Adrien heads back to France to find Marinette, who is quite miserable without him. Meanwhile, Kagami, stuck in the same boat, is freed by Félix. Their absence doesn't go unnoticed, so Gabriel who hatches a dangerous plan to find his son; while Cat Noir is forced to fight the dreaded Nightormentor, Félix and Kagami decide it's high time for the only one who can defeat Monarch to learn the full truth...
Tropes:
- Absurd Phobia: Rose's nightmare is of an injured unicorn.
- Abusive Parents:
- Félix explains how Colt, resenting his failing health being the cost of Félix's existence, would berate him as a "monster" and use the amok to control him out of pettiness, thus driving Félix to secure his freedom at any cost.
- Gabriel and Tomoe take their controlling nature to the very extreme, basically locking both Adrien and Kagami down in prison cells after the duo independently escape their hotel rooms.
- Juleka's nightmare is of Jagged smashing her guitar.
- A Day in the Limelight: While Marinette's predicament is still in focus, Cat Noir and the Resistance are the ones to fight and defeat Nightormentor.
- Arranged Marriage:
- Amelie decided to marry Colt, a powerful but cold-hearted weapons dealer, in order to appease her parents who wanted their children to marry someone with power.
- Gabriel and Tomoe appear to be trying to force one on Adrien and Kagami, ordering them to appear in public as a couple despite having broken up months ago and both of them currently being in relationships with other people.
- Bland-Name Product: Adrien watches news of the situation in Paris on the BBD News channel.
- Born of Magic: Félix is revealed to be a sentimonster, created through a Mystical Pregnancy given to his mother through the use of the Peacock Miraculous. It's indicated through the peacock imagery that Adrien is one too.
- Breaking Old Trends: Whenever an akumatized villain was fought, it was against either Cat Noir and Ladybug, or just Ladybug. Even when Cat Noir seemingly fought a villain by himself, he was either getting help from Ladybug (like in "Weredad") or fighting alongside a different Ladybug wielder (as in "Hack-San"). This is the first time that Cat Noir has faced a villain entirely on his own, with Ladybug only showing up well after to purify the akuma.
- Break Them by Talking: After being hit with Nightormentor's nightmare-inducing gas, Cat Noir is almost talked into giving up his Miraculous to Nightormentor in exchange for breaking the spell.
- Brutal Honesty: As Adrien laments being stuck in London away from Marinette, he wonders how the situation came to this. Plagg bluntly replies that it's because he's allowed Gabriel to control his life (ignorant as to how and why he can), then immediately apologizes for being too direct. His words end up encouraging Adrien to flee to Paris and tell Marinette the truth.
- Calling the Old Man Out: As Cat Noir, Adrien beats down on Nightormentor and tells him he is an abusive, controlling parent. This falls on deaf ears, of course.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mr. Armand D'Argencourt is running against Ms. Bustier, just as he did against André Bourgeois all the way back in season 1's "Darkblade". Perhaps he feels he has a better shot against a newcomer.
- As established in "Crocoduel", Juleka’s worst fear is not being loved by her father.
- Kagami (acting as Colt Fathom) telling Félix "No!" is similar to Gabriel doing the same thing to Adrien in "Adoration".
- Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Emilie eloped with Gabriel and left her life as a noblewoman behind, but ultimately had to come back because it was the only way to afford the treatments that might cure her infertility.
- Deal with the Devil: Gabriel's deal with Colt is framed in this fashion, offering him the chance to give Amelie a child with the promise that Gabriel would receive Colt's best "knight" for his own son (implied to be The Gorilla). It's unclear if Gabriel knew the dangers at the time, but due to the Peacock Miraculous being damaged, this deal ultimately cost Colt his life.
- Defiant to the End: Nathalie, lying on her deathbed, sharply tells Gabriel that Adrien is bound to escape his control someday and his schemes will inevitably fail.
- Detonation Moon: The moon has been split in two by Anticat's power in Cat Noir's nightmare.
- Double-Meaning Title:
- The news talks about Ms. Bustier running for mayor against Mr. d'Argencourt, so voters will get to determine their next representative, and Kagami and Félix put on a play where they represent Félix's grandparents, parents, aunt, and uncle.
- The title also reflects the nature of a Sentimonster as an embodiment of its creator's emotion at the time being created, such as Félix being the product of Colt's jealousy towards his sister-in-law and her husband.
- Dramatic Irony: Gabriel tells Chat Noir that he is as unruly as his son and requires the same discipline.
- The Dutiful Son: Gender-Inverted, Amelie did as her parents expected of her despite not being the firstborn, though she did eventually become their heir once Emilie ran off with Gabriel.
- Exposition Beam: Félix and Kagami's sentimonster creates a stylized play for Marinette that teaches her about Adrien and Félix's backgrounds before asking for her help as Ladybug. When it's done, it disappears and she's left alone in the art room, the only trace of its presence being a feather that flies out of the room.
- Failed a Spot Check: It's a good thing the Resistance interrupted Nightormentor from taking Cat Noir's ring, because he apparently failed to notice he still had his Cataclysm active.
- Funny Background Event: While Marinette is chasing "Adrien", Mr. Damocles can be seen bouncing on the trampoline.
- Hypocrite: Félix previously refused to create a sentimonster to help evade Magati Gozen, citing his belief that creating life only to then discard it once it serves its purpose is wrong. He does precisely that in this episode, creating Once Upon a Time as a roundabout way to convey important information to Marinette without actually revealing that he and Kagami know she's Ladybug, then dispelling it once he's finished. To be fair, he might have decided there was simply no other way to get the info to her without tipping her off that they knew her identity or risking a third party also finding out, while he had other ways of dealing with Magati Gozen and could count on Ladybug and Cat Noir to help.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Once again, Juleka mumbles her lines in the French dub, upon seeing Rose get targeted by Nightormentor. This time, however, her mumblings are slightly more understandable, given the vowels she mumbles sound close enough to "Qu'est-ce que vous lui avez fait?!" ("What have you done to her?!") and "Jamais!" ("Never!")
- Internal Reveal:
- Félix and Kagami's play indicates that Gabriel is a key player in the conflict. They don't outright state that he's Monarch, or even use his name for that matter, but Marinette has certainly been pointed in his direction.
- A quick flashback shows that Kagami learned that Marinette is Ladybug during the events of "Perfection", which she shares with Félix in this episode.
- Missed Him by That Much: Félix lures Marinette away from the party moments before Adrien arrives there as Astrocat. Near the end of the episode, Adrien jets off as Astrocat from Marinette's roof after his nightmares convince him not to speak with her, and a few moments later Marinette comes up as Ladybug to deal with the captured akuma, failing to notice Astrocat flying off.
- Mystical Pregnancy: The Peacock Miraculous was implicitly used to induce pregnancy in Emilie and explicitly used to do the same in Amelie.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As well-meaning as their attempt to inform Marinette is, Félix and Kagami ultimately prove to be a distraction that separates Marinette and Adrien just long enough for Gabriel's interference to derail Adrien's attempt to tell Marinette the truth. Furthermore, by innocently trapping Marinette in their Exposition Beam, she's left unavailable for the battle with Nightormentor and can't use her World-Healing Wave to cure Adrien from the effects of nightmare gas, which scares him out of telling Marinette the truth after the danger has passed.
- Nightmare Sequence: After being hit by Nightormentor's gas, Cat Noir imagines himself as Anticat on a devastated Earth where his power has killed everyone he loves and cracked the moon in half for good measure. He is cradling Ladybug's ashen corpse in his arms before it dissolves into dust.
- Oh, Crap!: Marinette is shocked with surprise when she learns that Adrien and his cousin are sentimonsters.
- Once More, with Clarity: In "Perfection", when Marinette was unloading on Alya about being scared of messing up again and losing her Miraculous, it turns out Kagami was within earshot and heard enough to learn Marinette's secret.
- Once Upon a Time: The sentimonster Argos creates is named after the phrase and begins the fairy tale of the Graham de Vanily Sisters using the phrase.
- Pietà Plagiarism: Cat Noir's nightmare has him doing this with Ladybug, who has been reduced to a statue by his power. She then dissolves in his arms.
- Pillow Pregnancy: Pillows are used as a quick way to represent pregnancy in Félix and Kagami's play.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cat Noir gives a scathing one to Gabriel's parenting skills.Cat Noir: And if I were your son, I'd tell you you can't always make decisions for people. that to have a child is to help them blossom, to grow, to find themselves and to be free! (...) I feel sorry for your son.
- Rebellious Princess:
- Emilie was defiant and free-spirited in her youth, frequently earning the ire of her parents by escaping home and exploring the world outside.
- Played straight with Kagami, who escapes with Félix and tries to help Marinette foil Gabriel's plans. Subverted with Adrien, who tries to rebel, only to be infected by Nightormentor's fear gas and scared into compliance before he can follow through.
- Relationship Upgrade: Félix and Kagami are now in a romantic relationship sometime after he abducted her.
- The Reveal:
- Kagami knows that Marinette is Ladybug, having figured it out during the events of "Perfection" after overhearing Marinette speaking with Alya about losing the Miraculous. She has also revealed this information to Félix.
- Félix is a Sentimonster created by his father, whose death was the result of using a still-damaged Peacock Miraculous. The peacock imagery used to represent Emilie's pregnancy strongly implies that Adrien is one too via Emilie, hence why she's being kept in stasis.
- Riding the Bomb: Colt does this as part of Félix and Kagami's play, Félix's way of indicating his profession as an arms dealer.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Kagami reveals that she overheard Marinette talking about how she lost the Miraculous in "Perfection", which made it obvious she is actually Ladybug. Despite being akumatized twice since then (one in that episode and the other in "Protection"), she kept it from both Marinette and Monarch, only choosing to inform Félix now because they need Ladybug's help.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Adrien runs away from his father and tries to find Marinette so he can confess to her that he's Cat Noir...but being subjected to Nightormentor's power causes him to decide not to proceed and return to London.
- The Stinger: The final scene has Gabriel and Tomoe locking away their children into solitary confinement while declaring that it's time to begin Operation Perfect Alliance.
- Stunned Silence: Adrien goes into one when Nightormentor responds to his "Reason You Suck" Speech by telling him his son is perfectly happy, realizing how truly oblivious/uncaring of his suffering his father really is. Unfortunately this hesitation gives Nightormentor the opportunity to get him with his magic powder.
- Tempting Fate: As she's riding the elevator to the party, Marinette hopes that no one will notice her. Cue spotlight as soon as she exits the elevator.
- That Thing Is Not My Child!: Colt took this attitude toward Félix after his body started succumbing to the effects of the damaged Peacock Miraculous, calling him "monster".
- Title Drop: At the end of the episode, Gabriel says that "it's time to put an end to the adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir," referencing the subtitle of the show.
- Travelling at the Speed of Plot:
- Adrien decides to fly back to Paris as Astrocat, and around the same time Félix shows up to take Kagami with him to Paris. Unless he learned how to make the transformation potions from Nathalie's tablet in "Strikeback" and transformed offscreen (and even if he did, would have to fly slower with an unprotected passenger), Félix would have to travel with Kagami by conventional means much slower than Astrocat's flight, yet somehow he and Kagami beat Adrien to the party by several minutes.
- Adrien's story begins after he's taken a plane ride to London and gotten settled into his hotel room, but when we first see Marinette it's seconds after we saw her last episode. Granted, it's a one-hour flight plus however long getting settled took, but Marinette couldn't have spent that long driving to the party on her scooter from the airport.
- Trying Not to Cry: Marinette tries to hold back her tears during the party after losing Adrien in the previous episode. Félix impersonating his cousin and reminding her of Adrien foils that plan.
- The Unreveal: It's revealed that with the Peacock Miraculous, Emelie and Colt created Adrien and Felix respectively, but it's still not known who used it to create Kagami.
- Villain No Longer Idle: Tomoe demands Gabriel akumatize her to find Kagami, but Gabriel insists on handling this one personally and akumatizes himself into Nightormentor so he can find Adrien first.
- Wham Episode: Félix is revealed to be a Sentimonster, with a heavy implication that Adrien is as well, and Kagami has known Marinette is Ladybug since the events of "Perfection".
- World-Healing Wave: Averted. Since Ladybug wasn't present for the Nightormentor fight and didn't actually know anything about the villain when she purifies the akuma, she is unable to remove the nightmares inflicted on Rose, Juleka, and Adrien. Adrien still has visions of the nightmares near the end of the episode.
- You Are Grounded!: Gabriel and Tomoe punish their children by forcing them into rooms fit for solitary confinement. Apparently this is so they won't be involved in Operation Perfect Alliance.
- Your Makeup Is Running: Due to her stress, Marinette's mascara is running as she follows "Adrien" through Paris.
