I'll always love my mama, she's my favorite girl. You only get one, you only get one, yeah, I'll always love my mama, she brought me in this world.Or… ''
When Sabine Cheng is arrested by a bullying bus conductor, she is akumatized into Qilin - a free spirited but angry villain who wants to blow away any and all injustice in the world, quite literally. How will Ladybug fare when face to face with her own mother?!
Tropes:
- Accomplice by Inaction: By the end of the episode, Ladybug/Marinette forces Roger to see that he allowed injustice by allowing the unnamed ticket inspector to harass, antagonize, and escalate tensions with Sabine rather than stand up for her or give her a chance to prove her innocence.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: After Cat Noir Cataclysms a manhole cover and swipes Roger's keys, Roger chases after him shouting about the crimes of "Destruction of public property, theft of authority's equipment, absurd little cat ears and bell!".
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Sabine's POV shows her examining the layout of the bus and noting that it's approaching a red light, which means that the driver will brake soon. She then takes out one of her paintbrushes and places it on the ground. Sure enough, the driver hits the brakes, making the jackass occupying the accessible seat and the man in the wheelchair switch positions: the former loses his balance because he's holding his phone instead of the handrail and stumbles forward when he steps on the paintbrush, and the latter rolls backwards because he can't secure his wheelchair.
- Big Eater: The final screen of the episode shows Marinette and Sabine out for their planned dim sum lunch. Marinette has a very impressive pile of empty dim sum steamers in front of her and appears to be signalling the restaurant staff for more.
- Blow You Away: Qilin's powers are based on the natural element of wind/air. They act like straight up telekinesis in practice, letting her move objects simply through her tai chi gestures.
- Bystander Syndrome: No one on the bus intervenes when the ticket inspector arrests Sabine, even though they all saw Marinette with her when Sabine drew attention to herself by scolding the man occupying the accessible seat.
- Calling Your Attacks: Qilin precedes the use of her powers or even just catching Cat Noir's staff with a usually-grandiose phrase. Lampshaded by Cat Noir who at one point distracts her by complimenting that her nicknames for her attacks are quite poetic and he'd like to know where she gets her inspiration for them. She responds with a considerably less poetic one:Qilin: Crush the cat!
Cat Noir: Whoah! (dodging for dear life) Not such a fan of this one! - The Cameo: Lila and Nadja Chamack are students in Sabine's painting class.
- Cassandra Truth: Sabine insists that Marinette has her purse containing her tickets, money, and ID, but the inspector refuses to believe her. Roger also refuses to aid her in proving her innocence, such as contacting or waiting for her daughter to corroborate her story.
- Clingy Macguffin: Downplayed - the handcuffs on Sabine stay with her akumatized form (and are even also transformed to look different) and her goal while akumatized is to have them removed. However...they're deep down still just normal handcuffs that the right keys for them could unlock. As she puts it, it's about the principle of matter for getting Roger to admit that her handcuffs should be taken off.
- A Day in the Limelight: The focus of the episode is on Sabine Cheng, who is so centered in her mannerisms and composure she is able to accurately predict almost everything her daughter and husband will need and do, such as Marinette falling down the stairs, spilling milk and asking to go to lunch with her.
- Dirty Coward: The ticket inspector spends much of his screentime hiding behind Roger (long before Sabine gets akumatized) while adding more and more fuel to the fire from behind his safe space.
- Fighting Back Is Wrong: Roger sees the ticket inspector gleefully antagonize a woman he knows is honorable over something as trivial as a missing bus ticket, yet is quick to condemn, arrest, and call reinforcements against that same woman for daring to stand up for herself.
- Hate Sink:
- The ticket inspector starts out as a bullying jerk who goes way out of his way to get Sabine in trouble. Eventually, after a harrowing experience with Qilin and with some prodding from other characters, he finally acts a bit more reasonably and opts to cancel all his unfair decisions.
- The jerk who refuses to make way for a man in a wheelchair and enjoys watching Sabine being in trouble.
- Heroic Willpower: Similar to Miss Bustier, Sabine resists akumatization at first, until Shadow Moth changes tactics and empathizes with her situation.
- Honor Before Reason: Ladybug calls out Qilin and Officer Roger for their Escalating War over a couple of bus tickets. They both respond that it's not about the tickets; this has become a matter of principle now. Roger won't back down unless Qilin surrenders, even though she's tossing everything they throw at her aside like ragdolls. And Qilin won't surrender unless Roger removes her handcuffs —whether she might be able to break them on her own is irrelevant, she wants him to remove them and is willing to fight an army until he does.
- Hope Spot: When Roger shows up, Sabine hopes her troubles will be over since he's a cop who knows she's telling the truth about having a daughter but he instead says he must follow procedure.
- Idiot Ball: Sabine doesn't consider asking the bus driver or any passengers who saw her get on the bus with Marinette to back up her story.
- Improbable Weapon User: Cat Noir's umbrella makes a return but this time he actually uses it for combat, deflecting objects thrown by Qilin.
- Improbably Predictable: Sabine is incredibly good at predicting Marinette's actions and mistakes. At the beginning of the episode, she puts a laundry basket at the bottom of the stairs to cushion Marinette's landing predicting that she will fall, puts a sponge on the floor in the exact spot she predicts Marinette will spill her milk, leaves a magazine on the table opened to an ad for shoes predicting that Marinette will ask to go shopping for a new pair, and makes a reservation at a dim sum restaurant predicting that Marinette will want to get dim sum for lunch while they're out on said shopping trip.
- It's All My Fault: At the end, Marinette blames herself for the incident and agrees to pay the fine as recompense...though she has to borrow money from Sabine for this at the moment.
- Jerkass Ball: Roger is extremely unreasonable, supports the ticket inspector's questionable and even illegal actions, treats Sabine like a criminal until she gets akumatized, and keeps getting in the way of the heroes who try to save the city.
- Jerkass Realization: After getting a pep talk from Ladybug and Cat Noir, Roger realizes that he was being a jerk to Sabine and decides to wait for Marinette to arrive and confirm Sabine's story.
- Just Following Orders: Said verbatim in the English dub, where Ladybug asks random police grunts why they're trying to detain Sabine/Qilin. Given the unjust nature of the attempted arrest...
- Karma Houdini: The ticket inspector does not get any punishment or even a verbal reprimand for his incredibly bigoted actions in this episode.
- Lawful Stupid: Roger flies headlong into this when he refuses to cooperate with Ladybug's demands to let up on Qilin, prioritizing a minor bus violation over stopping a rampaging supervillain.
- The Lopsided Arm of the Law: Roger doesn't use his authority to tell ticket inspector to back off and give Sabine a chance to prove her innocence, but he is quick to condemn, arrest, and threaten to bring reinforcements against Sabine for daring to verbally defend herself.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The riot police approaching Qilin try this and approach her in testudo-like formations
◊ as real riot police will do, but it turns out shields don't help against a supervillain magically harnessing wind to blow you all away. They do the same formation when Ladybug claims she'll take Roger's keys away by force. - Noble Demon: Sabine absolutely refuses to hurt anyone, even through Shadow Moth's akumatization. As such, her attacks, while devastating leave nobody injured (...if improbably). When Ladybug offers to free Qilin from her handcuffs, no strings attached, Sabine is able to break her akumatization and return to normal.
- No Endor Holocaust: After Qilin knocks the nets fired out by helicopters toward her back at them, the nets engulf the helicopters and causes them to all fall into a river they were flying over, only leaving their operators a bit dazed when they get on top of their choppers in the water.
- No Sympathy: No one on the bus comes to Sabine's aid when she's clearly targeted by a gleefully abusive authority figure who's jumping at any excuse to get her in trouble; not the bus driver she gave snacks, not the wheelchair-using man she helped, and not even Roger who knows her and her daughter.
- Oh, Crap!: The guards surrounding Sabine completely spread out from her after the akuma approaches her, and then scatter after the akumatization fully occurs.
- Oh Look, More Rooms!: At the start of the episode, we are shown a new laundry room that fits in beside the stairs to Marinette's bedroom, apparently hidden behind a screen until now. It also has a narrow interior stairway that leads down to the floor below, with the bathroom and the parent's bedroom.
- One-Woman Army: Qilin has wind-manipulating powers so powerful they border on telekinesis. She takes on the Parisian police, SWAT, and several army helicopters, all with her hands tied (albeit involuntarily). She wins — easily, and without moving an inch.
- Parents Know Their Children: Sabine knows Marinette so well that she can predict exactly where she'll fall down the stairs in the morning (leaving a laundry basket to cushion her fall), where she'll spill milk (leaving a sponge on the floor to catch the drips), and accurately predict how long to distract the bus driver until Marinette can reach the bus. She's also never surprised by Marinette being late or forgetful.
- Silly Reason for War: Officer Roger and Qilin start an all-out war against each other in the middle of Paris over a couple of bus tickets. Ladybug points out the absurdity of the situation, only to be shouted down by both of them:Qilin & Officer Roger: (simultaneously) It's not about the tickets; it's a matter of principle!
- Slippery Skid: Sabine causes a jerk who refuses to move out of an accessible spot on the bus to fall out of that spot by placing one of her paintbrushes on the ground so it ends up under his foot when the bus comes to a stop at the light.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Roger starts off as simply trying to do his job while remaining personally sympathetic to his daughter's classmate's mother. Subverted when he lets the situation escalate more and more until Sabine gets arrested and handcuffed like a dangerous criminal. Then he even outdoes himself when he keeps getting into Ladybug's and Cat Noir's way when they are trying to stop Qilin's rampage and solve the situation peacefully.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Roger has this dilemma: follow the letter of the law and inflict a fine and identity check on Sabine, or stand up for a friend who he knows is telling the truth?
- Talking the Monster to Death: Ladybug convinces Qilin to deakumatize herself by bringing her the keys and promises to free her.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Sabine helps a man in a wheelchair and he does nothing to defend her from the ticket inspector.
- Very Special Episode: The episode very blatantly focuses on confronting injustices and abuses of power in the world, which given the context at the time and the victim's ethnicity, is specifically highlighting racial injustices and prejudice even if the word "racism" is never uttered.
- Villainy-Free Villain: The ticket inspector is technically doing his lawful duty in enforcing the bus fare (at least until he forcefully rips Sabine's purse away from her), but he makes up for it by being as much of an asshole about it as humanly possible.
- With My Hands Tied: Qilin is akumatized with cuffs on, so her cuffs become part of her outfit, essentially binding her hands like Techno-Pirate before her. It doesn't hinder her in combat one bit.
