Tear Jerker / DuckTales (2017) - Season 2

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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: (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.

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’s 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. Bear in mind that as vexing as they find Gladstone they'll at least hear him out if he makes the effort. Fethry doesn't even get that much consideration.
• After finding out that Fethry is simply an Almighty Janitor 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. Fortunately for the three of them, Huey complies.

The Ballad of Duke Baloney!

• The fact that Flintheart Glomgold had to get amnesia in order to be truly happy. And then he gets his memory back.
  • Really, the entire episode is a major Cerebus Retcon for Flintheart Glomgold, turning a Laughably Evil, cartoonish character into a Tragic Villain. He was a nice and ambitious child who could have had a happy life if he did not give in to the Power Of Hate.
  • The sad part is even his subconscious is aware of how much pain his Glomgold persona has caused him, framing his memories resurfacing as a nightmare consuming him.
  • As of the end of the series, Duke would never resurface again. This is especially tragic as Duke, realizing what he had at the time, rejected Glomgold and was ready to move on with his life, if it wasn't for a hook hitting him in the head...
• 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 Face–Heel Turn out of nowhere and hurt two innocent kids for no reason.

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.

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.

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 Match Cut, 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 could've prevented the loss of Della, at the expense of possible changing the future for the worse. Maybe he does remember seeing his time-travelling nephew?
  • 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 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 Emo Teen 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.

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 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 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' hatching 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.

The 87 Cent Solution!

• Scrooge's descent into madness over his lost coins gets serious to the point everyone else has to confront him that that he's just delirious from gold fever. Even Webby, after spending the much of the episode defending him, becomes convinced his mind might not be sound, although she still takes both sides.
  • Scrooge feeling betrayed after Dewey ("There's something about your uncle firing a missile and a plane at you that SORTA changes your mind!") and Manny also decide to stop believing him and side with Huey, which briefly turns into anger.
    Scrooge: Well, forget all of you! If you don't want to help me find the intruder, then I don't need ye, ye bunch of traitors!
    (the triplets all gasp in shock)
• Even though it was Played for Laughs, 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.
  • Added to that, Donald exclaims that Scrooge was “too young” to die. Thing is, Scrooge is around 152 years old, which is far past an average lifespan. Donald just isn’t emotionally mature enough to accept that.

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 Tears of Joy: 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! Talk about being denied a vacation and a reunion with his long lost sister in one day.
• The look on Penumbra's face as she realizes that she played right into 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 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.

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...

  • And it becomes full blown heartwarming when Scrooge's first action is to hug Della and spin her around with such glee and happiness in his voice. He's just so happy to see her again.
• Della's reaction to seeing her kids for the first time in ten years: falling on her knees and tearing up at the sight of her boys all grown up.
• 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. It's even reinforced as he begins to cry and gives a small "Mom!" as Della falls to her knees and embraces him.
  • It's worth noting that, Louie has already moved on and accepted that his mom is gone. He knows by this point, all logic would defy Della's presence.
  • 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 begins to open up to her.
  • When he's trying to articulate his complicated feelings, he stammers "It's probably my fault." The poor kid is blaming himself for not just being unreservedly happy about his mom's presence. Which really emphasis how conflicted he is as Louie always blames someone else for his problems, but he can't bring himself to do that here.
• 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 planned by everyone after spending ten years raising them (which he obviously isn't on...).

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: Whoa. You've got like your own whole personal thing going on here.
• When the family joins hands for their Leap of Faith, Glomgold tries to take Scrooge's hand but Scrooge doesn't notice and jumps with the family. Despite everything, Glomgold looks legitimately saddened.
• It's brief, but after Della explains how she knew about the emergency exit because "When you're stuck in space for ten years you pay attention to exit strategies," Scrooge dons a rather sad expression, likely once again feeling reminded of the horrors Della had to experience on the moon.
• 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.

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).
  • More importantly, Webby still blames herself for losing Lena, and wants to retire from anything magical because they invoke memories of her lost best friend. Webby doesn't want Violet to become that—another memory.
• 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 DeSpell, she becomes visibly terrified, if not helped by the tone of her voice. It might as well imply Lena suffers from PTSD from 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 Crisis of Faith.
  • 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.

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, who's the loser now, Coach Dad?!"

The Duck Knight Returns!

• As Launchpad finds out with Jim Starling in this episode, meeting your childhood hero does not always mean they are the same person you have made them out to be from the roles you watched them play at a younger age. Despite how Launchpad has nothing but respect for him and his role as Darkwing Duck, Starling is little more than a jaded, self-centered has-been who doesn't appreciate what few fans he has left, reacting with clear annoyance when he sees Launchpad (who he calls "the fainter") at the couch store opening and then pressuring him into aiding his plot to replace Drake in the film's finale so he can be in the spotlight again. 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 person taking on his most famous role. He ends up going insane and declares that if the world wants grim and gritty, he's happy to play the part.
  • 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 Jim Starling DID die in that explosion. Only Negaduck remains.
  • Listen closely and you'll hear that Jim's ramblings start with him speaking in Darkwing's voice but as he goes along he slowly starts sounding like Negaduck. You literally watch as what's left of Jim dies and Negaduck is born.
  • Jim had spent the entire episode being annoyed with Launchpad, given the latter's obsessiveness over Darkwing Duck. Jim even makes a comment that Launchpad's rambles can't be stopped when he starts them, until Drake points out that Launchpad is his biggest fan. It's then you see Jim realize he's been neglecting and abusing his greatest supporter this entire time.
• After the disaster on the film set, Drake blames himself for Jim's apparent demise. Even though it was Jim who caused the explosion in the first place.

What Ever Happened to Donald Duck!?

• Donald's situation in general. Imprisoned on the Moon, far from home, with absolutely no way to get back...until the ending.
• Penumbra understanding just how much Lunaris has manipulated her and how little he truly cares about her.
• Donald fading in and out of consciousness in order to stay alive while in the highly unstable rocket missile that could kill him.
  Donald: (weakly) The...kids...
• There's also the fact that Penumbra, who first hated Della went out of her way for Della's brother to ensure Lunaris doesn't succeed. By the time she made it to the war room, she gets incapacitated once her treachery is revealed. Penumbra knew the risks of her betrayal and accepted it.
  • Then Donald was greatly disturbed seeing Penumbra pay the price for her betrayal. With Lunaris towering over him, Donald found himself unable to help her. The best he could do was to make her sacrifice count by escaping back to Earth.
• Scrooge getting Donald's transmission from the Moon...but dismissing it, because the reception was horrible, and he could only make out some of it and mistakes "in a month" for when he's returning rather than when the invasion is coming.
  Scrooge: This reception is terrible. Sounds like he's coming home in a month.

Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!

• B.O.Y.D.’s existential breakdown upon realizing he doesn't remember anything the day prior to his "birth", causing him to trash Doofus' party, his eyeballs melt out of their sockets, and seemingly commit suicide by dropping into Doofus' pool. It's not helped by how Louie, remembering how much a Nice Guy B.O.Y.D. was despite being created by Mark Beaks, looks horrified and remorseful by what his grifting has wrought.
• The ending. Goldie betrays Louie, leaving him not only upset that he lost all the money but also that he thought he found someone like him. Scrooge comforts him that Goldie spends so much time looking for ways to use people that she misses what is right in front of her. When it cuts to Goldie she looks at pictures of Scrooge and Louie before glancing back at the manor, her smiling falling before she lets out a sad sigh and heads off all alone, clearly realizing that, much like Scrooge states, she lost any chance to have a meaningful relationship with Louie, leaving her once more all alone.

Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!

• Despite being free from her "Aunt" Magica and welcomed back with open arms by Webby and the triplets, this episode reveals that Lena has been plagued with Anxiety Dreams about the possibility of turning into Magica herself, and the slumber party she and the kids are throwing is a desperate attempt to keep herself from falling asleep. Then her magic causes the kids to be linked up in the dream world and she spends the majority of the episode trying to keep the others from noticing her slowly transforming into Magica. And then the real Magica gets involved, going right back to Gaslighting her via cruel manipulation.
• According to Dewey, a recurring dream of his is being cradled by a moon of his own tears.
  Huey: I have some theories.

Timephoon!

• When Webby and Dewey get zapped away Della is utterly shattered. She lost her kids once and now she lost them again.
• Della finally putting her foot down after Louie nearly destroys all of time purely because he wanted to get rich quick at everyone else's expense. She hates being strict with him but understands that she can't just let him be Easily Forgiven for this and he needs to learn that she isn't always so laid-back and repent for his actions.
  • Louie's face when his mom doesn't instantly forgive him. And then when she tells him Louie Inc. is done and that he’s grounded, he looks utterly shocked and is stammering for someone to step in and defend him. When Della tells him it's not going to happen, all he can do his kick the Time Tub and sulk back to his room. This is the first time in the series anyone gets punished at all and coming from Della of all people, it is incredibly jarring.
    • We all know how being told off and punished in front of people you're not related to is the absolute worst, right? Well, poor Louie has to face a verbal lashing from his mother in front of Webby, Beakley, Launchpad AND Gyro. Even the latter looks like he's shocked and feels sorry for the "Evil Triplet".
  • Louie tries to turn to Beakley and Scrooge for help in defending him when Della shuts down Louie Inc., only for both grown-ups to sadly not respond since they know Della is not wrong. Keep in mind that throughout the season Scrooge has been essentially Louie's mentor. Furthermore, look at Beakley's face in this scene. She looks like she genuinely feels for and forgives him.
• When Della tells Louie off for stealing a dangerous contraption and running off with it without thinking of the consequences or how it could affect others, he passive-aggressively responds “I wonder who I got THAT from,” causing everybody to gasp in shock and/or look really uncomfortable (or in Beakley's case, look absolutely livid). It indicates Louie hasn’t fully forgiven his mom for her impulsive mistakes.
  • What makes it even worse: He's absolutely right. While he could have said it better, Della did the exact same thing as him, which is probably what added fuel to the fire.
  • And to top it all off, just look at the Youtube comments for the last part of this episode, as well as the first part of the next. Fans are actually divided on whether Louie deserved his fate or not. Believe it or not, a lot of them make pretty good points, because Louie only messed up once by risking a lot and caused a temporary inconvenience at most. Della, on the other hand, risked a lot and split up most of her family, left her three boys without a mother, lost her leg and almost had Scrooge resort to begging for money on the streets looking for her.
  • This can hit home for any sensitive kids. Also while he did deserve it, it's hard NOT to also feel bad for Louie here too.
  • It's implied that Della is very much aware of her Parental Hypocrisy. However, this just makes her double down on Louie's punishment. She has seen firsthand where the path Louie is on leads, and she does not want her child making the same mistakes she did.

GlomTales!

• Louie missing out on the family spending time at the only adventure he'd arguably enjoy, especially since it involves his favorite soda, Pep. As much as he rightfully deserved to be punished for nearly screwing the entire family over and destroying time just to make a quick buck, it's pretty heart rendering to see him at such a stage.
  • After his third failed attempt to escape, Louie laments his screw up and is again annoyed by Della's recorded lecture. However, she stops and begins to sadly explain that she too doesn't like what she's doing, but feels it's necessary for him to understand that his schemes only hurt his family and that they need to stop. Which is made worse when Louie sits down and lets out a small, somber "This is the one thing I'm good at. Why can't you see?"
• Seeing Scrooge be horrified that Glomgold beat his bet is heartbreaking, especially knowing how confident he was with winning the bet.
  • It can even be implied that he was hurt that Louie was the one who schemed him. Granted it's revealed Louie just out-schemed Glomgold and his family, but still.

The Richest Duck in the World!

• Unable to be like Louie and laze his day away, Scrooge tries to go back to his roots in shoe-shining. However, he comes to realize that nowadays, hardly anyone wears shoes that he can shine anymore.
  • Later on, despite his hard work, he's just taken advantage of for his services and earns nothing.
• Louie realizing that the curse isn't fair to the Bombie himself, being forced to chase the world's richest person without rest.
• Della becomes crushed when she realizes that her transmissions never made it to the family and that Penumbra never liked her. Della finally gets a message, making her think she was wrong, only for Penumbra to deliver grim news about the invasion.
• Owlson's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Louie and millionaires of Duckburg upon reaching her Rage Breaking Point after all she has had to put up with from Louie throughout the day and Glomgold for the majority of the season. This is especially true considering that just when she thought she'd be working for Scrooge (Whom she described as competent among other things) she ends up working for Louie, who is less interested in running the business and more interested in spending company funds on stuff he wants. Her speech is what ultimately gives Louie the answer to stopping the Bombie, but also makes clear that she has officially run out of patience and respect for the likes of Glomgold, Scrooge, and Louie for caring more about money and power than making a positive difference with their fortunes.
• For the first time in his life, Louie feels crushed by the fact that his own dream of being the Richest Duck In The World was nothing like he ever imagined, especially because it almost got him killed.

Moonvasion!

• The look on Louie's face before they leave to search for help. It's very obvious that he's blaming himself for making the Moonlanders' invasion easier than it already was by destroying the satellite defense network in the previous episode. One day as the richest duck on the planet resulted in him helping enable the end the world and it’s written on his face that he knows this.
• Selene and Storkules want to help fight off the invasion, but Zeus is outright refusing to let them do so simply because of his petty hatred for Scrooge.
• Scrooge telling Darkwing that no one fears him because no one knows who he is. While true (as Drake is just starting off at this point) Drake is still visibly hurt.
• The Reveal near the end of Part 1: Della wasn't trying to recruit anybody for their "mission". She was running away, wanting to find anywhere to be safe from the invading Moonlanders. While being chased, the kids confront Della about this and she admits her reason why: She doesn't want to lose them again.
  • And made worse with the ending of Part 1: Scrooge, The Ace that he is, calculated and always thinking one step ahead of everyone...is surprised to see Lunaris out-witted him: He wasn't at McDuck Manor — He was in a cloaked ship that will push the Earth into an orbit around the Moon. The hologram ship was set up in order to trick everyone into trusting Scrooge, just so Lunaris could see Earth's greatest warrior fail. It leaves Scrooge horrified and speechless, knowing Lunaris was able to trick him.
• While played for laughs, it's a bit harsh when Duckworth appears to abandon the others when the situation is looking particularly grim.
• We find out that Donald crash-landed on a deserted island following his escape from the moon. Though he survived, he was left without any means of contacting the outside world or traveling back to Duckburg to warn his family and friends of the impending invasion of their planet. And judging by his appearance, it's not too difficult to assume he was close to crossing or already crossed the Despair Event Horizon for not being able to do anything to prevent the invasion with the knowledge he gained with Penumbra.
  • The worst part? It was Penumbra who sacrificed herself to buy Donald time and from his perspective, he went on thinking he failed her and rendered her sacrifice in vain.
  • How about the fact that nobody in his family knew that he was trapped on an island, they thought he was on a cruise. Imagine if it went as long as it did. Heck even Scrooge calls him out for being on a relaxing vacation instead of fighting, and everyone silently tells him to hold his tongue.
• Of course, the one everyone was waiting for: Donald and Della's reunion. Despite the comical moment of seeing the two do their sibling anger fit, the two argue...
  Della: Just because I missed you doesn't mean I'm not mad at you!
  Donald: I missed you too, ya big dummy!
  [The two then go silent...and proceed just to embrace and tear up in each other's arms]
  • The fact the twins just dropped the argument so easily makes one thing clear: No matter what happened, Donald and Della just wanted to see each other again.
    • Similarly, during the climax, the twins fight over whether a sailor or a pilot should be handling the controls of a spaceship. Scrooge observes this bickering and remarks he missed this, being happy to see it again and a little sad that so much time has passed since they were all together.
• Then there's the fact that Della finds herself regressing back to her insane self again, having breakdowns just like she did on the moon.
• The other Moonlanders finally discovering what a monster Lunaris is when they overhear his announcement that he’s going to destroy the Earth while they’re still on it, and also realizing that they were the aggressive party.
  Palus: He wouldn't blow US up, right?
  Gibbous: Sorry. He is going to blow up where now?
  Zenith: Wait, are we the bad guys?
• When Lunaris increases his engine's power with the family's ship right behind it, Della keeps flying even as the ship is being torn apart. She admits she can't find a way out, and everyone goes silent as they realize they're probably about to die.
  Louie: What are you doing?!
  Della: I can't find an angle out!
• Fridge Horror comes into play when we see at the F.O.W.L. meeting at the end of the episode. Among those in attendance is none of than Gandra Dee. God only knows how Fenton is going to feel when he finds out that the love of his life is secretly part of an organization dedicated to taking over the world.
  • Thankfully as shown in Beaks in the Shell!, Fenton knew that Gandra was in league with F.O.W.L. and Gandra only joined so they could fund her, essentially making her a Punch-Clock Villain.

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