Thailog is making his own Halloween party – one with real blood. Goliath’s blood. The evil twin is slicing and dicing, but it’s all part of a plan. In Washington DC, Xanatos learns a surprising secret about the Illuminati’s upper echelon. Loyalties shift and true natures are revealed in this chapter.
Miss last week’s? Read Masque review.
Spoilers are in the 20/20 moments. Info from Ask Greg is in the According to Greg bits.
Gargoyles Clan-Building: Chapter Five: “Bash”
Reason(s) for existence: Further the Illuminati’s story line. Further Thailog’s scheme. Explore the clones’ characters.
Main antagonist(s): Thailog
Time(s): October 31st, 1996
Location(s): New York City, New York, USA; Washington DC, the Swamp
We’re back, with a cover that never would have made it through S&P on the Animated Series. Goliath is bloody from the gut wound he sustained, and there’s blood dripping off Thailog’s knife after that shankopotamus.
Dr. Sato is at the party at the Eyrie Building…
He says hello to Elisa, but she’s called away by Morgan, who is feeling uncomfortable. He knew he was the rebound guy, but it’s still weird. So he’ll be heading off soon.
Angela is not pleased about seeing these two together. Look, the woman has a right to see who she wants. Leave her be. I think you should be with Brooklyn, but that’s never stopped you from being with Broadway.
Goliath is currently getting the crap beat out of him. Thailog’s making it a real “bash.”
Thailog is waxing nostalgic, wishing all his fathers could be here. Anton, Xanatos…
But David is miles away, in Washington DC. He is currently quite shocked to be meeting a Two in the Illuminati. David assumes this is Mr. Duval, also a 2. But no, this is the other 2. There’s one 1, two 2s, three 3s, and so on, until we get to thirty-six 36s. So, the Illuminati’s fairly sizable.
The second 2 reminds David that as a 36, he is on the lowest rung, despite being a billionaire. He doesn’t throw that in, about the billionaire, but it’s implied. The fact this old chef is light years beyond young, powerful Xanatos is not lost on David. But David is not one to be envious. He happily admits he’s impressed.
Dr. Sato gets himself stuck with Margot and Brendan.
About then, Brooklyn bursts in. He’s dressed as Superman. Hah. Except, Angela’s nowhere in sight.
Elisa says she hasn’t seen his sibs in a while. As she says this, one of the security forces – who looks suspiciously like Bruno, even though he supposedly died in Loch Ness – walks by.
Angela, Lexington, and Broadway arrive on the scene of Thailog’s little party. Angela leaps into action, but Thailog is prepared with two gauntlet blades. This is just like Altair in Assassin’s Creed!
There’s some fighting, in which the baddies prevail. Thailog is looking for Brooklyn.
At Robbins’s place, the veteran is holding Hudson’s feet to the fire. Hudson spills the beans, admitting he is in fact a gargoyle. This is no surprise to Robbins. He says the whiff of leather and concrete was a hint.
There’s some more fighting at the castle. With everyone attacking each other in a free-for-all.
Elisa arrives and tries to help Goliath. Thailog’s been waiting for this. He cuts her, just like he cut everyone else. That’s what she gets for turning her back on him. What kind of cop is she?
Back in DC, the chef, number basically three in the entire Illuminati, introduces himself as Quincy Hemings. He’s been the staff of the White House since the Roosevelt administration, and not FDR. Teddy. He’s been chief steward since Johnson.
Xanatos gets smart with this comment, suggesting it was Andrew Johnson. No, LBJ. I like that they’re throwing in some American history.
Xanatos immediately recognizes what a great idea this was. The leader of the Free World for many decades has been talking freely in front of Hemings. Not a bad way to get intelligence.
Hemings gives Xanatos a manila folder with his first real assignment from the Illuminati. Whoa, a starter quest! But I don’t think it’s going to involve battling dragonflies as you hunt down a special flower for a potion. This is a mission supposedly tailored just for Xanatos.
At the castle, Brendan is stomping off, up a turret tower. I don’t know how he got here, or what he thinks he’s doing, or where the heck security is to stop him. Anyway, he sees the throwdown going on outside.
Hudson arrives, along with Bronx. Bronx gets shanked too.
Meanwhile, Owen has gone to summon Delilah. Somehow, she is in the lab area, next to the machine that helped bring Coldstone back to life.
There’s more fighting, because we’ve got pages to fill, and there’s not apparently enough plot in which to do it.
Delilah arrives on the scene, with the attitude and girl-power of both her DNA donors.
Thailog greets her, but Angela tells her to stay away.
This pisses Delilah off, as it should. Who is Angela to give her orders? Delilah has the right to pick whoever she wants. She’s sick of getting lumped into the “short bus” with the clones. I really wish we’d get more character development with her.
Thailog hints he thinks she’ll take him. Goliath starts to disagree, but she throws back in his face what he said, that she “can mean nothing” to him. She points out that he used her.
Thailog compliments her on her intuition. But she’s having none of it. He used her as well. Only in The Labyrinth does she feel truly free.
The other clones decide they want to go with her as well – except for Brentwood, Lexington’s double. Lexington isn’t happy about this.
Goliath lets them go. He and his clan are pretty beat up anyway.
Pleased, Thailog and Brentwood fly off.
Now, let’s pause to appreciate Owen’s magnificent negotiation skills. Look, the castle is unharmed! The party rolls on! All this, after a two-clan throwdown. Wow.
Dr Sato trots out, saying he heard somebody needed a doc. I tell you, in healthcare, you never get a day off. And right now, I’m not sure if you shouldn’t call a veterinarian on top of it. Sato’s shocked, to say the least, when he realizes this is in fact a gargoyle. He has no idea what to do. Elisa says just keep him alive until sunlight.
Owen appears, advising him they have a fully functional infirmary in the castle. That is so cool. I totally want my own Urgent Care and trauma facility in my house.
Not losing the opportunity to play upon the sympathies of Elisa, G says he loves her. There’s a kiss.
Delilah is hanging with Brooklyn’s double. Now Brooklyn’s really disappointed.
At Nightstone Unlimited, Thailog is saying he did not want to kill Goliath. Oh. Well then, he is like Xanatos in this regard. Instead, he wanted to get more DNA samples. And he got them. Dramatically. But they’re all mixed together now. Or are they? No, because there were multiple blades in his gauntlets.
Anton Sevarius is right there to take the samples. It’s mystifying me how Anton, after Thailog tried to kill him, is so happy to work with this monster. I understand being a mercenary, trust me I do, but this is nuts. Where’s self preservation? That’s something mercs have tons of usually.
Question: if you just want DNA, use your own and the clones’. It’s the SAME. Doesn’t he have samples anyway? You know, left over from when he made the clones? And how is he back at Nightstone? Did he and Demona make up?
The chick from The Labyrinth who was supposed to go warn Goliath of Thailog’s arrival arrives here. She says she’s here for the executive assistant job. Well, this pisses everyone off.
Thailog kicks Anton and Brentwood out.
Thailog then identifies himself as 36, and the chick, Shari, is 9. Nine? Who in the heck is this? Good grief.
At the end, Greg W apologizes for a bunch of screw-ups last chap, such as crediting the wrong penciler and leaving off the title of the last chapter.
We also get a comment from our own Greg XB. He points out what we’re all thinking: Elisa’s behaving like a witch, and she owes certain people an apology for the way she’s acting.
This chapter leaves me with more questions than answers. It’s good to see some things wrapped up, like Robbins learning about Hudson, but about fifty other cans of worms just got opened in the other story lines, so…
What’s Xanatos’s mission? Will it bode good or ill for the gargoyles and House Xanatos?
I enjoyed seeing more of Delilah. I also enjoyed not seeing the castle get destroyed.
Tune in Tuesday for a reunion with our favorite Frankenstein monster, Coldstone, and his robot friends. Or not-so-much friends.
Thoughts? Comment!
Yeah, I’d have phrased it differently if I had written that today. Oops…. sorry, Elisa. I love you.
Loved the review, love this issue. Karine Charlebois is great… she’s even better on Gargoyles: Bad Guys.
I recall Greg saying Thailog wanted DNA from the originals and likened it to a xerox of a xerox.
As for Thailog being back in Nightstone: “After her new personal assistant, Robyn Correy was revealed to be a Hunter and taken into custody, Demona decided to lie low as she is paranoid that Robyn may have blown her cover to the authorities. Demona has yet to return to Nightstone Unlimited, but she still sees the advantages of it.”
Hehe I don’t think you’re wrong…
This really is a good chapter. It seems like the comics are hitting their stride and in some ways surpassing the series, since they have more latitude in what they get away with.
Good point. It’s a viable motive, anyway.
Welp, Demona didn’t live 1000+ years by being stupid, so I can see how she’d take this step.