Mark of the Panther (episode)
"Mark of the Panther" is the forty-seventh televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the thirty-fourth episode of Season 2. It originally aired on February 8, 1996.
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Contents
[hide]Summary
Main Plot
The travellers meet up with Diane Maza in Nigeria when the werepanther Tea Gora attacks with poachers to get revenge on Fara Maku, who had bestowed the Mark of the Panther onto her. Goliath, Angela, Elisa, Bronx, and Diane track the two transformed humans to Kara Digi and find out that Anansi had marked Fara Maku so that the man could keep Tea at his side. Anansi expresses his desire to enslave the whole group, but Angela thinks of a way to defeat him. Fara realizes that he was selfish, while Tea realizes she was wrong in poaching panthers, and so the two of them begin using their curse to protect the jungle.
Subplots
Diane tells the tale of the Panther Queen, an old African legend, to a group of children.
Goliath finally acknowledges Angela as his daughter thanks to advice from Diane, and Elisa finally opens up to her mother.
The Story
Previously on Gargoyles
- Recaps: ("Revelations", "Sanctuary")
Act One
In the rainforests of Nigeria, near a large waterfall, a panther walks along the riverbank. Unknown to it, it is being stalked by dangerous predators, three armed humans. The panther soon realizes it is being hunted and growls in defiance at its hunters. But two of the poachers raise their guns and fire.
The Skiff comes flying down the rapid waters, bumping into rocks as it twists and turns. "Where are we?" Goliath growls. "In big trouble!" Elisa answers as she spots the oncoming waterfall. Barely seconds later, the Skiff goes over the falls and its occupants are ejected from the vessel. Angela grabs onto Bronx and the two slow their descent with her wings. Goliath rescues Elisa before hitting bottom but Bronx and Angela collide with them. However, by this point, they're close enough to the foot of the falls to hit the water safely. The Skiff floats to the surface and the travelers break the surface as well, gasping for breath. "Now where are we?" Angela ask as they emerge from the river, stepping onto the bank.
"I've never seen trees like those before," Goliath says marveling at the flora and fauna. Elisa, however, believes she recognizes their surroundings and guesses that it could be Africa. "My mom's ancestry is Nigerian and we went there once." Angela takes this moment to relitigate an old argument: "Well you're lucky, my father never wants talk about himself or my mother." But Goliath, exasperated by this topic snaps back that she has many mothers and fathers: "you're the child of the entire Wyvern Clan!" Angela fires back reminding him that he's her biological father. Before the argument can continue, Angela gasps at a sight that horrifies her . . . the carcass of the panther that had been hunted earlier. "Why would any hunter take an animal's skin and leave the meat behind?" Goliath asks with disgust. "Poachers don't care about the meat," Elisa explains, "they get rich selling the skin, teeth, and claws." Angela guesses this is why Avalon sent them here, "to stop this disgraceful thing." The travelers then proceed deeper into the forest.
In a nearby village, a group of children sit around a campfire as a visiting storyteller, Diane Maza, entertains them with the tale of the Panther Queen:
The most beautiful creature in the jungle, but also very vain and careless. The Panther Queen mocked both the Hippo and the Crocodile, but one day she made the mistake of mocking Anansi the Spider. Anansi wove a magic spell into his web that transformed the Panther Queen into a human female. The Panther Queen begged Anansi to change her back, but he refused and laughed at her when she threatened to kill him. But he agreed to change her back if she would build him a great city shaped like a giant web. Knowing she would need help, the Panther Queen married the Oba of the Houka Tribe and had many strong sons and clever daughters, but the queen never forgot her true form and longed to become a panther. In time they built the city of Kara Digi, which pleased Anansi. When the queen came to him, he wove a spell transforming her back to her original form. But Anansi had tricked the queen – for now she was lonely and missed her human children. She showed Anansi her broken heart and asked him to turn her children into panthers. He agreed, but with a price: only one of her children if she hunted for him. The Panther Queen hunted and brought him food, which pleased the spider. The Panther Queen went on to make her mark on her oldest son, who was the wisest and bravest of the tribe. However, Anansi didn't want to let his favorite subject leave and told the prince of his bargain with the queen, but the prince didn't want to become a panther and asked if there was any way to escape his fate – and Anansi told him to kill the Panther Queen. The angry prince hunted the queen but when he found her, he remembered the voice and hands of his mother and realize she had chosen him out of love, and since he loved her too, he couldn't harm her. So Anansi was forced to change the prince into a panther. Anansi was so furious that he banished all the humans from Kara Digi – but that was foolish, for now he had no one to tend to his knees and he then he went hungry.
The children laugh with delight as Diane concludes her tale. Having arrived at the same village, the travelers have also listened to the tale and Angela asks if the storyteller is the queen of this tribe or their magus. Elisa corrects Angela and, with a feeling of guilt, admits to the young gargoyle that the storyteller is her mother. They watch as the village elders lead the children away as Diane Maza approaches Fara Maku and a caged panther. Fara tells Diane that after the feast, they'll release the ceremonial panther in honor of the Panther Queen. Diane asks how she did, telling him that she'd studied the story for months. Fara assures her that its one of the best tellings he's ever heard. "Especially for someone born and raised in New York City", Elisa says as she emerges and runs into the arms of her mother who is shocked to see her but relieved that she's all right. The joy and relief turns into parental anger when Diane demands to know why she disappeared – they've all been out of their minds with worry! Elisa say nothing but "I'm sorry." Diane doesn't relent, "Would you like to explain what you are doing in Africa?" and while Elisa offers the weak excuse that she's working a case, Diane knows better than to believe. As the gargoyles watch in the brush, Angela wonders why Elisa doesn't just tell her mother the truth. "Elisa doesn't like to share her secrets," Goliath says before agreeing that she shouldn't keep this from her mother. Seeing an opening, Angela resumes the argument: "you're right, parents and children should always be able to discuss anything." Goliath scowls.
The poachers then emerge from the rainforest and point their guns at all assembled. Fara Maku recognizes their leader. "Tea! What are you doing with these men?" he asks. "Only what must be done, Fara Maku." One of the poachers approaches the cage of the ceremonial panther but Diane places herself between him and the animal. Bronx growls and Angela wants to step in, but Goliath reasons that such a commotion is liable for someone to be shot and advises Angela to give Elisa a chance. Tea warns Diane to step away from the cage before somebody gets hurt. Fara demands to know if this is what she learned in the big city, but Tea snarls at him to stay back, "you have no idea what happened to me in Abuja!" She stalks towards the cage: "that panther is going to die and, if necessary, so will every panther in the jungle."
Fara Maku begins to writhe in pain, but nobody notices. One of the poachers suggests getting rid of them all, arguing they "don't want any witnesses" and, hearing this threat, the gargoyles begin to emerge. But growling and roaring now, Fara Maku falls to the ground, transforming into a panther . . . he approaches Tea and roars.
Act Two
"It was you!" Tea screams in anger as she pulls the trigger, shooting the panther that had previously been Fara Maku. Fara is knocked aside, screaming in pain. "Now we're even," she says as smoke emerges from the barrel of her gun. She aims for a second shot, but Elisa knocks the weapon aside, throwing off her aim and the bullet misses. Fara Maku gets to his feet and flees into the forest. Tea knocks Elisa to the ground and pursues her quarry. She orders the other poachers to "deal with them! That panther is mine!" Once she is gone, the poachers ready their weapons. "Say bye-bye" one of them says, but is taken by surprised when Goliath retorts with his own "bye-bye" and punches him in the face. He then disarms the second poacher who attempts to flee before walking into Angela. He attempts to strike the female with his machete but is taken down by Bronx. "Easy," Elisa says, "you don't want to anger my friends, do you?" The second poacher lets go of his machete and surrenders.
"You know these monsters?!" Diane exclaims. But, picking up the machete and tossing it, Elisa insists they're not monsters and then formally introduces them to her. "And how long have you been keeping this secret?" But while trying to open the ceremonial panther's cage, Elisa changes the subject. "That's not important now, didn't we just see your friend turn into a panther?" But Diane no longer knows what she's seeing, she thought the legend was just a story. Walking over to Elisa and the cage, Goliath points out that most legends contain a seed of truth as he breaks the lock, releases the ceremonial panther. Angela throws the two poachers into the cage and locks it with a bent spear. As she does this, Angela recommends that they protect Fara Maku from Tea. Elisa recommends Diane go back to the village. "While you go chasing an armed woman and a wounded panther through the jungle at night? I don't think so," and accompanies them on their mission.
Fara Maku makes his way to a pair of great falls, narrowly averting being shot again by Tea, who relentlessly pursues him. He jumps a chasm avoiding yet another shot and barely makes it . . . dangling from a cliffside. She has him dead to rights. "I loved you once," she says, "but for what you did to me, you won't live through this night." But Goliath swoops in and grabs her, making her drop her weapon. "No one dies tonight, poacher!" he yells. But Tea demands to be released, protesting that he's getting away. But Goliath advises her to stop struggling, she can't escape. Still captured in his arms, Tea also transforms into a panther as Fara Maku did earlier. She growls and slashes at him. Crying out in pain, Goliath loses his grip and drops Tea, who plunges into the river. Goliath lands on the cliff and he and his companions watch her emerge onto the riverbank below before heading into the forest. "She must have caught Fara Maku's scent!" Elisa figures. When Diane asks how they will track them, Goliath suggests they use their secret weapon as he affectionately scratches Bronx's chin.
The travelers then follow Bronx deep into the rainforest, as he tracks Fara Maku and Tea's scents. Diane asks Elisa if she's sure the beast knows what he's doing, but she doesn't respond. They soon come upon the ruined remains of an ancient city which Diane recognizes as the Spider Gates of Kara Digi – she can't believe they're real before remembering who she's with and remarking that reality has gotten awfully strange. They enter the deserted city. The ruins are covered with moss, plants, and spider webs. Unfortunately, Bronx has lost their scents at a crossroads. Goliath concludes they must have taken different paths. Goliath orders the rest of them to go right, but Elisa suggests he take Diane with him since she'll be safer with him. "And who will look after you?" Diane shoots back. Exasperated, Elisa responds as she storms off, "I can do that myself, now" with Angela and Bronx following. Once they're gone, Diane turns to Goliath and tells him she doesn't need looking after before she takes the left path. "Of course not," Goliath assures her as he follows. As both teams enter he city, a small spider observes their movements.
Elisa, Angela, and Bronx continue to pursue one of the werepanthers when Bronx catches the scent of one and takes off chasing it. Angela calls out to him and the two follow as Bronx tears down a giant web. As Elisa and Angela attempt to remove the webbing, a gigantic net of web fall from the sky covering the three of them. Eyes watch behind a nearby ruin. Meanwhile, hearing the growls of one of the panthers, Diane pursues and Goliath calls to her as he follows, both of them falling into a large hole in the ground.
Angela, Elisa, and Bronx manage to break free of their webbed trap while Diane asks Goliath why he can't just fly them out of the hole. Goliath explains that even if he had room to spread his wings, he can only glide. He digs his talons into the web-covered walls only for several spiders to emerge, much to Diane's disgust.
On the path to the right, Elisa remarks that she hates spiders but is relieved her mother didn't see her fall into that trap – otherwise, she'd never hear the end of it. Angela tells Elisa that she's lucky because she wishes Goliath would talk to her the way Diane talks to Elisa. Elisa assures Angela that she doesn't, that Diane always wants more time, more details, and as the guilt grows ends it with "more . . . honesty." Angela asks Elisa if she really thinks that's a bad thing.
Goliath tears down more webs as he and Diane continue their journey. Diane, out of curiosity, asks Goliath if Angela is his daughter. "Biologically, yes," he explains, "but gargoyle hatchlings belong to the whole clan. She's demanding special treatment from me, but I cannot favor one hatchling over the others." Diane, being a mother of three, tells Goliath that all children demand special treatment at times and that it's natural. As she maternally removed the remnants of the webs from Goliath's hair and wings, she reminds him that Angela is currently the only hatchling with him. Goliath reflects on her words as he spots a spider crawling on his hand and flicks it away.
The spider lands on a web and makes its way to the center of a great web as a gigantic spider sits in the shadows and laughs. "Yes, I know," he says to the small spider. "Company is coming."
Act Three
The injured Fara Maku makes his way towards the center of the city, and the structure that lies there. A gigantic, covered, ruined altar, covered in webs. As he gets closer, the mark on his shoulder glows and he returns to human form, he sits against the rock in pain, clutching the bullet wound in his shoulder. Tea emerges from the paths and also transforms back into a human. "Now it ends!" she yells as she grabs an ancient spear from a weapons rack. She charges him and narrowly misses as he rolls aside. But before she can strike at him again, Bronx pounces on her, knocking her to the ground. Goliath picks up the spear and snaps it in half, glaring at the woman as Angela helps her to her feet while gently restraining her.
"Why are you hunting Fara Maku?" Goliath asks. But Tea tells the gargoyle to ask Fara Maku as he is well aware of why. Fara can only provide a short explanation: "I loved you." But Tea scoffs at this and explains that, on the day she left for Abuja, she was attacked by a panther. The panther didn't hurt her but it marked her. Living in the big city was hard, full of frustration, and every time she grew angry, she turned into a panther. "Love?! Your love made me a freak! A half animal with no hope of a normal life." Fara explains his actions by saying her life was here with him, that he loved her and couldn't let her go. "That's not love, Fara," Diane tells him, "that's selfishness." Fara can only acknowledge that it wasn't supposed to be this way.
But Elisa has questions of her own. Fara Maku marked Tea, but who marked him? Who transformed Fara Maku into a werepanther? "I did!" a deep voice answers from the altar. Emerging from the ruined covers, and crawling down the webs appears a gigantic spider who Diane immediately recognizes as Anansi. Fara Maku timidly approaches the spider as Diane asks why he marked Fara Maku. "He came to me, storyteller," Anansi says. "He believed in the old legends and hunted until he found me so that he could make the old bargain: change them both into panthers so he could keep his love at his side." Her rage directed at the giant spider now, Tea vows to destroy him. She picks up a bounder and run towards him only to be batted aside by the spider's massive legs. Fara Maku rushes to her side, regretfully telling her that he should never have marked her. Fara then begs Anansi to free her from the panther curse, promising to serve him for the rest of his life. The spider is amused by this, "yes you will – all of you. For if hunting alone has made Anansi this fat, imagine what seven hunters will do."
"Dream on, Spider-Man!" Elisa yells, refusing to surrender without a fight and approaches him with another rock. The gargoyles try to fight the spider, but he's too strong and his reach is too great. Fara Maku transforms back into a panther and attacks his former master before being tossed aside and wrapped in his webbing. Tea rushes towards him, transforming into a panther once more and slashes at the webbing with her claws. But Anansi laughs as he's slowly lowered closer to the ground. "You will all serve me – you puny creatures."
"Cut the webbing!" Angela orders, observing the affects of Tea's actions, "he's too fat to fight us on the ground!" The two gargoyles begin climbing the webs and doing exactly that as Elisa chops at the webs with a sharp rock. Anansi grows nervous as the webs snap and his mobility is reduced. "No, stop!" he cries. Fara falls to the ground and Tea frees him with her claws. "I will spin you wishes, give you treasures beyond counting!" But Diane chops at the webs with a spear. "Your gifts always come with a price, trickster!"
The webs snap and Anansi falls to the ground, flat on his back. Angela calls for Diane to toss her the spear, which she then hands to Goliath who proceeds to stab the spider in the gut. Magical energy explodes from Anansi who cries out in pain before vanishing. Tea and Anansi return to their human forms and embrace. "With Anansi gone, we cannot break the spell," Fara regretfully says before asking if he can ever atone for this. Tea acknowledges that she too must atone for the poachers and the panthers she helped them kill. She suggests using their curse to protect this jungle, and suggests that may be penance enough for them both. They walk off as Anansi, having shrunk down to the form of a tiny spider, skitters off.
Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Bronx and Diane return to the Skiff. As Angela takes a few moments to throw rocks into the river, Goliath approaches her. He tell her that her quick thinking helped them defeat Anansi. And, realizing that he hasn't been behaving like a parent of any kind to her, tells her that he's proud of her before addressing her as "daughter." Angela cries out "father" with happiness and embraces him as the Sun rises and the three gargoyles turn to stone.
Diane watches this in wander before turning to her daughter. "Magical creatures, these friends of yours." Elisa acknowledges that she should have told her. "Elisa, if love is about growing closer than it's also about letting go." Elisa hugs her mother asking her not to let go just yet. "My friends and I are on a quest and will have to leave soon. So while they sleep, let me tell you the whole story." Diane hope there aren't any spiders in it. Elisa assures her that there aren't.
Featured Characters
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Quotes
- "Most legends contain a seed of truth" - Goliath
- "I don't need looking after!"
- "Of course not." - Diane and Goliath
- "Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders?" - Diane
- "All children demand special treatment at times. It's natural. And Angela is the only hatchling with you." - Diane
- "Dream on Spider-Man!" - Elisa
- "Your quick thinking helped us defeat Anansi. I am proud of you, my daughter." - Goliath
- "If love is about growing closer, then it's also about letting go." - Diane
Continuity
Diane Maza is seen for the first time since "The Cage". She is introduced to the gargoyles for the first time. After a conversation with her, Goliath is convinced to accept Angela as his daughter, following the revelation that they were biologically related in "Monsters".
While Anansi appears to have been slain by Goliath, he is seen among the Children of Oberon returning to Avalon in "The Gathering" Part One, indicating that he survived. Indeed, there is a hint of his survival at the end, when, after Anansi's disappearance, we see a small spider scurrying along its way; according to Greg Weisman, the spider was Anansi, who had hurriedly shrunk himself to escape the gargoyles.
This episode marks the second time a human is transformed into a panther in the series. In "Metamorphosis", Derek Maza is mutated into Talon, while Fara Maku and Tea Gora are magically transformed into werepanthers.
Tidbits
In very early outlines, Fara Maku and Tea Gora were to be were-jaguars instead of were-panthers; fortunately, this was changed (saveing the production team from the embarrassment of placing jaguars in Africa rather than South America).
Though Disney's YouTube playlist for Season 2 included this episode, for reasons unspecified, it was set to private.
DVD Release
See Also
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