Bug Noire and Monarch have their final battle.
Tropes:
- Absurd Phobia: Uncle Wang’s nightmare is that his restaurant will become a fast food outlet.
- Abusive Parents: Alec’s nightmare implies that his dad was the one who shaved his hair off, and that he did so maliciously.
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Alix pronounces Su-Han’s martial art as “mirror kung-fu”, as opposed to him using “me-rack-ung-fu”.
- Aesop Amnesia: The biggest lesson that Marinette took away back in the season 4 finale was that she should be careful about who she trusts, as Félix, who she thought was Adrien at the time, took advantage of her trust and betrayed her for his own gain. Seeing vulnerability in the man who's been terrorizing Paris for over a year and has done nothing to earn her trust, Marinette makes the same mistake and detransforms to offer him her sympathies and suggest they work together for a better outcome, which Gabriel exploits to go out on his terms. It may be a positive outcome, but it just as easily could have gone wrong.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Given Lila snuck into the pool in Emilie's tomb and retrieved the Butterfly Miraculous during the battle, how much of Bug Noire and Monarch's confrontation was she privy to?
- From the sound of it, events in the new timeline seem to have been relatively the same, bar Nathalie being healed, and from the mention of the use of the Miraculous Ladybug, did the universe actually get recreated or did Gabriel somehow use a Loophole Abuse to trade his life for Adrien's loved one(s) instead? Unlike the previous time, red and blue waves hit the area where the wish was made (whereas in "Ephemeral", the entire world became a very light shade of red before the wish happened). Not to mention he asks Marinette to make sure Adrien remembers him fondly, even though if the world were to be remade, she wouldn't retain any memory of such a promise...
- And the Adventure Continues: Marinette recovers all the lost Miraculous, but the Butterfly Miraculous is now in the hands of Lila, who is surprised by a burst of energy forming behind her.
- Angelic Abomination: As it turns out, under the cute chibi forms, Plagg and Tikki (and presumably other kwami) are massive winged biped creatures with too many arms and eyes — even moreso after fusing into Gimmi.
- Author Tract: Miss Bustier’s speech at the end of the episode can be seen as a political treatise, featuring a pro-environment stance and the details of an educational reform.
- Back for the Finale:
- All the movie characters make a return for this episode, as the attack is worldwide.
- Luka and Alix also return, the former having joined up with Su-Han in the interim.
- Badass Boast: when Gabriel tries to attack Bug Noire with Venom, she makes it clear to him that she could just Cataclysm the rings, leaving him powerless, repair the damage he created with her Miraculous Ladybugs, free the Kwamis from his captivity, order Plagg to give the Black Cat Miraculous to Cat Noir and everything with go back to normal. Check and Mate.
- Be Yourself: When Adrien worries if he can live up to his father's legacy, Marinette assures him that he only has to be himself while placing Gabriel's rings on his finger, giving him his freedom.
- Big Damn Heroes: Luka's team, the United Heroez and Lady Dragon are brought to Paris to save the Resistance before they're overpowered by the Miraculized.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Adrien and Marinette share a longer, more proper kiss near the end of the episode. Unlike other moments from previous episodes, this goes uninterrupted.
- Blood from the Mouth: Monarch vomits ash as a result of his Cataclysm wound reaching its final stages.
- Bloodless Carnage: Justified. Gabriel's Cataclysm wound has spread to such an extent that he vomits ash instead of blood, as there's very little left of him it hasn't rotted.
- The Bus Came Back: Alix and Luka return, the final scenes hinting they will be remaining in Paris since there's no longer a need for them to hide from Monarch.
- Call-Back:
- Bug Noire repeats Gabriel's "illusion of choice" line from "Pretension" to demonstrate that she knows he's Monarch.
- In "Dearest Family", Tikki briefly assumed a humanoid form while using her power without a Miraculous user. This episode fully reveals it as her true form.
- In "Timetagger", Gabriel is disheartened to learn that he loses the Butterfly Miraculous to another while Nathalie assures him that he might had succeeded in reviving Emilie and no longer needed the item. In this episode, Gabriel loses the Miraculous in battle with Bug Noire and gives his life to save Nathalie, while the Miraculous ends up in Lila's possession, showing both were right in a sense.
- Chained Heat: Bug Noire handcuffs herself to Monarch to limit his mobility. She breaks it once she's managed to steal the Turtle Miraculous ring from him.
- Collateral Damage: Monarch freely admits to causing lost lives and destruction for him to get what he wants after his Motive Rant.Bug Noire: Your... wife? Come... back...? Kagami and Adrien... eternal icons?? How many lives are you going to ruin in the name of your crazy dreams??!!'Monarch: As many as it takes! (the battle continues) In order to bring Emilie back, someone else will have to disappear! In order to heal the wound that Cat Noir inflicted on me, (pins Bug Noire on the steel bridge) someone else will have to be wounded!!Bug Noire: Someone else? But who??'Monarch: Anyone! No one matters except us!
- Combat Pragmatist: Bug Noire defeats Monarch by exploiting his desire to protect Emilie, twice attacking her pod so Monarch will defend it and leave himself open to attack.
- Continuity Nod:
- Alec is still committing to his "Live Your Childhood Dream" show since "Wishmaker".
- Lila uses her stolen laptop to disable the security features in the Agreste mansion.
- Costume Evolution: Knight Owl now sports a Gendered Outfit that exposes her mouth.
- Death Equals Redemption: Being a few hours from death from the Catacalysm, Gabriel uses his wish to heal Nathalie, the cost being his life and the destruction of the previous reality, and asks Marinette to not tell Adrien his father was a villain.
- Double-Meaning Title: Gabriel succeeds in recreating a new world by making his wish where Nathalie are fully healed. Marinette and the whole world would also recreate his reputation by portraying him as "a good father who valiantly gave up his life to defeat Monarch". And lastly, Marinette succeeds in turning the stolen Miraculous back into their original forms.
- Easily Forgiven: Apparently none of the Miraculous Heroes hold any ill-will towards Félix/Argos despite him stealing their Miraculous to give to Gabriel.
- Empathic Environment: All of Paris turns gray and cloudy as the Miraculized begin to overpower Ladybug's allies while many of them start to realize how hopeless the situation truly is.
- End of an Age: This is the last episode wherein Gabriel Agreste is the main villain and of the previous reality the series took place in.
- Equivalent Exchange: Discussed by Gimmi, who uses the example of choosing to make beans red instead of green, which would cause strawberries to be green instead of red. Gabriel likewise accepts that healing himself and his wife will doom two other people, and doesn't particularly care who, though Marinette's words convince him to sacrifice himself for Nathalie's health.
- Exact Words: When Bug Noire knocks the Butterfly Miraculous off Gabriel's chest, he orders Nooroo to bring it back. Bug Noire, however, declares that by depriving him of it, she has taken it from him as the Guardian and as such Nooroo isn't obligated to obey him. Nooroo will only obey whoever picks it up next. She intends to determine that for herself, but doesn't anticipate Lila managing to fish it out of the underground pond in the confusion.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Marinette chooses to trust Gabriel and detransforms in front of him, only for him to then use Venom on her and steal the Miraculouses. However, Gabriel has a last-minute change of heart and chooses to do the right thing.
- Ferris Wheel of Doom: Knightowl is hit with a Clout-enhanced punch by one of the Miraculized, sending her flying into a Ferris Wheel and predictably sending it rolling off.
- Fighting Your Friend: The Resistance have to hold back Ivan after he's Miraculized and tries to hunt the Miraculous Heroes.
- Fingore: Downplayed. A bit of Gabriel's fingertip breaks off as he's speaking with Bug Noire, as it's been reduced to little more than compacted ash.
- Fusion Dance: To make his wish, Gabriel has Tikki and Plagg fuse into Gimmi, who can grant his wish.
- Happily Ever After: Gabriel/Monarch's twisted one: Emilie brought back to life, repair the Cataclysm he forced Cat Noir to inflict on him, and Kagami and Adrien becoming the eternal icons of the new world he wanted.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Eagle's power of Liberation proves to be the perfect counter to Nightormentor's fear gas. She simply has to declare his victims are free of their nightmares and they're cured.
- Heel–Face Turn: Although he doesn't actually seem to assist with the massive situation going on this episode (unless he was helping out off-screen in London), Félix seems to have chosen to ally with Ladybug as of this episode, hanging out with her friend group at the end and joining her team as Argos.
- Heroes Unlimited: Having learned from losing all the Miraculous in one batch, Marinette reforges them back into their original forms and then gives them to their previous holders on a permanent basis.
- Heroic BSoD: Both Fei and Majestia dream of being inadequate as superheroes, which they get over, thanks to the Renlings/Knight Owl.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In his moment of triumph, Gabriel could have sacrificed anyone to bring Emilie back, anyone to save Nathalie, anyone to save himself. When Gimmi asks what his wish is, he simply says to "Read his heart", and when asked what he would sacrifice, "Read his soul". Even Gimmi seems surprised before solemnly saying "As you wish" as they grant the wish. The one act of giving his own life to end the whole Hawk Moth/Monarch affair and doing something selfless is what makes this more of a Heroic sacrifice rather than a Villainous one.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Monarch says he's doing this for Adrien's happiness when really, it's for his own happiness.
- Karma Houdini:
- Tomoe escapes any association with Monarch and is free to continue her own plans. She is even the new owner of Gabriel's brand in honor of "continuing his legacy".
- Lila not only retrieves the Butterfly Miraculous, but sets herself up at Mr. Damocles' new school so she can continue to harass Marinette. That strange energy behind her notwithstanding, of course.
- Downplayed in Gabriel's case; while he ultimately dies in order to bring Nathalie back to life, Marinette honors his last request to hide his identity as Monarch, allowing the public to believe he died helping to defeat Monarch.
- Argos is now a member of Ladybug's Miraculous Heroes despite being instrumental in their forced retirement.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Bug Noire argues that Adrien would never commit the same acts of depravity as Gabriel to bring Emilie back as the boy has actually made peace with her death and wants to move on with his life.
- Load-Bearing Hero: Similar to how she defeated the Mime, Bug Noire collapses the elevator in Emilie's tomb so it will fall onto her pod, forcing Monarch to block it and push it aside. The brief distraction allows her to throw her staff and knock the Butterfly Miraculous off his chest, ending his transformation and by extension the fight.
- Locked Out of the Fight: Bunnyx is unable to help out with fighting the Miraculized because of how it can impact the flow of time. Despite this, she does transport Ladybug's allies into Paris so they can all fight together.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Ladybug understandably honors Gabriel's last request to hide what he's done from Adrien (and by extension the public at large), but also keeps that secret from Cat Noir, as she would have unintentionally outed herself as a liar had she done so. However, their upcoming foe Lila does know the truth.
- Loophole Abuse: Bunnyx isn't supposed to meddle in the present, but she figures it's fine if she drops Su-Han and Luka in Paris so they can help.
- Meaningful Name: The fused form of Tikki and Plagg is named Gimmi; appropriate, considering that this is the form they use to grant wishes.
- Metaphorically True: In the new reality, Gabriel is celebrated as a hero under the lie that he sacrificed his life in order to stop Monarch. This is technically true: Gabriel was Monarch, and his wish to Gimmi involved sacrificing his own life in order to revive Nathalie, taking down Monarch with him.
- Mobile Shrubbery: Nino and Alya follow the Miraculized Mr. Damocles around in cardboard boxes. Nino even put his hat on top of the box for some reason.
- Morph Weapon: With limitless use of Lucky Charm at her command, Ladybug can conjure anything and then remake it into something else almost instantly. She drops a piano on Monarch and then turns it into a pair of handcuffs, just for starters.
- Motive Rant:Monarch: I want my wife, Adrien's mother, to come back to us!! Once our family is reunited, Kagami and Adrien will become the eternal icons of this world! And we will be here to witness their absolute triumph!!
- My God, What Have I Done?: Gabriel finally sees the video of his wife telling him to get over his obsession and focus on his son rather than spending his life trying to bring her back. It doesn't quite get him to a full Heel–Face Turn as he still double-crosses Marinette when she offers to help him, but it does get through to him and ultimately leads to him sacrificing himself rather than anyone else for his wish.
- Offscreen Teleportation: When Bug Noire and Monarch are fighting in Emilie's tomb, Lila is somehow able to get to the pool underneath it without either of them noticing. She didn't even have access to the elevator, which Bug Noire destroyed during the fight and she definitely didn't use it beforehand.
- Physical God: While Tikki and Plagg are basically gods, Gimmi is on a whole other level, being the Kwami of Reality. This essentially makes them the de facto god of the Miraculous-verse.
- Piano Drop: Bug Noire's Lucky Charm produces a piano, and as usual, all Lucky Charms spawn in midair. Bug Noire jumps back, Monarch rushes forward, and the piano lands on him.
- The Power of Legacy: To spare Adrien's feelings, Ladybug tells him — and the world — that Gabriel died heroically sacrificing himself to stop Monarch, rather than the actual truth. (In her defense, that's technically true.)
- Punch Catch: After losing the Butterfly Miraculous, Gabriel attempts to jab Bug Noire with Venom, but she catches his fist before he can invoke the command.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Bug Noire gives a well deserved one to Gabriel after hearing how far he'll go to get his twisted idea of a Happily Ever After.Monarch: How about you, Marinette? Wouldn't you give up your life for your sweet Adrien's happiness?
Bug Noire: Do you really think that this is what he'd want? To discover that his father has turned into a supervillain, willing to let innocent people pay the price for his madness?
Monarch: Adrien would do the same thing!
Bug Noire: Never! Unlike you, Adrien has made his peace with it. He's not living in the past. He has his whole life ahead of him! You'd know this if you ever took an interest in him. But in reality, Adrien means nothing to you anymore! You've locked him in your house. Locked him in your Alliance Rings! Locked him into a life that allows you to hide behind him in order to justify your madness! - Redemption Equals Death: Gabriel decides to sacrifice only himself to heal Nathalie.
- Redemption Rejection: While Gabriel finds some measure of redemption through his wish-induced death, this follows Marinette offering to help him find redemption in life. Gabriel, having decided by himself that I've Come Too Far, responds by attacking her, forcibly taking the Miraculous and making his wish, purely on his terms.
- Reset Button: As usual, everything goes back to normal at the end of the episode, as a combination of Gabriel's wish and the Miraculous Ladybug power.
- Rule of Symbolism: One of Bug Noire's lucky charms was a baker's peel.
- Sanity Slippage: Gabriel really starts to lose it when he fights Bug Noire in his wife's resting place. While revealing what his wish has been all along, he openly admits that he'll destroy as many lives as needed before he lets his chance to reunite with Emilie disappear. He even brags that he'd happily sacrifice anyone to bring her back and undo his Cataclysm.
- Series Fauxnale: Outside of Tomoe and Lila still being loose, everything else about the episode perfectly fits the definition of a series finale: Ladybug and Monarch have their final battle, the plot that's been going on since season 1 is finally resolved, most of the Miraculous—outside of the Butterfly—are recovered, and Marinette gives the Miraculous to all her previous allies on a full-time basis, in order to ensure that nobody else gets to steal the Miraculous as a group again. And on the non-superhero side, Adrien and Marinette finally get together after seasons of teasing, ending with them sharing a kiss that goes uninterrupted.
- Security Cling: Alya and Nino embrace each other when a group of Miraculized charges at them.
- Sequel Hook: Two, and related:
- Lila/Cerise managed to collect the Butterfly Miraculous and has registered in Mr. Damoclès' new school, ready to set her plan in motion...
- And suddenly, everything around her begins to emit electricity, followed by a blinding light behind her. She turns around and reacts with shock / fear. Cue the credits.
- Shout-Out: As befitting a Batman Parody, Knightowl's response when Su-Han asks her how she is able to resist her nightmares is "I am the nightmare."
- Sleep-Mode Size: As hinted in "Dearest Family" with Tikki, this is revealed to be the case with her, Plagg, and presumably the other kwamis. Gabriel commands Tikki and Plagg to reveal their true selves, which are massive, fairy-like beings.
- Sticky Situation: Bug Noire's final Lucky Charm is a tube of glue. She spreads it on a boomerang-shaped piece of debris she's tied to her yo-yo and tosses it at Emilie's pod. Monarch portals over to catch it, at which point Bug Noire pulls it back, all the rings on that hand firmly stuck to the glue. This deprives him of Voyage and Resistance.
- The Stinger: Lila calls Mr Damocles, pretending to be a new student who wishes to enroll at his school, while tucking the Butterfly Miraculous under her vest and promising to continue being a problem for Marinette. Suddenly, an unknown burst of energy appears behind her.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: Most of the Miraculouses are recovered, with their wielders being allowed to keep them permanently (and happily reuniting with their Kwamis in the process), Gabriel redeems himself by using his wish to heal Nathalie at the cost of his own life, and Adrien learns to appreciate his father for who he was, rather than who he wanted him to be. The only bad things that happen are that Tomoe escapes unscathed and Lila gets her hands on the Butterfly Miraculous, with both of them free to continue their own plans.
- This Cannot Be!: Bug Noire is utterly shocked when she sees Emilie's body in her glass chamber.
- Time Skip: The episode skips from the beginning of Summer (with Monarch’s defeat) to the end, during which time Ms. Bustier has given birth and been elected Mayor, Paris has become more eco-friendly, a new school is opening with Mr. Damocles as the Principal and Marinette, Alya and Su-Han have searched for the Butterfly Miraculous (which Lila took the time to recover for herself) and restored the originals.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Unlike in their previous battles where he had all the advantages, now that she has unlimited use of her powers, and both the powers of the Ladybug and the Cat, Bug Noire is now powerful enough to take Monarch in a straight-up fight and actively defeats him in direct combat, although she gets tricked in the end.
- Luka, Jagged, and Penny have joined the Miraculous Order and learned Mirakungfu.
- Treachery Cover Up: Marinette keeps Gabriel's actions a secret at his request, allowing the public to believe he died helping to save the world.
- Trophy Child: Marinette/Bug Noire denounces to Gabriel/Monarch that Adrien is nothing more than this to him; not even caring about his son as a person to the point of now using him as an excuse to justify his madness.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Ladybug tells Gabriel all she intends to do after sealing is defeat. It doesn't work because she offers him a Last-Second Chance and detransforms to show her trust of him, prompting Gabriel to use Venom on her (he frees her after calling Gimmi) and make his wish. It is of note that the reconfigured universe seems practically identical to the one which was destroyed, and in-universe, the damage done is said to have been repaired by Ladybug's World-Healing Wave.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Subverted. After Bug Noire does a Punch Catch before Gabriel can jab her with Venom, she smugly narrates how all she has to do is say "Cataclysm" to render him powerless, after which she can undo all the damage he's done, completely defeating all his plans...before somberly noting that if she did, he'd die within the day and Adrien would be left all alone. She instead offers to help Gabriel find a less destructive way to get his wish.
- [Verb] This!: Bug Noire declares "Reconfigure this!" to Monarch's boast that he will reconfigure the world with his wish, before smacking him through a wall with her conjured baker's peel.
- Villain Opening Scene: The second act starts with Lila putting on a new disguise while watching the Miraculized run rampant via her phone.
- Wham Line: Gabriel's words to Marinette before making his wish — specifically, the way that he refers to himself in the past tense:Gabriel: Marinette...make sure that Adrien never knows about the villain that I was, but instead, that he remembers the times I tried to be a good father.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite informing Marinette about Gabriel's dark secrets, there's no word on what Félix was doing when Gabriel and Tsurugi launched their final attack on the world.
- World-Healing Wave: Implied to have been the effect of the wish somehow instead of the destruction of the universe, as Marinette couldn't use her Lucky Charm to undo all the damage, yet all the civilians remember seeing the magic ladybugs fix everything as they do with the Miraculous Ladybug. Whether it actually happened or was a consequence of the universe still being destroyed and recreated for Gabriel's wish is not expanded on. It's also possible that her new unlimited use of Lucky Charms means she is no longer limited in her ability to restore things if it's dispelled first, since she can create another one.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Bug Noire manages to take the Turtle Ring from Monarch during the fight. To her horror, Wayzz doesn't appear as she expects, while Monarch gloats that he reconfigured the Miraculous so that their powers only work for him and that the Kwamis can't escape their prisons.
- Zerg Rush: The heroes can defeat the Miraculized soldiers en masse, but there are millions if not billions of them that constantly replace the ones they defeat, overwhelming the heroes with sheer numbers.
