Recap / Scarlet Lady S1 E2: Origins Part 2

Episode 2 - Origins: Part 2 - Tales of Chat Noir the Exhausted

Alya creates a blog she calls the Ladyblog to comment on the news about Paris's new hero: Scarlet Lady. When she shows this to Marinette, the latter is unhappy that her friend's dedicating her time to the lazy hero, though she hides this from Alya.

Adrien manages to reach the school gates after escaping his home, though Nathalie attempts to keep him from entering school. Encouraged by his success as Chat Noir, he decides not to let himself be bossed around anymore and turns to Nathalie to fire a Precision F-Strike, making him realize he may have been holding in more than he thought.

At school, the classmates are crowding around Ivan, who doesn't remember anything about his experience as Stoneheart while Chloé stews over the fact that no one is talking about Scarlet Lady. She attempts to fish compliments from Adrien, who is grossed out by the idea of praising Scarlet Lady and prefers to comment on Chat Noir and Marinette. Chloé attempts to do so as well, but she spits out blood at the idea of complimenting someone other than herself.

Chloé turns to Sabrina, who reluctantly compliments the heroine, not knowing what is going on with Chloé but still relieved that she won't have to carry out Chloé's plan to put chewing gum on Marinette's seat due to Chloé having forgotten it. At the other side of the classroom, Nino wonders why Adrien is so excited about class. When he hears that Adrien has never been to school and has no friends other than Chloé, he decides to become friends with him.

Marinette then enters the classroom, making Adrien giddy that he's in the same class as the cute girl who helped him during the fight with Stoneheart, much to Nino's confusion and Chloé's displeasure.

At some point, Ivan is once more transformed into Stoneheart and captures Mylène. Alya pulls out her phone, telling Marinette they can film the event... only for Marinette to also be captured by Stoneheart. While Tikki attempts to convince Chloé to save the two girls, Mylène asks Stoneheart what he's doing, and he replies he intends to deliver a message. Marinette attempts to calm Mylène down, knowing that Ivan would never hurt Mylène while also worried because Ivan might hurt her due to how she convinced him to confess to Mylène.

Stoneheart arrives at the Eiffel Tower, which he begins climbing with his captives in hand. André Bourgeois, Paris's mayor and Chloé's father, demands the return of the two girls, and Stoneheart throws Marinette at them, shocking André and Chat Noir while Scarlet Lady checks her nails, impassive.

Marinette, falling to her death, begs for help, and help comes when Chat Noir catches her in a Bridal Carry with an "I got you, Princess!" Marinette falls for the chat-themed hero, although she's not impressed with his nickname for her.

Meanwhile, Alya writes a message for her Ladyblog, unable to escape from being stuck between a car and a wall and attempting (and failing) not to sound bitter that Scarlet Lady didn't try to help her.

Stoneheart spits out a swarm of black butterflies that Hawk Moth, the story's villain, uses to communicate his name. He attempts to blame Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir for the damages that have been caused, but an incensed Marinette drives herself into a fury as she berates the villain for attempting to make himself look like the victim. Chat Noir falls for Marinette as she flips the villain the bird.

Scarlet Lady jumps in to disperse and purify the butterfly swarm, claiming that she will keep Paris safe, much to the chagrin of Chat Noir, whom the Ladybug heroine doesn't even mention.

Marinette tells Chat Noir that Ivan is in love with Mylène, and Chat Noir considers working with Scarlet Lady to take advantage of this. However, Scar is too busy taking selfies from the top of the Eiffel Tower, much to his chagrin. Jumping up, Chat Noir hits Stoneheart's arm to make the akuma and Mylène kiss; in shock, Stoneheart drops the object that kept him in his monstrous state and transforms back into Ivan, with both him and Mylène now falling as a result. Chat Noir destroys part of the tower to provide a landing for both of them.

Scarlet Lady purifies the akumatized object and casts Miraculous Ladybug. Marinette grabs the object and, seeing it's the song Ivan wrote to confess to Mylène, rushes to give it to the girl, who jumps to hug a blushing Ivan, clearly returning his feelings.

To Chat Noir's anger, Scar has taken advantage of him being tired from the fight to present a highly skewed account of the fight, painting herself as the one saving the day and cleaning up after Chat Noir. Chat Noir attempts to call her out for this since she didn't do anything to stop Stoneheart, but Scar points out that his ring is beeping and makes it obvious she intends to claim the credit for everything, angering him.

The next day, Marinette tells Alya everything about what happened at the Eiffel Tower and decides to take the seats behind Adrien and Nino, eager for a confrontation with Chloé, which slightly scares her other classmates. When Chloé demands to know why she's sitting there, Marinette, emboldened after berating Hawk Moth, tells Chloé off for her bullying. Adrien then arrives, and Chloé tries to paint Marinette as the bully. However, he's heard enough to realize the actual bully in the class is Chloé and threatens to stop being her friend if she continues acting out, causing Marinette to start crushing on Adrien, which Alya notices.

After school ends, it begins to pour, and Adrien finds Marinette at the gate. Adrien compliments Marinette for how she stood up to Hawk Moth, and Marinette returns the compliment by thanking him for telling Chloé off. Adrien states he feels a bit bad as Chloé has been his only friend for most of his life. Marinette declares she'd like to be his friend as well. Falling for her once more, he offers to walk her home under his umbrella as they bond over their dislike of Scarlet Lady.

Unbeknownst to them, Master Fu had been observing them, attempting to understand why Marinette doesn't have the Ladybug Miraculous.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Amazon Chaser: Adrien begins to fall for Marinette when she flips Hawk Moth off while telling him to go fuck himself.
• Attention Whore: Here, Chloé's declaration that "once a monster, always a monster" is fueled by her frustration at everyone paying more attention to Ivan than to her "heroic" alter ego. She also can't join her "Adrikins" in complimenting Chat Noir for his hard work without coughing up blood.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Marinette declaring her intention to become Adrien's friend is what fully cements his love for her.
• Berserk Button: Hawk Moth strikes one of Marinette's when he attempts to blame the heroes for him terrorizing Paris.
  Marinette: If there's one thing I hate, it's a bully playing the victim!
  Chat Noir: Um, we're still talking about Hawk Moth, right?
• Blatant Lies: Adrien's not fooled one bit by Chloé Playing the Victim Card.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: Both Chloé and Adrien remark on how impressive their superhero personas are. However, Adrien also remarks on "that pig-tailed girl" being equally impressive while Chloé is solely focused upon hyping up Scarlet Lady.
• Catch a Falling Star: Chat Noir rescues Marinette in this fashion.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Marinette sports one as she prepares to stand up to Chloé; it visibly creeps out many of her classmates.
• Commonality Connection: Adrien and Marinette bond over their shared hatred of Scarlet Lady as they walk home together.
• Crocodile Tears: In order to sell her claims that Marinette is bullying her, Chloé uses eyedrops to fake tears, then discreetly tries to pass the vial over to Sabrina.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Chloé dismisses Adrien's threat to stop being friends, claiming that "He didn't mean that" and that he'll lose interest in their classmates after "realizing how lame they are."
• Everyone Has Standards: Sleazy Politician André Bourgeois is horrified when Marinette is thrown from the Eiffel Tower and stunned that Scarlet Lady hasn't reacted at all to it.
• False Reassurance:
  • When both of them are snatched by Stoneheart, Marinette comforts Mylène by insisting Ivan would never hurt her while very carefully avoiding mentioning that she's terrified he might still harm her.
  • When Chat Noir tries to call Scarlet Lady out for Stealing the Credit, she notes that his alarm is going off, smirking evilly as she "reassures" him, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell our story."
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • As Chloé doesn't try to put gum on Marinette's seat, Adrien's first meeting with Marinette and Nino isn't tainted by his apparent involvement in Chloé's prank, and they quickly become his friends.
  • Since he's not in love with his superhero partner due to Scarlet Lady's awful personality, Adrien quickly falls in love with Marinette upon noticing her bravery, kindness, and resourcefulness.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Marinette declares how much she hates when bullies pretend that they're the victims. We soon get to see why, courtesy of Chloé.
  • Adrien tells Chloé that he won't be friends with her anymore if she keeps bullying people. Three seasons later, he goes through with the threat and breaks off their friendship.
• Grew a Spine: Both Adrien and Marinette start standing up for and asserting themselves after dealing with Hawk Moth.
• Hates My Secret Identity:
  • Chloé plays this straight; as much as she adores her "Adrikins," she can't stand Chat Noir, to the point that she spits blood while attempting to praise him.
  • Played With via Adrien; while Chloé is still his first and formerly his Only Friend, his experiences with Scarlet Lady enable him to quickly recognize her attempts at manipulation and call her out.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: When standing up to Chloé, Marinette compares her directly to supervillains like Hawk Moth, calling her a lowlife. Chloé is more upset by her offhandedly insulting her "stupid ponytail."
  Marinette: I'm standing up to all supervillains, and a lowlife like you is no exception! I'm done taking orders from you and your stupid ponytail, so sit down!
  Chloé: How dare you insult my ponytail?!
  Sabrina: That's what you're mad about?
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Ivan explains to the others that he doesn't have any memories of his time as Stoneheart. As a result, the poor boy is terrified when he detransforms near the top of the Eiffel Tower and finds himself plummeting alongside Mylène with no idea how they got there.
• Laser-Guided Karma: While Scarlet Lady successfully steals the credit for all of Chat Noir's hard work, her mistreatment of her partner makes Adrien much less patient with her antics in either identity, and he promptly hits Chloé with an ultimatum: shape up or lose his friendship.
• Made Out to Be a Jerkass: Chloé tries to paint Marinette this way, to no avail.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Sabrina is relived that she won't have to put chewing gum on Marinette's seat.
  • One of the heroes saves the non-Mylène hostage by Catching A Falling Star - only, this time Marinette is the rescued rather than the rescuee.
  • Chat Noir begins to fall for Marinette during the fight with Stoneheart, the same way he did for Ladybug in canon.
    • Conversely, Scarlet Lady makes a speech about saving Paris quite similar to Ladybug's in canon—but this time, Chat Noir instead declares his hatred of her regardless of whom she is under the mask, because Scarlet Lady didn't bother to mention him, even though he's the only one actually acting like a hero.
  • Once more, love blooms during the rain after Adrien's first school day, though here, it's Adrien who falls in love with Marinette instead of vice versa.
• Never My Fault: Fu angrily snaps at Wayzz that he's not responsible for the earrings ending up in the wrong hands:
  Fu: ...This one is not my fault, Wayzz.
  Wayzz: Master, would it have not been wiser to put it in her room or—
  Fu: NOT MY FAULT!
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After encouraging Ivan to confess his feelings to Mylène, Marinette gets kidnapped alongside her after he's transformed back into Stoneheart. The strip where this happens is even titled "No Good Deed."
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Alya's excitement over Stoneheart's unexpected return takes a sharp nosedive when her unwilling partner Marinette is promptly snatched from right beside her, providing a stark reminder of just how dangerous their situation is.
  • Both the Mayor and Chat Noir react this way to Stoneheart tossing Marinette down from the Eiffel Tower while a disinterested Scarlet Lady examines her nails.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Nathalie is caught completely flat-footed by Adrien swearing at her as it's completely unlike the "Sunshine Boy" she's used to dealing with.
• Odd Name Out: This is so far the only episode that uses a character's superhero identity (Chat Noir) in the subtitle rather than their civilian name.
• Playful Cat Smile: Scarlet Lady sports a smile when she declares to her disgruntled partner, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell our story," making it clear she plans to claim credit for all his hard work.
• Playing the Victim Card: When Marinette stands up to her, Chloé tries to convince Adrien that her long-time victim is actually bullying her instead. He doesn't fall for it.
• Plot Parallel:
  • Marinette biting her tongue and holding back her real thoughts about Scarlet Lady in order to support Alya is shown alongside Adrien asserting himself for the first time. The commentary underneath said strip notes that "It's not good to suppress your true feelings."
  • Marinette calls out Hawk Moth for blaming the heroes for his own actions. Adrien later does the same when Chloé tries to play the victim card herself.
  • Both Marinette and Adrien start standing up for themselves after dealing with Hawk Moth and his akumas. Both also start to develop a crush on the other after witnessing them call out somebody for trying to blame the victims of their crimes.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Sabrina is grateful that she won't have to touch chewed gum thanks to Chloé forgetting her latest plan to bully Marinette.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • Adrien launches one when he yells at Natalie to tell his father, "F@$# YOU!!!"
  • Marinette supposedly does the same when she calls out Hawk Moth for Playing the Victim Card.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Still worn out from having to deal with his obnoxious and incompetent "partner" Scarlet Lady, Adrien is pushed past this when his father tries to keep him from going to school on top of it through Nathalie.
  • Marinette hits hers when Hawk Moth begins Playing the Victim Card.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Marinette delivers one to Hawk Moth when he tries to blame the heroes for Stoneheart:
    Marinette: Don't reverse the roles! We know who the bad guy is! You transformed the innocents into villains! And you took advantage of Ivan's heart! If there's one thing I hate, it's a bully playing the victim!
  • After Stoneheart is defeated, Marinette decides to stand up for herself from now on, and she starts by giving one of these to Chloé.
  • Adrien also gives one to Chloé after seeing her attempt at Playing the Victim Card after trying to bully Marinette.
    Adrien: You forced her out of her seat? Sounds like you're the bully. Not cool, Chloé! We won't be friends anymore if that's how you act! Sit down and leave Marinette alone!
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Chloé's response to Tikki's insistence that they rescue her classmates is an annoyed "Ugh, I GUESS!" She also doesn't react at all to Stoneheart tossing Marinette down from the Eiffel Tower.
• Rescue Romance: Marinette begins to fall for Chat Noir after he saves her from falling to her death.
• Rule of Symbolism: The moment Adrien fully falls in love with Marinette is marked by lightning striking just behind him.
• Stealing the Credit: Scarlet Lady does this yet again; this time, she exploits Chat Noir's exhaustion to make herself look even better at his expense, much to his ire.
• Unhand Them, Villain!: When Mayor Bourgeois demands the safe return of Marinette and Mylène, Stoneheart pitches Marinette down while declaring, "You're welcome to half!"
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Chat Noir again has this reaction to Scarlet Lady Stealing the Credit for all his hard work.
• What the Hell, Hero?: A brief non-verbal one: both Chat Noir and Mayor André look at Scarlet Lady in mute shock upon realizing she hasn't reacted at all to Marinette being thrown into freefall.

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