Phoenix Gate

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The Phoenix Gate is a fictional artifact from the animated series Gargoyles. The bearer of the Phoenix Gate is able to travel through time by thinking of a destination time and reciting the Latin incantation "deflagrate muri tempi et intervalia," loosely translated as "burn down the walls of space and time."

As the series' sole method of time travel, the Phoenix Gate imposes several restrictions on the creation of paradoxes. History cannot be changed, though in several instances in the series use of the Phoenix Gate does result in the creation of predestination paradoxes, in which use of the Gate sets events in motion that will eventually lead to use of the Gate. This restriction also allows it to exist fully with the timestream, with no creation date. It is locked in a cyclical repeating journey within the timeline (hence the name referring to the mythical phoenix). The only clues as to its background are given when the Weird Sisters claim that the Gate is "of Avalon", leading fans to assume that this is the place where its journey both begins and ends (though presumably such a point in a cyclical journey is fairly arbitrary).

The Gate appears as a tiny golden shield, inlaid with a blue metal and a gold phoenix upon it. Responding to claims that the Phoenix Gate changes size in its various appearances (which was a minor animation error), series creator Greg Weisman has retconned (with tongue firmly in cheek) that the Gate functions as a "pressure valve" for the timestream, and thus varies in size within the canonical universe.

Contents 1 History 1.1 "Vows" 1.2 "High Noon" and "Avalon" 1.3 "M.I.A." 1.4 "Future Tense" 2 Future canonical plans

[edit] History

Weisman refuses at this time to reveal the first appearance of the Phoenix Gate, or how it comes to be in Princess Elena's dowry.

[edit] "Vows"

The Phoenix Gate by 975 had found its way into the hands of Princess Elena, to be given as a gift to Prince Malcolm during their wedding. The Archmage failed to steal it with hired thugs, and he charged a young Demona with completing the task. Demona, however, affected by a visit by a future version of herself and Goliath, vowed never to resort to power and hate, denying the Archmage the Gate. She broke it in half and shared it with her young lover Goliath, and they vowed to love and cherish each other as long as they each held their half.

In 994, after the Wyvern Massacre, Demona fled the castle in sorrow, taking her half with her, which remained with her all through the centuries. The other half was still with Goliath after the gargoyles awakened in 1994. Goliath took it with him to Xanatos and Fox's wedding, in hope of a one last reconciliation with Demona, but the wedding invitation turned out to have been a ruse by Demona to reconstruct the Gate. The wedding party was brought by Demona to 975, where Xanatos arranged his future wealth and Demona confronted her past self.

[edit] "High Noon" and "Avalon"

Returning to the twentieth century in control of the restored Gate, Goliath hid it in the clock tower, out of the hands of Xanatos or Demona. The Gate, however, was stolen several months late by Demona and Macbeth acting under the influence of the Weird Sisters. The Weird Sisters presented the Gate, the Eye of Odin, and the Grimorum Arcanorum to the Archmage+ to secure revenge against the inhabitants of Avalon, and the Archmage+ used the Gate to rescue the past version of himself from death in the 10th century and secure his new power in the 20th. After the Archmage+ was defeated on Avalon, Goliath again took possession of the Gate, carrying it with him on the World Tour.

[edit] "M.I.A."

Although he had sworn never to allow use of the Gate again, Goliath was forced to break his vow to determine why he was attacked in London by two British gargoyles, Leo and Una, who claimed that he had caused the death of their companion Griff in London during the Blitz in 1940. As Goliath learned retroactively, he had in fact simply brought Griff forward in time with him from 1940 to 1995.

[edit] "Future Tense"

The Phoenix Gate was then targeted by the Puck as a bargaining chip to keep him out of the Gathering for a few more centuries. Puck created an Orwellian futuristic hallucination to trick Goliath into giving him the Gate, because ancient rules forbade him from taking it by force. Goliath saw through Puck's ruse at the last possible second, but fearing that he would try again, Goliath decided to eliminate the Gate once and for all. Speaking the incantation one last time, Goliath flung the Gate into the timestream without a mind to direct it.

[edit] Future canonical plans

Weisman has revealed his intention for a Gargoyles spinoff called Timedancer, in which Brooklyn is whisked away from 1997 by the Gate and returned five minutes later, but 40 years older. During this 40-year period, Brooklyn is carried from time period to time period, unable to control the Gate because he is never able to touch it before it vanishes again. After Brooklyn returns from his journey, The Phoenix Gate eventually returns to where it first appeared in history, thus starting the cycle again. Its connection to Avalon is that it goes there during the beginning, middle and end of its cycle.