History Tearjerker / DuckTales2017

* Much like Alan Young above, Creator/JuneForay passed away shortly before her old character Magica De Spell appeared on the show. Magica not saying a thing during this appearance is quite an unintentional piece of RealitySubtext.

* A meta one comes from Scrooge's "I'm back!" line in light of Creator/AlanYoung's death.

* A meta one, laced with HarsherInHindsight, but much like Young and Foray, Chuck [=McCann=], the voice actor for Duckworth, and Bouncer & Burger Beagle in the 1987 series, passed away not long after fans learned that Duckworth was subjected to DeathByAdaptation here.

[[folder:Meta]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] ''Series/StuckInTheMiddle''--specifically, Rachel's goodbye. The sight of Webby- ''sweet, adorable Webby''--[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness crying over the separation of family]] WILL make you want to give her a hug.
** Even worse when you remember that we haven't seen her parents, and since she's been raised by her grandmother to be a fighter, she ''doesn't know what it's like to have a full-blown family.''
--->'''Webby:''' Good-bye? She's not really leaving, right? This is all some sick joke, right? (''tears start flowing down her face'') [[IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike Is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye?]] [[BreakTheCutie I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'd survive! I'll never let you go!]]\\
''(SmashCut to Webby tightly hugging Huey, Dewey and Louie)''\\
'''Louie:''' We're not going anywhere!\\
'''Huey:''' Why did you let her have your phone?\\
'''Webby:''' (''[[InelegantBlubbering bawling her eyes out]]'') [[PlatonicDeclarationOfLove I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH!!!!]]\\
'''Dewey:''' [[MoodWhiplash TV is awesome!]]
* Season 3 is confirmed to be the last season of the show, and that it will ''not'' get a fourth season renewal.
** What makes this even sadder is that:
*** Now we may never see the Negaduck story that Frank Angones had planned. Even if he features in the upcoming Darkwing Duck reboot, it might not be in the same universe due to having a completely different production team headed by Creator/SethRogen.
*** It will be a while before we see the likes of Della, Webby, Beakley, Lena, Gyro, etc after the series officially concludes which is sad for those who have grown invested and very fond of them. Della especially got a large fan base, with many even wanting her to become part of the Mickey Mouse and Friends franchise and appear in stuff outside of this series.
*** What also left the viewers baffled and sad at the same time is that it's unclear how the cancellation happened in the first place. Either Disney simply decided not to renew the show despite its success, or it was overtaken by ''other'' shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''; or perhaps Frank and co. had already had plans to end the show on a third season despite Disney arguably still wanting the show to continue, similar to [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls what Alex Hirsch did]].
[[/folder]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] ''Series/StuckInTheMiddle''- specifically, Rachel's goodbye. The sight of Webby- ''sweet, adorable Webby''- [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness crying over the separation of family]] WILL make you want to give her a hug.

'''Webby:''' (''bawling her eyes out'') [[PlatonicDeclarationOfLove I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH!!!!]]\\

*** Now we may never see the Negaduck story that Frank Angones had planned.

*** What also left the viewers baffled and sad at the same time is that it's unclear how the cancellation happened in the first place. Either Disney simply decided not to renew the show despite its success, or it was overtaken by ''other'' shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''; or perhaps Frank and co. had already had plans to end the show on a third season despite Disney arguably still wanting the show to continue, similar to [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls what Alex Hirsh did]].

* Russi Taylor also passed away during the show's run, less than a year after making her triumphant return to the franchise voicing a teenage Donald. Suddenly the fans were very thankful the crew was able to get her on the show while they still could.

*** It will be a while before we see the likes of Della, Webby, Beakley, Lena, Gyro, etc after the series officially concludes which is sad for those who have grown invested and very fond of them especially the former with many even wanting Della to become part of the Mickey Mouse and Friends franchise and appear in stuff outside of this series.
*** What's even more so is that how it even came to be in the first place, with either Disney simply deciding not to renew the show despite it's success, it being overtaken by ''other'' shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' or Frank and co. had already had plans to end the show on a third season despite Disney arguably still wanting the show to continue, similar to [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls what Alex Hirsh did]].

** Della Duck, Donald's twin sister she's actually alive, but she spent eleven years stranded on the moon before she managed to return to her home and see her own children for the first time in her life.
** The triplet's father is still unnamed, unknown, and unmentioned

--->'''Webby:''' "Good-bye"? She's not really leaving, right? This is all some sick joke, right? (''tears start flowing down her face'') [[BreakTheCutie Is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye?]] [[InelegantBlubbering I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'd survive! I'll never let you go!]]\\

'''Webby:''' (''bawling her eyes out'') [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH!]]\\

--->'''Webby:''' "Good-bye"? She's not really leaving, right? This is all some sick joke, right? (''tears start flowing down her face'') [[InelegantBlubbering Is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye? I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'd survive! I'll never let you go!]]\\

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] "Series/StuckInTheMiddle"- specifically, Rachel's goodbye. The sight of Webby- ''sweet, adorable Webby''- [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness crying over the separation of family]] WILL make you want to give her a hug.

-->'''Webby:''' "Good-bye"? She's not really leaving, right? This is all some sick joke, right? (''tears start flowing down her face'') [[InelegantBlubbering Is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye? I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'd survive! I'll never let you go!]]\\

-->'''Webby:''' (''in tears'') Is-is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye? [[InelegantBlubbering I... I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'll survive!]] I'll never let you go!\\

* Creator/RussiTaylor also passed away during the show's run, less than a year after making her triumphant return to the franchise voicing a teenage Donald. Suddenly the fans were very thankful the crew was able to get her on the show while they still could.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] "Series/StuckInTheMiddle"- specifically, Rachel's goodbye. She initially thinks that the scene in question is just some sick joke, but soon ends up getting emotional and starts crying. You WILL want to give her a hug after this.

** Della Duck, Donald's twin sister [[spoiler: she's actually alive, but she spent eleven years stranded on the moon before she managed to return to her home and see her own children for the first time in her life]]

** Scrooge's parents are alive, but are in a Brigadoon-style situation and are unable to leave the McDuck Castle.

** Della Duck, Donald's twin sister [[spoiler: she's actually alive, but stranded on the moon]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] "Series/StuckInTheMiddle"- specifically, Rachel's goodbye. She initially thinks that the scene in question is just some sick joke, but soon ends up in tears. You WILL want to give her a hug after this.

-->'''Webby:''' (''in tears'') Is-is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye? [[InelegantBlubbering I... I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'll survive!]] I'll never let you go!
-->(SmashCut to Webby tightly hugging Huey, Dewey and Louie)
-->'''Louie:''' We're not going anywhere!
-->'''Huey:''' Why did you let her have your phone?
-->'''Webby:''' [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH!!!]]

[[folder:Season 1]]
[[AC:Woo-oo!]]
* After catching Dewey trying to hotwire the boat so that he and his brother can travel to Cape Suzette, Donald loads the boys up in the car and tells them that "if [they] want to keep [their] home afloat, [they've] all got to do things [they] don't want to do", which makes it clear he's talking to himself when he sets a course for [=McDuck=] Manor. He quite clearly does not want to go anywhere near Scrooge but feels he has no choice since he can't trust his nephews to stay home unsupervised, something that gets worse when he tries to make sure the boys are dropped off ''before'' Scrooge returns home.
** Donald's houseboat burns down. While PlayedForLaughs, it means the boys lost their home and their belongings. It's going to take a while to fix it.
** Donald showing his nephews' baby picture to his "co-workers" and fondly reminiscing moments of them.
--> ''"I miss them so much, but we need this job."''
** Both Scrooge and Donald "used to be a big deal" but Scrooge is still a world-famous businessman and renowned explorer, who exhibits trinkets and artifacts about his past in his home. Donald, however, is more or less forgotten, living in poverty, with nothing to show for his adventures, with his entire time taken in raising three kids who largely react with disbelief when Webby unearths the past about Donald as "one of the most daring adventurers of all time".
* A sign of how far Scrooge has fallen shows up in his first scene. His accountants are going on about increasing profits, by downsizing his company's historical research and adventure-related departments. Scrooge is just ''disdainful'' towards them. Then he returns some coins to his money bin, looks at them forlornly, and struggles to close the door. The proud and driven duck who built his fortune up from nothing, this is not; he has more or less [[TradeYourPassionForGlory traded what he really enjoyed doing for accumulating money]].
** He’s not disdainful to them because of his money grabbing-ness. Episode 22 reveals that they forcefully pulled him away from searching for Della and shut down the department. He’s disdainful to them because any other emotion would make him lash out at them.
* It's painfully obvious that Webby has a FriendlessBackground based on how quickly she latches on to the triplets because of them treating her with just basic courtesy. She outright asks if they're friends after only a few seconds of interaction.
* The way Donald and Scrooge interact showing just how far their relationship has fallen:
-->'''Donald:''' Mrs. B said you would watch the boys for a few hours! Can you do that without ''LOSING'' them!?
--> '''Scrooge:''' ''(deeply offended)'' Of course I can!
** It's not the usual "deeply offended" behavior exhibited by the [=McDuck=]-Duck Family where a member goes out of control with rage. Oh no, it isn't. Scrooge is offended in the way where his tone of voice painfully cracks in a "Why do you feel you can't trust me with your kids?" tone. After all these years, he is still stung by Donald's anger at losing Della.
** While Scrooge didn't know who he was yelling at when he first calls Donald a deadbeat, he says it again right to Donald's face after a minute of forced pleasantries. Given that, unlike Scrooge, Donald has to work to support the boys, that's pretty harsh.
** Later when trapped in a flooding room we get a possible hint as to what happened between them... an even bigger tearjerker with the later knowledge that the nephews' mom was also an adventurer with Scrooge and Donald, and even more so when you remember that Della, their mom, was ''Donald's twin sister''.
-->'''Donald:''' I ''KNEW'' IT! I KNEW I COULDN'T TRUST YOU WITH THE BOYS!!
-->'''Scrooge:''' Not the time, Donald!
-->'''Donald:''' Crazy old man! All you care about is your next adventure! This is the Spear of Selene all over again!!
-->'''Scrooge:''' I was '''NOT''' responsible for the Spear of Selene!
** When the group gets back from Atlantis, Donald says he's okay with Scrooge seeing the nephews... on birthdays and holidays.
** The fact that the nephews had ''no idea'' that they were related to Scrooge until that day.
* Scrooge muttering that family is nothing but trouble, and Dewey [[IronicEcho throwing that line back at him]], but to Scrooge's discomfort. Given we don't know what happened to Della, except that [[BerserkButton it involved the Spear of Selene,]] this is obviously a touchy subject.
* Scrooge gets so depressed when the triplets say that he "used" to be a big deal that he locks them in a room with marbles, goes to one of his cabinets showing his diving suit and pathetically puts on the outfit to relive his glory days. The famous "tougher than the toughies" line isn't a badass moment of self-affirmation but a weak self-motivating pep-talk.
** After falling over he tries getting back up, only to be unable to lift his head from the floor with the diving helmet on.
-->'''Scrooge:''' Maybe they're right.
* Donald in the flooding treasure room; he's plugging one hole with his butt and hands, but the water is still rising. He's still willing to drown to buy Dewey more time. It's a small wonder he blows up at Scrooge for endangering the boys.
* One word, never uttered in the original series, with it always being "Uncle Donald" or "Uncle Scrooge"...
-->'''Dewey:''' [[MissingMom Mom?!]]

[[AC:Daytrip of Doom!]]
* The fact that Donald's pride keeps him from asking for Beakley's help since he's been raising the boys on his own for ten years.
* After he recovers from being clonked in the head, Donald goes OhCrap on realizing that the boys and Webby have been kidnapped. He has a FreakOut and runs to both Scrooge and Beakley for help. Beakley realizes OOCIsSeriousBusiness.
* Webby just taking it as a given that she isn't invited on the day trip, turns to heartwarming when she is invited and runs off to prepare.
* Webby's lack of social skills and common knowledge cause several problems for the triplets during their trip to Funso's and eventually leads to all of them being banned for life. Louie angrily tells Dewey they shouldn't have brought her, leaving her crestfallen.
** Later on, it's shown she can easily slip out of the ropes they're tied up in, but she didn't do it because she doesn't want the triplets to think she's weird. She even begins to tie herself up again before the boys reassure her that "normal's overrated".
* Earlier on, the employee at Funzone who gets yelled at by her boss for turning a blind eye to Louie sneaking free drinks. Gets very relatable if you've seen someone endure that, or have had to endure yourself over a well-meaning mistake.
* Bigtime Beagle just wants his mother's approval. When he sees Donald hugging his nephews, he questions why his family isn't like that.

[[AC:The Great Dime Chase!]]
* Dewey goes to Webby to find out more about his mother. She has little to no information. He gets more and more frustrated as he and Webby encounter multiple dead ends. Then after fending off the Archivist, the two open a secret room dedicated to Della. They find a note she wrote, claiming she took the Spear of Selene and apologizing to Scrooge for it. Webby wonders if that means Della betrayed Scrooge. Dewey is so horrified by the possibility that he tells Webby they can't tell Huey and Louie until they find more information.]
* Louie mistreating Little Bulb. You can't blame LB for snapping and stealing as many dimes as he can (though admittedly he had an aggressive attitude even before this).
* All of Gyro's inventions turn evil, even though Little Bulb has him labeled as "Father". He notes this fact at the end sadly.
* While ''mostly'' PlayedForLaughs, Dewey's frustration about knowing next to nothing on his mother can be pretty poignant, especially for those who never knew their own parents.

[[AC:The Beagle Birthday Massacre!]]
* Webby is envious of the close bond the triplets share, feeling left out when they mention in-jokes and go off kayaking without her (since the boat they use only has room for three, and she doesn't feel it would be right to accept Huey's offer to switch with him). She's happy to have the same sort of bond with Lena at the end, but we all know it's going to be a matter of time before she finds out Lena is using her.
* Ma Beagle is quite an AbusiveParent to her kids, as evidenced when she yells at them that "none of them are having birthdays this year" after they fail to capture the kids.

[[AC:Terror of the Terra-Firmians!]]
* Huey reveals the true reason for his AgentScully act is that he's terrified that there could be things out there he has no idea about and can't protect himself from, piling the full horror of NothingIsScarier onto the head of this little kid.
* Lena's reaction to Mrs. Beakley asking her who raised her, and when Webby rushes to her grandmother. And as we then see later in the episode, her relationship with her Aunt Magica is highly dysfunctional and argumentative rather than close.
** When Beakley rants to Lena that the other kids have bright futures and good families unlike her, the poor girl looks utterly ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20180418121402if_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Who_raised_you_anyway.png heartbroken.]]''

[[AC: The House of Lucky Gander!]]
* Poor Donald. Not only did he feel inferior to Gladstone, but he was pretty much belittled by his family throughout the episode. Dewey even calls him "the worst."
** Donald's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Gladstone about how he ''knows'' his cousin was BornLucky, and that Gladstone is the CoolUncle while Donald is the harried, ButtMonkey caretaker. He goes on to say that Gladstone doesn't have to rub it in that no one looks up to Donald. Gladstone actually looks really hurt by this, since it wasn't his intention to make Donald look bad.
** The look on Louie's face when an agitated Gladstone snaps at him "I don't need you, I need him [Donald]!" Keep in mind, up until this point, all three nephews openly considered Gladstone cooler in comparison to Donald; this more or less confirms that Gladstone wasn't interested in any of them.
** Donald even is ready to surrender to the near-overwhelming fatalistic depression this episode put him in and feels resigned when Gladstone keeps winning things effortlessly, and he keeps messing up even though Donald put his all into it. This culminates in Louie having to give Donald a RousingSpeech in the climax, when Donald is about to give up in a footrace against Gladstone and let a tiger maul him.
** TheReveal that Gladstone was only using Donald because the latter's bad luck would break Gladstone's winning streak and free him from the casino. And he didn't bother to tell his family the reason for his distress signal and instead hope they'd figure it out thanks to Liu Hai's constant watching him--and making it worse if Gladstone said it straight out. It's even worse when Gladstone keeps insisting that he's not trying to make his cousin look bad, which is true, but TheReveal isn't much better.
** Scrooge convinces the casino spirit to take Donald instead of Gladstone so that Donald becomes the prisoner of the casino. Louie gets furious and calls out Uncle Scrooge for sacrificing Donald. This gets mitigated when Scrooge reveals that a luck spirit wouldn't be able to handle Donald's luck and kicks out the duck, thus saving both of his nephews.
*** Also the fact that Scrooge didn't tell/hint to anyone about his plan (as it would have alerted Liu Hai). As far as Donald knows Scrooge really is trading him for Gladstone. And Donald just looks so resigned.
** Gladstone's IgnoredEpiphany when his family leaves him. He thinks that he's going to work hard for once... then a lady sells him her yacht for twenty dollars. His good luck is a gift and a curse.
*** Overall, one gets the sense that Gladstone ''does'' legitimately care about his family, and likes the triplets (especially Louie), but his easy life has left him largely unable to balance that against his general self-centeredness.
* The flashback showing Little Donald and Little Gladstone while cute, also suggests that growing up Donald had to rely on Gladstone as a childhood playmate and that he probably didn't have children of his age who supported and encouraged him the way the Triplets and Webby have each other.
* The triplets have met Gladstone and are pretty familiar with him, yet at the beginning of the series, they didn't even know they were related to Scrooge. Despite disliking Gladstone, Donald has still introduced him to the boys yet never even told them about Scrooge. Though this might be since Donald felt the sting of the "Spear of Selene" NoodleIncident then.

[[AC:The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks!]]
* Huey's (thankfully short-lived) breakdown is rather painful to watch. Especially for anyone who's ever had their hard work go under-recognized in favor of someone who didn't do any.

[[AC:The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!]]
* If the living conditions of the people inside Toth-Ra's pyramid don't pull your heartstrings, you might want to check and see if you still have them.
* Scrooge is clearly worried about the safety of both Webby and Louie during the time that they're separated.
** When he first sees Toth-Ra, Scrooge makes a break for the mummy, obviously trying to ask where are Webby and Louie. When Toth-Ra ignores him and leaves the room, sealing off the gate, Scrooge slumps in despair.
** When Amunet tells him that Webby and Louie must be trapped in Toth-Ra's chamber, Scrooge (along with Launchpad, Huey, and Dewey) starts banging on the chamber's entrance, [[AdultFear screaming Webby's and Louie's names]].
* Launchpad seems to have died from being flung into a wall, leaving Scrooge and everybody else heartbroken. Of course, he was just knocked out, but it was still a sad moment.

[[AC:The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!]]
* While Huey has an unassailable point that finishing the climb is extremely dangerous and completely unfeasible, it's still kind of hard on poor Scrooge who absolutely hates to give up, especially when the goal is ''so close''. Made more so by the fact that he's been waiting to try this again for 75 years and his last attempt ended with him getting an undeserved humiliating reputation.
* The fact that Scrooge took Launchpad, Webby, and the triplets on this trip for Christmas while leaving Donald and Ms. Beakley behind. So much for spending the holidays with family... Though of course, considering the dangers of the climb, it's possible it was for the best.
* It's over in a second thanks to MoodWhiplash, but Scrooge and Huey's panic over Dewey and Webby falling to their apparent deaths were darn ''heartwrenching''. Thankfully, they turn out to be okay, having fallen through a wormhole to a safe landing.

[[AC:The Missing Links of Moorshire!]]
* When Scrooge places the glory of being the best golfer ever above the priority of getting his family out safely, Dewey and Webby - the two kids that look up to him the most - angrily walk away from him.
** Especially sad since earlier Dewey was overjoyed with the idea of spending time with his great-uncle playing golf together and improving his form.
* Not helped by the commentary of a young daring upstart surpassing their older mentor, Scrooge really seems irked by Dewey beyond normal reason. Is he seeing the rebellious and daring Della in him?

[[AC: [=McMystery=]At [=McDuck=] [=McManor=]!]]
* This episode finally shows where Duckworth has been and... it's not a fun story. He passed away some time ago and it's quite clear that Scrooge misses him.
** This casts Scrooge's BirthdayHater tendencies in one of two lights and neither is a pleasant thought. Either he became one because none of the parties he was thrown could ever match Duckworth's in his eyes or he's always been one but Duckworth was able to throw parties he actually enjoyed but will never have those again.
* While PlayedForLaughs Louie figuring that Scrooge is a birthday hater because he hates being reminded that "he's literally the oldest person that he knows" is actually very harsh when you think on Scrooge's life at the start of the series. He doesn't seem to have many if any friends, he's been completely estranged from the family that he hasn't simply outlived, and had quite nearly given up on any more adventures in his life. Not much of a shock that he doesn't like celebrating his birthday.
** Further, Louis said that the party was of the "richest and elite". Aside from his more average family and workers, the only people Louie got to come were Scrooge's Arch Enemies. It really says something that "the richest duck in the world" doesn't have anyone in town who even likes him who could relate to his life.
* Scrooge gets Duckworth back. The smile that almost ''rips Scrooge's face open'' when he sees the ghost of his butler is enough to make anyone cry ugly tears. If it doesn't -- '''''WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!'''''
* When Webby greets Duckworth after her and Beakley's "retreat", this seems to imply that not only did she know Duckworth when he was alive, but she also seemed very fond of the butler, even when he's brought back as a ghost.

[[AC: The Spear of Selene!]]
* Storkules asks Donald where's Della. Donald doesn't reply but instead looks at his nephews sadly. Storkules realizes what has happened to her.
* Donald finally gives his reason for retiring from adventuring.
--> '''Donald:''' I'm '''''through''''' with adventure! Someone always gets hurt!
--> '''Storkules:''' But getting hurt is part of the adventure! What would fierce Della say if she could hear you now?
--> '''Donald:''' '''''Well, she can't!''''' ''*gets taken aback by what he said*'' Someone always gets hurt.
* Dewey keeps trying to think of plausible explanations for his mother to have taken the spear while having good reasons for doing it. Say if she died fighting a beast, or to keep Scrooge from getting cursed. Webby's insistence on her theory that Della betrayed Scrooge in some way hurts him deeply.
* Dewey and Webby's argument.
--> '''Webby:''' We're so close to the truth! Why won't you let us find it?!
--> '''Dewey:''' Because...''*his voice cracks*'' what if my mom was a bad person?
* We find out that, despite Selene being the goddess of the moon, she doesn't have a Spear. She has a Sphere that works like a crystal ball, but that's not what Della took. When Dewey gets frustrated about being back at square one, Selene assures him that Della was a good person, friend, and hero and that she always liked a mystery. Then she gives him an embrace as he starts crying, as well as her Sphere to help him find his mother.
* Storkules dithers over "stealing" the golden fleece from a child because that wouldn't make him a hero, even if that's what his father wants. Even Scrooge looks taken aback at how conflicted Storkules is.
* Storkules, while brainwashed, begs his father to not make him attack the Duck family.
* Selene hasn't seen her close friend Della in ''years''. She never even knew Della disappeared/died.

[[AC: Beware the B.U.D.D.Y System!]]
* A Fridge-Tearjerker: In the opening scene, Bushroot is noticeably absent, despite Megavolt, Quackerjack, and Liquidator appearing. This is most likely because [[AuthorExistenceFailure his voice actor died in 2017.]] [[note]] {{Word Of God}} has confirmed that this was just a coincidence, but it still comes off as {{Harsher In Hindsight}}. [[/note]]
* Poor Fenton. Gyro doesn't really like him that much, never says his name (he either calls him 'intern' or 'dummy'), and tells him that the bathroom is his office because it's the perfect place for his work.
--> '''Fenton:''' I'm just now realizing that remark may not have been entirely complimentary.
* Launchpad just wants Scrooge to congratulate him, but Scrooge doesn't even bat an eye on Launchpad.
** In fairness, this is largely because Launchpad tried to make a grand display out of it rather than simply telling Scrooge that he got his license. At the end of the episode, Scrooge gives Launchpad a heartfelt congrats the instant Dewey tells him about it. Still, seeing Launchpad think Scrooge doesn't care is super sad.

[[AC: Jaw$]]
* When Lena initially interrupts Webby's improvised spell charm to get rid of the shark (the spell requires a strong bond of friendship), a hurt Webby asks Lena if their friendship really matters to the older duckling.
* We learn that Lena is being ''forced'' to help Magica in exchange for her freedom, and in the end, she apparently forces Lena to remove the friendship bracelet Webby made her.
** Really, by this point it's clear that Magica is an AbusiveParent, having no qualms about risking her niece's life to get revenge on Scrooge, and treating her as nothing more than a tool and a pawn to do her bidding. And how exactly does Magica force Lena to do her bidding? By imprisoning her with [[PeoplePuppets People Puppet control]], so she couldn't even run away if she tried. In fact, Magica immobilizes Lena completely for several moments in the end for her [[YouHaveFailedMe failure and defiance]].
*** Remember Lena's reaction to Webby attempting to pull a HeroicSacrifice for her? Lena probably doesn't know that that is normal and healthy behavior for friends and family to display to each other - ''she didn't expect Webby to rescue her after damaging their friendship earlier''.

[[AC: The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains!]]
* Scrooge and Goldie's relationship.
--> '''Scrooge:''' You loved gold more than you loved me.
--> '''Goldie:''' That's ''why'' you loved me.
* The main reason Scrooge has trouble trusting Goldie: when they spent [[TakenForGranite five years trapped in a glacier]] together, their hate toward each other turned into love. However, when Goldie finally thawed out enough to get free, she left Scrooge trapped in the ice, resulting in him believing that his feelings meant nothing to her.
* Scrooge is ''genuinely distraught'' when Glomgold causes Goldie to fall into the boiling-hot pool of gold. And when Glomgold has him tied up later, ready to force the same fate upon him? He doesn't seem to care.
* The implications of Scrooge's family all being gone but for Donald and the boys are confirmed here. Scrooge's adventures in alternate dimensions kept him from ageing. Since he was an adult during the Gold Rush, he'd have to be almost a century and a half old by now, and the family members who weren't with him didn't get the de-ageing benefits.

[[AC: Day of the Only Child!]]
* We get another glimpse into the life of the Beagle brothers' abusive upbringing. Bouncer mentions that he's never even tried his food without Bigtime throwing it in his face. It's no wonder they immediately latch onto Huey once shown a bit of kindness.
* Louie tries to make small talk with a butler and maid of Doofus Drake, only for them to reveal that they're not just servants. They're Doofus's ''parents''.
-->'''Louie:''' So, you're his butler, huh? My butler's [[CallBack a ghost]]. Yup. Yeah, he's dead.
-->'''Doofus's Mom:''' [[StepfordSmiler We're dead inside.]]
* Webby, an only child herself who would give anything for siblings, is eventually driven to take over the new security drone just to lecture Dewey about how he should appreciate having siblings.

[[AC: From The Confidential Casefiles Of Agent 22]]
* Scrooge wonders why he and Webby haven't hung out before, with Webby replying how Beakley told her not to bother Scrooge, and that Scrooge was basically too busy running his business and moping to come and interact with her much. Scrooge looks noticably guilty at that.
* Scrooge saying a bunch of unflattering things about Webby, like how she's a DamselInDistress. Granted, it was to get Black Heron to underestimate her, but still.
* Amazingly subtle, but after Black Heron falls to her apparent death, Beakley places a comforting hand on Webby's shoulder, non-verbally trying to reassure her granddaughter that this was not her fault.

[[AC: Who is Gizmoduck?!]]
* Poor Fenton. As he mentioned in his debut episode, all he wants to do is help people. And yet time and again, he finds that his good intentions get sidelined by cautious inventors or greedy business people.
* An upset Huey tells Gizmoduck to throw away a piece of paper for him. When Gizmoduck opens the paper, it reads [[BrokenPedestal "My faith in you!!"]]
* Fenton's mom sees him appear to get blown up.

[[AC: The Other Bin of Scrooge [=McDuck=]!]]
* Huey and Dewey's reaction to their Bigfoot friend having to leave, even if he was just scamming them.
* Lena's nightmare sequence of Magica regaining corporeal form includes such gems as Lena ''[[TearsOfFear crying]]'' [[TearsOfFear in fear]], and Magica taunting her with Webby's voice, including this [[BreakingSpeech breaking gem]]:
-->'''Webby:''' You're a monster! Just. Like. Your. Aunt!
** Culminating with Lena killing "Webby" unintentionally with a beam of magic from her amulet.
* Keep in mind, everything that happens in the nightmare is a product of Lena's own imagination, brought on by her growing fear and dread about setting her aunt free, her anxiety over her magical background, and her guilt about selling out her friends to a murderous psychopath. So everything Magica and Webby tell Lena in this sequence - about being a coward, a traitor and a monster - is what she truly thinks of herself at her most self-loathing. That's pretty depressing.
* Lena was SO close to telling Scrooge the truth, only to have her body fully taken from her. We don't even get to see her reaction beyond confusion as her voice stalls and body freezes as Magica takes over.
* Doubles as NightmareFuel. Remove the magical elements and this episode was a disturbingly good depiction of what it's like to grow up in an [[AbusiveParents abusive relationship]]. You feel like a hostage, the adult in your life manipulates you and constantly shows you their disdain, you dig yourself in deeper and deeper with lies covering for them, and worst of all, you feel completely alone. Nobody but you knows how miserable you are because you feel like you can't tell them, in fear of retaliation. Ordinary kids do have the option of running away when they get old enough but Lena is magically tethered to Magica, and the final minutes take the abusive relationship one messed-up, supernatural step further when her aunt [[PeoplePuppet hijacks her body]] to ensure her silence. Out of the many antagonists in [=DuckTales=] 2017, Magica is the most loathsome one yet.
* Louie's subplot is the same: just turn Gavin from a bigfoot into an ordinary moocher-manipulator who turns violent when someone threatens to stop others from enabling them. Worse, Gavin's a good enough conman that within a day Dewey and Huey were siding with him over ''their own brother''. The look of hurt on Louie's face when Huey at one point ''punches him'' over it is heartbreaking. Dewey also shoves him. In a way, the relatively easy resolution to the B-plot makes the A-plot sting more. Gavin threatens Louie and tries to bully the kid into silence, but Louie refuses to play ball and be trapped in an abusive situation. He out-manipulates Gavin and manages to kick the bigfoot out of his life by the episode's end, even getting in a smug taunt. Lena was... not as fortunate with her attempt to get rid of Magica.
** Huey and Dewey never finding out the truth is said in its own way. Unless future episodes change this, they will never know what Louie did to protect them.

[[AC: Sky Pirates... In the Sky]]
* Dewey being ignored when he tries to tell his family about how he got his hat, giving him a textbook case of Middle Child Syndrome. What he proceeds to do about this arguably squanders the sympathy, though.

[[AC: The Secret(s) of Castle [=McDuck=]!]]
* Scrooge and his father are not on good terms. If anything their estrangement is even worse than Scrooge and Donald. And they've been that way for centuries.
--> '''Fergus:''' Jettison that jalopy from my driveway this instant, you deadbeat!
--> '''Scrooge:''' Daddy.
* Huey calling out Dewey for not telling them about the quest to find Della. As Huey puts it, Della was also his and Louie's mother.
* [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Louie's reaction]] to finding out that Dewey's been solving the mystery of Della behind their backs. Unlike Huey, he doesn't react angrily, but sits in the corner cradling Della's jacket in his arms and [[HeroicBSOD looking like he's about to cry]].
--> '''Dewey:''' Louie? You okay?
--> '''Louie:''' You kept a secret about Mom. That is not okay.
** When Huey lashes out at Dewey, Dewey gets defensive and tries to explain why he did what he did. However, when Dewey sees Louie's reaction, he has no response and is forced to admit that he messed up big time. One can just tell that seeing Louie so hurt broke Dewey's heart into a million pieces. Dewey's devastated facial expression says everything.
** The way Huey and Dewey react and treat him in this moment suddenly makes one painfully aware of the fact that Louie is the youngest of the triplets.
*** The way the scene sets it up only makes it worse. The viewer gets so engrossed in Dewey and Huey's argument that you almost forget Louie never says anything during the scene. Then, Dewey and Huey notice this as well and the heartbreak begins.
* The fact that Fergus and Downy have out lived their own daughter Hortense.
** Beyond the taciturn response Fergus gave Scrooge about making his parents immortal, think about the ramifications. Not only have they outlived at least one of their daughters, rarely if ever see their son, and have only ''now'' met their great grandsons for the first time, but the nature of the castle means they can only be visited every ''five'' years, and presumably time passes the same on the inside of the castle as it does on the outside. Scrooge really did curse his parents, if only by accident.
* Fergus is the one who actually gave Scrooge his #1 Dime. He gave the American dime to a fellow citizen and splashed his boots with mud, then sent him to his young son (who never found out the truth until now) to give him the gift of hard work and self-reliance, because he and his wife were too poor to be able to afford a proper gift for their son. And then Scrooge learned the virtues too well, leaving the nest and his family behind to make a life for himself and rarely, if ever, visiting.
** A subclause to this: The fact that Fergus had to learn and accept the fact that he couldn't provide for his own son himself, and effectively sacrifice his relationship with Scrooge for Scrooge's own betterment and happiness.
* The look on Fergus' face when his son angrily tells him that He (Scrooge) doesn't need him (Fergus) is just heartbreaking.
* The fact that Huey almost destroyed several of his mother's belongings, without knowing ''who'' they belonged to. Dewey is visibly shaken by this.

[[AC: The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!]]
* Dewey's determination to grab the piece of paper on the propeller, even if it means risking his own life. His family makes a slew of excellent points (including the one that the mystery of Della's disappearance isn't worth all of their lives) but Dewey is too frustrated to be placated by any of the things they say.
--> '''Webby:''' Dewey, this is crazy! The mystery's not worth it!
--> '''Louie:''' Look, I-I get it, but you can't give up the rest of us to find the one person we lost!
--> '''Launchpad''': [[ComicallyMissingthePoint Dewey! The Darkwing Duck video is still running! Do you want me to pause it until you get back!]]
--> '''Huey:''' (grabs the walkie talkie) Give me that. Dewey, our family is ''amazing.'' We're enough! Let it go!
--> '''Dewey:''' (angrily throws the walkie talkie)
** Dewey has been searching for answers for ''months'' at this point, and has met with nothing but dead ends. This is where we see all those months of disappointment and frustration come out full throttle.
** Dewey was afraid to find out the truth on Ithaquack because he feared finding out that the person he idolized so much could have been bad. In this episode his fears come true. But instead of it being his mom it was Scrooge, the man he had come to admire and love as a father figure over the past few months.
*** Not really. It's been pointed out that the brothers using Scrooge as a {{Scapegoat}} is their way of coping with the fact that [[ParentalAbandonment Della more or less abandoned them]]. A comic ("Nightmare on Bear Mountain!") released post-finale has Dewey coming to terms with the fact that, yes, Della loved adventure ''over him and his brothers''.
* Beakley, upon seeing the clip board, pulls the note from Webby's pocket and instantly realizes what the kids have been up to. From the tone of her voice, she sympathizes with them, but knows this isn't going to end well.
--> '''Mrs. Beakley:''' Oh children, what have you been up to?
* Scrooge's increasing desperation to prove he can protect his family no matter what, because "he's Scrooge [=McDuck=]" culminating in him pleading with Dewey:
--> '''Scrooge:''' Please! I can’t keep you safe, alright? How can I get you to listen to me?
* Scrooge, while going after Dewey, gains resolve with three words.
--> '''Scrooge:''' No. ''Not again.''
* Scrooge's FreudianSlip where he says that he can "protect her" [Della] when he means "protect them" [Webby and the boys]
* "Tell me about the Spear of Selene." Dewey finally corners Scrooge for answers, and both look like they're going to burst out crying. Heck, Scrooge even sheds a few tears seeing [[MyGreatestFailure his greatest failure]] staring him in the face.
* '''The ending.'''
** It's revealed that Scrooge nearly ''emptied his money bin'' building more rockets to send up after Della, only stopping when his executives ''physically'' dragged him away from the search because it was costing the company too much. And he recalls all of this while the boys' accusations of him being cheap and not caring echo in his head, finally ending with:
--> '''Mrs. Beakley:''' I hope you're happy.\\
'''Scrooge:''' ''(With bitter resolve)'' I am.
** You can even see his chest heaving right before, showing that he's clearly extremely upset and only barely managing to hold all his frustration back.
** When he sits down in his armchair, tears fall from his eyes as he says "I am" when Mrs. Beakley's parting words echo in his head.
** Related to the above, Scrooge did indeed send other ships to search for her, but it cost not just billions of dollars, but very likely the lives of those he sent up, never to return and tell what they have seen.
*** The sheer ''desperation'' that was evident in Scrooge's search for Della. Seeing the Money Bin get drained bit by bit, the constant failures to make contact with her ship, culminating in the Board having to physically pry Scrooge away. Scrooge's face when they do so is desperate and full of panic, an expression that has [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness never been seen on Scrooge's face at this point in the show]].
** It's a [[FreezeFrameBonus bit of a quick moment]] but if you look at the board that Scrooge's advisors are pointing to, the chart displays a red bar. Scrooge didn't just nearly drain the money bin dry but he came dangerously close to going bankrupt. He financed the search so heavily that he wasn't making any profit.
** As the search for Della proves fruitless, Donald is seen angrily leaving mission control and taking her unhatched eggs with him. Now that their mother is seemingly gone, Donald feels the only thing he can do is take care of her babies while keeping them as far away from Scrooge as possible.
*** Remember Donald's words to Scrooge in the first episode? "Mrs. B. said that you would watch the boys! [[HarsherInHindsight Can you do that without losing them?!]]"
** After that, Scrooge looks at the photo he took of himself in the spacesuit in front of the ship he built for Della, with Della in the background. He promptly rips it apart in a fit of tearful rage, letting the stray pieces fall to the floor, the same pieces the nephews would find a few years later. He cannot take the tragic memories anymore, and this starts his shut-in behavior at the start of the pilot episode.
** Even worse, look at Scrooge's posture when he slumps down in his chair: it's a match for [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/things-you-didnt-know-about-scrooge-mcduck?utm_term=.cdJjWpx5B#.cfNz4JAXa his first appearance in the comics]] when he was still a bitter, villainous miser. It took the return of Donald and the nephews to turn him into the lovable adventurer we all know. Without them, he's back where he started.
** Scrooge's pride and bitterness kept him from communicating properly, which makes his own perspective on the events all the more heartbreaking. He knows he gave everything, did everything he could think of and thought was right for his family, both back then and when the nephews entered his life. And to him the end result was everyone he cares about turning on him, blaming him for everything, twice now. He means it when he says "I am" at the end, as he finds the pain of being alone closer to "happy" than the pain being with his family has brought him. Or at least, that is how he feels at the moment, with so many old wounds reopened. And deep down he knows, as he admitted to Dewey, that for all he tries he can't always protect his family.
--> '''Scrooge:''' You will not speak to me that way! None of you! After all I do for you, you're still nothing but trouble!
* The reveal also makes the lack of respect Donald gets from the boys even worse. Not only did he spend the last 10 years raising them himself but he was also the only one thinking about what was best for them. Yet despite this the boys spend most of their time treating Donald like a boring stick in the mud.
** An even bigger tearjerker? Scrooge does ''not'' treat Donald like a boring stick in the mud. Sure, they don't get along because of the events recounted in the flashbacks with Della and Donald is as unlucky as anything in life, but apart from one insult in the first episode, Scrooge and Donald both ''know'' the truth of what actually happened. Scrooge treats Donald like duck-poo... because it means Donald won't be put in danger by being close to him.
* Scrooge saying Webby isn't a part of his family. This, after they had a bonding moment in "From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!", and after Scrooge generously allowed her to call him "Uncle Scrooge" from now on instead of "Mr. [=McDuck=]". This clearly stabs the poor girl's heart.
* Donald's reaction to finding out the boys knowing about the Spear of Selene.
--> '''Donald:''' What happened to you?
--> '''Dewey:''' We know about the Spear of Selene.
--> '''Donald:''' ''*gives a heartbroken "Oh..."*''
--> '''Louie''': (as the boys board the boat) Let's go back to the marina.
** This has to be incredibly heartbreaking for Donald, because all he ever told his nephews was that their mother was gone. Now they know she, however unintentionally, abandoned them before they were hatched. He can't even pretend anymore it wasn't Della's own actions that took her away from her sons.
* After the bitter fallout from her granddaughter being disowned (metaphorically) by Scrooge during the crash, Bentina takes an extended vacation with her, but not without giving Scrooge a parting shot. And worst of all, just before all this, Scrooge had thanked Mrs. B for inviting the family back into their lives for the last 6 months. Now all of that is broken.
-->'''Mrs. Beakley:''' Well, you've successfully pushed your family and everyone who ever cared about you away... [[HistoryRepeats again]]. I hope you're happy.
** Webby's reaction to this is even more heartbreaking. Unlike her granny she isn't full of smoldering anger. She's in full sadness letting out a pitiful "Isn't he even gonna say goodbye?"; it's almost as if unlike everyone else she's regretted her part in chewing Scrooge out after seeing its effects -- the surrogate family she's come to love and cherish is disintegrated and the man she's practically worshipped is now alone, bitter, and broken.
* Even Duckworth, Scrooge's most loyal servant who came back from the grave to help him, doesn't think this is a situation that he should be serving in directly. [[EvenTheDogIsAshamed And he too walks away from the house.]]

[[AC: The Shadow War!]]
* Beakley reveals that the events we saw in the flashbacks regarding Scrooge's search for Della at the end of the previous episode took place over ''ten years''. ''That's'' how long he searched for Della, nearly bankrupting himself, before he was forced to stop.
** And keep in mind that the triplets are supposed to be about ten years old, meaning that they first entered Scrooge's life shortly after he was forced to stop looking for their mother. The financial problems Scrooge's board talks about in his first scene of the first episode are more than likely a result of his fruitless search. Now we know why Scrooge's Money Bin looks so empty for the size it is.
* After the events of the previous episode Scrooge is [[HeroicBSOD completely broken]]; Magica and Lena find him literally lying around in his home, wearing nothing more than his undergarments which are all dirtied up, and based on the amounts of junk food lying around on the floor has tried going for a binge on ComfortFood in a failed attempt to help his depression. He doesn't seem to notice, or even care, that she's there with him. He is truly at his lowest right now.
** Notice what looks like shadow straps around Lena’s beak. No doubt to prevent her from revealing her relation to her Aunt Magica and affiliation with her upon Lena almost ruining her plan of revenge upon Scrooge [=McDuck=].
** Even ''Magica'' is disappointed in her bitterest rival's state, and actually does a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan slap to him and tells him to suck it up when she realizes that he's not faking it. As much as she hates Scrooge she also deeply respects him and can't stand that he's actually making her feel pity for him.
* While it doubles as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, Donald having to mobilize the entire cast and be the leader to save Scrooge. He hates adventuring, he blames Scrooge for what happened to his sister, and he doesn't want the boys to get hurt. But when his uncle needs him to stop Magica and save everyone? LetsGetDangerous, Mr. Duck.
* Apparently the De Spell family is ''really'' dysfunctional if what Lena says while trapped with Scrooge is any consideration.
* The houseboat being destroyed again.
* Gyro is a bit hurt when Scrooge says that he's just a work acquaintance (admittedly this may have saved his life).
* Manny saying farewell to Little Bulb when the shadows corner them, calling him his brother.
* Webby's rant against Magica. For the first time in her life, the little duckling finally got a family and friends, and Magica in one fell swoop took it all away. While the triplets were poking fun at Magica, Webby was ''livid'' and Magica, for a brief moment, was terrified of her. Leads into a BreakingSpeech from Magica.
-->'''Magica:''' Lena couldn't be your friend because she was NEVER REAL!
-->'''Webby:''' I don't believe you!
-->'''Magica:''' You had sleepovers with a shadow. You gave it a friendship bracelet. Honestly, it's embarrassing how pathetic you were.
** Magica ''created'' Lena. For all intents and purposes, Magica is Lena's mother, and Lena is her daughter. But Magica doesn't see it that way. In her words, Lena was ''never'' real and was ''never'' family. And then you remember that Lena calls Magica her ''aunt'' - Magica most likely forbade Lena from calling her her mother (not unlikely considering that Magica scoffs at Lena calling her "aunt"), and she definitely doesn't see Lena as her daughter. Those familial titles exist only so that Magica can have some grasp of ''[[AbusiveParents twisted authority]]'' over what she thinks of as a worthless creation.
-->'''Magica:''' You're not my family, you are nothing!
* Lena's HeroicSacrifice. She does later show up as Webby's shadow, thankfully, indicating that there's a way to bring her back.
** After multiple episodes of CharacterDevelopment, friendship-building and getting to know her as a character, Lena's {{Reveal}} as nothing more than a mere shadow is hard to digest. She was literally born different, has no parents, her creator holds her in contempt and views her of little worth, a means to an end, and it costs her ''everything'' - even her life... But her bond with Webby remains.
* Hooray, Della's alive! But she still missed out on the first ten years of her sons' lives, and looks close to tears at the evidence of how they've grown up without her. Since she disappeared before they hatched, this is literally the first time she's seen her children's faces.
** Gets slightly better (or worse) with the knowledge of the events of [[Recap/Ducktales2017S2E6LastChristmas Last Christmas]]. Della [[KidFromTheFuture encountered Dewey before]], and most likely never forgot him. When she saw her boys on TV, she most likely recognized "Bluey"... and realized exactly who he and his brothers were, and what "Bluey" was trying to prevent when she stopped him from revealing the future.
* Mrs Beakley gives [[WhatTheHellHero a rant]] on just how much losing Della broke Scrooge and the fact that the nephews turned against him because they lost one family member. Where are Webby's parents? Mrs Beakley, it's implied, has lost at least ''three'' family members - Mr. Beakley, her son/daughter, and their significant other. It's brought her and Webby ''closer'' together. There has been a lot of death in this family.

[[folder:Season 2]]
[[AC:The Most Dangerous Game... Night!]]
* The premise of the whole episode is basically Louie feeling left out of the group and questioning his worth as part of an adventuring family. This can hit close to home for a lot of people who have trouble fitting in.
-->'''Louie''': You guys all have your things. Mom was great at adventuring, and she still got hurt. I'm only good at talking my way out of it. How long before that's not enough?
* The Gyropuddlians had every settlement that they tried to build destroyed by the manor's inhabitants (and not even intentionally). No wonder they're so mad.
** Fortunately at the end it's revealed that Louie gave them the Scroog-opoly board to live on.
* The moment when Louie, after his increasingly desperate attempts all night to avoid another adventure, finally admits to Huey what's really going on.
-->'''Louie''': ''([[TroubledFetalPosition rocking back and forth]] with a forced grin)'' Just a fun night in. No stress. Wonderful memories.\\
'''Huey''': Hey! What is up with you?!\\
'''Louie''': Nothing, I'm just lovably lazy!\\
'''Huey''': No, seriously! Why have you been so down on adventuring lately?\\
'''Louie''': BECAUSE I'M NOT GOOD AT IT, OKAY?!
* When Louie arrives to speak with Scrooge privately, he clearly believes that his uncle is going to let him have it for causing so much trouble. And all because Louie was tired of adventuring and just wanted a break.
-->'''Louie:''' I have 13 different apologies depending on how mad you are.
-->'''Scrooge:''' Close the door.
-->'''Louie:''' Oh, you're ''that'' mad.

[[AC:The Depths of Cousin Fethry!]]
* Both Donald and Scrooge find Fethry's antics and eccentricities so annoying to the point where they don't even want to pick up the phone when he calls. It is also implied that the only reason Fethry was given the job as janitor of the underwater laboratory was to keep him out of Scrooge's feathers.
* After finding out that Fethry is simply an AlmightyJanitor and not a scientist, Huey basically accuses Fethry of luring him and Dewey out to the middle of nowhere to ''kill'' them. The look on Fethry's face makes it clear that that's the ''last'' thing he was trying to do.
* When Fethry is fighting with Dewey over the spotlight to stop the younger duck from blinding Mitzy, he quotes the Junior Woodchuck Guide Rule Two to Huey. As he does so his voice becomes pleading; he's all but begging one of his family members, and one that shares so many similarities with him, to trust his judgment on why he does what he does. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Fortunately for the three of them, Huey complies.]]

[[AC:The Ballad of Duke Baloney!]]
* The fact that Flintheart Glomgold had to get amnesia in order to be truly happy. And then [[StatusQuoIsGod he gets his memory back]].
** Really, the entire episode is a major CerebusRetcon for Flintheart Glomgold, turning a LaughablyEvil, cartoonish character into a TragicVillain. He was [[UsedToBeASweetKid a nice and ambitious child]] who could have had a happy life if he did not give in to the PowerOfHate.
* Duke's (former?) fisherman friends' reactions to him getting his memories back. Sure, we know that what's happened is he turned back into Glomgold but from their perspective, their new friend and family member pulled a sudden FaceHeelTurn out of nowhere and hurt two innocent kids for no reason.

[[AC: The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!]]
* The way Donald says, "I was so awesome," about his time in the Three Caballeros, when Scrooge dismissively calls it Donald's "college band" and not even Webby knows of it. Given he can play a mean bass and accordion, Donald could have gone into a music career, but he gave it up to raise the triplets. Scrooge tries to tell him that sacrificing his dreams to raise his family is no small thing, but Donald doesn't listen.
* It's kind of sad that all of the Three Caballeros feel they need to lie to the other two members about being more successful than they actually are. Despite the genuine happiness of their reunion, there is an awkwardness and discomfort between them because of this.
** Donald finally tells Jose and Panchito that he's not a billionaire, and that he lied to impress them. Panchito starts to chew him out... and then a guilty-looking Jose admits he also lied. This makes Panchito even angrier...and then he deflates and confesses that he's a liar as well.
** Jose Carioca's good-natured comment that they are still the same as they were in their college days is poignant. On one hand, it alludes to Donald and his friends trying to recapture the coolness they enjoyed, or rather imagined, from their college days, but on the other hand one can see it as Jose saying they are still being stuck and fixated on the past happiness rather than their present or the future.

[[AC: Storkules in Duckburg!]]
* When Storkules learns that Louie spent all the profits on merchandising and can't pay him, he becomes so dejected about being unable to fulfill his adult responsibilities (such as paying Donald rent for living on his houseboat) he actually declares out loud that he's no longer a hero.

[[AC: The Last Christmas!]]
* Scrooge's reaction to seeing the past version of Goldie.
* Della leaving Donald clues on where her whereabouts were, so they could spend Christmas together.
* Donald's promise to Della.
--> '''Donald:''' I promise, we'll never spend another Christmas apart.
** A lot about Donald in this episode becomes both sad and heartwarming on further thought. As a kid, Della was the one who really loved Christmas, while Donald was more interested in playing grunge music. In the present, Donald plays ''nothing'' but Christmas carols all day long. Present! Donald also spends most of the episode wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. The ending, complete with MatchCut, shows that Della gave it to him. At the time it was a badly thought out gift: too big for him. So he simply never took it off, until it was just his size. It implication is clear: Donald loves Christmas because his sister loved Christmas, and keeps it because she isn't there to.
* Which is the preamble to the real heartbreaker: All Dewey wanted was to have his mom on Christmas. Once Della realizes Dewey is from the future, Dewey tries to save her from her terrible fate, only for Della to stop him...because truth is, even though he's in a position to, he ''can't'' warn her because to do so would lead to a time paradox. After that, Dewey has no choice but to leave things the way they are and let her go.
** And then think about it from Donald's perspective. As this episode reveals, every time he looks at Dewey, he's reminded of the fact that he [[SadisticChoice could've prevented the loss of Della, at the expense of possible changing the future for the worse]].
** And then there's Della's perspective. For ten years, she had no idea what her children look like, then when she sees them for the first time she recognizes the time traveler, and realizes what "Bluey" was trying to change when she stopped him from revealing the future. As if she didn't already [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone feel like a failure as a mother]].
* The whole situation with the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is so lonely that he's willing to try and strand Scrooge in the past ''forever''. And then when Scrooge grabs his umbrella away from him and escapes, he becomes a Wendigo...
* The end with Della, still on the moon, looking longingly at her family picture and greeting them a merry Christmas.
* Since Donald and Della have their well-used room in the mansion, and Scrooge is mentioned but not their parents, it's pretty clear the twins have already been orphaned and taken in by Scrooge by that Christmas, which may be the source of Donald's EmoTeen phase.
* Donald comes into Dewey's room irritated at his ditching the rest of the family, but upon seeing that Dewey was looking at a picture of Della, his eyes widen and he just leaves, clearly having no idea what to say.
** In fact, Donald tries to invite Dewey to sing carols after seeing the picture, an awkward smile on his face. And he still can't bring himself to talk about Della to the boys, possibly because he himself is still too hurt by her loss, or possibly because he knows he would have to acknowledge to the boys that Della put adventuring ahead of being with her soon to hatch sons, and he's not ready to have that conversation.

[[AC: What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!]]
* Let's just say the entire episode is one big tearjerker. Especially since most of the episode is Della's futile attempts of trying to get back to earth.
** Della spends her time on the moon assuming Donald and Uncle Scrooge are co-raising her sons, complete unaware that Donald blamed Scrooge for her being stuck on the moon, left the mansion and tried to raise them by himself for ten years before he finally reconciled with Scrooge.
** It's rather painful to watch Della put all her faith in her attempts to be spotted and rescued, or build a new ship to escape the moon when the audience is already well aware from the Season 1 finale that [[ForegoneConclusion every attempt she makes is doomed to fail]], and she'll be spending ten years (a full decade) trapped there. Della spends all those years in total isolation with no one but her thoughts and a Moon Mite to keep her company, knowing her sons are presumably being raised by their uncles and she's missing out on all that time with them: their entire childhoods. She also had to amputate her leg after the crash. As seen in "The Last Crash Of The Sunchaser", Della made a reckless and impulsive decision to prioritize her wanderlust over her commitment to her family, and she paid dearly for her hubris. As the episode stretches on and she starts to lose hope, it's clear that Della is well aware of that as well, considering herself to be a failure of a mother.
* The reveal that the Moon Mite that has been thwarting Della's attempts to leave [[MonsterIsAMommy has a baby of its own]]; it stole the Spear of Selene so they could eat the metal.
* Della's lullaby. In the tune of the Moon Theme from the video game.
-->'''Della''': I used to sing this old song to my boys before they hatched...\\
''Look to the stars, my darling baby boys''\\
''Life is strange and vast, full of wonders and joys''\\
''Face each new sun with eyes clear and true''\\
''Unafraid of the unknown, because I'll face it all with you.''
* Della realizes while celebrating the boys' first birthday that she doesn't actually know what they look like.
* To anyone who grew up watching the show and playing the game, the feels are intense.

[[AC: The 87 Cent Solution!]]
* Even though it was PlayedForLaughs, Donald crying at Scrooge's funeral. Donald still mourns about his sister and just when he's reconciled with Scrooge, his uncle "dies" too. Even though the funeral was just a ploy, the others completely forgot to tell Donald it was fake, so he really thought his father figure has passed away, to the point that he left prematurely.

[[AC: The Golden Spear!]]
* When Della lists things that she hopes to do with her sons after she's returned home, they're all things that, unbeknownst to her, they've already done without her.
* '''''The ending.'''''
** Della finally makes it back on Earth and crash lands the rocket at a nearby place where Donald happens to be waiting for a bus so he could finally go on vacation...but instead, Donald sees the rocket and run towards it.
---> '''Donald:''' Della?! DELLA?! Where are you?!
** Donald '''''accidentally''''' initiates the Spear of Selene's launch sequence and his attempts of stopping the rocket from launching is futile and Donald gets blasted off to space. ''While his family thinks he's safe on vacation.''
** The irony hits ''10 tens more'' when the episode closes with Della looking up at the gates of [=McDuck=] Manor..and she's just crying TearsOfJoy: ''She's finally home.''
** It's been 10 years since Della has gone missing, and Donald has been on his fair share of adventures with Scrooge and the kids, yet the moment he sees a rocket come plummeting down to earth, he instantly think it's Della. While it's natural for us the viewers to expect that, as we have just followed Della's entire story up until this moment, from Donald's perspective it was just a casual (for him) day. It implies he never stopped thinking about Della, even after his entire family have come to accept that she's gone.
** It gets even worse when you realize that the vacation the Mcducks sent Donald on doesn't allow any contact with the rest of the world so they can officially get away from the ruckus of the world and rest in relaxation, because this means Donald has ''no'' way to tell his family, with reunited Della, that he's trapped in space!
* The [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone look on Penumbra's face]] as she realizes that she played right into [[ManipulativeBastard Lunaris']] hands and that Della truly did like her, as she reminded her of Donald.
* Penumbra's entire character can be seen as this: Sure, she comes off as [[FantasticRacism overly racist]] and assumes Della's an evil threat...but you can also sense she feels nothing but jealousy and frustration that her years of effort as a lieutenant were outmatched by Della, plus there's also the sense of paranoia she must feel that while the Moon people struggled to fend off the Moonmite...and Della stopped it ''without violence''. And she spent half of the episode not realizing Della was ''genuinely'' trying to be a friend, even when she'd constantly say over and over that she wanted to go home and see her children.

[[AC: Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!]]
* When Scrooge and Della finally reunite, ''No words'': Just him looking in complete sadness and then dropping the magic glass quill he was holding.
---> '''Della''': -slowly waves- Hi, Uncle Scrooge...
* While Dewey and Huey are overjoyed to see Della, Louie first goes into denial, insisting it's a trick, a curse by Magica, or some parallel dimension. He's so terrified of it all being a lie that he couldn't accept it...until Della hugs him and he breaks down crying.
** But even after that hug, Louie is the most skeptical of the triplets in giving Della an opportunity despite her failed attempts, and even admitting that he's not sure how to ''have'' a mom, since up till now he'd just been used to not having one. It isn't until Della covers his body to protect him from the falling Golden Idol that he finally begans to open up to her.
* Della overhearing what her family thinks of her and the past 10 hours she's been with them. She overhears Scrooge saying that she's not a mom and runs off in tears before she could hear the ending of Scrooge's sentence, which is Scrooge saying she needs some more time to figure out how to be one and they need to support her.
-->'''Della''': ''(to her reflection in the Gilded Man statue)'' I was gone for a decade and everyone was fine. I'm home for ten hours and now my kids are all sick, injured and terrified. …I miss fighting monsters. You guys make it easy to know what to do. I fought you, Gilded Man. And Moon Mites! And the ''abyss of space'', and every last odd to get back to my kids, and...I'm blowing it.
* Donald being arrested by Lunaris and the other Moonlanders.
** The sheer irony hits fans that while Della's all reunited with her kids...Donald's on the Moon and arrested by Lunaris and the Moonlanders, with them ''not knowing this''. It's even worse when you see Della enter Donald's boathouse and see all the pictures of him raising her kids and commenting how he deserves the vacation he was given after spending ten years raising them (which he obviously isn't on...).

[[AC: Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!]]
* Scrooge getting '''''ticked off''''' at Della for all the problems she's caused in the episode.
--> '''Scrooge:''' Can you never think anything through, Della?! It's been over a decade and she's '''still''' the same headstrong kid jumping into danger or space or any other disaster without a thought of the damage she leaves behind!
--> '''Glomgold:''' [[MoodWhiplash Whoa. You've got like your own whole personal thing going on here.]]
* Throughout the episode, Dewey just wants to make Della proud by being a great adventurer, but he breaks down crying at the end when he thinks he's let her down.
--> '''Dewey:''' ''*through tears*'' I'm sorry, mom. I let you down. I'm not the adventurer you hoped I'd be.
--> '''Della:''' No, honey. I will always believe you can do anything, but you never have to prove anything to me.

[[AC: Friendship Hates Magic]]
* Lena, despite trying to stay positive about it, telling the unaware Webby that she's messed with enough magic for her lifetime and that she'll be fine, is clearly consigned to being stuck in the Shadow Realm forever, watching Webby but being unable to communicate with her.
* Webby tries to hide anything weird that she has (which makes her room almost Spartan-like in its bareness) because with Lena stuck in shadows, she's just ''that'' desperate to have another friend (her bond with the triplets being more sibling-esque).
* Lena recites the incantation to dispel the Tulpas, which also ends up dispelling the magic that allows her to stay in the real realm. Both her and Webby knows what this means as Lena slowly disappears. Thankfully, the bracelet's magic, with the help of Violet, was strong enough to bring Lena back to the world of the living.
* When Lena sees the mysterious shadows (later on revealed to be tulpas) take the form of Magica de Spell, she ''becomes visibly '''terrified''''', if not helped by the tone of her voice. It might as well imply Lena suffers from PTSD from [[AbusiveParents the trauma Magica inflicted on her]].
--> '''Lena''': Oh no...NOT AGAIN!
* Mixed with heartwarming, but Lena and Webby's reunion. Webby ''throws'' herself into Lena's arms and embraces her, with Lena doing the same.
* When Violet explains to Webby why she has Magica's amulet: during the events of The Shadow War, she had to defend herself against shadows before they were repelled after Magica's defeat. And her reasoning for deciding to take the amulet ''and'' get into magic? ''Because her perception of reality being "logical" was shattered''. Imagine that scenario where everything you know as reasonable or logical was shattered and you turned to the occult. It can come off as someone suffering a CrisisOfFaith.
** While Webby is shown to understand why Violet is doing what she's doing...she's still against it, acknowledging she lost someone to the Shadow Realm. Lena (who's watching from the Shadow Realm) only looks despondent and puts her hand on Webby's even if she can't sense it.

[[AC: The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!]]
* Fenton finding out that what Gandra really wanted from him was Gizmoduck. He was so heartbroken since he actually liked her and thought that she liked him for being him.
* It's a quick moment, but during Mark Beaks's fight with Fenton, he comments that he's never actually caught a ball before, and says out loud "Well, [[FreudianExcuse who's the loser now,]] Coach ''[[DaddyIssues Dad]]''?!"

[[AC: The Duck Knight Returns]]
* The slow reveal that Jim Starling is a jerk. Launchpad idolizes him but Jim just bosses him around, calling him stupid and not listening to his advice. This is in direct contrast to Drake, who Launchpad is trying to sabotage but who quickly bonds with him and treats him with respect
* Jim's transformation into Negaduck. He was just an actor who couldn't accept another taking on his most famous role. He ends up going insane and declares that if the world wants grim and gritty and violent he's more than happy to play that role.
** Launchpad ALMOST gets through to Jim with his speech, causing Jim to stare at himself and realize what he almost did. But then Drake tries to save Launchpad from an explosion and Jim shoves his way in yet again, sealing his descent into villainy (the explosion, electrocution and chemicals probably didn't help his mental state either). Jim is left completely out of touch with reality and visibly delusional as he rambles, believing everything that happened was just a setup, a plot to humiliate him, and it's then that the understanding sinks in that [[ThatManIsDead Jim Starling DID die in that explosion]]. Only Negaduck remains.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Meta]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFDQEmJdyQ Webby reacts to]] "Series/StuckInTheMiddle"- specifically, Rachel's goodbye. She initially thinks that the scene in question is just some sick joke, but soon ends up in tears. You WILL want to give her a hug after this.
** Even worse when you remember that we haven't seen her parents, and since she's been raised by her grandmother to be a fighter, she ''doesn't know what it's like to have a full-blown family.''
-->'''Webby:''' (''in tears'') Is-is this what it feels like to have a family and then they just leave... and say goodbye? [[InelegantBlubbering I... I can't take it! I can't let this happen! I don't know how I'll survive!]] I'll never let you go!
-->(SmashCut to Webby tightly hugging Huey, Dewey and Louie)
-->'''Louie:''' We're not going anywhere!
-->'''Huey:''' Why did you let her have your phone?
-->'''Webby:''' [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH!!!]]

[[/folder]]