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Long Way to Morning

Synopsis |  Review by Juan F. Lara |  Review by Todd Jensen


Overview

by Kieran Dunn

Scotland 994 - Prince Malcolm is shot by a poisoned arrow by the Archmage, who returns from banishment for his revenge. Hudson tries to stop the Archmage but fails, and feels the Prince's poisoning is his fault.

Present Day - Demona shoots Elisa with a dart and tells her to bring Goliath to her in return for the antidote. Luckly the dart has hit Elisa's badge and done no harm. Goliath goes with Hudson to search out Demona, and finds her at an opera house. Goliath gets shot and is greviously injured, but Hudson knocks Demona off the roof and runs away with Goliath in tow.

Scotland 994 - Hudson, Goliath and Demona go after the archmage and find him in a cave with a giant skull.

Present Day - Demona chases Hudson and Goliath down the sewer. Hudson and Goliath come to a waterfall. Cornered, they jump. Demona is ready to follow but gets hit by lightning.

Scotland 994 - Goliath manages to get the Grimorum from the Archmage, which is needed to cure Prince Malcolm. The Archmage plummets to his doom down a canyon, trying to recover it from him. Back at the castle Prince Malcolm is saved, and Hudson decides he is getting to old for this sort of thing, gives up, and makes Goliath the clan leader.

Present Day - Hudson and Demona fight in a cemetary until dawn, when they turn to stone. When Goliath wakes up, he and Hudson beat off Demona, who retreats.


Synopsis

by Gabriel Guay

Act I

Scotland, 984 A.D. Prince Malcolm is talking to his daughter, the little princess Katharine, whose bedtime it is now. She is startled by Hudson's shadow; prince Malcolm and he must talk, he says. The conversation is soon headed to the Archmage's banishment.

The Archmage appears out of nowhere on the battlements; he seeks revenge over the prince. Hudson tries to protect the prince, but the dart fired from the rod changed in a blow-tube hits its target: the prince is poisoned. Little Katharine steps out of her bed and sees her father lying on the floor, wounded. She urges Hudson to get away, and sobs on her father's inanimate body.

Present. Elisa just got in her house and is still undressing when Demona breaks the window and lands in Elisa's house. Elisa tries to stop Demona, but the female gargoyle is quicker and fires first: Elisa is hit by the dart. Demona proudly informs that Elisa has just been poisoned and will die in 24 hours; she tells the detective that she has the antidote and Goliath can come to see her at the village. Demona flies off and Elisa realizes that the dart hit her badge.

Later on, Elisa informs the gargoyles that Demona attacked her, and even though she is alright, Goliath decides he'll go anyway, otherwise Demona would know her plan failed; he takes Hudson with him.While in flight, Hudson asks why Goliath took him instead of the others: he tells him he needs someone he can rely on.

They get to their destination and land on top of the building; clawmarks indicate Demona was here not so long ago. She lands from a chimney and aims at Goliath: Hudson tries to stop her but Goliath gets shot by the laser rifle and Hudson takes out his sword, facing Demona.

Act II

Demona fires at Hudson but the beam is reflected by his sword; Demona gets thrown off the building, but manages to catch her weapon with one arm while clinging to the stone with the other. Meanwhile, Hudson escapes with Goliath; he spots an opening on the floor and jumps in it, barely escaping the laser beam. Demona offers for Hudson to surrender.

Flashback. The young magus informs the prince that he has been poisoned and will die at sunrise, unless a cure is administrated with the aid of the Grimorum Arcanorum. Hudson takes the younger Goliath and Demona with him for the pursuit of the archmage.

Present. Demona again offers for Hudson to surrender; he notices an opening in the ceiling and gets out with Goliath, barely escaping the laser raking. Demona sees the window and follows. Hudson and Goliath go down in the sewers, with Demona on their trail.

Flashback. Hudson tracks down the archmage to a cavern; he lights up a torch and goes inside, the young couple following him. At one point, hieroglyphs are all over the walls, one of them being a gargoyle and the archmage fighting, which startles Demona. They finally get to the archmage's lair, who immediatly spots them and casts his thunder spell.

Present. Goliath asks Hudson to leave him here and save himself: Hudson refuses. Demona, very close now, manages to get to them, seeing as to how they are now blocked at a dead-end: a waterfall. Demona starts aiming, but Hudson plunges, bringing Goliath down with him.

Act III

Hudson swims to the other side, bearing with him Goliath, while Demona gets hit by lightning.

Flashback. In the heat of battle, Hudson gets wounded to his right eye. Goliath, angered, gets the Grimorum from the archmage. The sorcerer is so furious that he rages towards Goliath but misses his target and falls in the crevasse.

Present. Hudson and Goliath reach a cemetery; Hudson hides Goliath in a building and then goes facing Demona in battle. The ensuing fight gets both of them on top of the building, and Goliath, still weak, comes to stop Demona. Just when she is about to finish Hudson off, the sun rises.

Flashback. The magus informs the prince that the antidote has worked; while the prince thanks Hudson for saving him, the old gargoyle does not take the credit. He overhears a conversation between Goliath and Demona, and agrees with Demona: it is time for he to step down, and for Goliath to lead. Goliath agrees, but insists that Hudson stays by his side, for he will need the old gargoyle's wisdom.

Present. The sun goes down and the three gargoyles awaken; Goliath is now refreshed and Demona glides off in the dark, thinking she has won, since there was no antidote. Goliath thanks Hudson for keeping him alive, and both gargoyles take off, gliding in the night, the full moon watching over them.


Review

by Juan F. Lara

Not a great episode, but still a good one

Good Points

Hudson finally got his starring episode. The creators had done the TV running gag much too long, and had marginalized Hudson by always leaving him to guard the castle. But this episode illustrated his personality traits of a strong sense of duty and loyalty, and his leadership qualities. So I found him appealing enough to stay interested in the story.

We got some background info through Hudson's flashbacks to 984 AD, such as how he lost the eye and how Goliath became the leader. The flashbacks had strong parallels with what was happening in the present, making Hudson's thoughts very vivid to me. So the audience would view the story strictly from Hudson's perspective.

I liked the incident at the beginning about the stories about gargoyles that Prince Malcom told Princess Katherine. He sincerely didn't mean anything wrong, but the stories contributed to a distrust of gargoyles that Katherine developed, shown when she assumed Hudson had hurt her father.

Animation by Sunwoo. This studio isn't as good as WD-Japan. So the characters sometimes go off-model and the artwork doesn't have the details that make WD-Japan's work so good. But I thought they did a pretty good job overall. I particularly liked the character movement, which looked more flowing and natural than with Wang in "Enter MacBeth".

Bad Points

Demona - I was hoping that this episode would continue the plotlines started in "Enter MacBeth". But it totally ignored them. So we simply have Demona running amok and shooting everything in sight, making for a dull story had Hudson not been as appealing.

Also she pretty much acted the same in the flashbacks as she did in the present, even though she hadn't become a villain yet. So it seemed as if Demona had had no personality development over those 10 years in the Middle Ages, and so she came off as very one-dimensional. The creators need to give the background on her and MacBeth immediately, so that we can understand her motivations.

I thought the sun was too high by the time they turned to stone. I would've preferred the gargoyles turning to stone while the storm clouds still covered the sun (Demona would thus be surprised and confused as she turned to stone). And THEN, moments after they're stone, the clouds clear revealing the sun. That scene would've been more dramatic.

Inconsistencies/Gaffes:

I didn't like the way Sunwoo drew Goliath's wound; it looked like just a paint smudge. Also, the wound disappeared altogether halfway into the ep.

As MANY people pointed out :-), Hudson's sword could cut through a stone statue, but not through Demona's laser.

I had originally thought that Demona started swinging the laser like a club because Hudson had damaged it, but I don't think he did that. I guess Demona just lost control when she started doing this, but that helped make her look less impressive as a villain.

And the LASER turned to stone along with Demona! ARRRRGH!! >X-(

Miscellaneous

I think Demona was still using the laser she used in "Awakening, Part 5".

Goliath still had feelings for Demona enough to hope he could get her to reform.

How long did Goliath and Hudson expect to keep Eliza surviving a secret? I wouldn't expect Eliza to go into hiding, and so it shouldn't take long for Demona to learn the truth.

This episode seemed more "mundane" than most other "Gargoyles" episodes. But I still liked it, mainly for Hudson.

Goliath: Maybe I can reach her....At least I have to try.


Commentary/Review

by Todd Jensen

I was very fond of this episode when I first saw it, and still am, if for slightly different reasons. Originally, what most appealed to me about it was the return to 10th century Scotland (via Hudson's memories) for another medieval adventure, as Goliath, Hudson, and Demona hunt for the Archmage. In later viewings, however, I find the present-day portion of the story, as Goliath and Hudson must evade a pursuing Demona, just as compelling, if not more so.

The episode introduces us to Prince Malcolm (Princess Katharine's father) and the Archmage, a power-mad evil sorcerer bent on overthrowing him. The Archmage is a stereotypical villainous wizard who would probably have been quickly forgotten if it were not for his voice being supplied by David Warner, who gave the part such an effective display of arrogance and malice that Greg Weisman, extremely impressed, decided to bring back the character in Season Two. Prince Malcolm is of greater interest from the perspective of characterization. He is another human character in the series who, refreshingly, does not suffer from anti-gargoyle prejudice; the episode makes it clear that he is on good terms with Hudson and that the two like and respect each other. But Malcolm unwittingly sows seeds that will reap a bitter harvest ten years later when he foolishly uses the gargoyles as bogeymen to scare a young Katharine into good behavior, thus teaching her to see them as monsters. Hudson correctly recognizes this to be a bad idea, but Malcolm fails to realize it even when the old gargoyle points it out to him. Between this and the fact that Malcolm also overconfidently assumes that the banished Archmage is incapable of working further harm (Hudson, again, suspects otherwise, and is soon proven correct), we must sadly conclude that the man is not particularly bright.

The first time that I saw this episode, I thought that Prince Malcolm would succumb to the Archmage's poisoned dart. Fortunately he does not, but his cure does not come without a price; Hudson is blinded in one eye during the battle with the Archmage, and must step down in favor of Goliath as the new leader. But this is just the surface of the episode's examination of Hudson's characterization.

One of the focal traits of the old gargoyle in "Long Way Till Morning" is his fear that he is too old to be an effective member of the clan any longer. This fear establishes itself even in 984, as he feels guilt-ridden over the fact that he had failed to foil the Archmage's attack on the Prince (is so downcast, in fact, that when Katharine angrily holds him responsible for her father's poisoning, he makes no attempt to argue against her, but merely bows her head as if agreeing with her accusation). As the flashbacks (or memories) progress, Demona repeatedly argues that Hudson is too old and worn-out to remain leader, and while Goliath speaks up in Hudson's defence, Hudson himself (who is clearly aware of her words) says nothing. The loss of his eye becomes the catalyst for his decision to abdicate in favor of Goliath after the mission is over.

Hudson's self-doubt still holds true in the modern world, we learn quickly. Almost immediately after he awakens, while the other gargoyles eagerly head off for the night's activities, Hudson merely stares out sadly at the Eyrie Building in a thoughtful silence, presumably remembering the Archmage's attack on the Prince over a thousand years before, and how he had been unable to thwart it. As he puts it to a concerned Goliath, "Just dreamin' old dreams."

But Hudson proves himself, in both eras, to be less over the hill than he fears. In 984, he skillfully tracks the Archmage to his cave, instructing Goliath and Demona along the way. And in modern-day New York, he displays many strong attributes as he and a wounded Goliath flee Demona, loyally sticking to his leader's side even when Goliath begs him to save himself, coming up with many resourceful strategies (such as jumping off the waterfall at the end of the sewer), and displaying a dogged perseverence in holding off Demona until morning comes. (Perhaps it is best expressed in his reply to Goliath's protest that he cannot face Demona: "Oh, I can face her. I just can't beat her.") As Goliath points out at the end, Hudson is still an able warrior, whatever he may believe. (And Goliath, for his own part, shows admirable qualities of his own in recognizing throughout the episode, both in 984 and the 20th century, that Hudson is wise and experienced - even when he must accept the leadership of the clan, he still asks Hudson to serve as his advisor.)

Demona is the antagonist again, but there is less focus on her hatred of the human race than in her previous appearances in "Awakening" and "Temptation"; here she plays the role of a more straighforward menace in the present-day scenes, a seemingly unshakable pursuer with a growing nightmarish quality to her. (My favorite scenes involving her in this episode include the point where Hudson, having reached the cemetery with Goliath, can see Demona approaching in the distance, and then the moment when Demona's wings unspread from both sides of the stone angel that she was hiding behind, followed by the emergence of the rest of her.) Her attempt to kill Elisa at the beginning of the episode serves simply as a means of getting Goliath and Hudson to encounter her (and it is carefully established that Demona's attempt failed, thanks to her dart striking Elisa's badge, so that we can focus on Goliath and Hudson's perils without worrying over whether the detective will succumb). This is not a flaw, however, since it keeps the spotlight where it belongs, on Hudson.

This is an effective piece of character and mood, reminding us that being old does not mean being obsolete, a valuable lesson indeed, and one worth learning.

Tidbits

The Magus (here ten years younger than in his original appearance in "Awakening") and the Captain (in a non-speaking role) both have cameos in the flashback scenes.

Brooklyn displays a strong element of bitterness towards Demona stemming from "Temptation", strong enough that Goliath thinks it better to leave him behind at the clock tower.


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