Ducktales is currently on hiatus, which means it’s the perfect time to theorize about what we’ve seen so far. The show has already established several main foes, including Flintheart Glomgold and Ma Beagle, who are intent on besting Scrooge McDuck. But there’s another pair of characters whose goal isn’t as clear yet, but seems to be a greater threat: Lena and Magica De Spell. What exactly are they up to?
What Is Lena Planning?
With only two appearances so far, Lena remains mysterious. In “The Beagle Birthday Massacre!,” she meets Webby and convinces her to sneak into a party with her. However, after it turns out to be Ma Beagle’s birthday party and they’re almost caught, the night turns into an adventure of avoiding the Beagle Boys, during which they quickly bond.
Lena is introduced as a rebellious, globe-trotting teen with an attitude, but she genuinely cares for Webby. Their friendship is so good and pure and cute, in fact, that it comes as a shock when Lena uses her amulet to contact her supernatural Aunt Magica with the message that she’s “in” with the McDuck family.
In “Terror of the Terra-firmians!,” we see a lot of interaction between Lena and Mrs. Beakley, Webby’s grandmother. When the gang gets stuck in a subway tunnel, Beakley enlists Lena into helping her separate the subway cars. During this time, she lays into Lena, citing her to be a bad influence on the kids. Lena’s ashamed when Beakley asked who raised her, which gives us a little more insight as to why she’s not big on family.
Later, when the subway crushes Beakley, Lena tries to pull her free with the aid of her amulet, and while Magica tries to convince her to leave her behind, Lena still saves her. This earns Beakley’s trust, and Lena informs her aunt that she’s going to “play the long game.” This all boils down to one question: what plans are they trying to achieve by playing this game?
History Doesn’t Repeat Itself
It’s worth noting that Lena is Magica’s second-known niece. Her first niece, Minima De Spell, appeared in the original Ducktales comic, Dime After Dime. While similar, Lena is a completely new character for the reboot, and so Minima isn’t ultimately that important. But seeing how she helped her aunt and what her aunt was like may give us some clues about their most recent incarnations.
The original Magica was a witch obsessed with stealing Scrooge’s Number One Dime so she could melt it down into an amulet that would grant its wearer the Midas Touch. While a major villain, she also often served as comic relief. The reboot’s Magica, however, seems much more sinister. While we don’t know why yet, she appears as a shadow attached to Lena and is dependent on her to see her plan through. Her plan must surely be more serious than just stealing a dime, though.
Two Mystery Birds, One Theory Stone
Only time and new episodes will actually tell what happens with Lena and Magica, but for now, here are a couple of theories:
Lena will grow even closer to Webby and the McDucks to the point that she’s practically family. Eventually, she’ll have to make a choice between Magica and the McDucks, and she’ll choose the latter. As a result, she’ll have to face off against Magica in an ultimate battle.
Alternatively, Lena might still be loyal to her aunt and instead try to convince Webby to join her side. Webby is very trusting of Lena, so this may lead to a lot of betrayal and conflict, both internally and with her family.
Regardless of the above, here’s where the theory gets wild: Aunt Magica is somehow Della Duck. The same Della Duck that is Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s mother and Donald Duck’s sister. The one that mysteriously vanished after stealing the Spear of Selene from Scrooge and is a major enigma in her own right.
How Do Della and Lena Fit In?
It’s a long shot, but with how complex adventure shows like Ducktales and Gravity Falls have become nowadays, I wouldn’t put it past them just yet. We know so little about Magica and Della, that there’s a lot of plot points to fill in. It could be possible that in the time after Della stole the spear, she was somehow corrupted and became Magica. And now evil, she seeks revenge against Scrooge, possibly for the spear incident. (Donald did hold Scrooge responsible for it in the first episode.)
And where does Lena enter? It’s hard to tell. She did mention in her first appearance that she found her amulet at a thrift shop. If that’s true, then maybe she met Magica only after buying it and irrevocably became a sort of “vessel” for her. Perhaps it was fate that brought Lena and Della together – they’re both adventurous world travelers.
There are plenty of secrets laced throughout Ducktales, but Lena and her aunt may just be the biggest of them all.
