- Story Arc: Xanatos's Schemes for Immortality and control of the Manhattan Clan.
- Characters: The Manhattan Clan, Elisa Maza, Matt Bluestone, David Xanatos, and Owen Burnett
- Enemy(ies): David Xanatos
The Manhattan Clan has now made its new home in the clock tower attic above the Police station Elisa Maza works at. However, Goliath is still bitter at Xanatos taking possession of Castle Wyvern, which only gets exacerbated when Xanatos starts a ploy to damage their reputations and force them to accept a deal with him.
Xanatos reappears in the episode "Her Brother's Keeper".
This Episode contains the following Tropes:
- Ace Custom: What the Manhattan Clan at first believed the red Steel Clan model to be at first, but ultimately a subversion as it was actually David Xanatos wearing an exo-frame.
- Animation Bump: Especially for the Steel Clan. They almost look line full-on Japanese anime-inspired Mecha.
- Berserk Button: The mere sight or mention of Xanatos is this for Goliath.
- Canon Immigrant: The Eye of Odin was originally featured in a Video game based on Gargoyles
for the Sega Genesis (though its appearance in the series proper is different from that of the game) before it was incorporated into the show itself. It was included in the show both as part of an effort by Disney Interactive to promote that game and also that 
Greg Weisman liked it himself. - Conspiracy Theorist: Detective Matt Bluestone in his off time seeks to learn about various mysterious elements of the world including the Loch Ness Monster, Aliens, and The Illuminati.
- Continuity Nod: A reference to "Awakening", and a couple of references to "Deadly Force":
- The first time Elisa visited the Eyrie Building in "Awakening," she had probable cause for a warrant to search the place because of the damage to the streets below, and Owen let her in rather than argue with her over it. In this episode, Elisa has no probable cause, and Owen won't let her into the Eyrie Building without a warrant.
- Elisa's injury in "Deadly Force," and her subsequent inability to do her job as police detective for some time after that, prompted Captain Maria Chavez to assign her a partner when she got back on the job.
- Captain Chavez also mentioned that Elisa's new partner, Matt Bluestone, had helped her with the Dracon case, as shown in an Early-Bird Cameo in "Deadly Force."
- Criminal Doppelgänger: The Steel Clan's thefts of various artifacts put the gargoyles in a negative light, which Xanatos intends as part of one of his plans.
- Deal with the Devil: Xanatos offers, or then at least claims he will, to give the gargoyles a new home in upstate New York to avoid potential retaliation from concerned citizens, which Goliath immediately rejects.Xanatos: (smugly) You're only making this harder for yourself, you know.
- Don't Ask: When asked how his discussion with Xanatos went, Goliath viciously said "I don't want to talk about it!".
- Foreshadowing: Many of the things Matt talks about having an interest in investigating, most especially the Illuminati, become more integral parts of Gargoyles' storyline later on.
- Graceful Loser: Xanatos is annoyed at his loss to Owen, but not at Owen for beating him - he's simply worried that it's a sign he's losing his edge. He respectfully concedes the loss and makes it very clear he does not want Owen patronizing him by holding back in the future.Xanatos: You've been practicing. This is the first time I've ever lost a match to you.
Owen: Would you rather I pretend to lose?
Xanatos: I'd fire you if you did. - Kingpin in His Gym: The episode opens with Xanatos engaging in a sparring match with Owen.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The (red) leader of the Steel Clan, after seeing that its comrades were destroyed by Goliath and his clan, decided to retreat. It turns out that the red Steel Gargoyle was Xanatos in a prototype battle exo-frame.
- Sadistic Choice: The Steel Clan attacks the gargoyles to force them into one of these: either remain where they are with dawn fast approaching and end up getting captured, or retreat back to the clock tower so they can follow. The gargoyles Take a Third Option and lead the robots out to Liberty Island where they can finish the fight.
- Shout-Out:
- One painting on display in the Museum of Modern Art strongly resembles The Scream by Edvard Munch.
- Goliath is shown reading a book authored by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, though which one is not specified.
- Let's see, Xanatos's Exo-frame looks like the other Steel Clan robots, but is different and just so happens to be red (though it's not known to be three times fast). Make of that what you will.
- Title Drop: At the end of the episode Xanatos says "I was a little worried that I might be getting soft. But I was able to stand up against Goliath, the greatest warrior alive. I'd say I've still got the edge."
- Unwanted Assistance: Elisa Maza sees Matt as this at first, but this is gradually subverted as the story goes on.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Xanatos aims for this with his donation of the Eye of Odin to the Museum of Modern Art. The reporter even jokes that he's trying to make the city forget about his prison record.
- Worthy Opponent: As noted under the Title Drop entry above, Xanatos regards Goliath as this, considering him "the greatest warrior alive".
- Xanatos Gambit: One of Xanatos' aims with this plan is to control the gargoyles, either by learning where they are hiding or by convincing them to live under his watch. The Eye of Odin was stolen with the idea of flushing them out. That objective failed, but he still boosted his PR with the donation in the first place, reclaimed the priceless and magical Eye of Odin, tested his exo-frame and proved he still had "the edge" in hand-to-hand by fighting Goliath evenly.
