Recap / Scarlet Lady S5 E12: Queen Wasp

Episode 51 - Queen Wasp - Tales of Chloé the Ex-Hero

After detransforming, Marinette lets Adrien know that Pollen's aware of Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity. Plagg casually admits that he also knows but demonstrates why they hadn't informed anyone: when he attempts to say her name, the Geas on him causes bubbles to come out of his mouth. Marinette then notes that Adrien could've used his stint as Aspik to learn who she was—causing him to freeze up upon realizing he'd wasted a prime opportunity to deal with Scarlet Lady himself.

Back at the show, Nadja reports on Marigold's successful rescue of Adrien, who struts down the runway while modeling the hat crafted by Marinette. The young designer watches, completely enamored, while Alya films everything. When Alya turns to ask Marinette about her creation, Gabriel Agreste appears in person, much to everyone's shock.

Gabriel approaches his son... and gives him a hug. Everyone, including Adrien, thinks he's scared of what nearly happened to his son due to the akuma—but Gabriel's only hiding his despair that his supposed "ultimate creation" Style Queen didn't live up to his expectations.

Turning to Audrey, he claims to have fired the person responsible for slighting her; however, Audrey's far more interested in the hat his son is wearing. After all, she can tell Gabriel didn't create it. Marinette reluctantly reveals that it's hers... and Audrey declares it's exceptional! Feathers are the trend of the future!

While Chloé fumes, Zoé looks at her sister with concern... but Audrey only has eyes for Marinette, even offering to take her to New York and make the teenaged designer a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world! One who'll even be able to rival Gabriel Agreste! Deciding to be a supportive boyfriend despite his own misgivings, Adrien suggests that he'll be able to model even more of her designs (while Marinette notes that he's bleeding from his mouth); her parents also declare that they'll support her no matter what she decides.

Cue Chloé demanding to know why her mother is fussing so much over Marinette: why invite her to New York when Chloé's never gotten to go herself? Audrey replies that she's offering this opportunity to Marinette because she's proven herself to be exceptional... and when Chloé insists that she's exceptional, too, Audrey bluntly asks when her daughter's ever demonstrated that. After all, not only did she manage to get herself perma-banned from all of Gabriel's contests, but she also lost her class presidency and even managed to get herself kicked off the judging panel of World's Greatest Chef!

Initially, Chloé's touched that her mother's paid enough attention to know so much about her life, even though Audrey's listing off Chloé's various failures. But then she decides to prove she's exceptional... by whipping out Tikki and transforming into Scarlet Lady in front of all and sundry!

While Adrien and Marinette note that it makes too much sense, Chloé starts boasting about being the hero of Paris, claiming she'll now show how exceptional she is. But Audrey remains unimpressed with her daughter's showboating, and the other parents decide that it's better to leave this mess to the heroes; Gabriel's secretly eager to get back home so he can transform and exploit this new information while Tom gushes to his wife and daughter about how they can expand their business to New York... though Sabine reminds him that it's still entirely Marinette's decision what to do about Audrey's offer.

Meanwhile, Chloé-as-Scarlet Lady discovers that for some strange reason, everybody seems to be completely ignoring her. That simply won't do! Noticing Alya and Nino celebrating the latter's work as a DJ, the spotted superheroine swaggers over and declares she's willing to grant the Ladyblogger an exclusive interview... only to get turned down flat. After all, it's obvious that Chloé doesn't even read her blog—if she did, then she'd know that she'd posted a huge exposé on Scarlet Lady, calling her out on being a Nominal Heroine.

Furiously, Scarlet Lady accuses her of defamation. Nino then recalls how just days before, Chloé had announced her intention to leave Paris altogether... because the class hadn't liked her presentation all about her "heroic" alter ego. That means she was willing to abandon the city and everyone living there to deal with Hawkmoth's reign of terror... and for what? Because they didn't kiss up to her enough?

Incensed by his words, people start surrounding Scarlet Lady, denouncing her as a cowardly fake and demanding that she hand over her Miraculous to Chat Noir and Marigold, the real heroes of Paris. All she can do in the face of their outrage is retreat, furiously screaming "Whatever!"

Upon making it home, she transforms back to normal. Tikki immediately starts betrating her for publicly revealing her identity, but Chloé dismisses the public as being "ungrateful" as she takes off the earrings and puts them back in their case, forcing the Kwami to disappear. Zoé arrives, and Chloé tearfully turns towards her half-sister for comfort, ranting about how cruel the whole city is being and that they've all turned against her in favor of Marigold. To her shock, however, Zoé suggests that she just quit her hero gig.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has sprinted down to his lair and breathlessly informs Nooroo that all is not lost. He can still take advantage of this unique situation and akumatize somebody with a Miraculous. "A superhero-turned-supervillain can only be... exceptional!" he declares, even as Nooroo privately notes that the person in question is still Chloé Bourgeois.

Back at the hotel, Zoé tries to cover up her slip by proclaiming that Paris definitely doesn't deserve Chloé, so why not leave them to figure everything out for themselves? Give the earrings to Marigold and forget the heroes! After all, she's sick of fighting for such ingrates, right...?

But Chloé's got it all figured out. Zoé's just "another goodie two shoes," isn't she? She was only pretending to be on her side all this time, just like the rest of Paris! Her love, her support, that was all just a lie! As she demands that Zoé get out of her room, she hurls the case containing the Ladybug earrings at her half-sister, declaring, "I HATE YOU! You and Paris! And ESPECIALLY MARIMOLD! GET OUT!"

After shutting her half-sister out, Chloé sinks to the floor, back pressed against the door as she sobs to herself... and a black butterfly flits into her room. As it enters her pendant, Hawkmoth addresses her as "Queen Wasp" and pretends to sympathize with her sorrow: despite her "dedication" to Paris, its citizens prefer Marigold over her. "If they won't respect you as a hero, then make them respect you as a villain."

As Chloé transforms, she declares that now everyone will obey her commands—starting with her half-sister!

Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette have transformed and rushed to the hotel: it's their best chance of finally recovering the Ladybug Miraculous! When they enter Chloé's room, though... she's nowhere to be seen.

André asks Zoé how her sister is, but Zoé's awkward attempt to explain is curtailed by Chloé—or, rather, Queen Wasp—sending hundreds of wasps into the room, with the wasps paralyzing everyone present... save for Zoé, who manages to escape at the last moment and would really love to find Marigold.

Who is still at the hotel with Chat Noir, finding everyone Queen Wasp has already paralyzed. The akuma shows up and prepares her wasps to attack the heroes... before commanding those she already has under her control to seize Chat Noir and Marigold! The two barely escape on time, and Queen Wasp sends her drones to find the heroes and the Ladybug Miraculous.

Unwilling to attack the mind-controlled civilians, Chat Noir and Marigold flee the hotel while Queen Wasp taunts them and uses her wasp swarms to throw cars at the heroes. Marigold complains about Chloé getting better at fighting now that she's gone evil, and the heroes struggle to fight the akuma while avoiding getting stung by the wasps or attacked by the people Queen Wasp controls.

In the meantime, Zoé manages to slip away undetected by using a waste bin to cover herself.

The heroes realize Zoé has the earrings... but that means they don't know where the akuma is! Queen Wasp declares that, even if they manage to evade her "subjects," they can't evade her! Except they can—by jumping into the Seine, prompting Queen Wasp to complain about their "obsession with smelly places."

Zoé keeps running and manages to find her sister's classmates, who are in the middle of a Kitty Section jam session. The teens ask what's worrying her, and Zoé asks them to help her find Marigold. She then goes to face her half-sister, which unsurprisingly results in her being stung.

Nearby, Marigold and Chat Noir see this and are initially horrified by Zoé's actions, believing she's just delivered the Miraculous back into Queen Wasp's hands... until Alya sheepishly tells the two that Zoé gave her the earrings before leaving to confront Queen Wasp.

Marigold opens the box, and Tikki comes out, asking if it's finally over. Unfortunately, Chloé's been akumatized, so someone needs to wear the earrings! Everyone agrees Marigold should be the one to do it: she's Paris's real hero, after all. Marigold agrees, puts on the earrings, and Unifies Tikki and Pollen, becoming Ladygold! She then checks to see if she can use Lucky Charm and produces a snorkel. Looking around, Ladygold sees what she needs to make use of it. She does apologize to Chat Noir, though, because they are going to get a bit dirty, making him complain that they just took a bath!

While Queen Wasp searches Zoé to find where she's hiding the earrings, the heroes pounce: Chat Noir pops the snorkel into Queen Wasp's mouth, preventing her from giving orders, and Ladygold snares the akuma with her yo-yo, causing Queen Wasp to fall off the wasps holding her in the air and into the Seine. Breathing through the snorkel (which is connected to a hose), Queen Wasp attempts to defend herself but is unable to do anything before Ladygold uses Venom on her, paralyzing her and giving the heroes the time they need to start destroying anything she has that might hold the butterfly.

After much searching, the black butterfly finally comes out, and Ladygold purifies it before performing her first Miraculous Cure, bringing everyone Queen Wasp had stung out of their stupor. While Ladygold and Chat Noir do their "Bien Joué!" fistbump, Chloé angrily demands to be given back her Miraculous... but Ladygold immediately denies her.

Nadia quickly arrives at the scene, using a tablet to ask Audrey how she feels about Chloé's akumatization. Before she can answer, Chloé tells her mother to shut up—she no longer cares about what Audrey thinks anymore! In fact (as she tosses the tablet into the Seine), she doesn't care about anyone anymore! She then leaves, still angrily shouting about her hatred of everyone, while Ladygold watches in apprehension.

Later, Marinette goes to Le Grand Paris and finds Zoé trying to speak with Chloé, who shouts at her half-sister, claiming she doesn't want to see anyone. Marinette takes Zoé to the roof, where Zoé tells Marinette how lucky the latter is: while Marinette's parents are invested in her life and dreams, Zoé has struggled just to remind her mother that she has daughters. Her only hope was to act like Audrey in order to catch a scrap of her mother's attention—similar to Chloé, only her sister's Jerkass behavior wasn't an act. Zoé breaks down as she notes she's been doing this for so long, she barely knows how to be herself, and on top of that, not only is Chloé an awful person, but Audrey still doesn't care about either of them!

An angry Marinette suggests that Zoé let Audrey have it.

Marinette arrives to the helipad, where Audrey is impatiently waiting for her. However, when the fashion critic tells her to get in, Marinette just replies that she never had any intention of leaving: since Audrey is so unstable, she'd probably "fire" Marinette before they even reach New York. Moreover, Marinette's whole life is in Paris, so going to New York was never an option for her, and there's a good part of Audrey's life in Paris as well—such as her daughter Zuko—uh, Zoé.

Zoé approaches her mother and asks Audrey why she doesn't love her or Chloé. When Audrey claims that she does (she just shows it in different ways), Zoé asks if not remembering their names is one of those ways. Audrey tries to cover her faults by claiming she only remembers exceptional people, but Zoé is done: is being exceptional having talent, or just being an ass?

As Audrey looks on, dumb-mouthed, Zoé finally lets out her frustrations with her mother: Chloé ruined her entire life trying to emulate Audrey, and all she got was her mother's indifference. Meanwhile, Zoé is done following Audrey's example! She's staying in Paris because she knows Chloé needs her, and she isn't leaving her half-sister alone just because it'd be more convenient. But Audrey... Audrey can just go back to New York if she wants, like the "exceptional" parent she's always been. Chastened by her daughter's words, Audrey decides to stay in Paris as well.

Marinette goes to meet Fu, who congratulates her for recovering the earrings. Marinette mentions her worries about bringing in a new Ladybug, but Fu points out Marinette could just wear the earrings herself instead. All she'd need to do is return the Bee Miraculous to the Miraculous Box.

An unamused Marinette asks why, and Fu explains that wearing more than one Miraculous at once can be draining and that Marinette doesn't need to wield so much power. However, Marinette replies she doesn't care about power—she cares about Pollen! After everything they've been through together, she can't just let her friend go! After she asks how he'd feel if he were told he couldn't be with Wayzz anymore, Fu relents and tells Marinette she can keep the Bee comb and lend it out the same way he does with Wayzz. Marinette, Tikki, and Pollen all thank the Guardian and cheer in response.

Back at Agreste Manor, Plagg asks Adrien if he's alright. Adrien replies he doesn't know how to feel: while he understands why Chloé would want to catch her mother's attention, she still did awful things, including stealing the Ladybug earrings from Marinette, just because she wanted to. As far as he's concerned, every consequence that falls on Chloé will be her fault.

Nathalie asks Gabriel if he intends to desist in his intentions, but Gabriel doesn't: he still has a plan—the most ambitious yet—and it will require Nathalie's collaboration. With Chloé's hate on his side, Gabriel says, he will have everything he needs to succeed in his quest for the Miraculous.

Marigold meets up with Chat Noir and informs him of the new arrangement. Tikki mentions how hard it was to be so close to Marinette yet unable to be with her. Chat Noir then asks Tikki why she never clued any of them in about Chloé being Scarlet Lady, but Tikki replies she didn't because of the rules about sharing identities... unaware that Chat Noir and Marigold have already broken it.

Marigold turns to Chat Noir and tells him this is his last chance to make out with Marigold. Chat Noir teases her about having done that already, to which Marigold complains that she doesn't even remember that. Chat Noir leans in and kisses her... which causes Tikki to realize they already know each other's Secret Identities.

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This episode has examples of the following:

• Abusive Parents:
  • Gabriel's apparent relief that Adrien's now safe is actually lamentation that all the months he put into creating Style Queen went to waste; he doesn't show any real concern over his son being turned into a statue.
  • As Zoé puts it, she's spent a lot of time trying to remind her mother that she has daughters, and not even the events of the past day have been enough to make Audrey care about them.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Queen Wasp has a more elaborate appearance than in canon, with Giant Poofy Sleeves, a furry collar, a cape that resembles wings, hair that looks more like a stinger, and a crown-shaped ring around her ponytail.
• Adaptational Badass: Instead of only paralyzing people, Chloé's akuma form, Queen Wasp, can also Mind Control them, which was canon Miracle Queen's power. On another level, when Chloé was akumatized into either Queen Wasp or Miracle Queen in canon, it was while she was using the Bee Miraculous, which formed the basis for her akuma powers. Yet she's just as powerful here as in canon despite lacking the Bee Miraculous.
• Adaptational Context Change: In the show, when Chloé gets akumatized into Queen Wasp, her akuma's bee-like theme came from her having the Bee Miraculous at the time. In the webcomic, the theme is instead due to her hatred of her rival, Marigold, particularly after the public makes it clear they prefer the Bee heroine over Scarlet Lady.
• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed with Chloé. Unlike canon, she doesn't try to crash a train full of civilians, just to give herself a chance to show off. Unfortunately, the rest of her track record as Scarlet Lady already speaks for itself...
• Adaptational Name Change: Marinette used the name "Ladybee" when she unified the Ladybug and Bee Miraculous in the show. Here, she goes by "Ladygold" instead.
• Adaptational Sympathy: Chloé's Freudian Excuse regarding Audrey is actively acknowledged as a big reason for her cruel, spoiled nature, unlike in canon where it was only briefly touched upon before being largely ignored in favor of a "Chloé was just born bad" narrative. On the other hand, nobody feels that it excuses any of the horrible things she's done.
• All for Nothing:
  • Near the beginning of the episode, Gabriel has difficulty holding himself together after Style Queen, which he spent months working on, got defeated by the heroes so quickly.
  • Chloé decides to sacrifice her big juicy secret about being Scarlet Lady and transforms in public to impress her mother... who is completely indifferent to the reveal and still more interested in Marinette's potential as a designer. Moreover, because Chloé had made a very public announcement about leaving Paris not too long ago, the city now hates her for almost abandoning them, and her frustration with this ultimately results in her losing the Ladybug Miraculous.
  • Zoé laments that both she and Chloé acted like their mother in a vain, desperate attempt to earn her attention. Yet all this accomplished was turn her half-sister into a Spoiled Brat while leaving Zoé unsure who she is when she's not mimicking Audrey, whom she's convinced still doesn't care about either of them.
• All Your Powers Combined: Marinette uses Unification to wear both the Ladybug earrings and the Bee comb, becoming Ladygold.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Zoé fires a bunch at her mother that ultimately leave Audrey in Stunned Silence, Jaw Drop included:
    Zoé: Why don't you love us Mom?
    Audrey: Buh-! Of course I l-love you! I just... show it in different ways.
    Zoé: Like, not remembering our names?
    Audrey: I-I remember exceptional—
    Zoé: Oh, what does being "exceptional" even mean, Mom? Having talent? Or just being an ass?
  • Marinette also has one for Master Fu when he tells her to return Pollen to the Miracle Box:
    Marinette: How would you feel if you couldn't be with Wayzz anymore?!
    Fu: ...I understand.
• Armor-Piercing Response: When Master Fu tells Marinette that there's no need for her to wield the power of the Ladybug and Bee, she retorts, "Who cares about power?! I care about Pollen!"
• Artistic License – Physics: In Real Life, Queen Wasp would've likely quickly asphyxiated from having to breathe underwater near the bottom of the Seine through a snorkel attached to a long hose. The water pressure at that depth (the Seine is around 9.5m deep on average) as well as the narrowness of the hose would prevent her lungs from expelling air out the other end, so she'd only be able to rebreathe the oxygen-less air she breathes out.
• Bait-and-Switch: Audrey asks who made Adrien's hat, with it looking like she's about to verbally rip it apart... only for her to declare it to be exceptional work.
• Becoming the Mask: Downplayed with Zoé, who has been acting like Audrey for so long that she doesn't know how to be herself.
• Berserk Button: Zoé unwittingly presses one of Chloé's when she suggests that her sister just quit being Scarlet Lady (which of course implies that someone else would become the Ladybug hero). She then grinds it in by saying Chloé could give the earrings to Marigold, unaware of just how much her sister despises the Bee heroine.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Chloé gives one to Audrey near the end, just as Audrey is about to publicly deride her daughter in a TV interview for getting akumatized.
• Black Bead Eyes: Chat Noir and Marigold have these when they learn Zoé left the Ladybug earrings behind with Alya before leaving to confront Queen Wasp, meaning the two heroes were catastrophizing about the akuma getting the Ladybug Miraculous for nothing.
• Blood from the Mouth: Happens to Adrien when he tries to be supportive of the idea of Marinette leaving Paris with Audrey for New York. Marinette even lampshades this.
• Blunt "No": Ladygold's answer to Chloé demanding the earrings back.
• Book Ends: The banner for this episode shows Chloé in a position that mirrors the one she has in the first chapter, thus marking, as revealed by the subtitle, the end of her stint as Scarlet Lady.
• Boring, but Practical: After Ladygold paralyzes Queen Wasp, since she and Chat Noir don't know where the akuma butterfly is, they just resort to breaking everything Queen Wasp has on her, figuring that they'll eventually get to the akumatized object.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Tom is very excited at the prospect of relocating the family business to New York so that Marinette can fulfill her dream, declaring it'll open a whole new world of possibilities to all of them. Sabine is more apprehensive about the idea, though, pointing out that Marinette would be moving to another country, learning a new language, leaving everyone and everything behind, and jumping right into the workforce before even finishing her education. Marinette is visibly torn over whom she should side with, and the caption even states that her parents are effectively the two halves of her brain.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • While the pedestal was already crumbling for Scarlet Lady, Chloé revealing her Secret Identity in front of all of Paris ensures its complete collapse.
  • Though she had outed herself to gain Audrey's approval, after being deakumatized, Chloé angrily declares that she no longer cares what her mother thinks anymore.
  • Downplayed for Zoé, who never approved of Audrey's Jerkass behavior to begin with. By the end of the episode, though, she finally works up the courage to call her mother out on it and declares she's through with trying to gain Audrey's approval and attention by copying her mother.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Audrey doesn't mince words when she declares that Chloé's lack of accomplishments and various failures show that she's not exceptional in any way, shape, or form.
  • Marinette does this as well when she turns down Audrey's offer by calling the critic an unstable mentor who'd probably "fire" Marinette before they even get to New York.
• Call-Back:
  • Marinette mentions Adrien's stint as Aspik and how he might've been able to figure out Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity back then.
  • At the fashion show, Gabriel manages to calm Audrey down by telling her he already fired the person responsible for the seating arrangements, which is what caused her akumatization in the previous episode.
  • When Chloé insists she's as exceptional as Marinette, Audrey mentions how Chloé got herself perma-banned from Gabriel's contests, lost the class presidency, and got kicked off the World's Greatest Chef jury.
  • Nino brings up how Chloé tried to leave Paris despite how it would leave Paris to Hawkmoth's mercy, just because the class called her out on doing a presentation about herself for a class assignment on historically important people. Alya also mentions her exposé on Scarlet Lady, which showed up at the end of the same episode.
• Calling the Old Woman Out:
  • After Queen Wasp's defeat, just as Audrey is about to berate her daughter in a TV interview, Chloé angrily tells her mother to shut up and that she no longer cares what Audrey thinks anymore.
  • Zoé extensively calls out Audrey over what an unpleasant woman she is and the damage she's done to Chloé with her attitude.
• Cardiovascular Love: Marinette is shown with little hearts floating above her as she watches Adrien modeling her hat.
• Cliffhanger: Part 7 ends just as Hawkmoth's akuma butterfly arrives in Chloé's room... after she threw the earrings at Zoé.
• Color Failure:
  • Adrien experiences this when Marinette points out he missed out on an opportunity to discover Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity while he was Aspik.
  • Happens to Chloé and Zoé when the former gives a Flat "What" in response to the latter's suggestion that she just quit being a superheroine.
  • Also happens to Tikki, Pollen, and Marinette when Fu states the latter has to return the Bee Miraculous.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Audrey lists several of Chloé's recent failures, Chloé is just touched that her mother's actually kept abreast of what's going on in her life, not realizing (at first) that Audrey is actually bringing them up to roast her.
• Composite Character: The webcomic's version of Queen Wasp also has canon Miracle Queen's mind-control powers on top of her original paralysis ones. The author even refers to this as the "Miracle Queen Upgrade" in the caption.
• Continuity Nod: After announcing that she'll be switching out the Bee comb for the Ladybug earrings, the Bee heroine teases that Chat Noir has one last chance to make out with Marigold. He reminds her that he technically already did, namely in "Dark Cupid" when she was under the influence of the titular akuma's powers. Marigold protests that she doesn't even remember that.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Marinette points out that if Adrien had used his time as Aspik to figure out Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity, they might not still be dealing with the Nominal Heroine in the present.
  Caption: This could've been over sooner but SOMEONE was wrapped up in his REVENGE fantasies smh.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Once they have the Lucky Charm snorkel and enough time to plan, Chat Noir and Ladygold are able to defeat Queen Wasp rather quickly.
• Damned by Faint Praise: A meta version, with the tags sarcastically congratulating Chloé for being the only character to have a 4-panel talk with Hawkmoth.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Both Chat Noir and Marigold are caught off guard when they realize that Zoé has the earrings, which rules out the only lead they had on what the akumatized object is. It happens again when they start panicking over Zoé getting stung by Queen Wasp, convinced this means that the akuma now has the Miraculous... at least until Alya tells them that Zoé already left the earrings behind with her.
  • Audrey is visibly surprised when Chloé, who up until now has idolized her mother and bent over backwards to get her approval, gives her mother a Big "SHUT UP!" on live TV.
  • Audrey's taken aback again when Marinette tells the older woman she never planned to go to New York with her; she's only at the helipad to let Zoé have a few words with her mother... whereupon Zoé calls Audrey out for her horrible parenting skills, shocking the critic into Stunned Silence.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Though revealing her Secret Identity was a bad idea for many reasons, a big one involves how Chloé made a huge public announcement about leaving Paris for New York just days ago. Nino bringing this up in front of a crowd causes everyone to realize she was willing to abandon them to Hawkmoth's mercy for petty and selfish reasons.
  • After her half-sister suggests she give the Ladybug Miraculous to Marigold, Chloé impulsively throws whatever she has on hand at Zoé, not realizing until later that it was the box containing the Ladybug earrings.
• Dramatic Irony: Chloé declares that Ladygold is a thief for using the Ladybug Miraculous, not knowing that Ladygold is really Marinette, who was originally meant to have the Ladybug Miraculous before Chloé stole it from her and has now taken back what is rightfully hers.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • After hearing her sister complain about how ungrateful Paris is of all the sacrifices she supposedly made as Scarlet Lady, Zoé suggests that Chloé just quit if she finds being a superhero to be that big of an unrewarding burden. Unfortunately, Chloé misinterprets this as her sister backstabbing her after pretending to be on her side.
  • Master Fu has a brief moment of this after the Ladybug Miraculous is recovered. When Marinette protests the idea of trading Pollen for Tikki, he thinks that she's getting greedy after her brief stint as Ladygold. Fortunately, she sets him straight and gets him to realize she's more concerned about being separated from Pollen than power.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Chat Noir and Marigold initially think that Queen Wasp's akuma butterfly is in the Ladybug Miraculous but soon learn that she isn't even wearing the earrings and that Zoé has them instead. Not long afterwards, the two heroes see Zoé get stung by the akuma and are convinced that this means Queen Wasp now has the Ladybug Miraculous... only to be told that Zoé had actually left the earrings behind with Alya.
• Entitled Bitch: As usual, Chloé is this, declaring that Parisians should all be groveling for her attention. She also accuses Ladygold of being a thief when she was the one who threw away the earrings in the first place (after stealing them from their rightful owner).
• Et Tu, Brute?: After she outs herself and cements her Hated by All status in the eyes of the public, Chloé turns to her sister Zoé as her last ally, lamenting, "Zoékins, this city is so cruel!" using the affectionate diminutive she used to give to Adrien. Zoé then unwisely suggests, "Maybe you should just quit." The author comments in a post, "...she believed Zoe was like her and on her side... She was wrong." This final "betrayal" is too much for Chloé, setting her up to be akumatized.
• Everyone Has Standards: Audrey Bourgeois is an Entitled Bitch who habitually attempts to dole out Disproportionate Retribution for even the slightest perceived offense. However, she still respects and admires genuine talent in fashion like Marinette's. Conversely, she's unimpressed by her daughter Chloé claiming to be exceptional without the accomplishments to back that up.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite resenting the responsibilities of actually being a hero, even after losing the public's support, Chloé still refuses to hand her Miraculous over to the real heroes and later demands that Ladygold give the earrings back to her, seemingly for no reason other than she dislikes the idea of anyone other than herself using the Ladybug Miraculous.
• Failed a Spot Check: Zoé tries to hide from her akumatized sister and Queen Wasp's minions by putting a dustbin over her head. Her disguise leaves her legs completely exposed, but mind-controlled Audrey and Butler Jean, as well as a swarm of Queen Wasp's wasps, all fail to notice Zoé.
• Fantastically Indifferent: Audrey barely even reacts to the reveal that her daughter Chloé is the superheroine Scarlet Lady. Instead, she immediately leaves while telling Marinette to meet up with her later.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Nooroo sees how excited Gabriel is over the prospect of akumatizing a Miraculous wielder and wonders if it's really that good of an idea, considering the target in question is Chloé. Sure enough, Chloé accidentally loses the Ladybug earrings, right before Hawkmoth manages to akumatize her.
• Flat "What":
  • Chloé's reaction when Zoé suggests that she just stop being Scarlet Lady.
  • How Marinette responds when told she has to give up the Bee comb.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Adrien tells Plagg that, while he understands the idea of wanting to gain your parent's attention, everything Chloé's done (stealing the Ladybug Miraculous from Marinette, bullying her classmates, using her father's connections to get away with everything she does, etc.) were clearly things she did because she wanted to. So, if she suffers from the consequences, then she simply brought them on herself.
• Garbage Hideout: Zoé does this to hide from Queen Wasp's minions while escaping. Unlike most examples of this trope, though, she instead puts a garbage bin over her head as she tries to sneak off, which leaves the entire lower half of her body visible. Somehow, this succeeds in preventing her from getting caught.
• Geas: While there were previous implications of it, this is the first time a Kwami is shown being unable to (directly) reveal the identity of a Miraculous wielder, with Plagg being blocked from saying Chloé's name.
• Gone Horribly Right: Chloé outs herself as Scarlet Lady in public so that her mother will see that she's more "exceptional" than Marinette. This attempt doesn't impress Audrey at all, however, though it does give Gabriel the idea to akumatize Chloé. He even describes the idea of an akumatized Miraculous wielder and superhero-turned-supervillain as "exceptional!" Somewhat subverted when Chloé accidentally gets rid of the Ladybug Miraculous before she's akumatized, meaning her akuma is likely less "exceptional" than Hawkmoth initially planned.
• Good Parents: After Audrey invites her to come with her to New York, Marinette's parents tell her that they'll support whatever decision she makes, though Sabine still has some reservations about moving their family and business to a whole new country.
• Heroic BSoD: Adrien freezes up when he realizes he could have found out Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity back when he was Aspik and instead wasted the chance getting some (admittedly well-earned) revenge on her.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Though Audrey seems like a walking example of Parental Neglect, she's actually kept up with some of the major things going on in her daughter Chloé's life. Unfortunately for Chloé, her mother isn't the least bit impressed by what she's been up to.
  • Audrey also reveals that, deep down, she does care about her daughters when she makes a Platonic Declaration of Love in response to Zoé declaring the critic doesn't care about either her or her sister. She then decides to stay in Paris when Zoé calls her mother out for being a horrible parent and declares she's done trying to emulate Audrey.
• Honor Before Reason: As Tikki laments how hard it was being stuck with Chloé instead of her intended holder, Chat Noir and Marigold ask why she never tried to clue them in on Chloé being Scarlet Lady, which could've saved everyone a lot of grief. Tikki explains that she didn't because doing so would've been against the rules.
• Humiliation Conga: The entire episode serves as one for Chloé. First, she gets Offended by an Inferior's Success when her mother praises Chloé's favorite bullying target Marinette and invites the latter to New York. Chloé then receives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Audrey, who bluntly declares that Chloé's various failures and lack of accomplishments show she isn't exceptional in any way, shape, or form. This drives Chloé to reveal she's actually Scarlet Lady, except it not only fails to get an approval from Audrey but also results in Chloé completely losing the support of the public, who demand that she give up her Miraculous to her hated rival Marigold. Chloé's anger and frustration with this results in her getting akumatized into Queen Wasp and losing the Ladybug Miraculous for good to Marigold.
• Hypocrite:
  • When Gabriel claims that he fired the person responsible for the seating arrangements, Audrey tells him not to overdo it... despite how she was the one calling for somebody to be fired in the first place and, in fact, repeatedly reacts to even the slightest inconvenience by declaring that whomever she deems responsible has just been fired.
  • Chloé calls Ladygold a thief for using her Ladybug Miraculous, ignoring how she stole the earrings from Marinette in the first place (and since Marinette's secretly Marigold/Ladygold, all she really did was take back what should have been hers to begin with).
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: After being called out by Zoé for being a terrible parent, Audrey scoffs, "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. What does she know?!" However, it's clear she took her daughter's words to heart: she even changes her mind about going back to New York and decides to stay in Paris instead.
• I Reject Your Reality:
  • When confronted with Alya's exposé, Scarlet's only defense is to insist that it's defamation. One interpretation of this is that the Ladybug heroine is trying to dismiss the entire article of her exploits as lies and refuses to acknowledge that it's detailing actual instances of her unheroic behavior.
  • She later claims that the Parisian public's reaction to her reveal is because they faked supporting her, only to stab her in the back, as opposed to them actually liking her until she began to show her true colors.
• I'm Standing Right Here: Gabriel grimaces and gives an indignant "Hey!" when Audrey declares she can make Marinette a bigger name than him.
• Immediate Sequel: Picks up just moments after "Style Queen" ended.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Chloé still reveals her identity in an attempt to impress her mother, only it's as Scarlet Lady rather than Queen Bee.
  • Even though she doesn't almost cause a train accident so she can show off her heroics, Chloé still gets upset enough to be akumatized when she realizes that no one likes Scarlet Lady. In addition, despite not having the Bee Miraculous, she still becomes an akuma with a bee-like theme due to her grudge against Marigold, angered that the public considers the Bee heroine better than her.
  • Marinette has No Sympathy for Chloé, but she still tells Audrey off at the helipad with one of the critic's daughters in tow, though Zoé instead of Chloé. Additionally, while this doesn't result in a bonding moment between mother and daughter, Audrey still decides to stay in Paris.
• In-Universe Factoid Failure: Chloé declares that Alya's exposé is defamation, even though France, like most countries, requires statements to be false to be considered defamatory, and Alya's piece is about actual cases of Scarlet Lady's incompetence and unprofessionalism.
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • Chloé transforms into Scarlet Lady to prove she's more exceptional than Marinette. Audrey doesn't care at all and just tells Marinette to meet her at the helicopter.
  • Queen Wasp claims the heroes can't escape her wasps. The heroes promptly jump into the river, preventing the wasps from following them (though this may be more due to the fact that Queen Wasp is too disgusted by the Seine's water to make her wasps dive in after the heroes).
• Internal Reveal:
  • Chloé reveals she is Scarlet Lady to everyone at the fashion show.
  • Chloé learns about the exposé Alya wrote in the Ladyblog, which she (unlike Zoé) missed because she doesn't follow the blog.
  • Kitty Section and some of their classmates witness Tikki and Pollen's Unification and learn that a Miraculous can be merged with others.
  • Tikki learns Marigold and Chat Noir know each other's identities.
• Irony:
  • Following Chloé's reveal of her being Scarlet Lady, Gabriel takes Adrien back home... and both of them are shown itching to get home and transform for the exact same reason.
  • After months of ignoring Alya's requests for an interview, Chloé is all too happy to give Alya an exclusive interview—but now Alya isn't interested.
  • When she gets angry with Zoé for suggesting she give the earrings to the other heroes, Chloé angrily accuses her sister of trying to betray her—and ends up throwing the earrings at her half-sister before slamming the door closed.
  • Chloé outs herself in a desperate attempt to get her mother's approval. It instead leads to an episode-long Humiliation Conga that concludes with Chloé declaring she no longer cares what her mother thinks, and around the same time Audrey decides to stay in Paris with her family, too.
• It's All About Me:
  • After Style Queen's defeat, Gabriel is more upset that it means all the months he put into creating the akuma have gone to waste than he is relieved that Adrien is now safe.
  • Chloé complains about all the sacrifices she had to make as Scarlet Lady—she spent a year without wearing designer earrings! This also forms the basis of her transformation into Queen Wasp, with her intending to force other people into obeying her commands.
• It's All My Fault: As the tags underneath the page where Zoé sacrifices herself notes, one of the reasons why she doesn't use the earrings herself is that she thinks she's the one who caused Chloé's akumatization.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed, but as much of an neglectful and abusive mother as Audrey is, she appears sincere when she declares that she does love her daughters. She also takes Zoé's criticism of her awful parenting to heart and decides to stay in Paris with her family rather than go back to New York like she originally planned.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: When Gabriel hugs Adrien, he's shown crying... because of the months of work he put in creating Style Queen that have now been wasted.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Audrey hits the nail on the head when she shoots down Chloé's insistence that she's exceptional, pointing out that her daughter hasn't achieved anything noteworthy on her own and instead got herself banned from all contests featuring the Gabriel brand, lost her class presidency, and got kicked off the judging panel for World's Greatest Chef after being Caught on Tape sabotaging a contestant.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Tikki doesn't realize that Chat Noir and Marigold have figured out each other's secret identities until they start making out in front of her.
• Make-Out Kids: Once again, Adrien and Marinette kiss in front of one of their Kwamis and tell said Kwami to not interrupt them.
• Manipulative Bastard: Hawkmoth tells Chloé exactly what she wants to hear in order to make her accept being akumatized.
• Missed Him by That Much: Zoé runs away from the hotel with the Ladybug earrings, seeking Marigold, just as Chat Noir and Marigold arrive to the hotel's lobby, looking for Chloé so they can take the earrings from her.
• Mood Whiplash: When Master Fu suggests that Marinette start using the Ladybug earrings herself like she was supposed to, she smiles with a light blush as Tikki sparkles with happiness next to her. Then Fu adds that Marinette will need to return the Bee comb, causing both Marinette and Tikki to undergo a Color Failure. Marinette also gives out a Flat "What" as Tikki breaks out in a nervous sweat, realizing that this conversation's going to be a bit more awkward than she initially thought.
• Mythology Gag: Much like in canon, Chloé ends up revealing her Secret Identity just for the sake of showing off and is subsequently turned into an akuma with a bee-like theme.
• Never My Fault: Chloé claims that nothing of what has happened is her fault—even when it very most clearly is. She even sees the events just before her akumatization as Paris stabbing her in the back.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Zoé tries to help her sister move on by suggesting that Chloé just quit her superhero gig. Unfortunately, Chloé ends up seeing this as proof of betrayal from her last ally, which gives Hawkmoth the opening he needs to akumatize Chloé into Queen Wasp.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Chloé outing herself as Scarlet Lady ends up saving the other heroes the trouble of figuring it out themselves. Moreover, while this does draw Hawkmoth's attention, she ends up taking off the earrings and accidentally gets rid of them before he can akumatize her, and it's practically guaranteed she won't be getting them back afterwards, thus ending her stint at Scarlet Lady.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: When Chat Noir and Marigold ask Tikki why the Kwami never gave them a clue about Chloé being Scarlet Lady, Tikki reminds them that sharing identities is against the rules, unaware that the two have already done precisely that. The two heroes nervously sweat as they glance at each other in response.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success: Chloé does not take it well, to say the least, when Marinette, her favorite bullying victim, manages to not only earn Audrey's respect and praise almost immediately but also receives an invitation to work for Audrey in New York.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Zoé is clearly terrified when she sees Chloé is about to explode after Audrey praises Marinette's work.
  • Chat Noir and Marigold are shocked when Queen Wasp demonstrates she can control people her wasps have stung and sets them on the heroic duo. They subsequently start panicking when they realize they don't have a lead on where the akuma butterfly is if the Ladybug Miraculous is with Zoé.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Given how he has been a recluse in his own home for a long time, when Gabriel Agreste makes a personal appearance in the show, Alya's first reaction is to think he's a ghost.
  • Everyone's shocked that Gabriel showed a public display of affection for his son, even crying. Unfortunately, it's all for show to hide his frustration that Style Queen failed.
  • Most people are in shock when Audrey offers sincere praise of Marinette's work.
  • Audrey is caught quite off guard when Chloé gives her a Big "SHUT UP!" on live TV and when Zoé calls her out on being a neglectful parent and all-around unpleasant person.
• Paparazzi: After Queen Wasp is defeated, Nadja attempts to exploit the Bourgeois family drama by calling Audrey up on a tablet and remotely interviewing her right in front of Chloé.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: After Chloé is akumatized, Zoé goes around using a rubbish bin as cover to avoid being seen, even though the lower half of her body is completely exposed. Somehow, nobody notices her, and she manages to escape.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Subverted when Gabriel hugs Adrien in front of the audience at the fashion show. Though it initially appears he's expressing relief that Adrien is now safe, he's actually only upset that all his hard work in creating Style Queen yielded no payoff.
  • Audrey gets a few moments of these throughout the episode:
    • After hearing that Gabriel apparently fired the person responsible for the mishap with the seating arrangements, Audrey forgives him and agrees to drop the matter.
    • She also genuinely praises Marinette's hat, remarking that it's "exceptional" work, inviting her to New York, and offering to make her an even bigger name in fashion than Gabriel Agreste.
    • When Zoé calls her mother out for not loving her or Chloé, Audrey proclaims that she does, even if she shows it differently. It might not seem like much, but given how she tends to treat her daughters, it's rather surprising she'd openly admit she does care about them.
    • She ultimately decides to stay in Paris with her family after Zoé calls her mother out on her Parental Neglect.
• Platonic Declaration of Love: When Zoé asks Audrey why her mother doesn't love her or Chloé, Audrey immediately declares that she does love her daughters; she just has a different way of showing it. Zoé isn't convinced, though, pointing out how Audrey can't even remember their names.
• Plot Parallel:
  • When Audrey offers to take Marinette to New York, her parents immediately show their support, with Tom acting gung-ho about the prospect of making such a major move for her sake while Sabine reminds him that it's ultimately Marinette's choice to make. This serves as a sharp contrast to the Bourgeoises: André is a pushover who enabled Chloé's bratty behavior while Audrey is neglectful and dismissive. Zoé observes how lucky Marinette is to have parents who sincerely care about her and her dreams.
  • As Adrien notes, he can relate to Chloé's parental woes due to how Gabriel is just as emotionally neglectful and distant as Audrey. In a bit of Dramatic Irony, however, Adrien is unaware that what appeared to be a moment where his father demonstrated actual concern for his safety was actually Gabriel moping over Style Queen's failure while Audrey shows signs of caring more for her daughters than she lets on.
  • Marinette and Chloé's stories both have similar developments. Both officially reveal themselves as heroes to someone they love by transforming/de-transforming, both effectively gain the other's powers during the chapter, and both effectively are no longer going to be acting as their current hero personas, or at least to the same degree as before. Marinette drops her transformation in front of Adrien after he confirms he knows her identity already and confirming he loves her, while Chloé reveals it to her aloof mother in a bid for her approval, a bid that falls flat and only shows her how no one in Paris loves her alter ego anymore. Chloé gains a power akin to Venom thanks to allowing Hawkmoth to Akumatize her, encouraging her to be a villain since no one sees her as a hero, while Marinette finally regains the Ladybug Miraculous and is encouraged to use it as everyone considers her a true hero. Chloé loses the Ladybug Miraculous and no one is willing to give it back to her, ending her stint as Scarlet Lady, while Marinette is given the Ladybug Miraculous, and though she keeps Pollen and her Miraculous, it's clear she's expected to use the Ladybug for it's purifying powers, meaning that Marigold is unlikely to be used in fighting Akumas again.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Chloé explodes when her mother not only praises Marinette's work but also invites Marinette to come to New York with her, something she's never done for Chloé.
  • She hits it again after Zoé suggests that she just give up being a hero if she's that sick of fighting, with Chloé choosing to interpret this as Zoé betraying her.
  • One last time after Ladygold flat out states Chloé won't get the earrings back: when Nadja Chamack arrives to the scene while holding an interview with Audrey through a tablet, Chloé blows up and states she no longer cares about what her mother or anyone else thinks before tossing said tablet into the Seine.
• Rage Quit:
  • After revealing her Secret Identity only earns her jeers from the public, Chloé essentially does this to finish her stint as the Ladybug Miraculous wielder, angrily taking off the earrings and then accidentally throwing the box containing them at Zoé during her tantrum over being "betrayed" by her sister and the city.
  • She does this again after being defeated as Queen Wasp, claiming that she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her anymore... not even her own mother.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • When Chloé insists that she's as exceptional as Marinette, her mother dismisses the idea of Chloé being exceptional in any shape or form and points out how her record states otherwise before listing some of her daughter's recent failures.
  • Marinette tells Audrey that she's not going to New York with her because Audrey's so flaky, she'd probably fire (or "fire") Marinette before the flight even lands.
  • Zoé tells her mother off for her incredible unpleasantness, which has caused, among other things, Chloé's own Jerkass behavior in trying to emulate Audrey, only to be met with indifference at best.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Master Fu initially insists that Marinette give back the Bee comb and wield only the Ladybug Miraculous, telling her that using two Miraculous simultaneously is draining and that she shouldn't get greedy. However, after Marinette makes it clear she doesn't care about power and simply refuses to be separated from Pollen after everything the two of them have been through together, he agrees to a compromise: Marinette will use the Ladybug earrings from now on but can still hang on to the Bee comb and lend it out as she sees fit, similar to how Fu lends out Wayzz.
• Redemption Demotion: More like "Corruption Promotion"—while Chloé was The Load as Scarlet Lady, she's a huge threat as Queen Wasp. Marigold lampshades it.
  Marigold: Why does she fight better when she's evil?!
  Caption: She's so much more dangerous when people actually listen to her.
• Reed Snorkel: A variant. The heroes use a snorkel attached to a long hose to allow Queen Wasp to breathe while paralyzed underwater.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • Chloé declares that the public was never on her side since they've backstabbed and now hate her. She's right in the sense that the public never supported her for who she really is, only the heroine they initially thought she was.
  • Similarly, after Zoé suggests she quit being Scarlet Lady, Chloé declares that her sister is "just another goodie two shoes" who was only pretending to be on her side and is now backstabbing her. Zoé is indeed much nicer that Chloé and never fully shared her half-sister's values, and she has in fact tried to influence Chloé by buttering her up. However, she truly does care about her sister and only suggested that Chloé drop her superhero gig because she genuinely thought it was best for Chloé and everyone else.
• Running Gag: This is the third time Gabriel has been depicted as being out of breath due to making a mad dash to his underground lair to akumatize someone. An arrow pointed at him even says that he "ran to his lair."
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • After Nino recalls how Chloé almost abandoned Paris to Hawkmoth's mercy just days ago, a crowd gathers and starts calling Chloé out for the Nominal Heroine she is and demanding that she give her Miraculous to Marigold. Chloé's forced to flee to avoid dealing with them.
  • Zoé makes a break for it as she sees everyone in the hotel being stung and paralyzed by Queen Wasp.
  • After being deakumatized, Chloé angrily tosses the tablet Nadja was using to call Audrey into the water before storming off, declaring she no longer cares about any of them anymore.
• Shamed by a Mob: Happens to Chloé after she reveals she's Scarlet Lady. Nino realizes that this means she was prepared to abandon them when Chloé publicly announced her plans to move to New York a short while ago, causing people to crowd around Scarlet, call her out for the Nominal Heroine she is, and demand she give her Miraculous to Marigold.
• Shout-Out: Audrey briefly calls Zoé "Zuko" by mistake at the helipad.
• Silent Treatment: Chloé-as-Scarlet Lady expects people to react to her presence with adoration after she outs herself and is caught off guard when they give her this instead.
  Freddy: [looking away from Scarlet] Don't look at her.
• Simple Solution Won't Work:
  • Marinette's idea to have Pollen tell Master Fu Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity doesn't work out since it's revealed Kwamis can't say the name of any Miraculous wielder, not just their own.
  • Zoé sees her sister complain about people not appreciating all the "sacrifices" she's made as Scarlet Lady and suggests that Chloé just quit so that she won't have to continue making those sacrifices. However, due to her huge ego, Chloé refuses to even consider giving up the powerful Miraculous or her superhero gig that she's had for so long, even if the only reason she had for being a hero in the first place (basking in the public's adoration) is now gone. It's only through dumb luck that the tantrum she throws in response to her sister's suggestions results in her losing the Ladybug Miraculous anyway.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • As Audrey lists a few of Chloé's "feats" over the past few months, Chloé is initially more awed that her mother's actually kept abreast of what's going on in her life than she is embarrassed that Audrey knows about many of her failures.
  • Queen Wasp is so disgusted by the Seine's waters that she refuses to pursue the heroes after they dive into the river to escape her.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Audrey thinks this about Chloé, pointing out that her daughter insists she's exceptional while having no achievements to show for it.
• Spanner in the Works: Chloé takes off the earrings and puts them in a box due to her frustration over being hated by the public. She then ends up throwing the box at Zoé when she wrongly believes her sister has betrayed her before shutting Zoé out of her room, unwittingly foiling Hawkmoth's plan to akumatize a Miraculous wielder.
  Tags: #good thing she just thoughtlessly threw whatever was in her hand...
• Splash of Color:
  • There are golden yellow sparkles near Marinette's head when she detransforms back into her civilian identity at the beginning of the episode and again when she transforms into Marigold to confront Chloé at the hotel, seemingly from Pollen being sucked in and out of the Miraculous. Later, Ladygold's top also turns golden when she strikes Queen Wasp with Venom.
  • Chloé's public transformation into Scarlet Lady has a pale red glow. Also, her detransformation when she returns to her balcony is bright red, just like the Lucky Charm snorkel and the swarm of ladybugs from Ladygold's Miraculous Cure.
  • As usual, the mask outlines that appear when Hawkmoth is preparing to akumatize someone are light purple. In addition, the butterfly that flies into Chloé's pendant is black with purple streaks.
  • Queen Wasp's wasps have a golden glow, as do the eyes of people under the akuma's control.
• Taking a Third Option: Pollen had figured that Marinette would eventually recover the Ladybug earrings and have to decide between the earrings or the Bee comb. Marinette instead convinces Fu to let her keep the comb and lend it to others, the same way Fu does with Wayzz.
• Tantrum Throwing:
  • Chloé throws the box containing the Miraculous earrings at Zoé during her tantrum after the latter suggests the former stop being a hero if she considers it a burden... and just seconds before the akuma butterfly flies into her room.
  • Happens again after Queen Wasp is defeated, with Chloé hucking Nadja's tablet right into the Seine.
• Tears of Joy: Pollen and Tikki both shed these when Master Fu agrees to let Marinette keep both the Bee comb and Ladybug earrings, meaning the two Kwamis will both get to live with her.
• Tender Tears: Pollen has small tears when Marinette holds the Kwami close while protesting against the two of them being separated.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: A variant. Chloé was already an Evil Hero, but getting called out for it by all of Paris eventually convinces her to drop any semblance of heroism and accept akumatization.
• This Explains So Much: Marinette states she hates that Chloé being Scarlet Lady makes sense. Audrey also remarks how Chloé always was a huge showoff.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • Marigold has this reaction when she and Chat Noir first come across Queen Wasp's paralyzed victims.
  • After Zoé sacrifices herself to distract Queen Wasp, Chat Noir laments, "Aw man, this is gonna suck so much!" wrongly assuming that she still had the Ladybug earrings and had just unwittingly delivered them to her sister.
• Too Dumb to Live: Chloé, for transforming in public and revealing her Secret Identity. Doubly so because she should have remembered Hawkmoth could be watching.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Chloé's spur-of-the-moment decision to publicly reveal herself as Scarlet Lady in order to "prove" herself to her mother only puts her smack-dab on Hawkmoth's radar, along with destroying what little regard the public had for her alter ego. This leads to both her akumatization into Queen Wasp and her losing the Ladybug Miraculous for good.
• Unintentional Backup Plan:
  • It initially seems Marinette's plan to have Pollen reveal Scarlet Lady's Secret Identity to the Guardian won't work after Plagg demonstrates that Kwamis are incapable of outright saying the name of a Miraculous wielder. It's rendered moot, though, when Chloé decides to out herself as Scarlet Lady at the fashion show.
  • Zoé's attempt to talk Chloé into quitting her stint as Scarlet Lady doesn't work and instead just enrages the latter. However, the Tantrum Throwing that ensues results in Chloé unwittingly hurling the box with the Ladybug earrings at her sister before shutting her out of the room.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Chloé claims the people of Paris are this for preferring Marigold over her despite all the alleged sacrifices she's made as Scarlet Lady. Of course, the truth is that the public rightfully feels Marigold is more heroic than Scarlet Lady; Chloé just can't see that due to being an Entitled Bitch.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Audrey dismissing the idea that Chloé is exceptional drives her daughter to out herself as Scarlet Lady, which ultimately leads to Chloé getting akumatized into Queen Wasp. As much of a Jerkass as Audrey is, she most certainly didn't intend for that to happen.
• Wham Episode: Not only does Chloé out herself as Scarlet Lady, she ends up losing the Ladybug Miraculous for good, ending her stint and Scarlet Lady and allowing Marinette to finally reclaim the earrings.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Nino mentions how Chloé tried to leave Paris, everyone around realizes she would have gladly left the city to Hawkmoth's mercy and call her out, demanding she give up the Ladybug Miraculous.
• When She Smiles: Audrey smiles for the first time since her introduction after examining Marinette's hat up close and seeing how well-made and trendy it is.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: How and Adrien and Marinette react to Chloé outing herself as Scarlet Lady.
• You Never Did That for Me: What makes Chloé hit her Rage Breaking Point—her mother invites Marinette to New York, something Audrey has never done for Chloé, her own daughter.

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