Marinette conspires to crash the Diamonds' Dance to talk to Adrien, but someone else has their own plan to make a scene.
Tropes:
- Almost Kiss: Marinette and Adrien nearly kiss at the beginning, but Adrien is called away before it happens. At least Gabriel isn't magically compelling him this time.
- Anti-Villain: The category Argos ultimately falls into. His only goal is creating a world in which Kagami, Adrien and himself are free, and a world where Gabriel is no longer an obstacle to Adrien’s happiness or his relationship with Marinette. This enables Ladybug to break him by talking.
- Asshole Victim: The first people Argos snaps away are the snobby jerks at the Diamonds' Dance, with special mention going to Chloé and Gabriel.
- Association Fallacy: Gabriel tells Adrien that the disaster at the dance is proof that Marinette is a bad influence, despite the fact that her sneaking in had nothing to do with Félix's plan, though he is just looking for an excuse to push her aside rather than having any genuine concern.
- Ambiguous Situation: While Félix has told Amelie about his identity as Argos, it is unclear if he's told her that Emilie's practically dead and trussed up like a museum piece in an underground chamber.
- Badass Fingersnap: When someone is touched by Red Moon's light, Argos can make them disappear with a snap of his fingers. He can even disappear many of them at once.
- Badass Normal: All it takes for Argos to back down are two powerless but very angry teenagers in Adrien and Kagami. They chew him out on snapping away everyone without even considering their own loved ones and convince him to revert everything to normal. Bonus points for Adrien not even transforming into Cat Noir in the episode.
- Bad Moon Rising: Red Moon, the Sentimonster of the episode, is a crimson orb that Argos created through his hatred and anger towards Gabriel. Anybody caught under her red light is subjected to Argos's will, who can make them disappear and reappear at will with a snap of his fingers.
- Bait-and-Switch: When infiltrating the Diamond's Dance, Marinette is spotted hiding behind a pillar spying on "Adrien" by a security guard, but it turns he only wanted to tell her where to find the Dance's entrance.
- Batman Gambit: When her Lucky Charm produces nothing, Ladybug's vision lights up Argos and she willingly allows him to snap her out of existence, betting his "victory" will be hollow.
- Black-Tie Infiltration: Marinette uses Zoé's invitation to sneak into the dance. Meanwhile, Félix pretends to be Adrien to do the same.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Despite reluctantly tolerating Adrien and Marinette's relationship in previous episodes, if only because Nathalie wouldn't allow him to ruin it directly, Gabriel puts his foot down here and insists to Adrien that he doesn't want to hear about Marinette after she crashes the Diamonds' Dance, and further tells Nathalie to make sure she no longer interferes.
- Brutal Honesty:
- When Lila asks why she wasn't invited to the Diamonds' Dance, Kagami bluntly replies, in metaphor, that Lila isn't important enough to attend. She then apologizes for being too direct and adds that she doesn't think of Lila that way but her mother and Gabriel do.
- Gabriel likewise compares Lila to a perfume bottle, part of his brand but hardly anything special, which is why he didn't invite her.
- Call-Back: Félix sings the same song that Gabriel danced to back in "Deflagration". This version is translated into English for the dub, since Félix is actually singing it instead of just dancing to the beat as Gabriel did.
- Capture and Replicate: Félix uses Red Moon to capture Adrien, then pretends to be him to sneak into the Diamonds' Dance.
- Category Traitor: Chloé considers Adrien a class traitor for dating Marinette.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Félix is implied to have one, as during his fight with Ladybug, he states he was controlled and excluded all his life and wants to free the world from that.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Ladybug allows herself to be snapped by Félix, knowing that he won't be able to find Marinette after and hoping he will rethink his plan.
- Domino Mask: Everyone at the Diamonds' Dance wears one, doubling as the invitation to the event. It's enough for Chloé to not recognize Marinette once she's dressed up, although Kagami and Félix do.
- Double-Meaning Title: Félix lets his emotion of hatred overcome him, only to have an emotional breakdown when he realizes his mistake. Also, he takes the form of Argos using the Miraculous of Emotion.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Félix seeks the Miraculous of Destruction and Creation to make a wish. In his scheme to acquire them, he poofs Adrien out of existence and wears a copy of Adrien's ring, unknowingly imitating the very item he seeks to steal.
- Gabriel declares that Marinette is causing him almost as much trouble as Ladybug.
- Drunk On The Darkside: While Félix isn't a good person, as Argos he is clearly on a power trip when he starts to sing and dance while snapping random Parisians out of existence.
- Entitled Bitch: Apparently, Lila didn't get the memo that the Diamonds Dance was only for Paris' elite and their children. Given her massive ego, it never occurred to her that just because she's the face of the Gabriel brand doesn't mean she would be afforded any special treatment.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Argos may be fine with making a city's entire population disappear, but he still cares about Adrien. And when it seems like he accidentally killed his cousin's girlfriend, he freaks out and lets everyone go.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Ladybug attacks Argos with a ferocity she doesn't normally have, blaming him for Monarch taking all of the Miraculous when he wasn't even akumatized.
- Evil Versus Evil: On top of the pre-existing conflict between Gabriel and Félix, tensions are shown to be rising between pretty much all the shows antagonists at this point: Amelie is still secretly helping Félix and when she asks Nathalie why she would still work for someone as cruel as him, she has no answer because she's not truly loyal to him anymore. Also throughout the episode Lila pesters Gabriel over not inviting her to the Diamonds' Dance until he makes it very clear to her that he was never going to invite her because he doesn't see her as an equal, the episode ends with her standing outside his mansion swearing vengeance on Monarch.
- Foreshadowing: Adrien is seemingly confused by Kagami's ring, which makes her suspicious, and at the same time Amelie shows up to confront Gabriel, accusing him of doing nothing to help find Félix, who has been missing for weeks.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: Not only is there no Akumatized villain, but Gabriel isn't even the main antagonist of the episode. Félix is the one who causes the main conflict. There's also no World-Healing Wave because Ladybug doesn't get a Lucky Charm - instead her plan relies on getting Argos to willingly bring everyone back. Cat Noir doesn't even transform, with Adrien being gone for most of the episode.
- Ghost City: Argos captures nearly everyone in Paris, briefly resulting in a quiet city with completely empty streets.
- Group Hug: Once Marinette is returned safe and sound after her risky Batman Gambit, she detransforms and runs to Adrien and Kagami, who were worried sick about her and angrily confronting Argos. The three promptly hug each other tightly out of joy.
- I Did What I Had to Do: This is Félix's response to being called out for his betrayal at the end of season 4, giving Monarch the majority of the Miraculous. Félix claims he did it because it was the only way to get the Peacock for his own purposes (and also says that Ladybug's strict control of them makes her no better in his eyes), but he's no friend of Monarch.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Félix when posing as Adrien and greeting the Tsurugis, tries to kiss Kagami's hand to her surprise, but he stops when noticing her ring, and realizes something that surprised him.
- I Lied: Félix, despite assuring his uncle he wouldn't use the Peacock Miraculous against him during their deal in "Strikeback", here he has has no problem with making his uncle disappear to free Adrien from him.
- Instant Costume Change: Walking through the doorways of light at the Diamonds' Dance instantly changes a person's outfit into a fancy suit or dress.
- Irony: In "Gabriel Agreste", the titular Sentimonster told Félix that he only needed to snap his fingers to make him disappear. In this episode Félix creates a Sentimonster who helps him to make the real Gabriel disappear with a snap of his fingers.
- Karma: In "Gabriel Agreste", Gabriel (through his titular sentimonster) threatened Félix with making him disappear with a snap of his fingers, here Félix makes his real uncle disappear with his sentimonster with a snap of his fingers.
- Kill All Humans: Using Red Moon, Argos planned to do this to free Adrien, Kagami and Marinette and would create a world where no one was controlled by anyone. Downplayed, however, as Argos had the ability to return anyone at any time, so he wouldn't have the guilt of actually killing anyone on his conscience.
- Kick the Dog: Gabriel didn't invite his sister-in-law to the Diamonds' Dance, let alone put any effort into helping her find her son. While Amelie knew Félix was alright, Gabriel didn’t know that, and Gabriel's actions convince Amelie that he’s a monster.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In "Strike Back", Félix tricked Ladybug which dealt a serious blow to her confidence as a Guardian and her feelings for Adrien, effectively causing her to break down in tears. Here Ladybug, without even trying, tricks Argos into thinking he can't bring Marinette back, causing him to abandon his plan, destroy Red Moon and break down into tears himself.
- Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Félix has nothing but disdain for Ladybug seeing her as just as controlling as everyone else with how she micromanaged the Miraculous and chose who did and didn't have powers and how they were allowed to use them. On the flip side he actually seems pretty fond of Marinette for how she cares for Adrien and tells her not to listen to the elites putting her down and rescues her from the dance and intends for her to be one of the few spared his wrath. When it seems like he accidentally erased her too and can't bring her back (because he snapped away Ladybug and he doesn't realize they're the same person), he decides to give up his plan and bring everyone back.
- Mama Bear: Amelie is very protective of her son and becomes eternally enraged at Gabriel for refusing to help find him.
- Masquerade Ball: The Diamonds' Dance is an annual society ball for the heirs of the rich and powerful. Everyone wears white masks that match their outfits.
- Mercy Kill: Argos realizes that Red Moon is too dangerous since he made her from anger and is worried he may not be able to return everyone he snaps away. He recalls her Amok, then breaks down in tears.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon realizing that he cannot bring back Marinette, Argos is utterly shocked and undoes his plan.
- Not a Game: This is used to defeat Argos. Part of his willingness to erase everyone who opposes him is that he knows he can bring any of them back, so there's seemingly no consequences to his behavior. Ladybug allows him to snap her away, knowing that he'll be unable to find Marinette and assume he permanently got rid of her, only showing herself after he's restored everyone else. Even the idea that he could accidentally kill someone is enough to get him to stop.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ladybug is uncharacteristically aggressive towards Argos, going on the offense and trying to physically strike him instead of her usual defensive style. Of course this comes after he betrayed her in the previous season finale by stealing all the Miraculouses she was responsible for and causing her to suffer a mental and emotional breakdown due to that failure, not to mention using the Peacock Miraculous and having caused her boyfriend to disappear so it's understandable that she'd still be a little ticked off at him.
- Out-of-Character Alert: When "Adrien" calls the other attendees of the dance "monsters", Marinette realizes that he's not really Adrien, and concludes that he's actually Félix. Also, earlier in the dance, "Adrien" tries to flirt with Kagami and even asks her to escape from the dance with him, despite "his" relationship with Marinette.
- Out of Focus: Adrien and Gabriel are all but minor characters here.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Marinette has a simple mask, dress, and her hair in a bun, and yet Chloé is totally unable to recognize her.
- Peacock Girl: Gender-Inverted. Félix uses the Peacock Miraculous to become the supervillain Argos.
- Pet the Dog: Félix places Marinette in a trash can to protect her from the Red Moon, knowing how much Adrien cares for her. Ladybug exploits this by making him think he accidentally snapped her out of existence and can't bring her back, showing him the price of his villainy when it seemingly has consequences.
- The Power of Hate: Red Moon was created and is empowered by Argos's anger and hatred towards his uncle. In fact, this hatred is the very reason why Argos wipes her out of existence; she risks becoming too strong to control should she exist long enough.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: It's revealed that Lila is well aware that Gabriel is Monarch, while he is clearly ignorant that she knows.
- Secret Test of Character: Félix told Amelie to tell Gabriel how heartless he has become while pleading him to help her find her missing son. Since he barely reacted and had her removed from the gala, Amelie realizes that he truly is terrible.
- Ship Tease: During the Diamonds' Dance, Kagami is thrilled by how confident and assertive "Adrien" has become (like she always wanted), while "Adrien" seems eager to flirt and dance with her, and reluctantly turns away for Marinette instead to keep up the ruse.
- When Marinette first finds out about the dance and the guest list, she sounds disappointed Zoe is on the list because she and Zoe were supposed to see a movie that night, sounding like someone who got stood up. The next time we see Marinette, she's at the movies with Zoe who is telling Marinette why she'd rather not be at the dance and would rather be at the movies with Marinette, all while getting close to and touching Marinette. Keep in mind this all is happening in the episode immediately following Zoe telling Marinette that she's in love with Marinette. You'd be forgiven for thinking this is a date for them and not just friends hanging out.
- Silly Song: Felix's singing comes out of nowhere. It is plot relevant (he's snapping people away while singing about it), so it's not a
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. He doesn't attempt to justify why he's suddenly singing, so it's not That Reminds Me of a Song. Plenty more happens after the song, so it's not a Sudden Musical Ending. He just...bursts into a catchy tune, then goes right on with the episode after it ends. - Sizeshifter: Red Moon is capable of changing her size from as tiny as a marble to as a big as a satellite.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Argos sings and dances to "Snap of my Fingers", the same song that Gabriel danced to in "Deflagration".
- The Stinger: Lila, revealed to be in front of the Argeste estate, upset over Gabriel lashing out on her as she vows to show him while referring to him as Monarch.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: The Diamonds' Dance guards scan invisible QR codes on the masks to identify guests, without any sort of facial match to confirm their identity. Marinette is able to get past the first checkpoint using Zoé's mask, and the guards don't even blink. Even the security robots inside the main venue are useless, using the same identification measures.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Marinette and Adrien finally eat one of André’s ice cream cones without any drama. The man is so happy he proceeds to ride off into the sunset.
- Too Powerful to Live: Argos destroys Red Moon due to how powerful she is and how risky it would be were he to lose control of that power.
- Upper-Class Twit: All the other kids at the dance behave very similarly to Chloé. The reason Zoé didn't want to go to the dance is because she says it's "a party for brain-eating zombies".
- Utopia Justifies the Means: This turns out to be Argos' plan. He'll either obtain Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses and use the wish to create a better world where no one can be controlled by anyone else... or else settle for snapping everyone out of existence except himself and his loved ones.
- Villain Song: Argos performs a rendition of his uncle's theme "Snapping my Fingers" while erasing people on the street.
- Wham Line:
- Argos, realizing his mistake, breaks down, knowing he'll have to destroy Red Moon while calling his creation "sister".
- Lila reveals to the audience that she knows Gabriel is Monarch.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: For once, when Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, she receives nothing. While Félix takes it as a sign that nothing can stop him, Ladybug quickly realizes that the only thing needed to beat Félix is Félix himself.
- World-Healing Wave: Averted. Ladybug doesn't receive a Lucky Charm, and thus can't use this power. Even if she had, she detransforms as part of her gambit. Instead, Argos frees the people he captured, and the small amount of damage caused in his fight with Ladybug is repaired by construction workers.
- Xanatos Gambit: What Argos's plan is when it comes to Ladybug. Either she gives up her Miraculous and he gets his wish, or he causes her to disappear and remains unopposed in snapping the rest of the world.
- You Killed My Father: Kagami becomes vengeful towards Argos after he snaps her mother in front of her.
- You Monster!: Said multiple times. Félix says that the rich brats that were judging Marinette were monsters, Kagami calls Argos a monster for snapping away her mother, and Amelie says Gabriel is a monster for not bothering to help her find Félix.
- You Will Be Spared: Argos planned to either use the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses to create a new world where no one can control anyone else, or else settle on snapping everyone out of existence except himself, Adrien, Kagami, Marinette, and his mother so they can all be free. When he believes he snapped Marinette out of existence and is unable to bring her back, he's so distraught that he gives up his plan.
