"Corsair Canards"
Episode transcript (provided by Natalie Farrell)
Captain Lanelle of the Corsair Canard pirate ship The Iron Vulture, which resembles a traditional pirate ship albeit with jet engines, is informed by her crewmember Black Beak that they've sighted a luxury space liner ripe for plunder.
The pirates attack the luxury ship and board, holding all of the passengers hostage, among them a veiled Aldebaran noblewoman and her green female hare friend. As Lanelle demands their jewelry, the female hare pleads not to be hurt, to which Lanelle replies that the Corsair Canards don't hurt people who don't attack them first. Black Beak demands the valuables of an elderly four-armed duck with a beard and cane, but the old duck is hard of hearing and demands he speak up.
Lanelle demands the ladies' jewels again, prompting the "female" hare to remove "her" dress, revealing Bucky O'Hare's uniform underneath. The "elderly" duck then reveals himself as Deadeye and knocks out Black Beak. Willy emerges from inside a piano, and the veiled Aldebaran, revealed as Jenny, gets up from her "restless" chair, which is revealed to be Bruiser hidden underneath a tarp. The berserker baboon easily grabs and subdues the remaining Canards, and Bucky disarms Lanelle. It is revealed Deadeye had once been a member of Lanelle's crew, and she accuses him of being a traitor, but Bucky steps up as the one who put this together, explaining that he wants the UAF to make an alliance with the pirates against the toads and that this trap was the easiest way to bring Lanelle to him. He promises her a full pardon in return for her cooperation.
On Genus, the matter is brought to the council's attention. UAF Chairman Harman, a walrus, supports the idea because Bucky saved Genus before. However one particularly hot-tempered councilman, Grebb, a jackal, doesn't trust the Corsair Canards. He demands that Harman nullify the treaty the minute the Corsair Canards return to their thieving ways, and Harman reluctantly agrees. However, Lanelle explains she alone can't decide on whether the pirates sign the treaty; there are many different clans of Canards, and they all need to decide on whether they'll sign, and so she leaves to go and try to convince them. The Righteous Indignation's crew accompanies her and they all go to a pirate bar, where Willy becomes enamored with the pirate lifestyle, even sampling a glass of the "swamp grass" that the pirates drink.
Tension begins mounting between Deadeye and his former shipmate Redjack (one of the pirates grabbed by Bruiser earlier), who is in love with Lanelle. When she begins paying more attention to Deadeye now that he's back temporarily, Redjack becomes angry. Willy watches a Corsair practicing using shields by blocking incoming blades from an automatic knife-throwing machine, and wins the admiration of the assembled pirates when he saves a baby by deflecting a stray knife with his frisbee before it can hit the infant. An impressed Deadeye suggests to his former crew that they adopt the frisbees as weapons, which gives Redjack the opportunity he wants to challenge Deadeye, accusing him of trying to change the Canards' traditional ways and insisting he wants no part in signing the UAF treaty.
An elderly pirate named Scarbill steps in, and after conferring with a few other clan leaders, decides that whether or not the Canards sign the treaty will be decided in a contest between Deadeye and Redjack. If Deadeye wins, they'll sign. If Redjack wins, they won't. They all go to an arena. Most of the Righteous' crew remains at the bar, but Willy is allowed to go with the pirates because of his earlier heroic actions. The first contest has clay discs shot into the air as the two each try and shoot down more than his opponent.
On a toad ship, the Air Marshal meets with Al Negator and reminds him they're paying him a great deal of money to know what is happening inside the UAF. Al explains how he has a spy in the council itself and reveals the treaty and its terms as imposed by Grebb, insisting he has a plan to ensure the Corsair Canards will indeed return to their thieving ways.
Meanwhile, on another luxury liner, Harman and Grebb are having dinner. Grebb continues to express second thoughts about the pirates, when suddenly, impossibly, a group of Canards led by Deadeye burst in and rob everyone. Harman promises Deadeye that this violation won't go unpunished, but Deadeye doesn't care, and he and his men leave. After returning to Genus, Harman summons The Righteous Indignation's crew and tells Bucky of the robbery, with Grebb demanding that the treaty be nullified and that Deadeye be arrested. Bucky refuses to cooperate, promising to head up his own investigation into the matter and departing with his crew. An enraged Grebb instructs Commander Dogstar, also present, to find and arrest Deadeye personally.
Back at the arena, Deadeye and Redjack's first contest ends in a tie: they both shot down 450 discs with no misses. Black Beak announces the next challenge is an arm-wrestling contest. Once again, the two tie. Bucky, Jenny and Blinky go back to the now-empty pirate bar and attempt to learn where the Canards' meeting place is, but the bartender won't tell them. Jenny tries to telepathically contact Willy, but he is too involved in watching the contest to hear her at first. Eventually, she gets through to him and explains the situation. He takes Deadeye aside and tells him they need to return to Rigel VII (where the bar is), but Deadeye says if he leaves, he forfeits and Redjack wins.
Lanelle decides to propose a challenge of Willy's choosing, one which Deadeye will be sure to beat Redjack at. Since the two are matched in aim and strength, they need a new contest, and they will each attempt to use Willy's frisbee to knock a mug of swamp grass out of Black Beak's hand at a distance. Redjack goes first but misses, hitting Black Beak in the stomach. Deadeye then successfully knocks one of the mugs away, spilling its contents onto Black Beak, drenching him and winning the contest. Complacent in defeat, Redjack admits that it is probably time the Canards change their ways. They'll sign the UAF's treaty. Willy gives him the frisbee to keep.
The pirates all return to the bar, where Bucky tells them of the robbery. Lanelle insists Deadeye -- and all the other pirates -- were at the arena the entire time, and Bucky realizes someone is out to sabotage the treaty. Commander Dogstar enters under orders to arrest Deadeye, but Bucky manages to persuade him of Deadeye's innocence and help them set a trap for the fake pirates. He agrees. Later, on yet another luxury liner, Dogstar is disguised as a waiter and the Righteous' crew are in their original disguises from the beginning, although Bruiser is absent. There is, however, a giant gold statue of him.
The fake Canards enter, led by the fake Deadeye. One of them becomes afraid of the Bruiser statue, but the fake Deadeye reassures him it's a fake by hitting it with his maser pistol barrel, which cracks the gold, revealing Bruiser underneath. The supposed ducks freak out and are all quickly subdued. Meanwhile, Al Negator is waiting inside the fake Iron Vulture docked alongside the other ship, when Deadeye and two (real) Corsair Canards board and attempt to capture him. He shoots their guns out of their hands but is disarmed by Lanelle, who knocks him down. Aboard the luxury liner, the captured pirate ducks are unmasked as toad imposters, and then Deadeye, Lanelle, and Redjack enter with Al at gunpoint.
Al smugly bargains for his freedom (while sampling the food from the buffet table) by offering to give Bucky the identity of the spy on the council. He even gives Bucky a CD containing proof. Bucky reluctantly agrees, and Al happily departs. Bucky, his crew, and the pirates then return to Genus, where they present one of the captured toads and explain that the treaty-breaking robberies were committed by toad imposters and that someone on the council was a spy for Al Negator. Grebb refuses to believe this, insisting that Bucky is making it up and backing away. Bucky yells for Bruiser to grab him, and Bruiser charges at Grebb, but instead of Grebb, the spy turns out to be Harman.
As he is grabbed, Harman's head pops open, revealing him to be a robotic suit piloted by a tiny newt. The newt tries to escape, proving too slippery to be grabbed. He is finally stopped by Redjack, who throws the frisbee Willy gave him, knocking him out and earning Lanelle's admiration and affection. A contrite Grebb apologizes for doubting Bucky and for not trusting the pirates, and he says the treaty is still a go. Lanelle offers Willy membership in The Iron Vulture's crew, having noticed how interested he was in the pirate life. Deadeye tells him it's his choice and he can do as he wishes, but reminds Willy he himself gave up the pirate life by choice to help Bucky protect the aniverse. Ultimately, Willy politely refuses Lanelle's offer and remains with his original crew.
This episode is available on the US video "Corsair Canards" and the UK video "Corsair Canards."
