"Optigami, I am Mayura. Be my eyes and discover all of Ladybug's secrets!"
— Mayura
In order to discover the identities of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Mayura has created the sentimonster Optigami — an origami butterfly capable of merging with inanimate objects and spying on people. With Ladybug proving too elusive to follow directly, Shadow Moth decides to stage a situation where Ladybug must entrust a Miraculous to someone, hoping to sneak Optigami onto the Miraculous itself. He has Adrien and his friends (many of whom were outed as heroes by Miracle Queen) attend an awards ceremony, where he akumatizes Audrey into Style Queen once more, to force Ladybug's hand. With Optigami watching her every move, what will Ladybug do?
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Even Chloé joins the audience in laughing as Alec mocks Audrey’s headquarters as “outdated”.
- Air Vent Escape: Attempted by Luka and Wayhem, but Style Queen catches them thanks to Optigami.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Marinette notes that Alya's actions nearly gave away her secret identity, so she'll have to make a tough decision — giving Alya the Fox Miraculous on a permanent basis. Mistakes aside, the incident has demonstrated the need for a partner in the know in case Ladybug is incapacitated.
- Brick Joke:
- Kim decides to race the elevator by climbing the stairs. Much later in the episode, he emerges from the stairwell, out of breath and wondering if he won.
- Marinette refuses to go into an elevator with Adrien after Alya tells her that elevators are perfect for getting close to your secret crush, asking "What if we accidentally touch?" while resisting Alya trying to push her in it. Marinette and Adrien do actually end up doing that when they get trapped in an elevator later in the episode.
- Call-Back:
- The shots of the heroes being given their Miraculous by Ladybug are taken from "Mega Leech".
- Kaalki greets Cat Noir when she sees him, since she learned his identity in "Sole Crusher".
- Gabriel and Natalie discuss the events of "Miracle Queen", in which they learned the identities of several Miraculous holders.
- Capture and Replicate: Shadow Moth does this twice. He first captures Alec and then creates a sentimonster duplicate as part of his plan to akumatize Audrey. Later, after all the heroes save Alya have been glitterized, he replicates Nino in the same manner to lure out Alya and leave only one option for Ladybug.
- Casting Gag: Audrey’s Beleaguered Assistant is voiced in the English dub by Lauren Landa, the current VA for her daughter’s own dogsbody Sabrina.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Adrien can't transform into Cat Noir because he's trapped with Marinette, and this problem is "solved" by Alya suddenly showing up with Kaalki to portal him halfway across town. By the time he makes it back and attempts to Cataclysm the glitter shell surrounding the building, Style Queen is defeated and the shell falls apart on its own. As Ladybug lampshades after the fact, she'd have brought him into the building with Alya if she knew his identity. He still proves a necessary part of exposing Shadow Moth's ruse after Ladybug has deduced what he's attempting.
- Chekhov's Gun: Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm but manages to defeat Style Queen without it. It turns out to be a key factor in figuring out Shadow Moth's true plan.
- Alya and Nino's secret handshake from the beginning of the episode is essential to the climax.
- "Die Hard" on an X: Style Queen forms a glitter shell over the building to keep everyone from leaving. Luka gets to do the air vent thing as part of the reference.
- Dispense with the Pleasantries: Like her daughter in "Queen Banana", Audrey Bourgeois can't wait to be akumatized again.Shadow Moth: Style Queen, I am Shadow Moth. This MC has lost all style and class...
Audrey: Spare me your boring speech, Shadow Moth. Give me back my powers and I will get you the two trinkets you're so obsessed with. - Dramatic Irony: Shadow Moth calls off Style Queen from attacking Adrien and Marinette because the former is his son and the latter isn't one of their targets. Not only is there the obvious irony of the duo actually being the heroes he seeks to unmask, but both have taken on other Miraculouses outside his knowledge (Adrien as Aspik with the Snake Miraculous, and Marinette as Multimouse with the Mouse Miraculous).
- Dwindling Party: Style Queen slowly eliminates the additional heroes present one by one as the episode goes on, until only Alya is left. The intent is to eliminate all of them and then replace one, giving Ladybug no other option but to unwittingly entrust the copy with a Miraculous.
- Enemy Mine: Played with, as the Shadow Moth controlled fake Carapace teams up with Ladybug and Rena Rouge to defeat Style Queen, as part of his plan to better sell the idea that they "won" and sneak Optigami into her home through the Turtle Miraculous. Shadow Moth mentions he simply could have "Carapace" betray Ladybug and not shield her from Style Queen, but still helps her win, presumably because if Style Queen turns her to glitter he won't be able to retrieve the Miraculous from her.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When Nathalie sees Adrien is stuck in the elevator with Marinette (who, as far as they know, isn't one of the people they're interested in targeting), Shadow Moth lies to Style Queen that the elevator is empty in order to keep him safe. Unknown to him, this actually costs him the fight later on.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Marinette enters the elevator and nearly says the transformation command before she notices that Adrien is in the elevator with her (he'd been about to transform himself). She's forced to awkwardly pass calling for Tikki as "tick tock, it's time to get out of here".
- Gabriel and Nathalie count Chloé as Queen Bee among the possible allies Ladybug might call upon, seemingly forgetting that her and their actions have permanently burned that bridge. Not only that, they should be aware that Ladybug recruited Vesperia as the replacement Bee Miraculous wielder in "Queen Banana", and would be far more likely to call upon her than risk trusting Chloé again.
- Despite the Kwamis knowing what happens in the real world while their user is transformed, Wayzz doesn't seem to notice that Nino is talking to Shadow Moth, or monologuing about getting the Miraculous. Perhaps he still doesn't know how to actually call back?
- Alya fails to notice that Nino misses their Secret Handshake. Even though it was simply a fun habit of theirs instead of an actual secret code, she does not even comment on it while it instantly tips Marinette off.
- Fusion Dance: Ladybug unifies Bee Miraculous with her own to become Lady Bee.
- Glad You Thought of It: Gabriel suggests the idea of a fashion model award show to Audrey by pretending it was her idea. She promptly takes credit and goes with it.
- Godzilla Threshold:
- Kaalki once again uses her power by herself so that Alya can get the Fox Miraculous and transform, and so she can help Marinette and Adrien escape. Several monuments end up being relocated as a result.
- Marinette lets Alya keep the Fox Miraculous permanently, mostly because she can't risk having her identity compromised while giving out Miraculouses to others. However, the risk of Alya being targeted is real and acknowledged.
- Heroes Gone Fishing: Cat Noir arrives too late to join in the fight against Style Queen but he ends up sticking around to enjoy the buffet.
- Heroic Bystander: Most Miraculous holders do anything they can to help even without their powers. Kagami distracts Style Queen to protect Adrien, Max leads people through the safest way to exit and Luka tries to get Wayhem to safety through the ventilation system.
- Human Shield: Chloé holds Zoé in the path of Style Queen's glitter beam, but both get glitterized because Chloé is still touching Zoé when it happens.
- I Let You Win: Played with. Style Queen is fighting the heroes seriously because it would be suspicious if Shadow Moth ordered her to throw the fight, but he deliberately undermines her by helping Ladybug as Carapace so his plan will succeed.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: The only hint which tips Ladybug off to Nino having been replaced by a Sentimonster is the replacement's failure to replicate Nino and Alya's Secret Handshake.
- Insane Troll Logic: Marinette tells the "fire department" (read: kwamis) to come on a horse. Kaalki says Marinette couldn't possibly mean her; she's not a horse, she's a steed, so it was clearly Fluff being requested. Sass even agrees with this because horses and rabbits share a common ancestor (if you go back a very long way). Marinette is forced to awkwardly try to tell them not to send Fluff in code.
- Internal Reveal: Shadow Moth, observing Alya's behavior throughout the episode, realizes that she has earned a position of trust with Ladybug.
- It's All My Fault: After Shadow Moth's defeat, Alya tells Marinette that she almost got unmasked because she made a mistake of taking the Turtle Miraculous without her permission.Alya: Shadow Moth almost unmasked you because of me. I never should have took the Turtle Miraculous.
- Joke and Receive: Upon learning that Marinette is stuck in an elevator, Alya jokingly asks if Adrien is with her. He is.
- Kill and Replace: Shadow Moth's plan is to have Style Queen glitterize all the available Miraculous holders in the building, then replace one of them with a sentimonster copy so Ladybug will have no other option but to entrust it with a Miraculous.
- Like Father, Like Son: Like Chloé in "Queen Banana", Audrey just cuts Shadow Moth's monologue and demands her powers to serve some punishment.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Cat Noir still doesn't know the identities of Rena Rouge and Carapace, even though Shadow Moth does. And, for further irony points, Gabriel and Nathalie's talk at the beginning implies that they think Cat Noir knows who all the temporary heroes are, because they've seen him hand Miraculous to some of them before, and the only reason they aren't targeting him is because they know he doesn't have direct access to the Miracle Box like Ladybug does.
- Long Game: Shadow Moth has started thinking long-term, at least since Fu relinquished the Miracle Box to Ladybug back in "Miracle Queen". "Queen Banana" is stated to have taken place during the holidays, and we see a bunch of battles occur through recaps by Optigami. Furthermore, the events of "Truth", "Lies", "Gang of Secrets" and "Mr Pigeon 72" all occur within the span of half a week (the former two occurring on the same day), so it would seem that since Ladybug discovered Magical Charms, it has been around three months since "Miracle Queen".
- Monumental Damage: Kaalki's liberal use of Voyage portals the Eiffel Tower into a desert, the Arc de Triomphe onto the Moon, and the Montparnasse tower into a volcano. All get reset, of course.
- Morphic Resonance: Optigami can perfectly blend in with any object, but its eyes don't change and must be open to transmit data back to Nathalie's tablet. This allows Adrien to spot the sentimonster while he and Marinette are trapped in the elevator, which he reveals to Marinette after the danger has passed.
- Near-Villain Victory: Shadow Moth comes extremely close to bugging Ladybug and learning where she lives, foiled only by his lack of knowledge about Alya and Nino's special high-five. Even though that plan falls through, he learns that Alya is close enough to Ladybug to be trusted with the Miraculous and the kwami, meaning he has another potential path to finding her identity.
- Never My Fault: Kaalki refuses to admit that her teleportation portals are causing any problems."I never set off catastrophes, only exceptional events."
- Nice Guy: Even after Chloé broke their friendship, Adrien still tries to keep her safe when Audrey is akumatized again.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ladybug's original plan would have almost certainly denied any opportunity to Optigami to hide on a Miraculous, because she intended to use the Bee Miraculous herself. Alya impulsively brings along the Turtle Miraculous of her own accord to recruit Nino, unaware that Shadow Moth has replaced him. Ladybug's Lucky Charm winds up exposing the deception, but it got a lot closer than it needed to and provided valuable intel to Gabriel and Nathalie about Alya's relationship with Ladybug.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Style Queen was bearing down on the elevator while Marinette and Adrien were about transform in front of both each other and Optigami, but because Nathalie sees Adrien is in there and Marinette isn't someone they're targeting, Shadow Moth redirects Style Queen elsewhere to spare his son. This not only prevents a direct win from them being turned into glitter, but also keeps him from learning their identities and saving the duo from having to reveal it in front of each other. Furthermore, Adrien spots Optigami on the wall and tells Marinette, allowing her to piece together Shadow Moth's plan at the last second. Gabriel and Nathalie's concern for Adrien cost them three different ways and also inadvertently solved a problem for their enemies.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- When Style Queen aims at Adrien, Kagami attacks her to protect him. It works but it also makes her the first victim.
- Zoé tries to save Chloé from Style Queen, but Chloé uses her as a human shield instead. Both get turned into glitter.
- Max and Luka try to lead some bystanders to safety, but it only ends up getting them taken out by Style Queen.
- Even villains suffer from this as Shadow Moth diverting Style Queen away from Adrien ends up being his undoing.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Ladybug nearly falls for Shadow Moth's plan, but Senti-Nino gives away his true nature by not knowing the special high-five he and Alya use., thanks to Ladybug's lucky charm.
- Oh, Crap!: Nathalie and Shadow Moth had this reaction after Ladybug finds out about their deception when Nino didn't return the secret handshake he and Alya did earlier.Nathalie: (shocked) That's impossible!!
Shadow Moth: (shocked) How did she figure it out?! - Power Incontinence: Without a holder, each of Kaalki's portals causes disastrous teleportation damage, like sending the Eiffel Tower into a desert.
- Promotion, Not Punishment: Alya tries to give the Fox Miraculous back after her mistake helps Shadow Moth, but Marinette instead gives it to her to wield full-time, recognizing the benefit of having an ally always on-call should she be incapacitated or otherwise unable to act herself.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Ladybug cannot possibly know Optigami exists, yet she goes to great lengths to make sure she's never seen detransforming, always has a temporary Miraculous returned to her after a duty is performed, and the chosen users are otherwise just ordinary kids doing ordinary things. There's only one weak spot that Gabriel sees that's exploitable: the moment a temporary hero returns the Miraculous to Ladybug, hoping to sneak Optigami into the returned Miraculous so it can follow her home.
- With the revelation that Shadow Moth has indeed been spying on her and her allies, Marinette makes the crucial decision to give Alya the Fox Miraculous on a permanent basis, promising to teach her everything she has learned just in case something happens to Ladybug in the future. As we've seen, Alya has saved Ladybug at least three times already ("Gang of Secrets", "Mr. Pigeon 72", and this episode) so it is clear that should Ladybug become incapacitated, Alya can at least carry on where she left off.
- Recurring Boss: This is the third time we've seen Audrey akumatized into Style Queen.
- Reduced to Dust: Unlike in her first appearance, Style Queen's glitter beam just reduces people to piles of glitter, instead of turning them into glitter statues. Since Shadow Moth wants to replace one of the heroes, it makes sense that he would want nondescript piles of glitter instead of a statue that gives away his ruse.
- Rigged Contest: Gabriel suggests that Audrey honor Adrien in her fashion model award show, knowing she's vain enough to go along with it. He then replaces Alec and has the copy reveal the deception on live television, embarrassing Audrey and rendering her vulnerable to akumatization.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: While attempting to have Style Queen target all of the temporary heroes to limit Ladybug's options, Nathalie reports that the Bee Miraculous is out because Chloé was taken down, seemingly ignoring the fact that Ladybug would never willingly trust Chloé with a Miraculous again given her prior behavior. Nathalie is unintentionally correct in spite of this because Chloé got Zoé glitterized by using her as a human shield.
- Secret Handshake: Nino and Alya have a cutesy little routine with Nino "walking" his hand up Alya's arm before delivering a high-five. This wasn't even intended to be a secret code, just a cute bit of fun between the two, but the sentimonster copy of Nino completely misses it, tipping Ladybug off to the deception.
- Sinister Surveillance: Nathalie creates the sentimonster Optigami as a Surveillance Drone, capable of possessing inanimate objects and manifesting its eyes on them, transmitting what it sees to the tablet she amokized.
- Spotting the Thread: Ladybug, having been previously advised by Adrien of a set of creepy eyes watching them, notes that Nino doesn't reciprocate Alya's secret handshake. This is enough evidence to convince her that the eyes watching her before are now directly watching her and the other heroes through Nino, whom Alya gave the Turtle Miraculous to earlier. This leads her to destroy the Turtle Miraculous with Cat Noir's Cataclysm, which releases Optigami.
- The Stinger: Unusually, after the static end card the BGM becomes distorted as the episode cuts to Gabriel and Nathalie, where Gabriel remarks on Alya's special position as Ladybug's backup, and begins planning how to get to know her...
- Trojan Horse: Shadow Moth's goal is to hide Optigami in one of the Miraculous so it can follow Ladybug home. Unfortunately for him, Ladybug catches the impostor Nino (thanks to her lucky charm)and destroys the Miraculous before he can succeed.
- Troubled Fetal Position: Alec in the bathroom as he gets duplicated.
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Marinette resists getting into an elevator with Adrien, Luka, Kagami and Max for this reason. A more serious examples later on is when she and Adrien are stuck in an elevator together during Style Queen's attack.
- The Unfought: Optigami is never fought or captured by the heroes, despite being the episode's namesake, because for most of the episode the heroes are unaware of its presence. Instead, Style Queen is the primary villain. Once Optigami is exposed, Shadow Moth dispels it because now Ladybug knows what to look for.
- The Unmasking: Marinette and Adrien come close to transforming in front of each other (and Optigami) when they are trapped in the elevator with Style Queen coming. They are saved only because Shadow Moth calls off the villain to spare his son.
- Wham Episode:
- Marinette makes Alya the permanent holder of the Fox Miraculous, because she needs someone who can act on her behalf if she is unable to.
- Gabriel realizes Alya must be far closer to Ladybug than the others, because she arrives with a free kwami and hands over the Turtle Miraculous to Nino, neither of which she'd be able to do unless Ladybug was at least as trusting of her as Cat Noir. He makes plans to learn more about her, getting him one step closer to Marinette.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Shadow Moth is thrown for a loop when Alya shows up as Rena Rouge with the Turtle Miraculous in hand, but rolls with it because he's already replaced Nino with a sentimonster copy and she's basically just handed him his opening to attach Optigami to a Miraculous.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- Shadow Moth dispels Senti-Alec after the latter has served his purpose, since he needs a free amok for the next part of his plan.
- Shadow Moth dispels Optigami and Senti-Nino once the deception has been revealed to the heroes, as there is little use in keeping either around now that the heroes know what he's up to.
