A ladybug doesn't stand a chance against the queen of wasps!
"Queen Wasp, I am Hawk Moth. Ladybug and Cat Noir don't want you as their friend, so you will be their most powerful enemy! Nobody has managed it yet, but you will defeat them, because you are exceptional! In return you must seize their Miraculous!"
— Hawk Moth
After transforming into Queen Bee to try and impress her mother, Chloé gets akumatized into Queen Wasp. Will Ladybug and Cat Noir manage to stop this superhero turned supervillain?
Tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: When Style Queen fails him, Gabriel loses all hope of capturing the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses and decides to quit his excursions as Hawk Moth. He gets not one, but two sweet moments with Nathalie and Adrien and finally makes his first public appearance since his wife disappeared... until Chloé outs herself as Queen Bee, at which point he sees that he still has a shot at winning and goes back to his lair so that he can akumatize her.Nathalie: You said you were going to stop.
Gabriel: I can't give up, Nathalie. I miss her too much.
Nathalie: I understand, sir. - Abusive Parents: When Chloé calls out her mother for inviting Marinette to New York when she never did that for her own daughter, Audrey's reply is that she only does this because Marinette is exceptional and that the only thing about Chloé that is exceptional is herself. When Chloé outs herself as Queen Bee, Audrey is the only one unconcerned by it, calling her a showoff and then getting back on topic with Marinette.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Chloé gets this after she's defeated. She grasps feebly for her ruined Miraculous hairpin and cradles it in despair, even outright begging to be given a second chance. Her mother then shows up to insult her at her absolute lowest. Ladybug and Cat Noir understand why she did what she did and offer her sympathy, then encourage her to do the right thing and set things right, which she does.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Chloé gives her mother a blunt and very emotional one.Chloé: Why don't you love me, Mom?
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When Marinette insults Audrey and Chloé, calling them both mean, spiteful, unlikeable and just all around Alpha Bitches, they both give out the same response — "How dare you?!" — which Marinette uses to point out that they're more alike than they think. Chloé admits more about herself (that she is a friendless user and abusive to everyone she knows, including her one friend and butler) and Audrey decides to stay in Paris.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Or, at least, that is how the Bee Miraculous is supposed to work, granting its holder the power to paralyze one person with her "Venom" power. This is changed to Bad Powers, Bad People when she is akumatized.
- Break the Haughty: She puts up a haughty demeanor, but it's implied that being exposed as a fraud and getting chewed out by her mother hit Chloé/Queen Bee pretty hard.
- Call-Back: Miss Bustier's earlier commentary on Chloé's potential for heroism despite her personal shortcomings comes home to roost for the first time here: empathy and a good example are what compel her to do the right thing.
- Chekhov's Gun: A quickly-fired one, at that — after escaping Queen Wasp's swarm by leaping into the river and swimming away, Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat her by pulling her into the river. With her wasps unable to aid her, she's left at a disadvantage.
- Didn't Think This Through: Chloé almost causes a train wreck by paralyzing the driver without considering the possibility that the train was too heavy for her to stop alone.
- Dramatic Irony: Tikki is against Marinette going to New York, due to the threat of Hawk Moth, not knowing that he was in the middle of a 10-Minute Retirement.
- Easily Forgiven: While Ladybug gives Chloé a hard time for her attempt at Engineered Heroics, she and Cat Noir ultimately conclude with giving her a gentle pep talk about doing the right thing. Granted, this was after fighting her when she turned into Queen Wasp, but it's still a slap on the wrist considering that Chloé put a subway train full of civilians in danger.
- Engineered Heroics: Chloé is so desperate to impress her mother that she causes a disaster herself so she can play hero when stopping it; she even calls Nadja in advance so the press will be there at the right time.
- Evil Costume Switch: The akumatized version of Queen Bee has a reversed color scheme: golden skin, black hair, and pink eyes compared to her usual outfit.
- Fantastically Indifferent: Audrey's only reaction to Chloé pulling out a Miraculous and turning into a superhero is calling her a showoff.
- Funny Background Event: When Ladybug pulls Cat Noir aside for a private conversation, the viewer can see Queen Bee throwing a rather hilarious-looking tantrum in the background.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: How Chloé's Engineered Heroics end; she's exposed as a fraud and glory hound who caused the disaster herself and couldn't even fix it without Ladybug and Cat Noir's intervention, and her mother, the person she wanted to impress, demeans her on national television.
- Hero with an F in Good: Chloé's debut as Queen Bee is totally this. She lacks any pretense of a secret identity, lacks patience, and fails to save people from a disaster she caused. Yeah...
- He's Back!: A rare villain example. After nearly crossing the Despair Event Horizon after Style Queen's defeat, Gabriel pulls himself together when Chloé leaves herself wide open for an akumatization through the Bee Miraculous.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Chloé's motivation — both as a hero and a villain — is just to gain the approval of her aloof, emotionally abusive mother. Hawk Moth gets her on his side by calling her "exceptional".
- Improbable Weapon User: Chloé/Queen Bee saves the day (or tries to)...with a top.
- Internal Reveal: Because of Chloé transforming on live television, the general public now knows that Ladybug has access to Miraculouses and can give them to people to create new heroes.
- Jumped at the Call: Chloé is ecstatic to get her hands on a Miraculous. Problem is, she's not superhero material.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Marinette / Ladybug while talking to her mother (once again)."You're welcome, mo...uh, madam."
- Love Makes You Evil:
- Not only does Gabriel directly come out and say he became Hawk Moth to get Emilie back, and he loves her too much to give up, but there are strong indications that Nathalie is helping him because she's in love with him.
- The whole reason Chloé dons the Bee Miraculous, engineers an emergency and becomes akumatized is because she desperately wants to impress her mom.
- Metaphorically True: After retiring as Hawk Moth, Gabriel tells Audrey “I fired the one responsible for our misunderstanding”. Since Nathalie continues to be in his employ, this can only be what he meant.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Adrien ending up in danger because of his akumatized victim's actions hits Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth pretty hard, to the point where he actually considers giving up on his ambition to get the Creation and Destruction Miraculouses.
- Never My Fault: Chloé/Queen Bee is defiant when Ladybug calls her out on nearly causing a train wreck.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Chloé's attempts to be a superhero only succeed in putting a train-load of innocent lives in danger.
- Also, though she had no way of knowing this, her transforming into Queen Bee inspires Gabriel Agreste to become Hawk Moth again and resume his villainous schemes.
- Oh, Crap!: When Adrien and Marienette realize Chloé has the Bee Miraculous.
- The Paralyzer: Queen Bee's "Venom" power lets her paralyze one person by stinging them with the tip of her spinning top. When akumatized into Queen Wasp, she gains a swarm of energy wasps that can paralyze anyone they sting.
- Pest Controller: Queen Wasp possesses the power to control a swamp of wasps.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Audrey Bourgeois, a famous fashion critic, despite being callous, gives proper credits when deserved, but couldn't care less about her only daughter, even treating the butler Jean better than Chloé. On the other hand, Gabriel Agreste, fashion designer and part-time super villain, for all his aloof and distant demeanor, if overprotective, still loves his son and would do all to see Adrien safe.
- Shout-Out: Queen Bee can transport herself by throwing her spinning top and being pulled along by it.
- Smug Super: Chloé's Alpha Bitch personality carries on into her superhero and supervillain personas, essentially resulting in this, to the point that she considers herself better than Ladybug.
- Status Quo Is God: The episode teases the possibility that Marinette will leave Paris, then that Chloé will leave, and also that Gabriel will stop being Hawk Moth. None of this happens. Averted in one regard: Chloé's mom decides to stay in Paris.
- Swiss-Army Superpower: Queen Wasp can use her swarm of wasps for more than just stinging her victims — she can wrap them around objects and hurl them at Ladybug and Cat Noir, or around her own feet to fly. She can also turn them into binoculars and telescopes when searching for them.
- Trainstopping: Queen Bee paralyzes the conductor of a subway train so he'll be stuck running it at full speed, then jumps in front to stop it. This fails miserably, since Queen Bee, though tough enough that she can skid along the tracks without injury, lacks the strength to stop the train when it's still under power. When Ladybug and Cat Noir show up, Ladybug uses her yo-yo to slow the train from the rear, allowing Cat Noir to block it with his staff at the next station.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Audrey doesn't even flinch when she sees her daughter transform into a superhero.
- Villainous BSoD: Gabriel Agreste hits this at the beginning of the episode, shaken by how his villainous actions put his son in danger. It's so bad that he almost considers giving up his villainous ways.
