Enter Macbeth
"Enter Macbeth" is the ninth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the ninth episode of Season 1. It originally aired on January 6, 1995.
- Written by Steve Perry.
Contents
Summary
Continuity
Macbeth is introduced in this episode (the first character from the works of William Shakespeare to appear in the Gargoyles universe). Although Demona does not appear, Macbeth mentions that he named her. This is finally seen in flashback in "City of Stone Part Three".
Elisa is still using crutches in this episode, after being shot in "Deadly Force".
The Manhattan Clan move out of the Eyrie Building in this episode. Elisa had previously tried to convince Goliath to leave the building in "The Thrill of the Hunt" and "Temptation" with little success - even in this episode, she is only able to convince him with Hudson's help. The clan will eventually move back into the Eyrie Building in "Hunter's Moon Part Three".
The gargoyles take the Grimorum Arcanorum with them when they leave the castle. They will guard it there until "High Noon".
David Xanatos is released from prison in this episode, after being incarcerated in "Awakening Part Five".
Tidbits
"Enter Macbeth" suffered a severely-delayed release thanks to animation difficulties; the original version of it came out so poorly animated that it had to be extensively redone. This resulted in "Awakening" (all five episodes of it) being repeated on the Fridays between the premiere of "Deadly Force" (November 18, 1994) and that of "Enter Macbeth" (January 6, 1995), to buy the animators time. Fortunately, this repeat of the series opener allowed people who had only just discovered the series after "Awakening" first aired to see how it began, and does not appear to have done the program any great harm.
This episode contains the first of many references to Shakespeare and his works throughout Gargoyles (stemming from Greg Weisman's fondness for the Bard). Alongside Macbeth, the Weird Sisters, Oberon, Titania, and Puck would all make on-stage appearances in the series, and other allusions would be made to Shakespeare's plays and characters (which will be duly noted in the entries for the episodes in which they appeared). Greg also had (currently) unrealized plans to introduce Queen Mab from Romeo and Juliet (as Oberon's mother), and Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban from The Tempest, alongside making Dingo's real name "Harry Monmouth" (in a reference to Prince Hal), introducing a modern-day parallel to Romeo and Juliet in the projected New Olympians spin-off, and even trapping the gargoyles and their associates in an actual performance of Macbeth (with Macbeth in the title role, Demona as Lady Macbeth, Goliath as Macduff, and Elisa as Lady Macduff).
Links
| << Previous Episode: "Deadly Force" | Next Episode: "The Edge" >> |
