- Story Arc: Xanatos' quest for immortality
- Characters: The Manhattan Clan, David Xanatos, Owen, a facsimile of Macbeth
- Enemy(ies): Xanatos
While the Manhattan Clan patrol the city, Macbeth accosts them; during the fight, he throws a strange powder at Hudson, but the gargoyles blow up his vehicle, seemingly killing him. The next night, Hudson does not wake up from his stone sleep. Over the next few days, Macbeth continues to harass the Manhattan Clan in search of "trophies," until finally a stray blast destroys Hudson's statue, and Goliath kills Macbeth in a fit of rage, revealing that it isn't Macbeth at all but merely a robot in his likeness.
Meanwhile, at Castle Wyvern, Hudson is held prisoner by Xanatos, who needs a piece of his stone skin to make a potion of immortality. Hudson manages to use another shard of stone skin to defeat his Steel Clan guards and escape from Castle Wyvern. Owen volunteers to dip his hand into the cauldron for lack of another test subject; it turns to stone.
Macbeth (the real one) next appears in "Avalon". Xanatos, Owen, and most of the Manhattan Clan make their next appearance in "Kingdom".
"The Price" contains the following tropes:
- Animation Bump: The third such case of this after "Awakening" and "The Mirror".
- Armor-Piercing Question: Hudson really gets under Xanatos's skin in this episode when points out his Mortality Phobia:"Growing old terrifies you, doesn't it?"
"A friendly word of advice. True immortality isn't about living forever, man. It's about what you do with the time you have. When all your scheming's done, what will be your legacy, Xanatos?" - Attending Your Own Funeral: Hudson gets to do this when he shows up while the clan is eulogizing over the broken statue of him.
- Broken Record: The Macbeth robot only ever says one of these four lines, usually in this order (a fact that Brooklyn eventually lampshades):
- "I've been looking for you!"
- "Trophies!"
- "You'll have to do better than that!"
- "Farewell, my enemies!"
- Continuity Nod: As Xanatos is discussing how he plans to achieve immortality with the Cauldron of Life, Hudson quickly points out that he is disappointed that he didn't learn his lesson about messing with magical artifacts in "Eye of the Beholder".
- Didn't See That Coming: Much to Xanatos's surprise, Hudson will allow him to keep the Cauldron of Life."What you choose to do with your life is your own affair, as long as it's got nothing to do with me."
- Enemy Mine: Goliath was seriously contemplating arranging such a deal with Demona in order to help what they believed to be Hudson stuck in perpetual stone sleep. It ultimately was rendered moot by episode's end.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Assuming the potion works, Xanatos makes it clear he'll share the immortality with Fox.
- Exact Words: According to Xanatos, the legend says whoever bathes in the Cauldron of Life will "live as long as the mountain stones." The ending reveals they'll be petrified. note
- Halfway Plot Switch: The episode starts off with it seeming like Macbeth found a way to magically turn Hudson to stone at night. Later, we see the statue is a fake, while the real Hudson is being held captive by Xanatos.
- Hope Spot: Thinking Macbeth dead and unable to find anything at his lair, Goliath thinks their last hope is finding Demona, but Elisa says they wouldn't even begin to know where to look.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Goliath states this after seemingly killing Macbeth to stop him from killing the others. Hudson certainly quickly brushes it off, saying that nobody is blaming or second-guessing Goliath's actions.
- Improvised Weapon: Hudson uses a sliver of his own stone skin to damage a Steel Clan robot and break free. Xanatos then complements him on his ingenuity.
- Immortality Through Memory: After spending the entire episode deconstructing Xanatos' motivation by pointing out that he is actually afraid of death, Hudson leaves the man with an Armor-Piercing Question regarding his legacy.Hudson: A friendly word of advice. True immortality isn't about living forever, man. It's about what you do with the time you have. When all your scheming's done, what will your legacy be, Xanatos?
- Major Injury Underreaction: At the end of the episode, Owen volunteers to test the immortality potion's efficacy after Hudson bails. Dipping his arm into it turns his forearm into stone. Neither he nor Xanatos seem the least bit bothered by this development.
- No One Could Survive That!: Played straight when the gargoyles see what they believe to be Macbeth explode.
- Not So Above It All: Hudson needling Xanatos over his apparent fear of death results in a rare instance of him speaking aloud with a pissed off tone of voice.
- Oh, Crap!: Elisa after Broadway turns to stone in mid-air.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Despite his insistence that "Nothing terrifies me, because nothing is beyond my ability to change," when Hudson notes that "Growing old terrifies you, doesn't it?", Xanatos then proceeds to throw out a few petty insults at the old gargoyle, something that would normally be beneath him, a sign of just how close to the mark Hudson had truly hit.
- Out-Gambitted: Hudson manages to do this against Xanatos. Hudson hides a shard of his stone skin in his clothes to use as a knife, then stabs the robot, kicks Xanatos into a column, and wards off Owen with his reclaimed sword. Xanatos is so impressed, he lets him go.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Brooklyn starts to become suspicious of why Macbeth is now wanting to take them as "Trophies" and other actions out of his known character. Eventually they learn that what they have been fighting against the whole time was actually a robot designed to resemble Macbeth.
- Pet the Dog: Part of how Xanatos rationalizes using Hudson for this. He thought the oldest member of the Manhattan Clan would appreciate the chance for immortality.
- Properly Paranoid: Xanatos and Owen want to test the immortality potion on someone else first because they suspect there's a catch. They're right.
- Replaced with Replica: The real sleeping Hudson is replaced with a stone statue in the same pose to allow him to be kidnapped without the Clan suspecting it.
- Robotic Reveal: Macbeth.
- Shoot the Rope: Broadway turns to stone in mid-glide, and Elisa has to break a crate full of carpets to cushion his fall. She does so by using her gun to shoot the cable from which the crate is hanging.
- Shout-Out: To the The Bible. While trying to convince Xanatos of the folly of wanting to be immortal, Hudson refers to himself as a "stranger in a strange land". This is a quote from Exodus 2:22 that reads "And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land".
- Title Drop: After Owen gets his arm turned to stone.Owen: It would appear that the cauldron's spell of immortality has a price.
- Underestimating Badassery:Xanatos: Relax, Hudson. Without your sword, you're helpless.
Hudson: Swordless? Maybe. Helpless? NEVER! - Villain Respect: Xanatos is most impressed by Hudson using his own stone skin to escape. He lets Hudson leave on the grounds that he earned it.
- Welcome to Corneria: Xanatos seems to have programmed his Macbeth robots with only a limited set of Stock Phrases.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The running conflict between Hudson and Xanatos. The elder gargoyle speaks from some experience, but Xanatos sees the value in immortality. note Hudson: Listen to me, Xanatos. What you seek demands a heavy price. I've lived 1,100 years, most of my clan is dead and dust. And I'm a stranger in a strange land. Demona and Macbeth are immortal. Has it brought them happiness?
Xanatos: Save your breath, Hudson. Death and old age have their price as well. And it's too expensive for me.
