[8.5/10] It's appropriate for an arc so rooted in Shakespeare that “City of Stone” is, ultimately, a tragedy. Demona and Macbeth enjoy nearly four decades of a peaceful and prosperous alliance. They have a bond, one that seems to even verge on romantic affection, at least on Demona’s part. For all the wounded feelings and sense of resentment that’s built up after the events of Castle Wyvern and the plotting of King Duncan, the two seemed to have found equilibrium and satisfaction in their shared governance of Scotland and their peoples.
Until, a misunderstanding tears it all asunder. Naturally, it comes down to prejudice and practicality. MacBeth’s father-in-law recommends cutting ties with the Gargoyles, to neutralize the main issue the English have with MacBeth as a neighboring ruler, and thereby dissolve their support of Kenmore as a challenger. MacBeth doesn’t reject the suggestion out of hand and Demona overhears, leading to her preexisting sense that humans cannot be trusted to be inflamed once again.
So she joins Kenmore and helps him take down Castle Moray, and with it, she and MacBeth’s golden age. MacBeth promises that he never would have done such a thing once the die is cast, having told his son that he was simply considering all options before making a decision. But by then it’s too late. Kenmore’s forces decimate MacBeth’s with no Gargoyles there to aid him, and the former prince, now aspirant ruler himself, stabs MacBeth to claim the throne.
Only now, of course, there’s a catch. The magical bond between Demona and MacBeth means that neither can be killed unless by the other’s hand. So they’re stuck to live in the mess each has made. MacBeth’s son accedes to the throne, and MacBeth’s wife tells him to flee away, lest his resurrection result in accusations of more sorcery and poison his son’s chances to be a legitimate ruler. She cannot abandon their child, so MacBeth is forced to forsake all that he knows and wander the earth.
And for Demona’s part, she is, of course, double-crossed by Kenmore, who slays all of the other gargoyles while she’s unaware, making her the last of her kind. She tore so much asunder, the eone peaceful bond where her kind and their courage were appreciated, because she couldn’t let go of old wounds and insecurities. Now it’s all gone, and so are her brothers and sisters.
The tragedy of all this is sharp. The sense of something good, something beautiful even, felled by prejudices and mistrust that cannot be shaken even after years and years of good relations, is terribly sad. The added twinge of Demona and MacBeth being forced to live with those mistakes and the shadows of things lost for nearly a century makes it all the worse.
But, of course, we have to deal with the business in the present day too, as the Scottish tragedy meets its resolution (or at least a semicolon) in 1990s New York. Honestly, Demona’s spell and the effort to stop it by lighting up the skies feels like an afterthought a necessary concession to the fact that this tale had to involve Goliath and Xanatos somehow despite the fact that they don’t have much of a place it. The show tries to make something out of it by having the lead Gargoyle and Big Bad acknowledge that one another can be useful from time to time, but it’s pretty thin gruel.
What isn’t, though, is MacBeth and Demona reuniting again in the present. MacBeth is ready to slay his old ally, even if it means the end of his own life, because he is so very tired. The exhaustion of someone who’s lived for almost a thousand years is palpable here, and the psychic weight of witnessing and carrying so much trauma over that time hits hard. And yet, Goliath and the Weird Sisters remind him that dealing death has solved no problems in his personal history. Instead, they grant him a respite of rest.
Likewise, they teach a lesson to Demona, giving her a brief moment of clarity, that her endless series of betrayals has only left her bereft of connection and joy, and to the tune of the disarming code for the explosives, alone. It’s most clearly I’ve ever felt for Demona, someone who internalized all the hatred directed at her, lost her world because of it, and has now estranged herself from anyone and everyone who might care about her. She’s still a villain, and when she wakes from the trance again blames others for her follies, but that moment of clarity rings true.
That said, the Weird Sisters taking care of the issues between MacBeth and Demona, at least in practical terms, is essentially the definition of deus ex machina. But I’m willing to give it a pass since the show resolves the characters’ internal issues in satisfying ways, even if the teased mutually assured destruction might make for a more poetic ending here.
Overall, this is a real high point in the series, the best story told since the opening batch of episodes which set our scene. This is the rare prequel-type tale that adds depth to both the world of the show and the characters. I hope Gargoyles delivers more ambitious arcs like this one, since it seems to bring out the best in the show.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-11T18:31:32Z
[8.5/10] It's appropriate for an arc so rooted in Shakespeare that “City of Stone” is, ultimately, a tragedy. Demona and Macbeth enjoy nearly four decades of a peaceful and prosperous alliance. They have a bond, one that seems to even verge on romantic affection, at least on Demona’s part. For all the wounded feelings and sense of resentment that’s built up after the events of Castle Wyvern and the plotting of King Duncan, the two seemed to have found equilibrium and satisfaction in their shared governance of Scotland and their peoples.
Until, a misunderstanding tears it all asunder. Naturally, it comes down to prejudice and practicality. MacBeth’s father-in-law recommends cutting ties with the Gargoyles, to neutralize the main issue the English have with MacBeth as a neighboring ruler, and thereby dissolve their support of Kenmore as a challenger. MacBeth doesn’t reject the suggestion out of hand and Demona overhears, leading to her preexisting sense that humans cannot be trusted to be inflamed once again.
So she joins Kenmore and helps him take down Castle Moray, and with it, she and MacBeth’s golden age. MacBeth promises that he never would have done such a thing once the die is cast, having told his son that he was simply considering all options before making a decision. But by then it’s too late. Kenmore’s forces decimate MacBeth’s with no Gargoyles there to aid him, and the former prince, now aspirant ruler himself, stabs MacBeth to claim the throne.
Only now, of course, there’s a catch. The magical bond between Demona and MacBeth means that neither can be killed unless by the other’s hand. So they’re stuck to live in the mess each has made. MacBeth’s son accedes to the throne, and MacBeth’s wife tells him to flee away, lest his resurrection result in accusations of more sorcery and poison his son’s chances to be a legitimate ruler. She cannot abandon their child, so MacBeth is forced to forsake all that he knows and wander the earth.
And for Demona’s part, she is, of course, double-crossed by Kenmore, who slays all of the other gargoyles while she’s unaware, making her the last of her kind. She tore so much asunder, the eone peaceful bond where her kind and their courage were appreciated, because she couldn’t let go of old wounds and insecurities. Now it’s all gone, and so are her brothers and sisters.
The tragedy of all this is sharp. The sense of something good, something beautiful even, felled by prejudices and mistrust that cannot be shaken even after years and years of good relations, is terribly sad. The added twinge of Demona and MacBeth being forced to live with those mistakes and the shadows of things lost for nearly a century makes it all the worse.
But, of course, we have to deal with the business in the present day too, as the Scottish tragedy meets its resolution (or at least a semicolon) in 1990s New York. Honestly, Demona’s spell and the effort to stop it by lighting up the skies feels like an afterthought a necessary concession to the fact that this tale had to involve Goliath and Xanatos somehow despite the fact that they don’t have much of a place it. The show tries to make something out of it by having the lead Gargoyle and Big Bad acknowledge that one another can be useful from time to time, but it’s pretty thin gruel.
What isn’t, though, is MacBeth and Demona reuniting again in the present. MacBeth is ready to slay his old ally, even if it means the end of his own life, because he is so very tired. The exhaustion of someone who’s lived for almost a thousand years is palpable here, and the psychic weight of witnessing and carrying so much trauma over that time hits hard. And yet, Goliath and the Weird Sisters remind him that dealing death has solved no problems in his personal history. Instead, they grant him a respite of rest.
Likewise, they teach a lesson to Demona, giving her a brief moment of clarity, that her endless series of betrayals has only left her bereft of connection and joy, and to the tune of the disarming code for the explosives, alone. It’s most clearly I’ve ever felt for Demona, someone who internalized all the hatred directed at her, lost her world because of it, and has now estranged herself from anyone and everyone who might care about her. She’s still a villain, and when she wakes from the trance again blames others for her follies, but that moment of clarity rings true.
That said, the Weird Sisters taking care of the issues between MacBeth and Demona, at least in practical terms, is essentially the definition of deus ex machina. But I’m willing to give it a pass since the show resolves the characters’ internal issues in satisfying ways, even if the teased mutually assured destruction might make for a more poetic ending here.
Overall, this is a real high point in the series, the best story told since the opening batch of episodes which set our scene. This is the rare prequel-type tale that adds depth to both the world of the show and the characters. I hope Gargoyles delivers more ambitious arcs like this one, since it seems to bring out the best in the show.