Moonvasion Ends a Season of DuckTales

DuckTales Season 2, Episode 24 Review/Recap

This season of DuckTales has had its ups and downs, but in the final act, they managed to rally. While the whole “Moonvasion” thing seems a little stupid, it’s true purpose shines through in the season finale: giving the fans the kind of epic adventure we’d expect from the show. We get a who’s who as many of the show’s characters rally together as the Duck Family faces their biggest challenge yet!

For this review, I’m forgoing my usual formula in favor of trying a format more traditional.

When Lunaris’ Moonvasion begins, saying he’s prepared for everything is an understatement. He manages to counter everything Scrooge throws at him, be it destroying all his weapons to capturing most of his allies. By the time we reach the halfway point, Scrooge flat put admits he has no idea how to beat Lunaris.

For the first time ever, we see Scrooge facing someone that’s as tough and smart as him, but smarter. It’s one of his lowest points in the show.

Character Reversal

Meanwhile, Della doesn’t do any better. Instead of wanting to charge into battle, she chooses to flee with the kids since she knows Lunaris will target them. It’s a big reversal of what we’ve seen of her so far, and honestly, it feels like It comes out of nowhere. We know she has some PTSD from being stuck on the moon, but the show doesn’t take a lot of time to develop it. The last few episodes helped, but that’s about it.

Making this reversal even more obvious is Della and Donald’s long-awaited reunion. They end up on the same desert island where Donald’s been living Castaway style, complete with an imaginary friend that looks and sounds familiar. He wants to go back and fight Lunaris, mainly because he knows what will happen otherwise. Donald does play a role, but it ends up being Louie who does ultimately helps Della.

Remember that song Della sang on the Moon, about facing the unknown without fear? Donald sang it to the boys every night as a kid, and now Louie sings it to his mom. Its one of the episodes best moments, serving as an epilogue to Louie’s own character arc and a heartfelt moment between mother and son. Its Followed immediately by a funny moment where they’re all rescued by Fethry Duck, his mutant mollusk, and Gladstone.

Too Many People At Once

On that note, Moonvasion! is the kind of event that requires all hands on deck. So, many of the show’s recurring characters, and even some that have only appeared once before, make appearances. In an ideal scenario, we’d get an epic battle between the moonlanders and the Duck Family’s allies fighting as one; everyone gets a chance to shine and show off. There is a fight, but many characters are little more than cameo candy, and after a lot of them get captured, they disappear. Which is a shame, because some of my favorite characters on the show are secondary, like Darkwing Duck. It’s hard to fit so many characters at once, but I still think the show could have done better.

Funny Moments

What Moonvasion! Did best, though, is what DuckTales does best: comedy and over-the-top adventures. The episodes filled with plenty of moments that range from putting a smile on your face to outright laughter. The funniest thing about the entire episode, though, was the plan that saved the Earth, and the hero who masterminded it. GLOMGOLD!

Yes, when Scrooge runs out of ideas, Glomgold steps in to save the day. As typical of a Glomgold scheme, it’s ridiculously dumb and shouldn’t work. In fact, here’s Yet it’s the sheer stupidity of it that actually works! Lunaris gets so thrown off by what happens that he becomes vulnerable, leading to the heroes victory. Its one of Glomgold’s shining moments, and earns him a genuine cheer at the end. Scrooge better be ready for Flinty to hold this over him for years.

Moonvasion is pretty solid

So as far as season finales go, DuckTales didn’t have the most graceful one. It does have some notable flaws to it, but at the end of the day, Moonvasion! Embraces the silliness and grand sense of adventure that makes DuckTales so enjoyable. It’s got laughs, callbacks throughout the show’s run, and some genuinely heartfelt moments wrapped into it. It’s not as epic as I thought it’d be, but I think that’s because Avengers sent my standards really high.

More importantly, Moonvasion! Sets the show up for a bevy of possible stories for its third season. The Duck Family’s finally whole again with Donald’s return, and they have all these friends and allies to go on adventures with. What no one realizes is that their actions have attracted the attention of a secret cabal of criminals, F.O.W.L.. From the looks of things, season there’s going to be even crazier than ever, and I can’t wait for it!

I Give “Moonvasion!” A 4.25 out of 5

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