RJ Writing Ink

Even before the reboot of Ducktales, Della Duck was a bit of a mystery. She’s rarely appeared in any Disney stories, and the original cartoon never even mentioned her. So, fans were pretty excited when the reboot made it clear that it was going to show us who she was; even Nostalgia Critic got hyped.

The mystery behind Della’s absence was one of the biggest plot points during Season One. We got hints of what happened, but it took Scrooge’s bombshell revelation in “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!” to give us the whole story. And what a sad story! When it looked like Della might be gone for good, the Season One finale showed us that Della was alive. Alive but trapped on the moon.

The Christmas Special “Last Christmas” gave us some insight into what Della was like as a kid, but she hasnt gotten a lot of on-screen time. Plus there are so many questions. How has she survived for ten years without food, water, or oxygen? How could Scrooge fail to find her on the Moon? “What Ever Happened to Della Duck” answers these questions, while laying the groundwork for future plot lines.

Right off the bat, the writers establish what kind of story this episode’s going to tell: after showing how Della crashed the Spear of Selene on the moon, the next scene shows her waking up with her leg pinned underneath the wreckage and no way to get it out. She knows what she has to do, and her response is classic Donald: “Aw, phooey”. The next scene is two months later, her leg amputated in favor of a robot prosthetic. Then the show’s title appears, no song, no credits. Perfect way to emphasize how serious this episode’s going to be.

It is indeed serious, but it also knows how to balance it with humor. For example, the show explains how Della’s survived without a spacesuit: Gyro’s Oxy-Chew gum. It gives her all the food, water, and air she needs. The bad news: it’s black licorice flavored. Yuck!

To pass the time, Della makes video logs a la Mark Watney. This gives viewers insight into what her boys got from her:

• Huey got her love of being a Junior Woodchuck
• Dewey got the love of adventure. And her recklessness
• Louie got her laziness and sharp mind.

Funny enough, she has Donald’s anger problems. But being stuck on the Moon doesn’t break her spirits.

Things will not go her way, though. She tries writing an SOS message, a creature called a Moon-nite eats it before one of Scrooge’s ships can see it. She tries rebuilding the Spear of Selene, she finds its powered by gold. When it takes her four years to remember she had a gold tooth in her mouth, the Moon-Mite comes back and eats part of her ship!

By the end of the episode, she makes peace with the Moon-Mite after learning it was just trying to feed its kid. The moment could have been a Disney cop-out, but Della’s heartfelt song ensures it’s not. The Spear of Selene’s beaten up real bad, though.

It’s here where things finally go Della’s way. After befriending the native inhabitants of the Moon, they let her stay in their giant city made out of gold. More than enough to fix her ship!

Things seem to be looking up for Della, but a comment from one of the Moonlanders gives the impression that they have ulterior motives. That can wait for another day, though.

This episode manages to go above and beyond answering it’s own question while giving us a great story in the vein of great survival stories like The Martian and Robinson Crusoe. Better still, it sets the show for events down the road. The best part, though, is that it finally gave fans a good look at Della Duck.

I Give This Episode a 4.8/5

Final Thoughts

• That Oxy-Chew was a really good plot device, but I wonder: was Della chewing the same piece of gum for ten years?
  • If Della ever gets back to Earth, I think it’d be funny to see her punch Gyro for the gum flavor. “Best flavor in the world” my butt!
• Wait, how do the Moonlanders breath? There’s no air on the Moon!

Talking about the Trailer for the Final Season of Game of Thrones

Eight years. Tens of millions of fans the world over. A show that helped define a decade of TV. A story that can stand among the greatest in the history of mankind. In just one month, its the beginning of the end for Game of Thrones.

But before we do all of that, I want to talk about the trailer for the final season and what I think it could mean for the characters, while reflecting on how far they’ve come for the GoT Final Season

Arya Stark

Arya Stark is, and has always been, a fighter. From the beginning it was clear that she was not meant to live the kind of life that society expected of her. She’d rather swordfight with the guys than knit or that stuff.

Season one onwards, Arya went through a trauma conga line, losing her pet wolf, her father, mother, and brother, sometimes right in front of her. Seeing all this trauma forced Arya to grow up fast. With the help of the Faceless Men, Arya’s become a skilled fighter and assassin. Not going to lie, watching her kill Walder Frey and most of his sons was a satisfying moment

In the trailer, Arya claims that she looks forward to seeing this new face of Death, most likely meaning the White Walker. As good a fighter as she is, though, she’s never been in an actual battle before. Given how the first shots in the trailer are of her covered in blood and sweat, running through the darkened halls of Winterfell, I fear she may be in over her head.

Arya Stark is a survivor, but not even she may be ready for the White Walker. But remember what Syrio Forel told her all those years ago about they say to Death: “Not today.” Whatever comes next, she’ll go down fighting.

Bran Stark

You can barely even recognize the bright and energetic young boy that Bran Stark was at the start of the show. He lost the use of his legs thanks to Jaime throwing him out of the tower, and was ready to give up on life. Then he discovered his warging and greenseering powers, which gave him a new purpose in life.

After journeying Beyond the Wall, Bran trained under the Three-Eyed Raven to become his successor, and it shows. The experience of viewing so many past events has left him with few emotions. When Sansa tearfully hugs after seeing him for the first time in years, he didn’t even react.

Even so, I think that Bran still cares about his family. He certainly cares about the well-being of mankind, as he seems to be ready to use his powers to fight the White Walkers. I only hope that he can make it through the Long Night that is to come.

Jaime Lannister

There is no getting around it: when viewers (and book readers) first met him, Jaime Lannister came off as an arrogant pretty boy. Who was also in an incestuous relationship with his sister. While he is pretty arrogant, it’s not unjustified given his skill as a swordsman.

The events of the show, though, took him down several pegs. Losing to Robb Stark and enduring captivity at the hands of the Northerners, and then getting his hand cut off by the Boltons stooges. It humbled him a lot. It also revealed that he’s not as bad as everyone thought.

His infamous betrayal and killing of the Mad King was explained in a way that was not only understandable, but could even be justified. The events of the show, particularly his friendship with Brienne, steer him to becoming a man who keeps his promises. It’s this new outlook that leads Jaime to finally leave Cersei out of disgust for her actions. And I think that it’s about time.

As we see in the trailer, Jaime has kept his promise to fight for the living. Alongside the Northerners, Unsullied, and Dothraki he’s fought against, no less! And from the look of things, he’s going to be fighting right in the middle of the war against the White Walkers. He’s still one of the best swordsman in Westeros, but I fear that he’ll be vulnerable fighting with one hand. Jaime’s already come this far, but this fight may be his last.

Cersei Lannister

I’m going to be blunt here: I want Cersei to die. I’ve only been watching the show for two measly years. Other fans have had the show’s entire run to hate her; two decades if they started out reading the books. She is one of the few fictional characters that I loathe with every fiber of my being.

Cersei has always been a bad person, but she’s somehow gotten even worse during the show’s run. We could devote an entire list of all the horrible things she’s done, but near the top was blowing up the Sept of Baelor and killing hundreds of people. Not even the threat of the White Walkers is enough to curb her selfish narcissism. She plans on sacrificing half of Westeros to the Army of the Dead if it means she can keep her throne.

It seems that she’s holding true to her intentions in the trailer, remaining in King’s Landing where her only allies left are Qyburn, her Queensguard, and Euron. Euron seems to have hired the Golden Company like they planned, so she’s going to sit in King’s Landing and drink her wine while Westeros fights for survival.

Cersei Lannister’s managed to outlive most of her enemies and allies, but with Jaime gone, she has so few left to her. A lot of people are hoping to see her die, but the Mad Queen has cheated death before. I still hope she dies, though.

Rhaegal and Drogon

Considering how they’re dragons and not humans, it can be easy to forget how Drogon and Rhaegal are as much of characters as the rest of the cast. Since they hatched at the end of Season 1, the two dragons have grown from adorable little lizards into young adults ready to fight and die to protect their mother, Daenaerys.

The dragons are nigh unbeatable opponents, but as everyone learned last season, they’re not invincible. Viserion’s death at the hands of the Night King was a shock to the audience and to those present to witness it. If Daenaerys is mourning the loss of one of her children, then imagine how her two remaining dragons must feel.

Viserion’s death would have been the first time the dragons would know what it means to be truly powerless. They can wipe out entire armies, but they couldn’t save their brother. Now that brother has been reanimated as a wight to serve the Night King. They must be furious.

The two dragons are seen several times throughout the trailer, driving home the point that they will play a major role in the Great War. Both of them seem eager to fight, but will they be able to defeat their own brother, if necessary?

Daenaerys Targaryen

Daenaerys Targaryen has come so far since Season One. Gone is the timid girl who cowered under the yolk of her abusive older brother. In her place stands a proud Queen who’s determined to take back the Iron Throne, and will use everything she has to do so. At least, that’s how it was at first.

Since she arrived in Westeros, Dany’s learned of the ancient evil that’s threatening to overrun all of Westeros, and that she may be one of the people prophesied to save humanity. Now she’s seen the White Walkers, and watched as one of her beloved dragons was slain like it was nothing. Not even she can fight them alone, and will stand with those she once fought for the sake of the Seven Kindgoms.

The trailer seemed to be vague about how she will fight in the Great War, but it is certain that she will fight. Whether she will survive, though, is another matter entirely. People are saying that either she or Jon will end up dying in the fight against the White Walkers. And that doesn’t even bring up the elephant in the room..

Jon Snow

From the Bastard of Winterfell to the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch to the King in the North. Jon Snow has been through a lot over the show’s run, and has come into his own as a leader. More than anyone, he knows how dangerous the White Walkers are and what is at stake, and has devoted himself to defeating them. But there are things about Jon that not even he knows.

The end of Season Six confirmed the longtime fan theory that Jon was actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. The end of Season Seven built on that even further by revealing that Lyanna was never kidnapped. She and Rhaegar had fallen in love and secretly gotten married. Jon’s no bastard: he’s the rightful King of Westeros.

As shown in the trailer, Jon is going to be fighting on the front lines alongside his allies. If anyone can defeat the Night King and save the Seven Kingdoms, its Jon Snow. Even so, fans are worried that Jon may end up giving his life in order to save Westeros from an eternal winter. That, and there’s the fact that he and his aunt Dany are in love with each other. And that’s just history repeating itself.

In Conclusion

At this point, I think it’s fair to just put every character left alive on the chopping block. As we have seen in Game of Thrones, no one, not even a main character, is safe from death. And now death is at the gates of the living.

There are plenty of other characters that I did not have time to cover in this, but I had to limit this to the ones who were most prominent in the trailer. Whatever happens in April, history will be made.

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