New DuckTales Animated Series

"The helmet of Hengis Khan." Hengis? Since when do you pronounce it Hengis? The name is much closer to Djengis Khan. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a pun, or just an odd pronunciation.

Also, really, you're starting the episode with Scrooge finding the crown? No build up, no mystery, nothing? Also, that crown looks nothing like the one in Barks' story. Though now I'm looking for it, it doesn't seem the Khan of Khans even had a crown; he seems to just have worn a traditional headdress, presumably that of a clan leader. The crown thing is probably a Western invention, if I had to guess.

Or a Duckiverse invention, even. It's rather telling just how many Duck pictures show up when Googling for images of "Gengis Khan crown".

Hey look, it's Koh! Or rather, a giant silk worm. That's pretty funny.

Scrooge instructs the kids on how to get the treasure... and they blow it. Off screen. We don't even get to see them fail. And then the adventure is over.

Boo. Boo, I say to thee, episode. Blow off this epic Barks adventure in the cold open, and not even show us? Thrice boo to you!

For those of you interested in the actual adventure alluded to here in animation, check out "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" of the Original Ducktales.

Well, I guess this episode is more interested in the heroes wangsting over this lost adventure than it is in actually showing us losing it. Which is what we get.

Wait, helmet? That sure looked like a crown to me. That thing would do nothing for you as a helmet, I'm afraid.

The more I look at it, the more it starts looking like a fancy fire hydrant to me, too...

Scrooge quickly recovers himself, and decides he just needs better people, because the kids are not good enough. At least, that's what they say. It's not like we actually see any of this that would suggest this. The show is not showing us any of this, it just tells us. That's bad writing.

Oh, and Della is apparently also written off, despite not even being along for that adventure. At least, not that we know of. It's not like we were there to see it.

Of course there is a lot of wangsting from the kids, but this carries little weight since we haven't really seen how, or even if, they failed their mission. Was it their own fault? Was it bad luck? Could they reasonably have done better? What made Scrooge suddenly give up on them? This smacks of a Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure. And that's a third act trope. Much as that trope is a cliche in itself, it can at least be played out well with a proper build-up. But we don't have a build-up, because this is the cold open.

It just seems like a weird start to an episode to me when there is zero build-up for it. It even lacks the drama of the Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure from the first season finale. There at least the Ducks were distraught over the breakup. Here they seem rather less concerned, and Della immediately deflates any tension by reassuring the kids.

And then the Greek Gods burst in, with a dead Zeus. I mean, they say he is "no more", which usually means someone is dead, so I feel I should be a little cross if he isn't, in fact, dead.

Also, what, they stood his body up outside the door so they could dramatically shove him inside once it opened?

And of course Zeus is still alive. Clearly Selene has a terrible choice of words. No, apparently his powers have gone for some reason.

"Father, not in front of the mortals." Since when is Storkules such a stuck up snob about mortals? Seems like an out of character joke for him.

So the other gods have dethroned Zeus for being a jerk, and taken away his powers by... taking away his wreath? What kind of Weaksauce Weakness is that?? Are you telling me the God of Thunder could lose his powers by a strong gust of wind? Better not tell Aeolus.

"We need a new god to take Zeus' place." And you thought of the Ducks, why...? Why not one of the other gods? I don't see why any of the Ducks would even be considered. This is basically a fanfic plot at this point.

"Wait, if we had crazy god powers..." "We'd be all knowing." "Unstoppable." Really? Because Zeus seems to be neither of those. The show is conflating the powers of the Christian god with those of Zeus, it seems.

"Actually, I thought Della would be the most worthy." Again, why? What has she done that shows her deserving of god-hood? Wait, it's Selene offering it... This is just blatant nepotism, isn't it?

Della is convinced the kids would make amazing gods, of course.

Meanwhile, Donald discovers Storkules is back. Man, he recognized him from just feeling his arm. He was also setting up a date with Daisy, so I'm guessing sitcom hijinks are incoming.

"Two dates? Then surely you are to be wed!" Well, that's sitcom logic for you there. Can't argue with that, right?

Meanwhile, we go into what really is the purpose of this episode: having the kids try out god powers. Yep, this really is a Duck fanfic idea dressed up as a Ducktales episode. The Ducks go into a conveniently consequence free alternate reality to muck about, so there are zero stakes. None. Nothing they do will have any repercussions, or need fixing.

This show just hates tension sometimes.

Well, let's see what Louie comes up. Predictably, he chooses the Midas Touch. Equally predictably, it takes all of ten seconds for him to turn a dog into a golden statue. And then turns the planet into gold, mirroring the Golden Goose episode of the old show. But of course, since this is not real, there is zero tension. Why should I care about this if Selene can just snap her fingers and fix this?

"Now that's funny!" Eh... not really? Louie went through the entire plot of the Golden Goose episode in all of ten seconds, and it was entirely predictable from the moment he gets the golden touch. Comedy needs surprise, an unexpected comedic turn. Hell, even an unexpected dramatic turn can lead to unintended comedy when overdone, turning into Narm. This was... neither of that.

On top of that, telling your audience how funny your joke was is just asking for your audience to second-guess how funny it actually was.

Oh, apparently this is the real world. Still no stakes, though, as Selene trivially undoes the damage.

Well, Scrooge is still being a jerk about his family not being "good enough". Or oblivious. I'm not sure if we are supposed to take this as comic or dramatic. The episode seems unable to decide.

Meanwhile, Storkules is still ruining Donald's date, being the shoehorned obnoxious roommate (I say shoehorned because, well, Donald obviously doesn't have a roommate; clearly the writers had a college age sitcom plot in mind here).

"So, fair Daisy, what are your intentions with my Donald?" Okay, that got a laugh.

Huey's power will be to see the future. Now that ought to be interesting. He could see his own and his family's future! How would he deal with that?

But no, of course that would be way too interesting, so instead he just sees mundane minutiae, and ruins some couple's date by foreseeing how their relationship will turn out. He insults some bully, but of course the thing ends before anything can come of that. Yawn. Next.

Zeus calls hades, who is... some heavy metal dude sitting on a pile of bones. I think he's supposed to be a KISS reference. I wonder how many young viewers will even recognize that. Once again the writers are showing their age.

In any case, Zeus gets the idea to release the Titans, so he can lock them up again and prove his worth. Man, this guy is a bona fide asshole by now. No wonder nobody likes him.

Well he would, but Hades refuses since Zeus lost his powers.

Meanwhile, Webby becomes Twilight Sparkle, I mean the Princess of Friendship, I mean the Goddess of Friendship. Man, people talk about this show's roots in Gravity Falls, but I'm seeing quite a bit more of MLP in it at times.

Webby tries to make everyone happy, but then has it rain on someone for... whispering to someone. That was rather mean. It's like Twilight without the social skills.

And then she gets mad because people still aren't being happy. She goes all Midnight Sparkle, but before anything interesting can happen, Selena ends the show.

Sigh. Nothing interesting is happening this episode. These little god vignettes go nowhere and have no consequence or weight, Storkules is in a boring sitcom plot stealing the spotlight from Daisy's second appearance, and it looked for a second Zeus' plot was getting interesting, but that got shot down right away.

Well, Dewey is next, and does a Quack Pack worthy breakdance number, complete with costume. Of course he forgets to use any powers. And apparently that's it for him. Okay then.

Meanwhile, Storkules shoots a bunch of Cupid's arrows at Daisy and Donald. Of course the arrows don't actually do anything interesting, and Daisy just walks out in a rage like the standard sitcom plot demands.

I mean, really, you had Cupid's arrows. Sure, it's cliche, but at least it would have been something.

Selene tells Della none of the kids won, and of course they are dejected at losing again. At least they screwed up on screen this time, though the actual bits were so short they feel feather light emotionwise.

Storkules cries to Zeus about ruining Donald's date, and Zeus suggests that having them battle a Titan will make things right.

Why is Storkules a god, anyway. He's based on Hercules, who was a demi-god.

Well, the kids are depressed, and Scrooge continues being a jerk.

Meanwhile, Daisy is mulling over breaking up with Donald.

"No! You do not need to fall for another man who needs saving." And then the Titan shows up. Okay, that was worth the setup.

Of course the Titan grabs Donald and... just stands there. Well, he's waiting for Daisy to show up so he can dramatically swallow Donald. Of course Daisy chews Storkules out over killing her boyfriend.

This. This should have been the main, and only, plot of this episode. Not that trite drama-less drama with the kids.

Donald is still alive in the Titan's belly (which has... windows... for... reasons), and Daisy goes to save him. No, wait, Selene goes to save him. Of course the gods fail and get swallowed too. Della and Scrooge arrive, and fight the Titan while arguing over Scrooge holding the Jerkass Ball for the episode. Scrooge tells the kids they're great, but gets himself and Della captured by doing so.

And then Daisy stands up to the Titan, who is apparently impressed by her scream. Which is not all that impressive. It falls a little flat, to be honest. Then the kids get their powers, and beat the Titan in a very specific manner with their very specific powers.

Man, that Titan was a pushover. This is why you never summon the Titans in your story unless you're ready for them to really trash the place. Anything less tends to just turn them into a monster of the week, like with this one.

Also, Daisy got to do nothing at all during all this. I was hoping she would pick up the wreath instead and use her own super powers to save Donald. Now that would have been great.

Well, at least Donald and Daisy get a cute moment... until Storkules butts in. I feel this guy is starting to overstay his welcome a bit on this show.

Oh. I see what they did there. They turned the kids into the X-men. Freakish, pyrrhic powers and all. Well, except Dewey, who didn't really get a power.

So Scrooge learns his lesson about his family being his most important asset. Again. Sigh. How many times do we have to go over this same basic plot?

And Zeus gets his powers back... because. Just because. And then falls into Hades, I guess.

Well, this episode had a few interesting moments, but was mostly rather meh. Was this really worth ditching the Genghis Khan plot over? Hardly. We got some Daisy/Donald moments, but just barely. I think the episode had done well to cut out the pointless conflict with Scrooge and the kids, which came out of nowhere and promptly had the reset button pressed at episode's end, and stuck with Donald and Daisy.

But because we didn't, we saw very little of Daisy, and found out even less about her as a new character, playing second fiddle to both plots here. She didn't even get to rescue Donald by herself, which would have been much more interesting than that dull fight. It's kinda weird, the episode seemed to set that up, but then flat out ignored her in favour of the main cast. What a wasted opportunity to give Daisy some other character trait than The Damsel.