Post by alquackskey on May 22, 2023 21:35:08 GMT
New update! So, I got my copy of I TL 2000-G today; as the story's title suggests, it does indeed contain more relatives.
The basic premise of the story has a very serious woodwind competition going on in Duckburg. Scrooge has no interest in participating - until, of course, Donald informs him that the best players will be getting a tax benefit.
Scrooge digs out a device that basically connects one pipe to four (Not sure if this is a real thing, my knowledge of instruments is lacking) and practices, much to Battista's chagrin. In fact, when the contest actually happens, Scrooge's playing is so bad that the mayor makes an exception and decides to double his taxes instead.
Scrooge is then approached by a professor, who is very interested in the instrument. Scrooge invites him over, hoping that he will try to buy it.
The professor identifies it as a court pipe - specifically from the Court of the Smacks.
He asks about where Scrooge got it, and Scrooge confirms with certainty that he inherited it
With this, the professor confirms that there is an 'unpublished branch in the Smak lineage'. He leaves to investigate.
The next day, he returns, confirming that Scrooge is descended from the Smaks.
He follows up with an explanation - however, I'm struggling a little to understand what he's saying, if anyone would like to take a look:
Here, he mentions Smak Terzo (Smak the Third), otherwise known as 'Sperperatore' (Squanderer - a nickname, like Sciupone). He challenged his cousin, Smak Quarto (Smak the Fourth), and deprived him of all good.
Pictured below are Terzo and Quarto, respectively, as they appear later in the story:
It's then explained that the descendants of Smak Quarto, of whom Scrooge is the last distant relative (Dunno how you'd interpret this line, probably best to ignore, but worth mentioning), remained in poverty. The 'Assault Pipe' was the only heirloom they had left to pass down.
The professor further explains that, had things gone how they were supposed to, Scrooge would have been 'King of the Green Island'.
Scrooge has the professor reconstruct the tree as it would have been without Smak Terzo's 'deceptive detour'.
Here's a freaky one: Scrooge shows portraits of Smak Terzo and Smak Quarto (Unless I'm misreading)... AND SMAK TERZO IS A HUMAN. WHY?!
Ahem. At any rate, Scrooge explains that Smak Terzo forced Smak Quarto to give up his share of the inheritance.
He further explains that 'The Quarto branch, our branch, ended in misery'.
He also explains that he can't become king because legal action is impossible and the Terzo branch is extinct.
Scrooge then gets a time train to travel through the centuries and stop Smak Terzo.
Specifically, they go to the year 1,000... and are immediately captured.
An unnamed cousin of Smak Terzo explains that he is Terzo's loyal adviser, who keeps watch for spies sent by Quarto.
At the end of the story, Scrooge manages to return to the present with the documents that would give him the inheritance he desires. He goes to get them verified, and he is indeed entitled to everything of Smak Quarto's!
...Which is nothing, because Quarto and his descendants never paid their taxes. Scrooge, of course, ends up with even more taxes to pay as a result.
Finally, there's the tree constructed for the Smak lineage:
Nothing is said about these relatives. It shares some of the relatives that can be seen in the first panels of parts 1 and 2 of the story - as such, it can be assumed that these are all ancestors or descendants of Smak Quarto.
The confusing part is that Scrooge tells the professor to put together a family tree as it would have been if not for Smak Terzo.
What this actually means is, of course, open to interpretation, but I think it's safe to assume that the relatives would still be there - it's most likely just to trace down proof that Scrooge would rightfully have been a king.
Secondary, more minor note, I got S 67019. 'Old Ebeneeza' is 'Ebenezer Mac Paper' in Italian.
In the story, he's Scrooge's bis-bis-bis-biszio (Great-great-great-greatuncle) who arrived at Duckburg in 1782.
Obviously, this isn't the original script - and, as we've seen, some reprints change details like years or relations. Dunno if you'd want to change his current placement as a result, but worth being aware of
Finally, on the note of future relatives - I'm not personally a big fan of the idea of adding them to the main tree, but I do think they're worth properly documenting.
I definitely agree that they have more validity as dream relatives; while they are not guaranteed to happen, there is an existing timeline in which they are real characters.
Maybe something akin to the Composite Characters section, if possible?
Like, 'Descendants from the Future', where we note and provide scans for characters from the future and when they're from, who they're related to etc?
I'd be fine adding another page to the spreadsheet if we went in this direction
The basic premise of the story has a very serious woodwind competition going on in Duckburg. Scrooge has no interest in participating - until, of course, Donald informs him that the best players will be getting a tax benefit.
Scrooge digs out a device that basically connects one pipe to four (Not sure if this is a real thing, my knowledge of instruments is lacking) and practices, much to Battista's chagrin. In fact, when the contest actually happens, Scrooge's playing is so bad that the mayor makes an exception and decides to double his taxes instead.
Scrooge is then approached by a professor, who is very interested in the instrument. Scrooge invites him over, hoping that he will try to buy it.
The professor identifies it as a court pipe - specifically from the Court of the Smacks.
He asks about where Scrooge got it, and Scrooge confirms with certainty that he inherited it
With this, the professor confirms that there is an 'unpublished branch in the Smak lineage'. He leaves to investigate.
The next day, he returns, confirming that Scrooge is descended from the Smaks.
He follows up with an explanation - however, I'm struggling a little to understand what he's saying, if anyone would like to take a look:
Here, he mentions Smak Terzo (Smak the Third), otherwise known as 'Sperperatore' (Squanderer - a nickname, like Sciupone). He challenged his cousin, Smak Quarto (Smak the Fourth), and deprived him of all good.
Pictured below are Terzo and Quarto, respectively, as they appear later in the story:
It's then explained that the descendants of Smak Quarto, of whom Scrooge is the last distant relative (Dunno how you'd interpret this line, probably best to ignore, but worth mentioning), remained in poverty. The 'Assault Pipe' was the only heirloom they had left to pass down.
The professor further explains that, had things gone how they were supposed to, Scrooge would have been 'King of the Green Island'.
Scrooge has the professor reconstruct the tree as it would have been without Smak Terzo's 'deceptive detour'.
Here's a freaky one: Scrooge shows portraits of Smak Terzo and Smak Quarto (Unless I'm misreading)... AND SMAK TERZO IS A HUMAN. WHY?!
Ahem. At any rate, Scrooge explains that Smak Terzo forced Smak Quarto to give up his share of the inheritance.
He further explains that 'The Quarto branch, our branch, ended in misery'.
He also explains that he can't become king because legal action is impossible and the Terzo branch is extinct.
Scrooge then gets a time train to travel through the centuries and stop Smak Terzo.
Specifically, they go to the year 1,000... and are immediately captured.
An unnamed cousin of Smak Terzo explains that he is Terzo's loyal adviser, who keeps watch for spies sent by Quarto.
At the end of the story, Scrooge manages to return to the present with the documents that would give him the inheritance he desires. He goes to get them verified, and he is indeed entitled to everything of Smak Quarto's!
...Which is nothing, because Quarto and his descendants never paid their taxes. Scrooge, of course, ends up with even more taxes to pay as a result.
Finally, there's the tree constructed for the Smak lineage:
Nothing is said about these relatives. It shares some of the relatives that can be seen in the first panels of parts 1 and 2 of the story - as such, it can be assumed that these are all ancestors or descendants of Smak Quarto.
The confusing part is that Scrooge tells the professor to put together a family tree as it would have been if not for Smak Terzo.
What this actually means is, of course, open to interpretation, but I think it's safe to assume that the relatives would still be there - it's most likely just to trace down proof that Scrooge would rightfully have been a king.
Secondary, more minor note, I got S 67019. 'Old Ebeneeza' is 'Ebenezer Mac Paper' in Italian.
In the story, he's Scrooge's bis-bis-bis-biszio (Great-great-great-greatuncle) who arrived at Duckburg in 1782.
Obviously, this isn't the original script - and, as we've seen, some reprints change details like years or relations. Dunno if you'd want to change his current placement as a result, but worth being aware of
Finally, on the note of future relatives - I'm not personally a big fan of the idea of adding them to the main tree, but I do think they're worth properly documenting.
I definitely agree that they have more validity as dream relatives; while they are not guaranteed to happen, there is an existing timeline in which they are real characters.
Maybe something akin to the Composite Characters section, if possible?
Like, 'Descendants from the Future', where we note and provide scans for characters from the future and when they're from, who they're related to etc?
I'd be fine adding another page to the spreadsheet if we went in this direction