In The Gryphon, Mark must travel to the Black Tower, a world ruled by the Gryphon, for his brother’s sake.
When Mark turns sixteen, he is gifted the Chronicle by his brother, Thomas. The Chronicle is a book passed down in his family for generations. In this book, Mark’s ancestors collected information about a world that is known as the Black Tower.
A portal connects the Black Tower to the human world. Mark’s father, Karl, lost his parents to the Black Tower. They went there and never returned, but since no one knows about this world, Karl had to claim that they died in an accident.
A whole new world
The Black Tower is a world that is different from the world of humans in many ways. The Chronicle has records of the flora and fauna found in the Black Tower, which are nothing like the flora and fauna in this world.
The Black Tower is divided into different levels. While the Chronicle contains information about all the other levels, it does not have anything on the sky level, which is the top level, as no one has ever been there.
The lowest level is where the mines are located. This level has no moon or stars at night; it only has darkness. This is the level Mark, Thomas, and Memo visit. In the first season, only the lowest level is shown.
There are better places in the Black Tower like Marten’s Court, where the old warriors who know how to kill the Gryphon live. Thomas believes that he can get to Marten’s Court if he defeats the Gryphon. The only way to get to the upper levels is through the lowest level.
The Black Tower is a place where the soul and the body of a person become their true selves. Memo, who is a good person, loses his limp and does not need glasses when he gets to the Black Tower and is able to do everything that he cannot do in the human world.
Furthermore, the Black Tower has creatures made of stone as well as creatures that can taste human thoughts called Man-Iths. These creatures work for another powerful being, known as the Gryphon or the Great Eagle, that conquered and enslaved the Black Tower.
The ruler of the Black Tower
The Gryphon is born from hatred, and it rules the Black Tower. It is not a human or an animal. It is not even made of stone or flesh.
Its slave hunters hunt and enslave all the humans in the Black Tower. It wishes to conquer other worlds also, but like every other creature born in the Black Tower, the Gryphon cannot leave that world.
Thomas tells Mark that the Gryphon needs their blood to survive and that it will keep coming after them and their children if they do not kill it. Although the Gryphon is trapped in the Black Tower, it can still control stone objects in the human world.
The Gryphon is said to be invincible, and only the members of Mark’s family can kill it using the Lot, a carpenter’s tool. The Gryphon feeds on Mark’s anger, and Mark’s constant anger wakes him up. Its loyal workers then bring it a human being, and the Gryphon is able to speak through him.
Even the Gryphon’s workers have not seen it, as it never steps out of the dark place where it resides. It is forced to step out to fight Mark when its minions fail to capture him.
As the Gryphon wishes to step into and conquer different worlds, it plans to kill Mark, who is the Traveler between Worlds and has the power to teleport. The Gryphon wants to absorb his power, which would allow him to achieve its goal.
When the Gryphon comes to fight Mark, it appears to be a monster that resembles an eagle. However, it fails to kill Mark, who goes back to the human world with his brother.
Also Read: Dr. Peters: The Gryphon character explained
