#darkwing duck reboot theory

[thechaseofspades]

There is NO Drake Mallard: A DT17/DWD Theory/Headcanon

Spoilers for Ducktales 2017 and a few elements of Darkwing Duck '91

OK but hear me out. Who is Drake Mallard in the original Darkwing Duck show (hereafter: DW91)? It's the childhood backstory (if you can call it that) that we see before he becomes Darkwing Duck, and it's the civilian identity that lives with LP and Gosalyn in the suburbs next to the Muddlefoots.

In Ducktales 2017 (hereafter: DT17), Drake Mallard is an actor who idolizes the "show-within-a-show" Darkwing and lands the role in the reboot. He eventually dons the cape and cowl himself.

So DT17 Drake fits the bill of DW91 Drake in the pre-Darkwing backstory department, but what about his civilian identity? It's a vital part of the original show, but we don't really see it much in DT17.

It's time to talk about the show within the show...

What do we know about the "Darkwing Duck" show in the universe of Ducktales? Based on the references we see to specific episodes, it's obviously based on the real life DW91. But, with one big exception.

We never see Jim Starling (the actor playing DWD in the show-within-the-show) in a civilian identity. He is Darkwing Duck in all of the clips we see of the show. No "Drake Mallard" to be found. No Launchpad or Gosalyn either. The Darkwing in the show-within-the-show doesn't seem to have a civilian identity or a civilian life of any kind.

And that makes sense, since in the DT17 universe, Drake Mallard is a real person. So are Launchpad and Gosalyn. So it would be weird for them to exist in the show-within-the-show.

We'll keep this in mind for later. But for now...

Who is Drake Mallard? (DT17)

Back to this joker. Let's talk about what we know about Chris Diamantopoulos's Drake Mallard.

Now, when I say "Drake Mallard", I mean Drake in his civilian persona. Keep in mind that Drake is an actor who was born to play Darkwing, and completely commits to the bit from the first time he puts on the costume.

But what is "the bit" to him? He bases everything, including his personality to an extent, on Starling's DW. We've established that that Darkwing had no civilian identity, so it would make sense for Drake to replicate that as well.

We only see Drake Mallard (not as Darkwing) in two scenes after he dons the cape. The first is this scene at the end of Let's Get Dangerous...

When this scene popped up, I assumed it would be the adoption scene. I think many people still kinda headcanon this as a soft adoption, when Gosalyn becomes a Mallard. But the show made a conscious decision to *not* do that, because Gos doesn't need adopted. Her grandfather isn't dead. He's in another dimension.

Gosalyn made DW91 Drake Mallard who he is

The pilot episode of DW91 starts off with Darkwing Duck as a vigilante superhero and nothing else. No sidekick, no daughter no civilian identity. During the two-parter, he meets LP (a huge Darkwing fan) and Gos (the orphan granddaughter of a scientist who was killed for his invention).

Sound familiar? That's because the Darkwing arc (Arcwing if you will) in DT17 is based heavily on this show with one notable exception: Thaddeus Waddlemeyer isn't dead in Ducktales. Gosalyn isn't an orphan. Thus, no adoption.

In DW91, the adoption scene at the end of the pilot introduces us to Drake Mallard, DW's mild-mannered civilian persona. Before adopting Gosalyn, DW lived in the tower alone, dedicating his entire life to fighting crime. Now, he has a daughter to take care of.

So why focus on this scene in DT17, and specifically what's different about it? In Let's Get Dangerous, Darkwing asks Gosalyn if she'll be his crime-fighting partner. That's not something new dad Drake Mallard would ask. That's a Darkwing Duck question.

Don't be fooled by the button-up shirt. That is not Drake Mallard. That's Darkwing Duck but his costume is at the dry cleaners. Adopting Gosalyn in DW91 prompts his civilian persona, but in DT17 we don't get to that part.

Darkwing Duck in DT17 is based on the DW91 character pre-pilot

Before adopting Gosalyn, DW91 Darkwing lived alone in the tower and dedicated all of his time to crime-fighting. The ultimate commitment to the bit. As we've established, this is what show-within-the-show Darkwing was like as well, since there were no LP or Gos in that version. This is the Darkwing Duck that DT17 Drake is trying to replicate.

Gosalyn may be in his life, but they are crime-fighting partners, NOT father and daughter. Launchpad is his best friend, but they don't live in the suburbs together. As far as we know, LP still lives in Duckburg while Drake spends most of his time in St. Canard, working out of the Audubon Tower.

We never see that house in the suburbs. And we only see Drake in casual clothes one more time in the entire series...

Here's Drake, very openly talking with Fenton about Gizmoduck and Darkwing Duck business. What part of secret identity do these goofballs not understand?

DT17 Drake Mallard was an actor, and he was born to play this role. He wouldn't be careless with his secret identity. Unless, there is no secret identity at all. His hero didn't have one, so why would he need one?

All Fenton knows in this conversation is that he's talking to Darkwing Duck. Who even is Drake Mallard? Does it matter to him? Does it matter to anyone?

For all intents and purposes, Drake Mallard does not exist. After retiring from acting, Darkwing Duck emerged as the St. Canardian Guardian. He has become Darkwing Duck. He is constantly playing the role. He is not Drake Mallard. He is Darkwing Duck.

In DW91, Drake Mallard's job was to protect and raise Gosalyn.

In DT17, Darkwing Duck's job is to protect her and reunite her with her family.

These are different characters with different priorities. I feel like this was intentional. And even if it wasn't, then I am pretending that it was.

I think that about covers it? This whole thought process started out with me trying to justify as few people knowing Darkwing's secret identity as possible, but it turned into a way bigger thing. I wish Darkwing would get more official stories to explore this concept, but I guess we'll settle for super long Tumblr posts instead

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #darkwing duck #drake mallard #gosalyn waddlemeyer #gosalyn mallard

[akumaverse]

DR. REGINALD BUSHROOT

First Appearance: Darkwing Beyond #14

Dimension: Limbo

Allegiance: Neutral

Reginald Bushroot was once a normal duck employed at St. Canard University. He worked as a Botanist alongside others, including Rhoda Dendron. While Dendron was kind to him, two others took great joy in bullying him. It also doesn’t help that the Dean wasn’t interested in his work. While in theory it could end world hunger, he can’t profit off of it if it’s successful. Despierate, Reginald decides to test the experiment on himself.

His intention was to make it so animals can use photosynthesis to sustain themselves and after doing it on himself it worked. But doing so turned him into a half plant/half duck creature. He scared Dendron and was taunted by his other peers, but in his means to escape he found out he can talk to and control plants. Using this, originally wanting to do good, he used his newfound powers to get revenge on the people who forced him down this path.

When he found out that Dr. Dendron still thinks highly of her, this began his never ending quest to find someone he can spend time with (minus that one time he made counterfeit money). Eventually, he would be successful in creating a son in the form of a seedling. He was going to happily retire until Nega Duck forced him to become part of the Fearsome Five. Seeing no choice, he sent the Seedling to Dr. Dendron with a letter of apology as he became part of Nega Duck’s group.

He still enjoyed his time there, after all he was with four others who share similar sentiments on their current situation, but with Nega Duck in charge it would likely lead to their doom. And on one fateful day, it did. The explosion that took out Darkwing destroyed every single piece of Bushroot. He was gone forever. He now resides in limbo where the fight to go to Paradise of Hades begins for him.

Sprite Credit

First Version ripped from Darkwing Duck (NES). 

Second Version by AkumaTh. 

Third Version by Zaffy.

Current Version by AkumaTh

Fun Fact:

My favorite Part of the Ducktales Reboot Darkwing Duck episode was when both Darkwing and Launchpad said the same thing I did about Bushroot.

#neutral #Limbo #Dr. Reginald Bushroot #Reginald Bushroot #Bushroot

[crak-ducktales-theories]

Theory: all Darkwings have negaduck incstincts

Obviously Jim, he went full Negaduck, Drake, obsessive to a fault, fame hungry, however he has LP and Gos to keep him grounded, (Looking at you Beakly, Likes cosplaying Darkwing, obviously hiding something, traied a 10 year old to KILL, buuut she has a big family that loves and supports her)

(doubles as a continuation for the Negaduck hit list theory)

Animating is horrific yet i always go back to it

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales theory #my art #dt17 #dt17 au #art #darkwing duck #launchpad mcquack #drake mallard #jim starling #alistair boorswan #darkwing duck theory #darkwing duck reboot theory #darkwing duck reboot #negaduck #that Jar thing didn’t went over my head #he’s considered it at least #def had a crush on jim as a kid #I headcanon drake as high inteligence low wisdom #he has one braincel but damn does he know how/when to use it #also the two most dramatic bitches on set #he and ali def made out after psychoanalyzing Og Darkwing #drakepad

[milkyelescarabajo]

In face of the possible darkwing reboot i present:

THE DRAKES ARE THE NEW MUDLEFOOTS A NON-CIENTIFIC ESSAY

Boyd = A better an improved Honker

#darkwing duck #darkwing reboot #gosalyn mallard #gosalyn waddlemeyer #drake mallard #ducktales boyd #doofus drake #Drake family #ducktales 2017 #ducktales theory #its three am #I had this revelation #will probably edit the Drake parents into the muddlefoots clothes #my third eye #I whish for a good darkwing rebooy

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Launchpad’s Association With Della Duck: Ballads of Dangerous Chemistry

Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 || Continued from Part 6

One of the many things I've noticed in DuckTales is that certain elements from earlier episodes tend to return in the later portion of the season. Sometimes as a running gag or an Easter egg, but other times, they end up revealing to be an important concept that's extremely relevant to the story. 

The Season 1 finale was a good example of this: The boys hijacking Donald's Houseboat in the pilot to go to Cape Suzette comes back as Donald wanting to move there when the boys no longer want anything to do with Scrooge. The bag of marbles Scrooge gave the boys when they first arrive to the mansion comes back as a way for Scrooge to reminisce about having them around. The silly cutout of Gyro from "Beware of The B.U.D.D.Y System!" is seen floating around in the underwater lab after the area was destroyed by the shadows. 

Sometimes it doesn't even take that long for the early elements to reappear; they can be contained within the episode itself by giving us hints in the very beginning of it and later come into play towards the ending. Scrooge was right from the start when he blamed Glomgold in "The 87 Cent Solution!" and the ending of the Darkwing Duck series finale basically foreshadowed the entirety of "The Duck Knight Returns!". If Della paid attention as she was attempting to fix the rocket on her own, she would have known about Gold Tech way ahead of time.

Two years ago at the D23 Expo, it was announced during the DuckTales panel  that Duckworth was already shown, but no one had found him yet. Many of us searched around for the butler dog and every character we guessed was rejected by the show-runners. It wasn't until "McMystery at McDuck McManor" that Duckworth was revealed to be the ram-headed spirit we've been seeing in the intro! The answer to the mystery was right there in front of our faces! But we didn't realize it because the appearance of the person we were looking for was altered.

Bᴇғᴏʀᴇ Dᴜᴄᴋᴡᴏʀᴛʜ’s ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟ, ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ʜɪɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴜᴘʟᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜɪs ʟɪᴋᴇɴᴇss ᴡᴀs ᴏʙsᴄᴜʀᴇᴅ: Tʜᴇ ɢʜᴏsᴛ ᴄʜᴀsɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴅs ɪɴ Mʀs. Bᴇᴀᴋʟᴇʏ’s sʜᴏʀᴛ , ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜ ᴏғ ᴀ ғʟᴏᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴏʀʙ ᴏғ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴏɴ Wᴇʙʙʏ’s ʙᴏᴀʀᴅ

Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʟʏ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ, Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡᴀsɴ'ᴛ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ "MᴄMᴀɴᴏʀ" ᴀᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴇsᴘɪᴛᴇ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴsɪᴏɴ' s ɢᴀʀᴀɢᴇ...

This proves that we don't always have to look too far to figure things out, so, after thinking about amnesia, I had to take another look at "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!". It features a confirmed case of the condition and a good example of applying one similar character to another.

The episode begins with a flashback to the happenings of "The Shadow War!", a pretty significant event. Glomgold fails to prevent his shadow from flying off and ends up falling into the marina. He loses consciousness and is eventually found by two fishers, trapped in their fisher net. He can no longer remember the whole ordeal that caused him to take on his false Scottish persona and reverts back to who he used to be: Duke Baloney.

The name Duke Balony, derives from a completely different character named The Duke of Baloni. He comes from an old Carl Barks story that predates Glomgold's character and was the first to be titled "Second-Richest Duck in the World". The show-runners used this similarity as a part of giving an in-universe explanation to why Flintheart Glomgold went from South African like he was in the earlier Scrooge McDuck comics, to Scottish like he was in the original DuckTales series.

Four months later, after Flintheart is reported to have gone missing, Webby and Louie stop by Bait 'N' Such to find him as a completely different person: His demeanor is much kinder, he talks with a different accent, he sports a real beard and now wears a fisherman outfit.

Speaking of which, Duke and LP share a lot of similar colors. Even Young Duke wears teal and green; something that was mainly exclusive to both Launchpad and Della.

The kids aren't exactly sure what to think. Was this really Glomgold? Or were they mistaking a random stranger for him? Was he genuinely suffering from amnesia? Or was this another one of his crazy schemes? As they try to figure out his true intentions, they discover Duke has a suspicious, gold money clip in his possession. This causes Webby and Louie to start an investigation where they discover Duke Baloney's records are non-existent and Flintheart Glomgold's records do not extend past his arrival to Duckburg in the 80's.

Meanwhile, Duke's evil persona slowly starts to re-emerge after one of Scrooge's fishing boats roll into the dock. He can't remember Scrooge's name, he can't even remember his face when they meet, but he suddenly grows negative feelings towards the boat and he's not exactly sure why. He starts coming up with elaborate plans to outrank it and he ends up having a dream full of subliminal messages about his past.

As Duke starts to question who he really is, he notices that Webby and Louie are out at sea as a thunderstorm is approaching. He plans to go out and rescue them but a boat crane hits him on the head, causing him to fall into the marina much like he did before. It's in his second time of unconsciousness where he remembers why he started his Scottish persona in the first place: When Duke was a child, Scrooge failed at teaching him a sense of self reliance by only paying partially for his shoe shining services. Feeling cheated, he secretly stole Scrooge's money clip and vowed to do whatever it takes to out-best him at everything and steal his title of "Richest Duck in the World".

When Duke comes to at the surface, he reverts back to his evil ways. He displays this as he tricks Webby into giving him her hand only for him throw her out of the boat to make room for himself. The other fishers are very shocked to see their friend act like this.

Glomgold makes his way back to his office to reclaim his company from Zan Owlson and to challenge Scrooge with the fiscal year bet. Scrooge refuses until Glomgold taunts him with the money clip he had stolen from him. McDuck becomes surprised, and angry, that his greatest rival has a significant connection to his past.

So, if Launchpad has amnesia, what could Glomgold's situation be telling us about his?

Glomgold's amnesia was tied to a big event as well as LP's could be if he was involved with the cosmic storm.

Glomgold goes missing in the sea, an environment that is very similar to outer-space.

Following his disappearance, Glomgold ended up looking like a different person with a new profession. Launchpad is completely unrecognizable to Della in spite of many signs that they could have something to do with each other's backgrounds and there are also possible signs that he might not be a legitimate airplane pilot.

Glomgold had Scrooge's money clip on him. Maybe LP has some sort of mysterious item or something like a scar or a birthmark that could help prove that he's the father.

Information on both Duke and Glomgold is extremely limited. Launchpad's records probably don't go very far either. 

Duke's sudden hatred for Scrooge's boat reminds me of Launchpad's sudden attachment to Dewey. The triplet hasn't done much to or for Launchpad prior "Terror of The Terrafimians!”; he caused a trap to dump a pile of snakes onto Launchpad without apologizing. Dewey doesn't show any concern towards him until he comes back from his search in "Gander"...and yet, Launchpad established him as his best friend. He may not even be sure why he does. I've been theorizing for the longest time that Dewey could be reminding him of Della. 

In the Theme Song Takeover, Launchpad sings about being on the Houseboat with Dewey specifically without acknowledging that Scrooge, Donald, Huey and Louie are there too. He did a similar thing in “Jaw$!” when he simplified Huey and Louie as “Dewey’s Brothers”. Aside from giving us potential clues about Della, Issue 18 highlighted Launchpad’s friendship with Dewey as well. When he realizes the severity of the tsunami alert, he immediately grabs Dewey and wants to head to safety instead of thinking to grab both Dewey and Webby at the same time. The retail incentive cover for this issue features a bunch of Dewey photos with Launchpad facing them.

Duke has a dream full of symbolism revolving around his Scottish persona. Launchpad’s line in “The 87 Cent Solution!” when Scrooge causes Gizmoduck to accidentally shoot the Sunchaser with a torpedo, reminds me a bit of this. He said the situation reminded him of every nightmare he’s ever had....why is he having dreams of accidentally hitting Dewey with the plane? What does this mean? Is he afraid that there will be a day where he hurts someone he cares about? Has this already happened in the past?

Was the mishap reminiscent of what happened during the cosmic storm? Scrooge accidentally causes Gizmoduck to fire his torpedoes (lightning?), they hit the plane (spacecraft?), smoke fills the vehicle (radiation clouds?) and he comes close to hitting someone he cares about (Della?)

After seeing the boat, Glomgold's old ways start to creep back into his mind. I think after being exposed to Della's presence for the first time in years, Launchpad will start to act a bit like his older self and do things that Della will recognize.

Glomgold had to get knocked back into the sea to return to how he normally is. Will Launchpad have to have another stressful incident or head injury to help him remember who he was?

 There's a line from "The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!" where he says "NO! This is not the end of Launchpad McQuack! It WILL be by plane crash, or not at all!" Was that possibly hinting towards this?

Duke actually says a line a bit similar to this where he says “All I need to know, is that I came from the sea...and I’ll die buy it...”

 A thunderstorm was involved and a rescue was underway, just like how Della could have been trying to rescue the father while she was caught up in the cosmic storm.

Glomgold's beard gets zapped with lightning from the storm, burning it into nothing. Launchpad possibly implied that he himself survived a lightning strike of some sort.

This episode was about a villain turning back into a good guy after losing his memory. Did Launchpad use to be a bad person? Or someone who was generally good, but made a bad decision? Or just unknowingly caused a bunch of bad things to happen? If Launchpad was the reason behind Della taking the Spear, then it’s partially his fault for Della getting stuck on the moon, losing her leg, Donald and Scrooge's separation, the boys growing up financially unstable without a mother, the depletion of the Money Bin, almost making Scrooge go bankrupt, Scrooge's retirement and depression, the family splitting up for a second time, Donald being sent to jail and the upcoming invasion. Even if the incident was beyond his control, he'll still feel horrible about causing such a chain reaction.

Not really counting on this, but if amnesia caused Glomgold to revert back to his original accent, could breaking out of amnesia cause Launchpad to revert back to his? In the original DuckTales series, Launchpad had more of a Northeastern accent. There are certain points in the cadence of Della's voice that reminds me of how Launchpad speaks in the reboot; more notably when she slips into a lower register

"Iiiit's fiiiine, I'm sure the flavor will wear off soon…"

"I've activated my distress beacon, so you can pinpoint my location and COME GET ME."

"I bet the boys have hatched by now... I'm not even sure what they look like…"

"I was gone for a decade and everyone was just fine…"

Glomgold's change in voice was brought on by copying off of Scrooge. Perhaps Launchpad is emulating Della in that way as well.

There are a few other lines in this episode that reminded me of some lines Launchpad has said in the previous season:

When Duke shares his crazy plans to outdo Scrooge's boat by over-fishing, Mann makes a comment.

 "...But it's like you always say, 'sharing is caring'."

 Duke takes a moment to think about this.

"That does sound like me...or does it?"

This reminds me of the scene in "The Spear of Selene!" where Scrooge orders Launchpad to get the plane back in the air after crash landing on Ithaquack. Launchpad responds.

"Sorry, Mr. McDee, gotta figure out what this flashing red light means. I always say: Better to be safe than... whatever the opposite of safe is!" 

He then looks off to the side with uncertainty afterwards, like he's not exactly sure where this phrase came from, but he could have sworn he said it at some point.

"Yeah, I do say that.”

But then Scrooge fires back.

"WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SAID THAT?!"

Could this little break in character be implying that Launchpad was a safer person at some point in his life?

When Duke notices Webby and Louie out at sea when the storm is about to start, he begins to speak.

 “I'll save ya! Or my name isn't--” 

But then he gets hit with a crane and falls into the water. This reminds me of LP's quote in “The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!” when he's trying to help Scrooge win his parents’ approval. In disguise, he says

“He's a real family man or my name isn't Launchpad Mc...Donald Duck.”

We all know he isn't Donald and he was close to saying Launchpad McQuack wasn't his real name.

This may not count, but When Duke reached out to Webby and said “Give me your hand!”, it reminded me of when LP said the same thing to Dewey in “B.U.D.D.Y” as well as Scrooge in "Last Crash" when he's going after Dewey outside of the plane. Duke pulls Webby into the water and the limo rides over a rock causing Dewey to come out of the self-driving car and fly out of LP's grip.

After developing my new theory about Della and Launchpad's connection, I later realized how the two episodes I’ve been zeroing in on the most, are next to each other in order of production. One dealt with the ideas of genetic mutation in a space-like environment, combined with the concept of going on a secret trip to meet up with a family member and a lover. Then right after that, there's the idea of someone having amnesia after a big event causes their long absence and then struggling to figure out who they really are when elements from their past start to seep back into their life. A connection between the two is looking very likely. Both stories were set in aquatic places and may have even occurred around the same time. I came across a theory that Huey, Dewey and Launchpad visited the Mid-Atlantic ridge while Webby and Louie went fishing, which would explain why they weren't present in the other's episode. __

If Launchpad was affected by the cosmic storm, what else could it have done to him aside from changing the way he looks?

I've put together a list of abilities he may have gained from this:

Immortality

In "The Most Dangerous Game...Night!" Louie tells Huey that he's convinced Launchpad is immortal due to the amount of plane crashes he's survived.  LP doesn't respond to this comment and later refuses to answer Huey about how he survived the Tower of Infinity when it collapsed.

I think there's enough weight to Louie's remark for it to be more than simply a one-off joke because there are multiple times where he's shown to be pretty resilient.  Launchpad can get sick or hurt, but he recovers incredibly well to injuries and has, as Fisher said when he was describing Duke,  "a freakishly high tolerance for pain".  

After the snakes from the Atlantean trap bit him, he brushes the situation off like it's not a big deal. He's hindered by the venom, but he's still conscious enough to climb down the bridge when it breaks (for the most part) and helps Webby to lie to her grandmother by posing as a Swedish person. When Glomgold announced that he's about to blow up the city, Launchpad’s facial swelling suddenly goes down and he’s well enough to quickly drive the sub to safety. Also, when Launchpad returns to the Sunchaser after looking for Ziyi, a bunch of arrows are pierced through his armor and he has an eye-patch over his eye. He’s winded by having to run to the to the plane in time and escape the danger he went though, but he isn’t wincing from his injuries. He isn’t really fazed by them at all.

Sᴛᴏʀᴋᴜʟᴇs sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇʜᴏʟᴅᴇʀ ғᴏʀ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʜᴇ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴄᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇs. Pᴇʀʜᴀᴘs ʜᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛs Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's ɪᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟɪᴛʏ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴡᴀʏ.

Strength

“The Missing Links of Moorshire!” is a good example of Launchpad’s strength. Towards the end of the episode, he’s shown to lift Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby and Scrooge with ease. Even earlier in the episode, he’s able to push a water-logged golf cart out of a lake, which on average is somewhere between 900 to 1100 lbs when it’s dry.

The cosmic storm may have increased his strength, but the workout equipment in his room would indicate that he needs to maintain it to a degree. Maybe it's a Hercules-type situation; even during his weaker points, he’s still pretty strong, but working out just makes him even more abnormally strong. 

Agility 

As seen in “Shadow War” and “Duck Knight”, LP is a very capable fighter. He has good reflexes, allowing him to dodge most attacks. Even though the venom from the snakes impaired him, he was still able to defend himself from Glomgold’s henchmen. In “Last Crash”, he ran on top of falling items to keep himself from falling out of the plane. And when he was fighting off the shadows on top of the plane, he never lost his balance.

Speed

I'm not really sure with this one, but in "Game Night" Launchpad was able to make it over to Louie and Huey after getting struck with the shrink ray. Perhaps this was ignored for convince, but running fast would explain how he was able to survive the collapse of the Jenga tower.

Aquatic Respiration

I think this is starting to become more apparent. After "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!" aired, I started to wonder if Launchpad may have used Oxy-Chew when he went to visit Oceanika. But after "Friendship Hates Magic!"....I don't think this is the case. In the scene where he's drinking pea soup through a silly straw, one of the peas gets stuck and he struggles with it until his face starts to turn blue. He faints and all the air in his lungs exits his body before face-planting into his bowl. Then he makes a muffled inhaling noise without choking…

Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ sɪᴛs ɪɴ ғʀᴏɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴀ ᴘᴀɪɴᴛɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀsɪᴅᴇ ᴀs ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ.

In “Neverrest”, Launchpad keeps his mouth open as he falls into the hot spring and doesn’t gasp for air when he bursts out of it. When he comes back to the lighthouse in "Depths", he simply resurfaces with no problem. He isn't panting for air until he has to climb up onto the platform, which can be a bit tiring after staying in the water for so long. So, uh...I guess Launchpad has gills somewhere on his beak...? Granted, if he did have Oxy-Chew at some point, he could have ended up swallowing it; I mean, that stuff is pretty powerful when you chew it alone, but I'm leaning on mutation with this one.

Electrical Powers

After getting caught in a cloud full of radiation and lightning, it would make a ton of sense for Launchpad to have some sort of connection to electricity. But what kind of connection exactly? Can he generate his own? Can he bend and levitate metal objects to his will? Does he serve as a special conductor?  It's really hard to tell since there aren't any on obviously examples, but perhaps there could be something with the latter option.

The ending to “The Spear of Selene!” was very baffling. During my first viewing, I thought Launchpad was scared to leave the plane for some reason, but he ends up disassembling the plane; preventing the family from leaving and bringing him out in the open. Then, during my latest viewing, I realized that the plane isn’t simply taken apart, it looks like it was ripped apart. The pieces are damaged...one of the engines are chipped and dented, one of the propeller blades are also chipped, the tail of the plane has a cracked wing, the control board is all dented with the yoke snapped off...was he really that obsessed with figuring out the problem that he couldn’t just use tools to separate the plane properly? This made me wonder if there could have been an explosion from inside of the Sunchaser. Could another lightning bolt have hit the plane and it was strong enough for Launchpad to react to it? The first time the plane was struck, he’s quickly able to engage a control to stop it from affecting the plane.

The plane parts don’t seem to have any burn marks on them and Launchpad’s clothes aren’t singed or anything, so perhaps there was a different kind of electrical mishap or something that resulted from another side effect of the cosmic storm.

Sixth Sense

Maybe this is purely for meta humor, but LP seems to have this underlying fourth wall-y awareness. At the end of “Moonshire”, the camera is gone, but he still faces the audience and addresses the lesson to be learned. He then undercuts himself as if he didn't want us to know how insightful he is.

In "Terror of The Terrafimians!", he questions if Huey, Webby and Lena were the only three missing from the group when Magica technically counts as a fourth person. 

Good Hearing

You would think that after constantly hearing the sound of breaking glass and denting metal on a daily basis, it would take a toll on Launchpad's hearing, but he seems to be a good listener. 

Even though we weren't able to see his reaction to Scrooge's story about the Spear of Selene, he must have heard it in spite of being all the way on the other side of the plane and being sorta barricaded by a bunch of stuff to help balance the weight. If the boys informed him about what happened, he would have taken their word for it when he was talking over the intercom in "Shadow War", not point out how they’re the ones who blame Scrooge.

After "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!" aired, I've been trying to figure out how Launchpad knew that Della was in the houseboat. She wasn't being very loud and he said "Thought I'd come over to introduce myself," implying that he knew about her being in there and stalled afterwards. He could have seen her as she was walking to the other side of the pool to board the houseboat, but it would have to have been somewhere where she wouldn’t have been able to notice him. Maybe looking out the window from inside the house. If not, he could have heard her in the boat as he was passing by. She didn’t start talking until around the time he came over, so if this were the case, he would have already known whose voice it was coming out of the houseboat. If he knew about Della being in the mansion this whole time, why did it take him so long to talk to her?

Weight Manipulation?

Part of me sorta wonders if LP has the ability to make himself lighter when he needs to be; holding back so he won't hurt anyone. This would explain things like how Scrooge was able to save LP from falling out of the plane in “Last Crash” without dislocating his shoulder and how Webby was able to knock LP down in “Shadow War”. 

But then again, determination, anger and stubbornness act a bit like super powers to some of the characters. It gives them a boost of strength when the stakes are high and allows them to do things they wouldn’t normally be able to do or shouldn't be able to do based on their body type. Scrooge was able to throw everyone off of him in “87 Cent Solution”, and enjoys swimming around in one of the most heavy metals in existence. Huey dragged LP back to the log in “Only Child” even after he wasn’t able to lift any part of that log. He was also able to lift three kids along with his uncle in “Moorshire” and was strong enough to keep the demon dog at bay in “McManor”. Then there's both Drake and Jim who can go through a bunch of injuries and still get back up after them.

This guess, along with the others I've discussed in this list, might just be part of cartoon logic and isn't meant to be an indication of anything outside of humor or convenience.

The Ability to Be Manipulated?

As I was putting this list together, I suddenly thought: If there's a Greek connection to the cosmic storm, what if Zeus is able to manipulate LP similarly to how he was able to manipulate Storkules with the siren? If Launchpad does have good hearing, what if he heard the siren and that's what caused him to destroy the Sunchaser? Launchpad loves music and, as seen in "Sky Pirates", gets easily distracted by it. The plane was fine when Donald was trying to leave the lightning barrier, but then after the singing and fighting continued, it's in shambles.

Zeus used the siren because he knew it would affect Storkules directly. Scrooge, Huey and Louie were not affected by the singing after later taking their hands from over their ear...holes. Dewey, Webby and Selene couldn't be affected because the temple was way up high on the island. The Sunchaser, however, was located right around the corner. Since Zeus wasn't affected by the siren either, perhaps there's something in the lyrics that affects immortals who rank lower than himself.

__

Back in April, I observed the Spear manual scenes in “Whatever Happened” and noticed that “DT-87” and “DT-18” were mentioned. These are abbreviations for “DuckTales 1987”, the year the original series came out and “DuckTales 2018”, the year Season 2 premiered. The numbers  “7-15”, “7-16”, “7-18” and “207” were also featured. 

“207” as well as the other 7’s refer to “Whatever Happened”’s production code, so I figured 15, 16 and 18 were also referring to other Season 2 episodes that might relate to 7. So far, Episode 15, "The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!"  and Episode 16, "The Duck Knight Returns!", have provided things that could be leading up to why Della took the Spear and how it could have to do with the father. Launchpad was present in both episodes, and both shared some similar themes. 

Episode 15 opens up with a thunderstorm storm. Gizmoduck is facing off against an evil scientist named Dr. Atmoz Fear, who's taking advantage of the storm by using one of his devices to manipulate the lightning. When he tries to zap Gizmoduck with it, it reminds me a bit of Gyro and his shrink ray in "Game Night".

Dʀ. Aᴛᴍᴏᴢ Fᴇᴀʀ sʜᴀʀᴇs sᴏᴍᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀs ᴡɪᴛʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ: Hᴇ ʜᴀs ʀᴇᴅ ʜᴀɪʀ, ᴀ ɢʀᴇᴇɴ sʜɪʀᴛ, ᴀ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴍᴀsᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀs ᴏғ ʜɪs ғᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴀʙ ᴄᴏᴀᴛ, sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴᴠᴇʀsᴇ ᴏғ LP's ғᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ғᴜʀʀᴇᴅ ᴄᴏʟʟᴀʀ.

After the villain is defeated, Fenton meets Gandra, someone else who also works in the scientific fields. Unlike Fenton, who's more professional with his work, she's more on the rebellious side. A similar thing can be said about Della and Launchpad when it comes to aviation.

Fenton schedules a science date with Gandra, but he's very hesitant to call it such. If Della took the Spear because she was trying to save the father and failed, I can see her being very hesitant about getting back into a romantic relationship.

On their way to pick up Gandra in the limo, Launchpad conversates with Fenton by going down a list of special someone’s he’s previously dated. A couple of mentions in this list caught my attention; the first being how Launchpad claims to have dated a clone of himself. I think this is a meta thing we aren't supposed to take seriously. Because...why would this be suggested if a legitimate clone of yourself is basically your twin sibling, your child or somewhere in-between that...?  Maybe it’s just me, but he blinks rather oddly right after he says this. There's also a pause as he stops the limo and begins to furrow his brow. Either he’s thinking really hard about everyone he's dated or he's a bit confused to where these more weirder memories are coming from.

What makes it even harder to take this clone claim seriously is that this is the same character who thinks Fenton is an actual robot because of the Gizmo suit and who also confused someone for a yeti in “Neverrest”. The word "clone" does have a non-literal meaning, so if we consider this and break it down...LP previously dated another goofy pilot who tends to wear teal and green, has a positive outlook on life in spite of all the hardships they face, never gives up, loves adventure, loves family, and doesn't like the idea of being replaced...?

I’ve joked to myself in the past about Della sort of being a female version of Launchpad due to their colors and how they have a similar way about themselves. Della's character pre-dates Launchpad but she was never described as a fearless pilot until the "Family Ties" comic was released in 2014, twenty-seven years after DuckTales debuted. (This comic is where the reboot got its inspiration for Della's character and story arc.)

If LP really does have amnesia, he can’t remember Della as a person, so it would be easy for him to consider her as a copy of himself. Scrooge made it extremely difficult to get information about Della after she went missing so anything that Launchpad is emulating from her had to be based on knowledge prior to that point.

Another reason why this could be a sly reference to Della is because every time we get information about Launchpad’s love-life, we’re always given something that can be traced back to Della: Della isn’t a deadly ninja, but Ziyi’s situation in “Gander” involved her disappearing and possibly leaving her offspring behind. (I’m assuming Ziyi was being referred to due to the order of  the list and being the only previously mentioned lover with an Asian background. Perhaps she has some Japanese origins as well as Chinese.) Della isn’t a forbidden mermaid, but Oceanika’s situation in “Depths” involved her calling out to Launchpad in a sing-song manner, wearing similar colors to both Launchpad and Della, and ended with Launchpad returning with a golden spear and trio of color-coded sea creatures that come from eggs. One of Launchpad’s lines in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” involved his true love giving him “eleven planes a-flying”. Regardless of how strange that statement was, it still planted the idea that there are two Launchpads, which technically, may be true persona-wise.

Tʜɪs ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ Tʜᴇᴍᴇ Sᴏɴɢ Tᴀᴋᴇᴏᴠᴇʀ, ᴀғᴛᴇʀ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʜɪᴛs ʜɪs ʜᴇᴀᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏɢᴏ ᴄʀᴀsʜ, ʜᴇ sᴇᴇs ᴀ ʟᴀʀɢᴇʀ ᴠᴇʀsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡ. Nᴏᴛ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇ ʀᴇғᴇʀʀɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀᴍ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ɢʀᴏᴡ ʙɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀsᴛ.

The second mention in Launchpad’s list of lovers that caught my attention was the talking cloud of energy. Similarly to the pause after talking about a clone, he gets cut off right after he says this. A cloud of energy is basically a cloud full of lightning and that reminds me a lot of the cosmic storm. Since the cloud had the ability to talk, could this claim be based on a memory of Della trying to contact him while he was in the cosmic storm?

Fenton and Gandra’s date takes place at night in Gyro’s underwater lab. The moon is mentioned and it’s likeness is sort of shown through the string of lights used to decorate the room. Outside of the lab’s window is a starfish that is colored with a shade very close to Fenton’s purple shirt. He sits on the side of the table where the creature is located. The scenery is reminding me of the sea-space connections the show has been making. The starfish not only reminds me of stars in general but how the blue starfish attached to Launchpad at the end of “Depths” was a similar color to Della’s teal scarf. I’ve noted in another post that the starfish could have to do with Della because it also shares traits with Dewey and he’s constantly being compared to her, but what makes Della even more like the starfish is her ability to adapt. She lost her leg, but she was able to make a new one. Starfish can regenerate their limbs when they lose them.

When Fenton shows Gandra his Fentonium project, he described the invention as "An innovative generator from a mild-mannered source." If Launchpad has any electrical powers, this makes me wonder if they'll eventually be put to scientific use.

It’s later revealed that Gandra is a spy working for Waddle. Her main objective for going on a date with Fenton was to get him to say his Gizmoduck passcode to activate the nanite serum she made for Mark Beaks. For Gandra, the nanites gave her the power to deliver electrical shocks. For Mark, the nanites enhanced his body by giving him a muscular physique, a more prominent chin and gruffer voice to go with it.

Tʜᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇᴘᴛs ᴏғ ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛʀɪᴄɪᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇxᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ ᴘʜʏsɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛʀᴀɴsғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴs sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴀsɪɴɢ. Tʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅ-sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ᴛʀᴀɪʟᴇʀ ғᴏʀ Sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 2 ғᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇs ᴀ ᴄʟɪᴘ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀɴ ᴜᴘᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ Hᴜᴇʏ ᴛʀᴀɴsғᴏʀᴍs ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ Sᴜᴘᴇʀ Sᴀɪʏᴀɴ ɪɴsᴘɪʀᴇᴅ ᴠᴇʀsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ʟɪɢʜᴛɴɪɴɢ ʙᴏʟᴛ ʜɪɢʜʟɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ ʜɪs ʜᴀɪʀ. Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴀɴᴅ Mᴀʀᴋ ᴀʀᴇ sʜᴏᴡɴ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜɪs.

After the secret plan unfurls, Fenton turns into Gizmoduck. He responds to Mark's mutation:

“You've always been a monster, but now, you are a literal monster!” 

This reminds me a lot of the monster stuff in "Terror". I always feel weird when I try to make sense of that portion of the plot because I feel like I haven't figured it out yet, but something is definitely going on. Since that episode has aired, there have been multiple cases where a character is considered a physical or figurative monster and whether that makes them a good person or a bad person. And there's always an "M" alliteration tied to it:

Mole Monster and McQuack in “Terror of The Terrafirmians!”

"I can't believe my best friend is a mole monster..."

"Wait...am I a mole monster? But I'm a good guy! Then that means...mole monster can also be good guys."

Magica and Monster in “The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!”

"They'll turn on you; call you a monster!

“You’re the monster here!  And I know just the hunter to take you down...”

Monstro and M’Ma in "Who Is Gizmoduck?!"

"Eres un monstro, Diego!"

Monster and Mitzi in "The Depths of Cousin Fethry!"

"She's not a monster, she's a Mitzi!"

Moon Mite and Mother in "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!"

“The mite isn't a monster, it's a mother!"

In an earlier post, I began to wonder if it would end up circling back to Launchpad since he's the one who started it. I thought maybe he'd feel like a monster in a figurative sense for accidentally abandoning his kids, but now it could also be something involving his genetic mutations. Maybe even a betrayal or theft of some sort since those concepts seem to be lingering in the background.

With all these M's going on and the high possibility of Launchpad's foreign names being used for Huey and Dewey, perhaps Launchpad's real name is Maxwell as in his Danish name, Max Motor. Joseph as in his Spanish name, Joe McQuack could also be another possibility. Since HDL went from more outlandish names to more plausible names, it's likely Launchpad's real name is something more standard.

Lᴀsᴛ ʏᴇᴀʀ, Dɪsɴᴇʏ ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇᴅ ᴀ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴏғ sʜᴏʀᴛs ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ Wᴇʙʙʏ Rᴇᴀᴄᴛs, ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ sʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴄʟɪᴘs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Dɪsɴᴇʏ Cʜᴀɴɴᴇʟ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅʀᴇᴡ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀɪsᴏɴs ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sʜᴏᴡ. Dᴜʀɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ Bᴇx's sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ Aɴᴅɪ Mᴀᴄᴋ, sʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴀs sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴏ's "ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇs". Tʜᴇɴ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ, ɪᴛ's ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Bᴇx ᴡᴀs ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ Aɴᴅɪ's ᴏʟᴅᴇʀ sɪsᴛᴇʀ; sʜᴇ's ʜᴇʀ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ. Tʜɪs ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs Wᴇʙʙʏ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ɪs.

When Fenton and Gandra make amends and try to come up with a way to stop Mega Beaks from wreaking any more havoc, Fenton points out that in spite of Mark's body being altered, he's still the same weak, ego-fuel person underneath those alterations. A similar thing can be said for Duke; even after he forgot about his Scottish persona, he was still Flintheart Glomgold and this became evident as he began to revert back into him.

When Mega Beaks is able to catch the Fentonium-laced paddle ball Fenton throws at him, he's amazed.

"Wow, I never actually caught a ball before! Well, who's the loser now, coach DAD?!"

This is the second time someone's father was mentioned in the episode. Before the date, M'ma mentions Fenton's father when she gives her son his suit to wear. Perhaps Della has one of the father's belongings that she'll pass down to her sons too.

___

Episode 16 was about two different people sharing the same alternative persona: Jim Starling as the original Darkwing Duck and Drake Mallard as the new one. Jim is outraged that he’s being replaced on a new Darkwing production after years of trying to make a comeback. Being disappointed by the gritty direction of the reboot, Launchpad sees Drake in a negative light and agrees to help Jim sabotage the movie. It was supposed to be for the greater good, but when Launchpad tries to go with the plan and lock Drake in his own trailer, his heroism is questioned. Drake isn’t a bad person and it turns out that he’s a huge Darkwing fan much like Launchpad himself. Was crushing the dreams of playing his childhood hero the right thing to do? 

Once they find common ground, Launchpad devises a new plan where all three of them work together to help make a Darkwing Duck movie that new and old fans can enjoy. Unfortunately, Jim is too full of obsession and desperation to finally give the show a proper conclusion, that he becomes selfish. He ignores Drake when he tries to propose LP’s new idea to him and locks him away. He then refuses to follow the script and ends up destroying the movie set with his defiance. Drake soon breaks free and challenges Jim, leading Darkwing into fighting with himself. Launchpad tries to snap Jim out of it and remind him of the hero he’s supposed to be. While it does cause Jim to literally reflect on what he was becoming and helped him to save both Drake and Launchpad from the surging lightning tower before it exploded, it ultimately wasn’t enough. The one who was presumed to be bad turned out to be good, and the one who was presumed to be good, became bad, leaving Darkwing as both the hero and villain of his own story.

Ok, so, there’s a lot of identity struggle going on along with frustration over getting replaced after years of trying to get back into the spotlight. This seems like more supporting evidence that Launchpad will be faced with a situation where he’ll be confused about who he really is, but could this also be hinting that Della might go a little too far with her rivalry against Launchpad? 

A lot of DW episodes so far seem to contain LP’s fear of being fired...but he’s considered honorary family; it’s hard to imagine Launchpad getting kicked out to take a permanent leave to St. Canard in this continuity. Launchpad wasn’t working for Scrooge in the original Darkwing Duck series because it took place in an alternate universe. Even with DW’s world integrated into the reboot, it’s still DuckTales at it’s base. It wouldn’t feel right for Launchpad to suddenly get removed from the main cast. I think similarly to Drake, Della will find some common ground with LP before anything is able to get out of hand.

When Dewey expresses his ideas to make the Darkwing film better, he mentions aliens, Megavolt and lightning towers. When Jim threatens to zap Alistair Boorswan with Megavolt's lightning ray, Launchpad steps in between them; willing to get hit to protect the director. Drake displays a high tolerance for pain as he survives a box of explosives going off, getting a piano dropped on him and getting zapped several times. 

As Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ɢᴇᴛs ᴢᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ ᴠɪsɪʙʟᴇ ᴄʀᴀᴄᴋ ɪɴ ʜɪs sᴋᴜʟʟ; ᴀ sɪɢɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ's sᴜsᴛᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ɪɴᴊᴜʀʏ.

...ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴀ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ, ᴡʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ Dᴇᴡᴇʏ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴs ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ?!

An artificial thunderstorm is created when Launchpad turns on the rain machine to stop the movie set from being on fire. When he delivers his speech about how heroic and important Darkwing Duck is as a character, he stands in front of one of the lightning towers. At the mention of the word "light", there's an upsurge of power as the camera pans from Launchpad to the top of the tower. The structure sends sparks everywhere, but Launchpad is completely unfazed by this and continues his speech. 

A tattered image of the moon and a starry sky hangs in the background as this is going on... could this scene be proving that Launchpad has some degree of electrical manipulation? Is it only evident when he's extremely passionate about something? If this was purely the result of the rain machine being activated, wouldn't it have taken a much shorter time for the lightning tower to react?

Tʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's sᴘᴇᴇᴄʜ ɪs ᴄʟᴏsᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ɪɴ "Tᴇʀʀᴏʀ"'s sᴜʙᴡᴀʏ ᴄʀᴀsʜ. Iɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛɪɴɢʟʏ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ sᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ ғɪxᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏɴ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's sɪᴅᴇ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ʜᴇ ᴇxɪsᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʟʟʏ ʀᴇғʟᴇᴄᴛs ᴏɴ ᴡʜᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ʜᴇ's ᴀ ᴍᴏʟᴇ ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀ ᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛ, ᴛᴡᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's ᴀʀᴇ sʜᴏᴡɴ.

When Jim and Drake notice the lightning tower is growing unstable, they both run towards Launchpad to save him. In a hassle to be heroic again, Jim pushes both of his fans out of the way and suffers from the explosion. The rescuer is believed to be dead but he's alive and takes on a new persona: Negaduck. The event figuratively turns him into a monster. 

So, there's a rescue, an electrical based event, survival from that event, a re-branding of oneself and someone is considered a monster. If Launchpad truly is responsible for blowing up the tower, he's the one who "killed" Jim. Drake blames himself, kinda like how everyone blames Della for the Spear incident when it could have been due to her going after Launchpad.

Wʜᴇɴ Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ᴀɴᴅ LP ᴀʀᴇ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ DWD ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ғɪɢᴜʀᴇs, Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴘʟᴀʏs ᴀ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛᴀʟʟʏ ᴋɴᴏᴄᴋs ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴀ ᴄᴜᴘ ᴏғ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴇᴀᴅs ᴛᴏ Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴜʀᴛɪɴɢ ʜɪs ғᴏᴏᴛ.

This episode made me realize a loose pattern that seems to be going on with two similar character that rival each other. One pretty much stays consistent (Scrooge, Lena, Drake), while the other goes through a major change that emulates the other (Glomgold, Violet, Jim). There’s usually an event and or a disappearance tied to their change (Scrooge’s Africa visit, the Shadow War, the tower explosion). The changed character is seen negatively and could be considered a monster. And at some point, one of the rivaling characters realize that the other has a significant connection to their past (The money clip, the amulet, the table signing).

I think Della and Launchpad could be following this pattern too. As noted by Scrooge in “Nothing Can” and “Raiders of The Doomsday Vault!”, Della’s hasn’t really changed at her base. Thus, making Launchpad the one who has most likely gone through a major change. Launchpad was established as Della’s double when she considered him to be her replacement and views him negatively. We know for sure that one of them went missing during an event and there’s enough potential hinting to suggest that they have a significant connection in their past.

Tʜᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɴ ᴡᴀs ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ "Lᴀsᴛ Cʜʀsɪᴛᴍᴀs!" ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇɴᴅɪɢᴏ ᴡᴀs ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ Gʜᴏsᴛ ᴏғ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs Pᴀsᴛ. Iɴ sᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴍᴏɴsᴛʀᴏᴜs ᴇxᴛᴇʀɪᴏʀ, ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs sᴛɪʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ.

Another number featured in the Spear’s manual was “800”. I couldn't figure out what it could mean at the time, but it could stand for "Friendship Hates Magic!". WDTV press has it listed as Episode 8 in order of production.  This episode featured concepts of taking a dangerous risk to bringing someone back from the unknown, Launchpad bonding with a co-worker, possibly displaying one of his special abilities, hinting towards “Duck Knight” and the idea of someone who was thought of as being gone but they’ve actually been hanging around this whole time. When Lena is back to her solid form, Launchpad appears soon after the magical clouds of smoke begin to clear.

The number 17 is missing in the sequence that was highlighted in the manual. Perhaps there's something secretive about Episode 17. Or maybe the plot could be dealing with something or someone that’s missing. It could be when the family realizes Donald is missing or how his jail time is going on the Moon. It could also be something regarding the father; like Della opening up to the boys about him. I guess it could mean that this episode isn’t relevant to Episode 7, but that feels a bit less likely.

In my next post, I'm going to discuss how the arrangement of a scene can give us subtle hints about the future; starting with a closer look at Donald's family photo wall.

Are you up for even more reading? Continue here.

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales reboot #Flintheart Glomgold #jim starling #drake mallard #darkwing duck #gandra dee #Fenton Crackshell Cabrera #launchpad mcquack #della duck #duke baloney #The Ballad of Duke Baloney #The Duck Knight Rises #The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee #What Ever Happened to Della Duck #Whatever Happened to Della Duck #Whatever Happened to Della Duck?! #What Ever Happened to Della Duck?! #launchpad mcquack theories #ducky thoughts #duck theories #della duck theories #disney channel #disney #delpad #launchdad #launchpad's association with della duck #long post is long

[wherefancytakesme]

My Ducktales'17 theory for DWD: Jim Starling is pretending Darkwing is only a tv character to protect his actual identity as the superhero irl

Canon: DRAKE MALLARD WAS A FANBOY OF THE TV SHOW AND BECAME THE REAL DARKWING ULTIMATELY TURNING THE ACTOR OF THE CHARACTER INTO ACTUAL NEGADUCK

#darkwing duck #ducktales 2017 #dt spoilers #just in case any of y'all still haven't seen it #'cause it's a pretty big reveal and I'm glad I was only spoiled Negaduck would *appear* in the show #I only just watched it 'cause I tried to watch the ep's once a week but failed #I made a chat post about this before I watched Duck Knight too so I naturally had to follow with this #Also I am insanely happy that my theory Launchpad as a DWD character was just his self-insert fanfic is essentially canon #But now he actually CAN be dw's sidekick ahhh! #(Sorry I'm just happy-- and very glad I got into DWD before this aired) #Now if they could just somehow make the other villains irl people... #(OHFUCKMAYBEJIMGETSTHEACTORSWHOPLAYEDTHEMTOTEAMUPWITHHIM) #ducktales reboot #dt17 #negaduck #jim starling #drake mallard #swears in the tags #not woy

[waveypedia]

okay it’s been a really long time since i’ve seen the episode with darkwarrior duck but i’ve been thinking about boorswan’s film. I think it’s neat, he just didn’t have the right character. Not sure if Darkwarrior Duck would be the perfect fit, but he definitely works a heck of a lot better than Darkwing. A ruthless, cunning protector who causes death and destruction, and whom the citizens of his beloved city fear? That’s right up Darkwarrior’s alley.

The thing is, assuming that theory about Jim Starling coming from the Negaverse isn’t canon, Negaduck exists in the prime universe as well as Darkwing. That means the other versions of Darkwing could be too.

It would be a really interesting twist if Alistair Boorswan turned out to be Darkwarrior, but he doesn’t look or act like him, so I doubt it. 

Aaaaalthough, it would be even cooler if Alistair Boorswan ended up helping out Darkwarrior Duck. Maybe by casting him in a rebooted (haha) version of his movie?

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales 2k17 #ducktales reboot #dt17 #dt 2017 #alistair boorswan #darkwarrior duck #darkwing duck #the duck knight returns #negaduck #jim starling #ducktales theory #my theories #ducktales analysis #my analysis #duckverse #disney ducks #dt

[cartoonfan7]

Launchpad isn't real: A Crack Theory

Brought to by Discord.

#ducktales #launchpad mcquack #darkwing duck #theory #crack theory #or secretly brilliant? #you make the call! #ducktales 2017 #ducktales reboot

[glowing-gravity]

me?? talking about darkwing duck?? absolutely Unheard Of ..... unless you’ve talked to me for more than 3 minutes

anyway I thought I’d make a compilation of stuff I’ve noticed in the newest DT episode that just Doesn’t Add Up (except, it does, just not to darkwing duck being a TV show). some of this I’ve seen mentioned already in other posts, but I thought, Hey, why not have it all together (under the cut bc it got long)

obviously, the whole “jim starling” thing is a big one; it’s possible that “drake mallard” is the secret identity of the TV show character, but like, they were definitely expecting this to throw us off

the billboard with SHUSH on it in the darkwing duck “episode” dewey was watching- since FOWL is mentioned on webby’s conspiracy board, we know it’s a real agency, but why would FOWL be real and not SHUSH?

LP mentions that jim starling did his own stunts in Darkwing Duck- that would certainly imply he has all the necessary abilities to, say, Actually Be Darkwing, wouldn’t it?

especially when you also consider the “keep rolling” bit. why would that be kept in if it were an actual TV show? that seems like the sort of thing that’d be edited out. however, if it was a recording of an Actual Battle, possibly even by LP himself, then it’d make more sense it hasn’t been edited, wouldn’t it?

even in the original ducktales, LP was darkwing’s biggest fan before meeting him and becoming his sidekick; it’s possible that, in the reboot, he’s either a big fan at the beginning Again, or that he’s using that as a cover for knowing so much about darkwing

darkwing would ABSOLUTELY want there to be a TV show about him, though he’d probably insist on playing himself (and, probably? doing his own stunts and whatnot?). it’s entirely possible that this wasn’t a real battle, but part of a TV show based on the REAL darkwing duck, too

not to mention there’s actually an episode of the original darkwing duck (twitching channels) where he and megavolt actually travel through the TV into the “real” world

so basically, what I’m saying? it is incredibly likely that darkwing duck is more than just a TV show, and I’d suspect that launchpad is more aware of that then he’s letting on, even if he hasn’t already personally met DW in the reboot (though, I’d probably guess he has) really, the only thing I’d guess it could be if not that he’s a real superhero is that he’ll travel through the TV somehow, as mentioned in that earlier bullet point 

either way, though? there is absolutely No Way that darkwing’s going to stay as Just a cameo TV show in the reboot. I’d absolutely be surprised

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales reboot #ducktales theory #darkwing duck #i speak #I Can't Stop Thinking About All This Okay

[monthgirl]

BABIES BACK!!!!as a cameo.... for now, who knows we might get lucky.Boy do have some theoriesTheory 1: Launchpad is lying about DW being a tv show and what Dewey or Lewey... er the blue one saw was launchpad recording Darkwings adventure. Think about it, in the original show Darkwing had about four or five origins stories. also, Launchpad has his own secrets seen in the episode when they introduce Gladstone were he goes on an unseen adventure. But their was no real info whether this could be true so it more of a crack theory.

theory 2: this is Darkwing true origin story which I have theorized on before on him ones being an actor who decided become the real thing. Think about it, in the original show Darkwing had about four or five origins stories. Tad Stone said Darkwing himself wouldn’t ever tell the true story of how he became Darkwing. this could be because he’s embarrassed to tell anyone that he was just an actor portraying the character in a fictional tv.  So kinda like Catman from fairly odd parents but not crazy.

darkwing duck - tad stoneart mine

#darkwing duck #Disney #ducktales #2017 #disney ducks #GizmoDuck #superhero #reference #batman refernce #reboot #theory #launchpad mcquack #Ducks

[channelfrederator]

DuckTales fans! Don't miss out on these references to the OG series and a lot of other Disney 90's cartoons in the new series!

Which reference did you like the most? Are you excited for Darkwing Duck to make an appearance?! http://frdr.us/2wVUciK

#ducktales #donald duck #ducktales reboot #ducktales 2017 #Darkwing duck #talespin #a goofy movie #goof troop #disney #walt disney #animation #disney animation #cartoons #theories #Channel Frederator #channelfrederator #scrooge mcduck #uncle scrooge #references #90s kids #90s cartoons

[ben-the-hyena]

About Darkwing Duck and Gosalyn in the Ducktales reboot

So from some posts I read, I got that in the DT 2017 universe Darkwing Duck is a show and Drake Mallard probably the main actor, either an actor who will actually become a hero or an actor who takes himself as a hero, in any of those cases we will see.

So it means he doesn't have a real lair, didn't fight enemies before, among them Taurus Bulba, so no secret code and no meeting with Gosalyn in bad circonstances (A CAR CHASE WITH BULLETS) when trying to save her.

So... supposing Gosalyn will appear or simply exist in that universe (PLEEEEAAASE DOOOOO)... it means he wouldn't have met her in such circonstances and adopted her after having saved her which wasn’t planed in his life before but did wake his father instincts up. It means maybe... he planned it. He was sad and lonely, seeing people having kids, wanting to see what it would be like, and not having met the right woman yet and tired to wait, would go to the orphanage. He would meet many kids and talk to them, and then met Gosalyn. It was hard at first with her personality but he would actually start to like her personality, she would find him kind and even cool if he were already an actor back then, a bond would create in only one day like in the old show, and he would end up to take her under his arm. Just. The cute. The cuteness.

Or even after all, why stopping here ? Maybe in this universe he adopts her as younger, maybe a toddler or a baby or an egg. Imagine him raising her, teaching her how to walk, or how to speak, rocking her in his arm, having a little tear when watching her grow up or remembering the good old times, teaching her her sports she would later practice in the living room to his big regret, the fact for her he would have always been there for her and she wouldn’t have known what being an orphan is... Oy the feels. Also same I kind of thought of a similar  scenario for an AU for the old show, that the pilot is the same but she is a baby he must save from Taurus Bulba as the lullaby/code is hidden in the cradle she is left with.

Or even better, let’s go further : maybe in the reboot universe she IS his, with the same “Max’s missing a mom” syndrome (and possibility of showing after divorce or widowhood he became a desperate and lonely single dad but decided later to shine through to save himself and help his daughter and became an actor with a big ego left because of the trauma, or on the contraru that she left because of his ego or his ambitions or something and as jerky as he is didn’t learn anything from that, etc so a possibility of Duckfeels woohoo) so he even met her at the maternity (actually confession time, first time I heard about the show in 2014 I thought she was his biological daughter and I went “omg really this egocentric fellow hooked up with someone ? Let’s check wikipedia” and boom no adopted lol), even more cuteness.

OK but actually nobody is gonna read that and it’s stupid why bothering it will probably be broken in canon.

#theory #reboot #AUs #parents and children #adoption #actor #superhero #tv show #moi #lol #feels #cute #d'aaawww ! #when they were young #darkwing duck #gosalyn #little girl blue #lullaby #song #code #taurus bulba #max #goof troop #2017 #year #is it even understandable with my dyslexia and bad English ? #ducktales

[crak-ducktales-theories]

AU where Owlson creates Quackwerks in order to (forcibly) establish peace in St Cannard, She is an excelent CEO after all.

I’m telling y’all, good intentions, dissappointment, adverse enviroment. She is well on her way to a Darkwarriorr Duck transformation.

#art #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #my art #darkwing duck #fanart #zan owlson #falcon graves #drake mallard #antagonist Zan theory #ducktales theory #ducktales au #they are both soooooo professional #a breath of fresh air #darkwing duck reboot theory #darkwing duck reboot

[iwrotethisformysonjake]

Okay so I want to touch on two things that have to deal with Bonkers one a fun head canon for the darkwing duck reboot! And a sorta theory that makes me think a lot.

Head canon!

So we all know that Bonkers exist in the ducktales or duckverse as a officer in St. Canard!

(If you don't know how he is here are some gifs

/couldn't pick just one👀/)

Anyway for those who don't know, Bonkers use to be a pretty popular actor, not so popular that everywhere he went people asked him for autographs but popular enough that some people knew he existed. But the network he worked for decided to cancel his show and replace him. And then he took the job as a beat police officer.

So here's what I'm thinking.

Bonkers was a pretty known comedian who had a late night comedy show every week. But the network though comedy just wasn't it anymore so they booted him. He tried looking for other jobs but decided that he should do what his parents always wanted him to do and that was a cop. So cop school he went to and next getting a job as a beat cop that the other officers made fun of.

But one day darkwing duck comes to work on a case and he immediately spots bonkers and has squeal of happiness!

Because we know that Drake is an actor we know he went to acting school. And drake and bonkers were roommates and college best friends that drake kinda lost touch to. But once Bonkers saw Darkwing he automatically knew it was drake (the colon gave it away). Anyway drake sees bonkers and drops all of the other cops and put bonkers on the front line of battle with him!

Bonkers likes working with drake as a super hero, but only goes into actual fights when nessacery. But he's in charge of the Darkwing duck help hotline and informs drake of any kind of villainy action. Other than that Bonkers is the only one drake trust to clear the area of citizens and retreat people to safety. Also the go to baby sitter for gos.

Launchpad didn't have such a good reaction to bonkers firstly. He won't admit it but he is crazy jelous of drake and bonkers friendship. The inside jokes, the stories, the random scenes they act out, out of know where that only the two of them understand. It was rough. But LP warms up to bonkers eventually and end up working together at some point to get drake back from the fearsome five(a little episode suggestion for ya disney!).

But gosalyn is a huge fan of bonkers comedy show. She would always stay up when she wasn't supposed to and watch it with her grandpa. So when gosalyn sees bonkers she tries to play it off like she didn't know who the dude was but she couldn't help but talk to him about how much she loved him! Bonkers sees gosalyn fan girling over him and he can't help but overwhelmed with cuteness. And Bonkers is a baby sitter that gosalyn actually likes, he's not so pushy and let's her do her own thing when he's watching her, which turns out good so far. And when Bonkers cooks his food never comes out how he planned so take out dinner from wherever.

Also he gets to know Zan Owlson a lot since they were introduced by Darkwing and he has a tiny crush on her that he won't admit.

___________

Those are the head canon I have for bonkers in the Darkwing duck reboot. And I really hope he shows up a bit in the show.

#officer Bonkers #Bonkers #darkwing duck #darkwing duck reboot #dwd #drake mallard #launchpad #lauchpad mcquack #gosalyn mallard #gosalyn waddlemeyer #ducktales gosalyn #dt launchpad #drakepad #ducktales 2017 #ducktales

[araminakilla]

I saw some people are making their own posts about this situation but I want to speak of the issue too.

Regarding the "You-know-who could be turning out to be you_know_who" theory

First of all, it's just a theory. Yes, there are many clues that this can be true. Yes, I don't think this is doing Webbs justice and definetly wanted to know June and May better before the finale. Yes, I think some characters in the reboot outside AND inside the Duck Family deserved better screentime and development.

But posting things like "my night is ruined, I'm so disappointed with the Dt crew, what were they thinking when writing that?, there goes my hype for the finale, etc etc etc" are making people entering Tumblr, or Twitter or Youtube being losing their will to see the last chapters of Ducktales. Things like this would make the finale have low ratings, which would cause consequences for the Duck's future in media, the Darkwing Duck reboot and other Disney Afternoon proyects in development.

Before saying I'm exagerating, remember this: Never underestimate the power of the people, the power of fans.

We don't want this fandom to reach its toxic peak just when its ending. This show, Matt, Frank, Sam and many others who worked in this reboot with dedication and love don't deserve toxic comments or reviews.

And I know many of you are just writing what you think and that's valid, but there's a difference in stating your point/ some thoughts regarding the characters and using your post to scream and insult the crew and theorists who are doing it because they have this common idea they want to share with the world/media. It becomes heavy for some people who are just scrolling down the Dt tags out of curiosity.

So please, everyone (myself included) let's consider have a polite and non threathening disposition when making posts, commenting or rebloguing them.

And por favor DON'T say "Ducktales is already ruined" in future reblogs and comments of gifs and posts regarding the Life and Crimes! Episode and future sneak peeks and clips of the finale.

Life can be a hurricane, but let's not make this hurricane hurt people.

That's all I have to say about this topic. Thank you for reading this.

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt spoilers #ducktales spoilers #ducktales 2017 spoilers #ducktales season 3 #the last adventure! #disney #disney afternoon

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Launchpad’s Association With Della Duck: Okay, Now What?

Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 || Part 6 | Part 7 | 

Continued from Part 8

Despite everything I’ve collected in the past three posts, there’s a part of me that’s still a little skeptical of what we can expect. 

There are nine episodes left of Season 2. Three groups of three is so much yet feels like so little. We’ve got Scrooge's bet with Glomgold, Louie's business with Goldie helping out, possibly another DWD episode, possibly something else staring Team Magic, Magica’s return, Della adjusting to motherhood, Webby supposedly joining the Junior Woodchucks according to the PhatMojo display, the upcoming Moonlander invasion...There’s a lot going on. Is there room for Launchpad to have a sudden identity crisis? If Launchpad truly is the father, it shouldn't take too long for Della to realize, right? 

Hm, then again, perhaps it’s not as much as it seems. I'm looking at these elements separately, so, maybe some of them will end up tying in with each other in time for the season’s end while others are just being set-up so they can be elaborated on in the next season.

With Della taking over a majority of the plane duties now and Drake becoming a real hero, it’s inevitable that Launchpad will end up as his sidekick. But like I’ve said before, LP can’t leave. Dad or not, he’s considered family so why should Della moving back in suddenly change this? They didn’t run out of space for him in the mansion (or wherever that garage is supposed to be) and Scrooge still needs a chauffeur driver. It would be disappointing to find out that Launchpad was nothing but a placeholder in the show he originated from. With DWD integrating itself into DuckTales as a story element, it would be more fitting for LP to go on adventures with Drake more so on occasion instead of for now on. If we get a Darkwing reboot of some sort, maybe it’ll take place whenever LP isn’t around on DT. Maybe the family can join him at times too. Since Dewey’s been joining Launchpad in every DWD related episode so far, maybe he’ll tag along the most.

Another reason why Launchpad shouldn’t leave is that he and Della would work well as a co-pilot team. A number of us have noticed that LP’s flying is smoother than his landings while Della’s landings are smoother than her flight. They can use their strengths to help each other with their weaknesses, but in order for this to happen, Della will have to change her mindset. She currently sees Launchpad as another obstacle she needs to overcome (and well, nothing can stop Della Duck) but once it’s made clear that he was never meant to replace her, she can let her guard down and allow the opportunity for them to be friends. 

I’m reminded a bit of Della’s quote towards Penumbra in “Whatever Happened”.

“Listen, we both know how this goes: First we hate each other, then we go on a life changing adventure, then BOOM! Best friends!”

I feel like a life changing adventure will help to break the ice between the aviators. Maybe they’ll have to work together to save the kids or there could be something regarding Dewey specifically. He loves hanging out with both of the characters, so maybe he’ll end up bringing them together. The rival pattern seems to always have someone stuck in the middle: 

    Zan Owlson with Scrooge & Glomgold, 

    Webby with Lena & Violet, 

And Launchpad with Drake & Jim.

Maybe this would be too early, but perhaps this is where the “Gander-Depths” pattern could come in. Both of these episodes were split between meeting up with a Duck Cousin and Launchpad going on an adventure with an ex. In “Gander” most of the action was in the cousin portion with LP’s part was extremely indescriptive. In “Depths” the cousin portion was less intense in comparison to “Gander” while LP’s portion was more descriptive and he almost joined the adventure. This seems to imply that the action will shift to Launchpad’s side, where he goes on a space related adventure with someone he’s previously dated, to meet up with a Duck Cousin. Seeing how we’ve gotten one “Gander” styled episode per season, this seems more suited for the premiere of Season 3. There’s also a possibility that this could be worked into the Season 2 finale since the production code order gets higher on the season list and the mid-season trailer already implies the invasion will happen within the remaining episodes, but I think Launchpad and Della might already establish a bond before the show reaches either point.

When it comes to Della’s possible realization, a lot of interesting things could happen in the process. If Launchpad’s clone really was a reference to Della, I believe this will be emphasized the longer they interact. Maybe LP starts reiterating things from her even though he wasn’t present during the time she said them. Webby still needs someone to teach her how to fly; what if LP volunteers and his teachings involve the “feel the sky” quote Della said in “Doomsday”? Could it have stemmed from Della helping him with his piloting skills in the past? What if he retells some sorta disoriented version of the Gilded Man story? It seems to be Della’s favorite story to tell since she told the Moonlanders about it too; she could have told it to the father. Or maybe he’ll do the face stroking gesture Della did to her boys in “Nothing Can”.

Launchpad has yet to say Della’s name and we’ve never seen his immediate reaction when her name is said. What if this is being held off for a special moment? Maybe he continually keeps getting Della’s name wrong by calling her a bunch of other “D” names, including something over the top like “Ms. Dewey’s Mom”, but when he regains his memory somehow, he’s able to say it without any problems?

The mentions of both Fenton’s and Mark’s fathers in “Chemistry” made me wonder if Della might have any of the father’s belongings. What if Launchpad catches a glimpse of these items or maybe the father’s photograph and feels compelled to do things he wouldn’t normally do? If the family finds out about the invasion and they begin to blame Della for the situation, will Launchpad start to get stressed out like he was in “Shadow War”?

I’ve been theorizing that LP knows Della's Lullaby in some way. Towards the beginning of "Whatever Happened", Della was about to talk about how there was a song she used to sing to someone, but she's interrupted when the moon mite attacks. I was beginning to think that maybe I was too quick to believe this, but during my last viewing I studied her body language before she was attacked: Della keeps a steady gaze as she’s talking to her kids and only breaks it when there’s uncertainty about what she’s saying. 

When she starts talking about the song, her brow becomes a bit furrowed as she looks up into...well, space, with the palm of her hand upturned.

It feels odd for her to pose like this if she was only referring to the boys. The lullaby could have started off as a special song between the couple that she later modified for her kids. This would give even more weight to the significance of the song. Something subtle that could support this is how the family sang “The Twelve Days of Christmas” before Della's solo episode. Right after the song, a piano version of Della's Mystery Theme was being played during her scene when LP was previously shown playing the piano.

Dᴇʟʟᴀ's sᴇᴛ-ᴜᴘ sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴏsᴇʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴍʙʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘɪᴀɴᴏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪᴛs ʟɪᴅ ᴜᴘ. Tʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀʟsᴏ ᴀ ғᴏʀᴍ ᴏғ ғɪʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ: Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʜᴀs ᴄᴀɴᴅʟᴇs ᴏɴ ʜɪs sᴡᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ Dᴇʟʟᴀ ᴜsᴇs ᴀ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜ.

Something else that could support Launchpad knowing the lullaby was how he was interrupted towards the end of “Depths”. Oceanika likes to sing, so was Launchpad going to say “Farewell, sweet, Oceanika. Whenever I put a conch shell to my ear, I won’t hear the ocean I’ll hear your song.”? If he knows anything about the lullaby, Della might use it to help him regain his memory. Interestingly enough, a couple of instances like this has already happened: Jim used the Darkwing Duck theme song to help the security guard to remember who he was while Launchpad snuck his way into the studio. In “Depths”, Huey tested Fethry’s claim about Mitzi by singing the Blue Krill song. Something else that can match this is how Violet and Webby were humming to help bring Lena back.

Eᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ɪs ʙᴀᴅ ᴀᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀɪɴɢ ʟʏʀɪᴄs, ʜᴇ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ᴛʜᴇ Dᴀʀᴋᴡɪɴɢ Tʜᴇᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇғᴇʀᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ʜɪs sᴘᴇᴇᴄʜ. Wʜᴀᴛ ɪғ ʜᴇ ʜᴀs ᴀ ʙɪᴛ ᴏғ ᴅɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ sᴜʙᴛʟʏ ʀᴇғᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴜʟʟᴀʙʏ?

If Launchpad is the father and Della went after him with the Spear, we can definitely expect Donald to clash with them when he returns; Launchpad more so than Della. Their absence caused so many hardships for the family and his sister got injured. When all three of them become present, there's a good chance that their parenting styles will differ from his and cause conflicts. Donald may even feel that his role as a caretaker is being threatened. Eventually, I think Donald will learn to get past his bitter feelings and realize that the three of them are important to equation: They’re family. Things may have turned out badly with the Spear, but it's not too late for them to work together to better the situation. LP owes Donald so much and would appreciate him for stepping in to raise the boys. Perhaps both of the pilots could turn to him for parental advice.

Hᴜᴇʏ ᴛᴇɴᴅs ᴛᴏ ᴄʟᴀsʜ ᴡɪᴛʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ, sᴏ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇsᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛɪɴɢ LP ᴀs ʜɪs ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ. Hᴜᴇʏ ғᴇᴇʟs ᴛʜᴇ sᴛʀᴏɴɢᴇsᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ Dᴏɴᴀʟᴅ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʜɪs ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ғɪɢᴜʀᴇ.

On its own, I like the idea of Della and LP just becoming friends or LP becoming HDL’s step-dad but these things completely ignore the burning questions we’ve been wanting to know about HDL’s biological father. He’s always been a bigger mystery than Della; she had a good amount of solid information to work with before the reboot came about. The father is almost a clean slate. We’re a season and sixteen episodes in and yet no one has bothered to talk about him. If it’s just “he’s dead” or “he’s a deadbeat” and nothing more, why is this still lingering around instead of getting addressed to finally get it out of the way? It would be underwhelming to wait this long for a mention that goes nowhere, so there must be quite a story to tell with him. If the father is alive and completely separate from Launchpad, it’s hard to imagine him being added to the cast when it’s pretty full already. And since he also missed out on ten years of parenthood, it would be odd to have him as a reoccuring or minor character if he’s meant to make up for lost time with his kids.

As I’ve noted in a previous post, Scrooge was keeping her likeness under lock and key when Della went missing and went to great lengths to do this. After a piece of junk mail with her name on it was delivered to the mansion, he bought the post office and caused the mailman that delivered it, to never be seen again. The painting of Scrooge and the Duck Twins fighting with Captain Peghook’s crew was taken down and placed in the garage. A corner of the painting was ripped and covered Della up. When Scrooge went to look at his scuba diving gear in “Woo-oo!”, a newspaper lying on the floor with a front page article covering Della’s disappearance had a big chunk missing from it. Scrooge hid Della’s belongings in a secret room in the Money Bin's archives and possibly gave orders to Quackfaster to make it difficult for anyone to access it. In the same episode, Webby mentions that even Della's records are gone!

Launchpad just met her and yet he's been wearing an outfit reminiscent of hers this whole time. It was his own choice to wear a separate outfit for piloting. Even if he's heard of Della, that isn’t enough to explain why he’s wearing a green shirt like hers when she keeps it concealed at all times. That’s probably the most glaring thing in all of this: If some random guy is emulating her outfit, then how did he correctly guess the color of her shirt?

The first time Della's shirt was ever exposed to us was during her time on the Moon. In "Whatever Happened", her buttons are missing; giving an explanation to why she wasn't able to button up her jacket. In "Golden Spear", her buttons are back but she never uses them. It's possible that there could have been a designing error somewhere in this, but it's highly possible that her shirt was exposed for us to make a connection between her and Launchpad.

Dᴇʟʟᴀ sʜɪʀᴛ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴏғғ ᴀs ɢʀᴇᴇɴ; ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs sᴋʏ ʙʟᴜᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ɪɴ "Lᴀsᴛ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs!"

If Scrooge was hiding everything Della-related and if Launchpad didn’t know who Della was, how did he know that Scrooge had a plane? Or even where it was being kept? Scrooge wouldn’t keep the Sunchaser out in the open, it would have been somewhere in storage or carefully hidden. Judging by Scrooge’s reminder about LP’s salary, the first episode was basically his first day on the job. He wasn’t hanging around the premises that long. Was LP snooping around long enough for him to find it? Or was he recalling prior information before the Spear incident? I suppose it could be argued that Webby could have known where it was since she already knows so much about Scrooge and his belongings, but her fruitless search on Della before Dewey came along, makes this a bit hard to believe.

Of course, I could be wrong about certain things, but there’s a little too much potential here to brush off. The romantic element of the show has been increasing as well as the concepts of reunions after long absences, finding out someone else has an unexpected connection to your past, electrical manipulation and genetic mutation. Even when I do mislead myself, it helps me to catch on to things that might be worthy of attention. Then when the show challenges the explanations I come up with, I can look back at these notable instances and try to figure out alternative reasons that might be closer to the truth. Wherever this cargo plane is headed, it’s leading up to something special happening.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! It means a lot to me. I glad you enjoyed my rambling as I try to figure things out.

TL;DR: These last nine episodes are gonna be nuts.

Oh, and stop sleeping on Launchpad. He’s important.

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