In a mystical court, Scrooge's enemies accuse him of making them evil.
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: In the original series, we never learned how Poe got turned into a raven. Here, it's shown to be the result of him Taking the Bullet for Magica after Scrooge deflects one of her magic blasts.
- Adaptational Nonsapience: In the original series, Poe got turned into a sapient, talking raven. In this show, he becomes non-sapient.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the comics, Blackheart Beagle, grandpa and patriarch of the Beagle clan, was a ruthless, notorious thug, leader of an infamous gang of thieves, and Scrooge's oldest nemesis and one of his most dangerous foes. Here, he's an easily-defeated small town Con Man.
- An Aesop:
- Sometimes, when you have enemies, you might have had something to do with them turning out the way that they did.
- When you have wronged someone, the best thing you can do is be humble and admit that you were wrong, so you don't make the same mistake twice.
- Aesop Amnesia: Louie is once again in need of learning responsibility, despite allegedly having learned it during the last few episodes of Season 2.
- Considering that in the end Louie pushed the hunting of animals on his uncle, he did not learn a lesson in this episode either.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: After Poe gets turned into a raven, Magica could do nothing but pathetically beg for Scrooge to help her.
- Artistic License – Biology: Ravens shown in this episode, including the transformed Poe, have yellow beaks and feet as opposed to black. This is jarring considering Hecka, who is an anthropomorphic raven, correctly has her beak and feet both colored black. Of course, it may be justified that Poe retained his original yellow color of his beak and feet in his raven form, much like how he retained his hair and eyes, and the other black-and-yellow birds could be just a similar species such as the alpine chough.
- Asshole Victim: While this episode clarifies Scrooge's actions were what made them his enemies, all he did was exacerbate their lesser demons and they likely would have turned out like the people they are today whether he was involved or not. If anything, this episode proves that their hatred of Scrooge is just them shifting blame for their own bad habits.
- Poe and Magica. We're supposed to sympathize with them for what Scrooge did to them... while they were lording their power over helpless villagers, taunting children for fun, essentially killed everyone they transformed by removing their sapience, and started the fight with Scrooge, who was only there in the first place because of their stealing. What Scrooge did to the transformed villagers is one thing, but Magica and Poe were the direct cause of their own problems, with Scrooge's actions amounting to outwitting and refusing to help two magic-abusing tyrants who attacked him.
- Bait-and-Switch: After Louie apologizes, Doofus silently approaches him with a sinister expression, only to hug him and sincerely thank him.
- Big Brother Instinct: Poe realizes that Scrooge is no good and that he's goading his sister. He advises Magica to not listen to him, that he's not a threat. When Scrooge uses his dime to make Magica's spell recoil on her, Poe jumps in the way and takes the blow.
- Big "NO!": Glomgold after the villains' win is reversed.
- Big "WHAT?!": Magica's reaction to Doofus leaving after Louie apologizes to him. But she brushes it because it later just means he forfeits his share of his entitlements if Scrooge loses.
- Breather Episode: A relatively lighthearted episode, and the last episode released before the three-part series finale.
- Call-Back:
- Glomgold's first encounter with Scrooge gets referenced.
- Magica's spell was reflected off Scrooge's Number 1 Dime. The same thing happened when she got herself trapped inside of it, as seen in "The Shadow War".
- Cerebus Call-Back: Everything about Magica DeSpell when we see this episode:
- Magica told Webby and Lena that she created Lena from a shadow, and Lena is not family to her. It's because her last family member was her brother, whom Magica accidentally transformed into a raven.
- Likewise, Magica swears to Scrooge that she will take away everything that he loves. That's because he did the same thing to her, albeit by accident.
- Magica's original plan 15 years ago was to trap Scrooge in his #1 Dime to torture him with the one item he loves unconditionally. It's because that same dime recoiled her magic and got her brother transformed.
- Remember Magica's Big "NO!" when her magic hits Scrooge's dime and it frees him from the metal prison? The last time the Dime recoiled such magic, her brother got caught in the crossfire.
- Magica has Comical Overreacting when Scrooge sincerely thanks her. He says that by attacking him, his family mounted a rescue and reconciled with him, so she saved his family indirectly. Magica wanted that chance with Poe as well but never received it, partly in thanks to Scrooge. No wonder she completely lost it then and he was able to steal her staff.
- She's very protective of that staff, and forcibly took the amulet away from Lena after succeeding in getting the dime. It's the last thing she has of her brother's, and she knows that part is her fault at least.
- Courtroom Episode: Scrooge is taken to a magical court by his enemies as part of a plot by Doofus Drake to steal Scrooge’s fortune and bury Louie once and for all.
- Create Your Own Hero: While it's not completely Scrooge's fault for the below trope of him creating his villains, they, in turn, are responsible for crafting him into the man he is today. Which Louie capitalizes on as the last part of his uncle's defense.
- Create Your Own Villain: The whole episode is centered around Glomgold, Ma Beagle, and Magica De Spell talking about how Scrooge made them into the villains they are today. The episode ends with a Reconstruction of the trope, in that while it was Scrooge's fault that they became his enemies, their villainous natures were there before Scrooge entered their lives.
- Glomgold: Besides the one revealed in "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!", it's also revealed that Scrooge upstaged him during a treasure hunt and stranded him in a cave, leading to him having to form a kinship with the sharks there to survive (providing an explanation for his present-day shark obsession).
- Ma Beagle: After Scrooge managed to expose one of her dad's cons to the other Beagle Boys (taking the deed for Duckburg in the process), she berated her dad for getting caught and swore to be a better criminal than he was, taking over the Beagle Boys in the process.
- Magica: While she was always a villain, she gained an enmity against Scrooge in particular after a fight between them led to her beloved brother Poe turning into a raven and Scrooge refused to help her catch him before he flew away; she spent years searching for him, but could never find him.
- Cycle of Revenge: This is what Scrooge's battles with his greatest enemies have become: Scrooge did something bad to them (unintentionally or not), they try to take revenge, he fights them off and defeats them, they try to take revenge again, and repeat. At the end of the episode, Louie realizes that he and Doofus Drake are falling into the same cycle and chooses to apologize to the other boy for what he did rather than have him as a lifelong nemesis.
- Do Wrong, Right:
- Ma Beagle gets disappointed and angry at Pa Beagle after his cheat gets uncovered, not due to the cheating itself, but the fact he got caught, which she uses to usurp his leadership of the Beagle Boys from him.
- Poe chides his sister for wanting to turn all the villagers into frogs. That's because frogs can't bring them gold or food. He applauds her for turning them into goats and demanding a milk tax instead.
- Easily Forgiven: Louie sincerely apologizes to Doofus, not wanting the two of them to become life-long enemies like Scrooge and his own enemies. This is accepted by Doofus, who hugs Louie while thanking him before leaving.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: The reporter Webra Walters who accompanies Glomgold speaks this way.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Magica and her twin brother Poe were devoted to each other, and after he's turned into a raven Taking the Bullet for her, she desperately begs Scrooge (who's between Poe and the window) to stop him from flying away, offering to give up her powers and her treasure or anything else. Unfortunately, Scrooge ignores her.
- Grandpappy Beagle wasn't verbally abusive to Ma Beagle the way she is to her kids and seems to actually care for his family, unfortunately this just demonstrates how heartless she was even as a child as she takes the first sign of weakness from him and uses it to usurp him him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being a family of criminals, the Beagles are offended when they learn that their Pappy was cheating people in arm wrestling (even if he was fighting for the land they own).
- Everyone Has Standards: After Louie sees Magica's testimony, he wonders if he can even try to overturn it, or if he even should, and is what has him apologize to Doofus and prevent the two of them engaging in life-long rivalries.
- Evil Is Petty: If Magica and Poe hadn't cast a spell to steal all the treasure, including dimes, she wouldn't have met Scrooge in the first place.
- A Fool for a Client: Scrooge is not pleased that he has to rely on Louie as his defense lawyer. He also shoots his mouth off and shows contempt of the court. The dog guards get so frustrated that they put a muzzle on him. Louie ends up surprising him, and the court, by actually creating a solid defense for him.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Magica described her brother Poe as "sensible"; in reality they were both vain and ruthless dictators but Poe was pragmatically evil and did his best to rain in his Chaotic Evil sister's reckless and impulsive use of magic.
- Forced Transformation: Magica and Poe's favorite way of tormenting their villagers was to turn them into things, especially milk-giving goats. Magica later tries to turn Scrooge into a fly and then a raven, which ends up becoming her brother's fate. The transformed victims don't retain their intelligence, as seen when Poe flies away out the window.
- Gut Punch: Most of the villains have no case against Scrooge; Louie points out that Glomgold made a choice and Ma Beagle was always rotten. Then we see the moment where Magica turns her brother into a raven by accident. She halts in her magic assault on Scrooge, falls to her knees, and begs Poe Please Wake Up and change back. It's the only time we've seen her beg Scrooge, saying she'd give him anything.
- Hard Truth Aesop: Scrooge says it best.Scrooge: When you live as long as I have, you make a lot of sworn enemies; but when you rack up enough of them, you have to wonder if you might be part of the problem.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Doofus hasn't necessarily changed much, but he does accept Louie's apology and agree not to enter into a lifelong feud like the older generation did and leaves the villains to their own defense.
- Hollywood Restraining Order: Doofus is somehow not allowed within 500 feet of a kangaroo.
- Incest Subtext: Magica and Poe are very close and affectionate towards each other, giving each other pet names. In order to use their magic, they are required to hold their hands. They sit together on thrones like a king and queen, and Magica describes them as having made "beautiful magic" together. It probably doesn't help that Edgar Allan Poe, whom Poe is named after, married his cousin.
- Insane Troll Logic: The case is supposedly being judged by Justice herself, but her reasoning is ... less than clear. When Scrooge admits that he's partly to blame for the actions of his enemies, and genuinely apologizes, you'd expect that to tip the scales of karma in his favor. Instead all previous evidence is disregarded because he "confessed". And then Louie manages to turn it around by saying Scrooge's enemies are equally responsible for him, which Justice interprets as saying that they're to blame for him, even though Louie is saying they made him better.
- Irony:
- At the end of the day, the only thing Scrooge really did to his enemies was outwit them and leave them to the consequences of their own actions, which might be callous, but isn't really malicious or evil, especially given Scrooge is someone who firmly believes in earning everything you get—hence, people who start a fight with him had best be prepared to deal with the repercussions when he wins. You'd think a place called the Karmic Court would be entirely on Scrooge's side in most of these matters.
- The only people with a legitimate case against Scrooge, the innocent villagers from his first meeting with Magica whom he never restored to human form and exploited for milk, are the only ones not represented in the court.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Scrooge, shortly after meeting her, points out that Magica can only cast spells in tandem with her brother, saying that "family is holding [her] back". After she loses Poe and turns his amulet into a staff, Magica is a more powerful sorceress who casts spells in her own right. It's questionable that she would say it was worth it, though.
- Jerkass Realization: After Magica finishes her testimony, Scrooge realizes that ignoring her pleas for help in favor of taking the gold (as well as not doing more to help the villagers she and Poe tormented) was callous and unjustified. Albeit, his obvious look of shame as soon as Magica showed up at the trial indicates he had said realization long before this.
- Joker Jury: This entire episode, Louie and Scrooge are summoned to a magical karmic court by their enemies (Doofus, Magica, Glomgold, and Ma Beagle) who want to try Scrooge for making them the villains that they became.
- Karmic Transformation: Deconstructed with Poe. He's fine with Magica turning the townsfolk into creatures, but they have to be practical, and it's implied he changes them back if she goes too far. Then she changes him into a raven by accident when he protects her from a spell that Scrooge recoils with his #1 Dime. Magica in a moment of vulnerability was willing to give all she had to Scrooge to save Poe, but he callously took the gold he can carry and let her transformed brother fly out of a window. This solidified Magica as one of Scrooge's sworn enemies.
- Kick the Dog:
- Scrooge's first encounter with Magica and her brother Poe had him challenging them to defeat him with their magic. After taunting Magica into seizing her brother's share of their power and repeatedly blasting at him, she accidentally hits Poe and turns him into a raven. She pleads for Scrooge to help capture him before he flies out the window, promising anything he wants, but he's not only too busy collecting up her treasure, he also dismisses her about it. She never saw her brother again, and Scrooge's expression conveys an admission of guilt over this act of callousness.
- Poe acts this way towards two children after Magica turns their father into a goat. He tells them to deliver several gallons of milk and forces them to thank him for sparing their only parent.
- Scrooge's treatment of the villagers whom Magica and Poe had terrorized was also less than ethical. When Louie asks if he at least gave the gold back to the villagers, he says that "most" of them had been turned into goats by that point, which implies there were some left, but he still kept the treasure. Though he did pay for a farm for the transformed people to live on, he also sold their milk. If he had bothered to save Poe, he might have been able to make an indebted Magica learn how to change them back as well as her brother, potentially starting a Heel–Face Turn for her. And even without Magica, Scrooge himself could have invested in researching how to reverse the goats' transformation instead of making money off of them. Louie himself says he doesn't know how to defend that one.
- Kick the Morality Pet: Magica only loved her twin brother Poe. Her last act was to steal his amulet in an attempt to curse Scrooge for insulting them. He was more worried about her than about that, Taking the Bullet when Scrooge reflected her curse back on her. Only then does Magica fall to her knees, begging him to come back and she's sorry. This was her last decent moment.
- Lecherous Licking: Doofus does this to Louie, though we only see the start and the aftermath of Louie cleaning his face.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Scrooge’s reaction when he realizes how much he hurt Magica by letting Poe escape, even when she sincerely begged for him to help her.
- Magica has only ever sincerely apologized once: to Poe when she turned him into a raven by accident.
- Mythology Gag:
- The title is a pun on The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.
- Glomgold's flashback took place in 1987, the same year the original DuckTales premiered.
- Webra Walters, the news reporter in Glomgold's flashback, was a recurring Intrepid Reporter character in the original series.
- Scrooge says "I don't care for nobody, and nobody cares for me." - echoing one of the first quotes he said in his comics debut "Everybody hates me and I hate everybody!".
- Scrooge's enemies (particularly Glomgold) making him the man he became is a running theme in Life and Times.
- The 1987 series replaced Blackheart Beagle, grandfather and leader of the Beagle Boys, with Ma Beagle as their leader. Here, Ma literally replaces Grandpappy Beagle as the leader of the family after he loses to Scrooge.
- Never My Fault:
- The episode begins with the McDuck clan dealing with an outbreak of some creature Scrooge got Louie that he irresponsibly allowed to multiply. Louie absolves himself in his usual fast-talking fashion, making Scrooge resolve to try and teach him responsibility. The hypocrisy of this trope becomes evident when Louie himself is on the receiving end of it by Doofus; Doofus set the whole thing up as revenge for Louie making him share his fortune, but that was a punishment Doofus rightfully deserved.
- While Scrooge chose not to help her save Poe, Magica's own faults did contribute to what happened to her brother. Against Poe's own urgings she let Scrooge goad her into taking Poe's amulet to use with her own and unleash a reckless barrage of magical attacks that was turned against her, she had never bothered to learn how to change people back, and Scrooge was only there in the first place because he was brought to the twins by one of their treasure-snatching shadows.
- Near-Villain Victory: Right when the villains manage to win the case against Scrooge thanks to Magica's testimony and claim everything he has, Glomgold gloats that "I am the architect of your unmaking!", allowing Louie to use it and turn things around by stating the villains also created Scrooge as he is now, much to Ma Beagle and Magica's frustration, reversing the villains' win.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Glomgold gloating about unmaking Scrooge gives Louie the idea for his final argument, which reverses the villains' win. Ma Beagle acknowledges this and strikes Glomgold for wrecking their win.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Glomgold's interviewer, Webra Walters, is a parody of Barbara Walters, right down to her name and manner of speaking.
- Noodle Incident: Doofus is apparently not allowed to be within 500 feet of a kangaroo for some unexplained reason. Considering it's Doofus, it’s likely to be too horrible to describe.
- Not Helping Your Case: Scrooge's temper gets the better of him in this episode, he angrily says he gave Glomgold "healthy competition" instead of saying Glomgold left the reporter to die, and what was he supposed to do with Grandpappy Beagle? Lose? Instead of saying that the Beagles were cheating when he saw a little guy help Grandpappy in the Arm Wrestling contest. Good thing Louie was there or else Scrooge could have lost against Glomgold, Ma Beagle, and Magica De Spell, and maybe all of the cases would be ruled against him.
- Oh, Crap!: Scrooge's expression when Magica gets called to the stand, because unlike with the other two villains he agrees she has a case that he wronged her.
- Once More, with Clarity: Ma Beagle's flashback ends with her seemingly disappointed in her Pa for cheating, but Louie, sensing something's up, has them play the flashback a little longer, and now we see Ma wasn't disappointed in her Pa for cheating, but for being caught cheating, proving that she wasn't Driven to Villainy, she was always rotten to the core.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Magica is proud, manipulative, and cruel. The only time she is none of these things is when she sincerely begs her transformed brother to change back, showing how much she cared for him.
- Parting-Words Regret: The last thing Magica says to Poe is that she has no use for him while taking his amulet. Then he turns into a nonsapient raven courtesy of taking her rebounded curse, and all she can do is beg him to change back and say she's sorry.
- Pet the Dog: After being trapped by sharks, Glomgold eventually forms a bond and friendship with them and even goes to their birthday parties.
- Please Wake Up: A nonfatal variant; Poe turns into a nonsapient raven at Magica's feet. She falls to her knees and begs him to change back, because she doesn't know how to make him a duck again.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Poe De Spell all but spells out to his sister Magica that they can't simply turn everyone they see into frogs or food otherwise they won't have anyone left to serve them. Although he considers turning them into goats who can provide them with milk a "delightful compromise". Also, she tells a transformed Poe, "You know I don't know how to change people back," when urging him to turn back into himself, which indicates that Poe did know how to change people back.
- Rejected Apology: Scrooge sincerely apologizes to his enemies for his part in things, but unlike Doofus with Louie, none of them accept. Magica in particular tries to attack him.
- Retcon: Magica mentioned to Lena in "Jaw$!" that the McDuck and De Spell families had a blood feud going back centuries. Here it's shown to have started with Magica and Scrooge, meaning that — at best — it's been going on for about 130 years.
- Revenge Myopia: Doofus thought up the entire cosmic-court scenario against the Duck family — Scrooge losing all his property and wealth if they lose — because Louie made Doofus share his wealth with Boyd, leaving Doofus less rich than he was but still pretty well-off. Never mind the fact that Doofus is a Spoiled Brat, a bully and a psychopath that makes everyone around him his toys to break at his leisure and that Louie reprogrammed Boyd to behave in such a way because he was trying to have Boyd kill him at the time. Granted, the moment Louie apologizes to him, he accepts it and leaves, leaving the villains to defend themselves.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Doofus gives a very awkwardly-protracted one in response to Louie's successful defense against Ma Beagle.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: The moment Louie apologizes to Doofus, he accepts it and then literally leaves the courtroom.
- Shout-Out:
- A man's enemies take him to court where they accuse him of being the cause of their spiral into villainy. This is reminiscent of the "Trial" episode from Batman: The Animated Series. Not to mention, in both cases, the heroes manage to win their trials by pointing out that the villains were indirectly responsible for the creation of their sworn enemy.
- Doofus Drake has himself wheeled out to the courtroom in a straitjacket and protective mask-like Hannibal Lecter because he thought it would be fun.
- The creature that Scrooge gives Louie as a pet, in the beginning, resembles a cross between a tribble (complete with Explosive Breeder tendency) and a fizzgig (complete with an oversized toothy mouth), except purple. Its multiplying and being evil due to neglect makes it similar to a mogwai.
- Stupid Sacrifice: Poe took a reflected spell blast for Magica, turning him into a raven, but it's stated by Magica that he was the only one of the two who knew how to turn people back, meaning he really shouldn't have. Even if Magica had been hit, he would have been able to restore her, but the reverse wasn't true. Probably this was because he didn't have time to think about it in the heat of the moment when his sister was threatened; ironically, his downfall came the one time he acted impulsively whereas he had usually been the more sensible of the two.
- Taking the Bullet: When Scrooge reflected a spell back at her, Poe jumped in front of Magica before the blast could hit her, turning him into a raven.
- Threatening Shark: The cave where Scrooge and Glomgold try to find treasure is full of sharks that try to eat them.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Scrooge was a pretty crusty duck before he took in Donald and Della. Once, he would leave his sworn enemies to rot or face the consequences of their mistakes. In the present, he sincerely apologizes to his enemies for the wrongs that he committed against them.
- Tragic Keepsake: It's revealed that Magica's staff is made of two amulets, and one of them belonged to Poe. It's why she is possessive of it.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Even as a young girl, Ma Beagle had a domineering ruthless crime boss personality, and slapped her father for messing up a scam.
- Unreliable Narrator: Subverted with Magica's backstory; it would have been reasonable to assume she did something terrible to Poe to turn him into a raven and is going Never My Fault towards Scrooge. The flashback and Scrooge, however, confirm that she is telling the truth about what happened with Poe.
- Villain Ball: Scrooge offers the Beagles a full bag of gold to pay for the town, no taxes required and it's off the table. Pa Beagle tries to bet on it through arm wrestling instead and cheat in the process.
- Villain Team-Up: The premise involves Scrooge's enemies (Flintheart Glomgold, Ma Beagle and Magica De Spell) coming together to take down their greatest foe in court. To make matters worse, Doofus Drake, Louie's enemy, recruited them and acts as their prosecutor, who promised them some concessions in the form of Scrooge’s other possessions.
- The Voiceless: The judge, who appears to be a sapient Lady Justice statue, never speaks. Her head moving and her facial expressions are the only direct indications of her sapience.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Louie is appalled when he sees Scrooge help himself to Magica and Poe's treasure instead of being the bigger duck and saving Poe, and he’s even more so when he learns Scrooge didn't return any of the money to the villagers and he instead bought a farm with it to milk all of the villagers that were turned into goats for more money.
- Wonder Twin Powers: In the past Magica's powers were shared with her brother Poe, each having their own amulet and needing to hold hands to cast magic. Scrooge's taunting provokes her into seizing Poe's amulet and blasting Scrooge by herself, later melding the two amulets into the staff she uses in the present after losing Poe and Scrooge departing.
- You Killed My Father: Magica hates Scrooge so much because he indirectly turned Poe into a raven, and did nothing to try and catch him as he flew out and was never seen again.
