"Ill Met by Moonlight" is the fifty-fifth episode of Gargoyles, and the forty-third single-part episode of the series. It aired on February 22, 1996.
Plot[]
When Goliath and company return to Avalon, the faerie lord Oberon and his faerie queen, Titania have returned as well after a millennium-long exile. Trouble ensues when Oberon decides to evict the Avalon Clan from his island.
Synopsis[]
As the skiff carrying Goliath, Angela, Elisa, and Bronx makes its way through the fog, they soon see land ahead, but when Elisa recognizes the large lit cauldron on one cliff and the blue light lighthouse on the other, she realizes that they have been returned to the shores of Avalon. Reuniting with Princess Katharine and the Avalon Clan, they soon learn the real reason for Avalon bringing them back to its shores, as the original sovereigns of Avalon and leaders of the Third Race, Fae King Oberon and his Fae Queen Titania, appear, joined by the Weird Sisters.
Oberon is disgusted to see that the Weird Sisters' claims of unwanted guests on Avalon is true in the Avalon Clan, and makes to remove them from his land. However, a compromise is soon struck under suggestion of Titania: Why not have Oberon face Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel in a competition of sport, but at reduced strength? If Oberon wins, the Avalon Clan will be exiled or eliminated. If the Gargoyles win, Oberon must grant them asylum on Avalon. The catch: If Oberon accepts, Titania will gladly remarry him and become his wife again. Seeing a win-win for himself, Oberon accepts, and Titania casts a spell to reduce Oberon's strength to ensure a fair fight between him and the Gargoyles. After Oberon, Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel leave to begin the contest, Titania offers two hints to Elisa and Katharine, one of them being that Oberon is vulnerable to iron, like all members of the Third Race, before departing with the Weird Sisters.
Taking Titania's hint to heart, the decision is made to melt down the iron chains that the Magus had trapped the Weird Sisters in to forge a means to defeat Oberon should Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel fail, with Tom working the forge himself.
Meanwhile, Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel use anything they can to try and outwit Oberon, but even at his reduced power level, he proves a dangerous foe, conjuring a pair of hands from the lava of Avalon's volcano, and when Goliath tries to straight-up punch him, only managing to shatter Oberon's normal appearance to reveal a tougher, crystal form underneath. Once Oberon has overpowered and bested Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel, he takes them back to the castle to present to the others to show he has won, only for Tom and Ophelia to emerge with the result of what Tom was forging earlier from the iron chains: An iron bell, which Tom then begins to strike with his sword. The sound of its ringing causes Oberon to recoil in pain due to his vulnerability to iron, and soon has him on his hands and knees. Tom moves in with the intent to deliver the death blow, but refuses, considering it dishonorable to strike down a foe on their knees, and spares the Fae King. Impressed by this show of mercy, Oberon decides to spare the Avalon Clan from his wrath, and chooses instead to make them his honor guard. Titania and the Weird Sisters soon reappear, and though Oberon appeared to have lost the challenge, Titania is still proud of him, and agrees to be his wife again, restoring his powers to their full strength now that the contest was over. As they depart, the Weird Sisters are somewhat upset their plan to evict the Avalon Clan failed, but nonetheless let go of their vengeance against the Avalon Clan per their Lord's decree that they can stay.
As Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx prepare to depart Avalon again to see where it sends them next, at the castle, Oberon tells Titania that it is time to prepare for the Gathering...
