Saturday, September 8, 2018

My Crazy Youth: The Time That The Gargoyles Fought the Nazis in WWII

Alright, so this is a weird Show to even explain.  If you didn't live through this Show's run, I'll have a lot to unload before I even talk about the Episode...

The Gargoyles are 'monsters' that turn into statues during the day and are active at night.  They were heroes in Scotland...until they weren't.  They are awakened in the Present Day (of 1994).
So, at this point, our Main Heroes- Goliath, Demona and Eliza- are traveling around on a magic boat from Avalon.  Just...go with it.

They end up in London and meet some other Gargoyles hiding in plain sight with flimsy excuses...
Goliath and company meet them, but they are accused of leaving a Gargoyle to die.  Goliath doesn't remember this.

The pair attack them, so Goliath does the only logical thing...
...travel back in time with a magical artifact.  Of course.
He meets Griff- the Gargoyle that died- in 1940 during the Battle of Britain.  Said Gargoyle wants to go back and fight, but the other two don't join them.
Goliath is determined to keep Griff from dying, which isn't easy to do.  Lots of Nazis and fate literally trying to kill him with falling buildings and the like.
Back in 1995, Eliza convinces the pair that they are bothered by their Survivor's Guilt and not Goliath.  What an epiphany.
To make that less tragic, Goliath 'cheats' fate by bringing Griff back to the Present.  He just couldn't let him survive *through* the Battle, skipping over it instead.
The pair- now a trio- decide to finally stand up for their Town and not just themselves.  Hurray.
A weird, but good Story.  This is both a good and bad place to start the Show on the Site.  On one hand, this Episode has a small Cast of Lead Characters and a one-off Setting.  On the other hand, I'm like 17 Episodes in and following some weird, weird stuff.  The Show starts out with vague magic and the Gargoyles, but eventually includes all number of 'monsters' like Centaurs, Polymorphs, a Dragon and a Minotaur.  That's also not counting the Backstory that connects things to Avalon, King Arthur in general and Characters like Puck (from Mythology and Shakespeare).  It gets weird.  I mean, it's only just now that I mention the fact that they met Nessie once!  With that said, the singular Story is good, if odd.  The whole thing is built on a time loop.  Goliath doesn't know facts that hadn't happened to him yet, even though they happened in 1940.  Once he does them (in the Past), it all makes sense (to him).  The other Gargoyles remember that history, meanwhile, as having already happened to them, since they didn't jump in time.  Time Travel is a bitch to explain sometimes.  There are plenty of little silly things here, like the fact that nobody dies in the Battle of Britain and that Soldiers say that they are going to 'kick butt.'  It's a '90s Cartoon no matter what is supposed to be happening!  If you remember this Show, what I've seen of it still holds up.  If you haven't, it might be worth a look at some '90s stuff that isn't Spider-Man or Batman- expand your horizons.  If nothing else, it gives me something sadly-topical to say in 2018...
A weird place to just drop into, but I'm sure to cover more Gargoyles in the future.  Maybe the one with King Arthur, the one with Macbeth or maybe a Horror one in October...

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