Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Possession

Welcome back to Gargoyles Everyone!

We open in the Himalayas where a fleet of Steel Clan Robots appears to be hunting for something. That something turns out to be Cold Stone(Michael Dorn, Take a Shot) who has apparently taken refuge in the mountains while trying to keep his evil personality at bay. Cold Stone hanging out in the Himalayas eh? Why wasn’t this a world tour episode? Anywho, Cold Stone makes quick work of the robots. However, Xanatos himself (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) steps in and easily subdues his foe, telling Cold Stone that he’ll thank him for this one day.

Back at the Castle, it seems that Xanatos has taken Cold Stone apart, the cyborg Gargoyle’s head being none too pleased about the situation. Turns out, in order to settle his debt to the Gargoyles for saving baby Alex, Xanatos is going to free the Cold Stone matrix of its evil personality so the good ones may rejoin Goliath’s clan. Unfortunately, Cold Stone was created as a result of technology and magic, and in order to undo part of what’s been done, technology alone won’t cut it. Xanatos off-handedly suggests to Owen that perhaps he could transform into Puck and wiggle his nose or something but Owen reminds him that he’s only allowed to use his magic when he’s either teaching or defending young Alexander. Note how Xanatos refers to Puck as if he’s a separate entity, furthering my theory that the Owen character that Puck created developed a consciousness over time. Later that night, Xanatos and Fox head out for a night on the town, and knowing them, said night on the town likely involves taking on an entire armed street gang by themselves just for fun (and that’s just foreplay). Owen is left to babysit baby Alex but his sinister smile seems to suggest that Puck may be coming out to play.

Back in Xanatos’s lab, Goliath and Hudson have arrived to save Cold Stone, Goliath apparently having found a way to rid Cold Stone of the evil personality once and for all. Goliath and Hudson return to the Clocktower with Cold Stone in tow. The others are not exactly thrilled to see Cold Stone, remembering that there’s a one in three chance he’ll try to kill everyone, but Goliath assures everyone that Cold Stone is not the enemy. However, judging from the odd way that Goliath and Hudson seem to move about, Hudson’s unusual silence and the fact that Bronx is growling, it’s clear that something is up. Goliath says that he plans to use a spell he learned on Avalon to empty Cold Stone’s body of all souls and temporarily transfer the souls of Othello and Desdemona to willing volunteers. With nothing to tether it to the mortal plane, Iago’s soul will evaporate and cease to exist. Brooklyn, Angela and Broadway all volunteer, even though only two are actually needed. Goliath casts the spell and Broadway and Angela are possessed, now taking on the personalities of Othello and Desdemona. However, from the sinister look on Brooklyn’s face, we can tell that they’re not the only ones who escaped Cold Stone. The two lovers are pleased to be flesh and blood once again and since the spell took a lot out of Goliath, it may be a little while before they can be transferred back into the Cold Stone body so they may as well enjoy their situation while it lasts. Goliath and Hudson leave, revealing themselves to have been Puck (Brent Spiner, Take a Shot) and baby Alex, all this being part of a very roundabout magic lesson.

Othello and Desdemona go out flying together, “Brooklyn” following along to keep an eye on them. As Lexington is left alone in the tower, the body of Cold Stone springs to life and knocks Lexington out. While Iago is off messing with Othello and Desdemona, The real Hudson and Goliath return to the Clocktower to find Cold Stone waiting for them. Cold Stone says that Xanatos has created new monsters to unleash against them that must be destroyed and the three fly off, no one noticing Lexington tied up in the corner. The three possessed Gargoyles return to find Lexington tied up. Lexington assumes the evil personality must be in control of Cold Stone, something that “Brooklyn” suggests is impossible before suggesting that they join the others and destroy the Cold Stone body once and for all. This would have the unfortunate side-affect of leaving the Gargoyle spirits trapped in bodies that are not their own, but our heroes seem convinced that this is the right thing to do.

At the Castle, Goliath and the others find the “monsters in question,” robot replicas of Iago and Desdemona, nicknamed Cold Steel and Cold Fire respectively. Cold Stone activates the Robots and sics them on Goliath and Hudson. It seems these models are an upgrade from your typical Steel Clan Robot. Cold Steel is equipped with powerful extending metal tendrils and Cold Fire has a built in flamethrower. Together, the robots overwhelm the Gargoyles as Cold Stone laughs maniacally. As Lexington and the others reach the castle our heroes split up, Lexington and Brooklyn going to search Xanatos’s lab. Lexington finally stops to say that none of this makes any sense. Goliath brought Cold Stone to the Clocktower but was later surprised to see him. Brooklyn is suggesting that Cold Stone be destroyed even though that will likely doom Angela and Broadway to live the rest of their lives in the sunken place or wherever their souls are right now. Iago knocks Lexington out before he can finish his thought. Poor Lex, he’s been playing whipping boy all episode.

Meanwhile, Othello and Desdemona contemplate the ramifications of staying in their borrowed bodies when they locate Goliath and Hudson in the castle atrium. The two possessed Gargoyles are immediately besieged by their robotic counterparts and a fight ensues. Meanwhile, a frustrated Lexington comes to. Lex says that after getting knocked out twice in one night, he could use some help. As soon as Lex finishes his sentence, Magical energy flies into his mouth. Back with the fight, it soon becomes clear that Iago is inside Brooklyn, leaving everyone else, especially a very confused Goliath, to wonder who’s in Cold Stone. Cold Steel and Cold Fire knock their counterparts around for a bit in what is immediately a really cool fight scene. After getting his ass kicked by his robotic duplicate, Iago starts to think that Cold Steel may be of far greater use to him than Brooklyn. With that, Lexington arrives and casts the same spell that “Goliath” cast earlier, transferring Iago’s soul into the Cold Steel body. Cold Steel is extremely powerful, but he’s also greatly outnumbered so he retreats, Brooklyn, who remembers everything that Iago forced him to do, angrily declaring that he’ll be waiting for him when he returns. Once Cold Steel is gone, we finally learn that Puck was the one in control of Cold Stone, which honestly should have been obvious from the get-go. See, even for a magical being of Puck’s talent, soul transference is a tricky business and requires willing participants. He needed Iago to be sufficiently impressed in order for him to willingly accept his new body. Othello and Desdemona are ready to do the same, sharing one last embrace before Lexington casts the spell again. It works and the two once again robotic Gargoyles thank Broadway and Angela for the use of their bodies. Cold Stone and Cold Fire fly off, vowing to rejoin the clan once Cold Steel has been dealt with. By the way, it also turns out that Lex was possessed by Baby Alex, hence how he was able to cast the spell of transference. Looks like the kid passed his first magic lesson with flying colors. Our episode ends with a very frustrated Goliath telling the clan that it’s time to go home.

This episode was a fun one, though is does jump around a bit. I would have liked to have seen more of the new robot Gargoyles but what we got was sufficiently cool. The episode its flaws and could have stood to make some of its mystery elements less obvious, but with Puck being awesome, some great fight scenes, I’m still a satisfied customer. HUGE props to all the actors involved for effectively portraying characters that were not their own. You can really tell that these actors were stepping out of their comfort zone with this one and it’s great. Not one of the best episodes, but a nice swan song for the Cold Stone trio and a fun little story all the same. My friends, I have greatly enjoyed this series of articles. It has been my dream project and finally carrying it out has been more fun and more fulfilling than I could ever have imagined. However, sadly, all good things must come to an end. As such, join me next time when we kick off the three part Gargoyles series finale, Hunter’s Moon.