Gargoyles: Temptation – Episode Review Continued

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Give in to the temptation to finish this episode. We’ll see what Demona’s plan was and how Goliath fits into it. Brooklyn must make a decision. Will he face his mistakes?

If you missed the first half of the review of Temptaiton, go read it.

According to Greg sections are behind the scenes info from garg writer/creator Greg Weisman. 20/20 moments are spoilers.


Secret Squirrel Gargoyle

Sunup.

Brooklyn isn’t interested in continuing the argument. Instead, he pretends to be a spy.

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I don’t think Brooklyn understands the concept of cameras. There’s a camera for every angle of this place. Mainly, though, he’s avoiding the clan.

He sneaks into the great hall – meaning he marches in – and grabs the Grimorum. Why is this book still out? Why isn’t it in a vault? It’s full of spells! You don’t leave these things lying around. You’d think at least Owen would put it away. I bet he was just thrilled to see the book was gone. I’m assuming he was out of the castle when it happened, otherwise he’d have stepped in.

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Reflection? Great animation. Horrible security, though.

20/20 moment: Then again, Puck might want to see what interesting, fun things happen if the Grimorum stays in the open. Little does he know how that’s gonna backfire in City of Stone.


Demona is happy to have the book. Oh, it’ll help Goliath see the truth! Now Brooklyn needs to get Goliath. No rush, though. She needs to study the spell. Why? Magus didn’t need to study the spell that turned the gargs to stone. Or maybe…Magus already studied the spell, planning to use it as self defense if the need arose.

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Demona + Grimorum Arcanorum. That’s just terrifying.

Brooklyn convinces Goliath to follow him to the Cloisters. They’re real. You can visit them yourself if you’re ever in NYC. The Cloisters are just like the architecture of the Middle Ages.

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Realistic.

Ah, you’ve fallen into the careful trap, Goliath! Demona comes out swinging. The spell is

“Sine dubio, instantatum.”

It means Without doubt, instantly.
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Classic Disney green magic is always bad news. This is no exception.
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The animation is excellent here.

Brooklyn is shocked. What did he expect, I wonder? The spell was to “open his eyes.” Which means…what? As with most things designed to open one’s mind, it ends up closing it further. And here I thought Goliath couldn’t get any more stubborn!

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It’s okay. He’s just spent too much time in front of the TV.

The spell makes Goliath a mindless slave to whoever holds the pages of the spell. It’s only temporary, though! It’s to “protect him from his naiveté until we reach our goals.” Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be on board after you wipe out all humanity. What choice will he have?

This is the old “they’ll understand later, once it’s all done” tactic. It doesn’t work. If the end result isn’t part of a person’s agenda to begin with, it’s not going to be part of it later, even if others think the result is “successful.” Doesn’t matter if the result is objectively good; ideological differences trump reality. People will believe that their way would have been better, even if the other way turns out to work. It takes a rare person to admit they were wrong, the other person was right, and the end result was good. Of course, Demona’s end result would be anything but good.

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Beautiful! Accurate, too.

This mind –control move proves that Demona would rather have Goliath on her side than have him dead. She has feelings for him on some level. They will be the rulers of the new age of gargoyle kind! She sees no reason why he should resist her ideology. Doesn’t he want to protect the clan? Why does he love the humans more than the gargoyles? She’s had 1000 years of rationalization and justification. Tell yourself a lie long enough and you’ll believe it. I say again, she and Albert Wesker are kindred spirits.

Side note: A mind-control spell? Unless that has some serious limits, it would be worth fighting a war for! It’s Imperio, one of the three Unforgivable Curses in Harry Potter. Why is it so easy to obtain here? Magus could have used this on Hakon!

For Brooklyn, it’s not quite an Edmond move, betraying Aslan to the White Witch in Narnia, but it’s close. He knows he’s done wrong now. Brooklyn takes matters into his own hands – and finds himself at the hands of Goliath. Demona doesn’t take prisoners. Betray her and she will put you down. Yet another reason she’s an effective villain.

A struggle ensues. Brooklyn tries to get the Grimorum. He knocks it out of her hands when she tries to put him under the same spell.

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Why don’t they use tails more?

She recovers the book, only to discover he’s ripped out the pages of the spell. How’d he know which ones they were? Oh well. Now he can command Goliath.

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What kind of Latin is that? Are we summoning the Elder Ones? Cthulhu maybe?

Goliath vs Demona. Fight! 

Demona attempts to flee. As she flies, she grabs a chunk of pages from the Grimorum. She’s always hedging her bets. Even before she’s finished her current plan, she’s got at least four prospective plans line up. Gargoyles’s antags and villains are pros at making contingency plans.

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Lemme guess, we’ll see them later.

20/20 moment / According to Greg: The pages and the comment about living hundreds of years were seeds. The writers weren’t sure where they would go with the details. Turns out they both reappear in City of Stone. I love it when a plan comes together…even before it’s a plan!


They both suddenly have super…gargoyle powers. They crash from the sky, roll through a 2-foot-thick tree, and continue fighting like it’s nothing. The amount of rage she’s got drives her to insane levels of combat ability. She’s able to pick up a boulder and throw it through a tree. Wow.

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Rock and roll!

Brooklyn comes in for backup. Demona knows Goliath’s prowess in battle. Time to leave! She knows her limits.


20/20 moment: Yet again, she’s lost her lover. She’ll consider trying the stunt again with Puck’s power, but ultimately she decides to make him hurt instead. Elisa will be her target. This is like a jealous human ex’s behavior! There are few things scarier than an angry ex girlfriend. An angry garg ex GF is downright terrifying.


 

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The Eyrie Building dominates the skyline from any view. Doesn’t it make you proud of Xanatos Enterprises? Just say yes. (Is it always a full moon? No! Nov 12th 1994 was a waxing gibbous moon.)

To increase her odds of escape, she pitches the Grimorum over the cliff. Brooklyn swoops down and rescues it, allowing her to escape.

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That was a close one! Although it might have been better if it was lost here.

Now What?

Back at the castle, Elisa and the clan are trying to decide what to do. Brooklyn has looked through the Grimorum but can’t find any solution. Um…when did he learn Latin and sorcery? If he found a counter spell, would they even be able to use it? Demona had to study the other spell.

Elisa proves her worth here: she commands Goliath to act as if he wasn’t under the spell. Meh, that works, I guess. It’s more logical than breaking the spell by using the Grimorum.

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It’s a temptation right there for Elisa, but she wants a friend, not a slave.

Elisa returns the Grimorum to its place in the great hall. I love my antagonists, but you’d think she’d have the sense to make off with the book. It’s full of spells. It’s been used against them. And she returns it to Xanatos? I understand the idea of her not wanting to steal it, but there comes a time when you act for the greater good. Ah well. That’s “good guys” for you!

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You’re so helpful, Elisa!
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It’s a brand new day.

Final Thoughts

We don’t know much more about Demona than we did at the end of Awakening. She reiterated her hatred of the human race and her desire to make gargoyles have a place in the world at the expense of mankind. We already knew she was willing to take out Goliath and the clan. This ep showed, though, that she is willing to try to co-opt the clan, the very thing I asked why she didn’t do back in Awakening. It’s nice to see her explore her options.

Learning more about Brooklyn was the point of the episode. I like Brooklyn. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s not as goody-goody as Goliath. I like his character design too. Plus, Jeff Bennett is his voice actor!

There was plenty of action this ep. Brooklyn is one heck of a warrior! He took on a whole gang. They dog-piled him, but he tossed them off – twice. Impressive.

My main complaint was that neither Xanatos nor Owen made an appearance. (It’s called being a fan, okay?)

What did you think of the episode? Did you guess how they’d “break” the spell? Comment!


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