- Story Arc: The Avalon World Tour
- Characters: Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Bronx, Griff, Una, Leo
- Enemy(ies): Nazis
The travelers find themselves in London, where they're surprised to see a WWII monument of a fighter plane with two Gargoyles on it, one looking exactly like Goliath. To find out more, they come across an occult shop, where they were surprised to see two English gargoyles there, Una and Leo. They claim to know who Goliath is and get angry, accusing him of supposedly getting their fellow clanmate, Griff, killed during World War II. Goliath insists he has absolutely no idea what they're talking about as he doesn't even know them or this Griff since wasn't even around at the time due to the Magus's stone spell. When Una and Leo take Elisa, Angela, and Bronx hostage in revenge for the supposed crime, Goliath had no choice but to use the Phoenix Gate to go back to the night Griff disappeared and learn the truth.
Griff returns in "Pendragon".
This episode contains the following Tropes
- Bystander Syndrome: Una and Leo keep to themselves in their shop. As far as they're concerned, any crime or strife happening outside their doorstep is none of their concern. Thankfully they grow out of this once Goliath returns with Griff in the present day.
- Doom Magnet: Griff finds himself in a series of fatal dangers, separated by seconds, on the night that he supposedly died. Goliath believes this means fate itself is trying to kill him.
- Dramatic Irony: After so many close calls, Griff wonders if the "night will ever be over".
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Griff nearly faints into traffic upon seeing a mohawk sporting punk rocker playing a handheld video game.
- Godzilla Threshold: Goliath swore to never let anyone use the Phoenix Gate after retrieving it from the Archmage, but since saving Griff is the only way to save his daughter, love interest, and pet, he makes an exception.
- Greater Need Than Mine: Griff, though not an official soldier, is willing to fight the Nazis under the shadows for not just his home country of Britain, but for the future of the world. He gets upset when Una and Leo tell him that it is a human problem and therefore shouldn't concern him.
- Handicapped Badass: The episode takes place during the Battle Of Britain in 1941; one of the RAF pilots, Historical Domain Character Group Captain Douglas Bader, is flying and fighting despite having lost both his legs in 1931. He was forcibly retired after his accident but allowed to reenlist at the outbreak of war, and saves Goliath's life during the dogfight.
- Have We Met Yet?: Though Goliath swears he's never met Una and Leo before, they certainly remember him, and blame him for the death of Griff, one of their clan members, during The Blitz. Seeking to figure things out and clear his name with the Londoners, Goliath heads back in time and meets Una, Leo and Griff in the past, and repeatedly saves Griff's life. After several close calls, Goliath decides history apparently wants Griff dead, so sidesteps fate by pulling him into the future with him, closing the time loop and explaining Griff's disappearance.
- Heel Realization: Leo is the first to come to this when Elisa realizes Goliath went back to save Griff. However, Una just scoffs at the notion, believing it was Goliath's fault Griff was gone in the first place when all she and Leo have ever done was kept him safe.Leo: Maybe that's the problem. (unties Elisa, Angela, and Bronx) We should have gone with him. I think all this time we were blaming the wrong gargoyle.
- Historical Domain Character: Sir Douglas Robert Stuart Bader (1910-1982), who is featured in this episode fighting the Nazis along with Griff and Goliath, was an actual historical figure. He was a British pilot who served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Also interesting to note that Greg Weisman actually met Bader and hence chose to include him in this episode as a tribute.
- I Have This Friend: Before Goliath leaves with Griff, Una asks him to watch out for Griff, who is "very dear to me... I mean, to us."
- Meaningful Name: "Una", "Leo" and "Griff" obviously refer to unicorn, lion and griffin, which they resemble in a gargoyle counterpart.
- Mythical Motifs: London Clan gargoyles look like creatures from British heraldry. We see gargoyles in this episode resembling unicorns, lions and griffins, and the canonical comics introduce clan members who resemble stags, boars and hippogriffs as well.
- No Swastikas: Averted (and more incredibly in a show made for children... by Disney!). Swastikas can be seen on the Nazi bomber planes, however, the Iron Cross and the Skull and Crossbones are easier to spot.
- Not Your Problem: Una and Leo keep trying to tell this to Griff about the war; when Griff asks Goliath for his opinion, he says, "in my experience, human problems become gargoyle problems."
- Pac Man Fever: When Griff arrives in the present, one of the first things he sees is a British teen walking down the street playing a portable game; the game is making sound effects sourced from The Adventures of Bayou Billy without rhyme or reason.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Funnily despite literal Nazis being in this episode, the ones who explicitly fit this archetype are the hoodlums near the Into the Mystic shop in the present day. One of the Mohawked ruffians yell at an Indian man "Keep England pure!"
- The Real Heroes: Griff and Goliath help out, but the pilots of the RAF are doing their part to defend their home from the Nazis' invasion. One of the pilots even saves Goliath from a German fighter.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Goliath uses the Phoenix Gate to go back to 1940 to find out what happened to Griff, and if possible, save him from death.
- Shout-Out: Realizing it's their own fault Griff is gone, Una tearfully said, "Oh Griff, why did you have to be so brave". A line similarly said by C-3PO to R2-D2 in Return of the Jedi.
- Stable Time Loop: Goliath finds out that no matter what he does, he's unable to stop Griff's disappearance. So instead, he warps them both to the present day, which causes his disappearance. It should be noted that this is how the Phoenix Gate works- it can create Stable Time Loops, but it cannot be used to alter the past.
- Tempting Fate: After so many close calls, Griff wonders if the night will ever be over.
- There Is Another: This is the first time that gargoyles outside of Goliath's clan have made an appearance, thus proving false Xanatos' statement that they were the only ones left.
- Those Wacky Nazis: In "M.I.A.", the main antagonists are the Nazi bomber planes who attack London during World War II. The pilots even grin evilly!
- Tooka Level In Kindness: After Griff reunites with Leo and Una, the latter two join him in protecting London.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Averted. When Leo and Una begin to accuse Goliath of having left Griff to die, Elisa makes the suggestion that the conversation be continued in the London Clan's store given that they are starting to attract the attention of several onlookers, who are under the assumption of the gargoyles there being highly eccentric people in elaborate costumes.
