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The Phoenix Gate

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Faieq writes...

You said that one of the reasons that Princess Katherine and Tom the Guardian didn't have any children is because there weren't very many fertility specialists on Avalon. Therefore either Princess Katherine or Tom were incapable of having children.
I always thought that with having to take care of 36 gargoyles and gargoyle beasts, who aged at half their rate, they would have had their hands full.
Anyway, even though I thought that having 36 hatchlings was better than having 36 hatchlings and 1-? kids, I'm just wondering, who had the problem Katherine or Tom?

Greg responds...

Don't know.

Of course, they did have their hands full, but I have to say I doubt they were using (or wanted to use) birth control. So the lack of biological children was most likely the result of one or both of them having a medical issue.

Response recorded on November 15, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

More cycles stuff... It seems that the gargoyles in Avalon have a mating season every ten months of their time. (sorry if I am making a wrong assumption here)

a) Have any (or many) eggs been laid and awaiting hatching in Avalon?
b) What do you feel this will do for the generations? Avalon alone from all the clans in the world will have eggs in the rookery set to hatch at different times, and gargoyles that are only ten months apart in age... There will probably be few "rookery siblings" with the earlier definition of the term...
c) How often would a female be able to conceive (Avalon-time)?

And finally...

d) How does Princess Katherine feel about the frequency of the mating seasons? :-)

Greg responds...

You are making an incorrect assumption. It's every twenty years for them too. Or at least close to that. But they also attune to the closest outside world cycle.

The cycle is both internal and external. It is theirs. But tied to the earth's bio-rhythms.

All things are true. Which makes the math very damn complicated.

Response recorded on November 14, 2000

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Skylar writes...

I didn´t get the thing with the ships.

1. Are the ships, that are used for the Avalon travels, from any special or magic kind, or would travel to Avalon and start a magic journey when leaving be able also with any other kind of ship?

2. Where did the magus and the other humans get the ships, when they started to Avalon with the eggs?

Greg responds...

Do you mean the skiffs?

1. The skiff isn't the source of the travel magic, which doesn't mean the skiffs are magic-free.

2. From the dock.

Response recorded on October 19, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

A question about "Ill Met By Moonlight". At the end of this episode, Oberon appoints the Avalon clan his "honor guard". Is this going to turn out to be a largely ceremonial function with little real work? I can't help but suspect this, in view of the fact that anything capable of seriously threatening Oberon, a fellow capable of swelling up to giant size, animating stone figures, and ordering the earth to swallow up intruders, (and I will confess that the only thing that I can think of in the Gargoyles Universe that could really endanger him at present is Queen Mab) would be able to easily wipe out a whole clan of gargoyles without much effort. (I do have the suspicion that Oberon's appointing the gargoyles to that position was more a matter of "practical politics" - giving them a definite role in Avalonian society - than a matter of "providing for defense", myself).

Greg responds...

Generally, an "honor guard" is by definition ceremonial. If not literal definition, then certainly by common practice.

So I agree. But it doesn't hurt to have loyal warriors handy the next time someone shows up with an iron bell.

Response recorded on September 30, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

I don't know why I'm obsessed with these skiffs. =P

1) The group originally got the skiffs from the dock near King Kenneth's castle. Presumably, they belonged to local fishermen. a) Did they indeed belong to humans, or did they have some other origin? b) Was it common practice among humans to carve this face onto their boats? c) Was this a local tradition, or did many people world-wide know about the significance of this face?

2) You previously agreed with someone that the skiff's ability to "send people where they need to be" was a property of Avalon itself. You also told me that the Gate being "lost" was similar to how Goliath and company were lost during the World Tour--also seemingly traveling at random, in both cases, people ended up "where they need to be". a) So is the Gate's ability to find these points in time and space where Brook needs to be, a property of Avalon itself, as it is for the skiffs? b) Does that mean that Avalon has some kind of control over the Gate?

Greg responds...

1a. Not saying.

b. That would be telling.

c. The full significance may never be known.

2. The Gate doesn't need Avalon, but the theory is the same.

Response recorded on September 27, 2000

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Faieq writes...

Let me rephrase:
1) If the time travels slower on Avalon than in the real world, then does the food that they consume take longer to digest, or does it digest at the same speed as it would in the real world?

Greg responds...

Time (and I suppose digestion) seems to pass normally on Avalon. It's just that as an hour passes there, a day has passed on the rest of the planet. Does that help?

Response recorded on September 26, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

Hi Greg. You said that the Phoenix Gate wasn't forged, but in "Avalon, Part 2", Selene says, "The Eye and the Gate were forged on the Island". So...

1) Are the Sisters unaware or misinformed about how the Gate came to exist?

2) Who was responsible for originally causing the Gate to exist?

You also said that "When free, the gate travels about on its own, as Brooklyn learns to his chagrin". Angela also said "without a mind to direct to gate, it will be forever lost in time". So...

3) When the gate is "travel[ing] about on its own", is that what you meant by "lost in time"? "Lost", as in "having no sense of direction and randomly arriving at destinations", or is it lost as in "lost to the world", meaning no one would have access to it anymore? Because I believe you also said that the Gate wasn't moving randomly, and that there was often a purpose for Brooklyn going where he did. So if Brooklyn isn't controlling the Gate, and the Gate is moving on its own, and a mind normally needs to guide the Gate, is it the Gate itself that's deciding its destinations? And does that mean that the Gate has a mind? And does that mean that the gate is alive in some way? (sorry for grouping the questions like this--but they all lead into one another).

Greg responds...

1. This is merely a problem of semantics.

2. The timestream.

3. "Lost" is a point-of-view thing. One might say that Goliath, Angela, Elisa and Bronx were lost during the World Tour...

Response recorded on September 26, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

skiff questions:

I noticed that there was a face on the Sisters' barge that resembled the face on the skiffs.

1a) Are they of the same person/being? b) Is this person/being a Child of Oberon? c) What is this person/being's name? d) Is he (if it's a "he") still alive at the time of "The Journey"? e) Does he have any associations with sailing or water?

2a) The Princess and company originally left in three skiffs, but Mary and Finella took one back to the mainland, leaving two at Avalon. So how was it that there were three skiffs at the end of "Avalon, Part 3"? (one for the gang, one for Macbeth/Demona, and one for Arthur) b) Why would they need the extra skiff at Avalon? c) Did the Princess or Magus or any of the "eggs" ever accompany Tom to the outside world?

3) Since the incantation to reach Avalon is referred to as a "spell", and the Magus orginally read it from the Grimorum (which may have acted as the necessary conduit), how is it that Tom could invoke the spell, not being a wizard and having no conduit? (in addition, the Magus worries about whether "Constantine or his *sorcerers* get a hold of [the spell]", implying that his sorcerors might be needed to cast it.) For that matter, how will Jade and Turquesa be able to cast it?

Greg responds...

1a. Yes.

b. Maybe.

c. I'm not saying.

d. Perhaps. (That's a new one, right?) ;)

e. Obvioulsy.

2a. You can never have too many skiffs.

b. There is no b.

c. No.

3. Magus was able to teach it to Tom. Angela also knew it. She could teach it to Jade.

Response recorded on September 26, 2000

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Faieq writes...

1. Do the gargoyles and the humans on Avalon know about both the World Wars (in 1996), seeing as they have no comunication with the outside world except for when Tom goes on his search for Goliath every 100 years? We saw the bulk of his search in 1995, but the century before that it would be way before the first World War. (Obliviously the Children of Oberon know about the first World War).
2. Probably a silly question, but seeing as one day on Avalon is equal to 24 days in the real world, do the humans and gargoyles on Avalon eat 3 meals a day (24 days in the real world) or do they eat 72 meals a day (24 days in the real world).

Greg responds...

1. By now, they've probably learned a bit. But no, not when he arrived to search for Goliath.

2. I don't know if it's silly or not, but I don't understand the question.

Response recorded on September 25, 2000

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Adam writes...

You said there is no naturally occurring iron on Avalon. Wouldn't this create a health problem for the humans living there? I don't know about the gargoyles, but Princess Katherine, Tom and the Magus have blood that requires iron to transport oxygen. Normally this iron comes from the food we eat; but if there's no iron on Avalon, then no plants that grow there would have iron in them and no animals that live there (and eat the iron-free plants) would contain iron. So you would think that the humans who have lived there for decades would be anemic, or sick, or something. How did they get around this problem? Sorcery? Or did they have to bring their food in from outside of Avalon? Did Tom have to occasionally hop on a skiff and go grocery shopping?

Greg responds...

O.K. Wow. You caught me. I was thinking of iron in terms of big deposits of metal. Not in terms of the basic iron molecule.

Response recorded on September 25, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Does the Avalon clan have a leader among the gargoyles? A Second? Or are they all equally under the leadership of their rookery parents: The Princess, the Guardian and the (now late) Magus?

If there's a leader and/or a second, how were they chosen? By the three humans, or by the gargoyle clan itself?

Is Gabriel leader? Or was it just his personality that caused him to take major part in both crises?

Greg responds...

Gabriel is the leader. Angela was his second. Now Ophelia is.

The clan chose the leader. He chose his second.

Tom, Katharine and the Magus, always encouraged their independence.

Response recorded on September 09, 2000

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Scott Iskow writes...

1. Do Brooklyn and/or Lexington have any biological siblings on Avalon? Perhaps other blood relatives?

2. Does anyone in the Garg universe know or find out that Broadway and Hudson are related?

I know that these are questions that wouldn't matter to a gargoyle, but I was curious. :)

Greg responds...

1. Probably.

2. A non-issue. So no. I don't think so. (Unless I find some dramatic purpose for it that overwhelms what I think is the coolness of no one knowing OR caring.)

Response recorded on September 05, 2000

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Alex "Cyclonus" Bishansky writes...

This may sound like a silly question, but can you reach Avalon from a bath tub with the spell the Magus used in "Avalon pat 1"... I told you it was silly. I guess my brother is rubbing off on me.

Greg responds...

Yes, theoretically.

Response recorded on August 23, 2000

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Anonymous writes...

Where did Ophelia get her name? Tom, Katharine and the Magus all went to Avalon way way before Shakespeare was around (if I'm not mistaken), so I guess "Hamlet" is ruled out?

Greg responds...

Well, Tom has taken trips to the real world once a century. So "Hamlet" isn't ruled out actually.

Response recorded on August 21, 2000

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Matthais writes...

Hello! First of all, I thought I should say that I really love Gargoyles, I write role playing games and a lot of Fae concepts comes from the show. So, without further ado:

At the end of "Ill Met By Moonlight", Oberon says something like "From now on you and your clan shall be imune to all our powers" to Goliath. You have mentioned before that Oberon uses the royal "we", or "us", or "our", but says "I" if it would be confusing otherwise. This is certainly a confusing instance. I hope by "our" powers he dosn't mean the powers of all Fae? I couldn't remember if any of the clan are affected by Fae powers after Ill Met. (Unless "Future Tense" was after it?)

Greg responds...

Just his. And of course he "bends" THAT rule all the time too.

Response recorded on August 18, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

One last question. Is the relationship that the three original "Coldstone spirits" have with their new robotic bodies similar to the relationship (or magical ties, or whatever you want to call it) that Hakon had with the axe? Are they similarly bound to the living world only through their bodies? And does this connection now rely more on the magic that summoned them into Coldstone's body (which was done with human magic) or on the spell that transfered them to their new bodies (which was done with Alex's fairy magic). Where I'm going with this, as you might guess, has to do with the Coldtrio's access to Avalon, where human magic is forbidden. I must stop here before I say too much, but if you can, please discuss this possible complication.

Greg responds...

The answer to your first question is yes.

The answer to the last is subject to interpretation. Which means anything is possible -- as long as the loophole exists.

Response recorded on August 02, 2000

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Ambrosia writes...

A few Q's about Avalon:
From my understanding, Avalon is not a place you could point to on a map, correct? My question is about communication. 1. Would it be possible to phone/e-mail/talk in any way to someone on Avalon from, say, New York? One problem is obviously that phone lines couldn't physically run all the way there, but what about satellites? Or is that ridiculous?
Another possibility: 2. could you communicate magically like mirror-to-mirror or some such thing?
Here's another problem that presents itself: Time passes at one twenty-fourth speed on the magical island... 3. if you *could* talk to someone in real time, would his voice sound slower? and would yours sound fast?
Thank you for your time!

Greg responds...

Ø. Correct.

1. Largely ridiculous.

2. Certainly. We've seen it done.

2a. Depends on the method employed.

Response recorded on July 30, 2000

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Charles writes...

Okay, I have a question regarding being rookery siblings and lifemates. Gargoyles consider all the other gargoyles that hatch with them to be siblings. From what I understand, from among this group a gargoyle will also be expected to take a lifemate. Now, you can proably see where i'm heading. This kind of relationship sometimes strikes me as almost incestual, b/c a gargoyle will, for all intents and purposes, develop romantic and sexual feelings for what used to be his/her sister/brother. The problem is obviouslly avoided in cases such as Broadway and Angela, who didn't have much contact with each other, or between different geneartions of rookery litters, which I guess also applies to Broadway and Angela. What got me to thinking about this is when you denied Angela and Gabriel having feelings for each other b/c they were bros. and sisters and in the same sentence said Gabriel was mated wtih Ophelia, who I understood as also being a Rookery sibling. I guess you could say that i'm thinking too much like a human, which, I confess, is a big problem of mine.
8-)
Anyway, if you would give your interpretation and response to these thoughts of mine, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much to you and your fellow workers for creating such a wonderful show.

Greg responds...

Mostly, as you said, you're thinking too much like a human. None of a generations rookery siblings are biologically sister and brother. So the kind of incest taboo that you refer to wouldn't exist between them.

Look, think of it this way. Say you grew up in an orphanage with thirty plus other kids. All the same age. Both sexes. None related to each other. You were all raised together. When you're young and basically immature enough for sex to be a non-factor, all these kids would be like siblings to you. You'd get along better with some than others, but they'd be your de facto brothers and sisters. But as the years pass in this orphanage, as you all start to hit puberty, some of you would start to look at others in a different light. Not everyone. Some of you would maintain a close fraternal relationship. Others you were close to might grow distant. Some you didn't like might evolve into friends. Not brothers and sisters, but friends. And still others would become objects of attraction. But no matter what, you'd still be the thirty plus kids who grew up together in that orphanage. Whatever else happens, you'd always have that with all of them.

Gabriel and Angela don't still treat each other as brother and sister because it was some kind of mandatory result of them being rookery siblings. It's simply how their relationship developed, whereas Gabriel and Ophelia obviously had the hots for each other. Even though at a young age, they were raised in that "orphanage" on Avalon together.

Does that help, human?

Response recorded on July 30, 2000

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Nemi writes...

On to the serious stuff! All have to do with Iron and the Avalon

The Human body, Earth, and all other natural organisims can cleanse themselves.

Avalon is natural, if magical.

We know that Avalon's magic can effect Iron, it's just the fey in that respect.

But if Iron was dumped into Avalon and the fey couldn't remove it, could Avalon itself process the iron out of it's system?

Would Avalon remove it in the first place since suposedly it does no harm?

How long would this take?

Greg responds...

If Iron was dumped there?

First answer my question. What if it wasn't?

Response recorded on July 29, 2000

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fae Rae writes...

Are Coldstone and Coldfire Gabriel's parents? Gabe looks like Coldstone and I think he has Coldfire's weird wings. Was that intended?

Greg responds...

Coldstone and Coldfire ARE Gabriels biological parents. They are also two of his rookery parents. Two of only five that survive into this century.

And yes, that's all intentional.

Response recorded on July 11, 2000

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Pamber writes...

have jade and turquesa returned to guatemala from avalon yet? did they go on adventures wherever avalon sent them?

Greg responds...

Yes. Yes.

Response recorded on July 11, 2000

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Zuppstein Luvir Manoruvver writes...

Hiyah, I'm Zupp! I love Gargoyles sooooo much, and they simply kick. They're way to good for Toon Disney!

My Q's are on relationships in GARGOYLES:

1) Why did you give Angela to Broadway? I don't wanna like offend you or something, but she'd be so much better as Brooklyn's. They look a heck of a lot better together than Angela and Broadway.

2) In teh avalon episodes, especially when Angela leaves for the first time, she and Gabriel were always together. Gabriel at least acted like he was in love with her. But you said that Gabriel was going with Ophelia. Was there ever anything with Angela and Gabriel?

3. The Goliath/Elisa relationship rocks! I love how you got rid of a gap between 2 species with it. But will they ever have a future together?

Thanx!

Greg responds...

1. I didn't "give" Angela to Broadway. As she herself said, she's not a prize to be won by OR gifted to anyone. As for a direct answer to your question, sorry, but I'm tired of answering this one. If you'd bothered to check the Angela or the Trio archive to this site you would have seen that this question has been asked and answered many times. I don't want to offend YOU, but if you think she'd be better off with Brooklyn, then I think you weren't paying very close attention.

2. Again, no. Check the archives for a more complete answer. But Angela and Gabriel had a much more fraternal relationship. Think of them as fraternal twin siblings. They were very close. But it was brother/sister affection -- never romance.

3. Yes.

(Zupp, I'm sorry if this response seems harsh. But I've got a ton of questions to go through, and it's a little tough when the questioner doesn't bother to check the specific archive for his question first.)

Response recorded on July 11, 2000

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Abigail Thorne writes...

How did Goliath and the others learn that Demona and Macbeth can only be killed if one kills the other? Demona told Brooklyn in "Temptation" how she had been dealing with humans for hundreds of years, and Macbeth told Goliath in "Enter Macbeth" how he had named Demona, which she herself said in "Awakening Part 5" happened long ago. So I get how they could figure out both were immortal, but how exactly did they figure out the terms of the spell?

And another thing--if they knew that only Macbeth could kill Demona and vice versa, how come they thought Macbeth died in the crash in "The Price" and Demona died in the fire in "The Reckoning'?

Greg responds...

From the Weird Sisters, after they were captured -- but before they were released -- in "Avalon, Part Three".

"The Price" took place before "Avalon". And they never said she was dead in "The Reckoning". Goliath simply acknowledged that he wasn't sure. I mean how many questions have I had to answer here about the rules of the whole Macbeth/Demona thing. If you all have some doubts about how that spell works, don't you think Goliath and Angela might also.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Nyrtleka writes...

In the AskGreg Archive, you wrote: "I expect Angela, Sora, Ophelia, Boudicca, Obsidiana, and Turquesa to all lay eggs in 2008."

As I see it, Angela is Broadway's mate, Sora is (presumably) Kai's mate, Ophelia is Gabriel's mate, Obsidiana is Zafiro's mate, and Turquesa is Jade's mate. But what about Boudicca? Did she and Bronx mate? It seems logical, since (other than Fu-Dog) there are no other gargoyle beasts in the series. Is this true?

Greg responds...

Sora is Yama's mate. And Boudicca has mated and probably will again mate with Bronx.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Patrick Toman writes...

Hi, Greg.

I guess this is sort of a combination ramble and question, growing from a discussion that got started in the TGS comment room.

First, the ramble that explains the origin of my question. I recently saw part of a documentary on PBS about birds (David Attenburough's "Life of Birds" series) and a segment was shown about endangered species of birds being raised by humans from eggs to be released into the wild later. Part of it showed how whooping crane chicks raised completely by humans were being taught how to fly. It was really rather comical... the people were running about flapping their arms, but in the end by mimicing the gestures the young cranes caught on and were able to get into the air for their first flights.

So now to the question... would Katharine, Tom, and the Magus have applied anything similar to help the Avalon hatchlings learn how to glide, or did they simply leave the young gargoyles to their own devices and instincts?

And also related to this... how old must a gargoyle be before it's ready to begin gliding? Does it vary from individual to individual, or does a rookery all mature at about the same rate?

Greg responds...

1. Both, I think. If for no other reason than it would be fun to show in flashback someday.

2. I bet it varies a bit. Just as walking and talking, etc. varies among human children. Even between siblings.

Response recorded on July 05, 2000


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