DuckTales, Season 2 Episode 12: "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!"

Episode: 212 "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!" 5/13/19
Starring: Della Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Louie Duck, Dewey Duck, Huey Duck, Webby Vanderquack, and Mrs. Beakley
Costarring: Donald Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Duckworth, General Lunaris, Gibbous, and Zenith
Featuring: The Gilded Man
Settings: Duckburg (McDuck Manor) and the Moon

PlotTales
Della’s back in Duckburg.  She’s reunited with Scrooge and is getting to meet her triplet sons for the first time.  But, because of her ten year sojourn on the moon, Della is suffering from a bout of arrested development.  She hasn’t matured all that much since recklessly commandeering the Spear of Selene a decade ago.  Her instincts are all “monster fighting” and “globe trotting.”  Della’s still a big kid who is well-versed in baking firework cakes and telling scary stories but is ill-equipped at dealing with the nuances and responsibility of being a parent.  

Huey and Dewey immediately take to Della and are mostly unphased by her zany shenanigans (save for some nausea and a mild concussion).  Meanwhile, Louie is more wary.  It’s not that he mistrusts or is unimpressed with Della, he’s just considering all the angles while admitting that he “doesn’t know how to have a mom.”  

Scrooge completely gets it though.  He understands what both Della and the boys have been through and recognizes that she needs “time to see who she is and figure out how to fit in with this family.”  This also feels a little meta since Della’s inclusion and role within DuckTales, itself, disrupts the dynamic that’s been at its core since forever - Uncle Scrooge and his nephews.  Della’s a quick study though and by the end of the episode, she’s “coping with change and adapting to unforeseen challenges (by way of ripping off the symbolic embodiment of her ability to adapt in the first place - her scrap metal leg).”   

Quacking Points

Scrooge and the boys are about to utilize the Cartographer’s Quill - a mystical artifact that sketches maps leading to the world’s greatest treasures.  This is also an item from the real life video game “Wizard of Legend.”

Scrooge’s bear hug of Della is especially cathartic after seeing the guilt and regret he felt from her disappearance and his failure to locate her in “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser” (S1, E22).  I mean, how often do we see Scrooge that emotional and unfettered?

We learn that Della’s originally wanted to name Huey “Jet,” Dewey “Turbo,” and Louie “Rebel.”

Junior Woodchuck Rule #42: Build things right the first time and they won’t need modification.

Junior Woodchuck Rule #84: Safety doesn’t happen by accident.

Junior Woodchuck Rule #3: no matter how hard things get, never give up on a fellow Woodchuck.
 
The Gilded Man first appears in Carl Barks’ eponymously titled Donald Duck comic, “The Gilded Man” (1952).  The Golden King aka the Gilded Man is also a figure in the real-life legend of El Dorado.  He was a mythical tribal chief who covered himself in gold dust and submerged in Lake Guatavita.

Mrs. Beakley lays a sick burn on Della when she snidely remarks, “I’m used to dealing with children.”

This episode also sheds light on the McDuck extended family’s timeline from the past ten years.  Both Ms. Beakley was hired as Scrooge’s housekeeper and Duckworth passed on at some point since Della’s disappearance.

Della mentions the Ferryman’s Flame which first appeared in “The Treasure of the Found Lamp!” (S2, E8).  She also alludes to the Deus Excalibur which was used in “Woo-oo!” (S1, E1).

We see Donald land on the moon where he immediately gets imprisoned by General Lunaris.