Vows

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"Vows" is the twenty-first televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the eighth episode of Season 2.

Summary

Tidbits

This episode reveals that the Illuminati Society is real - and that Xanatos is a member of it. We also learn that the Society already exists by 975 (the Norman Ambassador accompanying Princess Elena is a member of it), and that its symbol is a fiery eye atop a pyramid (tied in with the conspiracy theories relating to the similar symbol on the Great Seal of the United States). One can infer that the Illuminati must also have a phenomenally efficient archiving system, since they are able to accurately follow Xanatos's instructions to them one thousand years later.

It is also revealed that Princess Elena, Princess Katharine's mother, is of Norman descent. Since the Normans were the descendants of Vikings who had settled in northern France early in the 10th century (the very name "Norman" is a shortening of "Norseman" or "Northman"), it appears that Princess Katharine might have been more closely related to Hakon than would have pleased her...

Greg Weisman originally conceived of the Phoenix Gate in Vows as merely a magical object that Demona was attempting to take from Goliath, using its significance to him as a memory of their love for each other to manipulate him; the notion of its particular power being time travel came very late in the episode's development. He has since admitted that the episode should have been a two-parter to introduce the concept of time travel more effectively into the series.

As Goliath retrieves his half of the Phoenix Gate from its place in the clock tower, the dormant Coldstone, the Grimorum Arcanorum, and the Eye of Odin are shown in storage nearby.

Xanatos and Goliath have their opening battle atop the Golden Cup Bakery Building, which first appeared in Legion.

Xanatos's "Reason not the need" comment to his father (when Petros asks him why he needs his many possessions, such as Castle Wyvern) is a Shakespeare quote, from King Lear, Act II, scene iv. There, the parent-child situation is reversed, for it is Lear who utters that line to his daughter Regan, when she asks him why he still needs so many knights attendant upon him following his abdication. (Trust Xanatos to so cheerily adapt that quote to what would almost be the opposite context!)

Links


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