And then we get to the Thirdac and some dropped hints about what’s under the gauntlet. (and some more headcanon)

And here we learn about why Mozenrath needs someone like Aladdin to parkour his way through his house.

There’s a magic-eater on the loose in it. The Thirdac is a monster that eats all things magical. That would mean the mamluks would be tasty. Xerxes would be tasty. Mozenrath would be tasty.

In fact, the latter was probably put to the test:

“If the Thirdac eats magic, won’t it bite the hand that feeds it?”

“Yes. Once bitten.”

This is the first hint, in his first episode, that there’s something terrible under that glove. And there is. everyone who has seen most of his episodes knows there is, and fans the world over have bickered incessantly about how it got that way, most blaming the gauntlet.

…Yeah, no, the gauntlet didn’t do that. He “stole” Destane’s “power,” which very likely was the gauntlet, and despite being an emaciated mummy creature now, Destane appears to still have all his skin.

No, remember when I said that Mozenrath kinda smells strongly of “wet behind the ears” before? This is another part of it. (For instance, I’m pretty sure the mamluks we see in this scene are the only ones he’s made so far [that weren’t eaten by the Thirdac], if his taking over is a new thing.) Mozenrath summoned this creature so that he could take over magical kingdoms by threatening to have them EATEN. He also specifically wanted insurance against other sorcerers, because he hates an equal playing field just as much as one that’s unequal in the enemy’s favor. But sure enough, because he’s not used to doing everything by himself yet, he made one big mistake. He got too cocky and didn’t secure the monster right away. The creature bites him (or, probably more specifically, bit the gauntlet). And being the genius that he is, he kept his hand in there long enough to snatch the gauntlet back.

You do the math.

Mozenrath needs Aladdin because visible or not he is sporting a very recent and terrifying injury. He needs Aladdin because if he goes back in there by himself, he is probably going to get killed. How recent? No idea. But in all likelihood that gauntlet is likely doing double time, not just getting him to and from places, letting him summon and glamor things, but also masking pain and keeping his hand functioning as normal.

What we see in later episodes is probably the only parts the gauntlet could save.

And I say it’s masking pain because I can’t credit Mozenrath with being such a good liar that he can be bouncy and cheery as he has been for the last five minutes while the flesh on his hand infects and turns necrotic and falls off while still feeling all of it.

Most of this is obviously headcanon, because as I said before, Mozenrath is a pretty unreliable storyteller. But it’s always what made sense to me. I remember seeing this episode as a kid (it wasn’t the first, second, or even third Mozenrath episode I ever saw) and just wiggling with meta joy because I just KNEW he was referencing what happened to his hand.

The Land of the Black Sand, Destane, Mozenrath, clever animation, and so much headcanon ahoy.

Iago recognizes this place as the Land of the Black Sand. Before we get to what he knows, fun scientific bit. Noting that the sand is actually black, and the atmosphere in the setting shots:

Black Sand is caused by volcanic ash. There is an active volcano somewhere on Mozenrath’s property. This will never be addressed in the series despite that it would obviously be one of the coolest places ever to have a third act fight scene.

Okay, on with what Iago knows:

Iago remembers that Destane famously owns this place. A sorcerer that even Jafar openly avoided. Mozenrath is happy to inform them that the Land of the Black Sand is under new management. This was likely a very recent development, because everything about Mozenrath in this episode screams “wet behind the ears” if you look hard enough at it.

(This is also just one of my favorite candid shots ever.)

Something you may have noticed in the last scene or so, also, is that Mozenrath’s features have been a little – well, bigger. More wide-eyed, less standard “evil” looking, and that abruptly stops right after he openly admits to murdering Destane, who was “like a father to him.” I’m sure this is just because the animators switched off, but I think it was an interesting shift.

Until now, light thievery aside, even releasing the creature that didn’t really hurt anyone could be seen as irresponsible, not evil. The second you get a hint that this kid could be doing hard time for the stuff he’s done, with good reason, he visually becomes more unpleasant, in subtle ways, to give the viewer cues that he is more than just a jerk. Like I said, this could have been incidental, but if it was intentional on the part of the animators, it was damn clever.

On to Destane and Mozenrath. It is never confirmed whether Destane mentored him or not. The most that we know is that Mozenrath says “He was like a father to me, until I stole his power and his throne.” And we have already discussed why, in several little ways, Mozenrath is not in any way a reliable storyteller. For most of his backstory we only have the little things that he says.

I am of the party that assumes Destane raised and trained him. In RP, my Mozenrath has been with him since he was four or five years old – well before he can actually remember. Everything he knows about magic that didn’t come from private personal study came from him. I also assert that this is where most of his behavior comes from as well. If Mozenrath is a bully (and he is), then Destane was a super maxi bully – otherwise I don’t think we’d get this shot of Mozenrath standing over him, making Destane bow to him, and wheedling over his defeat.

It is very rare that I will say this of people being mistreated by villains in a Disney show, but given what very little we know about Destane, courtesy Iago, and how Mozenrath behaves now?

Destane probably had to be the kind of bastard we can’t show in Disney cartoons to push someone that far, especially what is essentially a teenage boy. .

Tag lines: Only a few recurring villains in this series have them.

Abis Mal has “the big hat.” Mechanicles has a line about taking out the garbage.

Mozenrath doesn’t have anything especially gimmicky other than “This isn’t fair/it’s not fair/waaahwaaahwaaah,” and that doesn’t become a staple for another few episodes.

Here is one of the seldom other instances (we’ll discuss the other when it comes up). “Why [do this], when I can show you? [teleports]”

In this case, “Why tell you, when I can show you?”

This line will be mirrored in the Book of Khartoum.

I genuinely believe he thinks he’s being clever. And it kind of is, and he says it with so much enthusiasm here like he’s been waiting for SUCH A LONG TIME for the opportunity to show off just a little.

And mind you, after dropping all the hints he possibly could that he stole Genie, Iago is the one that notices first.

And it STILL takes Aladdin a few seconds to catch on. This kid is NOT a morning person.

That face. If Mozenrath had learned from the “I know you are, but what am I?” school of comebacks, you know he would be the most irritating person to argue with, ever.

The exchange that takes place after Mozenrath steals the lamp is just way too funny when you take a closer look at it.

Everybody wakes up in a panic and Mozenrath is just like “SO ABOUT THAT JOB YOU WERE GOING TO DO FOR ME.”

Which…the presumption. But Aladdin and co. have yet to realize that Moze is kind of a bully and a brat and doesn’t hear “no” very often, apparently.

One of these people doesn’t seem to remember Aladdin telling him to piss off yesterday, and Aladdin is not certain who that person is.

“I just can’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” And I actually am not certain if he’s saying that in an “oh silly me I forgot that I was kind of an asshole and HERE I AM sorry” or if he’s playing it off casual because he actually CAN’T leave without bringing somebody back to handle his problem for him.

I love that when Mozenrath goes “nice hovel, Aladdin,” poor gullible Aladdin actually thinks he’s complimenting him and is like “Yeah, fixed it up myself. I’m putting in surround sound speakers later. My LAN parties are going to be AWESOME.”

And Mozenrath has to be like

“How did you even make it to your teens?”

Okay so I know that Aladdin keeps his hovel but he also has a room at the palace.

We covered this in a previous episode. Why does he sometimes sleep on the floor in his hovel, rather than in a nice comfy bed at the palace? And why does everyone else but Jasmine stay there with him?

Is there a curfew? If he’s out partying with the guys too late he’s not allowed back in? Are he and Jasmine fighting?

What is it?

So what was your point, there, Mozenrath? Part 2

Oh sweet evil Jesus what’s wrong with Aladdin’s face in this shot I don’t even

Okay so Moze tells Aladdin he defeated a magical monstrosity.

But he DIDN’T. You put it back in the bag before the fight was done. This is why I have a problem with this scene. He didn’t defeat it. He hurt it once and avoided danger, ONCE. He didn’t kill it or capture it or incapacitate it and these are all things Mozenrath needs him to know how to do.

What’s more, given what Mozenrath needs this for, why didn’t he pick a creature that was at least similar, physically, to what his hired goon would be facing? And why not in a setting with similar limitations to the ones he would see within his stronghold? Y’know, a place with a limited number of balconies and clothes lines and convenient laundry to use to one’s advantage? THIS TEST DOESN’T WORK ON A NUMBER OF LEVELS AND YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE SMARTER VILLAINS, YOU COCKY LITTLE SHIT.

You are embarrassing me.

Some bits about Mozenrath’s apparent powers.

So the baby’s a flying eel/lamprey thing.

Aladdin has no idea what just happened, nor should he because what the Hell.

The lady poofs and FROM BEHIND HER

I genuinely don’t know if Mozenrath is THAT  good at making lifelike decoys, if it was a glamored Mamluk (which we learn he can do later), or if he glamored himself as a woman in peril and then poofed behind the curtain so Aladdin wouldn’t immediately guess he was crossdressing.

Because when he teleports it DOES look like that sometimes.

I really. Don’t. Know. It could be any of these things. And that really amuses the Hell out of me for some reason.