http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DuckTales2017S2E17WhatEverHappenedToDonaldDuck
Donald and Penumbra must break out of a Moon Prison and send a warning to Earth about a looming invasion; Dewey and Webby uncover a sinister conspiracy targeting their family.
Tropes:
- Air-Vent Passageway: Penumbra tells Donald to go through the air vents to the warehouse. Unfortunately, a Moon creature is also in the vents.
- Aliens Speaking English: The aliens speak English, but Donald still can't make himself understood when he tries to talk to them.
- And Then What?: Now that the mystery of the Spear of Selene is solved, and Della has returned home, Dewey and Webby are wanting for a fresh multi-adventure-spanning mystery.
- Berserk Button:
- Once Lunaris unveils his plan to kill the nephews in an effort to break the spirit of Scrooge aka the one he feels is the most threat, Donald loses it. Granted he's still not a physical match for Lunaris but he does manage to confound him enough to get a garbled transmission through.
- Likewise Lunaris has his own pushed when Donald repeats Della's phrase of the moon not being a planet, but in fact, a moon. He gets very angry, not even letting Donald finish.
- Big Shadow, Little Creature: The creature in the vents is first seen as a sinister shadow. As the creature approaches Donald, the camera cuts between the creature looming large and Donald staring in horror. When the creature reaches Donald, it's revealed to be rather small and harmless.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The scorpion-like bug glows a faint blue in the dark, but is a sickly green under normal lighting, similar to bioluminescence in the real life scorpions it resembles who glow under moonlight.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When Lunaris catches Donald and Penumbra in his war room planning to warn the Earth of his invasion, he taunts the former with his.
Lunaris: I believe the words you're looking for are, "Ah, phooey."
- Bound and Gagged: Lunaris puts a metal gag on Donald's beak to stop him from squawking.
- Breaking the Bonds: Once Lunaris hits Donald's Berserk Button, the duck gets furious enough to break his beak's metal gag.
- Butt-Monkey: According to Jones, Donald's penchant for being this is the reason for his Hair-Trigger Temper. He fears that the world is out to get him and that nobody understands him (and in the latter case, literally).
- Call to Adventure: Discussed by Scrooge. Dewey and Webby have been trying to find a new mystery to solve after spending so much time working on solving the Spear of Selene mystery. Scrooge tells them that they can't just make adventures happen, adventure has to call them. When Huey wonders why his postcards to Donald have been returned, they take it as a new mystery.
- Captive Push: During the cold open, Donald's arms are shackled behind his back while Penumbra drags him forward and tosses him to the crowd.
- Crazy-Prepared: Lunaris had been planning the war on Earth before Della even landed on the moon, and had information on many of Earth's inhabitants, particularly Scrooge and family. He also puts a Restraining Bolt on Penumbra in case she betrays him (as she does after finding the war room).
- Cross-Referenced Titles: With the earlier episode "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!".
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Donald vs the Moon's barracked army.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Donald is sorely outmatched against Lunaris, but he does get a few good hits in.
- Decon-Recon Switch: Donald's iconic Hair-Trigger Temper is revealed to have gone through this for the reboot. The deconstruction comes from Jones explaining that his anger issues are because Donald is afraid that the world is out to get him, because of his unlucky streak, and that no one can understand him due to his speech impediment. Thus leading him to frequently lash out in frustration. The reconstruction comes in when Donald became the new guardian of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Wanting to be the best parent possible, Donald sought out Jones' therapy sessions and was able to channel his anger into protective instincts. Thus turning him into the Papa Wolf we all know and love.
- Defiant Captive: Donald is silent, feeling very sorry for himself - until Lunaris mentions Della.
- Destroying a Punching Bag: A broken punching bag is seen in Jones' office, where Donald had gone to "vent his frustration".
- Determinator: Donald manages to force himself to stay conscious in Lunaris' prototype rocket through sheer willpower.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Averted. Lunaris boasts that he knows the best way to break an opponent is to first take out their loved ones (children included and, in this case, first).
- Faceless Mooks: Of a sort. While the Lunarians have different builds and skin tones, all the soldiers except Lunaris and Penumbra have a visor that blocks their eyes.
- Failed a Spot Check: Dewey and Webby don't notice the bill attached to the letter Jones mailed to Donald demanding his payment.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The screens in Lunaris's War Room are chock full of Foreshadowing. Some of the targets he has been tracking include Don Karnage, Faris Djinn, and the Doomsday Vault.
- Funny Background Event: Donald trying to reattach the poster in his cell whilst Lunaris and Penumbra are talking.
- Hard Head: Donald's comes back into play when he takes Lunaris' prototype ship to Earth out of desperation. It had previously been shown crushing a test dummy's head from the g-forces but Donald survives with some major discomfort and hallucinations.
- Heel–Face Turn: Penumbra, horrified at the ruthlessness of Lunaris, has officially had a change of heart by this episode. She doesn't hesitate to help Della's brother Donald and laid it out on the line to make sure Donald escapes and stops the invasion.
- High-Pressure Emotion: When Lunaris says that the kids will be the first to fall, Donald gets red with rage.
- Human Mail: Dewey and Webby try to mail themselves to the address on the postcard to see why it was returned. When the mail carrier picks up the box, the pair just stay on the step because Dewey forgot to tape the bottom of the box.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Donald, after Lunaris threatens his family.
- Luck-Based Search Technique: Donald inadvertently discovers Lunaris' war room by leaning against the holographic wall hiding it and falling through. Once inside, he also accidentally finds the right button that reveals the invasion plans when he leans on a computer.
- Made of Iron: Donald survives being fired from a cannon to Earth, something Lunaris explicitly says nobody can survive.
- Meaningful Echo: When Penumbra sees the test fires of the Moon-to-Earth cannon, she says that no living being could survive that. Lunaris makes a similar claim while watching Donald take off in one.
- Medal of Dishonor: Penumbra looks very uncomfortable with Lunaris promoting her for capturing Donald. Worse yet, it shocks her after discovering Lunaris' secret war room.
- Mythology Gag:
- Dewey has a conspiracy theory about existence of a fourth nephew named Phooey, which is a popular fan name given to the "4th nephew" who appeared sometimes in the comics as result of artist error or a misprint. His theory is based off a mustard stain, with yellow being the common color assigned to Phooey.
- Huey's postcard to Donald says "Calisota", which is the name of the fictional state where Duckburg is located.
- Jones' office door says "Good Neighbor Therapy" - a nod to the fact that the character in the comics (who makes his animated debut here) was mostly refered to as "Neighbor Jones" as he played the role of Donald's grumpy next door neighbor. Their not easy relationship presented in the episode is also a nod to the comics.
- Some of the moves Donald does when the Moon Scorpion is crawling around under his shirt are lifted from the 1952 short "Trick or Treat" where his feet are under the control of a witch's spell.
- No One Could Survive That!: Lunaris practically quotes this when Donald launches himself back to Earth in the pre-invasion test vessels he himself built. Clearly, he has no idea who he's messing with. But, our unlucky duck is guaranteed to get something worse.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Apparently Donald loves sending cheesy postcards to people while he's away on trips. Dewey takes the fact they haven't received any from him on the cruise as a sign something is amiss.
- Oh, Crap!: Donald upon hearing the alarm was about a creature in the vents that he's currently in.
- Papa Wolf: Donald. Especially after Lunaris threatens his kids. Apparently Jones specifically helped Donald become this during his anger management therapy, advising him to focus his anger on those who threaten his nephews.
- The Reveal: After finding the secret war room, Penumbra realizes that Lunaris was making plans for an invasion of Earth well-before Della crashed on the moon.
- Restraining Bolt: The piece Lunaris attaches to Penumbra's badge as a part of her rank up can electrocute her into submission at the push of button.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Penumbra is shocked by the new Captain badge Lunaris gave her, presumably because he suspected she would betray him before too long.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Dewey and Webby suspect that Donald not receiving postcards means that something happened to him. They suspect Jones is out to get him and has gone into hiding; while that turns out to be false, they were right about Donald being in danger.
- Saving the Orphanage: Webby attempts to use as a cover story that she's trying to stop a greedy land developer from shutting down her summer camp.
- Shout-Out:
- Donald slowly breaking his cell wall and covering it with a poster is similar to what Andy Dufresne did on The Shawshank Redemption.
- Lunaris' original idea to invade Earth was using a giant cannon to fire bullets with tripulants, the same method used in From the Earth to the Moon, with the twist that the bullets are fired from the Moon to Earth.
- Donald's experience traveling in the passenger bullet has shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with bright geometric grids passing him by.
- The camera angle and Donald’s movements while trying to keep everyone asleep resemble a Game & Watch game.
- Webby's cover story about a locket is similar to the one in the musical Annie.
- Squirrels in My Pants: Donald unintentionally took down most of the Moon soldiers when a small Moon creature enters through his shirt.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Dewey and Webby take Huey's postcard to Donald being returned as a sign that Donald's gone missing. Huey points out it's more likely that the post office was just unable to deliver it to the cruise ship. Unknown to him, he's the one that's wrong.
- Sustained Misunderstanding: When asked to distract Jones, Webby makes up a cover story about trying to stop an evil corporation from closing down a summer camp, as well as finding the other half of a necklace. By the end of the episode, she's believing her own cover.
- Tame His Anger: Donald's been going to anger therapy and channels his anger through protective instincts.
- Translation with an Agenda:
Donald: Hey, what's the big idea?
Lunarian: What did he say?
General Lunaris: He said... "Death to the Moon!"
- The Unintelligible:
- As usual, none of the Lunarians can understand what Donald is saying, which Lunaris uses to his advantage. Made even worse when Donald tries to send a message to Earth, but Scrooge passes it off as poor reception.
- It's also one of the reasons why Donald Duck has a Hair-Trigger Temper. Being both a Cosmic Plaything and a speech impediment that renders all but a handful of people capable of understanding him has left him with a lot of resentment.
- Use Your Head: Donald finds that he can crack the walls of his cell with his head. However, Penumbra frees him before he can try.
- Wham Line: "[Lunaris] has been planning [the invasion] before Della even got here."
- Wham Shot: Lunaris having a secret war room, and Penumbra and Donald realizing that Lunaris has been monitoring Earth, even before he met Della.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Scrooge is certainly not happy when he finds out that Dewey and Webby broke into Jones' office thinking he's a crook.
- Widely-Spaced Jail Bars: Played with. Rather than the usual vertical bars, the moon jail uses diagonally-crossed ones. It looks like there is enough space in the diamond-hole to escape, and Donald does try to, but he can't quite squeeze through.
- With Cat Like Tread: Dewey sings "Not Dewey" as he sneaks through Jones' office.
- The Worf Effect: Done with Donald in his fight with Lunaris. In the previous season, Donald has shown that he's able to take on the Beagle Boys and a large portion of Magicas Shadow Army (one of them armed with the Gizmoduck-suit, mind you) single- and barehanded and still win. But after landing a few good hits, Lunaris finds his bearing and is able to defeat Donald, cementing him as this seasons Big Bad and a true threat to the Duck-Family.
- Would Hurt a Child: Lunaris intends to harm the triplets as part of the upcoming invasion. He even addresses them by their full given names in front of Donald.
Lunaris: Most folks would target Scrooge McDuck. They don't realize the key to victory is to take out the children first to break your spirits.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Donald was able to send a transmission to Scrooge about the Moon's invasion. However, the reception is so bad that Scrooge dismisses it and thinks Donald's coming back in a month from the cruise, instead.
