Recap / Gargoyles S 2 Upgrade

• Story Arc: The Pack
• Characters: The Manhattan Clan, Xanatos, Fox, the Pack
• Enemy(ies) : The Pack, David Xanatos

The Pack attempt a bank robbery, which the Manhattan Clan foils, and both Goliath and Jackal are badly wounded in the process. Hudson advises Goliath to appoint one of the three younger gargoyles as his second in command, while the Pack go into hiding before receiving a proposition from Coyote, courtesy of Xanatos Enterprises...

Some time later, while the younger gargoyles are comparing achievements to try to become Goliath's second, Goliath and Hudson fight against the new, upgraded Pack but are defeated. The gargoyle trio get a coded message from Fox, and Brooklyn determines that she's telling them where the Pack and their hostages are. Brooklyn leads Broadway and Lexington there, and together with Goliath and Hudson, they defeat the Pack.

Meanwhile, Fox beats Xanatos at a game of chess.

Xanatos returns in The Cage. The Pack (minus Dingo) return in Grief. Fox and Dingo return in Walkabout.

Tropes

• An Aesop: As indicated under Revenge Before Reason, Lexington learns about priorities (not the only time).
• An Arm and a Leg: When fighting on the train tracks, Brooklyn accidentally does this to Jackal. He is noticeably perplexed by both that and how Jackal casually reattaches the arm like nothing happened.
• Batman Gambit: Fox arranges for a PSA to tip off the Trio to the Pack's location. She has it air during the news, as she's certain that's what their TV will be tuned to.
• Body Horror: Hyena and Jackal become cyborgs, while Wolf becomes a wolf-man. By comparing them to "used cah pahts," Dingo shows he is quite disgusted with all of this.
• The Cameo: During Coyote's "sales pitch" to the Pack, among the characters shown in its presentation are Coldstone and Talon.
• Chess Motifs: The battle between the Manhattan Clan and the Pack is represented as a chess game between Fox and Xanatos. Granted, that battle does break the rules of chess...
• Decided by One Vote: After the battle, Coyote and Wolf clash over who should lead. Hyena backs the former, while Jackal goes for the latter. This leaves Dingo, who laments having to choose between "a robot who thinks he's human" and "a human who's gone to the dogs." He ultimately votes for Coyote, who's at least saner than Wolf.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When discussing who should be leader, Hyena remarks she finds Coyote quite attractive. A disgusted Jackal sides with Wolf at that.
  "Well that's sicker than usual".
  • Also worth noting that at the start of the episode, Dingo is disappointed that the Pack has resorted to robbing banks like common criminals. While Dingo is far from being exemplary, as he is a mercenary who gets paid to kill other armed people, but stealing money from banks, and especially taking innocent people's savings, is one thing he takes no pleasure in.
  • He's also thoroughly repulsed by his teammates more extreme enhancements, opting to use Power Armor instead.
• Even the Dog Is Ashamed: Bronx expresses some disgust at most of the Pack members unnatural transformations to their bodies. He's also annoyed by the Trio's bickering.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Having to rescue the others from the Pack, Brooklyn immediately takes charge.
  • Dingo's disgust with his teammates sets up his later Heel–Face Turn.
  • Brooklyn remarks he hopes he doesn't have to fill in as leader anytime soon. The World Tour arc is just around the corner.
  • During Coyote's presentation of possible upgrades, Talon appears in his tweaked design.
  • According to Word of God, Hudson name-dropping the Archmage was meant to remind viewers of the character shortly before his big return in the "Avalon" three-parter.
  • When forced to retreat during the bank robbery, Wolf shouts "This isn't over!" much like Hakon (another Clancy Brown character) did. "Vendettas" will later reveal the two are of the same bloodline.
• History Repeats: Defied. When Hudson tells Goliath he needs to select a second lieutenant to lead if he is indisposed, he asks Hudson to take the role. Hudson points out that Goliath was once his second, so there’s no point in going backwards.
• It Amused Me: The final scene reveals the whole thing was just a game between Xanatos and Fox.
• Left Stuck After Attack: Jackal cybernetic claws can cut though cement, but his whole hand cannot. While fighting Brooklyn, he slashes a wall and hits a post; his hand gets stuck, letting Brooklyn hit him with a railroad tie.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Literally. The Pack get various advancements in order to help them face the Clan head on. Brooklyn is also named second-in-command.
• Number Two: Goliath has to formally choose a second-in-command. He ultimately picks Brooklyn.
• Oh, Crap!: Jackal has this reaction when he shoots Broadway with some kind of small explosive, and the gargoyle shrugs it off moments and turn to continue pounding Jackal.
• Only Sane Man: Dingo chose armor rather than mutilate his body.
  "I'm a partner in a freak show."
• Passing the Torch: Invoked. Hudson refuses Goliath’s insistence he become second of the clan to lead if he is occupied or injured, since Goliath was once his second. He asks Goliath to choose between one of the three younger clan members, happy to defer to their leadership if the situation calls for it.
• Public Secret Message: Fox alerts the Trio to the Pack's hideout with a PSA about the train by emphasizing their names and showing the appropriate visuals.
• Revenge Before Reason: Averted. After the pack used an electro-bomb device to shock Goliath in order to make their escape, Lexington wanted to pursue the pack. He was overruled by Brooklyn and Broadway who stated that helping Goliath was a higher priority than stopping the Pack.
• Running Gag: Again, Coyote's current body is destroyed (this time by being forcefully removed from that body which in turn get hit by a speeding train). Though this time the head is also destroyed, but Coyote does nonetheless return in "Grief", whether because of uploading its programming in only seconds or being another created AI with the same programming is unstated). Also worth noting that Coyote 3.0 retained the partially exposed cybernetic face despite not being the same as the original.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: With the last fight going so badly, Dingo prefers to just make a run for it. Elisa ensures he doesn't get very far, thanks to a magnetic crane.
• Time Skip: The episode skips over a period of one month in order to get the Pack upgraded and acclimated to their new forms.
• Trap Is the Only Option: The younger trio of gargoyles are aware that the Pack is likely setting up a trap, but given that Goliath, Hudson, Elisa Maza, and Bronx are being held captive they have no other choice. Though it is subverted in that the Pack never sent them a message via a suspiciously specific ad (which was done by Fox, a now ex-Pack member and the wife of David Xanatos, wanting to win the game over the latter), but instead put a tracking device on Bronx to lead them to the Manhattan Clan's hideout.
• Unfazed Everyman: Officer Morgan finds the restrained Pack. Rather than be stunned by the Body Horror, he cracks wise about how they either need to be taken to a hospital, a machine shop, or the vet.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Xanatos and Fox invoke this trope against each other as their version of Family Game Night, manipulating the Pack and the Manhattan Clan respectively against each other, complete with a literal chessboard and chess piece representations.