The Hound of Ulster

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"The Hound of Ulster" is the forty-fifth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the thirty-second episode of Season 2. It originally aired on February 6, 1996.

Summary

Main Plot

The Banshee captures Goliath, Elisa, and Angela in Ireland and traps them in Cairn na Chullain in order to try and get information about the Gathering out of them. Bronx joins forces with Rory Dugan, who is actually the reincarnated form of Cu Chullain, to save them. Rory's friend Molly tries to stop them, revealing herself to be the Banshee in disguise, and that she has been working to prevent Rory from recognizing his true heritage. Rory finds out the truth about himself and Molly, and together he and Bronx defeat the Banshee and free the others, and Ireland reclaims its hero.

Subplots

Banshee reveals that Oberon will soon begin the Gathering, and that all Oberon's Children are required to return home to Avalon. She doesn't want to go, and believes the travelers have come to collect her for Oberon.

Before realizing his true heritage as Cu Chullain, Rory feels he is stuck in Ireland with no job or money. His father is disappointed in his son's lack of motivation, but is on the dole himself.

The Story

Previously on Gargoyles

Act One

Sirens blare at sunset over a stone-lined canal near a small town. Two young humans, a man and a woman, leap over the canal wall and give each other a thumbs up just as a police car drives by. Out of breath, the young woman hoots in excitement. "Told ya they'd never catch us!" she says to her friend before admitting that it was close. She holds a new leather jacket. The young woman, Molly, tears off the sales tag and tosses it aside before donning her new prize. The young man dismisses the police as inept and wonders why she even continues to steal since it is so easy to get away. She tells him that it beats sitting with the young man's father watching TV and being lectured to. The young man has had enough of his father's nagging. He's told he lacks motivation, but wonders aloud what there is to be motivated for. He's done with school and does not know a trade. And there are no jobs available anyway. His father has been on the dole for ten years, but he is supposed to be different. The young woman scoffs at all of this. She tells her friend, Rory, that there is nothing in Ireland for them. Perhaps they should leave. America maybe. Rory shrugs this off. He has no savings for such a move. It's hopeless. Molly sighs. It's getting dark. "I should go," she tells him, but she'll meet him in the woods the next night. She tells him to get home. They hug and she kisses his cheek, then kids him with warnings of running into the "great beast in the dark". Rory isn't amused. He dismisses this tale of the legendary Hound of Ulster and tells Molly that she's been listening to his father. He has no time for "fairy tales". Molly climbs back over the canal, waves to Rory and departs. He turns and heads home. "The Hound of Ulster? Sure. And dwarves made me shoes..." He continues walking through a dark, misty field and suddenly hears a strange howling. Alarmed, he looks around and is terrified to see a glowing vision of a giant, monstrous worm! Rory recoils and covers his eyes. When he opens them, the vision is gone and he stands alone again in the field. Not far away, Molly is walking down a road. She too hears the strange howling and quickly leaps back over the canal wall, running towards Rory. Rory turns and runs back towards Molly as well.

Not far away, the source of the howling is revealed. It is Bronx standing atop a hillock, howling into the night. He has arrived with Elisa, Angela, and Goliath aboard their skiff. Elisa jokes the scenery and the howling is very atmospheric. "I don't know whether to expect vampires or Sherlock Holmes," she quips. Angela wonders where Avalon's magic has sent them this time. Elisa tells her they've been sent somewhere "cold and wet that smells like the bottom of a garbage can." Goliath sniffs and notes that the odor is from a peat bog. Could they perhaps be in Scotland again? Suddenly an eerie, feminine voice can be heard singing. Elisa doesn't think this is Scotland. The sound of the singing voice begins causing the travelers pain and they cover their ears and start to move away. The pain intensifies and Elisa and Bronx fall to the ground, unable to go any farther. Goliath and Angela turn back to pick up their companions. They climb a small hill and, still carrying the others, glide off into the night. They can't seem to escape the singing though. Angela can't glide straight. She drops Bronx before falling herself. Goliath, carrying Elisa, growls in pain and frustration and also falls through the treetops. The four travelers have landed in a swampy bog. The singing stops, but they are suddenly aware that they are still in danger as they begin to sink into the muddy peat. Angela watches Bronx sink below the surface in terror and turns to Goliath, calling for his help. Goliath moves towards her, but is too late. She's gone. He turns back just in time to watch Elisa follow the others and then he too is submerged with a final desperate yell. The bog is still and quiet. Then, near the edge of the bog, Bronx suddenly pulls himself free and climbs on to solid ground. Muddy and exhausted, he shakes off the peat and lays on the ground briefly before a strange light appears over the bog. Bronx growls at a womanly form as it rises and sings an eerie note before disappearing. Bronx sniffs the ground where the strange figure stood and growls.

It is morning in the home of Mr. Dugan. He is watching TV as Rory, his son, arrives home. He remarks that Rory was out late and wonders, sarcastically, if he was looking for new job. Rory ignores this and asks if his father heard anything like a howling or crying sound the night before out in the field. He reminds his father that he used to tell him stories of something that howls like that when there is trouble. Mr. Dugan, suddenly serious, wonders if he means the Great Beast – the Hound of Ulster. He shuts off the TV and muses that hearing its howl warns of danger, and seeing it – but he stops himself. He dismisses the idea; it's just a story. Mr. Dugan suggests that it was probably the guard's sirens that Rory heard. Apparently, they were trying to catch some thieves, but failed. Rory mocks the police and Mr. Dugan is angered. How can his son make fun when he has done nothing lately? He needs to make something of himself. Rory responds angrily, "You can't make something from nothing, dad – there's no point in trying! There's nothing to try for." Rory's father refuses to hear this. Rory, after all, comes from a good and old family. The blood of heroes is in his veins! Rory scoffs this off. There are no heroes anymore, only villains. And the villains have them all beat. He storms out of the house. Mr. Dugan shakes his head: Rory has always given up too easily.

Meanwhile, Goliath and Angela are frozen in stone in a strange cave while Elisa sleeps nearby. All are covered in mud, but otherwise seem unharmed. Elisa awakes and sees her companions shortly before their stone skin cracks and they awaken, casting aside the muddy shards with roars. Goliath spots Elisa and asks if she is all right. She replies that she is, aside from needing a hot bath. She asks about them and they too are fine. Angela finds that strange since the last thing she remembers is sinking to the bottom of a bog. Suddenly noting the beast's absence, Goliath asks where Bronx is. Elisa has no idea. She woke up and was only with the two gargoyles. And she has no idea how they all got there. Goliath looks around and slams against the stone walls to no avail. He punches and pushes against the wall and remarks that "a whole clan of gargoyles could not batter down these walls!" Angela asks then what they should do they do, and Goliath tells her they will wait. Someone went to the trouble of putting them there and they will surely return at some point.

Rory walks into a forest and calls for his friend Molly. No sign of her. He continues deeper into the woods. Hearing growling and rustling in the brush, he stops and calls again for his friend. He's in no mood for her games. Nothing. Suddenly, a stick snaps sharply. Rory is frightened, he but peers through a bush telling Molly that she nearly gave him a heart attack, but she still isn't there. From behind him, Bronx approaches. Rory turns, terrified. He can't believe it. He is seeing the Hound of Ulster! He turns and flees and Bronx pursues him through the forest. Rory continues to run away from the barking beast and looks back. He does not see the chasm before him and runs right into it, falling to the bottom. Bronx come to the edge and looks down on the unconscious young man. He howls into the night.

Act Two

The Moon stands silent over a stone tomb. Inside, Angela, Elisa, and Goliath remain trapped. They investigate the walls, looking for a way out. Suddenly, a light appears in the stony chamber. "We have company . . ." Elisa announces in a sing-song voice. They all look up at the glowing form of a woman. She greets the travelers. Goliath asks who she is and why she brought them there. She tells them that she is called the Banshee. Goliath has heard of her kind and wonders if they are in Ireland, which the Banshee confirms. Angela asks where their companion is. The Banshee says that the "great beast" doesn't matter since he is unable to tell her anything she wants to know, while the three of them might. This is why she saved them from the bog. Goliath wants to know more and the Banshee explains that the travelers have clearly been in Avalon recently due to the "scent" of its magic. She asserts that there is no reason for them to come to Ireland from Avalon except if they were sent by Lord Oberon to bring her back. Elisa tells Banshee that they have never met Oberon. The Banshee does not believe her. She tells the travelers that the Gathering will soon be happening and Oberon wants his Children to return to Avalon. But the Banshee will not go. She likes it in the mortal world. Elisa, looking around the bare stone room, quips, "Why would anyone want to leave all this?" The Banshee, irritated, tells them that she will not tolerate intruders to her realm. Goliath calmly explains that they are not deceiving her. While Avalon's magic did bring them to Ireland, they have no agenda from Oberon. The Banshee snaps at him to stop and the sharpness of her voice causes the travelers to wince in pain. She explains that her voice can seduce or mesmerize, but it can also bring terrible pain. If the travelers will not tell her the truth willingly, then she will take it from them by force. She demands to know Oberon's plan for her and begins her magical shriek. The gargoyles hold their ears and roar in pain. The Banshee tells them they will suffer for their unwillingness to obey her and that Elisa might do more than suffer. When the Banshee wills it, her voice kills humans. She transforms into a glowing and shrieking ghost form and floats around the travelers singing her awful song and they fall helplessly to the floor.

At the bottom of the ravine in the forest, Bronx licks Rory's face with his fat, pointed tongue. Slowly, Rory awakens groggily. He looks at Bronx, who again licks his face, and his vision slowly clears. Bronx's visage comes into focus and Rory jumps back in fear. Bronx looks on calmly and lets out a plaintive whine. Rory can't believe his eyes. He crawls towards the beast and, slowly, places his hand on Bronx's head. He pets the beast and Bronx pants happily. "So, you're the terrible hound?" Rory asks, "Ugly as the back of a bus you are." Bronx smiles at him. Rory stands and looks up at the steep ravine walls. He tells Bronx that he is in the ravine because of him, but isn't sure how they get out. Bronx pushes himself between Rory's legs until the young man is sitting on the beast's back. Rory decides to ride the beast, given that Bronx is half the size of a pony. But he muses to himself that he's a little old for bareback! Bronx starts using his claws to climb the stone wall while Rory can only just barely hang on. Reaching the top, Rory hops off and tells the beast that there is more to him than meets the eye. Bronx hops towards the forest, looks back to the man and whines. Rory realizes that he wants to be followed. Shrugging, Rory follows Bronx into the woods.

Back in the cavern, the Banshee is continuing her deadly call. The three travelers are reeling in pain. Suddenly, Bronx's howl is heard and the Banshee stops. She is alarmed! "No! He has found the Hound of Ulster!" she proclaims before dissapearing in a whirl of magical energy. The three travelers recover slowly. Goliath realizes it was Bronx that made her flee. Angela tells Goliath and Elisa that she knows that Bronx will find a way to free them.

Rory continues to follow Bronx through the forest. The beast stops and howls at a nondescript spot. There's nothing much there, Rory points out, and never has been. Suddenly he has a vision of the stone tomb under the moonlight. His vision flashes back and he tells Bronx that they have to go there. He doesn't know why – but he must find that place, whatever it is. Molly emerges from the woods calling for her friend. She's glad he's safe as she's been looking for him all night. Bronx steps out from behind Rory and Molly jumps back in fear. Rory begins to explain, but Bronx begins growling at the young woman and she runs away. Rory tries to calm him and hold him back, but the beast pulls free and runs after her. Molly stops, turns and transforms into the Banshee! Giving a shriek, she throws Bronx to the ground. He is out cold. The Banshee approaches Rory. "Molly?!" Rory cries, astonished. Yes and no, replies the Banshee. She begins calming the young mortal with her mesmerizing voice and enchants him into following her quietly into the dark forest. They leave the unconscious Bronx behind and move deeper into the forest.

Act Three

Sunlight pours through a window in the Dugan home. Rory is asleep on the couch. He slowly stirs and rubs his head as his father enters the living room. "Good morning . . . or good afternoon, rather." Mr. Dugan quips. He asks his son if he's trying a new schedule: sleep all day, stay out all night. Rory ignores him. He is troubled. Before he can explain himself to his father, there is a knock on the door. Rory opens it to reveal Molly. He's surprised to see her, but she laughs it off. She greets Mr. Dugan, who acknowledges her coldly. Rory asks Molly about the previous night. "You don't recall putting on a foot of height and a yard of hair?" She laughs. He must be dreaming! Rory thinks he's dreaming even while he's awake lately. He tells them that two nights ago he saw a giant wormlike creature with teeth and last night he saw the Hound of Ulster and a strange stony mound. Mr. Dugan tells him that there is only one place like that nearby: Cairn na Chullain, Cu Chullain's tomb. The name sounds familiar to Rory. His father explains that its an old story that he probably heard in school. Cu Chullain was the Hero of Ulster and saved Ireland from the Banshee some two thousand years earlier. Rory jumps to his feet. He adamantly declares that he is going there that night. Molly questions if he is serious and Mr. Dugan is also skeptical. Plus, he explains, "there are some things in this part of the world that it is not wise to tamper with." Rory tells them that he has to go and see this thing through and Molly tells him that, while she is scared, she will go with him. She loves him and won't let him go alone. They turn to leave and Mr. Dugan questions if perhaps he should join them as well, but Rory tells him no. Molly was in his dream and is part of this. He thinks they should go alone. The young man and woman head out and Mr. Dugan tells his son to be careful.

Before long it is nighttime, and Rory and Molly approach the great Cairn. Molly doesn't think Rory should go in. Rory tells her that there is something important in there, something (he says with new clarity) that belongs to him. He moves forward and Molly looks on sadly and follows. The enter the stone structure. It is dark and quiet. Rory suddenly feels dizzy and leans against a wall. He sees a light fill the chamber and looks up to see the heroic form of Cu Chullain himself holding a shield in one hand and a beam of light in the other! Molly approaches her friend, concerned, and asks what he sees. Rory isn't sure. Something from the past, he thinks – his past. Molly, her tone growing more angry, asks how he knows that. Before he can explain, a rune on the wall suddenly grows bright and Cu Chullain's weapon of light bursts out and hovers before the young man! Rory recognizes it. It is Gae Bolga, the Spear of Light! He grabs the magical weapon and realizes who he is. He transforms into Cu Chullain! Molly, furious, tells him that she tried to prevent this. If not for the Beast, he might've lived and died a mortal never knowing he was Cu Chullain reborn. But now that he knows his identity, she must destroy him. She transforms into the Banshee once more. Cu Chullain raises his weapon to attack his "ancient enemy". She begins her attack first, shrieking her deadly song. In the tomb chamber below, Goliath, Elisa, and Angela hear her scream and again react in pain. Rocks fall on them from above as the Cairn shakes. "She's going to bring the whole place down!" Angela yells. Suddenly a blast of light destroys one wall of the chamber. Outside, the Banshee is thrown through the hole and Cu Chullain follows. He yells a battle cry. The Banshee responds with a deadly blast of her voice which the hero stops with his shield. Still, he is pushed back against a stone. He hurls Gae Bolga at the Banshee. She dodges and the spear destroys a tree before returning to Cu Chullain's hand. The Banshee taunts him. He has lived among mortals too long and his skills are rusty, while her's are as powerful as ever. She blasts him again with a deadly shriek and he is thrown to the ground. She gloats over him, prepared to deal her fatal stroke. Suddenly, Bronx come charging at her. He leaps toward her and she dodges the growling beast. Bronx takes his place at Cu Chullain's side. The Hero of Ulster is reinvigorated by the Hound's arrvial and tells Banshee that while skills might indeed rust, true friendship runs deep. Cu Chullain and his faithful Hound prepare to make an end to their adversary. Banshee laughs. An end indeed, but not in her current form. Cu Chullain has forgotten about her guise as Crom-Cruach! She transfers into the giant snake monster and looms over the Hero and Beast. Bronx growls and Cu Chullain hurls Gae Bolga at the "death worm", but it bounces off the thick hide harmlessly. The Spear returns to it's owner as the worm snarls out a laugh. Cu Chullain calls her nothing more than a worm, but she says she's more than enough to deal with the two of them. Bronx snarls and leaps at the monster. He grabs on to its hideous face and does not let go as the death worm thrashes back and forth. Goliath, Elisa, and Angela emerge from the hole in the tomb. They are alarmed at the monster they see. "It's got Bronx!" Goliath yells, "More like Bronx has it," Elisa replies. Goliath and Angela climb the hide of the hill and take to the air. Meanwhile, Cu Chullain continues to throw his spear at the worm to no effect as Bronx hangs on. Crom-Cruoch shakes back and forth violently and slams into the gargoyles, sending them reeling, but Bronx continues to hang on. He climbs higher on to the monstrous face and grabs it by the nostrils. The monster rears back and opens its maw in pain. Cu Chullain, seeing his chance, again throws Gae Bolga. This time the spear hits it's mark at the open mouth of the death worm. Bronx is thrown off the monster as it roars in pain. Light pours from it's jaws as it meets defeat. Finally, the beast falls upon the tomb, destroying it. From the ruins comes smoke and dust. The vague form of the Banshee glows faintly in the dust and calls out a mournful note before dissipating into the wind. She is gone.

Cu Chullain falls to one knee. He's exhausted. Bronx comes beside him and licks his face. Cu Chullain smiles at the beast and transforms back into ordinary Rory, holding a simple pole. He pets his friend. Goliath, Angela, and Elisa approach the duo. Angela praises Bronx for saving them. Rory wonders where the three travelers came from, but Elisa tells him it would take too long to explain. Rory sees that Bronx belongs with them, but is thankful for loaning the beast to him for a time. He explains that he had a dog like Bronx once when he was someone special. Angela points out that it seems he still is. Yes, Rory admits, and it is an odd line of work. And not easy. Goliath tells him that being a hero rarely is easy. Goluath and Rory shake hands and the young man walks off into the night. As he disappears over a hill, his simple wooden staff briefly glows.

The four travelers are back aboard the skiff. As they leave Ireland, Bronx stands proudly on the prow. Elisa kids the beast on looking "so smug" as Angela smiles. Goliath tells them that Bronx has a right to feel proud. "It's not every day that a land gets one of it's old heroes back, he explains, and a land with a hero soon finds other deeds for him to do." With that, Bronx howls triumphantly.

Featured Characters

Gargoyles Humans Oberon's Children Others


Places Media Miscellaneous


Quotes

  • "I don't think we're in Scotland, or Kansas either." - Elisa
  • "So you're the terrible hound. Ugly as the back of a bus you are." - Rory
  • "Skills may rust indeed, but true friendship stays bright." - Cu Chullain
  • "But more than enough to deal with a noisy young hero, and his little dog too!" - Crom-Cruach
  • "Bronx has a right to feel proud of himself. It's not every day that a land gets one of its old heroes back. And a land with a hero soon finds other deeds for him to do." - Goliath

Continuity

The Banshee is introduced in this episode, and mentions both Oberon, who will appear in "Ill Met By Moonlight", and the Gathering. The Banshee will reappear herself in "The Gathering" Part One.

Cu Chullain is also introduced in this episode. He will next appear (in flashback, courtesy of Shahrizad) in "Rock & Roll".

Tidbits

A working title for this episode was "A Bronx Tail", a title later on used for an episode of The Goliath Chronicles.

"The Hound of Ulster" includes several hommages to the film The Wizard of Oz. When the travelers arrive in Ireland, Elisa says "I don't think we're in Scotland, or Kansas, either." When the Banshee faces Cu Chullain and Bronx in her Crom-Cruach form, she describes it as "more than enough to deal with a noisy young hero, and his little dog, too". It should also be noted that the little dog in the film is Toto. Toto is Dorothy's pet cairn terrier in The Wizard of Oz. This Scottish breed was named for its use in digging and hunting for prey among cairns (manmade stone structures such as Cairn na Culainn). The fact that Bronx is a dog-like beast of Scottish descent and is attacking a foe that is hiding in a cairn while being referenced to Toto is an incredible coincidence. While one can debate whether Bronx is indeed the Hound of Ulster reborn, perhaps the question should be asked if he is the reincarnation of Toto as well.

Greg Weisman briefly considered the possibility of a spin-off about Rory Dugan and Molly, though evidently so briefly that it never even made the list of projected spin-offs in his Master Plan document. He recently revealed its working title: Heroes of Ulster.

The episode strongly suggests that Gargoyle Beasts are the original for the "black dogs" of British and Irish folklore. The accounts of these creatures vary from one region of the British Isles to the next, but are generally portrayed as great doglike animals, usually seen at night, formidable and fearsome to behold, but often (though not always) protective beings - a description that certainly applies to gargoyle beasts. On a related matter, Greg at first thought of entitling the episode "The Barghest"; "barghest" being a name for one variety of "black dog", though found in the folklore of Yorkshire rather than Ireland (which makes it just as well that he later dropped it).

"The Hound of Ulster" takes some liberties with Irish legend in its interpretation of Cu Chullain and the Banshee. Not only is the account of Cu Chullain defeating the Banshee an invention of the series, but so is the notion of his being allied to a "great hound", whether a gargoyle beast or otherwise. In the actual Cu Chullain legend, the "Hound of Ulster" was Cu Chullain himself, who had, as a boy, slain the great guard-dog of Culainn the Smith in self-defense and afterwards, to appease the angry Culainn, offered to take over the dog's duties (hence his name, "Cu Chullain" or "the Hound of Culainn"). Also, the Banshee is portrayed as a malevolent faerie whose wailing causes death; in the original Irish folk-tales, banshees are death-omens whose cries foretell death, but do not actually cause it.

The Banshee's monstrous form, Crom-Cruach the Death-Worm, also stems from Irish legend, if with some liberties taken from the original. Crom-Cruach was one of the ancient gods of Ireland, a particularly fearsome and malevolent figure who was finally overthrown by St. Patrick. (His name, incidentally, was taken up by Robert E. Howard in his Conan stories, making Crom the god worshipped by Conan's people, the Cimmerians.) The notion of Crom-Cruach being equated with the Banshee and looking something like a cross between a great serpent and an overgrown insect larva is the invention of Gargoyles again, however.

Rory/Cu Chullain bears a striking resemblance to the Marvel Comics take on Thor. In Marvel Comics, a lame doctor named Donald Blake, visiting Norway, discovers a cane in a hidden cave which turns out to be Thor's hammer Mjolnir in disguise and transforms Donald Blake into Thor when he picks it up (it turns out much later on that Blake actually was Thor all along, temporarily banished to Earth and imprisoned in a human body by Odin to teach him humility). The similarity is unmistakable; in each case, a modern-day person discovers an old stick or cane underground which turns out to be the disguised weapon of a "real" mythical hero or god ("real" in the sense of existing in actual legends rather than being an invention of the writer), which transforms him into that same hero or god. Greg has openly regretted this similarity, and hopes to, if he ever produces further stories about Rory, tone down his resemblance to Thor/Donald Blake in them. [1][2]

DVD Release

Links

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