Go fetch me Ladybug's Miracu- oh, you have it already...
"Ladybug. I am Mayura. You are Cat Noir's true teammate, and you've one goal: to get hold of the Miraculous."
— Mayura
Lila manipulates all of Marinette's close ones, who turn against her, but an even bigger problem awaits Marinette: she is going to have to face a sentimonster that has taken the appearance of Ladybug. All the while Nathalie's determination to prove herself as a supervillain brings her physical limits into question once again!
Tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: After the doctor came to check up on Nathalie's health, Gabriel takes the Peacock Miraculous and says she will never be Catalyst or Mayura again. When he's asleep, she sneaks off and steals it back.
- Adults Are Useless: Neither Ms. Bustier nor Principal Damocles question Lila's lies, instead immediately believing that Marinette did everything she was accused of. Notably, when Lila claims that Marinette pushed her down the stairs, they not only believe her, but don't even bother to get her to a doctor, even though a fall down a flight of stairs should result in some nasty injuries.
- All-Loving Hero: After getting framed and expelled Marinette is still willing to give Lila another chance.
- Art Shift:
- While Alya investigates the incidents at school, the image takes on a grainy front.
- While recapping all the crimes Marinette had supposedly committed, they are shown as crude chalk drawings on a blackboard.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: We once again see Marinette use this as a civilian. This time it's to get out of helping her father in the bakery so that she can go help Cat before he's tricked by Mayura. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, so she's forced to finish as quickly as possible to get to him in time.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: We all probably guessed that the Ladybug sentimonster wouldn't stick around due to Status Quo Is God, but the heroes wouldn't hurt her since she's an innocent; so Mayura does it for them.
- Bait-and-Switch: Hawk Moth pulls off his Scarlet Moth and Catalyst scheme again, and nearly succeeds when one of the new akumas is Marinette. And as he orders his akuma army to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous pieces, Marinette starts taking off her earrings... only for Catalyst to collapse and Hawk Moth rushing to her side, prematurely ending their villainous plot.
- Batman Gambit:
- Lila comes up with multiple lies to make everyone think Marinette stole the test answers, and her 'family's' necklace (actually the necklace she bought to impersonate the Fox Miraculous back in season 1) and pushed her down the stairs.
- Mayura's plan is contingent on the premise that Cat Noir would beat the real Ladybug to the Arc de Triumph, which could very well have failed were Marinette not indisposed at the bakery.
- When the fake Ladybug tries to fool Cat Noir, the real Ladybug pretends to be akumatized and suggests that Cat Noir use Cataclysm on her earrings, knowing that Mayura won't want to damage the Miraculous.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Adrien effectively forces Lila to lift Marinette's expulsion with a few well chosen words. All without raising his voice.
- BFG: Sentimonster Ladybug uses her "Senti-Charm" to conjure a massive weapon that shoots immobilizing slime balls.
- Big Damn Heroes: In villainous variant, Hawk Moth shows up just in time to save Mayura.
- Blatant Lies: Lila, as per usual.
- Downplayed - Marinette's parents are hit with this too. Upon her expulsion, they have her working in the bakery as "things have gotten very complicated" and they do not profess their belief in her innocence. At the end of the episode, Tom proclaims he always knew she was innocent, which rings very hollow.
- Downplayed again with Cat Noir: he cannot tell the real Ladybug from the fake one, because the fake one told him what he wanted to hear, to the point where he tries to fight the real Ladybug. And yet he proclaims that he loves Ladybug just the way she is, when she apologizes for not being as perfect as the fake one. This comes across as very false - even more so when he tries again to kiss her later, despite her just having told him (again) that she's in love with someone else.
- Broken Pedestal: Hawk Moth's redux of his Catalyst plan relies on the fact that Marinette is so well-liked at school that Lila's Frame-Up will not only render Marinette herself vulnerable, but also a significant portion of her classmates who are heartbroken by her fall. It may not be as wide-reaching as his first iteration, but it would have worked nonetheless.
- Call-Back:
- The beginning of the episode shows Adrien preparing for, and later attending, Marinette's birthday party from "Befana". Lila looks down on the party jealously from her window (she was pretending to be traveling the world during this period).
- The ring-stealing kiss by the Sentimonster Ladybug is done almost exactly the same way as the one attempted by Wax Ladybug in "The Puppeteer 2". Cat falls for it again and this time no scent difference tips him off.
- Clueless Mystery: What Alya finds the theft Marinette was framed for to be. The only evidence Lila might’ve left behind (fingerprints) were carelessly wiped away by the janitor.
- Copied the Morals, Too: When Ladybug gives her sentimonster replica the item housing the amok, she sides with Ladybug against Mayura, both out of gratitude and having the real Ladybug's moral aptitude.
- Dramatic Irony: Cat Noir taunts Hawk Moth by calling him "grandpa". Unbeknownst to either of them, Hawk Moth is in fact his father.
- Easily Condemned: Both Ms. Bustier and Mr. Damocles are quick to believe Lila's lies about Marinette. In fact, Mr. Damocles expels her without hesitating or even giving Adrien a chance to speak up.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Very evident in Gabriel and Nathalie's interactions in this episode. He will not trade her life for victory, but she is happy to sacrifice herself for his sake. When her health starts failing during Catalyst round two, she tells him to go on but he detransforms, throwing away a Near-Villain Victory for her sake. Later, when Ladybug and Hawk Moth have both captured the other's partner, Mayura tells him "Don't mind me", but Hawk Moth abandons his chance at getting Cat Noir's Miraculous to save her.
- Evil Laugh: Mayura goes full ham while fighting her sentimonster Ladybug, playing up the battle for the cameras so Cat Noir will fall for the act.
- Failed a Spot Check: Alya seems to have absolutely no reaction to the fact that Lila's necklace (that she planted and accused Marinette of stealing) is a blatant replica of the Fox Miraculous. Given that she has wielded the Fox Miraculous on multiple occasions - and can be ridiculously thorough about superhero details regardless - this comes off as out of character. Possibly justified, as Lila in actuality brought the necklace through Gabriel, making it likely she noticed he similarity and thought nothing of it.
- Fingerprinting Air: Alya is confident she can get good fingerprint evidence from Marinette's locker. It doesn't work because janitor Fred wipes down the lockers.
- Frame-Up: Lila frames Marinette for cheating on a test, then pretends that Marinette pushed her down the stairs and stole a necklace from her. It gets Marinette kicked out of school, but Adrien forces Lila to set things right at the end of the episode.
- Freeing the Genie: Ladybug frees the sentimonster by giving her the amok object, gaining her gratitude and an alliance against Mayura. Unfortunately Mayura can just recall the amok and destroy her.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Nobody in school, least of all Marinette, knows that Adrien was the one who "convinced" Lila to reverse Marinette's expulsion.
- Gullible Lemmings: Once again, everyone besides Marinette, Adrien, Nathalie, and Gabriel Agreste blindly believes every word out of Lila's mouth, even if it blatantly contradicts every lie she told earlier. Notably, when the episode ends, no one new has learned about Lila's malevolence, and Marinette's own parents even feel sorry for her still.
- Heel–Face Turn: The sentimonster Ladybug joins the heroes after being given the Eiffel Tower charm containing the amok. It turns into a Heel–Face Door-Slam when Mayura simply recalls the amok so it can't be used against her.
- I Gave My Word:
- Lila is rewarded by Gabriel with a photo shoot with Adrien for her work against Marinette, even though everything didn't work out as Gabriel wanted.
- Despite already having finished the photo shoot, Lila still fulfils her end of the deal and helps Marinette back into school.
- I Have Your Wife: A mutual version happens between Hawk Moth and Ladybug with Cat Noir and Mayura, respectively. Hawk Moth has Cat Noir in his clutches, and though he can't take the ring because Cat Noir has his Cataclysm active, he can wait the heroes out. Meanwhile, Ladybug has Mayura tied up in her yo-yo and could expose her true identity at any moment. Both mutually toss their captives off the Arc de Triomphe in opposite directions, forcing both to perform a rescue and making it a mutual loss.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: The Peacock's power is far less restricted than the Butterfly's. Mayura doesn't need a person undergoing an emotional crisis, an object important to them, telepathic communication, or consent. She buys an ordinary trinket and uses it to create the exact sentimonster she wants.
- Insult Backfire: After Hawk Moth callously dismisses the sentimonster Ladybug's death, Cat Noir furiously declares him the "real monster". Hawk Moth, being a Card-Carrying Villain, completely agrees.
- Internal Reveal: The world learns that Mayura exists and is an important ally of Hawk Moth rather than another akumatised supervillain.
- Irony: At the end of the episode, Lila (on Adrien's request) "confesses" that she has a rare condition that causes her to lie compulsively and that's why she accused Marinette of the various crimes that had her expelled. Given that she is a Consummate Liar, she's technically telling the truth from a certain point of view, but it still didn't change anything on Marinette's end.
- I Warned You: At his photo shoot, Adrien tells Lila this after she hurts Marinette with her lies by framing her for stealing and pushing her down the stairs.Adrien: I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen. You hurt my friend Marinette, and that's not okay.Lila: Me?! Hurting Marinette?! But she's the one who...Adrien: I don't know how to prove you lied, Lila, because you're good at it. So you'll just have to come up with another lie, just as convincing. Only this time, it's gonna prove Marinette's innocent.Lila: Why would I do that, Adrien?
- Kick the Dog: Cat Noir and Ladybug are horrified when Mayura banishes the Ladybug sentimonster, since she's a sentient person that Mayura effectively murdered.
- Loving a Shadow: Played with. Cat Noir is almost fooled by the Sentibug because she tells him exactly what he wants to hear and is "perfect" with "nothing monstrous about her" in his eyes. He even believes she's the real Ladybug and that the real Ladybug is a fake because of this. Ladybug reminds him that she could never be nearly as perfect as the Sentibug, with Cat Noir claiming her loves her just the way she is. Given his actions over the last several minutes before that, his claim rings a little hollow.
- Model Couple: Adrien and Lila are this. Lila even gets an interview on TV because of it.
- Nails on a Chalkboard: Ladybug uses her fork on a pane of glass, causing Mayura and the sentimonster to cover their ears.
- Near-Villain Victory: Had it not been for Nathalie's health issues, Hawk Moth would have won; he had already akumatized Marinette, and she was seconds from taking her earrings off.
- Never Recycle Your Schemes: Averted. Hawk Moth tries making Nathalie into Catalyst again so he can make multiple akumas. It would have worked if she hadn't wasted her health on many less clever schemes beforehand.
- Never Trust a Title: Due to the series' Idiosyncratic Episode Naming having the title of almost every episode refer to the episode's villain, this episode being titled "Ladybug" gives the impression that Marinette would serve as the villain. This plays into the above-mentioned Bait-and-Switch, as although Marinette is briefly akumatized, she is not the villain the title refers to. The actual Ladybug alluded to in the title is a sentimonster created by Mayura.
- Non-Standard Character Design: As acknowledged by Cat Noir, Mayura's Ladybug is way more humanoid than any other previous sentimonster so far.
- Not Helping Your Case: When Lila seemingly defends her, Marinette immediately accuses her. Not only does she make herself look bad and ungrateful, she also plays right into Lila's hands.
- Nothing Personal: Having no negative experience with Marinette (as far as he knows) and being fully aware that Lila is a Consummate Liar, Gabriel pretends he believes Lila when she tells him that Marinette is a bad influence for Adrien just to take advantage of the emotional fallout it creates.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Rare heroic version. Adrien forces Lila to make another lie to exonerate Marinette or he will break off contact with her completely. Lila doesn't want that and gives in.
- Pet the Dog:
- Chloé is shown defending Sabrina from Scarlet Moth's butterflies.
- Gabriel himself cares enough about Nathalie to pull the plug on his plan (mere seconds away from total victory, at that) because her broken Miraculous was endangering her life. He also privately tells her that this is as far as he's willing to let her go as Mayura, because her death is too steep a price for triumph.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Lila is willing to undo her plot against Marinette in order to appease Adrien.
- The Reveal: The Peacock Miraculous holder can create sentimonsters for themselves. It's also revealed that they are actual living beings controlled by the person who holds their amok, with the Ladybug sentimonster having self-awareness.
- Sequel Hook: Gabriel suggests that he has an alternate means of finding Master Fu when Nathalie laments that she won't be able to help him in that endeavor.
- Something Only They Would Say: An action. Both Ladybugs use their Lucky Charm (Senti-Charm in the fake's case). The sentimonster summons a huge gun, while Ladybug summons a fork. This confirms which is the real Ladybug in Cat Noir's mind.
- Sentibug invokes this by pretending to still be injured but brushing off said injury to fight Ladybug, who she frames as an akumatized villain. Seeing this as an act of bravery and a proof her heroic priorities convinces Cat Noir that she is the real Ladybug, leading the actual Ladybug to trick Mayura into exposing herself by goading Cat Noir into nearly Cataclysming her Miraculous.
- Spanner in the Works: Nathalie's usage of the Peacock Miraculous damages her health so much that her coughing fits negate Hawk Moth's plan to Akumatize Marinette and her classmates.
- Spot the Imposter: When the real Ladybug shows up, both Ladybug and Sentimonster Ladybug try to convince Cat Noir that she's the real one. Cat Noir chooses poorly.
- Stepping Stones in the Sky: Ladybug jumps off the bullets fired by her sentimonster counterpart's BFG.
- Sudden Name Change: Adrien's Italian photographer's name has changed from "Vincent" to "Giuseppe" in this episode.
- Threatening to Cut Ties: Adrien is able to get Lila to undo Marinette's expulsion by threatening to end their friendship.
- Tranquil Fury: While his tone is harsh, Adrien's voice remains level and calm when he gives Lila his ultimatum to either undo Marinette's expulsion with another lie or he will end their friendship for good after he calls her out for hurting the ones he loves when he already gave her a warning about it.
- Wham Episode: On multiple fronts.
- Catalyst returns, which leads to most of Marinette's class, Sabine, and Marinette almost getting akumatized, which is only stopped by Nathalie's ongoing health issues.
- Gabriel hints that Emilie using the broken Peacock Miraculous is what caused her to be in her current state.
- Mayura creates a sentimonster that's almost a perfect copy of Ladybug, almost fooling Cat Noir.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: When Mayura banishes sentimonster Ladybug, Cat Noir becomes furious over it and attempts to attack her, if it weren't for interference from Hawk Moth, who doesn't understand why he's making a big deal over it.Hawk Moth: Getting sentimental on a sentimonster?
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit:
- Lila pretends to be injured at the bottom of the stairs, trying to convince students and staff that Marinette pushed her down the stairs.
- Sentimonster Ladybug pretends to be injured so Cat Noir will get close enough for her to steal his Miraculous.
- You Monster!: After Hawk Moth callously dismisses the sentimonster Ladybug's death, Cat Noir furiously declares him the "real monster". Hawk Moth smugly agrees with this assessment.
