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Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

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Comments for the week ending January 16, 2022

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Great. Love this story.
electrician in fresno ca - [thonym40 at gmail dot com]
MAp

Of course, Xanatos said "Hell" in the location sense rather than the swear-word sense (though it still isn't something you'd expect to encounter in a Disney cartoon - on the other hand, Maleficient used "Hell" in that sense in "Sleeping Beauty" as well, so there's a precedent).
Todd Jensen

Jurgan> One thing that helps sell the Elisa bit is that she doesn't try to take them all at the same time. Rather she uses hit-and-run tactics to not only lead the commandos away from Goliath but to pick off the members one by one.

I think it helps show that Elisa isn't just a tough character who truly belongs in the action alongside the Clan. But a smart and pragmatic character as well.

Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.

Thoughts on "Voices from the Eyrie 6:"

Greg seemed to think it was obvious a Disney show wouldn't say "damn," but Xanatos did say "hell," so it's not that unreasonable to think she might have said it. She doesn't, but it's common to mishear mumbling.

I had no idea the video version of Awakening was a full 30 minutes shorter. Greg mentioned Miyazaki as an influence, and here's another accidental connection. Miyazaki's film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was infamously released in the US as "Warriors of the Wind" and was cut by roughly 25% of its runtime. Pretty similar to Heroes Awaken. Maybe Disney preferred that edit because it was more like a movie and didn't have the awkward fade outs for commercials. That might explain why I thought the Scotland part was more than 4/15 of the pilot- I saw the movie version first, and most of the cuts were probably from the modern part. For instance, I know the "Elisa vs. commandos" scene ended with Elisa swimming away.

I do find that scene a little silly. Elisa's tough, but I'm not sure I believe she could take out five armed mercenaries. And what happened when the commandos woke up? Did they just leave? I guess they were in a very public place, so once they realized how long they'd been out there they retreated before anyone discovered them. Anyway, it's fun and we're in a superhero show, so I'll let it slide.

I found it interesting that Greg said the commandos had orders to leave Goliath alive. A lot of action stories will have the trope of a villain staging a fake attack to manipulate the heroes. In those situations, I always wonder whether the villain tells the mooks to go easy on them or is he just counting on the heroes being able to win. What if they had managed to win the fight, then what? I wonder what exactly their orders were.

Episode 4 also has probably the weakest cliffhanger of the five-parter. Just ends with the trio having guns pointed at them. It had to be cut somewhere, but it's an action beat with less emotion than the other three endings.

Anyway, I'm a nitpicker, obviously I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was great pilot. And the podcast is fun as well, always great to hear these conversations.

Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]

Thanks for posting, Ed. I haven't heard the podcast yet (I'll have to wait until my computer has sound again - long story), but enjoyed reading your report.

I saw that abbreviated version of "Awakening" at the 2001 Gathering. I recall that it left out the sub-plot about the eggs (understandable, since it could be left out without changing the story). I also once saw (somewhere during the late 90's) a "TV movie edition" of "Awakening".

Todd Jensen

Ugh, don't remind me of that relationship. I still don't know what Greg was thinking when he had the two of them hook up.

Speaking of Greg, he just did an interview for the upcoming Catwoman: Hunted animated film he wrote.
You can find it here: https://www.comingsoon.net/anime/features/1207827-interview-greg-weisman-talks-lupin-the-thirds-influence-on-catwoman-hunted#/slide/1

Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.

KARRIN> Awww dang, I wanted to ask Greg about that Season 7 episode where Zatanna elopes with Darkseid?
Algae
I have unquantifiable corpses on my conscience... Cup-cup, da-da?

Very, very long time and no post but I wanted to pop in with a short ramble about episode 6 of Voices from the Eyrie. I've said this to Greg B separately but it is, and this is the only word that I think does it justice, joyous. So detailed, fascinating, frequently really funny, well-considered and beautifully made down to the great little tags at the end... I hope everyone is enjoying it even half as much as I am and I can't thank everyone involved enough.

A couple of thoughts that occurred to me listening to it though.

Firstly, I was puzzled and searched up the "Heroes Awaken" video cover. I realise I had seen the US one before although I'd forgotten it and... good grief! I have a real sentimental attachment to that video (which had a much better cover in the UK and which is I think the only video I ever bought in an actual Blockbuster) because for a long time it was the only 'Gargoyles' video I had, and certainly the only way of watching "Awakening". Although it always kind of irritated me that bits were skipped out, there's still something about it that's kind of magical. But it also makes rewatching "Awakening" kind of special because although now enough time has passed that I can't necessarily identify for the most part which material is "new" (i.e. not in the film cut), there's still a bit of a frisson of being able to see "new" scenes.

One thing that occurred to me about the discussions about the 4-part idea of "Awakening" is that this probably meant that there was another episode that existed in Season 1 to fill the 13-episode commission (or perhaps episodes were merged). I remember Greg posted a lot of the development docs back in the day but I don't recall if this as mentioned. Then again, perhaps the pilot was sufficiently far ahead that the back 8 or 9 weren't pinned down.

Obviously need to reread the comics as I can't remember the Scarab corporation. Been a while since I've revisited the comics - will need to do so although I might wait until "Voices" catches up so I can enjoy them fresh. How mad is it that the gap in time between the show ending (well, TGC anyway) and the comic ending is roughly the same as the distance between the comics ending and now.

Ed

You know, I could kind of understand the person spamming the queue with questions about stuff that happens 'at the end of the season' from the assumption that they were very very cynical about how quickly the queue would move and had just decided to assume that the show wouldn't turn out in a way they wanted to see (even though I'll never understand why you wouldn't just stop watching if you're so sure, or at least wait for the finale and find out for sure before watching), but talking about what might happen in season 5 is uh... well that's a new one on me. Though I suppose they must all be spoiler requests, since they're about events that haven't happened yet?
Karrin Blue
.

While binging season 4 of Young Justice, thought I'd share what I thought this season would be about. Most likely not going to happen, but I'll put it in spoilers just to be safe.

[SPOILER] I figured the season would start up immediately after Black Lightning's big speech and the revelation of the Anti-Light. Have a big, triumphant moment of togetherness. And then have it undercut as this revelation sets in with the other heroes, especially Black Canary who's shocked that not only has her boyfriend gone behind her back but one of her proteges too and quits. Fire perhaps mentioning her time with the ABIN and how she left because she didn't like being a pawn in someone else's political games, and quitting as well. Her friend Ice and several other Leaguers also quit in solidarity and Cassie delivers an earful to Tim and Batman for playing games with other people's lives and relationships. And those who remain are left to stew in the fallout as unlike in season 3, this mass walkout is for real.

Then we get our time skip.

Season 4 would then be about the influx of new superhero teams. Barbara has decided to move away from shadow politics and leads the newly-formed Birds of Prey (Black Canary acting as field leader) and they tackle street level crime as well as the League of Shadows. Folks like M'gann and Conner have joined the Justice League in order to drum up support from the public and help fill in the absent ranks.

Meanwhile, Fire and Ice have joined an international group of heroes known as the Global Guardians. They work across the world but without authorization from any of the world's governments, essentially making them vigilantes. Still their charitable work and willingness to assist outside of rules of the U.N. have made them quite popular to many Third World countries and displaced people. Brion takes a liking to them for pro-active style and Halo gains interest for their work in combating the Bialyan forces.

As for the Light, they have to deal with their tenuous relationship with Apokolips. While things appear normal on the surface, the presence of more of Darkseid's inner circle has several members concerned. On the galactic front, the ravaging by the conflict between Apokolips, the League and other alien systems has allowed new players like the Sinestro Corps or the Red Lanterns to enter. And the Light may have a new way to undercut their "partner" Darkseid. [/SPOILER]

Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.

Third!
Algae
I have unquantifiable corpses on my conscience... Cup-cup, da-da?

Second!
Karrin Blue
.

First, yet again.
Todd Jensen