Donald and Della are taken by surprise and awe when they see Baby!Jeeves while Scrooge is aware that it's a trap. This makes sense, since the twins had never met Jeeves or Rockerduck beforehand: the only times those two villains appeared were in Scrooge's past in Gumption and the Foreverglades. Both adventures were ones where the Duck Twins were not present.
It seems highly impossible for F.O.W.L. to have captured and contained so many mythical and powerful beings (the Greek Gods, the Norse Gods, Magica de Spell, Santa Claus, etc.) but then you remember that they have Gene the reality-bending Benevolent Genie at their mercy. So by using his lamp, or by the Phantom manipulating his magic through his gauntlet, Bradford would simply need to wish for every being that Clan McDuck has ever encountered, whether mortal or mythical, to be rounded up in the Lost Library and be detained in glass prisons that they can't escape from without F.O.W.L.'s approval.
It may also explain why Gene doesn't participate in the finale after he's freed; he most likely returned to his lamp (wherever that is) to wait for someone to make another wish on it.
Some fans have wondered why Black Heron, or Bradford, didn't figure out that Webby was April sooner. As shown in Beakley's flashback, she burned the F.O.W.L. headquarters to the ground, which would have given the impression that April was a casualty. And with Scrooge being stuck in his depression, Bradford may have felt that there would be no need to create an heir considering Scrooge's subdued state so he decided to cancel Project 87. So for the next ten years, Black Heron would be more focused on her own, smaller projects along with tracking her hated rival that her lost clone project became a faded memory.
Alternatively, since she had the footage of Beakley retrieving something from her lab on record, Black Heron may have already known April was still alive back and figured out Webby's true identity when she (Webby) and Scrooge came to rescue Beakley. But she put her cloning plan to the side for the moment so she could complete the bouncing formula and have her revenge. It's worth noting that after she did so, she seemed like she was about to take Webby with her; taking the series finale into account, it wouldn't have been just to keep Scrooge and Beakley off her tail in case they came after her. She was going to take her back to F.O.W.L. so they could get the Papyrus of Binding!
So, Magica turns Bradford into a non-anthropomorphic buzzard. Apparently, he’s now her Replacement Goldfish for Poe.
Webby being Scrooge's cloned daughter explains a lot about her, especially her fangirlism towards Scrooge and natural affinity to adventure (and the inherent danger involved).
Webby is able to retrieve the Papyrus of Binding because she's a clone of Scrooge. Originally, Scrooge wrote that it could only be retrieved by his heir, and who would Scrooge trust to inherit his fortune more than himself?
In addition, besides being Scrooge's most direct descendant, she was accepted into his family even before her true heritage is revealed, befitting the "found family" theme, which is likely why May and June, despite being clones of her, couldn't do it.
Another reason that May and June couldn't find the Papyrus of Binding is inheritance law. Barring a specific change to the contrary, the heir is usually the eldest child. Even if May and June could be considered Scrooge's daughters in the way Webby could, they would be the younger daughters to Webby's eldest. Alternatively, as they were made from Webby the way she was made from Scrooge, they're Webby's heirs, not Scrooge's, and the literal nature of the Papyrus wouldn't accept them on that basis.
Or, it really could've been any blood relative of Scrooge. In "The First Adventure!", Scrooge didn't implement a definition of heir when he wrote it, so the wording allows the papyrus to loosely interpret an heir as either a direct descendant or use discretion to identify amongst Scrooge's living blood relatives. Scrooge very much stated that Donald and Della were potential inheritors due to them being the only living relatives below his generation at the time, hence why he told Black Heron that no one would be able to find the papyrus if they get killed. Therefore, legitimate heirs as defined at the time of the writing would have to be those descended from Scrooge, Donald or Della, so May and June don't count because they were made from Webby, and not any of the three, while Webby is a direct clone of Scrooge. Della's understanding of the wording was to mean a direct descendant, which was what she told her sons, and Heron interpreted it that way as well. Even if Bradford did consider any of the Ducks as possible recipients, he'd narrow it down to the triplets, but he'd still have no way of knowing how the Papyrus would interpret an heir besides a direct descendant. So, he went with the "direct descendant" option Black Heron told him, because he knows that's going to work by default.
The "family being the greatest adventure of all" loophole seems like a stretch, but the contract was still active even after Bradford technically broke it when he almost threw Donald into the Vortex and attacked Scrooge's family, foreshadowing that it isn't as airtight as he thought.
Also, the contract was being enforced by the Papyrus of Binding, which has been proven before to be a Literal Genie with Exact Words. Remember, the Papyrus also spared Donald and Della when they were young because Black Heron called them Scrooge's "sidekicks" instead of his family. By that logic, the artifact seems perfectly fine enforcing the "family" loophole as well.
Also consider the nature of Scrooge’s family in particular. A nephew born with bad luck, a pilot prone to crash-landings, and a scientist whose creations always turn hostile, just to name a few. Not to mention, enemies like Magica and Glomgold are still going to come after him and his family anyway. His family will always end up in dangerous situations even if they try to avoid it, so it's virtually impossible for Scrooge to keep them and avoid adventure at the same time.
Immediately proven because Scrooge was prevented by the magical chains from even saving himself when Bradford tried to kill him. The entire scenario at that moment is an adventure, and it isn't a far stretch to assume any attempt to beat him would also be an adventure. It may even be defined like that in the contract.
Tied to the above, the contract guarantees that his family would be safe if Scrooge gives up adventuring. Meaning the Big Damn Heroes moment by Huey, Gyro, and Gandra was done precisely in time to save Donald in accordance to the Papyrus. This is also a hint towards Bradford's undoing as he didn't think through everything in his contract, thus either forgot or didn't realize that the Papyrus would protect Scrooge's family.
Consider also that even if the line is cheesy and cliche, the Papyrus is binding and must act according to Exact Words. Bradford, in fact, did build an airtight contract. And it doesn't matter if he doesn't believe that family is the greatest adventure. It doesn't even matter whether Scrooge believes in it. All it takes to put the contract in a catch-22 is for just one member of Scrooge's family to believe those words, because as long as anyone in the family feels that just being with Scrooge is an adventure, the contract breaks, because Scrooge would be part of that family member's adventure. That they all believe it is just icing on the cake, but writing a contract that tries to control feelings and circumstances was just doomed from the start.
Some fans dislike the twist of Webby being related to Scrooge because they feel that it undermines the "found family" aspect of her character arc. But besides still viewing Beakley as her family even after the reveal that there's no biological relationship between the two, how she and Scrooge were considering each other family even before this came to light, and Scrooge referring to the whole group that reached the top of the tower as "his family", it just reinforces how family is more than blood ties, which was Webby's argument for May and June all along.
It actually goes much deeper than that. Their relation is coincidental; she'd earned her way into the McDuck family by disobeying her Grannie to go on an adventure, by studying every fact she could find about the McDuck clan, and by insisting that she be allowed to adventure alongside the McDucks. Huey is smarter than the smarties, Dewey is tougher than the toughies, and Louie is sharper than the sharpies. But Webby earned her place, fair and square, with hard work.
Bradford's failure to see the loophole that destroyed the contract, and his shocked disbelief that it worked, were due to his lifelong hostility and rejection towards the entire concept of family, as he grew to hate his own grandmother and likely his own parents and other family members by extension.
Bradford still proclaims he isn’t a villain until the bitter end to Scrooge’s three biggest, and original, nemeses. To which Magica admits he isn’t one. This makes sense since she, Ma Beagle, and Glomgold have openly said at least once they were indeed villains of a sort. They openly embraced their villainous actions and proclaimed their villainy, while Bradford has always denied it or kept it under wraps.
It could also be Magica's way of mocking how Bradford begs on his knees for mercy in the face of defeat. All three of Scrooge's worst enemies have done things with a hands-on approach and don't waste their time sucking up when things get hard—it's why they've been effective threats towards him in the first place. Bradford, on the other hand, leeched off of Scrooge to build F.O.W.L. as an organization instead of "earning his money square," repeatedly made his subordinates do all the dirty work, did nothing other than try to run away when the Ramrod was set to destroy reality, and only faced the McDucks head-on when he had the Sword of Swanstantine to lean on. As such, Magica's response is one of disappointment: she, Ma Beagle and Glomgold became real villains thanks to their own effort or handiwork, whereas Bradford cheated and cut every corner in becoming a threat to Scrooge. Her line may also double as a simple Pre-emptive Declaration before condemning Bradford to a role as her mere mindless pet.
In a way, despite them being villains, they followed Scrooge's old saying "Tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties, sharper than the sharpies, and making their way square".
The other reason they're disappointed is that beforehand, no one has been stupid enough to try to capture them and reduce them to mindless pawns. While Magica and Ma Beagle did it to Lena and the Beagle Boys respectively, those examples follow a villain-themed hierarchy and can be considered exceptions. Generally, though, most ducks don't try to commit suicide by capturing and brainwashing the most powerful adult sorceress in Duckburg, let alone the second-richest duck in the world or a crime boss with hundreds of descendants at her bidding. While Glomgold teamed up with Magica under protest, he came to see how tough and vicious she could be. Magica also admitted that she respects Scrooge too much to rob him of his Dime while he's down. Bradford had neither respect nor a sense of self-preservation.
The villains leave peacefully after Magica transforms Bradford, not even stopping to say something like "Curse you McDuck!" Perhaps Scrooge's genuine apology in the last episode had more of an impact than it appeared at the time.
Then again, it was thanks to Scrooge that Magica got her powers back and other villains were freed. Not to mention Ma Beagle knows when to pick her fights, and even Glomgold wouldn't be dumb enough to attack his arch-enemy with his entire family surrounding him. Altogether, it likely wasn't worth the effort (and wouldn't be very classy).
Bradford likely used F.O.W.L. to both use dangerous elements to advance his plans and keep them where he could easily find them before eliminating them. Hence why loose cannons like Steelbeak, Black Heron, and Phantom Blot had been hired and continuously put on missions despite being obvious liabilities.
Gyro saw all of his creations as imperfect and flawed, especially Lil' Bulb and B.O.Y.D. But then he accepted them for who they were and was able to love them as family members instead of things. They returned those feelings and never left his side.
Fenton wanted to be recognized for his innovative thinking and as a scientist-turned superhero. Gandra thought no one would understand or appreciate her ideas. When they found each other, they discovered someone who liked them for themselves and in turn learned to love who they were.
Launchpad always admired Darkwing Duck and superheroes in general. He was always labeled as the goofy sidekick who couldn’t do anything right (especially as a pilot). The only time he was competent and helpful was when he was hit with the smart ray, only for Dewey to tell him that he liked Launchpad as himself. In the end, Launchpad learned he had the heart and courage of a hero the whole time and was able to save everyone by being himself. And now he’s part of a new adventure with a new family (Drake Mallard and Gosalyn).
Darkwing is seen thrashing about while falling. He regains control only when Launchpad and Gosalyn grab on to his cape and fall alongside him. The creators and fandom of the Darkwing Duck cartoon have stated that Darkwing's hero career would have gone down a path of self-absorbed self-destruction if he didn't have his partner and adopted daughter by his side to keep his ego in check. The same thing applies to his reboot counterpart.
Lena and Violet were considered oddballs (Lena with her magic/unusual birth and Violet with being too smart by her peers). But they accepted each other for who they are and now can share their adventures with their new friends May and June.
Ms. Beakley is seen with her hair down as she was falling, symbolizing her being less stern and letting herself go.
Della is shown riding on Manny while Donald is holding onto his tail for dear life. The Duck twins know they won't always be together, but they will always be family.
The McDuck family (Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby) will always be together having adventures as a family.
Plus, the arrangement in a circle reflect how each child took on aspects of who Scrooge is, while improving each other through their contrasts as well.
Manny is revealed to be this world's version of Goliath, who was a Big Good if Knight in Sour Armor within the original Gargoyles canon. Yet he’s nicer, since he proclaims that he’s no longer the horse he used to be, and likes being an intern and McDuck employee. In the first season finale, he told Little Bulb, "I need this job." That wasn't because he needed the income; Scrooge became Manny's Morality Chain and inspired him to be better, if less capable power-wise.
What made Manny step up to the plate? When Scrooge's kids were in danger and needed his help. And Goliath himself was fond of gargoyle hatchlings, who were normally raised in a communal setting where all clan members are considered their parents instead of individual couples.
Also, when did Manny took on his Gargoyle form? After Lena changed his body back from stone.
May and June are Easily Forgiven for kidnapping Webby, helping F.O.W.L. steal the Missing Mysteries, and nearly enabling Bradford's Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum. It's because, like Lena, they were manipulated into helping the people they saw as family. They also realized they went too far when Bradford killed Heron, and Webby's face lit up in empathy because she'd gone through that once before and knew they didn't truly want to be evil.
It seems strange that a Card-Carrying Villain like Black Heron would go along with Bradford's plan to rid the world of adventure. But if you assume that her entire goal was to corrupt Bradford from a Well-Intentioned Extremist into a full-on supervillain, it makes sense. Win or lose, Bradford's actions and endgame undoubtedly paint him as a villain: If he wins, then evil conquers the world since "good" would be anything opposing his ideology and erased. If he loses, then he'll still be remembered as another villain who lost to Scrooge McDuck. Bradford backstabbing her doesn't change her goal because it still proves that she's succeeded in turning him into an unrepentant villain. So no matter what, she gets what she wants.
Of course the universe wouldn't let Donald die by letting the Vortex cause his Cessation of Existence. His bad luck streak thrives on his misery, and he needs to be alive to suffer.
While Bradford claims that all the chaos is derived from Scrooge McDuck, many of the examples he lists, he had a hand in causing in some way:
The Moon only invaded because the Spear of Selene crashed and stranded Della on the moon, which was due to Bradford's interference.
The death of Duckworth caused Scrooge to become reclusive and as such created an opening for other dangerous forces to become more prominent.
Bradford's own failure to manage Scrooge's business allowed Mark Beaks to rise through the ranks and gather enough financial power to become a theoretical rival to the McDucks.
Bradford tried to fire Doctor Gearloose, which as the B.O.Y.D. episode showed, may have lead to a person with the power to create deadly superweapons being sent out into the world without any supervision.
Bradford gathered an entire legion of villains and gave them all the resources and connections they would need in order to cause more chaos.
Moreover, while Scrooge does cause some chaos, he pays for the cleanup, as demonstrated in the Launchpad promo. Bradford, on the other hand, has left a trail of betrayal, destruction and chaos in his wake, while never once taking even a moment to try and fix the damage he caused along the way.
It makes sense why F.O.W.L. wanted to make an Opposite-Sex Clone of Scrooge instead of a direct clone of him. If Scrooge ever saw a clone of himself walking around, he would have become too suspicious and potentially found out F.O.W.L.'s operation. Making a clone of the opposite gender would leave him none the wiser.
It seems rather fitting that the final boss of the series is trying to destroy the very heart and soul of DuckTales: The Call to Adventure!
Both The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! and Louie being able to go through the Papyrus' contract to find a loophole show that Louie would likely have a more promising career as an attorney rather than a businessman/tycoon. One thing Louie is good at is talking his way out of things, and he actively perfects that skill. Combining that with his streak of seeking justice could set him up to be in the top 25% of salaried lawyers. So, why hasn't Louie considered a career in law? Well, Louie may want to make enough money to at least live comfortably, but a kid his age wouldn't be expected to know much about lawyers and the law, much less the salary for it; and because he's still a kid, his idea of a high-paying job is very idealized and naive, rooted in the stereotype of entrepreneurs, tycoons, businessmen, and socialites (and it probably doesn't help that every single rich person he's encountered is one of those types). Finally, he's not the kind of person who'd even bother doing research into the realm of law.
In contrast to his Upper-Class Twit archetype, Rockerduck is shown to be actively involved and patient in raising his baby butler. Real Life studies show that the parenting style and nurture given to a child can influence how they respond to their caregivers when they're older. When the time came for Jeeves to be turned back into his original form for the Final Battle, he'd be more compliant in following the will of his boss/father figure.
Since Bradford was the cause of Della and Donald's separation, and Magica lost her twin brother herself, it's rather fitting Magica is the one who does Bradford in, and lets Scrooge off the hook for their grudge.
It's noted in the Heartwarming page, but Scrooge never once questions Webby's declaring him her dad except to confirm it. He, better than anyone, knows the requirement to find the Papyrus of Binding. Only his heir can locate it so, if Bradford had it, he had found someone who could be Scrooge's heir. Webby's calling him "Dad" is only the last piece of the puzzle before he realizes more or less what's going on.
Webby and Lena's friendship takes on a whole new meaning with the former being Scrooge's clone by science and the latter being Magica's arcane creation. The two forged peace between their Feuding Families!
Bradford having merely given Della knowledge of the Spear of Selene (rather than, say, having sabotaged the ship) means that while he gets partial blame for the events, Della still rightfully takes responsibility for her own poor choices and retains the character growth she got out of them.
Before the Spear of Selene incident, Bradford could have just sided with Donald to get them to take a break from Adventuring, instead of telling Della about it so she'd impulsively take it. Given it was hinted Black Heron was corrupting Bradford into villainy, it's likely she nudged him into doing the more underhand thing rather than the boring, ethical choice of simply siding with Donald.
If Webby is an Opposite-Sex Clone, shouldn't the episode bother to reveal how they got Scrooge's DNA to make her? Even May and June are allowed this explanation. Well, in Scrooge's case, it would be so easy as to not need explained. Scrooge's dangerous lifestyle has obviously led to him being scraped, stabbed, and cut more than a few times over the years, shedding a generous amount of blood. In other words, Scrooge's DNA would be easy enough to obtain - he's left it all over the globe.* Not remotely what I meant.
During her rambling, Pepper mentions that she "found herself" after spending time working in the F.O.W.L. archives. Webby ends up following suit after going through their database.
In a weird way, Scrooge actually gave himself a mystical out when he wrote on the papyrus. He said that the true heir of Scrooge Mcduck would find it "at its final resting place". And indeed, the papyrus doesn't leave the space because it disintegrates when it can find no way out of the contradiction in its use.
When Lena first determines May and June "[are] Webby," Gyro is looking at some results of his own, looking very disturbed, and twice tries to say something only to be interrupted. Could he have seen something... familiar in their genetic makeup with implications for his boss that he couldn't comprehend...?
Donald and Daisy planning to adopt May and June is more than just a signal of Donald's maturity. With two more kids now directly under his wing and in need of more guidance than most, he will have to withdraw - never entirely - from overseeing the boys. He trusts in the job he has done raising them, and in his twin sister to finally fully take up her position as an active mother. Sis, you got this - is what he seems to be saying.
Fridge Horror
What was Manny like in the past before he met the Ducks and became Gyro’s intern? There are two possible interpretations:
On the one hand, Goliath in Gargoyles was a case of Dark Is Not Evil and Hero with Bad Publicity, so he may have just had a bad reputation which would explain him hiding his identity until F.O.W.L. forced it out of him.
He's the version of Goliath that went off the deep end, as we saw could happen in a Bad Future or alternate timeline, having reached his Rage Breaking Point about losing his kin and getting betrayed. Scrooge had to seal him away, and put him in the garage. This gave Manny time to think about his life, and he pulled a Heel–Face Turn when Scrooge gave him a head, and a chance to be normal.
If Goliath is in this universe, does that mean Demona is too, hatred of people and all? Thank goodness the series is over because Manny would not be pleased on seeing his ex again. And how about Xanatos? Though, on the bright side, it also opens the possibility for versions of Elisa Maza, the Manhattan Clan, and other good characters from the series to exist in this universe as well.
Black Heron’s reaction to Bradford’s betrayal hints that much of her previous goofy behavior was an act, and that she was trying to make Bradford embrace being a villain the whole time. Could he have been redeemed if she hadn’t been manipulating him all these years?
The Solego Circuit disrupted reality further with each use the first time it was activated, could Bradford using it to rid the world of adventure have done the same?
We never see what happens to a good portion of the F.O.W.L. High Command, did they escape to become future threats?
Bradford being dragged along on his grandmother's adventures is bad for his overall well-being and was what warped his view on adventure. You then realize that this is effectively how the average person would feel like in the DuckTales universe or just any comic book setting in general whenever they get caught in the crossfire between heroes and villains. Is it any wonder why Bradford keeps thinking himself as in the right? Because he is.
On that note, the fact that Isabella Finch kept dragging her completely unwilling and incompetent grandson along was what started this mess. Talk about the Butterfly Effect.
It's also a bit of a reminder of Scrooge's own morality: if Louie (because it is always Louie) wants to sit out an adventure because he doesn't want to, Scrooge is open to it. It's a way he's surpassed his mentor.
Alas, but no. In the series itself, there are no examples of Scrooge asking his nephew if he wants to go on an adventure or not. So it is impossible to completely rule out the possibility that Louie may become the new Bradford. Things happen.
Things happen indeed. Remember, Louie agreed with Bradford on the merits of living in the real world, saying he always protests adventuring, but nobody listens, so it's pointless. And way back in the very first episode, the triplets all agree that Louie is the evil one. We should count ourselves lucky that Louie's Character Development has been largely centered around right, wrong and responsibility, making him less likely to involve innocent people, even if he was to become estranged from his family later in life.
During Bradford's presentation, he mentioned that he tried to isolate Scrooge. As he said that, there was a picture of Bradford glaring at Scrooge and Duckworth at the Christmas party, and then one of Scrooge sadly looking at Duckworth's portrait after he died. This implies that Bradford may have had Duckworth killed.
Given Duckworth seems to have died after Della disappeared and before Beakley arrived with Webby, how possible is it that Bradford decided to deliberately off Duckworth immediately after Della left in order to maximize Scrooge's suffering?
Bradford admitting to Scrooge’s face that he tore his family apart once before; he was the one who told Della about the Spear of Selene, which means that he single-handedly kicked off most of the events of the series’ plot; Scrooge's family breaking apart leading to Magica being indirectly released, and Della getting stranded on the moon lead to Lunaris being able to invade Earth.
Why didn't Della tell Scrooge how she knew about the Spear of Selene when it was supposed to be a surprise? Because Bradford anonymously leaked the news to her so she doesn't know who messaged her about it.
After Magica turned Bradford non-anthropomorphic, is he now truly non-sapient, or is he trapped in an And I Must Scream state?
And if the latter is true, the same could also be said about Poe and all of the innocent people Magica turned into farm animals, as established in the previous episode.
Given the Early-Installment Weirdness that Buford was more talkative in the pilot, and how quickly Bradford disposed of his clones, there are hints that Bradford treats them as expendable and has replaced them before to do his bidding. How many clones could he have destroyed before settling with ones that wouldn't talk?
Or perhaps Bradford's clones degenerated over time. Imagine going from being competent enough to co-audit the largest fortune in the world, to being nearly an invalid, over the course of a few years. The clones were aware enough to be surprised when they were tossed away, so presumably they were aware of their loss of faculties, which would likely have been gradual.
Bradford hints that he knew who Webby was the whole time, long before the triplets returned to Scrooge's life. Scrooge trusted him as an accountant, and Bradford knew that Beakley was a SHUSH agent that infiltrated F.O.W.L and that she had no grandchildren. Plus, the physical resemblance is still there from when she was a baby. It's only thanks to his Pragmatic Villainy that he didn't politely ask her to help him find the Papyrus earlier when she visited the Money Bin multiple times, since he wanted the other Missing Mysteries under his thumb. Imagine if he had, and Webby had found the Papyrus long before F.O.W.L. revealed itself. Then he might have easily won.
There'd be no reason to have Webby get the Papyrus pre-series. The contract relies on forcing Scrooge to choose between adventuring and his family. Until the end of the first episode, Scrooge didn't care about either (that is, he thought he'd already lost them, so he had no emotional investment in it either way). Getting Webby involved without having Scrooge in a vulnerable state would have just been showing his hand. Webby became obsessed with a mailman who stopped coming to her house; how do you think she would have reacted if Scrooge's CEO asked her to do something and a glowing ancient scroll appeared out of thin air? Either she would tell Beakley, or Bradford would abduct her to stop her from telling Beakley and her absence would alert Beakley.
We never see Don Karnage after his plane crashes.
Nobody ever actually refers to Webby as a clone, even the people directly responsible for her creation. It's entirely possible that no sci fi or fantasy elements were required in her case and they made her the same way they make babies in fertility clinics... which, because this would require, well, a very specific type of contribution from Scrooge that they would somehow have had to obtain without his knowledge, is a hundred times creepier.
Among the people in F.O.W.L.'s cells are Timmy Jenkins and a dog. This means that it dosen't matter whether you like the McDucks or whether you were even directly involved in their adventures, as long as you pretty much laid an eye on them, you are on Bradford's hit list.
This also makes way for a horrifying implication: How many people were kidnaped and almost killed by Bradford's plan for pretty much liking the McDucks in an innocent, fanboy style? And how many were just because they were just for doing their job (say, people who worked at a bank and gave one of them insurance money) and didn't even had an opinion of them at all?
Goofy is shown among the people on Bradford's slideshow, indicating he's a target too. That's distressing enough, but consider that Goofy has a son. So is Max among those trapped characters too, or did Bradford just take his father away and almost leave Max an orphan?
While stuck on an island, Donald made a melon friend based on Mickey Mouse, implying they're still friends in this continuity. If that's the case, does this mean the Mouse himself was among these targets too? Or Minnie? Or Pluto?
One fan theory explaining why May and June didn't qualify as Scrooge's "heir" is because, since Webby was made first, she gets the first born's rights of succession. It's a good thing that apparently never occurred to Bradford, as the easy way around that obstacle, as has been done throughout history and fiction, is to simply... eliminate the first born...
One of the drawings in Isabella Finch's book resembles Bill Cipher. Given how this universe had versions of many pre-established Disney characters (granted, most of them Duck-related or from The Disney Afternoon), does this mean that there's a version of Bill lurking around in this universe?
Bill Cipher cameo'd in Rick and Morty of all things. It's probably not just "a version of Bill". Which might thankfully mean he's not a threat.
Fridge Sadness
Della telling Donald that she's scared of being separated from him hits a lot harder when you look at it from a meta perspective. Della was originally created in 1937 and it took more than 80 years before making her animated debut and getting to interact with her brother, Uncle Scrooge and her sons. And even in the comics, she was used sparingly and was always separated from them for the sake of drama. Donald, on the other hand, is a timeless character who's featured in a variety of comics and cartoons, frequently interacts with his nephews and uncle, and is no doubt destined to make more appearances in future Disney cartoons. For Della, especially this incarnation of her, this may be one of the few times she gets to actually be with her brother and family.
Doubles with Fridge Heartwarming, but when Beakley goes to McDuck Manor seeking refuge alongside Baby!Webby, we see Scrooge for a split second with an angry expression before changing his expression to one of peace. It's without question that this took place after Della was lost in space along with Donald separating himself and the newborn nephews out of scorn. Scrooge was no doubt still processing his grief over the loss of his family (and possibly Duckworth considering that the butler died sometime after Della's disappearance and how Scrooge had to open the door himself). Seeing one of his oldest friends return in his hour of need and offering to be his housekeeper, along with what was possibly the closest he would ever be to having a newborn child in his life, the trillionaire could only welcome the two with open arms.
Why does Magica just leave Scrooge and the others alone in the end? A few possible reasons.
It's possible his remorse for wronging them in the previous episode actually resonated with them.
Magica lost her brother because of her fight with Scrooge. Scrooge nearly lost everyone he loved today, and watched his beloved nephew get tossed into seeming oblivion, and already lost his neice for ten years. Adding to the above apology, he's a lot more humble and understands Magica's pain. Getting to inflict that same curse on someone who claims themselves to be Scrooge's greatest enemy probably helped.
She wants an epic final showdown with Scrooge, and he just faced a battle to the near death. It's likely she wanted to fight him when he wasn't as tired and in better shape. Hell, Magica may be a bit tired too after that fight in the prison.
It's possible she and even the other villains are at least a bit grateful that the McDucks saved them from being brainwashed and wiped from existence.
Beakley's answer to Webby wasn't a total lie, as outside of talking about her nonexistant child and in-law, it is more or less exactly what happened. The moment she laid eyes on Webby was when she realized just how much of life she has missed out on, and buried her past to raise the duckling as her own.
Fridge Squick
None of the F.O.W.L. prison cells have toilets. Planning to disintegrate them doesn't mean they don't need to answer nature's call before then.
Fridge Logic
It’s implied that Scrooge rented out Funso's entire facility for the birthday party, which would have included drinks and some amount of food (not to mention, kept innocents away should the raid go wrong). Thus, Webby asking for a cup for "water" and then getting Pep was not costing the facility anything: it was just a customer getting what had already been paid for. Check the waitress's expression as she hands over the cup: having learned of the scam from prior experience with Louie, she was knowingly indulging Webby, on an occasion where the waitress would not get in trouble for doing so. Webby and Louie thought Webby pulled a fast one, though.
At the same time, Scrooge renting out all of Funso's is likely what tipped F.O.W.L. off to the pending raid. While it's unclear whether F.O.W.L. actually owns Funso's, they would at least been able to learn through the Phantom Blot's role as the mascot about the party and infer from Scrooge's out-of-character act of spending a large sum of money on it that he was on to them. Attempting the raid during a normal day of Funso's operations could have definitely caught more innocent bystanders in the crossfire, but could have also increased the chances of F.O.W.L. being caught off-guard and the raid succeeding.
