Temptation

"Temptation" is the seventh televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the seventh episode of Season 1.

• Written by Brynne Chandler Reaves.

Summary

Act One

Inside an abandoned building, Lexington is working on a custom motorcycle with his brothers' help. Brooklyn and Broadway wait impatiently as Lex finishes up. Brooklyn punches holes into a helmet for his horns, wraps his wings around his body, and dons a jacket, eager to look the part of a biker. Lex tells him that the bike is ready. Brooklyn gets on, put on a pair of sunglasses to complete the look, and takes off. His brothers cheer him on, but then begin wondering when he'll be back to let them take a turn.

Brooklyn is enjoying his joyride around the city, unaware of a shadowy winged figure following him overhead. He zooms past Officer Morgan and another cop in a police cruiser. Brooklyn is presumably going well over the speed limit as the cops turn their siren on and begin pursuit. Brooklyn sees them coming in his rearview mirror and escapes by driving up a ramp formed by some trash, spreading his wings, and gliding over a wall, bike and all. Morgan chalks the strange sight up to too many doughnuts and both cops agree that they haven't seen anything they can call in.

Safe from the police pursuit, Brooklyn refolds his wings and spots some fellow bikers driving by. He drives up along side of them and they compliment him on his motorcycle. But when Brooklyn removes his helmet, the motorcycle gang calls him a "monster" and attacks him. Brooklyn fends them off until one of them pulls out a gun. The shadowy figure that's been trailing Brooklyn swoops down and strikes the biker's arm with its tail. The shot goes wild, missing Brooklyn, but hitting the bike, which explodes into flame. Enraged, Brooklyn takes on the biker gang, now joined by the mystery gargoyle. When the one biker pulls his gun again and starts firing, Brooklyn's unknown friend pulls him out of the line of fire and into a back alley. They climb up the side of a building to safety. Now out of bullets and the only one still conscious, the biker hops on his motorcycle and drives away.

Brooklyn lands on a rooftop where he spots the mysterious gargoyle, still in shadow. He assumes it's one of his rookery brothers, but the figure steps forward and he see that Demona came to his rescue. Demona tries to calm Brooklyn, saying that she just wants to talk. Remembering his last encounter with her at the business end of a bazooka, Brooklyn doesn't want to hear it. Demona tells him that she was crazed with rage and fear from hundreds of years dealing with humans. Brooklyn is confused; he thought she had been asleep for a thousand years like the rest of them. She offers to tell him more and argues that saving his life should buy her a few minutes of his time. Brooklyn agrees to hear her out.

Back at Castle Wyvern, Broadway and Lexington are just returning. They join Goliath, Hudson and Bronx in the TV room. Goliath asks where Brooklyn is and Broadway replies that their brother is "out joyriding", a term Goliath doesn't quite comprehend.

Elsewhere, Demona asks Brooklyn what caused the biker gang to attack him. Brooklyn tells her it was unprovoked and Demona replies that all humans are like that. When he argues that Goliath says humans only need time to get used to gargoyles, she counters that gargoyles and humans coexisted a thousand years ago, but their clan was still slaughtered. She tells Brooklyn that her centuries of dealing with them have shown her how horrible humanity is and offers to educate him. He takes her hand and they soar off together into the night.

Act Two

Demona takes Brooklyn to a roof overlooking an alley where a woman is being mugged. The mugger runs away with the woman's purse and she calls for help. Brooklyn moves to give chase, but Demona tells him that it's pointless; "human justice" will put him back on the streets in a day. She takes Brooklym to a family home. The husband and wife argue and their son runs out the door in tears. Demona remarks that humans can't even live together without fighting; how can they be expected to live peacefully with gargoyles? Finally, Demona shows Brooklyn a crime scene. A chalk outline of a body is drawn on the pavement. A gun is placed inside an evidence bag. Figures load a corpse wrapped in a sheet into an ambulance. This, says Demona, is how little humans value each others' lives. Still not entirely convinced, Brooklyn points out that Elisa has befriended them, so maybe not all humans are irredeemable. Demona agrees that Elisa may be an exception, but she cannot protect them from all the humans who would not accept the clan. She reminds him that Lexington and Goliath were nearly killed because Lex trusted the Pack. Brooklyn asks her how she knows this, but she ignores the question, instead inviting him to reveal himself to the humans below if he thinks she is wrong about them. He makes no move and she compliments his decision, telling him the humans would shoot him down like a dog. Still a little hesitant, Brooklyn asks what they can do when Goliath still thinks humans and gargoyles can coexist peacefully. Demona tells Brooklyn to bring her the Grimorum Arcanorum so that she can cast a spell of truth on Goliath and make him see humans for what they are. Brooklyn takes a last look down at the departing ambulance and Demona smiles, knowing she's won him over.

Brooklyn returns to the castle shortly before dawn. Goliath asks him how the "joyride" went and Brooklyn tells him it was "illuminating". Elisa comes up the stairs and tells Goliath that Xanatos is due to be released from jail in a month. She still wants them to move and thinks she has found a good location. But Goliath will have none of it; Xanatos was defeated and the castle belongs to his clan. Brooklyn protests that it isn't a sure thing; Xanatos could try to reclaim the castle. Goliath remains firm. They will confront Xanatos again if necessary, but they will not leave. Brooklyn begins to argue, but sunrise prevents him from saying more.

The sun sets once more and the gargoyles awaken. Brooklyn turns down an invitation for breakfast with his brothers. He slips into the castle, breaks the lock on the case holding the Grimorum, and steals the book. He flies with it to the Cloisters and tells Demona he will handle bringing Goliath there. She says not to hurry, as the spell is complex and she will need time to study it.

Back at the castle, Brooklyn approaches Goliath and tells him about the Cloisters and its medieval architecture. He offers to show it to Goliath and they glide off together. They land at the Cloisters and Demona steps out from her hiding place. Brooklyn goes to her side and Goliath realizes that he has been betrayed.

Act Three

Goliath asks Brooklyn what is happening. Brooklyn tells him to listen to Demona. Demona recites the spell and a green fireball shoots from her hand, striking Goliath and enveloping him. Goliath roars in pain then stands awkwardly, his eyes glowing a strange green. Brooklyn is worried, but Demona reassures him that everything is fine. She tells Goliath "humans are our enemies" and Goliath repeats the phrase, devoid of emotion. Brooklyn is horrified at what Demona has done; Goliath is now a mindless slave. He tries to grab the Grimorum from her. She commands Goliath to stop Brooklyn and he obeys, grabbing the younger gargoyle and allowing Demona to escape. Brooklyn quickly breaks free of Goliath's grasp and tries to reason with his leader. But Goliath can only obey now and pursues Brooklyn. Brooklyn breaks down a door to escape and hides from Demona and the lumbering Goliath. Demona tries to convince Brooklyn that this is the only way to show Goliath the truth about humanity. Brooklyn remains in hiding until he sees an opportunity to approach Goliath alone and try again to reach him. Still in the thrall of the spell, Goliath throws Brooklyn as Demona reappears. Demona starts to cast the spell on Brooklyn, but he knocks the Grimorum out of her hands with his tail. Demona pounces on Brooklyn and retrieves the book, tossing him aside. She commands Goliath to finish Brooklyn, but he does not move. Brooklyn the reveals that he has torn out the page containing the spell, so Goliath will obey him now. Brooklyn commands Goliath to get Demona. He obeys, but Demona avoids him and drops a banner over him to slow him down. With the Grimorum in hand, she leaps up to the second story of the Cloisters. Still following orders, Goliath goes after her. Goliath tackles Demona, but they smash through a window to the outside and she escapes again. Goliath continues his pursuit and Brooklyn follow him out the window. Demona tears some pages from the Grimorum, just as Goliath swoops upward and dives down on her. She strikes him with the book and the two crash to the ground. Demona picks up a large boulder and throws it at Goliath. Goliath dodges and the boulder breaks a tree instead. Demona hears a roar and looks up to see Brooklyn flying towards her. She dodges a charging Goliath and runs with the Grimorum to the edge of a cliff. She throws the book towards the water below, forcing Brooklyn to dive down after it instead of chasing her. Brooklyn just manage to catch the Grimorum before it plunges into the water. Demona escapes and Brooklyn leads Goliath home.

At the castle, the whole clan and Elisa are gathered at the tower. Brooklyn has been searching through the Grimorum for a counterspell, but he can't find one. He apologizes to Goliath, unsure if he can hear him. The clan worries that Goliath will remain this way forever if they can't reverse the spell. Then Elisa gets an idea: they can use the spell to break the spell. She takes the page with the spell on it from Brooklyn and orders Goliath to act for the rest of his life as if he were not under a spell. The trick works. Goliath is restored to normal and the clan rejoices. Brooklyn gives Elisa the rather backhanded compliment "any species that has you for a member can't be all bad". Brooklyn starts to apolgize again, but Goliath says he heard Brooklyn's first one, even if he could not respond to it. Goliath tells Brooklyn that what Demona showed him of humanity was a half truth which Demona has taken as the whole truth. Sunrise is near, so the gargoyles take their positions on the tower. Lexington asks Brooklyn what happened to the bike. Brooklyn admits that it blew up and Lex's horrified reaction is frozen on his face as the sun rises.

Continuity

Officer Morgan makes his second appearance in Gargoyles, the first being in "Awakening" (Parts One and Two).

Morgan's partner, Phil Travanti, first appears in this episode, although he is not named until "Invitation Only".

Demona refers to the events of "The Thrill of the Hunt", when she cites Lexington's betrayal by the Pack as a reason not to trust humans. She never reveals exactly how she found out about Lex and Goliath being hunted by the Pack; in fact she totally ignores the question when Brooklyn asks her. It may be that she got that knowledge through her continuing alliance with Xanatos, which she certainly wouldn't want to reveal to Brooklyn as she's trying to convince him that humans are bad news.

The Grimorum Arcanorum, which appeared previously in "Awakening", is named for the first time.

Elisa mentions that Xanatos is still in jail, following his incarceration in "Awakening Part Five". Xanatos will finally be released in "Enter Macbeth".

As in the previous episode, "The Thrill of the Hunt", Elisa tells Goliath that the clan should move out of the Eyrie Building. The good location she mentions is the clock tower above her police precinct. The clan will finally take her advice in "Enter Macbeth", but at this point, Goliath is still totally against the idea. His stubbornness may have given Brooklyn the final push to work with Demona and steal the Grimorum.

Demona's betrayal of Brooklyn's trust in this episode sets up Brooklyn's animosity towards her in later episodes.

Demona tears a handful of pages out of the Grimorum Arcanorum before escaping. These pages reappear in "Reawakening" and "City of Stone".

Tidbits

Demona says that the mind-control spell she uses on Goliath is complex and requires much time to study. Since the actual incantation consists of only three Latin words, two of which are short ones, this would suggest (unless Demona was lying to Brooklyn - which, considering her record, is possible) that the complexities lay elsewhere, maybe in correct pronunciation or accompanying gestures. Remarks elsewhere in the series (such as "City of Stone Part Three" and "The Price") that one has to be an experienced wizard to be able to use magic properly would confirm the theory that spell-casting in the Gargoyles Universe consists of far more than just saying the right words.

Brooklyn's motorcycle was designed to be adapted into a toy vehicle for Kenner's line of Gargoyles action figures - although it is doubtful that Kenner was amused when the same motorcycle was blown up in this episode before the end of Act One!

Links

• Greg's Ramble
• Extensive Synopsis and Review

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