It’s not too surprising to see that Ursula’s plans to make Ariel fail to kiss Eric work, and that she’s twisted the deal so that she now has Ariel under her control. This obviously upsets Triton and Ursula gives him an ultimatum — either have Ariel be tortured by vicious shocks from her loyal eels or give up his power to let her be free. He chooses to give up his power and while it’s admirable, it’s hard not to see it as kind of dumb. Sure, Triton is a father trying to protect his daughter in the moment, but you do kind of wonder why he just gives up so willingly.
He’s clearly defeated and banished Ursula in the past and holds enough power to basically be a god, so it’s a little strange that he doesn’t try to at least fight Ursula. He doesn’t even try to blast and kill the two eels who are shocking Ariel. Triton’s decision to give up also only leads to his sudden death and Ursula rising to power — so it’s really not a decision that benefits anyone on his side. As a kid, Triton’s choice might not seem that misguided given the emotional aspects of it. For older viewers, though, you can’t help but feel like he just needlessly causes more harm than good.