- Story Arc: Thailog
- Characters: Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, Hudson, Talon
- Enemy(ies): Demona, Thailog, Dr. Sevarius
The Manhattan Clan captures Demona, only to find that they are falling into a trap involving Fang and Thailog's new gargoyle clones. Meanwhile, Demona finally meets face-to-face with her daughter Angela, and attempts to bond with her.
Demona and Dr. Sevarius return in "Hunter's Moon", Thailog in "Invitation Only", and Fang in the Gargoyles: Bad Guys spinoff comic.
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Amusement Park of Doom: The setting for the second half of the episode.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Angela saying "I hate you" to Demona stuns the latter into silence and stepping away.
- The Artifact: Originally, this was going to be the season finale, and Goliath's "new beginning" line at the end was meant to reflect that. Things changed when plans for "Hunter's Moon" to be a DTV movie didn't go ahead, but the line remained.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: Demona and Thailog's fight takes place on a burning collapsing wooden roller coaster scaffolding.
- Calling the Old Woman Out: Thailog reveals that Demona knew the entire time Angela was her daughter and was stringing her along to manipulate her.Demona: I had to make you understand!
Angela: I understand perfectly. All this was a charade staged to turn me against my father, to trap and destroy my clan! You are capable of anything. I hate you! - Captured on Purpose: Demona early in the episode is captured and held as a prisoner in the Labyrinth. Unbeknownst to the heroes, this was part of her and Thailog's plan in order to acquire genetic samples from the Manhattan clan.
- Continuity Nod:
- Back in Paris, it was mentioned by Demona that she and Thailog were going to make their own company. Now it is seen for the first time, including being set in a building with "Nightstone Unlimited" prominently displayed at its front.
- Fang during his revolt against Talon back in "Kingdom" was locked into a glass tube upon his defeat. Now he is revealed to have been housed in his own makeshift prison cell.
- Evil Twin: Zigzagged with the new clones. They look nastier and act more belligerent in battle than the originals, but they lack the drive to be evil on their own. They're quite docile when Thailog is out of the picture.
- The Exile: According to Goliath, this was how those who turned against a given clan were punished in the old days, but it's less practical now (especially for someone like Demona). They take to locking Demona in a cell as a reasonable substitute.
- Foreshadowing: After acquiring Lexington's DNA, Sevarius remarks that's three down and two to go. We later see the clones of Hudson and the Trio, but that's only four and Demona doesn't expect any more than that, so this was subtle foreshadowing to Delilah and her being developed without Demona's knowledge.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: During their talks, Angela is horrified by the things that Demona did, saying despite what Demona supposedly went through, it does not excuse her actions. Came to a head when Angela realized Demona had been stringing her along in order to "make her understand". Angela doesn’t accept her flimsy excuses and decides she no longer wants her mother in her life.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Delilah is, thus far, the only known half-human, half-gargoyle in existence. Her "mothers" are Demona and Elisa, and was created by Sevarius.
- Hulk Speak: The clones all talk like this as a result of Thailog keeping their intelligence low. When Talon promises to take them in and help them learn to think for themselves, he also snarks he’ll teach them to use verbs.
- Internal Reveal: Demona learns that she has a daughter, and that she and the rest of the rookery eggs survived. She also learns that Princess Katherine and Tom are still alive and had been raising them, which angers her, since she hasn't forgotten how the humans of Castle Wyvern (especially Katherine) treated her kind.
- Lightbulb Joke: Fang cracks one of these ("How many gargoyles does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"). While it reads innocently enough (and became the subject of a contest on "Ask Greg"), Jim Belushi's delivery and inflection make it clear he's telling the "dirty joke" version.
- Locked in the Dungeon: But where the heroes do it to the villain. Since Demona becomes human during the day instead of stone, Brooklyn proposes locking her in a cell in the Labyrinth, where she can be guarded 'round the clock. The Mutates stand watch during the day, while one of the clan take over for the night shift.
- Mama Bear: Despite her manipulations, Demona ultimately does love Angela, which Thailog learns the hard way.
- Morality Pet: Angela is revealed to be one for Demona.
- Never My Fault: Demona, as ever. When she chides him for sentencing her to this imprisonment, Goliath says this was the result of her own actions.
- Opponent Switch: Hudson and the Trio get easily overcome by their corresponding clones. When it's time for a rematch, Lexington points out they can't win one-on-one, so they opt for this, as well as more guile tactics.
- Parting-Words Regret: Thinking Demona has died, Angela expresses regret that the last thing she said to her was "I hate you."
- Pass the Popcorn: Fang finds Angela and Demona's interactions to be better than soap operas.
- Pet the Dog: Sevarius advising Thailog to keep the clones programming simple counts since there's no self benefiting reason for him to do it. He was already paid and could've just left right after, but didn't.
- Demona frees the Manhattan Clan from their restraints, because she couldn't bear to watch her daughter die.
- Plot Hole: Angela mourning Demona's supposed demise is somewhat undercut by the characters having learned some time ago that she can only die for real if Macbeth kills her. Greg Weisman defended this by saying knowledge and confidence are two different things, though some critics were unmoved.
- Those seem to unconsciously assume characters know everything the audience knows. Greg Weisman has suggested the Weird Sisters' spell subtly warps fate so that neither Demona or Macbeth end up in situations that would end in beheadings or otherwise mangle their bodies beyond repair, but Goliath doesn't read Ask Greg.
- Properly Paranoid: Goliath really didn't want Angela to take the first watch. Hudson thinks she's up to it, but he also warns her that Demona is capable of anything, even when locked in a cell.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: After the truth comes out, Angela when saying she hates Demona.
- The Reveal: Sevarius is confirmed to still be alive and lending his scientific expertise to Thailog.
- Send in the Clones: Thailog and Demona have clones of the rest of the Manhattan clan created. Thailog also has a composite clone of Demona and Elisa Maza created named "Delilah".
- Shout-Out:
- Unlike the rest of the clone, Delilah's name is derived from that of Delilah from the story of Samson, of whom she betrays, in The Bible. The "bad girl" connotations of that name would clearly have appealed to Thailog.
- When Fang is compared unfavorably to the "mosquitos" (actually miniature robots created to extract blood samples), he retorts "I resemble that remark!" This is a recurring phrase of Curly of The Three Stooges.
- Take That!: In-universe example. Demona chose to name the clones after places in Los Angeles, in contrast to most members of the Manhattan Clan who chose to name themselves (Goliath aside) after places in New York City, as a mockery of them taking place names for themselves according to Greg Weisman.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Angela was angry when she found out Demona had been stringing her along in order to manipulate Angela to her side. She tears apart Demona’s flimsy excuses to why she did so, simply saying she’s nothing more than a selfish Manipulative Bitch and wants nothing to do with her.
- Too Dumb to Live: Defied. Thailog agrees with Sevarius that it would be unwise to make the new clones too intelligent, as they otherwise might try to usurp him. Thailog ensures they have only minimal vocabulary and explicitly programmed them to obey.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Angela notes she's been told she resembles Demona.
- Undying Loyalty: Thailog programmed the clones to obey him. When he is later presumed dead, they have no idea what to do with themselves.
- Villain Ball: Thailog insisting that Angela be the first to be executed results in Demona freeing the entire clan and Talon from their restraints.
- Villain Has a Point: When Goliath derides the clones as poor creatures that couldn't constitute a true clan, Thailog points out he just insulted his own clan's genetic makeup.
- Wham Line: "I just love it when everything goes according to plan."
- Wham Shot:
- Both the supposed mosquito flying to Sevarius, and Thailog being in the lab with him.
- The appearances of the different clones, particularly Delilah.
- You Make Me Sick: Goliath expresses his disgust that Demona deems the evil clones to be her "new clan".
