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Through A Mirror Darkly: Life, The Negaverse and Everything (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people and it's time for a hop back through the mirror as we continue Through a Mirror Darkly, a look at mirror universe episodes.

Today we go back to something we haven't revisited in a while on this blog: the terror who flaps in the night, the finely aged cheese you left on the sidewalk in the rain Darkwiinnnnggg duuuuucckkk.

Yes the darkwing of the night is back on this blog as we see just where his arch enemy came from. Negaduck's an intresting case as unlike most darkwing foes, who were either introduced alongside their origin stories or were only introduced after them because the episode after that was finished and Disney coudln't wait five minutes, he was introduced in the just us ducks two parter we've coverd here before as someone Darkwing knew.. but the audience didn't.

It also worked. Out of nowhere was this mysterious dark reflection of our hero: while both ducks were hammy, Negaduck was a colder kind, with a sneering voice that just made it clear how much contempt he had for everyone around him, and a penchant for chainsaws. Darkwing could get dangerous... Negaduck was ALWAYS dangerous.

This episode answers who the heck is this guy.. withotu ruining his mystique. Fittingly, like darkwing we don't know WHY Negaduck became a supervillian, but we do know why an evil doppleganger of darkwing suddenly manifested and wasn't the previous negative counterpart we'd seen before.

Naturally given what this series is about, he's from an evil parallel universe; one without hope, where Negaduck rules supreme and where Drake naturally ends up, out of his element, out of fucks to give, and with a world against him. Can drake survivie this world turned up side down? can be be convinced to do the right thing and help this fallen world? Will the muddlefoots wear leather for some reason? find out under the cut

We open with the fearsome five, who just came back from a succesful heist and are hangin out. Down the street. Same old place. They did Last week. Negaduck does however have a thing to do than talk to you so he tries to duck out but the rest of the gang wants to know why he never hangs. Is it them?

The short answer, yes the long answer is negaduck has other things to do at his hideout and dosen't want to share it. So the others decide to do the rational thing and let him go be a dick elsewhere and.. nope they decide to follow him. Granted if they did the rational thing they probably woudln't be fighting darkwing every week so fair play.

At the Drake Residence, Drake is engaged in a long afternoon's nap that Gosalyn rudely interupts. Drake's supposed to take her next door for Honker's birthday party. Drake politley declines

Okay maybe not politley but in his defense: the muddlefoots life next door, so Gosalyn REALLY dosen't need an escort. He can see fine from here, and he talks about how much he hates the muddlefoots on a regular basis. She knows he dosen't like Honker's parents or brother, he hasn't been shy about that, why force him to go beyond "If I have to tolerate them so do you daddddd". Launchpad can't do it because he's picking up the cake.

So Drake is forced to endure this party. Granted Gos isn't much happier as Honker is happy just reading. We haven't really talked about the muddlefoots a lot in previous darkwing reviews as Honker tends to appear solo a lot and the only real time his family was important was during the Splatter Phoenix episode, which was less about the usual dynamic with them and more about Herb being a value pack of dicks.

The Muddlefoots are the Mallard's next door neighbors and the bains of his existance, to the point you think Drake only didn't have a civlian identity for so long to avoid talking to people like them. Their the annoying people in your lives you can't get rid of and you have TRIE.

The Muddlefoots consit of herb, the overenthuastic dad, his doting and mildly annoying wife binky, thier withdrawn and nerdy son and gosalyn's best friend honker and Honker's older brother and waking nightmare tank, who is a bully to one and all including Drake.

The muddlefoots primarily annoy the tar out of drake because they have no real self awarness, the most ironic of hells, and thus Herb just kinda wedges himself into Drake's life despite Drake never being subtle about hating the muddlefoots. Herb isn't a BAD guy.. he's just very awkard... similar to how Drake's not the worst person, simply incrdibly cranky and egotistical.

Drake luckily gets an escape when Launchpad arrives.. and when he was getting the cake spotted the fearsome four, if not negaduck whose hideout the cake shop is. Drake takes the easy out both for justice and to get to trip tank into the cake as an excuse to go get a replacement.

Darkwing arrives.. but the numbers game means he easily looses and the four easily capture him. Inside Negaduck has opened some kinda weird stygian hole in his cake and the villians throw him in.. and piss negsy off.

Turns out the portal is his way HOME. It also spotlights something that makes negaduck so dangerous: it isn't just that he's cruel or ax crazy... it's that he's SMART. Unlike Drake whose clever but is also up his own ass, Negaduck thinks his plans through, and thus knows unleashing darkwing on a world without compitent heroes threatens his reign and goes after him.

Drake ends up in the negaverse but has no idea "what happened to his beautiful st canard". I also love the payoff to that when Negaduck sniffs in the heavy polution and whistfully proclaims "my beautiful st canard". I also like how while having a red skied industrial dystipia is normal to show a mirror universe or bad future, here it's also a nice contrast to the dark blues of st canard, which has a more welcoming night skyline , inviting adventure to the opressive nightmare that is the negaverse.

Naturally this being Darkwing.. he has no idea he's in another universe or what the hell's going on for an embarassingly long time. He comes home and assume's it's wrecked condition is "gosalyn mesisng with the wiring" and assumes Negagosalyn is an act. negagosalyn, like ours is a good kid.. unlike ours though she's a sugary sweet girly girl in pigtails and an overly elaborate dress who does what her dad asks.

It's also a nice reminder that not ALL mirror versions of a character have to be evil. Negagos is simply the oppisite of our gos, a girly girl to regular gos' tomboy. It's weird to see.

Even weirder is NegaLaunchpad... which I didn't evne know was going to be a thing going into this episode before Is aw some fanart when I looked up the negaverse. He's just.. not really takled about. The design is good: a slovenly post apocalypstic biker with a rat tail, the true sign of evil. Admitley I did'nt know that biker micheal liker is the opposite of pilot but it makes sense: Launchpad is classsicly heroic, so his oppisite would be modernly grungy.

Darkwing still hasn't got that maybe this isn't HIS st canard, and watches the telly with his bizzaro family... only to find out he's now public enemy #1 as Negaduck simply went to the tv station when he coudln't find darkwing and put out a bulletin. It's a clever twist too: instead of "the hero is mistaken for their counterpart while the evil version is on earth plotting" as tends to be standard, the villian just takes away the one advantage the hero has.

So Darkwing and NegaGosalyn dart away from Launchapd and his rocket launcher. Negagos... is elated to find out Darkwing exists, her negadad having told her about him, and to hav ehope.

Darkwing FINALLY gets an explination from of all people, Negatank. Here he's a politely spoken child genius, much like his positive counterpart's brother. He also gives out a heap of expositoin but given how stubborn darkwing is, he kinda NEEDS it , and the show's reality is goofy enough for this to work. Darkwing still dosen't FULLY buy it.. till he meets the muddlefoots.

YEah i'm all for leather and chains, but I did.. not want to see that on the muddlefoots and will take the neede dpercautions at seeing this

Ahhhh much better. Anyways the biker muddlelikers mistake Darkwing for his evil doppleganger, but Negahonker ruins the party and thus theyg rill darkwing.. literally. he almost dies and after commerical has been rescued along with Gos offscreen by the Friendly Four

Who Sought out Darkwing.. because if Negaduck's after him he MIGHT be able to finally stop him, as they havne't.

Darkwing is a darkwing dick and refuses to help. It's a harsh reminder to me that this darkwing.. isn't really all that heroic a lot of the time, willing to leave a bunch of people who BADLY need a hero behind simply because "can't make me don't wanna".

Thankfully we pivot from Darkwing at one of his lowest points.. to a reminder of the good person that lies beneath. Negagos.. is entirely happy to let him go, knowing his Gosalyn needs him and sees him off... and with that.. the wheels turn in his head.

He asks a question he likely knows the answer to... Who is Gosalyn's Guardian? The answer? Negaduck.

"Oh. In the Negaverse, there's never been a Darkwing Duck to guard the city... (gulp) Or a Drake Mallard to be a father. For you, Gosalyn, I'll stay."

The delivery here is amazing: Drake's voice cracks as he realizes just what hell this poor girl's gone thorugh and no matter the universe... Gosalyn is his daughter. He may be willing to abandon these people.. but he can never abandon HER. His Gosalyn has Launchpad... Negagos has no one... and he's not going to let that stand if he can help it. If this world needs heroes, if it needs to be better... then he'll MAKE it better. For her. For his daughter.

It's a truly brilliant scene, it's simple.. but the performance and just how repugntant darkwing was being seconds before really sell it: he'd leave this world behind because it's not his... but the second he realizes one of the few people in the world he cares about will be left in this hellhole.. he realizes he was wrong. It may not be his world.. but it's his responsiblity.

He sets to work traning the friendly four, giving them all his knowledge and skills, a crash course in being darkwing duck. And what also makes this work so well is like Gosalyn.. the change isn't too extreme. We've seen from the BOOM/Joe Books comics that these guys CAN at least try to change, and bushroot isn't that evil to begin with. Given the chance or the want to change.. they might have.

They simply havent which is a pity as we see here when breaking good.. their GREAT at being heroes. better than they ever were with villians. They fix a broken and toxic st canard easily, with liquidator's power clearing out the water and bushroot restoring the land. It shows just what these guys COULD be capable of, the good they could do.. if they only cared enough to do it.

They still get captured of course, though luckily a dangerous toy Negajack made frees darkwing and the Friendly Four, now all darkwinged up in proper costumes, easily clean house on the Negafoots, as Negaduck prepares to flee this dimension, deciding if he can't have it then he can just go back.

This leads to another touching moment: Darkwing.. isn't prepared to leave, as Negagos needs him.. but as before she encourages him. HIs Gosalyn needs him.. and she's not alone before. By simply staying behind, putting in the effort and helping this world.. Darkwing gave her four dads, a better world and a hope at a future. Darkwing may be egotistical, selfish and well.. a reall dick of a duck.. but it's moments like this that show beneath it all when pressed.. he will do the right thing and CAN make the world better.

We get a cool final set piece as Darkwing duels with Negaduck in the space between spaces.. and wins entirely by pulling the plug on the cosmic drain, leaving Negaduck to oblivion and Drake home.

So Drake comes home and gives Gosalyn a big hug, which she declares is a bit mushy.. but it shows that as much as they snipe at each other... he loves his daughter and is happy to be back wit hher. He also admits he "loves the muddlefoots' they may be terrible.. but at least their not trying to kill him.

Life the Negaverse and Everything is an excellent episode. While admitely the evil versions of everyone are mostly just evil, same with the good, it works better here than brave and the bold as while we still get an emotoinal moment and negagos is fun to have around, Darkwing Duck takes itself less seriously and thus the broader more sterotypical post apocalypse take on an earth 3 world works, while still giving us said emotoinal moments and nice bits of what ifs: we see what the fearsome four would be as heroes, where negaduck comes from and why as while i'ts not said it's clear he just wanted more world's to conquer and is'nt the weeping sort, and has some fun gags. It's one of the shows best episodes i've seen and I highly recommend it

Next Time: The Kids Next Door deal with the worst kind of pool party> We also FINALLY get the evil spock beard on someone. Horay!

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