Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Shadows of the Past

Welcome back to Gargoyles my friends, and welcome to our first official stop on the World Tour.

We open with Goliath and the others sailing the skiff through a horrible storm. Elisa asks where they are and Goliath responds “Home, My Home.” That can only mean one thing, they’re in Scotland, where Castle Wyvern once stood. As our heroes search for higher ground, Goliath spots the very cliff that Castle Wyvern once stood atop of and is excited at the idea of showing Angela the sight of their clan’s ancestral home. I gotta say, I love the little shrug that Elisa gives Angela when she reacts to Goliath’s excitement with seeming indifference. However, once they reach the top of the cliff, Goliath swears he sees the Castle still standing, much to his shock. Goliath dismisses this as his mind playing tricks on him continues to show Angela around. Just as Angela is remarking how beautiful it must have been all those centuries ago, things take a turn for the spooky when Goliath here’s the voice of Demona beckoning him to “come back to her.” Uh… Marina Sirtis, Take a Shot? Clearly something weird is going on and its messing with Goliath’s head.

Our heroes take shelter in a nearby cave, the same cave in which the Arch-Mage fell to his death. It also happens to be the same cave where the the Vikings made camp on the night of the massacre. Goliath tells Angela and Elisa about how long ago he was forced to choose between saving princess Katherine and getting his revenge on The Captain and Hakon. While he knows he did the right thing, the fact that he never got his revenge does sometimes haunt him. Once again, Goliath starts hearing voices, this time those of The Captain and Hakon shorty before they fell to their deaths. Angela spots some unusual hieroglyphics on a nearby wall, causing Goliath to hallucinate once again. Either this cave is haunted, or Goliath is losing his mind. Elisa suggests leaving, which Goliath agrees, but as the big guy looks back, he sees the Captain and Hakon laughing at him. Goliath rushes those responsible for the slaughter of his people and grabs them by the throats, only for it to turn out to be Elisa and Angela. Yet another hallucination. Seeing that he almost killed his friends, Goliath runs off, believing that he can no longer trust his senses and that the others are not safe around him. Goliath runs further into the cave where more spectral images continue to haunt him. Elisa and Angela chase after him but Goliath warns them to stay back. Goliath falls into a chasm but is saved by the others. However, when they once again appear as Hakon and the Captain, Goliath lets go and falls, the others climbing down after him.

At the bottom of the chasm, Goliath, tired, weakened from the fall and tenuously clinging to his own sanity by a very weak thread, comes across an ancient looking obelisk. In the distance, the voices of The Captain and Hakon are heard saying that they now have Goliath right where they want him. The hieroglyphics on the obelisk begin to glow and stone statues of Goliath’s fallen clan animate before his very eyes. Goliath says that this is impossible, to which I say “Dude, you just teamed up with King Arthur to fight an evil Wizard, three fairy triplets, an immortal Scotsman and your ex-girlfriend. Possible is kind of relative here." Anywho, the zombie Gargoyles seem to blame Goliath for the destruction of their clan, abandoning them at their time of need. As the statues knock Goliath around, more of the hieroglyphics begin to glow. The disembodied voices of The Captain and Hakon are heard once again saying it’s time for the final touch. A stone statue of Demona emerges from the crowd and begins to attack, but it seems that The Captain and Hakon have overplayed their hand since Goliath seeing someone he knows to be alive seems to snap him out of it and convinces him that this is all some sort of illusion. Finally, The Captain and Hakon reveal themselves. Turns out they’ve been trapped in this cave for a thousand years as vengeful ghosts thanks to the latent magical energy of the place. However, Goliath is apparently their ticket back to the realm of the living as the Obelisk begins to drain Goliath’s life-force and replenish their own. Goliath reminds the Captain of his past misdeeds and the Captain is himself reminded that he never wanted to see the Gargoyles slaughtered in the first place. As he regains corporeality, Hakon starts beating up the severly weakened Goliath, savoring every moment of his long-awaited vengeance. Things get worse as Goliath begins to fade away. The Captain says that he cannot let this happen again and tackles Hakon into the obelisk, disrupting its magic. Hakon asks why the Captain would do this as they’ve both hated Goliath for one thousand years, to which the captain responds that he never truly hated Goliath, he hated himself for betraying him, and now he has been given a chance to atone. After a bright flash of light, the Obelisk crumbles. Angela and Elisa, who arrived during the scuffle between the two ghosts ask who they were. Goliath solemnly responds, “One Enemy, and One Friend.” Before they leave, The Captain’s spirit appears before Goliath thanks him for helping to free him from this purgatory born of his hatred and guilt before presumably ascending to heaven. As our heroes leave the cave, our episode closes with Hakon, still trapped in the cave, alone and forever imprisoned by his own hatred.

This was a great episode that really started the World Tour Arc on a high note. I love the creepy build up in the first act where we’re not sure what’s going on and Goliath appears to be slowly losing his mind. There’s a really spooky atmosphere to the whole production with unique lighting and excellent animation. All good stuff. Even when the bad guys are revealed, it’s still pretty awesome. I’m glad that we were finally able to give both Goliath and The Captain a sense of closure after what happened all those centuries ago. All and all, this was solid ghost story of an episode and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Next time, the world tour takes us to Canada for… wait, the next episode is Heritage? Crap!