Tear Jerker / DuckTales (2017) - Season 3

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Episode 1: Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!

• Huey's growing anxiety over potentially not winning the challenge eats away at him, to the point where he's stammering in a barely-coherent manner and his eye starts to twitch. When he admits that Violet was a better Woodchuck than him, he's extremely dejected to the point of nearly throwing his badge-sash into the lava of the island's volcano, and needs a heart-to-heart with Violet about failure to cheer up—a conversation which is something of a tear jerker itself with Violet revealing her own failed attempts to hit Senior Woodchuck.

Episode 2: Quack Pack!

• When Donald is listing off his reasons for wanting a normal life, one of the things he mentions is so that nobody gets lost. Specific focus is put on Della during this line.
  • Especially Della's reaction, which is surprise...then pain considering that while she missed her children and her family on the moon, she can't imagine what Donald felt believing her to be dead the entire time.
• Donald's voice in the sitcom reality is his Barksian Modulator voice from "The Shadow War!". This time, the modulator isn't there, meaning Donald used the wish partly to "fix" his voice, and that he considers his voice to be abnormal. Considering that Donald's voice is iconic and recognizable, that's kind of sad.
• In addition, despite the sitcom reality being "normal", Della still talks about her time on the moon, and she still has the prosthetic leg, implying that Donald still hasn't let go of his sadness of having lost her.
• The Reveal that Donald actually knows perfectly well that the sitcom world is the product of a wish he accidentally made - because he vocally wishes for "normal family problems" so often that saying it when a genie lamp was nearby was just a matter of time. He outright Prefers the Illusion at first, because as weird and off-putting as it is, the sitcom world is calm and happy, and he gets to catch up with Goofy as well.
• Think of how the family felt when Donald said he wanted them to be normal. They all most likely felt like Donald didn't like them the way they are, which must have hurt to hear.
• Just the fact that Max hasn’t been forgotten should speak for itself.
  • On that note, if you look at the uppermost photograph in Goofy's photo wallet, you can see Goofy holding baby Max in his arms, but Goofy's wife, Max's mother, is not present, and Goofy appears to have a sad look in his eyes. This may suggest an even more tragic fate for Goofy's wife than previously imagined.

Episode 3: Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!

• Launchpad sacrificing his newfound intelligence in order to save Duckburg from Steelbeak's scheme, complete with a slow-motion fall from the tower with him cradling Dewey in his arms. For extra tears, the somber James Bond theme parody Dewey sang earlier plays over it.
  • Launchpad's smarter, suave self still exists inside his mind and tells him to warn Scrooge about the F.O.W.L. conspiracy against the family. Launchpad speaks to Scrooge... only to give one of his nonsensical statements. Launchpad's smarter self can only beg him to warn their family against the threat to their lives while Launchpad can not hear him, knowing exactly what is on its way and unable to do anything to stop it.
    • What's worse is that he blew his chance trying to warn the others in order to console Scrooge over wasting a ridiculous amount of money on a pointless knickknack. This could have disastrous consequences down the line, all because he was too preoccupied with his friend's immediate distress.
  • Launchpad laments how he has to sacrifice his intellect, bemoaning that he was finally good enough for others. As carefree and joyful as Launchpad acts this episode makes it clear that a huge part of it is his sheer obliviousness at how the world responds to him and now that he has the intelligence to act competently he can only look at himself with shame.
    • Before his Heroic Sacrifice Launchpad admits he wants to land a plane properly. Given the sheer and immense pride and joy Launchpad takes in his ability to crash it's actually disheartening to see him long for the ability to do the opposite and like above is proof that Launchpad gets by in life through his lack of smarts making it so he can't fully grasp how life is like.
• Bradford addressing Steelbeak and Black Heron at the end of the episode. With Steelbeak's beak clamped shut and Black Heron cowering from the person who was once her equal, it makes you wonder exactly what kind of control FOWL exacts over their agents...

Episode 4: The Lost Harp of Mervana!

• Webby is absolutely heartbroken to learn that Mrs. Beakley had been lying to her about the Mervanans, to the point where she becomes leagues more cynical than even Louie. Sadly, this was precisely what Mrs. Beakley had been trying to avoid, as she knows Webby's greatest strength is in her optimism and faith in others' goodness.
• At the end of the episode, Mrs. Beakley promises not to keep any more secrets from Webby, but the harp reveals that she's lying...
• Donald's "World Famous" chili is only okay.

Episode 5: Louie's Eleven!

• Emma Glamour verbally tearing Louie (arguably the most emotionally-sensitive of the kids) a new one over how unoriginal his scheme is. You can see him trying not to cry.
• Seeing what a self-important jerk his mother Emma Glamour is, you might feel sorry for Mark Beaks, whom she likely treats horribly and doesn't find anything he does trendy, and it's perhaps understandable that he did all that to take over his mother's company just to stick it to her.
• Dewey was visibly hurt by Louie's continual ragging during the episode's first two acts.
• After being trapped in the elevator, Daisy laments her desire to show off her very impressive designer dress and shows frustration at not being understood by Glamour. Donald also laments the same thing due to his voice, obviously still showing his low esteem over his squeaky squawk. Which makes all the more heartwarming when Daisy tells him she can understand him.

Episode 6: Astro B.O.Y.D.!

• This episodes reveals that Gyro wasn't always the snooty and belittling inventor he is to this day, but was once an idealistic intern who hoped to change the world for the better under Akita's employ (not unlike what Fenton is to him) first by creating B.O.Y.D. Sadly, he became as jaded and abrasive as he is thanks to B.O.Y.D.'s apparent malfunctioning and near-destruction of Tokyolk. This is best outlined when Gyro sees a photo of himself and B.O.Y.D., reminisces about how idealistic he was, and just offhandedly throws the photo off to the side.
  • Lil' Bulb, meanwhile, is outraged when Gyro insists B.O.Y.D. is evil, to the point of shorting out in anger.
  • The whole thing is a Cerebus Retcon to Gyro's previous and repeated insistence that his inventions aren't evil, just misunderstood. What had just been a bit about him refusing to acknowledge any faults in his work is demonstrated to be a very sensitive, personal subject for him that shattered his idealism. And in this case, B.O.Y.D. actually is misunderstood, which Gyro doesn't learn until the climax.
• Poor B.O.Y.D. spends nearly the entire episode being referred to as "it" and "2BO" as more and more people seem to turn on him or just want to tell him what to do. By the climax, only Huey is still treating him like a person. Even Fenton briefly gave up on him before Gyro realized the truth.
• In addition to the horrible mayhem that was brought upon by Akita tampering with B.O.Y.D.'s programming, both B.O.Y.D. and Gyro effectively had their lives ruined by Akita's greed and desire to weaponize B.O.Y.D. to further his own selfish agenda. Gyro's credibility as a scientist and his idealism took a nosedive when his first major creation seemingly turned into an instrument of destruction for no reason, and while he was officially pardoned of his involvement in the travesty, he’s still looked upon with distrust and not welcome in Tokyolk by Inspector Tekuza even twenty years after the disaster. B.O.Y.D. meanwhile was deemed a failure and shipped off to the junkyard after the fiasco, only to be found in a dump twenty years later by Mark Beaks of all people, who reacted to the little lost robot with only excitement at the idea of building up his own fortune and reputation by exploiting the boy, then denying him a hug and tossing him in a shopping cart with other tech he was going to pass off as his own creations.
• The episode opens with Huey at a Woodchuck bonfire and excited to make s'mores when one of the other kids starts making fun of his "by the book" ways and comparing him to a robot while other kids are shown to be amused by the teasing. Huey ends up left by himself with an almost resigned attitude, almost more upset at not even being compared to a modern robot. It makes him quickly becoming close to Boyd sweeter, but at the same time, you have to wonder if this is a frequent occurrence for Huey.
  • Many fans also have read Huey as autistic even before this scene, which makes it hit a bit harder considering autistic people often have to deal with similar sorts of teasing.

Episode 7: The Rumble for Ragnarok!

• Dewey places so much value on his wrestling persona being well-received by the audience and is unable to bear their derision to the point that he costs his team a chance at winning the second round because he’s terrified of doing something that will make everyone hate him even more.
• Huey, due to his lack of understanding of wrestling, becomes increasingly panicked and doesn't know how to narrate the fight, which causes the audience to hate him as much as they hate Scrooge and his team for doing a shoddy job at being an announcer for the rumble.

Episode 8: The Phantom and The Sorceress!

• Scrooge going on about why he hates magic... forgetting that Lena's Made of Magic. He does sheepishly amend the statement to exclude her, but Lena actually agrees with him given all the trouble magic has given her.
• Lena clearly hates having to go to Magica for help, and Magica doesn't hesitate to insult Lena to her face.
• Why does the Phantom Blot hate magic so much? Years ago, Magica took control of his village, forced the townspeople to placate her with gifts, then destroyed the village because she was bored. He lost his family as a result.
• Gladstone's entire situation. He gets his borderline reality bending luck stolen away and can barely manage to do the simplest of tasks because his insane luck does nearly everything for him. Gladstone can be a jerk and definitely relishes how his luck lets him coast by in life but the guy didn't deserve that.

Episode 9: They Put A Moonlander On The Earth!

• Poor Launchpad is so nervous around Penumbra as a result of how their date went, he does things like jump off a pier to get away from the awkwardness of being around her.
• Penumbra is clearly having trouble getting used to being on Earth during this episode, especially since the other Moonlanders are adjusting a lot better than she is, and she misses the old days when she defended the others against the Moon Mite and other threats. And then, just when Earth's starting to win her over, she gets a killer case of brain freeze...

Episode 10: The Trickening!

• The fact that Launchpad has missed out on the fun of Halloween for most of his life because he mistakenly believed all the kids in costumes were real demons and no one cared enough to correct him.
• Launchpad's face when he steps on the Dewey dummy. He really believed that his best friend was killed by monsters.
• Huey explaining to Louie why he didn't want to come to the haunted house, even though he knew about the lifetime supply of candy: before the triplets and Donald moved in with Scrooge, Halloween and trick-or-treating was the biggest adventure they would have all year. Huey was afraid that if they ended up with a lifetime supply of candy, there would be no reason to have that adventure anymore.

Episode 11: The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades!

• As Scrooge and Goldie fight Ponce De Leon, he tries to tempt them by saying they can keep their newfound youth if they join him. They both seem to seriously consider the idea, with Goldie telling Scrooge they can have their fresh start...and then Scrooge sees a young flamingo who's had his youth stolen from him emerge from the pool.
  Scrooge: He's stealing youth, Goldie! I earned each wrinkle square; it's not fair to pawn them off on someone else! Not even a teenager.
  Goldie: Scrooge...
  Scrooge: What good is erasing past mistakes if we're just to make worse ones? I can't.
• A little bit later, Goldie (having disengaged from the fight) breaks into the office of Ponce De Leon and is in the process of stealing a jug of his Fountain of Youth water when she sees the triplets tied up. When they blurt out the scheme and urges Goldie to save herself, she delivers the following line with a morose tone that suggests she's feeling guilty about leaving Scrooge to fight Jeeves and Leon all by himself:
  Louie: The hotel owner's turning everyone old!
  Huey: Save yourself!
  Goldie: I always do.
  • Just as she's about to leave, she looks back at the triplets - Louie, in particular, who's looking at his brothers with concern. The look on her face suggests she's dealing with a serious Heel Realization. Thankfully, it inspires her to do a Heel–Face Turn to save Scrooge.

Episode 12: Let's Get Dangerous!

• At the episode's start, Drake is completely despondent over Owlson completely cleaning up crime in St. Canard so soon after he decided to become Darkwing Duck for real, seeming to put a premature end to his hopes of becoming an inspiration to kids like the In-Universe Darkwing Duck show was to him.
• Unlike the childish, innocent, if not bratty Gosalyn from the original Darkwing series, this Gosalyn is more cynical and knows what happened to her grandfather.
  • This is especially sad when a picture of Gosalyn, her grandfather, and Bulba is shown...and they all look happy. In getting rid of her grandfather, Bulba broke Gosalyn's trust in the worst way possible.
• We'll never know what happened when Waddlemeyer confronted Bulba and said the machine was too unstable to leave on indefinitely; Bulba seems to tear up every time the confrontation is mentioned, and seems regretful about that at least. Whether or not Bulba deliberately tossed Waddlemeyer into another random dimension or an accident happened, he was responsible.
• All of the Heartwarming moments between Darkwing Duck and Gosalyn. They even leave the characters themselves in tears!
• Gosalyn ends up destroying the machine to save reality from being destroyed. Despite it being the right choice, it clearly isn't easy for her as it means giving up on trying to bring her grandfather back. Once the machine is in shamble, she breaks down in tears as Darkwing wraps her in a hug. Since it might mean that she'll probably never see her grandfather ever again, no doubt it probably hurt poor Gosalyn's soul deeply having to make that tough choice.

Episode 13: Escape from the Impossibin!

• When Webby is about to launch her real attack on Huey, it turns out Huey has actually injured his leg. Webby immediately stops and wants to look at it, but Huey refuses to let her because he's so paranoid after all the sneak attacks she pulled earlier. Webby is genuinely horrified at the fact that he pulls away from her - this is basically her brother being frightened of her... and she doesn't want that; she's spent so long getting a family that, despite everything, she's not going to endanger it any longer.
  Webby: Granny, this doesn't feel right. Look at what this training is doing to us. [beat] Well, mainly them.
  Beakley: F.O.W.L. is coming. We could lose everything.
  Webby: But we're family!
• Beakley is apparently showing signs of PTSD with her more-brutal-than-usual training regiment in regards to taking on F.O.W.L. She's so paranoid that anyone around her could in league with them, that she'd believe her own granddaughter would betray her if she lets her guard down. Makes you wonder what happened when she fought them last while with S.H.U.S.H.
  Webby: I've never seen her push me like this before! Something's wrong!
• Thanks to the revelation that F.O.W.L. has been infiltrating his business right under his nose for so long, Scrooge is starting to lose some of his confidence, especially when he, Della and Louie survive the booby traps that were supposed to keep F.O.W.L. at bay.
  Scrooge: If we can beat [the robot], so can Bradford. And then, he'll beat us.
  Della: Please! You're Scrooge McDuck.
  Scrooge: And what if that's not enough this time?!

Episode 14: The Split Sword of Swanstantine!

• Much like his mother and uncle, Huey's inherited their anger and rage; Huey hates his violent side so much that he's been suppressing it for years, and almost consigns himself to losing to Steelbeak (after being trounced at every single attempt to get rid of the FOWL agent with words/tricks) rather than resorting to any sort of violence to even defend himself.

Episode 15: New Gods on the Block!

• Storkules crying his eyes out after he accidentally torpedoes Donald's date, which leaves him vulnerable to Zeus' manipulation.
• Related to the above, Daisy walking out of the date really affects Donald, the poor guy getting on a depressed funk almost immediately, just floating on the pool and feeling miserable.
• The kids' shared Heroic BSoD after their failed adventure, where they start believing Scrooge doesn't need them anymore which fuels the main plot of the episode.

Episode 16: The First Adventure!

• Yellow Beak and his crew's fate as the Papyrus of Binding cruelly twisted their own wishes against them, to the point it later killed Yellow Beak when he tried to finally separate himself from the wretched artefact.
• While it turns out she's fine, Donald still thinks he watched Black Heron throw his sister to her death for a solid couple minutes

Episode 17: The Fight For Castle McDuck!

• The McDucks' feud in general, especially when the nephews get involved.
  • Webby's Heroic BSoD as a result of said feud.
• The Blot seems genuinely hurt when Pepper reveals that the other Eggheads don't like him, and that she's the only one of them who would volunteer to go on a mission with him.

Episode 18: How Santa Stole Christmas!

• In the past, Scrooge forced Santa into choosing between his friendship/partnership or his Christmas toy delivery. Santa chose Christmas, thus starting the feud between them.
  Webby: No, no. Christmas is a sad story?
  • The way the fallout comes about is sad too: Scrooge was under the impression that Santa's toys were a clever ruse to get people to buy his coal, whereas Santa genuinely wanted to make people happy with his gifts and preferred giving them away for free. There's something painfully realistic about two good friends/business partners going their separate ways after they realize that the differences between them are too big to overcome.
  • This is particularly painful for Scrooge, as he admitted he barely had any friends or reliable partners. Santa choosing charity over a successful business partnership and a lasting friendship hurt Scrooge to the point it became much harder for him to trust others, and even more to make new friends.
• Santa and Webby's reactions to finding that Scrooge tricked them into delivering coal with invoices to all the good children of the world. They were genuinely hurt that Scrooge would betray them and ruin Christmas for countless children, all to satisfy his greed and ego.
• Scrooge realizing what a Scrooge he had been when he sees Jennifer overjoyed by the coal Scrooge gifted her, not because of how it will heat her home but because she mistook it for her first toy, proving Santa was right that a warm heart will carry anyone through cold times.
  Scrooge: Stuff me stockings. What have I done?

Episode 19: Beaks in the Shell!

• Despite growing up into a twisted scientist with almost no morals, it’s sad to see Gandra Dee's genius and skills being overlooked and ignored. As a result, she was forced to ally with villains from Mark Beaks to Bradford Buzzard and experiment on herself (sometimes painfully) to find success.
• Gandra's change of heart was genuine, but Bradford had her imprisoned before she was able to get away. It’s likely that neither Mamma Cabrara nor Fenton knew of this, only that Gandra disappeared not long after they finished the Gizmo Cloud. Right after Fenton professed his love to her no less.
• When Bradford asked about her desire to leave F.O.W.L. Gandra was initially hesitant, before reaffirming she no longer cared about what other people think of her. It sounds like Bradford had been using her fragile self-esteem to control her this entire time.

Episode 20: The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!

• Kit tries his best to live up to the legacy of his idol and mentor Baloo, but he has a lot of insecurities about not being as good a pilot as old Papa Bear.
• The fate of the Sky Pirates as well, many of whom are still trapped in their mutated, nightmarish forms.

Episode 21: The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck!

• The fate of Poe DeSpell: he was turned into a non-sapient raven by Taking the Bullet for a reflected spell from Magica, and Magica was unable to turn him back due to not knowing how to reverse magical transformations. Magica begged for Scrooge to help her, but he just let Poe fly out the window, leaving Magica to search for years for her twin brother, but she never found the right raven. Even Louie admits there's no way to turn this one around and seems shocked by Scrooge’s callousness, especially since he refused to save Poe and (as far as we know) made no effort to see if there was a way to turn the townspeople back and decided to profit off them (admittedly also paying for a farm for them to live on and be cared for).
  • What's worse is that before this happened, Magica was her usual egomaniacal self who even listened to Scrooge saying that her family was holding her back by taking Poe's amulet from him to use in combination with her own. But after Poe's sacrifice for her, Magica apologizes to him and pleads with him to change back. As he starts flying toward the window, she throws all of her pride away as she begs Scrooge to stop him from flying away, saying that she'll give her power, her throne, everything to Scrooge if he'll only save her brother. To see Magica reduced to such a state just shows how much she loved Poe.
  • Magica and Scrooge fought for years before she was sealed into that dime, which then lasted for decades. Since Poe was turned into a normal raven, he’s almost certainly died of old age by now. Since Magica can't even undo her own transformation spell, it's doubtful she can turn the clock back on this. She really will never see her brother again.
  • Scrooge's reaction to all of this is pretty saddening. It's pretty evident that he's not proud of what he did (or didn't) do back then. He even admits to Louie that he's part of the problem and may very well have created his own villains. Thankfully, this inspires Louie and then Scrooge himself to make amends with their enemies. Sadly, only Doofus accepts his apology. Glomgold, Ma, and Magica aren't nearly as willing to bury the hatchet.
  • Louie's reaction to all of this. He's just as horrified as he was when he thought Scrooge had killed his mom, except this time Scrooge knows it's solely on him, and there's no getting around it. Louie is so shaken by it that for the first time, he actually doubts if he should even try to get out of trouble, much less if he could. And in the end, he doesn't. He even acknowledges that no matter how justified he was in what he did to Doofus, it was still wrong and he apologizes to Doofus.
  • Magica never gets closure here. While Scrooge does apologize, no real harm comes to him. While Ma Beagle and Glomgold are busy fighting each other, Magica is last scene furiously cursing Scrooge as she shoots magic at him.
• Ma Beagle wasn't nearly as distraught, but some of the other Beagle Boys seemed aghast to learn that Grandpa Beagle was a fraud who couldn't properly win an arm-wrestling fight.

Episode 22: The Last Adventure!

• When Della learns that Donald is going on a sailing adventure with Daisy, she gets upset because of some very realistic jealousy, as well as the fact that she doesn't want to be apart from him ever again. Even Gladstone decides to stay out of it.
• Remember when Scrooge locked his nephews in a small room during the first episode? Beakley does the same exact thing with May and June as if they were secrets.
• When Webby shows May and June her string board and claims that she views the McDucks, as well as some of her friends, as her family, May and June are actually confused about it because she isn't (as far as they know at that point) related to any of them.
  • When June starts cutting the strings, Lena sees hers cut and snaps, hinting that she really was hurt about it.
• Webby doesn't take it well when Mrs. Beakley reveals her true origins, especially considering how she dehumanized her sisters May and June earlier in the episode due to being created by F.O.W.L.
  Webby: You lied to me. About yourself, my parents. Everything!
  Beakley: Webby? No, no...
  Webby: (Tears in her eyes) I'm like the clones, right?! "A F.O.W.L. creation" not to be trusted?!
  • Even the Harp of Mervana forgoes her usual cry of "Correeeect!" when Beakley finally says the truth out loud. She only nods, a somber look on her face.
  • It gets a bit worse the more you think about it. Of her inner circle consisting of the triplets and Lena and Violet, she was the one who was sure about who she was, an adventurous and empathetic spirit who was always up for whatever the world has for her. And then, on her birthday, she finds clones of her and starts questioning herself again asking what's so special about herself that she needed to be cloned. But then she finds out her origins as a clone and it hits her hard. She felt like she’s lived under a fake identity this whole time while Beakley couldn’t trust her with her true one. She doesn't know who she is anymore and she's so distraught that she doesn't have it in her to fight off Bradford after collecting the Papyrus of Binding.
  • When she is tricked into holding the Papyrus of Binding (which she didn't know about), she becomes distraught when she sees the writing go away, chasing after it and having the most devastating existential meltdown. Break the Cutie doesn't cover it..
    Webby: No NO! Who am I?! WHY WAS I MADE!?
• As horrible a person Bradford was, you can't help but feel even a little sorry for him once you hear what his childhood was like. His grandmother, Isabella Finch kept taking him on adventures that were so danger-filled and life threatening while she claimed they were fun and educational. He just wanted a normal childhood, but felt deprived of one.
• Bradford revealing that he was the reason that Della stole the Spear of Selene and got lost on the moon, all so he could hurt Scrooge and isolate him.
  • What makes it worse is that not only did Bradford hurt Scrooge, he hurt the entire McDuck family, causing Donald to never speak to Scrooge for ten years, the boys to never know who their mother was, and Della stuck on the moon and not seeing her children grow up.
  • Speaking of "isolate", while Bradford is showing Scrooge his slideshow, he mentions that he had wanted to isolate him, first showing a picture of Bradford glaring at Scrooge and Duckworth at a Christmas party, and then the second picture shows Scrooge sadly hanging up a picture of Duckworth, with implications that Bradford may have been responsible for his death somehow.
• Black Heron was a Card-Carrying Villain, but she was the closest thing May and June had to a mother, and they call her as such when Bradford erases her from existence.
  • In the wake of Heron's death, seeing May and June be forced to come to terms with the fact that the only reason they even exist to begin with was to allow Bradford to obtain the Papyrus of Binding is pretty sad; especially since it's both stated that Bradford both considered them failed experiments and that, like the others, he was just going to throw them into the Vortex after they obtained the Papyrus for him and his plan was completed anyways, even if they had succeeded like Webby did.
    May: *clearly heartbroken* That's why we were made? So Bradford could find some dumb piece of paper and get rid of us?!
    June: *sadly* We weren't even good enough to do that. We never have been.
• Donald begging Scrooge not to sign Bradford's contract, even when his own life is at stake, just because he doesn't want to see his uncle lose.

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