Since the
episode aired, I’ve seen a lot of posts talking about Scrooge and/or Della,
some sympathizing, some condemning. But I don’t see a lot of Donald discussion and
in my opinion, he’s the one who deserves the most recognition.
I’m talking
about this particular scene from the flashbacks:
This is one
angry duck. It suggests two things.
First of all, Donald’s
presence in this particular moment can be taken as an evidence that he knew about Scrooge’s desperate attempts
to find Della.
The crux of
the case is, he doesn’t perceive that as anything special. In Donald’s eyes, his rich uncle nearly going broke while trying to
fix the situation he (directly or indirectly) caused is the bare minimum
Scrooge should’ve been doing, if he still had a strand of decency in him. He doesn’t
get a gold star for effort, especially that Donald at the moment was the literal embodiment
of “I told you so”.
Secondly, this is
not a face of a scared brother, hanging onto a shred of hope that his sister
might be still alive. It’s not an expression of someone waiting with a beating heart, whether Scrooge
succeeded this time or not.
This might
be because to Donald, Della made a
decision to abandon her children the moment she wanted to “give them the stars”. The falling out between them happened much earlier and the Spear of
Selene was only a tragic consequence of what Donald had already warned her about.
While
Scrooge is terrified and crushed, Donald
feels outright betrayed by his family. Betrayed by both his rich uncle and his
own sister, two exemplary adventurers who let their judgement be clouded by their hunger for excitement and glory. It’s no wonder he leaves. He has now three kids to rise on his
own, kids who are going to grow up without their mother. His selfish,
thrill-seeking uncle is certainly not going to have a part in their raising up
as far as Donald’s concerned.
Why? Well,
that bit’s interesting. Donald doesn’t exactly blame Scrooge for Della’s disappearance per se.
He blames him for keeping secrets. Remember the first episode?
“No tricks,
no lies, no troubles”. And what dear mister McDuck does immediately afterwards?
Takes the
kids to Atlantis and still admits aloud he plans to tell Donald NOTHING.
This
happened in the very first episode and from Donald’s perspective, his uncle didn’t learn at all. Even
after such a tragedy, he’s still not willing to alter his ways in the slightest. The scariest part is, Donald’s not wrong. In “The Impossible Summit of Mt.
Neverrest!” it’s Huey who convinces Scrooge it’s not a shame to give
up a quest that’s too risky. In “The Last
Crash…” Mrs. Beakley
BEGS him to admit he’s not controlling the situation. Scrooge learned nothing.
Donald Duck
dealt with grieving after his sister and feeling abandoned and failed by both Scrooge and
Della, all while understanding it’s up to him now to rise three little ducklings on his own.
Donald Duck is a hero and deserves a tight hug
for everything he was put through. Thankfully, Storkules is our man- err, stork, and he provides.
Sandra Soapbox Cosplay 