#episode: Crocoduel

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Every Episode of Miraculous Ladybug Season 5 Ranked (Part 1)

(Meme made by @eddo-tensei)

I'd like to apologize for this post taking so long, and my lack of activity this year in general. I've had a lot of things going on. I've been trying to search for a new career, I've been taking on more hours at work, I've started working out more, and I might be considering going back to school to pursue one of my career options. I've been very busy, and I know this isn't an excuse for the lack of content. I'm going to try making more posts on this blog when I can, because after this ranking post and the movie review, I won't have as many big projects to work on. With that being said, let's get to the main event.

I had very few positive things to say about Season 5, and it'll be reflected here. With Season 4, I at least had some clear outliers for the best and worst episodes, but because so many of these episodes blended together, it's hard to really rank them. At best, there were two or three episodes I thought were good, and not even really good like the highlights of Season 4. So this time, I'll be taking a page from one of Schaffrillas Productions' ranking videos, specifically his Illumination Entertainment ranking video. Rather than rank every episode from worst to best, I'm going to rank them from best to worst.

In a way, I'm giving you the quintessential Season 5 experience, starting off with high expectations before a gradual descent into mediocrity.

#1: Intuition

Season 5 really needed more episodes like this one. A good chunk of the season just defaulted to the same old Akuma of the week formula while Monarch stayed cooped up in his lair as usual. Yes, while it was justified thanks to his Cataclysm wound, it kept the writers from really capitalizing on his expanded arsenal other than giving Akumas powers he didn't need Miraculous to give them in earlier seasons. This episode is built on the three major aspects established at the beginning of the season that the writers should have been focusing on instead of Love Square drama: Gabriel secretly dying, Gabriel having access to over a dozen Miraculous, and Ladybug and Cat Noir needing to fight an uphill battle against Monarch.

For the most part, Monarch's plan is well thought out and the stakes feel high as a result. Not only does Monarch get creative with the Miraculous he has at his disposal, he exploits the heroic nature Ladybug and Cat Noir have by forcing them to choose between saving an innocent astronaut or the people of Paris. The meteor threatening Paris feels like a threat precisely because Ladybug and Cat Noir can't get any help to deal with something this big, and have to deal with it on their own. The fact that Monarch also essentially has a hostage trapped inside Bugfighter helps add to the drama.

This is the episode that arguably does the most with the space power-ups. Ever since they were introduced in the New York Special, they were mostly used by Ladybug and Cat Noir to fly across long distances, and even then, there were episodes where the writers forgot they could have used those forms to resolve the conflict (Crocoduel). Here, because most of the action is primarily set in space, the abilities of Cosmobug and Astro Cat are on full display, and it's a nice shakeup from the usual fights set in Paris.

But the best part of the episode is arguably Gabriel. While he does make multiple questionable decisions (whether they were intended to be seen as stupid by the writers is up for debate), this episode is a pretty decent character piece for Gabriel, and fleshes him out the most this season. Putting aside my problems with the writers changing the rules of the Snake Miraculous specifically so Gabriel can't use it like with the Rooster, Gabriel's behavior and body language really sells the fact that his days are numbered. For most of the season, Gabriel's Cataclysm wound was a mild inconvenience at worst, but this episode shows just why he can't go out to fight Ladybug and Cat Noir himself.

It's pretty ironic in a way. Even though he has fifteen Miraculous and is arguably the most powerful character in the show at this point, Gabriel's paranoia and arrogance prevent him from taking full advantage of his arsenal. Gabriel is so dead set on achieving his goal, he's willing to abuse the Snake Miraculous' power to find a way to win, despite the risks it has to his health. He can't trust any regular Akuma with Second Chance, and even a close ally like Tomoe isn't above being tricked by Gabriel using that same power. It's that same sense of narcissism that leads to his downfall, as while Gabriel has more power than Ladybug, he just can't outsmart her.

It's a really good episode, and was an exception to the kind of lousy writing we got during Season 5, instead of being the norm.

#2: Action

You know, it says a lot about the show when not only is arguably one of the most universally loved episodes in recent memory is the first in years to not have Astruc in the writing team, not only is it not connected to the ongoing story in any meaningful way, but it's also an environmental PSA, episodes that are usually not viewed in a positive light.

The characterization is somewhat strong here. Other than Nino being the one to lead the protests, nobody is really annoying or out of character, which works in the story's favor. There's no melodrama, no Marinette needing to learn some contrived lesson, or no Adrien being portrayed as being right about everything. It's the kids versus Big Plastic, and nothing else.

The thing that makes the story work is that compared to other environmental PSA episodes, it actually acknowledges how complicated of an issue the nature of pollution is. There aren't any characters who want to keep polluting the environment. There are just circumstances in place that prevent them from taking a stand against an injustice like this. Influential figures in Paris like Gabriel, Andre, and Nadja have connections to the company enabling the pollution, and whether it be for financial or political reasons, they're essentially dependent on it.

This kind of approach to the pollution extends to the antagonist, Bertrand. What I like about him is that compared to other rich people on this show, he's not incompetent or actively malicious. He just sees what he's doing as a business, and he can't think of any other ways to make money. He even points out how much plastic is used in modern society and that his company makes plastic for a reason. He's kind of like a less overtly antagonistic version of Mr. Waternoose from Monsters, Inc. in a way. He's aware of what he's doing, but he views profit as more important. The difference is that unlike Waternoose, Bertrand realizes the error of his ways and starts finding ways to change how his company operates.

However, this extends to one of the bigger problems I have with the episode. Because it spends so much time trying to flesh out the opposition's argument, it doesn't really give the audience enough reasons to support the heroes protesting. Yes, it's morally correct to protest, but there's nothing else to make the audience understand why they're in the right to oppose pollution. Considering how this was meant to be used to educate kids on pollution, I guess I can give it a pass for at least doing a decent job getting the point across, even if I personally would have given more of an explanation as to why the heroes are right.

What I can't give the episode a pass for is how the conflict is resolved. For an environmental PSA episode, I cannot for the life of me comprehend why the writers thought it would be a good idea for the Akuma of the week to be defeated by plastic and pollution. Like, my brother in Christ, you're supposed to teach kids about why pollution is a bad thing! Did nobody think about the implications this would bring? Actually, given the other things that happened this season, that probably checks out.

A pretty decent episode if not for the ending polluting the moral.

#3: Migration

While this one is one of the better episodes of Season 5, it still has its fair share of problems.

The most obvious one comes in the lesson its trying to teach with contrasting Bob and Jagged. It clearly wants to talk about redemption and self-improvement, but as I discussed in the overall analysis post, this show really doesn't have a good grasp on writing redemption arcs. For one thing, I really wouldn't compare Jagged becoming a better father to Bob being a selfish asshole because while Jagged abandoning his family was a terrible thing, since it was done more out of selfishness than outright malice. Bob on the other hand, is just a dick who wants to make money because this show's views on the business world make the Ferengi in Star Trek seem nuanced by comparison.

The episode spends so much more time showing how easy it is to be tricked by people rather than showing how important having trust in someone is, and it really muddles the lesson as a result. “See? Jagged changed easily, so that's a good enough reason to justify characters like Bob being irredeemably evil!” If you wanted to teach kids about trusting others, don't have it be in the same episode as the lesson about others taking advantage of your goodwill.

Putting that aside, Luka had a pretty decent swan song that tested his loyalty to Ladybug and Cat Noir. You can really buy his determination to keep their identities a secret from Monarch and his decision to leave his home to make sure this information stays a secret makes sense. Well, as long as you don't count Luka announcing the fact that he knows their identities to plenty of potential hostages and victims for Monarch, but then again, that moron never does anything smart with the intel he gets. We really needed more focus episodes showing the former temp heroes helping out Ladybug and Cat Noir in their own ways, not just having them all form a stupid resistance that does almost nothing useful all season.

The conflict with Gold Record also worked well here. I like how Monarch's simple plan to akumatize Luka turned into a plan to figure out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities that just happened to use a different Akuma. I'd argue it was done better than in “Truth” because of how the victims aren't just forced to tell the truth, they're thrown out into space, so the stakes are pretty high. I'll admit the way they stop Gold Record is pretty anti-climactic, and you could argue Luka didn't even need to tell Ladybug he knew her identity with out easily the situation is resolved right after he's turned into a record. I think it would have worked better if Luka's secret was that he said he was jealous of Adrien for managing to be the one Marinette loves over him instead of just knowing the heroes' identities.

It's a flawed, but still okay episode to rewatch. It's a good thing Luka knew how bad this season was getting so he headed out the first chance he got. If only he stayed out of Paris instead of becoming one of Su-Han's students offscreen before the finale.

#4: Elation

You know this season is abysmal when, of all things, a Glaciator episode ends up making the top 5, and you know how much I love those episodes.

Of all the episodes to feature the Adrienette drama, I feel like this one had the best execution of it. You can really understand the emotional turmoil Marinette is going through and how hard things are for her. You also get how hard it is for Cat Noir to have to turn down the girl he loves after having so much fun with her. Remember, as far as he knows, he's taking advantage of his status as a superhero to make a move on a civilian like Marinette. The fact that he's aware of this and is willing to break it off himself is a far cry from the entitled little twerp he was last season. While I think Marichat could have been explored more, the fact that it ends here makes for a pretty solid transition into Adrienette becoming official next episode.

Alya also has some decent characterization here. Yeah, she goes against some of the things she said earlier this season, but we get a little glimmer of her Season 4 self by having her realize the error of her ways and actually make an attempt to support her friend. Of course, she goes back to the same old Season 5 Alya, but it's something.

Something I didn't really think about until after I originally posted the review was how confusing the episode's stance on shipping is. Like, we're supposed to side with Marinette and be against everyone trying to dictate who she's supposed to be in love with... but the people trying to tell her who she's in love with are technically right by pointing out her feelings for Adrien. Yes, nobody else knows that Adrien is Cat Noir, but with how much buildup Adrienette has gotten over the years, it's really confusing that the writers are acting like it's weird that people are obsessed with Marinette's love life. Pointing out how annoying Alya and Andre are by refusing to believe Marinette could have feelings for someone who isn't Adrien is basically the pot calling the kettle black.

Maybe if this was a Season 2 or 3 episode focusing on Marinette's growing feelings for Luka, this kind of story could have worked, but as it stands, it's a very confusing stance for the writers to take. Overall, a pretty decent episode.

#5: Evolution

It's the first part of what I like to call the “Remember When This Season Looked Kinda Promising?” Trilogy.

This episode really seemed like there was going to be a change in direction for Season 5 with how it was structured. Rather than immediately go back to the Akuma of the week formula, the characters, for the most part, make choices most people would make if they were in their shows. What does Gabriel do as soon as he gets all the Miraculous in the Miracle Ball? He whips out the Rabbit Miraculous and immediately decides to travel through time to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous before they can even stop him. The best part is that Ladybug almost immediately catches onto Monarch's plan and isn't too confused when Bunnix shows up to bring them along. Of course, both Ladybug and Monarch still do stupid things that contradict these smart decisions, but it's the thought that counts.

I like how this episode is taking advantage of its premise and makes it about a race through time to stop Monarch before he screws up history. It's a decent idea to call back to older episodes, but the issue is how they don't really do much to explain why nobody noticed this. Even events where the past versions of the heroes were right there when the current versions were fighting Monarch don't get so much as a mention. I think it could have worked more if they stayed undetected, but during the chaos of the fighting, our Ladybug accidentally sets up things past Ladybug could use for her Lucky Charm. That way, it would help sell the idea of this being more of a self-contained time loop.

Something that I actually thought was clever foreshadowing was when Monarch went back in time to save Emilie. He doesn't just steal the Peacock Miraculous or tell his past self to not use it. He specifically plans to give instructions to fix the broken Peacock Miraculous, as if to say one of its creations is too important to be erased from history...

Speaking of Sentimonsters, Cat Noir and Ladybug have some good teamwork here, confirming that we're finally done with the Cat Dour drama from last season. While I feel like it could have been handled better, I like the idea of Ladybug's guilt being what motivated her to trust Cat Noir with the Rabbit Miraculous, and when they go to see the younger version of Master Fu, they feel more like equals while choosing a Miraculous.

So with all the positive things I had to say, why isn't this episode higher on the list. Well, the thing is that when there weren't moments I enjoyed, most of my thoughts on this episode were like this:

A good chunk of the episode is the characters making stupid decision after stupid decision in order to make sure we get twenty-six more episodes. I can at least buy Monarch getting overconfident with all the new Miraculous he has, but Ladybug and Cat Noir don't get that excuse. They get a total of five chances to get back the Miraculous, but other than just getting the Rabbit back, Ladybug keeps choosing to say she's going to take the Miraculous back instead of just GRABBING THEM FIRST AND THEN GLOATING. There are James Bond villains who think you're taking too long. We're really supposed to see Monarch as a threat when the only reason why he keeps getting away is because the heroes are too stupid to do what any sensible person would do in their position. Seriously, if the Winx Club were the ones chasing Monarch throughout history, they'd most likely be spending more time discussing who's paying for milkshakes after they drop his bruised and battered body off at the police station.

And then there's Monarch himself, who has to be told to go back and save his wife instead of getting the Miraculous to make a wish. The episode tries to imply that Gabriel has more selfish intentions, but the finale pretty much throws that away and makes it so he just misses his wife. I'll give you a moment to process the shock of this show setting up a character arc and doing nothing with it. The fact that he blames Ladybug for his own mistakes is pretty much the only thing that connects the two, since Ladybug acts like Monarch is too powerful to stop in a fight when she kept screwing up chances to take back the Miraculous.

I also really don't like the way Master Fu and Alix were used in this episode. For one thing, if Ladybug and Cat Noir can easily use time travel to borrow Miraculous from the younger Fu, why can't they just do that until they stop Monarch? Yeah, they gave the Rabbit Miraculous to Alix, but why can't they just call her up to go to Fu for some Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir need? Speaking of, is nobody going to acknowledge the fact that Alix was just forced to become Bunnix after getting the Rabbit Miraculous? Last season made a big deal about how stressful Marinette becoming the Guardian was, and now we're just okay with Alix being forced to bear what is arguably an even bigger burden?

Overall, while not a terrible start to the season, it still had a lot to work on while still having its fair share of positive moments.

#6: Destruction

Much like with “Evolution”, there seemed to be some improvement here on the writing and characterization, but fell apart towards the end.

I like how Marinette, Alya, and Cat Noir all work together to outsmart Monarch with Alya distracting him long enough to follow the trap Ladybug and Cat Noir set up for him. It's a pretty clever gambit, and it's nice that Cat Noir actually gets to play a part in it. “Evolution” showed that Monarch was too powerful to take on in a fight, so a battle of wits is the best option to stop him, something that fits Ladybug perfectly.

I also like how, once again, the writers explain why Monarch can't use something as powerful as the Rooster Miraculous to win, even if it's a really stupid explanation. But hey, I'm just some moron who thinks that the Rooster Miraculous shouldn't be a diet version of the Power Cosmic.

Something that was very clever was the reveal of the episode taking place before a previous episode, “Multiplication”. It adds rewatch value to earlier episodes, it allows kids watching to figure out what happened without explaining every single part of the twist, and it's something this season really should have done more often.

However, that's where my compliments end here. The main problem with this episode is how the climax pretty much ruins the clever plan Ladybug set up. She takes forever to explain her plan to Monarch in great detail, and we're supposed to be surprised that Monarch managed to escape. She didn't even think to just pull off his Miraculous first and then gloat about how awesome she is. Hell, she somehow showed more concern over Monarch escaping thanks to her incompetence instead of Cat Noir accidentally Cataclysming him. But then again, this is the same person who will try to Cataclysm Monarch several times in the season finale. Something that's also weird is that they set up the idea of Monarch escaping with the Lucky Charm, but nothing ever comes of it. You'd think it would be important with how much emphasis is put on nothing else being able to heal Gabriel, but it's never mentioned in the season finale. It could have been an easy way to show Marinette resolving the conflict, by healing her greatest enemy and giving him the chance to better himself... instead of having Gabriel die and Marinette choosing to wash her hands of the whole “I let the universe end” thing.

This episode also showed just how forgettable the Kwamis are as characters. The show wants to make a big deal about how cruel Gabriel is to have control over them, but none of them have any real personality other than “Annoying toddler on a sugar high”. Even putting aside how insufferable they were last season, there's just not enough in this episode to really get you invested in their plight. Not even Trixx, the Kwami who got the most screentime other than Tikki and Plagg last season, gets a single line here.

This episode had promise, but the way it fumbled the landing really ruined it for me.

#7: Multiplication

I swear, I didn't intend for the first three episodes of Season 5 to be ranked like this in chronological order of all things. It was a happy accident, almost miraculous if you will.

Anyway, this episode was okay. It was a decent follow-up to “Evolution”. I like how it's more of a slow character piece for Marinette as she tries to deal with her guilt and conflicting feelings for Adrien after the betrayal. This was the few episodes that I feel really nailed the emotional moments with Marinette this season. There's no overdramatic dialogue, there's no exclusive focus on Adrien (at least at first), and it's played 100% seriously. I also thought it was a decent idea to have the people of Paris prepare for the worst with Monarch, even if it went nowhere. Even the Akuma was handled pretty well, as it allowed the writers to show off the gimmick this season with Ikari Gozen using Multiplication while Ladybug and Cat Noir get to show actual teamwork for a change.

But the problem with this episode was how nobody really seemed to care about the threat Monarch poses. Not only does Alya go back caring more about Marinette's love life, not only does everyone else in Paris seem to forget about Monarch after a few weeks, but Adrien's only role this episode is to realize his feelings for Marinette instead of thinking about the role he also played in Monarch getting all the other Miraculous. Yeah, who cares about serious introspection from someone who spent an entire season trying to show he's just as capable a hero as his partner while inadvertently being part of the reason why she lost her other allies? I want to see him try to kiss someone multiple times without their consent!

And yeah, let's talk about the kissing joke and how it's more than just unfunny, it's almost disgusting with how it's presented. We're supposed to laugh at Marinette for resisting Adrien's attempts to kiss her multiple times when she has every right to not want to be kissed without her consent. The entire joke is that it's happening just as Marinette is trying to get over her feelings for Adrien, but even if she still liked him, it's still against her consent Remember, this is the same show that tried to teach kids about the importance of consent in episodes like “Felix” and “Lies”, yet it never applied to Adrien in this episode, to the point where Alya tries to restrain Marinette so she can't resist or run away.

“But IOTA! It's a cultural thing in France!” Fine, maybe it is, but there's three problems with that. First, Adrien made it clear that he sees Marinette purely in a romantic light, not just as a acquaintance. Second, even if it was meant to be platonic, he didn't do it with Alya or Nino. Finally, if Marinette didn't want to be kissed the first time, that should have been it.

I don't care how socially stunted Adrien is, or how much everyone in the entire world ships Adrientte, if you see someone looking like this when someone is trying to kiss them:

DON'T SMILE, AND MAKE THAT PERSON RESPECT HER PERSONAL SPACE!

It's just such a terrible joke to make, and it this is coming from the season that tries to tackle serious issues like mental health and child abuse. How this episode didn't run into controversy like “Ephemeral” did, I'll never know. Just not a good episode, yet somehow, this still made the top ten.

#8: Perfection

This is an episode that had a decent Akuma, a pretty wholesome resolution, and... uh... Yeah, that's about it.

Of all the Kagami-centric episodes the show has ever done, this is the one that really shows us how she thinks. Because of the high standards her mother places on her, she believes that she can't have friends, and she has only herself to rely on. I like how rather than just default to her being constantly angry while akumatized, she's much more depressed, and most of the damage she causes is unintentional. Granted, I don't get how Monarch thought a giant cloud monster who can't see a thing will be able to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous, but I still like how Ryukomori is presented.

On the other hand, despite being a Kagami focused episode, the writers somehow forgot what Kagami was like. She's usually a no-nonsense person who can see through lies and deception with ease, like what happened when she dumped Adrien in “Lies”. Here, she takes things so literally thanks to Lila's “friendship test”, I'm pretty sure Amelia Bedelia would tell her stop taking things so literally. The fact that this isn't just a one-off occurrence doesn't help at all.

If there's anything I could take away from rewatching this episode, it's that I finally understand the problem with this show's humor. The cow bit made me realize just how often this show will drag out its jokes to pad out the runtime, and the cow joke is a perfect example. It's mentioned a total of five times during the first half of the episode. It would have been just an unfunny joke if it was just a one-time thing, but the writers will take a joke and repeat it multiple times until it becomes incredibly annoying. It's like if Patrick kept asking Squidward if mayonnaise was an instrument in that one SpongeBob episode. The joke stops being funny if you keep reusing it over and over again in such a short timeframe.

The song Adrien sung before the Akuma was also incredibly forgettable and comes out of nowhere. I don't even get why they had him do this when Luka is usually characterized as the musician. Even Marinette is surprised Adrien can suddenly sing. Besides, I think we can all agree on what the perfect love song that would sweep Marinette off her feet is.

But yeah, for an episode titled “Perfection”, it's anything but.

#9: Protection

Again, I didn't intend for the direct follow-up to “Perfection” to be ranked right below it. I also want to clear up any confusion people have with this one, since Season 5's episode titles have been hard to memorize for some people. “Perfection” was an episode where Kagami got akumatized thanks to Lila's lies, only for Ladybug to peacefully resolve the conflict thanks to the power of friendship. “Protection” was an episode where Kagami got akumatized thanks to Lila's lies, only for Ladybug to treat her like any other Akuma because the power of friendship was meaningless. I hope I made things easier for you.

This is such a nothing episode. Pretty much everything that happens here is either reused from previous episodes or will continue to be used for the rest of the season. Gabriel tries to break up Adrienette, Lila is a liar, and Kagami is an idiot. There's just nothing to talk about here. The only thing that really stands out for me is the brief moments Marinette and Adrien shared as a couple. They're cute and have believable chemistry, but they're so few and far between. Nothing is accomplished in this episode, and even the stuff with Kagami and Lila is pretty much dropped after this.

Even the Akuma was forgettable. It's just Riposte with a meat cleaver and a diet version of Penalteam's powers. It lacks the emotional weight the resolution with Ryukomori had. It feels like these episodes were meant to be the same one, but were split up to fill the 26 episode count. Overall, just a boring episode, yet still one of the season's better outings if you can believe it.

#10: Jubilation

Yes, this is the one that made the top ten. I'm just as surprised as you are.

Putting aside the dream scene, the episode had some decent ideas, like Marinette struggling to deal with the stress that comes with being Ladybug, and other ways Gabriel can use the Alliance rings to his advantage. Even Cat Noir's emotional reaction to having to leave the dream was decently executed, even if there was no buildup to it. This is the kind of stuff I think we should have gotten more of this season, more character focus and Gabriel actually being a competent villain.

With that being said, there's still a lot of problems here. Socqueline comes out of nowhere, Mr. Damocles' portrayal here doesn't match up with how he is in other episodes this season (much less “Derision”, Socqueline's only other episode), and the dream sequence was creepy as all hell because the animators didn't have enough money to design older models for Ladybug and Cat Noir so they wouldn't be teen parents.

Just an average episode with a few memorable parts, for better or for worse.

#11: Reunion

Riddle me this, my dear readers: How do you write an episode where you want to utilize a fictional version of Joan of Arc, but can't include the visions from God or how she was burned at the stake, the two most well-known things about her? The answer? Turn her into a generic knight who speaks broken English even though she's supposed to be French, duh!

I don't know how you manage to take a concept like Joan of Arc being a former superhero and screw it up this much. She's pretty much only there to bitch and moan at Marinette, essentially body shames Adrien, and only becomes relevant because the Akuma of the week happened to be asking questions about history.

There really could have been done more with the Reunion concept, but this is the only time this season where it's used, and I'm sure it has nothing to do that Joan of Arc's model was used in “Ephemeral”. But when has the show ever come up with excuses to reuse older models this season? I mean, besides young Master Fu in “Evolution”, the other temp heroes in “Determination”, Mister Bug and Lady Noire in “Passion”, and Scarabella in “Revelation” that is.

This episode also tries to tackle conspiracy theorists with Jalil, but it fails because you understand where he's coming from. He is literally the only character in the entire show to think, “Hey, isn't it kind of fucked up that my little sister was forced to become a guardian of time before she graduated middle school while not even getting to say goodbye to me, her only brother?” Yes, the moral isn't a bad one, but Jalil isn't wrong to be paranoid about Ladybug given how she evidently never talked to him about this, much less give Bunnix the chance to say goodbye herself.

The Akuma also really made no sense for Jalil. If he's supposed to be seeking the truth, why is he asking random historical trivia questions? How does knowing the year Sputnik was launched into space relevant to finding out if Ladybug is honest or not? It's almost like the writers have already created multiple Akumas with powers connected to honesty, so this is an overused idea (Oni-Chan, Truth, Lies).

It's just a very forgettable episode, much like how much the writers just forgot the Reunion idea for the rest of the season. Seriously, did anyone remember Plagg gave Adrien a Kwagatama at the end of this one?

#12: Passion

In my opinion, this was the episode that set up two of the biggest problems with Season 5: Extremely contrived Love Square drama and Nathalie's incompetence preventing her from ending the conflict then and there.

While I'm glad we're finally getting a Nathalie focused episode, the issue I have with it is just how the writers are clearly trying to portray her with Adrien's best interests in mind, she still doesn't do anything to actually stop Gabriel other than complaining about how evil Gabriel is while still going along with his plans. She willingly accepts an Akuma from the same man she's claims she's protecting Adrien from and still follows his plans for absolutely no reason. Why Gabriel still keeps her around, much less trusts her with an Akuma, is beyond me.

Rewatching this episode made me realize just how pointless Nathalie is this season. It feels like the writers needed to have Nathalie oppose Gabriel but didn't know how to do that without having her rat him out to Ladybug and Cat Noir. All they really had to do was have her fall into the same coma Emilie is in, and it would not only take her out of the picture. That way, it would remove any concern that Nathalie could expose Gabriel and it would better justify Tomoe's inclusion this season. Instead, a good chunk of this episode is Nathalie and Gabriel making it clear that they hate each other while still choosing to work together for no reason.

The actual backstory for Nathalie was okay. I like how she's more than just some secretary who was informed of the Miraculous and later teamed up with Gabriel, instead being a treasure hunter who specializes in locating magical artifacts like the Miraculous. It's a clever bit of character development and I like how it ties into her Akuma form for the episode. Of course, it's somewhat ruined by the fact that we still don't know why Gabriel and Emilie wanted to find the Miraculous in the first place, not even after five seasons.

Putting aside Nathalie generally being an idiot, the rest of the episode was pretty mediocre. It's more Love Square drama, with Marinette's concerns about how her feelings for Adrien led to Monarch getting fifteen Miraculous being brushed aside as her denying how she really feels. Only now, the episode is going out of its way to make it seem like all Marinette can do is all but lust over whoever she's in love with, in this case, Cat Noir/Mister Bug. Because actually acknowledging character flaws and how they affect the narrative while playing them for laughs is how Miraculous Ladybug rolls. Decades from now, episodes like this will be commonplace, I just know it.

The Akuma fight was also pretty lackluster. I don't get why Safari's arrows only targeted Ladybug and Cat Noir, and only Ladybug and Cat Noir while they were transformed instead of, you know, targeting their Miraculous. It just felt like a cheap excuse to get some more mileage out of the Mister Bug and Lady Noire models. Well, that, and more of Lady Noire prioritizing her romantic feelings over the mission at hand.

While I can appreciate the attempt to flesh out Nathalie's character, it's not enough to salvage this episode.

#13: Deflagration

Before I start this section, can anyone tell me why the hell it's named a chemistry term of all things?

The wiki claims that it's referencing what Tikki and Plagg do in the episode, but I don't think that continuously creating and destroying stuff counts as deflagration. Then again, I'm some schmuck on the internet, not a chemist.

Anyway, this episode is clearly trying to come across as an event, but nothing is really accomplished here. Marinette and Adrien already got together in the last episode, the Akuma didn't do anything to advance Monarch's plan, Zoe's character development as Kitty Noire is nonexistent, Alya being exposed for the third time ends up being pointless since Scarabella appears in “Revelation” a few episodes later, and no progress is made in stopping Monarch. It's just one big fight scene that lacks real tension because Monarch is reduced to a joke in this episode.

Monarch is seriously dogpiled by several middle school students, and the show still expects us to take him seriously as a villain. I can at least buy Sole Destroyer, given how Chloe is supposed to be seen as harmless sometimes, but the main villain getting beaten by kids with no superpowers? It just really breaks the suspension of disbelief. It'd be like if Kevin McCallister somehow defeated Godzilla with one of his traps. You're not impressed by Kevin taking him down, you're asking why Godzilla went down so easily.

This was the episode where the writers started making dumb blonde jokes by making it so Chloe doesn't understand the meaning of the word “Generous”, and it's just as unfunny as it sounds. Not only is this hypocritical because this “girl power” show is now using one of the most misogynistic writing tropes in history, it's the same episode with a title named after a chemical reaction that most children watching don't understand. Chloe didn't even serve a purpose this episode because nobody ever fought Sole Destroyer onscreen. It's just another “Ha! She's blonde and rich, so that means she's dumb!” joke... which came before a certain episode that showed her as being capable of pulling off several complex schemes to torment Marinette.

I also love how despite making a big deal about them being worthy to be Ladybug and Cat Noir's replacements last episode, Alya and Zoe are taken out of commission before the action even starts. I feel like the episode could have at least been elevated if Alya and Zoe at least tried to help. It would have better justified them temporarily replacing Ladybug and Cat Noir instead of the cheap ratings grab it was.

But yeah, it's a pretty dull episode, and the only reason why I don't have more to say is because the first part has more glaring issues in my eyes.

Part 2

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 5-21: The Tiger Miraculous 2: YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE JULEKA DISRESPECT!?

Why the worst akuma? Why? Why? Why? Apparently there was a deleted cathartic apology scene and the whole battle was thought about being removed. What the hell?

You're going to London

Damn. Even Plagg is serious.

That feels OOC. I always saw Rose as wanting to be a children's doctor while Juleka, not being like other goths, would want to be a model.

Lila wants to rule the world. I can tell.

Straight to the shredder

Dumbing down Chloe? Really?

They're cooking

Dumb idiot teenagers. Or is this stretching it?

Wait, when did that happen? A few days ago?

There's the damn retcon. You can't fool me, even if you try to say she did it to spend more time with her girlfriend Rose.

Honestly even if you change the power to be more inline with that stuff that traumatized me on Deviantart I still think it'd be better if she caused the Third Impact instead.

Nuclear bomb

Cap

Oh no. Lila's deathtrap.

Even Sabrina is disgusted!

Villain Monologue

Love me a good surprise trap when the villain thinks they have it all!

Damn. Even if it was a few seconds, I'd still rather have that than the [@#!$]

I know we aren't going back to Corrupt Mayor Andre, but a girlie can dream.

And they're admitting Audrey is evil too, right?

Fuck this shit I'm out

I'm classifying this as a retcon. Also Juleka disrespect. She did this back in season 4 as well. And in the English dub she talked in full sentences back in the first three seasons, and I'd argue it's better that way.

I'm thinking about it and yeah, this basically is a middle finger to Crocoduel. The Juleka Respect episode. Were Lukanette and Adrigami not enough to insult that you had to go for one of my blorbos too!?

Wait, he's fired? Does the school board not exist in this universe?

This again? Can we get to Lila's secret lair if it's here?

Oh no. Just another identity.

My theory on Lila is that she's much older than she looks, and is actually a serial killer that kills other students and takes their identities for her own uses. Lila's mother last episode was actually Cerise's considering the same movie excuse, not to mention it would explain the wig: she thinks Lila's putting on the wig for her filming. I also assume Lila's planning on doing the same to Marinette and possibly even Kagami. As for the woman in the season 4 finale, I assume she's actually a friend of Lila's diplomat mother ensured to take Lila to the station, considering how busy Lila's diplomat mother clearly is.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Consistent Lore? What's that?

How does destroying Adrien's amok work since it's two rings instead of one? It's actually impossible to know because the rules around separated akumas/amoks are all over the place.

Allow me to explain by going through how no two episodes treat this issue with the same logic.

Mega Leech

In this episode, Mayor Bourgeois gets akumatized and is given a leech sentimonster who makes him into a bunch of miniclones. In order to defeat him, they have to destroy every clone

Ladybug: The akumas and the amoks must have multiplied at the same time as the Malediktators, capturing just one doesn't solve the problem.

To defeat him, they have Polymouse clone herself. She then goes around destroying the Malediktator clones one at a time, releasing parts of the akuma/amok

(Polymouse slices his sash in half. They both leave Max's ear. Other Polymouse clones do the same to the Malediktator clones in Kim, Rose, Juleka's ears. Akumas and amoks get released from the sashes and Mini-Malediktators detransform into Mini-Mayor Bourgeois clones.)

The lore according to this episode: breaking part of an amok/akuma will release part of the feather/butterfly. But to truly destory the thing, you have to destroy all of the parts and you don't need to do it at the same time or in any special order.

Multiplication

In this episode, Tomoe is akumatized into Ikari Gozen and makes clones of herself via the mouse. Then this happens:

Cat Noir: We’re gonna have to break all twelve swords? Ladybug: No. It should only take one. She made identical copies of herself.

The lore according to this episode: if an akuma/amok's object is broken up, then you just have to destroy one part of the object and the feather/butterfly will be released. You do not need to destroy every part.

Crocoduel

In this episode, the akumatized object is a vinyl record that gets broken during the akumatization process.

As the akuma lands on the vinyl, the disc breaks in two, causing Anarka and Jagged to fall on the ground, now possessed by the akuma.

Which apparently means that you need to reassemble the record before you can destroy it.

(Purple Tigress joins Ladybug by Liberty and together, they break the broken halves of the vinyl, only with no akuma emerging from it.) Ladybug: Where's the akuma? ... Purple Tigress: The akuma entered these objects before they were torn and separated. Ladybug: Oh! (She uses her Lucky Vision, eyeing the tape roll and the broken pieces of the akumatized vinyl that she and Purple Tigress are holding, and Purple Tigress herself.) We broke them separately, so we should actually join them together to break them together again!

The lore according to this episode: if an akuma/amok's object is broken up, then you must gather all of the parts together, reform them into their original shape, and destroy them in a single act to release the feather/butterfly.

Gang of Secrets

This is a minor one, but I wanted to add it to the list because it's in the same vein and it's weird. In this episode, we see five people akumatized via one bracelet. Alya breaks free of the akuma, but the other four girls stay akumatized until the bracelet is broken. Once it's broken, they're all freed at once.

Every other instance of a person rejecting an akuma will see their rejection release the akuma.

The lore according to this episode: ???????????????????????

--------------------

@rainbow18 This is what I was trying to lay out in the comments for this post, but the character limit makes it messy, so I decided to just make a post instead because you kind of need to see it all laid out to get why I say the rules for the rings could be literally anything. Canon retcons how split up akumas/amoks work every time the concept comes up.

Destroying one of Adrien's rings could doom him or it could release only part of his feather or it could mean nothing because you have to put the rings into the form they were in when the amok was created in order to destroy it. Pick whichever one you like best or make up your own lore because who needs consistency and logic?

[familyagrestefanblog]

Rewatching "Crocoduel" for the first time after a long while made me realize just how unneeded Tigresse Pourpre was in it. It was genuinely just a case of Ladybug giving her civilian friend a miraculous to make her feel better, acknowledged and empowered.

But the battle itself could have perfectly fine gone without Tigresse Pourpre. She had no purpose there. The excuse for why she was there was that for some reason Ladybug and Chat Noir pretended like their space power up don't exist so they can fly up in the sky to the ship and then later on when said ship is diving towards the ground Ladybug tells Tigresse to "hold them [Juleka's parents] at bay".

But for real, if the episode hadn't forced Ladybug and Chat Noir to NOT have their power up with them (or even acknowledge that they exist) it legitimately would have clear-cut been Marinette giving the Tiger miraculous out for no reason as a little treat for Juleka to feel better and feel inspired by.

And I'm sorry, but as much as I love Juleka as Tigresse Pourpre - and thank goodness Chat Noir was treated well in the episode, thats RARE - but that really isn't the purpose for why the miraculous should be given out. Just like that Penalteam disaster of 4 new miraculous holder bc Ladybug agreed to play soccer for a while instead of solving the damn akuma, cases like this inherently devalue the miraculous and it's sad that Marinette's leadership is sometimes written in a way where the miraculous aren't allowed to be treated like the important and valuable ancient artifacts they are; and the way Su-Han did call her out for it in "Ephemeral" but it wasnt allowed to be taken serious at all cause he's a man who yelled.

This isn't "Paris comes first", this was Ladybug unnecessarily giving a dangerous miraculous out like candy bc she couldn't seperate her civilian life from her hero work.

[miraculouswolf99]

Do you think Marc and Nathaniel know each other’s identities?

I do not think that.

I think that mostly because after the "Penalteam" episode, the two do not work together again until the season 5 finale when all the heroes get their miraculous back. And given how chaotic Penalteam was because of both the villain herself and all of the heroes working at the same time, there would not be much time for Marc or Nathaniel to get specific hints of each others' identities.

And after that episode, Nathaniel was not called upon again to be Caprikid until, as I just said, the last episode of season five. Marc was called upon a couple of other times, such as in Strikeback, but Nathaniel was not. They would need to work together multiple times in order for them to learn things about each other and then put together the "puzzle."

That is likely one of the reasons why we did not see any team-ups between Viperion and Purple Tigress. Since Juleka and Luka are twins, they likely would have been able to figure each other out pretty quickly. Especially if they had teamed up during the "Crocoduel" episode. There would have been no way for them to keep their identities to themselves while fighting their parents.

[spiceynoodls]

MLB Episodes Chronological

Some of these aren’t released yet (according to the wiki) but there will be links posted as I go

beware. This is a LONG ASS LIST.

Season 1:

Origins 

Stormy Weather

Lady Wifi

The Evillustrator

Princess Fragrance

Dark Cupid

Mr. Pigeon 

Pixelator 

Copycat

The Bubbler

Simon Says

Timebreaker 

Roger cop

Animan

Dark blade

Gamer

The Pharaoh

Horrifactor

The Puppeteer

The Mime

Guitar Villain 

Reflekta 

Antibug

Kung Food

Santa Claws

Volpina 

Season 2

The Collector

Prime Queen

Glaciator

Despair Bear

Troublemaker

Gigantitan

Riposte

Gorizilla

Robostus 

Sapotis 

The Dark Owl

Syren 

Zombizou

Captain Hardrock

Queen’s Battle

Befana

Reverser

Frightningale

Frozer

Anansi

Malediktator

Sandboy 

Heroes’ Day

Season 3

Chameleon

Miraculous World: Shanghai - The Legend of Ladydragon

Animaestro

Bakerix 

Backwarder

Reflekdoll

Weredad 

Silencer

Oni-chan 

Miraculer

Oblivio

Desperada 

Christmaster 

Startrain

Kwamibuster

Feast 

Gamer 2.0

Stormy Weather 2

Ikari Gozen

Timetagger

Party Crasher

The Puppeteer 2

Cat Blanc

Felix

Ladybug

The Battle of the Miraculous 

Miraculous World: New York - United Heroez

Season 4

Truth

Lies

Gang of Secrets

Mr. Pigeon 72

Psycomedian

Furious Fu

Sole Crusher

Queen Banana

Gabriel Agreste

Mega Leech

Guiltrip

Crocoduel

Optigami

Sentibubbler

Glaciator 2

Hack-San

Rocketear

Wishmaker

Simpleman

Qilin 

Dearest Family

Ephemeral

Kuro Neko

Penalteam

Shadow Moth’s Final Attack

Season 5

Evolution 

Multiplication 

Jubilation 

Illusion 

Determination 

Passion

Reunion

Elation  

The Kwamis’ choice

Perfection 

Migration

Derision 

Intuition 

Protection

Adoration

Emotion

Pretension

Revelation 

Confrontation 

Action

Collusion 

Revolution 

Representation 

The Final Day

Miraculous World: London - At The Edge of Time 

[princess-of-the-corner]

how many dads is that now? 4?

Marinette's grandpa (racist, did he even apologize? i can't remember).

Jagged Stone (i know he might be trying but he's still not spending time with Juleka if he was going to Brazil with his son who he paid more attention to anyways)

André Bourgeois (neglect, child abandonment, child kidnapping, abuse enabler)

Gabriel Agreste (abuser, terrorist, MAIN VILLAIN OF THE SHOW)

Like Rolland and Jagged at least owned up to their fuckups and are trying to be better.

The Brazil thing is debatable becuase tbh like. Jagged /did/ actually pay equal attention to Juleka previously in Crocoduel(which is really the only episode the three of them share after the dad reveal in Truth)

And that was circumstantial because they needed to get Luka out of Paris. Maybe they should've offered to let Juleka come along too, but I can't see her leaving either so I just assume it was an off-screen conversation.

But yeah Andre and Gabriel fucking GOD thogu

[asukiess]

hmmm.... I love marinette’s anxiety--more specifically how it’s portrayed--so much. there’s been so many write ups about her panic attacks, her spiraling, all of which can put it better than I can, but I was just rewatching Multiplication and she has a big thing about being “deserving” of love, too. she puts people she loves on a big tall pedestal, be it adrien, kagami (or luka in crocoduel, but I think that episode shows a similar albeit “uglier” side of her anxiety), and if she can’t meet her supposed expectations, then she’s not good enough for them. she avoids kagami and luka in their respective eps because she’s letting them down or hurting them and she hates it so much  - both times inadvertently hurting them more. I just think it’s so realistic to show the avoiding phone calls & situations, lying, etc. all due to your anxiety. I’m not saying that’s correct behavior, but I personally like to see this realistically portrayed. I don’t think it’s ever condoned in the show, and I think she rightfully is told by other people that what she’s doing is wrong. idk, I just really like it.

[chocoplagg]

My thoughts on the Miraculous Seasons!

Yeah, I'll be talking about the Miraculous seasons, including it's specials and movie.

Maybe I'll do another post talking about my thoughts on the sixth season of the series. With the things we have.

Season 1

It's decent. It has it's good episodes (Stormy Weather, The Evillustrator, Bubbler, etc), and bad episodes (Pharaoh, Origins [specially the second part], Kung Food, etc).

The animation it's pretty good, and the characters are good too.

Season 2

The best season indeed!

Here we have the best episodes (The redemption arc of Chloe, Gorizilla, Sandboy and The Heroes' Day).

The characters have been really good, the plot was amazing at this point, etc.

It's funny because Thomas wasn't really involved in this season, Jeremy Zag was.

Season 3

And here the quality started to decrease.

The plot was trying to be more dramatic and serious (like Amphibia did later), but it was like "this show is family friendly, now it's really dramatic!".

The episodes have been mediocre (Oblivio or Feast), bad (Desperada or Bakerix), or garbage (Animaestro, Chat Blanc, Ladybug and the finale).

And of course, the characters have been really bad, especially Marinette and Fu.

Season 4

This season was amazing... I'm lying, in fact, it's really bad.

There was only three good episodes (Mega Leech, Guiltrip and Crocoduel), the rest were going to be bad, to cringey (Wishmaker), to... Qlin (one of the WORST episodes of the entire animation).

And the characters have been really annoying, like Adrien with his stupid "I feel alone" drama with Ladybug and the heroes. It's really stupid and useless.

And don't make me talk about Zoe Lee. I'm just saying that Aurore Beaureal is a character. She would have been more useful with the Bee Miraculous.

Btw, even the animation was horrible here (watch Simpleman, the most unbeta episode, and you'll understand my point).

Season 5

...

What the fuck?!

-Me watching the season 5.

This is the WORST season of the series (and take my words, maybe season 6 is even worse). It's like the pretentious version of Sonichu, but without the creepy instances that wouldn't be family friendly.

This season was so bad, that only ONE episode was pretty decent (Perfection, and it's thanks to Kagami), the rest was really, REALLY terrible (Derision it's a fairly odd parents retcon but even worse, Revelation it's stupid, Collusion it's the worst political episode, Revolution it's the perfect example of Thomas being Chris Chan with Chloe, Representation it's a really bad pretentious fanfic, and the final episodes of the season have been an insult).

Even the animation was horrible here too. The colors have been disgustingly saturated, and didn't help the episodes.

And don't make me talk about its "dramatic" moments... I CAN'T EVEN REFER IT LIKE "DRAMATIC MOMENTS" BECAUSE IT'S AN INSULT.

Bonus: SPECIALS

Miraculous New York

It's garbage, it's only a longer chapter of the series but barely during an hour.

Only one character was good (Sparrow), and it was eliminated just because of the "feminist subplot"...

I'm really missing Chloe's subplot for this special...

And Ladybug was really annoying, of course.

Miraculous Shangai

The best special, but still is bad.

The only good thing about this thing is Fei and the worldbuilding of the special. But the rest was really bad.

And no Thomas, I'm not going to sympathize with Marinette, literally she stalked Adrien going to Shangai and following him with an app...

Miraculous Paris

Here's where I'm going to be dead...

I think this special is really overated, and for me it's really bad.

At least the animation was pretty decent, but that's the only thing I can say...

But the AU concept was really poor, and it's like "we need to be like the Spiderverse".

And the characters have been poorly executed, especially Gabriel, Adrien and Marinette from the "reverse" AU (I can't define it as a reverse AU when only three characters change to be opposites).

Link to the post in Spanish

[heidi891]

Rewatching ML Season 4

Truth: Luka is fed up with Marinette lying to him. Ladybug is put under a truth spell and says that she appreciates Chat Noir’s courage, confidence and jokes. Chat Noir says he’s only that happy with her.

Lies: Marinette watches TV program about Adrien and says his life is awesome, even though sometimes he looks bored or sad. Adrigami scenes. Kagami wants to draw Adrien and says that neither his model poses nor Chat Noir pose is really him. She wants him to be more natural and vulnerable. A few times they almost kiss, but Adrien has to go to help Ladybug. Kagami is fed up with Adrien’s lies. More: Luka vs Adrien and Kagami vs Ladybug. Chat Noir sacrifices himself again.

Gang of Secrets: Ladybug and Chat Noir go to the cinema. Ladybug is frustrated with her love life and doesn’t want to talk about it neither with Chat Noir nor her friends. Marinette is fed up with lying and finally tells Alya that she’s Ladybug.

Mr Pigeon 72: Adrien brought Plagg a big bag full of cheese. He’s “lucky” his father is neglectful, otherwise he would take him to psychologist. Marinette, why are you so stupid (again). Adrien is turned into a pigeon. Adrien is so focused on Marinette that he hits his head when getting in the car.

Furious Fu: —

Sole Crusher: Hi, Zoé. Marinette is short with Chat Noir like Ladybug.

Queen Banana: Chloé wants to be a film star. Adrien wants her to apologise, but she refuses.

Guiltrip: Adrienette moment, Adrien makes googly eyes at Marinette. There’s a pink background, but it’s hard to say if it’s just Marinette who sees her friend this way—it looks like Adrien does too! He comforts Juleka. Chat Noir tries to kill himself. Adrien mocks Chloé.

Optigami: Marinette and Adrien are stuck together in the lift during Akuma attack and they almost reveal themselves.

Sentibubbler: —

Rocketear: Nino thinks Alya’s in love with Chat Noir. Nino tells Adrien that he and Alya are superheroes. Adrien is taken aback that Ladybug let them know their true identities and is worried that Ladybug doesn’t trust him. Nino says Ladybug thinks Chat Noir is disgusting. Adrien is sad during transformation.

Wishmaker: Adrien doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future and says he’s a model now just because his father asked told him to. Marinette and Luka notice Adrien is sad. Adrien again makes googly eyes at Marinette. Luka learns Ladybug and Chat Noir’s true identities. Adrien says that as a child he wanted only to fulfill his parents’ wishes.

Mega Leech: Adrien is shocked to see that his father lied to him about the advertisment. Gabriel treats Adrien’s image as his possession. Adrien is sad and angry. He takes Marinette’s hand during the protest. Chat Noir is possessed by the villain. Adrien notices Marinette is fascinated with the advertisment and isn’t sure what to make of it. Gabriel is angry at Adrien for joining the protest and sends him to his room, touching the wedding ring.

Simpleman: Adrien calls Marinette and asks her to fix a wing that he needs for a photo session. When I watched this for the first time, I thought he genuinely needed her help, but now I think he uses this as an excuse to see her (this isn’t his job to find somebody to fix the wing). Ladybug and Chat Noir almost give the villain their Miraculouses in exchange for sweets.

Dearest Family: Where did Gabriel get the amulet from? I guess my Disney+ has the wrong order of the episodes again. Tikki has an eating disorder. We can see a glimpse of her true form. Gabriel’s talking about destroying the old world and creating a new one, but I don’t think he’s the best source of information about how the wish works.

Crocoduel: Congratulations, Gabriel, Jagged Stone who abandoned his children for years is a better father than you. Chat Noir flirts with every new girl in the team.

Glaciator 2: Ladybug is angry at Chat Noir for his constant declarations of love and throws him in the garbage. Adrien decides to change. He’s sad and cries in the park. Marinette unsuccessfully tries to cheer him up. Gabriel almost sends an Akuma to Adrien, but when he notices it’s his son he stops the Akuma. Gabriel tries to talk to Adrien, but their conversation isn’t going anywhere. Chat Noir is destroying the billboards. How much cheese has he had to take with him? He doesn’t have any bag with him, does he have to go to a shop on every street? I love these Marichat scenes. I want to see Adrien being as sarcastic as Chat Noir here.

Hack-San: Marinette is in a hurry, but she should think about telling Chat Noir she’s leaving Paris. Chat Noir again feels that Ladybug doesn’t trust him. Sincere Ladynoir conversation.

Gabriel Agreste: Adrien brings ill Nathalie a meal and tries to talk to her about his problems. Adrien is compared to an imprisoned princess and Marinette—to a knight. Does Félix suspect that the wedding ring is Adrien’s Amok and try to protect him? Kagami and Félix don’t seem to like each other. Or this is how Félix reacts when he likes somebody. I thought Gabriel tried to kill Félix, but the Akuma goes to the fake wedding ring. OK, so this episode should be before Dearest Family. Félix is now sure that Gabriel created Senti-Gabriel and that he has the Peacock Miraculous.

Ephemeral: Gabriel’s touching his wedding ring when he’s telling Adrien to replace him at the conference. Su-Han tells Ladybug that she should know Chat Noir’s true identity. Marinette cannot believe that Chat Noir is really Adrien. It’s too early for the true reveal: Marinette needs to appreciate Chat Noir too. Marichat needs to happen. Again, neither the reveal nor Adrienette aren’t really problems, it’s the relationship between Adrien and Gabriel: Adrien loves him, but Gabriel is ready to hurt him to achieve his goal. Gabriel’s touching his wedding ring when he’s forcing Adrien to be Akumatised. More: The Reveal & Adrinette. OK, so the Kwamis confirm that the wish destroys the world and recreates it.

Psycomedian: The girls say there’s no love without friendship. Adrien again makes googly eyes at Marinette. Marinette, don’t listen to this clown. This time it’s Ladybug who falls victim to the villain and Chat Noir has to help her.

Qilin: —

Kuro Neko: Adrien feels left out by Ladybug. He gives up his ring and then changes his whole personality to be the Cat she wants him to be. But it’s not the Cat she needs. Plagg says Adrien can be serious around his father and Nathalie, so it’s sad that Ladybug wants him to be like that too. Ladybug says she knows Chat Noir very well while mistaking him for the Sentimonster. Plagg says Adrien is both Adrien and Chat Noir.

Penalteam: Adrien can’t play football.

Risk: Adrien says he doesn’t want to be a model and tells Lila he doesn’t want to listen to her lies. Gabriel wants to send Adrien away. Adrienette moment. Adrien says that it’s like an invisible force stopped him from telling his father he didn’t want to be a model. Félix says he wants to save Adrien.

Strike Back: Ladybug mistakes Félix for Adrien. If she knew Chat Noir’s true identity, she wouldn’t make that mistake. Or if Chat Noir intervened. Félix quietly says that he’s sorry and he betrays the heroes, but in the context of season 5 I can see he isn’t totally evil and selfish. Chat Noir stands by Ladybug and comforts her.

Previous: Rewatching ML Season 3

Next: ML Season 5

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Masterpost!

Finally! I can return! To Kingda Ka!

Season 1

Season 2: First Half Second Half

Season 3: Chameleon Animaestro Bakerix Backwarder Reflekdoll Weredad Silencer Oni-Chan Miraculer Oblivio Desperada Chris Master Startrain Kwamibuster Feast Gamer 2.0 Godawful Recap Episode Ikari Gozen Timetagger Party Crasher Puppeteer 2 Chat Blanc Felix the Not Cat Marinette gets Expelled Chloe gets groomed by Hawkmoth and it's somehow her fault New York Shanghai

Season 4: Lukanette Dies Adrigami Dies Gang of Secrets Mr. Pigeon for the 72nd Time Psycomedian Furious Fu Sole Crusher Queen Banana Gabriel Agreste Mega Leech Guiltrip + Rose Headcanon Crocoduel + Gregory Steel Optigami Sentibubbler Chat Noir learns to respect women Scarabella Rocketear Wishmaker Simpleman Qilin Dearest Family Ephemeral Cat Walker Depression and Soccer Risk and Strikeback

Season 5: Rabbit Mouse Cat Parallel Paris Pig Fox Ox Goat Kwagatama Tiger Butterfly (Scarabella & Kitty Noire) Dragon Horse Monkey (Traumatic backstory) Snake Turtle Dog Peacock Rooster Fox 2 Tiger 2 (Juleka disrespect on a whole new level) Bee(Plastic) Pig 2? Chloe's Swan Song NIGHTMARE Ladybug (Hawkmoth won)

Writing/Heacanons/Analyses: Love Square Baseball Mail Day Sleepover That's Japan Miraculous: Dreams Prologue Outline Yeehaw Four characters that feel shoved to the side Lucas and Jennifer Girlsquad Lore Hawkmoth v. Detectives Prompt

Rewrite AU: Proto Basics Five Idols + Crystal Heart

Shift Season: Basics

Other: Mom! Mom! Phineas and Ferb are spreading to other realities so they can promote braincell growth and make people smarter! The One Question Ask I got Olympics Instagram

[plumsaffron]

My assumptions were correct, the salters just couldn’t let go of the past after Lila’s debut and the infamous season 3 episode. No wonder I still see these bozos still plague here, YouTube and whatever social media site exists. They are the reason why I hardly touch fanfic crossovers since I fear seeing them sink to the low levels of that ship, bashing and all.

They might as well make hatedoms of fictional characters from other series/franchise look sane and reasonable.

I may not be a sports fan but Major League Baseball should have the MLB acronyms not the stupid show. The former earned and actually deserved it after all.

The Miraculous Ladybug plaguedom got it coming for a looonggg time with their poor behavior.

Yep. I be avoiding searching up or typing Lila Rossi anywhere besides here (or Discord servers I’m in or Telegram channels) these days. And the funny part is the things they jeered about are ignored when similar or surpassing crap happens in their faces, when she’s not present, happened episodes earlier or later. Ya got Animaestro and The Party Crasher. Earlier you could say Frozer. And later you can say Crocoduel, Gabriel Agreste (The Episode) or Rocketear. I could say of even later, Evolution, Intuition, or non canon Plastic Special. There also exists The NY Special or Shanghai Special. Even The Christmas Special where Ladybug completely disregards what Adrien said and proceeded to attempt merking Santa Claus (which could have been a normal Parisian). I could list many more episodes but nah.

They are disgustingly choosey and are…

Accidents.

They are the same bozos that are aware or should know that a woman died because people chased her to her death for wanting to see more of Lila. Tried to deal with it but you know, unfortunately… And now (or rather since that leak happened,) pests want to disregard what Lila said to Gabriel Agreste in Oni-Chan and desire Lila to be a predo and encourage that egregious thing or thought to become canon by writers and too many buffoons discard the ramifications of that and seem to want to be lame and ignore that what’s being said against her is disgusting.

It’s ultimate level of justifying their delusions because ignoring and let her go is too much work. Them believing their stupid actions to be righteous. They’re even more funny to me considering Miraculous Secrets Lila when Marinette (delusionally) believes she can Adrien could still save her (instead of leave her alone and not make things worse like Adrien said in the infamous episode).

These hotshots and scums.

They’ve set destruction in motion something can never undo.

Or that they set in motion what they don’t want to undo or stop.

This grotesque thirst to want to be inherently right against her while disregarding all else. They hated what was being twisted or done against Chloe & what happened to Chloe. They can sadly somewhat acknowledge that Marinette was the idiot to Kagami (but definitely mostly only at the end of Mr. Pigeon 72 because Kagami finally supported the cage coded ship). They somewhat can admit when Luka or mostly Juleka is being a punching bag. Despite all of that, they some reason are allergic to Lila and want Marinette to be predestined as right for all, ironically, which is amusing because that discards above what they can perceive and Adrien or Alya.

Their Twisted Sense Of Grave spitting justification.

Due to their tunnel vision of only seeing Lila, they should just admit they love Gabuse, Maribuse, Adult Abuse Apologia winners, Derision, Deflagration, Revolution, Recreation, Omnicidal Victor and his apologists. How about they also admit that they are in awe for Tomoe Tsurugi, Audrey Bourgeois, Nathalie failing Emilie and Emilie’s legacy, Both Andres, Theo Barbot.

And how about they plea to adoring Adrien Kagami Juleka Luka Chloe and Ironically Marinette suffering. How about they also admit that they secretly love the writers they say they say they hate, Jeremy Zag, and Ezra Weisz. They should make it easier for themselves and confess that they secretly love that incident that made Cristina Vee leave Twitter. How about they finally just announce they are happy that wife to be, never will be.

Sigh... It’s just who many are & it will never go away.

No matter what happens.

[miracleandplagueau]

Could you say all the miraculous episodes you're removing? Since you already did this with season 1 episodes!

INHALES

In total, I would be removing 80+ episodes from the original canon out of original number (as for season 5, without specials) of 131. I can't give the exact number right now, but I think I have like 10?? my own episodes like Scarabella & Huli Jing 2-parter and Gigafan.

Darkblade, riposte, gamer, animan, the puppeteer, kung food, pixelator, princess fragrance, (santa claws), the collector, prime queen, robostus, frightning gale, troublemaker, frozer, catalyst, mayura, backwarder, weredad, chameleon, animaestro, bakerix, silencer, oblivio, all "part two's" (reflectdoll, stormy weather 2), oni chan, startrain, kwamibuster, feast, ikari gozen, timetagger, party crusher, chat blanc, felix, ladybug, christmaster, heart hunter, truth, lies, gang of secrets, furious fu, sole crusher, queen banana, guilttrip, crocoduel, optigami, sentibubbler, rocketear, mega leech, wishmaker, hack-chan, simpleman, dearest family, ephermal, gabriel agreste, psychomedian, kuro neko, penalteam, Quilin, Risk, Strikeback and all of the season 5 episodes

Uncertain about removal Includes world-building incombatible with MnP Nothing will force me to bring this shit back

[teamoon7]

Which episodes from canon are you removing from your AU?

Well... I have 2 main lists of episodes I want to remove:

Episodes I'm pretty sure (by now) I'm going to remove: Robustus (the implications of AIs being able to be akumatized is not something I want to work on), Gigantitan, Animaestro, Chris Master, Oblivio, Gamer 2.0 (I really like the akuma dynamic but I don't want to use the same akuma again for most cases), Stormy Weather 2, Time Tagger (definitely no time travel here), Puppeteer 2, Party Crasher, Oblivio, Efemeral, Chat Blanc (I also don't want to do what if episodes. But I really like chat blanc's concept, so I'm still unsure about adding him somewhere else or not), Sole crusher, queen banana, hack-san, simpleman, dearest family, penalteam, Evolution, determination and revolution (And basically every special like NY etc)

Episodes I'm still unsure about removing or not: Copycat, Animam (I'll likely remove these 2), the pharaoh, horrificator, guitar villain, pixelator, princess fragrance, glaciator (I just hate Andre too much...), frozer, bakerix, reflekdoll, startrain, kwami buster, feast, ladybug, heart hunter and miracle queen, Mr pigeon 72, furious Fu, mega leech, guiltrip, crocoduel, glaciator 2, qilin, juro neko, and most of season 3 (except for destruction, passion, exaltation, kwamis choice and emotion)

BUT, tbh, not only those lists can change VERY much, but that also doesn't mean that I'm going to delete the whole plot of those episodes. The thing is:

1- There are many episodes that I'm going to keep the basic premise, but change most of the stuff that happens in them (for example: I plan to keep the episode "Kung food", but only the premise of "marinette's uncle gets akumatized because of a chef competition". Everything else that happens- such as Chloe being the judge- will likely change to a different plot). That means that many episodes that I plan to "remove" are just going to be given new plotlines to their basic premises. The opposite is also true- maybe there's a specific plot that happens in the episode (that isn't necessarily part of the "main plot"- or at least of what occupies most part of the episode, like the akuma) that I want to keep, BUT since the rest is either not interesting to me or simply wouldn't work in the AU, I'll just change the episode where this plotline happens (Example: though I'm removing Sole crusher, I'm not removing Zoe as a character- I'm just putting her introduction somewhere else) to other episode.

And 2- Originally, I wanted to remove as many episodes as I could so I wouldn't have to work with episodes that I considered to be "filler", that didn't have many events that progressed the narrative or the character growth. But, at this point, I've written so many stuff (and specially stuff that deviates from canon) that I honestly need to have episodes to include theses plots LOL, so I'll probably use some basic stuff of the episodes I was planning to remove (like some akumatized villains) to add these plots (and the AU is probably gonna be way bigger than I originally wanted to, lol).

Anyways, in summary, removing an episode does not mean removing a storyline (and vice versa). For every episode I want to remove, I have a list with the plots I want to keep and things that could give me new ideas (even from medias that mostly don't affect canon like the special episodes, even the PS5 game has stuff that I want to either keep or adapt lmao).

So, although those are the episodes I plan to remove at the moment, I think asking if I'm going to keep or remove a specific storyline would give a more precise answer in general.

[scottpetersen]

What Food Do Some Of The Other Kwamis Like?

Ok. Here I’ll be going over my thoughts on what food some of the other Kwamis might like. This post was inspired by a YouTuber called @spongeintheshoe who made a comment on @ASLB247’s Miraculous Ladybug Review: Ep. 1 The Bubbler Review video saying that: “Tikki likes baked goods because making them is a complex process designed to create something greater than the sum of its parts, and Plagg likes cheese because it’s made by deliberately having something rot in a specific way.” So, by that logic, Tikki likes baked goods because it has something to do with creation which is the power of the Ladybug Miraculous, while Plagg likes cheese because it has something to do with destruction which is the power of the Black Cat Miraculous. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

First, I’ll be going over what food I think Duusu, the Kwami connected to the Peacock Miraculous, might like. I think that what Duusu might like is ice cream. As shown in the episode ‘Mayura (Heroes Day - Part 2)’, the Peacock Miraculous which is the Miraculous that Duusu is connected to works by manifesting and solidifying a person’s emotions into creatures called sentimonsters. And I heard that ice cream is made by freezing and thus solidifying cream among other things. And I know that this analogy might sound dumb but just like how ice cream comes in a variety of different flavors, there is a variety of different emotions a person can feel.

Next, I’ll be going over what Longg, the Kwami connected to the Dragon Miraculous, might like. I think that Longg might like water. As shown in the episode ‘Ikari Gozen’, the power of the Dragon Miraculous is to transform the wielder into wind, lightning and water. And the fact that 1 of those 3 elements is water is the reason why I think Longg might like water.

Now, I’m gonna go over what food Daizzi, the Kwami connected to the Pig Miraculous, might like. I think the food that Daizzi might like is cake. As shown in the episode ‘Guiltrip’, the power of the Pig Miraculous is to show the target magical gifts that show them their heart’s greatest desire. And birthday cakes are a dish served during birthday parties where people receive gifts. I think that’s why Daizzi might like cake.

Finally, I’m gonna be going over what Roaar, the Kwami connected to the Tiger Miraculous, might like. I think that Roaar might like protein shakes. As shown in the episode ‘Crocoduel’, the power of the Tiger Miraculous is to unleash a powerful burst of energy that blows away anything in its path. And protein shakes help give a person protein thus helping them rejuvenate their energy. So, both the Tiger Miraculous’s power and protein shakes correspond to energy in some way. I think this is the reason why Roaar might like protein shakes.

Well, that’s all for this post.

See you all next time.