Recap / Scarlet Lady S5 E4: Sandboy

Episode 44 - Sandboy - Tales of ___ the Sleepwaker

A little boy has just gotten out of the hospital, and a party's being held to mark the occasion. Among the celebrants is Rose, who gives him a special gift: a scented pillow that's meant to help him sleep (she made sure to get the doctor's approval first). The boy thanks her, promising to take good care of it.

We then see that same little boy later that night, clutching the pillow for dear life as he watches a horror movie.

Meanwhile, Plagg tells Adrien that he's going to bed... while tucking a Sleeping Dummy in. Adrien, still at his desk, tells him goodnight, unaware that the Cat Kwami has other plans. Chloé is already fast asleep; Tikki sneaks past her and out the window, carrying one of Chloé's jewel-studded scrunchies. After escaping, she muses to herself that she hopes Pollen came up with a good cover story. After all, the little Bee Kwami isn't a very good liar.

...Which is why Pollen didn't even bother. She bids farewell to Marinette, thanking her Queen for giving her permission to head out that evening. Marinette reminds Pollen to make sure she takes her gift with her.

Nooroo also tries to sneak out, but Gabriel isn't having any of it. Though the Kwami protests that it's his birthday, Gabriel orders him to stay silent. The villain senses another powerful emotion and laughs evilly as he declares that they'll strike yet again tonight.

Plagg greets Tikki, who complains about him calling her "Sugarcube" yet again. She asks where his gift is, to which he spins a sob story about feeding the cheese he brought to a poor, starving kitten. Pollen pops up next, carrying an impressively sized parcel stuffed full of gifts for all the Kwamis, including a tiny pair of headphones for Wayzz, who tells them that he'll be waiting right there in case any akumas show up and requests that they wish Nooroo a happy 3500 cycles for him.

The rest of the Kwami gather together, eager to combine their powers and contact Nooroo. Pollen reveals that her Queen Marinette made gifts for everyone and starts handing them out while Sass remarks to Plagg and Tikki that it was good that all their holders allowed them to come. He also asks Tikki if Scarlet Lady will miss the offering Tikki brought; Tikki smirks and mutters that she sure hopes so.

Unbeknownst to all, Sandboy is already hard at work; Marinette, Adrien, and Chloé all start having their nightmares come to life. In Marinette's, Chat Noir visits her, loudly declaring that he has fallen for Scarlet Lady. Meanwhile, Adrien finds himself trapped in a cage... and Chloé is being bombarded by all her shoes and makeup, crying out that she's always been good to them.

Fleeing out into the streets, Marinette spots Sandboy flying overhead, singing, "The Sandboy just checked in~ Now nightmares can begin~" Before she can do anything, however, she hears Rose crying out, "Please come back!" Unlike everybody else Marinette's seen, she's not running away from something but pursuing all of her stuffed animals, who came to life and started fleeing from her.

The fake Chat Noir interrupts, creepily droning, "You broke your promise and now I'm in love with Scarleeeeet~" Rose promptly kicks him in the face, ordering him to stay away from Marinette. As she drags him into a Big Ball of Violence, Marinette salutes her violent angel of a friend.

Plagg visits Wayzz and pleads with him to join the others—this could be their only chance of locating Nooroo and Hawk Moth. As he agrees, Marinette sneaks in and tries to open the Miracle Box, only to realize that she doesn't know the code. So she wakes up Master Fu, causing the manifestation of his nightmare: a trio of Bedsheet Ghosts who represent the Order of the Guardians, accusing him of causing their downfall and losing two of the Miraculous. Fu pleads that it wasn't his fault, to no avail... while Marinette squints at the trio and wonders why he's afraid of "talking handkerchiefs."

Meanwhile, Hawk Moth is getting frustrated. Why haven't the heroes shown up yet?! Suddenly, he gets an unexpected call—the Kwamis' attempts to contact Nooroo have broken through to him instead. He angrily demands, "How'd you get on this line?!" to which Plagg shouts for everyone to "hang up!"

Wayzz immediately realizes that this means there must be an akuma; Kaalki shouts to Wayzz that he, Tikki, Plagg, and Pollen need to get going. The four swiftly arrive back at Master Fu's parlor and see him running away from the Bedsheet Ghosts, crying that he was just hungry. Marinette asks what that means, and he snaps back that it wasn't intentional while Tikki and Plagg awkwardly fly away.

After transforming, Marigold remarks that this akuma feels like a "special case" that requires a "special case" Miraculous—but Master Fu pleads with her to use her Bee Balm and get rid of his nightmare first.

Plagg makes it back to the manor; Adrien's relieved to see that he's "not a sock anymore" and transforms. Chloé cries out to her own Kwami, insisting that her possessions all got jealous of her and are trying to overthrow her. Tikki replies that it could be an akuma instead, prompting her holder to tearfully transform.

Rose is still keeping Nightmare!Chat Noir at bay; in fact, Marigold arrives and finds her friend straddling the apparition, painfully bending his legs backwards. At this point, dispatching it with Bee Balm is practically a Mercy Kill. Marigold then tells Rose that they're going to need some help with this one, asking if she's up to it. Rose... isn't so sure about this, asking if the Bee heroine really wants her to hurt a child, with Marigold hastily reassuring her otherwise.

She then presents Rose with the Pig Miraculous. Both Rose and Daizzi gush over how cute the other is before the Kwami teaches her temporary holder how to transform. They arrive to find Sandboy fuming over how the heroes have gotten rid of his nightmares, insisting that he can just make new ones; he doesn't take Pigella's introduction well, yelling at the heroes to "STOP IGNORING ME!"

This plunges all four back into fresh nightmares. Scarlet Lady spots a crowd of angry civilians who boo and insult her, declaring that the other heroes are so much cooler. She screams for Marigold to get rid of them, only for the Bee heroine to find that she's powerless—her trompo doesn't seem to be working anymore!

Then an apparition in black and red appears. Little Devil taunts Chat Noir, declaring he let his little princess get akumatized before swinging a MASSIVE winged blade down towards Marigold. Chat Noir tackles his partner out of the way, and Marigold hastily reassures him that such a thing will never happen—she'd never allow it!

Meanwhile, Pigella nobly defends Scarlet Lady from the former's worst nightmare: having her beloved stuffed animals turn against her. Scarlet Lady is unimpressed, as is Sandboy, who shouts about how unfair it is that she's got such a lame fear. Flying down to confront her, he demands, "Don't you have any real problems?!"

Pigella counters that she does, actually—but if she only ever focused on what could go wrong, she'd never be able to move forward. She'd rather think about all the good things that she's got going on and insists that there's good things in Sandboy's life as well. He just needs a reminder—one she provides by giving him a Gift. Mesmerized by his own memories, Sandboy recalls how happy he was when he got to go home and how Rose gave him a special present to celebrate his discharge. With tears in his eyes, he rips his akumatized object apart, releasing the black butterfly as he cries, "I don't want to be scared anymore!"

Chat Noir marvels at this while Scarlet Lady scoffs, claiming she can get victims to reject their akumas as well. Marigold notes that "Not every battle is won by fighting." Pigella asks the boy what happened, and he explains that he had a nightmare after watching a scary movie before a black butterfly arrived and a weird man started talking to him. Pigella notes that they'll have to make sure the weird man never bothers him again while Marigold silently observes that Hawk Moth is screwed should Pigella ever track him down.

After she detransforms, Rose expresses her thankfulness that she was able to help. Daizzi agrees: "It feels so good to spread joy like that!" The pair gush at each other, and Rose starts peppering the Pig Kwami with questions: What's her favorite food? Favorite color? What kind of music does she like? Marigold protests that this isn't an adoption.

Returning to the parlor with most of the Kwami present, Marinette joins them in apologizing for the whole fiasco. This confuses Pollen, who remarks, "My Queen said it was okay, and she's never wrong." Marinette gently corrects her, admitting that she hadn't considered the risks of Pollen going off alone and that it's okay for the Kwami to point out when her holder makes mistakes. Pollen struggles with the concept, with Plagg pointing out that Marinette might have just accidentally blown the Bee Kwami's mind.

Plagg then makes his way back to Adrien, thanking him for his willingness to let Plagg do things. Adrien replies that the last thing he wants is to restrict his Kwami's freedom, prompting Plagg to declare that he's the best Black Cat the Kwami's ever had—something Adrien finds slightly alarming.

Chloé is still up when Tikki returns and irritably demands, "And where were you?" Tikki bluntly replies, "Out." The Kwami cuts off Chloé's outraged outburst, declaring that she refuses to apologize—not only was it none of Chloé's business, they could have potentially determined where Hawk Moth was if not for the akuma.

Chloé snaps at Tikki that she doesn't want her to find Hawk Moth. If that happens, she won't get to be a hero anymore! However, this backfires when a calm but absolutely furious Tikki glares her down and asks, "Are you refusing this god's right to stop a great evil for the sake of your ego?" Faced with the Kwami's fury, Chloé can only stammer and sweat.

Meanwhile, Gabriel gloats to Nooroo that he hopes the Kwami enjoyed his "birthday present." Thanks to the other Kwamis attempting to contact him, he now knows how many other Miraculous are in Paris and brags about his intention to capture them all and gain unlimited power. As he laughs evilly, Nooroo looks on unimpressed; given his master's failure to obtain any of the Miraculous he's been the most invested in so far, it's clear that he's vastly overestimating his abilities.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Absurd Phobia: Chloé and Rose are both afraid of their possessions coming to life and turning upon them. Rose notably retains this fear as Pigella, something that frustrates Sandboy to no end.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Pigella debuts in an adaptation of a canon Season 2 episode; in the show, she first appeared in "Guiltrip" from Season 4.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: The comic's version of Pigella sports a single curly ponytail with an Animal-Eared Headband rather than the tiny twintails the canonical version sports.
• Adaptation Expansion: Sandboy's pillow is given a backstory here: it was a gift to him from Rose after he was discharged from the hospital she volunteered at. We also get to see him watch the horror movie that scared him enough to get him akumatized.
• Armor-Piercing Question: The final exchange between Chloé and Tikki has the Kwami manage to make Chloé stammer:
  Chloé: No! I don't want you to find Hawk Moth! If you do that, I won't get to be a hero anymo—
  Tikki: [looming dangerously] Chloé. Are you refusing this god's right to stop a great evil for the sake of your ego?
  Chloé: [shrinking back] Um...
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  Sandboy: How come your nightmare's so weak?! That's cheating! Don't you have any real problems?!
  Pigella: I have plenty of problems! But if I only focused on what could go wrong, I'd never move forward! I want to think of the good things in my life! Just like I know there are good things in yours! You just need a reminder! Gift!
• Bedsheet Ghost: The ghosts of the fallen Guardians appear as these, much to Marinette's confusion.
  Marinette: Your nightmare is talking handkerchiefs?
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Rose immediately leaps to Marinette's defense against the latter's nightmare version of Chat Noir and has him on the ropes by the time Marigold arrives.
  Marinette: [thinking] Bless you Rose you violent angel.
  • Pigella shows a hint of Sugary Malice as she remarks that they'll have to make sure Hawk Moth never bothers the former Sandboy again.
    Marigold: [thinking] Better hope Pigella never finds you, Hawk Moth.
  • Let's say Chloé starts learning that Tikki is more than just a source of power to be misused.
• Big Ball of Violence: Rose drags the nightmare version of Chat Noir into one in order to defend Marinette.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: Despite it being Nooroo's birthday, he's forced to help Hawk Moth akumatize yet another innocent.
• Brick Joke: Before sneaking out of the manor, Plagg leaves a sock puppet in his place to trick Adrien. Upon the Kwami's return, Adrien cries, "Oh thank God you're not a sock anymore, Plagg!"; he thought Plagg had been transformed as part of the nightmare.
• Bridal Carry: Pigella is seen carrying Scarlet Lady in a bonus panel after the latter's fear of being hated by the public manifests. Interestingly, Pigella seems more scared in the panel (due to her nightmare of her stuffed animals attacking her) than Scarlet is.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • While witnessing Master Fu's nightmare of being blamed for the Order of the Guardians' destruction, Marinette sees the Bedsheet Ghosts and wonders why he's so afraid of talking handkerchiefs.
  • When Plagg returns to the manor, Adrien cries tears of immense relief that his Kwami is no longer a sock, not realizing that Plagg had snuck off after leaving a sock as a Sleeping Dummy.
  • Chloé doesn't even consider the possibility that an akuma's responsible for her being attacked by her belongings until Tikki suggests it. Instead, she's convinced that her stuff got jealous of her and came to life to overthrow her.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Rose beats the absolute crap out of Nightmare!Chat Noir.
• Cute Bruiser/Girly Bruiser: Rose certainly qualifies if her taking down Nightmare!Chat Noir is anything to go by.
• Cuteness Proximity: Both Rose and Daizzi immediately gush over how cute the other is upon their introduction.
• Description Cut: While sneaking out to meet up with the other Kwamis, Tikki hopes that Pollen can come up with a good excuse since the latter is a Bad Liar. The next panel reveals that Pollen "Just told the truth," with Marinette even happily sending the Kwami on her way with gifts.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • The Kwamis hoped their combined powers would help them contact Nooroo and potentially locate Hawk Moth. They didn't consider that if Hawk Moth was transformed, they might accidentally contact him instead.
  • During the denouement, Marinette admits that she didn't consider this point, either, when Pollen told her about their intentions, trying to take some of the heat away from the Kwamis. This confuses Pollen, who grapples with the very idea that her Queen might have misjudged the situation.
• Evil Gloating: Gabriel does this twice: first when forcing Nooroo to transform him so that he can akumatize somebody, then while mocking the Kwamis' attempt to contact their friend.
• Everyone Has Standards: Rose doesn't hesitate to get violent to protect her friends, but she's horrified by the prospect of having to fight an akumatized child.
• First-Person Smartass: Nooroo calls Gabriel a flop for thinking he'll be able to steal all the Miraculous when his record with the two he wants the most has so far been a fiasco.
• Foil:
  • The Kwamis' subplot is used to highlight the way each of the four primary Miraculous holders treats their respective Kwami, as well as their relationships with each other:
    • Tikki knows that Chloé would never permit her anything, so she sneaks out, stealing one of her holder's diamond scrunchies as a birthday gift. She is completely unapologetic about the theft, making it clear that while Chloé may hold power over her, her wielder is still dealing with a tiny God who is growing tired of dealing with her bullshit.
    • Plagg also sneaks out, leaving behind a Sleeping Dummy in his place to trick Adrien. While he doesn't directly apologize for the deception, he later thanks Adrien for being the best and most permissive Black Cat he's ever had, implying that he's used to more controlling and abusive wielders like Chloé and Gabriel.
    • Pollen tells Marinette outright about the Kwamis plans for the evening, and Marinette happily permits her to go, even making gifts for all the other Kwamis. Her absolute trust in her Queen makes her struggle with the very concept of questioning or second-guessing her, to the point that when Marinette tells her outright that she should do so, Pollen has a Heroic BSoD.
    • Gabriel is straight-up a smug, abusive Control Freak who openly delights in the power he holds over Nooroo. Nooroo, though forced to keep his snarky thoughts to himself, is clearly as unimpressed with his holder as Tikki is with Chloé.
  • The amount of trust Marinette and Pollen have in each other is highlighted here, as well as their respect for each other. A respect that Chloé and Tikki entirely lack. During the denouncement, Marinette readily admits that her judgment isn't foolproof and she's fully capable of making mistakes, blowing Pollen's mind; not only would Chloé never admit she's done anything wrong, she outright informs Tikki that she doesn't want to catch Hawk Moth without considering that the Kwami might object to that.
  • On another note, Rose and Chloé have very similar fears, namely having their possessions come to life and turn against them. However, Rose's fear stems from her high empathy and sincere love for her plush toys; she fears that her affection might not be returned. Chloé is more concerned with the things she owns turning against her out of jealousy.
• Foreshadowing: Scarlet Lady's fear is for the people of Paris to turn against and prefer the other heroes to her; little does she realize or more likely refuses to that this has already happened as shown in "Frightningale" three episodes later.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Rose has multiple stuffed animals, and her nightmare (in both her civilian and hero identities) is them coming to life and hating her.
• Good Is Not Soft: Seeing Marinette get bullied by a nightmare version of Chat Noir spurs Rose to attack the latter to protect her friend. Later, as Pigella, her Tranquil Fury at Hawk Moth scares even Marigold.
• Heroic BSoD: Played for Laughs when Marinette tells Pollen that it's okay for the Kwami to speak her mind or criticize her holder if she thinks Marinette is doing something wrong. Pollen struggles to process the concept of speaking out against her Queen and mentally shuts down.
  Pollen: [muttering with Blank White Eyes] Scold... my Queen? [drifting off] Me scold... my Queen. Scold—
  Plagg: [to Marinette] I think you broke her, pigtails.
• Honesty Is the Best Policy: Rather than secretly sneak off like Plagg and Tikki, Pollen just tells Marinette about the Kwamis' plan to contact Nooroo. Marinette doesn't have any problem with Pollen leaving to attend and even sends her Kwami off with a large bag of gifts for all the Kwamis.
• Hypocrite: Scarlet Lady mocks Pigella for being afraid of a bunch of stuffed animals attacking her... while ignoring the fact that her own worst nightmare as Chloé was having her possessions turn against her.
• Hypocritical Humor: Back in "Reflekta", Tikki was horrified that Marinette may be becoming a criminal without her influence. Three seasons later, she has no problem with outright stealing Chloé's stuff.
• Internal Reveal: Prior to this point, Chloé kept her concerns about what might happen after Hawk Moth's defeat to herself. But when Tikki reveals she was searching for the supervillain, Chloé snaps at her Kwami that she doesn't want to find him because defeating with Hawk Moth would mean she wouldn't get to be Scarlet Lady anymore. Tikki is decidedly unimpressed.
• It's All About Me:
  • When her clothes and makeup start attacking her, Chloé is convinced it's because they're jealous of her and doesn't realize it's due to an akuma until Tikki points it out.
  • So far as Chloé is concerned, tracking down Hawk Moth would be bad news for her since that would potentially put an end to her career as Scarlet Lady.
• Mathematician's Answer: At the end of the episode, when Chloé demands to know where Tikki was, the Kwami replies "Out."
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By attempting to contact Nooroo, the other Kwamis unintentionally reveal their presence in Paris to Hawk Moth. Gabriel makes a point of rubbing this in Nooroo's face.
• Noodle Incident: Master Fu caused the downfall of the Order of the Guardians' and lost two Miraculous because he was hungry.
• Not-So-Innocent Whistle: Plagg appears to be doing this as he and Tikki awkwardly fly back to their holders after watching Fu deal with his nightmare and admit to a bunch of Bedsheet Ghosts that he caused an unspecified accident because he was hungry.
• Oh, Crap!: The Kwamis all seem to have this reaction upon realizing they accidentally contacted Hawk Moth. Plagg's is the most pronounced, though.
• Running Gag: Once again, a permanent hero has to deal with a temporary holder who has quickly bonded with their Kwami and wants to keep them.
• Sleeping Dummy: Plagg makes one out of a black sock in order to sneak out of the manor unnoticed.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Sass notes that they're fortunate Tikki and Plagg's holders allowed them to attend the gathering. The two Kwamis in question nervously sweat as they look at each other, with Plagg muttering, "Yeaaaaah, 'allow.'"
• Talking Is a Free Action: Downplayed; Sandboy attacks the heroes while they're distracted by Pigella's introduction, complaining about being ignored.
• Talking the Monster to Death: This is the first akuma who is defeated without anyone having to fight them; instead, Pigella is able to convince Sandboy to destroy his own akumatized object by reminding him of happier memories.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • Pigella goes into one when the little boy who got akumatized explains what happened to him.
  • Tikki reacts this way to Chloé bluntly declaring that she doesn't want to find Hawk Moth, casually reminding her holder that she is a little God.
• The Unapologetic: Much like Chloé herself, Tikki refuses to apologize when confronted over her sneaking away, revealing only that she did so in hopes of finding Hawk Moth.
• "What Do They Fear?" Episode: Heavily featured, with the three main heroes of Paris getting multiple fears explored:
  • Chloé fears having her makeup, shoes, jewelry, and other possessions turn against her, something she attributes to jealousy. As Scarlet Lady, meanwhile, she's afraid of public opinion turning against her and being seen as less impressive than the other heroes.
  • Adrien fears being locked up and trapped with no chance of escaping while Chat Noir fears Marinette getting akumatized.
  • Marinette is afraid of Chat Noir learning that she broke her promise to stay out of akuma fights and deciding that he loves Scarlet Lady instead. Marigold's nightmare, meanwhile, encapsulates her fear of being powerless and unable to protect anyone despite being a superhero, reflecting how traumatized she was by the Zombizou incident.
  • Rose is afraid of her beloved collection of plushies and stuffed animals coming to life and deciding they hate her. As Pigella, this fear remains the same, with the only difference being that they start actively attacking her rather than running away.
  • Master Fu fears being confronted by the ghosts of the Order, who accuse him of being responsible for their downfall.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Rose balks at the prospect of potentially having to hurt an akumatized child before Marigold reassures her that's not their intention.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Rose manages to restrain Nightmare!Chat Noir by putting him in a Boston crab.

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