game to the role just as he does with any role, but the character he’s playing is a dime a dozen evil sorcerer seeking ultimate power. I have seen this character archetype done so much better in so many other works. There’s very little to set Archie apart from other characters of his type, and in a show that’s already given us so many fascinating, nuanced and complex antagonists, having this guy as the big bad of a major story arc just seems like a let-down. Overall, Avalon was a fun three parter, but failed to live up to its potential.

So, about that business of “Avalon Doesn’t Take You Where You Want to Go, It Sends you Where you Need to Be.” Well, Avalon is actually the kickoff of what is commonly referred to as The World Tour Arc. For the next several episodes, we’ll be following Goliath, Elisa, Angela and Bronx as the magic of Avalon sends them all over the world, putting them up against new threats and old foes alike until Avalon finally deems to send them home. It’s kinda like Quantum Leap, only without Scott Bakula. The world tour arc is polarizing to some fans but I intend to give each of the coming episodes a fair shake. Speaking of, next time, Goliath and the others arrive in Scotland where Castle Wyvern once stood and where Goliath must confront the demons of his past. The World Tour Arc kicks off with Shadows of the Past.