- Story Arc: Avalon Mystic Tour
- Characters: Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Bronx, and Taurus
- Enemy(ies): Proteus
The world tourists arrive in a hidden city of mythological creatures and Elisa is imprisoned as a direct result of their hatred and distrust of humans by the captain of the guard Taurus, but an even greater danger arises with the shape-shifting Proteus, who tries to escape imprisonment by impersonating Elisa, Goliath and Taurus.
"The New Olympians" contains the following tropes:
- And This Is for...: Taurus delivers the final blow right before saying "This is for my father".
- Canon Welding: On a meta level. The New Olympians was conceived of as its own show unrelated to Gargoyles before Gargoyles existed, before being retooled into a Poorly Disguised Pilot.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The New Olympian civilians start harassing Elisa, igniting a fight between them and the gargoyles. Taurus arrives to the scene and arrests Elisa again.Goliath: But she did not start this!
Taurus: No, but she caused it. - Dramatic Irony: Elisa is the child of a Native American man and an African-American woman. Word of God has noted she actually has more experience with prejudice, both from white people and from her parents' ethnic groups, than the New Olympians would've thought.
- End of an Age: Talos notes that human technology is rapidly advancing and that it may only be a matter of time before the cloak that shields the island is rendered useless.
- The End... Or Is It?: Taurus and Boreas both admit that soon, New Olympus will be discovered by humanity and they have to face them when that time comes. The New Olympians was one of several Gargoyles spinoffs that were meant to be but ultimately didn't materialize.
- Fantastic Racism: Almost all of the New Olympians instantly hate Elisa the moment she arrives due to being a human. Boreas at least tries to be diplomatic, while Talos has little in the way of emotions and remains impartial. Word of God is that there are more open-minded individuals on the island, but for the purpose of the episode the writers deliberately didn't show them.
- Irony:
- The usual approach is flipped, with Goliath, Angela and Bronx being welcomed with open arms, while Elisa is shunned, feared and hated. The worst thing the gargoyles receive is ridicule for being human sympathizers.
- Word of God is that there is a clan of gargoyles on the island, at Mount Thanatos, who are considered full citizens of New Olympus, but they're even more reclusive than the other New Olympians and didn't bother to introduce themselves. As for why the New Olympians didn't mention it to Goliath's party, they assumed they already knew.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge: Taurus makes no secret of his disdain for Elisa and humanity overall, but he won't tolerate members of his team or civilians trying to harm her or cause a riot.
- Perspective Flip: Discussed. Taurus cites human cruelty by referring to the Minotaur as an innocent being who was cruelly locked in a maze, left without much food, and finally killed by Theseus.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: Yeah, another one, but it's more unique in that the premise was created by Bob Kline before Gargoyles started. This show's creative team decided to pick it up as a possible spinoff attempt. Several of the planned characters were featured in this episode, and the kick-off event (the New Olympians revealing themselves to the world) is repeatedly teased.
- Rewatch Bonus: A few New Olympians in the background resemble gargoyles.
- Spotting the Thread: Elisa notices that "Goliath" hasn't turned to stone during the day. This makes her realize that the gargoyle is in fact Proteus, especially when he says it's because the shield is blocking the sun's rays, since she knows full well that stone sleep is caused by a gargoyle's biological time clock and not exposure to sunlight.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race:Taurus: You are definitely not like the humans of legend.
Elisa: I'll choose to take that as a compliment.
