As I mentioned before, I love a good episode to give some
background on a character’s past. Here,
we get one for Scrooge McDuck himself, and everything comes together in an
episode that has some interesting information, a great mystery that leaves you
guessing, and a well-crafted spooky atmosphere to accompany the mystery. The story follows Scrooge and the kids
visiting Scrooge’s childhood cottage in Scotland. Amidst the nice scenes of everyone exploring
the cottage, attention is also drawn to Castle McDuck which is across the
way. The backstory of Castle McDuck is
central to the story and it’s a good basis for the mystery about to
unfold. It was built by Scrooge’s
great-great grandfather Silas who defied the warnings of the local druids, and
they put a curse on him and the rest of his family. As a result, when the castle opened, Silas
and his clan were chased down by a ghostly hound, and all of his descendants
were left to fear going anywhere near the castle, Scrooge included. In the present day though, this backstory
meant to have the McDucks cower in fear gives this group the incentive to take
back what belongs to them. Everyone
involved in the group has something charming to offer to the plot of solving
the mystery. Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s childlike
nature encourage Scrooge to not back down because of the curse, Scrooge has a
lot of resourceful moments such as noticing the group of druids inhabiting the
castle like they own the place thereby realizing something strange is going on,
and calming the ghost hound with sausages, and even Webby proves to be good use
to the team by uncovering the truth about the ghost hound in her own
animal-loving ways. These great moments
from the characters result in a fun climax where everyone catches the druids
with makeshift traps and make the ghost hound defy their orders causing them to
give up. We even learn why the druids, as
well as their descendants, set up the curse for the McDucks. It's all because
Silas McDuck built his castle over their sacred meeting ground,
which makes their actions understandable. Plus, given that his cheapness was their catalyst
, you can easily tell that Silas is Scrooge’s ancestor. To conclude things, because both sides of the
conflict have proven sympathetic, it’s only appropriate that the episode ends
with the both of them coming to a compromise.
The mystery’s well-crafted with clever twists, Scrooge’s past is
engaging and adds some layers to his character, and there are great moments for
all the characters involved. In fact,
I’d say these factors make this the new strongest episode I’ve seen so far. 10/10
The Ranking
- The Curse of Castle McDuck
- Hotel Strangeduck
- Maid of the Myth
- Hero for Hire
- Top Duck
- Robot Robbers
- Much Ado About Scrooge
- Magica’s Shadow War
- Duckman of Aquatraz
- Armstrong
- Sir Gyro de Gearloose
- Master of the Djinni
- Sphinx for the Memories
- Send in the Clones
- Down and Out in Duckburg
- The Lost Crown of Genghis Kahn
- The Money Vanishes
- Where No Duck Has Gone Before
- Dinosaur Ducks
- Pearl of Wisdom
- Superdoo!
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where a re-enactment of a civil war battle becomes "Launchpad's Civil War."
If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.
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