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The Phoenix Gate

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Jurgan writes...

On the Voices from the Eyrie podcast, you talked about how Xanatos isn't petty, and something funny occurred to me. You know who can be extremely petty? Goliath. For starters, he does have a thirst for revenge. I remember a discussion once in the CR about the characters' vices, and we decided Demona and Goliath have the same one, that being vengence. The difference is that Goliath usually keeps it under wraps, probably because he's able to admit when he's in the wrong and de-escalate.

However, G's pettiness shows up in other ways, too. In Deadly Force, he looks very smug about blowing up Xanatos's fancy guns. He gets jealous and overly protective of both Elisa and Angela at times. But my favorite is in The Edge, where he shouts at Xanatos for a while and then runs off, but not before smashing his street lamp. I don't know if that moments was intended to be funny, but it makes me bust out laughing every time. What did you think you were accomplishing, Goliath? Just venting, I guess. And then it even gets a follow-up in The Cage where Derek knocks Xanatos's desk lamp over. He can also be quite petty, or maybe it was just his cat DNA compelling him to push things off of tables.

Anyway, just a bit of disjointed praise/analysis. Summary: You can make characters more compelling by giving the heroes some villainous traits and the villains some heroic traits. This show is still teaching me stuff a quarter century later.

Greg responds...

Thanks. That was the plan. Glad it worked/is working. ;)

Response recorded on June 01, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

You know, watching Vandal sire an entire lineage throughout the centuries, I can't help but think about Demona during her 1000 years of life and wonder why she did not try the same approach to 'repopulate' the gargoyle race herself. Ironically, that might work out quite well for Demona in more ways than one since she become the 'mother' of her whole race. I know gargoyles were sparse throughout the years, and I can't remember if Demona even knew about any of the surviving clans. And of course, given her current predicament, I don't see her having kids to be a option, unless she wants to run the risk of giving birth as a human.

Still, it does seem like it would have been at least a potentially useful idea if she ever encounter another gargoyle over the course of her long life to maybe at least 'try' and procreate. Of course I understand, gargoyles are monogamous by nature, but then again, I wouldn't nesscessarily put anything past Demona

Assuming she ever met another gargoyle in the last 1000 years, would she have ever even considered having another egg? Personally, if I had to guess, I would say she would not try, and the reason being there is big difference between her and Vandal; she would have to carry the child to term. And if Demona has one constant, it's her own self-preservation. Still, it's an interesting parallel to ponder.

Greg responds...

It's interesting. But I'm forced to answer NO SPOILERS, for all the usual reasons.

Response recorded on May 10, 2022

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Sam writes...

I have a few questions about Demona one of my favorite characters in the show and the one I pity most.

1) How much money does Demona have?
2) Does she know Thailog is still alive by hunters moon?
3) What is her position in Nightstone Unlimited before and after Thailog’s betrayal?
4) What was her real reaction to learning who Angela was?

Greg responds...

1. Quite a bit.

2. I'm not sure she ever took it for granted that he was dead.

3. Dominique Destine was co-C.E.O. with Alexander Thailog.

4. I'll leave that to your imagination ... for now.

Response recorded on March 04, 2022

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Ashley writes...

Hi, I'm a big fan of Gargoyles and have recently been binge watching it on Disney Plus; though I plan to skip the third season. I don't know if you are still answering these things, but I do have a question about The Mirror. Or more specifically Demona's transformation into a human every day. she once told Mcbeth that Puck's gifts always come with a price, but considering how mad he looked at the end of The Mirror when she was rejecting his offer, I got to wonder

If Demona hadn't made him mad, would the transformation still have been painful?

Greg responds...

Probably not. But you never know with Puck.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Jeri writes...

What do you think of shipping? What's the most surprising pairing you've seen?

Greg responds...

1. If it makes fans happy, I have no objection. And I say that being very aware of the fact that sometimes fans ship characters so hard that when the show doesn't go that direction, they get upset. That's a tad frustrating. But I can live with it, if they can.

2. Um. Probably Demona and Elisa. I don't know where the heck that one comes from.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Clark Cradic writes...

Does Demona routinely ruin her outfits as a result of each transformation or does she try to limit that as much as possible? I ask cause her transformation to a Gargoyle tends to be the one that wrecks her close the most.

Greg responds...

I assume you're talking about Dominique's wardrobe, not Demona's. Sometimes, she ruins those clothes. Sometimes, she takes them off before the sun sets.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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An Old Fan writes...

So I know you've answered this a number of times over the years, but rather than I asking the nth time, I've spent a while thinking about the "how".

So Macbeth and Demona cannot die but by their own hand and although there are situations that seem like they could die by another's (beheading, smashed stone, etc), these situations cannot happen because of the spell the Wierd Sisters placed on them. It protects them from assured fatal injuries that normally would kill mortals (again beheading, smashed stone, etc). The spell basically would manipulate events to ensure that Macbeth and Demona would always get out of such a situation (Macbeth getting caught in the French Revolution and is scheduled to be beheaded but some mishap with the dungeon keys delays it, buying him time to escape or Demona is forced to roost elsewhere instead of her normal spot because of some freak storm preventing her in getting back, thus sparing her from being smashed by the Hunters one morning).

They would have uncanny luck in avoiding death situations that would otherwise be assured.

Greg responds...

I guess you're basically right, but I would recharacterize it. The Sisters may not have magically enforced this "manipulation," as you put it, so much as they magically predicted future events.

Response recorded on August 18, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Hunter's Moon" yesterday (Sunday) on DVD - all three parts.

I've mentioned before spotting a lot of mentions of hunting, usually applied to humans going after gargoyles with hostile intent, and it struck me that this made it appropriate that the Hunters would be the gargoyles' adversaries in the finale. (Well, the Disney Afternoon finale/Season Two finale.)

And it struck me that the Hunters were the most dangerous opponents that the gargoyles faced in modern times, judging by results. They blew up the clock tower, destroying the gargoyles' home, and then exposed them to the public. The former was partly undone by the gargoyles getting their old home (the castle) back by the end of the episode, but not the latter - now the gargoyles are facing an alarmed public (even though they're safe at the end - for the moment). None of the gargoyles' other adversaries in modern times have been able to inflict that much damage on them. To top it, you'd have to go back to 994 and the Wyvern Massacre.

A few things that struck me this time around:

Goliath and Elisa are actually openly speaking to each other and even sharing a brief embrace on board the passenger train, just after foiling the robbery; fortunately, the passengers apparently didn't notice that.

Hudson greets the returning gargoyles as "lads" - then quickly adding in "And lassie, of course", for Angela. It reminded me of his use of just "lads" for the younger gargoyles in "Possession" that I mentioned in my post on it - apparently he's getting more adjusted now to Angela's presence in the clan.

The trio's clash with Demona in Part One seems the last "trio action" in the series; they're increasingly split up (or else acting with the rest of the clan present) after this.

Lexington and Brooklyn's shared uneasy glances when they return to the clock tower with Goliath near the end of Part Two seemed all the stronger when I realized "the audience knows that Robyn and Jon survived Goliath's fight with them, but Lex and Brooklyn don't - from their perspective, Goliath had apparently killed those two."

Jon Canmore's cry about the gargoyles when he's facing Jason at the end, "They killed dad!", struck me as a sign of how (even before shooting Jason) he was losing it; it was Demona who killed Charles Canmore, none of the Manhattan clan were even present at the event, and Jon was there so he knows it.

Broadway shows how much his attitude towards reading has changed since the start of "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time" when he's talking to Angela about how great the castle library is (and we'll see them there together in "The Journey").

This story really does seem like a good conclusion for the series in so many ways - the gargoyles are back in the castle again, their war with Xanatos is (seemingly) over, they'd defeated Demona's big scheme to wipe out humanity, Elisa finally admitted her feelings for Goliath and even kissed him. Except there's a big loose end with the gargoyles' existence being made public, and most of the New Yorkers aren't too happy about it. (Brooklyn's "And so it begins" remark does also support the feeling that the story could continue past this spot.) But it certainly makes a good season finale.

Oh, and I counted the number of "claw-mark transitions" in the entire two seasons during this review - 28 in all.

Greg responds...

We were pretty happy with it.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

I watched "Turf" on DVD yesterday as well, but don't have anything new to say about it, so my new thoughts on "The Reckoning", which I watched with "Possession" on DVD today.

In Act I, Hudson warns Angela that her mother "is capable of anything". Angela later uses those exact words when confronting Demona in Act III.

Elisa gets bitten by a mosquito while in the Labyrinth; I wonder if that was the moment when Sevarius and Thailog acquired her DNA for Delilah; it'd certainly be a "playing fair with the audience" moment.

While Demona professes outrage over Angela's claim to be her daughter, her eyes aren't glowing red - and later we learn that she'd known Angela to be her daughter all along. The "eyes not glowing red" part makes a good hint to the audience that she was feigning anger and disbelief.

Greg responds...

That mosquito is exactly when Elisa's DNA was taken for later use in creating Delilah.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "The New Olympians" on DVD today.

Continuing the "hunting" theme in "Gargoyles" that I've paid closer attention to this time around, I noticed that Ekidne described the New Olympians' ancestors as "hunted". (I also spotted a New Olympian extra who looked a lot like traditional depictions of Artemis/Diana, the goddess of the hunt - though I think I'm reading too much into that.)

Goliath's words to Angela about how they cannot wage war on an entire city remind me of his words to Demona in "Awakening Part Five" of how he cannot wage war upon an entire world.

Greg responds...

Also intentional. I love those kinds of callbacks.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Sanctuary" on DVD today. New observations.

Elisa writes Macbeth's name as "MacBeth". Not quite as serious as the infamous "Servarius" error in "The Cage", but still a bit unfortunate.

I was amused to note that Demona barely even registers Elisa's presence in the middle of her fight with Macbeth, even though Elisa's calling out to both of them - until just before Elisa shoots her. She does finally spot the detective and aim at her, but Elisa takes her down before she can do more than that. Apparently her feud with Macbeth tops even her hatred for Elisa.

I felt a sense of near-horror, though, as I noticed how Demona and Macbeth's fight was damaging the library, with several books apparently getting damaged or destroyed.

And the silhouette of a gargoyle against the moon in the newspaper photograph bears an uncanny similarity (obviously coincidental) to the Bat-Signal.

Greg responds...

Those typos drive me nuts.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Shadows of the Past" today.

Bronx was definitely not enjoying the wild boat ride through the stormy seas - his response put me in mind of the "series Pitch"'s description of him as angst-ridden and not fond of adventures.

I really enjoyed the little animation details in this episode - Elisa cautiously climbing up the path from the shore, grabbing hold of the stone wall at one point to steady herself, or Bronx slipping a bit when he starts climbing up the cliff.

The entrance to the rookery looked different than it did in "Awakening Part One" - apparently those doors and the gargoyle-like face over them were removed by Xanatos to New York, along with the rest of the castle. The depiction of the now castle-less cliff - with a huge gap - brought home just how much of it Mr. X had removed.

I really like the illusory Demona's words to Goliath "Join me in the dark" - it's an illusion of her, of course, but those words capture so well in metaphor what she's been trying to get him to do (when not simply trying to kill him).

This time around, looking at the giant skull-like shape left over from the Archmage's battle with the gargoyles in "Long Way Till Morning", I tried to work out (but wasn't certain) whether it was a real skull (if so, it belonged to something really huge) or just part of the cave sculpted into the likeness of a skull. I'll have to pay closer attention to it, the next time I watch "Long Way Till Morning".

Greg responds...

The animation on that episode was just lovely..

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

I rewatched "High Noon" over the weekend. ("Outfoxed", as well, but I'm giving it a separate entry.)

What struck me most about this episode this time around was that it was almost a "Shakespeare villain team-up" - Macbeth (and Demona, whom you could describe as a "Lady Macbeth" analogue) team up with Iago (more accurately, a gargoyle analogue for Iago, who's only called that in the voice actor credits). I doubt that Shakespeare should have objected to that, since he'd written at least one crossover himself ("A Midsummer Night's Dream", which blends Greek mythology with English fairy-lore).

I still like the touch of Hudson and Broadway learning to read from the newspaper - poor Broadway's still finding the word "right" a challenge (cf. "The Silver Falcon"). Again, I'm going to have to look through some books on the history of the English language to find out how so many words which sound like "-ite" came to end, in written form, with "-ight". It's probably one of the biggest challenges to someone learning written English.

Broadway's excited cry, as he and Hudson enter Macbeth's library, "Look at all these books!" struck me all the more, when I thought that, to someone who'd been born (well, hatched) and grown up in the 10th century, a library that size would indeed seem miraculous. What a difference the printing press has made!

"Iago"'s cry as "Othello" and "Desdemona" recover control of Coldstone, "I am besieged!", grabbed me this time around - such a dramatic way of describing the struggle within.

And this time, I also noted Coldstone's statement that, as long as "Iago"'s trying to recover control, "no *living* gargoyle" (emphasis mine) is safe from him. It brings home, I think, his awareness that he's now an "undead gargoyle".

Greg responds...

Glad you liked it, still, after all these years.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "City of Stone" today (all four episodes). A few things that stood out to me this time.

Continuing the "gargoyles being called beasts" thread: the granary guards in Part One call Demona's clan "filthy beasts". Gillecomgain doesn't use the term "beast" for Demona, but does call her a creature and a monster.

(By contrast, the "breastplate gargoyle" comments about their old home, after Demona and her clan have to abandon it following Duncan's attack, "The hunting there was good" - probably one of the few occasions where gargoyles are talking about being the hunters rather than the hunted.)

Demona's clan uses nets twice in this multi-parter - once against the granary guards in Part One, once against Canmore's army in Part Four. The nets being in Parts One and Four gave a nice sense of "bookends".

A detail that I can't believe I missed before: Demona was bearing the Hunter's mask at her belt, as if a trophy, after the battle with Duncan. (The young Canmore grabs it from her during his attack upon her.)

Demona calls Bronx "my pet"; I looked up your remarks on gargoyle beasts in the archives and found that gargoyles don't see gargoyle beasts as pets, but as equals. Maybe another sign that Demona thinks far more like a human than she'd admit (or than it would be safe to tell her)?

I like the touch of the various new kings (like Macbeth and Lulach) being hailed as "High King of Scotland" - the "high king" part conveys all the more a sense of Scotland as a collection of recently-united chiefdoms (which it would have been at the time in actual history).

Greg responds...

We tried to get a feeling for the actual history into the piece.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Vows" today. A few new things that came to me.

I was hesitant about mentioning this, in case it comes across as an idea, but - from the way Goliath addressed Demona as "my angel of the night" at Prince Malcolm's wedding, I wondered if this was the first time he'd called her that.

When Xanatos referred to his getting the old coin that was the foundation of his fortune as "ancient history", I thought, "well, medieval history, to be precise".

I wonder how Prince Malcolm and his court must have perceived the Norman Ambassador's departure - he rides off just before the wedding, not staying to see Princess Elena, whom he'd escorted to the castle, wedded (even though he'd presumably be the closest thing to a representative of her father there). At least it doesn't appear to have caused a diplomatic incident between Scotland and Normandy.

The Archmage addresses Demona as "you stupid beast", continuing the pattern of unfriendly humans using such terms for gargoyles, that I've been paying close attention to this time around.

Brooklyn is the one most vocal about going to Goliath's rescue at the end; I wonder if Demona's involvement and his feelings about her had a lot to do about that.

I still think it's a pity that the original ending got onto the DVD; I hope that the Disney + version uses the corrected ending. (That's the main thing I miss from my old "Gargoyles" tapes.)

Greg responds...

<sigh> That damn ending...

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Alix writes...

Where did Demona get her Tiara from? Did someone give it to her or did she steal it?

Greg responds...

Really good question.

No spoilers.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Features I'd just noticed about "Temptation", this time around.

1. When Broadway tells Goliath that Brooklyn had gone on a joyride, he makes motions with his hands suggesting someone gripping a motorcycle's handlebars.

2. Demona, when she talks about the events of "The Thrill of the Hunt", uses the phrase "hunted like animals" - which not only continues the "humans seeing the gargoyles as beasts" thread that I'd noticed all the more in "Awakening" and "The Thrill of the Hunt", but also put me in mind of the Hunters - no wonder she uses that description!

Greg responds...

1. Yep.

2. She's got a history...

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Derek writes...

Am I missing anyone or adding someone incorrectly? So far Sevarius has the DNA of the following?

Goliath, Brooklyn, Angela, Broadway, Bronx, Lexington, Eliza, Hudson, Yama, Robyn Canmore, Dingo, Talon, Maggie, Fang, Claw, Wolf, Demona, Nessie, Deiliah (Mix)?

Greg responds...

It's been a while since I saw the episodes. I guess he has Delilah, but then if you're including her, he'd also have Thailog, Burbank, Hollywood, Brentwood and Malibu. I guess he probably has Maggie, Fang, Claw and Wolf. But then I imagine he has Erin, Benny, Thug and Tasha, too.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Rose writes...

Hi,

My last question was probably already ignored, but if not I apologize for it...after extensive digging through the archives I think it was answered.

But I’m pretty sure this was never addressed....You kind of seemed to suggest that Elisa fell for Goliath spiritually and physically earlier than he fell for her. How is it then that she never seemed to be jealous of Demona? At least she never showed herself to be. Like in vows...I know she didn’t know the details of what transpired there, but wasn’t she ever worried that Goliath May eventually succeed in bringing Demona to the light and reunite with his mate?

Or was her willful desire to avoid the topic of their romantic linking overpowering any other feelings of insecurity or jealousy she may have felt vis a vis Goliath? Or was her guarded nature so tight that these secret fears never showed on her?

I just wanted to also say thank you for bringing us a love story for the ages...I think Goliath and Elisa are the most heart wrenching couple to ever grace the world of fiction. Thinking about these two tears my heart up in the best way possible. Watching Elisa as a little girl made such a huge positive impact on the person I am today...I love her so much that I’m willing to relinquish the hold I wish I had on Goliath (if there’s a straight woman out there who wouldn’t melt all over this guy...I haven’t met her yet).

And I’m sure I’m not the only one. I think you may have saved hundreds, thousands of 90s young women from our lesser selves with this beautiful, positive role model. There hasn’t ever been another like her.

Greg responds...

Elisa recognized her feelings long before Goliath (at least in my mind), but she also refused to acknowledge those feelings as connecting to a real possibility of a relationship for way longer than Goliath. And she wanted the best for Goliath, so if Demona could be turned around (during this period) she logically felt that would be a good thing.

Having said that, I do think Elisa shows signs of jealousy throughout. Little things. Rewatch. I think you'll see them.

I'm glad you loved Elisa as much as we did/do.

Response recorded on August 05, 2021

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Mara A. Cordova writes...

... Did Demona ever know that Broadway shot Elisa accidentally?

Greg responds...

Not that I know of.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Brian D writes...

Hi Greg I watched Season 2 of Gargoyles recently and I am left thinking about one character at the end of Hunter's Moon. I'm hoping you can help me with.

Low and behold Demona wants to kill the humans again. This time with a biological planetwide human killing virus and protect the Gargoyles from the virus with some sort of gargoyle magic statue.

There's two problems I saw with the plan.

One Demona herself is human in the day which means when the sun rises the virus would likely kill her. Which means she'll die every couple minutes while the sun is up due to her immortality.

Two even if her being a gargoyle at night protects her from the virus. It will do nothing to protect MacBeth who will die by her hand and as a result kill her for good with him wouldn't it?

As I was watching the episodes I thought they were problems with the plan until the very end where Demona once again flies off alone.

Is it really a problem with the plan, did she have everything covered, or did the destruction of her relationship with Angela break Demona to a point that she didn't care as long as she made a 'better' world for her race?

Greg responds...

In her mind, she had all the bases covered. But with Demona, if there's an element of self-destruction inherent to her plans, that should come as no surprise.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Aether writes...

Does Demona own/drive a car? I've noticed in a wide shot of her mansion in the episode "The Mirror" that she has a garage for two vehicles.

Greg responds...

Odds are Dominique has a chauffeur.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Jan Rott writes...

What does Demona think about the Gargoyle Minority Protection Act? Does she think positive about it or negative about it?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on July 14, 2021

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Zerofighter writes...

Hi Greg big fan, especially of Demona
I remember reading she was basically a military adviser to Macbeth, in your own words Secretary of defense.
So here are my questions
1. Where does her combat skills rank? Example is she more skilled then Goliath, below him etc, or how would she compare to Young Justice Characters in combat training

2. She has taken on Goliath once in awhile. Is she as strong as him, or slightly below.

3. Same question but this time for speed. Is she just as fast or faster?

4. How powerful is the Particle Canon she uses? Like could it Destroy a tank?

Anyways, thanks for this Greg, cant wait to see what you have planned

Greg responds...

1. As always, I'm not big on ranking. Demona is a badass warrior. She can go toe-to-toe with Goliath. He has the advantage of size and strength, but she's more vicious and dangerous. As for comparing her to YJ characters... where would I start? She's a threat to anyone. Nuff said.

2. She's not as strong.

3. Shrug. Might be a bit faster.

4. It depends how you define "destroy". It would disable a tank.

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Eskarina writes...

Hi! English is not my native language, sorry for the mistakes in advance.
My questions:

1 - How really Xanatos and Demona meet? In the "The Awakening" Xanatos says that he brought her before than the other gargoyles and she woke up there. That it's obviously a lie. At that point, one suposes Xanatos knows more about Demona than he is telling.

2 - Didn't Xanatos knows Demona is already immortal in "City of Stone"? The suposed spell she cast, should stole a minute of life of all citizens watching the TV. If Xanatos knows she is immortal I can't see why Xanatos could think Demona will help him to get more years of life.

Maybe the questions are stupid? I watched the show in my language around three times, and there was some translation mistakes. Can you belive the hints about Owen being Puck was deleted? All of them. I'll rewatch in english someday.

Greg responds...

1. It was definitely a lie. But the truth is a spoiler.

2. He believed she was immortal because of the occasional reuse of that spell.

Not stupid questions at all. I'm sorry you had to work so hard to enjoy the show, but I'm glad you did and do.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Dragomir writes...

In "Future Tense" Puck depicted Demona & Brooklyn as mates, now obviously that's not happening considering Brook found Katana & started a family, but was there ever a point in time in which you were seriously considering the idea of a reformed Demona hooking up with Brooklyn in the future? OR, was Demona & Brooklyn's illusionary relationship meant to be a hint towards the eventual pairing up of Delilah and Malibu later on? Or was that all just coincidence and Puck's "shipping" of Demona & Brooklyn was never meant to be a clue as to their future or the futures of their clones? I only ask because I was always interested by Puck's ominous warning to Goliath regarding how his portrayal of the future, while not one hundred percent accurate, could still give hints as to the possible futures of the gargoyles as well as their friends and foes, i.e. like how although Lexington himself didn't turn evil as he did in Puck's illusion, his clone did indeed "join the darkside" by siding with Thailog. Thanks for your time!

Greg responds...

1. Honestly? Never.

2. <heh heh heh> Wouldn't you like to know. (I mean, obviously, you would. You asked the question.)

3. I'll leave this to your imagination/interpretation.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Eddie Carter writes...

When Demona had the Phoenix Gate(Vows), why didn't she use it to transport some of the members of her clan to present day Scotland instead of bringing her younger self to the year 994?

Greg responds...

How would that suit her one-track-mind plans?

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Grimalkin writes...

1. You said that Demona would have 4 or 5 great loves total. Does that number include the one-sided romantic relationships she's been in? Like the Paris romance with Macbeth and her romance with Thailog, in which only one partner genuinely loved the other.

2. You said that Demona's clan, between 1040 and 1057, often slept at Castle Moray but never all at once. What was the reason for that? Was Demona's distrust of humans a factor?

2b. What was Demona's primary residence during that time?

3. When Demona is human during the day, does she experience any psychological changes due to her being fully human? The human hormones, instincts, etc... do they affect her perceptions/interests/attractions in any way?

4. Between 1040 and 1057, did Demona have anyone other than Macbeth, human or gargoyle, that she was friends with? Was there anyone as close or closer to her than him?

Thank you. :)

Greg responds...

1. I don't think I said that. Can you give me a reference? I definitely wouldn't count what we've seen of either Macbeth or Thailog in Paris.

2. Yes.

2b. Castle Moray.

3. Not that she'd acknowledge.

4. No spoilers.

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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EXALT writes...

I've recently rewatched Awakening, and the scene where Goliath tells Demona that she can't kill an enemy unless it is "in the heat of battle" sparked a question in me: as of Phoenix, which members of the Manhattan Clan have actually killed someone?

Greg responds...

Most have, in battle, in the tenth century. Angela hasn't. Egwardo hasn't. Nashville hasn't. Maybe Lex & Broadway haven't. But that seems unlikely/unrealistic.

Oh, and if you're counting her, Elisa hasn't.

Response recorded on October 29, 2020

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Grimalkin writes...

1. As of the end of the SLG comics, do either Macbeth or Demona know about what they did during the weeks that they were controlled by the Weird Sisters? Do they know about their actions in High Noon, how they were forced to attack the innocent people (inc Katharine, Mac's only remaining relative, and Demona's children) on Avalon, etc?

If not, what do they think happened to them between their fight in New York and waking up in Paris?

If either does know, how do they feel about the Weird Sisters as a result?

2. Do Macbeth and Demona share the "anguish" mentioned by the Weird Sisters in CoS4 the same way they share physical pain? For example, on their wedding night in Paris, could Demona feel Macbeth's emotional pain as if it were her own?

If not, how does that part of their link work?

3. Is the shared pleasure part of Demona and Macbeth's link physical, emotional, or both?

Thank you. :)

Greg responds...

1. Largely, they do not.

1a. It's perplexing.

1b. I doubt either of them are terribly fond of the Weird Sisters in any case.

2. Emotional pain? That would require enough selflessness to acknowledge that anyone else has emotional pain.

2a. You're assuming that anguish isn't physical?

3. Have we established shared pleasure?

Response recorded on January 31, 2020

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Marvelman writes...

I know this isn't a forum, but I would like to respond to another poster who asked if Demona was ticklish by saying:

Would you really want to find out?:)

Greg responds...

I'm not touching this one (or her).

Response recorded on October 18, 2019

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Confused writes...

In Enter MacBeth, MacBeth refers to Demona as the Gargoyles' queen. But wouldn't she or even someone of her clan from the past have told him a bit about Gargoyles and their clans and that they didn't have kings or queens? Or did she leave him to believe she was their queen?

Greg responds...

I think you're taking his statement too literally. He saw her as the leader of the gargoyles, which she was during the key moment of his natural life. He views leaders in terms of kings and queens, so used that language. (Also as a chess metaphor, I seem to recall.) But he wasn't speaking or thinking about her this way literally.

Response recorded on October 17, 2019

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Juan writes...

In "Vows" When Goliath told to the young Demona about doing nothing to prevent The Wyvern Castle Massacre.To not let the petty jealousies that prey upon her heart.To fortify herself with love.Was he really hoping to prevent the future and was it his last attempt to reason her?

Greg responds...

Yes, hopefully if forlornly.

Response recorded on December 15, 2017

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Matthew writes...

I had a random question based on a question I saw about the Goliath/Demona/Angela parentage issue in "Sanctuary."
I just thought of this theory that maybe part of the reason why Goliath was resistant to telling Angela about Demona was because he was hurt over the end of his relationship with her, and having seen how she changed. So, he may, at least somewhere in his mind, have wanted to forget about her.
Do you think that may have been the case, not just his "Gargoyle Way" position?

Greg responds...

If that works for you, I'm not going to object.

Response recorded on October 25, 2017

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Merlin's Beard writes...

What was Demona's goal in City of Stone? Was a massive killing spree the goal?

Greg responds...

Certainly that was part of it.

Response recorded on September 05, 2017

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Christopher writes...

Since Demona is still around as of the Gargoyles 2198 spinoff, that means MacBeth is still around as well. I know you won't discuss any actual plans for the character (SPOILERS!), but can you tell us if you had specific plans for him? Or did the outline for 2198 not get that far?

Greg responds...

I have plans for everyone and everything.

Response recorded on May 25, 2017

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Here's hoping you're in a sharing mood... and to add something to GargWiki's timeline. ;)

From your timeline, you have revealed vague events that line up with a Gathering date and a character played by one of the special guests... so I was wondering if you now had one for ConVergence as it is the Gathering Reunion in 2014, and if so, if you would mind sharing it?

Greg responds...

Gargoyle sympathizers gather for the first time in five years. Vinnie and Demona attend. (Just canon-in-training.)

Response recorded on March 20, 2017

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EXALT writes...

1)When Macbeth first fought the Manhattan Clan, did he know they were members of Demona's original clan? And that Goliath was her former mate?
2)As of Phoenix, how much does Mac know of Demona's past before they first met? Does he know about the Wyvern Massacre and the role she played?
3)During the 17 golden years of Mac's kingdom, did he and Demona ever discuss her past? And if yes, how honest was she?

Greg responds...

1. He knew the former, not necessarily the latter.

2. I assume you mean as of the END (i.e. the present day 1997 ending) of Phoenix. If so, he knows about the massacre. He's heard HER version of the role she played. I doubt she'd have copped to the entire truth.

3. Yes.

3a. She was completely honest to her thinking. Emotionally honest. She just left out a few details.

Response recorded on January 30, 2017

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probably overthinking writes...

1. In "The Mirror" was the decision to make Demona human during the day intended as symbolic, because she embodies all the qualities that she claims to despise in humans (bigotry, treachery, etc.). Or am I reading too much into it and it was just a way to make her a more powerful villain by freeing her of the limitations that hamper other gargoyles?

2. On that same note, was Demona's smashing of Titania's mirror upon seeing her new human form symbolic of her inability to face herself and admit that she possesses all of the above mentioned qualities? Or am I overthinking again and she just smashed the mirror because you didn't want to do any more stories involving that mirror and it was the only way to explain why Demona never again attempted to use it.

Greg responds...

1. Does it have to be either/or?

2. Does it have to be either/or?

Response recorded on January 23, 2017

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Zeke writes...

Since Goliath and Demona are the same age roughly in 994 what would happen when Goliath became to old to lead the clan and stepped down? Wouldn't Demona also be too old?

Greg responds...

Yes, it would have been a concern eventually. But they were both young at that stage, and the bigger concern at that time was death by violence, not by old age.

Response recorded on December 22, 2016

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Ice writes...

Why didn't Stuart Canmore chase after Demona after she escaped the net in the flashback at the start of Hunter's Moon Part 2? She was just a couple feet away when she got out of the water.

Greg responds...

I'd have to look again, I suppose, since it's been awhile, but as I recall, she was behind him, and he didn't spot her.

Response recorded on November 18, 2016

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Cillian Flood writes...

Is there any relation between Demona and Desdemona? They seem like pretty dissimilar characters at first glance but the Shakespeare references are so prevalent throughout Gargoyles that I could easily imagine there's some subtle reason that name was chosen (aside from meaning demon).

Greg responds...

Desdemona isn't an actual name in the series. It was a script designation, same as Iago and Othello. We used these names in the scripts and the credits for reasons of clarity to those working on and viewing the series. And those names were chosen because of the parallels to the Shakespeare play Othello. So any similarity between Demona and Desdemona is purely coincidental. We obviously came up with the Demona name long before we came up with the designation for her rookery sister.

In universe, Desdemona had no name until she became a robot and was dubbed Coldfire.

Response recorded on October 27, 2016

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GoliathFan223 writes...

Hello, Greg!It's me again. How are you? Well, I hope.

I was re-watching one of my favorite Gargoyles episodes, "Long Way to Morning" and I had a thought, particularly about Demona: How exactly did Demona know where Elisa's home was? I don't recall her knowing before this episode and i was curious. Was she somehow keeping tabs on her or spying?

Thank you for your time and answering my question. (:

Greg responds...

Maybe she checked the phone book.

I'm told it magically gives out addresses.

Response recorded on September 14, 2016

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RexBlazer1 writes...

Hi Greg,

I'll try and keep this short, as I'm sure your busy and having things to do, but basically I would like your honest opinion on something. And no, don't worry, it's not about ideas for any of the things you've worked on, nor anything that I or others have written.

Anyway, I'm an aspiring writer who wants to make his own series, and there's an aspect of storytelling that I can't seem to decide on. You see, I have always felt that there are, primarily, two types of villains:

1. The kind who do bad things and don't care
2. The kind who believe that their actions are justified

Summarily, I can't seem to decide which one is worse, as it could really be argued either way. I've asked some friends what they think, and have gotten back different answers.

Admittedly, the self-justifying villain tends to fall under a trope that I have a disliking towards:

Knight Templar - a villain who is convinced that he/she is the hero.

And, after thinking about it, there is at least one thing to appreciate about the "bad and don't care" villains; at least they have no illusions about what they want or what they're doing. Plus, we've seen a lot of the self-justifying villains in recent years, to the point where I think it might be overused. Which is why I think a balance between the two needs to be met, as too much of one can get old fast.

But anyway, I mainly just wanted to ask which type of villain you think is worse; the "bad and don't care" kind, or the self-justifying kind?

Greg responds...

I take some issue with the reductive nature of your question. And so I think you're going about things the wrong way. It's not about which is worse. It's about what fits your character. Take, as an obvious example for this website, GARGOYLES.

We have two rather unique and memorable lead villains, DEMONA and XANATOS. I suppose you could reduce Xanatos to your definition of a type one villain. And I suppose you could reduce Demona to your type two. But there are moments when Xanatos thinks what he does is justified, and moments when Demona does a bad thing and just doesn't care. There are also moments when each has done truly heroic things.

The point I'm making is that a great villain is nothing more or less than a great CHARACTER. Write a character with consistency, backed by consistent motivation and history and I don't really care if he or she is type one, type two or type three. (Because, among other things, I doubt that there are truly only two types.)

Response recorded on September 08, 2016

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Matt writes...

Hi Greg,

Today I was reflecting on a few instances in my life where I had to make difficult choices: the easy road or the right road. I can specifically remember thinking about integrity in those moments, thinking about Renaud's "What have I become?" versus Demona's "What have they done..." Ultimately, despite the difficulties, I tended to do the right thing and tell the truth, both to myself and to others. In one case, this resulted in me being fired from a job.

The reason I'm telling you this is that, while I had some excellent role models growing up who showed me integrity, it would be unfair to say that Gargoyles didn't have a strong influence in my youth that would lead me to become the man I am today. I am now a teacher of elementary school students and see many young people with and without strong moral role models. In either case, it is clear to me that they are very influenced by the movies, TV shows, celebrities and social media in their lives. And it is my hope that mixed into all the stimuli they are receiving the kind of moral reinforcement that I had in Gargoyles. I am very grateful to you and your peers for creating a program that I not only wanted to watch, but that made me a better person. There is a lot of red tape that goes into public school education, and I know that in your field there is a lot of that too. But I wanted to encourage you to remember the impact you can have on young people. It is not all about ratings and toy sales and demographics. You have the power to guide the adults of tomorrow. You certainly helped to guide me.

Keep up the great work! And thank you from a lifelong fan.

Greg responds...

You just made my day. Thank you.

Response recorded on July 22, 2016

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Cam writes...

Hello,

I hope this question doesn't sound too nitpickey, but, I've been reading the archives and came accross something of aninconsistancy. I'll start off by refreshing your memory of this exchange beyween you and another poster:

"matt writes... what would happen at dawn if Demona put on a Mayan sun amulet? would she turn to a human or remain a gargoyle?"

"Greg responds... I think she'd turn human. But I don't think she'd be able to nap."

Now, you've also said before, when refering to magic, that Children of Oberon magic (ie. Puck's spell on Demona) does not mix with mortal magic (ie.the Myan Amulets)...and that both types of magic cannot be used at the same time or on the same object (ie. on Demona during the day), or the results would be disasterous.

My question is, in this specific scenario, why would both magics affect Demona (Puck's spell turning her Human & the Amulet preventing her from sleeping) without something more disasterous than a bout of insomnia?

It seems to me that, if anything, the magics would cancel each other out and she would remain a Gargoyle and turn to stone.

Greg responds...

I think it's fairly clear I was joking, when I wrote: "Greg responds... I think she'd turn human. But I don't think she'd be able to nap."

As for the actual answer to the question, my current answer is that it seems like a highly unlikely scenario, and I'm not particularly interested in hypothetical questions. But if it were to happen, I'd have to answer with NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on July 22, 2016

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Ada writes...

I was just rewatching Season 2 of Gargoyles and I noticed something...Angela and Demona's name. Angela=Angel, Demona=Demon. The names do fit the mother and daughter duo's personalities, but I am wondering whether or not this a coinendence that their names were set up this way.

P.S. Reading through your responses regarding people's questions on the Gargoyles, you keep saying, "No Spoilers." So, are you planning in the near future to continue writing about the Gargoyles in the comics? I hope so, because I am so looking forward to it! :D

Greg responds...

Of course, it was set up that way.

P.S. I hope so.

Response recorded on July 14, 2016

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Anonymous writes...

Why did Sevarius leave Gen-U-Tech for Nightstone Unlimited? Xanatos didn't want to lose him as a resource and he didn't become more ethical. Did Demona and Sevarius offer him more money? If so, isn't Xanatos rich enough to give Sevarius a raise? Did he decide to limit Sevarius' creative freedom? What happened?

Greg responds...

I'll leave the answer to that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on June 27, 2016

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pluie-froide writes...

What are Puck's feelings towards Demona's rampant hatred against humankind? Does he, being of the Third Race, agree with her on some shallow level, or does he think she's a loony?

Greg responds...

Mostly the latter.

Response recorded on May 26, 2016

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Anonymous writes...

1) The spell the Weird Sisters cast on Demona and Macbeth ensures that the two of them are unaging and immortal, only able to be killed by one another. However, in "The Mirror", Demona expresses her wish to no longer turn to stone during the day, stating it makes her "vulnerable".

If Demona were to be shattered by someone other than Macbeth when stone during the day, would it bypass the Weird Sister's enchantment and kill both her and Macbeth permanently, or would the enchantment be powerful enough to simply piece her back together?

Greg responds...

1. Vulnerable to Macbeth, at least. The rest of your question is hypothetical and moot.

Response recorded on April 19, 2016

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Tyler Reznik writes...

Hello, Mr. Weisman. Back again.

Something that bugged me a little when I was watching "High Noon" and "The Price"; in both episodes, Goliath wonders how Macbeth could have escaped from the Weird Sisters (of course, Macbeth didn't actually escape, but that's neither here nor there with regards to my point).

Anyway, my question is this: did it never occur to Goliath that the Weird Sisters might have just let Macbeth go? After all, he doesn't really know anything about the Sisters at this point; they're almost entirely an unknown quantity. Did he think that they'd keep Macbeth and Demona prisoner indefinitely (that isn't rhetorical; I really do want to know)?

Thank you for your time, sir. Have a nice day.

Greg responds...

I don't know about indefinitely, but the Sisters didn't take them casually, hence Goliath's response.

Response recorded on February 09, 2016

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Heelmondragon writes...

Hello Greg, Big fan of your work. Met you at last week's Long Beach Comic Con. I have all the Gargoyles dvds and I still have a question about Demona. Hopefully you havent already answered this question.

But what is it specifically that causes Demona to betray her clan? Did Xanatos already influence that decision prior to her being revealed to the clan or was it the fact that Goliath didnt wish to kill anyone on Reinard's ship during their mission together? It would seem that Demona was taken back by Goliath's change in behavior. He wasnt the same gargoyle she knew in 994. Thank you for your time.

Greg responds...

Actually, Goliath WAS fundamentally the same gargoyle she knew in 994. She had changed and changed so much, it colored her memories of him. She thought he would follow her lead, be as hateful toward the humans as she was. When he wasn't - and furthermore when he went to see a human instead of staying with her, especially after their less than in-synch mission on Fortress-1 - she decided that Goliath was the problem and needed to be convinced - or eliminated - at gunpoint.

Response recorded on February 05, 2016


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Greg Bishansky writes...

You've revealed that Lexington is gay; that Fox and Puck are bisexual; and that Owen is asexual.

So, if you're inclined, I'd appreciate if if you finally settle the debate. Is Demona heterosexual, bisexual, or something else?

Greg responds...

Using the word "revealed" makes me uncomfortable. What I say in different contexts doesn't make it canon. Yes, Lexington is gay, in my mind. The rest sound like things I might have said at a Blue Mug or something. Nothing said at a Blue Mug should be taken as definitive canon. Nothing is canon that can't be confirmed from the 65 canon episodes or the 18 canon comic book issues.

In any case, NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on January 22, 2016

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GRacie writes...

Gargoyles is a great show. Now that my praise is out of the way, I'm moving onto the question.

I watched the version of City of Stone with your commentary (which was very amusing) but there was one part which stood out to me. In the beginning of Part 4, we see Demona of the eleventh century meet up with Macbeth. You (or one of the other commenters) acknowledged that Demona was, and I quote, "a bit in love with Macbeth". It makes sense why she would feel this way, seeing that Macbeth was a close ally of hers.

Was this really true, or were these possible feelings of hers frivolous?

Greg responds...

Um... all of the above?

Mostly, I prefer to leave that to every viewer's interpretation.

Response recorded on January 14, 2016

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Greg Bishansky writes...

There has been a lot of talk over the years about why Demona told Goliath about the Praying Gargoyle during her gloating in "Hunter's Moon Part Three".

1. The gloating was exactly that, gloating. Like most villains, she had to have a "my brilliant plan" speech.

2. Subconsciously, she wants to be defeated because without humanity around, she'll lose her scapegoat and because she subconsciously knows she needs to be stopped, so she subconsciously handed Goliath the tools to stop her master plan.

3. And this is my interpretation, she actually believed Goliath would let her. After what happened on board the Hunter's airship in "Hunter's Moon Part Two", saying Goliath is thinking like a true gargoyle as he openly demands vengeance, seemingly killing two Hunters with Goliath, and Goliath himself not disagreeing when she says that perhaps they're not so different; she believed he was finally, finally seeing the light, finally coming over to her way of thinking, and... well, since gargoyles mate for life, thinking she might finally have her man back and a human free Earth.

Or maybe it was all of the above or none of the above.

Greg responds...

All of the above. And more. She's a bit of a complicated mess, huh?

Response recorded on November 13, 2015

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Anonymous writes...

In the interests of settling the shipping debates in your fandom, since they already met in the new Radio Play, would Queen Bee's powers work on Demona?

Greg responds...

No. But that's because they're different species. I have no comment on sexual orientation, if that's what you're getting at.

Response recorded on November 11, 2015

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Paul writes...

Did Demona remember, when she saw the Magus, Katharine, and Tom taking the eggs out of the rookery, that she had laid one of those eggs?

Greg responds...

Of course. But she also regarded ALL of those eggs as her rookery children. She could not have singled out the one egg she personally laid from all the others if she tried.

Response recorded on October 28, 2015

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Bio writes...

Isn't Delilah the progeny of Demona and Elisa, genetically speaking?

Greg responds...

Basically, yes. Was that in question?

Response recorded on October 02, 2015

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EXALT writes...

At the Blue Mug Convergence 2014 Panel, you have stated that Mac and Demona had lots of sex while they were engaged. Didn't you previously state that "Dominique" had presented herself as a good catholic french girl, presumably to avoid having sex with him?
One of the two was a mistake, you changed your mind, or what?
(By the way, I must admit that, if you did change your mind, I liked the original version more.)

Greg responds...

All things are true. Few things are accurate.

Or put another way, don't take a Blue Mug TOO seriously.

I think the original answer is better too.

Response recorded on July 29, 2015

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B writes...

Why does Demona and MacBeth's pact make it where they can only die by each other's hand's?

I understand that neither can die while the other lives, but wouldn't that just mean that they would both have to be killed at the same time? And if the one killing the other isn't physically hurt by the same action why does that supersede the "when one lives, both shall live" rule.

Also, what happens if they're decapitated or if Demona had been destroyed during the day when she still turned to stone?

Greg responds...

The pact is what the Weird Sisters declared it was. That was one of their conditions. They could have chosen a different condition, but they didn't.

The "when one lives, both shall live" condition means specifically that no one else can kill them. Because as long as one of them is alive, the curse will drag the "dead" one back into life, as you saw in multiple episodes.

And if Demona kills Macbeth or vice versa, the other is hurt - in fact killed by the action. So it supersedes the other rule because that's what the Witches declared.

As for the what happens if question, it's moot. Because it's a hypothetical question that hasn't/didn't/pretty much won't ever occur, because Luna is the Weird Sister of fate and knows.

Response recorded on July 22, 2015

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Al writes...

Recently you answered this question that I asked:

"Are Demona and Desdemona biologically related, either as sisters or cousins? I ask not only because of the obvious similar names (almost like a "family name" - although I know that could not apply to them for various reasons in-universe), but also because, personality wise, they are similar - for example, they both have interests in higher powers uncommon for Gargoyles (Demona with magic and Desdemona being somewhat spiritual), they both seem verry passionate, and also they are both attracted to big muscular men."

You responed:
"Eh. For starters, "Desdemona" isn't her name and never has been. It's what we used in the credits to identify her. Originally, she had no name. Now, she's Coldfire. I think Demona's interest in magic for the sake of power has little in common with Coldfire's spirituality. And if we assumed that everyone who's passionate and/or every female attracted to big strong males were related then I think that would presume that something like 50% of the human female population are sisters or cousins. They are Rookery Sisters, of course."

I guess my question got a little rambley & I wasn't asking it clearly enough.

I know that Coldfire never had a previous name (hence the "I know that could not apply to them for various reasons in-universe" insert)...what I ment by that part of the question was: By giving them similer sounding names (even if it was just in the credits), were you giving the two a behind-the-scenes biologic connection, like you did with Brooklin and Brooksbro (I am aware that is also not his name)?

Also, about the part where I compared Demona's interest in magic to Coldfire's (I'll use that name from now on, as to avoid more confusion) interest in spirituality, I was comparing their "interests in higher powers uncommon for Gargoyles," not trying to equate those interests...again, sorry for the confusion.

I guess I was stretching the similarities between the two with the part about them being attracted to big muscular men, but since male Gargolyes come in such a vastly wider variety than human males, I took a leap and assumed two females would have to be, at least a little, on the same page when it came to choosing a mate...I guess I was wrong and they all choose them like a human female would

Anyway, I guess the answer to my question is "no" - especially the biological sisters part, if nothing else than becauss since posting my question I came accross an archived post where you said that no Rookery Siblings are ever biological siblings, but that they could be cousins - I'm now presuming that is not the case with Demona and Coldfire, or you would have said either, at best, "yes, cousins," or at worst "spoiler request, no comment" instead of talking down to me.

Greg responds...

1. No. The Desdemona name came from her role in the Othello-esque conflict we created between, Coldstone (Othello), Coldsteel (Iago), Coldfire (Desdemona) and Goliath (Cassio). Demona's name, of course, predated any thought of using Othello or Desdemona. So any similarities in their names is pure coincidence.

2. I guess I don't understand how you're defining "Higher Powers". For Demona, it's just about POWER. For Coldfire, in theory, she does believe in a higher power.

3. I don't think we've seen an unmuscular gargoyle ever. Even Lex is pretty darn muscly. But, yeah, not as big. But it still doesn't prove or demonstrate anything at all.

4. Didn't mean to talk down to you. Sorry if I gave that impression. I just didn't/don't agree with your analysis or conclusions. As for whether their cousins, I don't see any indication of it. But I suppose it's possible. I haven't done a full genealogy of every gargoyle ever. If you prefer to think of them as cousins, that's fine with me.

Response recorded on July 13, 2015

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Here's hoping you're in a sharing mood. From your timeline, you have revealed vague events that line up with a Gathering date and a character played by one of the special guests... so I was wondering if you now had one for ConVergence as it is the Gathering Reunion in 2014, and if so, if you would mind sharing it? :)

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

Response recorded on July 13, 2015

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EXALT writes...

Have you already chosen dates for the following events in the Gargoyles Universe (and of course, if the answer is yes, I'm not asking you to reveal them)?
1)Goliath's death.
2)Elisa's death.
3)Demona's epiphany.

Greg responds...

For all three "events," I have not locked down specific dates, but I know generally where each takes place in the timeline.

Response recorded on July 10, 2015

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Walter writes...

Would Macbeth or Demona have to be in complete control to kill one another? I.E. if one of them were brainwashed or possessed, would it still work?

Greg responds...

I guess so.

Response recorded on December 18, 2014

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Catherine B writes...

I just wanted to write and just give you some thanks for some of the great shows you have helped create, Greg.

Young Justice I enjoyed thoroughly, though I am more a fan of the first season than the second; I like fewer characters and more characterization as opposed to detailed plots just as a personal preference. I will also say I was not a fan of how Wally West was handled but I am sure you have heard your share of them. I will just say that the Wally of the comics and the Wally of Young Justice seemed to be entirely different characters which seemed a shame to me, given all that could have been done with him. He had such a rich comic book history that I really do not understand why more was not done with it but that is your creative decision. Just not my cup of tea.

I adored your version of Dick Grayson however. He was competent without being overly skilled; he suffered under pressure but learned from what he was exposed to. His relationship with Wally in Season 1 was one of my all time favorites. Thanks for the great run!

Secondly, I could not write you without mentioning Gargoyles. I mean, wow. I think I was in fifth or sixth grade when I first caught it on the air. I just remember being deeply enthralled with it. I thought Elisa was an awesome character, as I did not see a whole lot of strong female leads back then and she was definitely that. I also adored the interesting family background you gave her. So often, characters fall into the stereotypical white, black, etc and she brilliantly avoided those.

I also firmly owe you thanks for igniting my interest in Shakespeare. I remember that I saw "City of Stone" when we were having to pick plays and such to read/analyze for school and after seeing that awesome four parter, I went right to my English teacher and asked if I could read MacBeth. It is still my favorite of the Bard's works.

The characterization of Demona was incredible. Most villains are so one dimensional but all the villains of Gargoyles were so well fleshed out. I am a creative writer myself and working on my first work to aim towards publication and I definitely count Gargoyles among my top inspiration for how to do characterization. To this day, I will tell people if they want to see a well fleshed out villain, go watch Demona from Gargoyles. I honestly would rank her about equal to Gollum from "Lord of the Rings." She can be diabolical, sneaky, cruel and yet you can totally see why she would have turned out that way and I can switch very easily from feeling such anger at her to feeling overwhelming pity. Bravo, my good Sir!

Greg responds...

Thanks. Always nice to have the work thoughtfully appreciated.

Response recorded on October 07, 2014

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Chris writes...

After the Wyvern massacre, Goliath sees the remains of a gargoyle on the place where Demona usually perched and thinks its hers. Did another gargoyle take the place she usually took?

Greg responds...

Looks like it.

Response recorded on July 15, 2014

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My CONvergence 2014 Schedule

So the #Gargoyles20 U.S. Tour continues. Stop #3 is CONvergence in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Well, actually in Bloomington, Minnesota, but close enough.) http://www.convergence-con.org

This is a big one for us. It includes a number of events that we used to do at the old Gathering of the Gargoyles Conventions, which ran from 1997-2009. And I know a bunch of Gargoyles fans will be attending, so it'll also be a reunion of sorts.

My schedule for the long weekend is quite packed - which is just how I like it!

THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014
2:00pm - 3:00pm GARGOYLES RADIO PLAY AUDITIONS
Ever wanted to be in a radio play? Now is your chance! We are holding auditions for a live performance at CONvergence! You don't even have to be a fan of Gargoyles to enter. You just have to know how to read! Casting: Myself and Jennifer Anderson (Talent Coordinator on The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice). Casting decisions will be posted by 7:00pm on Friday, July 4th. ATRIUM 7.

3:30pm - 4:30pm BUFFYVERSE TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Okay, so Gargoyles ISN'T the only show celebrating an anniversary. The Buffy/Angel universe has been off the air for ten years. Let's reminisce and talk about the impact these shows have had on TV fantasy since their cancellation. Panelists: Myself, Tim Lieder, Cetius d'Raven, Madeleine Rowe, Mark Goldberg. EDINA.

7:00pm - 8:00pm OPENING CEREMONY
If it's not exactly a magical invocation, it is nonetheless our official kick-off for the convention! Join CONvergence mascot Connie as we welcome our Guests of Honor, give out some awards (including the Mark Time and Ogle winners), and get this party started. Panelists: Myself, Amy Berg, Emma Bull, C. Robert Cargill, Sarah Clemens, Scott Lynch, Marina Sirtis, Frank Paur, Matthew Ebel, Dawn Krosnowski, Greg Guler, Rob Callahan, Windy Bowlsby, Michael Lee. MAIN STAGE.

9:00pm - 10:00pm GREG WEISMAN'S FANCY BASTARD PIE COMPETITION
Geek Partnership Society is excited to host the Greg Weisman Fancy Bastard Pie Competition at CONvergence 2014! It is open to all CONvergence members who wish to participate. The goal is to make a pie that Greg Weisman, herein to be known as "Fancy Bastard", likes best. The winner will be told super-secret Young Justice spoilers. Find out [some of] what would have happened in Season 3! (But winner must swear to secrecy to claim prize.) See below for some helpful hints.* CABANA 110.

FRIDAY, JULY 4th, 2014
11:00am - 12:00pm GARGOYLES RADIO PLAY AUDITIONS
Ever wanted to be in a radio play? Now is your chance! We are holding auditions for a live performance at CONvergence! You don't even have to be a fan of Gargoyles to enter. You just have to know how to read! Last chance to audition! Casting: Myself and Jennifer Anderson (Talent Coordinator on The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice). Casting decisions will be posted by 7:00pm on Friday, July 4th. ATRIUM 7.

12:30pm - 1:30pm FROM TV TO COMICS
We'll discuss the TV shows that expanded into the comicverse, such as Buffy, Smallville, Young Justice and Gargoyles. Did they succeed? Were any of the comics improvements on the shows? How did canon change during the transition? Panelists: Myself (Gargoyles, Young Justice), Shawn van Briesen, Jonathan Palmer, Greg Guler (Gargoyles), Karine Charlebois (Gargoyles, Bad Guys), Christopher Jones (Batman Strikes, Young Justice, Bad Guys). PLAZA 2.

2:00pm - 3:00pm SIGNING
Myself, Christopher Jones (Young Justice, The Batman Strikes, Parallel Man) and Greg Guler (Gargoyles, Phineas and Ferb) will be holding a signing session. Both Chris and Greg always have an array of stuff (books, prints, etc.) to sell and sign. But this time I'm pretty darn prepared as well. First off, I'll be selling and signing copies of my first novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS for $10 cash, which includes the book, a personalized signature and signed copies of the original development character designs by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was. In addition - and by popular demand - I am selling and signing an array of my animation teleplays for $20 cash from such series as Gargoyles, Team Atlantis, DC Showcase (Green Arrow), Men in Black: The Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, W.I.T.C.H., Young Justice and even the 2009 Radio Play "The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles". I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for FREE - especially if you buy my book. ;) CONVERGENCE CENTRAL.

3:30pm - 4:30pm CREATING GARGOYLES
This is what we used to call (at the Gathering) the Rocky Horror Gargoyles Show. The creators of Gargoyles show clips and tell stories of how the show came to be. Lots of visual aids. Panelists: Myself (Creator, Supervising Producer/Story Editor, Writer), Frank Paur ( (Supervising Producer/Director), Greg Guler (Lead Character Designer). ATRIUM 6.

7:00pm - 8:00pm TIME TRAVEL THEORY
Let's assume for a moment that Time Travel is possible. This panel will explore the theories behind such technology. We'll explore quantum realities, temporal anomalies and all other challenges our theoretical time travelers will be face! [Now, I suggested this panel, but then they went and put some actual scientists on the damn thing. So I may quickly be embarrassed into silence.] ;) Panelists: Myself, Nicole Gugliucci, Jim Kakalios, G. David Nordley, Amy Berg. ATRIUM 4.

8:30pm - 9:30pm GARGOYLES Q&A
Join the cast and creators of the "Gargoyles" series and SLG companion comic books to ask and talk about the property. And, as always, Cosplayers are welcome! Panelists: Myself (Creator, Supervising Producer/Story Editor, Writer), Christopher Jones (Bad Guys guest artist), Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona and Margot Yale), Frank Paur (Supervising Producer/Director), Karine Charlebois (Gargoyles Guest Artist, Bad Guys Artist), Greg Guler (Lead Character Designer, Gargoyles Guest Artist). MAIN STAGE.

SATURDAY, JULY 5th, 2014
9:30am - 10:30am GARGOYLES SIGNING
Myself, Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona and Margot Yale) and Frank Paur (Supervising Producer/Director) will be holding a signing session. Again, I'll be selling and signing copies of my first novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS for $10 cash, which includes the book, a personalized signature and signed copies of the original development character designs by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was. In addition - and by popular demand - I am selling and signing an array of my animation teleplays for $20 cash from such series as Gargoyles, Team Atlantis, DC Showcase (Green Arrow), Men in Black: The Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, W.I.T.C.H., The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice and even the 2009 Radio Play "The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles". I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for FREE. CONVERGENCE CENTRAL.

11:00am - 12:25pm GARGOYLES RADIO PLAY REHEARSAL
This is a closed session - for those who were cast in the Radio Play - led by Myself, Jennifer Anderson (Talent Coordinator on The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice) & Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona, Margot Yale and Queen Bee). ATRIUM 6.

12:30pm - 1:30pm GARGOYLES RADIO PLAY PERFORMANCE
Fans and professionals - including Myself (voice of Donald Menken and Lucas "Snapper" Carr), Jennifer Anderson (Talent Coordinator on The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice), and of course, Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek TNG and the voice of Demona, Margot Yale and Queen Bee) - perform a LIVE, ORIGINAL Gargoyles radio play! ATRIUM 6.

2:00pm - 3:00pm GARGOYLES BIOLOGY AND CULTURE
A "what if" panel about the biology and culture of the Gargoyles universe. Creators and performers speculate about anything and everything going on outside the frames of the TV series. Panelists: Craig A. Finseth moderates Myself (Creator, Producer) and Greg Guler (Lead Character Designer). ATRIUM 7.

3:30pm - 4:30pm RAIN OF THE GHOSTS
I'll be reading from and talking about the world and characters of my novel "Rain of the Ghosts" and its sequel, "Spirits of Ash and Foam," which comes out July 8th, 2014, one week after the convention! ATRIUM 3.

7:00pm - 8:00pm ONE ON ONE WITH GREG WEISMAN
Hal Bichel will moderate a one-on-one panel with Myself. PLAZA 2.

8:30pm - 9:30pm SIGNING
Once again, I'll be selling and signing copies of my first novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS for $10 cash, which includes the book, a personalized signature and signed copies of the original development character designs by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was. In addition - and by popular demand - I am selling and signing an array of my animation teleplays for $20 cash from such series as Gargoyles, Team Atlantis, DC Showcase (Green Arrow), Men in Black: The Series, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, W.I.T.C.H., Young Justice and even the 2009 Radio Play "The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles". I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for FREE. CONVERGENCE CENTRAL.

10:00pm - 11:00pm BLUE MUG
Ever wonder about the sexual habits of Gargoyles? Ever wonder who was sleeping with whom among the Young Justice Team or the cast of Spectacular Spider-Man? Join us for for a late night peek at your favorite animated series. This panel will get blue! (So attendees will be carded!) Panelists: Myself, Christopher Jones, Mara Cordova (Last Tengu in Paris Artist). It is also rumored that Edmund Tsabard (an unfancy bastard and Last Tengu in Paris Writer) may make an appearance. EDINA.

SUNDAY, JULY 6th, 2014
11:00am - 12:00pm PROTOFEMINISTS IN SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare portrayed several intelligent, independent, and self-aware women--Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Katharine, Beatrice, Viola, Rosalind. We'll discuss the problematic and the remarkably (for the era) fleshed-out aspects of their representation. Panelists: Myself, Elizabeth Bear, Ashley F. Miller, Joseph Erickson, Alexandra Howes. EDINA.

12:30pm - 1:30pm GARGOYLES FAN PANEL
It's the 20th Anniversary of Gargoyles. Come share your favorite moments from the show. As always, Cosplayers are welcome! Panelists: Daniel Mohr moderates Myself, Ryan Alexander, Robert Wagner, Maggie Schultz, Jennifer Anderson, Karine Charlebois. ATRIUM 6.

2:00pm - 3:00pm SIGNING
Myself and Greg Guler (Gargoyles, Phineas and Ferb) will be holding one last signing session. Greg G. always has an array of stuff (books, prints, etc.) to sell and sign. And I'll be selling and signing copies of my first novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS for $10 cash, which includes the book, a personalized signature and signed copies of the original development character designs by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was. In addition - and by popular demand - I am selling and signing an array of my animation teleplays for $20 cash from such series as Gargoyles, Team Atlantis, DC Showcase (Green Arrow), Men in Black: The Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, W.I.T.C.H., Young Justice and even the 2009 Radio Play "The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles". I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for FREE - especially if you buy my book. CONVERGENCE CENTRAL.

3:30pm - 4:30pm YOUNG JUSTICE
Creative minds behind the Young Justice TV and comic book series will talk about this fan favorite. We're planning some special surprises as well. And, as always, Cosplayers are welcome! Panelists: Myself, Marina Sirtis (voice of Queen Bee), Christopher Jones (Artist YJ Comic). MAIN STAGE.

5:00pm - 6:00pm CLOSING CEREMONY
It's not over 'til the gynoid sings - or something like that. Join CONvergence mascot Connie and our Guests of Honor as we say farewell to another convention. Shenanigans may ensue. Panelists: Myself, Amy Berg, Emma Bull, C. Robert Cargill, Sarah Clemens, Scott Lynch, Marina Sirtis, Matthew Ebel, Frank Paur, Dawn Krosnowski, Greg Guler, Windy Bowlsby, Rob Callahan, Michael Lee. MAIN STAGE

SEE?!! I told you there was a lot. And that's only the stuff that I'm doing. CONvergence is jam-packed with all sorts of pop culture nutritional goodness. So stop by and say hello!!

*In the interest of Full Disclosure, Fancy Bastard would like all to know that he especially likes the following pies:
APPLE
BERRY (pretty much any kind of berry or a mix of same)
PEACH
APRICOT
PUMPKIN
BANANA CREAM (herein to be known as the funniest pie)
Combinations of some of the fruit pies can be great. Contestants are welcome to try other pies at their own risk.

Fancy Bastard does NOT especially like the following pies:
PECAN
Anything with Chocolate or Lemon or Meringue
Raisins in Apple Pie
Almost never Cherry, though he has tasted the rare exception...


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Al writes...

Are Demona and Desdemona biologically related, either as sisters or cousins? I ask not only because of the obvious similar names (almost like a "family name" - although I know that could not apply to them for various reasons in-universe), but also because, personality wise, they are similar - for example, they both have interests in higher powers uncommon for Gargoyles (Demona with magic and Desdemona being somewhat spiritual), they both seem verry passionate, and also they are both attracted to big muscular men.

Greg responds...

Eh.

For starters, "Desdemona" isn't her name and never has been. It's what we used in the credits to identify her. Originally, she had no name. Now, she's Coldfire.

I think Demona's interest in magic for the sake of power has little in common with Coldfire's spirituality.

And if we assumed that everyone who's passionate and/or every female attracted to big strong males were related then I think that would presume that something like 50% of the human female population are sisters or cousins.

They are Rookery Sisters, of course.

Response recorded on June 18, 2014

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DENVER COMIC CON REVISED & UPDATED #3

ONE MORE TIME!! This looks to be as final a revision as it's going to get for Denver Comic Con website (http://denvercomiccon.com/), before I head for the airport in a couple minutes. But, again, follow me on TWITTER @Greg_Weisman to stay up-to-the-minute on when and where I'll be.

DENVER COMIC CON LATEST PANEL, INTERVIEW & SIGNING SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, JUNE 13th, 2014

10:30am - 11:20am - ART OF THE PITCH in ROOM 110/112.
Victor Cook, Greg Guler and myself will be talking about pitching and selling animated telvision series to the Powers That Be.

11:30am - 12:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.
I'll be signing my novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS throughout the weekend for $10 cash. (That $10 includes the book, a personalized signature and copies of the original development art by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was.) I also have a half-dozen copies of Young Justice teleplays, which I'll sell (and sign) for $20 cash. I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for free - especially if you buy my book. ;)

12:50pm - 1:20pm - INTERVIEW with Tim Beyers of MOTLEY FOOL in the MEDIA LOUNGE.

1:30pm - 2:20pm - CARTOON VOICES I in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM.
I'll be moderating this panel, which features Kevin Conroy, Jim Cummings, Michael Dorn, Jennifer Hale & Veronica Taylor.

3:30pm - 4:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

4:45pm - 5:35pm - YOUNG JUSTICE in the MINI-MAIN ROOM.
This one includes myself (writer-producer, voice actor) & Christopher Jones (YJ companion comic book artist).

5:35pm - 6:05pm - OPENING CEREMONIES in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM.

7:00pm - 10:00pm - FOUR COLOR MIXER at Breckinridge Brewery/Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14th, 2014

9:35am - 10:00am - INTERVIEW with BEYOND THE TROPE at my table at Booth 122.

10:00am - 10:20am - INTERVIEW with WESTWORD at my table at Booth 122.

10:30am - 11:20am - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS in ROOM 201.
I'll be reading from and discussing my new novels, Rain of the Ghosts & Spirits of Ash and Foam.

11:45am - 12:35pm - ANIMATION PROFESSIONALS in ROOM 201
I'm moderating this panel, which features Chris Beaver, Victor Cook, Greg Guler, Derek Hunter, Christy Marx, & Jan Scott-Frasier.

3:00pm - 3:50pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

4:00pm - 4:50pm - GARGOYLES 20th ANNIVERSARY in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM.
This is a big one, with me (writer-producer-creator), Victor Cook (storyboard artist), Jim Cummings (voice of Dingo), Jonathan Frakes (voice of David Xanatos), Greg Guler (character designer), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (voice of Elisa Maza) and Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona) .

5:00pm - 6:00pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15th, 2014

9:30am - 10:20am - INTERVIEW with EXAMINER.COM at my BOOTH 122.

10:30am - 11:20am - THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN in the MINI-MAIN ROOM.
Includes myself (writer-producer-voice actor), Victor Cook (director-producer), Jim Cummings (voice of Crusher Hogan) & Greg Guler (artist).

1:30pm - 2:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

2:45pm - 3:35pm - CARTOON VOICES II in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM.
Again, I'm moderating for Robert Axelrod, Kimberly Brooks, Jennifer Hale & April Stewart.

4:00pm - 5:00pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

In addition to the times listed above, I'll often just be hanging out at my table, so stop by. Attend a panel, buy a book, say hello!


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DENVER COMIC CON REVISED & UPDATED #2

Okay, so I just took a look at the Denver Comic Con website (http://denvercomiccon.com/), and the schedule there doesn't always match up with the schedule I was sent. I'll make adjustments below, but what this really means is that I'm not 100% sure where I'll be at any given moment. I will be tweeting throughout the weekend though, so follow me @Greg_Weisman to stay up-to-the-minute on when and where I'll be.

DENVER COMIC CON LATEST PANEL, INTERVIEW & SIGNING SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, JUNE 13th, 2014

10:30am - 11:20am - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS in ROOM 201
I'll be reading from and discussing my new novels, Rain of the Ghosts & Spirits of Ash and Foam.

11:30am - 12:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.
I'll be signing my novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS throughout the weekend for $10 cash. (That $10 includes the book, a personalized signature and copies of the original development art by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was.) I also have a half-dozen copies of Young Justice teleplays, which I'll sell (and sign) for $20 cash. I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for free - especially if you buy my book. ;)

12:50pm - 1:20pm - INTERVIEW with Tim Beyers of MOTLEY FOOL in the MEDIA LOUNGE

1:30pm - 2:20pm - CARTOON VOICES I in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM
I'll be moderating this panel, which features Kevin Conroy, Jim Cummings, Michael Dorn, Jennifer Hale & Veronica Taylor.

3:30pm - 4:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

4:45pm - 5:35pm - YOUNG JUSTICE in the MINI-MAIN ROOM
This one includes myself (writer-producer, voice actor) & Christopher Jones (YJ companion comic book artist).

7:00pm - 10:00pm - FOUR COLOR MIXER at Breckinridge Brewery/Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown

SATURDAY, JUNE 14th, 2014

9:35am - 10:00am - INTERVIEW with BEYOND THE TROPE at my table at Booth 122.

10:00am - 10:50am - INTERVIEW with WESTWORD at my table at Booth 122.

11:45am - 12:35pm - ANIMATION PROFESSIONALS in ROOM 201
I'm moderating this panel, which features Chris Beaver, Victor Cook, Greg Guler, Derek Hunter, Christy Marx, & Jan Scott-Frasier.

3:00pm - 3:50pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

4:00pm - 4:50pm - GARGOYLES 20th ANNIVERSARY in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM
This is a big one, with me (writer-producer-creator), Victor Cook (storyboard artist), Jim Cummings (voice of Dingo), Jonathan Frakes (voice of David Xanatos), Greg Guler (character designer), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (voice of Elisa Maza) and Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona) .

5:00pm - 6:00pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15th, 2014
9:30am - 10:20am - INTERVIEW with EXAMINER.COM at my BOOTH 122.

10:30am - 11:20am - THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN in the MINI-MAIN ROOM
Includes myself (writer-producer-voice actor), Victor Cook (director-producer), Jim Cummings (voice of Crusher Hogan) & Greg Guler (artist).

1:30pm - 2:30pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

2:45pm - 3:35pm - CARTOON VOICES II in the MAIN EVENTS ROOM
Again, I'm moderating for Robert Axelrod, Kimberly Brooks, Jennifer Hale & April Stewart.

4:00pm - 5:00pm - SIGNING at my BOOTH 122 on the main floor.

In addition to the times listed above - and especially since I'm no longer 100% sure of my schedule - I'll often just be hanging out at my table, so stop by. Attend a panel, buy a book, say hello!


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Up Next: DENVER COMIC CON

Frank Paur and I had a great time at the GARGOYLES 20th ANNIVERSARY Panel at Califur this past Sunday. Saw a couple old friends, and talked for TWO HOURS on the creation, development and production of Gargoyles.

Up next on the #GARGOYLES20 tour, stop #2: DENVER COMIC CON. http://denvercomiccon.com/

Here's my schedule (which pretty much includes all my favorite things):

FRIDAY, JUNE 13th, 2014
1:30pm - 2:20pm - CARTOON VOICES in the MAIN ROOM
I'll be moderating this panel, which features Michael Dorn, Kevin Conroy, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Hale & Veronica Taylor.

4:45pm - 5:35pm - YOUNG JUSTICE in the MINI-MAIN ROOM
This one includes myself (writer-producer, voice actor), Andrew Robinson (writer) & Christopher Jones (YJ companion comic book artist).

SATURDAY, JUNE 14th, 2014
11:00am - 11:50am - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS in ROOM 201
I'll be reading from and discussing my new novels, Rain of the Ghosts & Spirits of Ash and Foam.

12:15pm - 1:05pm - ANIMATION ARTISTS in ROOM 201
I'm moderating this panel, which features Jan Scott-Frasier, Derek Hunter, Christy Marx, Greg Guler, Victor Cook & Chris Beaver.

2:45pm - 3:35pm - GARGOYLES 20th ANNIVERSARY in the MAIN ROOM
This is a big one, with me (writer-producer-creator), Jonathan Frakes (voice of David Xanatos), Marina Sirtis (voice of Demona), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (voice of Elisa Maza), Jim Cummings (voice of Dingo), Greg Guler (character designer) and Victor Cook (storyboard artist).

SUNDAY, JUNE 15th, 2014
10:30am - 11:20am - THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN in the MINI-MAIN ROOM
Includes myself (writer-producer-voice actor), Victor Cook (director-producer), Jim Cummings (voice of Crusher Hogan), Greg Guler (artist) & Andrew Robinson (writer).

1:30pm - 2:20pm - CARTOON VOICES in the MAIN ROOM
Again, I'm moderating for Jennifer Hale, Robert Axelrod, Kimberly Brooks & April Stewart.

In addition, I'll be signing my novel RAIN OF THE GHOSTS at my booth throughout the weekend for $10 cash. (That $10 includes the book, a personalized signature and copies of the original development art by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was.) I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for free.

So stop by. Attend a panel, buy a book, say hello!


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Anonymous writes...

Did you, Greg Guler, and Frank Paur design Demona to be sexy on purpose?

Greg responds...

Well... we didn't design her NOT to be sexy. I guess what I'm saying is that having her be sexy wasn't our priority. We wanted her to look formidable, mostly. But gargoyles are just... naturally sexy, I guess. (Everyone tells me so.)

Response recorded on April 29, 2014

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Vinnie writes...

How many magical talisman has Demona found in her long life time?

Greg responds...

I don't have any desire to assign a hard number at this time.

Response recorded on April 09, 2014

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EXALT writes...

1)Does Angela know the role that Demona played in the Wyvern Massacre?
2)Does Demona think that Angela is more, let's say, justified in her position about humans because she was raised and therefore "corrupted" by them?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. No.

Response recorded on March 04, 2014

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Demona's "White Flag"

Years ago in a long ramble (http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=225), I mentioned that: "I'd like to see a music video featuring Demona to Dido's'White Flag.'"

Well, NeillGargoyle found that obscure request and posted this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNGrg5Wm12E

Pretty much exactly what I had in mind!

Thanks, Neill!

Now if someone would just do this one: "I'd like to see a music video from Goliath's POV -- but featuring Elisa -- of "Amazing". (I think that's the title. I'm not sure who the artist or band is.)"


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Riker+Troi writes...

I love Xanatos and Demona as much as I love Riker and Troi. I know they'll never get together or anything but does Xanatos at least think Demona is attractive?

Greg responds...

Sure.

Response recorded on December 09, 2013

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Keith Patti writes...

I'm watching the Season 2 of Gargoyles on DVD and I just wanted to say that I have always been a fan ever since I was a little boy in the 1990s. I guess if I had to ask a question it would be, did you intend for Demona to be a villainess completely or did you expect her to be viewed more sympathetically as a tortured soul? To this day I've always been impressed how ambitious the series was by having rather complex characters for a children's show. Very groundbreaking. And I'm 29, by the way, and have been meaning to attend a convention for yours :)

Best,
Keith

Greg responds...

I'm not sure if sympathetic is the word I'd use - but understandable, maybe.

Response recorded on November 27, 2013

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Greg Bishansky writes...

So, since Demona led her own clan for at least sixty years, 998 was a hatching year (assuming any of these gargoyles had surviving eggs), so was 1018, and 1038.

While I know she didn't take a mate and thus didn't lay any new eggs for 1018 an 1038, was she a rookery mother to either of these generations of eggs? Or is Angela the first child she ever gave a damn about.

Greg responds...

No timeline available to me on this Southwest flight. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 10, 2013

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Anonymous writes...

where did Demona's tiara come from?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on May 14, 2013

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Anonymous writes...

In 2198 are the Wyrd Sisters still watching Demona and Macbeth?

Greg responds...

Do you mean still in cooperation with the Archmage? No.

Response recorded on April 30, 2013

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MasterGhandalf writes...

I've recently been reflecting on your shows, and one thing that's really jumped out at me is that every one of them I've seen is extremely arc and continuity based, but also has, rather than a single "Big Bad", at least two core villains who contrast with and play off each other- Xanatos and Demona, Nerissa and Phobos, Tombstone and Norman Osborn, the Light and the Reach. Even the unproduced Stargate spin-off you posted about a while back had Osyros and Anubis. I was wondering if this was a conscious decision on your part to deliberately include this element in your shows, or if it's just something that flows naturally while designing a series?

Greg responds...

Huh. You know, it's clearly not conscious, since I never noticed it before now.

Maybe it's about trying to world-build something convincing, something that logically plays out the consequences of the world created, which therefore sets up multiple responses from different antagonists to a set of circumstances. And perhaps it also comes out of my belief that nothing is truly monolithic. Even the bad guys aren't just a unified mass of evil. They have agendas of their own.

But honestly, you're guess is as good as mine at this moment.

VERY INTERESTING POST THOUGH.

Because I think I've done the same thing in RAIN OF THE GHOSTS without trying.

THANKS!!

Response recorded on April 30, 2013

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Link writes...

How does Demona's boob never pop out of that shirt?

Greg responds...

Which one?

Response recorded on April 29, 2013

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ArctheFlash writes...

Dear Greg Weisman,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. I actually prefer a "SPOILER REQUEST, NO COMMENT" to nothingness and apathy in general.

2ndly, thank you and the team for this show! Love the story-driven dynamic direction and constant emotional roller coaster that ensues with every episode.

Artemis and Wally: best relationship in the show/DC universe
Jade n CloneRoy: extremely close second
Miss M and Supey: Glad they broke up.

But enough fan-girling, my big questions actually regard the Flash family:

Did Barry Allen have any influence on Wally's (and Artemis') decision to leave the hero "life" behind?

Was Barry always a study science over speed kind of guy?

I may be wrong but didn't Barry disapprove of Wally gaining super speed powers in the beginning and is he happy that he's left the life?

Can Wally get "out of shape" speed-wise since hes at college and does that effect his acceleration or top-speed in any way?

That is all. Thank you for your time!

Greg responds...

1. Not directly, no.

2. Basically.

3. Barry wasn't looking for a sidekick and initially accepted Wally out of guilt when Wally nearly blew himself up getting his powers. But Barry came to appreciate Kid Flash with time. On the other hand, I'm sure he appreciated Wally and Artemis' decision.

4. I don't think he's let himself go but theoretically yes.

Response recorded on March 23, 2013

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Greg Bishansky writes...

One aspect that I always liked about "Gargoyles" was that most of the individual characters had someone they considered their own personal nemesis.

Brooklyn had Demona (but I doubt she thought enough about him to feel the same, her focus was always on Goliath). Lexington had the Pack (though, again, I doubt they gave him as much thought as again, Goliath). Broadway had Dracon (again, I tend to think Dracon gave Goliath more thought, and especially Elisa).

Actually, while writing this post, it just occurred to me that these people the trio despised probably didn't give them individually all that much thought... kind of says something about how the futility of holding such contempt for someone, only for that other person to probably not spend all that much time thinking about you. See, I love "Gargoyles," I'm always seeing things in new ways.

But I guess what I was originally going to ask, before my little revelation there was this. Did you have any rivalries like that planned with the Redemption Squad?

For Hunter, Demona or John Castaway being her personal nemesis seems like a given. Though I wouldn't be surprised if we get a new character there. Dingo seems to have Falstaff for that role, especially if he ever discovers how his mother died.

Yama, Fang and especially Matrix are harder to pin down for this. I suppose for Yama it could be Taro, but I'm not sure... he seems to blame himself for what he did rather than Taro. Fang doesn't seem to hold any real ill will towards Sevarius. And Matrix doesn't even have emotions and can't take things personally.

Greg responds...

Of course, the ultimate example of what you describe in your third paragraph is with Gillecomgain. He's obsessed for years over the gargoyle that scarred him. And when Demona sees his face, she has absolutely no memory of the incident.

As for the Bad Guys characters, things would evolve in the fullness of time.

Response recorded on March 22, 2013

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Greg Bishansky writes...

I wrote this up on my blog last Christmas (a bit of a gift to myself there) and thought I'd share it here.

For every hero, or group of heroes, there must be villains. The villains test the hero, the villains make the hero. In the realm of superhero lore, Batman and Spider-Man have been cited as having the greatest rogues' galleries in comics. And I do not disagree. Sadly, other heroes or teams seem to come up lacking. Sure they may have one or two great villains, but the rest seem to be meh. The FF have Dr. Doom and Galactus, sure. The X-Men have Magneto and the Sentinels, Green Lantern has Sinestro, but the rest of their rogues galleries have always seemed, at least to me, to be okay at best. I know some will contest this opinion, but it's my opinion and as far as this blog goes, that's the one you're stuck with. Personally, I always thought the Third Great Rogues' Gallery belonged to "Gargoyles." So, let's honor them.

First of all, here's who didn't make the list and why:

Wolf - Nothing against Wolf, he's fun. He's a big dumb thug, but he's fun. But, as of yet, I haven't found him to be very interesting on his own. And I always thought his teammates were more interesting and fun to watch.

Tony Dracon - I like him a lot more than a lot of other "Gargoyles" fans seem to. He's usually fun, but he didn't quite have enough to make this list.

Oberon - I never thought of him as a villain, and I still don't. Even when he was trying to kidnap Alex. Did I agree with him? Not at all, but I don't think he was in the "legal" wrong either.

Robyn Canmore, Dingo, Matrix, Yama, and Fang - If you don't know why, shame on you.

Second of all, here's who I hope to add to the list some time:

Queen Mab - Come on Disney, let Greg do it!

Morgana le Fay - Ditto.

With that out of the way, let's dive into list.

20. Duval and Peredur fab Ragnal

At present, we've seen too little of these two to know much about them. But what we have seen has been enough to give us an intriguing mystery, especially if you've been following ASK GREG for the past fourteen years. They are the guiding hands of the Illuminati Society, which was created a century after the Fall of Camelot, by Sir Percival to "set things right." Which of these two men is Sir Percival? Well, I have my theories on that. Peredur fab Ragnal is the Welsh name for Percival, and Duval sounds like a modern alias for Percival as well. In fact, for years Greg Weisman told us that Percival was Duval, and then when the comic comes out we get Peredur. Following that, he said nothing changed from his original plan? So, who is Sir Percival, and what's the deal with the other guy? Again, I have my theories.

But I imagine that should new material ever come our way, one or both of these guys will shoot up on this list.

I also enjoy the idea of Duval being cybernetic, but I think he needs a bit of a re-design. Especially in what he wears.

19. The Banshee/Molly

The Banshee may have only been in one episode (with a cameo appearance in another), but damn did she leave an impression. Everything about this character was executed flawlessly. The character model, the animation, the voice, the effects! I loved how ghoulish she appeared, you could see the background through her.

It also helps that "The Hound of Ulster" is one of the best World Tour episodes. The script is tight, the animation is gorgeous, and a lot of the character actions are subtle and over the top when they need to be. Look at Molly's brief, brief exchange with Rory's father for the subtly, which contrasts the wonderful over the top performance as the Banshee.

18. Duncan

This guy was a jerk. I mean, really. A paranoid tyrant who thought the world was out to get him. Well, not the world so much as his cousin, Macbeth. I suppose I can understand seeing Macbeth as a threat to the throne, but he just seemed to go out of his way to make Macbeth miserable. He reveled in it. When he died, we were all happy to see him bite it.

17. Hakon

Batman has Joe Chill, and Spider-Man has the Burglar. Goliath has this Viking chieftain who massacred his clan. Well, Hakon may not have acted alone, but with the swing of his mace, the series really began. Like his descendant, Wolf, he's pretty one-note. But he plays that note masterfully.

But perhaps the better story isn't even the one where he shattered the clan, but the one where his vengeful spirit attempted to drive Goliath insane. That episode was the perfect send off for Hakon, even more so than falling off a cliff to his death. His angry, vengeful spirit was trapped alone at the bottom of a cavern for all of eternity without anyone or anything to hate. At least that's where I think he should have stayed. Hakon might have ranked higher if he didn't come back one last time in an episode that I thought was one of the show's only misfires. But hey, sixty-five episodes, eighteen comics, and only one misfire. You're still golden.

16. Coldsteel/Iago

Now this guy is fun. I love his design, both as a gargoyle and as a robot. I love his Doc Ock-esque tentacles, and I loved Xander Berkeley in the role. Coldsteel is a manipulative jerk, and it's fun to watch him work. His favorite victim is usually Coldstone, and his goal remains unchanging… possess Coldfire. In a nutshell, he's a creepy stalker.

What's also fun is that he's had three voice actors, and not because Berkeley was unavailable. When he controlled Coldstone's body, he was played by Michael Dorn. When he possessed Brooklyn, he was voiced by Jeff Bennett. And they both did it without talking like their regular characters. Watch "Possession" again and listen to "Brooklyn" speak. It's obvious who is in the driver's seat.

I also enjoyed his appearance in the comics, working for Xanatos to distract our heroes from the theft of the Stone of Destiny. Where will he go from here? I'm not sure. I tend to think he works better when he's teaming up with other villains than acting on his own. Well, he did see potential in the Coyote robot, so maybe that's not over; one could see him working with Thailog too; perhaps even re-team with his rookery sister, Demona… they did get along quite well in "High Noon."

15. Constantine III

What can I say about this guy? He follows a long tradition of Disney tyrants, and is just as fun to watch as any of them. Sometimes I think the tenth and eleventh century villains are even more vicious than the modern day villains, and Contantine sums that up.

When we first meet this guy, he uses Finella, the woman who loves him, to lure King Kenneth (who is in love with her) out just so he can murder him in cold blood and take his crown. Then he casts her aside so he can marry Princess Katharine and better secure his claim to the throne. And he tries to keep in control with barely veiled threats against her charges. Harsh.

But even better than that is his return in the "Gargoyles" comic book where he's hunting down and murdering every gargoyle clan he can find, and trying to find Katharine and her friends. By now, he's been in power for two years and rules with an iron fist… which leads to a civil war. This guy is such a jerk that he even kills the messenger that the army of the Three Brothers sends. You never kill the messenger.

And then there was his rather creepy relationship with his new protégé, Gillecomgain, which led to the two inspiring each other in a very twisted ways. Constantine is inspired by Gillecomgain's scars to wear them as war paint in battle, and in turn, Constantine inspires Gillecomgain to become the Hunter. As if Gillecomgain needed any more inspiration. Which brings me to…

14. Gillecomgain

Let's face it, even as a kid, Gillecomgain had issues. Obviously there was a lot of darkness instilled in him by his father, who himself had some very understandable issues also. What did these issues lead to? One rogue gargoyle was going through their barn, and Gillecomgain pointed a pitchfork into the shadows to scare a thief only to get slashed across the face. What did THAT lead to? Arguably the events of the entire series.

Gillecomgain's life didn't get better. Constantine III took an interest in him which set him on the path of becoming a masked political assassin, not to mention his continued hunt for the demon that scarred him. Like dominos, this led to events that made Macbeth the man he is today, the Canmore clan what they became, and set the tone for centuries of hatred and pain. And all because of one scratch in a barn.

As a character himself, Gillecomgain stacks up well. There is a moment after his arranged marriage to Gruoch, who obviously doesn't love him, where you almost wonder if you should feel bad for a man whose wife obviously despises him. Then he crushes her rose underfoot. What does this mean? Here's a hint, Luach might not have been Macbeth's son. Powerful stuff.

13. Falstaff/John Oldcastle

Okay, this guy is fun. Him and his gang of LARPers gone bad. They appeared only in the final two issues of "Gargoyles: Bad Guys" but they made an impression. I loved the buildup Falstaff received. We see him take a young Harry Monmouth (who would grow up to become Dingo) under his wing. Train him to be a thief, and take pity on the poor boy after his mother ran out on him. Only for that shocker of a final page where we see Oldcastle with his hands wrapped around the throat of her already dead body.

I really love his gang. At first glance, they seem super human, but are in fact incredibly skilled. And I love that Oldcastle, maybe the world's greatest thief, named himself after Shakespeare's king of thieves. He looked the part, and just seemed to take so much joy in everything he did, and that helped make it a joy to watch him do it.

I hope we get more at some point, because I want to know more about him. Why did he murder Dingo's mom? And when did the Illuminati recruit him? Does he have any other responsibilities for the Society other than guarding their giant vault? Well, until next time, and I believe there will be a next time.

12. Shari

Of all the new characters introduced in the comic books, the most intriguing has to be Shari. Is she Thailog's new executive assistant, or does she own him? So far it seems to be a little bit of both. But I'm sure it's far more one than the other.

I love the narrative device of her storytelling, and I wonder where her knowledge comes from. Sure, she's a very high member of the Illuminati Society, but there are some things she just shouldn't know. And yet, she does. Like I said, she's intriguing. Now, I have my theories on who she really is, in fact I think it's so obvious, I almost wonder what the point of not revealing it was, aside from the fact that I can't see a place in the stories released to do it.

And as a final bit of trivia, Shari's look and basic design was inspired by stage actress and long time "Gargoyles" fan, Zehra Fazal. I've seen her perform on stage, and she is brilliant. She definitely deserved to be immortalized in "Gargoyles" canon in such a way.

11. The Archmage

Who would have thunk it? A one-shot villain if "Gargoyles" ever had one. You watch "Long Way to Morning" again, and you'd never think this guy would have become so important in the grand scheme of the series. Well, let's just say that David Warner kicks ass.

While I do write off his appearance in "Long Way to Morning" as 'obvious one shot villain,' he's still fun, even there. But I think what everybody remembers most is his turn as the villain in the "Avalon" triptych. I loved "Avalon Part Two." I thought the script was brilliant. I thought David Warner's dialogue with himself was tremendous. The entire endeavor was just wonderful.

Do I agree with the decision to kill him off? Absolutely. I don't think he would have had any staying power in the modern day material. The guy is a clichéd sorcerer, even if he's a very fun one. However, that doesn't mean I think the character is done entirely. There is plenty for him to do in a certain spin-off that takes place during the "Dark Ages." Or maybe even something to do if one were to TimeDance and have an encounter with him.

10. Coyote

What can I say, I have a soft spot for this glorified toaster oven. At first glance he may seem like Ultron wearing half of Xanatos's skin, but the influence from Xanatos is evident. This robot has a sense of humor, sometimes even a perverse one. Granted it's not sentient or self-aware, but it almost seems close enough to fool you.

I love all the designs he goes through. They're all different, while at the same time reminding you of who you're looking at. But my favorite will always be the first one. I loved the look, I loved his perception-warping weapon the most. I wish he'd used it more often.

What's next for this character? Well, Greg has kept extremely tight-lipped. We know more upgrades are on the horizon, but come "Gargoyles 2198" … well, let's just say I think I know what the Xanatos of "Future Tense" was actually foreshadowing.

9. Jackal and Hyena

The "Gargoyles Universe" is well known for their complex, complicated villains. But sometimes, it's nice to just cut loose. Enter the sociopathic Jackal; and his twin sister, the psychotic Hyena and we're in for a good time whenever they show up. These two will crack you up one moment and then make you sick the next.

The first time they appeared, they didn't seem THAT bad. Then, come their second appearance, you have Hyena nearly slicing a fan's face up, and smiling when she gets arrested. Following that, we have Hyena falling in love with a robot. And then, after that, the two volunteer to trade in their body parts for cybernetic implants. Frankly, it's rather sick.

Jackal almost seems normal when you compare him to Hyena. "Normal" being very relative, until we get to "Grief" where he becomes the avatar of Anubis, giving him power over life and death, and what does he do? He decides he wants to end all life on Earth. Yeah….

I'm glad these two are close siblings, because they deserve each other. Still, whatever else they are, they're very fun bad guys. Hell, even a friend of mine named his gold colored Aztek after Hyena.

8. Anton Sevarius

Dr. Anton Sevarius earns points for being the creepiest villain we have encountered so far. He's even creepier than Jackal and Hyena! Sure, he's pretty much a hired gun, but the guy enjoys it. He revels in it. I can sum up Sevarius with one quote. After he was asked why he was doing this:

"For science, which as my associate Fang indicated, must ever move forward. Plus there's the money… and I do love the drama!"

This guy is only slightly more ethical than Dr. Mengele! And I also need to give a ton of credit to Tim Curry for really bringing this guy to life. Apparently, Brent Spiner was the first choice to voice Sevarius, but Curry got the role, and Spiner was cast as Puck. Thank god for those decisions.

Another moment that really stands out was when he was all over Angela in "Monsters." Does he have a sexual interest in her? I don't know, probably not. I think he just took pleasure in making her as uncomfortable as possible.

I think my other favorite Sevarius moment comes from "Double Jeopardy" where he thinks he's taking part in a Machiavellian scheme of Xanatos's and decides to act the part… very badly, I might add. So much fun, even when he makes you scream.

7. The Weird Sisters

Okay, let's get this out of the way. Silver haired Luna is the Sister of Fate; Raven haired Selene is the Sister of Vengeance; and Golden haired Phoebe is the Sister of Grace.

The Weird Sisters are, for the most part, a complete mystery. They have plans within plans that stretch through the centuries, after all what is time to them? They could even give Xanatos a run for his money. What is their agenda? Only they know. We've seen two thirds of the story, with Luna ascendant during "City of Stone" and Selene ascendant during "Avalon." But there is a missing piece, where does grace fall in their plans for Demona and Macbeth? Hopefully time will tell.

These three are great fun to watch. I love how they can be both nowhere and everywhere. And I love how they can and will take on different forms depending on who is looking at them at any given moment. Where do their loyalties lie? Well, it seems to be with Oberon, but I've long suspected there is something bigger at play with these three.

It would be easy to say they were plucked straight out of the Scottish Play, but in several folklores and mythologies, the Weird Sisters are present in some form. There is just something elemental and primeval about them. And that's part of what makes them a great element of the series.

6. Fox

Any woman who David Xanatos would marry would have to be cut from the same cloth he is, because anyone else would be beneath him. Fox is that woman. Hell, sometimes she gets the better of him, whether they're sparring in the dojo, or playing chess. And he doesn't resent this; it's just further proof that he's found the love of his life.

It's weird to watch her in "The Thrill of the Hunt" at times, because Wolf, Jackal, Hyena, and Dingo just seem so far beneath her, she almost seems out of place there. And yet, at the same time, the more we learn about her, the more it makes sense. When we meet Halcyon Renard, a huge piece of the puzzle is put into place. She was never a daddy's girl, in fact, quite the opposite. She was clearly motivated, for years, by just annoying her father. Maybe her mother too.

And I think it was just as much of a shock to her that she loved David. But I wonder what their relationship was like before her prison sentence? Obviously Xanatos made her a television star, but what else was going on there?
She was his lover and employee. And a trained mercenary, let's not forget that.

Like her husband, she grew and developed as the series progressed, and is every bit as interesting a character as he is. In fact, in an alternate universe, I wonder how the series would have played if Fox was in Xanatos's role from the get go.

5. Thailog

Ah, the prodigal son… and he's a bastard. Literally.

I love this guy, he's just a hoot. Thailog is as powerful as Goliath, as brilliant and amoral as Xanatos, and as hammy and immoral as Sevarius. All at once. And it shows. In every single appearance, it shows. The guy is a walking Oedipus complex, what with his desire to prove his superiority to his fathers. I suppose one might say that he's already gotten the better of Sevarius, since he has the good doctor on his payroll. And while he outsmarted Xanatos once, I don't think he's done. Turning Nightstone Unlimited into a powerhouse to rival Xanatos Enterprises is obviously a means to this end. But what next?

I think my favorite thing about Thailog is that while he is a clone of Goliath, that's the last thing that comes to mind when I think about him. He's a fully developed character in his own right, and not simply Goliath's evil twin. On that note, I'm happy his coloring is different, because the last thing this show needs is an entire episode where the gargoyles try to figure out which one is the real Goliath.

And how can anyone not find that maniacal laugh of his to be anything but endearing?

4. John Castaway

John Castaway is a fascinating character, hell to crack the top five, he has to be. Castaway is a weak man, and at the heart of everything, a frightened child. Too weak to stand up to his brother and say "this is wrong" and too weak to admit he was wrong when he pulls the trigger and everything goes to Hell. I think the only thing that has changed is his support system.

Now that the gargoyles have been revealed to the world, Castaway represents a political movement who are moving against them. And it's rather frightening. Not for being a group of hooded thugs, they are not, but for being like a cross between the neighborhood watch, and a support group. Oh, there is a violent wing of the Quarrymen, we know that. But with Castaway's shrewdness, and the Illuminati's backing, I don't think he would do something stupid like fire anti-aircraft cannons in Manhattan, or hijack a train. No… because that would make Castaway much less difficult to defeat than he is. And even then, who says that happens? The Quarrymen are destined to be a problem for at least the next two hundred years, and like the Hunters before them, his descendents will lead the organization.

Keep in mind, we can all trace this back to a scratch in a barn in the tenth century.

3. Macbeth

Well, where do I start? Well, I suppose I will start by saying that I almost feel bad for putting him on this list at all. He has a strong sense of honor, if skewed. He's worked against our protagonists and with them. But, in the end I think the only side he's on is his own. While he is more of an ally now, that doesn't mean he hasn't been part of the problem before and won't be part of the problem again.

His story is terrific. Rather than follow the Scottish Play, the story we got was a loose adaptation of the true history of Macbeth and his reign over Scotland. Yes, we had Demona and gargoyles, and the Weird Sisters and sorcery, but we also had a history lesson unfolding, even if we didn't know it at the time. And it's terrific. To this day, it's my favorite tale in the entire mythos.

When we first meet him, the centuries have certainly taken their toll. He is not above attacking the gargoyles, taking hostages, and committing grand theft. And yet, we never once think of him as evil, despite doing some pretty unethical and amoral things. That changes with "City of Stone" when we learn his story and feel sorry for him. But at the same time, I think the perception among many fans has swung around too far. Yes, we understand him more now. But that wasn't his redemption. Far from it.

I think the tail end of "Sanctuary" and "Pendragon" is where the change begins, and I stress this, begins. In the former, he learned that he is still capable of love. In the latter, while some didn't quite get why he competed so violently against King Arthur for Excalibur, well, it always made sense to me. This is a man who has suffered so much, who viewed his existence as sad and endless, that he was looking for something to give it meaning and maybe justify every terrible thing that has ever happened to him. Being the new Once and Future King would serve that purpose, wouldn't it? Well, it doesn't quite work out for him, but over the course of the series we have seen this man go from suicidal renegade to a man who doesn't think life is completely worth living, and now seeks purpose in his existence. Did he look like a fool clutching that broken sword? Well, he was a broken man. And once you hit rock bottom, the healing can begin.

2. David Xanatos

He was designed to be a heroic character, and he was cast as the villain of the piece. That, right there, is what makes this character so brilliant. He has so many positive qualities, so many admirable traits. He's smart, he's cool, he's suave, he's practical, he knows his priorities, he doesn't sweat the small stuff, he doesn't hold a grudge; the titled heroes have more personality flaws than he does! But he is also incredibly ruthless, and while he's not evil, he is incredibly amoral. He seems to be the walking personification of Frederick Nietzsche's ubermensch when one stops to think about it. And he is awesome.

I am actually struggling here, what more can be said about David Xanatos that hasn't already been said? He's designed many tropes all by himself. There was never a villain like him in animation before, and even after he's left, there still has never been anyone quite like him. He doesn't surround himself with dimwitted henchmen and beat them up and scream when they fail. No, quite the opposite, he is always surrounded by incredibly competent people. His assistant and majordomo, Owen Burnett comes to mind. And he so rarely loses. In sixty-five episodes, and eighteen comics, I can count the number of actual losses on one hand. Aside from that, he always comes out on top. Always. But when he doesn't, he doesn't throw a fit and scream, he shrugs it off and moves on to the next plan. There are always contingencies. This guy is the coolest guy in the series.

His character arc throughout the series is brilliant. I love his rivalry with Goliath, and I love how he doesn't hate or even dislike Goliath. He likes Goliath a lot, admires him, and regards him with what I can best call a mix of interest and benign amusement. That's far more interesting than Megatron's hatred for Optimus Prime. And I really love how Goliath would often use the word "evil" to describe Xanatos. Sure, Xanatos has done some evil things, but Goliath's view of him for the longest time was very two-dimensional. It almost represents how most audiences, especially in animation, were trained to view the villain. No, Xanatos wasn't a Dark Lord, or a diabolical evil. He was simply a trickster. A human trickster.

While Xanatos and Goliath seem to have made some form of peace, that still didn't make Xanatos one of the good guys! I love that! In a way, he's still the enemy, and now the gargoyles are living with him, and they know it! He still has plans and schemes, and while he likes the gargoyles and helps them out, that doesn't stop him from manipulating them to his own ends, or even working against them. And best of all, as far as Xanatos is concerned: it's nothing personal.

I also have to give a ton of credit to the performance of Jonathan Frakes. He made Xanatos sound so sophisticated, fun, and erudite.

David Xanatos, he should run a seminar on villainy. Often imitated, never duplicated.

1. Demona

Demona is the clear number one on this list, for reasons both grounded and very esoteric at the same time. At the most minimal of glances, she seems very typical. We've seen genocidal human haters before. But scratch the surface, even a little, and we get the deepest creation of not only the series, but one of the deepest creations in the realm of fiction. I'm going to say this now, and roll your eyes all you want, but Demona would not be the slightest bit out of place in Russian literature. Or William Shakespeare's for that matter. I love this character.

Let's start with the surface elements first. She's got a terrific character design, and was so very well animated. Marina Sirtis deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the work she did bringing her to life. She embodied that character so completely that I never want to hear anyone else ever voice Demona on any animated project. No one can do it. Period. Hearing Marina Sirtis voice Demona was just as much of a revelation as hearing Mark Hamill's Joker. And I will stand by that statement even under threat of torture. She is also just such a badass! An intimidating warrior, an immortal, a sorceress, and she transforms into a human during the day! Hell, in both forms, she's pretty hot.

Now, for the esoteric. She has a guilt complex that makes Peter Parker's look tame by comparison, but she spreads it around to everyone else rather than internalize it. And considering how much she has to feel guilty over, this makes her arguably the most dangerous character in the series. She cannot accept her own culpability for the terrible things that happened to her, and for all intents and purposes, murdering her clan. She may not have swung the mace, but her ambition, her bigotry, and her cowardice put them in front of it.

Her favorite scapegoats are humanity as a whole, who make an easy and convenient target for her to project her guilt and self-loathing on. Now, does she have a point? Yes. Let's face it, humans can be bastards. We've done terrible things as a species. But, just as you cannot blame every Muslim for the attacks on September 11th, or every German for the Holocaust, Demona is wrong to blame every human for the terrible actions of a few. And at the end of the day, she was either directly or indirectly responsible for those actions. She betrayed her clan, and caused the massacre; she created the Hunter, and betrayed Macbeth. Demona created her own pain, and she intends to wipe out every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth just to justify every damned stupid choice she ever made.

Despite all of that, she is an eternally conflicted character. She is not a one-dimensional cut-out. Deep inside, she knows she's wrong, she knows what she did. But she cannot and will not acknowledge that. And that's what makes her hatred for Elisa Maza so interesting. The one human she hates most is the one that has been a true friend to the gargoyles, because Elisa is living proof of just how wrong Demona really is. And the fact that Elisa and Goliath are now in love doesn't help considering Demona's lingering feelings of jealousy.

Of course, there is Demona's biological daughter, Angela. She is probably the one person Demona cares about in the world. My single biggest regret about the cancelation of the comic book is that we didn't get to see the two of them interact again. I am beyond curious to see where this goes. But one thing I am confident of, it's not heading towards a hysterically easy redemption. Nope, if we take the plan for the "Gargoyles 2198" spin-off seriously, and I most certainly do, Demona is still plotting against humanity long after Angela has died. Is it sad? Yes. Is it tragic? Yes. Is it Demona? Absolutely.

I also love how she is a walking mess of contradictions. Her belief system is based so much on lies she tells herself, that she will rationalize anything she can to fit her world view. Why? Because the alternative is admitting she is wrong, and right now, she will not do that. Cannot do that. Sadly for both her and Angela, I see tragedy in their future.

Demona's through line is one of the main reasons I am so desperate for "Gargoyles 2198" to be produced. I want to see how her story ends, and if it's going to end anywhere, it's in that spinoff. This is a story I am dying to see, and if Disney never produces it, well… one way or another I intend to find out what happens to her. What her ultimate fate is going to be. We know she'll have an epiphany of some kind. How does it happen? Why does it happen? What's the fallout? How does her story end?

Demona is an endlessly fascinating character. We've never seen anything like her in the realm of western animation before her debut, and I don't think she's been replicated since. Why? I don't know. But lightning has been caught in a bottle, and I am rather happy that no one has attempted to imitate this unique and perfectly conceived character but tragically flawed person.

Greg responds...

What? No love for Bruno?

Response recorded on March 13, 2013

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Diana writes...

What happened to the disc Robyn stole from Demona? Did the police find it in the wreckage of the airship?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO RESPONSE.

Response recorded on December 18, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

1. Did Xanatos know Demona's name before she revealed it to Goliath?
2. For that matter, while we know Xanatos regarded the gargoyles with benign amusement and interest, and you've said before that he always rather liked Goliath as a person... what did he think of Demona? On the one hand, while we know he felt she had her uses, on the other hand there she was talking about the genocide of humanity right in front of him. I guess I feel for being as intelligent as he was, and knowing about how much she despised humans, he put a lot of blind faith into her... he didn't even have the page with the Stone By Night spell translated prior to putting her on the air. That was a mistake far larger than the creation of Thailog.

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. I do think he underestimated her. He has a low enough opinion of fanatics, that he perhaps didn't take her quite seriously enough as a threat.

Response recorded on November 17, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

How does Angela currently feel about Demona? She was devastated at the end of "The Reckoning" when she thought Demona was dead, but the next time she saw her, Demona almost destroyed all life on Earth. Does she still feel bad about the "I hate you" or does she think it was justified now?

Greg responds...

I'm sure her feelings are quite complex. But I'll leave anything more specific either to your interpretation or to future stories.

Response recorded on November 16, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

What exactly did Demona's position as Macbeth's primary adviser entail? He said that he had planned for her to govern at his side... very, very strong words for a king. We know she maintained command of her clan, and she also seemed to have command of a number of his human troops but what was she doing during "peace time?" Was she advising him on strategic and diplomatic alliances? Tax policies? This was definitely much bigger than what Goliath's or Hudson's positions with Prince Malcolm were. When I hear "govern at my side" it makes me think that for all intents and purposes, even if not in name, she was the co-ruler of Scotland.

Greg responds...

"Peace time" is a relative term. She helped him maintain his army and (if you will) his air force, along with other defenses. She advised him on military strategy, and as we saw, he was open to hear anyone give advice on anything. But her primary job description was basically Secretary of Defense.

She was not co-ruler of Scotland.

Response recorded on November 16, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

So, out of curiosity. When Demona and Thailog were living in Paris, where was Demona living? We know Thailog was living at Notre Dame (although, I assume that after Sanctuary, they didn't go back). But was Demona living there as Dominique when she wasn't out seducing Macbeth into marriage?

Greg responds...

I'm sure she had a flat.

Response recorded on October 30, 2012

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Kevyn writes...

Did Demona carefully think through her Operation Clean Slate plan? If the virus was meant to eliminate all human beings, wouldn't that kill Macbeth, as well? If so, that would mean that by her killing him she would be engineering her own death due to their magical link.

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Good question. Keep in mind that magic isn't an exact science. The Weird Sisters told Macbeth and Demona that 'When one lives both live.' Demona used the magic Praying Gargoyle statue to insure she would survive the fullfillment spell. So would Macbeth have survived? Probably. She knows about the mortality link. She would not want his death at her hands if that resulted in her own. Towards Macbeth, her impulse should not be murderous by necessity. And mindset has a real effect on magic results. However, Demona isn't the most stable and rational of characters. She certainly has murderous feelings toward Macbeth. And if their linking spell 'perceived' the death of all humanity as a successful attempt to kill Macbeth, then it might very well have killed her as well. Did she consider this? Maybe.

Maybe it was a risk she was willing, even eager to take. Maybe somewhere underneath it all, she's a bit suicidal. Could she die with the idea of leaving behind a human-free 'paradise' where her daughter could live in safety? Remember, Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land, but he was not allowed to enter it himself. Maybe that's how Demona felt about it.

Then again, maybe not. Very provocative question."

[Response recorded in the Station 8 "Gargoyles" FAQ, Section VI.]

Response recorded on September 29, 2012

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Derek writes...

The name Dominque Destine sound pretty "draggy"? Was that deliberate as Demona is too masquerading as a human woman?

Greg responds...

I don't think so.

Response recorded on September 18, 2012

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Derek writes...

Despite everything that Demona's done, would Hudson still sacrifice himself for her if it came to it? Does he still consider her his daughter?

Greg responds...

1. I think it would depend on circumstances. (As always, I'm not too interested in hypotheticals.)

2. Yes. A very naughty daughter.

Response recorded on September 18, 2012

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Derek writes...

If Demona thought that her race was facing extinction in the Dark Ages why didn't she breed with one of the male Gargoyles? Did she think she was unworthy of being a mother after the Wyvern Massacre?

Greg responds...

I don't think she thought that consciously. But keep in mind that Gargoyles mate for life - at least by cultural convention.

Response recorded on August 30, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

1 - Were Angela and Broadway still virgins by the time of "Phoenix?"
2 - Goliath and Demona became mates during "Vows", did they lose their virginity that night?

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. Yes.

(Both of these are canon-in-training answers, of course.)

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Ada writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,
I was wondering if Queen Bee is voiced by the same voice actress that played Demona? Sounds offly familar...

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Marina Sirtis as Queen Bee."

[Response recorded March 19, 2012.]

Greg Weisman says:

"Of course, the big news is MARINA SIRTIS, the voice of Demona, will be attending."

[Response recorded November 2, 2000.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Tegan writes...

I love Demona from Gargoyles and I love kickass redheads. I'm just curious, what was Demona's favourite century to live in?

Greg responds...

I don't know. She probably THINKS that she thinks that the tenth century was the best.

Response recorded on May 16, 2012

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Mel writes...

My first question didn't post for some reason, so here goes again:

1. Given that aside from that one stint in Florence, and NYC/Scotland, the place we see Demona show up the most in the series and comics is Paris. That, combined with her choosing a french name and identity made me wonder if Demona has some special affinity for Paris/France. Or am I just reading too much into it?

2. You've said that Demona is biologically the equivalent of a human 35, and at the beginning of the series Goliath was about 28 I think. Since in Awakenings the clan all thought Demona had been frozen in stone like them, didn't any of them notice that she maybe looked different, or older? (It's hard to tell with animation if she really did;)) I realize there was a lot going on, but didn't anyone notice anything...off about her? Or is Demona just one of those people that, magically protected from the effects of age/rough lifestyle, can pass for younger?

3. During the time of his reign and their alliance, did MacBeth ever find out that Demona is a sorceress? If so, what did he think about it? At the time, I would guess he might respect her ability to learn a...scholarly pursuit, maybe, but I can't imagine Grouch at least would be comfortable with it, especially as it seems her husband being suspected of sorcery was already a rumor.

Thanks so much for still taking the time to answer Gargoyles questions, since I'm sure Young Justice is taking up a lot of your time and attention lately :)

Greg responds...

1. Perhaps. Maybe she liked the work they did with the guillotine.

2. One doesn't have to invoke magic to look largely unchanged between the ages of 28 and 35. Some folks just have the genes for it.

3. Demona was never much of a practicing sorceress in those days. She had a bit of training and dabbled. I'm sure Macbeth was aware of that.

Response recorded on May 04, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

This is one I've wondered for a while now. That banshee like shriek of battle cry that Demona screams... usually when making her escape, here it is on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DHt1Uocz-G8#t=386s

Is that Marina? Or a sound effect. I've wondered for a long time now. Either way, I always thought it sounded really cool.

Greg responds...

I'm pretty sure it's a sound effect, but it's been a long time, you know?

Response recorded on April 13, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Not a question, but a comment. I was watching "Temptation" again, and when Demona first approaches Brooklyn she has this line "wasn't this like old times, fighting together side by side, comrades in arms..." and I have to say, kudos. Thanks to "Tyrants" and "The Gate" there so many more layers upon layers to that line especially. I could be wrong, but I never got the impression that they knew each other all that well prior to the massacre, so I used to wonder if the reference was generic or if she was just trying to make an appeal. Now, well... now the context of the line has changed, and for the better.

I don't know if the idea for their team up against Constantine existed in your head way back when "Temptation" was written, but I love moments of creative serendipity.

Greg responds...

It didn't way back when, but I ALSO think they fought side-by-side in the past from Brooklyn's POV. Keep in mind there's YEARS of adventures in GARGOYLES: DARK AGES.

Response recorded on April 12, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

I was reading through the archives, and I noticed that when 2198 was called Future Tense and then 2158, you described Demona as being repentant, and motivated by love and redemption. When the 2198 contest ended, she seems to be described as a lot closer to the Demona we currently know. Still plotting against humanity, perhaps her final chance to destroy the human race. Not getting along with anyone initially.

I remember that you were toying with the idea of Samson being older, more statesmanlike and a widower until you revamped 2158 into 2198. So, did Demona also undergo a revamp?

Greg responds...

Eh... Not so much. She was always someone out of the mainstream. I'll admit that my memory of the 2158 days are sketchy, but I think a more likely interpretation is that until I really sat down to DEVELOP 2198 in detail, I just hadn't focused on where Demona was.

Response recorded on March 23, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Are the gargoyles aware that the two owners of Nightstone Unlimited are Demona and Thailog? The Alexander Thailog name could be a giveaway, and did Macbeth tell them Demona's human name after the action died down in "Sanctuary?"

Greg responds...

I don't think that Macbeth knew about Nightstone, and thus it never occurred to him that - once outed - Demona would continue to use her alias.

Response recorded on March 06, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

This is something I've wondered for a while. We know the Hunters came to Manhattan to investigate all the gargoyle sightings. But what exactly led Robyn Canmore to Dominique Destine? Why did it occur to her that this French immigrant CEO was worth investigating? I understand that she's never been seen at night, but how did that get her on Robyn's radar?

I get why Jon decided to impersonate a reporter for his investigation, and the Hunter's Moon deleted scene explained why Jason decided to go "undercover" in the 23rd precinct. But when I zoom back and pretend I don't know who Dominique Destine really is, I wonder what led Robyn there.

Greg responds...

The timing and location of the incorporation of Nightstone Unlimited. (Not to mention the name.)

Response recorded on March 06, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

You've said in the past that gargoyles follow a vague religion that is both monotheistic and pantheistic, and that at present Coldfire would be the most interested in it. What are Demona's spiritual viewpoints? Was she ever a "believer." Is she still one, or is she lapsed? The closest we've ever gotten was her not considering a Wind Ceremony for her smashed clan a priority in "Tyrants."

For that matter, what are Angela's spiritual beliefs? She was raised by humans after all.

Greg responds...

I think Demona is probably lapsed - or at least inattentive.

I don't think Angela knows too much about the Gargoyle Way. I do think she was raised with medieval Christian values, without necessarily being baptized a Christian.

Response recorded on March 06, 2012

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Lyla writes...

Whose idea was it for Demona to start turning into a human during the day and why did you add it to the series? Did you plan for that to happen from the beginning?

Greg responds...

I think it was mine. But so many years later, I can't be sure. So much of the series was a collaboration.

And, no, we didn't know we were going to do that at the beginning. But it became clear that was the way to go.

Response recorded on February 23, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

So, I was chatting with a friend about tour theories on Demona and her future, both near and far. And this subject came up, and he suggested I ask you. I said "no way, not in a million years will he answer this one." And yet, here I am...

I am not asking for any specifics or clues beyond this one tidbit; when Demona dies, will she be in her human form or her gargoyle form?

Greg responds...

Who says she dies?

Response recorded on February 13, 2012

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Richard Jackson writes...

In the series, Demona gave several phony explanations of how she managed to live so long. Such as, stone sleep (Awakening) and stealing minutes of life from humans (City of Stone). Of course, also in City of Stone we found out that her link to Macbeth is the secret of her immortality.

But that was revealed in season 2 before the introduction of Oberon's Children. Demona let it slip in "Temptation" that she had survived through the centuries, but didn't elaborate.

When in production on the first season, did you know what the secret to her immortality would be? And were there other explanations you thought of but ultimately didn't use?

Greg responds...

Pretty much by the time we wrote "Enter Macbeth" we knew the basics. Didn't work out the details until "City of Stone".

Response recorded on February 10, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Does Demona keep the tiara on during sex?

Greg responds...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Response recorded on February 09, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

According to your timeline, Demona and Thailog were back in New York when Oberon put the city to sleep. Did Demona and Thailog fall asleep?

Greg responds...

I'd think not.

Response recorded on December 28, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

One more...

Settle something. When Demona sits back and relaxes, what is her drink of choice? ;)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled "fishing for Young Justice spoilers" line of questioning. Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

Greg responds...

Honestly, water, probably. But I haven't given it a second's thought.

Response recorded on September 29, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

And, I'm back with another Demona post. Surprise, surprise, surprise. ;)

Anyway, I've watched and re-watched the 2009 Radio Play many times. I know it's not canon, but I also know you kept everyone in character and they reacted to things as they normally would.

What's been leaping out at me was Demona's behavior towards Obsidiana, because it shows a side of Demona we haven't quite seen before.

Allow me to post the line:

"For she wears the mystic Obsidian pendant fashioned by human sorcerers. Even that is enough to put her in my thrall. She has relinquished her gargoyle birthright."

This line, and the way Marina Sirtis delivered it just hit me like a truck. So, now Demona is going around deciding which gargoyles are and aren't pure enough to be "true gargoyles?" But, as far as we know, she doesn't know Obsidiana. She's never met Obsidiana. I can understand her hatred and desire to wipe out the Manhattan Clan, they stand against her and are her enemies. She's completely wrong to do it, but I tactically understand it.

Obsidiana, on the other hand, for all she knows she had a potential ally there and among the Mayans. While the Mayan Clan, as we have seen them, don't harm the human locals, I could easily envision a scenario where she talks them into some kind of anti-human alliance in the interests of protecting the Green.

But then there is this next line:

"Impossible. I am the last true gargoyle left on this world."

I know Demona has a superiority complex wrapped around her guilt complex, but wow. She is this much of a supremacist now? After she wipes out humanity, what happens when the surviving gargoyles refuse to acknowledge her as their divinely appointed empress? Well, I think I have a pretty good idea of that "what next" would be in that completely hypothetical scenario.

Actually, we've seen some of this already in "Reawakening" where she said "We are the true gargoyles, they have been corrupted by the humans!" But the Obsidiana moment felt even more extreme.

This attitude is actually pretty Hitler-esque, what with his witch-hunt against those who weren't German enough, a test which he'd fail also as he didn't have his idealistic blonde hair and blue eyes (and may have had Jewish blood). Actually, reminds me of Demona and her daytime form as well, but the bigot being what they despise is a trope that has always fascinated me.

By no means do I find that line out of character, actually, for me, that was one of the most chilling moments I've ever seen her depicted in. And yes, it does feel like a logical progression based on what we've seen of her. I know she's going to get better in "Gargoyles 2198" but if this is any indicator of where she was heading in your third season, or any comic book continuation, it seems like she's going to get a lot worse before she gets better.

Very cool, and by cool I mean chilling. It will be very interesting to see how her affection for Angela, who was raised by humans and is maybe more of an idealist than even Goliath would play into this.

Greg responds...

Just don't take the radio play too seriously. Remember, I wrote it more or less overnight and I had SO MANY characters to fit in, that - beyond the obvious, that it's not canon - some of it is quite forced.

Response recorded on September 22, 2011

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Garth writes...

Why does Demona hate having her left shoulder covered? Her one shoulder strapped shirt never covers it. In "Sanctuary" she purposely ripped the wedding dress so she could expose that shoulder. In "Hunter's Moon p1" her suit is destroyed in a way that exposes that shoulder too, her other one, still covered. The only time it was covered was in "Future Tense" which I guess is also a clue that it was an illusion.

Greg responds...

Might be a warrior thing.

Response recorded on August 29, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Some Xanatose related questions here:

1. Is Xanatose enterprises a private corporation or publicaly traded with David obviously as majority shareholder?

2. What kind of plans does Xanatose have for that virus from legion? He seemed really impressed with it so much that he didn't even care they failed to get the defense specs but we havn't seen anything to my knowledge with it yet.

3. Was it Demona who X first learned of Goliath and his clan from or did he learn about them some other way before that like his claim of the Magus writing it down in the Grimorum for instance. Ive never been sure if that Grimorum claim was a flat out lie or not. Plus that line from awakening "At last Castle Wyvyrn" makes it almost sound like he's known about this for some time.

4. When did Xanatose first get the Grimorum.

5. When did Xanatose first get the Eye of Odin.

6. Final question. What did Xanatose exactly want the defense specs for that he was trying to steal in Legion anyway?

Greg responds...

1. Private.

2. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

3. Well, he has. But he's also know Demona for a long time. Beyond that, I'm not saying...

4. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

5. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

6. Compare what Demona took from that building in "Reckoning".

Response recorded on August 26, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

In 1050, when Macbeth visited the Pope in Rome, did Demona accompany him?

Greg responds...

Story for another day.

Response recorded on August 25, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

How does Demona feel about Coldsteel? Considering her tendencies to hold a grudge, I cannot see her liking him much after the stunt he pulled with Goliath, Othello and Desdemona. On the other hand, she didn't seem to mind teaming up with him in "High Noon." In fact, she got along as well with him in "High Noon" as we've ever seen her get along with anybody. Now, I suppose I could chalk that up to the Weird Sisters' orders, but aside from the basic order (you and Macbeth steal the talismans and steal Coldstone to distract the gargoyles), she still was very much behaving as she normally would.

Greg responds...

There's more to this than I'm willing to reveal right now.

Response recorded on August 25, 2011

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WordSarien writes...

I know you hear this a lot, but I wanted to start by saying that I've always loved Gargoyles; I was raised on it. It was one of the things that started my love for the fantasy genre, and it taught me by example how to write/appreciate stories with complex characters and well-thought stories. I also love TSSM and Young Justice, and started watching both after hearing you were working on it. ;) :) Thanks for all the hard work you've poured into your work over the years. :)

My question has to do with Demona and "Operation Clean Slate". (I hope I'm not repeating a question; I tried searching for it but couldn't find anything.) Anyways, I was wondering a couple of things:

a) if Demona knows about other sentient life outside of humans, gargoyles, and Oberon's children--like the New Olympians--would she care that she's probably killing all of them, too? (I'm not asking if she does know about them--I imagine you probably want to keep that to yourself. ;))

b) Would killing the entire human race count as Demona killing MacBeth? (To be honest, I've never fully understood whether they actually have to kill each other practically simultaneously, or whether just one killing the other would be enough. MacBeth seems to believe the latter, but if he's mistaken, then I'm assuming they would both survive.)

Thanks for your time! :)

Greg responds...

a. I'll leave that to your interpretation of the character.

b. This has been covered. Check the archives.

Thanks for the kind words.

Response recorded on August 19, 2011

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Alma writes...

Love this series, it was the best Cartoon show of my childhood and now, almost 30 I am revisiting the series and am finding ALOT of adult humor, situations and no little amount of (sexual) tension between carachters.
I could babble on but I honestly don't have the time to do it now, so I shall ask away...
At what point in Awakening do Goliath and Demona "break-up".
Yes I understand that he figured her dead for 1000 years but once he saw her, wouldn't he feel the same about her?

Look forward to hearing from you, and again, thanks for bestowing the awesomeness that is Gargolyes into our lives!!!!

Greg responds...

There's no one moment, though when she tries to kill him, the relationship really starts to go south.

Response recorded on July 28, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, I'd like to ask how skilled & powerful are Demona and Katana compared to one another? I realize with the comic canceled for now we may never get to see these two in action against eachother, so I'd like to know in your opinion how well the two gargoyle femme fatales would fare against each other one on one. Would it be an even fight or would one dominate the other?

Greg responds...

I'm not interested in HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS OF PROWESS or in OFFERING UP SPOILERS to my future plans. Sorry.

Response recorded on April 29, 2011

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Dragomir writes...

Hi Greg, I realize that Demona is the villain and thus HAS to lose in the end, but I've always been confused by how well Elisa Maza is able to handle herself in battle against Demona. We know for a fact that gargoyles possess far more sheer brute strength and durability than a human being, we see Goliath and company throw gangsters and mercs and various other bad guys around like rag dolls all the time. Even the Pack, who were basically at peak athletic condition for humans before they underwent their "upgrades," were little match for the gargs. Now, I am aware that there are humans who can take gargs on one on one, but they are usually exceptional fighters like MacBeth who has centuries of experience and skill plus padded armor under his clothes, or have armored exo-suits like Xanatos or Dingo to even the odds. However, Elisa Maza possesses neither of these things, she's no wimp of course, she's a cop trained to handle New York's baddest of the bad, but she shouldn't be in the same league as Demona. I mean, her combat experience & skills comes from her police training and experience dealing with criminals, but Demona has over a thousand years of fighting experience at her disposal PLUS all the strength and durability that comes from being a gargoyle, and yet, when she and Maza fight it usually ends up with them wrestling on the ground & Maza fairing far better than she should against someone more skilled and powerful than she is (and equipped with claws that can rip through stone and steel). If Xanatos or Macbeth pulled something like that on Goliath he'd rip them to shreds & beat them senseless, yet Elisa gets away with it with Demona...I guess I just find it confusing and inconsistent with what we've seen in regards to how well the gargoyles handle their human foes. I know Demona has to lose in the end cuz she's the villain and that during some of their battles there were extenuating circumstances (like Demona being in human form or Maza in gargoyle form), but I still find it unrealistic & hard to believe Maza could fare so well against someone so much stronger & more experienced/skilled than she is...Even Goliath himself finds her to be a challenging opponent to face, we're talking about a lady who can lift boulders with her bare hands and chuck them at people, I can only imagine what she could do to Maza with strength like that.

So yeah, sorry for rambling, I really do love the Gargoyle series, but Elisa's ability to "manhandle" Demona despite the obvious strength and skill difference has always irked me. I mean, even when angered Demona tends to fight even harder than before, just like any other gargoyle, and usually that makes them a decisive edge unless they face someone like Oberon who can't be fazed by brute strength & ferocity.

Can you please explain to me how Maza's able to get away with fighting Demona one on one & hand to hand and get away from it in one piece?

P.S. thanks for your time & congrats on Young Justice, I'm totally loving that show thus far, Miss Martian rules! And Cheshire & the Witchboy were awesome villains, hope we see them again.

Greg responds...

Uh... when has human Elisa fought one-on-one with gargoyle Demona? I seriously can't think of one time this has occurred. I mean you can't count when both were gargoyles or both were humans -- at least not in terms of your above complaint/confusion. Are you sure you haven't just ... well... imagined this problem?

Response recorded on April 29, 2011

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A Gargoyles Fan writes...

First and foremost, I probably should've looked more carefully when asking the previous question, and I'm sorry for that.

I've checked around the archives, and taken a better look, and haven't found an answer for this.

Sevarius stated once that if a Gargoyle didn't go through stone sleep, they would have to eat several cows in order to get the energy they need. Demona doesn't go through stone sleep anymore, so how does she get the energy she needs for when she becomes a gargoyle once more?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure you're quoting Sevarius correctly, but in any case... magic compensates for Demona's lack of stone sleep.

Response recorded on April 12, 2011

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Ryan Eden writes...

i have a serious question if Macbeth dies of a natural cause like a heart attack or something does that mean Deamona dies as well from it?

Greg responds...

I'm not interested in these hypotheticals.

Response recorded on March 11, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Brian writes...
If I could pet a gargoyle's wings, what's the closest thing they would feel like?
Greg responds...
Depends on whose wings.

Say...Demona's?

Greg responds...

Leather, I guess.

Or suede maybe. Blue suede. ;)

Response recorded on March 09, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

How is it that having Robyn at her feet, Demona didnt kill her? I loved the scene and I think that there may be two possible answers:

a- Demona does seem to have a twisted sense of humor. After watching her facing Hackon, The Renaissance Hunter and the current Hunter's father (cant remembere the name)and destroying the ciberbiotics airship with a smile from ear to ear...it's evident she likes to play with her prey, so to speak. Was she just trying to put a scare on the "little hunters" and play around with them a little bit?

B- It kind of seems unlickly that something could have stopped her from killing Robyn, considering there were three unarmed children with her down there...or so it seemed, which comes to the next possibility: Did something forced her to fleed?

Thanks for any answer you may provide ;D Demona rocks!

Kuddos,

Greg responds...

What scene are we talking about?

Response recorded on February 25, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg!

Now that Desdemona is back on the Clan...has anyone told her about Demona and what she has become?

Greg responds...

I'm sure she'll be filled in.

Response recorded on February 25, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Is Demona's ankle bracelet welded shut? If yes, how does she take it off when she wears high heel shoes as Dominique?

Greg responds...

I dunno. Maybe her foot as a human is small enough that she can slip it off?

Response recorded on February 16, 2011

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happyteen writes...

What's Demona's insight towards other forms of life in earth? For example, does she share human's outlook in life that everything in this world is there to be exploit by "superior intelligent" creatures like her kind?

Does she consider human ways of exploiting animals and the enviroment acceptable (she hates us and all we do, but I mean...taking aside its us who are doing it)?

Would you say she is more of a cat or a dog "person"¡

Thanks!!

Greg responds...

She has nothing against bears.

I think she'd take a more organic/naturalistic/holistic approach to the environment, as do most gargoyles culturally. But she's also big into expediency and certainly not immune to hypocrisy.

As for Dog or Cat, I could really see her with either... but really with neither.

Response recorded on February 11, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

How many languages does Demona speak??

Greg responds...

I haven't counted.

Response recorded on February 09, 2011

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John writes...

Dear Greg

Thank you for taking the time to answer all of our questions and for your part in creating so many works of exceptional story telling. May I please ask a few questions about City of Stone?

1. May I ask what the people of Manhattan thought of Demona's appearance when she appeared on their TVs? Did they just assume that she was a human in a really good costume?

2. May I ask whether the Weird Sisters saw the entirety of Demona's broadcast? In part 1, they appeared as super models standing with a crowd of New Yorkers in front of a TV store. If they did see the entire broadcast, were they unaffected simply because they're Children of Oberon?

3. Did Bodhe happen to see Demona when she first confronted the Hunter at Castle Moray? If so, may I ask if he recognized her and if he still thought of her as a potential ally?

Thank you for your time, and I apologize if any of my questions have been asked before.

Greg responds...

1. I hate to define things monolithically, but something like that.

2. They took whatever precautions necessary.

3. I'll leave that to your imagination for now.

Response recorded on February 09, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

dear Greg.
I grew up watching Gargoyles, and as a kid, my view on demona was "evil bad girl" now, that i am older, i realise what happened to her, and i sometimes wonder just how different she could have been if she had someone to help her...i think even now, all she relaly needs is a good hug, (Sorry Gol, she would rather slice your wings off first)
Do you agree with that idea?
Thank you for your time in reading this.

Greg responds...

I think it's more complex than either your first or second interpretation of the character.

Response recorded on January 17, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

In "City of Stone," Demona said that after the clan and Xanatos blew up, she would take her laser cannon to Owen, Elisa, and Bronx.

Why was she going to kill Bronx? What did the poor beast ever do to her? She's another gargoyle, and still clan as far as Bronx knows. Couldn't she just take him home?

Greg responds...

Whether or not she ultimately would have killed Bronx is in question, but at that moment, she perceived him as a roadblock.

Response recorded on December 30, 2010

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John Derrick writes...

I hate to say it, but I was extremely disappointed in the Young Justice premiere. Don't get me wrong--the animation was gorgeous, the dialogue entertaining, the story intriguing. But the gender imbalance was a huge turn-off for me.

Why was it that the women of the Justice League were only shown in the last five minutes of a two-part pilot? Why did the male sidekicks get to go on a rebellious adventure and force the League to accept them as a team of their own, while the first girl is only added to "Young Justice" at the very end, introduced by her uncle and guardian like some sort of token?

I expect that the women will have a lot more to do in the episodes to come, but I still find it profoundly problematic to introduce the characters in such an unequal manner. I believe there are too many men in the world as it is who see women as mere supporting players in their stories. Why reinforce this stereotype for a whole new generation of superhero cartoon fans?

Greg responds...

It's a legitimate gripe. And I doubt my answer will satisfy you, but it came down to a couple factors that we at least found important: (1) practicality and to a lesser extent - but intertwined with - (2) tradition.

Let's start with practicality.

You asked why there were no female Leaguers until the end. But where would they have fit? There are no female Leaguers with traditional first generation sidekicks. So Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash could not be replaced by Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Hawkwoman. That leaves the four Leaguers introduced at the Hall of Justice. I needed Martian Manhunter to be there to set up Miss Martian. I needed Red Tornado there to set up his interest in the teens. I needed Superman there to set up Superboy. That leaves only Zatara. He was certainly replaceable. But then I would have had to hire another voice actress to read ONE LINE. I couldn't afford to do that. We have budgets. (And you'll notice that Red Tornado never speaks in the episode. Couldn't afford giving him a line either. None of which had anything to do with gender.)

There was NEVER any intent to introduce Artemis this early in the season for story reasons. Wouldn't make sense for her character. And I think the reasons why will become clear as the season progresses.

As for Miss Martian, yes, in theory, we could have introduced her sooner. Manhunter COULD have brought her along at the beginning. But then I'd have had FOUR characters running around the first half hour and FIVE in the second. That steals screen time and characterization from everyone. I think the entire production would have been weaker for adding another character -- ANY other character (gender notwithstanding).

Of course, that begs the obvious question - why not ditch one of the boys in favor of her to create a little balance.

But it seemed to us that would create balance at a cost.

There are FOUR TRADITIONAL sidekicks: Robin, Speedy, Aqualad and Kid Flash. To leave one out seemed wrong to us. Which brings in the Tradition argument, which I'll admit is somewhat feeble, but as an old comic book geek, I'll also admit it matters to me and to everyone else here.

The very first Teen Titans story ever in Brave and the Bold featured only THREE heroes: Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Wonder Girl did not join until their second adventure. So we felt there was a precedent for beginning with Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash and saving the real introduction of Miss Martian (beyond hellos) for OUR second adventure.

For what it's worth, if you give the series another chance, starting with episode three (i.e. the one immediately following the pilot "movie"), I think you'll see that female characters including Miss Martian, Black Canary, Artemis, Wonder Woman and MANY others will be playing ESSENTIAL roles in the show as we progress. I think the balance - and then some - is absolutely present in the first season when viewed in its entirety.

Yes, the pilot was very boy-centric, but that's not the rubric for the series. Personally, I love writing female characters, and if you're at all familiar with my past work, you'll know I have a history of doing them justice. (At least, I think so.) Gargoyles, for example, is FULL of strong female characters, including Elisa, Demona, Angela, Fox, etc. WITCH was nearly ALL female leads. Even Spider-Man had a strong female supporting cast, in my opinion at least.

If we did "reinforce a stereotype" (which I think is overstating it) then perhaps we've lured in kids that we will reeducate over the course of the season - organically without forcing it.

So I'd beg a little patience, a little indulgence... maybe even a little trust that we'll do right by this issue.

But judge for yourself.

Response recorded on December 21, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

how would a gargoyle survive in space?
In 2198 how is demona and zafiro going to survive in space with there special non-stone sleep circumstances? (i.e. demonas spell, zafiros amulet)

Greg responds...

I'm not revealing that at this time.

Response recorded on December 03, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Who would you rather be trapped in an eight hour car ride with; Demona; Nerissa; or Green Goblin?

Greg responds...

Nerissa, I guess. She'd have less reason to kill me at random. She might even appreciate the company.

Response recorded on November 23, 2010

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Justin writes...

Dear Greg,

Recently watched "Long Way Til Morning"

And this is hopefully the first question that leads to what I hope to complete soon as a long essay on how fascinating Demona is as a character as well as her impact on her estranged clan "family".

In this we see three characters. All with relatively strong familial bonds. First we have the Father, Hudson. Then of course the rookery children Goliath and Demona.

My actual question is this:

What had to be going through Hudson's mind during all of this? I know he acknowledged the two as a mated pair, but in essence he had to save his son from his daughter. That could not have made him all too plussed.

Secondly, the dialogue in this last scene really shows how even now, they still have latent feelings of being family...

Hudson: "Give it up girl, you can't win.." Which even as a boy, first watching this I always received as a Father being parental in some way to his daughter.

Then there is Demona, who is as bananas as it gets. She, even in her tirade tips her hand. She, through raw, volatile emotion expresses she still has love for Hudson.

"I would have ended this quickly! Your pride will cost you your life!" Even though I know at this point in her life she is past redemption, I still feel that the way she exclaims these sentiments is a tell she doesn't want to HAVE to say them. She loves her rookery father. And in a way, still NEEDS him. As all grown children do once we reach adulthood. But nothing can stand in the way of her vengeance. The vengeance for her murdered family. Not even surviving FAMILY.

All too fascinating Greg, and thank you!

Justin

Greg responds...

You're welcome...

Response recorded on November 03, 2010

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Alix December Frost writes...

I was just reviewing the guidelines for asking question. i just want to make it clear, that I wasn't trying to submit any ideas.

Also, what DID Demona do during WW2?

Greg responds...

Stuff.

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Greg:
In response to Matthew and also to your answer earlier concerning "All You Zombies," doesn't changing what he did (let alone preventing his own birth) also change history? It is part of the past that the character said certain words in a certain order, and not other words. If he chooses to change the words, he must change history also. Isn't this true of Demona in Vows as well? But in Gargoyles, history cannot be changed.

The reason I focused on whether or not the character remembers the words spoken to their past selves is this: when Demona shows up with the Phoenix Gate, the events of her encounter with herself have not actually happened yet. So they appear not to be predetermined. But she remembers what she her future self said to her when she was on the receiving end, and she remembers watching her future self kick Goliath. The events are already in her memory, and therefore part of the history she has already participated in. If she remembers the events, then either her memories are wrong (and were wrong all along) or else the events were part of history. The other possibility I can think of is that when she went back in time, she temporarily forgot her previous encounter with her future self and was free to make it up from scratch.

What I don't follow is how she (or Heinlein's protagonist) can choose not to play along without altering history.

Greg responds...

Nothing prevents you from TRYING to change history. Succeeding is something else. Nothing prevents you from trying to jump off a cliff in order to fly under your own power. Succeeding at flying under your own power is something else.

Again, free will is NOT the same as sudden control over things you never had control over.

There's no forgetting in a mystic sense going on with Demona. (No making it up from scratch.) But it has been a thousand plus years. Her memory is good, but not photographic. She tries to make some changes, and no changes are made. They can CHOOSE not to play along. But they DIDN'T choose not to play along. It's a loop. The fact that the CHOICE itself is part of the loop doesn't negate the choice.

If you're falling off that cliff (not flying) and AT THAT POINT choose not to jump... well, it's a little late. But the fact that you can't change it halfway down the mountain doesn't negate the fact that you made a choice in the first place.

Response recorded on October 02, 2010

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Matt writes...

Hey Greg. So in "Vows", Demona tries to convince herself to "...rule the gargoyles. Rule the world!" using the Gate. In "Hunter's Moon" she talks about taking her "rightful place" after the humans are all destroyed. And in "Tyrants" she plans to destroy both human forces "leaving the fate of Scotland to {her}". There are probably other examples of this sort of talk, but I think it is clear that destroying humanity is not Demona's only goal. She doesn't just want revenge, but power as well.

Now on to my question. Something occured to me the last time I watched "Enter Macbeth". Macbeth says to Goliath: "It's not you I'm after. You're just a pawn. I want your queen." Naturally, Goliath is puzzled by this statement. But so am I. Macbeth has had a lot of contact with gargoyles afterall. In the same episode he even told Elisa that he "knows all about these creatures". He spent decades dealing with Demona and her clan and he even wrote a book about gargoyles. So, I'm wondering where he got this 'queen' terminology. Gargoyle language is a pretty sparse subject and the only real terms we have ever known about are "Leader" and "Second". So my question is given Demona's particular motivations as I mentioned above, did she call herself a queen during the Demona-Macbeth Alliance or am I just reading into all of this too much?

Thanks Greg!

Greg responds...

Maybe reading a tad too much into it. I doubt Demona ever used the term "Queen". But her version of being "Leader" is.... not too inclusive. You're not wrong about that.

Response recorded on September 29, 2010

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

I read "All You Zombies" by Heinlein a while ago, based on your recommendation that it demonstrated working paradoxes in time travel, and although it was not recent I decided to finally type up and share what I thought from reading it. First of all, the story creeped me out!

But what I'm writing to you about is free will. Did the main character of that story have free will? On the surface at least, it appears to me that he did not for much of the story. He clearly remembered everything that had happened to him, yet he did not have to option not to seduce himself, or not to catch take past self back in the time machine, nor could he choose to change what he said and did in that bar when he was the bartender. When interacting with his past self, I think he had no choice but to say and do exactly what he remembered seeing his future self doing and hearing his future self saying.

He did have options regarding abducting the baby, mainly because he didn't remember being abducted, but one way or another he had to abduct that baby or get someone else to abduct her: he only had options in how he did it. This is comparable to Goliath time-travelling with Griff in M.I.A. Goliath could not possibly get Griff back to his clan in the 1940s, but he had plenty of options of what he could do instead. In that situation Goliath had far more options than the character in "All You Zombies" had when abducting the baby, but still this is a situation with free will.

But what options does a character really have when meeting their past self, if they DO remember the entire encounter? This is apparently what happened to Demona in Vows. She remembered Goliath's "little speech" (or maybe she was lying to him or to herself, but let's assume she was telling the truth this time) and so she must have remembered what her future self said and did. Does that mean she had no free will to change the encounter with her past self when she went back in time? For example, did she really have free will to change what words she said, or not to kick Goliath? It appears to me that this is a situation where she didn't have free will. When the Archmage(+) told his past self that the future is a place of science, not superstition, and that Demona and Macbeth were only "cannon fodder" he couldn't even have understood what he was saying, let alone invented it himself. In fact his entire bizarre mini-timedance seems to abrogate his free will, because as he said "I should (know what to do), I watched you do it."

Demona's PAST self certainly had free will in Vows, since she did not yet remember the encounter. Likewise, the Archmage clearly had free will during his first pass through his time loop. I would think that any time a character is in a stable time loop, they have free will as long as they are unaware of what "already happened." But when they do remember what happened because their past self is there at the scene, they don't have the option to change what already happened. They already KNOW what happened. If they already know what words they spoke to their past self, then those words are something they remember, not something they are thinking up freely, and they don’t have the option of saying anything different from what they remember.

Am I missing something?

Greg responds...

I tend to disagree with you about the free will thing. Heinlein's character could have chosen NOT to cooperate with his memories. Either because he liked the end result or because he felt oppressed by the inevitability of it all (or some other reason I can't think of at this moment), he CHOSE to play along.

Again, Free Will doesn't mean you get to live the life you want to lead. It means that at best you have the option of STRIVING for the life you want to lead. But some people use their free will to conform. Doesn't mean it's not a choice.

Now, that raises the obvious question: what would have happened to Heinlein's character, to Demona, to the Archmage had they chosen NOT to play along. We'll never know.

Response recorded on September 17, 2010

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Charisma82 writes...

In High Noon, what would Demona and Macbeth have done if Iago hadn’t been the personality to take control over Coldstone? What was their plan if Desdemona or Othello had taken over?

Thank you for your time and all that you do,

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

I'm afraid I'd have to watch this again too. It's just been too long.

Response recorded on September 15, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

This discussion has been had in Station Eight a few times, and I thought I would bring it up here. It seems to me like one could make a case that Demona is the lead character in the greater story of the GARGOYLES UNIVERSE.

If one looks at "Dark Ages," "Gargoyles," and "Gargoyles 2198" as a three act story, Demona's story is the one story arc that really plays out through the entire timeline. She is there for all three acts.

Yes, Goliath is the lead in "Gargoyles" and Samson is the lead in "Gargoyles 2198." I think Hudson is the lead in "Dark Ages," but I might be wrong. And they all play huge roles, crucial roles. But Goliath and Hudson are not in Act Three, and Samson is not in the first two acts.

Demona, without being the lead in any of the acts, is the constant presence. Sure, she may not appear in "Pendragon," "New Olympians," Heroes of Ulster," and may only have a small role in "TimeDancer" and "Bad Guys." But if "Gargoyles" is the center of the universe here, and "Dark Ages" and "2198" are both acts in that story, it almost makes me wonder if this is really her story. You've got her youth, her fall from grace, her time as the main antagonist (or one of them), and then her eventual redemption.

Not to take anything away from Goliath, because I definitely agree that "Gargoyles" is his story and that he is the most pivotal character in that series. But is his story a large piece of her story?

I'm not saying it's all about her, because it's not. I don't think that or feel that, because this is all one huge ensemble piece made up of many stories, but like I said, she seems to be the most constant character out of all of them in the Big Picture. And all without ever being THE LEAD in any of the "three acts."

Greg responds...

It's definitely an interesting theory.

Of course, I don't actually view the Gargoyles' Universe as any one character's story, including Goliath. To me it's a tapestry with many threads...

But I'm not disagreeing per se.

Response recorded on September 14, 2010

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Chris writes...

Would Demona and Macbeth still blame each other if they knew how the Weird Sisters had manipulated them, or would they assume that the Sisters were responsible for their betrayals?

Greg responds...

Please, Chris, allow me to scoop my own material by answering these questions. Please! What? You've changed your mind and don't want the answers? But I'm just dying to reveal everything here and now so that the viewing audience is protected from any surprises whatsoever. Besides, if you let me tell you everything now, it'll allow way more second-guessing and pre-judging of ideas, free of all that pesky execution of said ideas. So how 'bout it? Can I spill? Can I spoil? Ahhh, you're no fun.

Wait, wait. This wasn't a YJ spoiler question. Sorry, I got carried away there for a second.

Anyway, I think there's blame enough to go around. Particularly with Demona, who likes to spread the blame, not absorb it.

Response recorded on September 13, 2010

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Chris writes...

When Demona thought that Macbeth was going to betray her, why didn't she just take her clan and abandon him (or, if she really wanted to make sure he would fall, sabotage Castle Moray's defenses like with what happened to Wyvern)? Why would she work with Canmore, who she hated?

Greg responds...

Did she hate Canmore? Back then?

Response recorded on September 13, 2010

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Loralee Dawson writes...

Hello. I was just wondering if Demona & Broadway were related? And I do not mean though Hudson. They are both the most human looking (besides Goliath & Hudson) their wing talons are the same, neither have horns, or weird face. Also their coulouring is very close. In some episode, even the same colour. I just thought they might be cousins.

Greg responds...

I'm sure they're at least slightly related, but (a) I don't particularly consider them "the most human looking" (maybe humans are the most Demona looking) and (b) I'm probably less interested in distant biological relationships than some of the fans are.

Response recorded on September 10, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

If Demona got pregnant in her human form could she still turn back into a gargoyle?

Greg responds...

Asked and answered. Check the archives.

Response recorded on September 02, 2010

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I miss the Blue Mug a Guests writes...

At the Gathering in Chicago, during the Blue Mug a Guest, you and Keith David were asked if Goliath and Demona had sex during Awakening 4. After the scene where they reunited in the Great Hall it fades to black. Then we see them on the turret with the rest of the gargoyles.

When you both got asked at the Gathering about this, Keith said something like "what couple in their right mind would meet again after a thousand years and go see the kids first?"

I don't remember if you answered. So, did they?

Greg responds...

Honestly, I'd have to view the episode again to see whether it plays as if there's time. But I don't rule out the possibility at all. Especially since technically the trio weren't their rookery children anyway. More like rookery cousins.

Response recorded on September 02, 2010

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Curious writes...

Are there any gargoyles out there that would be inclined to agree with Demona's ambitions to destroy humanity? I find it hard to believe she's the only gargoyle in the world with a deep hatred for humans.

Greg responds...

I'm not big on either monolithic presentation ... or on sweeping generalizations ... or on revealing this at this time.

Response recorded on September 02, 2010

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Richard Jackson writes...

Has Demona ever noticed that despite her quest for gargoyle supremacy that she's not even really a gargoyle anymore? She turns to human during the day and she's immortal. In the Gargoyles Universe, gargoyles are not inherently magical beings, but by this point Demona, I really believe Demona is a magical being.

Greg responds...

Well, that's your opinion. I imagine Demona holds a different one, wouldn't you think?

Response recorded on August 30, 2010

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Richard Jackson writes...

In "Temptation", Demona gives Brooklyn a tour of New York to show him how she views humanity. She and Brooklyn witness a purse snatching, a married couple fighting, and a murder scene. I can allow that at night and in a big city like New York, it would probably be easy to find crimes being committed or the aftermath.

what I always found a little suspicious is how Demona knew which house to go for the fighting married couple. And they are fighting (the wife even throws a vase at her husband) the exact moment Brooklyn looks in the window. Was there more to the married couple than meets the eye or does Demona just have a nose for troubled homes?

Greg responds...

I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on August 27, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

This is something I've been pondering for a while. In spite of her hatred for humans, Demona is willing to ally herself with humans when she sees an advantage in it.

She allied with Macbeth (I like to think she thought of him as a friend, even if she wouldn't admit it). She allied herself with Canmore. She allied with Xanatos. Even in the non-canon Radio Play, she allied herself with Tombstone.

Actually, to be honest, of my many problems with the TGC episode "Generations," her allying with the Quarrymen was not one of them (her alliance with Canmore, a Hunter, showed precedent). I was more bothered by Castaway and the Quarrymen allying with her. The former because, well, the demon killed his father. The latter because, it removes the frightened citizens aspect and just makes them designated bad guys.

Has she allied herself with any humans between Canmore in 1057, and her alliance with Xanatos in the late twentieth century?

Greg responds...

No comment.

Response recorded on August 25, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

If Xanatos's archetype is the trickster, and Thailog's is the bastard, what is Demona's archetype?

Greg responds...

The Fury, largely.

Response recorded on August 16, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Referencing back to this question.

http://s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=12342

Well, I definitely didn't think that Demona literally told Thailog every detail of her life and every scheme she has in the works, she definitely had Operation Clean Slate in the works, and Sevarius working on the CV-1000 as a side project while she and Thailog were together.

But was Thailog aware of this particular plan?

Greg responds...

Kinda moot.

Response recorded on August 11, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

You once said that the reason Demona hasn't been back to Nightstone Unlimited since "Hunter's Moon" is because she is lying low, paranoid that "Dominique Destine" has been outed. Robyn Canmore found out, turned out to be a Hunter, and was then taken into custody.

But, and this is something else I was wondering recently. Would Demona have any real interest or even desire to run a corporation? That seems to be Thailog's M.O., considering who educated him.

Demona doesn't seem to me like she would have the patience to deal with all the paperwork, and other responsibilities of a CEO. Not to mention it seems doubtful that she has any business training. I'm assuming Thailog gave her a crash course when they both established the company.

I guess what I am asking is, did Demona have any interest in Nightstone Unlimited at all besides using its resources to finalize Operation Clean Slate?

Greg responds...

Whether or not she's "interested" doesn't change the fact that she sees the advantages of it. Whether or not she actually has the "patience" to do it, doesn't sound like something she'd admit to, even to herself. Whether or not she has the "training" doesn't seem like something she'd consider.

Response recorded on August 04, 2010

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Todd Jensen writes...

Some time ago, I mentioned a book by Eleanor Prosser called "Hamlet and Revenge", which argued that Hamlet's goal to avenge his father on Claudius was not a righteous duty, but a misguided and dangerous quest. Recently, I thought about a passage in it in connection to "Clan-Building: Volume Two".

In one of the early chapters, the author discusses Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy", one of the leading revenge-plays before "Hamlet". The protagonist, Hieronimo, is out to avenge the murder of his son Horatio. After discovering his son's body near the start of the play, he decides not to bury it until he can achieve his revenge, an act which, Prosser comments, would have unsettled the audience.

This reminded me of the scene in "Clan-Building" where, after Demona reports the slaughter of the Sruighlea cell by Constantine and Gillecomgain, True suggests that they hold a Wind Ceremony for the dead gargoyles, and Demona rejects it in favor of pursuing revenge on the humans who did the deed. I just thought I'd share it with you.

Greg responds...

Thanks. I like the parallel a lot. And I agree with what it reveals about character... though I've never read "The Spanish Tragedy" unfortunately. At least not yet.

Response recorded on July 29, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Okay, this one has been on my mind for a while.

Demona trusted Thailog with a lot of her secrets. Thailog even said that they had no secrets from each other. Obviously, he was lying. But, did she keep things from him too?

Specifically, was Thailog aware of Operation Clean Slate? I don't think he'd have been on board with her plans for genocide. Neither did we see him feign a hatred for humanity in her presence. I tend to think that if he knew, he'd have put a stop to it while she was imprisoned in the Labyrinth.

But then again, she told him the secret to killing her, that's kind of a biggie.

So, do you think he knew about Operation Cleanslate, or not? And if he didn't know, why do you think she trusted him with the secret to killing her, but not her master plan?

Greg responds...

I don't think Demona had TIME to reveal every little detail of her life or every little plan she has in the works... it's been a long life and there's been a lot of time to scheme.

Response recorded on July 27, 2010

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Greg Bishansky writes...

I think we may have discussed this at a Gathering once, so forgive me.

We all know Demona holds Angela in a much higher regard than she has held anyone in, well, a very long time. Does the biological connection matter to her? I almost wonder if she would have gone through the trouble to turn Gabriel or Ophelia if either of them left Avalon with Goliath instead.

She did pause briefly in "Avalon Part Three" when Goliath pointed out that she was pointing a gun at her own children, after all.

But then, Demona has always been atypical of most gargoyles.

Greg responds...

I think the biological connection does matter to her (though she'd never admit it). She's so human that way.

Response recorded on July 27, 2010

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Quiz writes...

Dear Greg,

Mullets are the ugliest haircuts available to this world. How is it that Demona pulls it off so well?

Greg responds...

I don't think of her haircut as a mullet. I mean I'm looking at a picture of her right now, and I just don't see it as a mullet at all.

Response recorded on June 09, 2010

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Patricia Dove writes...

This one's about Demona's character.
I'm not sure if you've seen nostalgia critic's review of your series (he gave it 2 claws up), but during the review, he claimed Demona one of the great cartoon villains. She's much like Lady Macbeth with scales eh? But what I want to know is, was she ever truly good? We know she had a softer side once upon a time, but even then she was hostile to the humans' prejudice against her clan. She was double crossing her oath to protect the king back in the archmage days, and over time that hatred inside her grew 10 fold, as we know. So, was Demona just a natural born evil? A true villian? Or during your creation of her, did you ever once think that she was the honest 'Angel of the Night?'

Greg responds...

"Scales"?

"Natural born evil"? I don't think that means anything in this context. I think she had her ambitions and inclinations, but I don't think she was born to be a villain in an in-universe sense.

Response recorded on June 07, 2010

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Derek writes...

Demona is easily the most popular character on Gargoyles. Are you surprised by this or did you expect that she would be? Does it make you more conscious of how often you use her? Like Marlon Brando is Superman and Death in the Sandman comics?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure I agree with your premise. Demona is certainly a popular character, but I don't know how you'd even measure who the "most popular" is.

But I like her, so I'm not surprised that others do. And, no, it doesn't really effect how I use her. Her weight in the canon and her own motives and needs drive her usage.

And your Marlon Brando/Sandman reference is lost on me.

Isn't Death Death in the Sandman comics?

And Marlon's use in the Superman movies has more to do with legal wrangling than anything, I thought.

Response recorded on June 04, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Does Demona like pudding? If so, what's her favorite kind?

Greg responds...

Blood.

Response recorded on May 28, 2010

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Derek writes...

We've seen biological relations for all the members of the cast(Brooklyn(Brooksbro), Lexington(Kermit), Hudson and Broadway(True), Bronx(Chomp and Chaw)) except Demona and Goliath among the Wyvern Clan, is there a reason for this.

Greg responds...

The premise of this question is not necessarily correct.

Response recorded on May 27, 2010

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Derek writes...

If Demona had succeeded in Hunters Moon do you think the Manhattan Clan would have stayed in Manhattan? Would Demona have survived the spell, did even she know or care whether she did?

Greg responds...

Hey Derek,

See my previous answer. You just don't need my help for this stuff...

Response recorded on May 26, 2010

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Derek writes...

1)What do you think would have happened if Demona hadn't betrayed Macbeth to Canmore? Do you think her clan would still be around or do you think that due to Demona's nature they were all already living on borrowed time?(I'm still waiting on Clan Buliding Two maybe that will give me some answers)

Greg responds...

1. As I've stated many times, I'm just not all that interested in exploring all the various "What if?" hypotheticals. I could come up with my response, but I might as well leave it to your imagination.

Response recorded on May 26, 2010

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Clark Cradic writes...

How did Demona learn so much about human technology over the centuries? It couldn't have been easy.

Greg responds...

She made it her business to learn what she needed to know.

Response recorded on May 19, 2010

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Pixie writes...

All too often in cartoons (specifically nowadays) female characters fall into the role of giggling love interest, counterpart to a male character to eliminate homosexual themes or are just there to fill a demographic. Writers don't seem to know what to do with them after that.

That is why I would like to sincerely thank you for your part in fostering strong female characters like Elisa, Demona and Fox.

Also, what influenced you to write those characters the way you did? Did you have specific females from your past in mind or did you choose character traits from literature and sort of mesh them for a well rounded feel?

Thank you.

Greg responds...

I honestly don't know. I've always liked writing female characters. Two of my first (unfortunately unpublished) projects for DC Comics were Black Canary and Supergirl.

I just try to write honestly for them -- removing as many of my biases as possible -- just as I would for any male character. And the result -- for better or for worse -- is what you have seen...

Response recorded on May 17, 2010

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Elle writes...

The whole 'Gargoyles don't have names' thing has been bothering me for a while.
1. If Demona had been given a chance to choose her own name (not an alias), what would she have chosen?
2.Would she have chosen one at all?
2. The Wyvern clan originally didn't have names. But the Gargoyles in other countries we meet later on all have names. Did they choose the names themselves? Or were they named by their biological parents? Or perhaps the clan as a whole named them?

Greg responds...

1. I don't know how to respond to this hypothetical question. She was in essence given the choice of accepting or rejecting Demona, and chose to accept it.

2. Probably not.

3. Traditions differ in each clan. The Mayan gargoyles didn't have names so much as "offices" based on the pendants they were custodians of. The Ishimuran and London Clans had actual names. But biological parentage doesn't play a role in most gargoyle societies. The Avalon gargoyles were named by Princess Katharine, Tom and the Magus. But mostly by Katharine.

Response recorded on May 17, 2010

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TZ writes...

Another question...
When Elisa told (or admitted, however you want to look at it) Angela that it was true that Demona was her mother at the end of Sanctuary, was Goliath angry with her? Did they discuss it at all later or did he just let it go? Was he actually relieved to not have to be the one to tell Angela?

Greg responds...

I'm sure he was angry, but she probably convinced him of the obvious: (a) it was obvious and (b) it would have come out eventually and it was better coming from them then from Demona herself. Goliath would have grumbled at first, but known she was right.

Response recorded on May 14, 2010

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Stanley dean cowens writes...

Pardon me if this question has been asked before. I've checked the archives and haven't seen it asked,but I could have missed it due to their being a lot of material to go over. In a Long Way To Morning" Demona attacks Elisa in her apartment If I remember correctly. I was wondering how she knew were Elisa lived? If she found out that she was still alive in city of stone why she didn't try to attack her again at her apartment or would you have had her try to assault her again at her apartment,but never got the chance because of what happened with season 3?

Greg responds...

Finding out where someone lives isn't really that difficult. In fact, it's so easy, I'm not that interested in how Demona found out.

As for why she didn't take further advantage of the info, there are a number of reasons, including other priorities, the fact that it didn't work the first time and... well, I'll stop there.

Response recorded on May 13, 2010

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Chris writes...

Were the present scenes in "City of Stone" the first time MacBeth actually tried to kill Demona? She seemed surprised when he did.

Will we ever see any of their meetings prior to CoS?

Greg responds...

No, not the first time, and I don't think she was all that surprised at all. Listen to what she says.

And, given enough opportunities, you'd eventually see everything.

Response recorded on April 30, 2010

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TZ writes...

I was wondering something, and I know you don't like hypotheticals, but I wondered if you gave this any thought: Had Goliath and Demona stayed together in the 20th century, would he have still fallen in love with Elisa? Or would his love for Demona overshadow anything he could have felt for Elisa? I ask this because I wonder if Goliath and Elisa are a meant-to-be kind of thing (in your Gargs universe), and their love was inevitible, or was it only relative to Goliath not having someone (i.e. Demona)? Here's another way of looking at it as well: would he have fallen in love with someone else had he not met Elisa and things still went bad between him and Demona? Thanks for your time, and can't wait to hear your thoughts on the matter...I'm kinda hoping for a rant! :D But I totally understand if this is too hypothetical...I guess I just wondered if you ever thought about it. Thanks a lot!

Greg responds...

I don't know about "meant to be" but I don't think it was inevitable that Goliath would fall in love with SOMEBODY given the deterioration of his relationship with Demona. Gargoyles mate for life, and Goliath's love for Elisa is a rare exception. I do think of it as something special. Not simply a result of her filling a slot. As for your initial question, it's largely too broad a hypothetical for me. But if Goliath and Demona were happy, and she wasn't trying to kill the human race, then no, I doubt Goliath would have ended up with Elisa.

Response recorded on April 26, 2010

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

You wrote that Marina Sirtis remembers her audition differently than you do. What were the differences?

A long time ago I remember you saying that it was so hard to imagine "Deana Troy" as a villian that you were surprised to see her trying for the role of Demona. But then an episode of Star Trek TNG in which Deana was possessed by a villian and did quite a credible job came to mind. Have you ever heard of her work as Demona helping convince others she might make a good villian despite being most known for Deana Troy?

Greg responds...

I'm not too clear on how she remembers things... I think she feels she had multiple callbacks, but I don't remember it that way at all.

She was the very first person to audition on the first day. She auditioned for Demona first and just nailed it. Then she auditioned for Elisa. We didn't cast her instantly, because we had multiple other people coming in to read for Demona, and we had to keep an open mind. But she pretty much had it from day one.

I've not heard of any specific work that Demona got her.

Response recorded on March 29, 2010

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Random Fan writes...

Hey there again. I have'nt found this so I'm asking. Is Demona so emotionaly attached to Angeala because shes HER daughter or because shes one of her rookery children. It seems like she values the biologic conection, and if thats true then it seems like a hipocrocy to be so bent on the "true" gargoyle and then do something so human, but thats just my misguided oppinion. If you could do something to guide it that would be most helpfull, thanks.

Greg responds...

I'm going to stick with "All of the Above" at this point.

Response recorded on March 26, 2010

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GargFan writes...

Having, read your 2009 radio play for Gargoyles/SSM, I have to ask, but did Demona briefly become an avatar of Christ like Jackal and the Emir with Anubis and Goliath with Odin?

Greg responds...

Uh... I don't think so.

Response recorded on February 22, 2010

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Matthew writes...

After the Wyvern Massacre, why did Demona not try to find her eggs? She clearly saw Magus and the Princess take them from Wyvern.

Greg responds...

Mostly, I'm inclined to leave the answer to this question to your interpretation, but a few words come to mind: guilt, shame, depression, denial. Check as many boxes as you like.

Response recorded on February 22, 2010

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Paul writes...

1. Does Demona absorb thermal energy while in human form, the way other gargoyles absorb thermal energy while in "stone" form?

2. If not, how has Demona adapted?

Greg responds...

1. Nope.

2. Magic.

Response recorded on January 28, 2010

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Brigadoon Traveller writes...

Well I finally got my copy of Clan Building 2 last week; it was weird, even though I'd been waiting MONTHS to read this, when I had the book in my hands I wasn't in that much of a rush to read it. Maybe subconciously I was registering that this would be the last few stories of Gargoyles that I would read for some time. :(

Anyway, I have to say when I did read it I loved it, couldn't put it down.

Just one question (for now at least):

As of 1994 (or "Awakening part 4") did Demona remember her encounter with "the gargoyle of the sword" back in 997? If so, how did she reconcile it with Brooklyn waking up in 1994 after being put under the sleep spell?

I have to say, I loved the 997 arc btw; thought it was brilliant. Especially loved the end pages of #12; finally we get to see Katana, Nashville (or Gnash as he likes to call himself) and Fu-Dog (& not to mention Egwardo) after all these years.

It was also a surprise seeing Coldstone and Coldfire rejoin the clan.

On the whole loved the book; here's hoping for more soon.

Greg responds...

Yes, she remembered. She must have put SOME of it together. And it may be why she chose Brooklyn in "Temptation".

Response recorded on January 05, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Hello Greg,

I have a dumb question about Demona's hair: is it two-toned? I don't ever recall seeing a shot of her in the series without that black patch near her crown. I always assumed her hair was red, and that the dark patch was added in to give it some dimension (or "oomph" if you will). But I own a small PVC figure of her with the black actually painted into the front of her hair. Was that an error on the painter's part?

Greg responds...

Her hair is not two-toned. It's red.

Response recorded on December 07, 2009

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Masterdramon writes...

Gargoyles and Politics

I know that you generally like to keep politics out of this site, which is why I hope that this question isn't too out-of-line. All the same, I'm very interested in the role that politics plays in the "Gargoyles" universe.

What, generally, are Elisa's political views? Does she belong to a particular political party? And does she discuss politics with the Manhattan Clan at all?

For that matter, how politically literate are the various members of the Manhattan Clan, particularly Goliath and Lexington? Do they read any political texts? For that matter, does Hudson ever catch "60 Minutes" or any similar shows on television? How much do Elisa's political views (assuming that she shares them with the Clan at all) color their political viewpoints?

I'd also be greatly interested in any information you would be willing to share regarding the politics of other human characters in the series, most particularly Xanatos, Fox, Matt, Renard, and especially Macbeth. For that matter, what does Demona think of human politics (I expect that I can guess the answer to this one, but still)? :)

If you can't tell, this is coming from a prospective Politics major who to some degree or another views all things through a political lens. If you wish to leave these things up to the viewer then I would completely understand, but any information at all would be tremendously appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time, and I eagerly await the widespread release of the two remaining Trade Paperbacks. I've been trying to spread word of them (and of the DVDs) in the Comments section of Gargoyles-related YouTube videos; every little bit helps, I hope.

Greg responds...

Based purely on stereotypes of ethnicity and labor and location, I'd guess Elisa's a democrat.

I don't think politics is something that would attract Lex's attention much. I would think that Hudson, who prefers Celebrity Hockey to 60 Minutes, would feel lost rather quickly in political discussions. Goliath is all about the classics. I don't think Elisa's proselytizing much.

Xanatos seems like a likely Republican. At least fiscally. (Don't really see him or Fox as social conservatives.) Matt must be a Dem. Renard is probably a Republican. Macbeth... I don't think he's an American citizen. Demona... come on.

Response recorded on November 25, 2009

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Martin Siciński writes...

OK, I'm from Poland so I apologise for any grammar mistakes - English is not my mother tongue. I have question that bother me: since Demona is under Puck's spell, and she transforms into into human every morning, she can't sleep in stone like any another Gargoles. So if she was hurt during night - is she regenerate in her human form, or not?

Greg responds...

It's a fair question.

Response recorded on October 29, 2009

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Geoff writes...

Why did Demona explain her insidious plot to destroy humanity to the Manhattan clan before smashing the vial in "Hunter's Moon, Part 3"? It just seemed kinda ridiculous, considering she had been planning for apparently centuries, enduring everlasting hardship and pain, for her to be so careless, especially when she was outnumbered. I was just wondering if she had some other plan in mind that made foiling that plan necessary.

Greg responds...

See the archives. Demona is a conflicted soul. Unconscious self-sabotage and self-justification are a huge part of her make-up.

Response recorded on October 28, 2009

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Greg Bishansky writes...

You know, normally I don't do this, but this recent answer about Xanatos and Norman Osborn tickled me on a fanboy level:

"I think he would have been appalled at Norman's parental approach. He'd of course have to admire his business acumen and respect his machiavellian bent. But I find it hard to imagine the two has friends. "

The comparisons between Xanatos and Osborn are obviously easy. But comparing and contrasting Demona and Osborn seems to intrigue me a little more... especially on a parental level.

Now, I don't think it's a stretch to say that both of them love their children... albeit in a twisted, almost possessive way.

This is almost tough since we've gotten really only one episode of Demona and Angela ("The Reckoning") and several episodes of Norman and Harry... not to mention forty three years of comic books delving into them. But, for now, I think I'll stick to "Spectacular" in this topic.

Up front, one key difference is that Demona never got to be a parent. She met Angela for the first time when Angela was already an adult. Contrary to Norman, who raised Harry since birth but was never a good father to him.

Both Norman and Demona are willing to commit unspeakably horrible acts and rationalize them by saying they're in their children's best interests. In Demona's case, she cited protecting Angela in "Hunter's Moon Part Three" and Norman justified framing Harry because if he'd been sent to prison, who'd have made a man out of Harry.

Would Demona risk herself to protect Angela? We know she would. We've seen her do it. Would Norman risk his life to protect Harry? In the current comics, the answer is definitely no. In SSM, I'm... not sure. I'm really not.

I tend to think that both of them see their respective children as property. There are several instances of Norman treating Harry like property. And Demona did use the phrase "she belongs to me" when Thailog threatened Angela.

I definitely think Demona loves Angela more than Norman loves Harry (Hell, Norman doesn't even like his own kid). But even there, Demona was more than willing to risk Angela's life at the end of "Hunter's Moon Part Three" to escape... there was no guarantee Goliath would have been able to catch that vial.

Now, I realize I'm answering a lot of my own questions and I have my own interpretations here, but I'd be curious to read your thoughts here?

Greg responds...

It still feels a bit like Apples and Oranges to me. Let's face it: Demona is really f***'d up. Norman isn't. He knows his options and is doing exactly what he wants, is being exactly who he wants to be.

As for parenting, Norman rationalizes... a little. Demona's entire life is a rationalization, with Angela being only a part. If Angela could meet the Demona that Demona and Goliath met in "Vows", we might see a very different dynamic. But at best now, D's playing catch-up.

Response recorded on October 20, 2009

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K writes...

Dear Greg,

I was reading through the archives just a moment ago, when a question occured to me about Demona and her actions during "The Reckoning." You stated that the reason Thailog did not clone Angela was that he did not have the opportunity to get her DNA at that point because Demona controlled the release of the mosquito that took the blood samples and when Angela was around, she just didn't release it. But she DID release it when Elisa was around (hence Delilah). My question is: Why did Demona, who despises Elisa, want to steal her DNA and clone her? My understanding is that she didn't know Thailog was creating a female replacement for herself, but was cloning Elisa or making a hybrid human-gargoyle part of the plan Thailog and Demona hatched together? If cloning Elisa was part of their plan, what was the purpose of it? What justification did Thailog give Demona to convince her to capture Elisa’s DNA? If cloning her were not part of their plan, why would Demona snatch a blood sample from Elisa?

Greg responds...

Demona controlled the release, but not who the mosquito stung. She released a mosquito once when Elisa AND a few gargoyles were present. She didn't anticipate that Elisa would get bit, nor what Thailog and Sevarius would do with the DNA.

Response recorded on October 02, 2009

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stanley dean cowens writes...

I reading a question someone asked you about if demona and goliath would ever be a couple again and you said no. I was some what unhappy about that development as I was always had hope they would be a couple again at some point. I also find Elisa to be a some what uninteresting character to be honest compared with demona. I know many shows will take into consideration input from the fanbase and bring certain characters back to life,give popular characters with a small amount of screen time more time and so one. I was wondering if you basically have a vision set in stone for your characters or do you ever make any changes in gargoyles or any other show based on fan feed back? I hope this questions does not violate your rules for answering questions,but I was really wondering about what level you take fan input into consideration regarding existing characters and events? Great show and keep up the good work. I'm kind of burnt out on spiderman to be honest,but now that I know you're involved in it I guess I'll have to buy the box sets and check it out.

Greg responds...

Hmmm... I really don't change stories based on fan desires. First off, fans don't all agree on what they want (for example a lot of folks think Elisa is great), and sometimes (like Demona getting back together with Goliath) they want things that just don't make any story sense and would be bad for the property.

On the other hand, I do respond to what the fans respond to. Brooklyn's popularity was probably one of the things that lead me to the creation of TimeDancer.

Response recorded on September 22, 2009

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stanley dean cowens writes...

I'm just finding out about he gargoyle comics that you have done and plan to get any available. From what I've read of the synopsis their doesn't seem to be much of demona in them. I was wondering if you were going to be focusing on her in on any possible gargoyle related material that you may do in the future as she's my favorite character?

Greg responds...

Check out the Trade Paperbacks. Demona plays a major role in Clan-Building, Volume 2.

Response recorded on September 16, 2009

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G2009 Radio Play

G2009 Radio Play - Act Three

672. NARRATOR
Act Three.

673. DEMONA
Norman Osborn was a fool. So obsessed with the power of science, he kept the Crown of Thorns in this vault as if it was just another souvenir â€" albeit an expensive one â€" to hang upon his wall. But with the Crown and the Spear of Destiny together, I now have the power to force all of humanity to its knees.

674. GOLIATH
These are Christian icons, Demona. Not every human being is a Christian.

675. DEMONA
Not every human being speaks Latin, but that didn’t stop me from using a Latin spell to turn a city-full of humans to stone. The magic I wield is potent beyond measure. Mine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory. No human may resist. No human will be spared. None will be spared who oppose me. Just look at this fool…

676. GOLIATH
Her name is Obsidiana.

677. DEMONA
Of course it is. For she wears the mystic Obsidian pendant fashioned by human sorcerers. Even that is enough to put her in my thrall. She has relinquished her gargoyle birthright.

678. GOLIATH
I have relinquished nothing.

679. NARRATOR
Demona waves the Spear of Destiny, and Electro rises and blasts Goliath back into the wall.

680. GOLIATH
<impact>

681. DEMONA
Yes, I’m surprised you’re unaffected… since you reek of humanity. The stink of your human whore is in your hair, on your lips, everywhere. And nothing in this world will give me more pleasure, Goliath, than watching your detective on her knees to me, as she draws her service revolver and thanks me with tears of joy in her eyes… before gratefully blowing out her own brains.

682. GOLIATH
(coldly furious)
That will never be.

683. DEMONA
No? My power expands with every second. I doubt she’s far away.

684. GOLIATH
You will not harm Elisa.

685. NARRATOR
Goliath advances on Demona. Electro blasts away, but Goliath will not be stopped…

686. DEMONA
No one ever said you weren’t persistent, Goliath. But what do you hope to gain?

687. GOLIATH
(through gritted teeth)
I will turn these forces back upon you.

688. DEMONA
Impossible. I am the last true gargoyle left on this world. The Crown’s magicks cannot touch me.

689. GOLIATH
So you believe. But I am not the only one who reeks of humanity. Am I… Dominique?!

690. NARRATOR
Goliath grasps the crown. The thorns bite into his hands, drawing blood. They struggle for control of the immense power…

691. GOLIATH, DEMONA
<roaring to the heavens>

692. SPIDER-MAN
<moan>

693. NARRATOR
Goliath’s intervention â€" and his complete immunity to the Crown’s effects â€" creates the smallest of fluctuation in Demona’s control. In a haze, Spider-Man lifts his arm…

694. SPIDER-MAN
Thwip.

695. NARRATOR
He shoots off a web, yanking the bloody crown from Demona’s head.

696. DEMONA
Noooooo!!!!

697. NARRATOR
There is a massive explosion of mystic energy and light! Demona, Goliath and Electro collapse.

698. GOLIATH
<moan>

699. SPIDER-MAN
Goliath…

700. GOLIATH
The Spear… the Crown…

701. SPIDER-MAN
Gone. I think they… blew up. Calypso’s gone too. But I’m betting that’s just a talent of hers. And I’d guess she’s taken Kraven and the pussycat with her.

702. DEMONA
<unconscious moan>

703. SPIDER-MAN
But the Big Bad’s still here…

704. GOLIATH
(sadly)
Leaving behind, as always, nothing but a handful of thorns…

Goliath, Spider-Man and Demona sit. Jonah, Elisa, Matt and George STAND.

705. NARRATOR
While Goliath helps Obsidiana, Spidey webs up Demona, Electro and Ock. In the outer vault, Zafiro and the Trio recover, finding only an unconscious and de-venomed Eddie Brock. Outside, the bad guys have all been beaten. Goblin and Vulture, their tech badly damaged, barely manage to fly away. Carnage and Jupiter are once again Cletus and John.

706. JONAH
I’m here, Johnny. Your old Pop’s here…

707. ELISA
Matt…

708. MATT
Call an ambulance, Elisa. Old Man Dracon said something about seeing a light. Then he collapsed. A stroke or something. I’ve been giving him C.P.R.

709. ELISA
Matt… Matt! You can stop. Stop. He’s gone.

710. GEORGE
You’re gargoyles are flying off, Detective.

711. MATT
(breathing hard)
Really? Not sure I see ‘em myself. But is that Spidey web-slinging away?

712. GEORGE
You think? I must have missed him?

Margot STANDS.

713. MARGOT
Are you all blind?! They’re right over there!

714. GEORGE, MATT, ELISA (UNISON)
Oh, give it a rest, Margot…

Elisa, Matt, George, Margot and Jonah sit. Peter, May, Harry and Gwen STAND.

715. NARRATOR
Back at the bus…

716. PETER
I’m back. And not a single decent picture to show for my efforts.

717. MAY
Well, you tried your best, Peter. I’m sure Mr. Jameson will appreciate that.

718. PETER
Oh, yeah. He’s a sweetheart that way.

719. NARRATOR
Emily Osborn watches as her son finally emerges from the bathroom.

720. GWEN
Harry?

721. HARRY
Hey, Gwen. I feel much better.

Harry, Gwen, Peter and May sit. Jonah and Robbie STAND.

722. NARRATOR
Later that night, at The Bugle…

723. JONAH
Whaddayou mean I can’t publish it?! How else can I make them all pay for what they did to Johnny!

724. ROBBIE
You can’t publish because the authorities refuse to comment. We have no pictures or statements to corroborate a story that includes gargoyles, a dead Green Goblin and everything except the kitchen sink. No one will believe it. I was there, and I don’t believe it! Print this, Jonah, and The Bugle becomes the next Daily Tattler.

725. JONAH
Ms. Brant, call the bomb squad. BECAUSE I’M ABOUT TO EXPLODE!!

Jonah and Robbie sit. Gwen, Peter, Kong, Curt, Harry, EMILY OSBORN and Mary Jane STAND.

726. NARRATOR
Later still, aboard OsCorp’s private jet en route to Miami…

727. GWEN
I still can’t believe we ran into you in the airport parking lot, Doctor Connors.

728. PETER
Yeah, and we’re so sorry you got mugged.

729. KONG
Dude, they took your shoes?! That’s hilarious! <laughs>

730. CURT
Yes, well, I just really appreciate the ride back to Florida…

731. HARRY
Anytime, Doctor C. Anytime.

732. EMILY
Harry, could I have a moment… in your father’s office?

733. HARRY
Uh, sure, Mom.

Curt, Kong and Gwen sit.

734. MARY JANE
Pete, help.

735. PETER
What’s wrong?

736. MARY JANE
Tiny. Cute enough, but it’s like talking to a tree stump.

737. PETER
Tried to warn you.

738. MARY JANE
Just say we’ll spend the week as a threesome, okay, Tiger.

739. PETER
Sure!

740. MARY JANE
Not that kind of threesome.

Mary Jane and Peter sit.

741. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, Harry follows his mother Emily into the jet’s private office.

742. EMILY
I know you were playing at being the Goblin, Harry.

743. HARRY
What?! Mom, that’s crazy! I was in the bathroom…

744. EMILY
Don’t lie to me, baby. You hired the worst chauffer in the city to delay our progress. You had a secret hatch installed in the bus bathroom, so you could slip in and out undetected. And you left a pre-recorded “vomit tape” with voice recognition software. All very impressive for a sixteen-year-old. But you need to understand… the Green Goblin is not what your father wanted for you.

745. HARRY
I have no idea what Dad wanted for me…

746. EMILY
Then let him tell you…

747. NARRATOR
She slips a DVD into the computer and Norman Osborn appears on screen…

NORMAN OSBORN STANDS.

748. NORMAN
Harry, my son. If you are watching this, then I am dead. And I have instructions…

Norman, Emily and Harry sit. Big Man, Blackie and SHARI STAND.

749. NARRATOR
Meanwhile at the Big Man’s office, he and Blackie Gaxton are visited by Shari, a young woman wearing a pendant depicting an eye atop a pyramid…

750. BIG MAN
Thirty-six.

751. BLACKIE
Thirty-five.

752. SHARI
Nine. Any problems?

753. BIG MAN
Not particularly. Ms. Destine was ready to believe I could find Dracon and the others useful.

754. BLACKIE
And that faux Goblin was happy to believe I’d been fooled into thinking he was the real thing.

755. NARRATOR
Blackie removes his false face, revealing that he is actually the Chameleon in disguise.

756. CHAMELEON
Just as he was happy to believe I was the real Blackie Gaxton. But I’m still not sure why the Society wanted all this…?

757. SHARI
Isn’t it enough to know the Illuminati appreciates your efforts?

CHAMELEON and Big Man sit. THAILOG, BRENTWOOD, Homunculus #1, Homunculus #2 And Homunculus #3 STAND.

758. NARRATOR
Shari leaves Lincoln’s office and pulls out her cellphone…

759. SHARI
Dial Nightstone Unlimited.

760. THAILOG
Alexander Thailog.

761. SHARI
The Spear? The Crown?

762. THAILOG
Waiting for you to send to Duval.

763. BRENTWOOD
Brentwood capture little robot. Use it to control other little robots. When bright light shine, robots take spear and crown.

764. SHARI
Lovely.

765. THAILOG
What should we do with the Homunculi?

766. SHARI
Set them free. Maybe they’ll get their own series some day.

767. HOMUNCULUS #1
Free, free, set them free…

768. HOMUNCULUS #2
On basic cable and DVD…

769. HOMUNCULUS #3
Jazz hands!

Homunculus #3, Homunculus #2, Homunculus #1, Shari, Thailog and Brentwood sit. Elisa and Goliath STAND.

770. NARRATOR
At the castle, Elisa’s cell rings.

771. ELISA
Maza… Yeah, Captain Stacy said you might call. Sure, he’s right here.

772. NARRATOR
She hands the phone to Goliath, who doesn’t quite know how to hold it. She takes it back and puts the call on speaker.

773. GOLIATH
Hello…?

Spider-Man STANDS.

774. SPIDER-MAN
Hey, Goliath. It’s your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

775. GOLIATH
You protect your… neighborhood.

776. SPIDER-MAN
Just like you do the super-hero thing without the tights.

777. GOLIATH
Spider-Man, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

778. SPIDER-MAN
Hey, I was just gonna say that. You saw that movie too?

779. GOLIATH
Movie?

780. ELISA
God, I love you… <kiss>

Elisa, Goliath and Spider-Man sit. Kafka STANDS.

781. NARRATOR
And finally â€" yes, finally â€" we end where we began. In the offices of Dr. Ashley Kafka at Ravencroft. She’s on the phone to her Board of Directors.

782. KAFKA
After all that tsuris, little has changed. Otto and Eddie are still disassociative. Max still needs a cure, and John still wants power. Cletus? He just keeps repeating, “I got a taste now,” over and over. Yes, we lost Dominic, I’m afraid. But we do have a new patient…

Dominique STANDS.

783. KAFKA (CONT)
…Dominique Destine.

784. DOMINIQUE
Just wait until the sun goes down…

Dominique and Kafka sit.

785. NARRATOR
The End.

THE END

NEXT: I finally get back to answering questions...


Bookmark Link

G2009 Radio Play

G2009 Radio Play - Act Two

BIG MAN STANDS.

247. NARRATOR
Act Two. The Big Man of Crime enters his offices, but finds he’s not alone…

248. BIG MAN
You spend so much time here, I’ll need to buy you your own chair. So you’ll stay out of mine.

Green Goblin STANDS.

249. GREEN GOBLIN
Surprised to see me?

250. BIG MAN
Not particularly.

251. GREEN GOBLIN
Then you won’t be surprised to learn I’m still running things…

252. BIG MAN
If you can run them from a hospital bed…

253. NARRATOR
Catching Gobby off guard, Lincoln punches him right through the window…

254. GREEN GOBLIN
<impact grunt>

255. NARRATOR
The goblin-glider swoops in and catches the Goblin, who pulls out a Pumpkin Bomb.

PUMPKIN BOMB STANDS.

256. GREEN GOBLIN
Ever the gracious host. And ever the gracious guest, the Goblin must show his appreciation. Here. I brought a gift.

257. NARRATOR
Gobby throws his “gift”, but Goliath swoops in, catches it and throws it back.

Goliath and Spider-Man STAND.

258. PUMPKIN BOMB
<shriek>

259. GREEN GOBLIN
<impact>

260. NARRATOR
Not far away…

261. SPIDER-MAN
No, no, no, no, no… I was hoping I’d never hear that trademark Pumpkin Bomb shriek again…

262. NARRATOR
Spidey swings in to find Goliath and a recovering Gobby together…

263. SPIDER-MAN
So that’s what these gargoyles are… more of the Goblin’s Halloween creations…

264. NARRATOR
Spidey swings into action against Goliath.

265. GOLIATH, SPIDER-MAN
<ad-lib battle sounds>

266. GOLIATH
The Bugle was right about you: you are a threat and a menace!

267. SPIDER-MAN
Wait, you can talk? And read?! And what you read is the Jolly One’s editorials?!

268. GREEN GOBLIN
I know I should assassinate Mr. Lincoln. But I’m so enjoying the show. Really, someone should make more Gargoyles. I know: I’ll call Walt Disney.

Green Goblin, Spider-Man, Goliath, Pumpkin Bomb and Big Man sit. ANGELA, BROOKLYN, BROADWAY and LEXINGTON STAND.

269. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, atop the Eyrie Building, Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway watch Angela playing with Brooklyn’s son Nashville…

270. ANGELA
That’s great, Nashville. This time try the axe…

271. BROADWAY
Wow, Angela looks so adorable playing with Gnash. I mean, Gnash is cute too…

272. BROOKLYN
Thanks. I know he hatched in another decade, but Katana and I discussed it, and we want the whole clan to be Gnash and Egwardo’s Rookery parents…

273. BROADWAY
We’d be honored…

274. LEXINGTON
I still can’t quite take it all in. I go to Britain for a few weeks, and everything changes…

275. BROADWAY
At least you were gone for weeks. Try adjusting in forty seconds.

276. BROOKLYN
Hey, I had forty years to get ready for this, and it’s still strange…

277. LEXINGTON
But, dude. You’re so… old.

278. BROOKLYN
Thanks.

279. LEXINGTON
Older than Goliath.

280. BROOKLYN
Yeah.

281. LEXINGTON
Almost Hudson’s age.

282. BROOKLYN
I get it. I’m old.

283. LEXINGTON
It’s not that. Everything about you is different.

284. BROOKLYN
Oh, come on…

285. BROADWAY
No, he’s right. The way you talk. The way you move. All those weapons you carry now. It’s like you’ve outgrown us.

286. BROOKLYN
That’s not fair. I can’t tell you how much I missed you both.

287. LEXINGTON
We get that. And we’re not mad. But…

288. BROOKLYN
Look, this isn’t all on me. As I recall, things were already changing. Broadway spent all his time with Angela.

289. BROADWAY
Not all my time.

290. LEXINGTON
Uh… pretty much.

291. BROADWAY
Yeah, well, you’re practically on the internet non-stop.

292. LEXINGTON
It’s addictive! Do you know they have porn on that thing? There’s this one website, Blue Mug Prodâ€"

293. BROOKLYN
I don’t wanna know. The point is we’ve all gone through some changes. That’s just life.

294. BROADWAY
I guess our Three Musketeer days are over…

295. LEXINGTON
Yeah…

Zafiro and Obsidiana STAND.

296. ZAFIRO
Gargoyles of Manhattan!

297. OBSIDIANA
We need you’re help!

298. NARRATOR
At just that moment, the sun rises, turning Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Angela and Gnash to stone. Obsidiana and Zafiro are unaffected, thanks to their mystic Mayan pendants.

299. ZAFIRO
Mierda.

300. OBSIDIANA
Nuestro cronometraje apesta hoy.

Obsidiana, Zafiro, Lexington, Broadway, Brooklyn and Angela sit. Spider-Man, Green Goblin and Pumpkin Bomb STAND.

301. NARRATOR
Across town, Goliath also turns to stone.

302. SPIDER-MAN
What the heck?!

303. GREEN GOBLIN
Well, that was… unexpected.

304. SPIDER-MAN
All right, that’s enough. I know you’re not the real Gobby.

305. GREEN GOBLIN
Yes, yes, “It’s not the voice; it’s the words. Not the tech, but the moves.” I’ve heard it all before…

306. SPIDER-MAN
Then I know exactly who you really are: Chameleon!

307. GREEN GOBLIN
That would ease your conscience, wouldn’t it? To think I’m Chameleon â€" and not the ghost of the man you killed!

308. SPIDER-MAN
I don’t believe in ghosts.

309. GREEN GOBLIN
Then maybe you’d prefer I was the Spawn of Goblin.

310. SPIDER-MAN
Oh, you’d just love to shift the blame to Harry. Sorry, Gobby â€" I mean, Chammy â€" but we’ve been there, done that. Besides, no matter who you are, there hasn’t been time for the Globulin Green to kick in and truly Goblify you. So I’m gonna take you down now while you’re still just a cheap imitation.

311. GREEN GOBLIN
You could do that… or you could save stoneface over there.

312. NARRATOR
Gobby throws a pumpkin bomb at Goliath. Instinctively, Spidey webs it away…

313. PUMPKIN BOMB
<shriek>

Pumpkin Bomb and Green Goblin sit.

314. NARRATOR
By which time, the Goblin is gone, leaving a confused Spidey perched on Goliath’s head…

315. SPIDER-MAN
So in hindsight, I’m thinking maybe you weren’t part of the Gob-Squad, right?
(beat)
Fine. Stonewall me.

May STANDS.

316. NARRATOR
That morning in Forest Hills, Spidey sneaks in through his bedroom window, hoping to catch a few Zs.

317. MAY
Peter, are you awake.

318. PETER
Uh, sure Aunt May. Just getting dressed.

319. MAY
Well, hurry up. I’m… “conferencing” with all the other parents.

Robbie, ROSIE THOMPSON and George STAND.

320. ROBBIE
Are you sure you don’t mind, Mrs. Parker? Cuz I gotta say, what you’re proposing would be my worst nightmare.

321. MAY
<laughs> Oh, I don’t believe that for a minute, Mr. Robertson. It’s a joy to be around Peter and his friends. And I won’t be alone. Anna Watson and Mrs. Osborn will be with me.

322. ROSIE
Emily? She’s so… odd. I don’t think she’s ever said one word to me…

323. MAY
Well, I don’t know her very well, Rosie, but Harry is Peter’s best friend â€" no offense to your Eugene â€" so she must be doing something right.

324. ROSIE
May, you never change. Always seeing the best in people.

325. MAY
I’ll take that as a compliment, dear girl.

326. GEORGE
In any case, I’m glad to get Gwen out of Manhattan for a few days. The streets are looking pretty grim right about now.

327. MAY
Oh, I’m sure your officers will have things under control in no time.

328. PETER
Aunt May, what’s going on?

329. MAY
Oh, didn’t I tell you, Peter. I’m chaperoning your trip to Miami Beach!

330. PETER
Wow. Great.

Peter, May, George, Rosie and Robbie sit. Big Man and Dominique STAND.

331. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, back at L. Thompson Lincoln’s office…

332. BIG MAN
And how can I be of help, Ms. Destine.

333. DOMINIQUE
I think I can help you, Mr. Lincoln.

334. BIG MAN
What makes you think I need any help?

335. DOMINIQUE
Oh, little things. The shattered window, that unusual statue on the ledge outside…

336. BIG MAN
Point taken. How about you cut to the chase?

337. DOMINIQUE
Fine. Tony Dracon. Tomas Brod. Silvio Manfredi. All in jail. Hammerhead. Sable Manfredi. On the run. This gives you a unique opportunity to reclaim what was lost.

338. BIG MAN
I’m sure L. Thompson Lincoln has no idea what you’re talking about. But go on…

339. DOMINIQUE
You have three problems. Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and the government watching your every move.

340. BIG MAN
And you have the solution…

341. DOMINIQUE
I have the manpower. Three… “super-villains” to take down the competition and Dominic Dracon to use as a figurehead.

342. BIG MAN
The old man? I heard he was shy a few brain cells.

343. DOMINIQUE
It’s easy enough to spread the word he was faking insanity to avoid prosecution. And easy enough to assign him a keeper. Meanwhile, he’s a Dracon. And that name still carries weight, I believe.

344. BIG MAN
It does. But what would you want in exchange?

345. DOMINIQUE
Nothing extraordinary. Just the services of the Tinkerer.

346. BIG MAN
I believe that can be arranged.

347. DOMINIQUE
Lovely. But let’s not allow the moss to gather. You’ll want to move fast. Before the Octopus retrieves his arms…

Dominique and Big Man sit. SILVER SPOON MANAGER, Vulture, DOCTOR OCTOPUS and Electro STAND.

348. NARRATOR
The weather has turned cold. At the Silver Spoon, three men in trench coats and hats wait for their coffee.

349. SILVER SPOON MANAGER
Sixty-nine!

350. VULTURE
Yes. Here.

351. NARRATOR
Vulture sits down with Electro and Doctor Octopus.

352. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Thank you, Adrian. Now. My arms?

353. VULTURE
In an OsCorp vault.

354. ELECTRO
At Rykers?!

355. VULTURE
<shhhhh> Not THE Vault. A vault. Still very high security, and the police are bound to expect our arrival, but…

356. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Indeed. <sigh> OsCorp. Even in death, Norman Osborn torments me. But it cannot be helped. I must have my arms. We go in under cover of darkness tonight.

Doctor Octopus, Vulture and Electro sit. Silver Spoon Manager remains standing. Peter and Mary Jane STAND.

357. NARRATOR
The three men exit through one door. Two teenagers enter through another.

358. SILVER SPOON MANAGER
Seventy!

359. MARY JANE
Try to understand, Tiger. I just can’t do that to Gwen. She’s really become my best friend at Midtown.

360. PETER
But it’s not like we’d be making out or anything, right? Uh, right?

361. MARY JANE
Right.

362. PETER
Right, right. We’d be going as friends. Hanging out when the couples were … you know, coupling.

363. MARY JANE
And that would be great. But look at it from her point of view. She took all the risks, and you still wound up with Liz. There’s no way, she’d see me as anything but a threat. Wait, that sounded really conceited.

364. PETER
Have you looked in a mirror? Not conceited. Just fact.

365. MARY JANE
Ooh, nice one. Such a player.

366. PETER
Yeah, right. The world’s loneliest player.

367. MARY JANE
Stop it. I know you don’t want to hurt Gwen either. Not after all the two of you have been through.

368. PETER
Yeah… I wonder if Ms. Brant likes Miami. Kidding, kidding… Wow, pretty good. That was practically the Look.

369. SILVER SPOON MANAGER
Seventy-One!

SEYMOUR O’REILLY stands.

370. PETER
So you’re just not going?

371. MARY JANE
Oh, I’m going. It’s 48 degrees outside and 82 in Miami. I asked Tiny to be my plus one.

372. PETER
Tiny?! Tiny McKeever?! The guy’s got the brain of an amoeba. He makes King Kong look like a genius. Hell, he makes Flash look like Stephen Hawking!

373. MARY JANE
(shrugs)
He’s cute.

374. PETER
<argggh> I just wish I could skip the whole thing. But Aunt May’s going, and after her heart attack, I really think she could use some fun in the sun--

375. SEYMOUR
Sorry to interrupt. Couldn’t help overhearing.

376. PETER
Oh, hey, Seymour.

377. SEYMOUR
Just wanted to let you know Harry invited me too. And I’m totally going stag. I mean who wants a ball and chain when Miami Beach is full of hotties, right?

378. PETER
Uh…

379. SEYMOUR
Just don’t expect to hang out, okay. You’d fully cramp my style.

380. PETER
Of course I would…

381. SILVER SPOON MANAGER
Seventy-two!!

Silver Spoon Manager, Peter, Seymour and Mary Jane sit. Dominique and TINKERER STAND.

382. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, the Tinkerer arrives at the Destine Mansion…

383. DOMINIQUE
You have the devices?

384. TINKERER
Five was all I could put together on short notice. Unless you want to bring Mysterio in…?

385. DOMINIQUE
Our stage is crowded enough. And five should do quite nicely.

Dominique and Tinkerer sit. May, Mary Jane, GREG BISHANSKY, Sally, Gwen, Harry, Kong, Rand, Flash, Liz, Jason, Peter and Seymour STAND.

386. NARRATOR
Later that afternoon, Harry’s rented a party bus, and the gang is en route to the airport, stuck in heavy traffic on the expressway. A very prepared May Parker has a clipboard…

387. MAY
All right, we have three adults and sixteen children â€" sorry, sixteen teenagers. That’s nineteen sojourners bound for Florida. So why did my headcount come to twenty?

388. MARY JANE
I think you counted the bus driver, Mrs. Parker.

389. MAY
Oh, that I did.

390. BISHANSKY
Hey, twist my arm! I’ll go to Miami with you guys!!

391. SALLY
Was anyone talking to you?

392. BISHANSKY
Uh… no.

393. SALLY
Then eyes front.

394. BISHANSKY
Eyes front.

395. GWEN
Harry, are you all right?

396. HARRY
I dunno. All this stopping and starting. My stomach’s a little queasy…

397. KONG
Dude. Does this bus rock or what?!

398. RAND
‘Scool.

399. FLASH
Damn right it’s cool. Wouldn’t mind taking this baby all the way to Florida.

400. SALLY
Excuse me?! It’s a bus.

401. LIZ
Sally’s right. We’re not ditching the private jet for a bus. Right, Jason?

402. JASON
Uh…

403. SALLY
Right.

404. PETER
It really is a very nice bus though.

405. BISHANSKY
Hey, I’m not offended. I still can’t believe the Osborns hired me again. The last time, I got in two-- <impact grunt>

406. SEYMOUR
Dude, you totally rear-ended that guy at the tollbooth!

407. BISHANSKY
Not again…

408. SALLY
Wonderful. Now, we’ll be stuck here forever!

409. MAY
Everybody stay calm.

410. HARRY
Ah, man, gotta use the john…

411. KONG
<laughs> I think Osborn’s gonna hurl!

412. SALLY
Oh. My. God! If my hair starts smelling like vomit, I’ll sue you for bus-driver malpractice!!

413. BISHANSKY
Sorry, sorry…

Bishansky, Sally, Kong, Harry, May, Seymour, Peter, Jason, Liz, Flash, Rand, Gwen and Mary Jane sit. Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Zafiro and Obsidiana STAND.

414. NARRATOR
The sun sets. At the castle, the gargoyles awaken…

415. BROOKLYN, BROADWAY, LEXINGTON
<awakening roars>

416. BROOKLYN
You must be Zafiro.

417. ZAFIRO
How did you know?

418. BROOKLYN
Strong family resemblance.

419. ZAFIRO
¿Perdón?

420. BROOKLYN
Long story. Time travel. The future. A whole other spin-off. Two actually…

421. OBSIDIANA
We don’t have time for your “spin-offs”. ¿Donde esta Goliath?

422. BROADWAY
He didn’t sleep here.

423. LEXINGTON
But I’m sure he’ll be back soon.

Elisa STANDS.

424. ELISA
He’d better. We have trouble. Demona trouble.

425. OBSIDIANA
Elisa!

426. ELISA
Hi, Obsidiana. I’m betting you have trouble too…

Elisa, Obsidiana, Lexington, Broadway, Brooklyn and Zafiro sit. Kraven, Calypso, Curt and Gulyadkin STAND.

427. NARRATOR
And while the clan awaits Goliath’s return…

428. KRAVEN
It is time, Calypso.

429. CALYPSO
Yes. The forces gather. We can make this one our own.

430. CURT
I demand you let me go!

431. KRAVEN
Hold your tongue, American dog. Or Gulyadkin will hold it for you.

432. GULYADKIN
<low lion growl>

433. CALYPSO
Calm yourself… This change will not be difficult. The primitive bound within is barely skin-deep…

434. CURT
I-- I don’t know what you’re talking about.

435. CALYPSO
I think you do. You see my companion. The details may have been created in a laboratory…

436. KRAVEN
But the soul of the Hunter â€" the beast inside â€" was always my own.

437. CURT
What are doing with that doll?

438. CALYPSO
Turning it inside out.

439. CURT
Listen to me, please. Even if you can release the “beast inside”, you don’t want to! It can’t be controlled.

440. KRAVEN
<laughs> Nyet. Not by you perhaps. But my Calypso is not so easily trifled with.

441. CALYPSO
It is time…

442. CURT
Noooo!!!! <transformation scream>

443. NARRATOR
Curt Connors is transformed by Calypso’s magic into the Lizard.

444. LIZARD
<roar>

445. KRAVEN
Now… to the Hunt!

Kraven, LIZARD, Calypso and Gulyadkin sit. Obsidiana, Zafiro, Angela, Elisa, Goliath, Broadway and Brooklyn STAND.

446. NARRATOR
Back at the Castle, Goliath has returned, and the entire clan has gathered. Elisa’s revealed what she knows about Demona. Now, it’s Obsidiana’s turn…

447. OBSIDIANA
It came from somewhere further south. Two human smugglers carrying an object of great power through the Green…

448. ZAFIRO
My mate is sensitive to these things. We tracked them, but they boarded a jet airplane and were soon out of our reach.

449. OBSIDIANA
Pero still I could sense great forces gathering. I asked Jade and Turquesa to teach us the way to Avalon…

450. ZAFIRO
Gabriel says hello, by the way.

451. ANGELA
Oh, I miss him. How is he?

452. ELISA
Angela, honey, let’s stay on point. I take it Avalon sent you here.

453. OBSIDIANA
Yes. We nearly achieved the totem, but a ridiculous human dressed in red and blueâ€"

454. ELISA, GOLIATH (UNISON)
Spider-Man…

455. OBSIDIANA
He did spin webs like a spider. Though from his hands, not hisâ€"

456. ZAFIRO
Focus, mi amor.

457. OBSIDIANA
Lo siento. This Man-Spider, he interfered. The smugglers escaped again. Now, power builds on power, rising to a crescendo.

458. BROADWAY
And that’s bad, right?

459. NARRATOR
Elisa’s cellphone rings.

Matt STANDS.

460. ELISA
Maza.

461. MATT
It’s Matt. Something’s going down at the OsCorp vault off the Expressway. Most of the Taskforce is already here. Stacy and his men too. But I’m thinking we might need… “back-up”. Lots and lots of back-up.

462. ELISA
We’re on our way. Brooklyn, can Bronx and Fu-Dog baby-sit Egwardo?

463. BROOKLYN
Of course.

464. ELISA
Good. Because otherwise it’s all hands on deck.

Elisa, Brooklyn, Broadway, Obsidiana, Zafiro, Goliath and Angela sit. George, Morgan and O’Neil STAND.

465. MATT
Okay, Captain. The rest of the Taskforce is on its way.

466. GEORGE
My men are deployed.

467. O’NEIL
And just in time! Cuz we got Gobby and his Pumpkin-Heads at 12 o’clock!

Green Goblin and Pumpkin Bomb STAND.

468. GREEN GOBLIN
Playtime!

469. PUMPKIN BOMB
<shriek>

470. MORGAN
And a gargoyle at 3 o’clock!

471. GEORGE
That’s not a gargoyle. That’s the Vulture!

Vulture STANDS.

472. VULTURE
You were right, Otto. The police were waiting. And the Goblin is here too. You don’t think it could actually be Osborn, still alive, do you?

Doctor Octopus and Electro STAND.

473. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Do not get distracted by old grudges, Adrian. It hardly matters who wears the Green. His intent is still to prevent me from regaining my arms. You must keep the Goblin and the authorities occupied.

474. VULTURE
Of course.

475. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Now, Electro. Open the vault.

476. ELECTRO
Roger that, Doc!

477. NARRATOR
Electro, already inside, short-circuits the vault’s electro-magnetic lock.

Tinkerer and Demona STAND.

478. TINKERER
Electro’s breached the vault.

479. DEMONA
So predictable. Send in your operatives.

480. NARRATOR
Tinkerer opens a burlap sack, releasing his five “operatives”.

HOMUNCULUS #1, HOMUNCULUS #2, HOMUNCULUS #3, HOMUNCULUS #4 and HOMUNCULUS #5 STAND.

481. HOMUNCULUS #1
Homunculi to the rescue!

482. HOMUNCULUS #2
Dirty work to be done!

483. HOMUNCULUS #3
Peach Cobbler!

484. HOMUNCULUS #4
Uh oh, somebody’s language system’s off-line again.

485. HOMUNCULUS #5
You know it, girlfriend!

Calypso, Kraven and Lizard STAND.

486. NARRATOR
And down in the sewer…

487. CALYPSO
It is right above us, my love. The Power and the Glory. The very keys to the Kingdom.

488. KRAVEN
And Kraven will lay them all at your feet.

489. LIZARD
<lizard roar>

490. NARRATOR
Up top, a stretch limo skids to a stop outside the vault. Dominic Dracon and Fancy Dan emerge.

Dracon and FANCY DAN STAND.

491. DRACON
All right, boys. Get me those jewels!

492. FANCY DAN
I think what the boss means is… Destroy the competition!

Carnage, Colonel Jupiter and Venom STAND.

493. CARNAGE
<evil chuckle> Carnage time?

494. FANCY DAN
Yeah. Go. Kill. Whatever.

495. COLONEL JUPITER
Colonel Jupiter will stop the Green Goblin and Vulture in their tracks!

496. FANCY DAN
Knock yourself out. But what are you waiting for?

497. VENOM
Someone worthy of our hate. But we have faith… He’ll come…

498. GREEN GOBLIN
My, my, the field’s getting crowded. Let’s thin the herd. Pumpkin-Heads, release the hounds! <ahem> That was a metaphor. Throw your pumpkin bombs already!

499. PUMPKIN BOMB
<multiple shrieks>

Pumpkin Bomb, Green Goblin, Venom, Fancy Dan, Colonel Jupiter, Carnage, Dracon, Lizard, Kraven, Calypso, Homunculus #5, Homunculus #4, Homunculus #3, Homunculus #2, Homunculus #1, Demona, Tinkerer, Electro, Doctor Octopus, Vulture, George, Morgan, O’Neil and Matt SIT. May, Peter, Bishansky, Flash, Kong, Sally, Mary Jane, Gwen and Harry STAND.

500. MAY
Goodness, what was that?

501. PETER
Something The Bugle will want pictures of. Open the door.

502. BISHANSKY
Uh…

503. MAY
Peter Parker, I am not letting you off this bus in the middle of the expressway.

504. PETER
Aunt May we’re at a complete standstill. And you don’t have to worry. I’ll use my telephoto lens. I won’t be anywhere near the action.

505. MAY
I suppose it is your job… Open the door.

506. BISHANSKY
Yes, ma’am.

507. PETER
Thanks, Aunt May. You rock!

508. FLASH
If Puny Parker’s going, I’m going too!

509. MAY
Eugene Thompson, you sit your backside down in that seat right this minute.

510. FLASH
Yes, ma’am.

511. KONG
<laughs>

512. SALLY
What’s he going to take pictures with? I saw his camera get blown up two months ago.

513. MARY JANE
Pete’s a professional photographer, Sally. I’m sure he has more than one camera.

514. GWEN
Harry… Are you all right in there?

515. HARRY
<vomit noise> Ugh, don’t come in. It really isn’t pretty.

Harry, Gwen, Mary Jane, Sally, Kong, Flash, May, Peter and Bishansky sit. Broadway, Goliath, Brooklyn, Angela, Elisa, Zafiro and Obsidiana STAND.

516. NARRATOR
The clan alights on a rise overlooking the battlefield.

517. BROADWAY
Whoa, what a mess…

518. GOLIATH
We will split our forces. Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Obsidiana, Zafiro with me.

519. BROOKLYN
Shouldn’t I lead the other contingent?

520. GOLIATH
I need your experience and your weapons at my side.

521. ANGELA
Don’t worry, Brooklyn, we’ve got it covered.

522. NARRATOR
Angela, Hudson, Katana, Gnash, Coldstone and Coldfire glide toward the battle.

523. BROOKLYN, BROADWAY (UNISON)
Be careful!

Angela sits.

524. ELISA
You know I’m going with you.

525. GOLIATH
Not this time, Elisa. You must join your fellow officers…

526. ELISA
Butâ€"

527. GOLIATH
When all is settled, we shall need your help to cover our retreat from this conflagration… You know this is true.

528. ELISA
(defeated)
Yes.

Elisa sits. Spider-Man STANDS.

529. NARRATOR
Elisa makes her way down the hill. Goliath and the others glide to the Vault’s roof. Spider-Man lands there at the same time.

530. SPIDER-MAN, ZAFIRO (UNISON)
You again!

531. GOLIATH
Hold, Spider-Man. I have a friend who knows your Captain Stacy.

532. SPIDER-MAN
Really?

533. GOLIATH
This policeman believes in you. So I choose to believe in you as well.

534. SPIDER-MAN
Says the eight-foot tall medieval monster. But I get it. We’re on the same side. So let’s go kick some Pumpkin-Butt!

535. ZAFIRO
¡Idiota! That battle is a mere distraction.

536. OBSIDIANA
The true danger lies within…

537. SPIDER-MAN
All right, all right, you had me at “Idiota”.

538. NARRATOR
The gargoyles rip open the rooftop. The seven heroes descend, but someone watches…

Spider-Man, Obsidiana, Zafiro, Goliath, Broadway and Brooklyn sit. Venom and Fancy Dan STAND.

539. VENOM
And there goes our Bro…

540. FANCY DAN
You going in? That wasn’t the plan!

541. VENOM
And how do intend to stop us?

542. FANCY DAN
Fine, go. But if you see my Ricochet suit, bring it out!

Fancy Dan and Venom sit. Foswell, Jonah and Robbie STAND.

543. FOSWELL
See, J.J. The tip from Dracon’s old chauffer was right on the money.

544. JONAH
Whaddaya want, a fershlugginer medal?! Let’s get in there!

545. ROBBIE
Slow down, Jonah. I promised Joan I wouldn’t let you lose your head, figuratively or literally.

546. JONAH
Forget my head! Who cares about my head?! My boy needs me!

Ned and Colonel Jupiter STAND.

547. NED
Looks to me like your boy’s doing pretty well, Chief!

548. COLONEL JUPITER
Take that, miscreants!

549. ROBBIE
Ned, how did youâ€"

550. NED
Tip from one of the pumpkin-heads. Foswell’s not the only one with sources.

551. JONAH
You two can naked mud-wrestle over who’s the biggest brown-noser later. For now, Robbie, if you don’t let go of me in zero-point-zero seconds, I’ll dropkick you to next Season! And there’s no guarantee there’ll be a next Season!

552. NARRATOR
Jonah breaks away from Robbie, but his path is blocked…

Elisa STANDS.

553. ELISA
Get back! You want to wind up street pizza!

554. JONAH
But that’s my son up there.

555. ELISA
Yeah, well, at least he’s fighting on the right side.

556. COLONEL JUPITER
Nothing stands against the might of Colonel Jupiter!

557. ELISA
Does he always talk like that?

558. ROBBIE
Bombasticism runs in the family.

Robbie, Elisa, Colonel Jupiter, Jonah, Ned and Foswell sit. Vulture, Carnage, Green Goblin, Angela, Fancy Dan, Matt and Dracon STAND.

559. NARRATOR
Jupiter takes down Pumpkin-Heads right and left. Hudson squares off against Vulture.

560. VULTURE
Why do I get the old guy?

561. NARRATOR
You’re old. He’s old. It’s parallelism. Get over it.
(beat)
Coldstone and Coldfire isolate Carnage.

562. CARNAGE
No fair! These two don’t spatter at all!

563. NARRATOR
Angela and Katana take on the Goblin.

564. GREEN GOBLIN
Oh, goody. Gobby likes getting down and dirty with the hotties.

565. ANGELA
Oh, you did not just say that.

566. NARRATOR
And little Gnash goes after Fancy Dan.

567. FANCY DAN
Admit it, you gave me the kid because I’m short?

568. NARRATOR
Even Detective Bluestone gets into the act.

569. MATT
Freeze, Dracon!

570. DRACON
You’re confused. I’m G.F. Benton, a certified public accountant. I think I’ll be going now…

571. MATT
Yeah. Back to Ravencroft, you old nutter!

572. NARRATOR
But inside, things are a bit more serious…

Matt, Dracon, Fancy Dan, Angela, Green Goblin, Carnage and Vulture sit. Electro and Doctor Octopus STAND.

573. ELECTRO
Got your arms, Doc!

574. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
And my Megalo-Pack?

575. ELECTRO
You’re Mega-what now?

576. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
My power-source, Maxwell.

577. ELECTRO
Right, right. No. That’s not here.

578. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
What?!

Homunculus #1, Homunculus #2 and Homunculus #3 STAND.

579. HOMUNCULUS #1
Gotta get the true treasure!

580. HOMUNCULUS #2
Bring it back to the big Smurfette!

581. HOMUNCULUS #3
Blunk hates getting wet!

582. NARRATOR
Three Homunculi fly deeper into the vault to retrieve Demona’s prize.

Homunculus #3, Homunculus #2 and Homunculus #1 sit. Zafiro, Spider-Man, Lexington, Homunculus #5, Goliath, Brooklyn, Broadway and Obsidiana STAND.

583. ZAFIRO
What are those things?!

584. SPIDER-MAN, LEXINGTON (UNISON)
Robots!

585. LEXINGTON
And I got one!

586. HOMUNCULUS #5
Leggo, you big bully!

587. LEXINGTON
<ugh> What an annoying voice…

588. HOMUNCULUS #5
(aside to audience)
Look who’s talking.

589. LEXINGTON
…But I might be able to use it to take control of the others.

590. SPIDER-MAN
I think I can help.

Venom STANDS.

591. VENOM
You’ll be a little too busy for that, Bro.

592. GOLIATH
Friend of yours?

593. SPIDER-MAN
Once upon a time. Not so much now.

594. VENOM
Die, Spider-Man!

595. VENOM, SPIDER-MAN
<add-lib battle sounds>

596. SPIDER-MAN
A little help?

597. NARRATOR
Brooklyn blasts Venom, who collapses.

598. VENOM
<vibrating scream>

Venom sits.

599. BROOKLYN
Sonic Cannon. Circa 2198. Guess my weapons do come in handy.

600. LEXINGTON
Just cover me until I can get this working…

Demona and Tinkerer STAND.

601. DEMONA
What’s wrong, Tinkerer? Why haven’t they returned?

602. TINKERER
Someone’s trying to counter their programming. He won’t succeed.

603. DEMONA
He had better not.

604. LEXINGTON
My hack’s being hacked!

605. TINKERER
He’s overriding my override!

Homunculus #4 STANDS.

606. HOMUNCULUS #4
Go right. Go left. Go right. Go left. Blow up!

607. NARRATOR
Homunculus #4 blows up. But so does Homunculus #5 in Lexington’s hands!

608. LEXINGTON
<pain cry>

609. BROADWAY
Lexington!

Homunculus #4 and Homunculus #5 sit.

610. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
This is madness! Grab my arms and get me out of here!

611. ELECTRO
Workin’ on it!

612. NARRATOR
Electro blasts away, until he and Doc Ock are blindsided by…

Kraven, Gulyadkin, Lizard and Calypso STAND.

613. ELECTRO, DOCTOR OCTOPUS
<impacts>

614. BROADWAY
Look, it’s Claw.

615. KRAVEN
<roar>

616. BROOKLYN
That’s not Claw.

617. BROADWAY
Well, it’s sure not Maggie.

618. GULYADKIN
<lion roar>

619. LEXINGTON
(recovering)
Is that an actual lion?

620. LIZARD
<lizard roar>

621. SPIDER-MAN
Lizard, too? Seriously, this is way over the top.
Homunculus #1 and Homunculus #2 STAND.

622. HOMUNCULUS #1
Got the gizmo!

623. HOMUNCULUS #2
Homunculi never fail!

624. NARRATOR
Two homunculi fly past, carrying a sealed container down a dark corridor.

625. CALYPSO, OBSIDIANA (UNISON)
The totem!
(pointing at each other)
Don’t let her near it!

626. KRAVEN
Go, Calypso! Leave them to us!

627. ZAFIRO
¡Vaya, mi amor!

628. BROOKLYN
We got your back, Goliath! Go!

629. SPIDER-MAN
Think I’ll tag along too…

Spider-Man, Obsidiana, Calypso, Homunculus #2, Homunculus #1, Goliath, Tinkerer and Demona sit.

630. NARRATOR
Calypso, Obsidiana, Goliath and Spider-Man race down the corridor.

631. KRAVEN
Lizard, take the reptile!

632. ZAFIRO
¡No soy ningún reptil! ¡Soy un Gárgolo!

633. ZAFIRO, LIZARD
<ad-lib battle sounds>

634. KRAVEN
Gulyadkin attack!

635. GULYADKIN
<pounce roar>

636. NARRATOR
Gulyadkin and Kraven attack Lex and Broadway!

637. LEXINGTON
Hey, get him off me!

638. BROADWAY
Kinda busy at the moment!

639. GULYADKIN, LEXINGTON, KRAVEN, BROADWAY
<ad-lib struggles>

640. NARRATOR
Brooklyn steps in and pulls both cats off his rookery brothers. They turn on him.

641. BROOKLYN
Uh oh.

642. BROADWAY, LEXINGTON (UNISON)
All for one!

643. NARRATOR
The two gargoyles return the favor, knocking Kraven and Gulyadkin aside. Then Brooklyn blasts them both.

644. BROOKLYN
And one for all!

645. KRAVEN, GULYADKIN
<blast impacts>

646. LEXINGTON
Some things never change.

647. NARRATOR
Zafiro throws Lizard’s unconscious body on top of Kraven…

648. KRAVEN, LIZARD
<oofs>

649. ZAFIRO
We should follow Obsidiana…

650. ZAFIRO, BROOKLYN, LEXINGTON, BROADWAY
<electrocution scream>

651. NARRATOR
The four gargoyles are dropped by Electro’s blast.

652. ELECTRO
Still want out?

653. DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Indeed not. My curiosity is piqued. Let’s see where this leads…

Doctor Octopus, Electro, Broadway, Lexington, Brooklyn, Zafiro, Gulyadkin, Kraven and Lizard sit. Demona, Homunculus #1 and Homunculus #2 STAND.

654. NARRATOR
Electro and Octopus head down the corridor… In a dimly lit room, Demona holds the Spear of Destiny and watches as the two homunculi open the container. Inside… is a crown of thorns.

655. DEMONA
The Crown of Thorns!

656. NARRATOR
Demona removes her tiara.

657. DEMONA
Place it on my head…

658. HOMUNCULUS #1
Placing, placing…

659. HOMUNCULUS #2
Homunculi aim to please!

660. NARRATOR
The Homunculi gently lower the crown onto Demona’s head before disappearing back into the darkness. The thorns bite into her brow, drawing blood. Calypso, Obsidiana, Goliath and Spidey come rushing in.

Homunculus #2 and Homunculus #1 sit. Spider-Man, Goliath, Calypso and Obsidiana STAND.

661. DEMONA
My Kingdom come. My Will be done…

662. SPIDER-MAN
Friend of yours?

663. GOLIATH
Once upon a time. Not so much now.

664. DEMONA
On Earth as it is in Heaven…

665. CALYPSO
Too late…

666. OBSIDIANA
Too late…

667. DEMONA
For MINE is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever…

668. CALYPSO, OBSIDIANA, SPIDER-MAN (UNISON)
Amen…

669. NARRATOR
Light radiates outward from the Spear. Goliath watches in confusion as Calypso, Obsidiana and Spider-Man drop to their knees before Demona. Octopus and Electro enter and likewise fall to their knees. The light reaches the outer vault. Though still unconscious, Venom, Lizard, Zafiro and Kraven lurch to their feet, then drop to their knees. And still the light advances…

Obsidiana and Calypso sit.

670. GOLIATH
What sorcery is this?!

671. DEMONA
The most powerful human sorcery ever created, Goliath. This is humanity’s Armageddon. Their entire race’s final act.

END ACT TWO

NEXT: ACT THREE...


Bookmark Link

G2009 Radio Play

G2009 Radio Play - Act One

4. NARRATOR
The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles. RELIGIOUS STUDIES 101: A HANDFUL OF THORNS. Act One. Late that night atop the Eyrie Building…

Dominique and Kafka sit. GOLIATH and ELISA MAZA STAND and KISS.

5. GOLIATH, ELISA
<kiss>

6. GOLIATH
There are some human customs I will never get used to Elisa. <kisses her again> This is not one of them.

7. ELISA
You’re in a good mood.

8. GOLIATH
I am. Hudson and Lexington are back from Europe, bringing Coldstone and Coldfire with them.

9. ELISA
<chuckle> Not to mention Brooklyn returning from forty years of TimeDancing with a mate, a son, a beast and an egg.

10. GOLIATH
The clan has doubled in size. What challenge can the Fates throw at us now that we cannotâ€"

11. NARRATOR
The sun rises. Goliath turns to stone.

12. ELISA
<groan> You just had to say that out loud, didn’t you?

Elisa and Goliath sit. MAY PARKER and PETER PARKER STAND.

13. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, in Forest Hills…

14. MAY
Peter, what are you doing up?

15. PETER
Studying for today’s English final. It’s on Midsummer Night’s Dream. And I missed seeing the Cliff Notes version.

16. MAY
Which may explain why you and Miss Allan are no longer a couple.

17. PETER
Aunt May, you know we didn’t break up because I missed her play.

18. MAY
You’re right; I shouldn’t be glib. I suppose there’s no chance that you and Gwen…

19. PETER
I don’t know. Not now anyway. Not when Harry’s hurting so much from the death of his father.

20. MAY
It hardly seems possible that Norman Osborn is gone. The Bugle says he was the Green Goblin, but I’m not sure I can believe that.

21. PETER
Sometimes, Aunt May… it’s, okay, to believe everything you read…

May and Peter sit. GREEN GOBLIN and BLACKIE GAXTON STAND.

22. NARRATOR
At a dive bar downtown, the Green Goblin BURSTS in on his glider…

23. GREEN GOBLIN
<tsk, tsk, tsk> Blackie. This place is scummy even by your pond-scum standards. Quite a comedown from your last gig…

24. BLACKIE
Tell that to the whacko who set a flaming super-villain loose in The Big Sky. Oh, wait. That was you.

25. GREEN GOBLIN
Yes. Yes, it was. <maniacal laugh>

26. BLACKIE
Weren’t you supposed to be dead?

27. GREEN GOBLIN
I was also supposed to be Osborn, but you didn’t buy that, did you? Just one of the many little tricks I keep up my sleeve. Nothing’s changed, Blackie. The Goblin’s still in charge.

28. BLACKIE
You hear me arguing?

29. GREEN GOBLIN
No. Now, gather my Pumpkin-Heads…

Blackie and Goblin sit. Kafka and Dominique STAND.

30. NARRATOR
At Ravencroft, Dominique Destine and Dr. Kafka supervises six inmates who work to excavate a sub-basement.

31. KAFKA
I still don’t understand what you expect to find down here.

32. DOMINIQUE
Vertros Ravencroft, the founder of this Institute, was a quirky soul. An intimate friend of Freud and Conan Doyle, he was a true believer in both psychotherapy and spiritualism.

33. KAFKA
You speak as if you knew him.

34. DOMINIQUE
Now how would that be possible?

35. KAFKA
It couldn’t, of course… But the dig?

36. DOMINIQUE
Yes. Ravencroft was also a collector. I have reason to believe he buried certain items of his collection here. Now, Doctor, didn’t you say you had meetings scheduled…

37. KAFKA
You’ll be all right down here alone?

38. DOMINIQUE
Your orderlies are in the hallway. And I’m quite self-sufficient. So run along.

Kafka sits. OTTO OCTAVIUS STANDS.

39. DOMINIQUE
Excellent work, Doctor Octavius. Very precise.

40. OTTO
Thank you. I appreciate having something to occupy my hands…

41. DOMINIQUE
Your hands? Not… your arms?

42. OTTO
Arms? I… I hope you’re not referring to my unfortunate… b-b-breakdown.

43. DOMINIQUE
What would be the point? Believe me, Doctor, no one better understands the advantage of creating a false front.

ELECTRO STANDS.

44. ELECTRO
I’ve blasted away another section of cement.

45. DOMINIQUE
Thank you, Maxwell.

46. ELECTRO
Don’t. Call. Me. That.

47. DOMINIQUE
Don’t. Tell. Me. What to do… Electro.

48. ELECTRO
Uh… okay.
(asides to Otto)
She’s a little scary.

49. OTTO
Indeed.

Otto and Electro sit. DOMINIC DRACON, JOHN JAMESON, EDDIE BROCK and CLETUS KASSADY STAND.

50. DRACON
I blame Mace. When that crook cheated me, I lost face. But when I get the jewels back, they’ll respect me again. Did Mace bury the jewels here?

51. DOMINIQUE
Maybe he did, Dominic. Keep working.

52. JOHN
What’s the point? How is tearing up a basement supposed to bring me Colonel Jupiter’s power?!

53. EDDIE
Shut up and dig.

54. JOHN
You like doing this?!

55. EDDIE
I hate it. But I need that hate. I need to keep the hate alive.

56. DOMINIQUE
Such an interesting crew. And what do you want out of life, Cletus…

57. CLETUS
Nothing too fancy. <chuckles> Just a little carnage.

Cletus, Dominique, Eddie, John and Dracon sit. GWEN STACY and Peter STAND.

58. NARRATOR
That afternoon, at Midtown High…

59. GWEN
Hey, Pete. How’d you do?

60. PETER
Ugh, horrible, probably. I mean you know English is like my worst subject. It’s all so subjective andâ€"

61. GWEN
Peter.

62. PETER
Okay, okay… not the look! I probably aced it. Happy?

63. GWEN
That you did well. Always.

64. PETER
Thanks. Look, Gwen, I--

HARRY OSBORN STANDS.

65. HARRY
Well, what have we here? My best friend and girlfriend conferring in a corner. Planning a surprise party for me?

66. PETER
Uh, it’s not your birthday, Harr.

67. HARRY
I thought maybe it was a thank you bash. For giving you both these…

68. GWEN
(reading)
“You are cordially invited to spend Spring Break traveling by private jet to Miami, where you’ll stay, all-expenses-paid, at the Osborn Winter Compound on the Beach…"

69. PETER
You’re inviting the three of us to spend a week together in Florida?

70. HARRY
Not just the three of us…

KENNY KONG, FLASH THOMPSON and MARY JANE WATSON stand.

71. KONG
Osborn, dude! You rock!

72. FLASH
Seven days in the sun and surf.

73. KONG
All you can eat!

74. FLASH
Girls in bikinis!

75. FLASH, KONG (UNISON)
Score! <laughter>

76. MARY JANE
Hi, Sha Shan. Hi, Glory.

77. FLASH
Sha Shan… uh… So… how much of that did you hear?

78. KONG
Look, Glory, you know I meant you, right? I mean who else would I want to see in a bikini. Uh, you’re not gonna break up with me again, are you?

Kong and Flash sit. SALLY AVRIL, RAND ROBERTSON, LIZ ALLAN and JASON IONELLO STAND.

79. SALLY
Oh. My. God. Harry, I just found the invitation in my locker. And all I have to say is that you can be my super-dweeb sugar-daddy anytime you want!

80. HARRY
You okay with that Rand?

81. RAND
‘Scool. You can be my super-dweeb sugar-daddy too.

82. PETER
Exactly how many people did you invite to this thing?

83. HARRY
A handful. Kenny and Glory. Flash and Sha Shan. Rand and Sally. Hobie and Mindy. M.J. Gwen. Oh, and you and Liz, of course.

84. GWEN
Harry… Liz and Peter broke up.

85. HARRY
You did?! Wow. I had no idea. Guess I’ve just been so focused on my own problems. My Dad dying and everything. That’s why I need this trip. Gotta clear my head, you know? But maybe you two could reconcile…

86. SALLY
I don’t think so!

87. LIZ
It’s too late for that Harry. I’m with Jason now. We totally fell in love doing the play together.

88. JASON
We did?

89. SALLY / LIZ (UNISON)
Yes, you did. / Yes, we did.

90. LIZ
You don’t mind if I bring Jason instead of Petey, do you.

91. HARRY
The more the merrier.

92. LIZ
Thanks, Harry. You’re a doll. Kisses!

Liz, Sally, Jason and Rand sit.

93. HARRY
Pete, you’re still invited too. Course, it’s more of a couple’s thing. But M.J.’s guy is in prison…

94. MARY JANE
Thank you, Harry. Hadn’t been reminded of that in the last five minutes.

95. HARRY
Sorry, sorry. It’s just that I can’t help remembering the Fall Formal. You two made such a great pair! Don’t you think so, Gwen?

96. GWEN
Great.

97. PETER
I… suppose we could go… as friends. Just as friends.

98. MARY JANE
We’ll talk later, Tiger.

Mary Jane, Peter, Gwen and Harry sit. Kafka and CURT CONNORS STAND.

99. NARRATOR
Late that afternoon in Dr. Kafka’s office…

100. KAFKA
Doctor Connors, it’s good to see you. I’d heard you moved to Florida.

101. CURT
I did. But I never stopped working on a cure for Max Dillon. I think I’ve made some real progress.

102. KAFKA
That’s wonderful news. Max is downstairs… doing “work-therapy”. I’ll take you to him…

Kafka and Curt sit. Otto, Dominique, Electro, Dracon, John, Eddie and Cletus STAND.

103. ELECTRO
Ms. Destine. I think I found something.

104. DRACON
Is it my jewels?

105. OTTO
It… it appears to be a spearhead. It looks quite old.

106. DOMINIQUE
Give it to me.

107. ELECTRO
Sure, sure.

108. DOMINIQUE
Yes. This is it. I think we’re done, boys.

109. OTTO
Indeed. And just as the dig brought us right up against Ravencroft’s outer wall.

110. ELECTRO
You mean this wall?!

111. NARRATOR
Electro blasts a huge hole in the wall. When the smoke clears, the Vulture is waiting. He grabs Octavius.

VULTURE STANDS.

112. VULTURE
You’re coming with me, Otto.

113. OTTO
No, no, stop. I don’t want this life anymore… I’m trying to get better!! Let me go!!

114. ELECTRO
Shut it, Doc! It’s for your own good!

115. OTTO
Nooooooo!!!!

Otto, Electro and Vulture sit.

116. NARRATOR
Vulture and Electro leave with Octavius. Dominique watches them go.

117. DOMINIQUE
Well, that was diverting. And such excellent timing as well: it’s sunset. <transformation scream>

118. NARRATOR
With the setting of the sun, Dominique Destine transforms into a gargoyle… just as Kafka and Connors enter…

Kafka and Curt STAND.

119. KAFKA / CURT
Oh my god… / What in the world?!

120. NARRATOR
Demona effortlessly slams them both against a wall and turns to the remaining inmates…

121. CURT, KAFKA
<impacts, moans>

122. DEMONA
Listen carefully, humans. For I have listened to you. I can make all your petty little dreams come true. Dominic demands respect.

123. DRACON
Yes.

124. DEMONA
John craves power.

125. JOHN
Yes!

126. DEMONA
Eddie needs hate.

127. EDDIE
YES!

128. DEMONA
And all Cletus desires is a little carnage.

129. CLETUS
Or a lot. I’m not picky.

130. DEMONA
Then stick with me, boys. Respect, power, hatred, carnage. These are things I know…

DEMONA, Cletus, Eddie, John and Dracon sit. ALAN O’NEIL and GEORGE STACY STAND.

131. NARRATOR
Later, the police arrive to investigate…

132. O’NEIL
And you never met this broad before in your life…

133. KAFKA
She had excellent references, Officer O’Neil. It’s not like I grant just anyone access to my patients…

134. O’NEIL
And you wonder why people think they belong at Rykers.

135. GEORGE
There’s nothing else you can tell me, Doctor?

136. CURT
I’m sorry, Captain Stacy, but no. It was a creature.

137. GEORGE
Like that Lizard-thing from last fall?

138. CURT
No! No. Nothing like that. More like… like those things on the news that blew up the clock tower.

139. GEORGE
You mean the 23rd Precinct.

140. CURT
Yes.

141. GEORGE
You’re saying a gargoyle kidnapped those men.

142. CURT
Yes. No. I don’t know. Can I leave now?

George, O’Neil and Kafka sit. DILBERT TRILBY and NED LEE stand.

143. NARRATOR
But outside…

144. TRILBY
Doctor Connors! Dilbert Trilby, Action News. What can you tell our audience about the escape?

145. CURT
Nothing. No comment.

146. NED
Hey, Doc. Remember me? Ned Lee from The Bugle. Can you just tell me who escaped? Doc Ock? Electro? Colonel Jupiter â€" I mean, Colonel Jameson?

147. CURT
I’m sure the police will issue a statement. Now, I have to go.

Trilby sits. CALYPSO EZILI, KRAVEN THE HUNTER and GULYADKIN STAND.

148. NARRATOR
Connors hurries away down the street, as a limousine with dark-tinted windows pulls up in front of Ravencroft.

149. CALYPSO
We are too late, my love. The Christian Totem is gone.

150. KRAVEN
Gulyadkin and I will track it for you.

151. GULYADKIN
<low lion growl>

152. CALYPSO
I’m afraid that is beyond even your impressive abilities, Sergei, my love. But I have my own ways, as you well know…

153. KRAVEN
Of course, Calypso.

154. CALYPSO
Who is that? That man trying to hail a cab?

155. KRAVEN
He is a stranger to my eyes. Yet his scent is familiar.

156. CALYPSO
His aura glows with primal energies and may be of use to us.
(to Curt)
You need a ride.

157. CURT
What? No. No, thank you. I’ll get a cab.

158. KRAVEN
She wasn’t asking.

159. CURT
<scream>

160. NARRATOR
Kraven drags Connors into the limo, which quickly drives away…

Curt, Kraven, Calypso and Gulyadkin sit.

161. NED
Hello, Robbie? I’ve got something.

J. JONAH JAMESON, JOE “ROBBIE” ROBERTSON and FREDERICK FOSWELL STAND.

162. JONAH
Is that Lee? Put him on speaker.

163. ROBBIE
Now, Jonah, stay calm…

164. JONAH
Don’t you tell me to stay calm, Joe Robertson. It’s not your son at risk. Lee, you there?! I’ll give you exactly three-point-seven seconds to tell me John’s all right!

165. NED
Wish I could, Chief. But he disappeared with the rest. There are six inmaâ€" uh, patients missing. It’s not clear if they busted out or were kidnapped.

166. JONAH
Well, of course John was kidnapped. You think my son would--

167. ROBBIE
Ned, give me the whole list.

168. JONAH
Who cares about the listâ€"

169. ROBBIE
It could provide a lead to John.

170. NED
Doc Ock. Electro. John. Uh… let’s see. Edward Brock Jr., Cletus Kasady and Dominic Dracon.

171. FOSWELL
Dominic Dracon? The old mob boss? There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.

172. JONAH
Foswell, you know that world! Find out where Dracon might have gone!

173. FOSWELL
You got it, J.J.

174. JONAH
Lee, you stick to the damn super-villain angle! Ock, Electro. What’s their next move?!

175. NED
Right, boss!

176. JONAH
Robbie, I want every available man on this. No, damnit, I want every man, woman and child on this, available or not. Call Parker. Put Benny the copyboy on it. But Ms. Brant on it. I want John Jameson safely back in his mother’s arms in six-point… six-point…

177. ROBBIE
It’s okay, Jonah. We’re on it.

178. JONAH
Good. Good. I’ll… I’ll hit the streets myself. I’m still the best damn reporter in New York City! Just have to make a call first. Well, what are you all waiting for, get out! Out!

Robbie, Ned and Foswell sit.

179. JONAH (CONT)
Hello, is this WVRN? Travis Marshall, please. Travis? It’s Jonah. I got a lead for you on the Ravencroft thing.
(pauses, listening)
Whaddayou care why I’m helping the competition?! I know I hate television! You don’t have to tell me that! I’m not trying to sandbag you, damnit, I… I’m just trying to find my son… any way I can.

Jonah sits. SPIDER-MAN STANDS.

180. NARRATOR
That night finds Spider-Man swinging through the city…

181. PETER (VO)
If I didn’t know better, I’d think Harry was trying to torture me and Gwen. Then again, M.J. is quite the consolation prize. Ah, man, what am I saying? I’m in love with Gwen. Gwen. Gwendolyn Stacy. Just have to get through the next few weeks and then Harry’ll be in a better place, and she and I--

182. NARRATOR
Pete’s ringtone plays Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

183. SPIDER-MAN
Hello?

Robbie STANDS.

184. ROBBIE
Pete. Joe Robertson. There’s been an incident at Ravencroft.

Robbie sits.

185. SPIDER-MAN
Uh huh… uh huh… Wait, who’s missing? Uh oh. Him too? Oh, crap. Sorry, I mean-- What?! Seriously?! Uh, right. Yeah, I’ll keep my eyes open. Camera lens at the ready. Thanks for the heads up. Bye.
(to himself)
Whoa. At least this day can’t get any worse!

SMUGGLER #1 stands.

186. SMUGGLER #1
What the hell are those things?!

187. SPIDER-MAN
When am I gonna learn not to say that out loud?

188. NARRATOR
Spidey swings down to find two men in a van being attacked by two gargoyles, Obsidiana and Zafiro…

ZAFIRO and OBSIDIANA STAND.

189. SPIDER-MAN
Hi there. Hate to interrupt, but this lady-esque-blue-creature-thing matches the description of another lady-esque-blue-creature-thing who just busted some folks out of Ravenâ€"

190. ZAFIRO
What is he babbling about?

191. OBSIDIANA
I have no idea. I sense no connection between him and the source of the disturbance. But these two…

192. SMUGGLER #1
Keep her away from us!!

193. SPIDER-MAN
You see, now I’m on the horns of a dilemma… Uh, no offense. It’s just an expression; I wasn’t referring to your rather striking… Never mind. See in this particular Spider-Man’s experience, when genetic misfits attack ordinary human beings, I’m gonna have to side with the humans.

194. ZAFIRO
Qué sorpresa. A human with no knowledge of the situation leaping to defend one of his own.

195. NARRATOR
Zafiro attacks Spidey.

196. ZAFIRO, SPIDER-MAN
<ad lib battle efforts, impacts>

197. NARRATOR
Obsidiana rips open the top of the van.

198. OBSIDIANA
<rip effort>

199. SMUGGLER #1
Stay back!

200. NARRATOR
The two humans open fire on her, forcing her to leap away… The van peels out. Obsidiana tries to follow, but Spidey webs her wings together.

Smuggler #1 sits.

201. OBSIDIANA
Por favor! You don’t understand the powers that are gathering!!

202. SPIDER-MAN
And you’re the one doing the Gathering, I take it!

203. OBSIDIANA
No!

204. ZAFIRO
Enough!

205. SPIDER-MAN
<impact grunt>

206. NARRATOR
Zafiro slams Spidey into a wall. By the time the web-slinger recovers, the gargoyles are gone…

Zafiro and Obsidiana sit.

207. SPIDER-MAN
<groan> For a guy with no legs, that snake-thing can move…

Spider-Man sits. George and MARIA CHAVEZ STAND.

208. NARRATOR
Not far away…

209. GEORGE
Captain Chavez.

210. CHAVEZ
Captain Stacy. What brings you to what’s left of the 23rd?

211. GEORGE
It’s the Ravencroft thing. I’ve got corroborating witnesses telling me a gargoyle was involved.

212. CHAVEZ
<sigh> I miss the days when being a cop didn’t involve a working knowledge of The Twilight Zone.

213. GEORGE
Welcome to the Freak Show.

214. CHAVEZ
Anyway, as it happens, the Gargoyle Taskforce is meeting right now. First trailer on the right. Ask for Bluestone.

Chavez sits. MATT BLUESTONE, MORGAN MORGAN, MARGOT YALE and Elisa STAND.

215. NARRATOR
Minutes later…

216. GEORGE
And that’s all I know…

217. MATT
Well, that is interesting, or, you know… really, really scary.

218. MORGAN
I’ll say, Detective. With or without a gargoyle, I’ve heard Ock and Electro are bad news. And that Cletus Kasady: he killed five people before--

219. MARGOT
Forget Kasady. Any idiot can bring a serial killer down. It’s the gargoyle we should be concerned with. It’s what I’ve been saying all along! Those monsters are dangerous!

220. MATT
I think what A.D.A. Yale is saying, Captain, is that the Taskforce is on it. We’ll let you know if we hear anything. And we’ll be checking in with all our sources, won’t we, Detective?

221. ELISA
And fast.

Elisa, Matt, Margot, Morgan and George sit. Smuggler #1 and Demona STAND.

222. NARRATOR
Meanwhile, a van with a torn up roof pulls up to a Gramercy Park Mansion… The driver speaks into the intercom…

223. SMUGGLER #1
Longinus sent me.

224. DEMONA
Leave the package. Then take your money and go. While you still can.

225. SMUGGLER #1
Geez, who lives here? Dracula’s daughter?

Smuggler #1 sits. Eddie, John and Cletus STAND.

226. NARRATOR
Demona collects her package.

227. EDDIE
The old guy’s asleep. What’s that?

228. DEMONA
A simple wooden shaft. The prize of Adolph Hitler’s personal collection. After his… demise, his remaining followers smuggled it to Brazil. I paid handsomely to have it smuggled to me.

229. EDDIE
Why? I mean sure, it’s the shaft of a spear. Completes the set with that arrowhead you took from Ravencroft. But why do we care?

230. DEMONA
Here’s why.

231. NARRATOR
Demona joins the spear and spearhead together. Instantly, it radiates incredible power.

232. DEMONA
The Holy Lance. The Spear of Destiny. The weapon that pierced the side of the Christ. Do you still want power, John? This is power.

233. JOHN
Give it to me. Give it!

234. DEMONA
No. This power is mine. But I will use it to give you back your own…

235. NARRATOR
She points the Spear at John Jameson. The magic surrounds him and transforms him into Colonel Jupiter!

236. COLONEL JUPITER
<transformation scream> Yes! The power is mine! I am Colonel Jupiter!

237. DEMONA
For what that’s worth… Now for Eddie.

238. VENOM
<transformation scream>

239. DEMONA
Happy now?

240. VENOM
Extremely. We are Venom again.

241. DEMONA
And what about you, Cletus?

242. CLETUS
(pointing at Venom)
I’ll have what he’s having…

243. DEMONA
As you wish… Carnage.

244. CARNAGE
<transformation scream>

245. VENOM
All right, Demona. You’re the Mirror Universe Wizard of Oz. But what now?

246. DEMONA
Mine is the Power. But I still require the Kingdom and the Glory. This is only the first act, humans… or whatever you are now. The main event is still to come…

Demona, VENOM, CARNAGE and COLONEL JUPITER sit.

END ACT ONE

TOMORROW: ACT TWO...


Bookmark Link

G2009 Radio Play

Okay, gang, here's the Title Page, Cast List and Teaser for the G2009 Radio Play. As I've mentioned before this is NOT canon for either GARGOYLES or THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. It's just a goof, which I wrote in three days. As anyone who was at the Gathering knows, it was a tremendous success. ALL credit for that should go to (a) my amazing cast of professional voice actors and talented fans and (b) my ability to pander mercilessly to my audience. So READING it, as opposed to seeing it, may be quite the let down. If you dislike it, well, what do you expect from a script written in three days? And if you like it, I guess I am a genius. ;)

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
MEETS
GARGOYLES

Religious Studies 101:
A Handful of Thorns

A Radio Play Crossover Event

Written by
Greg Weisman

For
The Thirteenth Annual
Gathering of the Gargoyles
in
Los Angeles, California

Performed August 22, 2009.

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN MEETS GARGOYLES
“Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns”
(Radio Play)
CAST LIST
NARRATOR 104 lines. (Greg Weisman)
SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER 76 lines. (Josh Keaton)
DEMONA/DOMINIQUE DESTINE 60 lines. (Marina Sirtis)
GOLIATH 32 lines. (Keith David)
LEXINGTON 24 lines. (Thom Adcox)
ELISA MAZA 23 lines. (Zehra Fazal)
BROOKLYN 22 lines. (John Clemens)
CURT CONNORS/LIZARD 22 lines. (Dee Bradley Baker)
BROADWAY 19 lines. (Crispin Freeman)
ZAFIRO 19 lines. (Joshua Poole)
MAY PARKER 19 lines. (Deborah Strang)
GREEN GOBLIN 18 lines. (Steve Blum)
OBSIDIANA 17 lines. (Elisa Gabrielli)
KRAVEN THE HUNTER 17 lines. (Eric Vesbit)
HARRY OSBORN 17 lines. (James Arnold Taylor)
DOCTOR OCTOPUS/OTTO OCTAVIUS 17 lines. (Michael McAdam)
J. JONAH JAMESON 16 lines. (Daran Norris)
MARY JANE WATSON 16 lines. (Vanessa Marshall)
ELECTRO 15 lines. (Crispin Freeman)
VENOM/EDDIE BROCK 15 lines. (Ben Isaac Diskin)
GEORGE STACY 14 lines. (Lucas McClain)
BIG MAN 13 lines. (Keith David)
CALYPSO EZILI 13 lines. (Jennifer L. Anderson)
ASHLEY KAFKA 12 lines. (Elisa Gabrielli)
ROBBIE ROBERTSON 10 lines. (Phil LaMarr)
LIZ ALLAN 10 lines. (Kaitlyn Robrock)
SALLY AVRIL 10 lines. (Jennifer L. Anderson)
GWEN STACY 10 lines. (Sarah Williams)
MATT BLUESTONE 9 lines. (Eric Tribou)
GREG BISHANSKY 8 lines. (Greg Bishansky)
KENNY KONG 8 lines. (Andrew Kishino)
COLONEL JUPITER/JOHN JAMESON 8 lines. (Daran Norris)
NED LEE 7 lines. (Andrew Kishino)
VULTURE 7 lines. (Seth Jackson)
FLASH THOMPSON 7 lines. (Ian Bassett)
SHARI 6 lines. (Zehra Fazal)
FANCY DAN 6 lines. (Phil LaMarr)
GULYADKIN 6 lines. (Dee Bradley Baker)
CARNAGE/CLETUS KASADY 6 lines. (Ian Bassett)
HOMUNCULUS #1 5 lines. (Dee Bradley Baker)
HOMUNCULUS #2 5 lines. (Phil LaMarr)
SMUGGLER #1 5 lines. (Andrew Kishino)
DOMINIC DRACON 5 lines. (Seth Jackson)
BLACKIE GAXTON 5 lines. (Steve Blum)
EMILY OSBORN 4 lines. (Kaitlyn Robrock)
TINKERER 4 lines. (Thom Adcox)
SEYMOUR O’REILLY 4 lines. (Steve Blum)
SILVER SPOON MANAGER 4 lines. (Crispin Freeman)
ANGELA 4 lines. (Sarah Williams)
PUMPKIN BOMB 4 lines. (Nicki France)
THAILOG 3 lines. (Keith David)
HOMUNCULUS #3 3 lines. (Steve Blum)
HOMUNCULUS #5 3 lines. (Thom Adcox)
MARIA CHAVEZ 3 lines. (Elisa Gabrielli)
FREDERICK FOSWELL 3 lines. (James Arnold Taylor)
ALAN O’NEIL 3 lines. (James Arnold Taylor)
HOMUNCULUS #4 2 lines. (James Arnold Taylor)
ROSIE THOMPSON 2 lines. (Vanessa Marshall)
MARGOT YALE 2 lines. (Marina Sirtis)
MORGAN MORGAN 2 lines. (Keith David)
JASON IONELLO 2 lines. (Ben Isaac Diskin)
RAND ROBERTSON 2 lines. (Phil LaMarr)
BRENTWOOD 1 line. (Fox Anderson)
CHAMELEON 1 line. (Steve Blum)
NORMAN OSBORN 1 line. (Eric Vesbit)
DILBERT TRILBY 1 line. (Steve Blum)

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN MEETS GARGOYLES
“Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns”
Radio Play

1. NARRATOR
Manhattan. The Ravencroft Institute. Office of Institute Director, Dr. Ashley Kafka.

ASHLEY KAFKA STANDS.

2. KAFKA
A… “dig” beneath the building’s foundation can’t help but disturb our residents. And this list of patients you’ve requested for the excavation: Edward Brock Jr., Maxwell Dillon, John Jameson, Cletus Kasady, Otto Octavius, Dominic Dracon… These are some of the most disturbed â€" perhaps even dangerous inmates we have here at Ravencroft. There’s even been some suggestion a few of them belong in the OsCorp Vault at Rykers. I know you have connections on our Board of Directors, Ms. D’STYNE, but--

DOMINIQUE DESTINE STANDS.

3. DOMINIQUE
It’s pronounced Des-STEEN. Dominique Destine. And you’ll find we’ll get along better, Doctor… if you give me what I want.

4. NARRATOR
The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles. RELIGIOUS STUDIES 101: A HANDFUL OF THORNS.

TOMORROW: ACT ONE...


Bookmark Link

Marjorie writes...

Hi Greg,

If I'm remembering correctly, Elisa and Goliath only figure out that Macbeth and Demona were being controlled by the Weird Sisters when they reach Avalon. So after the events of High Noon, what steps were taken to protect the clock tower, as it appeared that now both Macbeth AND Demona knew where they slept, and could come by any time they felt like it and destroy them when the sun was up? Of course with Macbeth and Demona whisked off to Avalon retaining no memory of what they did, the gargoyles were perfectly safe for the time being--but they didn't know that. Being vulnerable to Xanatos in the same way was the main reason Elisa pushed so hard for the Gargoyles to move house. I know not much time passed between the events of High Noon on Nov. 14th and the day Goliath, Bronx and Elisa went with Tom to Avalon, but the repercussions of those events seem too important for the gargoyles to ignore.

Was anything done to protect the police station's entrance to the clock tower where the gargoyles live? Was it discussed at any length? Just very curious to know how Elisa and Goliath adjusted to this (to them, at least) major breach of home safety.
Thanks!

Greg responds...

It's a fair question, but I don't have a really cool answer. I just haven't thought about it. I think they know Macbeth well enough at this point to believe he wouldn't attack them while they slept. But they can't have been as sanguine about Demona, though I suppose I can semi-buy the notion that Goliath would feel that Demona might be willing to kill them in a hundred ways BUT NOT by smashing them while they slept. That doesn't mean it's true, just that Goliath could talk himself into believing it's true. And, as we know, he can be stubborn when he gets an idée fixe.

Response recorded on August 05, 2009

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Kait writes...

Even though Demona and MacBeth are tied together, and neither can die unless one kills the other, would it have been possible to smash Demona when she was stone during the day (BEFORE "The Mirror"), such as when she turned to stone in "Long Way To Morning"? If so, would MacBeth have died? I know this is a moot point, and even as silly as asking "What if one of them were BEHEADED?!" but I'm just curious! Thank you.

Greg responds...

This is a moot point, and even as silly as asking "What if one of them were BEHEADED?!"

Response recorded on July 31, 2009

Bookmark Link

Shadow Wing writes...

Is there anything that Humanity has created that Demona likes?

Greg responds...

Big guns.

Response recorded on July 28, 2009

Bookmark Link

Matt writes...

I hope you don't mind a 'Gargoyles' related question. : )

In "Awakening Part Five" Goliath tells Demona: "There is good and bad in all of us. Human and gargoyle alike. You should know that better than anyone."

Now, at this point, Goliath is unaware of Demona's history of the previous 1000 years and believed she was put under the sleep spell shortly after he had been. So, when he says that Demona should know better than anyone about having good and bad in them, what exactly is he talking about? Is he talking about the information regarding her involvement in the betrayal of Castle Wyvern or is he talking about stuff that happened before then (perhaps what we would've seen in 'Dark Ages')?

The reason I ask is because I am curious if Goliath had already become aware of Demona's dark nature before the Wyvern Massacre.

Thanks Greg!

Greg responds...

He's pretty much totally talking about the betrayal here, but the revelation of it may have subconsciously revealed things to him that he hadn't up to that point focused on yet.

Response recorded on June 23, 2009

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Ms Marvel writes...

If Demona really thought she and the Manhattan clan were the last of their species why did she keep trying to kill them? Isn't her motivation to save her species? How could she do that if she's the only one left? Did she know more about the other clans than she made out?

Greg responds...

Her motivations are far more complex -- and frankly screwed up -- than simply stating she wants to save her species.

As for what she knew or knows, I'm not going to reveal that at this time.

Response recorded on June 23, 2009

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Derek writes...

Their are obvious character similarities between Demona to the marvel comic book characters Magneto and Mystique. Was that intentional? Certainly physically Demona is a wringer for Mystique.

Greg responds...

I don't think there was ANY attempt to make Demona intentionally look or behave like Mystique. Magneto probably was something of an influence on me to some small degree, but I think the similarities are more superficial than deep. They don't really strike me as having much in common in terms of psychological make-up.

Response recorded on June 08, 2009

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Derek writes...

Deep down does Demona know that Macbeth wasn't going to betray her?

Greg responds...

Probably.

Response recorded on June 08, 2009

Bookmark Link

Derek writes...

Would any of the Gargoyles have sympathy for Demona knowing how she suffered for those 1000 years or would they think she got what she deserved?

Greg responds...

Reactions vary and would vary, given more detail.

Response recorded on June 08, 2009

Bookmark Link

Derek writes...

Why did Thailog not clone Angela? I know in the past you've said that Demona never released the mosquito to gain Angela's dna and that's why. But Thailog could have easily have had his own mosquito(sounds so silly when I say it like that) and got dna samples from the clan himself like he did from Demona and Eliza. Wouldn't he have wanted the additionally manpower? He was planning on betraying Demona anyway that's why he created Delilah. Why respect Demona wishes with Angela? Did he think the other male clones would be easier to control without another female gargoyle?

Greg responds...

Your premise is incorrect.

When would Thailog have had the opportunity to gather Angela's DNA (before Clan-Building, I mean)? He got Elisa's DNA from one of Demona's mosquitos. We saw that in the episode. One presumes he got Demona's the same way. That is, the mosquitos were released and took a blood sample. It's not like Demona could tell them whom to bite. Her only control was to NOT release a mosquito. So when Angela was around, she didn't release one.

Response recorded on June 05, 2009

Bookmark Link

Heather writes...

Just curious, who taught Goliath to read? He proved to be an avid book lover from the start of series and there were some pretty good classics in there. :)

Greg responds...

Demona.

Response recorded on May 28, 2009

Bookmark Link

Greg Bishansky writes...

And, since I haven't asked a "Gargoyles" question in a while, I figure... why not.

You've said in the past that Demona still carries a torch for Goliath. Now, some have disagreed considering how often she's tried to kill him. But, I see it. I think it is most apparent in "Hunter's Moon Part Two"

When they were trapped in the Hunters' airship and Goliath was talking about vengeance, and shortly after seemed to kill one of the Hunters along with her. Demona seemed... excited... aroused even.

Granted, she still didn't tell him about her master plan, but... she seemed to me to think that maybe she would finally get through to him.

So, was she hoping to finally get her man back once it was all over? Obviously, we all know that even if Demona had succeeded, he'd never have gone back to Demona, but the way she's animated there and the way Marina Sirtis performed her dialogue definitely suggests to me that her attraction to Goliath is alive and... not sure if I'm going to say well, but it's definitely there.

Greg responds...

I definitely think it's there, but I'm not at all sure she recognizes or is capable of acknowledging her true feelings.

Response recorded on May 27, 2009

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OTHELLO writes...

In the "City of Stone" Part 1. How does Demona restrain Owen into a chair when shes speaking the "Stone By Night" spell?

Greg responds...

This has been answered before. I'll refer you to the ASK GREG archives and to my ramble on that episode.

Response recorded on April 06, 2009

Bookmark Link

Neil writes...

In the episode "Temptation" Demona tells Brooklyn about the horrors she's seen. Does that mean she has seen true tragedies like the Holocaust, the various wars and serieal killers?

Greg responds...

Use your imagination.

Response recorded on October 17, 2008

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Chris writes...

What would Demona do if she knew how Elisa Maza stopped Macbeth from killing her, and how she told Angela that she was her mother when Goliath refused to do so?

Greg responds...

Let's find out...

Someday.

Response recorded on October 02, 2008

Bookmark Link

Kevin Shane writes...

Why did Toon Disney remove the word "terrorist" from Goliath's conversation with the Weird Sisters in the episode "City of Stone-Part I?" Did "terrorist" take on a new meaning after 9/11? I thought this was puerile editing to the dialogue because I think it's important to refer to Demona as a terrorist.

Greg responds...

I agree with you generally. But you've also answered your own question.

Response recorded on September 16, 2008

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Chip writes...

You've indicated in the past that Demona probably knows about the London Clan. Does the London Clan know about Demona?

Greg responds...

One's as likely as the other.

Response recorded on September 10, 2008

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Katie writes...

I just watched a rerun of "Mark of the Panther" and it made me wonder about the exact interactions between lycanthropes and gargoyles in the gargoyles universe. I'll just limit it to a few questions, though.

1. Is Demona techinically a were-goyle/were-human? And is it possible for her to pass this condition on either through natural heredity or exchange of blood?

2. Can gargoyles become lycanthropes? If so, what gargoyle features would they retain, if any, when in wereform?

3. Is it possible to clone a lycanthrope and have the copy retain the original's 'abilities'?

Thanks a ton for taking the time to read this! I really appreciate it!

Greg responds...

1. Technically, "werewolf" means man-wolf, or so I'm told. So I guess Demona is technically a were-gargoyle. I guess. As to her passing it on by blood exchange, no. As to her passing it on via heredity, I'm not answering that at this time.

2. Gargoyles are as vulnerable or NOT as anyone.

3. Depends.

Response recorded on August 25, 2008

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DarkFae writes...

Since Demona turns into a human by day, courtesy of Puck in "The Mirror" (awesome episode), would she still lay eggs like a normal gargoyle or have liveborn offspring? Would it depend on her form at the time? What she mated with?

Greg responds...

Form at the time.

Response recorded on August 19, 2008

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THE BIG BAD NEWS (and a little bit of good news).

THE BIG BAD NEWS (and a little bit of good news).

As many of you have probably heard, we found out Saturday (7/26/08) at San Diego ComicCon that the GARGOYLES (including BAD GUYS) license will not be renewed after it expires on 8-31-08.

Just to be very, very clear... this is NOT the result of poor sales. GARGOYLES is still one of the best selling book SLG publishes (if not THE best). BAD GUYS doesn't do too badly either by SLG standards. Of course, delays didn't help sales... and there are probably other factors that reduced the upside -- including the writing -- but none of that is the point.

According to SLG's President, Publisher and Owner Dan Vado, the Disney execs told him that the money they were taking in did not justify their administrative costs. So they raised the license renewal fee to a rate that put it beyond SLG's reach. (Dan had hoped to renew both Gargoyles and Haunted Mansion -- though not Tron or Wonderland -- but neither book will now be picked up.)

I don't know what effect recent announcements about Kingdom Comics and Boom! Comics had on this decision. Dan was told one thing had nothing to do with the other. No one at either company has approached me about doing Gargoyles, and I don't know that there will be any interest now that the license is coming to an end.

That's the bad news. But there is a bit of a silver lining.

There will be NO STORY INTERRUPTUS!!

We will finish both GARGOYLES: Clan-Building and BAD GUYS: Redemption. That's the equivalent of seven more issues of material.

BAD GUYS #4 should be out next week. The book is done and has been done for some time. It's been sent to the printers.

GARGOYLES #9 will hopefully be out next month. David is done with the art. All that remains is for Robby to color it and David to letter it -- tasks that both these gentlemen have proven able to do with great speed.

Whether or not the remaining issues (BAD GUYS #5-6 and GARGOYLES #10-12) are published as individual issues is a bit up in the air. BAD GUYS #5 and GARGOYLES #10 have decent (if long) shots at getting out in time. But whatever doesn't get out as individual issues will still be scripted, drawn, colored or toned, lettered and published as "BONUS MATERIAL" in individual trade paperbacks that will collect GARGOYLES: Clan-Building Volume II and BAD GUYS: Redemption. And these compilations WILL come out! There's still a lot of work to be done. (Personally, I still need to script Gargoyles #11-12.) So I WON'T take this moment to thank everyone and say au revoir. That'll come later. For now, we're still a going concern.

In addition, Dan hasn 't given up on us. He wants to put out these two new trades and keep all three trades available for sale (and btw we sold a bunch of the trades at ComicCon -- when I left Sunday at 1pm, hours before close of con, we only had a handful of Clan-Building Volume I left to sell). After a year, he hopes to go back to Disney with a different, perhaps more modest offer to do Gargoyles Graphic Novels. Might work out. Might not. But he's still game and just in case it isn't 100% clear...

GREG WEISMAN HAS NOT GIVEN UP!!!!!!!!!!

I'm as determined as ever -- if not moreso -- to continue bringing you canon Gargoyles stories. The eighteen issues we've done/are doing have only whetted my appetite! I'm still going to be out here swinging... for more comics or graphic novels, for the DVD releases, for a live action film, etc. But I can't do it alone! So please don't you guys give up on Gargoyles either!

Remember, a few years ago, we didn't even have this. In that time, we will have brought you two big arcs, six big stories, eighteen "episodes" and numerous sub-plots, plot-twists, new characters and old familiar favorites. Would we have Shari, Quincy, Coco, Amp, etc. if the fans haven't kept the faith?! No. Would we grok the Illuminati number system?! No. Would we have seen Goliath and Elisa declare their love?! NOPE!!! (Oh, and for those of you who wish Demona could have figured more prominently in the comic... well, guys do you really think I'd do a twelve issue re-introductory story arc in Gargoyles without prominently including the crazy red head? Please.)

So what can YOU do? Well, nothing's changed on that front, really. We still need people to buy comics, trades, DVDs, HOT TOPIC T-Shirts. We still need people to attend the GATHERING. (Check out www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com ) And whether or not you've spent all the disposable income you have to spend on the property, then help us SPREAD THE WORD!!!! Make sure every gargoyle fan knows about what's out there. Show friends the first 39 episodes on DVD. Lend them the comics or trades. Create converts.

And mostly... just keep the faith.


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Tay writes...

In the episode Long Way to Morning, when Demona, Goliath, and Hudson turn to stone, why does Demona's cannon turn to stone too?

Greg responds...

She obviously regarded it as an extension of herself at that moment.

Response recorded on July 22, 2008

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Kristin writes...

Gargoyles when always turn to stone to 'sleep' but Why? and what sort of effect does the removal of such sleep (such as Puck's 'human form spell on Demona) do to their bodies? Demona turned into a Gargoyle when the sun went down, but does it mean she has a human or a Gargoyle sleep cycle, or does the change 'restore' her body as if she slept?

Greg responds...

As I've noted before, Puck's magic compensates to some extent for Demona.

Response recorded on July 14, 2008

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jean-michel writes...

hello, i'm a french fan so first i want to apologize for my english. My question is: why demona choose to use a name given to her by humans despite her hatred towards human beings?
Thanks for your answer and congrutalation for your job both on tv show and comics.

Greg responds...

She liked what the name invoked. And at the time, she liked Macbeth, who named her. Later, she was... addicted to it.

Response recorded on June 13, 2008

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Matthew writes...

In "High Noon", MacBeth stops Demona from killing Elisa and the Gargoyles as they slept. Now I get Demona wanting to kill Elisa, but why did she want to kill the Gargoyles? That would be exterminating the rest of her species. I mean I could see her killing them to keep them from thwarting one of her plans, but just killing for revenge is a bit odd.

Greg responds...

Isn't it though? I'm sure she'd say she was being necessarily preemptive.

Response recorded on May 28, 2008

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Gipdac writes...

Seeing "Reckoning" when Demona was explaining to Angela how she survived over a thousand years made me think, how much does anyone really know about her immortality; for example during "City of Stone" she lied to Xanatos about it, so…
1. How much of Demona's true story (about MacBeth, her immortality, the Weird Sisters, her clan after Wyvern, the Hunter(s), etc.) does Angela really know?
2. How much does Thailog know about Demona's true story?
3. How much does Xanatos know about Demona's true story?
4. How much does Puck/Owen know about Demona's true story?
5. How much do Goliath and the rest of the Manhattan clan know about Demona's true story?

Greg responds...

1. Very little.

2. Very little.

3. Very little.

4. Quite a bit.

5. Very little.

Response recorded on May 21, 2008

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Antiyonder writes...

One point that Todd Jensen has voiced about The Goliath Chronicles episode Generations is how viewed by itself it would give Demona some validity as it contained no decent human throughout the episode (The major human characters appearing were some Quarrymen and an Assassin that planned to exterminate Goliath and clan as well as double crossing Demona). So I was wondering if the inclusion of a human protagonist (Someone proving that not all humans are a threat to the Gargoyles) in any Demona story was always a conscious decision you had or just one of those ideas that write themselves (something that came naturally).

Greg responds...

A little from column A and a little from column B.

Response recorded on May 08, 2008

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Marjorie writes...

Did Thailog know about Demona's plan to wipe out humanity with the virus and the praying gargoyle? If the answer is no, do you think Thailog would have supported Demona's plan if they hadn't split up in Reckoning?

Greg responds...

I doubt Thailog would have been happy. There's too much Xanatos in him.

Response recorded on April 23, 2008

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Beatrice writes...

I've heard you hate what if questions, but I have a question that's been rattling in my head...

Puck's spell has her turn human in day and gargoyle at night. So my question is if she were to have another child, would it be affected by the spell? And if not is it because Puck's spell directed at her?

Greg responds...

This has been answered before. Check the ASK GREG archives.

Response recorded on April 15, 2008

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Mich writes...

I got a few about demona...

1- even though demona has had a hard long run at life, will she ever measure up to her mistakes? i mean a thousand years of repeating them is enough...and its kinda sad that she lost everything she everloved because of it.
2- isnt it kind of hypocritical that she hates humans because they hurt her kind so much...when she kinda sprung that when she herself hurt a human who was innocent due to what happened at the castle back then...thus creating the hunter. Will she realize how stupid that is...i know its unlikely but some ppl are bound to find things out eventually.
3- its very irksome how she's running away from her problems and blaming humans for stuff she caused...its like saying how one person in one country hits another person in another country and the person who got hit assumes instantly that everyone in the other country is as bad as the one who hit them and goes on a killing spree on people who didn't do anything with it. With this concept in mind...doesnt that make demona the most human like gargoyle of all? she's turned into the very thing she hates....
4- will demona and macbeth ever be free from that binding spell?

Greg responds...

1. What's the question exactly?

2. Again, what's the question? Is she hypocritical? Yes, very much so.

3. Gotta say, these seem more like comments posing as questions. Which is fine. Next time just make comments.

4. I'm not revealing this at this time.

Response recorded on March 31, 2008

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David writes...

I haven't had a chance to get to my comic store yet, but they're holding a copy of Clan Building Volume One for me.

I was watching City of Stone last night and I was wondering something. How close were Demona and Macbeth before she betrayed him? Was she his best friend? Was he hers? Did Demona consider him as close to her as her clan? Or am I seeing something that;s not there, and were they just allies?

Thank you for answering my questions.

-D

Greg responds...

They were allies, but I think they truly valued each other.

Response recorded on February 07, 2008

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Meg writes...

Greg, I just have a quick question about Demona's attitude towards Angela. Specifically, what makes *Demona* care so much that Angela is her biological daughter? I get why Angela thinks it's a big deal, but Goliath had to "learn" to think in that way, and his attitude is more traditional among the clan. Presumably, Demona should have the same type of attitude. What then makes Demona value Angela as her blood daughter as well as rookery daughter almost immediately in a way that seemed to take Goliath forever?

Greg responds...

Demona was ALWAYS a bit atypical of gargoyles, even back in the tenth century. Plus she's spent centuries inundated by humanity's biological offspring imperative.

But really, all that's beside the point. As with Goliath, she might regard all the Avalon Clan as her children. But Angela is the only one she KNOWS about.

Response recorded on February 05, 2008

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FEBRUARY 3

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

February 3rd...

1995
It is still snowing as an armed assailant robs Mr. Jaffe's local grocery store, a childhood haunt of Matt Bluestone's. Goliath accompanies Elisa Maza on her shift, gliding above her car. David Xanatos and Demona revivify Coldstone from pieces of Othello, Desdemona and Iago. Coldstone makes a splashy public entrance in Time Square, where he's confronted by Goliath and the Trio. When Demona, Xanatos and a Steel Clan robot join Coldstone, the battle moves to the George Washington Bridge, where Elisa, Hudson and Bronx soon join the fray. Coldstone sacrifices himself to save Goliath and winds up dormant at the bottom of the river. Goliath and the other gargoyles rededicate themselves to protecting all of Manhattan.


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Derek writes...

Is Demona smarter than Lexington?

Greg responds...

In what sense?

Response recorded on January 23, 2008

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JANUARY 22

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 22nd...

1996
"Dominique Destine" marries "Lennox Macbeth". But as the sun sets, Macbeth learns the truth when Dominique transforms back into Demona. She quickly renders him unconscious. But when Thailog arrives, he secretly helps Macbeth escape. His plan is for Macbeth and Demona to kill each other so that he will inherit both their fortunes. Elisa Maza intervenes by temporarily "killing" both of them. Demona flees with Thailog, but Macbeth and the gargoyles declare a truce. Later, Elisa and the gargoyles take the skiff back to Avalon.


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Greg Bishansky writes...

Just a silly little question. Obviously, Thailog makes his residence in the Nightstone building. So far we've seen a throne room, and we've seen a jacuzzi. Thailog is quite the hedonist, isn't he? Doesn't surprise me, he always came off as one to me. My question is, are these new? New as in, since "Hunters Moon"? Or were they there when Demona was running the place, if so, did she make use of them? The throne doesn't seem her style, she's never come across as all that much of a hedonist to me.

Greg responds...

Keep in mind that the building was largely outfitted while Demona was in prison in the Labyrinth.

Response recorded on January 21, 2008

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JANUARY 21

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 21st...

1995
Goliath, Hudson and Demona turn to stone mid-battle. When the sun sets, Goliath awakens healed. Demona is forced to flee.

1996
Elisa Maza and the gargoyles arrive in Paris during the day. Elisa starts to call her parents, but when she spots Macbeth and Demona together, she follows them to Macbeth's Chateau. Then she follows Demona to Notre Dame Cathedral, where she loses her trail. After sundown, she rejoins the gargoyles and fills them in. Goliath attempts to confront Demona at the Cathedral and is surprised to find her allied (and apparently in love) with Thailog. Angela overhears their confrontation and realizes that Demona is her biological mother. Goliath and his friends depart. Demona informs Thailog that she has successfully set up their new international corporation: Nightstone Unlimited, owned and operated by Dominique Destine and "Alexander" Thailog.


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JANUARY 20

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 20th...

1995
Demona attempts to poison Elisa Maza in order to lure Goliath to his doom. Knowing it's a trap, Goliath and Hudson take the bait in the hope they can reason with Demona. Demona shoots Goliath, and Hudson struggles to keep him alive and protect him from Demona until sunrise.

1996
Halcyon Renard puts his own soul inside the Golem's body, and his newfound power quickly goes to his head. Ultimately, however, he is made to see the error of his ways, and he returns the Golem to Max Loew, who uses it against Tomas Brod. Renard offers to take the travelers back to New York. But Goliath has concluded that there is a purpose to their travels. They return to Avalon to continue their odyssey.


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JANUARY 9

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 9th...

1996
Dominique Destine has an "accidental" encounter with Lennox Macbeth.


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JANUARY 3

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 3rd...

1995
Macbeth attacks the gargoyles at the Eyrie Building, capturing Lexington, Brooklyn and Bronx. Elisa Maza, who is largely recovered but still on crutches from being shot, again tries to convince Goliath to leave the castle. He won't listen, but after Goliath departs to find the others, she manages to convince Hudson and Broadway that the castle is no longer their home. They take the Grimorum Arcanorum from Owen Burnett and leave the castle. Meanwhile, Bronx escapes and leads Goliath back to Macbeth's mansion. Macbeth and Goliath battle, Macbeth revealing that his true target is Demona. Macbeth's mansion is damaged by fire, and the gargoyles escape.

1996
The travelers depart Avalon again, arriving on Queen Florence Island off the west coast of Canada, where they immediately encounter Grandmother in the form of a Sea Monster. Elisa is separated from the others and washes ashore, where she is found by Grandmother and Natsilane, the chief of the local Haida band. Elisa is alive, but gravely ill. Grandmother helps heal her. That night, Goliath, Angela and Bronx encounter Raven posing as a gargoyle.


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JANUARY 2

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 2nd...

1996
The Captain has a change of heart and rescues Goliath. The Captain's spirit ascends. Hakon is trapped alone in the caverns below Wyvern. The quartet of travelers return to Avalon so that they may attempt to find Manhattan again. Meanwhile in Paris, Demona encounters Thailog. They quickly form an alliance.


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JANUARY 1

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

January 1st...

1996
King Arthur leaves Avalon on his own to explore the world. The Weird Sisters are forced to release Macbeth and Demona from their thrall. Goliath pushes his unconscious foes off of Avalon. They land in Paris, where Demona awakens first, sees Macbeth unconscious and flees. Minutes later, a confused Macbeth regains consciousness. Realizing where he is, he retreats to his Chateau on Paris' famous Left Bank. (Neither retain any memories of events that have taken place between November 12th, 1995 and January 1st, 1996.) Meanwhile, Goliath takes possession of the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate, then releases the Weird Sisters, who vanish. Goliath leaves Tom, Katharine and Gabriel in charge of Avalon and the Avalon Clan. Only Angela chooses to join Goliath, Elisa and Bronx aboard the skiff. They begin their "World Tour" while attempting to find their way home from Avalon. Avalon sends Goliath, Elisa, Angela and Bronx to Wyvern Hill in Scotland. There the ghosts of Hakon and the Captain attempt to drive Goliath insane and steal his life force.


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DECEMBER 30

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

December 30th...

1995
Macbeth and Demona attack the humans and gargoyles at Oberon's Palace, while the Magus faces off against the Weird Sisters at the Hollow Hill, and Goliath and Angela seek out the Archmage at the Grotto. At first things look grim, but Princess Katharine defeats Demona with help from Ophelia, the Guardian, Elisa Maza, Gabriel, Bronx and Boudicca. King Arthur Pendragon also defeats Macbeth, and the Magus captures the Weird Sisters, though it fatally weakens him. Goliath battles the Archmage, who uses the Phoenix Gate to bounce them around through Time and Space. But the Archmage cannot shake Goliath, and returns to the present, where Goliath succeeds in removing the Eye of Odin from his brow. Without the Eye, the energy from the Grimorum Arcanorum burns the Archmage to death from the inside out. The battle is over.


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Shadow Wing writes...

In "City of Stone, Part 3," when young Canmore attacked Demona after the battle, was that just a disguised attempt to get the Hunter's mask, or was he actually trying to hurt her?

Greg responds...

A little from column A and a little from column B. -- Abe Simpson.

Response recorded on December 18, 2007

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DECEMBER 5

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

December 5th...

1995
The two Archmages reunite outside Avalon with the Weird Sisters, who have brought Demona, Macbeth, the Eye of Odin, the Phoenix Gate and The Grimorum Arcanorum. The three talismans are given to the "younger" of the two Archmages, and he is transformed into a double of his future self. They enter Avalon and prepare to attack its inhabitants.


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Linda Rose writes...

Q1.) Since Owen was absent during Cloud Fathers. Have you any thoughts on how you think Puck/Owen would have reacted to Xanatos's intent on capturing Coyote? (Considering how the Puck initially seemed to take been captured himself by Demona. Is that why he was left out of the episode?)

Q2a.) Why did not the Puck include Owen the illusion in Future Tense?
Q2b.) Have you any thoughts on how Puck would he have explained Owen's absence if Goliath had asked what became of him?

Q3.) I noticed the Egyptian slave manacles on the Pucks arms.
Was this meant to represent the fact that Oberon treats Puck more like a slave than a servant or did they just look cool in the drawings?

Q4.) It's been mentioned that Puck resets Owens age to the point of His and Xanatos's original 'Lifetime of loyal Owen service deal' agreement every time he transforms back and forth, from Puck to return to Owen.
But if Alex where to die and consequently Owen could never again become the Puck, would this result in Owen growing old and the Puck/Owen dying?
(Baring any intervention that is.)

Q5.) Did Puck/Owen's 'Lifetime of loyal Owen service, with no interference from the Puck Deal' come before or after Xanatos's and Demona's introduction meeting and resulting alliance?

Q6.) If 'before' was the answer to the question above… You have stated and it is hinted in the show that Demona knew Owen was Puck and when asked how, you stated that Puck/Owen introduced her and Xanatos.
But for Demona to know this wouldn't it have meant that Puck had revealed his true identity to Demona?
Wouldn't this be breaking the 'no interference from the Puck' in the terms of the 'Lifetime of loyal Owen service deal' he made with Xanatos?
Or the no meddling rules of lord Oberon?

Thank You in Advance. :)

Greg responds...

1. Owen was in New York, running things for David. I'll leave his potential (Puckish) reaction to your imagination, but I doubt in his "role" as Owen that he would have reacted at all.

2a. What purpose would it have served? (Owen's voice is in there, though.)

2b. Haven't given it any thought.

3. You'd have to ask the designer.

4. Hypothetically, yes.

5. Before.

6. Demona knows his identity. I won't go into the circumstances of that knowledge at this time.

Response recorded on November 16, 2007

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NOVEMBER 14

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 14th...

1995
After another shift, Elisa returns to the Clock Tower just before sunrise, where she's confronted by Demona and witnesses her change into a human being. Demona challenges Elisa to save the gargoyles. Meeting the challenge, Elisa shows up at Belvedere Castle at high noon to confront the trio of villains. Elisa fights the human Demona, while Othello and Desdemona internally challenge Iago. Othello wins control of Coldstone's body and turns against Macbeth, who is forced to flee with Demona. Coldstone, fearing for the safety of his clanmates as long as Iago exists within him, departs Manhattan. Back at Macbeth's mansion, the Weird Sisters reassert their control over Macbeth and Demona, revealing that they were behind the theft of the three magical objects.

1996
12:28am EST - [withheld]

12:33am EST - [withheld]

12:37am EST - [withheld]

12:40am EST - [withheld]

2:20am EST - [withheld]

2:28am EST - [withheld]

5:42am EST - [withheld]

1:32pm EST - [withheld]

1:34pm EST - [withheld]

7:00pm EST - [withheld]

7:05pm EST - [withheld]

7:06pm EST - [withheld]

7:08pm EST - [withheld]

7:09pm EST - [withheld]

7:11pm EST - [withheld]

7:12pm EST - [withheld]

7:17pm EST - [withheld]

7:18pm EST - [withheld]

8:06pm EST - [withheld]

8:07pm EST - [withheld]

8:31pm EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 13

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 13th...

1994
Elisa Maza uses the spell from the Grimorum Arcanorum to -- for all intents and purposes -- free Goliath's mind.

1995
At dawn, after a long night on duty, Elisa follows Macbeth and a human Demona up to the Clock Tower. They knock her out and steal Coldstone, in order to distract the clan from realizing that they've also stolen the Eye of Odin, the Grimorum and the Phoenix Gate. At sundown, Demona transforms back into a gargoyle and reawakens Coldstone with the evil Iago personality in control. Meanwhile, Elisa fills in the gargoyles, who sneak into Macbeth's mansion to recover Coldstone - only to be betrayed and captured. Meanwhile, Tony Dracon is released on bail and begins tightening his grip on the protection racket in Manhattan.

1996
5:40am EST - [withheld]

12:32pm EST - [withheld]

12:33pm EST - [withheld]

6:46pm EST - [withheld]

6:47pm EST - [withheld]

6:51pm EST - [withheld]

6:52pm EST - [withheld]

6:53pm EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 12

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 12th...

1035
King Canute of England dies, widowing Emma for the second time. He is succeeded by Harold Harefoot, his son by his first wife Elfgiva .

1994
Elisa informs Goliath that Xanatos will be out of jail soon. (In order to make a point, she exaggerates and says he'll be out in a month, when in fact it's closer to two.) Brooklyn steals the Grimorum Arcanorum for Demona. Then he lures Goliath to the Cloisters, where Demona casts a spell on Goliath that enslaves him to her will. Brooklyn realizes his error and takes control of Goliath away from her. Demona manages to get away with a few pages from the Grimorum.

1995
Xanatos, his Steel Clan Robots and the gargoyles depart the castle wearing packs that will distribute a harmless gas that can be ignited to make it look like the sky is on fire. After they leave, Demona reveals her presence. Demona attempts to sabotage Xanatos' plan, but Macbeth confronts Demona, determined to end both their lives. Xanatos and Goliath return to see the Weird Sisters disable both Demona and Macbeth and depart with them. The sky is set ablaze, and the humans are freed from the spell just before the sun rises on a new day.

1996
5:39am EST - [withheld]

5:00pm EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 11

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 11th...

1994
Lex finishes fixing the motorcycle, and Brooklyn takes it for a ride. He is attacked by a motorcycle gang that destroys the bike. Demona comes to his aid and convinces him that humans are a danger to the clan. He agrees to help her make Goliath see the truth through magic. Xanatos' jail sentence is officially recorded. It immediately becomes clear to Elisa that he will only have to serve half of his sentence, after time off for good behavior. Elisa finds a good home for the gargoyles in the Clock Tower above her precinct house.

1995
Everyone converges at PackMedia Studios. Xanatos puts an end to the broadcast, but the spell is still in force. Macbeth attacks Demona, but she escapes. Goliath and Xanatos agree to team up to defeat Demona and end the spell. At dawn, the gargoyles all turn to stone. At the same time, the transformed humans become flesh again, without any memory of what had happened to them. Owen informs Xanatos that they need to set the sky on fire to break the spell. They begin preparations to do just that. When Elisa learns that the broadcast originated at the Xanatos-owned PackMedia Studios, she confronts Owen at the Eyrie Building. Both turn to stone at sundown. Shortly thereafter, the gargoyles arrive.

1996
5:38am EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 10

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 10th...

1995
Macbeth sees enough of the broadcast to realize what Demona is up to. Elisa goes to the Clock Tower to wait for the gargoyles to awaken. At sundown, Owen, Fox and Elisa (as well as most of the humans in Manhattan) turn to stone. The gargoyles awaken at sundown and discover Elisa and the other stone humans. (Thailog also awakens at sundown. With no one at the castle to warn him, he watches Demona's spell on television and immediately turns to stone. He will remain stone in the television room, 24 hours a day until the spell is broken. But he has had his first exposure to Demona.) The gargoyles stop at Robbins' house. Being blind, he was unaffected by Demona's spell. They begin to search the city for Demona, who's on a killing spree, destroying stone humans in the streets. Separately, Macbeth and Xanatos also seek Demona.

1996
5:37am EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 9

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 9th...

1995
The city honors Peter Choy and Rosaria Sanchez. Terrorists take hostages (including Brendan & Margot) at a bank. The gargoyles intervene and have their first encounter with the Weird Sisters. Wolf sees television coverage of the bank robbery and decides that he and the Pack are going to turn to a life of crime. Meanwhile, Demona and Xanatos initiate their plan to secure immortality by stealing a minute of life from everyone who watches their hijacked broadcast. However, Demona was fooling Xanatos, and actually succeeds in using the broadcast to turn everyone who watches into stone at night. Owen, Fox, Elisa and most of the humans in Manhattan see the broadcast. Xanatos does not watch.

1996
5:36am EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 6

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 5th...

1994
Owen tells Xanatos the results of his Gargoyles vs. The Pack experiment. With Fox and Wolf under arrest, The Pack television series is quickly cancelled. Dingo flees to Europe.

1995
Fox arrives at the Eyrie with Xanatos' father, Petros. That night, Goliath decides to attend the wedding. He brings his half of the Phoenix Gate along. Fox and David are married. Demona tricks Goliath into giving her his half of the Gate. She then uses it to travel back in time to the year 975. Goliath, David, Fox and Petros Xanatos go too. Seconds later, they return, having fulfilled their roles in the time-stream. That same night, Thailog, who had intentionally been kept hidden from Goliath, initiates his plan to steal $20 million from Xanatos.

1996
5:32am EST - [withheld]

6:00am EST - [withheld]


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NOVEMBER 5

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 5th...

1994
Lexington convinces Goliath to meet the Pack. But the Pack attempts to hunt Goliath and Lex down. The gargoyles manage to turn the tables. Fox and Wolf are arrested.

1995
Xanatos sends word through Elisa that he wants to talk to Goliath. Assuming the worst, Goliath attacks Xanatos atop the Goldencup Bakery Building. After a brief struggle, Xanatos stops the fight and asks Goliath to be best man at his wedding to Fox the next night. Xanatos also promises that Demona will be at the wedding.

1996
3:00am EST - [withheld]

5:31am EST - [withheld]


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Todd Jensen writes...

In "Hunter's Moon Part Two", when the Canmores are debating whether or not to attack the clock tower, Robyn Canmore explains that they can't simply go in and smash the gargoyles in their stone sleep during the daytime, because they might have learned from Demona how to become human during the day. The Hunters then talk uneasily about how the gargoyles could turn into humans and there'd be no way of telling what they really are then.

I realized this evening, when I remembered that scene, how this echoes the nature of the Hunters themselves. Because they wear those hooded masks to conceal their true identities, it's similarly almost impossible to tell that they're Hunters in their everyday lives; even Elisa never realizes that her new partner is one of the Hunters until she unhoods him at the start of Part Three. Since you've mentioned before about how one of the keys to making a great antagonist is to give him or her qualities that echo the nature of the protagonist - was the Hunters' discussion about how the gargoyles, if they could take on human form, could blend in with the human population without being recognized, intended as a means of reflecting their own double identities?

Greg responds...

Generally, yes. More specifically it was about me trying to build John Castaway (long term) into the anti-Demona or another Demona or however you want to put it. Which is the mask? The Quarryman hood or the slicked back hair and mustache?

Response recorded on November 02, 2007

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Matt writes...

Hey Greg,

Well, there seems to be some confusion over what exactly is going on at Nightstone Unlimited. Maybe some of the confusion is intentional on your part to keep us guessing, but the fact that you were clarifying some facts at the GargWiki suggest to me that we are all not on the same page. So, in an attempt to figure out whats up, I have some questions. I'll totally understand if you won't/can't answer some/all of these. I wouldn't want to you to reveal anything before you are ready.

1. Okay, in "Hunter's Moon" it seemed pretty obvious that Ms. Destine was running Nightstone. No one was sure if Mr. Thailog had survived the Coney Island fire yet, so there is no issue here, I guess. My question is does Demona know as of "Invitation Only" that Thailog is alive? If so, when/how did she find out?

2. Was Nightstone Unlimited ALWAYS Thailog's and Demona only took it over when he was assumed dead?

3. Has Demona returned to Nightstone since "Hunter's Moon"?

4. Is Sevarius an employee of Nightstone now, or is he just doing occasional contract jobs for Thailog?

5. Has Sevarius heard from Demona since "Hunter's Moon"?

6. Is there anything else you feel like telling us about the whole Thailog/Demona Nightstone situation? Did Thailog and Demona have a prenup or something? The transition from their business to her business to his business is just kinda hard to figure out.

Thanks Greg!

Greg responds...

1. No comment.

2. Nightstone Unlimited belonged to both of them. Dominique never had Alexander Thailog declared deceased. Since no one ever saw the reclusive tycoon anyway, there didn't seem to be any point.

3. No.

4. He's pulling in a salary.

5. Not that he's mentioned.

6. There's no transition, really. They jointly held/hold title. He vanished for a time, and she took sole control. Now she's vanished, and he's taken sole control. As for what the future holds... well, that would be telling.

Response recorded on November 01, 2007

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NOVEMBER 1

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

November 1st...

975
Using the Phoenix Gate, Goliath, Demona, David Xanatos, Petros Xanatos and Fox come back in time from the year 1995. Demona immediately uses the Gate to disappear again. Xanatos saves the life of Princess Elena of Normandy. He is rewarded with a coin, which he gives to the Norman Ambassador, a fellow member of the Illuminati Society. The 1995 Goliath encounters the 975 Hudson. The 975 Demona is studying under the Archmage as his apprentice. He instructs her to steal the Phoenix Gate from Princess Elena, which she does. But then she is confronted by the 1995 Demona and Goliath. After a brief trip for all three to 994, the 975 Demona returns them to her time and winds up on the outs with the Archmage. She breaks the Phoenix Gate in two and gives half of it to the 975 Goliath at the wedding of Malcolm and Elena. Meanwhile, all the 1995 participants return to their own time.

1975
David Xanatos receives an anonymous gift of a medieval coin worth $20 grand. It is the start of his fortune, and was actually sent to David by his 1995 counterpart, via the Illuminati Society from the year 975.

1995
A fully-grown Thailog is released from his maturation chamber and takes up residence at the Eyrie Building. Xanatos receives a letter from the Illuminati Society. It is from himself, sent in the year 975. It explains that he sent himself the medieval coin that was the basis of all his wealth. The letter also explains how he set this all up by turning his wedding to Fox into a time travel excursion to 975.

1996
Xanatos gets a new assignment from Quincy and the Illuminati. Hudson confirms he is a gargoyle to Robbins. Thailog and the clones fight the Manhattan Clan. During the battle, Thailog gets DNA samples from Goliath, Angela, Broadway, Lexington, Elisa, Brooklyn, Hudson and Bronx. Delilah, Malibu, Burbank and Hollywood reject Thailog, but Brentwood chooses to depart with him. Thailog gives the DNA to Sevarius and gains a new personal assistant, Shari. Doctor Sato treats Goliath. Goliath and Elisa declare their love for each other.


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OCTOBER 31

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 31st...

1994
In part because both he and Elisa want to conceal the gargoyles' existence, Xanatos and the D.A.'s office agree to a plea bargain. He pleads guilty to the sole count of Receiving Stolen Property. He will be sentenced to six months in county jail including time served, with every hope that the sentence will be reduced to three months for good behavior.

1995
Xanatos confronts Fox and attempts to get the Eye back from her. She transforms in front of him and escapes. Xanatos intentionally involves Goliath and Elisa in an attempt to manipulate them into helping Fox and retrieving the Eye. Goliath quickly catches on and initially refuses to help. Later that night, the Trio, Goliath, Elisa, Vinnie, Brendan and Margot all attend a Greenwich Village Halloween block party. When the Werefox attacks, Goliath and Elisa agree to help Xanatos save Fox. Together, they manage to remove the Eye from the creature, which reverts to Fox. Goliath takes possession of the Eye.

1996
Matt Bluestone convenes a meeting of the Gargoyle Taskforce (including himself, Elisa, Officers Morgan & Travanti, Detectives Harris & Chung, Margot Yale and Martin Hacker). Hacker has Illuminati meetings with Matt, Xanatos and Castaway. Morgan asks Elisa on a date. After turning him down and spending time with Jason in the hospital prison ward, she goes to the Eyrie. The gargoyles awaken at sunset. Fox has Halloween costumes for Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway and Angela in anticipation of the Masque that Xanatos is throwing later that night. Elisa breaks up with Goliath. Demona recovers the Atlantean crystal that was at the heart of the Praying Gargoyle. In, the Labyrinth, Al is showing Shari around. Goliath and Brooklyn arrive. Brooklyn wants to ask Delilah to the party, but Goliath does instead. Goliath, Brooklyn and Delilah depart. Thailog attacks. Terry Chung, Billy Greene, Susan Greene and Sarah Browne trick-or-treat at Jeffrey Robbins' home, where Hudson and Bronx are visiting. Following Illuminati orders, Xanatos takes Fox and Alexander to a party at the White House. They chat with Ambassador Chung, and David meets Illuminatus Quincy Hemings. Meanwhile, Xanatos' Masque goes on without him at the Eyrie. Attendees include Judge Roebling, Doctor Sato, Brendan, Margot, Lexington, Brooklyn, Angela and Broadway. Elisa and Morgan arrive together, as do Goliath and Delilah. Thailog, having taken the male clones from the Labyrinth, arrives to collect Delilah and stabs Goliath.

1997
Xanatos' probation expires.


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Galahad writes...

I know you don't want to go into the specifics of Samson's parentage because it doesn't matter in Gargoyle culture but from what I've read on GargWiki <http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/> about Canon-in-training characters, you've hinted that "Artus will most closely resemble Broadway and Hudson," "Gwenyvere may most closely resemble Angela and Demona," and Lancelot "may resemble Goliath to some degree." (Did they misquote you?) You've said that Samson would also resemble Goliath. Sense Lancelot, among Broadway and Angela's children, resembles Goliath the most, wouldn't it be logical for fans to assume that Samson is the son of Lancelot, who he probably resembles as they both resemble Goliath? You don't have to say if I'm right or not, just tell me whether or not my logic is flawed in some way.

Greg responds...

Well, it's not that your logic isn't... logical, but of course it is flawed. I'm sure people in most families can point to someone who doesn't particularly look like his or her parents, but could be a dead ringer for old photos of a grandparent.

Response recorded on October 29, 2007

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OCTOBER 26

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 26th...

1994
Vinnie's driver's license is revoked when he claims gargoyles smashed his motorcycle into a wall.

1995
Elisa receives the Trio's Halloween costumes. Matt, still in Dracon's custody, finds out that Mace's Silver Falcon letter has nothing to do with the Illuminati. But he decides that if he ever gets out of this situation alive, he'll continue his hunt for Mace.

1996
With Lex's help Goliath tracks the Hunters to an upstate hydroelectric dam. Goliath and Broadway battle the Hunters. Elisa tries to break up the fight, but she and Jason seemingly fall off the dam to their deaths. That day, Robyn and a vengeful Jon manage to decrypt Demona's disk and learn about her plan. The Praying Gargoyle will protect her and her kind, while the Medici Tablet, the D/I-7 and the CV-1000 will blend science and sorcery to destroy humanity. Meanwhile, some distance below the dam, Jason manages to pull Elisa to safety. The night of the Hunter's Moon, Demona, the Hunters, the gargoyles, the NYPD's Gargoyles Taskforce (GTF), the press and many bystanders all converge at St. Damien's Cathedral in Manhattan. While Demona prepares her spell, the Hunters and the other gargoyles fight. Jason and Elisa arrive, trying to call a truce. But Jon refuses. He shoots at Goliath but badly injures Jason instead. Jon flees. Goliath stops Demona by destroying the Praying Gargoyle, forcing her to abandon her plan or die herself. Demona flees, but the GTF has the rest of the gargoyles dead to rights. Suddenly, Xanatos shows up and rescues them.


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OCTOBER 25

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 25th...

1994
Officer Morgan is transferred to the 23rd Precinct.

1995
Matt Bluestone questions G.F. Benton, unaware that the man is really Dominic Dracon. Matt follows a lead from "Benton" to the location of the old Silver Falcon speakeasy, where he's captured by Tony Dracon.

1996
The Hunters trace Goliath back to the Clock Tower and blow it up. One of the Hunters pulls Elisa from the police precinct. She removes his mask and recognizes her new partner, Jason. He drugs her and leaves her in her apartment. Meanwhile, the explosion causes Maria Chavez to break her leg. The gargoyles barely survive, and Hudson and Lex are badly injured. Jon Canmore has the opportunity to destroy them, but he allows them to flee the Clock Tower. Unfortunately, Robyn forces Jon to blame the gargoyles for the Clock Tower's destruction on the television news. Now the entire city knows they exist and is hunting for them. The gargoyles hide out at Elisa's loft. That day, Elisa and Matt meet with Maria Chavez in her hospital room. They've discovered the Canmore siblings' true identities. Robyn breaks into Demona's vault, but Demona has already emptied it of everything but a computer disk. That night Goliath goes in search of the Hunters.


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OCTOBER 24

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 24th...

1994
Reconstruction of the Eyrie Building's Castle is completed.

1996
The Trio and Bronx fail to stop Demona from stealing the D/I-7. Worse yet, Goliath, Hudson and Angela are attacked by the Hunters. Angela is badly wounded. The gargoyles reconvene at the Clock Tower but are unsure if Angela will survive until dawn. Goliath vows vengeance on the Hunters. Elisa arrives just before sunrise and performs CPR, saving Angela's life. Later that morning, Dominique Destine introduces Robyn to Dr. Sevarius, who's created a carrier virus called CV-1000. Dominique places a sample of the virus in a vault beside the D/I-7, the Medici Tablet and the Praying Gargoyle. That night, Angela wakes from her stone sleep, healed. The gargoyles leave the Clock Tower to search for the Hunters. Elisa, having missed the Gargoyles, invites Jason to her loft for dinner. From her balcony, Goliath watches Jason and Elisa kiss. Angered, he, Brooklyn and Lex board the Hunter's craft alone. Once inside, they find Demona is also after the Hunters. All four gargoyles are captured, but allowed to escape.


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Shadow Wing writes...

How long has Demona had the "Dominique Destine" persona?

I assume she's used it as an alias for some time (the deed for her mansion, hiring those goons to steal Titania's Mirror, etc.).

Greg responds...

"For some time" sounds about right.

Response recorded on October 23, 2007

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Shadow Wing writes...

You've said that "Dominique" does have a navel. So, out of curiosity...

Innie or outie?

Greg responds...

Innie.

Response recorded on October 23, 2007

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OCTOBER 23

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 23rd...

1996
Just before dawn, Elisa and the gargoyles rescue a subway train full of passengers (including Brendan and Margot) from a street gang. That morning, Captain Chavez temporarily reassigns Elisa to the dayshift and partners her with Detective Jason Conover. Elisa and Jason are immediately attracted to each other. Together, they prevent thieves from stealing containers of D/I-7 from a Xanatos warehouse. That evening, Dominique Destine hires Robyn Corey as her personal assistant at Nightstone Unlimited and discovers that the thieves she hired failed to acquire the D/I-7. That night, Matt questions Xanatos about the D/I-7 and learns it is a potent but theoretically harmless disinfectant. After Matt leaves, WVRN reporter Jon Carter questions Xanatos about the gargoyles. Meanwhile, Elisa tells the gargoyles about her day with Jason. She asks for their help, and they agree to watch over the two locations where the D/I-7 is stored.


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bluewyvern writes...

Hi, Greg,

I just bought the Season 1 DVD and watched Awakening for the first time in years. Delightful as ever, but I found myself very confused by Demona's behavior.

I understand her anger at Goliath for what she saw as his short-sightedness, thwarting her plans to get the clan away from the castle and exposing them to the massacre, and her fury that he refused to support her. The confrontation at bazooka-point made sense. She failed to sway him, and at that point he became her enemy. But why was she scheming against the clan from the start? They had only just awakened, she hadn't really clashed with Goliath yet and she should have seen herself as still belonging to them -- why lie to and deceive them? Why the sinister "I'm up to something evil" look when she first saw Goliath? Shouldn't her reaction have been pure joy at being reunited with gargoyles after being alone for so long? Sure, the centuries made her bitter, but apart from revenge against humans all she ever wanted was the company of fellow gargoyles again, and they hadn't yet shown that they were against her.

It doesn't make sense to me that she would be cooperating with a human and deceiving the other gargoyles, who should have been more precious to her than anything. I can see her being wary about revealing all her history right away, thus the lie about her awakening. But what could her motivation possibly have been for colluding with Xanatos to bring the Steel Clan online? A replacement for gargoyles, to benefit humans and make gargoyles truly disposable? How does this possibly suit her ends? I was truly shocked when she proposed siccing the robots on the gargoyles. Even if she suspected that Goliath wouldn't join her and she was angry with him for his naivete, what beef could she have with the others? She wants to destroy humanity and preserve the gargoyle race at all costs. What on earth was she thinking, standing back with Xanatos and Owen and watching as the clan fought for their lives?

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I thought I had Demona pretty well sussed, but I can't make any sense of this.

Greg responds...

If she hadn't cooperated with Xanatos, the castle would never have been raised above the clouds. She had no choice. Also a thousand years of suspicion and hedging her bets is a tough habit to break. She's bitter and vengeful and suspicious and her own worst enemy. She assumed that the others would follow Goliath, and that once he was down, she could step in and take charge. You learn more about her in "City of Stone". But if it doesn't work for you, I guess it doesn't work for you.

Response recorded on October 18, 2007

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Rebel writes...

Okey dokey! In my previous post, I had far too many topics in one question, so I am hoping that I have made this particular question inclusive enough to make the cut.

Anyway, hi Greg! I have some questions about hair in Gargoyles (insignificant topic, I know). Why do the artists keep making Angela's hair brown? In the show it looks black. Brooklyn has white hair in youth, whereas in "City of Stone", Demona's red hair turned white with age...so...was Hudson's hair always white or did it change with age? If it changed, what color was it; I would like to know this for possible fan art. Will any of Demona's descendants inherit her spiky red hair? I love the color and the spiky-ness of it and I'm really hoping a major future character gets it (note I am not asking you to specify WHO gets it, just whether *someone* will). And finally, will Brooklyn's children have black hair? It seems like most of the Asian gargoyles have black hair but I'm really hoping Brooklyn's children don't, as it seems kinda over-done in the Gargoyles universe.

Greg responds...

Angela and Goliath both have dark brown hair. Sometimes colorists emphasize the brown... sometimes the dark, which makes it look black. Personally, I prefer when it's nearly black myself, but it is brown.

Brooklyn's hair is white.

Whether Hudson had white hair as a youth is something that we'll have to wait and see about.

And I'm hardly likely to reveal or even commit to hair colors for Demona's descendents or Brooklyn's children. Why tie the hands of my colorists down the road?

Response recorded on October 15, 2007

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OCTOBER 13

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 13th...

1996
When Demona refuses to allow Thailog to kill Angela, he reveals an additional clone: Delilah, created from a combination of Demona and Elisa's DNA. Demona frees Talon, Goliath and the clan. They manage to recapture Fang and take down the clones. But while fighting each other, Demona and Thailog seemingly perish in a fire. Talon offers to take the other clones back to the Labyrinth where he promises to teach them to think for themselves.


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OCTOBER 12

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 12th...

1995
Xanatos acquires the Cauldron of Life and prepares to test it by ordering the construction of a pair of Macbeth robots and a statue of Hudson. He also begins looking for a sword that will match Hudson's to be used with the statue.

1996
Relieving Talon, Goliath takes his shift guarding the Labyrinth prisoners. Thailog busts Demona and Fang out. Talon and Goliath pursue them to Coney Island. Goliath departs and quickly returns with Angela, the Trio and Hudson. All are captured by Fang, Demona, Thailog and his clones: Hollywood, Brentwood, Malibu and Burbank (made from the DNA of Broadway, Lexington, Brooklyn and Hudson, respectively).


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OCTOBER 7

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 7th...

1994
Xanatos used the data on the disks to activate his Steel Clan Robots, which he and Demona immediately set against the gargoyles. The attempt is ultimately futile; the robots are destroyed. Demona, however, gets the drop on Goliath. She reveals her name and her complicity with Castle Wyvern's Captain of the Guard. Elisa prevents Demona from killing Goliath. And Goliath once again saves Elisa's life. Demona disappears. Xanatos is arrested and thrown in jail, initially on multiple felony charges that include grand theft and industrial espionage. Due to his wealth and international connections, he is considered a flight risk and held without bail. Repair work begins immediately to restore all damage to the castle.


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OCTOBER 6

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 6th...

1994
Elisa discovers that gargoyles turn to stone during the day. She's forced to lead the Commandos away from a stone Goliath in order to protect him. She then waits by his side throughout the day, cementing their friendship. That night the Trio takes the names Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington and gives Bronx his name as well. Xanatos then reunites Goliath with Demona. Together, Demona and Xanatos convince Goliath and the clan to "retrieve" the computer disks from Cyberbiotics. Goliath and Demona attack Cyberbiotics' airship The Fortress-1, costing Vinnie his Cyberbiotics' security job in the process. The gargoyles are successful in recovering the disks. But the Cyberbiotics Underground Base (under the leadership of the Cyberbiotics Commander) is badly damaged by Hudson and Bronx. And Goliath grows disconcerted with the changes in Demona, particularly after she causes the destruction of Fortress-1. Elisa is able to convince Goliath that Xanatos has been using him, revealing that the disks were actually Cyberbiotics' property and that the Commandos were working for Xanatos.


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OCTOBER 5

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 5th...

1994
Elisa investigates, encountering first Owen, then Xanatos, then Bronx and finally Goliath. Frightened at seeing a live gargoyle for the first time, she backs away and falls off the building. Goliath saves her life, introduces her to the rest of the clan and agrees to meet her the next night. Early that morning, Xanatos asks Goliath's help to get his disks back. Goliath is reluctant to help. And unbeknownst to him, Xanatos and Demona are planning something. That night, the Trio leaves the castle to explore the city and accidentally trashes the motorcycle of a man named Vinnie. Goliath and Hudson keep the rendezvous with Elisa, who more or less gives Hudson his name. Hudson retreats to the castle with Bronx - where they discover television and lounge chairs. Meanwhile, Goliath and Elisa rescue an ungrateful Margot Yale and Brendan Quarters from muggers, before being attacked in Central Park by the Commandos from the night before.


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OCTOBER 1

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

October 1st...

994
Just before dawn, Goliath and Hudson discover that they have been following only a small contingent of Vikings; the rest must be preparing to attack the castle. The two gargoyles turn to stone before they can get back. Simultaneously, Demona nearly warns Othello and Desdemona, but changes her mind as she sees the Vikings approach. Instead, she hides at the foot of Wyvern cliff, where she turns to stone as the sun rises. Hakon attacks. The archers' sabotaged bows are useless, and the Captain opens the main gate, allowing the Vikings to enter Castle Wyvern, which is sacked. The humans, including Katharine, the Magus, Mary and Tom are led away bound. Hakon then sets about to destroy the gargoyles, including Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Hyppolyta. The Captain is "unable" to stop him. When the sun goes down again, Demona awakens to discover that the Wyvern Clan have been massacred. When she sees Goliath and Hudson returning, she cannot face them and flees before they can discover the massacre. The only other survivors seem to be the Trio and Bronx, who were in the Rookery. The survivors head for the Viking camp to take their revenge. When Hakon and the Captain hear the gargoyles approaching, they take Katharine as a hostage. The Magus mistakenly assumes that the Princess is dead. Blaming the gargoyles, he casts a spell on all but Goliath putting them to sleep "until the castle rises above the clouds." Meanwhile, Goliath confronts the Captain and Hakon atop a cliff. He rescues the Princess, and the two villains fall to their deaths. But when Goliath discovers that the rest of his clan has been turned to stone, he asks the Princess to watch over the eggs in the Rookery and asks the Magus to cast his spell one more time. Goliath is turned to stone with the others and placed atop Castle Wyvern. Demona later returns to the castle to find Goliath frozen in stone. She watches the Magus, Tom and Princess Katharine removing the eggs from Wyvern. She departs for good. Katharine dubs Tom the Guardian of the Gargoyle Eggs. Katharine, the Magus, Tom, Mary and the rest of Wyvern's human inhabitants take the eggs and leave the cursed castle to live under the protection of Katharine's uncle, King Kenneth II. Seconds later, three time travelers arrive in 994: the Demona of 1995 has brought the Demona of 975 along with the Goliath of 1995 to see the results of the massacre. But the 1995 Demona fails to convince the 975 Demona to take up her evil cause. The time travelers depart, returning to 975.

1995
Xanatos proposes to Fox and gives her the Eye of Odin as an engagement gift. She accepts both his proposal and the Eye. Alexander Fox Xanatos is most likely conceived on this night.


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SEPTEMBER 30

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 30th...

994
The Captain approaches Hakon and offers to help him take the Castle. That night, the Captain and Demona try to convince Goliath to take all the gargoyles out of the castle to make sure the Vikings leave for good. But Goliath decides to only take one other gargoyle along with him, leaving Demona in command of the others. Demona and the Captain alter their plan. Hakon will now attack during the day, when the Gargoyles are stone. The Captain swears he'll keep the Gargoyle clan safe. Meanwhile, the Trio and Bronx meet Tom, resulting in a minor altercation with Mary and the refugees. To keep the peace, Goliath sends Bronx and the Trio down to the Rookery. Demona makes one more attempt to change Goliath's mind, and Othello offers to accompany Goliath. Goliath decides to take Hudson instead. Goliath and Hudson follow the Vikings' trail. While back at the Castle, the Captain sabotages the bowstrings of his own archers.


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SEPTEMBER 29

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 29th...

500
Arthur is crowned King of Britain.

994
Hakon the Viking lays siege to Castle Wyvern, but is driven away by the Wyvern Clan of gargoyles. The Captain of the Guard invites Goliath and Demona to the celebratory feast. Princess Katharine is most seriously displeased. She demotes the Captain, declaring that from now on he will report to the Magus, who later prepares a spell to deal with the gargoyle clan, should they get out of hand. Seeing that Goliath will continue to tolerate human prejudice, Demona and the Captain find an excuse to temporarily lure the gargoyles away, so that the castle can be sacked and the humans taken away by Hakon, leaving Castle Wyvern to the gargoyles once more.

995
Michaelmas. Constantine III is so furious he initiates a plan to destroy all the gargoyles in Scotland.

1040
Macbeth is made High King of Scotland. He swears on the Stone of Destiny, to protect Scotland and serve her people. Macbeth names Demona and publicly rewards her and her gargoyles, welcoming them as his allies into his home and castle. Demona becomes his primary advisor. Thorfinn is rewarded with basic autonomy over Orkney, in practice if not in name.

1994
Xanatos inspects his castle atop the Eyrie Building. He wants everything to be perfect before he attempts to wake the gargoyles.


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SEPTEMBER 28

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 28th...

994
Tom, Mary and other refugees are given shelter from rampaging Vikings at Castle Wyvern.

995
Michaelmas Eve. Tom and the Magus get the eggs out of Edinburgh Castle. Finella drugs Constantine so that Katharine can escape, and flees with the Princess, Tom, Mary, the Magus and the eggs. The Magus brings them all to the mystic island of Avalon. He is forced to battle the Weird Sisters to achieve the island. He turns them into owls but is unable to take the Grimorum with him. Finella and Mary agree to take the book and keep it safe from Constantine. They depart. Katharine, Tom and the Magus land on Avalon with the eggs. The two time-traveling Archmages witness all this and rescue the Weird Sisters from their owl-state. The Archmages and the Sisters form an alliance. They agree to meet again in the year 1020.

1963
Vinnie Grigori is born in New York.

1980
In Paris, Demona steals the Praying Gargoyle statue from Notre Dame Cathedral. Confronted by Charles Canmore, the Hunter, she kills him and escapes. Canmore's children, Jason, Robyn and Jon swear vengeance.

1995
At midnight, Demona uses Titania's Mirror to summon Puck. They turn Elisa and all the humans in Manhattan into gargoyles and vice versa. The situation is soon reversed, but Puck arranges it so that Demona is human during the day and a gargoyle at night. Fox contacts Preston Vogel, inducing him to betray her father Halcyon Renard.

1996
Xanatos and his robots track Coldstone down in the Himalayas and disable him.


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SEPTEMBER 27

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 27th...

1995
Despite Goliath and Elisa's efforts, Demona acquires Titania's Mirror from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


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SEPTEMBER 21

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 21st...

1995
Coldstone eventually winds up standing comatose in a storage room in the Clock Tower. Xanatos gets possession of R.E.C.A.P.'s remains, including the computer virus. Macbeth has a new Hunter's mask made for himself, but is distracted from his hunt for Demona by the anticipated arrival of The Scrolls of Merlin.


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SEPTEMBER 19

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 19th...

1995
Demona is injured slightly while practicing sorcery. Macbeth, in the general vicinity, feels her pain and immediately realizes that she is somewhere in Manhattan.


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SEPTEMBER 18

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 18th...

1995
Demona first approaches David Xanatos about her plan to gain immortality by stealing one minute of life from everyone who watches their hijacked broadcast.


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SEPTEMBER 11

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

September 11th...

1995
The gargoyles and Elisa return to the Clock Tower, while back at the Eyrie Building, Xanatos and Sevarius, who had only faked his death, discuss the success of their plan. Later that day, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announces a forthcoming new medieval exhibit: "Titania's Treasures". Demona immediately begins planning to steal Titania's Mirror.


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Chris writes...

Would Demona keep on trying to kill Goliath and the others, if doing so would ruin her relationship with Angela?

Would she be willing to sacrifice her relationship with Angela if it meant accomplishing her goals?

Greg responds...

Demona has a knack for making her own life miserable. Not to mention the lives of those she most cares about. Beyond that, I'll leave these questions to your own imagination.

Response recorded on August 30, 2007

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Chris writes...

What would Demona think of Alan Weisman's novel "The World Without Us"?

Greg responds...

I have no idea. Haven't read it myself. Never heard of it actually.

Response recorded on August 30, 2007

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Theodore writes...

Would you say that it was Demona's fault for creating the Hunter, since it was she who mutilated the young boy's face? I've heard that the boy had an inner darkness inside him, but didn't Demona bring it to the surface by attacking him that day?

Greg responds...

Blame to go around.

Response recorded on August 24, 2007

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Walter writes...

Would Demona kill Angela if it meant the achievement of her goal, or would that be too much even for her?

Greg responds...

What do you think?

Response recorded on August 22, 2007

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AUGUST 18

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

August 15th...

1996
Sevarius completes his involvement with Thailog's project and is paid off. Thailog begins programming his new clones. Meanwhile, Angela and Demona are still debating the latter's behavior. Claw arrives to take over guarding the prisoners for the day shift. Angela elects to sleep as stone in front of her mother's cell.


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Polgara writes...

I´ve notice Hudson has never called Demona by name when he is speaking directly to her, why is that?

Greg responds...

He has trouble pronouncing his "ona" s.

Response recorded on August 17, 2007

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AUGUST 15

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

August 15th...

1057
Macbeth's forces are defeated. Thorfinn is killed at Dunsinane, widowing his young wife Ingibjorg. Canmore destroys all of Demona's gargoyles, except her. Canmore pursues Macbeth to Lunfanan, and history will record that Macbeth was killed there. But Macbeth and Demona discover a side effect of the Weird Sisters' spell. They are immortal and forever linked, feeling each other's pain when near. For either to die, one must kill the other. Prince Luach is able to rally his father's forces temporarily. Canmore is driven back. Luach is made High King of Scotland. Macbeth and Demona vanish severally into myth.


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AUGUST 14

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

August 14th...

1040
With help from Demona and his cousin Thorfinn, Macbeth defeats Duncan's forces at the battle of Bothgoanan, near the town of Elgin in Moray, Scotland. Duncan is killed near Elgin. An unpopular king, he is not mourned by many. Duncan's son Canmore is banished and spirited away to England by Duncan's few remaining supporters. Canmore will become a protégé of Edward the Confessor, a Saxon. But he also becomes the new Hunter. For his own safety, Donald Ban is spirited away to Ireland.

1998
Vinnie visits family.


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Derek writes...

Why didn't Thailog just make a clone of Demona? He's not attracted to Elisa, you made it clear Goliath and Elisa was more spiritual. Was he just looking to piss Demona off?

Greg responds...

Even assuming that Goliath is not physically attracted to Elisa -- which is NOT something I've "made clear" as I disagree with that premise -- what does that have to do with Thailog?

But, yeah, pissing Demona off was a bonus.

Response recorded on August 13, 2007

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Derek writes...

Why didn't Demona mate with any other Gargoyles over the past 1000 years? She certainly encountered some, if she really thought her race was going extinct wouldn't she be trying to increase the population?

Greg responds...

Cuz after all, she's so easy to get along with...

Gargoyles mate for life. It's not easy for them to shift affections, and Demona never stopped feeling (her definition of) love for Goliath.

But I haven't covered all the 1000 years yet, so I'm not revealing all that did or didn't happen over that time at THIS time.

Response recorded on August 10, 2007

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Derek writes...

Will we ever see the biological parents of Demona, Goliath, Lexington or Brooklyn in the comics in Flashbacks?

Greg responds...

Sure. But you might not know it, as it's of no moment to these characters. If I hadn't let it slip that Hudson was Broadway's bio-dad, would you have guessed, known or cared?

Response recorded on August 10, 2007

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Derek writes...

If Demona had of actually been put under the Magus's spell like the others and they somehow managed to be revived, How exactly do you think she would have reacted? would the clan have accepted her or would they have exiled her? Could she have been saved by Goliath, Do you think she would start her war on humanity in the modern nights too?

Greg responds...

I'm not interested in hypotheticals. Feel free to use your own imagination though.

Response recorded on August 10, 2007

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Derek writes...

Does Demona have any interest in any of the Clones? They could have been a new clan for her even Delilah after Thailog was presumed dead why did she abandon them so quickly?

Greg responds...

Demona is, ironically, quick to declare things, people, plans, etc. a lost cause.

Response recorded on August 09, 2007

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Reckoning writes...

I just saw the reckoning episode again, and a few questions come out.
Fang said to Demona that he "always respect her as a fellow inmate" Is that true? What were his true feelings for her. I imagine they had some fights...having in count the personallities of the two of them...
Did Demona know the mutates before she saw them in the laberynt?
What did she think about them? Would they talk when they were guarding her? Did she speak with anyone besides Angela?
Did she gain weight after so many days of not doing any exercise?? >:I
I have to stop drinking. Thks for your attention Greg :)

Greg responds...

1. I'll leave that to your imagination.
2. Not well.
3. I'll leave that to your imagination.
4. I refuse to comment (because I like my spleen).

Response recorded on August 06, 2007

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Todd Jensen writes...

It's been said that some of the worst hatemongers are often closely connected to the very groups that they hate (as in, some of the most virulent Jew-haters had Jewish parents or grandparents). Did you and the other members of the production team have this in mind when you came up with the idea of Demona regularly turning into a human after "The Mirror", as the "Gargoyles" equivalent of this concept?

Greg responds...

It doesn't take research to appreciate the irony of the situation.

Response recorded on August 03, 2007

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Trickster Puck writes...

What's the deal with Demona's tiara?
She has managed to hang on to it for a thousand years.
Is it magic?

Greg responds...

No, but it fits well.

Response recorded on July 30, 2007

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David writes...

You've said before that Macbeth has had other loves between Gruoch and Domique Destine, but let me ask, is Gruoch still his true love? What I mean is has he ever loved another woman as much as her? Has he ever loved someone more? Does he still miss her and think of her on a regular basis? It seemed to me given his actions in City of Stone that he may have been so in love with her that he would, after a thousand years, stil carry a torch for her.

Also, I know you will probably not answer if Macbeth has had any other children, but if he capable of doing so? What about Demona?

Thank you for taking the time ti answer my questions, and for never giving up on Gargoyles. The new comic is fantastic, and I hope it goes on for many years to come.

Greg responds...

I think Macbeth does still carry a torch for Gruoch.

I see no reason why he or Demona would not be physically capable of having kids.

Response recorded on July 19, 2007

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JULY 15

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

July 15th...

1996
The Manhattan Clan imprisons Demona in the Labyrinth and agrees to help Talon and the Mutates guard her and Fang. Angela takes the first watch. Elisa is bitten by a robotic mosquito that samples her DNA. Demona regains consciousness in her cell. Angela introduces herself.


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JULY 14

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

July 14th...

1996
While on stakeout, Brooklyn is bitten by a robotic mosquito that samples his DNA. Demona steals a battle suit from the Golden Cup Bakery Building and allows herself to be captured by Goliath, Angela and Brooklyn.


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Nameless writes...

Ufff, i have just finished reading Demona files to see if my questions were answered before...they werent :P I notice that there are more questions about her than any of the other characters! I wonder how she would react at knowing just how many human fans she has. Life is so ironic sometimes, isnt it? Anyway, here are a few questions :)
Demona hasnt shown any kind of pain at the word "inmortal" but she seems not to happy either. Is she happy (Or at least satisfied) of been inmortal?
Is she afraid of death, or its like "i will fight it off if i have too, but i really dont care if it gets me"??
Is She aware of just how pretty she is? :P

Greg responds...

It comes in handy.
I think she is afraid of death.
I think so. Yes. In a surface sense, I think she makes use of her hotness.

Response recorded on July 13, 2007

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JULY 12

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

July 12th...

1996
Demona begins stealing high technology from research facilities -- largely in the hopes that she would encounter the Manhattan clan.


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Victor writes...

1) Does Demona blame the Captain for the Wyvern Massacre, or just Goliath for not taking the other gargoyles out like their plan was?

2) What would have happened if Demona had never overheard Macbeth and Bodhe's conversation about betraying the gargoyles to the English, or if she did overhear but Macbeth had defended the gargoyles to Bodhe?

Greg responds...

1. She has plenty of blame to spread around.

2. Lots of stuff.

Response recorded on July 02, 2007

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Otis writes...

Is Demona a sociopath or psychopath?

Greg responds...

Given those options, I would say sociopath. But I also think labelling someone as complicated as Demona invites trouble. Like a mace to the head.

Response recorded on June 29, 2007

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Phillip writes...

If Demona were to achieve her goal of Gargoyle supremacy and/or extinguishing the human race, would she be able to coexist peacefully with the rest of her species or would she find another vendetta to exact her hatred on?

Greg responds...

Good question.

Response recorded on June 25, 2007

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Chris writes...

What would happen if Demona met Magneto?

They have similiar goals (an oppressed minority fighting back against the oppressive human majority), but would she consider him an enemy since mutants are related to humans?

Greg responds...

This question is of no interest to me.

Response recorded on June 25, 2007

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Anonymous writes...

Humans are slowly destroying the planet. No other species has caused as much damage to the to the planet as humans have.

Humans have caused the extinction of several species, and many more are endangered due to their actions.

Therefore, from a nonhuman perspective, wouldn't Demona wiping out humanity be a positive thing? Earth would be a lot healthier, and the rest of the surviving species would be a lot safer from extinction.

Greg responds...

Yep, Demona's a real humanitarian.

Response recorded on June 13, 2007

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K9: The First writes...

By the time of Gargoyles 2198, what will Demona and Macbeth's relationship be? By that I mean: Will they still hate eachothers guts, or will their relationship be more aimiable in nature?

Greg responds...

I'm not revealing this at this time.

Response recorded on June 13, 2007

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Polgara writes...

Is Demona drunk every time she goes out and tryes to kill the Clan?? She keeps teling them how the defeat her!! First in temptation, telling Brooklyn that Goliath would obey however holds the spell, and then, in Hunters Moon.
Is Demona actually and in some way, as inocent to think that with a few friendly words exchanged she can trust any of the gargoyles the secrets to success? Is she just desperate to share her victory that forgets to keep at least some things to herself? Or she is just raving?
Has she ever got drunk, by the way? >:>
Mmm, oookaaayy, thats it Thks again Greg, for the show and taking the time to answer our questios. GARGOYLES ROCK ON!!

Greg responds...

Generally, speaking Demona isn't drunk. Beyond that, I guess I might as well leave things to your interpretation... and/or check the ASK GREG archives under Demona, where this topic has been covered ad nauseum.

As for whether she's EVER been drunk, well I'd guess that over her LOONNNNNNGGGG life, the answer would be yes.

Response recorded on June 12, 2007

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Gerin writes...

I have two questions about statements that Goliath makes in "Awakening":

1) In Part I, Goliath states that Demona-to-be is his best warrior. Is his assessment correct, or is he trying to flatter her, or is his judgment clouded by the relationship?

2) In the final showdown in Part V, Goliath tells Demona: "There is good and evil in all of us, human and gargoyle alike. You should know that more than anyone."
That sounds as if Goliath had a specific incident in mind that should have taught Demona this, but I've never been able to figure out what Goliath is refering to. Is it a story that's never been told? Is it a story that popped up during the series and I just didn't catch it (and if yes, which one)? Or does he refer to nothing specific?

Greg responds...

1. I think any statement like that is perhaps arguable, but if she's not his best, she's probably damn close to it.

2. He did have a specific incident in mind. Her betrayal of the clan that led to the massacre.

Response recorded on May 17, 2007

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MAY 14

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

May 14th...

1996
Demona starts Sevarius on a little side project: the creation of the carrier virus, CV-1000.


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MAY 13

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

May 13th...

1995
Thailog has reached full gargoyle adolescence. A discoloration of skin and hair is the only side effect of the accelerated growth.

1996
Attracted by multiple reports of gargoyle sightings in Manhattan, the Canmore siblings begin making inquiries and creating the false identities they will need to find Demona there and destroy her.


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MAY 7

This day in Gargoyles' Universe History....

May 7th...

1996
Demona and Thailog return to Manhattan and hire Dr. Sevarius away from Gen-U-Tech. Sevarius reveals that the female gargoyle that Demona saw in Paris is the biological child of her and Goliath.


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Meg writes...

I know you've said that Demona cast a spell on the Manhattan Clan right before they woke up in the 20th century that allowed them to understand modern English. My question is, how does Angela understand modern English? I would assume that she grew up speaking Old English, as she was raised by Tom/the Magus/Katharine.

Greg responds...

Avalon compensates when it sends people to where they need to be...

(How's that?)

Oh, and by the way, Demona casting a spell is just a possible answer to the original modern English question. Not a definitive answer.

Response recorded on April 26, 2007

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Luke writes...

Let me start with I love the newest comic! I'm very excited to see what happens from here on out!

I was noticing something that you had posted on the wall. You said that Demona was Hudson's daughter, I might have miss read that but considering I did not. Wouldn't that make Broadway his sister, then considering that making Angela his niece?

I was also thinking would Sevarius know about the connection between Hudson, Demona, and Broadway?

Greg responds...

Demona is Hudson's ROOKERY DAUGHTER. They're not biologically related (or if they are it's pretty distant). Angela is Hudson's rookery granddaughter. No biological relationship there either. Broadway is both Hudson's rookery son AND his biological son, although the latter relationship is of no import to anyone except gargoyle fans. Therefore no biological relationship between Broadway and Angela.

Response recorded on April 26, 2007

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Tha Ghost writes...

continuity questions:

im foggy on the episode titles because ive just watched both DVD releases but ive noticed in some episodes when the Gargoyles turn to stone any object they are holding turns to stone as well eg. Demonas gun, Hudsons sword however when Hudson turns to stone holding Merlins scrolls they remain unchanged is this a simple continuity error or was there a greater plan?

also Sevarius says that the way the Gargoyles have enough energy to fly is by storing solar energy in their stone form however Demona can fly after Puck changes her so she can be human by day, continuity error or greater design?

Greg responds...

This is ALL in the archives...

The humility spell affects clothes and whatever at the moment they consider "part of their uniform". So Hudson's sword is inconsistent, depending on his mindset at sunrise.

Puck's magic compensates for Demona.

Response recorded on April 25, 2007

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Demon@ writes...

Hello Greg,
What im going to asked you is not comic related. Im from argentina and i cant find any website or something that could bring an issue here. But well i was complaining about the same thing a year ago abouth the dvd and i finally manage to get it :D Origynal and all!! :D.
But well, on with my questions:
I was reading the archives and i read something like "Thailog was the most evil of the three.." comparing him with Demona and Macbeth. That got me thinking...
How is that someone can be more evil than a creature who is planing to destroy the human race (wich has some sense. Humans themselves have destroy entire species of animals considering them as dangerous, but thats not the point on these post). If we consider Evil as the capacity of someone to do, willingly and consciously, damage to others, Thailog should hardly be consider more evil than Demona, since both of them are as equal to destroy another sentient been.
But if we consider Evil someone who actually enjoys causing damage and suffering to others, that may change things a bit and thats what brought those questions up.
1- Does Demona enjoy killing humans?
2- Does she see the killing only as something that has to be done?
3- Is it something born only from rage and grief, or does she has a sadic pleasure on killing those who made her life miserable?
4- Can we consider Demona as someoe cruel and that finds actual pleasure on the suffering of others?
5- What would Thailog do that Demona wouldnt even think of? Something that would make him more evil than she is.
Well thanks again for any respons you give me. And i WONT loose my hopes of getting the comic :D (someway somehow).

Greg responds...

I think your paraphrase of my quotation (at least out of context) is problematic and thus not quite accurate, but...

1. She thinks she does.

2. Yes.

3. All of the above.

4. On occasion.

5. I can't think of a hypothetical example.

You might ask a fellow fan to send you the comics. You can paypal them, perhaps.

Response recorded on April 19, 2007

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BatFu writes...

Do you think that Demona is justified in pursuing her agenda against humanity?

Greg responds...

I think she thinks she is.

Response recorded on April 10, 2007

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Elana writes...

Dear Greg,

Here is a question I've been meaning to ask you for a long time.

Demona and Macbeth's link implies that they will basically live eternally until one kills the other. However, I wonder - does that not mean that they can still be maimed, crippled, or permanently physically disabled? Mentally damaged? They seem to have survived things that should have been fatal, and because of the enchantment it is acceptable that they survive. But why not even sustain serious injury? On top of surviving, will their bodies always be restored to a state of full health?

Additionally, gotta say that I'm loving the comic book! I'm not going to say a lot about it here, because I'm sending a letter through the snail mail, but just gotta let you know that it's good to be back in the Gargoyles' universe!

Greg responds...

Thanks. It's good to be back for me too.

I've answered your question MANY times before. Which is to say, I can't answer it. They've never been maimed, etc. So how would I know?

Response recorded on April 09, 2007

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Shadow Wing writes...

Enough about WW2 - What was Demona doing in the 1960's/70's?

Greg responds...

Uh... the hokey-pokey?

Response recorded on April 05, 2007

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Wesley Nichols writes...

We seen that Demona has a great deal of affection for her child, Angela. Since Samson is a descendant of hers, won't that affect how she feels about him? Or will his similarities affect her normal affection for her kin?

Greg responds...

We'll have to wait and see.

Response recorded on April 05, 2007

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skeeJay writes...

THE GREEN-EYED GARGOYLE
Demona has an interesting moment at the end of "The Mirror" when she marvels at the warmth of the sun. If you don't mind me reading into it a little, it's a loaded statement. It implies a jealousy of humans that I have a hard time equating with what I consider her standard jealousies, e.g. "they outnumber us," "they force us out of our homes," "history has given them more lucky breaks," etc. She's usually able to exhibit these other jealousies while retaining her sense of moral and physical superiority ("the gift of being a gargoyle," as she calls it in front of Puck).

But this new jealousy shows a desire of something that is *inherently* human. The capacity to see or feel the sun is something that is (or should be, sans sorcery) completely incompatible with being a gargoyle. It would be like a human lamenting the fact that he wasn't born with wings; it's kind of a futile gesture (which is why I also find Hudson's wistful comment at the end of the episode so odd). It implies for the first time that not only has Demona desired what the humans have accomplished or acquired, but that she may, on a very subconscious level, have wished that she had been born human....been born onto the winning team, the side with the upper hand, the strategically superior side. If this desire did exist before this moment at the window, it's certainly not something she would ever admit to, even to herself.

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
This kind of racial jealousy notwithstanding, I suppose there's another interpretation of her "reverence" of the sun. Knowing that no other gargoyle had ever experienced what she was now experiencing, I'm sure Demona felt a new kind of superiority over all of her own kind now, as well. To know the sun as she now did, unlike every other gargoyle since the beginning of time, must have been very empowering--adding a physical element to the moral superiority she already feels over Goliath and his clan (who are, as far as she knows, the rest of her entire race at this point). I'm sure that the 15 seconds before she looked in the mirror were a very religious experience for her.

And this new kind of Messiah-esque superiority gives new meaning to the password she chooses in "City of Stone." It certainly *is* usually lonely at the top.

Now I wish that some of this stuff had occurred to me before the Demona "alone" contest way back when.

Anyway, these are just my musings. Any thoughts? Which side, if either, do you fall on?

Greg responds...

Wow. That's a great post. Seriously. I love it. And I like both interpretations. I find them both very convincing, and I hardly think they're mutually exclusive either.

I'm trying to remember if any of that was in my head eleven/twelve years ago. I do think there's always a bit of worship wrapped up in our fear and loathing of the other. Anything we attribute that much power to has got to hold some awe. And Demona's superiority-complex is well-documented in the show, I think. But the specific light you shined on that moment above... I'm not sure I ever looked at it quite that way before or quite that second way before either.

Keep up the musings, skeeJay. That was enlightening.

Response recorded on March 30, 2007

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Doorhenge writes...

I just thought of this. Red eyes. Vader had 'em. Could have been explained as a property of his particular Sith power, but was there a connection?

Greg responds...

I don't think so. (Let it go, dude.)

Response recorded on March 12, 2007

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Doorhenge writes...

Do you think Demona influenced Darth Vader?

What I mean is, do you think when he saw City of Stone it influenced him to make the prequels?

Demona: If you are not my ally then you are my enemy!
Darth Vader: If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!

That line is way to similar to me. Sounds like a homage he thought people would pick up on.

If you don't like the prequels, sorry if I depressed you.

Are you gonna retaliate and make a ... Spawn Star or something?

Greg responds...

I haven't seen the third of the pre-quels. But I wouldn't presume that we were any influence on them.

And the specific line that you're quoting is a sentiment that borderlines on the cliché, so it hardly appears to be evidence of anything.

Response recorded on March 12, 2007

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Anonymous writes...

Was Demona truly the best candidate for the job of Goliath's second-in-command pre-Wyvern Massacre?

Greg responds...

He thought so. At least at the time. You can't deny she's a fierce warrior.

Response recorded on March 09, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Is Macbeth still wealthy by 2198?

Is Demona still wealthy by 2198?

Greg responds...

I'm not revealing this information at this time.

Response recorded on March 09, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

In Sanctuary, Demona says to Goliath that "New York is your protectorate, Paris belongs to me!" Why was she so possessive towards Paris? Does it hold any special meaning for her?

Greg responds...

Yes. But mostly she's just saying, "Geez, dude, I leave the continent and you're STILL in my business?!"

Response recorded on March 09, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What did Demona think of Prince Malcolm? He didn't seem to hate gargoyles, but he instilled a fear of Gargoyles in his daughter, Katherine, that adversely affected Demona's clan.

Greg responds...

I don't think she had a problem with Malcolm. Back in those days, she wasn't as virulently anti-human as she is now.

Response recorded on March 08, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Now that Demona turns to human during the day, does she get her period every month? If so, how does she feel about it? >=)

Greg responds...

<sigh> I haven't given this any thought, I'll admit. Perhaps it's a good topic for discussion in the comment room or at the Gathering. Check out the Gathering's website: www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com!

Response recorded on March 08, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Who does Demona hate most: Goliath, Macbeth, or Elisa?

Greg responds...

I feel like I've answered this already. But even if I haven't... Why quantify something unquantifiable.

But if I had to guess, I'd say Elisa.

Response recorded on March 07, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

In COS part four, Luna tells Macbeth "And thus you both shall live, eternally linked, sharing each others pain and anguish. With no release until one destroys the other. Only then shall both finally perish, together. What she making a prophesy of what would occur, or was she just stating the rules of their link?

Greg responds...

Good question.

Response recorded on March 07, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

You said on the COS dvd commentary, when Demona swings Macbeth around, "I think she's just a little bit in love with him there." While I don't think it was an strong romantic love, I do think she was much more affectionate towards him than she would have been to someone else. We never see her that friendly towards anyone else she's not romantically involved with, not even her own clan members. My question is, was she aware of it? Was he? Was Gruoch? >=)

Greg responds...

No. Not really. No comment.

Response recorded on March 07, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Was Macbeth genuinely in love (not just smitten) with Dominique? I only ask this because he had known her for such a short time, and even then knew very little about her.

Greg responds...

I believe I'll let the story stand on its own without my commentary. You can evaluate for yourself.

Response recorded on March 06, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Was Demona close to any of her rookery siblings?

Was Demona close to any of her clan members at Moray?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. I'm not sure she let herself get to close... but she's not a wizard at self-control either.

Response recorded on March 05, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What does Demona think of the way Katherine, Tom, and the Magus raised her clan's children?

Greg responds...

Wow... Makhasu, I'm impressed by how fast you were able to type at 4 in the morning. This is a lot of questions, particularly considering that I specifically asked people NOT to flood the submission queue at least until I had caught up.

Anyway, again, I'm not inclined to spell this stuff out for you too much. I think the episodes should stand on their own without too much annotation. Take a look at "The Reckoning" again, and I think you'll find enough clues to the answer to this question.

Response recorded on March 01, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

How was Demona able to get Macbeth to marry her in such a short time? He only knew 'Dominique' for less than a month, according to the dates you've given.

Greg responds...

How do YOU think?

Response recorded on March 01, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

You said that, besides pain, pleasure also passes between Macbeth and Demona. Why would the Weird Sisters toss that in? Doesn't it creep Mac and D out a bit?

For that matter, when did they first find out about that? It must've been a pretty shocking experience.

Greg responds...

Your premise is faulty. You make it sound like the Weird Sisters made a choice. No one has definitively stated that. They made a link.

As to Mac & D's reaction, etc., I'm not revealing that now.

Response recorded on March 01, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What was Demona's relationship with the people of Moray castle like? At Macbeth's coronation, those that were present cheered her on. How did they treat her over the next 17 years, and how did she react?

Greg responds...

Generally, pretty well. But there was probably some occasional tension.

Response recorded on March 01, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

You answered, when asked if Macbeth and Demona share emotional pain, "Metaphorically." I didn't quite understand that. Could you explain in greater detail?

Greg responds...

Probably.

Response recorded on February 27, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Did Macbeth really die when Canmore stabbed him? The Weird Sisters said to Demona that "though the pain is great, child, you are unharmed." Were she and Macbeth alive, but in pain, when Canmore declared himself victorious?

Greg responds...

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Response recorded on February 27, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Can Demona or Macbeth sustain permanent damage? Like scars, lost limbs, etc... They're in impeccable shape for people who've been, as you said in one answer, "stabbed, shot, etc."

Greg responds...

The question isn't can they, but HAVE they.

Response recorded on February 27, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Does Demona still think that Macbeth was planning to betray her in 1057?

Greg responds...

Probably.

Response recorded on February 26, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What was Macbeth and Demona's relationship like when he was king? How well did they get along?

Greg responds...

Well.

Response recorded on February 26, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What do Macbeth and Demona think of that golden age during his reign as king?

Greg responds...

Macbeth probably sees it as a glorious time, capped by betrayal.

Demona probably sees it as part of an elaborate scheme to lull her into a false sense of security.

Response recorded on February 26, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Does Demona know that Macbeth is no longer actively hunting her?

Greg responds...

Are you so sure he's not?

Response recorded on February 26, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

How did Canmore find out about Macbeth and Demona's link? How did those rumors get started?

Greg responds...

Think about it. Macbeth ages nearly twenty years in one night and suddenly has a gargoyle ally... Plus a few people knew about the "bargain" including Bodhe. Word was bound to get around. Not necessarily accurate word. But word.

Response recorded on February 25, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Did Demona's low opinion of humans change at all during Macbeth's golden age of rule? She and her clan's treatment was very different from what it had been before, and his reign is the only time we ever see Demona truly happy and content.

Greg responds...

I think it did -- at least briefly but certainly superficially.

Response recorded on February 25, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Did Macbeth have any advisors other than Demona? If so, how well did they get along with Demona?

Greg responds...

Clearly, he had Bodhe, who was probably afraid of Demona. But I'm sure he had others, and some would have gotten along with her better than others did. But I tend to think that Demona reported directly (and to some extent privately) with Macbeth, limiting her "camaradery" with the rest of his "staff".

Response recorded on February 25, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

The Scottish people seemed pretty hateful/fearful towards gargoyles before Macbeth's reign. How was he able to change opinions and get people to accept Demona and her clan?

Greg responds...

Winners tend to get to make the rules. And the gargoyles helped the winning side win. So that went a LONG way toward reducing more OVERT prejudice.

Response recorded on February 22, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Who came up with the idea for the Paris scheme against Macbeth? Thailog or Demona?

Greg responds...

Thailog.

Response recorded on February 22, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What did Demona plan on doing with Goliath and his clan if her plan in Hunter's Moon had succeeded?

Greg responds...

Present it as a fait accomplis and hope that they came around...

But who are we kidding? The notion that Demona gave much real thought to the aftermath of Operation Clean Slate is iffy.

Response recorded on February 22, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Demona seemed pretty pleased with Goliath's vengeful attitude towards the Hunters in HM, part two. She even comments "perhaps you and I are not so different after all." This was quite a change from her usual homicidal rage towards him. Why did she behave so differently towards him?

Greg responds...

Again, I'm tempted to just say "Why do ya think?"

I mean, haven't you really answered your own question?

Response recorded on February 21, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

What does Demona think of Delilah?

Greg responds...

What do you think she thinks?

Response recorded on February 19, 2007

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Patrick G writes...

"The Reckoning" is one of my favorite episodes, especially because of all the great stuff involving Demona and her very complex character. I especially love the scene where she frees the clan, imploring Goliath to "save their daughter!" There's one thing that has been confusing me that I was hoping you could clear up. When Demona is trying to stop Thailog from shooting Angela, he said that she knew she was her daughter before they staged her capture, and Angela is outraged because Demona knew the whole time. However, I missed how this could have happened. I have a much easier time believing that Demona was genuinely confused in Paris, and the next time she saw her was in "The Reckoning." It seems to me to be more logical that given the order of events, Demona did indeed find out about Angela being her daughter when she told her in the jail, as opposed to finding out beforehand. How did Demona know before they staged her capture?

Greg responds...

Sevarius knew, remember (from "Monsters")? And Demona, Thailog and Sevarius planned "Reckoning"'s whole cloning thing together. SO... sometime between "Sanctuary" and "The Reckoning", Sevarius filled her in.

Response recorded on February 14, 2007

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Twiggess writes...

Hey Greg!
I was skimming the archives the other day when i read something about how Thailog got his name when you were rewinding "Awakening", or something like that. Anyway, that got me playing with the other characters names 2, and I realized when you say Demona's name backwards it almost sounds like "a nomad." Did u know this? I thought it was kind of an interesting coinscidence, since she is, so I thought u outa know. Thank you for your time, and thanks for making the best animated series, like, ever.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of names, is there any reason Demona's name is pronounced De-MO-na as apposed to just Demon-a? I hope that made sence cuz it's kinda hard to ask a question on pronuciation in an email. I just ask cuz it took me awhile that her name was just supposed to be 'demon' with an a after i first started watching the show. Ok! Thanks again! U rock!

Greg responds...

"A Nomad" never occurred to me, but it is very apt.

As for her frontways pronunciation, that's just what seemed natural.

Response recorded on February 02, 2007

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Jurgan writes...

I've never asked a question here before, probably because I didn't have the patience to wait, but I just wrote this analysis of Demona and Macbeth's link for the GFW website, and I wanted to see what you thought of it. Am I on the right track?

Curses and Prophecies, Fate and Freewill

(Warning: This essay contains minor spoilers for Harry Potter books five and six. It's mostly about Gargoyles, so if you don't read HP you'll still understand this, but if you plan to read them soon, you may wish to stop reading now.)

Like most people reading this, Gargoyles had a major impact on my life. For me, the best it ever got was City of Stone. In fact, I would say that CoS was one of the highlights of my childhood. I still distinctly remember, when I was twelve years old, reaching the end of Part Three, seeing Demona advancing on stone Elisa with a mace, and then the words "To be Concluded." "You're telling me I have to wait a whole day to see what happens? I'm supposed to go to school? Screw that, I want to know how Elisa survives!" I've thought long and hard about CoS, and the key to it is the relationship between Demona and Macbeth. In fact, I think the Weird Sisters' spellcasting is, from a classical sense, the climax of the entire story. On the surface, the spell seems simple enough: Demona and Macbeth are linked so they feel each others' pain, and they will live forever. If someone were to kill one of them, (s)he would die and then quickly come back to life. If one of them were to kill the other, though, then they would both die. As I say, it seems simple. After reading Greg Weisman's numerous responses on the subject, I began to think about whether there was more to it than meets the eye, and it slowly dawned on me that it was much more subtle, deep, and brilliant than I'd ever considered.

For years, Greg has received questions like "What would happen if Macbeth got his head cut off? Would it reattach itself? Would it grow back immediately?" He has always answered something like, "Well, that hasn't happened, has it?" At first glance, that seems like just a weak cop out, with Greg trying to avoid a question he has no good answer to. In fact, he seemed to get pretty flustered at the way people kept projecting Highlander concepts onto Macbeth, which was probably inevitable given that they're both immortal Scottish nobles. Unlike Highlander, though, there are no explicitly stated rules as to how immortality works; all we have to go on are the Weird Sisters' words, and they clearly are not the most trustworthy or forthcoming of people. Remember that Luna is supposedly a representative of fate, and then think about the fact that the spell doesn't really talk about "what if this or that happened," but rather "what will happen." The final words of Luna to Macbeth in the past were that "you both shall live, eternally linked, sharing each other's pain and anguish, with no release until one destroys the other. Only then shall both finally perish together." From that, it's clear that the Sisters are not interested in playing hypotheticals about all the different ways things could happen: they simply pronounced what will happen. Rather than the spell being simply a safeguard against their dying, it could instead be thought of as a prophecy declaring quite simply what will happen to them in the future.

It turns out that at no point in the entire series do we see anything happen to either Demona or Macbeth that would be sure to kill them. In fact, there are only two times it really seems likely that one of them could die. The first is when Macbeth was stabbed in the back by Canmore- painful, to be sure, but not necessarily lethal. Certainly there are those who have survived a poorly aimed stab. The second is when Elisa shot Demona with Macbeth's electric gun. That one seems even less likely, as about three gargoyles get shot with one of those things in any given Macbeth episode. One might make a case that the roller coaster collapse in The Reckoning was potentially lethal, but that falls under the old comicbook rule of "if you don't see the body, the guy's not dead," and the fact that we know Thailog survived as well makes it clear that magic was not necessary to live through that incident. So, we have established that we have never seen anything unquestionably fatal befall Demona or Macbeth. Furthermore, Greg has told us that no such thing has ever happened. Knowing that, it follows that it is meaningless to ask what if such a thing were to happen- it hasn't! Such speculation is what is known logically as a vacuous proof: If A occurs, then B occurs, given that A is an impossible event. Consider the statement "All pink elephants can fly," or, more precisely, "If A is a pink elephant, then A can fly." This statement is absolutely true, since every pink elephant in the world can fly- there are none, so anything you can say about them is true. A simpler way of thinking about it, though less rigorous, is that the statement "all pink elephants can fly" could never be disproved, since to do so one would have to find a pink elephant that could not fly, which can never be done. It is equally true that every pink elephant cannot fly. What this means, then, is there's no point asking "what if Demona or Macbeth were beheaded" if it cannot happen- it's true that if Macbeth were beheaded, he'd die, and it's true that if he were beheaded, he would be revived, and it's true that if he were beheaded, they'd both die, etc. All of those statements are true, because they are all based on an impossible hypothetical.

So let us then accept that neither of them has ever been beheaded. That still doesn't prove that neither of them could ever be beheaded, in which case it would still be relevant to ask what would happen. To answer that, it's worth thinking of the Weird Sisters' pronouncement as a prophecy rather than a spell. Suppose we think of the Macbeth/Demona connection in these terms: The spell allows them long life and they share each others' pain. Since they share pain, if one of them were killed, then the other would die too. Then we see that what Luna meant by saying that they would live on until one destroys the other is not that they are somehow magically protected from injury, but simply that she was predicting what would happen, as an avatar of fate. Such a prophecy brings Harry Potter to mind. When Harry was an infant, a prophecy was made which roughly stated that either he would kill Voldemort or Voldemort would kill him. That prophecy was overheard and found its way back to Voldemort, who immediately acted on it by attempting to kill Harry and fulfill it in a way favorable to him. In so doing, he nearly destroyed himself and gave Harry powers that would enable him to finish Voldemort once and for all. Moreover, he gave Harry a desire to end Voldemort. Harry lost his parents and knew first hand the sort of pain Voldemort inflicted on others, and so he would not rest until Voldemort was finished. On the other hand, Voldemort believed in the prophecy, and thus saw Harry as the greatest danger to him, so he would not rest until Harry was dead. So the result was that the two enemies were both determined to kill each other. As such, it was inevitable that one of them would eventually succeed, and the prophecy would be proven true. However, it was not true because of some incomprehensible hand of fate hovering over them, but rather it was based on simple extrapolations from the subjects' characters, and the fact that they knew about the prophecy (fittingly enough, Rowling has acknowledged Shakespeare's Macbeth as an inspiration for the prophecy).

The same can apply to Demona and Macbeth. At the time of the spell's casting, they were already great warriors, and with unlimited time to practice, they would become even greater. So it is highly unlikely that anyone else would kill them. Yet based on the events of their falling out, an intense hatred blossomed between them, one that would keep them hunting each other and make it inevitable that one would eventually kill the other. And since Macbeth heard the Weird Sisters' pronouncement, he believed that he could not die without killing Demona. It never would have even occurred to him to jump off a tall building and see what happened, because he believed that it would fail. Thus, the prophecy has the added bonus of controlling any possible suicidal tendencies Demona or Macbeth might develop by telling them it's impossible to kill themselves, since while Luna's side of their personality may simply be prophesying, Selene's needs them to survive for their future plans. Plus, even if Macbeth thought it would work, he probably would still feel the need to settle the score with Demona first. With all of that in mind, it is not hard for the avatar of fate to predict that one of them will end up killing the other, and the fact that she makes the prediction helps it to occur.

The question then is this: Is there a difference between saying something cannot happen and saying it will not happen? Suppose a man plans to stay home one day. Can we then say that it is impossible that he will get in his car and drive to another state that day? Let's say it's early in the morning, so he's got plenty of time. He's got a full tank of gas. He's not in Alaska or Hawaii, so there are connecting states he could go to. However, he has no desire at all to do so. Without that desire, it simply will not happen. We can then say that it is impossible. Now the obvious objection is that one never knows for sure what might happen, and if an emergency came up, he might have to leave the state that very day. For that reason, we distinguish between what can happen and what will happen- something can happen if it would happen provided the will to do it existed. If we knew for sure that the man would choose not to leave that day, it would then be fair to say that it was impossible for him to leave. Likewise, if we know with certainty that Demona and Macbeth will not die until one destroys the other, then we can say that it is impossible for anything else to happen.

This theory may seems very complicated at first, but if you take the time to think about it, it makes more sense than most other explanations out there. Rather than rely on vague magic powers and convoluted rules of "what if Demona were smashed in the day?" this theory eliminates all of the guesswork and gives an answer without the ambiguity; one that ultimately is simple and inevitable, yet firmly in the hands of the players. By thinking of Weird Sisters' spell as a prophecy, we can help resolve the fate vs. free will argument. Luna is an embodiment of fate, and so she is able to make predictions in the future, yet they are based simply on reading the characters of the subjects. While the prophecy that Demona and Macbeth will eventually die when one kills the other is a pronouncement of fate, it is only made true because of Demona's lack of trust and irresponsibility and Macbeth's lust for vengeance. The same could be said of the prophecy that Macbeth, Lulach, and Canmore would all become king- it wasn't hard to see that Duncan's paranoia would lead to him moving against Macbeth, a confrontation which would ultimately lead to Macbeth's ascension.

Greg responds...

But what if you paint an elephant pink? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Otherwise I DO think you're on the right track.

Response recorded on January 16, 2007

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Jen writes...

In the episode Vows, why does Demona bother trying to change what her younger self did to prevent the massacre? You cannot change history, so I don't understand her motivation. You could say she didn't know that rule but I would expect that a soceress that has lived for over a thousand years would know that.

Also she would have remembered everything that happened to her when she was younger (though maybe her memory would be rusty after a 1000 years but she does tell Goliath that she remembers her speech) so what would be the logic and motivation for her to go into the past if she knows she failed and act exactly how she remembered and FAIL like she remembered. Did she only go because she had to go because she remembered it happening? The whole time being fixed says she had to go to remember failing, but that still doesn't explain her motivation for doing something she knew wouldn't work out. Or perhaps her motivation was to see herself as innocent again? To remember why she did what she did at the last wedding she attended with Goliath? Agh...this turns into a big wouldn't one cancel out the other and get all confusing thing...

Also considering that Demona is a thousand years old, what did she do for all that time? The some of it is shown in the episodes, but nothing really after the whole hunter thing and macbeth, and that was a long time ago. Wouldn't a thousand years be enough time for her to travel around the world and find other clans so she would not have ended up so alone?

Also really old characters always bother me. I know you cannot assume that wisdom comes with great age, but I wonder how someone could live that long and not really mature at all? I guess that adds to the insanity, that everything else changes and you don't so that would add to her whole "alone" complex and anger.

Heh sorry for the long question/ramble...

Greg responds...

Demona was hoping that you COULD change history. Since the Gate was broken, there wasn't any time travel in her long past to know for sure how the system worked. She was hoping she could avoid Goliath's appearance. She knew he showed up, but she didn't know how that happened, so she was hoping... hoping...

It's interesting that Demona is so full of hope. Hmmmmm.... Maybe it's just denial.

I won't pretend I've mapped out ALL of Demona's 1000 years, but I have a few key events in mind. As to her stunted growth... well, I know a lot of wise old people myself. And I know a lot of wise old idiots too. So I based her on REAL LIFE. ;)

Response recorded on January 08, 2007

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Raye writes...

Hi, my question concerns Demona and Gruoch, two of my favourite characters (One of my favourite moments in "Gargoyles" is when Demona goes completely against her prejudices and saves Macbeth and Gruoch when they're slipping from the parapet, and Gruoch's nervous little "thank you" to her afterwards). But anyway:

1. During the "Golden Age" of Macbeth's rule, how well did Gruoch and Demona get on? Or to make the question a bit more generalised, what was their relationship?

Obviously they wouldn't have been best friends, but I also can assume that as such close companions to Macbeth they would have spent a reasonable amount of time in each other's company.

2a. Would they have considered each other as a "friend"?

2b. Or was there a little bit of resentment/jealously/competition going on in terms of their separate relationships with Macbeth?

2c. Or did they just stay out of each other's way?

Thank you very much in advance for any reply you give me, I think the time and effort you put into communicating with fans is amazing! My fingers are crossed that the second half of season two will make it to DVD.

Greg responds...

1. I'd like to explore this someday. But generally, I think they got along on the surface, but that each had a healthy suspicion of the other.

2a. Try "ally".

2b. I'm not sure I'd characterize it that way. Demona distrusts humans. Gruoch distrusted Demona.

2c. Largely.

Response recorded on January 03, 2007

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If they try to kill ya u gotta kill them first writes...

Hi, Greg. I know you open these for the gathering thing but i got these questions and comments...ya know, it is a nice oportunity. I would love LOVE going to the Gathering but as i am on the other point of the continent (:P) like, i cannot go... Gargoyles is geting very popular here, in Argentina, but i would want to know if the dvd or the comics are going to be able here? :) so the south people can enjoy gargolyes more?:) Jo, anyway, great show, great story, great characters, great drawings and...great me! hahaha.
Fine, now comments and questinos, if u wanna escape, these is the rigth moment:
Demona is one of the best characters i have ever seen before, and i love the contrast that she has with Magnetto, althougt she is, well, crazy.
I get what feelings the poor Goliath still had for Demona, and what feelings Demona had for Goliath, but the others members of the clan once had a close relaitionship with her as well, like "sister-brothers" "daugther-father". So ( i know about Brooklyn, very expresive the guy) what did feel Broadway and Lexingston about that? I mean, if my sister would get mad and because, let´s say, a dog kill someone she loves, now she would be trying to destroy all the dogs of the world:S i would be really...sad?.
It´s the same with Hudson, he ´d seen Demona since her most tender infance, looking her grown up from that little hatchling to that powerfull and nobel warrior she once was. Actually, he was her father. So same question, what did cross his mind every time he see her then in the new millenium? It must be very frustrating.And as we are with him, if Demona was part of the clan no more, they would still be like a daugther and a father, by teorical terms?
And Elisa, she is such a nice person! But althougth all the times Demona has tried to hurt her, Elisa seems to get more anger whenever Xanatos or Tony Dracon tryes something than when Demona does. Why is that she react so "professional" when is Demona who "pops-up" ?
Tempation: Jo, great episode however not the best.
Nice detail: i LOVE that posture of Demona after Brooklyn tryed to take the book away from her for the first time: leaning against the wall, huging the arcanorum as it would be Goliath him-self (XD)looking lunatically from the shadows. It was then when i thougth: something happened to these girl!.
To think: Gargoyles can really keep a groudge for a long time, and not just Demona but then Lexingston and now Brook, c´mon people, let it go!.
I think Demona wasn´t really lieng to Brooklyn...yes she screw it up, but i think she really has a point. Always she has that nasty point of view that makes you think " fuck, she is no so wrong".
Long way to morning: It´s great if you want to see scared things but, i really didn´t like the Demona of the past in these one, she acts very similar to the present, not exactly but...she was nasty.
Reawaking: I love these one, how the clan learns that the people is important and no the place where the people is, how they got more "civilizated". very nice lesson.
The mirror: It´s the first time someone subdue demona in how much time? These episode, i think, it´s the only one ( after high noon) in wich Demona appears that i laugh. Awesome, but why did Demona hesitate when Puck asked her what did she want? It´s not the destruction of human race always on her mind?
City of stone: And everything got sense!! I cried at the end :( poor demon. And that make me ask was the humans hate what drive her on the way she was or it was the lonlyness what twist her brain?
High noon: hahahahahahahahahahahaha...GREAT END!! "Why are we working together!?""grrrr"
Avalon: Macbeth and Demona working together...Woaho.
Well that´s all for now. I really REALLY hope you understan all that crap, i did my best to write in pure english(:P)and if you did not... i am really sorry. A last think!! In ascending list: Whoose of these characters she hates most?: Macbeth, the hunters, Goliath, the rest of the clan, Elisa, the rest of human race, Puck, Thailog. Thanks for your time, bye :)

Greg responds...

In the future, numbering your questions would really help me out. Also please avoid using curse-words in this forum. We try to keep it PG.

1. I'm afraid I don't know where the DVDs are available internationally. Have you tried Amazon.com?

2. Broadway and Lex may not have been THAT close to Demona in the Tenth Century. She was too young to be a maternal figure to old to be a Rookery Sister, and perhaps too imposing and/or prickly to be a friend. So her betrayal of the clan, is just that: a betrayal of the clan, not a personal betrayal. Which is not to say that they don't take it personally, cuz I'm sure they do. But they don't feel personally betrayed. Does that make sense?

3. As for Hudson, he is Demona's father. So I think it's much tougher on him. The only saving grace, such as it is, is that I think by the time of the massacre, Hudson had a clearer sense of Demona's true nature. I think deep down the betrayal was less of a shock to him then it was to Goliath. Not that he wasn't surprised. You can see how warmly he greets her in "Awakening, Part Four" when she first resurfaces. But in the end and darkly, I think her role in things saddens but doesn't shock him. I also think he CHOSE to focus his real hatred on Hakon Clan-Slaughterer.

4. I don't know if I agree with your assessment of Elisa vis-a-vis Demona. Certainly Dracon is able to get under Elisa's skin, but I think the thing to keep in mind is that Dracon is HER nemesis. Not Goliath's. Hers. Not that Goliath hasn't been of use there, but Dracon isn't super-human. He's a crook. She's a cop. Dealing with Dracon is HER job. As for Elisa and Demona, I think there are plenty examples of Elisa revealing her true feelings for Demona (in "The Mirror", in "Vows", in "High Noon", etc.) And they aren't without ire. But Elisa didn't lose her clan to Demona. So it's not the same thing.

5. In "The Mirror", Puck had already made the point that he didn't have the power to giver her absolutely anything she wanted, i.e the destruction of the entire human race. So she had to pick a more specific wish. That put her at a brief loss.

6. Loneliness, I believe, was a huge factor in creating the present day Demona. Not the only factor. But a big one.

7. Well, this is a little pointless, but if I have to rank your list, at this time, i.e. as of issue #1 of the comic book, I'd put 'em in this order of hate:
Elisa
Hunters
Thailog
Goliath
Macbeth
human race
rest of clan
Puck

Response recorded on November 29, 2006

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Anonymous writes...

What are those gold arm braces that are on Demonas arms?

Greg responds...

Jewelry.

Response recorded on November 28, 2006

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Zel writes...

Maybe you've answered this before, but I can't find the answer in the archives. Why did both Goliath AND Demona abandon the Wyvern eggs? Wouldn't the leader of the clan consider that the living eggs are of high priority? At least try to find a foster clan? Leaving them with humans seems too risky no matter how much the individual humans are trusted. The greater masses of humans aren't nearly so trustworthy. Then there's Demona. She watched them pull the eggs out of Castle Wyvern on a waggon. She knew her own egg was in there, she was ok with humans raising her hatchling? I realize that Goliath and Demona were each in a bad head space durring these events, but we're talking about babies here! People don't treat that stuff lightly.

Greg responds...

"Bad head space." That's a good phrase, and I don't have a better explanation, frankly. If the psychology didn't work for you, then ... well... mea culpa.

But Goliath was suicidal. It is a sad fact that occasionally parents kill themselves, leaving children in horrible situations. That's what happened here.

Demona is too self-preservationist to kill herself, but she's also too self-preservationist to attempt to raise 36 kids on her own while loaded with enough guilt to choke a mastodon.

Response recorded on November 21, 2006

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Doop writes...

Hi. First of all, I want to say that I really enjoyed the Gargoyles series and Demona was, imo, the best character in the show, and one of the best in television. She was a very interesting and complex character.

1) Were you ever planning on having Demona redeem herself, or at least becoming an anti-hero type character?
2) What would it take for her and Macbeth to forgive eachother? Could they ever?
3) In "City of Stone", did the people she smash stay dead? No one noticed anything odd when they woke up (ala 'Where's so-and-so?" or "What are these piles of of stones?") and the couple she smashed appeared in later episodes.
4) Would Marina Syrtis be willing to play her again if/when Gargoyles was renewed?
5) What did Demona think of stuff like the Holocaust or slavery? I know it probably confirmed her beliefs on the evil of humanity, but did she feel sorry for the victims involved?
6) If mutants existed in the Gargoyles universe (ala like the X-Men) would she consider them human or another type of species?
7) When Demona said her virus would 'wipe out all intelligent life', does that mean the other animals would be left unscathed?
8) Why would Xanatos work with Demona if he knew she was anti-human?
9) Why did Macbeth consider betraying her? He wouldnt have considered betraying his son or wife. What would he have said if Demona confronted him about it?
10) Was she entirely at fault for creating the hunter, or did scratching his face merely unleash the evil from within?
11) If she still loved Goliath, why did she always push him away when he tried reaching her (i.e 'Vows')?
12) Did you ever plan on giving her a 'happy ending?'

Thanks.

Greg responds...

1. Yes (assuming she isn't already an anti-hero of sorts), in 2198.

2. Not getting into this now.

3a. Yes. 3b. NO THEY DIDN'T. I've answered this many times. That woman was a brunette, and that man was wearing a toupee.

4. I'd like to think so.

5. Generally, I think your first statement is correct. Whether or not she felt individual pity has a lot to do with how close she got to the action, which I'm not commenting on at this time.

6. Not big on hypotheticals, but I'd guess she'd consider them human.

7. That was her theory... assuming she thought it out at all.

8. They were using each other until City of Stone.

9. He never considered it. He chose an inopportune time to teach his son a lesson about HEARING people out. To be fair, he didn't know Demona was listening.

10. Yes.

11. She hates Goliath. Deep down, she loves the Goliath of her imagination. But the real thing is a disappointment to her.

12. No comment.

Response recorded on November 16, 2006

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Anonymous writes...

What did Demona Do during world war two?

Greg responds...

She studied when to and when not to capitalize letters in a sentence.

(Haven't had a smartass response in a while.)

Response recorded on November 08, 2006

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Insane gargoyle writes...

HELLO HUNNY XD XD XD puajajajajajajaaaaaaaaaaaa. I am Astrid
Yeahhh i am in mood today. I am happy so i will write to you before i fell suicide again and i think that anything have sense. I am from argentina so please please forgive me if you do not understand something or a fuck of this. :)
I have read many times that you said "gargoyles are natural protectores". Now, if Demona HATES humans, tried to killed them and even hurt other gargoyles when they live together is she insane????.
My sister (:P googoogoo) is studing pshicology and she told me that the people is insane when: hurt others ( demona does it all the time), distroy things (item)and hurt himself (generations, the reckoning,vows (""))and deny the truth (mmm...about what she did, that Thailog had betrayed her). I think she is REALLY mad. And even if she knows what is wrong, i think that for her destroy humanity is a GOOD think, because "humans are evils, humans are danger, etc....
Generation is a prove of that: she saids to Angela: "to saved you from your father". For her it was a good think. A way to saved her daugther.
Even the clan think she is mad, Goliath and Brooklyn tell it many times.
If Goliath think it, he does not think taht she needs help???.
Why he just looked her? Looked an inmortal have no much sense, have it??.

Let go to Elisa. Everyone ask what Demona feels about Elisa? But what about her? What she feels about Demona?. Does she hate her? Or what??
Demona enjoy her loneliness??
does demona feared humans??si les tiene miedo, por si sabes español :(:(:(
Angela think her mother is evil? Or she is just twisted??
well, thank a lot and i am very very sorry if i wrote to to wrong and you get crazy reading these...

Greg responds...

Demona is clearly... troubled. Getting her "help" however is much easier said than done.

Elisa isn't too fond of Demona. The reasons don't have to be complex. Demona keeps trying to kill her and Goliath.

Angela is still hopeful that her mother can be redeemed.

Response recorded on October 20, 2006

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SDOHT writes...

Rambling on Demona

Hello,
I just finish watching awakening part one to five, from the DVD, witch I love by the way, and it reminded me of the first time I saw Demona. She is my all-time favourite TV Character. I actually feel sorry for her. The talk between her and Goliath at the end when she revels for the first time that she made a plan with the Captain of the guards moved me. I love the way she is written. She sounds alone and I feel and hear her pain.

See I'm a 22 year old gay guy, so when I first saw this I was 12. I didn't really know that I was gay but I knew their was something different about me. Seeing that scene helped me in a weird way. Hearing Demona's pain and loneliness about what the humans "did" to her kind sort of mad me feel like I wasn't alone. Demona's way of blaming others for her mistakes is something that most people do in one way or an other. I can truly say that I felt like she did allot of the time( I didn't want to kill all straight guys) but I felt like they didn't except me and that I couldn't trust anyone. Demona's actions were also mostly responsible for her pain, as the sisters pointed out in COS part 4, just like my fear of being different mad me feel alone.

Later in life I realized that people fear what they don't understand. The whole show is about creatures being different and misunderstood by "normal" people. It help me better understand the other's way of looking at things, that to them I was like a monster( not really a monster but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.) As the show when on, it helped me realize that different wasn't always a bad thing. The Goliath and Elisa relationship gave me hope that maybe someone could love me for who I was and except my differences.

I understand Demona's pain, Marina Sirtis is so amazing in this role. Demona is written so fantastic and realistically that its like she was a voice for me( in a good way, again not the killing part) like she mirrored what I felt. Now I'm fully comfortable with my self and in a way I have Gargoyles to thanks for that. I herd in the commentaries that ( I'm typing from memory, so please forgive me if I'm misquoting you) you indented the show, among other thing, to have or be a voice for the little people. I just wanted to say that at least for me it help me a lot when I was younger. I felt like the were other people in the world that were different. Thank you for that.

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. I been wanting to thank you for a long time. I truly hope that Disney bring this show back, because people like me need more shows like this, with real characters that are normal.

Greg responds...

SDOHT,

Your post here is very gratifying. I am quite proud of our series and of how evocative and strong and complex a character Demona is in particular, but hearing that it helped you and taught you something truly makes my day. Thanks for sharing this ramble with me.

Response recorded on October 09, 2006

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Some thoughts on our favorite characters and love.

So far in the "Gargoyles" Universe, the characters that all in real true love all have a deep understanding for one another. David and Fox understand each other better than anyone else on the planet does, and David acknowledges her as his equal. Maybe both of them didn't understand themselves well enough to think they were not that capable of such emotions, but they knew each other.

Goliath and Elisa are similar, it was clear even early on that they had something there, they grew to trust each other with their lives. There was always respect, and they understand one another, even when they disagree.

Likewise with Broadway and Angela, he saw her for who she was, unlike Brooklyn. All these characters seem to in a way share the same soul.

Now in regards to Demona, she's failed in love twice because that deep, emotional, soul sharing understanding faded as in the case with Goliath, but even before then she went behind his back, tried to push him to seize leadership of the clan, which he would not do, and could never understand why he put up with the humans. Not that she didn't understand him, in some cases she knew him only too well, since she saw the sparks between Goliath and Elisa long before they realized they were there. As far as Thailog goes, she thought that he was the Goliath she always wanted, and turned out to be flat out wrong, since he just planned to use her (in more ways than one) and finally discard her when he was done.

You've said in the past that Demona will have two more great loves, what will be interesting to see is by standards set by other characters where there is a similar "sharing of the soul" as it were. This deep, emotional understanding and knowing of one another. Problem is, it would be very hard for anyone to truly know her without having experienced similar tragedies. Everyone has their tragedies, but how many people have been alive for centuries, being hunted, bearing strong grudges and longer hatreds. Demona is her own worst enemy, and is likely to sabotage such things, and that's on the big assumption that she even opens herself up to anyone again.

One or both of those next great loves had better truly be someone special, if she's going to come out of her shell and really learn to care for someone intimately again.

Greg responds...

Well... having nothing to do with my plans, I'm not sure I agree with your final premise. Whether a character -- any character -- truly loves somebody can in fact be independent of that somebody's worth.

Love can be selfless. Love can be unrequited. Love can be lavished on someone unworthy.

I'm not talking about my plans for Demona here. Just cautioning you not to get ahead of yourself in making predictions based on facts not in evidence.

But I do agree that true and lasting love works best when it's between individuals who understand and respect each other first.

Response recorded on October 05, 2006

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Caesu writes...

I've been a fan of Gargoyles since it was first broadcast. And I still enjoy watching it even now years later, and look forward to the long awaited DVD release. The show is very original, and I think it had a lot of life left in it still when it ended. Which brings on my question Ive thought about off and on while watching the show. Do you ever think the relationship between Demona and Angela was given absolution? There was no real closure in The Reckoning, and the episode Generations strung along without adding any development.

Greg responds...

I don't count "Generations" myself one way or another. And I'm not sure exactly what you mean in this context by "absolution," but there was no intent for true closure in "The Reckoning". None. I don't see "closure" happening anytime soon, but keep an eye out in the comic book for the relationship to progress.

Response recorded on September 11, 2006

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Jonathan Anderson writes...

"31. What is the extent of the sensations that can be felt between Demona and Macbeth via their link? Can they feel other things besides pain?

Greg's answer:

Simple touching doesn't pass from one to the other. Intense feelings of pain and pleasure would."

So if the happened to have sex, it would be some sort of transfering chain re-action of pleasure?

Greg responds...

In theory.

Response recorded on August 30, 2006

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Demona writes...

hey,Greg. What´s up??I am from argentina and yes :We love Gargoyles here too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I always see Brooklyn and Demona figthing when they are together but Who is more stronger?? I really think that Demona would kill him very easly if some one would give her the chance but...you know....
I really love when Demona and Macbeth start figthing is very cool. In the reckoning, Macbeth "lost" the figth,but Demona would shot him if Eliza would not stop her. She wanted die because wath had happened with Tailog or she was just angry at Macbeth and she really wanted to see HIM death.Besides it mas not posible.Allrigth, it is done. Chau

Greg responds...

Demona vs. Brooklyn? It's all situational to me. Demona is without a doubt the WAY more experienced warrior, and as Brooklyn isn't yet, I feel, fully grown even, she may still be his equal or better physically. But motivation matters in battle as well. Both are pretty well-motivated at this point. I don't know... It's all situational to me.

And thanks for the kind words.

Response recorded on August 28, 2006

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Gipdac writes...

Seeing "Reckoning" when Demona was explaining to Angela how she survived over a thousand years made me think, how much does anyone really know about her immortality; for example during “City of Stone” she lied to Xanatos about it, so…
1. How much of Demona's true story (about MacBeth, her immortality, the Weird Sisters, her clan after Wyvern, the Hunter(s), etc.) does Angela really know?
2. How much does Thailog know?
3. How much does Xanatos know?
4. How much does Puck/Owen know?
5. How much do Goliath and the rest of the Manhattan clan know?

Greg responds...

1. At this point, she knows the main points from the Sisters and Macbeth.

2. Most everything -- from Demona herself.

3. That's a good question. Haven't thought about it before now.

4. Ditto.

5. Same as Angela.

Response recorded on February 17, 2006

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Hardwing writes...

Why is Demona is always doing so poorly when she fights against Elisa?

I mean through her 1000 years of experiences in battle she should be a damned good warrior (considering that the Weird Sisters and the Archmage wanted her), so why has she lost against Elisa even in her gargoyle form(Avalon)?

Was it because she was ever such outraged that she became incautious? Or is Elisa truly the better fighter?

Greg responds...

I think that a few factors come into play.

I think that Demona is unaccustomed to fighting in human form, which is why she has difficulty in "High Noon".

I think on Avalon, she was under the Archmage's thrall, which dampened her own skills... as it dampened her free will.

And I think that Demona has an obvious rage problem, and since much of that rage is laser-focused on Elisa specifically, she often lets her anger get the better of her skills.

Also the battles have always been brief, with many distractions and third party interventions.

I think Elisa's pretty tough and savvy, but in any sustained conflict between the two, I'd absolutely put my money on Demona.

Response recorded on November 30, 2005

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J writes...

How did Demona feel about having to kiss Macbeth in "Sanctuary"?

Greg responds...

I'm sure she told herself it was a necessary evil.

Response recorded on November 08, 2005

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John writes...

Hi Greg,

Uh... I just tripped about this question/awnser... and it really got me thinking...

DTorline@aol.com writes...

Not a question, or a suggestion (really!), just a quick comment. For your example of What Not To Ask (point #2), you use "Asking if Demona tried to assassinate Hitler during World War II". I'd just like to say that based on my knowledge of Demona, she'd've been more likely to have been fighting on his side, assuming she was involved at all.

Greg responds...

No comment.

Uf...

A REALLY strange thing... Demona, a person who hates humans with all her heart... but can she see behind this and see the maniacs behind it? Hm...

This would also considerate Demona to work with Terrorists just to kill humans randomly...

Frightening thing indeed...

However, I would be interrested in one particular thing: From your knowledge of her character, do you think Demona would be able to work together with such doomed forces??? After all this would help her in her, ergh, "quest", but then again, she HATES humans, so I (with a verry big I) think that she couldn't stand, ergh,... "working" with them...

THX for awnsering and taking the time.
CU, John

Greg responds...

I think Demona's behaviour has proven rife with inconsistencies.

Without getting specific, I could see her sitting out a conflict on the basis that if the humans are killing each other... GREAT!

I could also see her getting involved if she feared that one side was gaining too much power and might pose a threat to her at some point.

I could also see her getting involved "irrationally" because she has "poor impulse control".

And so on...

Response recorded on September 21, 2005

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Chimaraz writes...

I don't know if this question has been dealt with, but I looked through the archives and didn't see it so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

If one of the other Avalon gargoyles had gone with Goliath and Elisa instead of Angela, would Demona have felt the same way towards that gargoyle as she does towards Angela? I mean, Demona was raised traditionally, so she sould see all of the Eggs as her children, but does the biological aspect factor into why Demona's so fixated on Angela? Would she have reacted in just the same way to Ophelia, Gabriel or any of the others?

Greg responds...

It's a fair question. And I think she would have reacted similarly with any of the "eggs"... but I do think that three factors gave Angela a little extra oomph for Demona.

1) Angela treated Demona as her mother. "I'm told there's a resemblance." The others might not have, without the bio-connection, given Demona's history.

2) Demona has spent a 1000 years around humans. Despite herself, some of it may have rubbed off.

3) Demona was not around to comunally raise the eggs. So she has less emotional connection to the other gargs then she normally would have had.

Ultimately, however, I think it still comes down to the same kind of thing that Diane Maza pointed out to Goliath in "Mark of the Panther": "[Angela] is the only one of your children with you."

Normally, I don't like hypotheticals, but this was a pretty good question.

Response recorded on August 30, 2005

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Hardwing writes...

1.Who is better trained in magic, the Archmage of 984 or Demona anno 1994?
2.Did the clan learn of Demona learning magic by the Archmage in the Dark Ages? If yes what was their reaction? I'm just asking since neither Goliath nor Brookly seemed very surprised by seeing Demona using magic.
3.Why has the Archmage taught Demona magic? I mean as selfish as he was he wouldn't do it for nothing and having a gargoyle around who is trained in magic (or anybody else for that) is dangerous. Was it sort of quid pro qou, Demona helped him by his rituals and he trained her?
4.Did the Archmage have a large effect on Demona's personality? I mean from 971 to 975 she was still young and easy to influnce.

Just in general. simple delete questions which don't make sense or completly off topic and if a question is asked too often ignore it. So you have more time for the serious fans.

Greg responds...

1. It's an interesting question. Demona's certainly had years to study... but she's also not the most focused or patient of students, whereas I believe the Archmage would have been mono-maniacal in his pursuit of the Dark Arts.

2. I don't think they did.

3. It's a pretty standard master/apprentice set up.

4. I'm sure he had an influence -- taught her an appreciation of power. But I doubt she'd acknowledge that influence.

Response recorded on July 25, 2005

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Audra writes...

Demona hates humans so much, but she always uses human's weapons. (Like guns, etc.) The other Gargoyles don't fight using weapons, and you'd think because Demona hates humans, she'd hate to use human weapons, and fight like a "true" Gargoyle. Why doesn't she just fight using her own strength like most Gargoyles do?

Greg responds...

Demona's just full of inconsistencies, isn't she?

Response recorded on May 12, 2005

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matt writes...

Hi Greg.

You've mentioned before that in 994 AD no one even thought that the Wyven Clan was the last of its kind and that it was probably assumed that there were other Clans in Scotland and other locales. So my question is, why did Goliath not take the eggs and try to find one of these Clans? I know he was emotionally torn apart by losing his Clan, first by the Massacre and then by the Magus' Sleep Spell, but there was still some Clan left... the Eggs. If he believed there were other clans around why did he choose to put his children in the care of someone he just began to trust. Later in the series he speaks about how trust has to be earned, and yet he puts huge trust in several people who have insulted, betrayed, and cursed his Clan in just the last several days. I don't mean to come across like i'm trying to trick you or corner you with some inaccuracy, i'm just genuinely curious about what you think of Goliath's motivations and actions in this scene. And, of course, the same question could be asked of Demona. She actually did find another Clan to join, and could've taken the eggs with her, but she didn't. I'd love to hear what you think about all this.

Greg responds...

Demona's easier to explain, I think. She didn't find another clan to join... years later, she gathered a handful of scattered, clanless gargoyles into a makeshift clan. At the time, however, I think she was too racked with guilt. She couldn't face the inevitable questions. Couldn't "face" the eggs themselves. She sent herself into exile -- a traditional gargoyle punishment in those days.

And maybe the same basic thing was going on with Goliath. He couldn't "face" anything. Not the eggs or his responsibility to them. This act -- or lack of action -- on his part ironically resulted in the eggs being saved on Avalon. But at the time, one has to regard it as an act of tremendous irresponsibility. I forgive Goliath because I believe he was suicidally depressed. I'm sure -- as "Shadows of the Past" attempted to illustrate -- he was suffering from a massive case of survivor's guilt and the feeling that as Leader of the clan, he had failed miserably... at the cost of each and every life... including Hudson, Bronx and the Trio. One might argue that simply asking the Princess to watch over the eggs required Herculean effort on his part. All he wanted was oblivion, but he had just enough strength of mind left to obtain the Princess' vow -- to assign the responsibility that should have been his. I don't think he thought about how she would protect them. I don't think he thought, "Hey, I should tell her where the nearest clan is for a convenient drop-off." I think he just barely managed to get her to relieve that last burden, so that he could slip into what he had to believe was permanent slumber... again, an exile... from the living world. (Too much sleep being a definite symptom of depression.) Also since he believed he failed miserably with the clan, he may also have truly believed that he wasn't capable of handling the responsibility for the eggs -- that even the Princess was better qualified in light of his failure.

Response recorded on April 18, 2005

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The Cat writes...

I'm going to ramble and rant, so I hope you can forgive me if I confuse you or loose you along the way.

Response from Greg to Vanity's question that was posted January 6th 2002:

The notion that vengeance begets nothing more than a vicious cycle of further vengeance, is not only true but is if anything UNDERSTATED. Hardly exaggerate. One only has to look at a newspaper to see that the Montagues and Capulets of this world simply refuse to recognize this obvious, obvious FACT. It drives me insane. Your casual dismissal of the notion doesn't thrill me either. (Sorry.)

Okay, I'm going to ramble on this one a bit. Chew it up spit it out type deal.

Okay, what has always confused me about Demona is that she supposably hates humans. She wants to kill them and wipe them off the planet.

If that is true then why didn't she kill the Canmore brat when he was young and not any sort of threat to her. She could have gotten away with it to, to an extent of the imagination anyway, saying that she was protecting herself from attack and that she just happened to rake the young child's jugular vein with her talons would have worked rather nicely as an excuse. The thing is Demona knew, sort of, that Canmore would become vengeful. I mean, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that out that this little bratty prince is going to go looking for revenge. He's so spoiled he still needs some one to wipe his butt! If that doesn't say"I'm going to go seeking revenge because somebody lower than me hurt my pride I don't know what does. She could have easily nipped it in the bud and there would no longer be any Hunters. Of course, you put them into the show to keep the plot rolling, but that really didn't work out did it. Of course not.

Also, Demona is suppose to be insane. She could have easily taken out the humans with her plague. Why tell Goliath that all he had to do was destroy the praying gargoyle and then she wouldn't spread the plague. Insane people are not known for having morals! What got me to was she wouldn't spread the plague because it would kill Angela. That made no sense. Demona has always tried to kill Goliath and the clan, saying that they've been corrupted by the humans. Now, the interesting thing is Angela has been the most corrupted. She was raised by humans and taught by humans, so Demona should have wanted to kill her to. Especially her. That would have definitely reinstated the fact that Demona was a villain.

Perhaps I'm looking into this too much, but Demona had the opportunity to kill a lot of people in the last thousand years and save herself a lot of heartache later. I highly doubt that anyone would defend the Canmore brat. I highly doubt anyone would have been capable of stopping her from killing the last hundred or so Hunters that came after her when Canmore didn't succeed.

However, I think I can answer this for myself I just want to know your thoughts on it.

Demona is not evil, per say, and she's hoping that the humans realize that they've treated her kind wrong and will repent, however, she doesn't see that time coming up anytime soon. She also saw that Macbeth's way of handling Canmore was better, not as fulfilling, but better. She, I suppose, was expecting Canmore to realize, later, that she had spared his life and that he might realize that it was out of the goodness of her heart not out of the fact that she couldn't kill him. Men are extremely short sighted in this fact: A woman can kill you! A beast can kill you! *shrugs* I've never understood how come it was so hard for some men to understand this.

Also, I think Demona's looking at the whole revenge thing a bit wrong. If I'm correct she's looking at it as though its her against The Hunter. She's not looking at it as though it is a war. That it is a campaign that she has to plan for. That she has to choose her ground. She needed to think things through!

I honestly have to wonder how many times she has planned out her schemes. Aside from the plague thingy, I don't think she's ever thought any of her things through to the very end. I'd have to say that she never thought about what torture Puck would put her through the night she stole The Mirror, if she had she probably wouldn't have stolen it. The one time she does plan for years upon years she hamstrings her own plan by telling Goliath how to defeat her. Stupid! Utterly stupid!

So, now I've ranted and I want to know am I right? Even to some degree.
Also, I'd like it if you read this. It was the main reason I began this rant. The book is titled: Oathblood and was written by Mercedes Lackey. One of my all time favorite authors. (I know you don't read fan fiction, quite understandable really, but I usually incorporate some aspect of her stuff into my fan fiction.) This book is a bunch of short stories pulled together and the last one is the one that inspired this rant, however, the whole book is good and I would suggest reading the other two that go with this one as well. Their titles are "Oathbound" and "Oathbreakers". They're good books and a must read for anybody because they go into details that most fantasy novels just don't go into. Especially, the ones published back in the 1980's when it was still "a man's world".

Greg responds...

Where do I start?

Okay, let me start with the Oath-recommendations. I have found that I don't enjoy most fantasy fiction books. Isn't that surprising? It surprises me. Among other reasons, it may have something to do with envy. (I don't like admitting that, but it's true.) But I also like to keep my head generally clear of other people's ideas. I just prefer reading detective fiction, for some reason. But if I do decide to read fantasy again, I'll keep your recommendations in mind.

As for Demona... I like to believe that she is a complex character with complex motivations. That she is "human" enough to have inconsistencies. Yes, she tells herself she wants all humans dead, but in fact she isn't always ready to act on those feelings. Also, you need to keep in mind that the Demona of the late 20th century is not the same Demona of the early 11th century. She'd gone through a lot in the interrum that changed her, hardened her.

Likewise, she tells herself that she wants corrupted Gargoyles out of the way. But when push comes to shove, she's not prepared to sacrifice her daughter. So when you say things like: "That made no sense." All I can do is disagree with you and say it made sense to me.

And there are all kinds of "insane". Demona fits a definition, certainly. But of course, it's not like she's brain-dead.

Some of what you write sounds right to me -- or at least in the ballpark. But I don't agree with your assessment of Canmore really. And I don't agree that Demona could have just killed him easily as a child without repercussions. Even Macbeth felt he couldn't kill the kid without repercussions. And I tend to agree with him.

Obviously there were repercussions for NOT killing the kid too. But you roll the dice, you know?

As for Demona often if not always sewing (sowing?) the seeds of her own defeat. Why, yes, she sort of does. I don't think she consciously thought she was giving Goliath the info he needed to stop her. But she did. She's a conflicted character. I think that's what makes her so fascinating to so many people.

Response recorded on April 06, 2005

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Chaos9001 writes...

Hey greg

love the show(obviously) but i have a question, if Fang was cooped up with demona for at least five weeks by the day that it showed on screen demona changing form, why did he looked so shocked when she turned human?

Greg responds...

I don't think he looked shocked. It may have taken him five weeks to come up with a funny line.

Response recorded on April 06, 2005

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Annie Onimous writes...

Was up!
At the end of the episode "the mirror", before Puck got all ticked and did the whole human by day thing, did he seem to sort of loosen up to Demona a bit to you? I thought he started to kinda like her near the end. What do you think greg?

Greg responds...

I think that he had had a good time, and so was genuinely feeling a bit more charitable toward her. And one might argue that his "gift" -- as much as she initially was horrified by it -- was still helpful.

Response recorded on March 29, 2005

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Amonymous writes...

1. Is Dominique Destine is rich

2. How much money does Dominique Destine own ?

Greg responds...

1. Relative to me, yeah.

2. None of own money. We just rent it for awhile.

Response recorded on March 16, 2005

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Ineyboy writes...

Greg, I absolutely love Gargoyles, almost more than any other cartoon, ever (I'm sure that's been said before, but every fan should say it). I have some ?s for you, but I would like to apologize first if they have been asked previously, as I have not got a chance to read all the FAQ's. I would appreciate it if you could email me (inianj02@yahoo.com) your response, when you get to it. If you prefer to only post them, then I understand. You could say that my ?s may not be directly related, but they are both concerning Goliath's confusion about something.

1) In the beginning of "City of Stone: Part One", who was the Weird Sister referring to when she told Goliath that when he "...forgets that every life is precious..." he is just like "her"? I believe Goliath points to the girl he calls a "terrorist", but the Weird Sister was referring to someone else...Who? (Right after Goliath says this, the 3 sisters disappear; not that you don't know that, but for quick reference)

2) I won't torture you with everyone else's ? in "Ill met by moonlight," but I would like to know something else: At the end of the episode, what favor was Titania referring to when she thanks Goliath for a "favor rendered"?

Greg responds...

1. They were referring to Demona, who is the next person we see.

2. For saving her (and everyone) in "Walkabout".

Response recorded on February 03, 2005

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Zarok writes...

SANCTUARY

Ding Dong the queue is dead, well wounded anyway. I Know this is late but the asking function was closed down before I could post it and I've been awful busy lately. A well here it is.
I was interested to learn you had planned to use a Quasimodo character originally since Quasi is kind of a Gargoyle himself. I wonder if Quasi existed in the Gargoyle Universe, hey if you can have J.V.
I also was kind of disappointed you didn't give Demona's alter ego an angel themed name like Angelique like you planned in your memo. Would've made a great parallel with Angela and created another of those cool name parallels like Peter Maza and Petros Xanatos or Alexander Xanatos and Alexander
Speaking of thailog I have something to tell you that I think you'll like. When these episodes were first being aired on Disney Channel UK they seriously aired them out of order, skipping over most of the episodes between "City of Stone" and "Avolon" as well as a few pre-CoS episodes. They actually aired half the world tour before "Avolon" and even that before "Eye of The Beholder"! Luckily they sorted it out for the reruns but the point is that when I first saw "Sanctuary" I had not yet seen "Double Jeopardy" and it didn't hurt my enjoyment of this episode one bit. Sure there was some initial confusion over this Goliath look-alike (I thought at first that Thailog's "no way to treat a lady" line was Goliath's) but once the word clone popped up I immediately went "now I get it". More reason to believe that new viewers can get into "Gargoyles". In fact I think the World Tour was good at bring new viewers in, the episodes were much more stand alone

Greg responds...

That is good news. Thanks for telling me that.

We made a conscious decision not to use Angelique. Dominique just seemed more like the kind of name Demona would choose for herself.

Response recorded on December 09, 2004

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Maelgrim writes...

How many styles of fighting does Demona know ? having 1000 years practice should have made her nearly unbeatable yet she often just leaps at people screaming and gets shot/hit why is this?

Greg responds...

I don't know that Demona has trained as a human fighter, since that has been largely unnecessary to her... until recently. She is a well-trained gargoyle warrior, and makes great use of her skills as a gargoyle. But as a human... she needs some work.

Response recorded on November 11, 2004

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Todd Jensen writes...

My ramble on "Sanctuary", in response to yours.

"Sanctuary" is one of three "Gargoyles" episodes that I like to watch (from my tapes) once a year, on holidays. I watch it on Valentine's Day. (The other two are "Eye of the Beholder", for Halloween, and "The Hound of Ulster", for St. Patrick's Day). It does seem appropriate for Valentine's Day, with all the romance in it. (Although, at the same time, it's mostly "failed romance". Macbeth falls in love with Dominique Destine, only to be betrayed by her. Demona falls in love with Thailog, but is betrayed by him - though she doesn't even find out that he's no good until "The Reckoning". We get references back to Goliath and Demona when they were a couple - and we know how that one turned out. The only romance here that's got any real hope is Goliath and Elisa - and even that hasn't quite begun yet, with Elisa still holding off on it, as you pointed out).

I couldn't help but think that Dominique's French accent sounded more than a little hokey.

After marrying Macbeth, of course, Demona now could be called "Lady Macbeth" - and I'd say that she fits the imagery surrounding that name a lot better than Gruoch does.

One of the moments that I find especially touching in this episode is where Macbeth is getting ready to explain to Dominique all about his true nature. (Come to think of it, the real challenge that he'd have here - if the situation was what he thought it was - would be having to counteract the "murderous tyrant" image that Shakespeare had built around him, given that almost everybody who's heard of Macbeth is more likely to be familiar with the Shakespeare version of his story than the real history behind it).

I'll admit that I cringed at Elisa's "This is a job for the gargoyles line" (I honestly don't see the gargoyles as being "super-heroes", at least, not the same variety as Superman or Batman). But I agree with you on Thailog's cunning in immediately derailing suspicion from himself with his "Didn't you search him?" line. And on how unsettling it is when he leers at Angela (and, frankly, I don't think that he'd be at all bothered by the incest angle).

I also noticed how Thailog bears the same first name as Xanatos's biological son - and it's definitely creepy, especially given that Thailog and Xanatos couldn't even have come into contact with each other about it.

So you noticed those paintings that appear to be of Elisa, too? I was wondering about them myself.

One odd little thought from the first time that I saw it: I'm not sure why, but for some reason or other, the first time that I saw this episode, I actually thought, when Angela got buried under the rubble, that she wouldn't make it out alive. It does appear that I wasn't quite certain that she'd make it to the clock tower (too much influence from "status quo" television here, perhaps?).

I liked your analysis of Goliath's fears over Angela meeting her mother - but I wonder if Demona really could pose a danger of corrupting Angela. Angela's overall interactions with humanity have been much happier than Demona's - three loving human foster-parents who raised her and her rookery siblings, plus Elisa - that'd have to outweigh even the worst that an anti-gargoyle mob could do. But I suppose that it would be like Goliath to not want to take that risk.

(And re Elisa being Angela's "stepmother" - well, you've got to admit that it would definitely break the Disney cliche there - the first time that they do a "good stepmother" - and with the biological mother as the "wicked witch", at that).

Greg responds...

Have to admit that much as I LOVE Marina's work, I wasn't wild about her French accent.

Demona as LADY MACBETH was very intentional. There's more I could say on this subject... but I'll refrain for now.

As for Angela's survival, I guess it's a war between "status quo tv" and "don't kill off the good guys on a Disney show". Since we tried to defy expectations on both fronts when we could, I like to hope that you guys we'll fear the worst periodically.

The truth is, I'm always hesitant to kill ANY character (good or evil, major or minor), as I can usually find great stories for him or her down the road. But sometimes the Gargverse just doesn't give me any choice.

Response recorded on August 04, 2004

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Thrist writes...

This is about Demona and MacBeth. Let's say Demona's wing's or tail were injured. Would Macbeth still feel the pain even though he dosen't have them or would he not feel it at all. If he di where??

Greg responds...

Good question. If the pain extended (for example) from wing down into the shoulder, he'd certainly feel it. Otherwise, I guess it would be very distant -- like phantom pain, maybe.

Response recorded on July 19, 2004

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James Gunnels writes...

Greg
In what cartoon was demoan named if there was one

Greg responds...

We saw her get named in "City of Stone, Part Three".

Response recorded on July 07, 2004

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Babs writes...

To answer Anons question, I know some (plz do corrected me if I'm wrong so I can correct myself)
1)Brooklyn - is 19 years young, 6ft tall and wingspan 6 ft, day he weighs about 210 lbs. , night alot more
2)Broadway - 19 years of age, 6 ft tall, wingspan about 16ft, day time weighing in at a even 2 tons, night I don't even wanna think about it.
3)Lex - 19 years old
(I'm a tad bt out of thier age range)
4)Golaith - I think 29 years old
(Within better age range for me, he's just a few older than I)
5)Hudson - Hatced in 878 A.D., you do the math and get back to me on that one.
6)Bronx - not that old at all
7)Demona - If you know that would also help me, because I have no clue and if I'm wrong I don't want her hunting me down.
Gargoyles Forever !

Greg responds...

Anonymous asked for the ages at the time they were cursed. So my numbers are more accurate.

And I don't stand by those weights at all. Frankly, I'm not even sure about the wingspans.

As for Demona, she hatched at the same time as Goliath.

Response recorded on June 15, 2004

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Babs writes...

Me again :), lemme get one more question on before i head off to work.
1)Does Goliath still feel anything for Demona , or is he just filled with hate for her ?
danke
I liked that female clone , I think if she lived her and Brooklyn would have made a great pair.
Gargoyles Forever !

Greg responds...

1. Goliath's feelings (and he has many) for Demona are decidedly mixed.

I have other plans for both Brooklyn & Delilah.

Response recorded on June 14, 2004

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Denis writes...

Hello, Greg!

It was cool to see you again at the Gathering! and great radio-play, too!

I've a couple of questions, about Team Atlantis.

1) when did Demona heard about Atlantis? and that her race was named Gorlois by the city named above?

2)Can you tell us the title of the Team Atlantis episode set at the Loch Ness? (and I don't mean the Bush Garden's ride! ;-) )

that's all! pahgen! Gaa-moahk! ( thanks and Good bye. I know, my atlantean accent sucks!)

Greg responds...

1. Prior to 1920.

2. I'm sorry, but I just don't remember. That was three years ago.

Response recorded on June 02, 2004

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Zarok writes...

Hey Greg
I wasn't able to get to the Gathering this year so I have a lot of questions regarding the unmade Team Atlantis/Gargoyles crossover…

1) Can you give me a synopsise of the plot please? (Keep in mind that I've seen "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" and by the time you've read this I'll have probably have seen the direct to video sequel. So you don't have to waste time explaining who Milo is and stuff like that.)
2) You've said that Fiona is alive as of 12-31-95, so is she immortal or is she just really healthy? (It's possible, I know someone who's a hundred and six.)
3) Besides protecting the gargoyle race from a specific threat, what else can the praying gargoyle do?
4) In the gargoyle universe the majority of Atlanteans were human right?
5) If you had gotten to do more of Team Atlantis would we have seen gargoyles other than Demona or was this episode meant to exist in a vacume?
6) I don't suppose you'd consider posting the script up here? (not likely but a fella can try can't he?)

Greg responds...

1. Nutshell version: Milo & Company are in Paris battling a sewer monster. Doc runs into an old flame, Fiona Canmore, who is hunting "a demon". That demon, of course, turns out to be Demona, theoretically the last of her kind. Demona uses a smitten Mole to find the Praying Gargoyle, and uses the statuette to artificially animate every stone gargoyle in Paris -- in order, basically, to murder the local humans. Team Atlantis defeats Demona's plot, but Doc prevents Fiona from killing Demona.

2. She's just really old.

3. It's uses are manifold, but are all geared toward protection of the Gargoyle species.

4. All Atlanteans are human, though once upon a time there may have been an Atlantean clan of Gargoyles.

5. Not in a vacuum, but I doubt the producer and executives in charge of Team Atlantis would have allowed me to do more than this one-shot deal.

6. No. Though I play the audio tape at EVERY GATHERING, so if you want to hear Marina Sirtis as Demona and Sheena Easton as the Hunter one more time, I suggest showing up in Montreal this August.

Response recorded on May 18, 2004

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Mike R writes...

Hi Greg. I started watching Gargoyles on Toon Disney over my younger sisters shoulder a few weeks ago and haven't stopped since. Alas I've discovered that Toon Disney are only showing about half the total number of episodes, so there are probably gaping holes in my understanding of the overall theme (I get the impression there is one - correct me if I'm wrong;-).

First off, very well done. I'm very impressed. Not only are they extremely well written and animated, but there is subtlety of dialogue and expression! In a Disney Cartoon? Indeed.

Secondly: just finished City of Stone. Missed part of it the first time round. There's only one thing I can say... "Oi! The tragedy!" If Demona is not one of the most cathartic characters created in the last century I don't know who is! Despite her brutal treatment of Goliath it's hard not to empathise with her, or to enjoy her episodes perhaps more than the rest (is this unhealthy?;-). Macbeth is the perfect counterpoint, another very good character and equally engaging in his own way. However, I am frustrated. I glanced down an episode list and couldn't find anything further devoted to them. How does their story conclude? I must know!

Thirdly: somewhere I posted an e-mail to a Gargoyles site and the owner told me a film had been on the cards for the last five years, but with no apparent progress. Is anything known that you could tell? I did wonder if, when the reply mentioned it might be live action, whether this might change as a result of the successes of CGI films in recent years. I wonder which would best suit the genre - CGI or live action? With CGI the original voice cast could be used, of course.

Sorry for the long message, and thanks for indulging a new initiate.

Greg responds...

First off, as far as I know Toon Disney regularly showed EVERY episode (in order) except "Deadly Force". (And I understand they've started showing that one too.)

I'm not sure how glancing at an "episode list" (a list of titles?) would reveal anything about the contents of our episodes.

Of course, you posted this in 2002 and it's 2004 now, so I'm assuming that if you had a real interest you've seen all the eps by now. But, yes of course we did more episodes with Demona and Macbeth after City of Stone. Many more.

My latest information is that the Live-Action movie has been put on hold. After five plus years of Touchstone actively pursuing a script, they finally gave up.

Response recorded on April 28, 2004

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NiteShayde writes...

Hi!
It's me again! I was just wondering...was it intentional for Angela and Demona's names to be Angel and Demon with added a's? It's pretty cool since Angela is like an angel and Demona is like a demon. As MacBeth pointed out "You fight like a demon."

Thank you for answering my questions.

Greg responds...

You're welcome.

And, yes, it was intentional, the parallelism, all of it.

Response recorded on April 12, 2004

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Lori writes...

Well Demona and Angela ever get along as mother and daughter?

Greg responds...

Not saying.

Response recorded on April 08, 2004

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Cleo writes...

Who is Demona's and Goliath's parents?

Greg responds...

Don't know yet.

Response recorded on April 08, 2004

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Starfox writes...

Dear Greg,
I'm pretty sure this hasn't been asked, but if it has, sorry. Before Demona was affected by Puck's spell, she turned to stone during the day - as an immortal, she shouldn't have been able to die except by Macbeth's hands, so 1) Could Demona have died if someone had shattered her stone form during the day?
Thanks

Greg responds...

Sigh... I don't know whether this specific question has been asked before, but a hundred like it have, i.e. "What if something definitive happened to Demona (decapitation is the usual favorite) that normally she couldn't possibly survive?"

The answer is "It hasn't though, has it?" Or some variation of the same.

Response recorded on March 18, 2004

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George writes...

Who is the Gargoyles Arch Nemisis?

Greg responds...

There isn't just one: Xanatos, Demona and Thailog all come immediately to mind. But I never tried to limit the possibilities.

Response recorded on January 29, 2004

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WereFox writes...

Greg

In your mind, when Demona fell from the castle at the end of Awakenings 5 what happened to her? Did she manage to recover from her tumbling fall beneath the falling masonry and glide away? Or did she pancake into the pavement, shattering every bone in her body, and then recover a la her link with MacBeth?

Greg responds...

The former.

Response recorded on January 12, 2004

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Liz writes...

Why does Demona hate humans?

Greg responds...

If the series hasn't answered that question, than I truly have nothing to add.

Response recorded on January 07, 2004

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Rusty writes...

greg..if daemona hates humens so much why does she use their machines?

Greg responds...

She's an ends justifies the means kind of gal, I guess.

Response recorded on December 11, 2003

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matt writes...

all this Demona/Macbeth talk (we've been reviewing City of Stone and High Noon lately, we are probably somewhere around The Gathering by the time you read this, both the episode and the event) and i thought of a question:

we know that the pain shared by Demona and Macbeth has a distance factor to it, if they are far away from each other when one gets hurt, the other probably won't feel it, but i was wondering if death is like this as well? if Demona was to get shot or whatever and died, would Macbeth miles and miles away also momentarily die?

Greg responds...

Distance mitigates the effect, but doesn't shut it off. Pain, death, whatever.

Response recorded on December 10, 2003

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A TOUCH OF CANMORE IN THE NIGHT...

For those of you who missed the controversy over the following set of questions... You're lucky.

These questions waited a long time in the queue, but were deleted...

What follows is a bit difficult to read, so here's a primer.

<Lynati lists topics -- or perhaps they are old questions -- inside these carrots.>

[She then quotes ASK GREG inside brackets.]

Then she asks new numbered and lettered questions inside parens, e.g. 1a).

MY NEW RESPONSES FOLLOW IN ALL-CAPS.

From Lynati:

I'm in a Canmore mood this evening. Err, morning.

<Of Fiona's relationship to Robyn and her siblings, posted at two different times>

[Fiona is the twin sister of Jason, Robyn and Jon's grandfather. That is, she's their great aunt.]

DID YOU CUT AND PASTE THIS QUOTATION OR RETYPE IT YOURSELF? DID I REALLY MAKE THAT GLARING AN ERROR, SUBSTITUTING JASON FOR JACKSON.

[But I'm pretty sure that Jackson is Fiona's twin brother. That Jackson was the father of Aron who was the father of Charles
who was the father of Jason, Robyn & Jon. And I know Fiona's great-grandfather was Angus.]

This second list would make her their great-great-aunt. When you have a chance, will you look it up in your Canmore-bloodline list and clarify for us:

(1a)Is she Jackson's twin brother, or Aron's?

THE TWINS, JACKSON AND FIONA CANMORE WERE BORN IN 1888.

(1b)How many "great"'s properly belong in front of her name in relation to Robyn?

IN 1908, JACKSON'S SON ARON CANMORE WAS BORN. FIONA WAS HIS AUNT.

IN 1936, ARON'S SON CHARLES CANMORE WAS BORN. FIONA WAS HIS GREAT AUNT.

IN 1964, CHARLES' SON JASON CANMORE WAS BORN. FIONA WAS HIS GREAT-GREAT AUNT.

IN 1966, CHARLES' DAUGHTER ROBYN CANMORE WAS BORN. FIONA WAS HIS GREAT-GREAT AUNT.

IN 1972, CHARLES' SON JON CANMORE WAS BORN. FIONA WAS HIS GREAT-GREAT AUNT.

<At the time of 'Hunter's moon' were Jason, Jon and Robyn Canmore the only descendents of Canmore? Do they have any other family out there that they are unaware of?>

[There are probably a lot of Canmore descendants. They probably know some and don't know others, just like anyone. But they were the three who had carried on the tradition of the Hunter.]

(2a)Were Robyn and her siblings chosen to continue the Hunter tradition, or did they get a choice?

THEY WERE CHOSEN. AND THEY HAD A CHOICE IN THEORY, BUT GAUGE THAT RELATIVE TO WHAT YOU SAW IN "HUNTER'S MOON".

(2b)As they were trained by the "Canmore clan", does that mean that a large part of the family knows about "the Demon" and
the pledge to hunt her down, or is it kept a secret from anyone not pledged on the Hunter path?

IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE "CANMORE CLAN". IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ANY AND ALL OF THE DESCENDANTS OF DUNCAN & CANMORE -- THAN NO, I DON'T THINK MOST STILL KNOW ABOUT DEMONA. BUT IF YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE BRANCH OF THE CLAN THAT RECREATED THE HUNTER TRADITION, THAN YES, MOST KNOW.

(2c)Were any of Robyn's cousins (and second cousins, etc.) offered the choice to become Hunters, and if not, did they receive similar training anyway?

I TEND TO THINK THAT THE MANTLE OF THE HUNTER FALLS ALONG A DIRECT LINE OF DESCENT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.

(2d)Was Fiona Robyn, Jason, and Jon's primary teacher and trainer?

NO. BUT SHE PARTICIPATED.

[But I've charted so many Canmores that I get confused sometimes, and I don't have that chart with me. I can't remember for
sure. Ask me again later. ]

[She [Demona] was hunted (a) because she was the only one left (as far as they knew) and (b) because of a little mishap with
Canmore and one of his sons that I haven't told you about yet.]

(3a)Will you tell us about all of the Canmore's you have charted at 2002 (or whichever con is "next" by the time this post gets
through), including the above-mentioned "incident" that you have not previously told us about?

NOPE.

(3b)If not, will you tell us about most of them?

NAH.

Hmm...maybe you should just sell copies of the Canmore family list at the Gathering.

IT'S A THOUGHT.

<So what happened in Paris, 1920 that was so significant to the Atlantis and Gargoyles universes? >

[Come to G2002 and find out.]

<origination of the word "Gargoyle".>

[The etimology of the word gargoyle goes back a long way. It evolved at least in part from an Atlantean word. That's all I want
to say at this time. But hold tight. More will be revealed at the Gathering 2002 in Virginia Beach.]

<Who created the Praying Gargoyle? >
[If you come to G2002, you'll find out.]

<How powerful is its magic?>
[Potentially, very powerful.]

(4a)So, was the Praying Gargoyle created on Atlantis?

IT WAS CREATED BY ATLANTEANS -- BUT I'M NOT SURE IF IT WAS LITERALLY CREATED IN ATLANTIS.

(4b)Did the first gargoyles develop on Atlantis?

NO. GARGOYLES PREDATE ATLANTIS. AS DO HUMANS.

(4c) What did you have for lunch today?

NOTHING. TOO BUSY ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

(4d)In 1920, were Fiona Canmore and Demona fighting over the possession of the Praying gargoyle?

NOT REALLY, THOUGH IT PLAYED A ROLE IN THEIR CONFLICT.

(4e)If yes, and the Praying Gargoyle was hidden this year, was there any particular reason that Demona had to wait 60
years to reclaim it, or did she just figure it was too good a hiding place to leave the statue in until she needed it?

THE PRAYING GARGOYLE WAS DESTROYED IN 1920. IT TOOK 60 YEARS TO REGENERATE.

And, while I'm here...

(5a)...Does Demona really "know every remaining gargoyle" as she claims in "the reckoning", or was this just another one of her "I am right about everything (and therefore there can be no more gargoyles than I know of)" delusions?

IT SEEMS CLEAR TO ME THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW EVERY REMAINING GARGOYLE, AS SHE CLEARLY DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT AVALON.

(5b)Which clans is she actually aware of at the time she makes that proclamation?

I'M NOT GOING TO TIE MY HANDS BY LISTING THEM AT THIS TIME.

(5c)As Angela learned about Demona's immortality in "Sanctuary", why was she crying after Demona's "death" in the reckoning?

IT'S ONE THING TO KNOW SOMETHING INTELLECTUALLY, IT'S ANOTHER TO TRULY ABSORB IT. ALSO, AS I'VE STATED MANY, MANY TIMES BEFORE, THE MANHATTAN CLAN KNOWS THE BASIC RULES REGARDING DEMONA AND MACBETH, BUT THEY ARE NOT AS SURE AS I AM THAT DEMONA CAN NEVER BE KILLED EXCEPT UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS IS ALL NEW TO THEM.

(5d)Did Angela and Goliath honestly believe that Demona was permanently killed by the roller coster collapse/fire, even
knowing that Demona is only able to truly die at Macbeth's hands?

THEY JUST WEREN'T 100% SURE.

(5e) Was Angela not aware of that stipulation?

SEE ABOVE.

(5f)Since Goliath knew, did he deliberately keep the knowledge that Demona would survive from Angela?

SEE ABOVE.

(5g)Have I forgotten something that makes a flaw in my reasoning here?

ONLY THAT YOU ARE THINKING IN ABSOLUTES. MOST PEOPLE (AND GARGOYLES) GO THROUGH LIFE WITH SOME DOUBTS, INSECURITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES. EVEN IF THEY ARE TOLD SOMETHING, THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM TO QUESTION IT.

Yes, I plan to attend the Gathering in 2002.

The last question is, will you have read this post by then?

OBVIOUSLY, NOT. BUT AT LEAST I GOT TO IT BEFORE G2004.


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Annick writes...

Dear Greg,

Hi my name's Annick, I have longed been a Gargoyle fan. Ever since the series went off the air I have always had a couple of questions that I've always wondered about. I'm so happy I found this site! My first question is in the show Goliath blames Demona for the destruction of their clan, I quote,"Don't you see, none of this would have happened if it weren't for you!" And also I think most of the others do too. From watching the show it also reveals that she can't face her own guilt as well. But in reality from the episode "City of Stone," I get the idea that it wasn't her fault. I mean, she thought she was doing something good for her clan. She didn't know that the captain wouldn't have been able to save them. Also I don't think it was the captains fault because he tried to stop Hakon. You see? So why is everyone blaming her? She was trying to do something good wasn't she? Well good in her sense. She didn't want to hurt her clan. My other question is in the FAQ's you explain that it isn't the gargoyle way to kiss. That's a human custom. Yet in the episode,"City of Stone," when Demona returns to Wyvern Castle she sees everyone is dead, and Goliath and the other's are stone at night. Out of grief she climbs to the top tower and looks at Goliath. Takes her finger kisses it and places it on Goliath's lips. Then kisses his forehead. So how can this be if it isn't a gargoyle custom? (Don't get me wrong I really liked that part. So touching... I always cry everytime I think of that part.) I'm just wondering. And my last questions comes from the episode,"The Mirror." I think everyone deep inside knows that Demona does still care for Goliath. I believe you mentioned it in the FAQ's. Do you think Demona would have ever revealed this to Goliath? And what kind of situation do you think they would have to be in? Thank you very much Greg for reading my questions. I really wish I could meet you one day. I'm studying at my college in animation. I hope some day, I'll be just as good as you!

Sincerely Annick

Greg responds...

She didn't want to hurt the clan, certainly. But she also wanted the clan to conform to her vision of what it should be and she took a horrendous chance with their lives -- right down to the moment when she might have warned Othello and Desdemona and DID NOT.

No, the massacre of the clan wasn't ALL her fault, but only her participation (and crucial inaction) made it possible. So she IS partially to blame. That's what Goliath meant.

As to the kissing, it's a human custom, but it's an addictive one, in my opinion. Demona, having been around humans for decades, would have seen it, and may have adapted it long before events in CITY OF STONE.

Demona still has Feelings for Goliath, but that's not necessarily the same thing. Those feelings are twisted, confused, etc.

If you want to meet me, I'd recommend attending the GATHERING in Montreal this summer. Check out...

http://www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com/

for more information.

Response recorded on October 28, 2003

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AngelOfTheNight writes...

Concerning Puck and Demona, In "the Mirror" Demona tells Puck, "You've served the human, now you can serve me", As well as in "City of Stone" she calls Owen "the tricky one".
The rest of us didn't know Owen's true identity until the end of "The Gathering". So my question is, just how and for how long does Demona know Owen is Puck? Sorry if this has already been asked, didnt see it anywhere in the archives. P.S. I was glad to hear that you and yours were safe after the WTC tragedy.

Greg responds...

Um... well, for starters, thanks. But of course, we live in Los Angeles so my family wasn't at tremendous risk.

I'm sure it's in the archives somewhere, but Demona has been aware of Puck/Owen's true identity for quite some time. Puck/Owen introduced Demona to Xanatos some time before the events of AWAKENING.

Response recorded on October 21, 2003

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Lynn writes...

Where do Demona's wings go when she's inside her exoframe?

Greg responds...

I assume they're folded in some way over her shoulder. I'd have to look again.

Response recorded on October 03, 2003

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Alex writes...

How come did the Canmores continue to hunt Demona if in "City of Stone" Canmore thought she was dead?
I could understand that if they (the other hunters) were Gillecomgain's descendents. But even then Canmore didn't have any big reasons to hate Demona, he just wanted to kill MacBeth.

Greg responds...

Something happened between the end of City of Stone and the Renaissance to get the Canmore's on the hate trail again. I don't feel like going into too many details, but you can rest assured that as usual, Demona is her own worst enemy. (Which is not to say the Canmore's don't share the blame.)

Response recorded on September 23, 2003

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The Fan from Portugal writes...

Hey, I have a question about the relationship between Demona and Owen: If she knew he was the Puck all the time, how come did she never confront him after "The Mirror" episode? In "City of Stone, part 1" she said to Owen 'You are the tricky one', I presume she meant as Puck, but at the time we don't know that. Why did she never made a comment about that? or even a glance?

Greg responds...

She did. You just mentioned it in City of Stone. And she commented on it to Puck in "The Mirror". What else are you looking for?

Response recorded on September 19, 2003

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Vanity writes...

Hi Greg:

I was just watching "City of Stone". It is a beutiful piece of work. I am very fond of it.

I espicially like the one scene where that woman runs up to Travis Marshall to relate what had happened and he just totally blows her off as "crazy". That got me thinking we ALL do that (as humans) completely discount the minority view as absurd and stupid. Classic example "The Flat Earth Society", oh, we just love to make fun of them. I have decided to be more open minded to even the most seemingly crazy ideas or beliefs. I have watched "CoS" many times but that scene never really hit me like it did just today. Was that intentional on your part? To show the err in human ways. You've said all things are true and what she said was true, just because no one believed her doesn't make it no less right. It reminded me of a Greek Philosopher I think his name was Isocrates I am not sure and his quote went
"If all mankind, minus one; were of a common opinion except the one of a differing opinion. All of mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one, than he, if he had the power; would be justified in silencing all of mankind..."

More things I loved about this episode.
King Duncan's death, in my mind one of the top 10 animated deaths ever.
Demona, saves Gruoch and Macbeth when she could have had her vengence, she chose the nobler of the two courses, made me feel all happy inside. I must admit though killing Gilcoumgain then would have saved her a lot of trouble and heart break later on.
Her plan was very sinister, and her killing of the statued humans was a very dark contrast to her more kind-hearted younger self we had just seen earlier in eps like "Vows". I also liked this too, she's not soft and weak as she is commited to her cause and for that I commend her. I agree with her goals, her means are brutal and me being human will make me possibly feel the urge to resist being smited, but I hope she sees her dream out and accomplishes it, power to her.
One thing very much dissapointed me, relating to Demona when she gave the access code to Goliath and Xanatos the code was "ALONE", not one you'd imagine she'd pick, totally took me by suprise when I first saw it; but Goliath was apparently unaffected by her choice of a password and the huge water works under her eyes. Does he have a heart of stone? She's not even real (I think), and I feel a lump in my throat, every time I see that; yet he knows she's real and didn't even care, creep.

MacBeth, what can I say I think he is great. I think his story is one of the more tragic on the show. Considering all that happens, he always loved and still loves Gruoch. The one time that we see him actually take interest in life and love again he is set up by Dominique and Thailog. His plight is very dramatic. Living but having to as Gruoch said "Remain dead", dead to his country, his home, and his family.

Gruoch: Even though she gets very little air time on the series I think she is great. My second favorite female character. She is strong, smart, wise, intuitive, loving, radiant, and very honest in commiting to her duty. I espicially like how she stood up to Demona at the end, what courage. She even scorned the Hunter as "Oh mighty" with her sarcasm, 'your not mighty your a coward'. I cannot see how you could not love her.

"COS" has its share of humorous wit to it as well. I absoulutely love this:
Elisa: "..the signal came from Pak-Media studios you own it so as usual this is your fault!"
Owen: "Mr. Xanatos is trying to fix things. What are you doing to help?"
I love Elisa's expression, that's good stuff.

-Since I do not want to go into great lenghty deatail about every detail of the show..-

King Duncan- Very paranoid.
Hudson+Trio- not much to say
Boudie(SP)- Probably has his heart in the right place but man what a --well cowardly guy--
Demona's Betrayl of MacBeth- this shocked me, leave him to die at the castle but she actually contacted Kenmore?
Wierd Sisters- I HATE them. I think they are corrupt, vile, and wicked, they should burn in a fiery lake in the seventh circle of Hell somewhere. For a very, very long time. (I make this judgement with my Knowledge of the "Avalon" eps)
Vengence begats nothing more than a vicious cycle of further vengence- true perhaps, but highly over exaggerated.
The betrayl of the Cast Wyvern- I want to know who slept at Demona's roost. When the Vikings sacked it.
Bronx and Demona's encounter- I loved it. Good job.
Demona and Macbeth- It's amazing how it goes, I like when Demona came back from the fight all happy and swirled Macbeth high off the ground. Her joyous attitude was refreshing, yet all to short in length.

That's all for this post. Thanks for listening.

Vanity~

Greg responds...

A few responses to your comments...

1. Yes, the scene with Travis and the woman was a comedic way to make exactly that point.

2. Can't say I'm rooting for Demona to succeed. I'm rooting for Demona, but not in that way.

3. We had an entire contest to explain "Alone" and got some very interesting responses. You might check them out in the contest archive here at ASK GREG.

4. I think it's presumptuous of you to assume you know exactly what Goliath was feeling. But one thing to keep in mind is that he had just witnessed the results of her mass murder spree.

5. I've said this before, but we all got to watch Emma Samms blossom as a voice actress over the course of just these four episodes. She had never done cartoons before. She was a bit stiff in Gruoch's first appearance, but, MAN, by COS4, she was just ROCKING!!! I give her and voice director Jamie Thomason a ton of credit for really bringing Gruoch to life when we needed it most.

6. I'm not sure that Bodhe did have his heart in the right place -- until, I like to think, the very end.

7. The notion that vengeance begets nothing more than a vicious cycle of further vengeance, is not only true but is if anything UNDERSTATED. Hardly exagerated. One only has to look at a newspaper to see that the Montagues and Capulets of this world simply refuse to recognize this obvious, obvious FACT. It drives me insane. Your casual dismissal of the notion doesn't thrill me either. (Sorry.)

8. You're welcome. I like your posts.

Response recorded on June 20, 2003

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warrioress writes...

In the episode "Sanctuary", how was it that Demona could knock MacBeth out cold and remain conscious herself? (right after the wedding, when she reveals her true identity to him?)

(Marina Sirtis did a pretty hokey French accent, if you ask me... ;-)

Greg responds...

She was ready for the blow. Plus she's a garg. She feels the exact same force. But it's tougher to knock out a garg than a human.

Response recorded on June 20, 2003

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Vanity writes...

This is about the Light bulb contest, well more correctly the incident itself.
Fang was cracking at gargoyles right, I suppose thier intelligence or whatever. Why was Demona seemingly unoffended by that? While Goliath was atleast perhaps annoyed.

Greg responds...

It's possible that Demona had other things on her mind at that moment and wasn't paying attention.

It's possible, as Demona had been caged up beside Fang for weeks and weeks that she was long past the point of reacting to every damn thing he said. (Since any adult knows that reacting to an immature person saying stupid stuff is the best way to encourage that immature person to continue.)

Response recorded on June 18, 2003

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Vanity writes...

Greg:
This question or line of thoughts may be dismissed by many as hindsight or 'if party "A" knew that party "B" would have acted as such party "A" would have/not done what ever they had done, or something else entirely.
That being said I am not interested in mere allocations of ideas or energy as it is parted to its situation(s). But rather the logical processes which make it happen. (not why did "X" do this instead of this, but how did "X" come to believe that what he/she did was what he/she wanted done in order to further the cause of or to accomplish the objectives of his/her agenda. Even when other noticeable paths of achieving that endeavor where evident and obvious.

--Case point--
-Demona--most irrational
-episode-Temptation--enlightening

Demona not by magic or trickery was able to persuade Brooklyn to believe that humans were bad for gargoyles. How? Through persuasive speech mixed with vived illustration, preying on the emmotion, and excellent visual situations highlighting her position.(the murder, troubled household).
1) she has Brooklyn to the point where he will steal the magic book and lie to Goliath.

Knowing that she has plenty of time in the world to accomplish her goal of a human-free world, why did she rashly cast a 'wierd-spell' on Goliath?
When I first saw this episode age 12 or 13 I had myself thought I knew what she was doing, I was wrong. I easily recognized then her potential ability to persuade the other impressionable minds of the clan with simmilar illustration and glib of tongue. (Lexington's encounter with the Pack) With the help of Brooklyn, "subverting" the clans' mind with tongue not sword.

Still, had she not wanted to wast the time and energy in that long term process she still could have stalled on her plan to 'open Goliath's eyes' why not study the book find a more meaningful spell. Since I do not know exactly all the power held in its pages I cannot give an example, however; I am sure there would be one in there somewhere.

Or even use this oppurtunity to find other usefull information, Brooklyn as a 'double-agent'.

When in the situation present without the liberty of hindsight, I know that what we do is what we do, but again I stress that I am not interested in her decision, cast a 'wierd-zombie' spell fine. Why? "Open Goliath's eyes". So we are here again at the point where all the preperations for planning will eithere pay off big time or backfire. In planning though she must have decided that it would be easier, faster, better to cast a wierd spell than to expend her resources into other side projects ultimately perhaps harvesting a greater chance of sucess through diplomatic channels and patient subversion. This is where I need your help. I reason that she must have chose to cast the wierd spell on Goliath so to accomplish her objective more quickly. Why does she reason that speed is the best way to accomplish her plans?

If it was not just speedily accomplishing her goals that motivated her irrational behavior then what was it?

Greg responds...

Well, I think most would agree that Demona is her own worst enemy. She is extremely intelligent, but also extremely passionate, and she often, often lets her passions rule her brain -- though she rarely, if ever, admits to that.

She may have justified/rationalized that speed was the key. She may have justified/rationalized that Goliath posed such a huge threat both physically and as a "corrupting influence" on the clan that he needed to be dealt with immediately.

But I don't think it was any of that.

I think she was mad at him.

I think she felt betrayed.

I think she wanted vengeance.

I think she wanted to feel superior to him.

I think she wanted to justify all the damnéd choices she had made over a thousand years.

I think she took personal satisfaction out of turning him into a plaything.

I think she made a big mistake.

I think she threw away an incredible opportunity, as you outlined above.

Just my opinion, though.

Response recorded on June 18, 2003

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Demona Taina writes...

I realize that this is a very forward question, but I tried my best to put it as respectable as possible. Demona and Thailog seemed to have a very close relationship. Did they ever mate?

Greg responds...

If you're asking if they ever had sex, then the answer is yes.

Or as they would say, "None of your damn business! Now, DIE!!"

Response recorded on June 09, 2003

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Josh Wurzel writes...

Hey Greg,

This one has been bugging me for a while. How on earth did Demona know that raising Castle Wyvern above the clouds would end the spell? She obviously didn't have the entire Grimorum memorized because she said something to the effect of "how could my love be stone at night?" (implying that she didn't recognize the spell, despite studying with the Archmage). And for nearly 1000 years, the book was well out of her reach, first going with the magus and then being whisked to 1970 or some such year by the TimeDancer. By the time Xanatos would have let Demona read it, the castle would already be on top of the tower, best as I can figure.

2) did she tell herself in "Vows" in some scene/dialog we didn't see?

2a) if she didn't tell herself, did her year-974 self look up the spell after the events in "Vows"?

3) Did Demona tell Xanatos about the way to end the spell so that she could get him to raise the castle, or did Xanatos already know about the spell from the Grimorum when he met up with Demona?

4) If he already knew about the spell, then why did he get involved with Demona?

Thanks. I hope these were clear.

Greg responds...

1. You figure wrong. Demona and Xanatos first met before Xanatos even purchased the castle. They began collaborating and planning.

2. No. See above.

2a. See above.

3. I think he may have known about the spell. I'm sure he had the book translated. But he was missing key pieces of information, which Demona provided. Team effort.

4. See above.

Response recorded on June 03, 2003

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Greg Bishansky writes...

And while I'm here, and since I doubt you'll reveal it when you get to my previous question on this topic...

Would you like to talk about either of Demona's next two great loves?

Greg responds...

NOPE.

Response recorded on June 03, 2003

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Reno's Demona writes...

Greg-i love the show. I think it has some of the greatest character development i have ever seen. My question is this, would you say Demona is a tragic charachter? I would, but that's just me.... THANKS A BUNCH!!!

Greg responds...

I certainly think she's a tragic figure... the fact that she's her own worst enemy not-withstanding.

Response recorded on May 20, 2003

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Edward Haynes, Jr. writes...

In "Temptations" Demona mentions Goliath and Lexington being hunted by the Pack "like animals" to which Brooklyn responded with "How'd you know?" I noticed she never answered him, so my question is how DID she know? She never showed up in "Thrill Of The Hunt", so how did she know that it happened?

Greg responds...

Just cuz you didn't see her, doesn't mean she wasn't there.

Also, keep in mind that in those days, Demona was allied with Xanatos.

Response recorded on May 19, 2003

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Saucer writes...

In the Reckoning, Demona stated, "I know every remaining gargoyle." Does that mean she knew every remaining clan including the ones that weren't introduced in the show. If not, which clans was she refering to?

Greg responds...

I'm going to leave that to your interpretation. Demona certainly seems to believe that she knows every remaining gargoyle, PERIOD.

But she could be (a) mistaken or (b) lying. She's certainly not above either possibility.

Response recorded on May 14, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Found a few more...

Greg writes: "I think Demona can fake integrity with the best of them. She's a survivor."

So, if we took the entire cast of gargoyles, put them on a deserted island, and let them vote each other off one by one, Demmie would be the one to walk away with the money? ;)

Greg responds...

I don't know, because I've never watched Survivor, so I don't know what kind of personality tends to win. Demona is her own worst enemy, of course.

Response recorded on May 12, 2003

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Creamy writes...

If Gargoyles had continued, how would you have developed the Angela-Demona relationship?

Would they ever find a medium? Or be at least friends?

Since the last time Coldfire talk to to Demona was back in 994, what does she think of Demona's new way of life in 1996?

How close were Demona and Coldfire back in the "Dark Ages"?

Greg responds...

1. Carefully.

2. I think Michael Reaves came up with a Medium that we never used. I can't remember her name though at the moment.

3. I'm not going to reveal the long-term result of their interaction.

4. Well, at the moment, I doubt she's aware of it. But assuming she found out, I think she'd be very disturbed.

5. Close as sisters who aren't actually as close as they think.

Response recorded on April 21, 2003

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg

1. Are you in the mood to talk about either of Demona's next two great loves again?

2. If so, could you please ;)

Greg responds...

1. Nope.

2. Sorry.

Response recorded on March 18, 2003

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matt writes...

couple questions about Demona in "Awakening 1 and 2"

1. when Goliath says hes going to find the Vikings, Demona says, "... let me come along, at least!" why would she say that? if shes so worried about following 'the plan' why would she volunteer to 'abandon' her clan as Goliath does?

2. and when Goliath does leave, he leaves Demona in command of the clan. as Second she has authority anyway, but when Goliath goes, she is effectively in charge. so using that command, why didn't she just order the clan to leave and follow 'the plan' Demona had to think of that, right? i mean, she ran away herself, and almost told at least Othello and Desdemona. in those last few hours before sunset, why didn't she gather the clan and get out of there? did she really trust the Captain THAT much? did she not trust herself THAT much?

Greg responds...

1. She's trying to make the best of a bad situation, in her own self-involved frightened way.

2. Goliath gave an order for them to stay. For her to countermand that order, even as Second, would probably -- at least in her mind -- required some explanation. Plus, on some level I think she felt she HAD to trust the Captain. Because if she didn't why was she doing ANY of this. And yet on another level, she clearly recognized that she couldn't trust him completely -- else why would she flee herself. What it comes down to is that whether or not she'd ever be willing to admit it, she KNEW on some level that she was betraying a trust herself. That rippled into all sorts of levels of deceit and insecurity. She was MIND-F**K'D, basically by her own choices. Tragedy insues. You get the drift.

It's all very complex, I admit, but I think that's why Demona is so interesting.

Response recorded on February 13, 2003

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gargoyle fan writes...

hey greg i have been wondering about demona lately so here are my questions

1.In the episode city of stone why did't demona stay in wyvern was in it much safer then in a cave or it it would bring to much painful memories

2.I notice that in city of stone in the cave where demona and her clan lived there was a beach behide it so i am wondering since castle wyvern was next to a beach was the cave near wyvern

3.does demona approve of angla's relationship with broadway

4. in vows why did't demona use the phenoix gate to stop
the death of her clan

Greg responds...

1. The phrase "The Horror. The Horror." comes to mind.

2. I don't recall a beach behind that cave, and I always thought of that one being more interior to Scotland. But in any case, no, it wasn't Wyvern.

3. Well, as of when I left the show, Demona didn't know about Angela's relationship with Broadway. Only Angela, Broadway and Brooklyn knew. But assuming she found out, I think she'd have mixed feelings. Broadway is a Goliath loyalist, for starters.

4. A careful viewing would show she couldn't. If you're asking why she didn't try, I think one answer is that she did. Not by going back to the daylight hours of the massacre, when she couldn't have done anything anyway, but by going back to a point when her past self might -- had time travel worked that way -- have been able to change everything from that point forward.

Response recorded on January 29, 2003

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Chapter XLII: "Sanctuary"

Time to ramble...

This episode was directed by Dennis Woodyard, written and story edited by Cary Bates.

The one word title, as usual, was one of mine. I thought initially that we'd be even more focused on the Cathedral. That we might play a Quasimodo character. Heck, if Disney's "Hunchback" movie was going to have living gargoyles bouncing around, then I could have a Quasimodo swinging from the bell-ropes.

But the story, thank goodness, rightly evolved into a family drama with Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Demona, Macbeth and Thailog (and Bronx) providing us with one very ODD family. Quasimodo went away in favor of Thailog.

And we had to work a bit to make sure the thematic idea of the heart as a Sanctuary worked its way into the picture. Thank God for that French minister, eh?

During the "Previously..." recap the following exchange was heard between my eight year old daughter Erin and my five year old son Ben, after Angela learns (in that scene from "Monsters") that Goliath is her biological father:

Benny: He IS her father. He laid the egg.
Erin: Girls lay eggs.
Benny: His wife laid the egg.

ROMANCE

Enter, for the third time or the first (or, depending on your point of view, maybe this one doesn't count either), Ms. Dominique Destine. She tells Mac, "We have all the time in the world..."

This for me (and I know for Bond expert Cary) was a very memorable line from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." And always a good sign that a relationship is going to come to a bad end.

Elisa tips her hand, which she can do cuz no one is awake, about how she really feels about Goliath here. "The most romantic city in the world and Goliath isn't awake to share it with me." (Or something like that, all quotations are approximate.) That's what she'd like to do, I'd wager. Soar over Paris with G. the way they soared over Manhattan in "Awakenings". Now had he been awake, do you think she would have made that request? Or would she in fact be distancing herself from him simply BECAUSE she had that impulse?

After her adventure on the Loch, it's nice to see Margot on a pleasant little stroll through Paris.

THE GARGOYLE WAY

Why is Goliath so resistant to parenting Angela? After all, though they're really more like younger brothers, he does his fair share of parenting the Trio.

He falls back on "The Gargoyle Way", but that's certainly inadequate, as Diane Maza will later point out. Yes, he's only one of her rookery fathers, but he's (a) the only one there and (b) the only one left alive except for the two souls trapped inside the AWOL Coldstone.

Ultimately, I think the answer is that Angela's sudden obssession with her "BIOLOGICAL" parentage makes him nervous because of the obvious extrapolation to what comes next. If she's obssessed with me as Daddy, then what happens when she learns who Mommy is?

And that's the key. He's divorced Demona. His wife who laid the egg. It took centuries and months, but after "Vows" he moved on. Now he sees Demona as a nemesis. A painful one to be sure, but a nemesis none the less. He's afraid of what the knowledge will do to Angela. He's afraid of what Demona will do with Angela, should Angela share that knowledge. And is he perhaps afraid of what -- under Demona's influence -- Angela might become?

THE CATHEDRAL

There's some nice animation in this episode -- but none of it is at Notre Dame. That sequence put us through fits in retakes and editing. Ugghh. It's still painful to look at.

But there's some nice stuff going on...

Demona says: "In here my love." to Goliath before she realizes its not Thailog. What did you all think of that line? At this point we had only seen one silhouetted monster from a distance. And since you knew Demona was in town, we intentionally tried to lead you to belive that she was the Monster at Notre Dame. Were you expecting Thailog? Or did you think that Demona was addressing G as 'my love'?

Goliath's arrival is a shock to her, so what did you think then?

Then Thailog's arrival is supposed to be a bigger shock to you guys. Was it?

I love hearing Thailog say: "My angel of the night."

Demona has a good line too: "Jealous and paranoid."

Later, we set up Nightstone Unlimited and their two "human" identities, Alexander Thailog and Dominique Destine.

At this point in production, we knew that Fox was going to have a baby but we had not named it yet. I couldn't think of a better first name for Thailog and later I couldn't think of a better first name for Alexander Xanatos. At first this bugged me. But I began to realize it made perfect sense. Xanatos had programmed his "first" son well. If X would pick Alexander, why wouldn't T have picked it as well. And there's something so symmetrical about both his kids being named Alexander.

TOURISTS

Elisa sits at a french cafe talking out loud to herself. Ugh. Very awkward. Obviously, we couldn't come up with a solution we liked better. I'm sure it occured to me to do it in voice over, but just chucking a V.O. sequence in the middle of an ep is very awkward too. Suddenly, the movie is POV Elisa, and we weren't doing that here. (Cf. "Revelations" and Matt's VO narration.)

I do like her last line though, coming as it did from a long time Superman scripter, Cary Bates: "This is a job... for the Gargoyles!"

THE WEDDING NIGHT

We had Macbeth use the Lennox Macbeth name instead of Lennox Macduff because we thought it would be too confusing to give him an entirely different name to any new viewers. And it makes sense that he has multiple aliases. But it still bugs me and I think in hindsight, I wish we had just been consistent.

Demona kicks Macbeth into unconsciousness, and Erin asks: "Why didn't she get hurt?"

And that's a very fair question. As usual with D&M's Corsican Brother connection, we tried very hard to be faithful to it, but it was very hard. And we wound up being a bit inconsistent. The best I can suggest is that when Demona knows she's going to hurt M and it isn't just on impulse, she can more or less steel herself against the magical feedback. It's still painful. But she doesn't show it as much.

The Gargoyles wake up and Elisa says: "Look alive, guys!" Well, they do now, don't they?

I love how Thailog slips Mac the gun and then later yells at Demona, "Didn't you search him?!" He's an evil genius that one. And passive-aggressive too.

Thailog's plan is brilliant, I think. So elegant. So simple. And if not for Elisa, so effective.

Mac's suicidal tendencies resurface. Demona's legendary temper gets the better of her common sense.

Thailog really comes into his own in this ep. Sure, Xanatos said he may have created a monster, but now Thailog has outsmarted X, D and M. Who the hell is left to outsmart?

And he has some great lines too:

"You and what clan?"

"Teamwork is so overrated."

"Aren't you spunky?'" (Another Lou Grant reference of course.)

To be fair, he couldn't immediately know that Angela was blood kin, but still doesn't his reaction to her give you the creeps? When X says Angela is lovely in "Cloud Fathers" I don't think anyone thought he was being salacious. But T? Yeah, baby.

Of course, Goliath finally gets the picture after this one. Up to this point, he was thinking Demona's the lost cause but maybe Thailog is salvagable. Now he knows better. At least about T anyway.

BATTLE

There's a lot of water in that water tower. It looks cool though. The animation here makes up for the Cathedral stuff.

I love Goliath's two-handed punch.

I love Demona's punch-drunken sway, as she makes her move to, as Mac says, "put us out of our misery..."

But I've always wondered why the background painters put multiple pictures of Elisa on the wall of Macbeth's chateau. Odd, that.

When I was young, I used to love MASH, particularly back in the Wayne Rogers days. (And, yes, Wayne is a friend of my dad's now. But they didn't know each other back then so I was unbiased.) But one thing that used to drive me nuts was the repetition of the following exchange:

<LOTS OF SHELLING IS ROCKING THE HOSPITAL. SUDDENLY, IT STOPS.>

Hawkeye: Do you hear that?
Someone else: Hear what?
Hawkeye: Silence! The shelling's stopped!

This was fine the first time they used it. By the twentieth time it got VERY old.

But we do a version of it here after Elisa shoots Demona ending the battle.

Why? When it used to drive me nuts? It's amazing what I'll pay tribute too.

KEITH meet MR. DAVID

I love playing Thailog against Goliath, because I love those Thailog/Goliath exchanges where Keith plays both roles. That's one of the main reasons we created Thailog. To enjoy listening to Keith go to town.

1st Epilogue:

Goliath: "She has done you a favor, Macbeth."

That line should be a bit of a shock when G first says it. But it makes a lot of sense after he explains. And I love the look that Goliath and Elisa share. They aren't even pretending they don't share those feelings. They just won't act on them.

And how about Goliath actually telling a joke: "Just make sure you get a good look at her at night." Word.

2nd Epilogue:

One of the things I like about our series is we didn't have to end each episode the same way.

This one ends rather darkly. Goliath won't acknowledge the obvious. He just broods. Angela turns to Elisa: "Elisa, I have to know." And Elisa confirms that Demona is Angela's mother, because it's ridiculous to either lie or to not confirm the obvious that Angela has already figured out. But she knows G didn't want A to know that. So everyone is left unhappy as we sail into the fog.

And Erin ends the episode saying: "I think Elisa should be her mother."

(Me, I've always seen them sharing a more sisterly relationship. But I thought Erin's idea was sweet, and certainly came out of the sexual tension between E&G.)

Anyway, that's my ramble. Where's yours?


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Sanctuary Outline Memo

In prep for my ramble on Sanctuary, here's my notes to Story Editor/Writer Cary Bates on his first outline for "Sanctuary"...

WEISMAN 2-13-95

Notes on "Sanctuary" Outline...

GENERAL
Cary, I'm going to resist the temptation of beating this all out for you. That's how I got so far behind before. And at this stage I doubt I could do it any faster or better than you. So I want you to do a second draft on this outline, addressing ALL of the notes below. I sympathize, in advance. This is a complicated story. But I know we (meaning mostly you) can make it work. Don't take too long. And feel free to call after you've read this. We may be able to work out some of the problems over the phone. Good luck and here goes:

"SANCTUARY"
How does the title fit? What is the theme of the story? Is it about feeling safe? Safe in the arms of someone you love? I like that notion, but we'd have to emphasize it a lot more.

And simultaneously, more of the action should be centered around Notre Dame Cathedral. Economically, we can't afford to design backgrounds for an entire city. So we should keep the action focused on a few locations, that climax at the gargoyle covered cathedral-"sanctuary".

Plus, we don't want newspapers to be generically talking about a "mysterious winged creature". We want them focused on the Creature haunting the Cathedral at night. Maybe they think it's someone posing as Quasimodo, or his spirit or maybe they even think it's a gargoyle come to life or something. Of course, it's really Thailog. (Not Demona, by the way.) He's been there since "Double Jeopardy". Arriving long before Demona and Macbeth arrived.

We need to involve Thailog more at the end. Make him part of the conflict. I think he would have upgraded a bit. Used some of that $20 million to armor himself for battle. Not necessarily robotic armor, but at least a chestplate. Maybe wrist and shin guards. Keep in mind, we want him to be more powerful than Goliath and more threatening than any other villain. We should probably arm him with some big high-tech bazooka/laser/cannon type-thing too.

And we don't have to break up Demona and Thailog at the end. We just need to know that Thailog doesn't really care for her.

Remember, Thailog's plan isn't to kill Demona and Macbeth for the sake of killing them. He wants what they have managed to acquire over the last nine hundred years. If he could add that to the fortune he's parlayed from the money he stole from Xanatos, he might be able to compete with Xanatos financially. He needs to have already merged Demona's holdings with his own. So that his corporation (and we should get a cool, evocative name for it) we'll inherit in the case of her demise. And he wants to inherit Macbeth's stuff too. So if Mac and Dierdre marry, and both die together, (which is the only way they can die) he'll get everything.

Now, I'm not pretending this is easy to accomplish. As I read the outline, I was wondering if we needed a maguffin or two to symbolize this wealth. Maybe Macbeth's Paris Mansion itself. But we managed to figure something out for "Outfoxed" that clearly and dynamically spelled out Halcyon and Fox's "financial conflict". We can do the same thing here. With the same clarity.

OTHER QUESTIONS
Does Macbeth plan on telling "Dierdre" the truth about himself?

Is this the first time since Gruoch that Macbeth has been in love? Since he's an immortal has he avoided close relationships, not wanting to outlive his lover? Or watch her grow old? Or has he been through this before? Maybe not often, but once or twice over the last nine hundred years. How did he handle it in the past? Is he doing something different now? Highlander questions, basically.

Is Macbeth afraid for Dierdre's life? Does he think Demona might try to harm Dierdre to get back at him?

Do Goliath, Elisa and Angela assume at first that Macbeth and human Demona are in cahoots and only realize/remember later that since M&D have no memory of anything between City of Stone and Avalon, that Macbeth might not know that this human woman is in fact Demona?

Do we have an opportunity, maybe when Goliath and Elisa are searching Paris for the villains, for them to be romanitcally affected by the City of Lights?

When it's over, instead of Macbeth simply remaining bitter and once again suicidal, could Goliath point out to him that life offers possibilities... that if Macbeth could fall in love with Demona, he could certainly fall in love with someone else? Someone nice who would make his long life worth living again, at least for a time.

SOME SPECIFICS
A bunch of things, (some of which Cary the Story Editor should have been able to catch from his reading of past scripts, tsk tsk). Some of these notes may be moot after a rewrite of the outline.

Beat 2) Goliath, Elisa and Angela know that Demona and Macbeth left Avalon unconcious and together. Wherever they landed it would also have to be together. (Of course, Goliath and Co. have been travelling for awhile. So there's no guarantee that Macbeth and Demona stayed together after landing wherever they landed. It's just a good bet.)

There's also no reason for Goliath to assume that Macbeth and Demona are involved with each other still. (After all, they hate each other.) Also no reason to assume that Macbeth would be hurt by the association. And though there's no love left between Demona and Goliath, Goliath has no reason to feel sympathy for Macbeth. The audience might. Some of them would know Mac's backstory from City of Stone and sympathyze, but Goliath doesn't know the whole story. And he's got no reason to think more of Macbeth than Demona. Ironically, it is Thailog, more evil than any of the others, who Goliath would have the most sympathy for. He sees Thailog as a victim of poor upbringing. He'd like to reform and rescue his "son".

On the other hand, by this time Goliath believes that they land everywhere for a purpose. If he sees Macbeth and/or Demona, it's not too big a leap for him to figure that whatever the purpose, it involves these villains.

Beat 4) Again, here we'd like the headlines to be more specific to the Cathedral.

Beat 5) Elisa would recognize the human Demona from "High Noon".

Beat 7) We are forcing the creation of a lot of different sets and backgrounds here. Also don't forget that Demona's transformations to gargoyle (and back) are painful. Also don't forget that Macbeth feels any pain that Demona feels and vice versa. Distance reduces the pain, but we've never been really specific about how much distance or what the reduction is. Does Macbeth, across town, feel a little of Demona's pain at transformation? If so, he could blame Demona, knowing as he does, that he feels her pain. All that would tell him is that Demona is in the vicinity. It wouldn't reveal that Demona is Dierdre, unless he saw her transform. On the other hand, Demona might be far enough away that Macbeth feels nothing. Or just a slight twinge of soreness, that he doesn't immediately connect with Demona. We can play it any of these ways, we just need to deal with this "Corsican Brother"-style pain-sharing. We can't ignore it.

Beat 10) We've got a lot of set-up with little action up to this point. Maybe we can streamline a bit. Also, it feels like Mac's hovercraft might be a little unwieldy for this sequence. Maybe he's on the flying equivalent of a jet-ski or something a bit more svelt.

But there's another big question. What is Macbeth's objective towards Demona at this point? He knows that the only way to rid himself of her is to die himself. He may have forgotten the lessons of City of Stone and Avalon, but I would think that his love for Dierdre would prevent him from wanting to die. Later we imply that he's chasing Demona in order to chase her out of town. But that's pretty goofy logic. "I haven't seen you in weeks. So I'm going to hunt you down, to make sure you stay out of my life."

Beat 11) We definitely want to do something with the Eiffel Tower. Maybe even stage a battle there in the first or second act. But the Tower is open to tourists at night. Does anyone see them hanging there? Or are we way into wee hours by this time?

Beat 13) Goliath can't steal this guys camcorder. He's not a thief. Even destroying it is pretty malicious for Goliath, who's never gone too far out of his way to hide from humans.

Beat 16) Gargoyles don't kiss. They stroke hair. And it's "Notre Dame" ("Our Lady"), not "Notre Damn" ("Our Damnation"?)

Beat 17) The Cathedral is a very temporary safe house for Thailog while some safer, new place is being built for him. (Or maybe that's part of what Thailog is after: Macbeth's Paris Mansion.) It is not abandoned. Thailog is safe their during the day, because he's like a needle in a gargoyle haystack. After dark, he can stay out of sight in the upper reaches, until the Cathedral closes for the night. But he can't have much of a set-up there. Computers? Paintings? I don't think so. Particularly when we've got reports of a creature climbing around the church at night. People might investigate. They wouldn't find Thailog. But what would they make of that computer?

Beat 18) Demona may have no desire to "see" Goliath, since she found Thailog. But she'd still want him dead. Plus she MUST be curious about this female gargoyle. She thinks she knows all the gargoyles that exist, and none of them are female. She'd have to know. (And for that matter, so would Thailog.)

Beat 19) Think about how silly it would look in live action, if a villain who looked like Thailog, whipped out a brush and in a few seconds added a necklace to a painting. It's equally silly looking in animation. Maybe moreso because it's so easy to do.

I don't understand the pre-nuptual agreement at all. Why does Macbeth feel he needs it? (And don't tell me his lawyers push him around.) Besides, the whole idea of it goes against what we want to have happen in the story. Thailog wants Mac and Demona to get married. And have Demona inherit so that he can inherit from her, when both Demona and Mac die. Or am I missing something? I don't think we want this to be about stealing money from a safe. That's small potatos for Thailog and Demona. Either we need to have some irreplaceable (possibly magical) maguffin in that safe, or we should be dealing with the whole ball of wax. The former would probably be easier, but I'd like to go for the latter ball of wax if we can.

Beat 20) Again, I don't buy Macbeth's logic for hunting down Demona.

Beat 21) Angela can't operate a camcorder. She's not Lex. (And as noted above, I don't see anyway for our guys to have this anyhow.) Plus she wouldn't recognize Thailog. Also it feels like a pretty big jump for Goliath to figure that Demona and Thailog are working together. Not an impossible jump, but a big one.

Also, I was unclear. Did Goliath have a chance to give instructions to Elisa or did he turn to stone before he had time?

Beat 23) Again, I don't believe Macbeth lets lawyers push him around. And I don't think we need this pre-nup agreement in the story.

Beat 24) I really don't like this camcorder. And I don't know why Elisa needs it here. Like if she followed Mac and Dem, returned to Goliath without visual proof he wouldn't believe her story?

Beat 25) "How can I prove my love to you?" "Give me the combination to your safe." Yeah, that wouldn't make me suspicious.
I'd almost rather play any scene like this where Macbeth is insisting on giving something to Dierdre, who protests that she doesn't want it. The more she protests that all she needs is his love, the more he wants to lavish on her. In this way, he is predictable, but he's not being fooled by "crocodile tears" into doing something that seems incredibly fishy.

Beat 26) Again, Elisa would recognize human Demona from "High Noon" the first time she saw her. But here I was entirely unclear. How does footage of Dierdre prove that she's Demona, when Elisa didn't recognize her in person?

And this bit about Dierdre being Demona's name...? Gargoyles didn't have names in the tenth century. Naming is a human convention. Goliath referred to Demona back then as his angel love, or his angel of the night. Do we want to change "Dierdre" to "Angel" or "Angelica" or "Angelique". I don't know if you still need this, since Elisa would recognize human Demona, but I suppose you could, as long as we wouldn't be confusing the audience with Angela.

Why wouldn't Goliath want Elisa along? And why would Elisa agree to stay behind?

And what is it that Angela's staring at? Footage of human Dierdre? This isn't going to help her make the connection between herself and Demona. Visual clues aren't really the answer at all, since she would have seen Demona in the Avalon 3-parter. She learned from Sevarius that Goliath was her biological father. Here she learns that Demona was Goliath's love all those years ago. She puts two and two together over the course of the episode. Figuring out the truth only after she's already come to regard Demona as evil. You won't have room here to deal with the ramifications of that discovery. You're just setting things up for another story.

Beat 27) Why does Macbeth want to capture Goliath and Angela if he wants to get Gargoyles out of his life for good?

Beat 28) Goliath is "spreading" lies? To who? I mean we know he's not. But who does Macbeth think he's spreading lies to, that makes him want to imprison Goliath to stop it?

Also Macbeth could NOT have heard about Thailog. He was under the Weird Sister's spell when Thailog made his only other appearance. Besides who would he have heard about him from?

Beat 32) Again, not at all happy about Thailog's magic paintbrush. Particularly since it proves nothing here. It's not a photograph. If Macbeth thinks Goliath might lie about Dierdre, why wouldn't he think that this is a further lie somehow accomplished by Goliath.

Beat 33) I'm glad Macbeth keeps his cook. That guy can make a mean omelette.

Beat 36) Again, don't forget that Macbeth and Demona feel each other's pain while fighting.

Beat 39) These are huge leaps for Angela to make. How does she know this about Thailog. Also does Thailog show up there, state what he states and then not get involved in the fight? Or is that a typo for Goliath? Maybe we should let the battle climax at the Cathedral. Thailog is there. Goliath tries to "save" his son from Demona's evil. (Goliath assumes this plan is Demona's, not Thailog's.) Thailog just laughs. Reveals he wants Mac and Demona to kill each other. And he'll kill Goliath to prevent him interferring. Or something like that.

Beat 41) Killing Demona would at least knock Macbeth out.

Beat 42) Again, doesn't Thailog want anything besides their deaths?

Beat 44) Goliath still needs to be in some discomfort vis-a-vis the biological mother and father thing. It's not the gargoyle way. Brynne is going to deal with this (she'll have the space to deal with it) in her Africa story. Let Elisa be the one who confirms Angela's suspicions.

Beat 45) Again, I think we're working against our own ends. Why does Thailog need Macbeth and Demona dead, if not for what he can gain by their deaths?

Beat 46) Again, I think we can let Demona and Thailog go off together. Also, we've spent the whole episode with Demona turning back and forth from human to gargoyle. Demona does not turn to stone -- ever.

Beat 47) Angela should not get any comfort from Goliath in this episode. You don't have the time to deal with it here. If she receives comfort, it would come from Elisa.

MOVING FORWARD
O.k. try another pass. I'd streamline, by opening with the skiff arriving in daylight. Elisa leaves the stone gargoyles on the skiff tied under a bridge and goes to explore Paris. A place she's never been. She probably calls home again. Maybe she tries her parents this time, and again gets an answering machine. To save money on a voice actor, the answering message can be one that Elisa recorded for her parents months ago. (My sister is on my parents' machine with a message she recorded two years ago.) Elisa's voice says something like: "My parents don't know how to work their answering machine, but if you leave a message for Peter or Diane Maza, there's a fifty-fifty chance they'll call you back"). You don't have to jump through hoops to get the message erased this time. Then she briefly wanders around Paris like a tourist until she spots Mac and "Dierdre" who she immediately recognizes as Demona. She doesn't know that Mac doesn't know it's Demona. She'd probably assume they're up to something bad together. And also guess that they're why she and Goliath, etc. have landed in Paris. She follows them at a safe distance, etc. She doesn't want to get spotted. Near nightfall, she might head back so that she can inform Goliath when he awakens. Or she might not want to lose Macbeth and Demona until after she's found their H.Q. Or maybe when Mac and Dierdre split up, Elisa follows Dierdre to see where she lands, then loses her among the tourists at the cathedral.

Anyway, that's somewhere to start.


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lance bierlein writes...

is angela really demona's daughter?

Greg responds...

Biologically, yes. But Katharine is her clan mother.

Response recorded on July 22, 2002

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Chapter XXXVI: "Avalon, Part Three"

Time to Ramble...

This third part of the tryptich, was designed to be a kick-ass battle. Lots of action, lots of excitement. All (or nearly all) the pipe had already been laid out. We had two of our toughest mortal villains (Demona and Macbeth) working with the mysterious and powerful Weird Sisters and the MEGA Archmage Plus, who possessed the power of Gate, Book and Eye. That seemed like some real competition for our good guys, who had wounded to protect.

It was time to go to war.

A few other soldiers:
Director: Dennis Woodyard
Story Editor: Brynne Chandler Reaves
Writer: Lydia C. Marano

As the main titles were playing and Keith was narrating, my seven-year-old daughter Erin mentioned that Goliath and Darth Vader both do voices for phone companies.

Erin also figured out that Angela and Gabriel were being stalked by Demona, before she actually came on screen.

JALAPEÑA

Goliath says it like a curse word when he realizes that A&G are being followed. That was how I wanted to use it. As I've mentioned before, the art staff eventually threatened a coup if I didn't drop it.

But if I ever get to do Gargoyles 2198, I'm bringing it back. That's a threat, not a promise.

Anyway, Goliath attempts to appeal to Demona and Macbeth's better natures. It starts to work, but it's too late. The Archmage has a good line: "They are my creatures now."

Then Bronx and Boudicca attack, saving our 'goyles. This was hinted at in Part Two. And clarified later when Angela comments on it. But it also was my way of serving notice that Bronx was no longer going to be the puppy-most-left-behind. The World Tour was his coming out party.

Anyway, the Archmage now changes his plan. Not because he doesn't want to take any chances, but really because his sensibilities have been offended. He has another good line: "If they are so eager to die..."

But it's really that balance I was trying to maintain between his newfound ultimate power and his original clichéd origins.

HUNTING HOLLOW HILLS

Elisa asks about the Sleeping King. The Magus says he's been sleeping in his Hollow Hill. More hints as to who the king was. (If the name Avalon wasn't hint enough.)

On the way, Elisa pumps Magus for information like he was in the interrogation room back home. She already guessed that he had a thing for Katharine. She wants the lowdown. It's really not her business. Call it a habit of her profession.

(There's an animation error on my tape, which I hope was corrected for later airings. When the Magus starts to narrate the flashback, both his and Elisa's mouth are moving, mouthing the same lines. Obviously, Elisa's animator misread the X-sheets and thought she was talking instead of the Magus.)

(Of course there's another semi-error which I've tried to explain away in the past. The lighting on the scene where Katharine and Tom play with the baby-gargs Angela, Gabe and Boudicca seems very daylight. I've always claimed that it was just a very bright moonlit night. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

This last flashback got my five year old son Benny talking. He asked "How did the gargoyles even get born?" And had to be reminded about the eggs from Part One (which we saw three weeks ago). "Oh, yeah," he said.

Then when we got to the Sleeping King, he compared that to a character that's on his radar: The sleeping MATA NUI from Bionicle.

The Magus uses magic, explaining that "magic is the lifeblood of Avalon." This seemed logical to me. That a practioner like the Magus could train himself to access that ambient magic -- but at a price.

My wife Beth was very impressed with Jeff Bennett's performance here. As a change of pace, Jeff was only playing one character -- as opposed to his usual fifty. But it was a truly heartbreaking performance, I think.

And I have to ask, given the Magus' first appearance in "Awakening, Part One", did you guys ever think that you could or would find that character this appealing, this sympathetic? I think that our ability to allow characters to grow and change was one of the hallmarks of our series. And I had the backbone of his change planned as early as "Awakening, Part Two": (1) his love for Katharine which is unequivocal and (2) his guilt over what he did to the gargoyles, which he never tries to dodge or make excuses for in any way.

The Leap of Faith. It does seem too Indiana Jones now. But obviously it must not have at the time. Either that or we were kidding ourselves. Still, I like Elisa here a lot.

The Platform lowers on cue and Elisa finally names the Sleeping King: "Arthur Pendragon, King of All Britain... You are needed." We wanted to keep it simple. That simple. I also wanted to begin establishing the name Pendragon. Everyone's heard of King Arthur. But you have to have had a bit of exposure to the legends to be familiar with the Pendragon name. I always thought it was cool. And I think that even then I had the notion of using it as the title for a spin-off.

Anyway, we get back to the Palace, and Elisa states a fact that I wonder if anyone had focused on before (regarding Demona and Macbeth): "You've never actually beaten either of them." Goliath agrees: "Simply foiled their plans or fought them to a stand still.

And then Arthur asks: "What's going on?" which I always thought was kind of funny. They're counting on him to help save the day. He doesn't even know the set up.

So while we get him up to speed, we cut to the Archmage who orders the Sisters to "Dispatch the Sleeping King." Erin smiles and says,, "What they don't know..." is that it's too late. But what I found interesting is that Erin actually did trail off. She knew that she didn't need to state what they didn't know. Cool.

DIVIDING THE TROOPS

True to Elisa's hopes (and my interpretation of the character of legend) Arthur in fact does immediately take charge.

He'll go with Elisa, Tom and Gabe to fight Demona & Macbeth.

Katharine, Bronx and Boudicca will guard the wounded 'eggs'. (Katharine has one of her bookend tough mom statements here: "They'll not harm my eggs again!")

Goliath and Angela will attack the Archmage.

And the Magus agrees to take on the Sisters.

Eventually -- after Art figures out that Demona feels Mac's pain and Demona establishes that she and Mac need to put distance between them to minimize the link -- things change a bit and Arthur faces Mac one-on-one, while Kathy, Bronx, Boudicca, Ophelia, Elisa, Tom and Gabe all team up to battle Demona -- who as always, may present the greatest threat of all, even when it's against her own interests.

All this seemed very appropriate to me. I like how the battle divides up. How the opponents match up. And you'll notice at the cliffhanger/commercial break that every one of our battles is going badly for the good guys. Macbeth seems to have the upper hand over Arthur. The Archmage has Goliath down. The Weird Sisters are clearly overpowering the Magus and even Demona is on the verge of wiping out all her opposition at the Palace.

KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON vs. MACBETH
We gave Arthur a mace, because I didn't want anyone to think that some random sword he was carrying might be Excalibur.

When Arthur says, "What manner of magic is this?" it made me wish we had just gone ahead and said "What sorcery is this?" like we usually did.

There's some fairly effective slo-mo animation in here. Slow motion in animation (when called for in scripts) usually makes me nervous. If not done well, it can just look like a poorly-timed, poorly-animated scene. But here it seems to work.

I like how the battle ends. Arthur takes the sword fragment, and for a second, it looks like he's going to skewer Mac. But instead he uses it to pin Mac to a tree. Setting him up for Arthur's punch into camera with his ringed fist. Disney S&P let us do that. ABC S&P didn't allow those kind of fist coming into camera shots on Goliath Chronicles. But I wasn't informed of the change in policy until after "The Journey" was animated.

PRINCESS KATHARINE, OPHELIA, BRONX, BOUDICCA, GABRIEL, THE GUARDIAN & ELISA MAZA vs. DEMONA

Ophelia gets another nice moment here, as even injured, she attempts to stop Demona.

Elisa again takes advantage of the fact that she knows that Demona's hatred for her is so extreme and irrational, that she'll literally drop her weapon for the chance to grapple with Elisa, the chance to tear her apart with her bare hands.

Of course, this is after Elisa demonstrates that she never carries enough ammo. After uselessly shooting at a beach and a hollow suit of armor, she's out of bullets by the time she gets a target of flesh and blood. Of course, we made Elisa a touch dopey in this department for S&P reasons. Elisa, being a NY cop, had to carry a gun. But short of doing an episode about gun violence like "Deadly Force" (which Toon Disney refuses to air these days), we couldn't actually let Elisa shoot anyone with her gun. So we found other uses and excuses.

But ultimately, it's Katharine who brings Demona down, looking quite intentionally like a medieval Ripley, saying the other bookend: "No one threatens my eggs."

THE MAGUS vs. PHOEBE, SELINE & LUNA: THE WEIRD SISTERS
Luna says to the Magus: "There is no future for you." That was a clue from the voice of fate. Anyone pick up on it?

I also like how all the Sisters say together: "You will suffer!" But of course, he's been suffering for decades. What he will soon be is free of all suffering...

I wanted to show here (among other things) that magic itself was neither good nor evil. Magic simply existed at the disposal of those with the power to wield it.

The Magus defeats the sisters and collapses onto Artie's platform. Erin asked quietly: "Did he die?" Benny looked for another way out: "He might have just lost his power."

GOLIATH & ANGELA vs. THE ARCHMAGE

Erin asked what the Archmage was planning for Goliath... and I had to answer something like "a painful death."

Goliath asks what I thought many of you might be asking: why doesn't the Magus just kill him. And David Warner answers as only he could: "Because I'm having too much fun."

We have all this Gate-Jumping. This was an afterthought. Because at one point I had thought of having our guys steal the gate back, I had forgotten to have the Archmage use the gate in the script. So at the board stage, I asked Dennis to put this in. We were very tight for time, but he obliged me. Ideally, I'd have liked to show them briefly in some other times, but I knew we just couldn't afford to design new layouts for two second shots. Even so, who knows where and when they went? Who knows how long they were gone? Sometimes their poses changed. But Goliath is like the Old Man of the Sea. He never lets go. And finally he takes the Eye away.

The Archmage is already in trouble, but how much he doesn't know for a few seconds. Then the power of the Grimorum destroys him from within. A nice creepy companion to him eating the book in Part Two.

And I love David's last line, the forlorn: "All my lovely magic..." Believe it or not, I had to fight a little to get that line in. Just a little. But still.

DEATH OF A HERO

The Magus' death stll moves me. His quiet desire for rest. Katharine's love for him. (Not romantic love, but love nonetheless.) K: "Oh, Magus, what have you done?"

The Magus still concerned that he owes a debt to Goliath and Goliath's forgiveness. The eyes closing and the star shooting overhead.

For S&P reasons, we decided not to make it absolute that he was dead. No one mentions death. Just rest. Sleep. And he is lying on the Sleeping King's platform by his own request.

And many fans, even adult fans, chose to believe he might still come back someday. Hey, more power to 'em, I guess.

But I felt/feel that would cheapen the moment. Cheapen the sacrifice. We sent our heroes into battle. And in battle, their are casualties. Some things are worth fighting for, but if we don't understand costs, then I want people to know that when something isn't worth fighting over, they shouldn't.

FAREWELLS

For various reasons, many of our voice actors in this episode recorded their lines separately. So we recorded each character saying goodbye to everyother character. Not knowing exactly what we would use. We, in my opinion, wound up using too much of these wild goodbyes. It's very awkward sounding to me now.

Gabe & Goliath establish why Gabe and his clan don't join Goliath in Manhattan and why Goliath doesn't bring his clan back to Avalon. Though both clans are born of the old Wyvern Clan, both have found new homes, which they will not abandon.

But Angela has a bit of Demona in her. The iconoclast, she wants more than normal clan life has to offer. She wants to see the world with Goliath. He proudly agrees. He wants one of his children with him. Gabriel and Angela say goodbye. He refers to her here as his rookery sister (not as his "Angel of the Night" or some other equivalent). This was done to make clear that they regarded each other as brother and sister, not mates. I basically wanted to leave her unattached for the Trio. Nevertheless, many fans still thought that they were a couple.

Art goes off on his own to be less conspicuous, and Goliath laughs a borderline Thailog laugh. He also plants pipe for Arthur's eventual stop in Manhattan.

Mac & Demona are freed from the spell, leaving them with no memory since they were first ensorcelled. There's an awkward bit of business here as the gargs who were guarding them move away, just so that Goliath can move in and push the skiff off. Flaw in the boarding that no one caught, I'm afraid.

The Sisters move off, having been forced off-camera to explain most everything.

Bronx & Boudicca part. Now that's a couple.

More pipe: Goliath swears that no one will ever use the eye or the Gate again. Famous last words.

Tom: "Elisa, I thought you understood. Avalon doesn't send you where you want to go! Avalon sends you where you need to be!"

Both Elisa and Erin said: What does that mean? at about the same time.

What did you think when you first heard that? We had officially launched the World Tour, but you didn't know it yet. What were you thinking?

Anyway, that's my ramble. Where's yours...?


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Memo for "Avalon, Parts Two and Three"

In preparation for my ramblings, here's the memo written to Brynne Chandler Reaves & Lydia C. Marano on the last two parts of their Avalon outline. I've added a few [notes], to indicate some handwritten changes to the document.

WEISMAN 2-2-95

Notes on "Avalon, Parts Two and Three" Outline...

GENERAL

ARCHMAGESES
For purposes of clarity, I'm going to refer to the new and improved Archmage as Archmage+. There will be a number of scenes where the Archmage and the Archmage+ will be appearing together. And a few scenes (including one scene repeated twice) where two Archmage+s will appear together. For those scenes I'll refer to them as 1st Archmage+ and 2nd Archmage+, but they'll look exactly alike.

CLARITY
It goes without saying that any time travel episode is going to be complex. So make an extra effort to be as clear as possible. Both in stage description for the artists, and in dialogue for the audience. I know we resist expository dialogue generally. But as you'll see below, the Archmage+ needs to explain things to the Archmage. So it won't feel artificial.

ACT BREAKS
I'm going to leave that up to you. See how the scripts progress.

BEAT SHEET
"Avalon, Part Two"
1. Pick up right where we left off. Pretty much your beat XX. Tom does need to explain that he still refers to the gargoyles as
"eggs". It's an old habit. He apologizes if it caused confusion, but they have been in Avalon long enough for him to grow old. Of course the eggs hatched some time ago.

Also none of the wounded gargoyles should be at the shore. We'll see them back at the palace.

Also don't forget that Angela has Goliath's coloring, which doesn't escape Elisa's notice. And on your Beat XXB1c. the line should expand to: "Daughters and sons belong to all of us, Elisa. That is the gargoyle way."

2. At Oberon's palace. Pretty much your beat XXI. But keep in mind, that the palace is in crisis mode. Acting as a hospital of sorts, to many wounded gargoyles.

Elisa should notice the tenderness between Tom and Katharine when they are reunited. She should also notice the pain it causes the Magus.

Don't forget to describe the Magus as 72 years old. Also describe Gabriel as looking like a young Othello with Desdemona's coloring.

The fact that the young gargoyles act more human than the trio may be too fine a point to get across. They've been raised by humans, but as a practical matter a lot of what we would think of as human is really just contemporary. And obviously, the trio are much more contemporary than these gargoyles.

You need some reason why Tribeca doesn't already have a name. Maybe, Katharine and Tom had tried not to name any of the gargoyles at first, but it just got too difficult for them with the sentient ones. But they didn't bother to name the Beasts? [We dropped the Tribecca notion eventually, and Tribeca became Boudicca. -GW 5/21/02]

Also, both Gabriel and Tribeca will be present in beat 1. So you may want to introduce them there along with Angela. That frees Beat 2 to reintro Katharine and the Magus. (Magus may be acting as a healer, using natural remedies and polstices.)

When Magus makes his point about Oberon's Children having been absent for nearly 1000 years, he might slip in a subtle reference to the sleeping King. (i.e. Arthur.) Something like: "The island's totally deserted except for the sleeping king." And then before anyone has a chance to ask about the sleeping king, something forces a change of topic.

3. Pretty much your beat XXII. Except that the Magus and Tom should probably be the ones to go into detail. The Magus knew the Archmage the best. He'd recognize that the Archmage has evolved into the Archmage+. If the Magus wasn't positive that the Grimorum cannot be brought onto Avalon, he'd swear that the Archmage+ had it. Plus when the Archmage appeared, he carried the Phoenix Gate and wore the Eye of Odin. Goliath realizes that those items must have been stolen from him.

Tom led the first disastrous attack. He saw Demona (doesn't know her name, but recognized her as Goliath's former love) plus some human in strange armor who used a weapon that fired lightning (Macbeth) and the Weird Sisters who once guarded the island. Again Goliath and Elisa can put two and two together. Macbeth and Demona never escaped the Weird Sisters. The Sisters have been using them all along. When Demona and Macbeth stole Coldstone, it was just a cover to steal the Eye, the Gate and the Grimorum. They must have given the items to the Archmage.

All Tom knows is that the Archmage+ is incredibly powerful. So powerful, he sometimes seemed to be in two places at once.

4. Enemy camp. Obviously, somewhere on the island, but where? In or in front of a cave? Someplace pleasant and relaxing, since the villains have every reason to be confident? I'll call it the GROTTO for easy reference, but anywhere is fine. [In the margin, I wrote: "Vengeance Angle"]

Present are the 3 Weird Sisters, Demona, Macbeth and... TWO Archmage+s. Each carries his own Phoenix Gate. And each wears his own Eye, (maybe imbedded like a third eye in his forehead?). They are dressed in black. Their beards are short. Maybe a metal skullcap (ala Merlin in EXCALIBUR). All very dangerous looking in contrast to the cliché Archmage that we knew.

1st Archmage+ says to 2nd Archmage+: "Shouldn't you be going?"
2nd Archmage+: "I suppose I should." 1st Archmage+: "You know what to do?" 2nd Archmage+: "Of course. I watched you do it." So the 2nd Archmage+ raises his Phoenix Gate and says the Phoenix Gate spell, disappearing into the past (see "Vows").

5. We follow 2nd Archmage+ back to 984 A.D. (He can even say: "First stop: 984 A.D." He can have a lot of attitude.) He arrives just outside the cave and secretly watches the battle between young Goliath, Hudson, Demona and the original Archmage ("Long Way To Morning"). (Again, he can fill us in, by commenting on it wryly to himself.) The Archmage loses the Grimorum and falls into the bottomless fissure, the Archmage+ uses the Phoenix Gate to pop into the fissure. He then uses the gate to transport himself and the Archmage to safety.

6. A hilltop or someplace safe. The Phoenix Gate deposits both the Archmage and the Archmage+ a few feet above the ground. The Archmage+ floats. He says "Freeze". And the Archmage freezes in mid-air. The Archmage+ says "Feathers". And a huge pile of feathers appears right below the Archmage. Archmage+: "Resume". And the Archmage tumbles into the pile of feathers.

We get some sputtering and outrage from the Archmage. And introductions. Archmage+ is his future self. Archmage realizes that means sometime in the future he accomplishes his goal of getting the Eye and the Gate. But what of the Grimorum? Archmage wants Archmage+ to use the Gate to go back and take the Grimorum back from the Gargoyles. Archmage+ says they can't accomplish their goals that way because they didn't accomplish it that way. History cannot be changed. But don't worry. We'll get the Grimorum. He uses the Gate and they both vanish again. [In the margins, by these two paragraphs, I wrote: "You want power, revenge. Allies Soldiers Weapons Base]

7. They reappear in 995 A.D. just in time to see the Magus use the Grimorum to reflect the Weird Sister's spell, turning all three of them into owls. (Archmage+ continues to use one word commands like "Float" and "Invisible" to keep them above water and undetectable. His command of magic is that complete. He can also fill Archmage and audience in on where and when they are, fairly naturally in dialogue.) Archmage recognizes his former apprentice the Magus, who's obviously grown into a potent sorcerer. But the fool just hands over the Grimorum, his source of Power, to Finella. Archmage thinks he understands now. They'll take the Grimorum from Finella. But Archmage+ says no. That's not why they're here. They're here to recruit. [In the margin, I again wrote: "Allies"]

Once all the various skiffs have moved on, the Archmage+ finds the three owls and transforms them back into the Weird Sisters. The Sisters are furious that they were defeated. When Oberon forced all of his "Children" to mingle with the mortals of the real world he had left the guarding of Avalon in their supposedly capable hands. Oberon will be very pissed off that they failed. Archmage+ offers them a chance to get even. It will take time though. The Weird Sisters don't mind. Time is one thing they have plenty of. "Then," says the Archmage+, "I will see you again in twenty-five years." And with that, he uses the gate and vanishes with the Archmage.

8. The year is 1020 A.D. ("City of Stone, Part One") and the Archmages appear via the gate. They meet up with the Weird Sisters. The Archmage+ shows them a vision of the forty year old Demona, the fifteen year old Macbeth and their enemy the HUNTER. [In the margin, I wrote: "Soldiers"] The Archmage+ wants the Weird Sisters to help Demona and Macbeth defeat the Hunter. Weird Sisters remind him that Oberon's Law prevents them from directly intervening in the lives of mortals. Archmage+ knows they are magically prevented from breaking Oberon's Law. But he also knows that they can bend it quite a bit. O.K., fine. But how does helping Demona and Macbeth do anything to help the Sisters and the Archmages achieve their goals? Archmage+ tells them that in order to achieve these goals, they will need powerful warriors, fighters adept at sorcery and weaponry, fighters we can control. These two are the perfect candidates. Guide them, help them, protect them for the next twenty years. The Archmage+ will return then with further instructions. The Weird Sisters agree and depart.

Archmage isn't too happy about this. He recognizes Demona as another of his former apprentices. One who betrayed him by losing the Phoenix Gate "years, uh... decades ago." Why are we helping her? Archmage+ tells him not to worry. This is our revenge. Believe me, we're not doing the gargoyle any favors. And again, he uses the Phoenix Gate to make them both disappear.

9. They reappear in 1040. The Weird Sisters report that they have done their best to aide Demona and Macbeth. The first Hunter is dead. But there is a new one now who's even more dangerous. Archmage+ is very pleased. He knows that Demona and Macbeth will arrive soon. He instructs the Sisters to guide them into making a magical pact that will link their life energy together. We will need them alive and vital centuries from now. We must make them immortal. [In the margin, I again wrote: "Soldiers".]

Sisters and Archmage are confused. Immortal warriors are powerful. How will we control them? Trust me, says Archmage+.

Archmage+ renders him and the Archmage invisible, just in time to see the fifty year old Demona and the 35 year old Macbeth enter. ("City of Stone, Part 3") We see the Weird Sisters link them magically.

Afterwards, the Sisters explain that the job is done. Neither can die, unless one kills the other. Excellent, says the Archmage+. Keep an eye on the two of them. Also keep an eye out for the Grimorum, the Gate and the Eye of Odin. The Weird Sisters are confused. Archmage+ has the Eye and the Gate. Archmage+ laughs. But I didn't have them. Not until you brought them to me. We'll meet again on an island called "Manhattan"... in 955 years.

Archmage: "Nine-HUNDRED and fifty-five years?!!" But before he can protest, the Archmage+ uses the gate to transport them both away.

10. 1995. Manhattan. Weird Sisters as NYC Fashion Models rendezvous at Tavern on the Green, with the Archmages. Archmage+ says: "Disguise". And he and the Archmage, seem to be wearing modern clothes. Over a pleasant candlelit dinner, the Sisters fill us in. All three magical talismans have fallen into the hands of this gargoyle... and an image of Goliath appears in the candlelight. Archmage recognizes Goliath, and can't believe that he survived this far into the future. Archmage+ says, "This isn't the future yet."

Archmage+ asks about Demona and Macbeth. Sisters respond that both are phenomenal fighters, proficient with modern technology and weaponry and half-decent sorcerers to boot. Plus each warrior has his or her own agenda. Demona is determined to wipe out humanity. And Macbeth is equally determined to wipe out Demona, even though he knows it will cost him his own life. They will be very difficult to control. Archmage+: "Yes, yes, but what are they up to now?" [And yet again, I wrote "Soldiers" in the margin.] The Sisters believe that Demona is about to cast a powerful spell to turn everyone in Manhattan into stone. Macbeth will take this opportunity to hunt her down.

Archmage+ is very pleased. He advises the Sisters to help Goliath defeat both Demona and Macbeth. Make your final move after they've fought each other, but before Macbeth has a chance to end their lives. At that point they will be weakened enough for the Sisters to put a sleep spell on them. Then bring them to me. Where? Macbeth's home on this island.

[Optional, if you have space: The sisters exit. Archmage+ asks the Archmage if he'd like to watch the action. Archmage says yes. Archmage+ says: "Somehow I knew that."]

Archmage+ uses Gate and both disappear.

[Optional, if you have space:
11. Invisible Archmages watch a replay of the final scenes from the end of City of Stone, Part Four. The ones where the Weird Sisters help Goliath talk Macbeth out of killing Demona. Put them both to sleep. Tell Goliath that they will take responsibility for them and vanish with them. The Archmages depart as well.]

12. Macbeth's mansion. The Archmages appear as do the Sisters with Macbeth and Demona. The latter two are sound asleep. The Archmage+ whispers to the sleeping warriors. He "suggests" that they work together to steal the Grimorum, the Gate and the Eye from Goliath. The Sisters provide the clock tower location, and suggest that they steal Coldstone as well. That way the theft of the talismans won't be detected immediately. Demona and Macbeth leave together to carry out this plan, completely fogged about how it came to them or why they are working together. [By the margin of both paragraphs 12 & 13, I wrote: "Weapons".]

Archmage asks about Coldstone. Weird Sisters say he is another warrior that might be of use to them. Archmage+ shakes his head. Coldstone wasn't part of the plan, so he can't be now. If his presence aids in the theft of the talismans, fine. But he must be separated from Demona and Macbeth, before the next stage of the plan can be set in motion. They will meet again at the watery door to Avalon.

[Optional:
13. Invisible Archmages watch Demona and Macbeth steal the Eye, the Grimorum and the Gate from the secret hiding place in the clocktower from "High Noon".]

14. The Archmages reappear above misty water. Archmage+ says: "Boat". And a boat magically appears beneath them. They float down to it. While they wait for the sisters, Archmage demands to know the plan. Archmage+ finally fills him in: "Soon the sisters will bring you the talismans. The ultimate magical power that you've always dreamed of. [In the margin, I wrote: "Base".] But once you get that power, what will you do with it?" Archmage is baffled. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He mutters something about conquering Scotland. Archmage+ suggests conquering the world, but warns that it will not be easy. The modern world is a place of science not sorcery. Magic is potent, but so are modern weapons. The Archmage will need a safe place to launch his attacks from. That haven is Avalon. The only problem is Avalon is occupied. Fortunately, Oberon and his children have abandoned it. But there are a few humans and gargoyles living there. Our first job is to kill them. The Archmage is very pleased with his counterpart's plan.

The Sisters join them on the raft, along with entranced Demona, entranced Macbeth and the three talismans. The sisters warn the Archmages that the Gate and the Eye are not a problem, but the Grimorum is a book of human sorcery. It cannot enter Avalon. Archmage+ is unconcerned: "Give him the Eye." Seline gives the Archmage the Eye of Odin. The Archmage puts it on. The Archmage+ explains that the Eye grants power and insight. It makes the wearer a more powerful version of himself. It usually takes weeks to transform an individual, but the Archmage+ has the ability to speed things up. "Change," he says. And the Archmage begins to metamorphose -- painfully -- into another Archmage+.

When the metamorphosis is complete, the 1st Archmage+ tells the 2nd Archmage+ that he now has the power of the world's greatest and, frankly, most evil sorcerer. But he lacks the knowledge. The exhausted 2nd Archmage+ gets the message. He asks Phoebe to give him the Grimorum. He uses his new-found power to swallow it hole. The 1st Archmage+ is very pleased. Now he is one with the magic, and there's no need to worry about bringing the Grimorum to Avalon. Even Luna is impressed. She hands the 2nd Archmage+ the Phoenix Gate, completing his power. 1st Archmage+: Shall we proceed?

[Note: I circled paragraphs 15, 16 and the first paragraph of 17 and wrote: "One Beat" in the margin and "But show it to us." By 15, I also wrote "Base".]

15. The 1st Archmage+ materializes in the palace of Oberon, in front of Katharine, Tom, the Magus. He tells them to "Make your peace, for at sundown, you die." He uses the gate to disappear again.

16. He reappears in the Grotto, joining the 2nd Archmage+, the Sisters, Demona and Macbeth. One of them spots Angela and Gabriel watching them and sneaking away. Demona asks if she should stop them. No, says the 1st Archmage+, they'll be back.

17. Sure enough, Tom the Guardian leads the gargoyles against the villains. It's a disaster. Many gargoyles are wounded. None of them can fight on a level with either Macbeth or Demona. Let alone the futuristic weapons that they bring. The Weird Sisters avoid direct interference, but still manage to use their magic to ensnare their opponents in their environment. And the Archmage+ is everywhere, popping in and out, using the Gate, vanishing. Using magic. He's devastating. (During the fight, play the two Archmage+s so that Tom might say something like "It was like he could be in two places at once." As opposed to Tom realizing that there are two of them.)

Tom is forced to sound retreat.

[I marked the rest of seventeen and 18 and wrote "combine" in the margin.]

Demona and Macbeth want to pursue and finish them off. But the 1st Archmage+ is supremely confident. Why bother? If we wait until Dawn, the gargoyles will all be stone. Only the Guardian, the Princess and the Magus will be left to defend the palace. It's so much easier to sit back and enjoy the cool breeze for a few more hours. [In the margin, I wrote: "Waiting for Goliath. Important. Vengeance. He wants Goliath.]

Luna asks: "What about the sleeping King?" The 2nd Archmage+ is surprised. He had heard the legends of the sleeping king, but didn't know that they were true. Seline assures him the King is on the island, asleep. Phoebe warns that the King's power was once very great. 1st Archmage+: "Then when once we've taken the island, we'll just make sure he never wakes up."

18. Time cut to a few hours later.
1st Archmage+ says to 2nd Archmage+: "Shouldn't you be going?"
2nd Archmage+: "I suppose I should." 1st Archmage+: "You know what to do?" 2nd Archmage+: "Of course. I watched you do it." So the 2nd Archmage+ raises his Phoenix Gate and says the Phoenix Gate spell, disappearing into the past. Obviously, this is an exact repeat of Beat 4, and finally leaves us with only one Archmage+ for the rest of the story. Archmage+ makes some comment about how the other one was getting on his nerves.

19. AND Finally, we return to the present and resume from beat 3 with our heroes in the palace. Tom picks up his story where he left off. After, there disastrous mass attack on the Grotto, they all realized they were in deep shit. Sunrise was only six hours away. They thought about hiding the gargoyles, but realized there was no place on the island where the Weird Sisters couldn't find them. They had to get help. Tom ventured out by skiff to the real world. As he had done once every century. The skiff landed at Wyvern, and Tom was shocked to see that the castle was missing. He went to a local village, where he was told that the castle had been moved to the top of a skyscraper in a place called NEW York. Tom picks up on the word "skyscraper". Is it possible that the castle has risen above the clouds? One villager's seen it in New York. It's definitely above some of the clouds. (You can show this village scene in flashback if you have space or time.) Tom returns to his skiff, returns to Avalon, and launches off again, praying that Avalon will send him to this NEW York. (Hinting that he doesn't have a lot of control.)

Sure enough he found New York and Goliath and brought him and his friends back. But the mission took two days in the real world. That's two hours here on Avalon. There's only four hours left until sunrise.

Tom apologizes to Goliath. He's tried to train the gargoyles to be warriors, but he's self-taught himself. Plus Avalon always seemed so peaceful, etc. Protective instinct must never have developed. Maybe if Goliath led the next attack... But Goliath is sure Tom did his best. Sometimes a direct attack isn't the answer. Sometimes stealth is required. If we can steal the Gate and the Eye back from the Archmage, we may have a chance. Goliath will need someone who knows the island. Gabriel and Angela both volunteer. Fine. Goliath asks the Magus to come as well. His magic might prove useful. The Magus cannot meet Goliath's gaze. He hesitates. Finally, he says that without the Grimorum he has no magic and would be a liability to Goliath. Elisa wants to come, but Goliath asks her to stay behind. If this mission fails, Tom and the others will need her expertise on dealing with Demona and Macbeth. Goliath, Angela and Gabriel depart. After they go, Elisa turns to the Magus and asks: Tell me about the sleeping King.

20. They sneak into the grotto and for a beat it looks like they might succeed in their mission. But no. They are caught. Woops. [In the margin, I wrote: "Arch+ sees them coming."]

END PART TWO

START PART THREE
21. Looks like curtains for our three heroes. Goliath even resorts to making an appeal to Demona and Macbeth. Can't they see they're being used. Does it suit Macbeth's sense of honor to wait 'til dawn to slaughter innocent gargoyles. Demona hates humans, but why would she help the Archmage hurt her own children. It doesn't make sense to Demona and Macbeth. They start to come out of the spell. But the Archmage+ is just amused by Goliath's pleas. With one word: "Obey", Demona and Macbeth are again his to command. Fortunately, rescue comes from another quarter. Bronx and Tribeca. To some extent, the rescue only succeeds because the Archmage+ is complacently amused. He likes watching the little mice run the maze. In a few hours it'll be all over anyway.

22. Goliath and Co. return to the palace. The mission was a failure.

[Note: the following paragraph was crossed out.]
But not a complete failure, says Angela. In the confusion, she got away with the Phoenix Gate. Angela wants to use it to go back in time and stop the Archmage+ before he arrives. Can't be done, explains Goliath. History cannot be changed. He's learned that lesson, painfully. Can they escape to the future? They'd be abandoning Avalon. The situation they arrived in might be even worse. Better to make their stand now. Well could they use it flee the island? This time Gabriel says no. This is his home, the only one he's ever known. He will protect it, not abandon it! Goliath is impressed. The gargoyle way is strong in Gabriel. But Angela's disappointed. Stealing the gate didn't help very much. Goliath assures her, that it helped a lot. They've taken away the Archmage's mobility. And gained some for themselves. The Gate doesn't have to be used for time travel. It can be used just to move instantly from place to place. But how will that help? Goliath isn't sure yet.

Hey, where's Elisa and the Magus?

23. Elisa and the Magus journey to the "Hollow Hill" where sleeps the sleeping King. (It's Merlin who sleeps in the Crystal Cave. At least by my research.) Maybe they have some time to talk. Elisa has noticed that Tom and Katharine are close. The Magus tells her that as the boy Tom became a man, he and the Princess fell in love. (Again, if you have the room and/or the inclination, you can show this in flashback.) Now they are husband and wife. They raised the gargoyles as their own children. Elisa wonders where the Magus fits in. I don't, he says. But his feelings for Katharine are also obvious to Elisa. How could he stand to stay and watch them grow closer? He had to stay. He had done an unforgivable thing when he cast his spell upon the gargoyles. He owed it to Goliath to tend the eggs. His pain is not important.

24. They arrive at the Hollow Hill. They see the sleeping King. He lies on a bed, surrounded by arms and gold and jewels. They move to wake him, but are intercepted by two hollow suits of armor. Elisa empties her revolver into one, but it's pretty useless. Suddenly the Magus casts a rhyming spell. (Rhyming in English, not Latin.) The armor is defeated, though it leaves the Magus drained. Elisa is shocked. She thought the Magus had lost his magic. He had. Centuries ago when he lost the Grimorum. But the island is full of magic. It is everywhere: in the wind, in the water, in the trees and certainly in this hollow hill. His training makes him sensitive to it, but summoning it without study is very hard. It's an unpredictable and often unsuccessful endeavor. He cannot be counted on.

Elisa approaches the sleeping King. For the very first time in this three parter, we hear someone speak his name. Elisa: "Arthur Pendragon. King Arthur. You are needed." And King Arthur awakens. It's that easy.

Suddenly Goliath and Angela appear via the Phoenix Gate. [The phrase 'via the Phoenix Gate' was crossed out.] What did Elisa think she was doing? Elisa realized that Demona and Macbeth are two of the greatest warriors of all time. It's a hard truth, but even Goliath has never actually bested either of them. The best he ever did was foil their plans or fight them to a draw. They needed someone better. They needed the best warrior who ever lived. Arthur clears his throat. Would someone please tell him what's going on? Angela's excited. In a minute, she says, and using the Gate, teleports them all away. ["and using the Gate, teleports them all away." was crossed out.]

[From this point out, stuff in {} is crossed out material.]

25. Back at the Grotto, The Archmage+ {has only just discovered that the gate is missing. He} is furious, and his demeanor does not improve when the Sisters wryly blame his own hybris and complacency. Fine, he says. Then we will attack now.

26. Back at the palace, Arthur's just heard the gist of the situation. He's not thrilled. This isn't what he was supposed to be awakened for. He doesn't have Excalibur. He doesn't have his knights or Merlin... But he looks around the room and sees the faces of those who need him. He will do what he can. Gabriel enters. They're out of time. The villains approach. Arthur will lead Tom, Elisa and Gabriel against Macbeth and Demona. Goliath and Angela will {use the Gate to} face off against the Archmage. Katharine, Bronx and Tribeca (and whatever other healthy N.D. Gargoyles we've shown) will stay with the wounded gargoyles and do their best to protect them. But who will take on the Three Weird Sisters. I will, says the Magus.

27. The battle. O.K. This is going to be a big one. You want to have space for it, cause it's the fight we've been building towards for THIRTY-SIX EPISODES, so we've got to make it worthwhile. (Also we have tons and tons of epiloguing in this one, so we need the audience to feel like they want a good long rest after the mega-battle is done.) You'll do a lot of intercutting between the various fronts. But for clarity here, I'll take them one at a time. (Also feel free to adjust or expand on any of the details... I'm just trying to give a big picture overview.)

ARTHUR, ELISA, GABRIEL, GUARDIAN vs. MACBETH & DEMONA
The Archmage+ has sent his two warriors as an advance force to soften up the enemy. Macbeth is impressed by this new warrior. He asks his name, and when he hears that it's Arthur, we can see that he's momentarily shaken by it. He's an Arthur-buff. A great admirer. Well. He's always wanted to test himself against the best. For his part, Arthur's quick to figure out that when either Macbeth or Demona are hurt, both feel the pain. He instructs his troops to use that to their advantage. Demona realizes that she must put some distance between herself and Macbeth. She'll still feel his pain, but not as severely. She gets past Arthur's force and into the castle. Arthur sends Gabe, Elisa and Tom in after her. He'll handle Macbeth.

ARTHUR VS. MACBETH
Macbeth is quickly deprived of his lightning gun. Both wind up using medieval weapons. It may even come down to hand to hand combat. Finally Arthur wins.

DEMONA vs. KATHARINE, BRONX, TRIBECA
Demona gets into the palace. She is confronted by Bronx and Tribeca, but they don't stop her. She finds her way to Katharine and the wounded gargoyles. We need to see by this time that Demona's bloodlust is so high, that there's no chance of talking her down again. The spell on her has worked her into such a froth that she can't see that what she's doing is against her own interests. She's a brainwashed assassin. Katharine is ready to die for her charges, and it looks like she might have to.

DEMONA vs. GABRIEL, GUARDIAN, ELISA
They arrive just in time, Gabriel and Guardian save Katharine temporarily. But they're no real match for Demona either. She's about to kill them all, when Elisa says wouldn't you rather have me. And there it is. Someone Demona hates so much, that no spell is more powerful. She leaps at Elisa, giving the others time to regroup. Ultimately, Demona is taken down by sheer force of numbers. Maybe Elisa gives the takedown blow.

MAGUS vs. THE WEIRD SISTERS.
They can't believe this old, impotent man is challenging them again. Without his precious Grimorum, no less. But he rises to the occasion. It's a sorcerers battle, so have a lot of fun with it. And the Magus wins by trapping them. Probably in some kind of iron or some kind of chain. (But here's a thought, that only just occurred to me. Should the Magus give his life in this fight, i.e. be mortally wounded during it. Maybe drained beyond any hope of recovery? He would be the one real casualty of the battle. Goliath would of course forgive him on his death bed as the old man passed away, finally at peace, maybe with Katharine's kiss on his lips. I know we planned on sending him off with Arthur, but I can't help wondering if we didn't make this fight to easy on our heroes. Isn't it necessary for them to lose something truly precious, i.e. the life of a friend? I have very mixed feelings, cause I like the character a lot. I could probably be swayed either way. Before you go to script on part three, talk this over with both me and Adrienne [Bello, our S&P executive].)

GOLIATH, ANGELA vs. ARCHMAGE+
Goliath attacks directly. And is really being trounced. The Archmage+ has not forgotten how Goliath defeated him back in "Long Way to Morning". He's really punishing Goliath. But that was part of the plan. Angela uses the gate to {bop in, and} throw the overconfident Archmage+ off balance. {She and} Goliath {toss the gate back and forth between them. They vanish and reappear.} The Archmage+'s magic still is formidable, but the tactic is infuriating him, which makes him sloppy. Finally, Goliath manages to grab the Eye and wrench it off the Archmage+. (Note: As in Eye of the Beholder, this should be damn painful for Goliath.) The Archmage+ immediately metamorphoses back into the old Archmage. But he's not through yet. He's still got all the power of the Grimorum inside him. But without the Eye to contain that power, he has a problem. You see you're not supposed to bring human magic onto Avalon. The Grimorum is burning him up from the inside out. Nothing gory, but he is destroyed in magical flames. It is over.

28. Epilogue time. Goliath realizes that the Eye and the Gate were not meant for mortals to use. He swears never to use either of them again. (He'll break this promise later, but it at least explains why he doesn't immediately use the Gate to take him, Elisa and Bronx back to Manhattan). He and Angela gladly walk back to the palace.

29. It is now only ten minutes until sunrise. Decisions must be made. They ask Goliath if it is safe for the Gargoyles out in the real world. Unfortunately, no. Not really. They invite him to bring the other gargoyles back to Avalon. No. That won't work either. Some of them must continue to live in the real world. Learn to live with humans. It will take time, but if they don't try, the outside world will never be safe for gargoyles again. Given that Goliath is willing to take any gargoyle who wants to leave. From here, you can pretty much pick up back on your outline: BEAT XXXX. (Though obviously if we kill the Magus, Arthur's leaving alone.)

30. Pretty much your Beat XXXXI. Arthur (and the Magus?) leave first. Also we have to deal with Macbeth and Demona. They can still be unconscious. The trapped Weird Sisters are forced to free Demona and Macbeth from the spell. They tell our heroes that neither warrior will remember anything that happened to them since the spell was first cast in City of Stone, Part Four. Somehow, we have to rationalize sending them off unconscious on a skiff of their own. Good luck. Finally our 4 travelers leave for Manhattan, poling out into the misty water. But Tom knows from experience that "Avalon does not take you where you want to go. Avalon takes you where you need to be."

That's it. Call me with any problems or questions, and in any case let's talk about the Magus.


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Laura 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...

Third is another short one: In Gargoyles 2198, you keep using the phrase "side of the angels" when referring to Demona, and I do not think I heard any concrete mention of Macbeth. This is a really wild idea, but is Demona, in any way, well, dead?

Greg responds...

Nope.

Response recorded on May 06, 2002

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Gipdac writes...

In "City of Stone" part I and II, Demona had six gargoyles in her clan, including herself, and no female except herself. But in part III and IV there are clearly more.
1) Did her clan have any rookeries?
2) Where did they find the females?
3) Did Demona lay any eggs?

Greg responds...

You're assuming that in every scene you were always seeing ALL the gargoyles in the clan. You weren't.

3. No.

Response recorded on March 28, 2002

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Gipdac writes...

In "High Noon" Demona says, "Puck's gifts always come with a price". Does that me she had received gifts from Puck before "The Mirror"?

Greg responds...

Maybe she just researched it.

Response recorded on March 28, 2002

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Zarok writes...

If given the chance would Robyn Canmore continue to hunt Demona

Greg responds...

I tend to think not, but some things are situational.

Response recorded on March 18, 2002

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GOLIATH AND DEMONA: A RESPONSE

Here's another post I just know I'm going to regret. But I can't seem to help myself.

Mooncat, please don't take this personally, but I think you're viewpoint on Goliath's "shallow" love for Demona is misguided.

Let me make a few parallel changes to illustrate my point.

1. Let's say both Goliath and Demona were humans.

2. Let's say Goliath was a woman named Gina.

3. Let's say Demona was a man named Dan.

4. Let's say that instead of taking place atop rooftops and castles, these events were taking place in a two-bedroom house in suburbia.

5. Let's say that instead of using laser bazookas and the like, Dan was simply using a baseball bat. Or his fists.

Now take your scenario. Once upon a time, when they were young, Gina swore undying love for Dan. They got married. Spent years together. Even had a daughter together. There may have been hints along the way as to Dan's troubling nature, but Gina ignored those hints. She still loved Dan.

But, hey, sometimes things change. They go from good to bad to worse. Now Dan beats her. He hurts her. He's tried to kill her more than once and has nearly succeeded. He runs off. Shows up again, and behaves the same way. He has successfully killed other people in cold blood. Sometimes Gina reaches out to him. Sometimes he pretends to be good. And hey, he never, ever hurts their daughter. But he always winds up hurting Gina again. I can't tell you how many times Gina has been taken to Sunrise Hospital for treatment. Well, I could tell you. You could count for yourself, I guess. But once is too many, and we both know it.

Whatever oath Gina took once upon a time is, as I see it, moot. No one should stay in an abusive relationship. I wouldn't want my daughter to do it. I wouldn't want my son to do it. And I wouldn't want Gina or Goliath to do it either. To not respect Gina for moving on with her life given Dan's behaviour, is IMHO kinda horrendous.

Now I'm not saying Dan is Satan. He may have a decent side to him. He may have taken some hard knocks himself, maybe even as a child. He's certainly lonely as hell inside his own skin. All mitigating factors. Certainly Dan needs help. Would benefit from counseling. But to put that all on Gina's shoulders, the VICTIM, is beyond unreasonable. Love is NEVER enough in these situations. You may feel that Goliath didn't make a big enough effort, but you weren't the one being shot at. (And my comment in the CR about how maybe Goliath looked for her between episodes, was way beside the point as well.)

Personally, I have tremendous empathy for Demona. Not mere sympathy but empathy. I feel that there but for the grace of God, go I, more often than I care to admit. But empathy or sympathy doesn't cut it. She's committed cruel and violent (murderous) acts against other living beings.

And to use your own example, if Elisa went "Dark" and Goliath had to chose between saving her and an innocent. I'd hope he'd save the innocent. I hope that's the kind of guy he is. That he does the right thing, no matter how personally painful.

And if you think what happened with Demona wasn't personally painful for him on every level, then I failed as a storyteller.


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Cha-Cha writes...

As of 1996, how much does Demona know of the N.O.?

Greg responds...

Nothing.

Response recorded on February 14, 2002

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Vashkoda writes...

Will Demona meet either of her next two loves prior to the Space Spawn invasion?

Greg responds...

Not revealing that now.

Response recorded on November 29, 2001

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Shavri writes...

In the episode, "Future Tense," didn't it ever--disturb you looking back how Demona and Brooklyn were a couple? I mean, I see Goliath as a father to Brooklyn(even though G's only 10 garg years older). It wouldn't be right for a son to date his father's former wife/girlfriend. It would be downright disgusting. Yick! If my mother was single, I could never, EVER go out with a guy that has dated my her--even if he was around my age. Would you? And to make the B/D relationship concept/idea worse, Demona had been with THAILOG before she'd been with Brooklyn. Talk about hand-me-downs. Wow, that would be quite a marketing idea. I could just see it now: "Come on down and get the all-new 'Hand-Me-Down Demona' action figure! As a bonus you get to choose between Goliath, Thailog, or Brooklyn as her perspective "partner!" Heh heh! Demona would have a different outfit for which ever pairing you choose. Heh! Anyway, I'm just glad the whole thing was a dream-sequence scheme created by Puck and not something that would actually happen in "your" Gargoyle Universe.

Greg responds...

Well, first off it was intentionally done for shock value to freak Goliath (and our audience) out.

But to be fair, I don't see Goliath as a father figure to Brooklyn. I see him as an older brother.

Response recorded on November 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Foreshadowing in Future Tense
Does the Alexander of 2198 own any exo-suits like the one seen in the Future Tense episode?
Does Brooklyn and Demona look like the Demona and Brooklyn in Future Tense?

Greg responds...

Generally, I try to avoid making 'decisions' here that will inhibit the artistic freedom of future collaborators, but...

Alex. Potentially, yes. But since, Alex is kidnapped and put in stasis in the first episode it's going to be a non-issue for some time.

Brooklyn. Initially, Brooklyn would look very much like Brooklyn from Hunter's Moon. Later he may wind up with a look similar to Future Tense -- though with one major change.

Demona. Potentially.

Response recorded on November 13, 2001

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Cha-Cha writes...

Why didn't Thailog and Demona clone Angela?

Greg responds...

Demona didn't want a clone of Angela, she wanted Angela. So she never released a mosquito when Angela was guarding her cell. That meant that Thailog and Sevarius didn't have the option.

Response recorded on November 13, 2001

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Gipdac writes...

You might have answered this before, but I couldn't find it.
1) Did Goliath and Demona have any children in the 978 (Bronx's) rookery?
2) Did Othelle and Desdemona have any children in the 978 (Bronx's) rookery?
3) Did Hyppolytahave any children in the 978 (Bronx's) rookery?

Greg responds...

1. No. They were too young.

2. No. They were too young.

3. No. She was two young.

Response recorded on November 06, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Who is older Demona or Nokkar?

Greg responds...

Nokkar, by a considerable amount.

Response recorded on October 17, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

What does 2198 Demona think of Nokkar?

Greg responds...

Well... she likes him marginally better than the Space-Spawn.

Response recorded on October 17, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

1.How many clans do the Illuminati know of in 1996? All ten? If not which ones do they not know about? Do they know more clans than Demona? How did they find out?
Are there any gargoyle members of the Illuminati?
2.How many of the ten gargoyle clans does Demona know of? Which ones does she not know?

Greg responds...

I'm not answering any of the above at this time.

Response recorded on October 17, 2001

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Cha-Cha writes...

1. Were Demona and Goliath mates before or after "Vows"?
2. What year did Goliath get his name?

Greg responds...

1. Before or after which part of "Vows"? The modern day stuff or the flashback stuff?

2. You know I haven't worked that out precisely yet.

Response recorded on October 10, 2001

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matt writes...

when Demona returned to Wyvern in City of Stone and saw the humans taking the eggs from the rookery and putting them in that wagon to take away, why didn't she try to stop them? grief stricten or not, until i saw "City of Stone" i would've thought Demona must've run off and never returned cuz she would've saved the eggs! but then we see her just almost ignore the fact that the humans are running off with her children! she doesn't know why the remaining gargs are stone and she probably can't help them in any way, but don't you think she could've "saved" the eggs? why didn't she? and whats really weird is in "The Reckoning" she says to Angela, "typical humans... they steal our children" but what did SHE do to stop them? i guess shes pushing blame on the humans again...

Greg responds...

I think you've answered your own question. And at any rate, I'm currently not inclined to interpret for you. I will simply say that we put on the screen what we intended, fully aware of the ramifications.

I'll leave it to you to interpret. (Particularly since I've covered this before.) Try raising it as a topic in the comment room.

Response recorded on September 11, 2001

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Gipdac writes...

*Macbeth/Demona/Hunter/2198*
1) Do the Canmore siblings (The Hunters) know about Macbeth (What, with his still being alive and all)?
2) Have they ever tried to hunt him?
3) Does Macbeth have any descendants living by 1996?
4) Do the Canmores (at least the ones descended from Jon) still hunt Demona in 2198?

Greg responds...

1. Not saying.
2. Not saying.
3. Not saying.
4. There are no more Canmores, at least not of that line. But the Castaways still hunt her. Her and all gargoyles through the Quarrymen.

Response recorded on September 11, 2001

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matt writes...

when Puck transforms the human population to gargs why is it that Elisa and the three teen girl gargs in the subway not have brow ridges or horns of any kind? every other gargoyle we've seen except for the English gargs had either horns or brow ridges or both, but these transformed humans had neither. in fact, besides the pointed ears and color difference (which Elisa didn't even have) their bodies from the neck up looked very human, not gargoyle. was it cuz you wanted these characters to be physically attractive to human viewers even as gargs? cuz i think physically Desdemona is more attractive than Demona or Angela and Des has big old horns, so why make these characters as gargs so human looking?

would you have objected to the animators giving Elisa a beak or a frill or any of the other non human features of gargs?

Greg responds...

Yes, I would have objected to Elisa getting a beak, because she wouldn't have looked viserally like Elisa. Other changes that were less significant would not have bothered me.

However, I loved the design they came up with and didn't question it.

As for the girls in the subway. MINOR, minor characters. There wasn't as much time to do all this stuff as you seem to think. We just had to get it done.

Don't read too much into it though. We all think that Desdemona is attractive. Frank in particular likes drawing attractive females. I think Demona and Angela and Elisa are pretty hot too. Among other characters.

Response recorded on September 11, 2001

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matt writes...

what does Demona's forehead look like behind that tiara thing she wears? are her brow ridges the same shape as the jewelry or like Angela's brow? Goliath has two small horns over each of his brows and Angela has one, so i'd assume that Demona also has one, am i wrong?

Greg responds...

Take a look at "Sanctuary" and then ask me again, if you need to.

Response recorded on September 09, 2001

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Airportman writes...

Hey, Greg

This is my first post here, and it's quite lengthy. I've been looking through the archives, and I'm pretty sure this question has never been asked before. But if it has, I honestly don't know what category it would be filed under. It's mainly about who knows what throughout the course of the Gargoyles story.

Nobody in the audience knew anything about Demona and Macbeth's relationship and former lives prior to "City of Stone," but who in the Gargoyles universe, if anyone, knew anything? I've been watching my taped episodes recently and this really stood out at me this time. It's always been the one thing about the show that bothers me.

It really sticks out in "The Price," when Hudson says, "Believe it lads, Macbeth's dead." Later in the episode, Lexington seems genuinely convinced that Macbeth actually is dead, which leads me to believe that he doesn't know about Macbeth's background by that point. However, later in the same episode, Hudson explains to Xanatos, "Demona and Macbeth are immortal. Has it brought them happiness?" Was Hudson simply feeding a line to Lexington? Was Lex not supposed to know about the whole Demona/Macbeth thing? It's wierd, because Elisa also knows about it by the time of "Sanctuary."

That leads me to another question: how does Hudson know? And Goliath for that matter? Who was it that told them about Demona's history? It couldn't have been Xanatos, because he didn't know either until "City of Stone," or he wouldn't have been fooled by Demona's excuse for living so long. I'm actually not too sure Xanatos ever finds out.

I could only think of one way that it could work. Here goes:

In "Temptation," Demona says to Brooklyn, "It's a long story, centuries long." I was thinking that Demona may have told her story to Brooklyn at that point, and that he later told Goliath, who told Hudson and Elisa. In that case, was this privelidged information that Goliath only trusted Elisa, Hudson, and Brooklyn with? This would explain Hudson's behavior in "The Edge," and give Brooklyn a shoe-in for Second in command, but it would not explain Brooklyn's puzzlement about Macbeth's identity in "Enter Macbeth," unless Goliath had told him not to tell Lex and Broadway. However, Goliath clearly has no clue who Macbeth is at that point. Could Brooklyn have told him later? Lex clearly knows about Demona's immortality by the time "Hunter's Moon" rolls around, so I was thinking that Brooklyn may have decided that it was necessary to tell Broadway and Lex everything when he was leader.

I don't think Macbeth would have told Broadway his story in "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time," when Broadway was tied up in his jet or at his mansion; the timing seemed all wrong.

So I guess what my question boils down to is this:

When did the clan first learn about Demona's past, and her relationship with Macbeth, and am I on the right track with the whole Brooklyn idea?

By the way, Gargoyles is my favorite show. It still amazes me how you were able to weave such an intricate story about such real characters, and teach real life lessons about vengeance, tolerance, family, reconciliation, and so much more, all within the confines of a childrens' cartoon. This was truly a story that made full use of its own medium, and made strong points about life. I believe that Gargoyles is probably the most beneficial and educational childrens' programming I have ever seen, in terms of teaching life lessons, and I too am completely disgusted that Toon Disney won't air "Deadly Force." Thank you for reading this long ramble of mine, and also for providing the best television program to date.

Greg responds...

Thank you.

I definitely have gone through this before. So it's somewhere in the archives. Like in the Macbeth archive or Demona most likely. I'm afraid you're on the wrong track, mostly because you are taking the word "Immortality" too literally. It's used in different ways in different places.

1. In "The Price", Hudson does know that Macbeth and Demona have been alive a LONG time. That makes them Immortal on at least one level. When he says immortal in this one, he's only referring to their obviously long life spans. But at this time, he doesn't know about their link, their inability to die unless one kills the other. The fact that they've lived that long might only mean that they've never been killed and have some kind of eternal youth spell or something. So Hudson can believe that Macbeth has FINALLY died when the first robot bites the dust.

2. After the Weird Sisters are captured in "Avalon, Part Three", they are (off-screen) forced to reveal the link between Demona and Macbeth, i.e the terms of their immortality. So at that point, a bunch of people know the truth, particularly Goliath, Elisa and Angela.

3. So by "Sanctuary", Elisa knows. And clearly, Demona has also told Thailog.

4. When Goliath, Elisa, Bronx and Angela return to NYC in "The Gathering, Part One" and after they have time to sit down and relate their adventures (between "The Gathering, Part Two" and "Vendettas"), they relate the Demona/Macbeth story to Hudson and the Trio. So now most of the cast is up to speed.

Mystery solved?

Response recorded on September 09, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

I now have a list of questions to for you about love. ahhh

1. Does Hyena love Jackel?
2. Does Jackel love Hyena?
3. How serius are Hyena's feelings to Cyotie? Is she madley im love with him, or just mildly attracted? Either way, it's kinda gross
4. How does Cyotie feel toward Hyena? He seemed up for they idea of "making sparks fly".
5. Does Fox love Anistasia(before and after the Gathering)?
6. Does Halcyen still carry a torch for Anistasia? And does he now know that she is Titania?
7. Does Titania love fox?
8. Does Puck love Alex?
9. Does Oberon love anyone besides Titania?
10. Does Dracon dream about Elisa and him being together?
11. Was Brooklyn attracted to Demona before "Temptation". He seems to go after the most females.
12. Does Iago feel in love with Desdemona, or is it a strong sexual attraction, or is it just to hurt Othello?
13. Was there a time when Desdemona had feelings toward Iago?
14. Does Vinnie have a special someone (besides himself), or does everyone think he is too wierd?
15. Has Thailog ever felt love, even in the slightest way?
16. Was Malcolm and Elaina's wedding more out of love, or convenience?
17. Do Banquo and Florence have a thing for each other?
18. Does Cagney have a special kitty friend, or just Elisa?
19. Has the Magus been yerning for Kathern all of his life, and never told her how he felt? If yes., thats pretty sad.
20. And, somewhere deep deep down, both Goliath and Demona both yern to again be one, now and forever. Right? I better be. And this would have been shown in latter episodes besides dark ages right?

I'm sure you can see from my questions that I am QUITE the softy. And I love how Gargoyles uses this topic so often. Great job!!!

Greg responds...

Twenty Questions! YAY! :P

1. Sure, to the extent she knows how.

2. Ditto.

3. Something between madly in love and mildly attracted.

4. He's indifferent in the incarnations you've seen.

5. Yes.

6. Yes and Yes.

7. Of course.

8. Sure.

9. Yes. His children and his Children and the island of his birth and all the funny little mortals. He's a benificent one, that Oberon.

10. Probably.

11. I think Brooklyn respected Goliath too much to think that way, to allow himself to think that way.

12. The first two. The third is just a side benefit.

13. No.

14. He is currently available? You interested?

15. He's not admitting to it, unless he's lying.

16. Politics. And a hope of love.

17. They're exes.

18. That avenue has not yet been explored.

19. Not all his life. After all, he's ten years older than she is. But yes, it is sad.

20. I think somewhere deep, deep down Goliath wants to be with Elisa. And somewhere deep deep down, Demona wants to be with someone who is right for her.

Response recorded on September 06, 2001

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Todd Jensen writes...

Since you and Entity recently (as of July 20th) had a brief exchange about Xanatos's characterization, I thought that I'd give a thought of my own about him.

One thing that has occurred to me is that there was an intriguing paradox about Xanatos in his "feud" with the gargoyles. One advantage that Xanatos had over the conventional "cartoon super-villain" was that he was a level-headed, practical man who wasn't interested in revenge or pointless vendettas. And this, on one level, made him potentially a more challenging adversary for the gargoyles. Because as a result, he wasn't likely to get so distracted in carrying out his personal score with the clan that he'd make foolish mistakes which they could take advantage of and thereby win, the way that more conventional "master-villains" in animated series do (and which, elsewhere in "Gargoyles", the Archmage himself fell prey to, when he kept on making strategic and tactical errors in "Avalon" - such as not waiting until dawn to attack or in magically tormenting Goliath when he could just as easily have simply zapped him into a pile of dust). It removed the leading source of "mistakes that antagonists make" which can save the day for the protagonists.

But, ironically enough, this very trait of Xanatos's also may have helped the gargoyles in a way. For, since Xanatos wasn't a revenge-crazed man, he wouldn't be likely to be constantly pursuing the gargoyles obssessively in "conventional cartoon super-villain" style, and indeed, he didn't. He went after them because he had specific plans about what to do with them (using them as his agents for such operations as stealing the disks from Cyberbiotics). But that motive didn't take too long to be discarded, as it became increasingly aware to Xanatos that he couldn't make use of the gargoyles in that way ever again; in fact, I recently noticed, upon examining his actions closer, that in Season Two, despite his continued clashes with the clan, he had stopped attempting to actually capture and dominate them (the one exception being his capture of Hudson in "The Price", and then there was a different reason for that - the need to use Hudson as a guinea pig for the Cauldron of Life). So he no longer had a serious reason for capturing them, and consequently, didn't see the need to make those efforts. The only possible reason left for going after the gargoyles was that of revenge, and that obviously didn't interest him. So he had no reason to pursue them (and indeed, seems to have even been aware, as the ending of "City of Stone" makes clear, that leaving them more or less at liberty could be much more advantageous to him anyway). He could afford to leave them alone.

So I find it an amusing paradox that the very factor which could have made Xanatos a serious threat to the gargoyles actually helped to make him less of a threat than he might have been. He wasn't obssessively pursuing them on the basis of a pointless grudge. He went after them only when he saw a genuine need to, and there was increasingly less reason for him to capture or destroy the whole clan as the series went on (and good reason, on the other hand, to let them be).

Greg responds...

Sound analysis. I've said it before, I think as villains go, David and Demona are too fairly original characters. I'm proud of all my babies, so to speak, but I'm particularly proud of these two and how different they are from each other and yet how they both constantly presented us not merely with 'evil plot of the week' material but with challenging character work. They wrote themselves.

Response recorded on September 06, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

I am very sorry that Team Atlantis will not continue. It would have been great to have a continuation of gargoyles, if even in a small way. And on top of that, the Canadian Family channle just told me that they are going to stop aring Gargoyles. It a bad day today, I havn't gotten all the episodes on tape yet. Me and some others are sending E-mails, but I don't know what it will do. Anyway, I had a question here somewhere...

1. If Team Atlantis had come out, would the animation and character designs have been the same with the movie? I'm asking cause, Atlantis had some unrealistic porportions compared to the realistic ones in Gargoyles. So if they did a cross over, how would Demona and Fiona have been portraied?

2. Is it possible that Disney might go for team Atlantis again? Or when they scrap something, do they just want to take out the garbage and forget about it?

Greg responds...

1. Greg Guler did the character designs for both Team Atlantis and Gargoyles. His design of Demona was styled to fit Team Atlantis, but looked so much like Demona, most of you wouldn't have even noticed the difference.

2. It seems highly unlikely. We are making a direct to video, and I suppose if that does REALLY, REALLY well....

Response recorded on September 06, 2001

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matt writes...

you've said that Samson was raised in a communal rookery with many eggs in the rookery, so how does he know that he is descended from Demona? did Demona tell him or does he just know cuz he resembles Goliath THAT much and that means he is almost definetly descended from him and Demona?

Greg responds...

Who said that HE knew he was descended from Demona?

Did I? Are you sure?

Response recorded on September 01, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

Does Demona find attacking other Gargoyels fun, or more of duity? I didn't think it was fun, but when the Trio attack her in Hunter's moon 1, she fires at them with a maniacle grin. The same in Long way till Morning.

Greg responds...

She's a bit twisted.

Response recorded on August 30, 2001

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William Cain writes...

In the episode "Temptation", Goliath is placed under the a spell that makes him a slave to whom
Ever holds the Grimorum. OK. (A few point then my question and hopefully an answer.)
Point 1.The confines of the spell were that he would obey whoever held the book.
Point 2. In order to free Goliath from the zombie like state Elisa told him to act as is he was not placed under the magic spell.
Point 3. Demona took the actual counter spell.
I just don't feel that her having him act normal would cancel the effects of the magic as for him running around like a zombie yes but not the magic control its self but… I will leave that to you.
My question is if Demona was to take the book again could she take control over Goliath once more or are the effects of the spell no more?
Thank you for your Time
William Cain

Greg responds...

Here are my points:

1. Whoever held the spell. Not the book. At the end, Elisa was holding the spell.

2. Demona did not have the counterspell. She took other spells, like the one to summon Puck.

3. After Elisa issued her command, I'm betting they destroyed the spell. But who knows? (Well, I do. But I'm not telling.)

Response recorded on August 30, 2001

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Kelly L Creighton/Kya White Sapphire writes...

oh, heres one. someone asked about how much Demona could bench. you gave a smartass response. without giving specific numbers, i had always assumed gargs could basically bench twice the poundage as a human of similar mass. again that goes back to the "gargs are made out of different stuff than humans are" theory. please comment? *expecting smartass response*

Greg responds...

I'm not good with numbers. It's more of an intuitive thing, deciding what she (or any of them) can or cannot do.

Response recorded on August 22, 2001

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Gipdac writes...

1) Do the Canmore siblings (The Hunters) know about Macbeth (What, with his still being alive and all)?
2) Have they, or any other Canmores, ever tried to hunt him?
3) Does Macbeth have any descendants living by 1996?
4) Do the Canmores (at least the ones descended from Jon) still hunt Demona in 2198?

Greg responds...

1. Not saying.

2. Not saying.

3. No.

4. Yes.

Response recorded on August 15, 2001

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg, I have a few more questions about 2198, and Demona's role in it. Surprise, surprise ;)

How does she get along with the following characters?

1. Delilah?

2. Nicholas Natsilane Maza

3. Nokkar?

I would imagine that her relationship with the first two would be quite tense given their bloodline.

Greg responds...

Initially, she doesn't get along well with anyone. ANYONE.

Response recorded on August 14, 2001

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Curious writes...

in "the mirror" or what ever it's call puck says that demona is still "carrying the torch" for goliath.so why does she always try to kill him? why does she not try to make him love her again?

Greg responds...

She has a problem with "owning up" to things.

Response recorded on August 14, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

What is the signifigance of the clones names? The only name I recognise is Hollywood. Why did Demona choose them?

Greg responds...

Hollywood, Brentwood, Malibu and Burbank are all part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Demona chose those names to spoof what she views as the idiotic name choices that the trio and Hudson chose for themselves.

Response recorded on August 08, 2001

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

::Follows in Lexy's footsteps::

No my question is not about Lex's mate. But I'm as big a Demona fan as she is a Lex fan ;)

Are you in the mood to talk about one or both of Demona's next two great loves??

Greg responds...

What, now?

Response recorded on August 08, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

When Dominique was pretending to love Macbeth, was there any instant that she got hurt in his presence (stubed her toe or something)? Also, is it JUST pain that Demona and Macbeth both feel? Or can one feel the other touching his\her skin? How bout plessure? If Ms. Destine was to go as far as to bed with Macbeth (though I doubt that would happen), would that be VERY INTERESTING for Macbeth? I tend to think like this a lot.

Thanks

Greg responds...

Simple touching doesn't pass from one to the other. Intense feelings of pain and pleasure would.

And no, obviously Dominique was careful not to be in range when she was transforming. And she didn't slip up either.

Response recorded on August 08, 2001

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Todd Jensen writes...

I must confess that one thing that surprises me a little about Demona is how long it took her to realize the truth about Thailog. After all, we're dealing here with a gargoyle who prides herself on not trusting anyone, who's utterly and thoroughly suspicious about everyone. And Thailog strikes me as being about as thoroughly untrustworthy as they come. But the interesting thing is that Demona doesn't seem to suspect that Thailog is an unreliable ally until he finally comes out and says it in "The Reckoning" with his "I've decided to: a) kill your daughter, and b) dump you in favor of a clone that I made of you, who, by the way, is also a part-clone of Elisa." Of course, the guy is thoroughly cunning (I particularly noted how, in "Sanctuary", he cleverly drew attention away from himself after Macbeth blasts his way to freedom with the laser gun that Thailog slipped him by shouting at Demona "Didn't you search him?"), and as Macbeth himself admitted when Angela raised the same question at the end of "Sanctuary", love can be blind. But I do find it intriguing that Demona was so thoroughly duped by Thailog for so long (though it has a certain appropriateness to it).

Greg responds...

I find it appropriate to. Indicative of her desire to be with someone who she could believe shared her worldview. (It has little to do with Thailog personally, I think -- and more to do with his resemblence to Goliath and yet the obvious contrast in his personality.)

But my question to you is what would you think could have possibly given Thailog away to Demona, before he was ready to drop his facade?

Response recorded on August 08, 2001

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Lord Sloth writes...

In "Long way till Morning", Goliath says that they can't keep Demona imprisoned, and he won't consider the alternative. By the enf of hunters moon part 3, would Goliath consider the alternative, now that he knows what Demona was capable of? To what extent would he consider it, taking Angela into consideration?

Greg responds...

I honestly don't believe that when push comes to shove that Goliath could ever kill Demona. Ever. Unless you want to get WAY hypothetical on me. (Which you all know I don't particularly enjoy.)

Response recorded on August 08, 2001

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Sexy Queer writes...

Did Demona and Iago get along in the Dark Ages?

Greg responds...

Sometimes. It was a long age.

Response recorded on July 27, 2001

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Sexy Queer writes...

I'm not sure if this was ever asked but did Angela tell her Rookery siblings that Demona was her mother, If so where they in shock about it?

Greg responds...

Well, they didn't really know Demona, except as that garg who attacked them while under a spell. So it held less significance from an "oh my god, Demona!" standpoint.

Also, I'm sure they all have mixed feelings about the whole biological parenting thing. I'm not sure that Angela did tell them that Goliath was her biological father. That would seem too much like unseemly bragging. (So maybe for that reason alone, she didn't mention Demona either.) At any rate, they all would have thought of Goliath and Demona as Clan Parents.

Response recorded on July 27, 2001

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Steven L. writes...

Gargoyles mate for life. Does that mean that once two gargoyles show interest in each other, and become intimate, that they've mated, and are officially forevermore monogamous?
If so, what happens if, over the years, the two gargoyles come to drift apart, or realize they have nothing in common? Do they stay together simply because of tradition? I take it there's no gargoyle equivalent of divorce. (Or at least there wasn't until Goliath and Demona kinda set precident).
And in that vein; should a gargoyle have an affair, then what happens if that affair is discovered? Does the unfaithful gargoyle and the one he/she had the affair with get banished from the clan?
Hope this hasn't been asked before.

Greg responds...

Gargoyles mate in both sexual and ritualistic fashion. After that they GENERALLY (and that's the key word) remain monogamous.

They imprint upon each other biologically, and there are strong ties of custom to discourage a split. Affairs, I believe, are quite rare.

But as you noted, sometimes things don't work according to plan. Iago has clearly imprinted on Desdemona, though she is imprinted on Othello and he has imprinted on her.

Goliath and Demona imprinted upon each other, but maybe as a result of a thousand years, that imprinting didn't last. Goliath has clearly imprinted anew on Elisa. (BTW, I'm not sure I'm using the word imprinting correctly. I know it's generally used for babies to imprint on their mothers. But it's the closest thing I can think of.)

So there are issues of both biology and custom that discourage anything like divorce or cheating. But that doesn't mean it NEVER happens.

Response recorded on July 18, 2001

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shadowwarrior writes...

1) what year was demona hatched?
2) was demona biologicaly younger in 994 ad or 1040 ad after the deal with macbeth and the weird sisters?

Greg responds...

1. 938.

2. 994. In 994, she was biologically 28. In 1040, after the bargain, she was 35 (Macbeth's chronological age). She still looks great though, doesn't she?

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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John writes...

Hi Greg,
I've read your awnsers on my last two questions today, but unfortunately, you havn't understood them both. So, now I will explain them again:
Let's take the question with the actors first. Well, if there will ever be a movie, and if you will be able to work on it, I know, that you will do almost everything to get the voice actors in it. But, what if the pruducers or directors will tell you, that the movie needs some stars, who will get people in it, who are new to the show. I know, that all this will probably never happen, but use your imagination...
And for my second question, I meant an ep, in wich you will show, what would have happened, if the gargs would have allied with demona, or what would have happened, if ..., well, think about it
hope you'll understand
CU, John

Greg responds...

John,

1. I get it. I'm just not interested. It's a hypothetical based on a hypothetical based on a hypothetical. That stuff doesn't grab me.

2. Another "What if..." story. I get it. I understand. I just don't care.

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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Christy Williams writes...

HI,
I was just wondering, had the show continued, what was to become of (my personal favorite gargoyle)Demona? In "Future Tense" she had obviously reformed, but that could have just been Puck's trickery.
The last time she is seen (Generations) a tear falls as she watches the clan fly off. I assumed she is remorsefull about the way she hurt her relationship with Angela, or perhaps it was the first real time she had realized what she lost by betraying her clan. I would like to know if Demona would have remainded vengeful, or if she would have eventually come around.
Thanks for reading.

Greg responds...

Generations isn't canon in my book.

Check out the G2198 contest results in the archive at this site to see where she stands as of the year 2198. If you want to know what happens to her beyond that, you'll just have to wait until I'm in a more revelatory mood.

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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Gipdac writes...

) Will there be any romantic feelings between Brooklyn and Demona in GARGOYLES 2198, like the Puck's "Future Tense".
3) Will Macbeth play apart in GARGOYLES 2198? If so, in what way? Now that the revamping is over.
4) How do Demona and Macbeth feel about each other by 2198? Now that the revamping is over.
5) Does Samson know that he is a descend of Demona? If so, does he consider Demona as his great-great (or how ever many greats they are) grand mother?
6) Does Demona know that Samson is a descend of her?

Greg responds...

). There'll be feelings. Not saying what kind.
3). You keep repeating "now that the revamping is over". What does that mean to you? Does it have significance? Do you mean now that the contest is over? Anyway, I've answered this. Macbeth will show up eventually but not right away.
4). Now that the revamping is over, I'm not telling.
5) He knows. And to some degree, yes.
6) Yes.

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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Todd Jensen writes...

A little query that recently occurred to me about the "feeling each other's pain" part of Demona and Macbeth's link. Where does Macbeth feel the pain when Demona receives an injury to her wings or her tail?

Greg responds...

Back or butt.

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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Stacey writes...

Hello Mr Weisman!
First of all, congeratulations on such a great show, it's the best cartoon I've ever seen, I've loved it since I was a kid!
Just a quick question. I asume that Demona eventualy finds out about Goliath and Elisa's relationship. How does she feel? I always thought that she retained feelings for him - despite her best efforts - and there's the fact that she probably hates Elisa more than anyone else alive.
When you outlined the space spawn/Samson/2198 or something storyline, there was no mention of Goliath and Elisa ever having children, grandchildren etc. I know that biologicaly speaking, there was very little chance that it would ever happen (unfortunantly), but I always thought that they would find someway of adopting. You don't have to say if you don't want to, but Goliath and Elisa without kids is heartbreaking. They would make such wonderful parents! I know that they would help raise the clans children, but its not quite the same is it? I mean Goliath has taken up the role as sole parent to angela, and Elisa is human anyway. Please give me hope!
Anyway, sorry. I didn't mean to rant on for so long. I need my gargoyles fix.
Good luck for the future.
XXX

Greg responds...

Thanks, Stacey.

You'll worry less if you stop thinking like a human. There will be plenty of children. And Goliath and Elisa will be parents to them. I've discussed them having their own children before. Hinted at it. Check the archives if you want.

As for Demona, I don't think this will come as news to her. And she already doesn't like it.

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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Mary Mack writes...

At some point at the Gathering, I overheard you telling some lucky fan or fans when Brooklyn learned to read. I was dashing off somewhere, probably trying to chase down Kanthara again (whom I finally caught on Monday-- Hi Kanth!), and I didn't get to eavesdrop on the whole thing. It sounded fascinating, and like part of a larger question about which gargs learned to read when. I sure wish I knew the answer, and I'd bet money that your other faithful readers want to know too. So...

We know when Hudson and Braodway learned to read-- they started right after "Lighthouse on the Sea of Time." When did the other members of the Manhattan clan learn to read?

Thatnk you for your time and I hope everybody pre-registers for the Gathering 2002-- I did!

Greg responds...

Thank you, Mary. I believe Brooklyn learned to read shortly after awakening in the twentieth century. I believe Goliath learned from Demona in the tenth century. I believe Demona learned from the Archmage. I believe Lex learned in the tenth century too. Angela was taught by the Magus.

(Lots of fun tidbits always get revealed at the Gathering.)

Response recorded on July 11, 2001

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RANDOM STUFF

Another thing I REALLY wish I had seen at the Gathering is Keith David wielding a sword and quoting from Othello.

I heard that Michael Reaves has a brilliant (because it's simple) solution for how Goliath, Hudson and the Trio could speak modern English upon waking at the castle. Demona used a spell from the Grimorum on them the night before they woke up. Perfect. They'd never even have to know that there was a change in the language. I love it. (Wish I had thought of it.)


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Demoness writes...

~Macbeth~

Oh my god, I'm not asking a Oberon and Titania question! Its a miracle! :)

I know this has been answered before and I have read your response to the question, but I am a little bit confused still.

You said that any fatal injury Macbeth & Demona sustain, the magical spell that keeps them alive would immediately heal them, and rapidly depending on how serious the fatal injury is.

So, if either were beheaded, would their head fall off and reattach itself or would the spell immediately begin to heal the severed area before it had a chance to fall off?

The same with a severed limb?

Greg responds...

Look at what you wrote: "...if either were beheaded, would their head fall off and reattach itself or would the spell immediately begin to heal the severed area before it had a chance to fall off?"

It's a hypothetical. What's the point? Neither one has had their head chopped off. Despite nearly 1000 years of adventuring times the two of them, I will personally guarantee that neither has been beheaded. This isn't Highlander. There's no rule about this. What there is is the statement of the Weird Sisters, who said that neither would die until one kills the other -- when both would die. Whether you choose to believe them or not is up to you.

Response recorded on July 09, 2001

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Sloth writes...

Wierd sisters>"the cause is worth every sacrifice untill her own life is threatend, still, its good that you saved her" "we were not talking about this terrerist" I take it they were talking about Demona, but I don't see how their first statement applys to her. When did Goliath save her life, and when did she put her life above the "cause"?

Greg responds...

Goliath has saved her life many times. And her his, but that doesn't seem particularly relevant.

As to the second question, in that very episode, she flees Wyvern and hides on the beach below instead of warning Desdemona and Othello. Demona is many things -- but not suicidal.

Response recorded on July 09, 2001

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg,

1. Nightstone Unlimited still around in 2198?

2. If it is, does Demona still run it?

Greg responds...

1. Not saying.

2. See above.

Response recorded on July 06, 2001

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matt writes...

what would happen at dawn if Demona put on a Mayan sun amulet? would she turn to a human or remain a gargoyle?

Greg responds...

I think she'd turn human. But I don't think she'd be able to nap.

Response recorded on July 03, 2001

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WereFox writes...

Does the spell of immortality completely heal Demona and MacBeths injuries. Do bullet or stab wounds heal without a trace or do the leave battle scars. It had occured to me that the spell might not have to heal them to be good as new, just enough to keep them alive. If being "alive" is the minmal requirement. Then the two of the could theoretically go into comas for the rest of eternity and still be considered "alive" for the purposes of the spell. I know, now way you were actually going to do this. Just exorcising a "creativity demon."

Greg responds...

Hey, exorcise away.

Response recorded on July 03, 2001

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WereFox writes...

I'd have to say that my favorite "off camera" moment for the series would have been Demona 1st encounter with Thailog. I know it wasn't necessary to show it, but such moments exist shearly for the look of shock and surprise you see on peoples faces. Had you actually imagined how it transpired? For, example, die Demona mistake Thailog for Goliath? Did Thailog get the drop on Demona first? Would have been a classic moment. Possibly the perfect counter point to "The Kiss".

Greg responds...

It'll make a good flashback some day.

Response recorded on July 03, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Who are Demona's two greatest loves? Can we figure them out now from the 2198 contest?

Greg responds...

Two greatest? You mean out of the four or five she'll have total?

Response recorded on July 02, 2001

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Jimmy_Q writes...

Hey, Greg, at the end of "the mirror" (or whatever it's called, haven't seen the series in a few years, so i may not remember every little detail), Demona was shown reacting to the situation as if she had no idea that she had somehow transformed. In fact, she didn't figure out she turned human until later in that scene. Now, if I was her, I wouldn't be enjoying the thought of not being stone during the day so much as I would be freaking out over the pain I just felt throughout my whole body. Sorry, but if all of a sudden I felt like every bone, sinew, muscle, etc. in my body was being twisted and tied into knots, I wouldn't exactly spring up and bask in the sunshine as if nothing happened. So what happened here? Is this simply simply another one of those errors made throughout the series? BTW, just in case you're wondering, i discovered this site just a night or two ago, so it's not like it took all these years for this question to occur to me. Thanks for your time, bud.

Greg responds...

You're welcome.

There was no pain during that first transformation. Puck wanted to spring it on her as a surprise, so the pain was surpressed that once.

Response recorded on July 02, 2001

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Blaine writes...

I might be mistaken on this, but as I recall in "Reawakening" didn't Demona say she something to the effect of she had tried everything (sorcery and science) to bring him (Coldstone) back to life? So, does that mean that she was carrying around what was left of Coldstone's body (and Desdemona and Iago's bodies also) around with her all over the world for the thousand years before "The Awakening"?

Greg responds...

You're mistaken. So, no.

Response recorded on July 02, 2001

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matt writes...

1. at the end of "City of Stone" in the flashback Demona glides off to "search for her kin". did she find any gargoyles after that point?
2. at that point, were there still some clans around that are not around today? what i mean is, when was the last entire clan wiped out leaving only the clans we know survive left to today?

Greg responds...

1. Not in Scotland, at least.

2. Not revealing that now.

Response recorded on July 02, 2001

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Yttrium writes...

Ever notice that when Demona's in her human form, her hair seems much fluffier than it does when she's gargoyle? It retains its spiky quality, but it appears slightly softer to me. Is it because the texture of gargoyle hair is different than human hair?

---Ytt

Greg responds...

I haven't noticed the difference.

Response recorded on June 30, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Did you have plans for the monoliths we saw in Shadows of the Past in Dark Ages? Does Demona know about the monoliths there?

Greg responds...

Plans, oh, baby, did I have plans.

Demona knows something of them.

Response recorded on June 29, 2001

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Rob (the Sloth) Irwin writes...

Does Demona know that Puck is serving Xanatos, since she said "You served the human, now you serve me".
just wondering

Greg responds...

Demona knows that Puck is Owen.

Response recorded on June 29, 2001

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Sapphire writes...

Dear Greg you said something about Demona having two more loves in the future by any chance will any of them be human? Oh by the way I'm sorry I've asked to many questions on homosexuality on past questions, I'm also sorry I made you growl like a gargoyle for asking these silly questions.

Greg responds...

I don't mind questions about homosexuality. I just didn't feel like going through every character one by one ad infinitum.

As to your Demona question... NO INFO AT THIS TIME.

Response recorded on June 28, 2001

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matt writes...

i was wondering some things about Demona's second from "City of Stone" the rust-colored garg with the breastplate:

1. you've said before that the almost identical garg on Avalon is his son, so he was part of the Wyvern clan until it split, right? were all the new gargs in "City of Stone" from that clan?

2. was he from Goliath and Demona's generation or an older one? was he Demona's rookery brother?

3. you hadn't thought of a behind the screen name for him have you? if so, do tell...

4. did he ever have a romantic interest in Demona?

5. did he survive Canmore's massacre of Demona's clan?

6. would we ever see him developed more in one of the spin-offs? Dark Ages maybe?

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. Probably not.

3. He had no name.

4. Maybe briefly. But I don't think that lasted.

5. No.

6. Yes.

Response recorded on June 27, 2001

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Oberon writes...

1) Why did the Weird Sisters spend so much time and effort making Demona and MacBeth their pawns, and keeping them alive for nine-hundred and something years?
2) Why did the Archmage want those two in particular?
They seam pretty powerfull but there have got to be people of equal power in the 20th century (even people who would be willing o go the Avalon)
3) If they had over 900 years, why didn't the Weird Sisters get afew more pawns (would have been a good idea, considering ththier attack on Avalon failed)

Greg responds...

1. Partially, because the Archmage asked them to. And for other reasons, I'm not yet revealing.

2. I don't think the Archmage fully knew the answer (or thought to care). Demona, he thought he was punishing for an earlier ("Vows") betrayal. But even that argument is specious. And he didn't know Macbeth from Adam.

3. The Archmage didn't ask for any others. That restricted them, vis-a-vis Oberon's Law.

Response recorded on June 20, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

You know that gargoyles don't age as fast as humans and Demona and MacBeth feel the same things is that whay MacBeth lived for a long time or is it because MacBeth is a king?

Greg responds...

neither

They've been cursed, remember?

Response recorded on June 20, 2001

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Jacob writes...

You said by day Demona is completely human, right?
But at the end of the episode when Demona and Macbeth finally have the three items (sorry, but I only know the German name of it) and they began to quarrel her eyes were glowing red. Have you an explanation for it?

Greg responds...

Well, artistic license. Either by us, or Puck, or both.

Response recorded on June 20, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Why did the Malcom Canmore's descendents start hunting Demona? I mean Demona didn't do anything to them?

Greg responds...

How do you know?

Response recorded on June 20, 2001

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lesley writes...

does demona have any other childern besides angela?

Greg responds...

nope

Response recorded on June 20, 2001

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Entity writes...

Hi Greg,

You refer to Demona and Macbeth as "foot-soldiers" in the context that the Weird Sisters used them for (or sought to use them for). Isn't that a bit of an under-title for them? Why go through all the trouble of obtaining Demona and Macbeth if only to use them as "grunts"? First off, isn't the entire purpose of foot-soldiers/grunts to have a lot of them? Merely two suggest specialization, and indeed, they seem to have been chosen because they were special. What was the Archmage's motivation behind obtaining these two in particular, and any two in general? Did he just not want to have to get his hands dirty with "menial" tasks? Did he want the ego boost of having underlings? Were Demona and Macbeth candidates because they were "the best" and therefore more of an go boost?

Greg responds...

Terms like "foot soldier" and "cannon fodder" were clearly used by the Archmage to make him feel more important. In fact, he was cherry-picking very talented warriors.

Or one might argue, he had nothing to do with the selections. How did he even know about Macbeth? Sure his older self told him, but how did he know? Sure HIS older self told him, but how did he know? And so on, and so on, and so on...

Response recorded on June 19, 2001

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Demona Taina writes...

This just ocurred to me. The night Puck put the spell on Demona, the "turn to human during the day" spell, wouldn't she had noticed that she was in PAIN when the sun rose? Instead she was just happily standing in front of a window, stretching and enjoying the heat.

1. Did Puck give her a little freebie in not letting her feel pain the first day?
2. Is it a script error?
3. If all of the above are negative, then what IS the deal?

Thanks for reading! :)

Greg responds...

1. Yes. He wanted shock value that first morning.
2. No.

Response recorded on June 19, 2001

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Oberon writes...

In the Wierd Sisters incantation on Macbrth and demona they say "forever and eternal bound" so my quetion is
1) Can the Wierd Sister undo their spell
2) Can anyone else (with the exception of D and M killing each other)

Greg responds...

1. Nope.
2. Doubt it.

Response recorded on June 09, 2001

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Greg Bishansky writes...

I've noticed that aside from her laser cannon or bazooka, Demona's weapon of choice is a mace. Given your comments on a mace being the natural enemy of the gargoyles, was making Demona's weapon a mace (rather than a sword, crossbow or Morning Star) a conscious decision on your part in regard to this?

Greg responds...

It was a conscious choice in "City of Stone" when she was smashing human "statues". When else does she use a mace?

Response recorded on May 09, 2001

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Josh Goldberg writes...

Can Demona get pregnant by a human at anytime? That is, is she fertile as a human at the same times as she is fertile as a gargoyle, or is she fertile like a regular human? What's Demona's fertility cycle as human and garg? (Garg's are only fertile every ten garg years, right?)

Greg responds...

Garg's are only fertile every TWENTY years.

Human females, or so I understand it, are generally VERY fertile one week a month. Potentially fertile the week to either side. And even possibly fertile at all times. At any rate, it's sure as hell safer to think that way.

Demona is a human when she's human. A garg when she's a garg. But she's extremely unlikely to get pregnant at any time. Cuz she's Demona.

Response recorded on May 08, 2001

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matt writes...

ok, now a few questions about "The Reckoning"...

1. did Demona keep a "mosquito" in her belt buckle for each gargoyle or just Lexington?

2. did she and Thailog plan to get Elisa's DNA together or was everything about Delilah a secreat from Demona? what i mean is, did Demona plan on getting Elisa's DNA or not?

3. TGC episode "Genesis Undone" is not canon, and you've said that Thailog had not died in the fire, is that right? if so, would he have suffered any major lasting injuries from the fire? if he did survive, why did he let Demona go on running Nightstone Unlimited even though some of it belonged to him?

4. i'm guessing Fang went back to his cell, correct?

5. if Sevarius could so easily combine human and gargoyle DNA to make Delilah, why not mix and match different gargoyle DNA for a bit of diversity? or did he? i've noticed that the four main clones seem to have combinations of different gargs. for instance, Hudson's clone looks mostly like Hudson, but has Lex's coloring, and Brooklyn's clone looks mostly like Brooklyn, but has Broadway's coloring and fanned ears. was there mixing going on?

Greg responds...

1. More than one for each.

2. Not.

3. He was laying low.

4. For a bit.

5. No. The coloring changes were a result of the forced aging. The same thing that caused Thailog's coloring to be different from Goliath's.

Response recorded on May 08, 2001

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Dark Nyusu writes...

Here's a tricky one. If Demona got pregnant (Baring in mind Puck's 'gift', would the baby be born in an egg or not? Would it be human or gargoyle? How would she deal with the pregnancy? I know it may also depend on whether the father was human or gargoyle and whether she was in season or not, but can you see where i'm coming from? I'm just puzzled and curious! So what do you think?

Greg responds...

I just answered this.

And I don't like hypotheticals. Too many variables.

Response recorded on May 04, 2001

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Jim R. writes...

Does Demona sleep? How can she manage to be human during the day and still have energy to spare in being a gargoyle at night? Despite the fact she and MacBeth are magically linked, Demona is not immortal, so how does she acquire the energy to stay conscience 24 hours a day?

Greg responds...

I think Dominique must sleep some. And I think Puck's magic compensates some.

Response recorded on May 04, 2001

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

Here's a question about Demona in "Reawakening". She says to Goliath, "We have each created our own clans Goliath, you have yours and I have mine." and she says this indicating Coldstone, Xanatos in his armor and the Steel Clan robot.

While I can understand Coldstone and perhaps even the Steel Clan robot. Why does she acknowledge Xanatos in this? Especially considering that he's human.

Greg responds...

She's trying to convince herself, more than G. So she needs the numbers to make it seem clan-like. It's not rational.

Response recorded on May 04, 2001

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matt writes...

in "Reawakening" we suddenly see Coldstone in Times Square. did Xanatos and Demona send him there to get Goliath's attention? or did Coldstone end up there himself? or what?

Greg responds...

They sent him out.

Response recorded on May 02, 2001

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Angie I. writes...

Hi, Greg. I know you've been asked at least twice on the changes to Demona's reproduction cycles after the Puck spell, but I could use a little more clarification on the subject.

1a) I remember somebody asking how her daily transformations affected her reproductive cycle and you responded thusly...

"No. But as I said, I think the magic would compensate for a pregnancy... ON THE HUGE ASSUMPTION that she ever gets pregnant."

That's what I would like a little more info on. What if Demona had relations with another gargoyle and she happened to be in her 20-year fertility cycle and she DID become become pregnant?

1b) What would happen to the potential child inside of her created from that fertile union considering the fact that she is full gargoyle at night and full human during the day?

1c) Would it be born or hatched?

1d) Considering the father is full gargoyle, would Demona's human transformations cause it to be a hybrid? Or would it be born/hatched full gargoyle and turn to stone like any other gargoyle?

2) How do her changes affect when she is fertile? As you've explained, female gargoyles only come into season once every 20 years. But humans are fertile almost all of the time. At least, from what I know.

3) This is not likely to happen knowing Demona, but what if she had relations with a human, while she was in her human form, naturally, and she actually became pregnant? Would it be born human or what?

4) I hope this isn't too off topic, but let's say that Puck cast the same spell of daily human transformation on a male gargoyle. How would it effect him reproductively? Would it change him at all?

Thank you, Greg. I hope my questions haven't burdened you in any way.

Greg responds...

1a. What's the ACTUAL question here? What if she did become pregnant? Then she'd be pregnant.

1b. I'm not an obstetrician. What kind of details are you looking for?

1c. Ahh, well, that would depend on timing to some extent. Most likely, Demona would lay an egg, before "Dominique" had the chance to come to full term.

1d. Again, timing is a factor.

(BUT LET ME REITERATE, that all this is based on the HUGE ASSUMPTION that she ever gets pregnant.)

2. Again, what's the question? I.e. what's the question that you haven't already answered within your question.

3. Again, it would depend on timing. And on the assumption that she knows nothing about birth control.

4. Does it change HER at all? Maybe I'm dense, but I don't really understand.

Response recorded on May 02, 2001

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Angel writes...

In Hunter's Moon, Demona is going to blanket the world with her virus, killing all the humans, i was thinking that, if Macbeth is human and Demona is responsible for the virus, would'nt die, and wouldn't she?

I'm sorry if this has already been covered, but i haven't seen that epiodes.
Anyway, just wondering.

Greg responds...

It's SO been covered. Did you even look in either the Demona or Macbeth archive?

Short answer: It would depend on Demona's true intent.

Response recorded on May 02, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Are the were-panthers and Natsilane also suppose to be weapons of war like Demona and MacBeth?

Greg responds...

Demona and Macbeth (lowercase b, by the way) were not weapons of war. They were foot-soldiers.

There is purpose afoot, but I hesitate to make such a one-to-one comparison.

Response recorded on April 09, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Why did the Weird Sisters have Demona and MacBeth steal Coldstone? I mean MacBeth and Demona stole it to make sure that the Gargoyles didn't find out about the theft of the three talismans, but what did the sisters have to gain from it? They could have teleported the duo beyond the grasp of the gargoyles.

Greg responds...

Demona and Macbeth were not in control.

The point was to steal the three items without alerting Goliath's suspicions. Stealing Coldstone accomplished that. Goliath never even realized the three items were missing. Teleporting has nothing to do with anything.

Response recorded on April 09, 2001

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matt writes...

in "Sanctuary" when Macbeth and Demona are fighting, Demona gets a hold of a gun and so does Elisa, Macbeth pulls back his jacket to let Demona shoot him and in the last second starts saying "NO!". is this because he realizes he doesn't want Demona to kill him and or is it because he sees that Elisa is about to shoot Demona and thus he won't die?

Greg responds...

He sees Elisa and realizes that her intervention will spoil his suicide attempt.

Response recorded on April 08, 2001

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matt writes...

at the end of "The Mirror" Demona is looking out the window at the sun and she says, "I can't believe it, he actually did it. And the sun is so warm." i'm wondering, did she say she can't believe it because she thought Puck was playing games with her when he cast the spell or because she was astonished that the spell actually worked?

Greg responds...

The former. Which includes the latter.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vashkoda writes...

1) Have you given any thought to how MacBeth and Demona will die--if they ever do?

2a) Can you think of any specific way in which the magical bond between them can be dispelled (other than through death)? b) Can the bond be altered in any way, or are the conditions fixed?

3) Demona and MacBeth asked for the Sisters' help, and thus they were justified in magically linking the two together and "interfering in mortal lives". But once that act is ended, how can they put the two under a geis and force them to steal the magical artifacts and fight for the Archmage (I doubt they were given permission)? Does Oberon's law permit them to continue interfering with any mortal whose life they've already once affected?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2a. Not telling.

2b. Not telling.

3. Emotionally exhausted, Demona and Macbeth relinquished their personal sovereignty. Watch the scene again.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vanity writes...

Hey:
1) Does Burbank have a bad eye like Hudson?
2) Does Burbank,(after adjusting to making his own choices) like the same activities as Hudson?
3) Whose idea was it to make the clones? I don't mean YOU I mean Demona or Thailog. I mean I am sure that making clones is a very expensive and time consuming endevour and it seems odd to think Demona would be happy to have clones of the clan she hates. Of course Demona doesn't exactly think things out very well....

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. Not necessarily.

3. Thailog's initially. But Demona didn't resist the idea.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Solicia writes...

Any big plans for Demona?

Greg responds...

Sure.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

RAMBLE ON "OUTFOXED"

i'll agree with you that although the animation, sound and flashbacks were really annoying, the story really carries this episode.
i remember first seeing this episode very well and i remember wondering what had ever happened to Cyberbiotics and was glad to see that it wasn't just going to be a throwaway company in the series, its like you always say, what about the reprucussions to the raid on Cyberbiotics?
Vogel really confused me, i said to myself, isn't he alot like Owen? i knew it wasn't a coincidence, but had no idea what it was...
oh, and i'm glad Goliath made a new friend, its sad that he makes more enemies than friends, but i guess thats drama for you...
Fox is pregnant!!! wow!! what a shock! i prayed for the next nine months to fly bye, but looking back, i'm glad it didn't. what suspense... geeez.
finally, the moral of the episode: integrity and responsibility. i whole-heartely agree with both you and Renard. its not easy, its "a daily struggle" and even the noble and strong like Goliath have problems with it.
i sometimes wonder what would've happened if Renaud had seen Demona flying around and captured her... i doubt his speech would've done as much for her! he probably would've turned her over to the "proper authorities" i think, that would have been fun!!! hahaha!!!

Greg responds...

I think Demona can fake integrity with the best of them. She's a survivor. And not just because of the Weird Sister's spell.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vanity writes...

I have been reading Macbeth and Demona responses and the above mentioned for "High Noon" where questions were asked why Macbeth didn't feel the pain when Elisa and Demona where in combat. And I think people are putting too much emphasis on the fact that Macbeth could prepare for the blows. Couldn't it be that, and if you watch the fight scene; Elisa didn't really "hurt" Demona enough to evoke the spell? Granted Demona ran head-first into a statue but that might not of hurt too much.

Greg responds...

A combination of all of the above -- including that we screwed up a bit.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Aaron writes...

High Noon

<<Anyway, Demona's in atypical dress and species. Who knew it was her?>>

(raises hand) Aw c'mon Greg, not even human form and frumpy clothing can hide the radiant beauty that is Demona. ;) But seriously, who else has hair like that?

Random observation: When human-form Demona leaves her hair alone, instead of putting it up in that dreadful restrained thing she wears as Domonique Destine, she looks like a red-haired Puma sister. (Dominion Tank Police, in case you didn't get the ref)

Greg responds...

I still don't get the ref.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Just a quick comment. Actually, Demona's"sexpot posing at the clock tower when she confronts Elisa did seem in character to me. I always imagined her smugly suggesting, See, even as a human I'm better looking than you. Her subconscious jealousy of Elisa and Goliath's "connection"
and her "I'm better than you are attitude, contirbute to her flagrantly exhibiting herself." Or in the words of the immortal and unknown, "When you've got it flaunt it." Got to love the Japanese animators on this one.

Greg responds...

Works for me too.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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matt writes...

does Demona have to sleep? i figure that when she is human her garg side sleeps and when she is gargoyle her human side sleeps. if this is true where does she get the solar energy from to support her gargoyle form?

Greg responds...

Magic compensates to some degree, but she does sleep as a human periodically.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Todd Jensen writes...

My "High Noon" ramble.

It's hard to be certain what my original thoughts were when seeing this one for the first time (given that that was back in 1995), but I feel pretty certain that I didn't recognize Demona in her human form until the dialogue actually named her. (And given that, as you'd pointed out, up till then, I'd only seen her as a human briefly at the end of "The Mirror", it was easy enough not to recognize her).

I don't recall now what I'd thought of the Demona/Macbeth team-up or where the Weird Sisters were all this time when I first saw the episode, though. Maybe I was just accepting the story as it went along without asking that many questions.

I very much liked Hudson's question about the "hit the sack" idiom, and the bit where Hudson and Broadway were reading the newspaper as the link back to "Lighthouse in the Sea of Time". Both struck me as very enjoyable touches.

I sometimes wonder if Officer Morgan will ever realize just how helpful he was to Elisa in helping her gain the strength to face Demona at Belvedere Castle. This may very well count as his biggest moment in the series to date.

The revelation at the end that the Sisters were behind it all, and - more importantly - that the real targets were the Grimorum, the Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate definitely surprised me. One thing that I do remember from my first time seeing the episode was this: for some odd reason, I was under the impression that "the coming battle" that the Sisters mentioned was something slated for the end of the season (Episode 65 or close to it), a grand finale conflict of some sort. Well, it was a big battle, but it took place in "Gargoyles" a lot sooner than I was expecting.

(One little thing that I must admit: a good thing for Demona that she was using the Grimorum to shield herself from prying eyes during the day. I don't think that she would have been too appreciative of the way that male humans might have been looking at her in that outfit as a human if they could have seen her :)

Greg responds...

Except I don't think she was shielding THAT. She hailed a cab in that outfit, after all. (Which amuses me to no end. Hey, it's NYC!)

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Sapphire writes...

In the episode high noon Elisa was waiting for her gargoyles to return because it is nearly dawn and she was worried for their safety but instead the only gargoyle that came around was Demona, Demona transformed into a human when the sun came up but when downstairs and hailed a cab. My question is was Demona carrying any money with her when she got into the cab or did she just got out when the ride was over and not pay at all?

Greg responds...

She was probably carrying money. Or she made Macbeth pay.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Bruno writes...

Hi, Greg,

I was wondering, how will Demona react when she discover that the Clan - and specially Angela - are back to the castle and living with Xanatos? That they sold themselves?

Greg responds...

Sold themselves? Huh?

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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One writes...

1) What are your personal feelings regarding Demona? Do you see her as a tragic victim of humanity's fear, the weird sister's machinations, etc? Just a mad gargoyle who can't let go of the past and refuses to accept responsibility for her own actions? What's your take on her?

2) In your opinion, which character of the series is most like you? Why?

3) If you had to go through everything Demona went through... how do you think that would have changed you? What would you be like?

Greg responds...

1. She is complex. She contains multitudes. I'm fond of her in a strange way. But that fondness doesn't mitigate her actions as far as I'm concerned. On the other hand, I've always been fascinated with the idea of redemption. So who knows?

2. None really. Or all of them put together. Or Vinnie, because I'm often hapless. Without hap.

3. A puddle.

Response recorded on March 13, 2001

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Mel. Celestial writes...

HI! Hope that you're not bored with me yet! Now on to the questions...
~ Since the clone Delilah is actually a cross between Demona and Elisa, is it possible that she could give birth or, like, break out of the stone-by-day spell?

Greg responds...

Anything's possible, if you're going to put it that way. But largely, Delilah's genetic structure was taken from Demona. Only cosmetic elements were borrowed from Elisa. Of course Delilah does have some human DNA. But she's about 90% gargoyle.

Delilah is certainly capable of having a baby. So's Demona and Elisa. Doesn't mean any of them will.

And Delilah does turn to stone during the day.

Response recorded on March 08, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Did Demona and Thailog "mate" as in reproduce? That was what I meant by mate.

Greg responds...

No. Timing wasn't right.

Response recorded on March 07, 2001

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matt writes...

how long had Demona and Thailog been a couple when Goliath arrived in Paris? how long had Demona and Macbeth been in Paris?

Greg responds...

The following dates are tentative, based on my current reworking of the timeline -- still a rework in progress.

Demona and Macbeth arrived in Paris on 1-1-96.

Demona first encountered Thailog on 1-2-96.

Goliath, Elisa, Angela and Bronx arrived in Paris on 1-21-96.

Response recorded on March 07, 2001

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Duncan Devlin writes...

Was the name Demona derived more from it's relationship to the word demon or or from the name Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello (or was it a mix). Basically, which came first to the idea board. (I think I'm open for a smart-ass response as well as a real one.)

Greg responds...

I don't have a smart ass response to this. Demona came from Demon. Desdemona (and the obvious aural connection to Demona) was a pleasant "surprise" that came later when we were working on Coldstone. Now if you're asking whether or not, somewhere in the back of my head, the Desdemona name was floating around and had an influence... well, I can't be sure.

Response recorded on March 02, 2001

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Basilisk writes...

If Demona had never "turned on" Thailog as she did in THE RECKONING, what would he have done with Delilah?

Greg responds...

Frankly, he'd have kept her around. On the sly.

Response recorded on March 01, 2001

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Sapphire writes...

What is Demona's view on homosexuality?

Greg responds...

Why do I sense I'm about to get a whole set of questions in this mode, one per character?

I don't think it's a big issue for her.

Response recorded on February 26, 2001

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Jim R. writes...

I am still a bit confused on how is it that Demona and MacBeth have to die, if they do? I know that no one else but either one of them can kill them both, but what I'm confused about is...

Possiblities
1. Do they both (AND) have to kill each other at the exact same time?
2. Or does at least MacBeth OR Demona have to kill the other in order for them both to die? (Keeping in mind, OR in math means one, the other, or both.)

I wanted you to be impressed with my cool Mr. Spock logic I was pondering today because I was bored and needed to use my discrete mathematics knowledge formally. So, I'd thought I'd apply math to Gargoyles somehow. Hope you understand.

Let "m" stand for MacBeth, and "d" for Demona. TRUE being if one is killed. FALSE if not. Here's my truth table for possibility #1.

m | d | m and d

T | T | T
T | F | F
F | T | F
F | F | F

Therefore, if they both kill each other, that would be the only TRUE outcome, whereas all others are False because if one lives, then they both do, correct?

And here's my logic for possibility #2.

m | d | m or d

T | T | T
T | F | T
F | T | T
F | F | F

Therefore, only one is FALSE because according to #2's theory, either Macbeth or Demona kills the other, then they both die, or if they both kill each other.

I hope my logic is not flawed somewhere...Mr. Spock would not be impressed.
See Gargoyles does help out with math!

Greg responds...

Math is good.

But really you don't need it here. If you listen to the Weird Sisters it's pretty clear.

One has to kill the other (OR both kill each other at the same time). They don't both have to do it. Just the terms of the bond.

Response recorded on February 22, 2001

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One writes...

1) Why didn't Demona choose to have any children other than with Goliath? (You mentioned in an earlier reply that Demona's only child is Angela) From 994 AD to about 157 AD she had her own clan of gargoyles (containing many males), she had the opportunity... and since her race was going extinct it makes logical sense that she would have tried to copulate as much as possible. Was she sterile? Did she find the males unworthy?

2) After MacBeth and Demona were initially killed by Canmore (spelling?) did Demona ever meet any other Gargoyle clans? Were these clans the ancestors of those Goliath met on the World Tour?

3) In the Mirror, Hudson said the fae were as real as the Gargoyles and that the clan knew they were called "the Children of Oberon", and they acted as if it was common knowledge. Wouldn't this mean that Demona believes that Oberon exists but has not obtained definitive proof? Or have the centuries jaded her?

Greg responds...

1. 1057 bot 157. And I think the main answer is GUILT. (Certainly not infertility.) Goliath wasn't dead, though he might as well have been. She mated with him for life. She didn't (deep down) believe that she deserved another mate or that she could stand to betray Goliath in yet one MORE way. So she never opened herself up to any of the males.

2. I'm not saying.

3. She believes.

Response recorded on February 22, 2001

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Chapter XXVI: "High Noon"

Following fast on the heels of City of Stone, here's my ramble on High Noon...

The recap is interesting here. It's all Coldstone oriented. Demona, Macbeth and the Weird Sisters aren't mentioned. Nothing from City of Stone, despite this being a direct sequel to those events. The reason is that the recaps got early criticism on a Disney Afternoon mailing list for giving too much away. We'd show a villain who didn't appear until the end of Act One, thus cueing our audience to expect that villain all along. A valid criticism. So we tried to adjust here. Coldstone's participation wasn't a secret. The episode opens in his "internal cyber-world" and he's shown dormant in the Clock Tower in the very next scene. But when Demona and Macbeth first walk past Elisa and Morgan, we're not supposed to know who they are. So I intentionally kept them out of the recap to preserve that reveal.

The heather Othello gathers has no scent. Why not? Everything in that world, except for the souls of the three gargs was simply a mental construct. Sight, sound, touch. So why not smell? No chemical senses, you might argue. But why no chemical senses? Why touch and not taste? I think that the lack of smell was an unconscious or subconscious boundary that Desdemona did not want to cross. Something to remind her that this world is not real. For all we know, Othello and Iago could smell whatever they imagined they could smell.

I like seeing Hudson and Broadway learning to read. We cheated a bit. I'm not sure they could have progressed as fast as they did in the short time since "Lighthouse". But we took that liberty to show that they had been working assiduously at it.

I have mixed feelings about Hudson's "Why would she want to 'hit a sack'?" line. On the one hand, I'm not sure we ever did enough of this. Playing with the contrasts in language and expression between their world and ours. On the other hand, it just seemed a bit late in the game for Hudson not to have heard this one already. (And for that matter, I have no idea when that particular phrase originated. For all I know they've been hitting the sack since the Middle Ages.)

Elisa makes a point of saying that she's "no hero". Just a gal doing a job. But of course, we know that's not true. It's simply how she'd prefer to view herself -- particularly when she's so tired. I tried to use this episode to emphasize that Elisa works the night shift. That she gets off work just before sunrise. Starts work just after sunset. (I actually imagine that she works a four day ten hour shift, plus mucho overtime.) Sometimes it seemed like the fans had forgotten that. I got a lot of questions back then like: "She works during the day and hangs with the gargoyles at night. When does she sleep?"

Morgan has a real nice role in this one. Keith is great as Morgan. So distinctive from Goliath in a part that was a mere throwaway in Awakening, Part One. Morgan and Elisa's easy rapor in this episode and Avalon One is what gave me the idea that he might someday ask her out (on that 2nd Halloween episode I've mentioned a few times). And the notion of a Keith-Salli-Keith triangle tickled me a bit.

Enter Macbeth as a perp with a human Demona dressed as a cop. (Always nice to show our characters in different costumes on occasion.) I'm curious how many people IMMEDIATELY recognized Demona as herself? After all, you'd only gotten a BRIEF glimpse of her human form in "The Mirror". And we hadn't shown it at all in "Vows" or "City of Stone". In fact, City of Stone began what we then called our Third Tier of stories. (Tier One was the first season. Tier Two was the first eight episodes of the second season: Leader, Legion, Metamorphosis, Lighthouse, Silver Falcon, Mirror, Eye of the Beholder, Vows.) And of course, City of Stone was transitional, so one could argue that Tier Three was beginning here with High Noon. Anyway, Demona's in atypical dress and species. Who knew it was her?

And once you did know, what were you thinking? The gargoyles have the same questions, I'd imagine. Last they (and you) saw, Mac and Demona hated each other, and had been taken away by the seemingly benevolent Weird Sisters. What was going through your heads about all this? Did you wonder at the seeming inconsistencies, like their knowledge of the Clock Tower? Their ability to get Coldstone out of the tower in daylight, unseen?

When my son Ben saw Demona, he thought it was one of the "triplets", which is what he calls the Weird Sisters. (They've fast become his favorite characters.) When I pointed out that she had red hair and not white, yellow or black, he was resistent to giving up on the idea that they weren't going to appear. (I was glad they eventually did. And now I wonder what he's going to think about the next seven episodes in which they do NOT appear.)

Throughout this, we cheat a bit on Elisa's exhaustion. We knock her out, but keep her tired. The subtle differences between various means of being unconscious and their effects on how tired one is confuse me.

I love Mac and D's exchange...
Mac: "You're still thinking like a gargoyle."
D: "I am a gargoyle." And don't you forget it.

Again, back in those days I just thought the audience would get revved up merely because we were teaming up THREE of our major villains. Macbeth, Demona and the villainous side of Coldstone. In Batman or Superman that would be a BIG EVENT. A huge threat to the hero. Did it have that effect on you guys? I feel vaguely that in a strange way, it did not. That our villains were so complex, that for once they backfired on us. That it wasn't viewed as, "Wow, our heroes have barely survived an encounter with one of those guys, how will they handle three?" Rather, the conflict was less interesting than the machinations and personalities. Am I being clear? Your thoughts?

This episode had some truly gorgeous animation in it. And the transformation scenes are both very cool. The Pain Link plays well here, though occasionally seems more geared to comedy than drama for some reason. The theme of gifts coming with a price... particularly the gifts of tricksters is emphasized in this scene.

Meanwhile Othello is desperately trying to remain an ostrich with his head in the sand. A position that on at least one level, Elisa 'believes' she'd like to take as well. With Othello, I think it's a real possibility that he will never act. With Elisa, I don't think we believe it for a moment. That's part of the reason they're both in there. To make sure that the theme of "Standing Up" is emphasized. Which brings us to the title, "HIGH NOON". That was one of mine, I believe. And I stole it right from the Gary Cooper movie. Sure we'd have a battle at High Noon. Because this was Elisa's story, not the gargoyles. Because the gargoyles would be asleep and vulnerable. But also because it was that kind of archetypal the-hero-stands-alone western battle.

You may notice that Xander Berkeley (the voice of Iago) does not appear in this episode. Because Iago has no lines when he's not in control of the Coldstone body. Again, I'm always so impressed with what a great job Michael Dorn does contrasting the Othello and Iago personalities without actually changing his voice.

I like Elisa's line when Brooklyn asks her if she recognized the woman with Macbeth. "She seemed familiar." Think about this for a second. If this was real life and not a cartoon, do you think you'd recognize Demona in Dominique? And yet I completely buy that Elisa recognized something in there. There's a strange nega-intimacy between Elisa and Demona. (Which is one of the sick reasons why I created Delilah, later.)

Goliath and Elisa engage in a little dueling patronizing here. Elisa has to go back on shift, so can't accompany the 'goyles to Mac's place. Goliath is pretty smug when he says the six of them can handle it. (The smugness, I hope, is undercut when he follows it up by saying, "You have a whole city to protect." Which is how he views it.) Then Elisa talks to them like they're little kids. She wants a full report when they get back. (Who says these two weren't made for each other?)

Lex, who has been and will continue to be very adept at breaking alarm systems, etc., for once admits that it's all too easy.

I like the moment when Goliath taps the camera with his wing. A nice little touch. And very well animated.

Lex is always the voice of warning in regards to Coldstone. This is important. Goliath listens to Lex this time. And Lex is fooled when Coldstone reveals Demona's involvement, seemingly before they know Demona is involved. I thought that was very clever on the villains' part.

Bronx smells Demona behind the closet, just as he did behind the tapestry.

I like how the marble bust flies and crashes. Another nice touch in the boarding and animation. Nice weight to the whole Brooklyn-Demona-Bronx fight scene.

I liked staging the Macbeth, Husdon, Broadway fight in a library. Felt like a thematic rematch from "Lighthouse".

The pain link here is a BIT of a cheat. Usually with them in different rooms on different floors, it wouldn't be quite this intense. Maybe the library is directly above whatever room Demona was in.

Lex is sure Coldstone's wrong about Demona. Brooklyn's "Uh, guess again." line is fun.

The entire battle at Macbeth's place is part of a technique I enjoy using on occasion called "Suspended Structure". This is really an Elisa and Othello Story. But we let the gargs carry the action for a period of time, while the true protagonists can't or won't take action. This keeps the story moving, without compromising the inaction of our "leads".

Demona confronts Elisa at the clock tower. The animators get a little carried away here with some of Demona's body language. God knows, it's fun to watch. But would she really do all those sexpot poses? Is that in character?

It is fun to see her hail a taxi though.

Morgan's back. Elisa now looks VERY tired. Again, great work from the animators. It's all in the eyes. Morgan helps Elisa though he thinks she's just talking about normal copwork. It only proves there's really no such thing as a "Normal Life". Morgan certainly doesn't think he has one.

Meanwhile Desdemona's gettin antsy. It's the "in" that the Weird Sisters need. They take over. Unfortunately, here, the animators screwed up. The three Desdemona's were supposed to have silver, gold and raven hair. Instead, in most shots, they just look like three Dessies. Then when they finally do get the hair right, it's just before they merge back into one Desdemona. At which point, the hair color should have been Des'. Instead, I think it's Luna's -- briefly. Oh, well. Anyway, I could have just done this with Desdemona herself. But I wanted to give the audience a hint that the Weird Sisters were still involved. Ben was thrown by the hair. He almost didn't believe these were the triplets.

I like the line: "Even shadows must be true to their shade."

High Noon at Belvedere Castle. Coldstone wonders that he can see the sun. Again, that's me making sure people are clear that Coldstone is RE-ANIMATED STONE, not flesh. I don't think it's visually clear. (Part of the problem being that Othello's coloring is too similar.)

Then Elisa arrives -- counting on Macbeth's honor to keep Demona from shooting her. For that reason, she intentionally doesn't bring her service revolver to the party. Quite the gambit. Elisa also counts on Demona's temper -- and on the fact that Demona is unaccustomed to fighting with reduced human strength. She goads Demona: "I'm here to save him." and "You fight like a rookie." I love, positively LOVE, the former of those two lines. Elisa is a hero in her own right. Though Goliath has rescued her on occasion, I felt we did a pretty good job of always evening the score. She's no damsel in distress.

Mac & Coldstone: "This is diverting." "You have no idea." (Quotations approximate.) I like that. A tip of the hat to my being a guy, if you will.

We cheat a bit here on the pain link too. One could argue that Mac IS feeling the pain. But he's ready for it and covering. He does seem to be grimacing a bit when he says, "You have no idea." But still, I think we cheated.

I love the animation on the Othello, Desdemona, Iago fight.

Battle over, Coldstone leaves. Sends himself into exile. This is the gargoyle way.

And hey, our jogger is back. Again wondering where all these statues are coming from. That's just fun continuity for me. And Elisa: "Don't ask me. I'm just taking a nap."

And then the whole final scene between Mac and D and the sisters is so much fun. I love the sense of the fog lifting from their eyes. "What Primary Objective?" "Why are we working together?"

And I'm also proud of the trick. A very Xanatosian tag here. Steal Coldstone to distract the gargs from noticing the thefts of the gate, book and eye.

And how about that reference to "The coming battle..." that the Sisters end the episode on? What did you all think of that at the time?

I'll try to post the High Noon writer's memo tomorrow. (Meant to do it yesterday, but I forgot.) Anyway, Done rambling. You're turn. (Again, I'm interested in both your original and current responses to the episode.)


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Malcom writes...

Why did Xanatos find he Grimorum Arcanorum?
Did Dmona help him finding the book?

Greg responds...

Why? Do you mean how?

And, no, Demona wasn't involved in finding the book, just in interpreting it once it was acquired.

Response recorded on February 08, 2001

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Corrine Blaquen writes...

I was reading your "beat sheet" for the pilot you drew up, and it seemed that at first you didn't intend for Demona to be Goliath's mate. What made you change it, if you hadn't planned it since the beginning?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure how you could have possibly gotten that impression. It may not have been spelled out on that document, but we always intended that Demona and Goliath were mates.

Response recorded on February 07, 2001

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Chapter XXV: "City of Stone, Part Four"

Time to ramble...

Picking up right where Part Three leaves off, Demona is forced to back off on killing Elisa right away because of Bronx. I really like that scene, mostly for how it illustrates Bronx's level of sophistication. It's not like he understands English, beyond a few simple names and commands. But he understands tone of voice. Something that Demona uses. She talks him down by saying nasty things in a nice tone of voice. He's still suspicious. But as long as her actions and tone don't get hostile, he's content to back off. At one point though, she can't restrain her venom, and he starts to growl again. And she has to regain her composure.

FLASHBACK

Great Choral music during the battle. Carl Johnson and music editor Marc Perlman (both of whom will be attending the Gathering this June in Los Angeles) did a magnificent job with this.

And there's some great fog as well.

It's also nice to see a legitimately joyful Demona, hoisting Macbeth into the air. He laughs, but his mind's on other things, wondering why Bodhe wanted to talk to him without Demona present. Perhaps he's feeling guilty. Perhaps she picks up on that, which is why she eavesdrops.

A tragedy of bad timing: My sense is that Macbeth is about to read Bodhe the riot act, when Luach interrupts. Mac essentially agrees with Luach, but not with his manner. He takes JUST the wrong moment to teach him a lesson about being a good king. Luach reacts badly and storms out. And it is Luach's behavior that Macbeth is considering when Demona leaves. Two seconds later, I'm quite sure the conversation went like this:

Bodhe: "Well, sire?"

Macbeth: "Well, what?"

Bodhe: "The Gargoyles, sire. You must disavow them!"

Macbeth: "Don't be a fool." etc.

The siege is pretty cool too. (Though you'd think boulders dropped from the battlements would be a touch more effective.)

Mac rescues Gruoch. Even at this age, I still think they're a sexy couple.

I like the scene where Canmore removes his Hunter's Mask. Like Gille before him with Demona, he's truly annoyed when Mac doesn't immediately recognize him.

"Never would I have done so! We have been allies for thirty-seven years!!" Demona ain't a great judge of character.

Luach and Bodhe show up. I like this scene too. (O.K., I'm partial. What can I tell you?) Bodhe has an interesting moment. One of two things happens here. Either he's pleased to finally have one of his own blood (i.e. his grandson) installed as King or the death of Macbeth has finally awakened the hero inside him. Or both. For once, I tend to give Bodhe the benefit of the doubt. I think, at this late date, he's finally come into his own. I like to think he died a good warrior's death at Luach's side.

Demona wakes up. She claims not to believe Gruoch's admonishment, but NOTE, she does not kill Gruoch. Underneath it all, she knows that Gruoch is right and feels chastened.

Macbeth wakes up. Here we have our final scene on Lunfanan Hill. It parallels the previous break-up of Mac and Gru. That time Mac sent her away, but he loved her still. This time she sends him away. She loves him too. But this parting is permanent. Very moving to me. "I will always love you." And because of that, he must leave her. But we know he hasn't forgotten her even into the present. Her loss informs what follows.

Back to the present. Over episodes two and three, things in the present have been progressing very slowly. Now the present takes center stage.

Demona echoes what I'm sure by this time we were all thinking: "Take off that mask. You aren't fooling anyone... Macbeth." And he explains that he wears it as a symbol of her betrayal. (And for a psychological edge, no doubt.)

Meanwhile, we have that semi-feeble exchange between Goliath and Xanatos in the air. Feeble (a) because in one little scenelet, the mouth on Xanatos' armor is moving like it had lips; and (b) because the whole tapestry thing was a fairly forced way to get X and Goliath back to the castle.

I like Demona's line: "Let's not start that again. You blame me. I blame you..." etc. It's a very rational Xanatosian moment for her. But that rationality is born from the knowledge that she can't kill Macbeth without killing herself. Her usual vengeful attitude is useless. What she doesn't know is how suicidal he is. "Revenge is a dish best served cold. And I have waited 900 years for mine." Hey, leave a dish out for 900 years and it will get pretty cold.

There's always a bit of comedy in the pain-sharing battles of D&M.

When the floor starts to give way, it reminds me of a scene that was WAY better animated in the DuckTales pilot. Where the bricks of gold fall away in a simlilar vein. It's nice here, but it was awesome there.

I also like when Demona has Mac's E-M gun, tosses it and catches it to fire at X and G. Nice little touch.

And Xanatos' truly frightened yet underplayed: "This is bad." when he sees the computer screen.

I like the multiple falls that get us down to the Atrium -- a wonderful setting for the final confrontations.

And Goliath's speech: "...Death never does."

Again we get multiple images of the Sisters throughout this scene. And again, I had to fight for that.

Each Sister gets to take a mental punch to weaken first Macbeth and then Demona. Are they being hypocrites here? One aspect of their persona is, certainly. But there's more going on, some of which I still haven't revealed.

But the key thing in terms of this scene (and the events of AVALON) is that both Mac and Demona need to be mentally weakened for the spells of control that the Sisters are going to use on them in HIGH NOON and AVALON. And M&D need to borderline volunteer to relinquish control over themselves. Macbeth, who has been suicidal, is tired and willing. Demona's tougher. But even she doesn't put up much of a fight. "You tricked me." she says. And certainly they have, but she can't break the grip of three children, and though of course they are not ordinary children, one must wonder if she really wanted to.

Goliath: You have learned nothing.

The sisters (as children) say their cool (and ironic) line: "We have written their stories. They are our responsibility. They are our children." My three year old son Ben says: "I love the triplets."

But theirs is a story for another day.

Xanatos really has to sweat in this one. Unusual for him. I love his line to Bronx: "What are you looking at?"

But once the skies burn, he's back to his old self: "Magnificent." Believe it or not, it took some effort to really get the skies burning. The animation came back with only a few contrails of gas burning. We used video tricks to get that whole sky-burning effect that was SO important to the story.

When the gargs rush back inside they were supposed to lift Elisa up into the air in their joy at seeing her unstoned again. Thus you have contrast to explain Xanatos' line to Owen, "You'll forgive me, if I just shake your hand." (But you also have to wonder how he'd respond to Fox when next he saw her.)

And Xanatos gives a line I'd been waiting to use for a year. "I always wondered why I allowed you gargoyles to live. You come in handy now and then." I had always worried that an audience raised on certain villain cliches would just assume that the reason Xanatos never killed the gargs on one of the myriad occasions when he had the chance, was because we were bad writers. This X/G exchange was here to demonstrate that X wasn't that kind of villain. That he was never wasteful. Maybe at this point in the series, it wasn't necessary to spell it out. But it was still nice to get the sentiment across.

Of course, this ends the Xanatos/Demona partnership. Uneasy though it had been. It's why VOWS had to come first.

And that's my ramble...

Where's yours?


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Chapter XXIV: "City of Stone, Part Three"

Time to ramble...

So the sun rises on the next day. Elisa IMMEDIATELY starts talking, even though she's facing the wrong way, putting to the lie all those nice fans who tried to make excuses for why she was animated facing that direction.

It's also kind of cool to watch Goliath and Brooklyn turn to stone and then see Owen turn from stone to flesh. He's got that URGENT-Owen tone going there for a sec, then quickly regains his usual Owen composure. It's fun.

There's a line in here about mixing magics, which was supposed to be a vague, vague cover for later revelations that Owen is Puck. Owen suggests getting the Grimorum from Goliath. X responds it wouldn't do any of them any good since none of them are sorcerors and MIXING MAGICS is supposed to be dangerous. That last phrase is REALLY a reference to a notion in X's head, that Puck might be able to help. X than rejects the notion himself. He's right about mixing magics, but that isn't the main reason that Puck won't help. Puck won't help because that's not the deal that Owen made with Xanatos.

I like Xanatos' casual confidence though: "We'll just have to set the sky ablaze."

Travis scene is fun for me too. Gives me one of those oblique opportunities to semi-break the fourth wall. A woman comes up, tells Travis the truth. He discounts her story, nominally because she doesn't watch television. Anyone who doesn't watch television must be a kook. Now a report on Mass Hypnosis... (That last bit is in there to explain in passing what the world response to the City of Stone events is likely to be.)

FLASHBACK TIME: Duncan has a beard. "Some cousins are not that close." I love how Neil Dickson read that line. And I love Duncan's genuine surprise when Mac saves his life.

Mac saves Demona again. Proving what a good, loyal guy he is.

And then we bring in the Weird Sisters, in the most SHAKESPEAREAN scene in City of Stone.

But first let's talk about the title. I LOVE that title. "CITY OF STONE". I think it was one of mine. But I have to admit it's flawed. Though it's spooky and evocative it really only covers the present day story. The present day story is certainly important, but I think we'd all agree that the real juice in this four-parter is in the tenth and eleventh centuries. And the title doesn't really cover that stuff at all. I didn't notice it at the time, because the importance of the flashbacks snuck up on me. At first I thought they would simply inform the action in the present. But it wound up being more of the reverse. Still I like the title. It sounds like a Movie title to me. What do you guys think?

Anyway, we bubble, bubble, toil and trouble it a bit. I love the nasty expressions that Canmore and Luach shoot each other. [I also love J.D. Daniels work as Canmore. He's such a little nasty. Great contrast to his work as the goody-good kid Tom.]

I'm fairly certain that we screwed up on Luach's name. The name should have been Lulach. But a typo got us stuck on Luach. At first I thought maybe either name would be accurate, like Malcolm and Maol Chalvim. But now I think we just blew it.

I love Luna's line: "You would lecture US on fate."

Erin, my six year old daughter, began to get very annoyed with Duncan here. "Why doesn't he give Macbeth one chance? He just saved his life! Duncan is a fraidy-cat. And stupid." I love a good judge of character. When Bodhe ("Be reasonable, Macbeth") tells Mac that Duncan's after him, and Mac can't believe it, Erin felt quite vindicated, "See, [Mac] just asked the same question that I did."

I like Mac's sad line to Gruoch: "The Journey will be brief."

And I like D and Mac's exchange:

Mac: "You are the answer."
D: "I'm uninterested in the question."

Ben, my three year old son, was having a little trouble with how fast everyone was aging. He didn't always get that the flashbacks weren't taking place right after each other. He got the difference between past and present. But not that we kept leaping forward from say 1032 to 1044 etc. "That's a different Demona," he would say, before I explained that she was just getting older. It then occured to me that I'm not even sure if he knows that white hair specifically signifies old age in a cartoon. After all, Brooklyn's hair is white. So's Luna's, in all her forms. (It's supposed to be silver, but it looks white most of the time.)

Mac is surprised, and not a little freaked out, to hear that there's still a Hunter out there. With Gill dead, he has no clue who it could be.

He offers an alliance, and Demona -- clearly thinking of the Captain of the Guard -- says, "You sing an old song." That, for me, helped tie in our Wyvern flashbacks to the whole Mac/Demona story. I was always afraid they weren't really related enough.

The whole thing with the Sisters looking different depending on the point of view, was another idea of mine that most people thought I was nuts about. (Like having characters unaware of the change in themselves in "The Mirror".) It worked just fine, and in many ways is clearer than any alternative I can think of. But man, I had to WORK to convince people.

The sisters are pretty tricky here, they use the barest excuse of an offered trade to more or less enforce their will on Mac and D. Bending Oberon's law without breaking it. That's not too important here, but will obviously be important in later episodes.

The clues of course are planted in the spell. "Forever and eternal bound and each the other's pain resound." How many people got the implication here as opposed to figuring it all out when the sisters explained it near the end of part four?

Seline handing Mac that magic ball was another instance of us cheating a bit. We were sick of using the fall to the death shtick. But we couldn't just have Duncan skewered. So this was an S&P compromise. The good news was it looked pretty cool. Brief but scary. It even seems to scare Mac.

When Gruouch says that she's afraid Mac's made "a bad bargain," she was supposed to touch his hair to give a visual reminder that he had given up his youth to protect his clan -- and that it scared and saddened her more than a little. I gave that note over and over, but somehow it never got in there. It still works, but I really wish she had run her fingers through his hair there.

D likes Mac and Gruoch here. Look at her face. Maybe she sees a bit of herself and Goliath in them. (With Gruoch as Goliath, of course.)

I like the battle too. It's very economical staged, yet it feels kinda epic to me. Very smartly story-boarded. I really like Demona's clean sweep of Duncan's cavalry off their horses.

Mac says: "You fight like a demon." Laying the groundwork for Demona to get named. This was a bit of an argument with S&P. "Demon" was supposed to be an off-limit word for us. I convinced Adrienne Bello it was important to justify Demona's name. And my bosses backed me up. (That never happens anymore, by the way.)

There's a character in here that we never name except in the credits. He's Duncan's right hand man and Demona appears to brain him by flying him head first into a big rock. He's called MacDuff in the credits. Obviously, another name from Shakespeare. I think maybe he didn't die, but became an ally of Canmore's in part four. But I'm not sure. I know that in part Three, Charlie "Travis Marshall" Hallahan did his voice. In part Four, the character I'm thinking of (both of whom have red hair at least) is voiced by Jeff Bennett.

M&D find the mask with Duncan, and Mac says, "so the battle is truly over for us both." Which is majorly ironic, since we know the battle will continue for at least 900 years.

Bodhe comes out from the background only after "THE NIGHT IS WON!"

Bodhe, though contemptuous, is a very fun character to write. I love his little aside about Canmore: "He'll be trouble; slay him now." We like Mac better that he won't kill a child. But you'll notice that Demona won't kill the kid either.

The coronation is fun. That whole naming sequence is fun.

M: "They will learn to respect you."
D: "I'd rather they feared me."
M: "They'll do that too... 'Demona'"

A nice bow tied on that "Know her?!! I named her!!" line from way back in "Enter Macbeth".

Now as we prepare to segue back to the present, Erin recognizes the three sisters as serving wenches "Because of their hair". To which Ben says, "Me too". But when we get to the present, neither realize that the sisters are also posing as cops. Mostly, because they're police hats largely cover their hair.

Now finally, back to Elisa. Confused as hell, but beginning to catch on at the mention of PackMedia Studios. She heads for the Eyrie. X's response: "Ah, the charming Detective Maza." Love that guy.

Owen and Elisa do their little dance and we get to play a gargoyle recurring bit with them as they freeze into stone mid-argument. At this point my kids catch on to the basic rules. (All of which might have been clearer if we hadn't had such a big gap between watching part two and part three). Erin: "So the humans are the opposite of the Gargoyles. When they turn to stone, the others wake up."

Xanatos starts explaining the plan, and my son turns to me and says, "Daddy, I have to tell you something." [Which is how he starts most conversations these days.] "I had a lot of dreams about fire in the sky." I'm not sure if I believe him, but it was a nice conversation piece.

I like the way Goliath looks at Elisa when he says, "This has to work." Feelings showing.

Then everyone leaves to go pass gas. :) [I know. I'm really mature.]

Bronx goes after the tapestry. We wanted to keep that subtle so that we weren't tipping our hand. Did anyone wonder about that or did it just slide by? Did anyone remember at the cliffhanger that Bronx had been left behind to save Elisa?

Anyway, there's my ramble. Where's yours?


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Anonymous writes...

Did Demona mate with Thailog?

Greg responds...

What do you mean by "mate"?

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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JADE writes...

Hi Greg,
Your always asking for some feed-back, and well here's mine, well it's more of my thoughts of a certain character--Demona. In the show she always seemed to filled with so much hatred, hatred for every one it seemed. Seeing the person she was before and after the raid of the castle really made me think. Having my own bad days, like every one else, I know what it feels like to "hate" the world, and during those days I realise it takes more strength to stay mad at the world than it does to "like" it. So thinking of Demona always being so full hate all the time is really sad, of course in a way she put herself in it...it was her own hatred for humans that did her brothers and sisters "in". Of course she'll never understand this, I guess her pride gets in her way some times, like every one does. In closeing I would like to say that I think Demona was a good character to throw in, it made the viewers see what a long time of hatred does to the heart.

Greg responds...

Thanks. We tried to get that across in a non-simplistic way. I'm gratified that it worked so well for so many people.

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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matt writes...

is it possible that Demona could lay an egg every twenty years since she is biologically a middle aged garg and (probably) still responds to those Earth rythm things? do gargs mate any time they want or only every twenty years? did Demona have sex with Thailog? sorry about the vulgar questions... :)

Greg responds...

Gargoyles potentially have sexual relations more often than once every twenty years. Fertility and lust are two separate issues, not that they are mutually exclusive either.

In theory, Demona could lay an egg every twenty years, assuming she had a mate who mated with her when she was fertile. That hasn't been the case.

As to Thailog, to be blunt, the answer is almost certainly yes. But they broke up years before Demona would be fertile again.

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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matt writes...

Angela is genetically Thailog's daughter too, correct. now, i realize these are wierd circumstances but wouldn't he feel some sort of kinship to her or at least have feigned it to avoid a conflict with Demona? I just don't understand why he wanted to kill her so badly or at least why her death should come before the others. demona said that, "She belongs to me!" why didn't Thailog just let Demona keep Angela chained up, it would have saved him alot of trouble, really.

Greg responds...

I agree with your last statement.

But I don't think Thailog views Angela as a daughter at all.

And keep in mind that from Thailog's point of view, Demona had weeks to turn the girl and failed. Now he wanted to test Demona. And maybe he was more than ready to replace her with Delilah.

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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matt writes...

by the time of "The Journey" does Demona know about Broadway and Angela being a couple? if not, when does she find out?

Greg responds...

After.

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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WereFox writes...

Greg

Just read your rambling about COS part 2 and I must confess I didn't ever pick up on Goliaths intention on killing Demona. It makes sense even though it would have been futile. Still, say he did try it (Big IF I know), I wonder what her reaction would be. As often as she's thrown his feelings for her back in his face, she'd view his attempt to kill her as a sign that his sentimental weakness regarding her was over. On the other hand, would it be so shocking that Demona would express sorrow that Goliath's feeling for her had so diminshed that he was capable of killing her?

Greg responds...

I think she'd be effected on many levels, including those you've named.

Response recorded on February 01, 2001

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DCB writes...

More of a general comment than a question, Greg. You don't have to say anything :)

I watch Demona's twice-daily transformation, and it suddenly dawns on me how excruciatingly painful that must be. Which is strange and probably silly, considering her tortured howling and screeching through it all, but I still have to wonder. As much as I hate to admit it, I myself never truly respect physical pain until I actually feel it, and afterwards I'll ''forget'' what it was like until I feel it again. Or I'll recall a time I was in ''unspeakable'' pain, and the feeling itself will be remembered vaguely at best. Pain demands respect, but it isn't as deserving or demanding as . . . oh, say, love and emotion . . . or even mental anguish, which can be far worse than its cousin physical pain.

But the point is, since Demona's situation . . . her lot of pain, both physical and mental, is unique in all the world (save for MacBeth, perhaps), I have to wonder what it's like to go through all that, to live the life of the tortured soul who won't (openly or willingly) admit she's a tortured soul to anyone but no one, even though I'd be insane to jump at the chance to experience that tapestry of pain. A small part of me, the part that wonders, wants to feel it just for the sake of knowing, and the rest of me keeps that one part small.

And when that part grows some, I imagine what it'd be like to have my feet grow several sizes and explode from my shoes like that and come to my senses :)

I guess what I'm actually saying is that "Gargoyles" really makes me think about a lot of things, perhaps even things you never intended your audience to think about or realize.

Happy Holidays, Greg. And thanks.

Greg responds...

Wow. You're welcome. And you're right. Obviously Demona's predicament has occurred to me. But I never thought about it just that way.

The garg fans are the best. They're always thinking and finding new things in the show to think about.

And it's very gratifying.

Response recorded on January 26, 2001

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WereFox writes...

Hi Greg. Just a few thought about the Post Hunter's Moon Demona. My sense from reading the archives is that even though her ultimate plan, representing 500 years of work, has been foiled, her resolve to destroy humanity has not weakened. I can buy this argument, but I'll admit my bias now. Another plan, even one with your usually creative flare, to destroy humanity would still seem anticlimactic to me. Plus any actions by Demona to just pick up where she left off would seem unnatural.

Hi, I've just built a nuclear in my basement and the other day I came within an inch of pushing the button. Does my life continue on as it did before? I'd hope not. There would be consequences, grave ones.

To me, Hunters Moon should be a similar watershed in Demona's plot development. I'm sure she has plenty of other ideas, but would she be allowed to act on them? Even if the Robin Canmore and her brothers keep quiet, Xanatos knows what she almost pulled off. Here is a man with the resources, the motivation, and determination to move mountains to protect his son. I'd be disappointed if he didn't react. If he knows then presumably Fox knows. I can imagine the conversation now. "Mom, you'll won't believe what that nut job Demona almost did." I'm sure Titania would have plenty to say to Demona on this matter. And then there is always the possibility of the Illuminati learning about it. I'm not advocating retribution here, but the bottom line is consequences. You play with a big fire, you get badly burned. Would Demona be allowed to continue scheming while carrying on as president of Nightstone Unlimited? I'd think her first instinct should be to go into hinding for a long while, or something... It just wouldn't feel honest if she just went back to going about her daily life as if nothing had happened.

I once saw a 60 Minutes interview with the surviving families of Herman Goering and Martin Boreman. What I chiefly took away from that show was the sence of overwhelming shame that these people lived with on a daily basis, due to the actions of their genocidal relatives. How does Angela absorb the impact of knowing just how close her mother came on Hunters Moon and not be completely devastated? What kind of a relationship would she want with her mother now that she know just how far she is willing to go?

I can go on but I think you see my point. In the Goliath Chronicles episode, Generations, no mention was made of Hunters Moon. I see that it is also played down somewhat in The Gargoyles Saga. I hope that in any of your future plans for Gargoyles, the consequences for Demonas actions are appropriately profound. Thanks for putting up with the rant.

Greg responds...

No problem.

Keep in mind that neither Goliath Chronicles or TGS have anything to do with me or my master plan. I did plan on having Demona lay low for awhile. I did plan on repercussions. (I always do.) Obviously there would be repercussions in regard to her relationship with Angela. (Or lack there of.)

We haven't seen the last of Demona. Or her plans. But I tried not to let individual stories (let alone a big multi-parter like "H's M") to exist in a vacuum.

Response recorded on January 26, 2001

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Corrine Blaquen writes...

Will Goliath and Demona ever make peace? I realize that they'll never get back together, but would they ever cease being enemies, or maybe even be friends?

Greg responds...

Too soon to say.

Response recorded on January 26, 2001

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LSZ writes...

I don't think you've ever clarified this, and it doesn't seem to be in the archives, so:

How does the Macbeth-Demona immortality spell work? Does it miraculously repair their bodies after they suffer death-worthy damage, like beheading or being smashed in stone sleep? Does it arrange events/luck so that anything that would physically kill any normal person simply never hits them? Or has there simply been no incident where Demona or Macbeth suffered what would be fatal injury?

Greg responds...

You couldn't have checked the archives too carefully, because I've dealt with this MANY times. There have been no incidents where Mac or Demona have suffered a fatal injury that was objectively fatal, like a beheading or being smashed in stone sleep. They've been stabbed, shot, etc. But nothing CATASTROPHIC. When they are shot or stabbed, they heal -- ironically, the more severe the injury, the faster they heal. That is, if the spell has to be invoked to save them, they heal quickly, because they are healing magically. But if the injury wasn't fatal in the first place, than the spell is not invoked and each heals at his or her normal rate. For Demona, she'll TEND to be fully healed by the next sunset. Mac might take a little longer. He's human, and he's also biologically older.

Response recorded on January 17, 2001

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Vilija writes...

Hi Greg! Happy Christmas! My question this time's on Christmas presents.

What does Goliath want for Chirtmas this year?
(Does he celebrate Christmas? If not, what does he and other gargs celebrate? Winter Solistce?)

How about Demona? (Santa knows she's been naughty, though.)

What'd Elisa like this year?

Thank you, .... Wait! Today's winter solistce! Have a good one. (and a good holiday.)

P.S. What're you wishing for this year?

Greg responds...

I'd lean more toward Solstice than Christmas. And I don't think Goliath is very interested in material possessions.

Demona wants the same old thing. A human-free earth, and all the power, with no guilt.

Elisa -- I think she'd like a quiet night at home with Goliath.

And me? Well, I wanted the video to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And I got it. YEAH!

Response recorded on January 17, 2001

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JADE writes...

Hi Greg,
I was wondering about this: In one show (Which I can't remeber the name) Demona, Angela, and Thailog were in it. What I remember the most about it was that in this show Angela said to Demona "I hate you!" And then Demona started to cry and went and fought with Thailog over something---I think it was something to do with Angela. After that I don't think we saw Demona again, but if Angela and Demona would ever sit down and talk about their feelings for each other, would it ever work out? I mean would Demona go back to the clan, or would her and Goliath work something out so Demona can see Angela once in awhile? I know this question isn't to understand able, mainly because I can hardly remember anything from this part of the show only the "I hate you" thing---but please try to answer the best you can. Thank you.

Greg responds...

I assume you're talking about "The Reckoning".

As for answering your question, I don't have any simple reassuring response. This isn't, for example, as clear-cut as a divorced couple arguing over custody of their teen-age daughter. Demona's a would-be mass murderer. She and Angela have much to work through. Stuff that includes mother/daughter relations, gargoyle/human relations, good/evil, nature/nurture, etc. It's an on-going discovery for both characters. And for Goliath as well.

Response recorded on January 17, 2001

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City of Stone Outline Notes

Since I just did my ramble on City of Stone, Part One, I thought I'd reprint the "memo" on that episode. Actually, it's a memo on all four episodes. My "NOTES ON OUTLINE" to Michael Reaves. Michael's story was a three-parter and we were still hoping to turn City of Stone into a home video, so I expanded it to a four parter.

Greg Weisman 7-12-94

NOTES ON OUTLINE for "City of Stone"
O.K. O.K. I changed a lot. (Less than you probably think, but a lot.) You gave me great raw material, but I wanted to focus it more. Also since you wrote the three-part outline, this movie thing came up. Gary's informed me that they can sell it better if it's more in the 75 - 80 minute range. That freed me up to add a little more material for clarity. If we don't use it as a video, we'll make it a 4-parter instead of three. If it turns out short, we can add the bit about "Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane", which I've left out for now. We discussed some of the other changes at our lunch with Frank. But I'll reiterate them, and the reasons why, below.

General Notes...

Weird Sisters - The more I thought about this story, the more I came to believe that the Sisters were the key to cracking it open. Currently their role is limited, and yet they are the only characters who could see the whole picture. I definitely wanted to expand their role, particularly in the 20th century segments. But as I worked on achieving that goal, I realized that I wasn't clear on their motivation. I'd be happy to take you through all my thinking (there are probably two or three good story ideas in the stuff I rejected for the Sisters), so if you're ever curious, let me know. But cutting to the chase, here is what I wound up with...

Presentation: The three sisters (Phoebe, Seline and Luna) will always be depicted as triplets and female. The only physical distinction will be their hair color. Phoebe has golden hair, Seline has black hair, Luna has silver hair. (The same voice actress will play all three parts.) The three will rarely be seen apart. These will be the consistent visual (and aural) elements that will allow us to recognize them, because otherwise their appearance will vary from scene to scene, and sometimes within scenes. In the eleventh century, Macbeth sees them as old human crones, but Demona would see them as three old female gargoyles, even if they're both looking at them simultaneously. In the twentieth century, they might appear as three fashion model types in modern clothes. In our opening sequence Goliath will see them as three strange little nine year old girls. When speaking to others they present a united front. But personality-wise, particularly for conversations between themselves, I'd like to give them subtle differences. Phoebe is optimistic and cheerful. Seline is a cold realist. Luna is spiritual and distant.

Motivation: The sisters work hard to put Demona and Macbeth together in the eleventh century: to save them both, to hook them up and then to secretly add in the immortality thing. WHY? Obviously, they need these two for something. Something that isn't going to happen for centuries, or else why make them immortal. The obvious answer seemed to me to be the attack on Avalon. The sisters need powerful foot soldiers to attack Avalon for their master (probably a reworked Archmage [David Warner]). For a reason to be figured out later, the master won't be ready to attack until 1996. So the Sisters have time to plan ahead. They've decided that Macbeth and Demona would make the perfect foot soldiers. So they create immortal warriors who they then let walk around for a millennium. D & M become embittered and borderline nuts. Vulnerable to the Sisters machinations. Demona's "City of Stone" thing falls right into their hands. We have to assume that the Master is almost ready to attack Avalon. Time for the Sisters to take direct control of D & M. But over the millennium, D & M have become pretty savvy magically. It makes them more useful to the sisters but harder to control. The sisters help Goliath and Xanatos defeat Demona and Macbeth in this story so that they will be weak, defeated and vulnerable to the Sister's control.

Revelation: The cool thing is we don't have to reveal hardly any of the above in this story. In fact, we can almost present the exact opposite face. In the eleventh century sequences the Sisters will seem to really help the sympathetic Macbeth and largely sympathetic Demona defeat the nasty Gillecomgain and Duncan. In the 20th century sequences, they will help Goliath defeat Demona and Macbeth, and will again seem like three really useful ladies. There's no need to mention the master, the plan or Avalon. Our audience will think these three are great. Then if/when we get to do the Avalon story, we'll reveal the truth. The audience will hate them more cuz they'll feel as used and manipulated as Demona and Macbeth and Goliath, etc. were. The most we'll do is leave D & M under the Sisters' power at the end. We won't even hint at their malevolence.

Macbeth - Mac was great in the eleventh century stuff, but he and Xanatos seemed redundant in the present. I think we need to get clearer on his present motivation as well. Xanatos wants to save his city. I don't think Mac cares. Think of him as a nihilist. Past caring about anything. He wants Demona for the reasons we've already discussed. He's not interested in helping Manhattan. He's not part of the solution. He's a wild card who should in effect be part of the problem. We should see that immortality has done about the same to his disposition as it did to Demona's. He's honorable, but only up to a point. Reference his first appearance... he wouldn't attack the gargoyles as stone statues, but he had no compunction against kidnapping them to lure Demona to him. That's a fairly skewed definition of honor. Frankly, this yarn is more Macbeth's story than anyone's. We take him from youth to immortality. Through and beyond his entire natural lifespan. He's the one who learns something: Life is precious; vengeance and death accomplish nothing. Demona never learns this lesson. And Goliath really already new it. So we should emphasize the theme with Macbeth as much as possible. In many ways, he's carrying the emotional and thematic weight of our story.

Macbeth & Demona's Link - From 1040 on, neither can die unless both do simultaneously. If one kills the other, then both die. But if a third party tries to kill one without the other, then they both live. But there must be a penalty. I think they both feel each other's pain. (At least each other's physical pain.) We don't have to worry about cuts and scrapes, but any major blow that one feels, the other feels as well.

Reversing Demona's Spell - Since Mac won't be helping with a magical cure, I think we need another solution. (Kat Fair also pointed out that almost everyone would have their t.v.'s off and thus miss the counterspell.) I keep returning to the notion of a time limit to the spell that equates to "until Judgment Day". For our first spell, we had "until the castle rises above the clouds". From the Grimorum's point of view, that meant "until hell freezes over" or some equivalent. We can do the same thing here. Remember, Demona is getting this spell from a book that was written with no knowledge of modern science (let alone cartoon extrapalatory science). Heck it's in Latin. For example, "You will turn to stone at night until the seas boil and the skies burn." The solution to this is for Xanatos and Goliath to team up and find a way to make the seas boil and the skies burn, while simultaneously stopping Demona, saving the "statues" and dealing with Mac. That will focus their quest. It will also help give Xanatos something real to do. Only he has the technology to make the sky burn and the sea boil. I know you're concerned that this will be perceived by our audience as a cheat. We did the clever cheat once when we brought Goliath out of Demona's trance. But I see this as different. This equates with our original spell. The one that put our gargoyles to sleep for a thousand years. The solution was not a cheat. It took Xanatos' Herculean resources to match the spell's condition for reversal. The same can be true here. At first let's give the false impression that just by turning off Demona's broadcast, the spell will be reversed. Then when that fails, I'm gonna use the burning skies in what follows, but if you've got another idea for the spell's limit or reversal, that's cool. It's just a 'for instance'.

All them Scotsmen - A lot to keep track of. Let's simplify by focusing our villainy on Duncan & Gillecomgain. We won't ever see King Malcolm II. The nasty machiavellian thug Gillecomgain will work for the nasty machiavellian Prince Duncan, who later becomes the nasty machiavellian King Duncan. We will also introduce his young son Malcolm III, but we'll let him go by his alternate name Canmore so as not to confuse the audience. Canmore won't be evil, just misguided and righteous; he believes that Macbeth and Demona are evil. There are still a lot of characters, but subtracting Malcolm II will clean things up, I promise.

The Hunter - I've also added an element. The Mask of the Hunter. It belongs to Gillecomgain. After his death, Duncan takes it. After him, Canmore. In modern times, Macbeth will wear a modernized version of it. The identity of the Modern wearer will be a mystery to some of our audience until the end. Of course, anyone who saw "Enter Macbeth" will guess soon enough, but the Mask itself will carry frightening meaning -- the equivalent of a KKK hood -- and for those who guess it's Macbeth, the mystery will be why this Macbeth, who is so sympathetic in the past, would wear this horrible mask in the present. As we go through the eleventh century flashbacks chronologically, the conceit of the Hunter's mask will, I believe, help to focus our audience to differentiate between all the Scots, and even keep a few of them guessing as to the identity of the Modern Hunter.

Matt Bluestone - I definitely don't want Matt to have found out about the gargoyles in between the first and second seasons. He should be right where we left him. He knows they exist. He's seen them twice. But he doesn't know anything about them. And he certainly doesn't know that Elisa knows them. That's a great episode in and of itself. We don't want to toss it away in an off-hand line.

Flashbacks - I definitely want to intercut between the 10th/11th century sequences and the 20th century sequences. Without that intercutting, I'm afraid the two stories will seem largely unrelated. As often as possible, flashbacks should have a point of view: Demona's, Macbeth's or maybe the Weird Sisters', but they don't have to be presented to our other characters as stories unless that works in a given instance. Basically, we're using the same format that we used in "Long Way To Morning". Often the appearance of Demona, the Weird Sisters or the Mask of the Hunter will work as a convenient visual bridge between past and present.

Timeline - You may notice a few slight discrepancies here from the "Gargoyles Timeline" that you have. Here are the changes I made:
1. I placed Gillecomgain's birth at year @ 978 so that he would be @ 16 years old in 994 when he first meets Demona; @ 42 in 1020 when he kills Findlaech; and @ 54 in 1032 when he buys the farm.
2. I moved the wedding of Gillecomgain and Gruoch from 1030 (which was an approximate date anyway) to @ 1032, in order to compress events of that period into a more cohesive flashback.
3. Since I moved the wedding two years forward, I moved Luach's birth two years forward as well, from 1031 (another approximate date) to @ 1033. This makes Luach @ 7 years old in 1040 when his father becomes king; @ 24 in 1057 when he becomes king; @ 25 in 1058 when he is murdered.
You may want to note these changes on your timeline for future reference.

Demona - This yarn tells Demona's story. But she doesn't learn from it. We have to make sure that the audience is getting more than just a simple chronological depiction of her history. Since she doesn't learn the lessons of the past, we have to make doubly sure the audience does: Life is precious; vengeance and death accomplish nothing.

Goliath - Although this story belongs to our villains more than anyone, I think we need to thematically make it one of our leads as well. Goliath, obviously, gets the nod. Again, the theme is: Life is precious; vengeance and death accomplish nothing. If he forgets that, he will become like the villains he battles. "Every life is precious" applies to how he feels about all those human statues (particularly Elisa), but also -- and this is the key -- to how he feels about Demona, as well. Goliath has to work very hard to stop Demona, and then very, very hard to save her life. (Deep down, it may have something to do with her being the last female gargoyle that he knows about and/or their past relationship, but we can generalize to the notion of life's "preciousness".) The Weird Sisters can help reinforce this. (Of course, they're lying. They want Demona alive for their own personal use. But the message will sound right here.)

BEAT SHEET
1995
I. Hostage situation - Manhattan - Night.
A. ELISA & MATT outside.
B. LEAD TERRORIST inside says the cause means everything to her.
C. Our six Gargoyles take out terrorists.
1. GOLIATH approaches terrified Lead Terrorist.
a. Leader is willing to sacrifice her men to save herself.
b. Goliath is disgusted.
c. Leader flees and nearly gets herself killed.
d. Goliath saves her, almost despite himself.
D. Hostages are clearly more frightened of Gargoyles than terrorists.
1. Trio's frustration with ungrateful humans.
E. But three hostages approach Goliath.
1. We don't yet reveal that they are WEIRD SISTERS.
a. 3 nine-year old girls named PHOEBE, SELINE & LUNA.
b. Identical triplets except for hair color.
2. They are strangely unafraid of Goliath.
a. They comment on Lead Terrorist. Something like:
i. Seline: "The cause is everything until her own life
is threatened. But it's good you saved her."
ii. Phoebe: "If you forget what she has forgotten:
that every life is precious, you'll be no different
than she. "
iii. Goliath: "I'll never be like that terrorist."
iv. Luna: "We weren't talking about this terrorist."
3. Goliath looks at lead terrorist.
a. When he looks back, the Sisters have vanished.
b. This is strange. Who could they have been talking about?

II. DEMONA... wings through Manhattan skies - Night.
A. She clutches a torn piece of parchment.
B. Push in on her for flashback.

994
III. Wyvern Castle before the Massacre - Scotland - Night.
A. Repeat pp. 23-24 of 4319-001.
1. CAPTAIN & Demona try to convince Goliath to take all the
gargoyles to harry the Vikings away.
2. Instead Goliath assigns Demona to guard the castle with most of
the gargoyles.
3. Goliath leaves.
B. Demona & Captain discuss situation.
1. Original plan is blown.
a. HAKON would've attacked while gargoyles were away.
b. Gargoyles would have returned to human-free castle.
2. Captain reassures her that plan can still work.
a. He'll have Hakon attack during day.
b. Humans will still be dragged away.
3. Demona worries Gargoyles will be vulnerable.
a. Captain promises to protect them.
4. Demona agrees.

IV. Just before Sunrise - Wyvern. Demona is clearly antsy.
A. For a second she may consider revealing truth to PRE-COLDSTONE.
1. But she wimps out.
B. She takes off and hides in nearby woods or somewhere.
1. She turns to stone as the sun rises.

V. Smash Cut to sunset, she explodes out of her shell .
A. She rushes toward Castle which has clearly been sacked.
B. She sees dead gargoyle rubble.
C. She sees Goliath and HUDSON approach.
1. She can't face them and flees.
2. She's losing it. talking to herself.
a. She'll return later with some excuse.
b. He'll be so glad she's alive.

VI. She returns to castle and watches from a distance - Night.
A. Just in time to see Goliath in stone at night being placed on the castle.
1. Near the stone forms of Hudson, BROOKLYN, LEXINGTON,
BROADWAY & BRONX.
B. She watches KATHARINE, MAGUS, TOM and others leave.
1. They take wagon loads of Gargoyle eggs with them.
C. She takes off in opposite direction.

VII. Weeks later at a Scottish farmhouse, a starving Demona scavenges for food.
A. A sixteen year old boy [Gillecomgain] investigates the noise.
1. He holds a pitchfork, defensively.
B. Like a trapped animal, Demona slashes at him with her claws.
1. His face is hurt, but he falls back into the shadows, so we can't
see.
2. In the shadows, the boy's eyes glower at Demona accusatorily.
C. Demona flees, saying that'll teach those humans to betray us.

1995
VIII. Return to Present as Demona lands at Packmedia studio- Night.
A. XANATOS & OWEN are there.
1. All is ready. X had necessary equipment brought in & set up.
a. It can over-ride every broadcast channel in Manhattan.
i. Cable too.
B. She has the last stolen page from the Grimorum.
1. With it, she claims, she can steal time from other people.
a. This, she claims, is how she has remained immortal.
i. Stealing a little time at a time on a small scale.
C. By combining spell with broadcast technology...
1. They can steal one minute from the lives of everyone who watches broadcast.
2. She & X will share stolen time.
3. Given the number of people they'll reach, this'll keep them
young for a long while.
4. Spell will broadcast through the day
a. Culminate after sunset tomorrow.
i. Xanatos should return then.
D. Xan likes idea, but he's not without his suspicions.
1. Tells Owen to keep an eye on her.
2. Warns him not to simultaneously look AND listen to spellcast.
a. Xanatos leaves.
E. Demona videotapes spell.
1. Incantations; gestures; magical light show.
2. Owen listens but does not look.
a. He knows Latin and knows spell isn't what she claimed.
i. Don't tell audience what it is yet.
3. Owen puts up a good fight, but she takes him out.
a. She ties him up. Tapes his eyes open in front of monitor.
4. Puts tape in machine. Sets broadcast override. And leaves.

IX. Elisa's Apartment - Afternoon.
A. Elisa gets out of the shower and turns on t.v.
1. Remember, Elisa works the Nightwatch
a. She has slept thru the day's broadcast.
b. CAGNEY's present but ignores t.v.
2. Demona's tape plays spell over and over on t.v.
a. Elisa watches it, switching channels. But it's everywhere.
3. She plans on telling Gargoyles as soon as they wake up.
B. She heads for precinct.

X. Manhattan sidewalk - Afternoon.
A. Weird sisters watch Demona's broadcast in store window.
1. They appear to be three attractive NY fashion models.
2. A crowd of confused New Yorkers are also watching sets.
B. They discuss situation calmly.
1. Phoebe: "This is exciting. It's begins again."
2. Seline: "Concentrate, sister. Or it will all end here."
3. Luna: "There are no beginnings or endings."
a. "Remember -- it was only 975 years ago."
4. Or some such rot as they calmly walk away.
a. Tight on Demona's face on t.v. screen.

1020
XI. Dissolve to Demona's face, older, lined by time & hardship - Dunsinane,
Scotland - Night.
A. (She's biologically in her early 40's.)
B. Demona leads a small band of gargoyles in smash and grab.
1. She uses medieval human weapons.
C. Human soldiers curse gargoyles.
1. It won't be long before the "HUNTER" wipes them out.

XII. Demona & Co. return to their Cave on Lunfanan Hill - Night.
A. She makes sure that even the gargoyles who were too weak to
participate in the raid get food.
B. Establish that she's gathered last surviving gargoyles etc.
1. The Gargoyle-Hunter has hunted them to near extinction.
2. Demona keeps them alive by sheer force of will.
C. When another gargoyle suggests making peace with humans...
1. She takes him down brutally. (As she did with Owen above.)
2. She brooks no challenge to her authority.
D. Three old, female gargoyles (Weird Sisters) arrive.
1. Demona doesn't know them, but she has no reason to fear them.
2. Sisters have spotted the Hunter near Castle Moray.
3. Now's Demona's chance to get him.

XIII. FINDLAECH, High Steward of Moray, entertains at his castle - Night.
A. Also present is his fifteen year old son MACBETH.
1. There is a strong resemblance between father and son.
B. The guests are the beautiful young GRUOCH and BODHE, her Father .
1. Clear attraction between Gruoch & Macbeth.
C. Adults discuss Macbeth's cousin, PRINCE DUNCAN.
1. A flawed young man.
2. They have their doubts about his ability to someday rule.
3. But he is to be king someday. They are loyal.
D. Gruoch and her Father go up to bed.
1. Findlaech calls for servants to clean up dinner.
a. None answer his call.
E. The Hunter steps out of the shadows.
1. He wears a distinctive mask that completely covers his face.
a. Black with red claw marks painted across it.
b. Obviously, there are eye-holes, so he can see.
2. He attacks Findlaech. No explanation or reason.
a. There is a fight, but Findlaech is killed.
[Note: Adrienne is o.k. with this death. But not with the method depicted in the outline. It would be best if we could come up with some unique (and semi-fanciful) method of killing that we can use consistently throughout movie. Talk to me and/or her about this.]
F Upstairs, Gruoch hears the fighting and rushes to help.
1. Against her cowardly father's wishes.
G. Hunter goes to kill Macbeth when Demona arrives.
1. Fierce battle between Hunter and Demona.
2. At a crucial moment, Demona must choose between saving Mac and preventing the Hunter's escape.
3. Without thinking, she saves Mac, allowing Hunter to escape.
a. Perhaps Gruoch's concern for Mac touched some long buried feelings?
H. Mac & Gruoch are grateful, but Demona leaves, disgusted with herself.

XIV. 19 year old Prince Duncan paces the floors of Edinburgh Castle near dawn.
A. The Hunter enters by a secret door and is welcomed by Duncan.
1. Hunter removes mask.
2. His face has scars matching the painted claw marks of his mask.
a. We realize that this is the boy that Demona attacked in the
farmhouse, above.
3. He is identified as GILLECOMGAIN (age 42).
B. Gillecomgain reports that Findlaech is dead as ordered.
1. Though Mac lives.
C. Duncan is largely pleased.
1. Findlaech was popular.
2. With his support, Mac might have become King.
3. Without his father, Mac is just another poor relation.
D. As a reward, Duncan makes Gillecomgain the High Steward of Moray.
E. Duncan calls for a celebration.
1. Three serving wenches (the weird sisters) approach with a feast.
2. Tight in on Gillecomgain's discarded hunter's mask.

1995
XV. An unseen man watches Demona's broadcast, muted - late afternoon.
A. He puts on a modern version of the Hunter's mask.
1. (It has no visible eye-holes. It must use special one-way lenses).
B. This new HUNTER clicks off the t.v.
1. Note: This is MACBETH in his mansion, rebuilt since 4319-008.
a. He can be dressed in his modern battle armor and duster.
b. It's o.k. if many of our viewers realize it's him, we still
won't reveal it yet.

XVI. Elisa arrives at precinct house - just before sunset.
A. Precinct phones are ringing off the hook cuz of Demona.
1. Matt & MARIA CHAVEZ dealing with calls and complaints.
B. Elisa slips upstairs to be there when Gargoyles awaken.

XVII. Xanatos' castle near sunset.
A. He gets in his helicopter heading for Studio, with Derek at pilot.
1. Derek asks if Xanatos saw Gargoyle broadcast. (Derek saw it.) a. Xanatos made a point of skipping it.
B. Phone rings. It's Owen calling from Packmedia Studios at sunset. 1. Owen has just freed himself from his bonds.
2. Owen turns to stone before he can say anything too revealing.
C. Suddenly, the copter starts to drop.
1. Derek has turned to stone next to Xanatos.
2. Chopper's going down.

XVIII. At clock tower, the Gargoyles explode out of their shells and come to life.
A. They move inside, ignorant of the day's events.
B. Elisa's "statue" stands just inside of the clock face.

[If and/or when we divide into multiple parts, I think this is where part one ends.]

1. They don't realize the statue is Elisa.
2. They assume it's a statue of her.
a. Keep in mind that gargoyles (except Goliath) haven't seen
each other as stone, because they are always stone at the same time.
3. But how did statue get here?
4. Who else but Elisa would leave it?
5. Why would Elisa give them a statue of herself?
6. And why wouldn't she wait to see their reaction?
7. And if it wasn't her, who left this here and how and why? Etc.
C. Only Goliath has seen his friends as stone.
1. He doesn't necessarily state his fear. But he's uneasy.
2. He assigns Hudson and Bronx to guard the statue.
3. He and the trio will patrol the city, as usual.

XIX. Xanatos fights to save his life.
A. Pulls chopper out of dive and brings it in for rough landing.
1. Any landing you can walk away from, hmm, Derek?
2. Derek doesn't answer. At least he's unchipped.
B. Xanatos looks around him. Everywhere people are "stoned".
1. Obviously, Demona and he need to have a little talk.
2. Pulls a mega-weapon out of the first aid kit or whatever.
3. Heads off to PackMedia Studio on foot.

XX. Goliath & Trio patrol the night skies.
A. From a height, everything seems peaceful at first.
B. But eventually they discover the "stone" populace.
1. Maybe a single blind man & his seeing-eye dog are unaffected.
a. Brooklyn talks to blind man over the barking of dog.
i. Dog is freaked out by gargoyles, not "statuary".
ii. Man doesn't realize he's talking to gargoyles.
b. Gargoyles learn about broadcast from blind guy.
i. He heard it and was told about it, but didn't see it.
ii. Gargoyles figure out the truth (including Elisa).
iii. Brooklyn is furious at Demona as usual.
c. They tell the blind man he'd better stick close to home.
C. Goliath says they'll have to split up to find Demona.
1. Brooklyn will stay with him.
a. Goliath's afraid Brooklyn's a loose cannon.
2. As for Broadway and Lex...
a. He tells them to stop by clock tower.
i. Fill Hudson in.
ii. Send him and Bronx off as a third team.
b. Broadway worries about leaving Elisa unattended.
i. G: "She's as safe in the tower as anywhere."
c. The priority now is finding Demona.
i. Lex: "But How?"
ii. Goliath is afraid that, unfortunately, finding her
will be all too easy.

XXI. On Manhattan streets we follow a highly visible trail of rubble and destruction...
A. To Demona, who is having a grand old time with the "stoners".
1. Here she blasts one with a laser-cannon.
2. There she smashes one with a medieval mace.
3. She's practically giddy, talking to herself and the "stoners".
B. She remembers her appointment with Xanatos at the studio.
1. Can't let him turn off the broadcast.
2. She heads off with impunity in that direction, continuing the
destruction as she goes.

XXII. The New Hunter [Macbeth] is flying his hover-jet through NY's night
skies.
A. Demona's broadcast silently plays over and over on a small monitor.
B. A computer voice tells us that it is tracking the t.v. override signal.
C. Soon. He says. Soon. Fade into flashback.

1032
XXIII. Dunsinane, Near Moray -- The Original Hunter [Gillecomgain -- age 54,
but still as fit as any warrior] battles Demona (age 47).
A. It could go either way, but the sun is rising and she must flee.
B . Both swear to finish it later.

XXIV. At Castle Moray, Macbeth (age 27) and Gruoch's Father converse.
A. Mac can't believe that Bodhe is marrying his daughter off to
Gillecomgain.
1. He threatens to run away with Gruoch.
B. Bodhe protests.
1. Prince Duncan has ordered the marriage.
2. If they defy the Prince, it's equivalent to capital treason.
a. There'll be no safe place for them to run.
i. Which is fine for Macbeth, but think of my
daughter.

XXV. Mac & Gruoch rendezvous on Lunfanan hill as planned to run away.
A. But Mac is distant, unfeeling, unloving.
1. Tells Gruoch to marry Gillecomgain but won't give real reason.
a. Because he knows she would risk anything for him.
B. She's clearly devastated by his cold dismissiveness. (So's he.)

XXVI. The Wedding of Gillecomgain & Gruoch at Castle Moray.
A. Macbeth lurks in the back.
B. Prince Duncan (age 31) is there.
1. He's showing off his one year old son PRINCE CANMORE.
C. Maybe Gruoch's bridesmaids are the Weird Sisters.
D. After the ceremony, Duncan & Gillecomgain confab.
1. Duncan wants Gillecomgain to tie up the last loose end.
a. Kill my cousin Macbeth.
2. But Macbeth is Gille's insurance.
a. Mac's an heir to the crown and popular.
b. If Duncan gets out of line, Gill will reveal that Duncan
ordered Findlaech's death.
i. Which cousin will wind up King then?
3. Duncan is major league steamed.

XXVII. Macbeth is summoned to Prince Duncan at Edinburgh.
A. Baby Canmore plays nearby.
B. Duncan plays Mac like a lute.
1. He's just discovered something truly shocking and horrible.
2. He knows who the mysterious Hunter is...
a. The man who killed your father...
b. It's Gillecomgain.
3. Duncan laments that Gil fooled him completely.
4. Oh, if only Gillecom were gone, Duncan would:
a. Give Macbeth his rightful title: High Steward of Moray.
b. Give him Gruoch's hand in marriage.
5. But Duncan doesn't dare attack Gille openly.
a. It could start a civil war between Moray and rest of
Scotland. All would suffer.
6. Duncan shakes his head. What can be done?

XXVIII. At Moray, in a scene parallel to the death of Findlaech:
A. Macbeth steps out of the shadows to battle Gille.
B. Gruoch hears fight and comes downstairs.
C. Gill is ready to kill Gruoch to save himself.
1. He taunts paralyzed Mac.
2. He slips on the Hunter mask as final insult.
D. But Demona is here watching.
1. She had been tipped off by Weird Sisters again.
2. She didn't know which of them was the Hunter.
E. Tables turn. Mac rescues Gruoch while Dem fights Hunter.
1. Maybe in here, Gil reveals to her that he was the boy she scarred
for life.
F. Mac rescues Demona in some way.
G. Gille/Hunter buys the farm in some way.
1. Preferably by whatever method Gill used on Findlaech.
H. There is a brief moment of respect between Mac & Demona.
1. Then off she goes.

XXIX. Outside Castle Moray just after the wedding of Macbeth and Gruoch.
A. Prince Duncan puts on the Hunter's mask himself.
1. There will always be a Hunter, he says to his baby son.
a. The boy is attended by the Weird Sisters.
2. And there will always be the Hunted.

1995
XXX. Manhattan/Night. Goliath and Brooklyn come across Demona's trail of
human rubble.
A. Goliath and Brooklyn are devastated.
1. This reminds them of the massacre at Wyvern.
2. Goliath: "Every life is precious."
3. Brooklyn hates Demona. "This could be Elisa."
4. Goliath erupts. NEVER!!
5. Goliath swears to put an end to Demona's evil once and for all.
B. Suddenly, three stone figures begin to speak to Goliath without
transforming back from stone -- very spooky.
1. The Weird Sisters as speaking stone versions of the nine-year old
girls that Goliath met earlier.
2. They agree that Demona must be stopped.
3. But they remind him of his own words -- every life is precious.
a. Stop her, but don't become like her.
b. Vengeance begets nothing but a vicious cycle of further
vengeance.
4. They advise him to follow the trail of rubble.
5. Then they crumble into rubble themselves.
C. Goliath and Brooklyn follow trail of rubble.

XXXI. Xanatos & Demona arrive at PackMedia almost simultaneously.
A. Xanatos is determined to turn off broadcast.
B. Demona is determined to stop him.
C. Big fight. (Stone Owen at risk.)
D. The New Hunter [Macbeth arrives].
1. Just seeing that mask drives Demona to fury.
2. But she's not nuts, she flees.
3. Hunter fires off a cable attachment that wraps around her ankle.
4. As she flies off, he holds on by cable -- determined.
E. All this allows Xan to shut down broadcast.
1. He expects Owen to turn back to flesh.
2. Owen does not.

XXXII. In the skies above Manhattan, the Hunter tries to hold on and nail
Demona.
A. Big aerial sequence.
B. Ultimately, Demona shakes him (roughly) and flees.
1. Let's subtly indicate somewhere in here that when one is hurt
both feel pain.
C. He summons his hover-thing. He hasn't given up.

XXXIII. Goliath and Brooklyn arrive at PackMedia Studio.
A. They find Xanatos (and stone Owen) and evidence of battle.
B. Goliath is accusatory, but Xan disarms him by copping to his mistake.
1. "Do you want vengeance...or a solution?"
C. They declare a temporary truce and form an uneasy alliance.
1. They shake on it.

[And this is where Part II would end if and/or when it becomes a Multi-Parter.]

XXXIV. Morning at clock Tower. Elisa transforms back to flesh and blood.
A. Note: she does not explode out of stone shell. She transforms back.
1. Difference between Gargoyles organic process and her magical
one.
B. She has no idea what happened to her.
1. But "two seconds ago" it was sunset.
2. Now it's sunrise and the gargoyles have vanished.
3. Did she lose the entire night?
4. She exits clock tower.

XXXV. Back at the Studio, Owen has transformed to Flesh in front of Xanatos.
A. Xan starts to explain what happened to Owen.
1. But Owen's figured it out.
2. So Xan tells Owen about Gargoyle alliance.
a. Good. Owen suggests searching Grimorum for
counterspell.
b. No good. Even if there's one in there none of us "good
guys" knows how to use magic.
3. Xanatos asks Owen for the exact terms of spell.
a. Owen translates from Latin:
i. "You will turn to stone each night until the sky
catches fire."
4. Xanatos: "Then we'll just have to set the sky ablaze."
a. "Hurry. We've only got 12 hours."

XXXVI. TRAVIS MARSHALL reports.
A. People are panicked.
B. The mysterious broadcast has ceased.
C. But most everyone in the city, including this reporter, has no memory
of the past night.
D. He interviews hysterical woman who claims everyone turned to stone.
2. Incidentally, she missed the broadcast. Doesn't watch t.v.
a. Therefore, she must be crazy.
E. Experts theorize mass hypnosis?

XXXVII. New Hunter [Macbeth] watches report.
A. He can't believe Demona slipped through his grasp again.
B. Fade into flashback.

1040
XXXVIII. The royals hike leisurely up Lunfanan Hill on a gloomy, foggy
morning.
A. Duncan (age 39) is there. He is now High KING of Scotland.
1. With him is his son Prince Canmore (age 9).
B. Macbeth (age 35) is also there with his son LUACH (age 7).
C. All are trying to make nice.
D. Duncan nearly falls to his death. Macbeth saves him.
E. Duncan is more stunned at Mac's loyalty than grateful.
1. He tells Mac he had his doubts, but now he's convinced Mac's a
loyal subject.
F. Suddenly, they come upon cave of stone gargoyles including Demona.
G. Duncan goes to destroy them starting with Demona.
H. Macbeth intervenes; pleads for them.
1. Duncan reluctantly acquiesces.
a. Doesn't like it, but the guy did just save his life.
I. They start down the mountain.
J. They meet the Weird Sisters in their Old Crone Shakespearean guise.
1. "Double, double toil and trouble: Fire burn; and cauldron
bubble."
2. The Weird Sisters hail all four of them as Kings of Scotland.
3. Macbeth protests. Duncan is king.
a. Sisters: King now. But each of you shall be king in turn.
b. Mac: Certainly Prince Canmore, but not him & Luach...
c. Sisters: We have spoken.
K. The sisters vanish.
1. The two boys look at each other suspiciously.
2. Macbeth tries to write it off as nonsense.
3. Duncan (who's been quiet) agrees.
a. But we can see he's already plotting. Dissolve...

XXXIX Lunfanan again, later that day, with Duncan and some men.
A. Suspicious of Macbeth's relationship to the gargoyles.
B. He plans on attacking Macbeth with his army.
1. Doesn't want gargoyles to help Macbeth.
C. Hates to attack so near to sunset, but tomorrow he might not be able to
find them.
D. He puts on the Hunter's mask.
E. He gets up mountain in time to destroy maybe one or two gargoyles.
F. But the sun sets and Demona (age 51) and the others explode to life.
1. Still, all Demona can do is flee with her band.
2. She's getting old, weak.
a. Who will lead after she's gone?
b. If only there were some way to regain her strength and
youth.
i. She must seek the Weird Sisters.

XL. Castle Moray. Old Bodhe warns Macbeth that Duncan's bringing an
army.
A. Macbeth has his loyal retainers, but they can't defeat Duncan.
B. He can't protect his family.
C. Old Bodhe (cowardly as ever) suggests Mac surrender.
1. If he does, Duncan might spare Luach and the rest.
D. Macbeth agrees.
1. He says a cryptic "I love you" to wife and child and rides away.

XLI. Night in the misty wilderness. Lost, Macbeth and Demona stumble upon
each other.
A. Mac begs Demona to help him defend his family.
1. He promises to help her keep the gargoyles safe.
2. She's heard that before. What guarantee does she have?
B. Suddenly, the Weird Sisters appear from the mist.
1. We see that Mac sees them as Old Human Crones.
2. While Demona simultaneously sees them as Gargoyle crones.
C. Sisters suggest an act of good faith. Is there anything Demona wants?
1. Demona wants youth.
2. Would Mac be willing to trade?
3. Anything to save his family.
D. Sisters arrange trade. Magic light show, incantations and morphing.
1. Demona becomes the young Demona we are familiar with.
a. A permanent change from this point on.
2. Mac becomes the older Macbeth we are familiar with.
a. From this point on, he's permanently in his early fifties.
3. Any of our audience that speaks Latin will learn about the
immortality link.
E. Sisters send the new allies off with one last tidbit:
1. "Duncan gave Gillecomgain all his orders."

XLII. Bothgoanan, Scotland. Night. Mac's forces and Duncan's are ready to
battle.
A. Calm before storm. Gruoch and Luach are there.
1. She touches Mac's grey hair gently.
2. She's afraid he made a bad deal.
B. Demona enters tent. It is time.
C. Old Bodhe takes Gruoch and the boy behind the lines to safety.
D. Mac and Demona go to join there forces and face the enemy.

XLIII. The Battle of Bothgoanan. Night.
A. With the gargoyles help, Mac's forces are winning.
1. Mac calls admiringly to Demona: "You fight like a demon!"
B. Duncan is killed in some way. (Preferably the same way Find & Gil
bought it.)
1. Hunter's mask is found as evidence he was responsible for
Findlaech's death.
2. Macbeth is hailed as new High King of Scotland.
C. Prince Canmore is brought forward.
1. Old Bodhe urges the young boy's death.
2. Macbeth refuses. He will banish the boy.
a. Send him to stay with relatives in England.
b. No one notices that Canmore steals the Hunter's mask.

XLIV. The coronation of Macbeth at Scone. Night.
A. Demona, Luach, Gruoch and Old Bodhe are all there and happy.
B. Macbeth makes Demona his primary advisor.
1. He promises a golden age in human/gargoyle relations.
2. He promises that the humans will learn to respect her.
a. She'd rather be feared.
b. Mac: "They'll do that too... 'Demona'"
i. She likes her new name.
3. The happy golden age begins.
a. Everyone cheers. Humans and gargoyles alike.
b. The Weird Sisters, disguised as serving women, smile.

1995
XLV. Precinct, late afternoon. The Weird Sisters, disguised as cops, help out cheerfully amid the panic.
A. Elisa confers with Matt and Maria.
1. FCC has tracked down source of Broadcast.
a. Packmedia Studios show signs of conflict, but no hard
leads.
b. But Elisa knows who owns Packmedia.
i. But she's not saying anything 'til she knows the
extent of gargoyles involvement.

XLVI. In the Great Hall of Xanatos' Castle before sunrise, Owen and Xanatos (in
his armor sans helmet for the time being) are hard at work.
A. They are outfitting all of the Steel Clan robots with special packs.
1. Including Xanatos' own armor.
2. They have extra packs for the gargoyles who should arrive just
after sunset.
3. The audience doesn't yet know what the packs are for.
4. There's a lot of other temporary equipment set up, as well.
B. Elisa arrives ready to blame Xanatos for everything.
1. Owen: "Mr. Xanatos is trying to fix things. What are you
doing to help?!"
C. Before she can answer, the sun goes down.
1. Owen and Elisa turn to stone.
2. X: "That's one way to settle an argument."
D. All six of our gargoyles arrive.
1. Hudson & Broadway carry Bronx between them.
E. Xanatos explains plan.
1. Steel Clan Robots, Gargoyles and Xan will fly in pre-arranged pattern over the island of Manhattan.
2. They will carry packs that will distribute a harmless gas.
3. At a pre-set time, the packs will explode, igniting gas.
a. A time-counter on the computer screen indicates the time
before detonation.
b. Obviously, by that time, Xanatos & gargoyles must be out
of the upper atmosphere and clear of their packs.
c. Xanatos' robots will be sacrificed to ignite gas.
4. For ten seconds the entire sky will appear to be on fire.
5. Hopefully that will break the spell.
F. Sometime during all this, Bronx starts clawing at a tapestry.
1. Xanatos tells Brooklyn it's worth a hundred grand.
2. Brooklyn shoos Bronx away.
3. A distracted Goliath sees none of this.
4. Make sure this isn't too obvious a foreshadowing.
5. Let's loose track of Bronx after this for awhile.
G. Everything's ready. Xanatos puts on his helmet.
1. Goliath approaches Elisa. This has to work.
H. Steel Clan, Xanatos, Hudson, Trio and Goliath take off with packs.
1. Keep Bronx out of sight and out of mind for now.

XLVII. Steel Clan, Xanatos and gargoyles criss-cross the night sky distributing
the gas.

XLVIII. Back in Great Hall, a panel slides open behind Tapestry.
A. Demona steps out.
1. There are secrets about castle that even Xanatos doesn't know.
2. She can use computer set up to spoil Xanatos' plans.
3. But first she's gonna have some fun.
a. She approaches Elisa's stone form with her mace.
b. Didn't know this meddling human was still alive.
i. That can be rectified.

[And this ends part 3, if and/or when we go to four parts.]

B. Bronx intervenes between Demona and stone Elisa.
C. Demona temporarily backs off. She talks in a soothing voice, but:
1. She approaches computer terminal.
2. She reprograms gas-packs to explode early.
a. The computer screen time counter skips ahead quickly.
b. Xanatos & Gargoyles will die in explosion.
i. Intercut to Xan, gargs and robots in sky.
c. Not enough gas will be released to ignite the sky.
d. Then she'll use her laser-cannon to blow away Bronx,
Owen and especially Elisa.
e. Then there'll be no one left to stop her.
D. "What about me?", The Modern Hunter [Macbeth] steps out of the
shadows.
1. In a frozen city, it wasn't hard to spot all those robots and
gargoyles taking off from the world's tallest building.
2. He decided to investigate and found exactly who he was looking
for.
E. But Demona has already reprogrammed the computer access code.
1. It's too late to save the gargoyles and the city.
a. She presses a last button, locking out access to the
computer.
b. The time counter returns to a normal pace.
c. But a lot of time has been shaved off the countdown
before the pre-mature explosion of the gas-packs.
2. The Hunter doesn't care about any of that.
3. He just wants it over between them.

1057
XLIX. At Dunsinane, the Hunter [Canmore -- age 26] leads English soldiers.
A. He is met by Demona leading a combined platoon of gargoyles and
human Scottish soldiers.
B. It's maybe a minor victory for the Hunter; more of a stalemate, really.
C. Demona leaves to inform Macbeth.
1. Demona's still confident that together, she and Mac can put
these English down & destroy the accursed Hunter for good.
a. We get sense that Mac's golden age has been working.
b. We've never seen Demona so happy and at peace with
herself.

L. Castle Moray. Macbeth confers with Old Bodhe and Luach (now age 24).
A. Macbeth wants to know why Bodhe wanted to meet without Demona.
B. Bodhe explains that the Hunter has convinced the English that Mac is
evil because Mac associates with gargoyles.
1. English got rid of their gargoyles long ago.
C. If Mac gets rid of the gargoyles, the Hunter will lose his English
support.
D. Luach can't believe his father is listening to this crap.
1. Luach's about to leave to fetch reinforcements.
2. They haven't lost. There's no need to betray their gargoyle
friends.
E. But Macbeth says a wise king must consider all his options and then
make the correct choice.
1. He doesn't let us in on his choice.
F. And he doesn't realize that Demona has heard the whole thing.
1. She's sure Mac is going to betray the gargoyles.

LI. Demona approaches the Hunter in his camp.
A. She promises to keep her gargoyles out of his battle against Mac if the
Hunter will promise them protection.
B. He agrees.

LII. At Castle Moray, the Hunter launches his attack.
A. Macbeth is suddenly informed that the gargoyles are missing.
1. He's based his defense strategy on their aid.
a. The gargoyles were supposed to help hold off the English.
b. Long enough for Luach to launch a surprise counter-
attack with reinforcements from behind.
B. The battle is lost before Luach can arrive.
C. Gruoch begs Mac to flee with her, and he reluctantly does.
1. They take a pre-arranged escape route.

LIII. But on Lunfanan Hill, The Hunter is waiting for Mac & Gru with Demona.
A. Hunter takes off his mask, revealing himself as Canmore.
1. He is here to avenge his father Duncan and take back what he
considers to be his rightful crown.
B. Macbeth is stunned at Demona's betrayal.
1. But she knows Mac was planning to betray her first.
2. He furiously denies it, and while they fight...
C. Canmore kills Macbeth.
1. Demona doubles over with pain and seems to die as well.
2. As Gruoch cries over her husband...
3. Canmore confirms his belief that Demona & Mac were linked by
sorcery.
a. If one dies, both die.
b. Well, Canmore says, she betrayed Macbeth.
c. She ultimately would have betrayed me as well.
d. So it's a good thing I had all her gargoyles secretly
destroyed.
e. Hers was an unholy race and didn't deserve to live.
D. An Englishman alerts Canmore that Luach has arrived with Scottish
reinforcements.
1. He performs the better part of valor and retreats for now.
E. Luach and Old Bodhe arrive and find Gruoch crying over Macbeth.
1. The horrible sight makes Luach more determined than ever to
stop the English.
2. Even Bodhe's courage finally seems to awaken inside him.
a. He takes Macbeth's crown and gives it to Luach.
b. Luach is the new High King of Scotland.
c. Together, they will fight the English to the last man.
3. Gruoch asks for some time alone. Her father and son depart.
F. Weird Sisters appear in their Old Crone guise.
1. They approach Demona.
a. "The pain is great, child."
b. "But you are unharmed."
c. "Waken to the fate you've made for yourself."
2. Demona stirs.
a. Gruoch, still furious at Demona's betrayal.
i. She tells Demona that Canmore betrayed her.
ii. "Your people are gone, monster."
iii. "You are the last of your duplicitous race."
iv. Or something like that.
3. Demona flies off alone.
G. Weird Sisters now approach Macbeth.
1. For Canmore got it wrong.
a. He said when one dies, both die.
b. "But when one lives, both live."
c. And they vanish into the mist.
2. And then Macbeth stirs.
3. Far from being pleased, Gruoch is frightened.
a. Is it him or his ghost?
4. Macbeth assures her that he is alive.
a. Macbeth wants to join Luach in battle.
b. But Gruoch says no.
i. If he returns now, he undermines Luach.
ii. The English already accuse Mac of sorcery.
iii. This will be the final proof.
iv. It would divide even the most loyal of Scotsmen.
v. Luach & Scotland's only hope is for Mac to remain
dead.
c. Macbeth: But I'm not dead.
d. Gruoch: Then you must disappear.
i. Leave Scotland forever. It is the only way.
5. They share one last kiss, and she departs out of his life forever.

1995
LIV. Back in Great Hall, Demona & Hunter [Macbeth] in stand-off.
A. A confused Bronx looks on. All he knows to do is guard Elisa.
B. Hunter has sought Demona across the centuries for his vengeance.
C. She is unimpressed.
1. Take off that stupid mask. She knows he's Macbeth.
a. He takes it off.
D. Nearby, the counter continues to count off the time until the pre-
mature explosions of the gas-packs.

LV. In the skies above Manhattan, Xanatos & Goliath fly abreast for a moment
as they "pass gas".
A. Xanatos says it's working. Now if that dog of yours leaves my tapestry
alone.
B. Goliath quickly figures out the truth.
C. He and Xanatos head back for the castle.

LVI. Back at the Great Hall, Macbeth holds up the Hunter's Mask.
A. He only wore it as a reminder of her betrayal.
1. She says, "Let's not start that old argument. It's pointless."
2. Besides, what's he gonna do. To kill her, he must die as well.
B. Macbeth has lived so long he no longer fears death.
1. And, indicating "stoners", he has no desire to live in the kind of
world her evil is creating.
2. He'll do what he has to do to get his revenge.
C. They fight.
D. Xanatos & Goliath arrive just as a stray laser cannon blast takes out a
huge piece of the floor.
1. Goliath is just in time to catch Elisa and keep her from falling
down the hole to smash on the lower floors.
E. Macbeth & Demona largely ignore the new-comers.
1. They tumble down to the floor below.
F. Xanatos checks the computer.
1. She's locked him out by changing access code.
2. And pack's are set to go off pre-maturely.
3. We need to save her to save the others and the city.
G. Goliath orders Bronx to guard Elisa.
1. He and Xanatos follow the fight down.

LVII. On a lower dungeon-esque floor of the castle, Xanatos & Goliath catch up
with Demona & Macbeth.
A. Demona & Macbeth are in a berserker rage.
B. Xanatos & Goliath try to just separate them -- no luck.
C. So they wade in to incapacitate them.
D. The battle takes them down again onto a lower floor.

LVIII. The quartet of combatants fall down from the lowest floor of the castle
into the Arboretum beneath it.
A. Goliath & Xanatos use teamwork to come through the drop all right. 1. Demona and Mac hit harder, down through trees, etc.
2. G&X take advantage of this to take them out.
3. Demona is knocked out.
4. Macbeth nearly so, by her injury.
B. But the injured Mac grabs Demona and prepares to do away with her...
1. (And thus himself.)
C. Goliath: "Killing her won't solve anything."
D. "He's right, Macbeth." This from the Weird Sisters.
1. They step out from among trees as NY fashion model types.
a. Though we see that Macbeth sees them as the Crones.
2. They question Macbeth:
a. Duncan was afraid that your father would make you king.
Did your father's death stop you from becoming
king?
i. Mac: "No!"
b. You wanted revenge for your father. Did Gillecomgain's death settle that score?
i. Mac: "No."
c. Did your own "death" save Luach from Canmore?
i. Mac: "...no..."
ii. And the last 'no' breaks his heart.
3. Goliath pipes in. "Death is never the answer."
a. "Life is. Precious, precious life."
4. Macbeth: "I'm just so tired."
5. Sisters: "Then sleep."
6. Macbeth drifts off.
E. Xanatos doesn't know what the hell is going on.
1. He just knows he needs the access code.
2. Intercut timer and trio flying around at risk.
F. Seline wakens Demona, who is groggy, as if in a trance.
1. Phoebe asks Demona for the code.
2. Demona answers like she's talking in her sleep.
a. But she still refuses.
i. She will have vengeance for the betrayal of her
people. Vengeance for her pain.
3. Sisters: "But who betrayed her people? Who caused this pain?"
a. The Vikings destroyed her clan.
i. Who betrayed castle Wyvern to the Vikings?
b. The Hunter exterminated every gargoyle he found.
i. Who created the Hunter?
c. Canmore killed the last of her race.
i. Who betrayed Macbeth to Canmore?
4. Goliath: Your thirst for vengeance created nothing but more
sorrow.
a. End the cycle. Give us the code.
5. She does.
6. Armed with it, Xanatos shoots up through the hole in the roof.

LIX. Xanatos enters through the hole in the floor of the Great Hall.
A. He enters the access code into computer and stops clock with seconds
to spare. Whew.
B. Bronx looks on without a clue.

LX. Back in Arboretum, Demona begins to shake off her trance.
A. Her denial's kicked in. It was the humans' fault, not hers.
1. She wants her revenge.
2. She's learned nothing.
B. Sadly, the Weird Sisters (nine year old girl version) tell her she's tired.
1. She falls back into a trance beside Macbeth.
C. Goliath wonders what to do with Demona & Macbeth.
1. Sisters feel responsible for them.
2. They will take Demona and Macbeth and try to help them.
3. Goliath asks who or what the sisters are?
a. But that's a story for another day.
D. The three sisters vanish along with Macbeth and Demona.

LXI. Hudson & Trio fly over the river and drop their empty gas packs.
A. They head back for the castle.

LXII. Goliath joins Xanatos in Great Hall. It's time.

LXIII. In the skies over Manhattan, the Steel Clan Robots and their packs
explode.
A. The sky is ignited and for ten seconds is aflame for as far as the eye can
see.

LXIV. In the outer courtyard, Xanatos and Goliath watch the flaming sky.
A. Hudson and the trio land beside them.
B. A moment of true awe for everyone.
C. Bronx howls from back inside the Great Hall.
1. They rush inside.

LXV. Xanatos and the gargoyles arrive back in the Great Hall, in time to see the
stone melt away from Elisa and Owen.
A. Goliath is so happy he lifts Elisa up into the air.
1. She laughs. She doesn't have a clue what's going on.
B. Owen and Xanatos shake hands calmly.
1. Owen knows exactly what's going on and is pleased it worked.
C. Xanatos approaches Goliath just before the good guys are about to
leave.
1. They made a pretty good team.
2. All this time Xanatos has been wondering why he allowed the
gargoyles to live.
3. Now, he knows.
4. Occasionally, they come in handy.
D. Goliath starts to get angry, but then admits that occasionally...
1. Xanatos comes in handy, as well.

LXVI. The Gargoyles fly away from the castle.
A. Goliath carries Elisa. Broadway carries Bronx.
B. Everywhere below them are the signs and sounds that Manhattan is
waking up from it's stone sleep.
1. Safe once more, thanks to the gargoyles.

THE END.

That's it. Finally. As ususal, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Sorry it took so long to get this to you. A few last reminders: just write the script as one piece; ignore the part designations for now. Also, do not be afraid to over-explain things. Be as clear as possible. We do not yet know for sure where this is being story-boarded. With all the time shifts and differing ages in different scenes it could confuse anyone. Also don't assume familiarity with previous episodes. Don't hesitate to cite specific references to page or episode numbers of past scripts. Good luck.


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Chapter XXII: "City of Stone, Part One"

Time to Ramble on "City of Stone, Part One", which I watched the other night with my family....

Story Editor: Michael Reaves
Story: Michael Reaves
Teleplay: Brynne Chandler Reaves & Lydia Marano

Well, over a year had passed since we had revealed in "Enter Macbeth" that Macbeth had named Demona. Now we were gearing up to explain that little tidbit of info. I'm curious to know how many people were still focused on that before the "PREVIOUSLY ON GARGOYLES..." reprised it.

City of Stone was a story I had conceived originally (but briefly) as a Direct to Video movie. My boss Gary Krisel rejected it. He felt that a movie featuring the Gargoyles needed to feature our heroes a LOT MORE than this story did. Nevertheless, he liked the concept of the HUNTER a lot. So I got him to agree to let us do City of Stone as a multi-parter for the series. And I promised that Michael and I would come up with a new Hunter story that focused more on our heroes. Thus Hunter's Moon was born -- as a Home Video, originally, and we had an ending to shoot at for the entire second season.

Meanwhile, I couldn't actually disagree with Gary too much. This was Demona and Macbeth's story. The origin of two of our major villains. We had some great animation on this from Koko in Korea. Not as strong as our WDTVJapan stuff, but still very good.

What was the terrorists' cause, you might ask? I'm not telling. At the time, I had no answer. We were vague on purpose. Since then, I've come up with an answer. Now I'm being evasive on purpose.

I love Matt as a hostage negotiator.

But not as much as I love Brendan & Margot as hostages. They're a hoot.

How fast was everyone on the uptake with the Weird Sisters? Those three little girls. Even before the gargs showed, one was saying something like: "Don't worry, it'll be over soon." Did you think they were odd then? Did you notice them?

I like Brooklyn's "Don't gush" line.

When the Weird Sisters tell Goliath they weren't talking about THAT terrorist, my six year old daughter Erin said: "I think they were talking about Demona." For Chanukah, I gave Erin a Kenner Brooklyn, Broadway and Hard-Wire Goliath (which I told her was a Goliath robot). My three year old son Benny got Goliath, Lex and Xanatos. So for the first time, while they watched they could play with the toys.

It's interesting to watch the first flashback SET. All sorts of old footage from Awakening Part One, mixed with new footage. It's all very seemless thanks to great editing by Bob Birchard. And it wasn't easy. Because there was considerable confusion overseas throughout City of Stone, in terms of which model of Demona to animate. We had her standard model. Plus one that was slightly older, for the second set of flashbacks in this episode. They were constantly mixing the models up. We'd call retakes whenever we could, but sometimes we decided just to make due. So you have the flashback from Awakenings, where Goliath tells Demona to stay behind. That's followed by us finally seeing what Demona and the Captain said to each other after Goliath left. No great revelation in that scene, but we figured it would be nice to finally reveal it. Plus we wanted to clarify things from Demona's point of view. But in some of those shots, Demona appears to have aged a bit.

We see Othello & Desdemona. We are allowed to do something in this episode that we couldn't really do for S&P reasons in Awakening. To personalize the victims of the massacre a bit. In Awakening, we only got to meet the survivors. Finally we meet the victims. Of course, we're still cheating a bit, since my excuse to S&P was that our audience already knew (1) that these two died and that (2) they survived in a sense in Coldstone. But it did, independent of previous episodes, allow the startling moment when Demona picks up a fragment of Othello's face. Of course, I tried to get tha fragment -- and all those fragments in the immediate vicinity -- to be the pieces that survived into Coldstone. I think that was semi-successful.

Demona's cowardice overwhelms the courage of her strongly held convictions. She flees. Benny: "The sun's gonna come up." Yep. She turns to stone, shedding a tear. That "TEARS OF STONE" image was so effective that I allowed it to repeat in the episode. Later, her tear drops onto the stone Goliath and seems to be coming from his eye. A nice visual variation on a theme.

Demona: "It worked! At last my clan is free of human rule!"
Erin: "No. It didn't work."

Later Erin sees Demona watching Goliath holding some smashed gargoyles' remains and crying "my angel of the night". Erin says: "He thinks that was her [Demona]." Now you may be wondering why I'm reprinting such obvious responses here. But they interest me. It really struck me this viewing that in this episode, despite the "Previously" segment and all the flashbacks, that you really would be lost if you were a new viewer. Is there anyone out there for whom City of Stone was your first Gargoyle experience? If so, I'd love to hear from you. Did you have a clue as to what was going on?

Demona's classic neurotic short-circuit: "What have I -- What have THEY done to you?" The motivation that writer's live for.

And a little hint of Avalon things to come, as we see Tom, Princess K and Magus depart with the eggs. How many people had given the eggs any thought since Xanatos told the gargs back in Awakening Two that they were the last of their kind? And did this little tidbit whet the appetite, or did you forget about it immediately? I was already planning the Avalon/Archmage/World Tour/Angela stuff.

Benny (out of nowhere) asks: "What happens if someone is frozen in the sky?" We discussed various possibilities. But we're still weeks away from getting around to seeing "The Price". So I didn't want to spoil that one for him.

The intro of Gillecomgain. Erin (who has seen these before once, long ago) suddenly remembers: "His face is gonna get scratched."

Now, back in the 20th century, Owen points out that Xanatos' tv override works for "Cable, as well." I always liked that.

I also like Demona's VERY convincing lie. At this point, we don't know how she's survived through the centuries. Maybe she did do it by stealing minutes of life from thousands of people. And maybe now, she and Xanatos will do the same on a citywide scale. I always thought it was a very elegant lie. What did you guys think? Did you buy it?

The "Watch or Listen but not both" stuff regarding the magic, wasn't just a convenient excuse to give us a Robbins expository scene later. I always felt that the magic our various sorcerors did couldn't be as simple as it seemed. Anyone who reads the spell out loud can do it? No. There are complex inflections, movements, etc. involved. Study and willpower, etc. This was an attempt on my part to demonstrate that it was about more than just being in range with someone who has a copy of a Grimorum page.

On the other hand, I do think we cheated a bit to trap Owen. That spell she reads is the City of Stone spell. Yet it seems to put Owen, of all people, into a trance. We talked about her nailing him some other way first. But it was too clumsy and time consuming, so we just cheated.

Gathering Clue: Demona to Owen: "You are the tricky one." And she wraps him up in iron cable.

Elisa's watching Casablanca. Great movie.

Phoebe is looking at Seline when she speaks to Luna. Like Demona aging, we had a hell of a time getting the overseas studio to keep the three sisters straight. I began to insist that each of their appearances on the storyboard was accompanied by a hair color chart. And once more, it's black for Seline, blonde for Phoebe and silver for Luna.

We also made a real effort to put subtle character distinctions between the three sisters. Seline is the hard case. Phoebe is the gentle one. Luna is the mystic. It was part of hinting that the Sisters would serve multiple purposes in the series. Some of which I still have not revealed.

Back to the past. The guard says "Maybe they won't come." Erin asks: "Maybe who won't come?" And then the gargoyles come. The guards are taken down, and Demona raises her mace into the air. Erin asks: "Are they dead?" And dad... equivocates.

I like that gargoyle (Demona's second) with the breast plate. John Rhys-Davies did his voice.

At this stage, Demona believes that these scattered gargoyles are all that are left in the world. A second later, three gargoyles she's never met show up. (Now, true, they're the Sisters. But I was trying to make a general point, hinting that sometimes characters make absolute statements when they flat out don't know what they're talking about. Audience members beware.)

Benny immediately figured out that the three old gargoyle females were the weird sisters, or as he put it: "They're the humans. The one's that disappeared." I.e. the kids that disappeared in the first sequence of the episode. That made me feel a little better. People are always telling me that I write stuff that is too adult for kids to get. I tell them that I try to write on multiple levels. So that the kids get what they need to get and that adults, etc. get more. But it's nice to get confirmation that the kids do get it on occasion. Particularly in an ep as complicated as this one.

Intro Findlaech, Gruoch, Bodhe and young Macbeth. I like how quickly they are all characterized in that scene. F is loyal. B is equivocal at best. Bodhe is already thinking about how to marry G off to advantage. "What about Macbeth? Is he a match for the lass?" Yeah, sure he's talking about chess. I came to have a great deal of contempt for the character of Bodhe. (Too be fair, I have no idea what the historical Bodhe's character was like.) And yet, almost simultaneously, I became fond of him too. He was SO human. SO flawed. SO afraid of the world. And yet SO desperate to tread water in it.

We also establish the "SIGIL OF MORAY" which will become an important prop throughout.

I like that little blushing moment of G & Mac's. But mostly, I like it because of B & F's reactions. Bodhe is suddenly nervous that Gruoch might, shall we say, lose something with Macbeth prematurely. Though he pushed them together, he now rushes to separate them. But it's too late. The connection has already been made. F just laughs.

Now... Enter the HUNTER. The Hunter got a sort of Steve Canyon intro. That is, he's been talked about by various people for the last few minutes, though we haven't gotten a look at him. (This was the technique used when Steve Canyon was first introduced in the comic strips.) Now he shows up, and I trust he isn't disappointing. Benny immediately says: "THat's the one that got scratched." Sharp boy. (Keep in mind, that we haven't yet seen the adult Gille, so we haven't seen his scarred face yet.)

I love this sequence. It's a great fight, full of great little touches, flourishes, etc. Great storyboarding work here.

Again, characters are revealed in a nutshell. Gruoch's already loyal. Bodhe's revealed to be a coward. Even when his daughter rushes downstairs, he stays above.

Findlaech dies. It's a classic Disney fall-to-one's-death death. But there is a difference. F is the good guy. Usually, that's done with the villain. Was anyone shocked?

I love how at this point, Macbeth is nothing but an annoyance to both Demona and the Hunter. I also love how complex Demona is. Under it all, she's really something of a romantic. She rescues the young lovers. Then can't believe she did it. She's trying to will herself to be cold. So that she won't feel anything. But it isn't natural. She's not a cold woman, though her plans often are. It's that divide that's generally gonna screw her up everytime.

When the Hunter first enters on Prince Duncan, we were supposed to (BRIEFLY) think he was there to attack the Prince as well. But I don't think that comes off even slightly.

And o.k., yes, Gillecomgain has a face to match the Hunter's mask. It's worse than Clark Kent and those glasses. Does Scotland really not know it's him? Believe it or not, that never even occured to me initially. (Yes, I'm a dope.) Now, I'll chalk it up to the notion that everyone figures he's TOO obvious a suspect. You can almost here the water cooler talk:

MacMorris: "Hey, MacTavish, have you ever noticed that that Gillecomgain guy has scars across his face just like the red marks on the Hunter's mask?"
MacTavish: "What are you saying, MacMorris? That Gillecomgain is so stupid, he'd wear a mask and then put his scars ON the mask? Not much of a disguise. Know what I think. I think the Hunter is trying to throw suspicion onto old Gilley."
MacMorris: "Oh, give me a break."
MacTavish: "Hey, pal, it worked with you."

I made a real effort to just have the Weird Sisters EVERYWHERE.

Back to the present. Someone dons a Hunter's Mask. How many knew it was Macbeth right away? I figured at the time that regular viewers would figure that out pretty darn quick. That didn't bother me. For them, I figured the mystery would be "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD MACBETH DON A HUNTER'S MASK, WHEN THE HUNTER KILLED HIS FATHER?" I thought that mystery was at least as intriguing. Do you guys agree or disagree?

I also liked the variation on the mask. No eyes. Nothing. Modern technology.

Fox. Fox presented an interesting dilemma. What was Xanatos' attitude toward her in this? We already know he loves her. But he doesn't include her in the immortality thing with Demona. Why? Demona won't allow it? Or he thinks Demona won't? Or he doesn't fully trust D and won't risk Fox until he knows the set-up works?

And then he finds out that she did watch the broadcast. He had told her not to, but she did. He doesn't fill her in. (Not that there's much time.) Is he prepared to let her lose a minute from her life (as he believes has happened)? How would he have felt if Demona wasn't lying about that? At the end of her life, would an immortal Xanatos be desperate to give her that one minute back? Of course, given Fox's heritage, which I didn't know yet, it's possible, she'll outlive him by quite a bit. Course, anything's possible.

How's the cliff-hanger? We haven't seen the city yet, but we do get to see Owen, Fox and Elisa all turned to stone. We're so used to the Gargoyles in stone, but not humans. I thought it was sort of chilling. The more chilling, because we know from earlier in this very episode, what can happen when living beings are turned to stone. (The Wyvern Massacre.) Now we've seen this four-parter a bunch of times and we're used to it. But I'm curious as to how you all felt the first time you saw Part One.

Another interesting aspect, is that 3/4 of the threat is to characters that we consider to be villains. Or more than 3/4. In the past, young Macbeth has lost his father and is clearly at risk. And Demona is being hunted. In the present, Fox and Owen are stone. And Xanatos and Fox appear to be falling to their deaths. Sure, the clincher is Elisa. But I think it's a tribute to how well-rounded are villains are that we care what's going to happen to them. Can you imagine most cartoons making the death of the villains a cliff-hanger? People would simply cheer.

One little flaw: Elisa's facing the wrong way. It was easier to board that way, I'm sure. But I can't figure out why she would have been standing and facing that direction at sundown.

Comments welcome, as usual...


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Baal writes...

Have you ever planned out the way Demona and Macbeth meet
their demise, or do they just continue living for years and years? Have you even planned that far...?

Greg responds...

Yes, I know.

I've planned many things VERY far out. Some of these things are random. Other things, I don't yet have a clue about.

Response recorded on January 02, 2001

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matt writes...

will Demona have seven years of bad luck for breaking the mirror in "the mirror"? :)

Greg responds...

At least.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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Vilija writes...

Does Demona have any hidden talents? Anything she picked up over the ages? She has been around for a looo-oong time...

Greg responds...

I'm sure she has many hidden talents.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Another Demona question. When you were asked about whether she knew about the other clans, you said that while she obviously didn't know about many of them (such as the Avalon clan) she might have known of the London clan at least.

But I've got to confess that I've wondered if she ever met any of the other clans (aside from Goliath's) for this reason. When Demona made fresh contact with the Wyvern clan, she tried to talk them into helping her wipe out humanity, and when they refused, she tried to kill them. So - I would assume that if Demona had met any of the other clans, it would have gone much the same way - and we know that she didn't recruit the London clan, for example, or destroy it. So that makes me wonder whether that means that she must not have met the other clans.

On the other hand, aside from the fact that Demona didn't succeed in wiping out Goliath's clan in the 1990's, there is the fact that there was one special factor in her attitude towards them that doesn't apply to the other clans; it was the one led by Goliath, her former mate, whom she has strong and conflicting emotions about. So that makes me wonder in turn if a lot of the vehemence that she's used on the Manhattan clan comes from her feelings about Goliath, and wouldn't apply as strongly to other clans that wouldn't agree to help her in her "destroy-humanity" objective.

At least, that's my thoughts on the matter; what are yours?

Greg responds...

Sometimes I leave myself intentionally open on certain issues, so as not to restrict me until I have a specific story in mind that forces a decision. That's where I am on this.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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matt writes...

what is Goliath's reaction to Broadway and Angela's relationship? what is Demona's?

Greg responds...

I think he's pleased.

Demona's probably conflicted. I don't think she likes Broadway, simply because he's alligned against her. But I don't think she's rooting for her daughter to be alone either.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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Faieq writes...

I asked this question before and you responded
"I don't have my timeline with me, so I cannot assume the premise of your question is correct. Please resubmit it."
So now I'm resubmitting it:In 975 Goliath and Demona/'Angel' were 37 chronolgically, I think, and this seems to be a little young to be committing themselves to eacch other (compared to the trio, who were the same age in 994 but were single). Does that mean that the Trio mated late and the rest of their rookery siblings already have mates in 994, or did Demona and Goliath become mates long before their other brothers and sisters?

Greg responds...

I think Goliath and Demona mated a tad young. A few of the Trios contemporaries may have mated at the time of the massacre, but most would not have.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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warrioress writes...

Someone wrote: How does Demona feel about Oberon?

You answered: I'm not sure she's aware of him.

You mean you're not sure if Demona is aware Oberon exsists? How could she not? She knows Puck exsists, and she had her thugs in "The Mirror" use the password "Oberon sent me". Or did you mean she was aware of the Shakespearian Oberon, but not the real one?

Hope I didn't sound too confusing.... :-)

Greg responds...

She's clearly aware of the legend of Oberon. I just don't see any evidence that she's ever met him to her knowledge.

Response recorded on December 21, 2000

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Jon writes...

Well, now that I've posted once... :)

After reading your ramble on Vows, I wanted to comment a bit about it. It is an excellent episode, and one of the things I noticed is that Goliath sure gets the crud beat out of him in this one, first by Xanatos at the Golden Cup, and then by Demona after he barges in on her reunion with her younger self. Both animation sequences showed Goliath bleeding from the mouth after various blows. For some reason, that just awed me (and still does). This is a cartoon where the "hero" gets hurt!! I was always ridiulously amazed and pleased by this, maybe because it is so unusual to have that level of maturity and realism incorporated into a cartoon.

The animation sequence where Goliath and Demona are flying down to the watch the wedding is just terrific, really gives a sense of the power of movement of the gargoyles.

I never thought about Demona's overly excited greeting to Goliath that we see at the beginning and end of the episode was because she was just shook up about the encounter with the future Goliath. Very sophisticated.

I was always very amused at the concept of Goliath as Best Man for Xanatos. Not only is it ironic given their history, it's just funny to see Goliath in a role that is so "human".

I had a few questions, too:
1) The older Demona tells her younger self "Do not share it [the Gate] with... Do not share it!" Who did she mean her younger self shouldn't share it with? You may have said this before, sorry if I missed it.

2) Was the scene where Owen offers Goliath a bow tie cut during production (you mentioned it in the memo, but, unfortunately, it's not in the show)?

3) Did the younger Demona have any reservations about stealing the Gate? I'm still a bit shocked that the she stole it so willingly. While I know that this sort of foreshadows her personality to come, I'm still surprised she didn't have a bit more moral fiber at the time. Maybe she was living in fear of what the arch mage would do to her if she failed? Or perhaps she just didn't place any value in the trinkets or possessions of the worthless humans?

4) Was Demona's abuse by the Arch-mage intended to be a primary motivation for her general hatred towards humans? Early in her life she was mistreated by a cruel human that was more powerful than herself, and her self-loathing at carrying out his evil little errands could very easily have created a guilt cycle that resulted in a desire to kill ALL humans, as sort of a payback for what the Arch-mage did. All of which was compounded multifold by the events of the massacre, but still, her early suspicion/dislike of humans could have stemmed solely or at least primarily from the abuse of the Arch-mage. Ok, I'll stop trying to psychoanalyze Demona. But she's so FASCINATING....

Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. Goliath. She's about to say, "Do not share it with Goliath." because that's exactly what she herself did. Of course, that's exactly what her younger self does too. Did too. Well, you get the idea.

2. It probably got cut for time, before animation. Or maybe it didn't even make it into the script. The show was always pushing it to fit into 22 minutes.

3. All of the above. I think she had her reservations, but they were overwhelmed by her fear, lust for power, and a general lack of care about humans and their possessions.

4. Just another example. One of many.

Response recorded on November 21, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

This is a question inspired by last night's posting on "Vows". In your opinion, has Demona found out yet (as of "Hunter's Moon" and "The Journey") that the reason why Goliath was trapped in stone sleep for the past thousand years was because he begged the Magus to do it to him?

Greg responds...

She probably knows from having read the Grimorum when it was in Xanatos' possession. The Magus told the story in the back pages.

Response recorded on November 17, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

My ramble/reply to your ramble on "Vows".

I very much liked this one. We got the time travel story at last (as I mentioned in my ramble/reply for "Lighthouse in the Sea of Time", I'd read that there was going to be time travel in the second season of "Gargoyles", but initially mistakenly believed that it would be in the "Lighthouse" episode because of the "Sea of Time" part of the title). I've always been fond of time travel stories, particularly ones sending the characters into the historical past, and this one I very much enjoyed, particularly since it led to more "10th century Castle Wyvern scenes" (one of my favorite parts of the series). I also noticed the care used (both here and throughout "Gargoyles") with how time travel doesn't change history but is simply part of the already extant history (which makes all the more sense to me since I've been working on a fantasy novel for some time now, begun before "Gargoyles" ever came out, which made similar use of time travel, with even a time loop or two similar to those in "Avalon Part Two" and "M.I.A." - which helped me understand those episodes better, but that's another story). Certainly that kind of time travel helps make certain that there's no cheating.

I also liked seeing the Archmage again, and hearing the mention of the Eye of Odin (without realizing the full significance of that part, though). One interesting piece in this episode is that Hudson seems to already suspect, by 975, the Archmage's true nature (given the bit where he comes to the aid of Young Demona near the end).

I was half-expecting the Hudson of 1995 to mention Goliath's showing up in 975 at the end, after Goliath returned to the clock tower; he didn't, but his behavior in the modern day does make more sense in light of his meeting the present-day Goliath back in 975.

I learned about the "King Lear" quote from a friend, and was amused to discover that in its original place in the play, it was spoken by Lear to his daughters Goneril and Regan; trust Xanatos to reverse the parent/child roles when he quoted it! :)

I was very interested to see Xanatos wearing an Illuminati pin and to have the Society's existence confirmed (doubly so with the Norman Ambassador). I can definitely remember what I thought upon seeing that bit: "I wonder what Matt would say if he could see this."

And yes, I was definitely surprised to see Xanatos getting married. (Maybe all the more so since the main antagonist of the aforementioned fantasy novel has some Xanatosian qualities - coincidental, since his basic character was worked out before "Gargoyles" ever came out - but is a very solitary figure, whom I definitely can't imagine ever developing genuine feelings of the sort that Xanatos had for Fox). Very daring, I've got to agree.

One interesting feature about Young Demona's visit to 994 (incidentally, that means that there were *three* Demonas existing simultaneously at that moment, the Demona of 975, of 994, and of 1995 - good thing that the 994-Demona didn't show up or things could really have gotten confusing:) is that she learns about the future Wyvern Massacre, which probably subtly influenced her towards eventually working with the Captain to betray the humans. It's been suspected by many fans that Young Demona might have believed that it was the humans native to the castle who carried out the massacre (note that 1995-Demona never says that it was an outside enemy who destroyed the clan - or, for that matter, that the reason why Goliath was turned to stone was because he begged the Magus to do it), so in her scheming with the Captain to avert the prophecy, she actually helped fulfill it. (A time-honored literary concept, of course, going back at least to Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" where similarly Laius and Oedipus's very efforts to prevent Oedipus's prophecied destiny of killing his father and marrying his mother actually help bring that destiny about). A very chilling concept.

I've seen the phrase "more's the pity" used a few times in works that I know that I've read before "Gargoyles", and even used the phrase at least once in something that I wrote before "Gargoyles" ever premiered, but I've no idea myself where it comes from. Maybe it's one of those general phrases with no single originator.

At any rate, I enjoyed the rambling - and am looking forward to the comments on "City of Stone".

Greg responds...

Todd. Your rambles are always more interesting than mine. I feel like I'm just listing stuff I like and bitching about stuff I don't. But you always bring something to the table. Thanks.

I think Demona does have a paranoid fear of the massacre and that it does influence her. That was one of the horrible revelations (hidden just under the surface) of the episode. It's pretty chilling. Just as an example, think about her hiding under the cliff in City of Stone 1. What was going through her head?

Response recorded on November 16, 2000

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Chapter XXI: "Vows"

Written by Shari Goodhartz
Michael Reaves, Story Editor

Benny: "But Daddy, when it's dark they get alive. But when it's light, the get frozen like a statue."

Last night, the kids, my sister, my wife and I all watched "Vows" together. Time to ramble.

Back to the Golden Cup Bakery Building. As I noted in the previously posted memo about this episode, I wanted a little opening battle, but I didn't want to waste time in a tight, packed script explaining how this came about. It does beg the question though. Assume that X contacted Elisa. She told Goliath. He went ALONE? His friends allowed this? Hmmm.

Xanatos knows from the letter to himself what to do, but I sometimes wonder just how detailed the letter was. I like to think it was fairly sketchy. That exactly HOW Xanatos got Goliath to come was his own machinations. Otherwise, though he takes the credit for the letter, the truth is that the plan itself wasn't his idea. He got the idea from the letter. And he wrote the letter based on what he had done, which he had gotten from the letter. None of this is really his to own, though he does claim ownership. So I like to think that at least some of the details were X's. For example, X knows what G will respond to, i.e. Demona.

Hudson, on hearing about the wedding, suddenly makes the connection to the long ago incident when he met the Goliath from the future. So he's strangely ambivalent. Elisa on the other hand, seems flat out jealous to me. After the events of "The Mirror" and "Eye of the Beholder", she's much more aware and focused on her feelings for Goliath. SHE DOES NOT WANT TO ACT ON THOSE FEELINGS. At this time, she thinks it's impossible. But that doesn't change how she feels. And now, she's jealous. Goliath's feelings for Elisa are just as intense, but so are his feelings for the "Angel" of his youth. He HAS to give it one last chance. (And this will be the last chance. The final nail in the coffin of his and Demona's "marriage".) Brooklyn, meanwhile, is just knee-jerk against anything involving Demona.

PETROS XANATOS is introduced. Again, I wonder why he was invited. Was he also included in the letter? Or did Xanatos invite him to prove something to his father. Is X that needy? Or did X invite him to the wedding, because of course he'd invite his father to his wedding, and his already planned "honeymoon" to 975 shouldn't alter his decorum. Perhaps he's mildly surprised his father winds up coming along? Anyway, Petros was a fun character. A tough hard physical man. With morals. A great contrast to the son. I knew even then that we'd give Petros and David an arc to their relationship, (one that eventually would culminate in Gathering2).

"Oh, reason not the need." A little King Lear is always nice. And I love Petros' attitude on the line, "And the armor?" I mean what would you say to your son if you saw him dressed like that? I'd like to know how many people had sort of forgotten that X was even wearing armor (we're so used to it) until Petros made an issue of it?

I love all the irony in the dialogue between Petros and David. David knows what he's planning. He must be smiling when Petros says "I'd like to get my hands on the man who gave you that coin." And when David says, "Someday, I'll prove to you that I'm a self-made man," he must really be patting himself on the back.

I love the voice work of Keith and Marina when doing their teen-age counterparts. So subtle, yet it's always clear which Goliath and Demona is talking at any given moment.

CONTINUITY:
Gotta love that storage room in the clock tower. The Eye of Odin, the Grimorum, half the Phoenix Gate, and, oh, yes, a comatose Coldstone. By the way, despite what the memo said, I think generally, Goliath carried that Gate in the pouch attached to his belt. Not behind some brick. We hadn't actually come up with that pouch yet, not until the World Tour. But using RetCon, I think that's where he kept it until they moved to the clock tower and Demona tried to kill him, Hudson and Elisa in "Long Way to Morning".

One interesting thing: this is the first episode where we actually CONFIRM that the ILLUMINATI does exist. Matt's mentioned it. Even chased it in SILVER FALCON, but we've never been shown any proof of it's existence until now. Was anyone surprised by that?

Judge Roebling was interesting in theory, though not so much in the episode. I'd like to do more with him some day. I also thought that it was interesting that despite seeing the tape of the Gargoyles in advance. And not reacting outwardly when he saw Goliath, he still gasps when Demona enters. What is it about her? When she entered, Benny turned to me and said: "She's queen of the Gargoyles." Oh. So that's it.

(And everytime Xanatos and Fox are on screen together, Benny likes to point out that he and Erin dressed up as them at the last Gathering. "That's me. That's you, Erin.")

To some extent, X must have filled D in on his plan. I love her "acting" when she enters and gives her bitter "excuse" for being there to Goliath. She's playing hard to get!

I love Petros: "Unnacceptable." He's still trying to teach David the error of his ways.

The Gate itself is very idiosyncratic. It's size, the size of its portal, and the duration the portal stays open seems to vary not just from episode to episode but from scene to scene. Sometimes it annoys me, like when Princess Elena removes the Gate from her sleeve, and suddenly it's bigger than her hand. But now I'm just amused by it. Again, if you think of it as a steam valve for the timestream, it explains a lot.

I love the little sound that Paca put in when the two pieces of the Gate first come together. What a tip-off that was, yet it's subtle. Did anyone think about the significance of the talisman that Demona had shared with Goliath before she started speaking in Latin and flames appeared out of nowhere?

It was hard to make people understand the time loop a bit. But it seemed really hard to make them see why I kept wanting to repeat scenes to show the connective tissue. We had to squeeze in Owen's "Honeymoon" line the second time. No one left space for it.

For the first of many times in the series, someone (X) says the line: "It's not where, it's when". (Erin: "I know when.")

I love X & Fox's relationship. "Having fun." "A marvelous time." Great stuff.

Hudson gets a close look at 1995 Goliath and immediately sees the age and wear and tear on the guy. (I love the shot of Goliath gagging him.) That says a lot for Hudson, because the visual difference between the two Gs was extremely subtle in the animation -- when it existed at all.

Knowing what we had planned (more or less) for Avalon, we were already laying groundwork here for that. Setting up the combined power of the Gate, Grimorum and Eye. Setting up the Archmage's desire for that power. Further demonstrating his enmity for the people he'd wind up using. Of course, making Demona his apprentice was fun. Tells a lot about her own desire for power that even when she was a good girl, she was still willing to work for the Archmage in order to learn his secrets. Willing even to steal for him.

The Norman Ambassador and Prince Malcolm make a BIG deal about how odd the Xanatoses' clothes are. But were they THAT strange? Was Fox's wedding gown that odd? And even if they were strange, did they look as shabby as Prince Malcolm seemed to suggest?

Not every episode gives you a double wedding. Fox and David. Elena and Malcolm. Hey, did anyone notice that we married off our lead villain? That was very daring, and we all but threw it away in Act One. Was anyone expecting Fox and X to really get married? And once they were, did you think you'd see them have a kid by season's end? I think we broke new ground there.

I like the exchange between Goliath and Hudson. Goliath's trying to explain that he's not a creature of sorcery, but a time traveler. H: "And I suppose you came back in time on the wind." O.k., well sorcery was involved if you're gonna get technical. And Goliath has some amusing tense problems while trying to describe what happened in his recent past, Hudson's FAR future. Then Hudson looks him in the eye and decides to trust him on no further evidence. Cool.

I knew a girl named Bryant from Bar Harbor, Maine once. That's where we got X's home town.

Fox is so proud of her man. But I love Petros' "Mr. Big-Shot Time Traveler" line. Or rather I love the way Morgan Shepard read the line.

How hard did Demona try to do things differently from the way she remembered them being done? She knows Goliath is going to fly down to try and join her and her younger self. She tries to leave before he can get there. But the gate stays open long enough for him to go with. Did it ever occur to her to go somewhen else other than 994? I guess part of it could be chalked up to dim memory. It was over a thousand years ago. And Demona lived through that 1000 years. Even for a very significant event in her life, it must still be very hazy.

That exchange between Demona and Demona is a lot of fun. Demona is so brutal to Demona. (And, hey, she spells out the Gate's power to any audience member who hasn't yet caught on.) "Do not share it with-- Do not share it!" I love that line. Also:

"I am what you will become."
"I will never be like you."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"And I don't want to BE you."

pretty cool stuff.

I also like the moment when we have two gates rolling about on the floor and young Demona and older Goliath both bend over to pick them up. At first we had a lot of discussion as to who should pick up which gate. But the discussion became moot, since after the gate pieces were reunited, they almost always seemed like they had never been broken in the first place. Magic.

And the young Demona, older Goliath scene is also gorgeous.

"What am I to do?"
"Nothing."

Love that. Love his whole "Do nothing/attend the petty jealousy" speech. I think it's very pretty. Very sad. At that moment, does Goliath hope he's changing the future? Or is he simply trying to spare this young Angel a couple extra decades of pain?

Showing Demona's natural bents again: Goliath isn't sure if he remembers the incantation, though he's heard it multiple times by this point. Young Demona, having only heard it ONCE, does remember and uses the Gate perfectly.

"Time Travel's funny that way." At least it is in the Gargoyle Universe with the strict, strict rules that I imposed. Of course, I've always thought that those strict rules made the stories more challenging for the writer and, yet, more fun and satisfying for the viewer.

I also really like Petros' "American Penny" speech. For once the "Xanatos Tag" of victory doesn't go to David.

Where did the expression "More's the pity." come from? I've heard it many times. I know what it means, though that's more from sound and context than from the words themselves. What am I quoting when I use it? Does anyone know? (This isn't a contest. I really don't know.)

Finally, my tape has the weird mistake ending that first aired, which shows Demona and Goliath in the clock tower. It's pretty, but it drives me nuts and I think it's really confusing. But I've talked about that many times before, and I'm sick of it, so this time, I'll let it go.

COMMENTS WELCOME!


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VOWS memo

Saw "VOWS" last night with the family. I'll ramble on that one shortly, but here's the memo from November '94. Shari Goodhartz wrote the outline, which Michael Reaves edited. Shari's entire story was more or less set at the Eyrie Building. It was about Demona and Xanatos using the wedding to get half of a magical talisman from Goliath. Goliath prevents them from using this macguffin, but realizes once and for all that he and Demona are over.

As I noted below, it seemed like that wasn't enough. So I took ALL of Shari's story and CRUSHED it into Act One. Then I came up with the Time Travel story that was the heart of VOWS. All of Acts Two and Three as presented in the memo below are my work. But I think Shari and Michael did a great job of executing it in this jam-packed episode.

One little tidbit. Petros was my original name for Xanatos' father. (I went to college with a guy named Petros.) But Shari and/or Michael named the dad "Stefan", which I went with here. At the recording session, Marina Sirtis pointed out that the name didn't work for some reason that I can no longer recall. (Aris, any thoughts?) So I jumped in and rechristened him Petros. Later we realized that both Elisa and David had fathers who had been named variations on Peter. To me, that was a very cool thing.

WEISMAN 11-25-94

Notes on "Vows" Outline...

GENERAL
Basically, it still didn't seem like we had enough story. So I compressed what was here and tried to extrapolate forward to fill out acts 2 and 3.

THE TALISMAN
I'm calling it the PHOENIX GATE. It can be used as a gateway to anywhere and anywhen. (The Gate will, I believe, eventually give us our Battle of Britain Story. And give the Archmage a powerful weapon for reaching and conquering Avalon.) By combining the two halves of the Phoenix Gate and invoking the Latin translation of the phrase: "Burn down the walls of time and space!", the gate opens in flame and sucks up anyone in the immediate vicinity, transporting them to the place and time chosen by the invoker. But choosing requires incredible concentration. Otherwise, the chooser's emotional or mental whim of the moment may cause the gate to drop everyone off at Burger King instead of Fort Knox.

TIME TRAVEL
So we're going to do a time travel story. Which means we need to establish traveling rules for our series. I'm going with the most conservative, most restrictive rules possible, because more than any other type of fantasy or science fiction convention, time travel is really subject to logic abuse. So...

Whatever's happened in the past has already happened, including the actions of our time travelers. Recorded history may be incomplete or incorrect, but true history cannot be changed. When Demona and Goliath go back in time to meet the young Demona, both of the older gargoyles are seeking to change or influence the young Demona's history. But this meeting already took place. The older Demona remembers it. (Maybe not every precise detail, and maybe she didn't fully understand the event at the time, but she does remember it.) Whatever influence the modern gargoyles had on her has already been figured into the events that followed, many of which have already been depicted in other episodes. (Sadly, in this case, neither Goliath or Demona had any real sustained influence on the younger Demona at all. That's the tragic flaw of both Demonas. They just never learn.)

WHERE AND WHEN ARE WE GOING?
Castle Wyvern. 975 A.D. The castle is ruled by the 21 year old Prince Malcolm of Wyvern. Malcolm's chief advisors are the 35 year old Captain of the Guard [NOTE: per my recent work on the timeline, the Captain was 29 years old in 975.]; the Archmage (nine years younger than when he appeared in "Long Way to Morning"), and Hudson who is biologically 49. Young warriors, Goliath and Demona are both biologically 19, (in "Long Way..." they were more like 23). If you have space for them, Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway are all biologically nine. Bronx hasn't hatched yet. In contrast, our modern Goliath is biologically 29 years old and Hudson's 59.

VOWS
That's the theme. Vows. When you keep them. When you can't. Why you do or don't. Don't hesitate to play it up.

STEFAN
In thinking about it, I think Stefan Xanatos should be a naturalized American Citizen living in a north eastern fishing community. Maybe somewhere in Maine. He's still Greek, but he emigrated before David was born. That way, David Xanatos could have been born and raised to pursue (and pervert) the American Dream.

BEAT OUTLINE
ACT ONE
1. Night by some landmark, (maybe the Goldencup Bakery Building or the Cyberbiotics Tower). DAVID XANATOS (in armor) and GOLIATH fight. No stolen Cyberbiotics devices. I really don't want to sweat this scene too much. There are a hundred ways that this could have begun, and in the interest of getting to our main story quicker, I don't want to spend a lot of time "prologing" our prologue. But for the sake of consistency, I'll posit the following: Xanatos left a vaguely menacing message for Goliath with ELISA, whom he can reach easily enough at the precinct house. (The location of the rendezvous itself may have suggested bad news.) Goliath, prepared for a trap but not about to hide from danger, went to the stated rendezvous and, expecting the worse, waded into battle before Xanatos could get a word in edgewise. Well, Xanatos is always up for a little workout, so he fought back with relish, taking his time to reveal the real reason he had asked Goliath to come: He wants Goliath to be best man at his wedding tomorrow night. As a little incentive, he's invited DEMONA, and wrested a promise that she'll be on her best behavior throughout the event. [Reveal as much or as little of the "prologing" as necessary in order to make the scene play.]

2. Clock Tower just before Dawn. HUDSON seems strangely ambivalent, but Elisa and BROOKLYN can't believe Goliath would even consider going to the wedding. They have a hundred reasons each why it's obvious lunacy. Goliath doesn't put up much of a counter-argument. He knows they're right. He won't go. Dawn comes. They all turn to stone. Elisa heads home.

3. Castle during the day. In the courtyard, Xanatos waits for something, still in his armor but with the helmet off. A helicopter lands, piloted by FOX and carrying STEFAN XANATOS, a big, tough, weathered but honest Greek fisherman. Stefan is a little put off by his son's armored attire, but tries at first to make the best of an awkward situation. He is teasingly superstitious about his son seeing Fox on the day of the wedding, but the happy couple make their own luck and patronizingly ignore his concerns, which darkens Stefan's mood. Fox exits to get dressed. David asks his dad, what he thinks of the place. Stefan is frankly appalled by the conspicuous consumption. Why does his son need a place like this? "Oh, reason not the need, father. I wanted it. So I took it." Stefan is disgusted by his son's attitude. Why does he need to wear armor? David assures him, the armor is purely defensive. Defense against what? What kind of life does his son lead? He think David would have been better off being a humble fisherman, like himself: "In fact, if I ever get my hands on the man who sent you that coin, I swear I'll teach him a lesson for meddling with my family." David smiles when his Dad brings up "the coin". That's ancient history, Pop. Besides, that coin was only worth about 20 grand. David's now worth "considerably more". But Dad's not letting him off the hook. If he had never received that coin anonymously, he'd never have become what he is now. "You know, Dad, someday I'm going to prove to you that I really am a self-made man. And that's a promise." Besides, if the castle and the armor upset you, wait until you meet the best man.
On cue, OWEN enters with the JUDGE who is to perform the ceremony. Owen has prepared a little videotape of the gargoyles for Stefan and the Judge to watch. That way, they won't swallow their tongues when they see Goliath and Demona. As they all head inside, Owen questions whether this is necessary, will Goliath really show? He'll be here, Xanatos assures him, "I'd take an oath on it."

4. Back at the clock tower during the day, we push in on the stone Goliath and ripple dissolve to his dream/memory.

5. Castle Wyvern, 975 A.D., night. YOUNG GOLIATH finds YOUNG DEMONA standing on the tower with YOUNGISH HUDSON. Demona seems ridiculously happy to see him. Goliath doesn't want to miss PRINCE MALCOLM'S Wedding. She seems a bit distracted. She looks at Hudson, who says "Go on, then." She and Goliath glide down to one of the upper windows of the Great Hall. From there, they watch this strange human ceremony of bonding, including the exchange of rings. Goliath comments on the beauty of the symbolism or something, and Demona takes out the PHOENIX GATE. She separates the two pieces and hands him one. She swears she will never stop loving him. (If she seems a little too intense, we'll chalk it up at this stage to the emotion of the moment.) Goliath takes his half of the gate, and somewhat awed by her intensity, makes a similar vow. They embrace, stroking each other's hair. (The Gargoyle equivalent of kissing.)

6. Dissolve back out to the Clock Tower at Dusk. Goliath and the others explode awake. Goliath goes to a secret hiding place in the clock tower. (Behind the comatose, COLDSTONE, perhaps.) We see the GRIMORUM and the EYE OF ODIN, as well as Goliath's half of the Gate. (He had hidden it a thousand years ago in a hollow brick at the castle, which Xanatos had transported to NYC unaware of its contents. Goliath had retrieved it before moving to the Clock Tower.) He clutches the gate-piece in his huge hand and leaves, never giving the other gargoyles a chance to talk him out of what even he must realize is a foolhardy quest. Hudson watches him go.

7. Night at the castle. Xanatos and Owen wait in the courtyard for Goliath. Both are now dressed in tuxedos, and Xanatos is wearing a lapel pin that depicts a pyramid with an eye at its apex radiating light. Owen questions whether he should be wearing the emblem of the ILLUMINATI SOCIETY in public. Xanatos says cryptically that it's a necessary risk. [By the way, I have no idea if this is an Illuminati symbol or not. But it seems to fit.] Goliath arrives. Owen offers him a bow-tie. Goliath is not amused. Xanatos gives him Fox's wedding ring to hold. That's what the best man does, you see. Hold the ring, until the couple exchanges vows.
The three enter the Great Hall. Everyone is there. The judge and Stefan have already seen Demona, but Goliath is even more startling thanks to his imposing size. Fox is wearing a white dress, but something non-traditional and sexy. And Demona broods. Goliath approaches her, clutching the gate-piece tightly in his fist. She does not even want to talk to him. She feels she has to attend this farce because Xanatos insisted, and she needs to keep him as an ally. But she cannot fathom why Xanatos wants Goliath here. Goliath attempts to remind her of the last wedding they attended together, but she is not interested in reminiscing.
The wedding ceremony begins, rather informally at first. Keep it very short. (At some point, the Judge should ask Fox's real name. Fox coldly informs him that "Fox" is legally her real name now.) We get to the exchange of rings. Goliath hands Xanatos one for Fox. Demona hands Fox one for Xanatos. Demona looks across at Goliath and seems to break down. Just as the Judge pronounces David and Fox, HUSBAND AND WIFE, Demona runs from the Hall. Goliath pursues. Xanatos & Fox, exchange glances. "Now the fun really begins." They start to follow the gargoyles. Stefan tries to restrain his son: What are you up to now? You'd interrupt your own wedding to engage in Machiavellian scheming? But Xanatos is in a bit of a hurry. He and Fox head out the door pursued by Stefan. The Judge turns to Owen very confused. Owen says something dry and witty. And then both men follow the rest.
Outside, Goliath catches up with Demona before she can glide away. Does she remember their vows? Is there still a chance for them? He shows her his gate-piece. He's always kept it. She gently removes it from his hand and takes out hers. So has she. She puts the interlocking pieces together to form the PHOENIX GATE. And then... she laughs. Goliath is such a fool. He's fallen right into Xanatos and Demona's sentimental trap. Now she has the Gate. And she intends to use it. And just as the Xanatos clan approaches, she speaks the incantation. A huge bird of fire seems to engulf Goliath, Demona, David, Fox and Stefan Xanatos. The fire consumes itself. Owen and the Judge arrive just in time to see the last spark go out. There is no sign of the wedding party. Owen: "It seems the honeymoon has begun earlier than expected."

8. Wyvern, Scotland, on the cliffside near the forest overlooking Castle Wyvern. (This is where Hudson and Goliath froze the morning of the gargoyle massacre of 994 A.D. Only now, it's 975 A.D. -- the night of Prince Malcolm's wedding.) Our five time travelers materialize out of the flaming gate. Stefan asks "Where are we?" David: "The question isn't where... but when?"

ACT TWO
9. Pick up right where we left off. Demona laughs and launches herself off the cliff. Goliath pursues, leaving the humans behind. Xanatos doesn't waste any time. "Follow me!" He runs back into the forest followed by Fox and a very confused Stefan.

10. Air chase. Demona manages to put some distance between herself and Goliath. She chants the incantation and vanishes into the flaming "Gate", leaving Goliath alone.

11. In the forest, Clan Xanatos comes upon TWO HOODED RIDERS who are being attacked by FOUR ARMED BANDITS on horseback. Although he is unarmed, Xanatos never hesitates, wading right in against the bandits. Xanatos, Fox, the larger of the two riders and even Stefan make short work of the bandits. The bandits are forced to flee without their horses, which Xanatos commandeers for his family. The large rider is grateful but suspicious of these strangers in bizarre garb. Then he notices Xanatos' Illuminati pin and warms up fast, briefly drawing back his cloak, to reveal that he wears the same Illuminati emblem. He tells Xanatos that he is the NORMAN AMBASSADOR. He and his "companion" bring "priceless gifts" to Prince Malcolm of Wyvern. Xanatos may wear strange garb, but he's a great fighter (and a fellow Illuminatus). The Ambassador would be honored if Xanatos' would accompany them the last few miles to Castle Wyvern. He also promises that Prince Malcolm will be very grateful for their help as well.

12. Having lost Demona, Goliath soars closer to the castle, debating with himself whether or not he should land there. Then he spots Demona again from a distance. He circles to intercept her, but as she lands on a castle battlement, she is greeted by a young Goliath. And the adult Goliath realizes that he wasn't tracking his enemy, but her younger counterpart. He comes in for a landing on one of the high towers of the castle, and surreptitiously watches the young lovers below him. It almost tears his heart out. And then he hears Hudson's voice behind him, demanding to know what he's doing up on the tower when he had been assigned to hold watch on the battlement. Adult Goliath turns to see his MENTOR, (the YOUNGER HUDSON). When Hudson gets a good look at him, he immediately sees that something is wrong. And when Hudson sees young Goliath and young Demona, below on the battlement, he's ready to cry sorcery, and Adult Goliath has to slap a hand over his mouth.

13. At the gates of the castle, Xanatos, Stefan, Fox, the Ambassador and the hooded rider are greeted by young Prince Malcolm and the ARCHMAGE. The rider is revealed to be PRINCESS ELENA of Normandy. (I made this name up, and have no idea if it's accurate to tenth century Normandy.) The Ambassador had hoped that by arriving in secret, he and the Princess would avoid just the kind of trouble that Clan Xanatos saved them from. Malcolm is very grateful. He was to marry Elena tomorrow, but because the princess was attacked, he has decided to move up the wedding to this very night. He tells his SERVANTS to prepare the Great Hall. At the Ambassador's prompting, Elena pulls out her father's wedding gift. It is a priceless golden treasure known as the PHOENIX GATE, which she will officially present to the Prince after the ceremony.

14. Meanwhile, with great difficulty, Goliath is trying to convince Hudson that he is not a sorcerous creature, but a visitor from the future. (He does not choose to reveal how far in the future.) Goliath is a bit flustered himself: he doesn't know how much to reveal, and he has to remind himself not to use anachronistic names like Hudson and Demona. He manages to babble out the fact that sometime in the future, he attended the wedding of an enemy and that he and his... enemies were sent back in time by some kind of sorcery. He is particularly concerned for the younger versions of himself and Demona. He needs his MENTOR's help. (This conversation will explain the older Hudson's ambivalence in Scene 2. He remembered meeting the adult Goliath after the latter had attended the wedding of an enemy.) Hudson isn't sure what to believe, but he looks deeply into adult Goliath's eyes and decides to trust him.

15. The Archmage returns to his laboratory. He is furious. At first we think he's ranting to himself, but then we realize he's talking to his apprentice, who cowers a bit in the shadows. It turns out that the Archmage hired the bandits to steal the Phoenix Gate from the Normans. To Malcolm, it is just a gaudy bauble, but to him it is the second talisman of power that he needs. (He has the Grimorum. Doesn't yet have the Eye of Odin.) With it he can transverse space and time in a thought. He needs his apprentice to steal it from the Princess before the wedding. Hesitantly, the apprentice steps forward out of the shadows. It is the young Demona.

16. Fox and Stefan watch as Xanatos hands the Ambassador a letter, and returns to face his father. He tells him that the letter contains instructions for the Illuminati society and two sealed envelopes. The Society is to wait 1000 years and then deliver the first envelope to a young David Xanatos of Bar Harbor, Maine. The envelope contains a small coin, a minor reward requested of the Prince for saving the Princess. The coin is practically worthless in 975, but by 1975 it will be worth about 20 grand. The second envelope is to be delivered twenty years after the first. It contains a detailed account of how the coin was obtained. That's how Xanatos knew how to set all this up. He had received instructions from himself last week. "So you see, Pop. I am indeed a self-made man." Fox beams with pride. Stefan is quiet for a beat. Then asks: "All right, Mr. Big Shot Time Traveler. You sent yourself your little letter before you answered one important question: How do we get home?"

17. Young Demona sneaks into the Princess' room through a window and grabs the Phoenix Gate, while Elena's back is turned. She leaves by the same window, but she doesn't get very far. Suddenly, her older counterpart appears before her in a fiery flash of Phoenix flame.

ACT THREE
18. Up on the tower, the burst of Phoenix flame attracts the attention of Goliath, Hudson -- and Young Goliath down on the battlement! Adult Goliath knows the flame signals the arrival of his... enemy. But his younger counterpart MUST NOT investigate. Hudson agrees to waylay young Goliath. Adult Goliath takes off in the direction of the fading flame.

19. Meanwhile, the older Demona confronts her younger self. Both hold a complete version of the Phoenix Gate. (Don't you just love time travel stories?) Anyway, the younger Demona is obviously stunned by what she sees. The older one is right to business. She knows for a fact that her arrival is about to attract some unwanted attention. They need to go somewhere private to talk! She invokes the Latin spell and her gate opens into fire that sucks in both Demonas. At the last possible second, Adult Goliath flies into the fiery gate, and all three vanish.

20. Castle Wyvern. The highest tower. 994 A.D. A few nights after the Massacre. The 994 counterpart of Goliath is frozen in stone (in Thinker pose) at night! Small fires still burn. Fragments of other gargoyles litter the ground. On the cut, the Phoenix Gate deposits Young Demona, Adult Demona and Adult Goliath a few yards above the tower. The Demona's drop down gently enough, but Goliath's momentum from scene 19 sends him crashing into the stone floor of the tower. Adult Demona seems ready for this as well. Before Goliath can recover, she slams him across the back with all her might, plus both fists and the anger of 1000 years. He is knocked unconscious.
And then her real work begins. Young Demona is still in a state of semi-shock. Adult Demona wastes no time. Yes, she is her older self returned from the future with a warning. See the destruction. The death. Goliath frozen in stone at night! Humans did this! And you can stop it! You have the Phoenix Gate. All you have to do is think of a place and time. Hold it in your mind, and by speaking the incantation you are there. With its power you can accomplish anything. Do not give it away to the Archmage. Do not share it with... Do not share it! USE IT!! Destroy all the humans! Rule the Gargoyles! Rule the world!! It's all within your grasp!!!
Goliath starts to come to. Young Demona rushes to his side. Adult Demona intercepts her. "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel." But you cannot trust Goliath. He is weak. He cares more about the humans than the gargoyle clan! The greatest favor you can do him would be to put him out of our misery. (And here is where our Demona has made her big mistake. A mistake made despite the power of hindsight. Because Demona never learns. And because at this time, the younger Demona loves Goliath with all her heart.) Adult Demona: "You must know I'm right! Can't you see I am what you will become?!" And young Demona, still largely innocent and good, snaps: "I will never become like you!" Young Demona attacks adult Demona! Fight scene. Frankly, Young Demona wouldn't be a match for adult Demona, except that the latter is a bit reluctant to trash "herself". Still, it's for her own good.
Goliath regains consciousness and joins the battle. The tide turns and Adult Demona is knocked out this time. Goliath takes her version of the Phoenix Gate from her. Young Demona is pretty near shattered by this whole experience! She turns to Goliath, pleadingly. What should she do?
Goliath is reluctant to use Adult Demona's methods. But he also wants to undo some of the damage the Adult Demona did. Young Demona is touching the frozen version of Goliath. Our Goliath approaches her. Tells her not to worry about this. Not to fear it or look for it. It is not the big catastrophes that must concern her. It is the little slights. The little jealousies and angers that prey upon the heart. Fortify yourself with love and trust, and you need not fear this future.
Goliath looks at Adult Demona. He holds up her Gate. He's not sure he knows how to use it. The younger one lifts her version. She knows how. She speaks the words and the three of them disappear in flames.

21. They reappear in flame on the same tower in 975. Xanatos, Fox and Stefan are there. (The highest point on the castle was the logical place to watch for the Phoenix flames.) Goliath would be tempted to leave Xanatos behind if he wasn't afraid of the damage the guy could do to the future. Goliath says good-bye to young Demona. By now, he's figured out how the gate works. Young Demona steps back out of range. With some hesitancy, Goliath speaks the Latin and our five time travelers disappear.
Young Demona is left alone. She still has her version of the Phoenix Gate, which she holds tightly behind her back. The Archmage comes running up the stairs, clutching the Grimorum. He had seen the Phoenix fire and jumps to the conclusion that young Demona let somebody else get away with the Gate. Before she can reveal that she still has her Gate, he punishes her with a bolt of lightning, and threatens to tell the Prince that she stole the Gate. Hudson glides in, landing between Demona and the Archmage. Hudson wonders why the Archmage would expect Demona to have the Prince's wedding present? If Demona did steal it, who would she be stealing it for? The Archmage takes the hint, begrudgingly. But he won't forget this. He heads back downstairs, grumbling: Those strangely dressed strangers have disappeared. The theft of the Gate can be blamed on them. Obviously, Young Demona never reveals that she still has the Gate.
Young Goliath glides in and in a repeat of the first half of scene 5, Demona seems ridiculously happy to see him. Goliath doesn't want to miss Prince Malcolm's Wedding. Demona seems a bit distracted. She looks at Hudson, who says "Go on, then." She and Goliath glide down to one of the upper windows of the Great Hall.

22. Xanatos' Castle in Manhattan, 1995. A repeat of the end of scene 7: Owen and the Judge arrive on the scene just in time to see the last spark go out. There is no sign of the wedding party. Owen: "It seems the honeymoon has begun earlier than expected."
Our five time travelers reappear. Demona is recovering. Goliath may have defeated her, but he failed too. Demona remembers his little speech from when she was young. She never forgot it. And it didn't change anything. "More's the pity," he says. And he glides off with the Gate.
In excellent spirits, Xanatos approaches his father. "Did you have a good time at the wedding?" Xanatos Senior takes a penny from his pocket and flips it to Xanatos Junior. David catches it and asks, what's this? Stefan says, "It's called a penny. It's not worth much now, but in a 1000 years, who knows. It's my wedding present to you. Because it's all you seem to care about." Stefan turns his back on his son, and walks away.

23. Goliath arrives back at the Clock Tower. Elisa and Brooklyn are there, ready to blast him for going to the wedding. But Hudson takes one look at Goliath and stops them. Goliath puts the Phoenix Gate back in its hiding place with the Grimorum and the Eye. When he turns to face us, there's a single tear rolling down his cheek. Push in on him and ripple dissolve...

24. Castle Wyvern, 975 A.D., night. M.O.S., Young Demona separates the two pieces of the Phoenix Gate and hands one to Young Goliath. They embrace, stroking each other's hair. FADE OUT.


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Sapphire writes...

Questions about the relationship of Demona and Princess Katherine

1) In the episode "The reckoning" Demona seemed really ungrateful by clenching her hand talons in a fist and growling of how Princess Katherine and her followers treated her clan with comtempt and the final insult came when princess Katherine stole the clan's children when she was imprisoned in the labrinth when talking to Angela. My question is Princess Katherine risked her life to correct her past misdeeds towards Demona's clan by getting the eggs to Avalon and raising them. Why isnt Demona grateful for that?

2)What will Demona do to Princess Katherine if they were ever to meet again?

Greg responds...

1. Demona isn't the most rational or grateful of individuals. Or haven't you noticed?

2. Invite her to tea, perhaps? Nahh.

Response recorded on November 13, 2000

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Faieq writes...

When Iago made Othello believe that Goliath was trying to steal Desdemona away from Othello during the Dark Ages, what was Demona's role in all this?

Greg responds...

Minimal.

Response recorded on November 09, 2000

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GreyPhoenix writes...

G2198 contest:

446: immediate
518: brilliant
519: masterplan

Greg responds...

They'd still be humans mentally. I think she might have tried to take more advantage of the situation if she'd thought it out. But that wasn't a viable solution to her.

Response recorded on November 09, 2000

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Basilisk writes...

In 'The Mirror', Demona is furious that all the humans in Manhattan are gargoyles. If she'd taken a minute to think on what advantages she could have in a gargoyle-populated city (ie, she would be accepted, she wouldn't have to hide, etc, etc) would she have decided to just let it all alone? I mean, she was clearly not thinking properly, she was just raging, but if she had been, what would she do?

Greg responds...

They'd still be humans mentally. I think she might have tried to take more advantage of the situation if she'd thought it out. But that wasn't a viable solution to her.

Response recorded on November 09, 2000

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matt writes...

if demona had succeded in destroying humanity in hunters moon 3 wouldn't she die as soon as she became human and was no longer under the protection of the praying gargoyle? also wouldn't that spell have killed macbeth and thus she would died or does the power of the praying gargoyle supersede the wierd sisters spell? im a huge fan thanks for a great show!!!!

Greg responds...

Hey, Matt. Check the Demona and/or Macbeth archives. I'm tired of answering that one.

Response recorded on November 02, 2000

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Anonymous writes...

To the Angela topic

Hi Greg. I don´t know English well but I will attempt that you understand me. I very like your work in Gargoyles and my congratulations because Gargoyles is the best cartoon serie that I saw in my life. Then, I ask: If the series of Gargoyles will continue one day, how can end the relation of Angela and Demona (mother and daughter)? (friendly, badly,dramaticaly),... Thanks.

Greg responds...

Who says it ends?

Response recorded on November 01, 2000

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Razorclawz writes...

In City of Stone 2, when Demona rip off the Hunter's mask, Gillecomegain shot something like: "Do you remember me? The boy you disfigured?" Demona said no. Did she lie or she didn't remember the boy?

Greg responds...

I don't think she knew who the hell he was.

Response recorded on October 26, 2000

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Vilija writes...

How and when did Demona get to North America?
I figured she must still have been in Europe during both wars...(Temptation) "I've seen horrors that would blast your soul."
(That was a very cool episode by the way. But I dont like how Goliath's face was distorted during the spell.)

Greg responds...

Which time?

Response recorded on October 20, 2000

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Anonymous writes...

Does Demona really have a spell that can take a minute from a person's life?

Greg responds...

No. Not handy.

Response recorded on October 20, 2000

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Vilija (Demona's greatest fan) writes...

In the "Hunter's Moon #1" Episode, Demona does her cool Human to Gargoyle transformation."If you want something done right...do it yorself!" (What a great line. It gave me goosebumps!) I noticed that she is shown with her trademark tiara. Is that thing attatched to her head, or does she keep it in her pocket? How does she get it on so quickly? Also, what metal is it made of? Sorry, I'm just curious. (Say hi to your kids for me!)

Greg responds...

It's gold. And yes, she's very quick with it.

Response recorded on October 19, 2000

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Samantha writes...

I'm a juinor in high school and in my Advance Placement class for American History, we're reading the books The Crucible and the Scarlett letter, both about the puritains and the Salem Witch trials...my question is where was Demona during all this? Did she even know about it? And the holocust also, what did she think of these events in history, did she become even more enrgaed with humans that they could do this to their kind or could she of cared less and figured it only proved her more right that humans are just purely evil? Im hope this question didn't confuse you...Thanks!

Greg responds...

I'd say the latter, largely.

Response recorded on October 19, 2000

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XanaTOAST writes...

Why does Demona wear a crown

Greg responds...

Personal expression.

Or maybe she likes shiny things.

And it's not a crown. It's a tiara.

Response recorded on October 05, 2000

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Gengar! writes...

what happened to Demona mother

Greg responds...

Which one?

Response recorded on September 25, 2000

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Bruno writes...

Hi, Greg,

I was thinking about the two next great loves of Demona's life.
Really, Greg, you're a good guy: After all that she did, there's yet someone that may fall in love with her. But this creats some doubts:

1 - I suppose that the first of them will appear in the normal series (Gargoyles), and the second in G2158 (oops, revamping :-). Am I right?

The next questions are about just the first of them:

2 - Is he a known gargoyle (Griff, Zaffiro, etc)?

3 - If no, is he from a known clan?

4 - Is he a good guy or another Thailog?

5 - Will he know all about the dirt things that she did?

6 - What's his opinion about this?

7 - Will they have one (or more) eggs together?

Greg responds...

1. I'm not answering this.

2 - 7. Ditto.

Response recorded on September 25, 2000

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Warrioress writes...

Did Demona have any other children besides Angela (with another male Gargoyle, I mean)?

Greg responds...

No.

Response recorded on September 21, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

1) Has Demona already used all the spells available in the pages she tore from the Grimorum?

2) Did Elisa or the others do anything special with that page from the Grimorum with the spell that enchanted Goliath? If Goliath must obey anyone who holds it, couldn't someone say, "I negate the last command", and have Goliath fall right back under its spell? Even if that isn't the case, I would think that the possibility was enough that they would take certain precautions with it. Just wondering.

Greg responds...

1. All but one.

2. They burned it.

Response recorded on September 21, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

This is in response to your answer to my question about future genocidal schemes of Demona. When I commented that it struck me as difficult to top the "Hunter's Moon" scheme, you pointed out that it might strike some as difficult to top the "City of Stone" scheme.

That is a good point, but I do think that it was quite possible to top the "City of Stone" scheme. Demona's scheme there was threatening the humans in Manhattan. In "Hunter's Moon", she'd upped the range of her scheme to threatening all humans on the planet.

Greg responds...

Yeah. And it would be hard to top her in terms of pure numbers. Aside from population growth, you can't really top the notion of "Everyone". But I think you can top a plan in terms of it's nature and specifics.

But I'm not particularly saying what Demona would try next. (I'm afraid of what she'd do to me, if I did.)

Response recorded on September 16, 2000

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Justin writes...

Dear Greg Here's another set of questions for you.
1a)How did Demona find those five gargs in City of Stone?
1b)Were the a few clans in Scotland?
2a)Did have a rookery?
2b)Did Demona contribute?
3a)Why did Demona treat her clan more like an army ten family?
3b)Why did Demona do nothing to stop the princess,magus and Tom when they took the clan's eggs?
Thanks

Greg responds...

1a. She searched around. And there were more than five. But they lived in "cells" so that the Hunter couldn't stumble on any one location and destroy them all.

b. I know there's a typo in there, but I still am not sure what this question is.

2a. Demona's clan? Probably they had one when they needed one.

2b. No.

3a. Why do YOU think?

3b. Paralyzing guilt.

Response recorded on September 14, 2000

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Adam writes...

I have another question about Demona. What does she do when she's not plotting the downfall of mankind? I mean, she can't ALWAYS be actively involved in some nefarious plot; that would be way too much like "Pinky and the Brain" (I can see it now PINKY: What are we going to do tomorrow night, Demona? DEMONA: The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the…uhh…destroy humanity!!!). She has to have a hobby or something, and I'm betting it's not stealing candy from babies or tying attractive blonde women to the railroad tracks. Does she watch T.V., like Hudson; or read, like Goliath; or does she gnaw on bones, like Bronx? I'll limit this to the recent past (because this is not a "What did Demona do during WWII" question), let's say from the late 1980s onward. Also, before Puck turned her into a human during the day; since I'm interested in what she did as a gargoyle, not as Dominique Destine.

Greg responds...

I think she was more mono-focused than you think. Research, study, practicing her sorcery. Making investments. All steps toward her goal.

Response recorded on September 14, 2000

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Adam writes...

Okay, now that somebody has won the clans contest it's time for me to ask an actual question. So here it is:

Where did Demona sleep while she was in New York before Puck cast his spell that turned her into a human during the day? More importantly, how did Demona sleep? We know that Goliath and his clan usually assume menacing postures, unless the sun catches them unawares. They're protecting the castle during the day (as much as they can) by looking scary. The Gargoyles at Ishimura face inwards, for a reason that I've forgotten. But Demona no longer protects anything. Does she still jump onto the nearest parapet and strike a pose just for old-time's sake? How does a gargoyle who isn't really a gargoyle any more behave during one of the moments that defines that species?

Greg responds...

Demona has a home in Gramercy Park. I'm sure she locked herself somewhere very safe.

Response recorded on September 14, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Another Demona question. One thing that I noticed was that while Demona and Elisa were serious enemies throughout the series, they haven't really had a head-on clash since "Avalon Part Three". In "Sanctuary", Elisa opposes Demona and is the one to temporarily kill her, but Demona never even notices Elisa, being too busy fighting Macbeth. They don't interact in "Future Tense" (which doesn't really count, for obvious reasons) or "The Reckoning", and while both play major roles in "Hunter's Moon", they never run into each other in that one either.

Did you have any Demona/Elisa confrontations planned for after "Hunter's Moon" (and I can't help but think that the Kiss and its consequences would almost certainly make Demona all the more hostile towards Elisa)?

Greg responds...

Of course.

Response recorded on September 09, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Did you have any further plans for "exterminate humanity" attempts for Demona after "Hunter's Moon"? I've sometimes wondered about this. On the one hand, it's a major goal of hers - and one which I imagine Demona would consider even more important to achieve now that the humans know that the gargoyles exist, aren't too happy about it, and have even set up the Quarrymen. On the other hand, it strikes me as rather difficult to top the scheme that she used in "Hunter's Moon".

Greg responds...

Did you think it would be difficult for us to top her scheme from City of Stone?

Response recorded on September 09, 2000

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Brian writes...

If demona is human during the day why do her eyes glow and why is her waist so thin?

Greg responds...

Her eyes glow, because the spell is imperfect. (And cuz it's cool.)

Also she eats well and gets a lot of exercise.

Response recorded on September 09, 2000

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Melissa writes...

Hey again,

When I first saw that Demona had red glowing eyes (unlike the others who had white) I thought that was intended to be a hint that she was on the evil side. Usually in children shows, the evil characters are dressed in darker colors (i.e. black and red) while the good guys are dressed in lighter colors (i.e. white, light blue). I know the show is deeper than that, but was that the initial reason why Demona had red glowing eyes, or was it planned that female gargoyles would have red glowing eyes all along?

Thanks a bunch!

Greg responds...

Both.

But I had no problem giving Angela, etc. red glowing eyes later, even though they weren't evil.

Response recorded on September 09, 2000

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg. I was wondering if you are in the mood to talk about Demona's next two great loves. I'd really like to hear about them.

Greg responds...

Can't. Revamping.

Response recorded on September 02, 2000

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Ithica writes...

When do you think Demona and Macbeth became fully aware that neither could die without killing the other? Right after Canmore stabbed Macbeth? Later?

Also, Macbeth is quite clearly (at least at one point) a suicidal character. Did he ever try to just kill himself? If so, did he not know he had to kill Demona to do it, or just hoped it would work?

Greg responds...

Right after each got up after "dying".

Mac knows the rules.

Response recorded on September 02, 2000

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Kelly L Creighton/Kya White Sapphire writes...

OH and greg, hate to tell ya, but you know how you keep telling people to "check the archives" for the demona/macbeth dieing from virus/statue etc..? its not there. i dont know if its in the HUGE archives, but i read the demona archive and the macbeth archive. its not there. unless gore deleted it just as i went to go look for it. not that im asking that question, but i thought id let you know :)

Greg responds...

So check the BIG ARCHIVES. I know I've answered it many, many, many times.

The short answer is it depends on what was going on in Demona's head. (And frankly, the short answer should be enough in this case.)

Response recorded on August 23, 2000

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Chris writes...

I couldn't find this question anywhere but if I just missed it and it's there in the archives, feel free to ignore, so here it is....

In all the centuries that the Canmores were hunting Demona, did it ever occur to any of them that there was something strange about the fact that they were hunting the same gargoyle for centuries when gargoyles only have twice the lifespan of a human?(That's around 200 years right?)I know i'd think there was something odd going on.I mean, did they know she was immortal, or was this hunter thing something they followed blindly just because their ancestors did?

Thanks for your time, and the show.

Greg responds...

They thought she (and all gargoyles) were demons. They didn't know about the half-speed aging thing.

Response recorded on August 23, 2000

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Gencie Salter writes...

1. Did Demona ever meet any other gargoyles/clans after the one she had when she was with MacBeth?

Greg responds...

maybe

Response recorded on August 22, 2000

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LSZ writes...

How does Demona feel about Oberon?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure she's aware of him.

Response recorded on August 22, 2000

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LSZ writes...

What does Demona think of human religions in general and in specific?

Greg responds...

Mostly, she doesn't.

Response recorded on August 22, 2000

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Emmlei writes...

I was thinking recently about Demona and the Canmores/Hunters, and it dawned on me that it's a lot like the Montagues and Caputlets of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Both involve two 'families' battling each other over a past greivance, one whose cause unfortunately became lost in the past (for Gargoyles, it's some kid getting slashed in the face, and we never learn the cause in 'R&J'). In both, the drive for revenge becomes the driving force for keeping the feud going. It's kind of tragic that in both stories, something as low as vengence causes so much pain on both sides. So, was that intentional or did I just come across one of those universal themes?

Greg responds...

Largely the universal theme thing. The obvious piece that's missing to make it truly parallel R&J is the young lovers. And I don't think that Jason & Elisa really fill those rolls, wouldn't you agree?

I was going to do a much more dead-on R&J riff in NEW OLYMPIANS with Terry Chung and Sphinx.

Response recorded on August 21, 2000

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Scott Iskow writes...

I've tried to ask this question before, but I guess it got wiped in some glitch. Gotta love these new fandangled machines, eh?

My question: Will Demona reform before or after...

1) Angela's death?
2) Goliath's death?
3) The Space Spawn attack?
4) Clan Manhattan's eggs hatch?
5) Gargoyles declared as endangered species?
6) Pigs fly?

Greg responds...

Who says she reforms?

I said she starts to fight on the side of the angels. There's a difference.

Response recorded on August 19, 2000

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Tana writes...

Dear Greg,

Just read your Legion ramble...and I have to say this:

At the time when I first saw that Episode, I knew that Iago was trying to indicate that Goliath was betraying Othello with Desdemona, but I didn't understand why the credits listed the characters with such names. Boy was I naive.

A couple years later I was taking a Shakespeare class and read Othello. Can you imagine, about Act 2 somewhere we're reading it outloud and all of a sudden I say outloud: OH I GET IT. My friends thought I was insane. I had to give a quick explination for my outburst, which didn't help much to prove my sanity (none of them had watched Gargoyles).

Since reading the play Othello has become my favorite of the Shakespearian Tragedies (though I admit I have to read several more) And the Love "Pentagram" has become a delightful flavoring to the show.

I say Pentagram because I do believe that Demona would have been caught up in the whole mess. Especially given that Iago likens so well to the Shakespearian version. If he's going to ruin Goliath (and Othello as well) Then "In for a penny, in for a pound" Demona would have to go too. And probably the whole clan (including Hudson) probably would have been at Odds with Goliath thanks to Iago's whispering.

Which leads me to my first question:

1. Did the incident between Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Goliath occur before or after Goliath became leader to the clan? I ask because it strikes me that if after, Iago would not only try to win Desdemona, but Leadership as well.

2. Since Demona collected pieces of the shattered Iago to create Coldstone, we know he was banish from the clan. So what punishment was set upon Iago for causing such a clash between rookery brothers.

3. For that matter, would anyone have truely realized what Iago was doing, that he was responsible for it?

4. In City of Stone's flashback, we see Demona almost warning Othello and Desdemona about the upcoming attack. In one way, these two were used so that it wouldn't be just random gargs...But given the idea that Demona would have gotten tied up in the whole love scandal, it would seem Demona wouldn't exactly like Desdemona (even if the whole thing proved false; she's got trouble forgiving people) So why, in a character sense would Demona have gone to these two?

Well, I'm sure I had more questions along this topic, but I can't think of them after all that typing, so I'll let you get on with the other questions.

"So will I turn her virtue into pitch; and out of her own goodness make a net that shall emesh them all." -Iago (my fav quote from the play)

Greg responds...

1. After.
2. He was banished for a time.
3. Eventually.
4. Well, first off because they were there. Also, back then, Desdemona was the closest thing Demona had to a sister. Once everything was resolved there was less hostility there then you are imagining... however, perhaps all that history DID play some >small< role in why she DIDN'T warn them.

Good quote.

Response recorded on August 19, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

Hey Greg. Here are some Demona questions: 1) How did she find out about the praying gargoyle statue? 2) About how much time has Demona spent in Paris since the end of season 2, including the time she spent there looking for the praying garg statue and the time she spent there with Macbeth and Thailog? (years? decades? a century or two?). 3) Will Demona return to Paris for any significant period of time in the future? 4a) Who told Demona about the Medicci tablet? 4b) What was the original purpose of the tablet's spell? 4c) Who made the tablet? 4d) I can't remember whether the tablet was shattered or not, but assuming it wasn't, can its spell be used again? e) If they haven't been destroyed, who now posseses the tablet and statue? 5) How did Demona know that the three items (virus/disinfectant, tablet spell and gargoyle statue) could be used together? 6)Over the centuries, Demona's done a lot of traveling. At the end of season 2, what do you think her favorite city is?

Greg responds...

1. That's a story for another day.
2. On and off, quite a bit.
3. Maybe.
4a. That's a story for another day.
4b. To fulfill the spell-caster's desire.
4c. That's a story for another day.
4d. Yes.
4e. The statue was destroyed. The authorities wound up with the tablet.
5. She used her imagination.
6. I don't think she thinks that way.

And Vash, I'm sorry for my extreme reaction to your previous set of questions. I regret being so harsh.

Response recorded on August 18, 2000

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Faieq Ali writes...

Was Demona loosing her arm bracelet in HUNTER'S MOON a permanent thing, or would she appear in the next episode with it on?
Was that the only arm bracelet she had or does she have a whole drawer full of them?

Greg responds...

She can get a replacement made.

Response recorded on August 18, 2000

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Demona (repost by Aris) writes...

Hi, Greg! I have a quick question for you -- why did Avalon send Demona and MacBeth to Paris? Goliath, Angela, Elisa, and Bronx were sent to Paris because of Demona and MacBeth. So, why were Demona and MacBeth there? Thanks!! :)

Greg responds...

Thailog. And a need for them to confront each other one more time.

Response recorded on August 01, 2000

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Angela (repost by Aris) writes...

Hello, Greg! Please let me know if I'm right about this -- I have proof that Goliath still loves Demona ----> 1.) In "Vows", Goliath spent the whole show trying to get Demona to stay good and love him again. Also, The only reason Goliath went to Xanatos' wedding is because Xanatos said that Demona would be there. I mean, Goliath wasn't going to go, but when he heard the name "Demona", he immediately decided to be the best man. 2.) In "The Reckoning," Goliath, at the end, was fighting Thailog because he was trying to hurt Demona. Plus, Goliath warned Demona about the fire 3.) In "Sanctuary", when Thailog was talking about how he planned on double-crossing Demona, Goliath got really mad. Plus, Goliath was jealous when he discovered that Demona had chosen Thailog (for the time being, anyway!!) 4.) In "Outfoxed," Goliath was talking to Halceyon Renard, and Ranard told Goliath how his missed Jeanine (Fox), and Anastasia. Goliath then adds his own and says how he misses his "Angel of the Night."

Please let me know if these are good facts to support my statement -- Goliath still loves/cares for Demona!! Thanks a million, Greg!!

Greg responds...

Sorry, Angela. "Proof" is an awful strong word. What you have doesn't qualify even as logical speculation.

1. "Vows" was Goliath's last ditch attempt to rekindle their love. Emphasis on "last ditch". He already had feelings for Elisa by this time, but it went against his grain to "abandon" his mate. So he made an attempt to reach her -- and that attempt failed. After that he moved on.

2. Goliath and Demona are in one respect like divorced parents. They both care for Angela. And Demona proved that in "The Reckoning". So yes, for Angela's sake, for the sake of their past feelings together, for the hope that someday, somehow she will reform, for a lot of complicated reasons, Goliath does not want Demona to die. But that does NOT mean he's still in love with her. He's not. And by the way, you're really stretching things here anyway. Goliath has -- indeptendent of Demona -- ample reason to fight Thailog in that situation, not the least being Thailog had just kidnapped him and his clan and had attempted to murder Angela.

3. Any decent person would be mad to hear about Thailog's plan. And jealous? Maybe a touch of residual jealousy was part of the equation. But mostly, he was just appalled. Maybe a bit grossed out even. He does think of Thailog as his son, after all.

4. He does miss THAT Demona. The one he remembers from the past. That's not the same as wanting the one he has to deal with now.

Still, if it makes you happy to ignore all this and pretend that Demona & Goliath belong together, who am I to stand in your way?

Just don't get your hopes up.

Response recorded on August 01, 2000

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Angela (repost by Aris) writes...

Hello, Greg! In "City of Stone: Part 4" MacBeth was going to throw Demona over the bridge in Xanatos' castle in the selarium, but Goliath talked MacBeth out of it. By doing this, Goliath saved both Demona and MacBeth's lives. Now, Goliath could have gotten rid of 2 of his biggest enemies, but he convinced MacBeth that "Death is never the answer, life is." This is proof that Goliath still has feelings for Demona. He could have easily let MacBeth kill her if he didn't love her, but he still does. SO......my question to you is -- this is proof that Goliath still loves, or at least still has feelings for Demona, I am correct?? Please let me know, Greg. I really appreciate it!! :)

Greg responds...

I hate to encourage you. Because frankly Goliath would have said the same thing to Macbeth if Mac had been threatening to kill Xanatos or Tony Dracon or anybody. (By the way, Macbeth wasn't threatening to throw Demona off the bridge. He was threatening to impale her on a jagged piece of metal debris that had fallen from one of the upper floors.)

On the other hand, I never denied that Goliath still has strong feelings for and about Demona. When they finally capture her in "The Reckoning" he won't consider killing her. But what I do deny, is the notion that he still loves her romantically. That ended decisively with "Vows". But theirs is a complex relationship. And feelings don't go away, don't vanish. They simply alter with time and experience.

Response recorded on August 01, 2000

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Angela (repost by Aris) writes...

Hi, Greg! Is there a special reason why Demona chose "Dominique Destin" to be her human name? I imagine that she had to choose the name for the episode "Sanctuary" so that MacBeth wouldn't suspect anything. Please let me know. Thanks, Greg!! :)

Greg responds...

Her destiny is to dominate. Or so she thinks.

Response recorded on July 30, 2000

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Faieq Ali writes...

1) In the Gargoyle universe, do soulmates exist?
2) If so, who is Goliath's soulmate, Elisa or Demona? What Goliath and Elisa have is honest, but difficult, whereas Goliath and Demona had a good relationship while it lasted, and if Demona had not betrayed the clan they would have still been together until one or the other perished. Their relationship was more easier, but it was naive and dishonest. So which is better?

Greg responds...

1. What do you think?
2. What do you think?

Response recorded on July 30, 2000

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Faieq Ali writes...

I asked this before but seems to have gotten lost, so I decided to repost it:
1) What would the relationship between Iago and Demona have been like in the Dark Ages? After all Demona was the Archmages' apprentice, but Iago was allied with him, so would he look down on her? In HIGH NOON, he calls her 'sister', but thats because he doesn't know that it is her fault he is dead and that she is now an enemy of Goliath.
Also would he hate her, in Dark Ages, because she was in love with Goliath and was friends with Desdemona and Othello?
2) Did Goliath etc, learn of Demona's apprenticeship with The Archmage?
3) If the answer to (2) is yes, then how would Goliath react?

Greg responds...

1. Edgy.
2. No.
3. N.A.

Response recorded on July 30, 2000

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Abigail Thorne writes...

I asked this way back in March, but I think the question got lost, so let me try again.

Were you ever going to reveal just how Demona and Xanatos teamed up? Xanatos is not exactly a trustworthy individual, and Demona's track record with humans has not been stellar. It's not like she would just go up to him and say "I'm a thousand-year old gargoyle with a grudge against humanity. Want to help me reawaken my clan?" And was she the one who gave him the Grimorum? Because if he got it from someone else, and Demona found out about it, then she would have obviously wanted to reclaim it, which would explain how they met, but not how they decided to work together. So what's the story?

Thanks for listening, and sorry if you have read this already.

Greg responds...

Ever? Yes. In TimeDancer. It's a very complex story involving two different "dances", Brooklyn, Mary, Finella, Xanatos, Demona, Owen and Puck.

Response recorded on July 29, 2000

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Isaac Kelley writes...

Alright, in Hunters Moon, my personal favorite episode, Demona almost unleashed a magical disease that would have killed all sentience. Gargoyles would be immune to it's effects thanks to the Praying Gargoyle.
Now we all know Goliath smashed the statue and saved the world. But what if this was not the case...
1. All humans would have died. Macbeth is obviously human. Would this not have qualified as death at Demona's hands, thus killing Demona (oops)?
2. If not, would she fall prey to it when she turned into human form? How would this work?
3. Would this spread to Avalon and/or the isle of the New Olympians?
4. How would it affect... Oberon's Children?
5. ...New Olympians?
6. ...Gargoyle clones?
7. Any other effects?

Thanks for your time. Love your rambles, by the way, look forward to next season's rambles.

Greg responds...

More hypothetical questions... YAY!

1. I've answered this many times before. Try looking through the Demona or Macbeth archives. Briefly, it would depend on Demona's intent.

2. I'm sure she thought she was safe.

3. No reason why it wouldn't spread to New Olympus. No reason why it would spread to Avalon.

4. Potentially not at all.

5. Kill most of them probably.

6. Not at all.

7. Anyone who asks hypothetical questions based on untread pathes would die. :)

Response recorded on July 27, 2000

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Taleweaver writes...

While watching City of Stone and Mirror something Demona said struck me. She knew about Owen's alter ego, Puck. How did she figure it out?

Greg responds...

Puck/Owen introduced Demona to Xanatos.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000

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tk writes...

My question today is if Demona and Macbeth can only die by hands of each others hand or so, What would happen if say Macbeth committed suicide not that he really would.
Thanks thats all for now,
Bye!

Greg responds...

It wouldn't work.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

I've recently read a book on Shakespeare's famous "history play" cycle (the eight history plays from "Richard II" to "Richard III" about the Wars of the Roses) called "Shakespeare's Kings" by John Julius Norwich, which focused on the relations of Shakespeare's cycle to actual English history. And that inspired a fresh question on my part.

In your vision of the Gargoyles Universe, did any of the immortal characters (Demona, Macbeth, Puck, etc.) get involved in any way in this period of English history that Shakespeare was drawing on for his cycle, from Richard II's deposition in 1399 to Richard III's death at Bosworth in 1485? (We know, of course, where Demona was in 1495, ten years after Bosworth, and that it wasn't in England).

Greg responds...

I doubt Demona was around. Maybe in France during the Joan of Arc years. Macbeth might have been around. Or in and out of the country at least.

Puck -- well, I'd have to think about that.

Anyway, as you can see, I haven't really given it any thought.

Is it disappointing when I admit that I don't literally know everything yet?

If so, just imagine that it's a message from the Gargoyle Universe that hasn't come to me (ala Coleridge) in a dream yet.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000

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brent writes...

if demona was evil and is evil than during the 900s in A.D. why did goliath love Demona if she was evil

Greg responds...

You're question assumes facts not in evidence.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000

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Chapter XVIII: "The Mirror"

Story Editor: Brynne Chandler Reaves
Writer: Lydia C. Marano

Arguably the best single episode of the series. The animation is fluid, dynamic and very strong. The writing is sharp, even quite funny over and over. And yet, dramatically the story is still potent. It really advances the Goliath & Elisa romance arc. Changes Demona permanently. And introduces Puck -- and by extension, the entire third race: The Children of Oberon. All in a mere 22 minutes.

It's also very gratifying for me. A bit of a vindication. As you may have seen from the memos I wrote to Brynne & Lydia, there was some considerable resistance to the notion that none of the characters would notice their own personal change from one species to another. Most of my collaborators thought the idea was way too complicated to pull off. I argued that it might seem complex, but in fact it would play cleaner on screen -- and funnier and more directly to theme. In my mind, another title for this episode could have been -- had we already not been using it for our Werefox episode -- "Eye of the Beholder", because all the transformed characters really noticed was when someone else was "OTHER". Being a monster or being "normal" was based on their point of view, not any objective look in the mirror. [As it is, the title is the kind I like. Simple, objective and yet metaphoric. At one point, it was titled: "Mirror, Mirror". But we simplified it even more.]

But anyway, when the human Brooklyn, Lex and Broadway are confronted by "Gargoyles", the scene is an intentional mirror of the scene from AWAKENING, PART ONE where Brooklyn says, "If they think we're beasts and monsters..." Again, this is playing with the idea of "beasts and monsters" being merely in the eye of the beholder. The species have reversed, but the situation is exactly the same simply because the Trio remain in the minority. I suppose that's one thing that X-Men's mutants have in common with the Gargs. Both are a metaphor for being part of a minority. Feared almost automatically.

On the other hand, when Elisa is transformed, she believes that Goliath & Co. have been transformed into something like her. I think her immediate reaction is very telling about how she ALREADY felt about Goliath at that point. She's thrilled. She throws her arms about him. Now they're the same species. There's no impediment to their love. What's interesting is that if you stopped and asked Elisa under normal circumstances whether she would wish for Goliath to be transformed into a human, the answer would most certainly be "No." She knows that being a Gargoyle is fundamental to who he is. You can't change that without changing him -- and yet in that instant, in that unguarded moment, her desire to be with him overwhelms that rational knowledge. She's just happy.

At the museum, Elisa looks at herself in the mirror. She then moves, but the reflection holds. That was the idea of one of our board artists. A little clue that the mirror is magic. (It's not an animation error.)

Family Reactions #1

During that museum chase, my wife wanted to know why no alarms were going off. I figure Demona or the thieves just shut them off.

Erin didn't realize that that was Elisa dressed as a security guard at first. We were trying to withhold that information for a bit.

"Titania's Mirror", "The Children of Oberon", "Oberon sent me." We were laying groundwork to expand the entire series' base. But I don't know if back then I knew that much about what if anything I had planned specifically for Titania & Oberon.

Anymore than I knew then what I'd do with the "Dracula's Daughter" reference. But we try not to waste anything.

Coming up with that "Children of Oberon" name was a struggle. And so many people have asked me since whether or not Oberon is literally everyone's father, I almost regret landing on that choice. Our thought process is largely present in the episode when Goliath et al, go through various noms: Fair Folk, Dark Elves, Changelings, Shape-Shifters. Of course, at the time we were misusing the term Changeling. I think that was Odo's influence frankly, but I should have known better. I suggested "The Oberati". But the Reaves didn't care for that. I think they thought it sounded too much like an Italian sports car.

I do love the moment when Brooklyn cites Shakespeare's play as a sort of reference work on the Children. I hope we sent a few people to the library with that line. Did we?

I also love Hudson's line in response to Elisa's question: Are they real?

Hudson: "As real as I am, if the stories be true." It's full of delicious dramatic irony. If you can suspend belief on a bunch of gargoyles, then this shouldn't be a problem for you. I love things that work on multiple levels.

I also love Hudson's "Be careful what you wish for" line.

We were trying to show a bit here how Demona had managed to operate in the modern world up to this point. One of the thieves has clearly worked for Demona before without ever having laid eyes on her. Of course, showing Demona's M.O. here, was like giving it a swan song. Because after this episode, though she clearly doesn't realize it yet, her life is going to get MUCH easier. Being a human during the day is a great boon to all her scheming. I'm very curious about everyone's reaction to that? Shock? Amusement? I also tried to work very hard so that in that last two minutes of epilogue, everyone would get that she only was human during the day. I was very afraid that the audience would think she was permanently transformed into a human. Was anyone confused? Or was anyone surprised that Puck's revenge/gift STUCK? We wouldn't really explore the change until HIGH NOON. Had you forgotten about it by then?

Family Reactions #2
As Demona's casting the spell that will summon Puck. (Which I always thought was very cool, with the feather and all.)
Benny: "That's a magic mirror. Is Demona going in there?"
Erin: "Puck's gonna come out."

As I've mentioned before, during the writing of this story we figured out that Owen was Puck. So to play fair we dropped a hint here. Demona (who knows) says to Puck: "You serve the human. You can serve me." Puck changes the subject, replying "Humans [note the plural] have a sense of humor, you have none." This was done intentionally to distract the audience away from the hint we had just dropped. But obviously, in hindsight, it's a clear reference to Owen serving Xanatos. Anyone get it right off the bat? Anyone even take note of the line the first time? Originally, the line read, "You serve him, now you can serve me." With the "him" referring to Xanatos. But our S&P executive was afraid the "him" could be taken to mean Satan. I know that seems silly now. But keep in mind, we were very paranoid back then about the show being attacked for promoting devil worship. So we made the change.

Sensitive Broadway: "Maybe even love." It's a nice moment. Wistful.

Puck reminds Demona that the mirror isn't "Aladdin's lamp". At the time, the Aladdin series was still in production at Disney. So that's a bit of an in-joke.

And how about that: Demona is still carrying a torch for Goliath. On some level, she wants him more than almost anything. Yet she continually allows her hatred to get in the way. And the irony is, that at this point, pre-Vows it isn't yet too late for them. But her actions further serve to cement the Goliath/Elisa relationship. More now than ever before.

Puck/Brent Spiner is just fantastic. I love that "charming personality" line. And "You don't know what you're asking, believe me." And "I'll do EXACTLY as you asked." And "My mistake." And "A very long nap." He's just so rich.

Plus the boarding and animation on Puck is just great. As is the sound work that accompanies him zipping around.

I always wanted Puck to be the one character who could break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. Every time he appeared, we'd put a line or two in the script that was addressed to the audience. And every time, Frank or Dennis Woodyard would cut it out of the board. They didn't like breaking the fourth wall. (A lot of guys don't. I tried to do that with Max on Max Steel, but Richard Raynis and Jeff Kline wouldn't allow that either.) Oh, well....

Puck also establishes that Oberon's Children generally use rhyming spells instead of Latin or Hebrew or whatever. (Thus making life slightly -- but ONLY slightly -- easier on me and the writers.) But Puck isn't too formal: "Human's love a battle hearty, so does Puck, come on, let's Party!" Fun. (And I like Brooklyn's line, "Party's over." too.)

Family Reactions #3
When Elisa's transformed into a gargoyle.

Erin: "She looks cute." [I very much agree. Though I always wonder where her red jacket goes.]

Ben then asked why she was transformed.

Beth explained that Demona didn't want Elisa to be human anymore.

Erin then corrects my wife and explains that Puck is tricking Demona.

KIDS GET IT! Adults need to pay closer attention!

Goliath suddenly has lust in his heart:
G: "I never realized when you were human just how beautiful you were."
E (with a smile): "You mean you thought I was ugly?"
G: "Uh... careful! Updraft!!"
Man, that guy is smooth.

Anyway, that's one of my all-time favorite exchanges. I think it reveals so much. Somewhere underneath, Goliath has been attracted to who Elisa IS deep-down -- at least since AWAKENING, PART THREE. But he never thought of her as a potential love interest. He wasn't brought up liberally enough to think that way. After all, she has no wings, no tail. And those human shaped feet!

But suddenly, she's revealed as a FEMALE. Now, even when she goes back to being human, his perspective is permanently altered. Hers, however, is not. She's already consciously had those thoughts. Consciously rejected them. So at the end of the episode, he wants to discuss these (for him) new feelings -- but she does not. And the sun helps shut him up.
G: "That's not what I meant."
E: "But that's the way it is."
Another of my all-time favorite exchanges. (I'm really partial to things involving the G/E relationship. I know, I know, I'm a romantic sap.]

I also like the ongoing confusion. Elisa: "Everyone in Manhattan has been turned into... HUMANS!" Goliath: "No, no, no, no, no." And when the Gargoyles are changed into humans, Brooklyn is so sure that they've always been humans, it's funny. Like that moment in CITY OF STONE, when he's convinced that the "statue of Elisa" is a bad likeness of her: "They got the nose wrong."

FYI, there was an honest attempt, within the logical parameters of what our gargs looked like, to make their human versions resemble the actors who played them. Thus Goliath has darker skin than the others, because Keith David is African-American. (Though otherwise Goliath really looks like Conan to me.) The bald Lex has brown hair and the bald Broadway has blond like Thom Adcox and Bill Fagerbakke respectively. Brooklyn resembles Jeff Bennett but with Brooklyn's white hair instead of Jeff's blond. And Hudson looks like Ed Asner with a beard. More or less. Thom Adcox is the one who most looked like the human version of his character.

Cool little touches:

Demona nudges an unconscious Puck with her tail.

She continues to call Hudson, "Old Soldier". Her tenth century "name" for him.

Her line about the "gift of being a gargoyle". I love that superior attitude.

Lexington's "Fun, but weird" line.

Hudson wrapping the sheet over the mirror.

Elisa and Demona have a brief "cat-fight" as Gargoyles. Not quite as diverting as the one they'll have as humans in High Noon. But it was nice to put them on equal physical footing for a change. Let them have it out.

Demona mentions that Puck isn't too tired to make himself "invisible to the crowd". This was us trying to plug a hole in our story. We felt it would undercut the mob's reactions to our newly human heroes if they had the same reaction to seeing Puck. And yet Puck clearly looks more human than Gargoyle. More "other". So we slid that line in to avoid the whole problem.

FAMILY REACTION #4

Beth laughed at Hudson's very Scots reading of "No doubt about it." Which is pronounced more like: "No doot aboot it."

More sappy stuff (which I love):

Goliath's line: "I'll always be there to catch you."

Elisa completely forgetting her fear of flying in order to save the MAN she loves.

That brief moment when both Elisa and Goliath are humans at the same time.

Hudson's wistful line about seeing the sun, just once.

Although it had little to do with the metaphor, we couldn't really resist the notion of showing Bronx transformed into a dog. We picked the biggest dog we could think of, a Wolfhound type, though a bulldog might have been more reminiscent.

In the script, Demona smashes the mirror upon seeing her human reflection in the glass. But somehow the scene never got animated. So we added the sound of the mirror being smashed to the exterior shot at the end. This was important in order to give the story full closure. The initial point of the episode was to prevent Demona from getting Titania's Mirror. Structurally, therefore, I couldn't allow her to keep it.

But no fear, later we introduced Oberon's Mirror (clearly part of a matching set) in THE GATHERING, PART ONE.

I wonder what all those Manhattanites thought when suddenly they realized they were all barefoot.


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Basilisk writes...

Did Demona ever actually love Thailog? My impression was that she went to him because he was a sort of Goliath with her goals. I always thought that in her heart, Demona still loves Goliath, but her obsession with denying her guilt was so great that she could not allow herself to care for him. Is this at all correct?

Greg responds...

More or less.

Though what she convinced herself of and what was true may have been two different things.

Response recorded on July 24, 2000

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fae Rae writes...

This is probably a stupid question, but I must ask: Why, exactly, does Demona hate Elisa so much?

Okay, so it may be an obvious question. I always thought it was because Elisa is living proof that not all humans would hurt gargoyles, which Demona cannot abide. But I also thought that it was because Goliath had fallen into love with Elisa and out of love with her. My friend Adsobot insists that the latter reason isn't true. What was really intended there?

Greg responds...

All things are true.

Response recorded on July 24, 2000

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Another "Mirror" Memo...

Though I think it's one of our most rewarding episodes, it was a tough one to make come together. So after I received the first draft script on "The Mirror", I sent a second memo to Brynne. Here it is, UNEDITED:

WEISMAN 11-13-94

Notes on "The Mirror" Script...

O.k. The problems here seems to be mostly my fault. I haven't been able to make clear to you guys how I want our characters to react when they've been changed. It's been clear in my head. And for me the logic flows backwards from a scene I want to see where an average-human-pedestrian-who-has-been-turned-into-a-gargoyle sees one of our transformed-into-human-heroes and screams: "Look at that monster!! It's like some kind of horrible... HUMAN!!" The key is that the bystander actually uses the word "HUMAN", and that he says it with the same kind of fear and revulsion that we would normally hear (in a more typical episode) being used for the word "GARGOYLE".

In order to get both the revulsion into the word "Human" and a strongly negative reaction to our heroes' new human appearance, the bystander needs to believe that being a gargoyle is the way it's supposed to be. Therefore when the bystander's appearance was changed his mind-set must have been changed as well.

Working backwards from that goal, how would our main characters react to being changed?

THEIR MINDSET WOULD CHANGE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THEIR APPEARANCE:
Elisa is the first to be transformed. Thus, ELISA'S REACTION to being changed into A GARGOYLE is the surprising statement:

"Goliath, You've been changed into a gargoyle!"

Reasoning: Goliath &co. were always "the other" to Elisa. But when she was transformed, her mindset changed with her appearance. So she now believes that being a gargoyle is normal. Since, Goliath &co. now look "normal" to her, she figures that they must have been magically changed from being "the other" into being "normal"--i.e. they have been transformed into gargoyles.

[I realize this seems byzantine, but ultimately it'll be the most straightforward reaction on screen, short of having everyone entirely self-aware from the moment they change, (which just isn't as much fun to me). See how it plays out in beat #11. (Also #9, 13, 14 and 21.) If you're still not clear, please don't hesitate to call me.]

TENSION
Despite absurdist moments in this story, we must keep the tension and suspense running high, throughout.
--Don't reveal Elisa's presence at the museum until last possible second. Same with Goliath.
--Don't let Gargoyle's lose track of their objective for more than a line of dialogue here or there.
--Don't let the battle meander from place to place. Keep battle and chase scenes focused and specific.

WHAT THEY'VE BEEN WISHING FOR:
DEMONA'S WISHES
1. Get rid of humans, particularly Elisa.
2. Get rid of Goliath and Co.
3. Stop turning to stone during the day.

GOLIATH & ELISA'S WISH - To be together. (Elisa is slightly more self-aware than Goliath, but neither should specifically wish in dialogue to become the race of the other. It's too on the head.)

TRIO'S WISH - To assimilate.

CLARITY IN SCRIPT
O.K. TO USE: ELISA/GARGOYLE
HUMAN/"GARGOYLES"
GOLIATH/HUMAN
HUDSON/HUMAN
BROOKLYN/HUMAN
BROADWAY/HUMAN
LEXINGTON/HUMAN
OUR HEROES

DON'T USE: HUMAN/GARGOYLES
GARGOYLES/HUMANS
TRIO/HUMANS
Even for me, these were too confusing.

In group scenes, LIST ALL CHARACTERS IF NECESSARY.

BEAT SHEET
ACT ONE
1. Museum.
--Establish two security guards - but don't reveal that one of them is Elisa (or that Goliath is there).
--Demona breaks in and takes out the first guard.
--Second guard turns out to be Elisa, ready and waiting w/Goliath.
--Establish how much Demona hates humans in general, and Elisa specifically.
--Demona never gets as far as laser-grid around mirror.

2. Chase.
--Demona Escapes.
--And while Goliath and Elisa are chasing her...
Maybe inter-cut w/...

3. Museum.
--Thieves get past laser-grid to steal mirror.

4. Ext. Demona's house.
--The two thieves deliver mirror.

5. Int. Demona's house.
--Demona summons Puck.

6. Clock tower.
--Elisa arrives. They were duped. Mirror was stolen.
--Elisa's: So how bad is this? What can D do with that mirror?
--No one knows for sure, but it leads to the discussion of Oberon's Children.
--Refer here to Midsummer Night's Dream.
--Scotsmen called them "Fair Folk".
--Vikings called them "Dark Elves".
--Shape-shifters.
--Trio: Imagine what it would be like to shape-change. Fit in anywhere.
--Hint subtly at Elisa and Goliath's desires.

7. Demona's house.
--Make sure we know Puck's name here.
--Our Demona and Puck wish scene.
--Puck uses a rhyming spell.
--Puck's arms are pinned by chains, so magic energy comes out of his eyes.

8. Clock Tower.
--Elisa: All we can do is wait til Demona makes her move.
--Elisa transforms into a gargoyle.

ACT TWO
9. Clock Tower.
--Everyone including Bronx is pretty stunned by Elisa's change.
--She seems happy though.
-- Elisa: "This is wonderful. Goliath, you've been transformed into a gargoyle!"
--Goliath: "What?!"

10. Demona's House.
--Puck tells her the deed is done.
--Demona wants to escalate. Every human in Manhattan.
--Puck again stresses difficulty of "big wishes".
--Demona yanks chain: "Answer truthfully. Can it be done?"
--Puck: Yes, but not from here.

11. Clock Tower.
--Bronx sniffs at Elisa.
--Goliath: "We've always been gargoyles. You're the one who's been changed."
--Elisa: "I've always been a gargoyle. I think I'd know it if I wasn't."
--Goliath: "How did we first meet?"
--Elisa: "I fell off a skyscraper; you glided down and caught me."
--Goliath: "If you always had wings, why would you need me to catch you."
--Elisa: "I can't glide with these."
--Goliath: "Yes, you can."
--AND OFF THEY GO.
--Hudson and Trio stare at each other for a beat and then follow.
--Bronx is left behind.

12. WORLD TRADE CENTER
--Puck and Demona materialize w/mirror.
--P: This is gonna take a while.
--He begins visually gathering magical energy. Just a little at first.

13. Flight over the city.
--Goliath NEVER LETS GO OF HER HAND, even after it's clear that she's gliding under her own "power", because she's afraid. She doesn't want to lose that contact.
--Goliath can't help staring at her: "I never realized when you were human just how beautiful you are."
--Elisa: "You mean you used to think I was ugly?"
--He doesn't have a good answer to this.
--Fortunately for him, she segues to: "This is so confusing. Have I always been able to glide like this?"
--[She's still hasn't quite grasped the situation.]
--Goliath: "No. No. Try to understand. You've been changed into a gargoyle. Follow me, I'll show you."
--They glides in low over the streets. Elisa sees the humans and freaks!! (Her freaking needs to be ambiguous. Goliath thinks she understands now. She doesn't really.)
--Goliath: "Maybe we should land somewhere and talk."

14. Rooftop.
--Goliath, Elisa, Hudson and Trio come in for a landing.
--(Establish clothes line. Someone has left their laundry, including bedsheets, to dry in the warm night air.)
--Elisa: "Did you see? Everyone in Manhattan's been turned into a HUMAN?!!!"
--G: "...no, no, no..."
--HUDSON: "LOOK!"
--He points at light show that seems to be gathering around one of the towers of the WTC.

15. World Trade Center.
--BIG LIGHT SHOW as Puck glows with magical energy.
--P: "This is really going to wear me out."
--D: "Quit complaining and do it already."
--Puck casts rhyming spell.
--Magical energy shoots from entire body to hit mirror.
--Spell reflects off mirror and hits giant hyperbolic sattelite dish. --Sattelite dish fires magic off across the whole city.
--Puck collapses.

16. Rooftop.
--Goliath & Co. have seen light show from WTC, (but not result).
--Goliath &Co. leave Elisa on the roof and head toward WTC.
--Elisa's not happy about it, but they don't give her a choice.
--And she's still phobic about flying alone, so she can't follow.

17. WTC
--Now that the light show has subsided, Demona wants to see her "empty city", but Puck is out of it.
--Goliath and co. attack. She's forced to flee with Puck, but without mirror.
--(Somewhere in here, Demona has to mention Puck's name.)
--To save herself, she tosses it. Hudson saves it.
--Goliath and Trio pursue Demona.

18. Downtown streets/subway/ whatever
--Even though she's being chased and is hampered by the unconscious Puck, Demona still comes in for a landing to see the results of her wish.
--She's furious as she sees the human/"gargoyles" going about their business.
--Use this chase (and this scene) to reveal the extent and absurdity of the change that hasn't really changed anything but the appearance of the people. Take us down into the subway, maybe.
--Demona ultimately uses the situation to get lost in a crowd.
--For the pursuers, Goliath and trio, it's like finding a needle in a haystack.
--Throughout scene, Trio may get wistful and a little distracted about being able to fit in.
--There are female "Gargoyles" walking by, catching trio's eyes.
--They have to remind themselves that this is wrong. And they're not entirely convinced that it is.
--But other "gargoyles" still shy away from trio because of how they are dressed. (Or how little they are dressed.)
--At any rate, the trio don't totally lose track of their objective: Demona.
--But Demona's gone.
--Goliath: Let's go get Elisa and plan our next move.

19. A deserted alley.
--Demona confronts a very worn-out Puck.
--D: I wanted you to destroy the humans, not give them the gift of being a gargoyle!!
--D: "Change the gargoyles back to humans."
--Puck: "O.K., o.k., give me a chance to catch my breath."
--He leans to look at his reflection in the side-view mirror of a car.
--The image in the mirror wavers.

20. Rooftop.
--Goliath, Hudson, Trio and Elisa confer.
--They have the mirror.
--That was definitely one of Oberon's Children with Demona.
--Demona called him Puck.
--Elisa: In Shakespeare, Puck was a harmless trickster.
--Goliath: What's happened below isn't harmless. Come, we must continue to search for Demona and Puck.
--Elisa: "I'll never get the hang of leaping off rooftops."
--Goliath: "I will always be there to catch you."
--She hesitates. He takes off to set an example.
--A bolt of Magic shoots out of the mirror catching Goliath, Hudson and the trio.
--Goliath changes to human and falls.

ACT THREE
21. Rooftop.
--Elisa dives and catches Goliath. Overcoming her fear without thinking about it.
--Meanwhile, Hudson grabs a sheet off the clothesline and covers the mirror: "Don't want anything else jumping out at us from this thing!"
--Goliath doesn't understand why he fell.
--Suddenly he stares at her: "Elisa...You've changed back to normal!!"
--E: No. I haven't changed. You have. You're a human. You fell because, you don't have wings.
--Brooklyn: "We've always been humans."
--Hudson: "And we've never needed wings to glide before."
--Lex (the engineer of the group): "Wait a minute, we must have used wings. How else could we do it?"
--Goliath, sinking in: "Elisa's right. We're supposed to be gargoyles. And we're not. Everyone else should be human. But thanks to Demona and Puck, they're not."

22. Alley & Street.
--Puck is very weary.
--Demona asks if it's done.
--Puck says yes.
--Demona and Puck cautiously exit alley.
--Obviously, all the humans are still "Gargoyles".
--Demona turns on Puck. I told you to turn the gargoyles to humans.
--Puck: "Oh, you meant these gargoyles! I thought you meant Goliath and the gang. My mistake. Sorry."
--Demona: "You turned Goliath into a human?!!"
--She's ready to murdilate Puck. She pulls the chain tighter, crushing him.
--Puck: "Hey, hey, hey, You're missing the big picture, here. This is your big chance to get rid of Goliath. Now, while he's weak as any human."
--She stops, smiles.
--Dissolve.

23. Rockefeller Center. Some time later.
--Bronx runs into shot. [He has not been transformed yet.]
--A human/ "gargoyle" pedestrian bends over to pet the nice doggie and then runs away screaming when he sees the doggie's masters.
--Our "human" heroes now fully clothed (and looking cool) walk with determination right up to the center of Rockefeller Center. Hudson still has the mirror, covered in the bed sheet.
--(Elisa is not in sight.)
--Everywhere, pedestrian/"gargoyles" run screaming: "Ahhh, humans!! Run!!" "Oh, they're so ugly." "Keep away, you...you monster human, you."
--Hudson to Goliath: Are you sure this is a good idea?
--G: Demona must have done all this for a purpose. What else could it be except to leave us vulnerable to her attack. So we'll let her come to us, but we'll pick the place of battle. Here on the ground and in the open where her wings won't help her much.
--They take their stand. Not all the pedestrians have run. Some stop and stare, but they all keep their distance from these human monsters.
--Goliath instructs Hudson to unwrap the mirror.
--The instant he does, Puck and Demona fly out of it.
--BATTLE ROYALE (Needs real choreography.)
--Demona's armed with her plasma rifle.
--Gargoyle's are armed with medieval weapons.
--Battle is largely land bound.
--Puck's having a good time and helps Demona.
--His stunts can be darkly funny, i.e. they can be absurd, as long as they increase the danger to our heroes.
--Puck turns Bronx into a Russian Wolf-hound, just for fun.
--Some brave bystanders see Demona being attacked by all these monsters and run in to help.
--Trio are forced to battle them.
--These human/ "gargoyles" don't know their own strength, so fighting them isn't easy.
--Obviously at some crucial moment, Elisa (their secret weapon) flies in and takes on D.
--Demona should not instantly recognize Elisa.
--But when Demona does, she goes nuts. Elisa's presence (both the fact that she is alive and a gargoyle) is a double-edged sword. The best (psychological) weapon the good guys have, it throws Demona into a rage, which makes her doubly dangerous, but careless.
--Goliath and Elisa stand together to defeat D.
--Trio take on and scare off the "gargoyle" good samaritans.
--With Bronx's help, Hudson bags Puck with metal-mesh trashcan.

24. WTC
--Goliath promises to free Puck if he changes things back to normal.
--Puck complies. He'll start with the biggest job -- getting all the humans back to normal. (Fortunately, changing something back to its normal state is easier for him than the reverse.)
--Using rhyming spell, mirror and sattelite dish, Puck lets the magic fly.
--Elisa is human again.
--Puck needs a moment to recover.
--Elisa and Goliath have a brief moment.
--Elisa (self-depricating): "Well, I guess I'm back to my old ugly human self."
--G: "Never, to these eyes. But I'm curious. Am I handsome to you like this?"
--E: "You've always been handsome to me."
--PUCK: "Allright, enough of the mushy stuff!"
--He zaps Goliath, Hud, Bronx and Trio back into Gargoyles. (Note: he doesn't need the mirror, since they're all standing right in front of him.)
--Goliath frees Puck.
--Puck takes off with Demona through Mirror, taking mirror with.

25. Demona's house.
--Puck's grateful for a good time, enjoyed by all.
--He'll grant Demona her original wish: She won't turn to stone during the day.
--She's suspicious, for obvious reasons.
--He must SPELL OUT that she will still be her normal GARGOYLE self at night. But during the day, she won't have to sleep as stone.
--One last little rhyme spell.
--And he disappears through mirror.

26. Clock Tower.
--Final scene with Bronx, Hud, Trio, Goliath and Elisa. (This was really nice, as written.)

27. Demona's House.
--The sun is rising.
--We can only see Demona in sillouette.
--Until she turns to look at herself in the mirror.
--Which she smashes.

PAGE NOTES
(The script I received had some odd page numbering. The title page was numbered as page one, some pages were skipped and had no numbers, and the last page was numbered 33. So I just renumbered it from the first page of script on through the last [39]. The following notes therefore refer to my numbers. Call me if you have any questions.)

P.2
If Demona never gets the opportunity to destroy or turn off the laser-grid around the mirror, than we can leave it for the thieves to deal with and ditch all this dialogue and action revolving around alarms. Demona's meant to be a diversion.

Please don't refer to the Security Guard as Sarge or Old Soldier. I know it's just character stuff, but we don't have the space to give it context. It winds up confusing us as to who the guard really is.

Remember: Male gargoyle eyes glow white. Only female gargoyle eyes glow red.

Throughout script we use both "rooklings" and "hatchlings". I prefer "hatchlings". That way audience members who have missed the one or two references to the rookery, will still understand.

P.5
Goliath's getting wounded is problematic. We don't deal with it in the story. It's quickly forgotten. We don't want to play fast and loose with something like that.

P.9
Don't forget to give us some description of Puck. (He definitely should have pointed ears, for example. I added pointed ears to the description of the Weird Sisters in their true form.)

P.10
I don't know that we want to refer to all of Oberon's Children as "real mean". Seems blatantly racist.

When Demona summoned Puck earlier, she did it in Latin. So please make sure we name him here in this scene.

P.12
DEMONA
If you cannot rid me of all humans,
then at least rid me of that human --
Elisa Maza!

We need the double entendre of Demona asking Puck to get rid of that
human-Elisa. ("Oh," Puck weasles to himself, "get rid of the human-Elisa. Make her a gargoyle-Elisa instead.")

P.21
Our Gargoyles shouldn't notice that anything has changed among the pedestrians below, until they get close enough to see. (From a practical standpoint, the idea of each person suddenly taking up more room, might be tough to get across in animation.)

Let's show at least one of the Human/"Gargoyles" looking at his or her reflection (in a store window or something) and preening. Totally unaware of the change.

Goliath says, "What sorcery is this?" twice in the episode. Let's skip both. He said this exact line in "Awakening".

P.23
Keep focus and imperative of THIS story. No one has time to stop for hot dogs or to deal with vandals. (So skip both incidents.)

P.25
Puck doesn't have to pretend that he did "exactly" as Demona commanded. He can have more attitude. "Hey, close enough." or "If you're going to split hairs..."

Again, let's not make Hudson an expert on Puck as an individual. We don't need him to identify Puck from tapestries. (And I doubt if his education has progressed to the point where he's read Shakespeare.) Plus, I'm not sure we have to label Puck as the "worst" of Oberon's children, either.

P.34
Gargoyles including Elisa/gargoyle CANNOT hover.

Also don't forget...
--Cast List.
--Latin version of Demona's spell from Grimorum. (It doesn't have to rhyme.)
--Rhyming spell in English for what Puck does to everyone. (Needs to be vague enough so that Demona isn't immediately tipped off.) Doesn't need to be same spell each time.
--Somewhere in here, we need to justify why none of the human/"gargoyle" crowd reacts to Puck. Do they see him as a gargoyle, ala the Weird Sisters? Or is he invisible to them? Or can we get away with them just walking by and ignoring him?
--Make sure final page count will be within our page range (pp. 35-39) after Denise has conformed it.

THANKS. DON'T HESITATE TO CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS.


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"THE MIRROR" Outline memo...

Next up for my Ramblings is "The Mirror". What follows is the UNEDITED memo I sent to story editor Brynne Chandler Reaves regarding the first draft outline for that episode.

This is one I had very specific ideas on, so I may have been even tougher than usual. Oh, well...

WEISMAN 10-30-94

Notes on "The Mirror" Outline...
Brynne, I hope you consider this flattering: I'm gonna be very tough on you here, because I think you can handle it. It's not just because of this outline, but because in general, I want you to be handing me cleaner, more finished pieces. Although the story is full of great ideas, there are logical and structural problems here that need fixing. As I've discussed, I want to be less "hands-on" so that the schedule keeps flowing and we all stay sane, but that means I need you to catch much more of this sort of thing before I ever see it.

One particular concern of mine (and not so incidentally of Gary Krisel's) is padded first acts, where nothing of substance happens until the cliffhanger. Each story dictates its own structure, so I don't want to make any hard and fast rules, but this is one thing you should be thinking about on every episode you edit or write. We can have a prologue scene or two. But we don't want to turn the whole first act into a prologue to events that only begin seconds before the commercial break.

Scene One is a nice prologue. So is Two, if it's brief. Three, Four and Five are padding. Six is good prologue, but by this time it feels like padding. Seven is problematic from a character/logic standpoint. Finally, we get going at Eight.

And opening acts aside, we need to beware of scenes that serve no function in the structure of the story. A real good character moment is worth a detour on occasion. But our stories have to be coming out of character anyway, so nine times out of ten, the detour shouldn't be necessary.

Ever since "Reawakening" we've tried to make the Gargoyles much more pro-active. But even by first season "survival-mode" standards they seem downright slow to act here. In scene Three, they suspect magical bad news is on the way. In scene Six, they confirm Demona's involvement. Yet in scene Ten, they go to the play in the park like nothing was wrong. Worse, in scene Sixteen, when the humans are transformed, the younger gargoyles actually think that the transformation is part of the play? They're more sophisticated than that. And instead of reacting like it's a problem, they just want "contact with their kind". I wouldn't mind a wistful line that summoned up their feelings about how this reminds them of their old lives when there were many gargoyles and/or that it's nice to be able to walk out in the open without everyone running away screaming, but they have to realize that this transformation is bad news. Then in scene TWENTY-TWO (that's the beginning of ACT THREE and a full fourteen scenes after Goliath battled Demona in the museum) they "are certain now that Demona is behind this". Who did they think was behind it for the last act and a half? This is a good sign that we're either short on structure, heavy on padding or both.

THEME
We must have a clear theme that involves at least one of the "good" gargoyles in every episode. We shouldn't have to dig deep for it. It's what focuses the events that dictate our structure. Today's theme is "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." It applies to Demona, obviously. But it applies to subconscious desires on the part of Goliath. And wistful, but conscious desires on the part of Elisa. And even (to a small extent) the desire of our young trio to assimilate. Emphasize the theme as much as possible.

GARGOYLES AND MAGIC
Please remember that the gargoyles are largely ignorant of the workings of magic. They have an advantage over humans in that they know magic exists. That's about it. Demona and Macbeth have had centuries to study it. Guys like the Magus and the Archmage dedicated their lives to studying it. Brooklyn, on the other hand, is no expert. I doubt he can even read Latin. And the GRIMORUM is not a textbook that would provide easy answers even if he could read it. It is, in essence, a cookbook. If a recipe is torn out, there's no way to infer very much about it from the remaining pages. Remember, the Magus had the sleep spell he used on the gargoyles, and even with that and all his training, he couldn't wake them up without the specific page that held the counterspell. HOW could Brooklyn find a list (scene 5) that matches Demona's list? WHY would the Grimorum list the items for one specific spell twice? HOW could he know the name (Scene Eight) of the entity being summoned?

Could the Grimorum tell them that Puck's spells must be reversed before dawn? Or how Puck frees himself? Unlikely. (Would Julia Child's cookbook feature recipes by the Frugal Gourmet?) But (if we assume Goliath reads Latin, and could make heads or tails of the Grimorum, without having to sit down and spend an entire week reading the thing cover-to-cover to find a helpful passage in a book which, as you noted, has no index) -- it is possible. We always skate by a few things in every script. But the more we have to skate, the thinner the ice in general. Something that normally would fit neatly beneath our audiences suspension of disbelief, becomes one more contrivance in a story that's got a few too many.

DEMONA'S MOTIVATIONS
First off, she's not looking for an equal partner or ally. She's made that clear enough. That's exactly her problem with Xanatos. He always wants to know what's in it for him. He can't be easily controlled. He's fine if they have a mutual interest (resurrecting Goliath or Coldstone), fine if she can con him into helping her (as she does in "City of Stone"), but the latter isn't easy. Otherwise, they can't work together. They're goals are too diverse.

As for Macbeth, don't even bring him up. This story airs before CITY OF STONE. She hasn't seen Macbeth for decades probably. And it's been centuries since they worked together on anything.

None of this changes the story, but it's important to get her mind-set clear. She isn't summoning Puck as an ally. But as a slave.

And what does she want her slave to do? Basically, this episode is going to underline Demona's truly short-term thinking. She knows she wants humanity eradicated. But not what she'd do if she ever accomplished that goal. She's closed her heart to anything that doesn't serve her immediate short-term plans. (She's really, really screwed up.) At one point, Puck should offer her Goliath. He can make Goliath love her again. But she's so distracted by her hatred for Elisa in particular and humans in general, that she can't keep a positive thought in her head. Her monolithic and myopic fanaticism allow Puck to make a primate out of her, literally and figuratively.

PUCK
First big note from Adrienne and ME: we cannot play this character like he's a demon. His summoning in particular came off as very satanic. Let's try to make it more fanciful and magical. One thing that would help avoid this problem, is to be clear about what Puck is. If we aren't clear, people might think demon or devil. If we are clear, they'll believe us. We've got to establish, not only Puck, but his entire magical race. They are the third sentient group that once populated our planet in addition to humans and gargoyles. We need a name for this race that we can be comfortable with. (We can say at some point that the Scots called them the Fair Folk; the Vikings called them Dark Elves. But neither name is great. There must be something that could work for us. "The Oberati" perhaps, after their king?)

Then we need to set some rules and limits. Particularly given what we know about the Weird Sisters (and about Puck's secret identity). Obviously, not all of these rules need to be spelled out in this script. But let's make sure we know them. Let's begin by saying that the Oberati can all shape-shift. But when they morph into a form, they're stuck with that form's limitations. No magic happening if they pose as human.

In their true forms, they have a lot of magic power, but a rule against the direct use of it in the world of man (witness the Weird Sisters more indirect manipulations). Maybe this is a command from Oberon which they are afraid, but not unable, to break.

An obvious exception to the rule occurs when they are enslaved by someone else who commands them to use their magic. They are off the hook responsibility-wise, so they can go to town. Thus, most cultures have wish-granting legends about Leprechauns or Djinn or whatever.

Conveniently, the Oberati are creatures of pure magical energy. When they cast a spell, the spell doesn't have the limitations imposed on the studied magic of human or gargoyle sorcerers. The subjects of their spells don't have to see and hear them to be affected. It's a more fluid, less structured form of magic. Magic to the Archmage is an art, craft or science to master. Magic to Puck is as natural (or super-natural) as breathing.

But even Puck must have his limits. Even magical energy should be finite. We MUST establish this fact, at least. If Demona asks to get rid of all the humans on the planet, Puck will have to admit that it's too much for him. Would she settle for all the humans on the island?

Did the Gargoyles meet or hear of Puck specifically, back in the tenth century? I doubt it. They lived fairly isolated lives out at Wyvern. And Puck didn't get famous until Shakespeare made him famous quite a few centuries later. Maybe they've heard stories about the Fair Folk, but again, let's resist the temptation to make Goliath or Brooklyn or Hudson experts on the subject. They seem pretty perplexed by the Weird Sisters in "City of Stone". That should define their reaction to Puck, whom they're meeting here prior to that story.

Why does Puck help Goliath turn stuff back to normal at the end? Well, for this episode's purposes, it'll probably work that Goliath holds the chain and issues a command. But Demona held the chain, and Puck always found a way to circumvent her commands. So why doesn't he do the same to Goliath? Two reasons, probably. First, it further annoys Demona, who he's peeved at for enslaving him in the first place. Second, once Puck is free, he can return to his secret identity, where he's been having such a good time. He wants things back to normal himself. Still in future appearances, we need to be sure that Puck doesn't turn into a personification of Deus ex machina.

Use it sparingly, but it's o.k. with me if Puck breaks the third wall and addresses the audience on occasion.

Finally, Puck's name. The Disney execs are of two minds on this. Bruce prefers Goodfellow. His main concern is the constant policing we'd have to do to make sure Puck doesn't ever come out Fuck. Ellen feels that Goodfellow has more association with Satan than Puck does and that Puck is safer on that level. I'm really torn. I tend to agree that Puck is a slightly more recognizable Shakespearean reference than Goodfellow, and thus stonger and safer. I also think the name suits the character. On the other hand, I think Goodfellow is an effectively ironic name for a character who is, for all intents and purposes, a villain. Part of me really wants to use both. Could the spell that enslaves Puck to Demona have something to do with her knowing his true name, Robin Goodfellow? Adrienne, I think, is on the fence with me. But I'm not sure. We should probably discuss this one last time before you go to script.

THE MIRROR
Think of the Wicked Queen's Magic Mirror times ten. It is a window, a doorway, a Peeping Tom.

HUMANS AS "GARGOYLES"
As we discussed, I don't think the humans notice they've been transformed. Some of the ridiculous fun of this episode should be to see them, walking around, going about their normal business, briefcases and subway tokens in hand, with no indication that anything is different. If they looked in a mirror, they'd preen as usual. They wouldn't freak out or recognize the change.

Although they have wings, I don't think it occurs to any of them to start gliding around the city. And if they see (the soon-to-be more self-aware) Elisa flying, it would be shocking: "Look, Mommy, that lady is flying!!" It's not that they'd see her suddenly as a gargoyle. (It'd be like seeing Superman. A normal enough looking person. He just happens to be leaping tall buildings with a single bound, which is, of course, unusual enough.)

When Goliath and clan walk among them as gargoyles, I don't think they see them as unusual. For once, looking like a gargoyle is normal. Like Halloween, in "Eye of the Beholder", it's another rare moment for our guys when they can be out in the open. (This may have been what you had in mind in scene 18. I wasn't clear.)

However, when Goliath and company enter their midst as "Humans", it should scare them. Once again, ugliness is in the eye of the beholder, and the "human" Goliath is still the monster. We should not skip this beat (as you planned to in scene 24). We should play it. It can be bitter, poignant and, yes, funny. (Appealing to Puck's dark sense of humor (and mine too, for that matter).)

ELISA AS A "GARGOYLE"
Like the other transformed humans, Elisa doesn't immediately realize she's been transformed. And looking in the mirror won't clue her in either. (And in any case, Elisa isn't the type to faint dead away.) In fact, she might turn to Goliath and suddenly ask, "Could you remind me why you guys are hiding up here in the clock tower?" Suddenly, they don't look so strange to her. Goliath is going to have to sit her down and talk her through the differences between humans and gargoyles. Her realization should play like a fog lifting.

And we probably should play out Goliath and Elisa both as gargoyles for an act. Maybe he teaches her how to fly. Maybe they're just about to get close enough to do the gargoyle equivalent of an embrace, when he's transformed to human. Get it so that we can all almost taste it. Then yank it away. (I know, I'm a cruel bastard.)

I also want to contrast Goliath's reaction to "gargoyle" Elisa with Elisa's reaction to "human" Goliath. He may say, "Elisa, I never realized how beautiful you are," because he always liked her for her inner beauty but, frankly, never found her physically attractive (no wings, no tail--shudder). And he's always made that mental distinction between the surface and what lies beneath.

Elisa never did. She recognized his inner beauty in episode three or four and ALWAYS thought he was handsome. Even before this episode, I think she's thought about the two of them and come to the inescapable conclusion that romance is impractical. Better keep it platonic. I think he's had those feelings, but has never connected to them mentally. (Look, no matter what the species, or how evolved the individual, he's still a guy. And guys are fundamentally stupid about this stuff.) Until this episode, it never crossed his mind that Elisa could replace Demona in his heart. The fact is she already has. But he never thought about it before now.

OUR GARGOYLES AS "HUMANS"
To be consistent, they shouldn't recognize the change until Elisa points it out to them. Maybe they were about to leap from the clock tower, and Elisa has to stop them and say: "Look, guys, you don't have wings anymore!"

But let's keep in mind that these guys are still heroes. NO WAY are they going to agree to step back because a gargoyle Demona is too tough for them now. Did Elisa ever step back when she was human? For that matter, there have been plenty of humans willing to go toe-to-toe with the gargoyles. Certainly Goliath is as brave as Macbeth or Wolf or Commando #3.

Also, I got confused in scene 29. Goliath has been transformed to human. That means human proportions. Sure, he'd be a big guy, but not as big as he was as a gargoyle. I don't know why armor would fit, say Broadway, and not him.

TONE
In contrast to our typical episodes, I think this one can have a more absurdist tone. Puck should both further the tone with his actions and undercut it with wry asides. Plus there'll be romantic stuff, also undercut, this time by Goliath's reaction to Elisa and the genuine frustration that comes from the situation's mutability.

GOLIATH BLAMES XANATOS...
For everything, it seems. In "Lighthouse" and to a lesser extent in "Leader", we've played the beat of Goliath mistakenly going to the castle to confront Xanatos for something that the latter had nothing to do with. I think by now, Goliath has learned his lesson. Particularly since the going's on here smack much more of Demona or Macbeth than Xanatos.

DEMONA'S HOME BASE
Let's get a clear sense of what this place is like. Particularly, how it is distinct from Macbeth's mansion: we've played his place like Wayne Manor. Dracon has the penthouse at the Park Manor Hotel. And Xanatos has this incredibly cool castle-on-a-skyscraper H.Q. Demona's home needs to be different from all of these and special in its own right. Also give us an at least approximate idea of where this thing is located. Gramercy Park, maybe?

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
This was a great way to ground our Puck in Shakespeare, as opposed to Satan. No doubt about it. And no fault of yours, but I want to save this setting for a story that Michael and I have discussed involving Macbeth and an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Plus, in this story, I want to play with Manhattan life going on, business as usual, despite the fact that everyone's been turned into a gargoyle. We can't do that if we limit ourselves to the Park and the closed Museum. I want to get this story out in the open. Have the "gargoyle" humans reacting in panic to the "human" Goliath and clan, the way they'd normally react to them as gargoyles. That's an opportunity we won't get in another story. We must take advantage of it. But having taken the story out of the park, we should work other Midsummer references into the script. Name the mirror after Oberon or Titania, perhaps.

BEAT SHEET
ACT ONE
1. A warm Midsummer's Night. Demona arrives at the museum with grand theft in mind. She's come to steal the Mirror of Oberon (or whatever we ultimately call it) which has just arrived from Ireland (or Italy or wherever). The first museum security guard is no problem. But the second security guard turns out to be Elisa -- undercover, prepared and not without back-up, i.e. Goliath. They suspected that the mirror would be a prize too tempting for Demona to resist. Demona seems particularly furious over Goliath's continued "partnership" with Elisa. SHE HATES HUMANS AND SHE REALLY HATES ELISA!! (Demona knows how Goliath feels about Elisa, even if the big lug hasn't admitted it to himself yet.)

2. Anyway, we get a big action sequence in the museum which leads to a chase outside. Demona gets away from them, but without the mirror. And because our heroes are so thoroughly engaged in these activities...

3. ...They are absent when two high-tech but very human cat burglars show up at the museum, seconds later, to crate up and steal the mirror. (The real security guard is still unconscious and thus unable to do anything about them.)

4. The two thieves arrive at Demona's townhouse (or whatever) with the crated mirror. Otherwise, the scene plays pretty much as you had it with the delivery men.

5. Inside her home, Demona wraps thick iron chains across the glass of the stolen Mirror. She summons Puck. He comes flying out through the glass and thus winds up wrapped in the iron chains. He spends almost the entire episode with the chains pinning his arms across his chest.

6. Back at the clock tower, Goliath and Elisa are feeling like grade-A dorks. Elisa's just back from investigating the museum crime scene. It's now clear that Demona's job was to take out security and, if necessary, act as a diversion for the real thieves. Now the big questions are, what can she do with this mirror and how bad is this going to get? Perhaps this is a place to discuss the Oberati. Hudson tells what little he knows about them.

7. Our Demona and Puck scene. If he ever wants his freedom he must serve her. He tries to discourage her: he'd make a lousy servant. She doesn't buy that. Puck works for "him". He can work for her, etc. (That whole exchange.) O.K., okay, what does she want? Freedom from her one great vulnerability -- turning to stone during the day. What good is that, he wonders. You think you're gonna be able to walk down 5th Avenue in broad daylight? I can if you obliterate all humans, everywhere. What am I, the Genie of the lamp? There are limits, kiddo. C'mon, what do you really want? She pauses, and an image appears in the mirror. It is Goliath (in the clock tower, but we're tight on him, so we aren't tipping the location). Puck: "How quaint, after all these centuries, you're still carrying a torch. Well, if that's what you want, I can make him love you again. Although it will be really hard, because you're not exactly Miss Lovable." And then, in the mirror, Elisa steps into the shot, and puts a hand on Goliath's shoulder. Demona goes ballistic. She knows her heart's true desire. Get rid of the human -- Elisa Maza. Puck: "That I can do." He fires a magical bolt into the mirror at the image of Elisa.

8. Back at the tower, Elisa has a hand on Goliath's shoulder, reassuring him that they'll stop Demona's scheme, whatever it is. Suddenly, she is surrounded by a magical energy that rips her away from Goliath. The gargoyles try to help her, but they can't get close. We should think for a moment that this is the end of Rico... uh, Elisa. And then there is a blinding flash of light that whites out the whole screen. Followed by pitch black darkness. Elisa is still there. We see her silhouette as our eyes adjust and the light returns slowly to normal. She says she's o.k. And then she steps into the light. Transformed into a gargoyle version of herself.

END OF ACT ONE

Now I have to apologize. I know I promised you this for Monday. It's two a.m. Sunday and this is as far as I got. There's a reason (an excuse). Monday is Corporate Seminar. And my last act as an executive (before becoming a full-time producer on Tuesday) is to pitch all our new development to Michael Eisner and Rich Frank. This is a twice yearly event that requires a lot of preparation, and I just ran out of time to get these notes done. Normally, I'd pull an all-nighter, but I need some sleep to face these guys tomorrow.

You gotta admit, that was a pretty good excuse.

So I have to leave this to you. You're mission, if you chose to accept it, (AND YOU REALLY HAVE NO CHOICE IF YOU EVER WANT TO GET TO SCRIPT) is to write up a quick beat outline of acts two and three for me based on the sketchy notes below. It doesn't have to be long. Two to four pages is fine. The amount of detail that I gave you for Act One is all I'm looking for.

Act Two should have Goliath filling Elisa in about the change she's undergone. Maybe take her flying. Maybe this is where we get the line about him never realizing how beautiful she was.

Demona should be temporarily fooled into thinking Elisa's dead, and flushed with success, she asks Puck to rid all of Manhattan of its humans. Bing, bang, boom. Everyone's a gargoyle. People on the subway in from Queens, change into gargoyles as soon as the E-train hits the first Manhattan stop. "Gargoyles" on the way home to Jersey change back to human as they cross the bridge in their cars. NO ONE NOTICES AT ALL.

But Demona doesn't know any of this yet. She wants a tour of what she expects to be an empty city. Puck is secretly eager to see his handiwork, so they step into the mirror, which transports them to the heart of the city. Times Square, maybe? 5th Avenue?

Meanwhile, Hudson, Goliath, Elisa and the trio are all hunting for Demona. They quickly notice the change in the populace. (Maybe the shock of this wide-spread change interrupts what might have been the only chance Elisa and Goliath had for a same-species clinch.) They all know it's bad news, but the trio can't help enjoying the ability to walk among gargoyles again. Even if they are gargoyles in business suits: New Yorkers who still won't give them the time of day. Still, would it be so bad if this didn't get fixed? Yeah. Probably.

When Demona figures out she's been duped, she demands that the gargoyles be changed back to humans. Bing Bang Boom. Goliath, Hudson and the Trio are human. (I'm torn about Bronx. I guess the big dog is o.k. It just seems outside the terms of Demona's request, even by Puck's loose standards.)

Was Goliath flying at the time or is this another interrupted clinch between him and Elisa?

Act Three opens with Elisa saving Goliath from plummeting to his death perhaps. Then she has to make him understand that he has been transformed as well.

We wind up with a very public battle featuring Elisa and our Newly Human heroes against Demona and Puck. It's complicated by the fact that the general populace (who are all now Gargoyles) perceive the human Goliath, Hudson and Trio (and Bronx?) as monsters attacking what to them seems to be a very normal-looking Demona.

Still in the end, good triumphs. Puck makes everything right at Goliath's command, (but let's make it clear that at least in part, he's doing this to spite Demona and/or to suit his own agenda). Elisa is changed to human, before Goliath is changed back, and we have another near-clinch, that Puck interrupts with good-humored spite by changing Goliath back into a gargoyle.

Goliath frees Puck and he vanishes with Demona, rescuing her from Goliath.

Turns out Puck had more fun than he thought he would so he feels like he owes Demona a favor. He'll give her her original wish. No turning to stone during the day. (BUT WE NEED TO MAKE IT PAINFULLY CLEAR THAT SHE WILL STILL BE HER NORMAL GARGOYLE SELF AT NIGHT.) He takes his leave via the mirror.

Cut back to Elisa and Goliath for emotional wrap up. Just before the sunrise which, as usual, separates them.

And back to Demona. Silhouetted against the rising sun. It's up, and she's not stone. Puck kept his word, she can't believe it. Then she sees her human self in the mirror, which she smashes, yelling NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! And fade to black.


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Faieq Ali writes...

My brother asked me this ages ago and I didn't have the answer at the time, so maybe you could help me.

If, before 1995 (when Demona got the ability to turn to human), a hunter or someone else, shattered Demona during the day, what would happen? Would she crumble to dust and die or what?

Greg responds...

It never happened. It's moot. You're looking to establish parameters to the Macbeth/Demona spell by creating non-existant hypotheticals. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, a petty consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Get over it.

Response recorded on July 10, 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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Jarrod writes...

I was watching Gargoyles today mainly the "Cities of Stone" episodes. I noticed when demona was casting her spell she said to Owen when he was in a frozen state "You are the tricky one so we will make sure you stay put". Which makes me wonder, did Demona know that Owen was Puck? And if she knew that Owen is Puck, how long has she known that?

Greg responds...

Yes, she knows. She's known since before the rest of the clan was awakened.

There's a similar clue in "The Mirror", when Demona says to Puck, "You serve the human [i.e. Xanatos], you can serve me now." (Or something like that.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Lexy writes...

Hey Greg

This may be a kinda dumb question. (slight pause) This may be just like every other Q I have ever asked:)

Ok I was just wondering. Goliath has taken some steps since he met Angela. He doesn't mind that she calls him father and that she feels a need to have father daughter..er..talks..whatever. But he still goes along with the children of the clan thing. Ok heres my point. While Goliath is still more on the "children of the clan" dealy..Demona seems a lot more willing to say "My daughter" and treat Angela special. Is most of that due to her just trying to sway Angela to her side of things? Or is it because Demona seriously puts more stock in the _MY daughter thing. Like maybe they don't understand me, but she might because shes my daughter? Or maybe she senses or can at least recognize the fact that Angela _does_ want to build some form of a relationship. Since Demona feels so alone and all, does that mean something to her?

Sorry. Rambled again:P

Greg responds...

YES on all counts. (Not a dumb question at all. Why would you think that?)

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Chapter XVI: "Legion"

Story Editor: Michael Reaves
Written by Marty Isenberg & Robert N. Skir

I just watched "Legion" again. Time to Ramble.

From the memo I posted earlier this week, you'll see that the never used on screen names of Othello, Desdemona and Iago were my idea. But I've always wondered if that's the case. The outline that Marty and Bob wrote immediately prior to that memo had all the Othello elements very, very present in the story. All they didn't do was NAME the characters. I always wondered whether they and/or Michael had the Othello story specifically in mind, consciously or un-, and I just capitalized on it.

The Goldencup Bakery Building, which semi-secretly houses a defense department hi-tech research and development installation is modeled after the Silver Cup Bakery Building -- which actually exists in Brooklyn (as I recall). That Building was trashed in the original HIGHLANDER movie in the final battle between Connor and the Kragen (who was played by a pretty damned horrific Clancy Brown). Small world.

I was always worried that the whole Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Cassio (whoops, I mean Goliath) backstory was a bit vague in this episode. Did anyone have problems getting it?

I don't think I'd like to be one of those Goldencup Guards. Coldstone punches one of them out. That's gotta hoit. He just seems fairly unstoppable in that Xanatos-program controlled sequence. I like how that plays.

Matt says to Elisa: "You never let me drive." My wife's reaction: "Was that in homage to me?" My wife, you see, almost always drives when we're together. She gets carsick when anyone else drives. And I don't much care.

Speaking of Matt, we've got that line about him spending six months reading RECAP manuals to justify why a normal detective would be in charge of RECAP in the first place. Just trying to avoid either adding a superfluous character and/or making the situation seem artificial.

Another appearance of the Scarab Corp. Logo, even though Scarab is never mentioned by name. Oh, well...

Coldstone flees the Goldencup. Goliath and Lex pursue, and Coldstone attacks them. Then he immediately stops, when he sees it's Goliath. The problem I always had with that scene is that the lighting made it obvious that it was Goliath from moment one. (Not just to us, but to Coldstone.) If Goliath had been in shadows, it would have played better.

Minutes later Lex asks Goliath if it's wise to take Coldstone into their home: "He hasn't always been your friend." This was, theoretically, a reference not simply to the most recent attack, nor even only to the events of "Reawakening", but also a reference to the pre-Massacre backstory of the actually non-existent love triangle (or square or pentagram if you include Demona) that caused Goliath and Othello to fight way back when. Lex remembers those days too. Othello was always a bit of a hot-head.

I love Goliath's response: "Without trust there can be no clan." And I love that this is part of a Lex/Goliath exchange. It fits in perfectly with the message they taught each other in "Thrill of the Hunt". Gotta take some chances on occasion. Or else you'll always be alone. It's an anti-Demona mentality. Or rather a mentality that is strikingly un-Demona-esque.

From the moment Coldstone premiered in "Reawakening" I knew (that if we survived to a second season) we'd discover that he was created from three Gargoyles. Tried to work that conceptually into the design more, but we never quite achieved it. So basically that becomes something that the audience has to take on trust.

Which brings me to the title "Legion". It's a one-word title which usually is a tip-off that it's one of mine. I know it's a biblical reference. Some possessed guy with a demon/devil inside who goes by the name "Legion". But that's not actually where I got it. When I was a kid, I saw this tv movie based on Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. It starred Michael Sarazan or Chris Sarandon. (I always used to mix those two guys up.) It was trying to present a more realistic believable version of the Frankenstein story. I was pretty young. And I don't remember too much about it. I do remember that I was supposed to be asleep -- past my bedtime in the days before my parents gave up and I began going to bed long after they were asleep. But instead of being asleep, I was watching it, in the dark, with the volume turned as far down as possible, me sitting right by the set, so I could flip it off if I heard my parents' door opening. (This was long before remote controls were common.) Anyway, the one scene that I really remember is a scene where they put the Monster under hypnosis. The voices of all the people who "donated" body parts begin to speak. And one of them quotes the "Legion" thing from the bible. But I didn't know that. That is I didn't know back then that he was quoting anyone or anything. It just seemed like a very powerful, poetic and humanly true statement. So it wasn't until college that I read that passage in the bible and realized where it was from. Can anyone cite the actual quote? I can't remember where exactly it's from, and I don't feel like searching right now.

Anyway, all this is relevant because Coldstone was ALWAYS our Frankenstein character from the "IT'S ALIVE!" moment to the "Legion" stuff here.

Coldstone calls Hudson "Mentor". That's a "name" I've been long considering for Hudson's "designation" in the DARK AGES prequel spin-off.

Coldstone shoots Goliath at point blank range. Goliath gets up unharmed. A far cry from what happened to G in "Long Way to Morning." Now in the outline and script, it says that Coldstone uses his "concussion cannon" as opposed to his laser cannon. But nothing in the as-aired episode makes that distinction. And so it just looks irresponsible to me. Like suddenly we're saying violence has no repercussions. Did that bother anyone else?

I love the dark comedy of Coldstone going bonkers at Ellis Island. Fighting with himself. I think Michael Dorn did a terrific job playing all four aspects of CS's personality. Which of you figured out what when? I'd like to know.

The Trio has the Recap visor. Now all they have to do is find Goliath, Hudson and Coldstone. How will they do that? "Three guesses?" A very elegant way to explain how in a huge city, they're able to locate three gargoyles.

Kenner's Coldstone toy is a lot of fun. With it's window into Coldstone's soul. And the spinner that allows any of the four personas to take over at random.

Xanatos doesn't even appear until the VERY END of Act Two. And it's not even really Xanatos, just a program designed by him. Normally, I'd say that wasn't playing fair. But I feel like his presence was obvious all-along. (And did David personally design that program. Or did he just put his stamp on it, management-style?)

There's a moment when Goliath, thrilled to see his rookery sister again, hugs Desdemona. She is immediately annoyed, because she knows that hug is prone to misinterpretation. It's a nice little touch in the animation.

I always wondered what if anything Demona thought about that ancient conflict way back when. Was Iago playing her as well? Trying to make her jealous of Desdemona? I think maybe he did try. But wouldn't it be cool if she didn't credit it for a second. If she just knew intuitively that Desdemona didn't present any threat at all to her relationship with G? Because, I feel the opposite is true. That Demona knew intuitively that Elisa DID present a threat. Say what you want for Demona, but her subconscious knows her man.

I love that moment where BOTH Iago and Xanatos are whispering in Othello's ears. Poor slob never stood a chance.

We've got a nice little Xanatos tag in this one too. Certainly not a doozy as in "Leader" or "Metamorphosis", but it's got a nice little kick to it, I think. And that's THREE episodes in a row. X had been busy.

And then I love the last beat back at the clock tower. Goliath has confiscated Coldstone's body, to keep it safe and "among friends" should he/she ever wake up again. I wanted to keep it in the corner from that point until "High Noon". Always present and visible. We didn't for two reasons. First, we figured it would be a bit confusing. The Batcave can get away with the giant penny and other souvenirs from Batman's cases, because there ARE multiple souvenirs. But just having one immobile gargoyle in the background, as cool and creepy as that is, would be horribly distracting for any audience member who missed this one particular episode. And second, we had our tier system. What if "Legion" wasn't ready as scheduled. We couldn't have Coldstone sitting around the clock tower in later episodes that we'd be forced to air first. Talk about disconcerting. So we invented a back room. Where Coldstone, the Grimorum, the Gate and eventually the eye could be stored.

Comments welcome, as usual...


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Cassandra writes...

Okay, I went back an read your rambles on the episodes (Awakenings - Her Brother's Keeper). You felt the moment when Demona revealed her name lacked punch. It did, for me at least, but not because of the scene itself. From the beginning of Awakenings, the gargoyles had a dangerous edge but Demona was the one with the least control over hers. The scene with the Trio decides to scare the peasants, I knew they were "just picking" (even though it was picking that could have gotten dangerously out of hand). But Demona acted like if she could have found an excuse to rip the throat out of Tom's mother, she would have. By Awakenings Part 5, it's chillingly apparant just how ruthless and demonic Demona has become. Besides, it's a great twist on Goliath's earlier name of affection/endearment, Angel of the Night. Angel=light, darkness=night, demon=fallen angel=darkness=night. The scene became one of those moments when everything felt RIGHT. Of course, what else could you name her? moment. The question was just how long ago was she given the name.

When I first saw the expression on Demona's face when she and Goliath reunited in 1994, I sat up. Yeah, she was glad to see Goliath but she was angry too. My thought first seeing it was "Poor Goliath, nothing good is going to come from this." Looking back now, knowing Demona's history, I have to ask did she read the Magus's version of events from the Grimorum? If the Magus recorded things fairly accurately, then she had to realize that Goliath chose suicide instead of trying to raise the eggs alone. If he had stayed with the eggs, she would have returned with a story Goliath would have swallowed and they could have raised the eggs together. She never would have created the Hunter, she never would have met Macbeth, she never would have made the deal with the Weird Sisters, she would have died centuries ago. And in that moment of reuniting, Demona blames Goliath for all of it. She buries it quickly cause she wants to give him a chance to realize why her way is the only way, but it still there. Wow, all that from one line of dialogue.

There's my feedback for the day. Caio.

Greg responds...

Very cool analysis. I like that second paragraph particularly. I hadn't thought of Demona blaming Goliath then-and-there for all of that. Very cool.

Response recorded on July 05, 2000

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Ed writes...

'LONG WAY TO MORNING' comments.

Just like 'TEMPTATION', I loved this first time around. It had Demona, it had the Dark Ages, it had a thrilling chase scene, loads of laser blasting, a lot of atmospheric running water (I love it when running water is used alongside high drama - I don't know why, but it always appeals to me). It's fraught, has a great graveyard scene and lots of cool flashbacks. It shows us Goliath out of action.

But as I go back to it the thing that annoys me most, is Demona. She grates so much! Her dialogue seems to be frustratingly similar throughout.

Also, I felt that the Archmage was weak here. He lacked the conviction and menace that made him such an effective villain in later episodes. Which is probably why I forgot all about him, and by 'VOWS' (which I saw months later first time around, because of the order GMTV showed it) my memory had fogged sufficiently so that I got him confused with the Magus.

Greg responds...

Well, Demona doesn't bother me in this. I like the contrast (and lack there of between the flashback Demona and the modern day). To each his own.

Response recorded on July 03, 2000

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Ed writes...

'TEMPTATION' comments.

Hi, Greg.

When I saw this the first time on GMTV, I was blown away. At least, for months after this was the episode I remembered. It had Brooklyn (whose name I took about 20 episodes to memorise for some reason), and more importantly - it had Demona. I loved Demona here, and I was delighted at the theme of betrayal that flows through here. There's a great sense of hurt. It's really gorgeous.

But watching it the second time and times after, I have to say that I was less impressed. Demona seems to have a stock of classic villainess threats that she doesn't really grow out of in this season. They were great first time, but I'd seen 'LONG WAY TO MORNING' just the episode previously (see my 'THRILL OF THE HUNT' comment) and heard very similar dialogue.

Also, I can't help feeling that the ending was a bit of a con. It was very clever, but the idea that all through CITY OF STONE, HUNTER'S MOON and whatever comes after Goliath is still under a spell from episode 7 (even one that is inactive) doesn't appeal to me much.

Greg responds...

Well, it always was a cheat. Getting off on a technictlity. I thought we could get away with it, and in a way, I think it's sorta cool, from a trivia standpoint, but I was aware that some people wouldn't be pleased. Ah, well...

Response recorded on July 03, 2000

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LSZ writes...

Inspired by your answer to the 'did Demona get Xanatos' Frankenstein reference' question..

1) How much has Demona read of human literature?
2) How much does she know of human religion?
3) Does she watch movies or tv?

Greg responds...

1. A little.

2. More.

3. Rarely.

Response recorded on July 03, 2000

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Aaron writes...

Long Way to Morning.

I love this episode. It's definately one of my top ten. Quite well done overall, but I love it for one reason above the others:

This is the last time we will see Demona like this. No, it's hardly the last time we'll see her being evil, but after City of Stone, (And Vows, to a lesser extent) our perception of Demona changes. Post-COS, Demona's a tortured sociopath who's spent the last 900 years living a painful, screwed-up life. Even if most of that was her own doing, there's still some sympathy factor there. (Of course, this is all just my opinion, others may think differently)

In Long Way to Morning Demona's just *evil*. From her casual "Ciao" to the (she thinks) dying Elisa to... almost everything she says to Hudson, she's just pure and unadulterated badness.

The fight in the graveyard is quite cool, especially the sequence where Demona's wings unfold from behind the angel statue, (complete with sinister flash of lightning) Hudson swings his sword, and it looks like nothing happened... until the statue falls apart, bisected diagonally.

And of course, there's the irony of Hudson's last words to Demona, about patience coming with age, which only shows up the second time through. Demona, of course, being probably nine or ten times older then Hudson, but has still never learned to think things through calmly, rather then charging off in anger.

Greg responds...

That's a refreshing analysis. I like it. Does the flashbacks in "Long Way" to an heroic if pushy Young Demona mitigate or exaserbate her "unaduterated badness".

And there's nothing like a well-placed "Ciao" to indicate villainy, is there?

Response recorded on July 02, 2000

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Andrew Warren writes...

A response to your ramble on "Long Way to Morning."

When I first saw this episode I was enthralled. Hudson has an easy competence about him that reminds me of my father, so I was happy to see him get his time in the sun, or out of it as the case may be. I truly enjoyed watching him be alternately crafty and amazingly physical. That spinning leap with the sword was one of my favorite moves in the series.

Unfortunately, this was an episode that didn't age well. After "City of Stone" Hudson's line about age and waiting really didn't mesh with Demona's background. I'd guess the back story hadn't been filled in when "Long Way to Morning" was written, but it still strikes me as a continuity glitch.

Greg responds...

Not true. I knew Demona's backstory -- or at least the gist of it -- by then. There's no glitch that I can see.

Demona doesn't get what aging's all about. Anymore than Xanatos understands true immortality. Demona escaped growing old. She has no patience for it or much of anything else.

(And don't start with "she was patient with the Medici Tablet". You don't know that.)

Response recorded on June 30, 2000

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Anonymous writes...

EDUCATING GOLIATH:

Ahem, first, I'd like to thank you, Greg, for helping to create the show. It's the best dang cartoon I've ever seen and you're a genius! I hope you see this and answer my little questions...
1. Who taught Goliath how to read?
2. Does Goliath know how to write?...and if he does, who taught him?
3. Who taught Goliath those great manners of his? Is he just naturally well mannered? It can't be because his elders taught him that because "all" the Gargoyles would be as, or near, well mannered as he. He's got the best darn posture I've seen among all the Gargoyles. And the graceful way he moves...wow! It seems like he went to Charm School...! Sorry, I hope I don't sound too much of a fool, I'm just curious. Thanks if you answer my questions.

Greg responds...

1. Demona.

2. Yes. Demona.

3. Generally, I'd say it does come naturally to him. Certainly the posture thing is inherant. But he learned a ton from Hudson, of course. And quite a bit from Hudson's mate.

Response recorded on June 30, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

A sort of "ramble-reply" to "Long Way Till Morning".

I'll have to confess that the only part of my "first time I saw it" response to this episode that I now remember (other than my delight at another medieval sequence - the 984 scenes in this case) was that I initially believed that Prince Malcolm would actually succumb to the Archmage's poisoned dart, and that this was how he'd died. (It was obvious that he must have died at some point before the 994 events in "Awakening", naturally, since Katharine's ruling Wyvern by then). So the fact that, in the succeeding flashbacks in this episode after the initial one, he does live in the end, surprised me.

I certainly agree with you on the Katharine-and-Malcolm scenes; I'd also felt on my own before reading that ramble that Malcolm was unwittingly planting the seeds of bigotry in his daughter when he used the gargoyles as a means of frightening her to be good. (Kind of reminds me of something I'd read once in either "Dear Abby" or "Ann Landers" about a policeman protesting the way that a few parents use police as "bogeymen" to scare their children into being good similarly). Indeed, Prince Malcolm's judgement really does come across in this episode as a bit on the poor side beyond Katharine; he's overly confident about the Archmage no longer being a threat, while Hudson correctly recognizes that the sorcerer could return for revenge - and indeed, the Archmage does.

Demona's ambitious streak in the 984 scene reminds me a bit of Lady Macbeth similarly urging Macbeth to dispose of Duncan in Shakespeare's play - which, when you stop to think over her future, is rather appropriate. (Indeed, in "Sanctuary", Demona actually becomes "Lady Macbeth" in a literal sense - and if you ask me, she fits the Shakespearean character far better than Gruoch ever did).

I must admit that I've always had a certain fondness for Hudson, and he certainly comes across as a sympathetic figure here. One can't help but admire his dogged persistence in keeping Goliath safe from Demona in the present day. He may think of himself as all washed up, but he still does his duty in protecting Goliath against a very determined adversary.

Two scenes I particularly like in this episode, both near the end: the sight of Demona slowly approaching through the graveyard in the distance, and the bit where she emerges from behind the stone angel - both positively creepy.

Greg responds...

This was a great story, I thought.

And I agree with your Demona/Lady Macbeth assessment. A lot of that was intentional.

Response recorded on June 29, 2000

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Kevy Kakes writes...

In the episode 'Future Tense,' Demona is killed by Cyber-Xanatos, didn't Goliath know something was up then? Because clearly Xanatos is not MacBeth, and therefore cannot kill Demona...Puck knew Demona was immortal because of 'The Mirror,' did Puck just kinda forget, or was he not worried about the details of his little scheme. Just a little somethin' somethin' to ponder and answer for us, or just me

Greg responds...

I think that Goliath's head was fairly well turned upside down by all that had happened up to that point.

As for Puck, what in "The Mirror" gives you the impression that Puck/Owen knows about the Demona/Macbeth connection?

Response recorded on June 29, 2000

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

Okay, a non-"Pendragon" question now. Will you tell us about either of Demona's next two great loves?

Greg responds...

No. Not now.

Response recorded on June 28, 2000

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Chris writes...

I'd like to apologize ahead of time if this question has been asked but I checked the archives and I couldn't find it. Soooo...

Would Jon Canmore/Castaway keep trying to kill Demona if he found out she was immortal, since he seems to be VERY hell bent on killing her? Would he refuse to believe it, and try anyway?

Greg responds...

He'd keep trying. But he's sophisticated enough to try methods that he felt had at least a chance of working. These methods would depend on what he knows at any given time. But, hell, Thailog found a way. ("Sanctuary") He failed, but he found a way. If he can do it, so can someone else.

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Warrioress writes...

OK I'll try to stick to one subject(the Coldtrio)

#1. In the "High Noon" scene when the Weird Sisters split Desdemona into three entities(or I'm assuming it was them), why didn't Othello/Coldstone react more...adversely?... to it? (I would if I saw *my* SO inexplicably split into threes:-)

#2. What would Demona and Coldfire's relationship be like in modern times? Would Coldfire blame her sister for her current condition?

#3. Was there ever any chance of the Cold Trio regaining flesh-and-blood bodies(either through magic or cloning?)

Greg responds...

1. I think he was freaked, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

2. Probably some. But Coldfire's more forgiving than most. Demona would love to bring Coldfire to her way of thinking, but failing that, Coldfire would fall into Demona's ever-increasing enemies list.

3. There's always a chance. But don't hold your breath. (They're much more interesting to me like this.)

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Bengali writes...

1.What is Demonas opinion of Bodhe?

Greg responds...

I'm sure she hates the sniveling coward.

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Bengali writes...

1.What is Demonas opinion of Gruoch?

Greg responds...

1. I think they kept their distance from each other, generally. No animosity. But I don't see them as friendly. Of course, after it went bad, they hated each other.

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Bengali writes...

1.What is Demonas opinion of Luoch?, after all, he was a major supporter of her clan and was outraged when Bodhe suggested that Macbeth betray Demonas clan.

Greg responds...

I think she liked him during those 17 golden years. Or at any rate, liked him well enough. Probably wouldn't admit it, but liked him.

After it all went bad, I think he became just another human to her. But by then she was fleeing Scotland. And he didn't have long for the world.

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Chris writes...

1)Do Goliath and Demona have any other children besides Angela? And if so, do you mind if I ask who?

2)Since there's no chance of Goliath and Demona ever getting back together, will they ever be friends again, or at least not at each other's throats?

Thanks for your time.

Greg responds...

1. Biological children? No. Rookery children? Yes. The entire Avalon clan, including Gabriel and Ophelia.

2. They will, on occasion, be allies again.

Response recorded on June 23, 2000

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Faieq Ali writes...

In Huter's moon part three, Demona was going to cast a spell which would wipe out all life except gargoyles. But wouldn't she kill herself because, she would have killed Macbeth and she would have perished as well or would Macbeth be the only human alive? Would Demona's disease or plague have reached the shores of Avalon and killed tom and the Princess?

Greg responds...

Both these points are debatable. I've answered the first one before. (Check the archives for a fuller answer.) It would depend on her mindset. It's possible her survival would have kept Macbeth alive.

I think it's unlikely that it would have hit Avalon.

Response recorded on June 21, 2000

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Aaron writes...

Well, now I'm confused. If Demona is full human by day, how did she get her eyes to light up when she was about to clobber MacBeth in High Noon?

Greg responds...

The Magic of Animation.

Response recorded on June 21, 2000

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Faieq Ali writes...

Hi, sorry about sending my last question four times, I wasn't sure wheter you had got it or not.
1) Anyway, my question is, if Demona became pregnant, during the day would the child turn to a human and feel the pain that Demona feels at dusk and dawn ?
2) If, for some strange reason, Demona fell in love with a human, would their child be 3/4 human and 1/4 gargoyle or half and half? I know this is impossible because Demona hates humanity so much, but what if?

Greg responds...

1. Yeah, unfortunately, that's probably true.

2. You're building a hypothetical on a hypothetical. Makes it hard to answer.

Response recorded on June 21, 2000

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FNA writes...

You said in Dark Ages Demona and Desdemona would be sisters. Do you mean rookery or biological?(It's probably the first but it's worth a try to ask.

Greg responds...

Rookery, of course.

Response recorded on June 14, 2000

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Lawrence Stone writes...

What would Demona be like reformed wise by 2075?

Greg responds...

Not very.

Response recorded on June 13, 2000

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Chapter XIII: "Reawakening" (The new ramble...)

As promised, I'll now attempt to recreate the lost ramble on this episode, which I recently watched again with my family.

For those of you who haven't seen it, I refer you to my recently posted "Memo" on this episode dated back in April of 1994. One thing you might have noticed was that the title of the episode was "The Awakening". In the memo, I suggested what I thought was the more appropriate title "Reawakening". Michael liked that idea but had a suggestion that did it one better. He suggested renaming our pilot five-parter "Awakening". I jumped at the idea. At the time, the five-parter was simply titled "Gargoyles, Part One", "Gargoyles, Part Two", etc. I've never liked that sort of cop out where the pilot's title is simply the series' title. Among other things, it lacks imagination. And it's dishonest. By that standard, "The Journey"'s real title should have been "Gargoyles, Part Sixty-Six". So giving our pilot its own title seemed like a very good idea to me.

But there was another reason why I liked Michael's plan. We were working on our last episode of the first season. It was April of 1994, nearly a year before that episode would air. And a good six months before our premiere. There was no way of knowing whether or not there would ever be a SECOND season. And so to protect myself (emotionally) I had to operate on the assumption that their might not be. Obviously, I wasn't going to do anything apocalyptic. I wanted there to be a second season, so I wanted to leave the doorway open for it. So Michael, Frank, Brynne and I discussed the idea of open-ended closure. If there never was a second season, we'd go out with a bang. We'd give some small amount of closure to our characters. Let them reach a turning point. If this was to be it, we'd have created a little 13 episode novel that brought the Gargoyles from the past to the present and renewed (reawakened) their sense of purpose.

Nice. We'd done the open-ended closure thing (to a lesser degree) at the end of what would eventually be called "Awakening, Part Five" and we'd eventually do it again at the end of "Hunter's Moon, Part Three". And I'd do it for myself in my script for "The Journey".

But there are tricks to achieving a sense of closure. And one of the tricks is to create parallels with the episodes that launched your story.

So by retro-titling our pilot "Awakening" and naming our last ep "RE-Awakening" you can see how we gave ourselves a headstart.

But there were other parallels. The flashback to the past, (which we intentionally built so that it could theoretically be edited into the pilot if necessary) included the Magus at his most pre-Avalon obnoxious. Obviously, that flashback also intro'd pre-Coldstone, but it served the purpose of calling those first couple of flashback episodes clearly into the viewers' minds. (The only problem with that scene, is that Hudson has his sword in a couple of the shots. This is a mistake, as any good Garg fan knows that Hudson first acquired his sword in the battle with the Vikings that took place the following night.)

We also did the big event VILLAIN TEAM-UP thing, bringing Xanatos and Demona back together for the first time since "Awakening, Part Five". (I love the exquisite tension that plays between them. They are both SO using each other. When Demona tells Coldstone that X is her servant, you know that she's partly doing that to circumvent Coldstone's questions, but that she also partly believes that it's true.)

We also used Morgan in Times Square in a very similar way to how he was used in "Awakening, Part One" (reiterated in "Awakening, Part Two").

And then there's that moment near the end where Elisa asks Goliath if there's anything he needs. He answers "A Detective" verbally echoing a key moment from their first meeting in "Awakening, Part Three". That still tickles me.

HOMAGE

Obviously, Frank and I both worked overtime to pay homage to the classic Universal "FRANKENSTEIN" movie. I can say "pay homage" with a straight face (as opposed to rip off) because we so clearly acknowledged the source. Frank's art direction of the lab. X's line: "It's alive! Alive!" (Wonderfully undercut by Jonathan Frakes' reading of the follow-up "I've always wanted to say that.") And the whole idea behind Coldstone. (More on this when I eventually ramble on "Legion".)

Coldstone would be our Frankenstein's monster. Pieced together. Gargoyle & Machine. Reanimated (reawakened). I even love the Coldstone name. And wasn't Michael Dorn's sepulchral tones just perfect for the role?

And Goliath's reaction is so multi-faceted, so Dr. Frankenstein... [You know Goliath's response to his brother here, would be echoed later in his response to his "son" Thailog in "Double Jeopardy". Initially, Goliath's simply repulsed by what he sees, calling Coldstone "an abomination". But given a bit of time, Goliath quickly sees past appearances and attempts whole-heartedly to save his brother. He'll go through the same changes with Thailog. Well... at least we (and Goliath) were consistent.]

CONTINUITY

Snow. It started snowing in "Her Brother's Keeper" and now the city is blanketed in the stuff. (And doesn't Elisa look cute in her scarf and gloves.)

Brooklyn's still pissed off at Demona, specifically and sarcastically asking if she has anymore "spells to save you now". In fact, we wanted to make clear that the spell used to resurrect (reawaken) Coldstone was one of the spells she tore out of the Grimorum in "Temptation". Instead, we cheated a bit. By having her tell Xanatos that the "Cantrips have already been spoken" it saved us the trouble of getting another spell translated into Latin. We were either lazy or short on time or -- most likely -- both.

Following out of "The Edge", and until the helmet comes off at the bridge, the gargs assume that Xanatos in his armor is simply another Steel Clan Robot. The next upgrade. The red model. They have no idea it's actually Xanatos himself in armor.

Small observation: Mirrors don't fare too well in the Gargoyles Universe.

Emotionally, I think the story is very successful at taking the audience through Goliath's spiritual reawakening. I love how he starts out pensive and brooding, listening to that great exchange between the trio and Hudson, realizing that all of them have lost track of their true purpose. Hudson recites the Gargoyle credo merely as an excuse not to go out in the cold. (And I love Thom's reading on Lex's "We don't even live in a castle anymore" response.) The trio are clearly missing the point, but methodical thinker Goliath isn't sure he remembers what the point is either.

And that dovetails SO nicely with Elisa revealing the Police motto "Protect and Serve". The police motto/gargoyle credo connection is so perfect, it struck me even at the time as further proof that we were tapping into something very true in our little fictions. (And don't cops -- for better and sometimes for worse -- act just like a clan?)

From there, Goliath moves past the notion of simply being a reactive character, struggling only to SURVIVE one crisis after another. Now he will strive to be proactive. To rededicate (reawaken) the clan toward their original life purpose. Extending the term "castle" to Manhattan island was always our plan. Even that was intentionally primitive in our view. Goliath doesn't protect New York City. Not all five burroughs anyway. That's beyond his medieval scope at this still-early stage. He can get his head around protecting an island surrounded by water. Not the whole world. But eventually, the plan would include expanding the clan's definition until Castle Earth was the only thing that made sense. Of course, that might not have been fully realized until 2158. But we'd have gotten there. And the World Tour was part of that process too.

PROBLEMS
(Besides Hudson's sword...)

--One line in the ep. that for some reason still makes me cringe is Elisa's "My car's big." It just seems awkward to me. Not sure why.

X & D watch Coldstone's progress from the castle. Almost instantaneously they're at Times Square. We always knew we were just skating by on that.

Goliath & Coldstone go into the water at the bridge TWICE within the span of a couple of minutes or so. The first time, Goliath nearly drowns. The second time he's completely uneffected (physically) by the experience. We get away with it because the second time he's diving in on purpose. But just the fact that we had to dunk them both twice is an awkward construction (and my fault). At least, Goliath looks good with wet hair.

Some really graceful animation here. Goliath has some great moves, and I love that moment when Matt and especially Elisa are diving into the snow, out of the way of the car that Coldstone has just thrown... And speaking of that scene...

TIMES SQUARE SEQUENCE

There's some very interesting, fun stuff here besides what I've already mentioned about it above. A sampling:

Explosions in Bambi. :)

Demona's Clan: Herself, Coldstone, a Steel Clan Robot and Xanatos in Gargoyle Battle Armor. It's so twisted. I love it.

Goliath's very smart here. He doesn't want the fight to take place in public and basically convinces Xanatos to take his side on the issue by flattering him. Goliath refers to Manhattan as "your city" (i.e. Xanatos' city), this despite the obvious fact that Goliath does NOT regard Manhattan as Xanatos' personal property. And Xanatos, usually immune to such stuff, falls for it -- maybe BECAUSE it comes from the ultra-sincere Goliath.

I also am very fond of the Mr. Jaffe book-ends. I think they're a lot of fun. And I love how Matt talks about Mr. Jaffe. It gives us insight into Matt's character, his background, his youth. His empathy for Jaffe really helps humanize him. Matt was always eminently human.

Signing off now...

"Because six monsters just told me to..."


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Chapter XIII: "Reawakening" (background rambling)

I'm trying something different with this ramble. And because of recent difficulties, I'm going to break the Ramble into two parts. My thoughts on reviewing the episode last Friday night will need to be recreated from scratch. And I'll get to that as soon as I can.

But first I thought you guys might appreciate a little background. What follows is a long memo that I wrote to Story Editor Michael Reaves after receiving the first draft of writer Brynne Chandler Reaves' outline on our thirteenth and final episode of the first season. Pay careful attention to the date of the memo and the title of the episode. I'll comment on both sometime in the next few days...

THE MEMO (unedited):

To: Michael Reaves Date: 4-10-94

From: Greg Weisman Ext: 7436

Re: Notes on "The Awakening" / Outline for 4319-013 of GARGOYLES

GENERAL NOTES
This is a tough one, because in this episode, we have a very specific mission, which is to remind Goliath of his. In order to accomplish this, I'd like to focus both our efforts and Goliath's soul-searching. These aren't simple concepts but I'm gonna try and go through them in baby steps. This is less for our benefit than for the benefit of our audience & Goliath. (Remember, Goliath is a determined thinker if not a quick one.)

Goliath spends the episode searching for the true meaning behind the gargoyle motto, "A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air."

We begin by defining our terms. Goliath first needs to understand the following equation: "Castle = Home = Family = Community". He more or less learned the Castle through Family section in "ENTER MACBETH", but we'll need to reiterate the lesson in some way for our audience. Then we need to take him the final step from Family to Community.

After that (or perhaps simultaneously), he needs to decide on what is meant by "protect". Protect what? The physical structure he lives in? No. Again, Home leads into Family which leads into Community.

Protect why? To survive in a hostile environment? Ultimately and by the end of the episode Goliath decides/remembers that to survive is not enough. Coldstone and Demona provide cautionary proof; both of them are abominations of a sort, created in the name of "Survival". Survival ("breathing the air") is important, but clearly survival isn't enough. Goliath and his clan need purpose. They need to return to the mission: Protect the castle (i.e. protect the community).

This dovetails nicely w/Elisa's mission as a cop: "To protect and serve." And leaves us, at the end of our first season, with a more pro-active group of heroes.

SPECIFIC NOTES
Just a few specifics that aren't covered in the beat outline that follows.

Page 1.
--The trio saw snow last episode. Let's make the winter weather the backdrop to the action. Not part of the story.
--I don't think we want to light any fires in the clock tower.

Page 2.
--We no longer need Madame Serena in this story. Plus she adds another new element to a pretty full plate.
--Remember this is one of the spells that Demona ripped from the Grimorum back in "Temptation".

Page 3.
--Coldstone wouldn't name himself. It's not gargoylean thing to do. And he hasn't been awake long enough to know he needs a name. Let Demona do it.

Page 7
--I think we can fit the action of this story into one night, so this is kind of a moot point, but I don't think Demona would risk sleeping as stone in Xanatos' castle. She doesn't trust anyone that much.
--Let's not overplay Matt's conspiracy fettish. It's o.k., but we don't want him to come off as a "babbling".

Page 11
--Remember, unless we're getting biblical here, Gargoyles weren't "created". They have very strong territorial and protective instincts. These instincts are as strong as their survival instinct. But I want to make sure we don't imply that they were magically created by someone or something who gave them a mission.

Finally, if I could recommend a title change... how about "Re-Awakening" instead of "The Awakening". I think it's a bit more appropriate all the way around.

ACT ONE
1. Prologue #1 - Present Day Manhattan - All-Nite Grocery - Winter Night
--It's snowing in Manhattan and will continue to snow until the last scene.
--A lone thief holds up the owner of a small and otherwise empty All-Nite grocery store.
--Thief tells the owner: "I guess we just live in dangerous times.

2. Prologue#2 - Flashback to 994 A.D. Scotland - Castle Wyvern - Night
(Note this scene happened off-camera during part one of the five-parter, somewhere around page 24 of script #4319-001.)
--Goliath informs Hudson that they must leave to harry the vikings far away.
--He'll need Hudson's tracking skills.
--Demona and "pre-Coldstone" gargoyle (Goliath's rookery brother) are also present.
--Magus comes thru and says or does something obnoxious.
--Demona, secretly desperate for Goliath to bring them all along, asks why they bother protecting the human's castle at all?
--Pre-Coldstone agrees: "Let them keep the castle, we can survive anywhere."
--(We see he is of a semi-simlar mind-set to Demona, which explains why she uses him 1000 years later for Coldstone.)
--Hudson firmly states the gargoyle mission statement: "A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air..."
--Goliath instructs his rookery brother to stay w/Demona and protect.

3. Present Day - Winter - Clock Tower - Night
--Goliath's been daydreaming (at night) about old memories.
--Trio are going to a movie; they invite Hudson along.
--Hudson's a couch potato. He'll wait to see it on cable. Besides he's got to guard their home.
--Trio: We live over a police station. What could happen? We don't have to guard the place every night.
--Hudson tosses off gargoyle truism: "A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air..." (But that's just an excuse to be left alone.)
--Goliath reacts silently, realizing their mission has lost meaning for the gargoyles, even Hudson. Maybe even himself.
--Trio leaves ("We don't even live in a castle anymore...")
--As Elisa enters.
--She wants to know how gargoyles are "surviving" the cold weather.
--G says they're fairly immune... to the elements.
--Elisa starts to leave for her shift w/offhand remark: "Time to do a little of the old 'Protect and Serve'."
--G stops her to find out what she means.
--Police motto.
--But what does it mean? Protect who?
--(Maybe Elisa can get us from Castle to Family here.)
--Goliath decides to accompany Elisa on the night shift.
--Which is a bit problematic now that she has a partner.

4. Castle
--Demona has talked a reluctant Xanatos into another attempt to destroy Goliath.
--Xanatos & Demona use science & sorcery to revive creature made from cybernetics and mismatched gargoyle parts. (The head is that of Goliath's rookery brother, our pre-Coldstone, augmented by cybernetic-eye & etc.)
--Demona names him Coldstone.
(--Perhaps she represents Xanatos as her servant. Perhaps he allows it.)
(--Note: in this episode, I think we want to sense a tension between X & D, but I don't think we want to bust them up here. It's distracting and we have enough to deal with.)
--Coldstone's confused. Last thing he remembers is Goliath & Hudson leaving the castle. Then came sunrise and oblivion.
--Demona: "Goliath abandoned us to the mercy of humans."
--He has been seduced by their beliefs.
--It is because of him that you look like this....
--It's mirror time.
--Does audience see him or do we save that revelation?

5. Manhattan Streets / All-Nite Grocery / Rooftop across the street.
--Elisa & Matt are driving in her car.
--Goliath is following them from above. (She's given him a walkie-talkie or headset or something. She's basically wearing a wire so that he can be on her shift with her.)
--They investigate All-Nite grocery store robbery from scene 1. (Not a crime in progress. Remember, they are detectives, not beat cops.)
--While Matt questions the owner...
--Goliath, watching from above, is able to talk quietly w/Elisa.
--We get from Family to Community.
--Elisa: No one wants to live a prisoner of their own castle anymore. We live in a community. The whole community needs to work together...
--G: "To survive." (He still hasn't gotten it yet.)
--Radio call: "All available units."

6. Times Square.
--That tortured soul, Coldstone, is going bonkers.
--(He hated "Cats". No, wait... he hates humans.)
--(Physical strength only. No robotic weaponry yet.)
--Morgan and other cops are just securing the perimeter, keeping people clear.
--From a distance, Goliath surmises another Xanatos robot ploy. (He sees the occasional metallic glint. The rest is in shadow.) He won't be dragged into another of Xanatos' schemes.
--Elisa & Matt don't have that luxury. They approach the thing. Tell it to cease and desist, etc.
--Coldstone prepares to throw a small car at them or something.
--As Goliath reacts, we fade out.

ACT TWO
7. Times Square.
--With Elisa endangered, Goliath doesn't hesitate to intervene and save her and a flabergasted Matt.
--Now Coldstone really goes ballistic. Literally. Barrel rises from robotic arm and fires.
--Goliath dodges or maybe he is hit, but Coldstone is too shocked to notice. --He didn't know he could do that.
--(Xanatos had a pre-programmed battle mode built-into his circuitry.)
--While C is figuring this out, Goliath comes in and smashes him.
--It's only in close that Goliath realizes he's not fighting a robot.
--(Is this the audience's first full look at Coldstone too??)
--And it's only now that Coldstone recognizes G.
--But all this convinces Coldstone that Demona was telling the truth.
--Goliath is attacking his own rookery brother to defend a human.
--But Goliath is out-matched, and soon losing.

8. Inside Orpheum Theatre (Times Square).
--Trio are watching movie from balcony.
--(As Broadway did in "Deadly Force").
-- "There sure are an awful lot of explosions in this movie."
--But are those explosions coming from outside?
--Suddenly movie stops. House lights come up.
--On ground level, Morgan is ushering people out the back entrance, calmly and for their own safety.
--Trio exit to see what's going on.

9. Times Square.
--Trio arrive in time to save Goliath from Coldstone.
--Coldstone surrounded by all four gargoyles.
--Looks like the tide of battle might have shifted.
--We see gargoyles thru Coldstone's robot POV.

10. Castle.
--Matchcut to Xanatos office monitor.
--Seems he gets a direct feed on whatever Coldstone sees or hears.
--X to D: Looks like sonny-boy's having trouble making friends.
--(No indication that they're going to help yet.)

11. Times Square.
--Goliath does not attack; he's still trying to put everything together.
--Could this abomination really be his rookery brother?
--At first, Goliath doesn't talk to Coldstone, rather he speaks about "it".
--Which of course doesn't endear him to Coldy one bit.
--G tries a kinder, gentler approach.
--Might even be starting to reach him.
--G: What happened to you, pal?
--From off-screen Demona says: "We did."
--Goliath, trio and Coldstone turn to see Demona, Xanatos in Gargoyle armor and a Steel Clan Robot. Fade to black.

ACT THREE
12. Times Square.
--Stand-off.
--Demona: If you're going to bring your whole clan, you can't expect me not to bring mine.
--G: You call that a clan?
--Coldstone is torn, confused. What should he do?
--Demona: "Destroy Goliath. Destroy him, and we survive."
--Coldstone looks down at his cobbled-together form: "Is this survival?"
--Demona tells him not to be fooled by appearance.
--Goliath and the others have been corrupted by humans.
--"We are the only real gargoyles left."
--Travis Marshall pulls up in newsvan.
--While cameraman is setting up, Elisa uses "wire" to warn Goliath.
--Goliath appeals to Xanatos
--(Probably doesn't yet know that Xanatos IS one of the robots.)
--(G thinks he's talking by radio-link via the robots.)
--G: It's your city, X, shouldn't we reconvene someplace less fragile.
--Demona doesn't like the idea, but Xanatos insists.
--(She's not ready to sever their partnership yet).
--Xanatos quietly names a spot that only Goliath (and Elisa via their wire) can hear.
--The eight combatants fly off, severally.
--Marshall only gets the tail end on camera.

13. Clock Tower.
--Hudson sees Marshall's report on t.v.
--Discusses dilemma (theoretically w/Bronx, but he's really talking to himself).
--Goliath told them to stay and guard the tower.
--What should he do?

14. George Washington Bridge.
(Or whatever bridge is closest to Times Square.)
--Your basic battle royale...on the bridge, in the air. Among other things...
--Brooklyn goes after Demona.
--He's still mad at her from "Temptation."
--Which allows Goliath and Coldstone to continue their face-off.
--The Steel Clan robot is destroyed.
--Xanatos is forced to unmask.
--But generally, the bad guys are winning, if barely.
--Coldstone & Goliath plunge into the icy river.

15. The River.
--Coldstone's got a built-in breathing apparatus that extends over his mouth and nose automatically.
--As they struggle underwater, Goliath's losing air and consciousness.
--G. hears Hudson's voice: "A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air."
--Suddenly, Goliath is pulled out of the water... by Coldstone.

16. An Ice flow.
--As G. gasps for breath he sees that a battered Demona and Xan have the drop on an even more battered Trio. The fight is over; the good guys lost.
--Demona's glad Coldstone saved G. for her to finish off.
--But Coldstone wants some answers first.
--Coldstone: "You said if Goliath dies. We would survive."
--Again, he indicates himself: "Is that all there is... surviving?"
--Demona's almost tender with him, but what she says is something like: "That's all that counts."
--But Goliath has finally figured it out. Surviving is not enough. To merely survive at all costs is not the gargoyle way. Gargoyles protect the way gargoyles breathe. To forget that leads to true corruption. Not the corruption of humans, or even Coldstone's metallic corruption. But the bitter fanaticism of Demona's corrupt soul. Or something like that.
--Of course, Demona's not just gonna sit there and let Goliath speechify forever.
--She takes aim.
--Coldstone leaps between them, takes the blast and is blown off the ice into the water. He does not resurface.
--Goliath immediately dives in after his brother.
--Demona fires into the water at both of them.
--She is furious at Coldstone's betrayal.
--Trio try to take some advantage of situation, but Xanatos won't allow it.
--Suddenly, the ice seems to be hit from above by a cannonball that sends everyone reeling.
--That was no cannonball that was Bronx. Hudson dropped him from on high.
--Again, the tide has turned. And it's all Xanatos can do to grab Demona and rocket her out of there.
--Goliath comes up for air. There's no sign of Coldstone.
--Goliath has lost his only surviving brother.

17. Epilogue #1 - Bridge.
--The six gargoyles are climbing back up the bridge. (They'll need some height to glide home.)
--Hudson apologizes for abandoning their home, the clock tower.
--Goliath points toward Manhattan and says something like: "The clock tower is where we sleep. But our home is that island. Our castle is Manhattan. And gargoyles always protect their castle... and anyone, human or gargoyle who resides within."
--Elisa pulls up in her car. It took her awhile to get clear of Matt.
--Are they o.k.? Do they need anything?
--Goliath: "I need a detective."

18. Epilogue #2 - All-Nite Grocery - Dawn.
--The thief from scene 1 comes in again.
--The owner is scared at first but the thief is very contrite.
--He gives back all the money and asks the owner to call the police so that he can turn himself in.
--When the flabbergasted owner asks why, the frightened thief replies: "Six monsters and a cop told me to."

19. Rooftop across the street from the All-Nite Grocery - Morning.
--In the cold early morning wind amid hazy sunlight, Elisa stands on the roof across the street from the grocery store amid six horrific stone gargoyles.
--Elisa watches, as Morgan (at the end of his shift) takes the thief away in his squad car.
--Elisa: "Well, it's a start. Xanatos, Demona, you two are next."
--The sun breaks through the clouds, shining brightly on a beautiful winter's day in Manhattan.
--E: "You know, guys, the city feels safer already."
--She leaves them there to sleep and heads home after a long night.
--FADE.

End of memo. My real Ramble should come soon.


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Bengali writes...

A few Q's about Demona

1.At what point in time did you intend for Demona to reform?

2.Why didnt Demona ever choose a different style of clothing than her usual loin-cloth/halter-top combo between 975 and 1994?.

3.Though you probably wont answer this one, will Demona ever have any more children?.

Greg responds...

1. Depends on how you define reform...

2. Why should she?

3. No.

Response recorded on April 07, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

We were having a discussion about Gillecomgain in the comment room this week, and I thought that I'd ask you for your opinion on it. In your thoughts, was Demona's attack upon Gillecomgain the cause of his becoming the Hunter, or more of a catalyst? I felt that much of Gillecomgain's "career choice" came from his own internal issues (he seemed to have a strong yearning for power, and also had a very unsympathetic father), but others feel that it was more thanks to Demona than to any "inner darkness". What's your thoughts on him?

Greg responds...

I think Demona gave him drive and focus.

But I think his father gave him the darkness.

Response recorded on April 07, 2000

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Aaron writes...

Awakenings 5. I always found Demona's name revalation to be quite dramatic. She comes through the smoke, with the bazooka, eyes flashing. I know I was paying attention. And Xanatos is the man. Even hanging some obscene height off the ground, with nothing but a muscle twitch between him and very messy death, and a PO'd Goliath in his face, he never loses his cool.

Greg responds...

Gotta say, I'm very proud of Demona & Xanatos. So modesty aside...

Villains are generally interesting. But they rarely come off the page or the screen. (Or if they do it's by being very loud and in your face.) They're rarely complex. They have one great motivation and/or trait. And they live off that.

But Demona and Xanatos are both extremely complex and layered. Two really great villains. And both in the same series.

(Macbeth isn't too shabby either.)

Response recorded on April 05, 2000

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Blaise writes...

Just got back from reading your rambles on "Awakening Part 5".

Xanatos does indeed kick ass, as far as villains go. Whether he was "stupid" or not in letting Goliath and Demona "play out their little drama" may end up being something of a debate, but personally, he does strike me as the type who would be endlessly fascinated in watching this sort of thing.
I never really gave much thought to the ambiguity of Hudson's advice to Goliath before. I did notice that he seemed more...reasonable? Elisa's plea seemed more to be based on emotion (gut instinct, whatever) while Hudson's was definitely more the "thinking man's" response. I kind of like that.
Yeah, Elisa's way of showing three in her fingers always throws me for a loop. I always thought it was just some idiosyncratic quality.
Also, I always wondered (at least, I did after reading the Season 1 Writer's Bible) why we didn't hear or see much of Scarab Corporation except for the insignia. I'm glad to have some idea now. Xanatos is indeed a complex man, playing both the "mastermind-behind-the-scenes" and the "glorious-conquistador" if you will. He doesn't stay at either extreme, and will play whatever part he feels will be the most advantageous (sp?). For some things, that is apparently indeed handling things himself. And one thing that I will ALWAYS admire about him (both as a character and as a villain) is the fact that when Goliath was holding him by his shirtfront off the side of the Eyrie Building (however that's spelled), Xanatos did not fall into the cowardly pleadings quite a few "regular" villains seem to do. Instead, he just shows calm defiance. Gotta love that!
Demona and Goliath's conversation: Yeah, I enjoy a lot of the irony in that scene, too. Especially Goliath's remark about Xanatos and the undeniable revelation of Mr. X's true colors afterwards.
As for the revelation of Demona's name--hey, I thought it worked for me! Kind of gave a chill actually. That and even in this early mention of it I liked the sound and thought it fit her well.

Can't wait for the next one!

Greg responds...

The main thing was that Xanatos was so damn fun to write.

And I'm glad the Demona name thing worked for you. That's one vote for.

Response recorded on April 04, 2000

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Robin Wynn writes...

Hey Greg,
I thought I'd just add my two cents on something I saw a couple of ppl ask.
The question was concerning the scene in Highnoon (i think that's the right ep.) when Demona and Elisa are fighting, and Macbeth is just sitting there not feeling anything. Your reply was that you lost track of the whole pain thing, (i think there was another explanation that you gave, but I cant' remember it right now) Well, I had always been under the impression, that in that scene, when Coldstone says "Well, this is diverting" (or something like that) And Macbeth replies, "You don't know the half of it" I always figured that that was what he was refering to. That he could feel the pain, and so it was even more 'diverting' that it seemed. But maybe he didn't react to it because he had seen teh pain coming, and so braced himself for the impact. And, maybe he was getting a tad bit of pleasure at watching Demona get her but whipped by Elisa. ;)

Anyway, that's my two cents worth..

Greg responds...

I do think I more or less said that as my "in-Universe" explanation, but at any rate , I like your interpretation.

Response recorded on April 04, 2000

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Jeff Lenihan writes...

Mr. Weisman,

After rewatching Awakening parts IV and V, I wanted to ask you the following:

In your opinion, does Demona really have any feelings for Goliath when they are reunited in 20th century New York?

I ask this for two reasons. First, in your comments on part IV you stated that she "must have been thrilled..." to be reunited with him, but that really doesn't show on her face. Instead, her initial reaction is a cold, calculating smirk, as if she sees Goliath not as the male she loves but rather as a means to her ends.
Secondly, in part V, after everything is out in the open and she is trying to get Goliath to join her, she only uses his love for her to try to draw him over (i.e., YOU loved Me once, YOU trusted ME once...). She never makes any claim to having feelings for him.

Greg responds...

She thinks she does. And thus she can use rejection as yet another excuse.

Response recorded on April 04, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

A Macbeth question that I've been wondering for some time. In the Shakespeare play, he can only be killed by one who is not "of woman born". It occurred to me some time ago that this also holds true for the Gargoyles Macbeth, for the only one who can kill him is Demona, and she was hatched from a gargoyle egg, which counts just as well as a loophole as being from one's "mother's womb untimely ripped". Have you ever noticed this before?

Greg responds...

Yep. We talked about making a point about it in City of Stone, just as we discussed doing a Birnham Wood scene. But unfortunately all that "Shakespeare" stuff got cut for time (before we even went to script).

Response recorded on March 31, 2000

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Abigail Thorne writes...

Well, here I am again with my secondn question. I haven't checked in in a while, but I figured I'd ask this while it was on my mind.

How would you describe Demona's feelings for Goliath right now? She goes to these extreme measures to kill him, but it seems to me that she does this because she's angry that he chose Elisa over her. That would in turn explain her grudge against Elisa. If Demona still loved Goliath (in whatever way that it could be possible for her to love), she could be doing all these things as revenge for him turning her down in Awakenings Part 5. So is that it--does she still love him?

Greg responds...

Somewhere deep, probably. But only love as Demona can love at this stage of her long life (and barely that). Love that's easily perverted into hate.

Response recorded on March 31, 2000

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Vashkoda writes...

Hi Greg! You may have already answered this in some shape or form, but in case this hasn't been asked: We know that Goliath started having feelings for Elisa possibly as early as "Awakenings", and that he first began to realize how beautiful she was in "The Mirror". But when (if ever) did Demona begin to suspect that Goliath and Elisa loved each other? Or did she never consider the possiblility because the idea of a gargoyle loving a human was ludicrous?

Greg responds...

I think that subconsciously Demona suspected it as early as Awakening V. That's one of the reasons she hates Elisa so much.

Response recorded on March 31, 2000

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Bengali writes...

1.How did you plan for Macbeth and Demona to finally die?.

Greg responds...

Who says they do?

Response recorded on March 25, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

I liked your rambling on "Awakening Part One", and look forward to the rambles on the other episodes following.

Both I and a number of other Gargoyles fans had indeed picked up on Princess Katharine's hypocrisy that you mentioned, disapproving of "beasts" (i.e. gargoyles) in the great hall, but permitting the dogs to roam about in there during the feast. I was amused to learn about how you'd planned to make that bit more pointed with the dog making off with somebody's food.

The bit where Lexington and Brooklyn were talking to Tom about not having names, and calling each other "Friend" instead, was a part that I liked as well. It was at that point that I definitely decided that I liked gargoyles.

I don't remember for certain what I thought about whether Demona was alive or dead. I suspect, however, that I may have believed her to ultimately turn up again, simply because it struck me as improbable that a character with such a big role in Episode One would be killed at the end of it and never heard from again.

I very much enjoyed the medieval scenes, which reminded me a bit of David Macaulay's animated specials for PBS about building in the ancient and medieval world (particularly the first one, "Castle"). Not to mention (as I said before) that I was delighted with the Vikings looking much more historically accurate, with not a single horned helmet in sight, being already familiar with the way that they actually did dress (I know that I should be thanking the animators on this, actually, but there isn't an "Ask Frank Paur" page up anywhere as far as I know, so this'll have to do :)

Before the episode first premiered, I'd been aware of "Gargoyles" soon to be coming out, but wasn't certain as to whether I'd like it that much or not, fearing that it would just be another mainstream super-hero series. But when it quickly began the "Scotland - 994 A.D." sequence, I decided that I was definitely going to like it. (And indeed, felt slightly disappointed when I reflected that the bulk of the series wouldn't be set in medieval Scotland, considering how much I was enjoying that part of the story - I'm something of a Middle Ages buff - and began to fantasize about "Wouldn't it be great if they did a prequel series set in 10th century Scotland before the massacre?" - which, of course, I now know that you did indeed plan on doing later on.

At any rate, thanks for the ramble again.

Greg responds...

You're welcome. And thanks for responding in such detail.

In an ideal world I'd have definitely used the massacre to "kill off" characters that you got to know well, to make the tragedy more personal. But there was no room to include even Othello.

When you say that the "friend" conversation was the point where you decided you liked gargoyles, do you mean the series or the species?

Response recorded on March 25, 2000

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Chapter XI: "Long Way To Morning"

"Long Way To Morning" This was my title, based on an idea I'd had from way early in the development of the series. It was always obvious to me that the fact that the gargs turned to vulnerable stone at sunrise, gave the series a built-in ticking clock that added tension. But given the gargoyles' healing factor (to borrow a Wolverine term) it occured to me early on that there might come a time when sunrise couldn't come fast enough. That was the origin of this episode and the title. (I think I may have even mentioned the scenario in the Series' Writers' Bible.)

The other obvious purpose of the episode was to give Hudson a showcase episode to equal the Trio tryptich. As I've mentioned before, Gargoyles was originally developed as a comic series, and one of the funny little gargoyles in that show was "Ralph", a very domestic couch potato Gargoyle who loved to stay at home and watch T.V. Hudson developed out of Ralph, but he spent much of the first few episodes "Guarding the castle" (or the clock tower). We'd given him some great action in AWAKENING. But we still felt a major need to UN-RALPH him.

I wanted to deal with his age as realistically as possible. To have him doubt himself, maybe even be aware of his limitations, but then have him prove to himself that he still had something to contribute. I think we basically succeed in that here.

But this ep afforded us other opportunities as well. Opportunities to explore Wyvern backstory in our parallel flashback story:

--We find out definitively that Hudson WAS the leader of the clan and that Goliath was his second. We also get to see the baton get passed.

--We learn how Hudson was blinded in one eye.

--We meet Prince Malcolm and get a sense of how Princess Katharine became the bitch she was at the start of "Awakening". I think this was very important in paving the way for her role in the "Avalon" tryptich. By the end of "Awakening", she's remorseful and has seen the error of her ways, but it doesn't change how badly she acted. But this episode reveals how and why her antipathy toward Gargoyles was created. It doesn't excuse her behaviour, but it helps to explain it enough so that we can buy her as a heroine when we next see her. Malcolm doesn't come off as well. I wanted to present how easily casual thoughtless words could be hurtful, and even lead to tragic consequences. My daughter Erin (age 5 1/2) had seen this episode at least once before. But this time, that aspect of Malcolm's inadvertent damage and Katharine's mistaken blame really grabbed her attention. The injustice of it really troubled her. Which is exactly the response I was looking for. (My kids are so cool. She also noticed Hudson's eye getting injured, and commented on how smart Hudson was to jump off into the waterfall.)

--I love the subtle changes that Jeff, Keith and Marina made in their voices when playing the young Magus, Goliath and Demona. It's interesting to see Demona's progression in hindsight from "Vows" to "Long Way" to "Awakening, Part One" to "City of Stone" to the present day. She really is a fascinating character, if I do say so myself. Here, you see her ambition. But no villainy. Of course, it made for a nice counterpoint with her vicious murderous tendencies in the present day story.

--Throughout production of this episode, I had to keep pointing out to the artists, etc., that the flashbacks all had a point of view, i.e. Hudson's. That Demona and Goliath's "private conversations" could NOT be as private as they thought. Hudson had to know what they were saying about him. Both because it further eroded his confidence in both the past and present (the true demon he had to overcome) and because if he didn't hear those conversations it would be cheating to include them in HIS dreams and flashbacks.

--We also intro'd the ARCHMAGE. A one-shot villain if I ever saw one, except that David Warner was so amazing, I knew I had to bring the character back. When he falls into the chasm, you can just here the Phoenix Gate exploding open down there. (Of course, to some people that sounded like him hitting bottom. Their mistake.)

Continuity:

Brooklyn still has it in for D. Broadway is now Ultra-Protective of Elisa. Hudson has superior tracking skills in the past and the present.

And Demona has clearly focused her hatred on Elisa. (Who, by the way, loses her second gun of the series.) It was important for these early episodes that we fool Demona into thinking that Elisa was dead. Otherwise, how else do we explain why she doesn't just kill her.

Demona at the end, uses her cannon as a club. This was designed to be ambiguous. Did Hudson's sword damage the weapon? Or was Demona just so furious that she wanted the satisfaction of cudgeling the old guy to death? Yeah, it was designed to be ambiguous, but no one ever EVER thought that the gun was damaged. They all assumed Demona just lost it. Which is probably true.

Speaking of that Waterfall thing, that image was important retro-pipe for Hunter's Moon, Part Three. (More on that in 54 chapters.)

Animation-wise, I just wish Demona hadn't come off as such a lousy shot.

I love Hudson and Goliath's last exchange. Goliath assures Hudson that he still has "Years of fighting left". Hudson, glad to be of use, is still less than thrilled at the prospect. It's a great wry beat, but it was also important to me to point out that no rational person would wish to fight like that forever. The gargs, including Hudson, fight the good fight because they have to, because it is their duty, part of their natural protective instincts. But none of them WANT to fight.

As usual, I'd like to encourage responses to this episode here at ASK GREG, particularly how you responded to viewing this for the first time.


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Adam writes...

What was Thailog thinking when he turned on Demona? He can't kill her and after all the quality time he'd spent with
her, he has to know that she can carry a grudge for centuries.

Greg responds...

I think Thailog perceived Demona as the kind of loose cannon that he ultimately had to eliminate one way or another. If that meant chaining her in a funhouse basement, so be it.

Response recorded on March 21, 2000

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Scott Iskow writes...

On the subject of magical artifacts:

1) Demona was taking quite a risk in depending solely on the Praying Gargoyle to protect her kind from the fulfillment spell. My question: Did she have a backup plan in case it didn't work?

2) Is there a way (in the Gargoyles Univserse, of course) to determine the authenticity of a magical artifact before it needs to be used?

Greg responds...

1. Obviously not.

2. Sometimes.

Response recorded on March 21, 2000

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Joseph Sutedja writes...

So, what _was_ Demona doing during World War II?

Greg responds...

Uh, lunch.

Response recorded on March 21, 2000

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Pyro X writes...

Hey Greg!

Some Questions About MacBeth:

1) In "A light house in the sea of time," MacBeth says "The Scrolls of Merlin, Seeld by my own hand." Did he mean the He (MacBeth) seeled the scrolls?

2) If that is the case, then did MacBeth know Arthur and
Merlin, or were they before his time? In pendragon, he did seem kinda shocked that that was King Arthur, so it make for a conflict.

the Next two also relate to MacBeth...

3. Did Macbeth Know that a play was being written about him by Shakespear and did he ever "see" the play?

4. Did Demona ever see MacBeth, because she knew it was about Macbeth?

5. Did MacBeth MEET Shakespear?

Thanks man!

Greg responds...

1. No. (Admit it, no one ever reads the archives.) Macbeth was reading that. Meaning, he read that Merlin sealed it with HIS own hand.

2. So, no, they were before his time.

3. Yes. And yes.

4. I'm sure she's seen it.

5. Yes. (Yeah, no one ever reads the archives.)

Response recorded on March 21, 2000

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Demona writes...

Hello, Greg! In "Hunter's Moon: Part 3", at the very end, how come you had Demona throw up the vile into the air? I mean, right after Goliath said, "you can destroy all of us, you and me, the whole clan, and our daughter." When he involved Angela, you would think that Demona would do anything for her because she loved her so much. In "The Reckoning," Demona used Angela, but realized what she had done wrong, so she saved her from being killed. Now, Demona doesn't care? I don't understand. Is it maybe because Goliath destroyed the Praying Gargoyle that her spell wouldn't work anyway? So, out of frustration, she just threw the vile up in the air, because she knew that if Goliath didn't catch it nothing would happen? Thanks for your time, Greg! I hope I didn't confuse you with what I'm trying to ask. :)

Greg responds...

I think that on one level, Demona was fairly confident that Goliath (or one of the gargs) would catch it. But I also think on some level, Demona's action was nihilistic. If the vile broke, so be it.

Response recorded on March 19, 2000

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Demona writes...

Hello, Greg. Quick question -- what exactly does Demona's company "Nightstone Unlimited" do? Does she just use it to hire people to do her dirty work? Thanks!

Greg responds...

It's into a lot of things, attempting to compete with the likes of Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics.

Response recorded on March 17, 2000

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Aris katsaris writes...

How much does Macbeth know about the Weird Sisters involvement in his life, and how does he feel about it? (for example he thinks that their overall involvement was beneficial or destructive to him, how would he react if he were to meet them, etc?)

How does Demona feel?

Greg responds...

Both Macbeth and Demona are remarkably ignorant of the Weird Sisters OVERALL involvement. Of course they know the Sisters were involved with them way back then. And I'd lay odds that they've seen the sisters once or twice since then. But my guess is that Mac's view is more neutral. Think of your own responses to the sisters after CITY, before their later appearances. I'm not sure he'd necessarily be happy to see them. But I don't think he'd regard them as enemies, or as huge manipulators of his life.

Demona hates their guts. But not for rational reasons. They're just someone else to blame for her problems.

Response recorded on March 17, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

We know that a major factor in Demona's motivations is her suppressed guilt for the sack of Castle Wyvern and the destruction of her clan there, which she knows somewhere deep down inside she was responsible for, but which she consciously rejects and blames on the humans. But is it just the massacre of the clan in its stone sleep that she feels this unadmitted guilt about? Just before Demona left the castle, in "City of Stone Part One", she saw Princess Katharine and the Magus taking the eggs away. Obviously she didn't know that they'd changed for the better in their feelings about gargoyles and were no longer the bigots that they once had been, nor that Goliath had appointed them the guardians of the eggs so that what they were doing was perfectly legitimate. To Demona, it must have seemed like they were looting the rookery and taking the eggs away for some unknown horrible purpose. And she simply let them do it, without making any effort to come to the eggs' rescue and save what little remained of the clan now.

So is that another factor in Demona's buried guilt? That she abandoned the eggs to their fate? (You stated that you considered Goliath in the wrong for turning the eggs over to Katharine and taking the easy way out by asking the Magus to turn him to stone rather than look after them alone, but at least he knew that the Princess and the Magus were not the people that they had once been, and that they would take good care of the eggs - as indeed they did. Demona couldn't have known any of that).

Greg responds...

Yes.

And I'd love to dialogue with you on this, but you put it so succinctly and well, I'm not sure what I could add.

So I'll just confirm.

Response recorded on March 11, 2000

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Chris writes...

Whenever Demona is fighting someone, why does she even bother dodging the attacks if she's immortal? Is it to avoid the pain involved with being shot,stabbed,etc. ,or is it just instinct telling her dodge?

Greg responds...

Probably both. Plus she doesn't want to get knocked out and be at someone's mercy. An eternity in prison or in some lab isn't exactly her idea of a good time.

Response recorded on March 09, 2000

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Aaron writes...

Greg, thanks for taking these questions. I'm sure you've answered this before, but I can't find any mention of it in the archives.

You've stated that female gargoyles have a worldwide 20-year fertility cycle.

1. Does Demona conform to this cycle, or does her being forever 70(35) short-circuit that?

2. The last question applied for about nine hundred years. But now, what effect do Demona's daily transformations have on her reproductive cycle? I remember a question about this, but I think all you said was that Puck didn't design the spell with pregnancy in mind.

3. When Demona changes to a human, is it simply an exterior, cosmetic change, or does she become fully human internally? I'm betting the former, since she doesn't seem to have a belly button in human form, but that could be either an animation glitch or simply a detail too small to pick up.

4. If she does make a full change, does she have a human reproductive system, and all the monthly fun that comes with it?

Thanks again.

Greg responds...

1. Yes. She does. After all, until Puck, she conformed to the day/night cycle. But that doesn't mean she HAS to mate.

2. No. But as I said, I think the magic would compensate for a pregnancy... ON THE HUGE ASSUMPTION that she ever gets pregnant.

3. Fully human.

4. Yes, during the day.

Response recorded on March 09, 2000

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Chapter IX: "Enter Macbeth"

Another episode by episode ramble. Feedback encouraged.

So here's where all that great continuity got us in major trouble.

The episodes were all designed to play in a certain order. But I didn't tell my bosses that in advance. I know it sounds sneaky, but it wasn't really. We wrote the darn things and sent them off in order. It never occured to me they wouldn't be able to come back and air in order. I mean, how could a newer episode get the jump on an older one? How could an older episode not be ready before a newer one? Then the footage came back on "Enter Macbeth".

This was the first episode not animated in Japan. And immediately we knew we were in trouble. I'm not talking about the version you all have seen. The one that aired. I'm talking about stuff you never saw. Much of the original footage we got was unusable. This wasn't about just calling retakes. This wasn't about us bitching how "Thrill" wasn't as well animated as "Awakening". This was a major disaster. So my bosses said: "Air the next one." And I responded, "We can't."

And not just because they were all designed to air in order. It was a horrible coincidence, but this episode, this episode that was unairable, was a tentpole. Yeah, if Thrill or Temptation had been reordered it would have been sad. Same with "The Edge" and "Long Way To Morning". But big deal, right? Better to get a new episode out and not make the audience deal with repeats this early in the season. (Remember, we had aired our first five episodes in one week. This was only week five. In those days, week five was considered way too early in the year for reruns.)

But this was the follow-up to Elisa's injury. It was important to us that we continue our policy of "repercussions". We put her on crutches to show that a gunshot wasn't something that was solved in twenty-two minutes. This was an ongoing recovery. If you pulled the crutches out by airing Edge next, you blew out the sense of repercussions.

But that wasn't the clincher. Of course, the clincher was the Clock Tower. This was the episode where the Gargs were "banished" from the castle and moved to the Clock Tower. That was a major shift. If we cut straight to Edge, the audience would be lost. Fortunately, Gary was convinced. In a way, I was lucky that our first crisis of order came on such a pivotal "tentpole" episode. We couldn't reorder these. So we went with reruns. But it was a lesson learned. And it would effect the way we approached the second season.

But meanwhile, we had the problem at hand. We couldn't reanimate the entire show. So we picked shots to redo judiciously. There are still some awful looking scenes. When Goliath says, "How Dare You?!" to Elisa, he looks like an Animaniacs parody of Goliath. And that sarcophogus/iron maiden thing that Goliath follows Macbeth through looks like a prop out of CHIP N DALE'S RESCUE RANGERS. (Another perfectly good series, but with a slightly different art style, if you know what I mean.) Or how about the GIANT remote that Macbeth pulls from his duster in order to summon his ship? "Enter Macbeth" is still, as aired, the worst looking episode of the first season. And that really killed Frank and I, because we both really loved this story. We were sure that the bad animation would kill any interest in Macbeth. The fact that generally, the character did catch hold of fandom's collective imagination is a true testament to the work of Steve Perry, Michael Reaves, John Rhys-Davies and Jamie Thomason. And, oh, yes... William Shakespeare.

The weak picture forced us to use a lot of little tricks to get a final cut. One thing we did, which I regret, is reuse dialogue. Elisa says "You aren't safe here" like three times. And it isn't three different takes. It's just the exact same take reprinted and reused. Lex & Brooklyn also reuse lines to get Bronx to find Goliath. That sort of thing drives me nuts.

There is one really nice moment in the animation. When Macbeth chooses his sword off the wall, the reflection effect is quite sweet. And I also like the down shot of Bronx running right down the middle of Broadway (the street not the gargoyle). I also love how Goliath makes no attempt to hide. That really spoke to the Gargoyles attitude about living among humans. They wouldn't hold press conferences, but they would not cower.

Anyway, we ran reruns. Awakenings. And obviously all five episodes on five consecutive weeks. That might have been a good thing for people who had heard about the show by word of mouth in week two or later and needed to catch up. But for anyone who had been following the show from its premiere, it was a long time to wait for new episodes. By the time we came back, so much time had passed since "Deadly Force" that we felt the need to put a "Previously on Gargoyles" at the head of the episode. Another trick I cribbed from HILL STREET BLUES. Cartoons rarely did that sort of thing. Sure multi-parters had to. But single episodes... For some reason, it made me feel very grown up. (Which only proves how immature I really am.) The "Previously" also allowed us to cut 30 more seconds of bad looking footage out of the episode. That little bonus was something I'd remember for season two as well.

HOME

As we pushed guns in the previous episode, this one is laced with the imagery and language of home. What is it? What makes it? What price is one willing to pay to keep or secure it? There are four homes depicted. Well, really five. The Gargoyles' castle. Xanatos' prison. Macbeth's mansion. The Clock Tower. And the Castle again, once it is reclaimed by Xanatos and thus becomes a very, very different place.

I tried to make sure, as much as possible, that every episode had that kind of underlying theme. (I recently tried with very limited success to do the same thing in MAX STEEL. Someone asked me once, why the one-word S-Titles for all the Max Steel episodes. They were my attempt to make me and the writers focus on the theme of each story.)

And how do all these homes turn out? Macbeth is so obsessed that he loses his home to a fire. Xanatos finally gets out of prison. (Not on Halloween by the way, or that would make the dates depicted in Double Jeopardy innacurate. Obviously, Halloween was circled on his calendar because the guy just loves Halloween. And after all, Owen specifically says in a LATER scene that Xanatos has one week left before he gets out. The wall calendar had shown only a few days.) The Gargoyles lose the castle, gain the clock tower, but realize that home is literally where the heart is. And Xanatos... well all other concerns of Grimorum and gargoyle of destruction and competition pale next to the simple pleasure of being back home.

And how many of you were suprised that the Gargoyles lost the castle? That was supposed to be another pretty shocking development. I mean, sure, Batman might lose the Batcave for an episode, but for 56 episodes? When Goliath said "We'll be back to claim that which is ours" at the end, did most of you think he'd be back next week? Next month? By the time, the gang finally did return in chapter 65, did anyone still remember Goliath's vow?

MACBETH

I've discussed this before, but Macbeth's origins (at least in terms of our series) were (ironically) an early attempt to play the notion of THE HUNTER. I was looking for someone human who could physically take on the Gargoyles as prey. Someone smart, with an agenda. We actually started with the notion of trying to create our own KRAVEN THE HUNTER type character. But it quickly moved in its own direction. Frankly, away from Kraven and more toward BATMAN. In those days, we were constantly being told that we would be accused of ripping off Batman. So Frank, Michael and I decided to create a villain who, at least in M.O. would be our Batman.

I had a semi-separate idea to add a human to the cast who was from Goliath's time. Thus creating a good thematic nemesis or opposite for him. (The key to creating a good villain, in my opinion.) But this villain would have lived through the centuries. So that he was familiar with the very latest in technology. This dove-tailed with our anti-Batman, and was also exactly how we viewed Demona. So it soon became clear to Michael and I that the two characters must be connected in some way. That suggested that he shouldn't merely be 1000 years old. He should be Scottish as well. All that was left was a name. And given my love of Shakespeare, I'm surprised it took me so long to figure it out. Our nemesis was Macbeth himself. An immortal Scottish King. What Scottish King was more immortal than Macbeth? More mortal too for that matter.

This was the beginning of countless Shakespearian references that I would either slide (or force) into the show, or that the writers would stick in knowing I was a sucker for them. And I love the little exchange between Lex & Brooklyn...

[dialogue approximate]
LEX: "Wasn't "Macbeth" the name of that play by that new writer Shakespeare that Goliath was talking about?"

BROOKLYN: "Have you read it?"

LEX: "No. Have you?"

BROOKLYN: "No. But maybe we should."

This was my little way of trying to encourage our viewers to read or at least learn about the play. If they wanted to know who Macbeth was, it wouldn't hurt to go to the primary source.

And at the time, Shakespeare was my primary source for Macbeth. This was long before Tuppence Macintyre and Monique Beatty did all their research for me for "City of Stone". Back then, the only Macbeth I knew about was Shakespeare's.

We gave him a sense of honor, but a twisted one. And we gave him a very interesting motivation. I didn't yet know the particulars, but this guy was after Demona in a major way. He had stained glass windows in his home depicting the two of them. He was the man who named her. It was all pretty intriguing stuff to me. I love the exchange between him and Goliath. Goliath is a pawn. Mac wants the queen and believes that endangering Goliath is the surest way to ensnare Demona. And how does Goliath respond? By gum, if he doesn't laugh -- MANIACALLY!! And watch how the tables turn. Macbeth is not infallible and suddenly Goliath has him on the defensive. Goliath even uses a MACE!! Great stuff.

Incidentally, we had in the script described Macbeth as wearing a thin layer of exo-armor. And Goliath was supposed to dig his claws into it. Macbeth would escape by detaching from the armor. Instead, the artists did the bit with the duster coat. But I remembered the claws in armor thing and eventually found a place for it... in HUNTER'S MOON, PART THREE.

Finally, watching the episode tonight, my five year old daughter said she spotted the Mona Lisa on Macbeth's wall. I didn't see it. But I believe her. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was the original. Too bad about that fire.


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Kenneth Chisholm writes...

I was also wondering, is Brooklyn's hatred for Demona based simply on her manipulation of him in "Temptation," or was it at least partially based on the fact that she is responsible for more Gargoyle deaths than any individual human he is aware of? For clarification, if it weren't for her treachery, neither Hakon or Canmore would have the oppurtunity to destroy the clans in the past.

Greg responds...

I doubt he even knows about the Canmore stuff.

But I'm sure the personal betrayal is all tied in with the Wyvern massacre.

Response recorded on March 03, 2000

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Chapter VII: "Temptation"

[More rambles on individual episodes. As usual, I encourage you to post your responses here.]

Part two of our trio tryptich. Brooklyn looks pretty cool in this one. I have to admit, I didn't realize what a break-out star Brooklyn was back then. I mean I liked him, but I didn't yet realize how much he would really capture a huge chunk of fandom's imagination. (Of course, back then the show hadn't aired yet, so there wasn't any fandom.) But seeing this episode in hindsight, you can sure see how cool this guy was. Good-looking with the hair and the muscles and everything. Even the snout adds to the look.

And he's so sympathetic too. Yes, he gets "turned" by Demona. But he immediately realizes that what she's doing is wrong. He admits his mistake and tries to correct it. He's such a good guy. Later, of course, I'd recognize the star power and attempt to give him his own series: TIMEDANCER.

Back then, of course, I had really modeled the ensemble nature of the show on HILL STREET BLUES. Goliath was my Frank Furillo. Everyone would get their own stories, but Goliath carried the weight. So, although the tryptich was designed to deepen the characters of the trio, you can see that each episode also prominently features Goliath. THRILL: Lex & Goliath. TEMPTATION: Brooklyn & Goliath. DEADLY FORCE: Broadway & Goliath. (And later, LONG WAY TO MORNING: Hudson & Goliath.) Don't get me wrong, I don't regret this at all. I think those are all great stories, and without Goliath they would not have worked as written. But I think the design of them betrays a bit of insecurity. We weren't sure if the other characters could carry their own episodes alone. The nice thing about the tryptich (and LONG WAY) was that it proved to us what a strong ensemble of characters we had built.

Lex has some real attitude here: "You rode a horse once, does that mean you could build one from scratch."

The motorcycle is interesting. It was one of three toy driven elements we consciously put into the show. (The others were in "Her Brother's Keeper" and "Eye of the Storm".) It was a rare moment of Kenner and Disney being in semi-synch. And the toy actually looks like the motorcycle. But of course, what the hell were we going to do with a motorcycle? How could we make that an on-going element in the show. Sure Batman has a batmobile, but the garg-cycle just sounds silly. So we put it in, but Michael, Brynne, Frank and I are so subversive that we blow the thing up before the end of Act One. Kenner never said anything. I'm not sure if they ever saw the episode. (But we weren't being very good partners.) But what goes around comes around. I'll tell the flip side of this when I ramble on Keeper and Storm.

S&P required that Brooklyn wear a helmet when riding. That was fine with me, but I wanted to make an effort to make it organic. Brooklyn puts it on because it's "All part of the look." Helmets make it cooler. Thus helmets are cool. Thus kids will wear their helmets. Aren't we sneaky?

Also, Brooklyn loses yet another pair of sunglasses.

Morgan's back. But he litters. That always bugged me. Talk about setting a bad example.

And is that Margot Yale's actress sister on the television sitcom saying, "Who do you think you are... Elvis?" [Add laugh track here.]

CONTINUITY

"Kindred Spirits" - Brooklyn quotes Lex from Thrill and attempts to make the same kind of connection with the bikers that Lex attempted with the Pack. With similar results. Later, Demona refers to Lex's little adventure with the Pack. This was the moment when Michael Reaves and I decided to attempt to treat the series as episodic but sequential. The order of the episodes would matter. Yes, you should be able to enjoy any individual story... but viewing is enhanced when you see the shows in order. This was not an obvious decision. Most shows REQUIRE that episodes are airable in ANY ORDER. We had that requirement too, up to a point. But we wanted to add something more. To play with continuity. With evolving lives. This wasn't an issue in the pilot five parter. Of course, that had to air in order. And then there was Thrill. Just the first one we made after Awakening. That aired next. But we didn't think about it. But here, we had to decide. So we opted for an episodic but sequential series. (My favorite kind.) We referred to previous conversations. (Elisa's still pestering Goliath about the Xanatos-ticking clock.) And we laid pipe for future episodes, by having Demona rip a few spells out of the Grimorum. (At the time, I didn't even know what those spells were for. But I knew she had them. I knew we'd use them.) We had Demona admit she had lied about how she had survived to the present. Etc. Anyway, all this continuity would later bite us on the ass a bit. (I'll talk more about this when we get to "ENTER MACBETH", which forced us to slightly change our M.O. for season two.) But again, I have no regrets; I think it's one of the things that makes the show special.

Meanwhile, how did Demona know about the Pack & Lex? Although the pact with Xanatos clearly hasn't been broken yet (not till CITY OF STONE, obviously), she also doesn't exactly have free run of the castle. She has Brooklyn steal the book. Of course, she wants Brooklyn complicit. And it's hard to sneak around the castle, when the Gargoyles (at least think that they) are the proprieters. I just always wondered whether Demona might not have been following Lex & Goliath around throughout that entire Pack battle. Or whether, Xanatos just phoned her and told her. Obviously, the former is much more interesting.

ANIMATION

Another great looking episode that we didn't fully appreciate at the time. Lots of great little touches. I love when Demona casts her spell, and then closes the Grimorum with one last flash of magic. So cool. And, as I said, Brooklyn really looks great throughout.

But there are a couple things...

The bikers approach Brooklyn. They get very close, and he's not in shadow. But they don't notice he's a "monster" until he takes off his helmet. What?! The snout didn't give it away?! That scene continues to drive me nuts. I just hate how it was staged.

And when Elisa's lecturing Goliath she is wagging her index finger in his face. That's annoying enough. But worse, the finger seems to get longer (like Pinocchio's nose) the more she wags (or nags). It's sorta mesmerizing. In that scene, I can't see anything else.

CHARACTER

I love how Marina Sirtis' voice bristles when Brooklyn mentions Elisa to Demona. Demona/Marina forces herself to say that the Detective may be "The exception [to human evil] that proves the rule." It seems sincere, but I really hear the hatred underneath.

Elisa tries to talk Goliath into leaving again. This time, she's got an idea where he can go. (So although that seems to be a repeat of their conversation from THRILL, we actually advanced that plot too. Weren't we smart?)

[And yes, I realize that all these rambles sound incredibly arrogant and immodest. I'm sitting here praising me and my team's own work. But what can I tell you? I do really like it. And I figure you guys might still be interested in my -- totally biased -- observations.]

Anyway, I love how what Elisa's saying to a very close-minded Goliath plays right into what Brooklyn heard from Demona. Brooklyn tries to argue Elisa's point. Putting Elisa and Demona, ironically, on the same side. Kudos to Brynne and Michael. It's a great little scene. Of course it ends with Brooklyn and Goliath turning to stone mid-argument. Just like Lex & Goliath did in the previous episode. Frank came to me and warned me not to do that again. Twice in two episodes was enough. At least for a while.

I also love Goliath's lines about "half-truths that [Demona] has thoroughly embraced."

LITTLE TOUCHES

Goliath just loves saying "Joy-Ride". It seems so pleasant.

Lex's double take reactions to finding out the motorcycle was blown up.

Elisa's "Thanks, I think." reaction to Brooklyn saying that he knew that she at least was a worthwhile member of the human race. Brooklyn still isn't quite free of prejudice. A work in progress.

The DEAD BODY. I held my breath on that one. We've got a chalk outline. And a corpse in a body bag. I was sure S&P would balk. But Adrienne was great. She saw that it was important to the story. And since we didn't dwell on it or explain it, she figured little kids wouldn't get it and/or be traumatized. As you can see we had a great working relationship with S&P. I mean, a DEAD BODY! It still shocks me.

Did Demona pay that family to perform their little scene for Brooklyn? I didn't think so at the time. But now I'm suspicious.

Brooklyn has a perfectly innocent line about the Cloisters being a place like the "world we came from" or something like that. Meaning of course, the medieval time that they came from. Once this aired, I immediately start seeing e-mails claiming this as evidence that Gargoyles are from another planet. This misapprehension may be one of the reasons I so quickly got involved with fandom.

Did we cheat? Elisa solves Goliath's slave-spell problem by using the spell to unhex him. I love that little bit. But Michael Reaves and I had a long back & forth discussion where we debated whether we were cheating the audience. (I seem to recall that at different times he and I both came down on both sides of the argument.) We finally decided to go for it. And again, no regrets. I do think it worked. And we sort of both promised each other that we wouldn't pull that kind of thing again. (Airwalker, I think there's a mention of this in the City of Stone memo I sent you.)


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Chris writes...

If Demona did manage to change, would Goliath's clan accept her back in despite all that she's put them through, or would they reject her, thinking that it was another trick?
Thanks, and great job on the show!

Greg responds...

That's a big if in Goliath's lifetime.

Response recorded on February 26, 2000

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Chris writes...

If Goliath and Elisa were to become mates, what do you think the other gargoyles'(especially Demona's)reaction would be?

Greg responds...

I think everyone in the immediate clan would react very positively at this point.

As for Demona... well how do ya think she'd react? (Trust me, she's not sending china.)

Response recorded on February 26, 2000

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Lawrence Stone writes...

In the Dark Ages would Demona and Desdemona be good friends?

Greg responds...

Yes. Sisters.

Response recorded on February 24, 2000

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Blade writes...

I've always though Demona was a very strong Gargoyle. Could you tell me how much she can bench? I know its odd but I've always wondred. Maybe around 500lbs?

Greg responds...

I have no idea how much weight I can press, let alone Demona.

Response recorded on February 23, 2000

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Angela writes...

Did Demona like Thailog because he was what she wanted Goliath to be like? I mean, he practically was Goliath genetically, but he was bad. Thanks, Greg!

Greg responds...

I think that was part of the equation. A large part. Though I doubt, Demona would have thought of the Thailog of that time as being "bad". Though Thailog might not have minded, as long as you said he was "very bad."

Response recorded on February 21, 2000

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Laurin writes...

Did Demona ever have any other hatchlings?Did she try and change after she used Angela?

Greg responds...

No.

Did she TRY to change? No.

Response recorded on February 20, 2000

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Angela writes...

Hello, Greg! Quick question for you -- is part of Demona's hatred towards Elisa because she is jealous of her being with Goliath? I have a good example to support this -- in "The Mirror", Demona wanted Puck to get rid of Elisa. Puck showed Demona an image of Goliath in the mirror and said, "How quaint, after all these centuries you're still carrying a torch. Well, if that's what you want I can make him love you again. Piece of cake, given your charming personality." (Demona does still love Goliath!!) Demona never denied that she still had feelings for Goliath. Then, Elisa came into the picture. Demona immediately then said, "rid me of that human, Elisa Maza!" It's because she was jealous because Elisa took Demona's Goliath, right? Please let me know! Thanks! :)

Greg responds...

Yes. Clearly. Although it's not that simple.

Elisa also proves or rather disproves Demona's theory that all humans are evil destroyers of the Gargoyle race. Demona's semi-fragile -- or at least ultra-calcified -- psyche can abide that thought.

Response recorded on February 20, 2000

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AWAKENING: PART FIVE

More tidbits and observations...

The first appearance of the Steel Clan. It's a silly little thing, but at the time I was ridiculously pleased by the name "The Steel Clan". It just seemed so right. Cool sounding, tough. And yet original and appropriate to the series. It was one of those early moments that made me feel like I was really tapping into the Gargoyles Universe.

Also the first appearance of the Eyrie Building Lobby Security Guard. The one that Oberon will later do his Obi-wan number on. I never forget a minor character.

One reason some of the editing is different between the video version and the tv episodic version has to do with when the two separate products were due. (I'm not referring to the TV movie version that's been appearing recently. I have no idea who edited that one. Or when. Or why.) As I've mentioned before, the video version was not originally created for video. It was created for our world premiere on two big screens at the movie theater multiplex on Pleasure Island at Walt Disneyworld. That premiere was in September of 1994. But the series premiere was almost a full month later. While I was supervising the editing of the movie version, Frank was (relatively speaking) taking his time on the five episodes. In my editing bay, we didn't have the luxury of waiting for all the retakes to come back before we had to complete OUR edit and lock picture for sound design. In fact, sometimes we were editing to pencil test animation. That's animated pencils without background paintings or ink or paint. It can sometimes be very hard to read at all. But we had to make decisions based not soley on "ART" but also on what we likely thought we'd get back in time to get the two prints made for the Florida premiere. Sometimes we cut little pieces that wound up turning out fine and making it into the episode.

Generally, I think the animation in this episode is just stunning. A few examples.
--Hudson lifting Bronx off that train.
--The whole scene with Xanatos, Demona and Owen standing beside the Steel Clan robots while they are covered with sheets. Some incredible shadow work. And the character stuff is so sweet.
--Some gorgeous battle stuff with those robots.
--The castle tower blowing up, crashing and falling apart.
This and more can still take my breath away.

I love all the Demona-Goliath-Elisa triangle stuff. It's all spelled out in the confrontation when Goliath wants to go keep his appointment with Elisa, and Demona's trying to stop him. If Demona hadn't been so bloodthirsty aboard FORTRESS-1, would Goliath have even remembered his appointment with Elisa? Or would he be off cuddling with his long-lost love?

Anyway, that whole conversation is just full of delicious irony -- all working against Demona. Goliath says, "I cannot make war on an entire world," completely unaware that that's exactly what Demona wants to do. He says, "Doesn't Xanatos prove that some humans can be trusted?" But of course, Demona knows that Xanatos absolutely cannot be trusted. Every statement Goliath makes pushes Demona toward further extremism. And he isn't even trying. Finally, after Demona reminds him of the Wyvern betrayal and Massacre, he says that the ones responsible for that "have been dead for 1000 years." Now putting aside that the Captain and Hakon aren't quite as dead-dead as Goliath thinks, this has got to push Demona over the edge. Deep down she knows her own responsibility. Again Goliath is wrong, because the traitor is standing right in front of him. My hats off to Michael Reaves. What a great scene! "So be it." she says. Goliath won't know it until VOWS. But they are DONE. Right there.

Cultural Differences 101: Elisa is trying to convince Goliath not to trust Xanatos. I don't remember the exact line, but she says something with the word "three" in it. (Maybe refering to the three disks or the three Cyberbiotics installations...?) Anyway, to indicate three she holds up her index finger, her middle finger and ... her thumb. It still looks totally goofy to me. I don't know anyone who wouldn't use their ring finger with the other two, using the thumb to hold the pinky down. Does anyone know if in Japan the thumb is preferred?

When Demona's destroying FORTRESS-1, Goliath is standing around stunned. She tries to get him to leave, but he refuses. Finally, she pulls him out. What was supposed to happen was that the tilting ship was supposed to dump him out the hatch at the same time Demona was pulling. So that he was more unwilling to abandon the crew of the ship. But it never animated with the tilt going the right way.

In our original development we planned on making a lot bigger deal of all the various Xanatos Enterprises sub-divisions. You got a taste of that with PackMedia Studios and Gen-U-Tech (a.k.a. Gen-U-Tech Systems or G.U.T.S.). But we were also going to make a bigger deal of his robotics division, which was going to be called the Scarab Corporation. (Thus the scarab design that appears on the transmitter.) But Xanatos wound up being even more hands-on then I anticipated. Less Lex Luthor. More his own glorious self. So Scarab never got much of a spotlight because Xanatos handled those kinds of adventures himself and/or the robots handled things themselves (cf. Coyote in Leader of the Pack). For those of you who have been to one of the Gatherings and seen the original Gargoyles Pitch, you might recall a giant chrome cockroach climbing up the side of a building to attack Goliath. That was going to be a Scarab Corp. creation.

Isn't Xanatos just too cool:
"Let's let them play out there little drama, shall we?" He's so amused. He can't resist watching the confrontation. And for once I don't feel like it's cause he's a villain stupidly giving the hero time to turn the tables. He's sincerely entertained by the show.

"Without me you'd still be gathering moss." Nuff said.

There's another great little dialogue editing moment. Real subtle. When Demona says: "The plan was perfect." Goliath whispers "Plan?" She says something else and then he completes his thought "What Plan?" That little overlap wasn't scripted. It was another product of me having the luxury to really nurse those dialogue edits on those early scripts.

There is good and evil in all of us. Human and Gargoyle alike. Hey, Lexy, there's another major theme of the series. No one group has a monopoly on either attribute.

One thing that never quite worked for me, was the reveal of Demona's name. She makes such a big deal of it. But the name (at this point in the series) just doesn't have enough resonance for me yet. Later, sure. "Demona". We all sit up and take notice. But there. "Demona". Yeah, so? Did that moment play for you guys?

Goliath is about to toss Xanatos off the building. Elisa begs him not to. That'll make you just like Demona she says. Then Hudson pipes in and says, "She's right, lad. Is that what you want?" I intentionally instructed our voice director Jamie Thomason to direct Ed Asner to read that line with ambiguity. Hudson DOESN'T care whether Goliath tosses David or not. He simply wants Goliath to make an informed choice.

And yeah, yeah, David & Goliath. Perfect opposites.

Elisa: "Maybe, we'll catch a Giants' game."
Goliath: "Giants?"
Were any of you surprised when a Giant Oberon attacked the castle?

As usual, I encourage responses posted here, on either your original feelings when seeing the episode for the first time and/or newer more recent observations from repeat or recent viewings.


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AWAKENING: PART FOUR

More random observations...

Jogger's first appearance.

Cyberbiotics first true appearance.

Bruno (aka the Commando Leader) gets a bit of character development. I remember when voice director Jamie Thomason asked Jeff Bennett to do that voice. Jeff asked what Jamie wanted and Jamie said something like: "Do a George C. Scott/Patton thing." I don't know if that's what I'm hearing, but I like the end result.

We see Vinnie for the second time. Of course, we still didn't know that was Vinnie yet. His nose is HUGE. He must have had a little work done between this show and Metamorphosis. (Not the smartest way to spend money when you're out of work.) One of my favorite bits in "Vendettas" is the reveal of how exactly Vinnie was knocked out by Goliath aboard the airship. In Awakening IV, Goliath lifts Vinnie out of the shot. We hear a loud <SMACK> and Vinnie falls unconscious. The implication being that G knocked him out. But in Vendettas, Cary and I showed what was previously off-screen. You see that the <SMACK> came from G hitting his fist against the wall. Vinnie wasn't knocked out. He fainted.

Elisa looks damn good with her jacket off. I wish we had had more opportunities for costume changes with her. They always work so well.

I always thought that the tranq the Commandos used on Goliath in parts III and IV was pretty unreliable. It seems to knock him down. Then he's up again. Then he's staggering. All very story convenient. You could look at it as a flaw in the episodes. Or you could justify it by saying that they had never had the opportunity to test the stuff on Gargoyles before. It had strange effects.

Owen has one line in the whole episode: A very effective clearing of his throat. You gotta love a character who can be so memorable with so little.

The Commandos seem to be pretty bad shots, until you realize in episode V that killing Goliath isn't really what they're after. In my head, they were told NOT to kill him if they could effectively put a scare into him. Elisa was probably much more expendable. Bruno's discretion.

This seemed like the first episode to use the "CLAW WIPES"... but I'm not sure. A Wipe is one means of moving from one scene to another. Other methods are straight CUTS or DISSOLVES, etc. But Japan started doing these very dramatic CLAW WIPES, where a Gargoyle hand seems to be tearing the old scene away with his or her claws. It wasn't called for in early scripts, but after we had seen it a few times, we started to call it out.

Elisa puts the transmitter on a dog she calls Rover, a dog that's scrounging through garbage in the park. In the very next scene, Hudson is watching TV and a dog that could easily have been Rover as a pup is seen starring in a dogfood commercial. How the mighty have fallen.

There's a few great moments with the trio in this show. Maybe not the obvious ones. I love their exchange of dialogue to Hudson when they come back from their night on the town. We had the opportunity to really edit the dialogue with multiple overlaps and rhythms before it went to Japan. The scene really snaps. In later episodes, we wouldn't always have that luxury.

The scenelet where they fly away from the castle on their way to the Cyberbiotics Tower is also very cool. A combination of animation, editing and sound, that really gives SNAP to their departure. I love it.

Of course, the naming scene is great. Names are so addictive.

And I still like the character development in our love triangle here. Goliath doesn't trust Elisa even yet. Hasn't told her about his daytime vulnerability. And he might not have, if he hadn't been caught outside. But her loyalty and steadfastness really impresses him. I feel the connection very strongly. And I think she does too, when she asks if she can see him again later tonight. It's not just curiosity about a new life-form.

And Demona. I love that wing hug when she and Goliath are reunited. But you have to wonder about that reunion from her point of view. Yes, she's scheming here. But she must be thrilled to see him and the other gargs awake and alive. THRILLED. All those years of lonliness and now her true love is awake. But she never hesitates to prioritize her scheming. All those years of bitterness have stunted her emotions even more.

Finally, lots of people keep telling me that Elisa says "Damn" in the boathouse in at least one version of this thing. But it's not true. We never even recorded her saying Damn. Why would I? No way it would get by S&P, so why bother. Didn't even occur to me. She does grunt right before she says "Empty". And I suppose that grunt might sound a bit like the word "Damn." I mean, I don't think so, but it's the only explanation for this myth that I can come up with.


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Jay writes...

hello,
its me again. i just went to the archives and i did`t see this question ask so i will ask it. wen Demona become a human because of puck and she is closes to MaCbeth he feel the pain of her turning into a human and wen she turns back into a gargoyle. well why is it that wen Demona and Elisa are battling in the part that MaCbeth does`t feel he pain wen she is being hurt by Elisa? and wen Coldstond hits Macbeth why is it that demona does`t feel his pain? does the spell from the sister not work wen Demona is human? if not does that mean that Demona can be killed as a human?
ty for your time

Greg responds...

Part of the true answer is that we sort of lost track of the pain thing in that one scene. We screwed up.

But I'd argue that they did feel the pain. They were just prepared and covering.

Response recorded on February 17, 2000

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sdoh writes...

hello,

i`am a big fan of gargoyles and star trek. so my question is how many star trek actors played on gargoyles? can you tell me the actors names and the roles they played please? ty for you time

Greg responds...

I know this is in the archives... <sigh>

I won't pretend this is a complete list, but off the top of my head...

Classic Star Trek
Nichelle Nichols - Diane Maza

Next Generation
Jonathan Frakes - David Xanatos, Coyote (robot)
Marina Sirtis - Demona/Dominque Destine, Margot Yale
Brent Spiner - Puck
Michael Dorn - Coldstone, Taurus
LeVar Burton - Anansi

Deep Space Nine
Avery Brooks - Nokkar
Colm Meeney - Rory's father

Voyager
Kate Mulgrew - Anastasia/Titania

Plus there are all sorts of actors who had guest rolls on the various Trek series, for example both Morgan Shepard (Odin, King Kenneth, etc.) and Salli Richardson (Elisa/Delilah) have guested on Trek. I don't know and couldn't possibly list them all.

But this is a start, right?

Response recorded on February 17, 2000

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lisa writes...

HI Greg!

1,Why did Demona not get everyone out of the castle before the vikings arrived? ,I mean she was in charge when Goliath was gone.

Greg responds...

Ultimately, she was afraid.

How could she explain why she was calling for a retreat?

She wanted to believe that the plan that she and the Captain came up with would work. (It probably never would have, but she wanted to believe it.) So she couldn't admit that it was a likely debacle.

But she wasn't about to take any chances herself.

What can I tell you? The lady has a few problems.

Response recorded on February 17, 2000

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Tara Ann Kokesch writes...

Greg, I have loved the show gargoyles for about 4 years now. I am a big DeMona fan, I think she is beautiful, and perfect in almost everyway. My question is, have you ever thought abotu DeMona and Goliath getting back together? Elisa Maza and Goliath is just not good... but DeMona and Goliath are made for each other, I remember city of stone perfectly, and It was clear then that they were perfect for each other, so why should it not continue now? Did you ever consider it? If so, how would you go about getting goliath and her back together? thanks... A HUGE FAN!!!

Greg responds...

Demona? Perfect? Maybe she's a perfect fictional character. (I'd like to think so anyway.) But I'd hardly say she's perfect.

And it's Demona. Not DeMona, by the way.

As to her and Goliath getting back together. No. I put that to bed with Vows. Elisa is the true love of Goliath's life. Demona has a couple of true loves coming. But Goliath and her... when it was real, it wasn't that real. It was love, but it was also youth. And no small amount of her hiding her true nature from him. You can't base a GREAT LOVE on deception. Not that the emotions weren't sincere, but Demona and Goliath never truly understood each other. Not the way Goliath and Elisa do. And not the way Demona and xxx will.

Response recorded on February 17, 2000

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AWAKENING, PART THREE

Watched this with the family half an hour ago...

More random observations...

RE: Our supporting cast...

Who knew that Brendan & Margot would wind up being so important? Credit Marina Sirtis, for making Margot so gloriously bitchy.

And then there's Vinnie's first appearance on that motorcycle. Of course, no one knew Vinnie existed back then, which is thoroughly appropriate to his character.

And credit Keith David with breathing real life into Morgan the cop. Morgan didn't even have a name then. He was just a place holder, someone for Elisa to respond to. But Keith made me interested in him.

Little things still bug me. Xanatos' floating ponytail in the scene where he and Elisa first meet.

In the Kitchen, the Freezer door was supposed to have one of those easy to open latches on the inside. The irony being that Broadway could easily extricate himself, if he just knew how to operate the latch (or even what it was). Something a kid could do, assuming the kid was born in the 20th century. But BW has to bust down the door.

In the original script and the recording of that script, it's Brooklyn who says "So many wonders..." and it's Broadway who says "Goliath said not to let anybody see us." But in those early days, lots of people in L.A. and in Tokyo kept confusing their names (and Bronx's) so the animation came back as you see it. And it was easier to re-record the voices then to reanimate. (Or am I getting all this totally backwards? I just saw the show again half an hour ago, and already, I'm confused.)

(CAVEAT: In all these little things, I'll probably be pointing out animation errors here and there. But please understand, I think most of the animation we got, particularly from Walt Disney TV Animation - Japan, was brilliant. I think those guys did a great job and don't get enough credit. But anecdotes generally come out of when things go wrong, not when they go right, so it may seem like I'm talking about mistakes more often than not. Sorry, in advance to Roy Sato or anyone else who might take offense.)

When Elisa is first being checked out by the Trio, there was a scene in the original animation where Brooklyn seems inordinantly interested in her behind. We had to call a retake, cuz the guy was practically drooling. I wonder if that's where I got the idea that Brooklyn would fall for anyone in a skirt (or with a tail).

Also, after Goliath saves Elisa from falling off the building we have a point of view shot from her. It begins at Goliath's feet and pans up to his face, as she takes him in. In the original animation, the pan started at his head and panned down. That seemed less effective, so we had our editors reverse the pan, without calling for a retake.

At the end of Act Two, the door slides open revealing Demona in silhouette, clearly plotting something with Xanatos. That always really bugged me. I didn't want to give away that she was alive in this episode. I didn't want to know who Xanatos was talking to. How did you guys react to this? Did that spill everything? Did any of you not know that Demona was alive? Did any of you, by this point, not know that she and Xanatos were the bad guys?

Elisa says something like "This is where Dracula shows up." when she's walking through the corridors of the castle. If you take that literally (and you might as well), then you gotta figure that someday, Dracula will be roaming that very hallway.

Elisa loses the first in her series of guns, when Goliath crushes it near the end of Act One.

Goliath tells a joke: "And please, don't fall off the building this time." Goliath tells a joke. Can you believe it? It wasn't bad either. We should have let him tell jokes more often.

Elisa's surprise that Goliath can talk is indicative of what I thought a 20th (or 21st) century initial response to the gargs would be. That's why Goliath Chronicles' trial episode bugged me so much. I don't think humans would take for granted sentience. And I think most humans, those less open than Elisa, wouldn't even buy talking as enough evidence that the gargs weren't just beasts. (Cf. Margot Yale.)

Goliath is a pretty begruding hero. That's somewhat unique for cartoons. Elisa asks if there are more gargs, and Goliath responds: "Barely." He cuts her very little slack. But already you can see their relationship developing. I still think Hudson's expression after Goliath sweeps Elisa up into his arms is just priceless.

In that same scene, Hudson gets named for the river. I love that scene, as I loved the scene where Tom, Brook and Lex are talking about names. Of course, the desire not to name most of the gargoyles until we got to NYC '94, was mostly pragmatic. It allowed us to use those fun, cool NY names for most of the characters. But once we came up with the rationale for it, and once I managed to explain it to everyone, I really fell in love with the concept. Hudson's lament, here, that humans don't think something is real until they've put there stamp on it, is, to me at least, so damn true. And Elisa's response is so feeble and circular. "Things need names." Pathetic. But I'm no different. <SIGH> I'm such a human. But I aspire to gargoylosity. Anyway, after Hudson points to the river, and Elisa basically tricks him into taking that name, she used to have a line, as I may have mentioned before, where she said (under her breath) "Good thing we weren't facing Queens" -- implication being that Hudson nearly ended up being called Queen, I guess. It was always funny, but S&P didn't care for it, and I couldn't really defend it. So out it went. We tried another version, where she just says, "Good thing we weren't facing East." But it didn't play. So out it went too.

The thing that struck me most, however, was the almost thorough lack of action in this episode. After all that Viking stuff in Part One, and Vikings and a full act of commandos in Part Two, Part Three is a mood and character piece. Sure Elisa falls off a building, but that was a problem easily solved. Until the commandos' Central Park attack in the last seconds of Act Three, nothing else happens that could genuinely qualify as action. That was mostly a result of what was once a four-parter being turned into a five-parter. The reason we made that change is because Michael Reaves wrote a brillaint four-part script. It was amazing. But it was WAY too long. I was faced with either having to make drastic cuts (as I would later have to do in Avalon and Hunter's Moon) or expand it. Fortunately, Gary Krisel and Bruce Cranston saw the wisdom of expansion. For one thing, it would save us money. But also, it made sense because we could run the five parts across a whole week of the Disney Afternoon like a mini-series special event. It wouldn't require us to re-program one day of that first week. So we were all agreed, the four parter would become a five parter.

But that meant adding act breaks, and redividing everything. The episode that most benefited was Part One. In the orignal version, Part One covered all of what is currently part one, plus the first act of what's currently part two, i.e. ALL the Scotland stuff. The episode ended with Goliath's "suicide". A great ending, but we would have obviously had to cut a TON out of the flashback. This way we were able to expand into part two and preserve almost all of the story.

So Part Three winds up being nearly action-free. And by the way, I love that. I still think the episode works great, and it proved to me that the charcters themselves could really hold the audience's attention. (I'm such a proud papa. Unashamedly so. It must be pretty obnoxious.) I wish we had always had the luxury to be so... well, luxurious. To expand and play character. But generally a half-hour format makes it tough. I'm very sick of writing half hours, actually. But the powers that be in Animation believe that kids can't or won't sit through an hour long show.

As usual, I welcome posts here responding to this episode. Both your original reaction to seeing it for the first time, and your current reaction if you've seen it again recently.


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"Awakening, Part One"

My kids and I have started watching the 66 chapters of Gargoyles from start to finish, so I thought I'd give a shot at rambling on each episode as we view them.

So starting at the beginning...

Random thoughts:

In the original script, there was a bit that came right after Princess Katharine reprimands the Captain for inviting the Gargoyles into the Great Hall. She says something to the effect of: "To allow beasts in the dining hall..." Right then, we were supposed to cut to a shot of one of those hounds that you can see milling about in the initial establing shot. The hound was supposed to grab a chunk of meat off of one of the nobles' plates. This would further establish Katharine's hypocracy, but also embarrass her further, lending believability to the things she says and does thereafter. I recall that the scenelet got animated, but not well. Frank refused to include it in the final cut. He may have been right, given what we had to work with. But I still miss the moment I envisioned in my head.

Katharine and the Magus are so nasty in this episode. Boy, did they go through some changes.

I'm also struck by just how much the Trio grew from this first appearance. They're kinda medieval ninja turtles here. But they show potential. I still love their exchange with Tom as he tries to get names out of them and they are baffled as to why names would be important.

I do wish we could have seen more Gargoyles flying around. (It really would have been nice to catch a glimpse of the Coldtrio, but frankly, they hadn't been designed yet. We knew they were coming, but we didn't have time to design them before they were necessary.) But it would have been great to see more beasts, more females. More young and old. But I guess we did all right.

The cliffhangers are interesting too. In both, the threat is the Gargoyles themselves. Princess Katharine says something nasty about gargoyles, just as Goliath enters the Hall. He growls, clearly having heard her statement. And we go to commercial... I could never have gotten away with that by even episode 2. But this early on, we didn't know the gargs well enough to know how they'd react. Clearly they had our sympathy. But would Goliath go berserk? Obviously, not. But that was the tension in that beat. Same thing happens between Acts II & III. The threat seems to be from Brooklyn, Lex and Bronx. Of course, they're bluffing. Annoyed with the humans, they are simply trying to put a scare into them. But the audience doesn't know that yet, so I can get away with the second cliffhanger being a Garg threat as well. Of course, by the end of the episode, we know just how noble they are. And that's a great cliffhanger I think. Goliath roaring to the heavens filled with grief over the death of his "Angel of the Night". 'SCool. (But how many of you really thought she was dead?)

There are also moments that are fairly mundane to us now. Elisa pulling up in her car. Goliath first breaking out of stone. Demona stepping out of the shadows. I'd be curious how all those moments made you guys feel the very first time you saw them, particularly those of you for whom this was in fact the first episode you ever saw.

I invite you to post your comments here on Awakening, Part One.


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Aris Katsaris writes...

In how much detail have you plotted the lifes of Macbeth and Demona in the years between 1057 and 1994? Do you know only some tidbits of their lifes (as for example the one you mentioned that Macbeth knew Shakespeare) or have you plotted them and their movements to some greater extent?

Did Macbeth and Demona meet any time between 1057 and 1995? Or was 'City of Stone' their first meeting after so many centuries? Did they meet the Weird Sisters again?

Greg responds...

The Weird Sisters were watching them, but I think largely with maybe a couple of exceptions, they stayed out of sight.

Macbeth and Demona definitely had a handful of encounters over the centuries.

As for what I've plotted, well, as you said, I have a few tidbits and a sense of the sweep. But, no, I don't have a detailed account in my head of what happened to each character.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Nemi writes...

We all know that Demona hates humans, she sees them as being basicly lower on the food chain to Gargoyles...So what is her attitude towards the Fey?

Greg responds...

Less overtly hostile. But she doesn't much care for them.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Is Demona aware of the existence of any gargoyle clan other than that of Manhattan and (after The Reckoning) the ones in Avalon and the clones?

Greg responds...

Probably. (Haven't I answered this before?)

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

In the gargoyles bible for the first season you had made mention of the existence of a 'very wise man' who first made an alliance with gargoyles building his castle of a gargoyle rookery and who ushered in the golden age of gargoyle-human relations...

Is this still how you picture it happening? The existence of a specific 'very wise man' was intriguing to me - is he just a generic figure, or someone whose name we would recognize? (I have my own idea on the subject ofcourse but I refrain from suggesting it in case it's considered a story-idea)

Greg responds...

I was being generic in the bible on purpose to simplify things. Honestly, I don't think I ever really thought there was just one person who did that. The world was too big a place and there wasn't any internet back then to facilitate communication. So that "wise man" was a place holder in my mind for a number of intelligent humans and gargoyles who made multiple alliances over multiple centuries in multiple places.

One such alliance of "wise men" was the alliance formed between Hudson and Malcolm, which was brokered by Robbie.

Another alliance was that formed between Xanatos and Demona, brokered by Owen, with a little help from Brooklyn, Mary and Finella behind the scenes.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

One of the scenes that most intrigued me, was the final action of Demona in the Hunter's Moon incident: throwing the container in the air, a deed through which she risked the annihilation of not only humans but her own race as well, including her daughter.

I always considered this a very nihilistic action of hers (I hope I'm using the term correctly) as if she was saying "I won't choose to destroy the world myself, but if the glass breaks and the virus escapes and we all die, so be it." Others in the fandom see it as just a way for her to buy some time and manage to escape. If so it was a very risky way indeed...

Your thoughts (and Demona's thoughts) on the issue?

Greg responds...

I can't put either argument any better than you just did, so my answer would have to be: ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

you said that demona would be a ally with the clan by 2158 would she have given up on her vendetta to humanity and accepted them as a part of the world?

Greg responds...

Eventually.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

when demona told brooklyn about what she did during the centurys what did she tell him,did she tell him about macbeth?

Greg responds...

In "Temptation"? No. I think people have the notion that Demona and Brooklyn had a lot going on off-screen and/or between scenes of that episode. (Again, Christine, I've heard the rumors.) But it ain't true in the cannon. What you saw was largely what took place.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

do the wierd sisters have any future plans for macbeth and demona?

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

is macbeth still hunting demona?

Greg responds...

Not actively.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

every time some one asks what demona or macbeth did in world war 2 you say a lot or your not going to write a novel length answer in this format could you at least tell us some of what they did during the war?

Greg responds...

No. Not today. Mostly because the ideas I have would require research into WWII that I have not yet had time to do. That kind of relative accuracy was one of the hallmarks of the series, and I'm not about to get sloppy now.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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lisa writes...

will macbeth and demona ever reconcile?

Greg responds...

Depends what you mean...

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Stacey writes...

Hello! This is my first time asking a question, but I was alwayas very curious about gargoyle anatomy. Brooklyn in the character that puzzles me the most. I have noticed that his wings are the type that have little hands on the top of them. I have also noticed that the only other gargoyles that have this type of wing structure are female gargoyles. Why did you decide to make his wings look like that, and what purpose do the little hands serve?

Greg responds...

It just so happens that he and Demona have the same wing-type. Angela inherited hers from her mother. Not all females have that type. Coldfire didn't for example. Neither did Una. It's not a male/female thing. It's just one of the many minor garg anitomical variations.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Something else that I've been wondering lately, about the betrayal of Castle Wyvern by the Captain of the Guard and Demona. There was one snag in it (aside from the use of the common enemy as allies in settling an internal dispute - always a Very Bad Idea) that I found myself suddenly noticing. Demona and the Captain's plan was to have the Vikings take away all the humans while the gargoyles were absent (foiled by Goliath deciding to pursue the Vikings with only Hudson), believing that then the gargoyles would have the castle all to themselves. But - did those two *seriously* believe that Goliath would, upon coming home to find that the castle had been sacked and the humans taken prisoner, just say "Well, that's that," and do nothing about it? I certainly can't imagine him just letting the humans be led away by the Vikings and do nothing about it, even if the massacre of the bulk of his clan hadn't taken place.

Greg responds...

I think that was a miscalculation.

But I believe that Demona believed that once the humans were gone -- long gone -- she could convince Goliath not to send the clan. The danger of being more than a night's glide from the castle was too great -- as proven by the Viking's ability to sack the place while they were all away.

I think she and the Captain were, of a measure, kidding themselves. But all that self-delusion is hardly out of character for either of them.

Goliath probably would have sent a small expedition. Himself, Hudson, Coldstone. Left Demona in charge back at the ranch. Anyway, that's my guess. We'll never know.

Response recorded on February 09, 2000

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"ALONE": The Demona Contest Results

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who entered: Shauntell, Airwalker, Derek!, Aris Katsaris, Jon and Bud-Clare. I'd like to state for the record that none of you gave a "wrong" answer. But this was, of course, a contest, and I had to choose a winner. My choice is quite subjective, but the winner by a hair is Airwalker with the following entry:

"ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer"

Demona consciously chose the word ALONE for a password because in her perspective she is alone. Only she seems to see that humanity is a threat and that what she is doing has to be done. Her birth clan remains blind to that fact. Only she alone can see it.

Subconsciously Demona chose ALONE as a password because inside Demona lurks Angel, the sane innocent she once was. Angel is alone, trapped inside a villain, unable to stop being alone until Demona can accept a millennia of guilt, forgive herself, and allow Angel to be free once more.

A close runner-up was Derek! who gave another very interesting answer:

ALONE: The Demona Contest

A city of humans had been turned to stone and their only hope was about to be eliminated. And Demona had done it alone. She alone had survived while others didn't and she alone had eluded the Hunters for centuries. But why would the word ALONE suddenly enter her mind?

Subconsciously, the word had been with her since she kissed Goliath on the forehead in 994 AD. She covered up her pain with the mask of a mightly warrior. She made a mistake 1000 years ago and couldn't deal with the consequences, which caused her to forever be alone.

These are both great entries. I particularly liked Derek!'s first paragraph and Airwalker's second. Which is not to say I didn't like the reverse.

Anyway, Airwalker, I'm not at my office right now, so I haven't yet chosen the prize, but I will contact you via e-mail early next week and arrange its delivery to you. As stated, it will be worthless, but it should hopefully be of interest.

Congratulations and thanks for playing.


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The nominees are in...

Praise the Dragon,

I finally got through all the September posts.

That means the next entry you see will be a Ramble that declares a winner to "ALONE: THE DEMONA CONTEST ANSWER".

Sometime next week.

Then, I'm taking on October.


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lisa writes...

hi greg
1.how could macbeth have gotten his and demonas marriage anulled since he would have needed her there to get it anulled?

Greg responds...

I don't know what he had to do legally. I've never done the research. But if a spouse abandons you before the marriage is even consumated, I think that probably helps grease the wheels. It's also possible that Macbeth's lawyers were even able to contact Dominique Destine's representatives. I don't think Demona would have contested the proceeding.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Leong writes...

Hi Greg, just one question; whatever did Demona think of the play Macbeth?

Greg responds...

Probably that it represented poetic justice.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Jade writes...

Hi Greg just a few questions
1. Has Demona been wearing the same coths for a thousand years--but truning to stone would make it five hurdened right?
2. What was Demona thinking of the humans during the Would Wars?
3. Did Demona find another mate other than Goliath during the thousand years when Goliath was stone? If so what was his name?

Greg responds...

1. Geez, more clothes questions. Maybe she's changed a couple of times and just likes that style.

2. I'm sure, generally, she was hoping they'd all kill each other. Hiroshima and Nagasaki probably put a scare into her.

3. No.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

This is another question I've been meaning to ask for some time, but finally got around to. You once mentioned your feelings about "The Merchant of Venice" and Shylock here, and particularly the reasons for your ambivalent response to the play. What Shylock prompts in me, in relation to "Gargoyles", is this question.

Do you think that there is a certain similarity, in the basics, between Demona and Shylock? I see one myself, since both come from oppressed minority groups, and both became sufficiently embittered by the persecution that they and their people underwent to seek revenge. (Of course, Demona's genocide schemes automatically dwarf Shylock's demand for a pound of Antonio's flesh). I'm curious about what your own thoughts are on this.

Greg responds...

It's a great connection. I won't pretend that it was a conscious choice on my part (though wouldn't it have been cool if it was).

But I absolutely agree with your basic analysis. You call me a monster often enough and at some point as Lex put it, you get a desire to "live up to the name".

None of which translates into genocide or pounds of flesh, unless you've got some serious internal problems anyway.

But none of that precludes having some qualities that border on the noble. And I think both Demona and Shylock, for all their faults and flat-out villainy, have noble aspects too.

I think that's what makes them so fascinating.

Suddenly, I'm dying to read Harold Bloom's take on Shylock.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Bud-Clare writes...

"ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer"

Consciously, Demona chose the password "alone" because she believed that she alone understood that the humans must be destroyed at all costs. She was forced to bear the burden of her crusade against humanity alone, since Goliath and the others were "too blind" to see that she was right.

I would think that her subconscious appreciated the irony of her choice. If Demona had succeeded, she would have truly been alone… permanently. Her murder of the clan would likely have placed her beyond all hope of redemption, and Angela would have been killed during the attack on Avalon.

Greg responds...

Another entry just under the wire.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Jon writes...

ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer

"Alone..." Demona responded softly. She stood quietly, shoulders slumped in defeat. Her promise, her oath to bring a new world into being would be unkept. She had been the prophet, the visionary who saw the pitiful, cruel humans for what they were. She, and she alone, had seen the truth!

She stood and watched as the Hero Goliath rushed once more to save the world, her eyes filled with tears of hatred and frustration. All was quiet. No one was near. Once more, as it had been, as it forever would be, Demona-- with all her wondrous vision-- stood alone.

Greg responds...

Entered just under the wire.

Again, the winner should be announced shortly.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer

Demona has finally broken her alliance of convenience with Xanatos: Once again she must work alone to do what must be done. And alone must all gargoyles be on this planet by destroying humanity before it destroys them. For her, for the gargoyle race, "ALONE" is the only way.

And "Alone" has indeed been the only way, hasn't it? For so long, nobody has understood her... or cared for her... or been able to comfort her. She doesn't even have the dream and hope of Goliath anymore... More so now than in a millenium of existence she is alone.

Greg responds...

Aris, thanks for entering.

As this was posted on September 29th, I should be able to announce the winner soon.

Response recorded on February 03, 2000

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Catwoman writes...

I have looked in all the archives and I don't think anyone has asked this(even though many have discussed some things about it), but since a is Gargoyle at night and human by day, does that mean that she could not have any offspring because of the constant switching?

Greg responds...

I assume you're talking about Demona.

And I never said she couldn't have offspring because of Puck's spell. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've said that Puck's spell could compensate for a pregnancy.

Response recorded on February 02, 2000

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Aaron writes...

Probably irrelevent, but... In Reawakening, when Xanatos says "It's alive! Aliiiive! I've always wanted to say that." does Demona know what he's talking about, or does she just think he's being goofy. In other words, does she get the reference?

Greg responds...

It's probably funnier if she doesn't.

Response recorded on February 01, 2000

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Max Scott writes...

Dear Greg,
At the time before Castle Wevern attacked by the vikings
in 994 A.D., why didn't Demona led the clan away from the
castle, instead of cowarding in a cave beneath the castle,
since she was the one who ocastrated the fall of castle
Wevern in the first place.

Greg responds...

That's a very complex question, Max.

Or at any rate, any answer would be very complex. The short answer is she got scared.

If she leads them away, there are bound to be questions. What's to happen? Why should we go? How do you know? Etc.

And all that's assuming she has time. While all these questions are being asked, will anyone, including Demona, get away before the sun rises?

Ultimately, she chose to trust the Captain with everyone's lives but her own...

Response recorded on January 31, 2000

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MONKEYO writes...

Hi! i'm a first time writer and although i searched the archives, i couldn't find this question (hard to believe, i know)

Did you ever plan a romantic reunion between Goliath and Demona? even for a night?

Greg responds...

No.

Response recorded on January 31, 2000

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Fan writes...

I noticed there was considerable space between "Enter Macbeth" and the "City Of Stone" miniseries that explained his and Demona's history. Was it your intention to keep us guessing or did the storyline just work out that way?

Greg responds...

Are those options mutually exclusive?

Response recorded on January 25, 2000

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shogun raptor writes...

Greg, I was the one who asked about the Demona/macbeth link carrying over to delilah, namely because if Delilah was created from half of Demona's DNA, would the link be part of her DNA or would it be connected to her in another way, like through her soul?

Greg responds...

I don't see any connection existing there.

Response recorded on January 24, 2000

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Derek! writes...

ALONE: The Demona Contest

A city of humans had been turned to stone and their only hope was about to be eliminated. And Demona had done it alone. She alone had survived while others didn't and she alone had eluded the Hunters for centuries. But why would the word ALONE suddenly enter her mind?

Subconsciously, the word had been with her since she kissed Goliath on the forehead in 994 AD. She covered up her pain with the mask of a mightly warrior. She made a mistake 1000 years ago and couldn't deal with the consequences, which caused her to forever be alone.

Jeez, Greg, that 50 word limit was hard to do, I had to keep erasing things. So if it sounds weird, that's why.

Greg responds...

Thanks, Derek.

Again, I'll announce the winner after I've reviewed all the entries submitted in the month of September.

Response recorded on January 19, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

When "City of Stone" was first written and produced were you planning that the Hunter legacy would continue through the Canmore family or had you thought that Macbeth had taken up the mask and was now the last of the Hunters?

Greg responds...

Well, it's more complicated then that.

"City of Stone" was originally pitched as a Direct to Video movie. My boss, Gary Krisel, immediately rejected it as a video. (Though, obviously, he had no problem with it being done as episodes.) He felt that a Gargoyle video needed to focus on our heroes -- and I had to admit that "City" was really the story of two of our villains: Macbeth and Demona. Goliath and company have supporting roles at best.

But Gary liked the HUNTER angle. So immediately, Michael Reaves and I came up with the basic story idea for "Hunter's Moon". We made a sincere effort to make both multi-parters stand independent of each other. "City" came first, but the two ideas were born so close together, I can't really give you a definitive answer to your either/or question except to say (in my smart-ass fashion) "Both."

Response recorded on January 10, 2000

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Airwalker writes...

Just wanted to make a small comment on AWAKENINGS 5:

When Demona revealed her name to Goliath in AWAKENINGS 5, I know it's supposed to be this huge dramatic moment:

"I have a name too Goliath. You should know it before you die. I am..... Demona!"

But the moment that she said that, all I could think was "She's named after a city in Southern Israel?"

Greg responds...

I wasn't aware that Demona was the name of a city in Southern Israel. What's the etimology there?

It's kinda hard to imagine. "Hi, I live in Demona." Any fans from Demona out there?

Anyway, I think it was the whole scary demon association thing that she was going for. I never thought it was our most effective moment. But a city in Israel?

Response recorded on January 10, 2000

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Airwalker writes...

In HIGH NOON when Broadway and Hudson attack Macbeth, Demona feels his pain from across the house. Yet later when Demona is in a fight with Elisa 2 feet way from Macbeth, he feels absolutely nothing. Why is that? Does the spell that allows them to feel each other's pain only apply when she is in her Gargoyle form?

Greg responds...

No.

I'd say that Macbeth must have been feeling something, but that he was steeling himself against the pain. (Something he couldn't do when he didn't know the blows were coming.) I realize this is a bit of a cheat, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Response recorded on January 10, 2000

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Airwalker writes...

"ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer"

Demona consciously chose the word ALONE for a password because in her perspective she is alone. Only she seems to see that humanity is a threat and that what she is doing has to be done. Her birth clan remains blind to that fact. Only she alone can see it.

Subconsciously Demona chose ALONE as a password because inside Demona lurks Angel, the sane innocent she once was. Angel is alone, trapped inside a villain, unable to stop being alone until Demona can accept a millennia of guilt, forgive herself, and allow Angel to be free once more.

(Since there is supposed to be a prize of some sort I figure that I should put my e-mail address somewhere in this post: Airwalker999@Yahoo.com)

Greg responds...

Thanks Airwalker.

Good answer.

Again, the winner will be announced when I finally get through the month of September.

Response recorded on January 10, 2000

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Jeff Lenihan writes...

Mr. Weisman,
In "Grief," Anubis states that that which is dead and gone cannot be brought back. Why, then, was Demona able to bring the spirit of Coldstone (and those of Coldfire and Coldsteel) back from the dead? Was Anubis trying to say that he is under some sort of magical restriction similar to Oberon's law of non-interferece that prevents him from bringing back the dead, or something else entirely?

P.S. I wanted to thank you for answering my question regarding Hudson's feelings about Goliath and Elisa. Just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that Hudson wasn't open-minded. I just remembered that you had stated a long time ago (I think in your rambling about gargs and sex) that you saw Hudson as being the one who would still hold on to the tradition of only taking one mate.

Greg responds...

Anubis had a very strict policy. And he had the integrity to stick to it.

(And thanks for the clarification on Hudson. I just wish you had posted the Hudson P.S. seperately. I'd like to have on-going dialogue as part of ASK GREG. But when you attach a piece of an unrelated discussion to a question on a different topic, it makes archiving all this stuff a disaster.)

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.what were your future plans for demona?
2.what were your future plans for macbeth?

Greg responds...

This is not a forum for novel-length responses. You're question is too broad.

I will say that both characters would have been involved in both the main GARGOYLES series and in GARGOYLES 2158.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.in city of stone part 3 demona said to macbeth that it was always the same he blamed her and she blamed him does that mean that they had met after 1057 and gone into a blaming fit?

Greg responds...

I think they've had multiple encounters over the centuries.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.did macbeth or demona ever meet the wierd sisters after 1057?

Greg responds...

The Sisters were watching them. I doubt that Macbeth or Demona would get to see them unless seeing them served the Sisters' purposes.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.did macbeth actually consider betraying demnoa?

Greg responds...

1. No. Absolutely not.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.what is macbeths opinion on demonas spying on him when bohde made the suggestion to betray her?

Greg responds...

My guess is he's pissed. But there's gotta be some self-loathing mixed in as well. If he had included her in the meeting. If he had just not chosen that moment to teach Luach a lesson. If, if, if, if, if, if....

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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Shauntell writes...

Okay, I just have a couple of questions...
1) In "Mark Of The Panther" what sort of things were going through Goliath's mind after his discussion with Diane and as he was approaching Angela?
You had commented that what Diane said made him realize some things, but what other things would he have thought about on that? Would he and Angela have discussed their problem?
2) In, "Eye Of The Storm" what were the reasons for having Goliath done the Eye of Odin? Was he ever to be a sorceror? If not, why have him use the Eye? What was the significance of that episode?
Well... I think that's it for now. Chow!!

Greg responds...

1. That Angela was his daughter by anyone's definition, including his own. In the interest of trying to make her see the difference between gargoyle and human definitions of parenthood, he had neglected to be any kind of father. A lot of this came out of paranoia involving Demona. If Angela gave him special status as her biological father, she might also grant Demona special status too. Which in fact, she did. Though I don't think it harmed anyone.

2. Sorry, but questions on separate topics must be posted separately.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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lisa writes...

1.did goliath and co ever tell macbeth or demona of what happened on avalon and if so how did they react?

Greg responds...

My guess is that no one filled Macbeth in. If they had, then Macbeth would have reacted differently to Arthur in "Pendragon". It's possible that Angela told Demona about it during her "Reckoning" incarceration. But then again, maybe she didn't. I'm not sure that Angela would feel any value would come out of bringing that up.

Response recorded on January 07, 2000

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Derek writes...

In the RECKONING, Demona said that she knew every living Gargoyle. When she said this, was she assuming Goliath's clan was all that was left, or did she know of the London, Ishimura and other clans?

Greg responds...

I don't think she knew about Guatemala.

And she definitely didn't know about Avalon.

I'm on the fence about Ishimura.

But I find it hard to believe that she didn't know about London.

But to be honest, I haven't decided.

Response recorded on January 06, 2000

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Airwalker writes...

Can you please give us some small tidbit of information on Demona's two great loves?

Greg responds...

Not counting Goliath?

Response recorded on January 06, 2000

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Shauntell writes...

"Alone: Demon Contest Answer."

Hi Greg! This is my guess on Demona's choosing "Alone" for her password. Some of my paragraphs may not be as long as you'ld like, but hopefully they'll have the correct answers.

Paragraph #1: I think one reason she consciously used the password "alone" is because she is alone. It is a fact built on her life due to events of the past and pressent. It is something she has lived with for centuries. She lost her clan in 994 A.D, her mate was turned to stone, she lead a clan for a few years before meeting Macbeth, but she never took another mate. She was afraid and angry. And that anger may be part of the reason why she used the password "alone." Goliath and Xanatos might not recongize her reasons for it, but to her, maybee it is used because of her anger. She blames Goliath for failing to protect the clan. She blames all humanity for the destruction of her kind - the main reason for her loneliness.

Paragraph #2: Hmmm... this one is a little more tricky. I think consciously, she used the password because of her anger - it was the only way to consciously show her feelings for her situation. But subconsciously . . . maybee the subconscious reasons are that which prompted the conscious use of that password. She is so angry inside she can't consciously act in any other way. She is also afraid. That is why she is alone. Consciously, she chooses to be alone, but subconsciously, she is torn up inside. She hides her pain in her subconscious mind, and so many of the real situations she is dealing with doesn't come up consciously. However, with the password, she is still consciously showing what she feels subconsiously without really consciously knowing what she is doing. She is letting people know the only way she knows how, how she feels.
That is why she used the password "alone." Or, at least in my take of things. ^_^

Greg responds...

O.K. Read your entry.

I'll declare the winner after I've read any other entries written before midnight on 9-30-99.

Thanks for playing...

Response recorded on January 06, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

You said once that there were so few gargoyles left that there was a big question over whether they could survive at all. In your opinion, has Demona ever become aware of this, aware of the fact that even if she did succeed in destroying humanity, it might come too late to avert extinction for her race? (I don't think that it may matter that much to her in the long run since my suspicion is that Demona's war on humanity is primarily fueled by a combination of revenge and the need to blame her misfortunes and those of her race on humans rather than on her own actions, but I'm still curious).

Oh, and thanks for answering some of our questions while on holiday at Nantucket; that was really quite a pleasant surprise.

Greg responds...

Demona isn't stupid, so on some level she must have known this. But her mind is a fairly byzantine mess, so....

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Zeliard writes...

1.In "The Mirror", why Demona refused the suggestion from Puck i.e. "Make Goliath fall in love with Demona again"? Or take over the mind of Goliath or the clan like in "Temptation"?

2.Why Xanatos hasn't place Coyote's (the robot) artificial intelligence in the Steel Clan robots? They would have given the Gargoyles a real challenge.

3.I learned that the space war involved 3 races: Space-Spawns, Nokkar's people and another race. What is the name of the other race and Nokkar's spicies?

4.Bruno and the Commandoes are working for Xanatos only or are they freelance?

Thank you for your time, bye!

Zeliard

Greg responds...

1. Demona no longer thinks she wants Goliath's love. And Elisa's appearance in the mirror interrupted any other thought.

2 - 4. Sorry. Questions on separate topics, must be posted separately.

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

How does Demona get along with Samson and the rest of the cast in Gargoyles 2158?

Greg responds...

Delicately.

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

In THE CAGE, while I understand Talon was eager to look for any excuse to blame Goliath for his troubles, how could he take in Xanatos' story so easily? I mean, he heard the whole presentation in METAMORPHASIS, he knew Xanatos financed everything, how could he be so willing to ignore that?

Greg responds...

You're asking this from the man who had Demona say "What have I... What have THEY done to you?"

Never underestimate the power of denial, pal.

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Demona May Stephens writes...

Hi Ya Greg! I have a good question. Why did Demona hated humans so badly? Plus, What makes her to go out there and rule over the world and trying to distroying humanity?

Greg responds...

Hi Demona May,

Well, if the show didn't answer that one for you, I'm not sure what I could add. The short answer is that she's pretty messed up inside. She has experienced persecution and discrimination and tragedy, but much of that was caused by her own actions.

Can you be more specific?

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg

The other day I saw Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. The play was performed outside, overlooking the Hudson river, and the view and the gardens remined me of Avalon. I thought the play was very good. I hear its not performed often and I could see why. The queen of the Goths, Tamora, reminded me so much of Demona while I watched it. She was just as dedicated to getting revenge on Titus Andronicus for the murder of her sons as Demona was on humanity.
Did you ever have Tamora in mind while handling Demona?

Greg responds...

Well, not consciously. I've read Titus, of course. But I've never seen it performed. There's a movie version that just hit one theater in L.A. this week. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming (the voice of John Castaway in "The Journey"). I can't wait to see it.

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

Hudson didn't seem as upset as Goliath had been in the World Tour about Angela recognising Demona as her biological mother. Why was that? (I mean I see Hudson as the bastion of old style Gargoyle tradition. So shouldn't his reaction have been stronger than Goliath's had been?)

Greg responds...

When? Are we talking about "The Reckoning"?

Hudson had the time and the distance to be steadier.

Goliath's head is still pretty messed up regarding Demona. It's much more personal. Much more psychologically dangerous.

Hudson can recognize that in Goliath and choose to act as a balancer. Hudson hopefully is more three dimensional than simply being the 'bastion of old Gargoyle tradition'.

Response recorded on December 30, 1999

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Scott Iskow writes...

I've always wondered: Why was "Temptation" given that particular title?

Greg responds...

Doesn't it seem self-evident?

I guess not or you wouldn't be asking, right?

Demona was tempting Brooklyn.

There are a few deeper resonances as well, but I'd just recommend viewing the episode again...

Response recorded on December 29, 1999

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OnyxStar writes...

Okay, here's a few more. THanks again. ;)

1. What does Demona think of the Illuminati?

2. What do they think of her?

Greg responds...

1. I'm sure she regards them as a threat.

2. I'd guess she's regarded as a loose cannon.

Response recorded on December 29, 1999

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Entity writes...

In the "Avalon" trilogy, the Archmage's arsenal consisted of himself, the Weird Sisters, Demona and Macbeth. Why did he feel the need to have Demona and Macbeth? I know he said they were canon fodder, but why did he even need canon fodder? Couldn't the Weird Sisters have just waved their hands and eradicated every single gargoyle and human on Avalon? Why did he build his assault around those two? For all the trouble that the Weird Sisters went through in obtaining them, it just doesn't seem that they were worth it. How the Archmage told the Sisters to "guide their paths", you would've thought that they were instramental in some way to his plans; that he specifically needed those two. But what's so special about them?

Greg responds...

Good question.

The answer requires looking at the situation on (at least) two levels.

Level One. Taken at face value, he did need cannon fodder. The Sisters had to be very careful how they operated, in order not to break Oberon's Law. And the Archmage had a few personal vendettas he wanted to deal with. So he needed Demona and Macbeth to handle some of the more mundane work of eradicating the enemy.

Level Two. Who said any of this was the Archmage's plan? Well, he did. But he was an arrogant bastard. So do you trust him? Where did he get the plan? By observing his future self carry it out. Where did his future self get the plan? By observing HIS future self carry it out. Maybe there's something larger going on here...

Ya think?

Response recorded on December 29, 1999

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Demona Taina writes...

Hey, Greg! Umm, sorry for those other mega-posts, I kind of read the ramblings after I posted that. So, here are a few of my questions:
1. About Goliath's hair, well, I don't quite understand it, nor Demona's. How does it stand up like that?
2. How old was Demona when she was really, really old?
3. Could a gargoyle be hatched deformed? You know, like missing a leg or something.
4. Who created Goliath?
5. We know that gargoyles get cleaned during the day, but what about Elisa? How did she manage to survive in the skiff?
6. How can Brooklyn speak with that beak?
Well, I guess that's all for now. Have a nice day!

Greg responds...

1. Huh? Some people's hair just does that. Look around.

These are all questions on different topics, so they must be submitted on separate posts.

Response recorded on December 29, 1999

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*The Bride of Ringo* writes...

Hi again Greg,

Ok, this question is in reguard to Demona and MacBeth's magical link. We know that they feel each other's pain; but does it only work with pain or do they share all physical sensations with each other?

~The B of R

Greg responds...

Pain is more visceral. But they might share other things as well.

Response recorded on December 16, 1999

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Lawrence Stone writes...

Hello Greg here are some more quistions

1) Would Demona and her new mate in the future ever have a child or childern together?
2) If Gargoyles was not canceled or it was brought back in the futuer would there be crossovers between Gargoyles and Pendragon?
3) By the time 2058 when all of Demonas grandchildren are still young will she be complety reformed?
4) How long do female gargoyles carry their eggs?
5) Could a female Gargoyle ever have twins?
6) Could a female gargoyle ever have a miscarriage while they were pregnent for their egg. Or if their egg dose not hatch is that considered a miscarrige?

Greg responds...

1. Can't reveal that.

2. This really is a separate topic, but it's short, so the answer is yes.

3. Completely?

4 - 6. Sorry, by the new rules, questions on separate topics must be submitted on separate posts. I invite you to submit these questions again. (These three can all be in one post.

Response recorded on December 16, 1999

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Ceira writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,

This may sound like a stupid question to you, but I figured that if anyone could answer my question, it'd be you. A friend of mine and I are kinda having and arguement about eyes. Mainly Puck and Demona's. She says Puck's are blue and Demona's gray. I say Puck's are grey and Demona's black. What color are Puck's and Demona's eyes?

Sincerely,
Ceira

Greg responds...

Ceira, for once I'm not trying to give a smart-ass response. Here's the thing. I don't remember and I'm color-blind. So even if I pulled out the videos and looked, the odds are about fifty-fifty as to whether I'd be able to tell.

Sorry.

Response recorded on October 11, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

What do you you think would be the reaction of the Canmore siblings (especially Jon) if they found out that Demona literally killed their father with one hand tied behind her back? (She was holding onto the Praying Gargoyle at the time he attacked her.)

Greg responds...

Gee. I think they'd dance a jig.

Whaddaya think their reactions would be?

Response recorded on September 21, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

Do alternate/parallel realities (you know, worlds where history went a little differently like What if the South won the Civil War, stuff like that) exist in the structure of the Gargoyles Universe? Is it a Universe or a Multiverse?

Greg responds...

Multiverses are so much fun, but like unrestricted time-travel they are subject to massive abuse.

The short answer is, I haven't decided definitively, but I'm leaning toward a "NO".

I'd never want to, for example, cheapen the Magus' death by introducing the Magus from another dimension. And isn't our Demona quite enough fun, so that we have no need to meet the so-called Good Demona from a parallel world.

Of course, I suppose it could help explain GOLIATH CHRONICLES. Hmmmm....

Response recorded on September 21, 1999

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Dan writes...

Two quick questions:
1) While we saw what happened to Goliath and Fox when they wore the Eye of Odin, I was always curious as to what the Eye would have transformed Elisa and Demona into if they had happened to be the ones who wore the Eye. Have you ever had any thoughts on this?
2) Along these lines while we have all seen Demona's evil side of her nature countless times, Elisa was always the personification of law and justice in every episode. Could Elisa have her own dark side to her personality, as was alluded to in a Gargoyles episode and in a earlier question to Ask Greg? And if so, what form would this take do you think, as a vigilante, or a rogue cop, a human Demona, or even a female version of Tony Draco or Xanatos? What circumstances do you think could ever bring out Elisa's criminal side. For that matter, Elisa and Demona always seemed to have as much in common as not, as they are both strong, intelligent, powerful women. Do you think that they could ever put aside their differences to become allies or even friends?
Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. No. Not really.

2. This is a big question, with a lot of little questions inside it....

Hmmm...

I'm sure Elisa has a dark side. I think we all do.

All your suggestions for her dark side, however, seem to simplistic to me. It would have to come out of circumstances. She'd have to really be pushed over the edge. I'm not going to speculate on those circumstances here. That would be like writing a novel-length piece of fan-fiction that amounted to being the equivalent of a MARVEL WHAT IF? story. A lot of work to no purpose. Yes, Elisa has a dark side. Even a selfish side. We've seen that over and over, I believe. She isn't perfect. But do I think she'd ever permanently go over to the dark side. No. Not while I was in charge of her destiny. (Assuming I ever was.)

As for Elisa & Demona... who knows what might happen down the line. But Demona has a long road to travel before she's ready to fight on the side of the angels again. A very long road. I'm not sure Elisa's got the lifespan to stick it out.

Response recorded on September 05, 1999

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Anonymous writes...

How come the spell linking Demona and macbeth didn't carry over to Delilah to a lesser extent?

Greg responds...

Why would it?

Response recorded on September 05, 1999

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Phoenix writes...

I've been hearing about this Gargoyles 2158 thing, what is it?

Greg responds...

Arrgghh...

Now, I'm nervous....

I answered this last time I visited ASK GREG. Man, I hope we don't have another technical problem. Hopefully, human error was involved...

Anyway, Phoenix, after we finished the writing on the second season of Gargoyles, Gary Sperling and I began working on some potential spin-off shows for the series.

One of these was set in the future, the year 2158 to be specific. Originally, we called it "GARGOYLES: FUTURE TENSE". But I later changed the name to "GARGOYLES 2158".

The series featured Goliath's grandson SAMSON, a largely-reformed DEMONA and a Time-Dancing BROOKLYN, among others.

CBS was interested in airing it, but before we could put a pitch together, the whole CBS Saturday Morning dept. was fired. And shortly thereafter Disney bought ABC, rendering any deal with CBS all but impossible. At about the same time there was a major regime change at Disney TV Animation as well. The new regime wasn't too interested in Gargoyles at all, at least not in making it a priority. ABC asked for a new version of the show. But no one wanted 2158.

Oh, well.

Response recorded on September 05, 1999

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Jenna writes...

Greg-- Hello there!!! Met you briefly at the G99--in the elevator--was nice meeting you. You seem very down to earth.
Now with the questions--
1. Why did Demona come to the US? Was it to get away from human overpopulation in Europe?
2. Over her 1000 yr existance, what continents has Demona been too?
That's it--Thanks

Greg responds...

1. Many reasons, but human overpopulation in Europe wasn't one of them. Human over-population is a HUGE problem everywhere.

2. 5 outta 7.

Response recorded on August 24, 1999

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Lawrence Stone writes...

Thanks Greg for ansering my quistions

If the Dark ages was ever made would we see alot of Hudson's rookery mates. And Goliaths and Demonas rookery sibblings and also the trio rookery sibblings. And also would some of them been some of the main chacters?

Greg responds...

Mates, plural?

Goliath, Demona, Desdemona, Iago and Othello would all have been major characters. Along with Hudson.

The Trio would have been supporting character. I'm not saying we wouldn't have seen more of their siblings, but that age group would not have been the focus.

I'm sure we'd have met other gargoyles eventually.

Response recorded on August 23, 1999

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ALONE: The Demona Contest.

It's a great dramatic moment. The Weird Sisters, Macbeth and Goliath have successfully (if temporarily) BROKEN Demona.

She gives them the code word: "ALONE".

Perfect.

But why would Demona choose that as a code word in the first place.

Here's the latest contest. (And this one will definitely have a winner.)

Write two paragraphs. Each one no more than fifty words.

In the first paragraph, explain the reason Demona consciously gave herself for choosing that word.

In the second paragraph, explain how that conscious decision interacted with her subconscious mind.

PROOFREAD. Grammar, spelling, even punctuation counts. Please remember that I'm a former Composition teacher and current editor. Nothing annoys me more than sloppy work.

You have the entire month of September to enter your two paragraphs at ASK GREG.

It may take me a while to get around to reading them all, but I will eventually choose the entry that I SUBJECTIVELY JUDGE to be the best. That winner will get some kind of prize. It won't actually be worth anything, but hopefully he or she will think it's cool.

All entries should begin with:

"ALONE: The Demona Contest Answer"

If not, they will be disqualified. I'm prepared to be merciless.

Good Luck.


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Airwalker writes...

Would you have given some personal history to Jackal and Hyena as time went on?

(I'm curious as to what kind of people would be so willing to mutilate themselves. What kind of a past could have moved them to doing that to themselves?

Wolf mutating himslef didn't bother me because if anything he was increasing his senses, his physical being, while Jackal and Hyena were diminishing theirs. They threw away perfectly good body parts for what - dull feelingless metal?)

Greg responds...

Probably. But it wasn't a high priority for me. Sometimes it's fun just to have a couple characters who are nuts. Characters who don't have complex reasons for their actions. I'm very proud of the complexity that abounds in both Demona and Xanatos. But sometimes it's fun just to cut loose.

Response recorded on August 20, 1999

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Jackson writes...

Me again! A couple things popped into my head after my first set of questions and have been bugging me constantly ever since. They are:

1. In "Generations" Demona actually works with the Quarrymen, which made me wonder: How does she feel toward other racist groups such as Nazis or the KKK? Has she ever worked with them?

2. We know some of what happened to Demona after the spell was cast by the Weird Sisters, but what about Macbeth? Did he play a part in any notable historic occurrences?

Thanks again.

Greg responds...

I don't comment on non-Journey TGS continuity.

As per our new rules, I invite you to resubmit your remaining question as a separate post.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Mary Flanders writes...

Why can't Demona have any more children? Being immortal doesn't mean you're sterile.

Greg responds...

Who said she couldn't? I said she didn't.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Sevarius Jr. writes...

Hey Greg, SJ here. Just a few questions:

1. Are the Weird Sisters three separate beings, or are they merely one entity in three forms?

2. Had the series continued, would you have included any exposure to more "races" of beings on Earth? We already experienced one possible "fourth race", the New Olympians, and I was wondering if you planned to build upon the possibility of other sentient life beyond the "big three".

3. We know that in the Gargoyle universe, some form of human afterlife exists (as can be seen by Hakon and the Captain's ghosts). Do the gargoyles have some form of an afterlife? It would seem so, seeing as Coldstone was supposed to be three souls trapped in one body.

4. In order to cross-breed with humans and/or gargoyles, do fae have to legitimitally shape-shift themselves into completely human or gargoyle forms, or is the procreation process aided by magic?

5. Was Demona involved in any of the following: The Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and Vietnam?

6. Also, if you would, please answer these questions about Dr. Sevarius:
a.) Does Sevarius have any family (beyond the clones)? You know, such as a wife, children, or even a brother or sister? Also, did you ever think about incorporating any of his relatives into a story?
b.) Exactly what is Sevarius' ancestral background? By that I mean, where does he come from, what is his place of birth, homeland, etc.?
c.) Where did he receive his education and medical training?
d.) About what is his age? A fairly approximate age would be most appreciated.
e.) With his sort of "Mengele"-esque techniques, is he a international (or at least U.S.) fugitive because of these inhumane practices?

Well, I've wasted enough of your time. Thanks!!!

Greg responds...

Glitcheriffic, I answered these yesterday, but with the server problems the answers were lost. So here I go again.

1. Yes.

2. Depends what you mean.

3. You answered your own question, to the extent you asked one.

4. Yes. (Don't you love either/or questions?)

5. Yes.

6a. Don't know.
6b. Haven't decided.
6c. Ditto.
6d. Late forties.
6e. I don't think his work is that well known.

7-20-99


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*The Bride of Ringo* writes...

Ok.. WOW.. i have yet more... i'm comin' up royal tonight...

1a)In order to make Cold Stone, didn't Demona need at least some part of his original stone body (The pieces that were left after he was killed)?

1b) If she did need some parts of his original body, how'd she get them? Did she save some of him for a thousand years or did Xanatos have some saved parts of him? I can't imagine she could go back and gather up the pieces, because first of all how would she get back to Europe and secondly wouldn't erosion have kicked in after 1000 years?(If this doesn't make perfect sense i really apologize, but it makes sense in my head)

2) Goliath, Brooklyn, Lex, Bronx, and Broadway were in stone sleep for 1000 years.. why didn't any erosion or weathering occur on them even though the castle itself eroded? Is it because in reality these Gargoyles were living beings or did it have something to do with the magic involved in their being stone for 1000 years?

Greg responds...

1a. Yes.

1b. Xanatos collected them.

2. They weren't dead. They were asleep. Solar energy allowed for ongoing replenishment. But I wouldn't recommend the experience.

7-13-99


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Airwalker writes...

1. What would be Katana and Nashville's reaction to Malibu?
2. Do you have designs in mind for Katana, Nashville, Tachi, Fudog, and Hudson's mate? If so, could you describe them?
3. You said that Brooklyn ended up with Mary and Finella in the 1970's. So doesn't that mean that they would still be alive today?
4. Why did you say that Shakespeare's MACBETH would amuse Macbeth? It portrays Gruoch as a Princess of Darkness. How can he take pleasure in that?
5. In what era did Demona arrive in America (Colonial, Antebellum, Reconstruction, etc)?
6. In what era did Macbeth arrive in America (Colonial, Antebellum, Reconstruction, etc)?
7. Now that Renard knows the truth about Anastasia, has it changed anything for him in terms of his feelings for her?
8. Considering that after all is said and done, Goliath was raised and lived most of his life in the 10th century, what is his stand on capital punishment?
9. What are the feelings of the Trio about the Magus and Katharine, considering that they only knew them before they changed, and have never seen their redemption, only heard of it?
10. What are the Mutates feelings about the Gargoyles now living in the castle?
11. Any news on the movie?
12. If you had done BAD GUYS, would Macbeth and/or Demona have appeared?
13. Why didn't anyone ever figure out that Gilcomgain was the Hunter? He has slash marks on his face that match the one's on the mask.
14. Broadway's blindness in FUTURE TENSE, was it just Puck playing with Goliath's sanity AND a prophecy or was it only just Puck playing with Goliath's mind?
15. If the show ever did come back, would you ever bring up or try to make clearer that the people Demona smashed in CITY OF STONE were truly dead?
16. You said that Demona would find love again. But what about Macbeth? Would he have found love again?
17. How rich would you classify Xanatos, Demona, Macbeth, and Post-RECKONING Thailog (Mildly rich, extremely rich, stinking rich, beyond the reach of ordinary people rich)?
18. What did the Mutates do with Sevarious' potion from THE CAGE?
19. Would you have shown us some of Fang's past and also some of his family if BAD GUYS had been done?
20. Can you give us a clue, where in the world, which hemisphere, which continent, where ever, is Coldstone and Coldfire's new clan going to be?
21. What was the name of Xanatos' mother and when did she die?
22. You said you haven't come up with real names for Jackal and Hyena. But do you have anything in mind?
23. Does Macbeth know about the Illuminati?
24. Does the Illuminati know about Macbeth?
25. Would we have seen some of Lexington's descendants in GARGOYLES 2158?

Greg responds...

1. That would depend on the circumstances of their introduction, don't you think?

2. I've dealt with this recently. I do have a fairly clear idea about Fu Dog. But I'm not going to pin myself down at this point.

3. Doesn't preclude the possibility.

4. It has a lot to do with Mac's relationship to Will.

5. In the immortal words of my Magic Eightball: "Try Again Later".

6. Which time?

7. What exactly does he know?

8. He probably has little trouble with it but feels that in an ideal world (which he knows this is not) it's a less than stellar solution. Of course, that's all very theoretical. In practice, we've seen how he responds.

9. Distanced.

10. The Mutates aren't a monolith.

11. Nothing new, since I last answered.

12. Maybe, eventually, but not in my immediate plans.

13. Dramatic license? Or.... There were a lot of people with similar scars running around Scotland back then. Yeah. That's the ticket.

14. You didn't really think I'd answer that, did you?

15. You mean go out of my way to cover that?

16. Sure. Why not? (I'm such an old softy.)

17. Xanatos is Beyond the Reach rich. Macbeth is just stinking rich. Demona's extremely rich. Thailog's just rich.

18. Maggie saved it.

19. Yes.

20. Huh?

21. Not saying now.

22. Jack and Hanna. (Just kidding.) (Unless, I decide that those names really amuse me.)

23. Not saying.

24. Not saying.

25. Not saying.


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Airwalker writes...

Glad to see AskGreg is back up.

1. Does Demona know about the Illuminati Society?
2. Does the Illuminati Society know about Demona?
3. Why exactly did you decide that Jackal and Hyena would become Cyborgs and that Wolf would become a Mutate? Why specifically that combination instead visa versa?
4. How long has Nokkar's intergalactic war been going on?
5. What happened to the helicopter Lexington fixed in HER BROTHERS KEEPER?
6. You said that New Olympians generally live for 13-250 years. So would any of the New Olympians we know be alive and around in 2158?
7. How does the Avalon Clan feel about Demona and Macbeth? (They must know those two weren't acting under their own will during the fight with the Archmage but to someone who they injured that little bit of information might not exactly displace anger at being injured.)
8. After all these years, does Macbeth know that Demona was listioning outside his window when Bodhe suggested betraying her clan to the English?
9. What are the Mutates feelings towards Alex Xanatos?
10. Why didn't Xanatos try to make Coldfire and Clodsteel look more "alive"; meaning why not slap some fake flesh on them like he did for Cyoti 1.0?
11. In POSSESSION, why wasn't Angela shocked at seeing Coldstone? After all when Goliath first saw him, he called him an abomination.
12. What was Goliath thinking in SANCTUARY and MARK OF THE PANTHER when he kept tellin Angela that she has many mothers and fathers? Who was he thinking of? There's only him, Hudson, Coldstone, Demona, and the Trio at that point. Did he seriously expect the Trio to think of Anglea as their daughter?
13. In 2158, how do you picture the world political status? Are there still seperate countries for example?
14. What is the legal status of Gargoyles in 2158?
15. What is Renard's opinion of Petros Xanatos?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.
2. Quite a bit.
3. A lot had to do with what felt right for the characters I guess. Wolf was very animalistic and hostile. Seemed perfect to make him a genetic werewolf. Jackal & Hyena were just nuts. A sociopath and a psychopath. It felt right that they would take things to the ultimate extreme.
4. Quite some time, young feller.
5. Kenner decided not to make a toy out of it.
6. That wasn't my plan.
7. Indiviuals all react differently. I'm not going to give you thirty-six individual responses.
8. I think he figured it out that night on Lunfanan Hill.
9. Which Mutate?
10. Fake gargoyle flesh? What would be the point?
11. Well, the truth here is that Angela had seen him already in the Himalayas. At least that had been my plan if the comic book hadn't been cancelled.
12. He was trying to instill in her the idea that her preoccupation with her biological parentage was an unhealthy human notion. (And since he knew Demona was her biological mother, you can see where his fear was coming from.) Of course, he lost the forest for the trees as Diane Maza pointed out in "Mark". He tried to make up for it later.
13. Yes and no.
14. Protected minority.
15. They barely know each other. And on some level, I think they'd get along, except for one thing... Renard hates David. And though Petros doesn't approve of much of his son's actions, I can't see him standing calmly by while someone else berates his son. Blood. Whatchagonnado?


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*The Bride of Ringo* writes...

Hi there Greg... welcome back! Lemme jump right on in:

1) Ok, we know that demona felt love for thailog (or at least as much love as she's able to feel), however, what exactly were Thailog's feelings for her? Was he really only using her for money and (I'm assuming sex also)? Or did he ever feel genuine that was something close to love?

2) What are Delilah's true feelings towards Thailog? i mean, does she Love him (or even really like him?) or is she only following her programing?

Greg responds...

1. Gotta say that Thailog doesn't get the whole "love" concept yet. Not exactly programmed for it, and nothing in his experience has taught him that lesson. It's easy to forget that he was practically born yesterday.

2. Delilah was born even closer to yesterday than Thailog. Asking her to distinguish between her true feelings and her programming at this early stage in her development (i.e. at the time of "The Reckoning") is tough.


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Karen writes...

Hiya! First of all i'd like to say that you have made an excellent series, congrats on the great work. Ok...I'm a first-timer but I have read the archives so I'll be careful not to ask anything that I can remember already being asked.
1) Why is it that it took Goliath so long to finally except Angela as his daughter but it didn't take Demona very long at all? infact, it seemed as though she had completely excepted Angela as hers, not even asking about the other members of the rookery. Any reason for this?

2) If you had to pick one, which would you say is the most truly Evil villain on the show? (The one who is bad merely to see people suffer or something)

3) Since what biologic ages would you say that Goliath and Demona were a couple?

Well.. although I've been itchin' to do this for so long but wasn't able to because it had been down, I can't remember any of the questions I had lined up... oh well.. I'll save them for another day i suppose.

Greg responds...

Now to answer my first question of ASK GREG - The Next Generation.

Hi Karen,

1. Goliath was very concerned about playing favorites. Angela, to his mind, was way too concerned about him as her BIOLOGICAL father. To his upbringing, that showed bad taste. Of course, she was raised differently. Once Diane Maza pointed out to Goliath that Angela was the only daughter in the vicinity, Goliath lept at the chance to be her dad. It's not that he didn't love her, but he was a novice father and he didn't want to screw up.

Demona's motivations, as usual, were more complicated. Assuming Sevarius filled her in about Angela sometime between "Sanctuary" and "The Reckoning", Demona had time to plan an "attack" on her daughter, or at least on her daughter's loyalties. As usual, Demona is her own worst enemy. She initially saw Angela as an opportunity, not a child. By the time she realized how important Angela truly was to her, it was all but too late.

2. Gee... Did we have any of those? I guess Hyena, Jackal and Wolf sorta qualify. Proteus was pretty nasty. Yeah. Maybe Proteus.

3. Don't have my timeline here with me, so I can't pin it down exactly. But by 971 they were already falling for each other, so that should give you an idea...