You have the power to control the seas, wind & air with it. You can summon terrible storms, command lightening bolts and raise sunken ships in a giant spinning whirlpool with it. You can even sign your freaking name with it! With King Triton’s Trident in your possession, you are arguably one of the most powerful beings on earth. Yet, even with all that power, there is one fatal weakness. Something that even the most powerful being on earth cannot supersede. And like Superman with Kryptonite, the nearly unstoppable King Triton is brought to his knees…or fins as it were…by–a legal document.
Wait, what? I know. I thought the same thing. Remember the scene when Triton confronts Ursula telling her to let Ariel go? When she refuses and shows him the contract, he immediately tried to destroy it with a lightening bolt. Only to have his assault thwarted by not Ursula but the contract itself.
So, we are to believe that the Trident which is the source of such amazing power is unable to destroy a piece of paper because it is ‘legal?’ Seriously? Then I thought, maybe it’s enchanted with some sort of magic that is immune to the powerful fork? It is possible, but let’s consider Ursula’s response when the lightening bolt fails to destroy the document. She says, ‘You see. The contract is legal, binding & completely unbreakable. Even for you.’ If it was a spell, surely she would have said something like ‘Ha! This is more powerful magic than even your trident!’ But she didn’t.
And did you see Triton’s face when she reveals the alleged legality of the document? Triton is crushed and he just gives up. Throws in the towel. As a dad, this raises many other questions…but we will discuss that in a later post. You would think that the King of the Sea would have counsel on retainer to handle legal seafood matters like this. I mean, I thought all sharks were lawyers…or was that the other way around…
So, we have we learned today? No matter how powerful you think you are, you are never above the law.
I wonder if this was a line that got cut from the original movie: ‘You tell Triton the law is coming. You tell him Ursula is coming. And hell is coming with me!’
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More to come. @dadsquestions
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just a dad with disney questions 
If we completely ignore the fact that Ursula clearly had some serious magical powers then the better argument could be made over the legal system in place. King Triton’s name alone tells us which legal system must be under the sea. It leads us to believe they have a government similar to a monarchy system where there is the King and in this case, his late Queen. In order for this piece of paper to be considered a legal document it must have been, at the very least, seen by King Triton at some point. It needed to get authorized by the King, so he would have needed to put give it his stamp of approval, unless he had someone working in his Court that would let that particular bill go unnoticed, yet still made official. Seems fishy. If that were to happen, Ariel was underage. At the time in which she signed the document she was 16 years old and would still be considered a minor, making the document void. I’m not sure if this is a matter of how powerful his trident is or what type of legal system King Triton is leading down under.
I agree. If Triton is the head legal authority, someone in his administration notarized this agreement. Looks like he might have a bigger problem than just the sea witch.
I figure he could at least just punch her in the face.
Bet that is hard to do underwater though….
Tail slap it is then.
Or he could have taken her to the surface to deliver the punch in the face. Regardless, he wussed out.
Good. That’s what he gets for being a jerk to Ariel like who the sultan was to Jasmine in Aladdin. Besides, Triton doesn’t deserve to have that weapon due to what he did to Eric’s statue. In fact, I’m jealous of beings who misuse their powers. And so, I want their powers to use against them.