Pendragon

"Pendragon" is the forty-eighth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the thirty-fifth episode of Season 2. It originally aired on February 12, 1996.

• Supervising Producers: Frank Paur, Greg Weisman
• Written by: Lydia Marano
• Story Edited by: Brynne Chandler Reaves
• Produced & Directed by: Dennis Woodyard
• Animation by: Sunwoo Animation Co., Inc.
• Backgrounds by: Sunwoo Animation Co., Inc.
• Additional Production Facilities: N/A

Summary

Main Plot

King Arthur and Griff are transported to Manhattan from London via the Stone of Destiny, and meet up with Hudson and the Trio of the Manhattan Clan. Arthur and the others search for Excalibur using clues from the Excalibur Poem, while Macbeth spies on them, intent on claiming the sword for himself. At the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the clan fights Macbeth's flunkies while Arthur and Griff tussle with Macbeth and an animated stone dragon. Arthur claims the sword from within the dragon, and Macbeth admits defeat.

Subplots

Arthur knights Griff, and the two of them begin a quest for Merlin.

The Story

Previously on Gargoyles

• Recap: ("Avalon" Part Three)

Act One

An unusually strong storm is picking up outside the hanger to Macbeth's Mansion. Banquo and Fleance are preparing Macbeth's Aircraft for a misson, although Banquo does not know why they are about to, given the weather. Macbeth suddenly appears, telling Banquo that the goosebumps his henchman has is actually his sensing out the power of the Harmonic Convergence: magical forces are gathering in New York City to open a door through time and space. As Fleance continues to prep the aircraft, she shares that she's getting a weird sensation to, like something is coming. Something is coming, Macbeth assures her: "Something powerful – and I will have it come to me!" he says, as lightning flashes about his sillouette.

At the Clock Tower, the Trio and Hudson look at the clouds rolling in and Lexington mentions that the weather man didn't mention anything about a storm tonight. Hudson comments that this isn't an ordinary storm, noting, "I know this wind: Something is coming." The Trio look at one another as another crash of lightning flashes in front of them. Dark clouds surround all of Manhattan.

In London, the mists dissipate and Arthur Pendragon oars his skiff across the River Thames. He hears the chimes of Big Ben from the Palace of Westminster. His mouth drops at the sight and sound of the modern city. "City of wonders," he tells himself. Reaching a dock, Arthur jumps off the skiff only to see the vessel sink in the river's waters. Something flies by him, prompting Arthur to draw the mace he picked up on Avalon, noting that, even though it's no Excalibur, it'll have to do. Whatever flew past him continues to glide about Westminster. Arthur walks in the same direction, arriving at Westminster Abbey. A shingle from the church roof falls near him, startling Arthur enough to wonder Merlin is. As he walks to the abbey entrance, a winged figure looks from the church roof, eyes glowing. Arriving at Westminster Abbey's entrance, Arthur's astonished the doors are locked. He wonders, if the church is locked, how can he stand vigil? He promptly swings his mace and smashes the door open, entering the empty abbey. Sensing something magical, he continues way further into Westminster Abbey, arriving at the Coronation Chair, and Arthur touches the rock in its seat. With a sudden flash of energy, Arthur recognizes the Stone of Destiny. He laments that Excalibur did not return to the stone. The rock suddenly begins to glow and ask aloud, "Who seeks the sword, Excalibur?" This surprises Arthur, who jumps back only to stumble into Griff, the winged figure patrolling about Westminster earlier. Eyes glowing, Griff explains his displeasure for individuals who break into his abbey. Arthur lowers his mace, unconcerned to have run into a gargoyle. Griff wonders why the intruder doesn't feel threatened, and establishes that London is his protectorate after all. Arthur's astonished that his City of Wonders is modern day London, and reasons that Griff can't be of Goliath's Clan. Griff is surprised to hear the intruder know Goliath's name, and explains that Goliath is a friend of his. He introduces himself as Griff. When Griff asks the intruder who they are, Arthur responds that he is Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain. Griff folds his arms, unconvinced, adding that if that's the case, then he's the Queen Mum. But at the sound of Arthur's name, the Stone of Destiny speaks once more, explaining that because Arthur has "returned to the waking world unbidden" he'll need to prove himself still worthy if he hopes to have Excalibur once more. Arthur is determined to prove his worth, even if it means pulling it out of a hundred stones. The Stone of Destiny then offers to take Arthur to Excalibur, if he can tell the Rock where it currently is. Frustrated, he sits on the Coronation Chair to ruminate. "I hate riddles," he declares. But this strikes Griff's memory of a riddle about Excalibur that he learned back when he was a hatchling. He begins to recite:

Isle of towers glass and stone,

The Lady waits for him alone.

Ebon glass in emerald frame,

Pure white lilies speak her name.

Blood red bane in Dragon Stone,

Excalibur waits for him alone.

Arthur recites the first line of the poem, which satisfies the Rock beneath him. Glowing once more, the Stone of Destiny tells Arthur that there will be other tests. Arthur insists that the sword is his alone, but the Stone points out, "It belongs to the true King. Are you still he?" Magical energy emits from the Stone, lifting Arthur from the Coronation Chair. Griff jumps into the vortex and the two are wisked away.

Atop the Guggenheim Museum, Macbeth awaits whatever approaches, a cauldron burining before him. The dark clouds swirl and accumulate above him. Gliding about the city, the Trio and Hudson spot the unusual happenings on the musesum, and swoop in to investigate. As rain falls, Macbeth begins to recite Latin, breaking down the walls of space. A flash from the cauldron erupts as a result. Struggling to stay dry underneath two umbrellas, Banquo complains they aren't getting paid enough for these kinds of jobs. Macbeth looks above him and watches the clouds glow bright red. From a swirling vortex Arthur and Griff appear, and with the Manhattan Clan stuck in the supernatural storm, the two crash atop the roof of the Guggenheim. While Macbeth expresses his disappointment that the prize appears to be a man and a gargoyle, Arthur comes to his feet, recognizing Macbeth from Avalon. Macbeth doesn't remember their first encounter, but still aims his Lightning Gun at him. Just as he fires, Hudson knocks the weapon out of the way, as Broadway and Brooklyn knock Fleance and Banquo, respectfully, off their feet. Lexington catches their Lightning Guns mid-air as Macbeth jumps into his aircraft, commanding Banquo and Fleance to regroup to him, promising to finish this later. They fly off.

Lexington asks Brooklyn if they should go after them, but Brooklyn opts for some answers first. Arthur thanks his new friends, hoping that they are, in fact, friends. Lexington is stunned at the sight of another gargoyle, who introduces himself as Griff of London. Finally convinced, he then introduces his companion as King Arthur and shares that the two of them are looking for Excalibur. Hudson and Broadway are both skeptical. Hudson asks if he's really King Arthur and Arthur says that he is, and asks the four if they are of Goliath's Clan. This detail earns their full attention and they begin to rapidly ask questions, wondering if Goliath is all right, if Elisa and Bronx are with him, wondering where they are, and if they are coming back. Griff shares that he met the World Travelers in London, but Broadway shares that Elisa's mother saw them in Nigeria, and Brooklyn adds that Halcyon Renard saw them in the Czech Republic. Arthur then tells them all that he met them on Avalon, when Elisa woke him from his enchanted sleep. He then shares that "only Avalon knows" when they will return. Arthur then begins to assess his situation: if he is in Manhattan, then Excalibur has left Britain. He doesn't understand why.

In his aircraft, Macbeth concludes that there must be some reason why the travelers arrived through the portal. Realizing that reason must be a powerful one, he plugs in an Electric Crystal Ball. Summoning a Will-O-The-Wisp, he commands it to find the Arthur and Griff. With the Crystal Ball plugged into the aircraft's controls, Macbeth is able to track the Will-O-The Wisp, and therefore whatever power the traveling pair are seeking. Power which will soon be his.

Back at the Guggenheim's rooftop, Griff inspects one of the seized Lightning Guns. While Broadway quickly smashes the second, Griff opts to keep the first. Meanwhile Hudson starts to work through the next lines of the Excalibur Poem, which is still the only clue Arthur and Griff have to find the legendary sword. "Ebon glass in emerald frame" has him stumped, but Brooklyn, looking at Central Park, points out the reflective Lake at night surrounded by the Park's foliage. Arthur nods in agreement and Griff gives the King a thumbs up. The Trio and Hudson take off while Griff takes Arthur under his wings. They land in the park and Arthur approaches the Lake, Bow Bridge in the distance. He bends one on knee and picks up a white lily from a lily pad. Excied, Griff recites the next line from the poem: "Pure white lilies speak her name." Considering Griff's words, Arthur throws the flower into the water and Arthur announces himself before the Lady of the Lake. Ripples emit from the white lily, which soon becomes swirling water. A hand rises from the center, cupping the flower Arthur tossed. What looks to be a silver-haired woman in a gown of white samite rises out of the Lake's waters, and hovers there. Hudson and Trio look from a distance, and Hudson is left speechless, save for only one: "Jalapeña . . ."

Act Two

With everyone gathered around Arthur and Griff, Broadway points out how beautiful the Lady of the Lake is and Lexington is astonished that she was in their lake, of all places. Arthur notes this as well, wondering why she is in Manhattan and not Britain. With the sight before them, none notice the Will-O-the-Wisp hovering nearby. Like the Stone of Destiny, the Lady of the Lake was not expecting to see Arthur for some time. Nevertheless, she asks what he wants of her. On one knee again, Arthur asks for Excalibur, pointing out that he is not whole without it. The Lady of the Lake insists that Excalibur "serves the king that can claim it". Arthur claims it once more as King of Britain, but she reminds him that won't be enough. They are not in Britain, "but a far larger stage". Still, the world needs a leader and that leader needs Excalibur. Even more still, Arthur will have to prove himself worthy. A whirlwind begins to surround the Lady of the Lake drawing Arthur to her. She points to the depths of the Lake and the surface bubbles until out emerges a watery being. Growing to twice Arthur's height, the creature grabs Arthur and submerges him its torso. Unable to break through, the gargoyles come to his aid, only for the creature to cascade them with a watery blast. Arthur manages to break the surface of the creature's torso for air and to direct Griff to use the commandeered Lightning Gun on their foe. Listening to Arthur's instruction, Griff fires at the creature's base. The hit leads to the creature to collapse in on itself, with the captive Arthur bounced off the surface of the Lake, like a stone skipped once. He thanks the gargoyles and the Lady of the Lake congratulates Arthur Pendragon for still being a "Leader born". She draws up a wall of water, explaining that at the heart of a garden across the river lies the Sword in the stone, "to be claimed by the timeless king who can find it". A tap of her forefinger, and the wall of water falls. Arthur insists that he will claim Excalibur, but the Lady of the Lake, descending to the watery depths once more, doesn't guarantee him anything.

Brooklyn wonders what garden she meant across the river, and Hudson notes how the garden had a hedge maze, but has never seen a maze like that in Manhattan. Figuring it out, Lexington cries out "Brooklyn!" only for his rookery brother to get confused. But Lexington explains that the Lady of the Lake must have meant the hedgemaze at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

From his aircraft, Macbeth turns off a monitor feeding back what the Will-O-the-Wisp sees. He tells Banquo and Fleance that Lexington is right; there is a giant Stone Dragon at the heart of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens's hedgemaze. Having listened in to the entire exchange with the Lady of the Lake, Banquo points out that Macbeth was a king once, and that he's been alive for a long time. Macbeth recalls the phrase "timeless king" and questions why it should be Arthur once more. "Perhaps it's my destiny to wield the sword Excalibur!" Macbeth orders the two to intercept them, so that he can reach the Stone Dragon first. Fleance points out how quickly they were beat during their last encounter, and Macbeth argues that was just because they weren't ready for them, but this time the gargoyles "won't stand a chance".

Near the Manhattan Bridge, the gargoyles and Arthur glide across the East River for Brooklyn – the borough, not the gargoyle. They arrive at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, which is currently closed for renovations. Before they can land, however, they are cut off by Banquo and Fleance, flying sky-sleds and wearing powered suits. [1] Laser blasts emit from both sleds, causing the gargoyles and Arthur to scatter. Lexington shouts for everyone to land and seek cover, and Griff sets Arthur down on the ground. As the laser blasts continue to fire, Griff protects the King of Britain by covering him with his wings. Gliding by, Hudson tells the two to find Excalibur – "We'll handle them," he assures Arthur and Griff. As they approach the gate to the hedgemaze, Banquo takes aim from his sky-sled. He fires at Arthur and Griff, but they charge and break through the rod iron gate, with Banquo only taking out the head of a topiary bunny.

Fleane meanhile takes on the four Manhattan gargoyles single-handedly, flying through them and blasting lasers in their direction. Struggling through the hedgemaze, Arthur complains he'll be ancient by the time they make their way to the center. They turn a corner and find themselves at a dead end. Griff, realizing they won't be able to glide with the low terrain and foliage, suggests taking a more direct-approach. Weilding the Lightning Gun once more, he fires into the hedgemaze, allowing them to cut across it.

Outside and above maze, the gargoyles continue to distract Banquo and Fleance. While Fleance takes aim at Hudson, Brooklyn manages to get ahold of her sky-sled, but, turning sharply, she merely sends him into a tree. Broadway lands to check on his rookery brother, who remains unconscious. Now enraged, Broadways goads her into taking him on, one-on-one, and Fleance happily agrees. Banquo meanwhile chases down Hudson and Lexington, the two barely dodging his laser fire. Broadway picks up a wooden park bench and attempts to take Fleance out by surprise attack behind a tree, but she just flies right through his swing, splintering the bench into pieces. Barely coming to, Broadway's not moving away quick enough to avoid Fleance's next attack, when suddenly Lexington swoops in at the front of her sky-sled, blocking her view. "No free rides, bat boy!" she yells, turning the sky-sled upside down, throwing Lexington to the ground, crashing right on top of Broadway, who just came to his feet. Both now collapse unconscious.

Hovering low to the ground, Banquo searches for Hudson, confidant the elderly gargoyle can't outrun him. "And besides, you aren't even armed," he manages to taunt before Hudson ambushes him with a, well, bush. "Wrong again," Hudson says, drawing his sword. He charges at Banquo, but Fleance flies cuts him off by ramming him. Hudson manages to keep a grip on the machine, preventing Fleance from being able to see where she is going. Suddenly realizing she is flying towards a tree right by the Trio, she and Hudson jump off the sky-sled. The crash causes the tree to fall over, landing on the four gargoyles. Fleance and Banquo walk toward the tree covering their subdued adversaries. "Like shooting fish in a barrel," she gleefully observes, drawing a Lightning Gun to finish the gargoyles off. Banquo's only too eager to join in. Hudson's sword lies on the ground just out of reach for the unconscious gargoyle.

Meanwhile, Macbeth has landed right at the center of the hedgemaze, looking at the Stone Dragon. A sword lies by the heart of the sculpture, pinned by two drapped wings. Macbeth races to draw out the sword from the Stone Dragon. Climbing up to reach it, he gets a hand on the hilt when suddenly Griff and Arthur blast through the final hedge. Declaring Excalibur is his, Arthur races toward the Stone Dragon. Macbeth ignores them and tries for the sword – it leaves its oversized scabbard without fuss. Macbeth jumps off the sculpture and, landing on his feet, declares that Arthur's time has past. Triumphant, he declares, "Macbeth, son of Findlaech, is the One True King!" Wind begins to pick up and lightning starts to strike around the botanical garden. Griff is in disbeief; somehow this is a mistake. He starts to approach Macbeth, but the immortal blasts Griff's Lightning Gun out of the gargoyle's hand with his own. Arthur then charges toward Macbeth. Macbeth considers the two weapons he's wielding and tosses the modern one aside. Mace and sword clash above the two timeless kings. "You will kneel to me!" Macbeth tells Arthur, but Arthur refuses, taking another swing with his mace. Pushed to the ground, Arthur uses the momentum to kick Macbeth off him. Lightning continues to flash as rain begins to fall. Macbeth asserts his claim once more: "I freed the sword from the stone. An HONEST man would recognize his true king, and yield!" Weary now, Arthur admits it is difficult to do, but he prepares to kneel all the same. Griff won't have it however: "Arthur no! Fight for it! You are the Once and Future King!" As the heavy rain falls, lightning continues to crash about them – and now the ground begins to quake. All three slip and fall. Griff looks up and can only utter one word: "Pendragon!"

The two immortal kings look up and see that the Stone Dragon – eyes red, wings unfurling, steam exhausting, fire breathing – has awakened.

Act Three

The Stone Dragon fires at Macbeth, Arthur, and Griff, who just barely dodge the blast. Macbeth then charges toward the animated stone beast, and Arthur and Griff decide to join in. The two avoid the Dragon's fire while Macbeth strikes with Excalibur, to little effect, and Griff leaps in the air only to be swatted by the Dragon's wing.

Outside the hedgemaze, Banquo prepares to lift the massive tree off the gargoyles, instructing Fleance to fire as soon as they are visible. "Just do it!" Fleance impatiently shoots back at him. Seeing his sword, Hudson grabs it and knocks Banquo off his feet, pinning him under the trunk. Brooklyn and Lexington leap out, surprising Fleance.

Arthur and Macbeth continue to strike the Stone Dragon – mace and sword only agitating their giant quarry. A whip from the Stone Dragon's tail knocks Excalibur out of Macbeth's hand, launching it in the air. Arthur grabs it in mid-air as Lightning strikes. But something's off. Macbeth insists the sword is his, and Arthur's fine with that – because the sword is not Excalibur! He breaks the blade across the Stone Dragon, proving his point. As he tosses the hilt and broken blade to Macbeth, Griff warns Arthur to look out behind him. But its too late; mighty stone claws pick up Arthur off the ground. Before Griff can react, the Stone Dragon's second hand picks up Macbeth. Griff races to the Dragon's tail as it takes off into night, wings taking it further higher in the sky.

Broadway sits atop the fallen tree trunk pinning Banquo as Fleance continues to struggle Brooklyn and Lexington. Shots from her Lightning Gun go aimlessly into the night sky as they fight. Hudson races toward a small rod iron fence and rips off a section. Brooklyn and Lexington throw her at the trunk of another tree, and Brooklyn rips the Lightning Gun from her hand. With the two gargoyles out of the way, Hudson wraps the rod iron around her and the tree trunk. Hudson then asks if everyone is ok, Brooklyn, exhausted, replies, "Yeah, we're peachy." They suddenly hear the cries of the Stone Dragon. Seeing it fly right above them, Lexington blurts out, "Jalapeña!" in surprise. Realizing they need help, Brooklyn orders them to follow, but Hudson doesn't see anything high enough for them to glide. But Lexington has already made his way to the two sky-sleds, positioning them so that the gargoyles can "take the stairs". Brooklyn jumps on each of the sky-sleds, and successfully takes off after the Stone Dragon. Lexington follows immediately after. Telling the pinned Banquo to stay put, Broadway runs to join the others.

Mid-air, the Stone Dragon still has both kings in its grasp with Griff on his tail. When it spots the Manhattan gargoyles, it breathes out a blast of fire in their direction. Seeing his friends barely avoid the attack, Griff begins to lose patience and goes on the offensive: he jumps on the Dragon's back and digs into the Stone hide with his claws. This stops the Dragon from advancing, with it now hovering mid-air to deal with nuissances gliding around it. Macbeth and Arthur meanwhile struggle to escape the Dragon's grip. Macbeth takes the time to complain to Arthur that had he not broken the sword, it could have been used to slay the Dragon. But Arthur calmly tells him that it was not the true Excalibur. "It must be! I pulled it from the stone!" Arthur suddenly sees what the previous sword hid – a deep red stone in the Dragon's chest – and recalls the last clue to the riddle: "Blood red bane IN Dragon Stone!" Realizing Excalibur must be in the Stone Dragon, he calls for Griff's aid. Griff promptly rips his hands off the Dragon's back, and helps to free Arthur. Griff digs his claws this time in the Dragon's wrist. This causes the beast to release Arthur, who begins to plummet, but Griff catches him by the cape and swings him to the Dragon's chest. Arthur orders Griff to get clear and swings his mace at the red stone. The stone explodes in fiery energy, ripping the mace from Arthur's hand. As the Stone Dragon cries out in agony, Arthur pulls from inside it a sword radiating in power. The energies from the heart of the Stone Dragon now exhausted, the creature begins to crumble and disintegrate mid-air, when it vanishes in a flash of light, preventing a sudden rain of gravel. Griff catches Arthur as he falls, while the Manhattan Clan caught Macbeth. Both kings are brought in for a safe landing outside the botanical garden's hedgemaze. Macbeth walks to Arthur and kneels before the True King and Sword. But Arthur knows that no King can lead without his knights, and acknowledges that Macbeth fought the good fight. Arthur invites Macbeth to join him, but Macbeth turns him down. "I have been a king too long to serve any man. But if you ever need me to stand by your side, I will come." The two embrace wrists.

Having returned to the Clock Tower and with dawn approaching, Hudson asks King Arthur what he will do now. Arthur explains that he will stay in Manhattan for the day, but the following night he will need to begin his next quest: this time for his teacher and friend, Merlin. He must somehow also figure out how to get Griff back to London. Griff, who had been looking down at the city below, stops to share that he'd rather continue to travel with Arthur, but Arthur turns away, explaining that only a knighted champion is fit to do so. Griff understands, and appreciates the adventures he's had already – "A story for the hatchlings, someday," he figures. But Arthur draws Excalibur and tells Griff that he could not ask for a better champion at his side. Gesturing him to kneel, and with the Manhattan Clan as witnesses, Arthur knights him, Sir Griff. Arthur's first knight of the Twentieth Century. The gargoyles turn to stone, and Arthur turns to greet the Sun – a new day indeed.

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles	Humans	Oberon's Children	Others
Lexington Hudson Broadway Brooklyn Griff Goliath (Mentioned Only) Bronx (Mentioned Only)	Banquo Fleance Macbeth King Arthur Pendragon Merlin (Mentioned Only) Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Mentioned Only as the Queen Mum) Diane Maza (Mentioned Only) Halcyon Renard (Mentioned Only) Findlaech (Mentioned Only)	Lady of the Lake (First Appearance)	Spirit of Destiny (First Appearance) Water Djinn (First Appearance) Will-O-The-Wisp (First Appearance) Stone Dragon (First Appearance)

Places	Objects	Magic	Miscellaneous
Westminster Abbey Guggenheim Museum The Lake (Central Park) Bow Bridge Manhattan Bridge Brooklyn Botanical Gardens	Coronation Chair Electric Crystal Ball Fake Excalibur Excalibur	Harmonic Convergence	Excalibur Poem Macbeth's Sky-Sleds

Quotes

• "He ain't payin' us enough for this!" - Banquo to Fleance

• "She's so beautiful!"

"And she was right in our own lake!" - Broadway and Lexington

• "Brooklyn!"

"What?"

"No, no she-she means Brooklyn! The hedgemaze in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens!" - Lexington and Brooklyn

• "Why should it be Arthur again? Perhaps it is my destiny to wield the sword Excalibur." - Macbeth

• "I may be timeless, but I'll be ancient by the time we get through this!" - Arthur

• "Arthur, no! Fight for it! You are the Once and Future King!" - Griff

• "I have been a king too long to serve any man. But if you ever need me to stand by your side, I will come." - Macbeth

Continuity

King Arthur Pendragon appears for the first time since "Avalon" Part Three. He teams up with Griff, who appears for the first time since "M.I.A.". They next appear in "The Rock".

Hudson and the Trio appear for the first time since "Kingdom".

The Stone of Destiny was introduced in "City of Stone" Part Three, but plays an active role in this episode, speaking to Arthur (and being revealed as the stone from the Sword in the Stone). The Stone also reappears in "The Rock", "Rock & Roll", and "Rock of Ages". In "Rock and Roll", we learn how the Stone of Destiny came to be the stone that Arthur drew Excalibur out of.

Both the Stone of Destiny and the Lady of the Lake reinforce Arthur's statement in "Avalon" Part Three that he was awakened ahead of schedule. A detail further explored in "Rock of Ages".

Banquo and Fleance appear in Macbeth's service for the last time (they had most recently appeared in "Sanctuary"). In their next appearance, in "Nightwatch", they are working for Castaway – which Macbeth briefly alludes to in "The Rock".

Hudson and the Trio allude to Goliath's adventures in "Golem" and "Mark of the Panther" (which they were informed of by Halcyon Renard and Diane Maza).

Tidbits

Greg Weisman intended "Pendragon" to be a back-door pilot to a spin-off, also entitled Pendragon, that would have dealt with King Arthur and Griff's adventures as they search for Merlin, adventures that would have taken them, among other places, to Tintagel, Stonehenge, and Antarctica. The Illuminati would have had a major role in this series as a recurring antagonist, particularly its leader, Peredur, a former knight of the Round Table that had survived into modern times through being the guardian of the Holy Grail. Arthur and Griff would also be joined by Peredur's estranged wife, Blanchefleur, who would become a third regular. Unfortunately, the spin-off was not picked up.

Alert viewers will notice that Arthur could not have reached London immediately after leaving Avalon (since the events of "M.I.A.", "Golem" and "Mark of the Panther" have already taken place). According to Greg Weisman, Arthur had an unspecified adventure in the outside world that troubled him enough that he decided to return to Avalon for a time, and he was brought to London after making a second venture into the outside world.[2]

Gargoyles here follows the popular interpretation of Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone being one and the same, which was the case in the earliest Arthurian legends; in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, they were, in fact, separate swords. After Arthur broke his old sword (Malory does not say whether it was the Sword in the Stone or a lesser weapon) while fighting King Pellinore, Merlin brought him to the Lady of the Lake, who gave him Excalibur via the famous hand rising up from her lake garbed in a sleeve of white samite. "Pendragon" makes use of both concepts, having Excalibur once again embedded in stone (but this time, completely encased, with the sword seemingly thrust in the stone being just a worthless lookalike), but bringing in the Lady of the Lake as instrumental in its recovery.

The Will-O-The-Wisp that Macbeth uses to spy on Arthur, Griff, and the remaining members of the Manhattan Clan, is an interesting take on the common cartoon plot device of "villain with cameras everywhere". This is a common scene in action adventure cartoons where the heroes are discussing something of importance. The view usually goes to a high angle shot and the camera pull back to reveal the villain watching and listening through a monitor or other viewing device. The antagonist is able to view and overhear just what he or she needs to, despite the fact that the heroes are in their base, the sky, some place they've never been before, or another location where their foe would be highly unlikely to place a remote camera. A magical entity, its powers augmented with science, gets around the problem of how Macbeth manages to eavesdrop on our heroes from a distance.

DVD Release

• Gargoyles: Season Two, Volume Two

See Also

• Greg's Ramble
• Extensive Synopsis and Review

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