The finale ofDuckTaleswas an ecstatic conclusion toa confident first season.
The Shadow War promised a showdown with an invincible juggernaut of black magic!
and delivered a tremendously satisfying smash-up.
Disney Channel
Lin-Manuel Mirandas Gizmoduck and Jim Rashs Gyro Gearloose?
Sure, couldve anticipated theyd swing by.
But who knew thered be an emotional high point for Manny, the Headless Man-Horse?
Am I laughing or crying?
Presumably, with one eye on rerun potential, this hourlong finale had two distinct halves.
Act 1 saw the Duck clan at their furthest point of separation.
(Has anyone fantasy-cast the Rescue Rangers yet?
Act 2 would have more pyrotechnics.
But the first half-hour was a prime example of whatDuckTalescan do so well.
On both fronts, the plotting was sitcom classical.
In McDuck mansion, Lena found Scrooge a tanktop-wearing, pizza-gorging wreck.
On Donalds houseboat, the plotters offered a culinary journey of Duckburg!
Mrs. Beakley (Toks Olagundoye) offered to help.
Sension tension, Launchpad deployed an EMERGENCY BOUNCEHOUSE!
Magica returned amidst a flood of revelations, some pleasantly inevitable and one flat-out gutwrenching.
It turns out that the mystics bodys been imprisonedinsideScrooges dime.
Its a nice twist on Magicas eternal quest for the coin.
Magicas return didnt set Lena free.
Turns out, shes not Magicas niece shes hershadow, brought to life by magic.
Here, Magicas shadow had a life of her own.
That left Scrooges family and friends to plot a large counterattack.
In an episode full of bright ideas, the brightest had to be giving Donald a voice modulator.
All hail guest star Don Cheadle, who got to play the Disney icon as a hero dad.
Get ready for the storm!
I AM THE STORM!
The kids entered the money bin via Gyros underwater laboratory.
Gyro and Gizmoduck approached via the bridge.
Launchpad took the air, kept on trying against all odds to CRASH THE PARTY.
The finale deftly clashed action dramatics with sensitive character beats, never losing its goofy spirit.
We have to get to that dime and save Scrooge ourselves!
said Dewey (Ben Schwartz).
And I knowjusthow to Dewey it!
Blink and you missed the other ducks reaction to that line a shaken head, eyes rolled.
I also loved Magica asking imprisoned Scrooge to blink twice if Gyro is just a work acquaintance.
Little moments like that piled up around grand declarations.
then you must be a decapitated horse with a statue head that cant cry.
I cheered when Lena suddenly reappeared, a light shadow brought to life via friendship bracelet.
By the end, she appeared to be halfway nonexistent, living on as Webbys shadow.
The mystical logic heres a bit loose; cut to Magica, exasperated, Its justmagic, okay??
Im more bummed that Lena might be semi-gone.
Cool that shes become, like, the Ghost Rider to Webbys Johnny Blaze.
But I also enjoyed it when they were just two characters hanging out together.
Its a minor complaint and, possibly, something that will be addressed in the second season.
These first 23 episodes went in disparate directions, but the finale provedDuckTalesis adept at playing a long game.
And its game just got longer.
The final moments of the finale revealed Della Duck, alive and well onthe freaking moon.
Dellas debut [GASP], Boys?!?!?!
(Which also means, like: SPACE!)
There was some added playfulness here.
It looks like Dellajustgot her TV set working.
