Launchpadβs Association With Della Duck: Back Into the Abyss
Hi. Before I get into this update, I want to address something.
As some of you may know, I was ready to discontinue all of my DuckTales-oriented pages. A large part of my reasoning for this was due to the increase of excessive hatred towards the idea of Della and Launchpad having interactions with each other. I was tired of constantly seeing negativity towards something I was excited about. I wanted to remove my presence completelyβ¦but after a while on my decision, I found it hard to be satisfied with giving up on my side-blog, as well as the subject matter that motivated me to make it in the first place.
Iβm not done with looking into this theory. I still have observations left from when I was putting my previous update together. And every time I want to stop and just be done with it already, I make a new realization that puts me in a state of wonder. The fact that Dellaβs rivalry against Launchpad was squashed so quickly, only increases that wonder.
Even though Iβve decided to give this blog another chance, I intend to keep my fandom engagement relatively low. Iβm going to continue to keep myself detached from whatβs happening in the tags and just focus on what the show may be trying to express. I have no idea how true this is, but it seems like a lot of people donβt realize that Della and Launchpad met on the basis of a misunderstanding. Weβve seen other characters on this show who met in a similar manner, but once that misunderstanding was cleared, those relationships ended up doing a 180. The show hasnβt ended yet and we havenβt even reached the halfway point of the current season, so how do we really know that Della and Launchpad will be kept in this weird state of turbulence?
Iβm not going to concentrate too hard on whether people believe me or not. I just need a place of my own to sort out my opinion and share it in an organized fashion. For the rest of this post, Iβm going to be reflecting on previous statements from my last update as well as highlighting some mistakes I realized as I was reading through.
To my recent followers and visitors, if youβre interested in knowing what this is "Association" business is all about and want to have a better understanding of where Iβm coming from, itβs best to start off from Part
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(The following evidence in question was considered with foreshadowing in mind. This is where the characters, the situations they face or even minor instances in the background are used to express things that the creators are aware of but are currently unknown to everyone else inside and outside of the story.)
(While some of these things already have main reasons to explain why theyβve occurred, there could be underlying reasons to them as well.)
The Basis:
1) Launchpad and the father of the triplets are the same person.
This could explainβ¦
- Why Della originally wanted to name Huey and Dewey, βJetβ and βTurboβ.
- Why Launchpad returned to the lighthouse in βThe Depths of Cousin Fethry!β with a trio of oviparous creatures attached to him that matched the triplets in color and personality traits. (Eels are slippery, octopi are smart and because starfish donβt have [centralized] brains, this makes them rather impulsive)
- Why the second floor of Launchpadβs room in the garage has a red hammock with a blue pillow, a green cover and glow-in-the-dark celestial objects stuck to the ceiling
- Why the first floor of the garage has groups of red, blue and green-blue objects with string lights hanging above the area
- Why LP was the first honorary family member to have a photo on the houseboatβs family wall while other honorary family members, like Webby and Mrs. Beakley, were excluded from it
2) The father went through an event that changed him into who we currently know him as. That event was the cosmic storm. He was possibly an astronaut or abductee exposed to the chemicals (and lightning) within the storm, causing his appearance to be altered and granted him special abilities.
This could explainβ¦
- Why Launchpad sleeps hanging suspended in a starry atmosphere
- Why Louie remarked about Launchpad possibly being immortal in βThe Most Dangerous Gameβ¦Night!β
- Why he stands in front of an alien movie poster in βTerror of The Terra-firmians!β
- His overall behavior in the episode and why he was deathly afraid of (being possessed by) mole men
- Why heβs shown to have an immunity to snakes in βWoo-oo!β
- Why he claimed that βa little lightning never killed anyoneβ in βThe Spear of Selene!β
- Why the lightning tower in βThe Duck Knight Returns!β becomes unstable as Launchpad makes a passionate speech in front of it
- And why he stays unfazed as this is going on behind him
- Why Dr. Atmoz Fear, an evil scientist who uses lightning as a weapon, shares a lot of similar colors with LP
- Why Launchpad didnβt drown after submerging himself in βThe Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!β
- Why Launchpad didnβt gasp for air in βDepthsβ when he arrived to the surface
- Why Launchpad was able to gasp for air in his soup without choking, after the air exited his body in βFriendship Hates Magic!β
- Why Launchpadβs photo in Donaldβs houseboat looked drastically different from when it first appeared in βStorkules in Duckburg!β
3) Dellaβs idea of space travel was tied to a mystery she was trying to solve about the fatherβs disappearance. When she discovered he was stuck in Space, she took the Spear early in an attempt to save him, which led to her own disappearance.
This could explainβ¦
- Why Della pressed forward instead of turning around.
- Why Della would take such a risk even after knowing there was a possibility that she wouldnβt be back in time to see her boys hatch
- Why Della didnβt thank Scrooge in her letter after taking off with the rocket
- Why she took the rocket in spite of knowing it would make Scrooge (and Donald) upset
- Why the family photo Della took with her was placed in front of the βLaunchβ light
- Why Launchpadβs photo in Donaldβs houseboat disappeared in the latter portion of βStorkules in Duckburg!β
- Why Della placed her hand on Launchpadβs side of the screen at the end of βThe Shadow War!β despite not knowing who he was (nor being able to see him)
- Why the intended goals in βLast Crashβ, the episode where we first find out what happened to Della, were to find a lost heirloom (a family treasure) and to go to a convention with the phrase βFun for Dad!β on its flyer.
- Why we were presented with (the concept of) Dewey risking his life to chase after a missing piece of a photo in order to solve a mystery
- βDewey, this is crazy! The mysteryβs not worth it!β
- βIβI get it, but you canβt give up the rest of us to find the one person we lost!β
- βDewey, our family is amazing! Weβre enough, let it go!β
- Why Launchpad is suddenly placed in the pilot chair the missing piece got stuck to right after we were given a shot of the chair being empty
- Why Launchpadβs immediate reactions arenβt seen when Della is mentioned by name in βThe Last Crash of the Sunchaser!β and βThe Shadow Warβ
- Why Launchpad hesitated in βLast Crashβ when Scrooge accidentally referred to Della
- Why Launchpad completely disappeared at the end of βLast Crashβ when everyone was leaving the mansion and likely didnβt check on Scrooge until three days later
- Why Launchpad put emphasis on how the boys blame Scrooge and doesnβt personally weigh in on the situation
- Why the scene switched back to Launchpad from Lena during the βlaunching their mom into
Space and orphaning themβ part of his dialogue
- Why Launchpad blinked excessively and overreacted during Mrs. Beakleyβs guilt trip in βShadow Warβ
- Why Launchpad was the most concerned about Donald and the boys moving away
- Why the plane leaned forward to where Launchpad was in spite of the blame being piled onto Scrooge in the back
- Why Launchpad drew attention to himself (in general) as he tried to interrupt the argument
- Why Launchpadβs secret adventures in βThe House of the Lucky Gander!β and βDepthsβ involved him helping his exes get out of dangerous situations
- Why Launchpad returned to the lighthouse holding a golden trident, which is basically a three-pronged spear, along with the color-coded creatures on his back
- Why Launchpadβs armor was riddled with arrows, small, red-feathered spears
- Why it was implied that Ziyi and Oceanika went missing like Della did
- Why Oceanikaβs top and tail colors are similar to Dellaβs shirt and shorts
- Why Issue 18 of IDWβs DuckTales comics involved one of Launchpadβs exes travelling a great distance to save LP after sheβs misinformed about him getting kidnapped and enslaved
- Why the ex featured in the comic shares a lot in common with Della
4) Launchpad doesnβt recognize Della because the experience with the storm gave him amnesia. He canβt remember what happened, and he canβt remember Della as a person, but somewhere deep in his subconscious, he remembers certain aspects about her. She canβt remember his name because he was under a different one when they met in the past.
This could explainβ¦
- Why Launchpad canβt remember if he has a pilotβs license or not
- Why Launchpad doesnβt know who Donald is prior to working for Scrooge and why he has never expressed any prior knowledge of Della
- Why Launchpad has been wearing a green shirt and a teal accessory like Della since the beginning of the show in spite of not knowing who she was
- Why Launchpad claims to have dated a βcloneβ of himself in βThe Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!β
- Why Launchpad also claims to have dated a talking cloud of energy
- Why Launchpad considers Dewey, the triplet who resembles Dellaβs personality the most, to be his best friend
- Why he calls himself βLaunchpadβ; he might remember himself having something to do with Space
- Why he shared a lot of similar colors with Glomgold when amnesia caused him to revert back into Duke Baloney
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Reflecting on βPart 6: The End of The Runway?β
- In the original series, Launchpad was very different when Scrooge first met him: He was a lanky, teenager with a high-pitched voice. If Launchpadβs current appearance in the reboot resulted from the cosmic storm, this aspect of his history could be used to tie into what he looked like prior to the event.
- I realized later on that technically, there has already been more than one Launchpad. He was a main character in both the original DuckTales series and the original Darkwing Duck. As he was converted to the DWD style, some changes were made to his design as well as certain tweaks to his personality. Reboot!LP seems more based on his DW counterpart so maybe the father is more based on how he began in DT87.
- In βLast Crashβ, Scroogeβs flashback depicted Della as thrill-seeking and looking confident as she takes her joyride through the storm, but in βHappened to Dellaβ, we donβt see that. By taking the Spear at all, sheβs confident enough that sheβll be able to succeed in what sheβs doing but she looks a lot more like sheβs determined to reach a goal. She willingly goes directly into the storm but sheβs not enjoying it at all, sheβs struggling to guide the Spear.
- If Launchpad got struck by lightning, I wonder if the same bolt could have been the one to take down the Spear while he was higher up in the storm. As Della and the fatherβs spacecrafts were passing by, could they have created a strong enough electrical current to affect them both?
- In βDepthsβ, Fethry and the boys wore diving suits to protect them; especially from the hydrothermal vents. LPβs Aquaman-esque outfit didnβt do much to protect himself at all. Since heβs been in the area before, could he have been affected by the vents as well as the cosmic storm? Or was this purely to draw a comparison between the two occurrences? If the former, could he have gained electrical powers from the cosmic storm and then aquatic respiration from thermal vents?
- Launchpadβs change in outfits after returning from his adventures could be hinting at his change in appearance after the cosmic storm; that he came back to Earth looking like a superhero.
- Haβ¦I completely forgot that I had wondered if someone else experienced a mutation back in my first βDepths of Ganderβ post:
- Could the hydrothermal vents represent the cosmic storm in some way? Did going through it give Della
any abnormalities? Is that why sheβs able to breathe in space? Iβve seen comparing her situation to The Fantastic Four.comments here and there
- If not Della, did someone else experience a mutation? If Fethry, Huey and Dewey were swimming around these vents, could they have been affected in some way?
- The joke from Launchpadβs Notepad not only suggested Zeus hitting LP with a bolt of lightning, but thereβs actually a memory loss portion of it: He couldnβt remember what Zeusβs main ability was until it hit him.
- Speaking of the book, itβs pretty interesting how Launchpad, the guy weβre led to believe has nothing to do with the Spear of Selene, was given a joke about a mother leaving her eggs behind. Scrooge even questions him about the context of the joke but isnβt given an answer. (The book was released way before βLast Crashβ.)
- I realized that there seems to be a pattern with alternative names: Huey, Dewey and Louie were meant to be Jet, Turbo and Rebel. Scroogeβs plane is normally called The Sunchaser (named after Launchpadβs first plane in the original series), but Della refers to it as The Cloudslayer. I think this could further support the idea of LPβs name being something else and Della possibly being the one to reveal this.
- Since itβs extremely likely that βJetβ and βTurboβ derived from Launchpadβs names in a couple of European versions of the show, Iβve been leaning on βMaxβ, as in Max Motor (Danish dub), possibly being Launchpadβs real first name. Not only does it fit the alliteration pattern going on with monsters but because Mitziβs name also began with an βMβ and she went through a mutation.
- Despite this, there may have been a hint at βJoeβ as in Joe McQuack (Spanish dubs). In the first half of βWoo-oo!β, Launchpad drove into a bunch of outdoor furniture belonging to a place called Morning Joe, but of course, the scene could have purely been a gag and was simply a reference to coffee.
- I realized yet another comparison between Della and Diane: They both come from high status families. Diane is the queen of an underwater kingdom and Della is the niece of the worldβs richest duck.
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Reflecting on βPart 7: Ballads of Dangerous Chemistryβ
- During my explanation about Launchpadβs exes possibly relating to Della in some way, I somehow forgot to include how were-creatures are usually associated with the Moon. Thinking more about it, a wereduck sounds like a reverse werewolf: a wolf who turns into a duck. Webby used this term to describe Glomgold during his bout of amnesia.
- Aside from a connection to Della, could this be giving us hints about other beings with the ability to transform? That Launchpadβs change in appearance happened somewhat in relation to the Moon? The former reminds me of my theory of aliens or shapeshifters abducting Launchpad after they turned into someone he trusted.
- One of the news channels in βThe Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!β had an upcoming headline that read βOne manβs encounterβ¦β. Because the episodeβs production code may have been referenced in the Spearβs manual, this could have something to do with βWhat Ever Happened to Della Duck?!β and could contribute to the concept of abduction.
- I noticed some typos:
The concepts of electricity and extreme physical transformations seem to be increasing. The mid-season trailer for Season 2 features a clip from an upcoming episode where Huey transforms into a Super Sayain inspired version of himself with a lightning bolt highlight in his hair. Launchpad and Mark are shown right before this.
- I was trying to fix something here and ended up making another problem.
Monstro and MβMa in βWho Is Gizmoduck?!β
βEres un monstro, Diego!β
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Reflecting on βPart 8: If Walls Could Talkβ
- There were a handful of revisions I had to make with this part:
Sometimes in art, the composition of a scene gives away more information than the foreground is willing to tell us.
- I accidentally had βthatβ in this portion. It was supposed to be a comparison.
Looking back at βLast Crashβ made me think about the scene where the plane is about to fall off the peak. As the children pile the blame onto Scrooge, the Sunchaser leans forward where Launchpad and the hula girl bobble figure are. Iβve noted in the past how the figure could have been placed there by Launchpad and how it could be representing Della since it wears some of her colors.
- It was never officially confirmed that the hula girl was Launchpadβs. Iβve been assuming it was his based on how it wasnβt present during Issue 3, where weβre given a panel of Della piloting the Sunchaser before the Spear incident and due to the fact that he already has a DW bobble head.
For a while, Iβve been thinking that there could be some foreshadowing going on with the entire back of the photo. As soon as I saw the second drawing, I immediately thought of Gladstone due to the eyebrows and curly hair bang. I couldnβt figure out who the first one could have represented but then I saw suggestions about it possibly having to do with Fethry; the cone shape on top of the head could be like a hat. It would make a lot of sense for these two drawings to be referring to them since theyβre both Duck Cousins with debut episodes that follow the same formula and shared similarities to Dellaβs situation on the Moon.
One of those formula components were βbeing heavily compared to one of the triplets". Gladstone had his episode with Louie on land. Fethry had his episode under the sea with Huey. Dewey has yet to have an episode that follows the special formula, and Space definitely seems like it could be the next environment to be featured. Donaldβs on the Moon now, so the third drawing could be hinting to something involving him, but I donβt think heβs being depicted here, and they donβt share a lot in common. Dewey is often compared to Della, but heβs similar to Launchpad too. The fact that Della let Penumbra know that her children didnβt really have eggplant-shaped heads in spite of what she drew, could coincide with the idea that Launchpad didnβt always look the way that he currently does.
- I canβt believe I missed an entire paragraphβ¦
- When the San Diego Comic Con poster was released, I noticed that all of the suspected characters being represented on the back of Dellaβs family photo, are grouped together in a similar manner to the drawings.
- Gandra and Duckworth are close to Launchpad too. I previously discussed how Duckworthβs likeness was altered and how Launchpad may have electrical powers like Gandra does.
Towards the end of βNothing Canβ, after the Gilded Man fight, Della states βMan, Donald sure is missing out on some quality family bonding.β Heβs not the only one; Launchpad was completely absent during the familyβs time of need. (Well, and Duckworth.) He was just seen in the houseboat, and weβre led to believe he lives somewhere in a separate area of the mansionβs garageβ¦
-When we finally saw where Launchpad lived in βBeware of the B.U.D.D.Y. System!β, I thought the family was clearing things out of the mansion garage for LP to live there in βWoo-oo!β. While I wanted to believe it was the same garage, I was doubtful due to LPβs garage area being structured differently with a rounded ceiling and higher lights. At some point, I remembered that the mansionβs yard is fenced. When Launchpad crashes the limo through the garage door, we see that itβs on ground level and leads directly into town.
- There wasnβt an indication of LPβs living area being a separate space from the mansion on his driverβs license and the only garage that we knew of at the time was The Wing of Secrets. So, itβs like, was the city scenery a continuity error? Was there an open part of the fence I wasnβt aware of? As I was gathering up what to say about Part 8, I thought it would be best to change this sentence to further emphasize the uncertainty I presented in the beginning of Part 9. Then some time afterwards, βMoonvasion!β aired and clarified everything.
- From an out-of-universe perspective, I can see why Launchpad lives all the way in Silverbeak. Itβs much closer to the Audubon Bay Bridge and that leads to St. Canard where the original Darkwing Duck takes place. Itβll make the commute between cities easier in future episodes, but from an in-universe perspective, having him live in a McDuck owned building, this far from the mansion, at such an early point in the series, does feel a bit excessiveβ¦Maybe Scrooge didnβt allow LP to live in the mansion because he didnβt want him to get too close. Iβve always had the notion that Launchpad might have reminded Scrooge of Della during the time he hired him. He also probably didnβt want his new employee snooping around to find something of Dellaβs and start asking questions.
- Lots of monsters and secrets are going on in Scroogeβs mansion garageβ¦can the same be said for the garage LP lives in?
In every variation of this artwork, the Sunchaser is always facing the Moon; which is peeking behind a cloud. This reminds me a lot of the second cover for Issue 18, where this also could have been used to represent Della.
- While it seems to be strongly implied to represent Della, itβs not confirmed.
- Adding onto the subtle wordplay with LPβs name: There were multiple mentions of βlaunchβ and βcrashβ in βHappened to Dellaβ, but of course, these are aerospace terms that can easily be glossed overβ¦but itβs hard not to think of Launchpad when either are mentioned in this show.
- When Launchpad reaches the end of the stairs, Dellaβs robot leg is blocked out by an object in the foreground. Having it hidden during this scene could represent how attempting to save the father eventually caused her to lose it.
- Dellaβs leg and longer hair length probably isnβt helping Launchpad to remember her.
- Looking at the scene from βFriendshipβ where LP pulls out his fan script, makes me wonder if Launchpad was a superhero sidekick name he had made for himself as a child.
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Reflecting on βPart 9: Okay, Now What?β
- While itβs possible that Launchpad could end up doing the face stroking gesture Della did to her boys in βNothing Canβ, Iβm starting to lean back on Della being the one who originated this action as well as being the one to continue the pattern if we get a father reveal.
There are more points I wanted to reflect on for this part, but I feel like they would be better suited for my upcoming discussions.
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The rest of this update will lean further into figuring out what the father was like in his past and what could have led him into being in Space. For the following three posts, Iβll be heavily focused on scouting out more potential foreshadowing that could be giving us additional, untold information surrounding the events of the Spear incident.
β¦Care to join me in what might be my longest ramble ever?
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