The Price
"The Price" is the thirty-third televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the twentieth episode of Season 2. It originally aired on October 12, 1995.
- Produced by: Frank Paur, Greg Weisman, Dennis Woodyard
- Written by: Michael Reaves
- Story Edited by: Michael Reaves
- Directed by: Dennis Woodyard
- Based on Comic Book Material by: Lee Nordling
- Animation by: Walt Disney Animation Japan
- Backgrounds by: Tachiku Kimura, Jade Animation Productions
- Additional Production Facilities: Nakamura Production, Studio Robin, Light Foot, Studio Cats, Takahashi Production, Jade Animation Productions
Contents
Summary
The Story
Previously on Gargoyles
- Recap: ("Long Way To Morning")
Act One
Just prior to dawn, the entire clan (save for Bronx) soar across the snow-covered rooftops of lower Manhattan. Lexington joyfully muses that the city is different when it snows. Brooklyn, however, is less enthusiastic and points out that it's colder. Bemused by the younger gargoyle, Goliath announced that it's almost dawn and suggests they return to the Clock Tower for a good day's sleep.
As they turn a corner, Hudson happily expresses that it's not a bad life, "all things considered". But his thought is interrupted by a lightning blast. The clan scatters and they spot their attacker: Macbeth flying on a sky-sled. Macbeth fires another blast and calls out that he's been looking for them. Goliath is unsure how Macbeth escaped the Weird Sisters and Brooklyn is determined to make sure that Macbeth will wish he hadn't. Goliath demands to know why Macbeth is attacking them, but the immortal retorts with one word "trophies". Macbeth successfully shoots Brooklyn, knocking the gargoyle out of the sky. Goliath dives and rescues his second, leaving him on a roof. Broadway says they need to finish this fast, as sunrise is about to come up before he and Lex are dispatched by an electrified net landing on the same rooftop as Brooklyn. Hudson draws his sword and, with a mighty roar, lunges at Macbeth only to miss and be momentarily distracted when the immortal king tosses an envelope full of a glittering powder at the old soldier. Momentarily blinded, Hudson lands on the snowy roof nearby the Trio. Goliath lands on the sky-sled behind Macbeth and attempts to subdue him, but the ancient warrior retorts "you'll have to do better than that" before poking his gun into Goliath's flank and firing. The gargoyle leader cries out in pain and lets go, clutching his side as he comes to as graceful of a landing as possible on a neighboring rooftop, clutching a needle-like-spire. The rest of the clan begins to come to as Macbeth takes aim and cries out "Farewell, my enemies!" but before he can pull the trigger, Goliath tears out the spire and, like a javelin, throws it at Macbeth's sky-sled into the controls. Losing control, the sky-sled spirals and crashes into the street below and explodes.
The gargoyles look over the rooftop at the remains, "I don't believe it," Lexington says. But Hudson tells him to believe it declaring that Macbeth is dead. Goliath lands on the roof telling them he had no choice, but Hudson assures him that nobody would question his actions before advising they take their places as dawn breaks and they turn to stone. The day passes and turns into night as the sun sets and the clan again awakens... all except for Hudson. The other gargoyles are aghast, wondering why he doesn't wake up. But Goliath suddenly remembers that last night threw some kind of powder on Hudson; he concludes that it must be a magical concoction to keep him asleep and it's up to the rest of them to find a cure. In despair, Lex reminds Goliath that Macbeth is dead and wonders who else would know about the powder. Goliath takes Lex and says they'll go to Macbeth's Mansion to see what they can find and orders Brooklyn and Broadway to stay and protect Hudson. A less than confident Brooklyn asks Goliath what if there is no cure, but Goliath won't hear it: "there is a cure. There must be." Lexington and Goliath arrive at Macbeth's mansion and quickly dispatch his automated cannons before entering to see what they can find. But back at the rooftop, Broadway is unsure of what their next steps even are, even if a cure is discovered none of them are sorcerers; but Brooklyn reminds him to just focus on protecting Hudson.
At that moment, in a mysterious location, behind the electrified bars of a cage, a furious Hudson shouts "You can't keep me in here forever!", he cries out in pain as he grabs the bars before roaring "I'll get out, do you hear me!? I'll get out!"
Act Two
Pacing in a small circle inside his cage, Hudson hears the sound of a door opening as his captors return: David Xanatos and Owen Burnett. Hudson demands to know what Xanatos wants from him, but the billionaire retorts "nothing much, just your skin." Hudson's eyes burn white as he promises Xanatos will have the Devil's own task getting it. Amused, Xanatos pulls a small remote control from his jacket pocket and a platform beneath the cage slides out. Xanatos kneels down, picks up a shard of stone skin, and replies "that wasn't as hard as you made it sound." Exasperated, Hudson asks if Xanatos is through with him. But not quite, Xanatos needs Hudson's help to conduct a small experiment. The old soldier asks what kind of experiment as a Steel Clan robot brings in and opens an enormous crate revealing a large, iron cauldron. Hudson asks what that is, and Xanatos tells him it's the Cauldron of Life "whoever bathes in it will live as long as the mountain's stone." Bemused, Hudson realizes that Xanatos wishes to be immortal. "What good are all the riches on Earth," Xanatos ponders, "if Fox and I can't enjoy them forever." When Hudson asks how he fits in to all of this, Xanatos replies that one of the key ingredients in the cauldron's brew is the stone skin of a gargoyle. Hudson is quick to remind the industrialist that these ancient talismans are often dangerous, citing his recent experience with the Eye of Odin. Xanatos agrees and says it might be a good idea to test the brew first, he smirks at Hudson before rhetorically asking "any volunteers?"
The robot pours a bucket of water into the cauldron and Xanatos drops the piece of skin, the legend says the skin must boil for a night and a day first. If the procedure is successful, he promises to release Hudson. When Hudson asks what if it isn't, Xanatos smirks that Hudson will have had the privilege of giving his life for science. Angered, Hudson reminds Xanatos that his clan will never rest until they know where he is. But Xanatos has already arranged for this, the clan very much knows where he is. Owen then reveals a sculptor's model of Hudson in stone sleep and assures him that the real statue is life-sized, very life-like, and the hardest part was finding a replacement for his sword. But despite all this, there's no sense being complacent and he orders Owen to keep the gargoyles distracted. Hudson demands to know what's in this for Owen, but the majordomo merely replies that "Service is it's own reward" and he thought Hudson would know that.
Brooklyn and Broadway continue to stand vigil over "Hudson" when they are nearly struck by another lightning blast: Macbeth has returned. Broadway is shocked, there's no way he could have survived the crash. The two gargoyles take to the air with a new strategy: lead him away from "Hudson". But Macbeth calls out "I've been looking for you!"
At the loft of Elisa Maza, the detective asks Goliath if he had any luck finding a cure for the "curse" placed on "Hudson". Goliath assures her that he and Lexington searched attic to cellar and found nothing. Goliath turns and stares out of the skylight at the full moon. In a moment of desperation he says that there is only one other hope, "we need a sorceress. We need Demona." Both Lexington and Elisa raise a brow at this as Goliath tells Elisa that as a detective, she must help him find her. Elisa says she'd do anything to help but she doesn't even know where they'd start looking. Goliath won't just give up and Elisa promises him they won't. Lexington observes it's not long until sunrise and suggests they head back, Elisa joins them.
Back at the Eyrie Building, Xanatos observes that the soup is cooking nicely. Hudson then makes his own observation, Xanatos obviously went to a lot of trouble and had to carve his statue weeks in advance before asking "why me?". Xanatos replies "because you're old and getting older, I thought you might even appreciate the opportunity." Hudson then makes his second observation: "Growing old terrifies you, doesn't it?" Xanatos quickly, and somewhat angrily responds "nothing terrifies me because nothing is beyond my ability to change!" The nerve having been touched, Xanatos makes a remark pettier than he normally would "What about you, still wasting your evenings in front of a television set? You're of little use to your clan, you might as well be of some use to me." Hudson rises to his feet and challenges Xanatos to open the cage and see how useful he is. Still angry, Xanatos glares back at the old warrior before walking away. Once the industrialist is out of sight, Hudson reaches through the bars beneath his feet and picks up a shard of his stone skin.
Back in lower Manhattan, Macbeth continues to chase Broadway and Brooklyn across the rooftops calling out "Farewell, my enemies!" Broadway is satisfied that they've led the king away from "Hudson" before observing they'll be sitting ducks when the sun rises and that they need to nail him as he's the only one who can cure "Hudson". He does a vertical loop in the air, in an attempt to grab Macbeth from behind and misses, with the human taunting him with a "you'll have to do better than that." Brooklyn then tackles Macbeth but is quickly dispatched before alighting on the fire escape of a nearby building: Royal Persian Carpets.
Goliath, Elisa, and Lexington approach and land on the roof and are shocked to see Broadway fighting a still alive Macbeth. Goliath moves to assist the younger warrior but is restrained by Elisa and Lexington due to the imminent sunrise. The gargoyles turn to stone in horror as Broadway - who is still in midair - falls out of the sky.
Act Three
Featured Characters and First Appearances
| Gargoyles | Humans | Oberon's Children | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Continuity
The Cauldron of Life is introduced in this episode. In "Cloud Fathers", we learn that Xanatos has melted the Cauldron down to rebuild Coyote.
Xanatos reveals his desire to become immortal in this episode, although there were hints of that ambition in "City of Stone Part One.
Owen Burnett's fist is turned to stone in this episode, and remains stone for the rest of the series.
Hudson keeps the piece of his fake statue self until the clock tower blows up in "Hunter's Moon". It is unknown if Elisa was able to recover the memento from the wreckage or if it had shattered to pieces in the explosion. [1]
Tidbits
"The Price" was initially aired out of order, on October 12, 1995, between "Outfoxed" (which initially aired on September 28) and "Revelations" (which initially aired on October 26). A side effect of that was the jarring effect of seeing Owen with a normal hand in "Double Jeopardy" and "The Cage", which appear in this schedule to be taking place afterwards. Disney's YouTube playlist for Season 2 maintained the incorrect order for the episode, as well as Disney Plus.
This story was inspired by the Lee Nordling's Gargoyles story "Stone Cold" from Disney Adventures, which used the core concept of a gargoyle in stone sleep being kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike statue (though the gargoyle in Nordling's story was Goliath).
In the original screenplay, Goliath and Lexington, during their visit to Macbeth's mansion, had a run-in with Banquo and Fleance (both feeling perturbed by their employer's mysterious absence). This scene was changed in the televised version to Goliath and Lexington facing Macbeth's automated defenses instead.
Hudson makes the only reference in the entire series to bathroom functions when he calls the Cauldron of Life an "oversized chamber-pot".
It is fitting that a vital ingredient in the Cauldron of Life's spell is a piece of gargoyle stone skin. Gargoyles do not age during their stone sleep. Bathing in the Cauldron would thus allow the person to "live as long as the mountain stones", effectively locking them into a permanent gargoyle stone sleep, where they do not age, but are solidified. So Owen's fist is not stone, but more accurately the same organic substance resembling stone that gargoyles become every dawn.
While trying to convince Xanatos of the folly of wanting to be immortal, Hudson refers to himself as a "stranger in a strange land", a quote from Exodus 2:22, "And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land" and the title of the 1961 science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein.
Toon Disney/Disney XD Edits
When Goliath attacks the Macbeth robot after it has destroyed the Hudson statue, in the original version he puts his whole arm through "Macbeth". Here it has been edited so that it appears that Goliath only punched him (Actually it looks like he only tapped him) instead of putting his arm through him.
DVD Release
Links
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