The Dark Ages of Gargoyles is ripe for further exploration should creator Greg Weisman choose to write another story arc. After revisiting the episodes while gathering screen captures for a modelling project, I found that Demona’s tragedy feels far worse during my umpteenth watch, especially after reading the added lore in Dynamite Comics. All the tales set in the past carry much more meaning.
Most fans already know the story begins when the Viking Hakon wants to plunder Castle Wyvern, which is occupied by Princess Katherine and protected by the gargoyles. Although that’s one conflict, another simmers among the people and creatures who call this patch of land home. The gargoyle who would become Demona does not trust humans. She views humanity as a blight (“Awakening,” Parts One to Five) and wants them all gone.
If she hadn’t become an apprentice to the Archmage, things might have unfolded differently. A lingering question has me wondering if her hatred is what drew the Weird Sisters to watch her. Had she chosen love, the fate of the entire clan might have been different. The Magus would not have cast his spell turning them to stone until Castle Wyvern was lifted over the clouds, and she would not have been alone.
When she chose hate, her life changed forever. When three figures from grand mythic traditions visited her, the line was drawn. In Norse lore, they are the Norns. In Greek tradition, they are the Moirai. Within this world’s mythology, they appear when the course of history is about to change. During “Avalon,” flashbacks reveal that they were present to observe Constantine III’s rise to power. In “City of Stone,” they manipulate the events that lead to Macbeth and Demona meeting.
While it’s easy to say she’s a product of her own making, anyone coming to the character for the first time may benefit from this guide, which I’ve broken into three parts. I’m also adding my hopes for where new miniseries or flashback reveals could go to make this evil woman even more despicable.
The Wyvern Clan: The Beginning of Demona’s Downfall
During the siege of Castle Wyvern, Goliath and Demona are already at odds over whether to abandon their ancestral home (“Awakening”) or maintain their alliance with Princess Katherine. The catastrophe that follows proves that the second-in-command has a point about the danger humans pose, but it also shows how badly her decisions can make that danger worse. Robert, the Captain of the Guard, agrees with her and plans to help the Vikings remove Katherine and the other humans from Wyvern. The gargoyles are meant to be away when the attack happens.
This second-in-command fails to warn Goliath and the rest of the clan, leaving most of them helpless in stone sleep when Hakon returns and shatters them. To note, I believe Hudson was Commander-in-Chief.
Although Katherine’s parents, including Prince Malcolm, negotiated the original alliance that allowed humans and gargoyles to live together, life was never easy. Years earlier, Katherine had been frightened by nasty bedtime stories about gargoyles. That fear hardened into prejudice, which she held until the surviving clan proved her beliefs wrong.
This period also leaves Demona’s role as the Archmage’s apprentice largely unexplored. We see her studying under him during the Castle Wyvern era, including the events of Dark Ages, and again through time travel in “Vows.” Her love for Goliath hasn’t completely soured at this stage, at least not before her future self arrives and helps poison it. Why she chose to study magic in the first place remains an open question.
Without the Weird Sisters entering her life, she might never have known her fate. Without the Hunter she created, the chain of vendettas that followed might never have started. What’s done is done, but the consequences of those decisions reach all the way into the modern storyline. Although she’s not an accomplished witch during this period, it would be interesting to see whether she made more than one bargain with the devil.
Considering that her skill at weaving magic has not improved much, as shown by her inability to control Puck (“The Mirror”), I’m guessing her mystical training was never finished. She had to figure things out along the way, and that’s dangerous. During the events of Gargoyles: Quest, all she knows is how these rare magical objects work and where to find them. To use them effectively, though, she needs allies and careful planning.
These objects include Gungnir’s lancehead (Gargoyles: Dark Ages #2), made after the Archmage broke the weapon in 971 AD; Puck’s Flute, revealed in #3 and hidden beneath Wyvern Hill during the same period; and the Hand of Valmont (Gargoyles: Quest #1), which was used during the Battle of Rathveramoen in 997. It was lost to time when time-travelling Brooklyn severed Valmont’s hand while it held the Grimorum Arcanorum.
These objects are technically replacements for items such as the book, Phoenix Gate and Eye of Odin seen in the series. While they also have a place in the timestream, exactly how important they will be in the monthly series remains unclear. Until then, anyone can use them.
If Oberon’s children fear them, only time will tell whether they return to hiding or begin a new war. Either possibility could make for fascinating reading.
The Scottish Crown
Running alongside all of this is the political saga of Clan Moray. During the cartoon series, the struggle for power and control of Scotland goes beyond the time of Findláech and his son Macbeth. We’ve seen Duncan take the crown during “City of Stone,” and if there are any modern-day successors, it seems Macbeth has the last laugh, should he ever decide to reclaim it.
Historically, the question of how both Macbeth and Demona must die can affect who claims the crown. That’s because of the curse placed upon them. They agree to the Faustian-style bargain when they meet the Weird Sisters, and what has been presented so far in the series and comic book has still not come full circle. Whether these crones will return to guide them towards their final fate or continue manipulating them remains to be seen. What is known is that even this trio of fate manipulators admits to the human and gargoyle, “They are our responsibility. They are our children” (“City of Stone, Part Four”).
As most fans know, neither can die unless one kills the other. If it ever happens, viewers and readers are still waiting. This bond also leaves centuries of unexplored history. Demona and Macbeth most likely spent much of that time apart, but I would still like to know whether they unknowingly made temporary truces while crossing paths over the centuries. I doubt they simply stayed away from each other for a full millennium.
In part two, I will look more closely at Demona’s new war and
what that means for the ongoing monthly series. With issue #2
now out in stores, she’s being treated as an ongoing enemy
rather than a character with a redemptive arc.
