GargWiki:Feature-08

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"Future Tense" is the fifty-sixth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the forty-third episode of Season 2. It originally aired on April 25, 1996. It is a popular episode among fans and is known for its non-stop, astounding revelations and foreshadowing of future events. The episode also features beautiful animation, amazing voice acting and a fascinating plot.

"Future Tense" is set at the end of the Avalon World Tour as Goliath wishes to return home to Manhattan, although much of the action takes place in a bleak alternate future in the year 2036. In this dystopian future, Xanatos has conquered Manhattan and he rules the island from his high-tech Eyrie Pyramid while his subjects live in poverty and fear. An underground resistance led by an older Brooklyn seeks to overthrow Xanatos and end his tyranny. The tone of the episode was partly inspred by Days of Future Past, a seminal story from the 80s X-Men comics by Claremont and Byrne. An early visual of a destroyed Statue of Liberty was also inspired by the famous scene at the end of Planet of the Apes.

Although Goliath's return to Manhattan in 1996 in "The Gathering" means that this alternate future cannot come to pass, it remains unclear how many elements will eventually enter the Gargoyles universe. Some elements have already occurred (such as the destruction of the Clock Tower in "Hunter's Moon"), but others have not. Allusions to the episode have appeared as recently as "Bash", and repurcussions such as the fate of the time-travelling Phoenix Gate have yet to be addressed. This continues to be one of the most intriguing characteristics of the episode. (more...)