House Xanatos’s forces are drawn to hold Oberon at bay, but will the force field Owen designed be enough to keep the Lord of the Fey from taking young Alexander Fox Xanatos from his parents? Goliath rallies the clan to lend their support, despite their rough history with Xanatos and Fox. Even Renard is on board to help his grandson, putting his hatred of his son-in-law aside. But Oberon is big enough to handle their challenge. Or is he?
Miss last week’s? Read The Gathering Part 1 episode review.
Spoilers are in the 20/20 moments. Info from Ask Greg is in the According to Greg bits.
Season 2, Episode 45: The Gathering part 2
Reason(s) for existence: To show that family loyalty is important. To put House Xanatos in a tight spot. To prove Goliath’s devotion to right and wrong. To force Petros and David to work together, thus helping Petros see his son’s true heart.
Main antagonist(s): Oberon, Titania
Time(s): July 9th, 1996
Location(s): New York City, New York, USA
As the clan flies over the city, they witness the wreckage that comes from people falling asleep at the wheel. There are people sleeping basically wherever they fell.
Brooklyn wonders why, if Oberon is so powerful, they are facing him. After all, it’s just Xanatos who’s on the receiving end of Oberon’s wrath.
Goliath says that he knows the pain of being separated from his child. It’s something that he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.
First Thoughts: Seriously, what is your beef with Hot Guy?
Goliath, David isn’t your worst enemy. He just toys with you every now and then. There are a lot of enemies you’ve had who are worse. Xanatos doesn’t want to kill you, unlike, say, Demona, who wants to kill everybody.
David and his father, Petros, watch Oberon punch the Eyrie Building’s forcefield. Petros is actually somewhat impressed by this, likening Oberon to a force of nature.
Playing on that theme, Oberon catches a bolt of lightning, then hugs the force field. He’s trying to drain it, but it’s draining him too. Even so, the force-field is barely holding.
Petros points out that Oberon is getting smaller. David remembers Owen said energy is energy, whether it’s from science or sorcery. He figures that if they can drain his energy, they can decrease his power.
Also, since Owen said that Oberon is affected by iron, it’s time to try the new Iron Clan. They’re massive. Owen has stashed them in surrounding buildings, meaning XE owns practically the whole neighborhood, or at least parts of it.
Note: I still find it odd that Owen is such an expert on Oberon. But then again, what he said is pretty general when it comes to dealing with magic and fey. Most people who are well acquainted with folklore know that they don’t like iron.
Again, an iron bell would have worked wonders here. Yes, Xanatos and Owen don’t know about it, but Goliath does. Would have been nice if he’d suggested it. Heck, couldn’t he just bang on the wing of one of those Iron Clan robots?
According to Greg: Greg’s kid suggested they just put Alex in an iron ball, like Bubble Boy. Well, if you threw some O2 in there for him, it would work. But he’d have to come out eventually. It doesn’t help resolve the overarching problem of the fey wanting to kidnap Alex.
Speaking of the Iron Clan, they’re ok but get tossed around all the same.
The gargoyles now go to battle with Oberon.
Petros is surprised to see the gargoyles, since he thought they were Xanatos’s enemies. Wrong, Pete. They’re his opponents. And today, David isn’t going to question their support. He probably thinks they’ve come because Oberon is endangering the city.
But that idea goes up in smoke when Goliath tells Oberon he should leave Alex alone. Hm, I bet that made an impact on David. After all he’s done to the clan, even threatening Goliath’s daughter Angela, Goliath still comes to his defense. It’s about right and wrong, not about friends and foes.
Oberon is having a bad hair day. The strands wrapped around Goliath.
Hudson’s sword won’t cut it, even though it probably has a lot more iron in it than carbon. So the gargs grab some shrapnel from the trashed Iron Clan robots.
In the sky, Fortress II is roaring up. Renard and Vogel are aboard. How did they escape the sleep spell? I’m assuming they were out of range when it happened.
Renard is releasing the Cybots. Meanwhile, Vogel is wondering why. After all, Renard’s daughter, Fox, tried to steal the company, and he hates his son in law. Ah, Vogel. I love how he says everything like it is. There’s no sugar coating with him.
Renard says that this is family business. He will do whatever it takes to help his grandkid. I guess he’s not as big of a hypocritical prick as he looks. (Family, huh? Well, that never affected my family members.)
The Cybots are annoying, but they’re not too destructive.
Goliath reminds Oberon that he can’t use his magic, but he says he’ll interpret his words as he wants. So, he brings some statues alive to fight the gargoyles.
Broadway gets knocked out of the air, but surprisingly, Xanatos uses an Iron Clan robot to save him. But Xanatos plays it off as a purely pragmatic act when his father acts amazed.
Oberon grabs Goliath out of the air. That’s never good.
The Cybots form up around O to make a net. They sap his energy. That’s pretty cool, but I don’t know why they have this ability. What sort of scientific reason would they need this for?
![Disney Gargoyles - The Gathering part 2 - oberon grabs bar]](https://vlnresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Disney-Gargoyles-The-Gathering-part-2-oberon-grabs-bar.png)
I also don’t know why Oberon doesn’t just put everybody to sleep again, and by that I mean Vogel and Renard. Or just knock the ship out of the air.
Oberon realizes that his anger is clouding his judgment. He settles down — and shrinks himself down. Now small, he can float between the Cybots. He brings freezing rain to turn them into Cy-cubes. Look out below!
Ice also forms on the turbines of Fortress II. What, you fly this thing over New York City and you don’t have de-icing capability?
Renard sets it down in Central Park. Pretty much takes out the entire place. Wow, I don’t even know what kind of legal action is going to happen after this.
But we’ll worry about them later. Right now, Oberon has engaged his little grey cells. Taking a close look at the force field, he realizes it stops at ground level. He takes a dive under the ground, which I guess sort of teleports him through matter.
David and Petros watch this in abject horror. Oberon has entered the building.
Halftime!
So we’re on the third quarter of this episode set. As usual, this first half is full of fighting. That’s the template for most gargoyles episodes. Well, there’s usually a little bit more in the middle section that has to do with plot, then it goes back to fighting at the very end.
We get to see House Xanatos and its ilk come together. They lay aside old animosities to fight for the life of the newest member. I like that they’re all fighting for a person they don’t even know. They’re basically fighting for the hope that this new life will live up to their expectations. The kid is causing them to look past each other, to something greater: the future.
I enjoy seeing Owen’s defense system. It’s pretty darn smart. It has both offensive and defensive capabilities, unlike that moronic cannon idea.
Not a whole lot to say otherwise, other than that it will be interesting to see how this works out, considering how powerful Oberon is, and the fact that he’s now inside the force field. This is what we call the low before the next plot point. It’s just going to get worse from here, because there will be a point where all seems lost.
Tune in next week to find out if Alex will be staying with his parents, what’s become of Puck and Owen, and how Xanatos will handle Oberon’s newest threat. And what is Titania doing during all this?
Thoughts? Comment!