"Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" is the fourteenth episode of DuckTales, based loosely on the comic book story of the same name by Carl Barks.
Synopsis
The episode opens with Genghis Khan (Pete) journeying with his army to Shadow Pass, which they must reach by nightfall. When a snow beast approaches the troop, he orders his soldiers to fire their arrows, but it retaliates by throwing huge snowballs, scaring them off. The beast finds Genghis Khan's crown lying in the snow, and claims it.
Eight centuries later, the incident is explained by Lord Battmounten of the Duckburg Explorers Society. He says that after it happened, the crown was not seen until the past month, when a Sherpa he often uses as a guide wandered into Shadow Pass and took shelter in the ice cave where the crown was being held. Battmounten adds that the quest to determine the society's "Explorer of the Year" involves being the first to retrieve the crown, which the Sherpa could not bring back itself because a snow beast chased it away―a descendant of the same beast that caused the crown to be lost in the first place. Scrooge McDuck fetches Launchpad McQuack to pilot an aircraft that will help him to reach Shadow Pass first, but one of his rivals, Sir Guy Standforth, drills a hole into the plane causing the gas to flow out of it, then sidetracks two other explorers that have been sent on the expedition, distracting one with a rabbit and another with a giant snowball that crashes into several buildings in a nearby village.
Scrooge decides that he will gain the advantage over his rivals by parachuting to Shadow Pass, but because of Sir Guy's cheating, the plane is spiraling out of control and running out of gas. Despite this, Scrooge succeeds in reaching Shadow Pass. As he ventures down the path, a night snowstorm beats at the tent where his nephews and Webby are waiting for him. The next morning, Sir Guy throws dynamite into a snowbank, causing an avalanche that sends everyone sliding downhill. Webby goes missing, and they find not only her tracks but also those of the snow beast. But when Scrooge and company follow the tracks, they are scared off by Sir Guy, who is acting as a costumed "snow beast" character. The gang attempt to approach Shadow Pass a second time and succeed in reaching the ice caves, but the real snow beast, characterized by feminine features and decorated in jewelry, sends all of them running forward for cover. Scrooge, separated from the others, calls out for them, but to no avail―although he does see a giant hole form in the ground below, revealing a full pile of gold. Advancing toward this pile, he notices the Crown of Genghis Khan at the top, walks up to it, and starts to gloat in victory, but a snowball is thrown at him.
The nephews and Launchpad are searching for Scrooge and Webby, but with no success, as they have grown very cold and tired in the process. Webby, however, does come towards them on her own, claiming that the snoring sounds of the sleeping Launchpad led her to them, and that she was saved from the avalanche by the snow beast, which she is treating as a friend. She asks the beast if it has seen Scrooge, and it throws a snowball their way, revealing Scrooge trapped inside with the Crown of Genghis Khan. Warmed after being fed a bowl of hot soup, Scrooge hurts the beast's feelings by demeaning it for what it did to him. The beast runs away crying, and Webby runs after her, accompanied only by Launchpad because Scrooge is still too weak. The beast begins to fall off a cliff, but Launchpad pulls it up to safety. Once Webby has rejoined the pack, Scrooge is packing up the Crown and preparing to leave, but is distracted by Sir Guy, who causes him to drop the Crown so that he claims it for himself, cheating Scrooge out of his newfound victory and ending his 33-year run as the society's Explorer of the Year. At the end of the episode, Sir Guy is named the new Explorer of the Year, but Scrooge interrupts the ceremony claiming that he found the crown first, even though Sir Guy was the one who brought it back. Just then, the snow beast steps into the room with Launchpad, and sends Sir Guy running for his life.
Video releases
- DVD
- DuckTales: Volume 1