Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Ill Met By Moonlight

Welcome back everyone, to another exciting episode of Gargoyles.

The Avalon Skiff emerges from the fog and has washed up on the shores of Avalon once again. While it’s not where they were hoping to be, it is still nice to have a safe haven for the time being. Gabriel greets them at the shore and says that Avalon has been peaceful since they left and while it has been nice, a little adventure may be welcome. Careful what you wish for there Gabe. Anywho, our heroes head towards the Avalon Clan’s castle home when the skies blacken and and the ground shakes. This is all heralding the arrival of the Weird Sisters accompanied by two very powerful looking fae creatures. The male amongst them, who looks a bit like a Castlevania boss, demonstrates his power by silencing an angry Tom with but a wave of his hand, and throwing around anyone who tries to attack with little to no effort. Elisa cocks her gun, which for some reason causes this uber powerful being to flinch. Goliath finally asks just who the hell this gaudy looking Dracula cosplayer is, and he reveals himself to be none other than Oberon himself. Also, Oberon refers to himself using the Royal We. I don’t care what century you’re in, anyone who talks like that sounds like a complete jackass. Need proof? The last person in the show who used the Royal We was Duncan. Anywho, Lord Oberon’s female companion is Titania, his ex-wife, Titania. Yes, I said ex-wife, but more on that in a moment. If the name Titania sounds familiar, you may recall that the Mirror Demona used to summon Puck was called “Titania’s Mirror.” If Titania herself sounds familiar it’s because, like Anastasia Renard from a few episodes earlier, Titania is voiced by the wonderful Kate Mulgrew. You may recall that I theorized that Red Claw from Batman the Animated Series and Red from Orange is the New Black, both characters played by Mulgrew, are the same person. Well, continuing that trend, I’m not entirely convinced that Titania here isn’t just an alternate identity of Flemeth, the powerful witch of the wilds from the Dragon Age series. All we need now is to find out that Mrs. Columbo was just Captain Janeway running a holodeck program all along and we're all set. Hell, there was even an episode of Star Trek Voyager where Janeway gets mistaken for a Fairy Queen, so who even knows which end is up. Speaking of Star Trek, take a shot!

So, why are Oberon and Titania here. Well, it has come to Oberon’s attention that the Gargoyles have been living on his island rent free for over a thousand earth years and he’s come with an eviction notice. And, if they don’t leave in an hour, Oberon will just kill them. Titania tries to get Oberon to back down. It’s here where we learn that the King and Queen of Avalon have been divorced for a thousand years and in that time, Oberon decreed that all of his children would leave Avalon and live amongst mortals for a millennium. During said millennium, Titania has apparently gained some respect for mortals and says that Oberon should give them a chance to defend their adopted home. Oberon, who could very easily just pull a Thanos and snap our heroes out of existence on the spot, doesn’t see the point. However, Titania says that if he wins, she’ll agree to be his wife once again. Oberon agrees to this, but Titania cryptically says “Take heed, should they win and sound the nell of your defeat, some other ring must then be your reward.” That’ll be important later. Titania chooses Goliath, Angela and Gabriel as the champions for the Avalon Clan and even reduces Oberon’s power to give them a fighting chance. And so, the hunt is on.

As the Gargoyles are granted a head start, Elisa can’t help but wonder why her gun was able to make Oberon recoil. Big Daddy O does not seem like someone who would have to worry about getting shot. Turns out that the Children of Oberon are said to have a vulnerability to iron, which Elisa’s gun is made of. Tom also recalls that when the Magus bound the Weird Sisters back in Avalon (The Episode, not the Island) he did so using Iron chains. So, if they gather up enough iron, our heroes can forge some kind of weapon that can help them take down Oberon. The only question is, what kind of weapon.

Out in the Avalon forest, the Gargoyles have prepared for Oberon by… digging a hole in the ground and covering it with sticks. Really? That's your plan? Who are you, Team Rocket? They can’t even capture Pikachu with one of those traps and you guys expect to take down literally the most powerful being in the entire show with a hole in the ground. Shockingly, then hole works… for about half a second but even that is a small miracle. Oberon is insulted that the Gargoyles actually thought such a lame trap would actually work on him and brings the entire forest to life to fight his foes. The Gargoyles escape by gliding off a cliff, but Oberon gives chase. The Gargoyles try and lose him in a volcano, and later a cave but Oberon is relentless, and it soon becomes clear that running from Oberon isn’t an option.

Goliath and the others make their stand as Oberon arrives in a tornado of fire. Guess that’s where Coyote got it from. Goliath goads Oberon into fighting for himself instead of having the trees and the rocks do his dirty work. Oberon had hope to spare the Gargoyles the utter humiliation of direct combat, but if that’s the only way to satisfy his prey, he will fight Goliath man to man. Goliath attacks, but Oberon still fights dirty by making his skin hard as diamond. Goliath and the others reign blows upon the powerful fairy king, but nothing even phases him. Oberon dispatches the three Gargoyles and teleports them all back to the castle.

Back at the Castle, Oberon declares that the game is over, but Princess Catherine reveals their ace in the hole, a bell, forged of pure iron. Remember that whole “Nell of your defeat” business from Titania? She was dropping a hint about Oberon’s weakness, which is apparently… loud noises. What is he, Daredevil? The ringing of the bell seems to cause Oberon excruciating pain. However, as Oberon looks like he’s going to collapse, our heroes grant him mercy. Catherine demands that she, Tom and the Gargoyles be granted Asylum on Avalon and in exchange, she will promise to never again use the bell on him or his people. Oberon, seeing that they could have destroyed him but instead granted him mercy is appreciative and grants our heroes’ request and even frees Goliath from the magic of Avalon, meaning that when he leaves, he will finally return to New York. Titania restores Oberon’s power and even agrees to be his wife again anyway, just for the hell of it. Goliath asks if Oberon can be trusted. Titania says that Oberon’s word is law, though that doesn’t mean he’s always right, especially whilst he’s married. Goliath still can’t help but wonder why Titania helped them at all, but she just remarks that it was to repay a favor, though Goliath has no idea what she’s talking about. Don’t worry, it’ll make sense later. As Oberon and Titania reenter their castle hand in hand, Oberon declares that the time has come for The Gathering as our episode fades to black.

This was a very fun episode. We’ve been building to Oberon in subtle ways since we learned The Children of Oberon were a thing. Seeing the big daddy himself did not disappoint. Oberon himself has a really cool design, very Dracula-esque, though the color scheme is a touch gaudy for my taste. However, he more than makes up for it with his insane powers and cocky personality. Don’t forget, he was only using a tenth of his power at most and he still wiped the floor with Goliath and the others. He is one bad dude and not someone you want to piss off. However, the real breakout character of this episode is Lady Titania. She is everything you want out of a Fairy Queen. She’s beautiful, she’s clever, she’s manipulative, she’s Kate Mulgrew, right on the money! I love how even though Oberon may very well be more powerful, Titania knows how to play him like Hendrix with a Fender Stratocaster. Oberon may be the proverbial big swinging dick, it’s clear that Titania hold the real power. Anywho, our next episode is a doozy folks. Our heroes return to New York to find that more time may have passed than they thought, and the future looks very bleak indeed. Next time, Future Tense.