- Story Arc: Macbeth's Vendetta
- Characters: The Manhattan Clan, Elisa Maza, Macbeth, David Xanatos, and Owen Burnett
- Enemy(ies) : Macbeth
As Xanatos' Prison sentence is about to end, a mysterious man comes forward with a proposition to take care of his Gargoyle problem in exchange for fulfilling his own agenda.
Macbeth reappears in the season two episode "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time".
This Episode contains the following Tropes:
- Animation Bump: Despite all the model deviations and inconsistent artwork in the episode, there are a few sequences that display a sense of fluidity not seen throughout most of the series, such as Bronx busting out of Macbeth's castle and running through the streets of New York.
- Badass Normal: Two examples in this episode:
- Macbeth, with the use of some high-tech weaponry, was able to easily hold his own against all six of the Manhattan Clan as well as Elisa. This is justified based on his many years of experience.
- Owen also demonstrates that he is not to be underestimated when he was able to guard the Grimorum Arkanorum from Hudson and Broadway, even if only temporarily. He later turns out to be a double subversion.
- The Bait: What Macbeth was intending to use the members of the Manhattan Clan for - to lure Demona out of hiding. He's furious upon learning that Demona had left them.
- Collapsing Lair: Or rather a collapsing mansion via Goliath waging an unintended Battle Amongst the Flames against Macbeth.
- Continuity Nod: In reference to the prior episode, Elisa has to use a pair of crutches to walk around with until she is fully recovered. In addition, the episode more prominently brings up Elisa's concerns for the Manhattan Clan's safety at the castle, which she had previously confronted Goliath about in the episodes "The Thrill of the Hunt" and "Temptation".
- Crazy-Prepared: Macbeth. To quote him: "I defeated you in your home. You think I wouldn't be ready for you in my own?"
- Dramatic Irony: The Macbeth of Shakespeare was not above killing someone in their sleep, unlike this Macbeth who spared the sleeping gargoyles.
- Foreshadowing:Lexington: Have you ever read Macbeth?
Brooklyn: No, but maybe we should.
(Macbeth listens in) - Friendly Enemy: Macbeth is nothing but courteous to Elisa, even addressing her as "milady."
- Halloween Episode: This episode takes place on October 31st, but otherwise has nothing to do with Halloween.
- Honor Before Reason: While Hudson understands Elisa's point that staying at Castle Wyvern is no longer safe considering Macbeth's attack only minutes prior, he defers to Goliath based on the virtue of his leadership. Though this is quickly subverted when he and Broadway decide to go through with it anyway.
- Macbeth also shows a demonstration of this trait in this episode. In his introductory episode, Macbeth chooses to wait patiently for the gargoyles to wake up rather than just stealing their statues while they're asleep, despite knowing this will lead to a difficult fight. He similarly refuses to smash them in "High Noon."
- Locked Out of the Loop: Macbeth put his plan into motion on the assumption that Demona was still with the Manhattan Clan, unaware of her falling out with the rest of the group.
- Only in It for the Money: Subverted with Macbeth. He would have offered to do the deed for free, but asked for payment out of fear that Xanatos would be suspicious of his motives if he did.
- Pragmatic Villainy: As expected of Xanatos at this point. He doesn't want to destroy the gargoyles because he believes it to be a waste of a resource he knows he can manipulate and use, hence why he never bothered telling Owen what to do with them while he was in prison. But he also recognizes that now that he's about to be released from prison that he can't have them living in his home while he does his shady deals, so he is open to smashing them as suggested by Own. It doesn't take much persuasion to get him to accept Macbeth's offer, no doubt because it satisfies both his desire to keep the gargoyles alive so he can make use of them and also keep them out of the castle.
- Production Foreshadowing: At the start of the episode, Hudson is watching an episode of, weirdly enough, Quack Pack on the TV (given how Donald is wearing a Hawaiian shirt). Presumably this may be due to
Production Lead Time (Quack Pack was in production as far back as 1993, when this show began production). - Previously on…: This is the first episode in which a recap of prior episodes was included.
- I Shall Return: Elisa points out that even if they defeat Macbeth, Xanatos will hire someone else to rid the gargoyles from the castle. Goliath still refuses at first, but later is forced to admit she's right and agrees to move - although not without promising he would return.
- Shock and Awe: Lexington realizes that the amount of power required to electrify the cages puts a strain on the generator, meaning that redirecting enough of that energy to one cage would weaken the other. In other words, he and Brooklyn need to electrocute themselves unconscious so Bronx can break out of his cage. It works, but it clearly wasn't fun.
- Shout-Out:
- More specifically the firsts of several To Shakespeare with plenty of references to the play Macbeth.
- In one brief instance, the silhouette of Goliath's shadow during flight creates a shape remarkably similar to the symbol of Batman, of which Gargoyles was created to compete against Batman: The Animated Series amongst other shows. This is notable in that it is a rare positive allusion to a contemporary animated show in contrast to the broad potshot that was aimed at a multitude of shows in the episode "The Thrill of the Hunt" (read that recap for details).
- The Unmasqued World: Downplayed, as it isn't dwelt upon for long, but the existence of the gargoyles is finally exposed when Bronx is running down a busy street and Goliath flies down to meet him amidst a large crowd of stunned onlookers.
- This Is Gonna Suck: In Brooklyn zapping himself by poking at their electrified cage, Lexington realizes that a lot of power is needed for both their and Bronx's cage. They soon deduced that they can divert power from Bronx's cage to let him escape by...using their bodies to absorb all the electricity. Brooklyn is not thrilled.
- Utility Belt: Macbeth's Badass Longcoat serves this function, allowing him to store and pull out whatever guns and equipment he needs at a moments' notice.
- Wall of Weapons: A more accurate description of how the interior of Macbeth's mansion looks like would be walls of weapons. Though in this case, the weapons that adorn the walls of his home are mostly swords and other close range weapons (including maces and axes) rather than firearms.
- Wham Line:Goliath: You know Demona?
Macbeth: Know her? (laughs) I named her!note - You Can't Go Home Again: In this episode, the gargoyles are forced to flee Castle Wyvern because Xanatos' jail time is up. So they find a new home in the Clock Tower in the N.Y.P.D.'s 23rd District headquarters.
