Recap / Scarlet Lady S2 E8: La Befana

Episode 18 - La Befana - Tales of Gina the Witch

Chloé finds her classmates planning something and asks what they are doing. When they rebuff her, Chloé quickly calls Mme. Bustier and tells on the others. Mme. Bustier orders her students to invite Chloé to whatever they are planning; much to Chloé's disgust, it turns out to be Marinette's birthday party. When Alya learns of this, she tasks Sabrina with undoing whatever Chloé tries to do to ruin the party.

In Chloé's bag, Tikki panics, knowing that Chloé will probably try to ruin the party. Plagg then casually mentions how Marinette wore the ring once, only to panic himself when Tikki breaks down crying. In order to get her to calm down, Plagg offers Tikki one of Marinette's hairs he saved from when she was Maotif, which the Creation Kwami eagerly accepts, knowing just what to do with it.

The classmates meet at the park, with the preparations already in full swing. Alya assigns tasks to the newcomers, determined to give Marinette the surprise of her life. In truth, Marinette already knows about the party and is just waiting for the call. A sudden change in plans happens when Marinette's grandmother, Gina, makes an unexpected visit to celebrate Marinette's birthday. Sabine encourages Marinette to go out and spend some time with Gina—particularly since Tom threw the cake out and they now have to remake it—but Marinette is somewhat shocked when her grandmother's idea of spending time together include activities that a typical 14-year-old girl wouldn't be interested in, such as riding the merry-go-round.

At the party, Chloé tries to ruin things by hiding the presents and unplugging the music, not noticing Sabrina undoing her mischief. When Marinette finally gets a call from Alya and turns to tell her grandmother about the party, Gina tells her granddaughter that she can go while hiding her own disappointment over not being able to spend more time with Marinette. Unfortunately, this is enough to attract Hawk Moth... who finds himself having to explain who he is to the foreigner.

Marinette arrives to the park, where her friends all wish her "Bon Anniversaire!" Her happiness to get muddled, though, when she notices Chloé is also at the party. Adrien quickly intervenes before the two girls start to fight, giving Marinette his present: a charm bracelet meant to replace the one Marinette gifted to him when they played UMS3.

Marinette's parents have finished the cake, but La Befana—the akumatized form of Gina—shows up and turns Tom into coal and Sabine into an angel before flying to the party and begins attacking the party as she attempts to turn Marinette into coal. While Chloé watches, keen to see Marinette being attacked by the akuma, Chat Noir quickly shows up, only to be forced to fight Sabine. Meanwhile, Lila is watching the party from her house, glad that she made the choice not to show up.

Marinette's classmates get involved in the fight, each of them trying to distract the akuma. Chat Noir manages to escape with the birthday girl, but at the cost of everyone else being turned into coal, save for Rose (who gets turned into an angel) and Chloé (who just leaves without a care). When Chloé sees her driver was turned into coal as well, though, she finally transforms.

Chat Noir hides Marinette at the Eiffel Tower and wishes her a happy birthday as he gives her a kiss on the cheek, much to her blustered shock. However, Scarlet Lady renders this moot by once more leading the akuma and her minions to Marinette's location, forcing Chat Noir into a fight. Scarlet Lady summons the Lucky Charm (a metal tuba), but the two heroes are quickly overwhelmed by La Befana's minions, who then grab Marinette before the akuma turns her into coal.

An enraged Chat Noir quickly demonstrates the big mistake the akuma made, attacking her with the tuba and trapping her head inside it, allowing him and Scarlet Lady to get the candy box that contained the butterfly, purify the akuma, and heal all of their classmates. With everyone now recovered, the party resumes, and Marinette blows out the candles on the cake her parents made. Lila then arrives, cheerfully welcomed by Sabrina, Rose, Alix, and Marinette: Lila even brings a present—a beautiful Carnevale mask—although she admits she wanted to get rid of it because it reminded her of Scarlet Lady.

Lila approaches her classmates to apologize for lying about knowing famous people, but most of the others forgive her: it was minor in comparison to what she could have done, like tricking them into doing her work for her. Lila nervously laughs in response, knowing she probably would've done just that had she not gotten outed. Alya isn't as forgiving as the others, but she isn't biting Lila's head off at least.

After all the presents are done, Marinette finds one that doesn't seem be come from anyone at the party and opens it, revealing a pendant that Marinette loves. The pendant is a Kwagatama made by Tikki, who silently wishes Marinette a happy birthday.

This episode has examples of the following:

• Adaptational Heroism: Lila completes her Heel–Face Turn, meaning she will not continue down her canon path to villainy.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Whereas she was absent in canon "La Befana," here, Chloé uses Crocodile Tears to get Mme. Bustier to make the class invite her to the party they were planning. Moreover, upon learning it's Marinette's birthday party, she purposely tries to sabotage it instead of simply not attending. She also points out to La Befana that Chat Noir is fleeing with Marinette.
• Adults Are Useless: With minimal effort, Chloé manages to fool Mme. Bustier into thinking the class is bullying her by excluding her from one of their activities, prompting the teacher to scold the rest of her students and make them invite Chloé, too. This is despite the fact that they're discussing Marinette's birthday party, which isn't even being held at school.
• Berserk Button: Chat Noir explodes when Marinette is turned into a coal statue. It's so intense that even Scarlet Lady is cowed into doing her job without complaining.
• Brutal Honesty: Following Marinette's counsel, Lila decides to switch from a being Consummate Liar to this.
  Caption: You’ve heard of Liar Rossi, now get ready for No Filter Rossi!
• Callback: Quite a few to "The Collector":
  • The episode is about Marinette's birthday party, which Adrien feared he'd miss in the previous episode.
  • Lila has taken Marinette's advice about winning back her classmates' trust to heart, switching from being a Consummate Liar to Brutal Honesty.
  • Alya makes it clear she doesn't forgive Lila, showing her grudge against her classmate lying on the Ladyblog hasn't gone away.
• Chekhov's Gun: Tikki uses the stand of Marinette's hair Plagg has to create a Kwagatama.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Plagg mentions how Marinette wore the ring during "Reflekta" when she transformed into Maotif.
  • Adrien's gift for Marinette is a charm similar to the one Marinette gave him in "The Gamer."
  • When Lila shows up at the party, Sabrina, Alix, and Rose all cheerfully admit to having invited her, referencing Sabrina and Alix's texts to and Rose's concern for Lila in "The Collector."
• Cool Mask: Lila gives Marinette a Carnevale mask for her birthday, bluntly admitting she wanted to get rid of it because it reminded her too much of Scarlet Lady.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Marinette finds out that Chloé forced her way into the party:
  Marinette: So, where's your gift, Chloé?
  Chloé: Um, the gift of my presence, obvi.
  Marinette: I want the receipt.
• Death Glare: Chat Noir treats Scarlet Lady to one when she leads La Befana right to Marinette.
• Dramatic Irony: Mme. Bustier acts authoritative for once and scolds several students for bullying. Pity that she's doing so in defense of Chloé, the biggest bully in her class, and forcing said students to invite her to Marinette's birthday party, setting the stage for more problems.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Scarlet Lady bumps into Chat Noir while fleeing La Befana, leading the akuma to where Marinette is in the process. Despite all this, the heroine fails to realize why Chat Noir is so mad at her, responding to his Death Glare with a Defensive "What?"
• Easily Forgiven: Lila is surprised when the vast majority of the class forgives her after she apologizes. Justified, since she already got thrown into a fountain just for saying she was friends with Scarlet Lady, so they probably think she's been punished enough as it is. Moreover, as Kim notes, so far, she hasn't done more than tell a few Celebrity Lies.
• Epic Fail: Chloé tries to ruin Marinette's birthday party by hiding the gifts in a bush and unplugging the electronics needed for the music. The gifts are so poorly hidden that Sabrina easily recovers them, and she later just replugs everything back.
• Even Evil Has Standards: La Befana turns Rose into a fairy for standing up for Marinette and declaring her classmate is "the nicest girl in the whole world." The akuma also calls Scarlet Lady out on her cowardice, declaring she will turn the heroine into coal for it (by contrast, she was going to turn Chat into a fairy).
• Everyone Has Standards: Mme. Bustier shows here that she is willing to put her foot down and scold her class for trying to purposely exclude one of their classmates. Too bad she does this to force them to invite Chloé to Marinette's birthday party, which isn't even being held at school.
• Evil Is Petty: Chloé, naturally.
  • When she learns that the party she forced her way into is Marinette's birthday party, she attends just so she can ruin it.
  • She thoroughly enjoys watching La Befana attack everyone at Marinette's party and turn them into coal or fairies and refuses to help.
  • She points out to La Befana that Chat Noir is escaping with Marinette.
  • She also leads the akuma to the Eiffel Tower, where Chat Noir hid Marinette (though it's possible she was just being careless while fleeing the akuma rather than outright spiteful).
• Fearless Fool: Chloé takes the insane risk of confronting La Befana face to face, untransformed. Only her answer of "I don't care" when asked about whether she'll punish or protect Marinette (which confuses the akuma) saves the situation from total disaster.
• Heroic BSoD: Played for Laughs when Chat Noir gives Marinette a kiss in the cheek. The moment he's out of sight, Marinette has an adorable meltdown.
• Hypocrite: Upon seeing Lila show up at Marinette's birthday, Chloé demands to know who invited her when the only reason she herself got to come was because Bustier forced the class to invite her.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Even though Marinette didn't try to lie that the call from Alya was about a dentist visit, she still lied about liking and eating the candies Gina gave her, and that alone was enough to draw the fire of La Befana.
  • Marinette isn't her holder here, but Tikki still makes a Kwagatama for her using hair Plagg obtained from the Reflekta incident.
• It's All About Me: Chloé doesn't get involved in fighting La Befana until she sees her driver has been turned to coal, meaning she now no longer has a ride home.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Gina doesn't know who Hawk Moth is, so the villain is forced to explain about himself.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Chloé informs La Befana that Chat Noir is trying to sneak Marinette away from the fight and later leads the akuma straight to them (though the second part may have been unintentional).
• Mythology Gag:
  • The scene where Lila watches Marinette's birthday party is similar to the one in canon, only here, she's terrified of the akuma attack.
  • When Lila apologizes for lying about the famous people she knows, Kim notes that it was just some white lies: it isn't as if she tricked the class into doing her homework or carrying her stuff (like she did in canon).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mme. Bustier nearly ruins Marinette's birthday party by forcing the class to invite Chloé as well. Later, Chloé's presence prevents Chat Noir from getting Marinette to safety, resulting in Marinette being turned into coal by La Befana.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Said verbatim in the captions. Marinette's friends' attempts to protect her result in them all getting turned into coal or, in Rose's case, a fairy minion.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: When Kim reassures Lila that her Celebrity Lies aren't a big deal since she didn't try to trick anyone into acting like her servants or anything, Lila internally cringes, knowing she would have done exactly that if she hadn't been caught lying.
• Playing the Victim Card: Chloé acts like her classmates are bullying and excluding her to dupe Mme. Bustier into forcing them to invite her to the party they're throwing, which turns out to be Marinette's birthday party.
• Poor Communication Kills: If Marinette and Gina had spoken with each other to make sure things would be alright (such as clarifying what Gina's plans for the day were or the fact that Gina was more than welcome to join the party), they would have spared themselves the conflict of this episode.
• The Power of Apathy: The only reason Chloé avoids getting turned into coal is because she outright states she doesn't care about Marinette, baffling La Befana's moral judgment long enough to distract the akuma.
  La Befana: Will you protect Marinetta?! Or punish her?!
  Chloé: I don't care.
  La Befana: Um, what? What does that mean? Coal? Fairy?
• Pragmatic Villainy: Chloé only transforms to fight La Befana when she realizes that her driver's been turned to coal, meaning until the akuma's defeated, she doesn't have a ride home.
• Rage Breaking Point: Adrien's gets annoyed by Chloé's attempts to butt in on the class's plans for Marinette's surprise birthday party. Later, he has to deal with protecting Marinette when La Befana starts attacking the party and turning his friends into coal and fairies. He then attempts to hide Marinette keep her safe, only for Scarlet Lady to lead the akuma right to them. Seeing Marinette get turned into coal (thus pressing his biggest Berserk Button) is what finally makes him explode, which intimidates even Scarlet Lady into listening to him for once.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Chloé decides to watch her classmates get turned into coal and fairies rather than transform and help.
• Single Tear: Tikki when she sees Marinette loves the Kwatagama the Kwami made.
• Spanner in the Works: Defied. Mme. Bustier forces the class to invite Chloé to Marinette's birthday party so that she won't be excluded. Knowing their bully will try to ruin things, Alya assigns Sabrina as the "Chloé wrangler," and the latter follows Chloé around, swiftly undoing any sabotage Chloé tries to commit.
• Splash of Color: Aside from Scarlet Lady's Lucky Charm, the lucky charm Adrien makes for Marinette have blue and yellow beads while Tikki's Kwagatama is red.
• Stating the Simple Solution: André points out to Gina after Marinette leaves that she could have taken her granddaughter back on her bike.
• Take a Third Option: When La Befana attacks Marinette's party, the akuma asks Chloé whether she'll protect or punish Marinette. Chloé just responds "I don't care," confusing the villain, which allows Chloé to escape unscathed.
• Taken for Granite: Most of Marinette's classmates and Marinette herself are transformed into coal statues.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Apart from Alix, Rose and Sabrina also invited Lila to the party. In addition, most of the class forgives Lila for her lies.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Lila is genuinely apologetic about deceiving her classmates in "Volpina" with her Celebrity Lies and decides she will no longer be a Manipulative Bitch.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Marinette's reaction when La Befana claims she'll punish her because she lied about eating the candy Gina brought:
  Marinette: Oh, c'mon, the one thing I lied about to spare your feelings!
  • Lila's reaction to the chaos at the party once La Befana shows up seems to be a mix of this and horror.

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