Finishing off the “Treasure of the Golden Suns” arc, we have
a spectacular finale of a gold-hunting adventure that just builds with
everything that makes up the story. In
fact, everything about this part of the arc presents the original DuckTales series at its strongest. The adventure to the gold is full of many
obstacles that build in intensity as Scrooge and the gang make their way
through the Valley of the Golden Suns.
There’s alligator-infested waters, huge gold discs that become loose
when too many of them stand on one, and dangerous traps that can go off as the
result of one’s greed. Speaking of
greed, one major element that helps the adventure stand as something great is
Scrooge and how he approaches the gold hunt while slowly getting diagnosed with
one last plot-moving element of the arc, gold fever. It’s a peculiar disease that happens to those
who become particularly greedy for gold.
Some might say that Scrooge was already greedy so it doesn’t make sense
for him to get it, but given that the last four episodes have shown him clearly
grow attached to the nephews and the newest members of the help, him to act
this determined to get to gold despite clear dangers is a very strange shift in
character. He forces everyone to never
stop advancing towards the gold from paddling in roaring rivers to climbing
tall stairs to opening tight doors putting aside all cares for their well-being.
Like the adventure itself, gold fever keeps building in intensity as
Scrooge develops symptoms like twitching, hiccups, and an intense fever which
apparently could even lead to death as a scene of duck skeletons brought by
gold fever shows. The fever only gets
worse when they finally find a huge fortress where literally everything is made
of gold, even piles of gold sand and a well of hot molten gold which foreshadow majorly obsessive greed coming. That’s not even mentioning that the gold
fever spreads to Huey, Dewey, and Louie for a bit, showing that not just
Scrooge is in grave danger, but also innocent children. Heck, it’s heavily implied that El Capitan has always had gold fever, and it
clearly shows here as he threatens Scrooge and the others to hand over the gold
fortress at GUNPOINT, and longs for the molten gold well which is clearly
deadly. While Scrooge and El Capitan are
similar beings under their gold fevers, one thing sets them apart and that’s
how Scrooge has enough common sense to know it’s not worth being a dead duck to
become a rich duck which ultimately cures him while El Capitan still wants the
gold no matter what. This is made interesting when set against an incredibly epic destruction scene of
the fortress when one trap too many is ignited.
Then everything is capped off nicely when everyone’s saved by Launchpad,
which in turn is a good endpoint for all his comedic attempts to start his plane
throughout the episode, and El Capitan is left to hopelessly dig for the gold, now
buried. Scrooge is even rewarded for
making the right decision when Launchpad’s plane turns out gold from the
fortress destruction going to show that a little common sense and love for your
family are the true ways to success.
With epic moments, humorous moments, genuine intensity, and great
characters to follow, this episode is a grand end to the premiere story arc and
solidifies the true greatness of this show as well as what is to come. 10/10
The Ranking:
1. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing
2. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay
3. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck
4. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
5. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
Now that
the pilot story arc is completed, we’ll just factor in every episode of the
Vol. 1 DVD, and now we’re back to looking at the series in the proper order. We'll just continue with that order next time with the review of the first episode to explore Scrooge's love life, "Back to the Klondike."
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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