Awakening Part Four

"Awakening: Part Four" is the fourth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the fourth episode of Season 1. It originally aired on October 27, 1994.

• Producer: Frank Paur
• Co-Producer: Greg Weisman (Uncredited)
• Story: Eric Luke, Michael Reaves
• Teleplay: Michael Reaves
• Story Edited by: Michael Reaves
• Directed by: Kazuo Terada, Saburo Hashimoto
• Animation by: Walt Disney Animation Japan
• Backgrounds by: Studio Fuga
• Additional Production Facilities: Nakamura Production, Studio Robin, Light Foot, Studio Cats, Takahashi Production

Summary

Main Plot

Elisa and Goliath escape from the Commandos, but Goliath has been shot with a tranquilizer and turns to stone at dawn. Elisa leads the attackers away from his stone form and defeats them one by one, she then guards Goliath during the day. A bond of trust is cemented between them. Later, Xanatos reunites Goliath and his long lost mate, who convinces him to help Xanatos in tracking down the "stolen" disks. Goliath and Demona are assigned the Cyberbiotics airship, and the trio are sent to the Cyberbiotics Tower.

Subplots

The trio continue their exploration of the city, and make their way back to the castle. Brooklyn attempts to call a cab, but the driver turns around the moment he sees the gargoyles.

Elisa notices the Scarab Corporation logo on the transmitter on Goliath that led the Commandos to them.

The trio and Bronx receive their names.

Demona and Xanatos tell Goliath a contrived story of how she survived the Wyvern Massacre.

Goliath is disturbed by Demona's behavior on the airship with her callousness towards human life. He stops her from killing a man in cold blood.

Vinnie has his first bad encounter with Goliath while on security duty on the airship.

The trio break into the Cyberbiotics Tower and are faced with guards holding guns.

The Story

Act One

Goliath is spurred to action when the lead commando threatens to hunt down the rest of his clan. Elisa breaks free of the commando holding her and escapes with a still groggy Goliath. They take shelter under a footbridge and Elisa discovers a small radio transmitter with a beetle logo on Goliath. She removes it and places it on a passing dog to mislead the commandos.

The three young gargoyles continue to explore the city. When their wings grow tired, the rust colored beaked gargoyle notices a person hailing a taxi. He attempts to do the same, but the taxi drives off at the sight of him, leaving the three gargoyles to walk home. Back at the castle, Hudson and the gargoyle beast continue to enjoy watching television until they notice sunrise approaching. They meet up with the young gargoyles, who talk enthusiastically about the wonders they've seen all over the city. But Goliath still hasn't returned.

Back in Central Park, Goliath also sees that sunrise is fast approaching. Weary from the sedative, he kneels down in a secluded area, telling Elisa that he will be helpless during the day. She asks what he means by that and he responds "You'll see." Elisa notices the commandos approaching their hiding place. She turns back to Goliath and is shocked to find him turned to stone.

Act Two

Elisa runs from her hiding spot to divert the commandos away from the sleeping Goliath. Thinking they can still track the gargoyle with the transmitter, the commandos pursue Elisa through the bushes and into an outdoor dining area. Elisa hides under a table and kicks one of the commandos when he draws near. She grabs his gun and flees into a nearby boathouse while the other commandos shoot at her. The commandos fire into the boathouse, puncturing a can of gasoline. Elisa dives into the water as the boathouse explodes. She hides under a dock while they check to see if she has survived. Elisa grabs a commando's leg from under the dock, pulling her into the water, and flees. The lead commando gives chase and she decoys him with her jacket, distracting him long enough for her to overpower him and knock him out.

Elisa waits by Goliath until sunset, when he bursts forth from his stone skin. She notices that the sedative seems to have worn off and he tells her that sleep rejuvenates gargoyles. He is surprised that she has watched over him all day and thanks her for saving his life. They agree to meet again later and Goliath returns to the castle.

Goliath rejoins the rest of the clan and relates what has happened to him. He calls Hudson by his new name and the young gargoyles decide they should all pick out names. The rust colored beaked gargoyle picks "Brooklyn". The big aquamarine gargoyle is now "Broadway" and the small green gargoyle is "Lexington". Goliath says that the beast will need a name as well and Brooklyn dubs him "Bronx."

Xanatos and Owen, who have been watching the clan via video camera, summon Goliath to Xanatos's office. Xanatos wishes to reintroduce Goliath to "an old acquaintance." A door opens and a figure steps out of the shadows. Goliath gasps as her recognizes his mate.

Act Three

Goliath and his mate embrace. She tells him that, 1000 years ago, she feared for his safety and followed him when he went to scare off the Vikings. But she got lost along the way and didn't make it to him or the castle before sunrise. When she made it back to the castle and found the remainder of the clan turned to stone by night, she begged the Magus to cast the same spell on her. Xanatos adds that he acquired the sleeping gargoyle for his collection and brought her to the castle after his success breaking the spell on Goliath and the others. The two rejoin the rest of the clan. Goliath's mate convinces him to help Xanatos recover the stolen disks. The clan divides into three groups to attack the three locations: Goliath and his mate will take the air fortress, Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington will take the tower, and Hudson and Bronx will take the underground fortress.

Goliath and his mate board the air fortress. Goliath points out that the disk is likely to be heavily guarded and is stunned when his mate callously says it is the humans' problem if they wish to throw away their lives protecting it. The two gargoyles encounter and quickly defeat two armed guards. Goliath's mate grabs one of the unconscious men and prepares to drop him off of the airship. Goliath protests that this is unnecessary. She growls that the centuries have made Goliath weak, but tosses the man to the floor unharmed.

Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington break into the tower and slide down the elevator cables to the floor where the second disk is being kept. They force open the elevator doors and are immediately confronted by armed guards.

First Appearances

Characters

• Jogger
• Taxi Passenger
• "Rover"

Location

• Cyberbiotics Tower

Object

• Fortress-1

Quotes

• "These are great! You should try some!"

"We would have, if you hadn't eaten the entire cartful." - Broadway and Brooklyn

• "I don't get it, what happens at sunrise?"

"You'll see." - Elisa and Goliath

• "A lot to go through for a piece of lawn sculpture." - Elisa

• "I've run this path for five years, and I've never noticed that statue before." - Jogger

• "Aye, it's my name. What would you make of it?" - Hudson

• "Cool!"

"What?"

"It's a new word we learned last night."

"It indicates a positive response." - Brooklyn, Goliath, Broadway, and Lexington

• "To soar with you again, it's like a dream."

"We've dreamed for a thousand years Goliath, it's time for our dreams to come true." - Goliath and Demona

• "The disk will be well guarded, no doubt."

"If humans wish to throw away their worthless lives guarding it, that's their concern." - Goliath and Demona

• "No! To kill in the heat of battle is one thing, but not like this!"

"The centuries have made you weak, Goliath." - Goliath and Demona

Tidbits

The Alice in Wonderland sculpture that Elisa runs past while pursued by the Commandos is an actual Central Park landmark, but it was not shown for mere local color. The animators deliberately placed it there (as Greg Weisman and Frank Paur explained on the DVD commentary for "Awakening") to symbolize Elisa's having "fallen through the rabbit-hole into Wonderland", in a sense, through having met the gargoyles and becoming involved in their adventures.

The Jogger, another familiar recurring figure, appears in the series for the first time as he passes Elisa watching over the stone Goliath.

Vinnie makes another cameo as a Cyberbiotics guard (though we won't discover that it was he until "Vendettas").

When Hudson is channel-surfing, we have a brief glimpse on the television screen of the scene at the beginning of The Lion King where Rafiki the baboon holds up the young Simba.

Greg Weisman has humorously suggested that the stray dog whom Elisa plants the tracking device upon in Central Park is actually the grown-up puppy in the dog food commercial that Bronx growls at (another sad case of an out-of-work actor going downhill).

Xanatos' first name is revealed in this episode to be "David", obviously to provide a reversal of the biblical tale which Goliath's name is derived from.

The names chosen for the supporting gargoyles are particularly appropriate, in that they reflect how well their bearers respond to the modern world. Hudson, the most conservative member of the clan, who has the strongest difficulties adjusting to the 20th century, takes his name from a river, a natural feature that had been part of Manhattan even before the humans came to dwell there. The Trio, on the other hand, who are filled with enthusiasm over their new surroundings, take their names from man-made features of New York, two streets and a borough. (As for Bronx, his name was no doubt chosen on the grounds that it was the New York place-name that most evoked an animal's bark or growl!)

Toon Disney/Disney XD Edits

During Elisa's battle with the Xanatos squad in the park, one scene where Bruno reloads his weapon is fixed so that we don't actually see the weapon being reloaded but instead see a close-up of his face. Also it looks like a small bit was taken out of his one-on-one battle with Elisa.

VHS/DVD Release

• Gargoyles The Movie: The Heroes Awaken
• Gargoyles: The Complete First Season

Links

• Greg's Ramble
• Extensive Synopsis and Review

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