The Stone of Destiny’s story continues. As does Xanatos’s bid to capture it. Coyote 5.0, the Steel Clan, and Coldsteel are playing for his team, while the gargoyles are on Macbeth and King Arthur’s side. Will the gargoyles of the UK and Manhattan be enough to take down the machines and save the stone?
Miss last week’s? Read The Rock review.
Spoilers are in the 20/20 moments. Info from Ask Greg is in the According to Greg bits.
Gargoyles Clan-Building: Chapter Eight: “Rock and Roll”
Reason(s) for existence: To further the Stone’s story. To bring the machines into play. To explore the UK clan. To allow the kings time to bond.
Main antagonist(s): Xanatos’s forces: Coldsteel, Steel Clan
Time(s): November 2nd-13th, 1996
Location(s): New York City, New York, USA; London, England; other locations briefly
We are on to chapter 8 of the SLG Gargoyles comics. We’ve got a rather interesting cover, which appears to have metal tentacles stabbing Hudson. But I think it’s just the tip of the tentacle and it’s an optical illusion that it makes it appear to be piercing Hudson’a stomach.
November 14th, 5:40 a.m. GMT. Griff welcomes the gargoyles to Knight’s Spur, a mansion in the forest.
November 15th, 12:05 a.m. GMT. Hudson faces off with Iago / Coldsteel.
November 4th, 5:35 a.m. eastern. It’s Vinnie! He’s going to Japan.
November 15th, 10:02 GMT. Cops are calling for a bomb squad on a bridge.
Confused? Me too. But this is just a hook to get reader interest.
November 8th, 5:34 a.m. eastern. Shari is continuing her story for Thailog. It’s a recap. But Shari adds a bit, saying that Moses brought water forth from the Rock – the Rock was the one that was Jacob’s pillow. Even though they supposedly gave it to the Greek guy? But this is a story. And who can say if it be true?
The prophet Jeremiah offered the stone as a dowry to the king Echoaid of Ireland when he wed Tamar Tea Tephi, princess of Judah. This is also extra-Biblical. The king put it in Tara, calling it the Lia Fail.
November 13th, 11:51 p.m. GMT. Arthur is holding Excalibur to Macbeth’s throat. Remember, Macbeth agreed that Excalibur belonged to its rightful owner.
But they’re on the same side this time. They were both crowned King on the stone, and they want to protect it. …But shouldn’t Arthur want it to return to Cymru (Wales), since Arthur was actually a Cymry?
The problem though is that both gargoyle clans will be at each other’s throats, or so the kings think. Of course this is not true. Griff knows the Manhattan gargs. He is leading the London / UK Clan. So all is well.
In an undisclosed location, Xanatos clicks a button.
The gargoyles are still guarding the stone.
November 14th, 7:48 a.m. GMT. The former kings are sharing a cup of Nightstone coffee together. They’re getting to know each other, with Arthur explaining what happened to him. Then Macbeth explains about the curse / blessing he received from the Weird Sisters. They toast immortals. There aren’t many of them around.
November 9th, 5:36 a.m. eastern. Shari continues. The Stone is now with Cu Chullain of Ulster. He apparently got pissed about some strife with the king, and split the Stone. Okay, so now we have two stones? Or do we have three now?
November 14th, 5:33 a.m. GMT. The gargoyles are headed to Knight’s Spur.
The gargoyles introduce themselves. Constance is the boar, but everyone calls her Coco. Staghart aka Amp is the deer. They don’t get too far, though, because Coyote 5.0 appears out of nowhere and starts blasting at them. There are a few Steel Clan members, as well as Coldsteel. Griff is a little confused, wondering why these things look like Goliath.
The kings are watching from below. Macbeth recognizes the Steel Clan as a gargoyle belonging to Xanatos. This is no surprise to Macbeth, as he knew David wanted the stone. Mac-B comments that he doesn’t see Xanatos. Meaning he knows about Xanatos’s armor.
Arthur vanishes.
November 10th, 5:37 a.m. eastern. More story. Prince Fergus of Ireland carries the stone to Scotland. He founds the kingdom called Dalriada The castle called Carbonek “found him instead.”
He brings the stone to Merlin, who wants to borrow it for a purpose. You can guess the purpose: to hold the stone Excalibur.
November 14th, 6:32 p.m. GMT. The gargoyles and the kings are strategizing. And catching up. Arthur’s been looking for Merlin (btw, voice to text translated Merlin as marijuana), but he can’t find anything reliable.
The other gargoyles are also talking. The UK gargoyles were talking about how the clan here practices population control. Mated couples are allowed only two eggs across their life spans instead of three. It keeps the population constant, or perhaps even a bit low, if the gargoyles die before they’re able to mate. They enforce isolation on the female when she’s in heat. (Yes, they’re talking about this.) How often does she come into heat? And can’t she control herself? I have so many questions…and I don’t know if I want to hear the answers.
One thing Lex notices is that they don’t have any beasts – by this he means dogs.
November 11th, 5:38 a.m. eastern. Shari is talking about Saint Columba taming the monster of Nessy. The saint died on Jacob’s pillow.
November 15th, 12 a.m. GMT. The gargoyles are standing guard when suddenly Xanatos’s forces arrive.
Hudson and Coldsteel face off. Staghart and Lexington face off with Coyote 5.0.
Coyote says that is programmed to kill only if necessary. Not sure what kind of algorithm he uses to figure out what “necessary” is. Lex references dreaming of electric sheep. Ha! Very funny.
Lex demands to know what Xanatos and Fox are up to.
(I like how Greg W manages to make Xanatos the villain yet maintains the alliance with the gargs perfectly. Gotta love David’s skills.)
Fox is buying shoes. Or she was on November 7th, 2:41 p.m. GMT. Now I really wanna know what this has to do with anything.
November 12th, 5:39 a.m. eastern. Shari has Thailog in check in their game of chess. She says that Kenneth Scion of Fergus united the kingdoms of Scotland and was crowned king on the stone.
November 15th, 12:09 a.m. GMT. Coyote 5.0 tases Lex.
Griffith is having a great time blasting away with the lightning gun he took from Macbeth. You know, the one way back in Pendragon.
Coco takes out a robot.
Coldsteel is about to rip Hudson’s arms off. He don’t play!But that’s before Coldfire shows up and melts the tentacles off with fire. Coldstone’s there too.
Etched in Stone: We get the usual updates about the DVDs, Ask Greg, and the Gathering.
And then we have the letters. Phil speaks for us all when he says he didn’t understand why in the heck they didn’t tell the story chronologically. The structure is distracting. I agree. He gives a nice recap, actually. It’s helpful if your attention wandered a bit during the actual thing.
Final Thoughts
Xanatos has distanced himself from his machines, but he’s making no bones about the fact that he’s involved. He knows full well that the gargs are protecting the stone. He can hardly claim, if Goliath asks later, that he didn’t know they were involved. In fact, he has no need to explain himself. If he wants the stone, that has nothing to do with the gargoyles, except where they choose to interfere.
…I don’t know about you, but it seems to me like this second half of Clan Building has about as much plot as 1.5 – 2 episodes of the show. We drag on and on about the stone. We have reunions. We talk. There are the typical 2-3 fights. I just want to know about the stone. And Fox’s shoes.
Tune in Tuesday: Xanatos makes his final play for the Rock, out in front of God and everybody. But remember, he’s acting for the Illuminati. Or is he? And we finally get to figure out the mystery of Fox’s shoes.
Thoughts? Comment!