It’s story time in the secret lair of Thailog. Illuminati member Shari shares a tale of fire and ice, loyalty and betrayal. In the mountains of Tibet, during the Avalon World Tour, Goliath and Co. encounter Coldstone. But there’s more to the story than it appears.
Miss last week’s? Read Bash review.
Spoilers are in the 20/20 moments. Info from Ask Greg is in the According to Greg bits.
Gargoyles Clan-Building: Chapter Six: “Reunion”
Reason(s) for existence: Further Coldstone’s story. Develop the Illuminati’s agenda. Further Xanatos’s involvement with the Illuminati.
Main antagonist(s): Thailog, Coldstone
Time(s): November 2nd, 1996
Location(s): New York City, New York, USA; Tibet
We have a nice cover today: Angela and Bronx are looking fierce.
We’ve got some different artists on board for the main story, even though Stephanie Lastimolo is still the cover color artist and Greg Guler is still the cover pencil artist. On the interior we have Gordon Purcell and Dustin Evans. Greg W is still writing.
You can really tell we’ve got a different artist team when you see Angela on the next page.
She’s exalting because everyone survived Thailog’s attack. Broadway’s in agreement with her, but Brooklyn is less than happy. Ah, the lovelorn heart. Lexington is also bummed, since his clone chose evil. Come on, Lex, you know the evil twin theory. Goliath’s twin chose evil too. So no need to sweat it. But still, it should give both Goliath and Lexington pause when creatures of their own DNA turn evil. If their upbringing and experience had been different, they might be as villainous as Thailog. It gives great credence to the idea of nurture affecting a person.
Shari’s feeding Thailog grapes while he wears a toga. I’m not making this up. The Illuminati must think highly of him if a mid-to-high level member is basically his PA.
Thailog demands a bedtime story. Shari has been looking forward to this, evidently. The story she tells is about Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx going to Tibet. I’ll theorize later on how I think the Illuminati learned about this.
They arrive in a giant cauldron. It might be for a bath, or it might be for massive amount of soup.
Everyone hops out. They’re in some sort of basement.
They grab some fur coats and step outside. Apparently they are in a monastery with Buddhist monks. The monks aren’t thrilled to see three monsters and a foreigner pop out of their basement.
They start shooting arrows at them. But then the leader, Master Dawa, stops Sangpo, the overeager archer.
They flee the wind and the blizzard, taking refuge in a cave. That was lucky. Inside, there’s a torch. And an occupant.
Bronx jumps at him, but the denizen lifts him up by the scruff of the neck. Goliath takes this as a hostile act.
But when he attacks, they strip off the figure’s cloak to find…Coldstone.
Two monks are there as well. They have been working with Coldstone on his anger.
Now that things are sorted out, the happy reunion can begin. He’s quite happy to see Angela and know that the clan is not going to die out.
Elisa explains that Avalon has sent them here. Goliath thinks there’s a reason, and Coldstone is it. And maybe the whole point is to reunite Coldstone with them. Angela wants to take him to Avalon to meet Gabriel. Well, that is his son…
Coldstone is shocked to hear he has a son. I should say so! Imagine having a kid, but you are a reanimated cyborg with two other souls in you. That kinda puts a damper on the thrill of meeting your offspring. What’s the boy going to think of his father?
Coldstone decides that no, he cannot go back. He still has the “evil one” aka Iago inside him. Remember, this is before Possession, when Alex and Puck sort out the souls. So, as we already knew, Coldstone can’t go back with clan. Which is pretty convenient, because he’s pretty creepy.
The monks are keeping a running commentary with each other.
That’s when the evil spirit takes control. Coldstone starts shooting.
Angela jumps in. She lands a good punch, but it’s not enough.
Coldstone/Iago is about to snap Elisa’s neck, and making no bones about his attention.
Everybody jumps on him, which is a bad, bad idea considering he has a built-in taser.
The monk master says he senses no evil in this conflict. Well, I don’t know what you’d call Iago… Jealous and one-dimensional come to mind.
But wait, we get an explanation! Othello, Coldstone’s real owner, pretended that Iago had taken control. That way they would not want him to come back. He cannot risk their safety.
The travelers wake up on the beautiful lake in Shambala.
The end.
Thailog thinks it’s hilarious that Goliath, his father, failed to redeem his uncle. No, he’s not your father, and Coldstone is not your uncle. G is your genetic duplicate / source.
Shari isn’t so sure Goliath failed. She says its seeds have been sown. Thailog demands to know what this means.
The sun comes up, saving her from his fist. She says that the story will wait for another day. But we get a preview: Xanatos is standing on the roof of a Scarab Corporation building. We’ve seen Scarab every now and then. They do tracking devices and robotics. It was Xanatos Enterprises’s link to them and the tracker that was the Achilles heel in his plan against the Gargoyles in Awakening. The Scarab Corp also had the robot that downloaded Coldstone’s files in Legion.
Iago’s robot self Coldsteel lands beside David. Apparently Xanatos summoned him. But judging from David’s expression, I wonder if he might be regretting this.
According to Greg: Six episodes, three complete stories, half of the Clan-Building arc complete. We get some updates on the Gathering, Station 8, the DVDs, and the paper-back with the first half of the CB saga. It’s good to know there is an end coming in this. I hate it when it goes on and on and then cuts off. I hate to see the series end, but I’d rather have a planned terminus than an impromptu one.
There’s also an announcement that Bad Guys is coming out. There are a few scans of it on the comic site, but there’s a lot that aren’t there.
Final Thoughts
Yes, it was a short episode. It covered the encounter with Coldstone. The monks were thrown in for filler. But it’s a nice stepping-off point for the last half of the arc.
It’s good to know that Othello is aware of his son now.
Theories regarding the Illuminati’s knowledge of Coldstone’s meeting with G: Xanatos has Coldstone broadcasting via satellite. We know already that Xanatos can see through Coldstone’s camera eye. Or maybe the monks are actually Illuminati. Or the Yeti is.
Tune in Tuesday: Xanatos is on the job for the Illuminati. Coldsteel / Iago is in town. Macbeth is back, and he needs a favor.
Thoughts? Comment!
While it has yet to be revealed, if Shari’s true identity isn’t obvious here, it will be over the course of the next three issues.