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The Spear of Selene
In addition to being another fun adventure, this episode is also one to help develop a major arc for the series. Greek mythology is the name of the game here, and it ultimately offers development for the arc in question as well as a good deal of solid character moments.
Scrooge and the gang crash land in Ithaquack, home of mallard versions of famous Greek gods on top of being a reference to a location from the original DuckTales. It features Zeus as the leader as is commonly expected, but the real standout qualities come from the other gods on the island. One of them is the cheerfully heroic Storkules who has an apparent fondness for Donald, further adding intrigue to this iconic character. The truth is both Donald and Scrooge are extremely apprehensive about Ithaquack and want to leave as soon as they crash land on the island. It’s not just because of Storkules’ extreme attachment to Donald who’s clearly uncomfortable about the god’s disregard for space, but something bigger on Scrooge’s end. For now though, the focus is on how they ended up in Ithaquack to begin with.
This was all a big ploy on the part of Dewey and Webby who made sure they’d crash land on the island. When no one is suspecting, they sneak off to explore further areas of the island which is said to hold major information on the nephews’ mother, Della. At this point, all they have as a clue is a message from her to Scrooge saying that she took something called the Spear of Selene. As Selene is the name of one of the Greek gods, clearly Ithaquack is the best place to learn about such a spear. Venturing to the Temple of Heroes and faced with all sorts of challenges from obstacles to get artifacts to strange creatures, there are interesting perspectives on the main matter. Webby, known for her love of adventure and conspiracy, constantly points out all the bad things that could connect to Della taking the Spear. Dewey, however, keeps holding onto hope for the best, thinking of all the possible good reasons his mother had for taking the Spear. It makes for a very authentic portrayal of dealing with matters that no one has any answers to. You can always hope for the best, but hoping is not the same as knowing for a fact that the best is so, and the possibilities of the worst still exist. This is felt in every obstacle Dewey and Webby face, and as long as they don’t have answers, it keeps getting harder for Dewey to hold onto hope.
It all comes to a head when they’re just steps away from entering the chamber of Selene, and Dewey straight up prevents him and Webby from entering. Eventually, it turns out that Dewey is just plain scared of finding out the truth about his mother because of all the possibilities of her taking the Spear of Selene for bad reasons. This adds a whole layer of appeal to this usually trendy, upbeat, overly ambitious character. Dewey is expected to be all about diving into adventure and getting results without thinking things through. This time, he’s considerate of any possibility, including the bad ones, and is nervous about which one ends up being true. Perhaps something as big as the truth about his long-lost mother is allowing him to look at things more seriously. In an equally endearing move on Webby’s part, she is respectful of Dewey’s feelings, agreeing that this is a question they don’t have to get answers to if he doesn’t want to. Then, all of a sudden, Dewey decides to press forward anyway. Now, this move is kind of inevitable since the truth about Della means a lot to him, and it would just keep bothering him until he gets answers. The confrontation is a fitting move to convince him to continue through the mission too, especially since they’re so close. The issue is that it happens almost immediately after Webby acts respectful of Dewey feeling they shouldn’t keep going. If there was time of Dewey actually thinking about the implications and a clear sign that he’s changed his mind, the later events would have made more sense and enhance the theme.
One thing’s for sure, despite the issues to the execution of its build up, the big reveal is pretty satisfying. Behind the doors is Selene herself, goddess of the moon, and what comes from her goes two different ways. She apparently didn’t have a spear, and certainly doesn’t know of something called the Spear of Selene. This could mean Dewey is still without answers on what his mother was like, but there is some reassurance to his fear. Selene reveals to have been good friends with Della about whom she has many good things to say. Ultimately, this is reassuring to Dewey, even if it still leaves him without many substantial answers. Still, he is given enlightening advice to not give up on his search, for Della never would. Not only does this main plot of the episode meet the adventure criteria, but it also does a commendable job with relatable drama and interesting character building.
Speaking of adventure, much more of that is found in what the rest of the family gets up to. Looking back on Scrooge’s unease about Ithaquack, it relates to tensions he has with Zeus himself. A long time ago, he came to Ithaquack with Donald and Della to engage Zeus in challenges. Zeus, however, doesn’t take it well that Scrooge always beat him in these challenges causing the other gods to not respect him as much. It’s a pretty petty conflict all things considered, and Scrooge and Donald are right to sort out the ridiculousness of this whole thing. Still, they’re all caught up in Zeus’ ego issues, forced to try and beat him in a series of challenges.
The biggest thing to show in this part of the episode is the challenges themselves. Zeus has his own son go against the rest of Scrooge’s family in feats of strength. Storkules definitely has much to offer with strength, but Scrooge’s family always best him with their wit. Specifically, it’s Huey and Louie who provide the wit to win everything. Donald is there too, but he flat out refuses to take part, and there’s some solid depth for that. Storkules is very fond of Donald, constantly talks about how the duck is his best friend with a strong spirit of adventure, much like what Della was to Selene. Speaking of Della, when Donald alludes to her not being with them, Storkules is very sympathetic, but doesn’t immediately see the connection to Donald not doing adventures anymore. It becomes clearer later on when during Zeus’ challenges, Storkules confronts Donald on this matter. The big takeaway is Donald solemnly saying that the reason his adventurous ways are gone is that someone always gets hurt. This is no doubt indicative of how affected he is by the loss of his sister, and even with the funny duck voice, the emotional weight of his reveal is very sincere. It’s a good example of how Donald can very well be the core Disney character to best resemble a versatile actor.
However, he ultimately doesn’t let that stop him from helping when things get tough. Zeus’ pettiness brings on a very intense challenge where the opponents have to try to take a golden fleece from a girl. The catch is that the girl singing creates a fierce storm, and it doesn’t help that Zeus brainwashes his own son beat the opponents back. Thanks to his bond with Storkules, Donald is able to step in and help his nephews overcome the challenge. It’s ultimately Louie’s conman ways that stop the girl, but Donald’s little contribution is still of note as it slowly reignites his spirit of adventure. As for the resolution of this whole conflict with Zeus, it kind of falls flat in intrigue where the family is let out of the challenges when they take a dive in one last challenge. Zeus is quick to gloat over this like a child, and there’s not a hint of humbleness. Perhaps, there’s some merit with Scrooge admitting all this was because of pride and egotism, something he himself is guilty of too, thus leaving nobility to throwing the game. Still, the way Zeus reacts to this makes this stance one-sided. Despite that, this part of the episode does still have good character moments.
In fact, it’s character moments that add to the appeal of this episode not just in helping for their sake, but for thematic and plot-driven purposes.
A-
Series Ranking
1. The House of the Lucky
Gander
2. The Beagle Birthday
Breakout
3. The Impossible Summit of
Mt. Neverrest
4.
Terror of the Terra-Firmians
5.
The Missing Links of Moorshire
6.
McMystery at McDuck McManor
7.
The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra
8. Daytrip of Doom
9. The Great Dime Chase
10. Escape To/From Atlantis
11. Woo-oo
12. The Spear of Selene
13. The Infernal Internship
of Mark Beaks
The next episode has the nephews make a day out of doing their own thing even though they've constantly done so already.
Next time on this blog is Ed Edd n Eddy.
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
