Recap / Scarlet Lady S5 E5: Reverser

Episode 45 - Reverser - Tales of Marc the Writer

A heavy sigh from Nathaniel prompts Alix to ask him what's up. He explains that he hasn't been able to track down the person he danced with at Chloé's party. Not for lack of looking, though. Alix still suggests that he might not be looking in the right places. "But where else can I look?" he laments, following her up the stairs... unaware that Marc happens to be crouched right underneath that very same stairwell.

Unlike Nathaniel and Alix, Marinette does notice Marc sitting there and goes over to say hi, startling them. Both of their classes have gotten out early, and she invites Marc to join her friends in the art room. After saying they might come by later, Marc goes back to studying their cell phone, having pulled up a picture Nathaniel drew of Marigold and Chat Noir posing together.

Meanwhile, the art teacher is examining Nathaniel's latest work, noting that he keeps drawing evil versions of Scarlet Lady. Nathaniel chalks this up to artistic expression, admitting that they're only concept sketches, anyway—he's not a very good writer. The teacher suggests that he consider teaming up with one, and Alix jokes, "Maybe someone as into skin tight suits as YOU will walk through the door one day!"

Marinette then notices Marc lingering in the doorway and happily greets them, pulling them over to introduce them to the teacher. Nathaniel immediately recognizes them as the person he danced with at the party, and the two share a happy reunion, with Marc revealing how they've been admiring the work Nathaniel has posted on the school blog.

Sadly, Chloé chooses that moment to barge in, haughtily declaring that if they're impressed by Nathaniel's work, just wait until they see what she's got to show off! She's got a unique masterpiece that will revolutionize the art world—

"Let me guess," chuckles Alix, mimicking the bully's dramatic pose, "Another collage of selfies?"

Chloé tries to deny it, shouting about how utterly ridiculous everyone else is while they laugh at her. Furious, she attempts to knock everyone down a peg, starting with Juleka and Rose. "No one cares about your dumb baby unicorn songs!" the bully scoffs. Juleka wryly retorts that Chloé sure seemed to care when she helped rip off their designs, reminding her that Kitty Section has a recording contract.

Flustered, Chloé moves on to Marinette, declaring, "Y-your designs are trash!" Marinette remarks that neither Gabriel Agreste nor Jagged Stone feel that way... not to mention that Chloé's also tried to steal her work. Twice even.

Chloé then turns towards Marc, pointing an accusatory finger towards them even as she wonders just who they are. Panicked, Marc flees the room, dropping a book in their haste to escape. Chloé then leaves in a huff while the art teacher chides Alix for not giving her a chance to show off her work. Alix bluntly asks why they'd want her around, given how she constantly insults everyone and tries stealing ideas from them. The teacher doesn't know how to respond to that.

Meanwhile, Marinette finds the book Marc dropped and looks inside, finding that it's titled, "The Diary of Ladybug"—apparently, it's an Alternate Universe Fan Fic in which Marigold got the Ladybug Miraculous instead of Scarlet Lady. Curious, she reads a passage detailing how the heroes nearly cornered and captured Hawk Moth, only for the evil Scarlet Queen and her minion Antibug to interfere. Pollen remarks that the story reminds her of Nathaniel's drawings, and Marinette agrees... though she questions the wisdom of writing such a blatantly anti-Chloé and Scarlet Lady story.

Finding Marc searching through their locker, Marinette returns the journal, admitting when asked that she read some of it. Marc is mortified; while they admit that they based the story off of Nathaniel's illustrations, they balk at the thought of letting him know. "What if he gets weirded out?!" Marc worries, "I'll have to change schools, change my name, change my hair—"

But Marinette reassures them that she's got a plan. Marc isn't particularly comforted, though, asking whether they should be concerned about that. The following day, Marinette tells Nathaniel that a friend needs an unbiased opinion on their story, asking if he's willing to read it and share his thoughts. He reads a passage about Scarlet Queen sacrificing Antibug so she can escape, with the narrator noting that "Maybe she would've put up a better fight if she was less concerned about her hair." Laughing, Nathaniel declares that he's got to draw that sequence.

Marc is watching nervously from nearby; as Marinette returns to check on them, they ask if she thinks Nathaniel likes their work. She reassures them, but Adrien pipes up, remarking that it's rude to spy on people. Marinette immediately drags him into their hiding spot and hushes him; as she gets him caught up, Adrien bemusedly thinks to himself that he just wanted to tease her a little.

Two days later, Chloé overhears Alix complimenting Nathaniel on how his art spree has taken the school blog by storm. His reference to "Scarlet Queen" catches Chloé's ear. Thinking her loser classmate has finally done her alter ego justice, she decides to check it out... and promptly shrieks with outrage upon seeing what he's actually been up to. As Marinette arranges for Nathaniel to meet the author who inspired this burst of creativity at the Place des Vogues Square fountain, Chloé manages to also overhear him guessing that the one responsible is none other than Marc, the only writer friend Marinette has.

"Operation Comic Book" seems to be a success: Nathaniel and Marc meet at the fountain while Adrien and Marinette watch from a vantage point nearby. But when they spot Chloé storming over, they frantically scramble for the stairs, only to collide and go tumbling down, ending up in a dazed heap. Chloé screams at the creative duo for daring to slander both her and her "BFF" Scarlet Lady's good names, snatching Marc's journal away and ripping it apart before their eyes.

She then whirls on Nathaniel; as a result, she misses Marc's akumatization as they declare, "Yes, Hawk Moth. Everything would be better if she was the opposite of who she really is." Nathaniel calls out to them, only for the akuma to introduce themselves as Reverser. Before they can attack Chloé, however, Roger interrupts, asking if the akuma has vehicle registration for their giant origami crane. Nathaniel is utterly aghast, wondering if Sabrina's father is incapable of knowing an akuma when he sees them.

Fortunately, the same can't be said of Marinette or Adrien. Upon spotting Reverser, Adrien directs her to hide in an alleyway while he goes to get help, leaving her to wonder why he didn't stay with her. Could it be because he also needs to find someplace safe to transform...? Regardless, she sets such suspicions aside for now, telling Pollen that they've got an akuma to deal with.

Meanwhile, Reverser reassures Nathaniel that they don't plan on targeting him. Nathaniel expresses his relief while secretly thinking that he needs to try and do something to stop this.

Marigold tries in vain to talk Reverser down, only to find herself getting dragged along by her trompo's string as he flies past a bridge. The akuma then snipes an innocent cyclist, robbing them of their coordination; as the cyclist crashes over the railing, Marigold swoops in to save them, and Reverser exploits her distraction to snipe her in the head.

As Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady confront Reverser, Marigold awkwardly climbs up to join them, tripping over herself. Distracted, Scarlet Lady asks, "Why are you lamer than usual?" Marigold calls out a warning, but it's too late—both Ladybug and Cat hero are struck by Reverser's sneak attack, robbing them of their usual confidence. Chat Noir immediately starts freaking out about being so high up, leaping into Marigold's arms while screaming for her to save him... which knocks her into Scarlet Lady, sending all three hurtling into the water. Reverser is left somewhat taken aback by their apparent victory.

Seeing a report about how the three seemingly vanished after they were struck by Reverser's powers, Master Fu turns off the television while casually remarking, "Welp, we're up Wayzz."

Meanwhile, Mayor André is busy hyping up his "space dumpster program": all the trash in Paris will be shipped up and stored in orbital dumpsters, making Paris the cleanest city in the world at a great and unnecessary cost. Ivan and Mylène are in the crowd booing him when the Mylène notices Reverser's arrival. One snipe with Reversion later, and André goes full eco-superterrorist, bragging about how he'll order the satellites to dump all the trash back down to Paris! The incredulous crowd begins to wonder why that's even an existing feature.

Back in the river, Scarlet Lady is drifting along aimlessly while Chat Noir attempts to pull Marigold up to the surface. Thankfully, Nathaniel snags the line on the Ladybug heroine's yo-yo and reels the lot in. Marigold thanks him, admitting that Reverser's curse stripped her of the coordination necessary to swim. Scarlet Lady, though... doesn't, instead asking why he even bothered and whining about how the heroes are all powerless and will never win. Side-eyeing her, Marigold wonders how she managed to get even worse.

Helping Marigold towards the stairs so she can rest, Nathaniel notes that her magically induced lack of coordination is far too extreme to be labeled "clumsiness." As she shakily agrees, a thud draws Chat Noir's attention to where Master Fu has fallen over, pretending to be a feeble old man. As Master Fu calls for help, Chat Noir looks over at the others and realizes that nobody else can help here: Marigold can't even walk, Nathaniel's a mere civilian, and Scarlet Lady has no idea who the Guardian is... something he'd like to keep the way it is, even if that means having to help Master Fu all the way up the stairs.

At the top, the two duck into an alleyway, and Master Fu transforms. He explains that as a Guardian, he can access the Miracle Box through his Miraculous weapon—in this case, the shell shield. Chat Noir asks why he doesn't fight himself, but Master Fu reveals that at his age, there's a backlash effect: the longer he holds a transformation, the more pain he's left in afterwards. With that in mind, he shouts at Chat Noir to "PLEASE HURRY UP AND CHOOSE A MIRACULOUS!" causing Chat Noir to panic.

Returning to the others, Chat Noir offers to take Nathaniel to safety. But he refuses; after all, it's clear the heroes need his help! Marigold convinces him to go with Chat Noir so that the hero can go get help; neither Nathaniel nor Scarlet Lady pick up on the subtext, with the latter wailing, "No one ever tries to take me to safety!"

Chat Noir leads Nathaniel into an alleyway, then admits that he lied about his intentions. They needed to get him alone so that Chat Noir could offer him a temporary Miraculous. As Chat Noir starts bawling at the prospect of having to face Reverser, Nathaniel frantically tries comforting him while Marigold attempts in vain to activate her Bee Balm.

Ziggy appears and cheerfully introduces themselves; however, they're not pleased when Nathaniel's response to learning about the Goat Miraculous's ability to create any one thing he wants is by complaining about the limit, suggesting it's a downgrade from the powers he gained as Evillustrator. Headbutting him, Ziggy declares that Nathaniel's only limited at all because he's still just a kid, angrily ordering him to transform so that they can show off just how useful they are.

Upon Caprikid and Chat Noir's return, they check the news to find that Reverser is threatening to drown all of Paris in trash if they don't hand over Chloé along with all of the heroes' Miraculous. Chat Noir is intimidated, but Marigold insists that she has a plan... much to his dismay. Cut to a blindfolded Chat Noir being carried over a roof by Caprikid, screaming, "THIS IS SO NOT OKAY, MARIGOLD!"

Having taken a taxi to meet up with Reverser, Marigold convinces Scarlet Lady to summon her Lucky Charm by telling her that the sooner she does, the sooner she can go home. Reverser demands to know just where Chloé and Chat Noir are, unaware that the answer is right behind him. Marigold points out that they shouldn't expect anything else given they turned Chat Noir into a coward.

Caprikid uses Genesis to create a jetpack, warning Chat Noir that he should probably keep the blindfold on. The pair zip up behind Reverser, Cataclysming their glider right out from underneath them. This forces Marc to detransform in midair—but not to worry! Caprikid catches them! ...Though that meant leaving Chat Noir to fall instead, which Caprikid dismisses as probably fine while Marigold screams at Scarlet Lady to hurry up and use the Miraculous Cure!

As they're surrounded by magical ladybugs, Caprikid returns Marc's notebook to them, noting that it must be important to the writer. Shyly, Marc admits, "Somebody I admire really inspired me, and I hoped we could get closer through our work. Well, if he still wants anything to do with me after all this." Caprikid reassures them, only for Chat Noir to interrupt: his timer is beeping, so they've "goat" to go.

Once they've detransformed, Ziggy goadingly asks whether Nathaniel still thinks they're a "downgrade." Nathaniel happily recants his earlier remarks, declaring that he's got so many ideas that he's got to get down on paper ASAP. He offers Ziggy his first sketch of Caprikid, which the Goat Kwami gushes over, declaring that they'll keep it with them forever... while taking a bite off the corner.

A few days later, Chloé learns that she's been banned from the art club entirely. Why? Because she ripped apart Marc's journal, breaking the club's one rule: no destroying another person's work. Furious, Chloé protests that she didn't destroy it while inside the room, but the teacher holds firm.

Meanwhile, everyone else is checking out the results of Marc and Nathaniel's collab: a comic entitled "The Diary of Ladybug." Crediting Marinette for helping them get together in the first place, Marc reveals that they dedicated the first issue to her. Nathaniel also offers to include her as Multimouse or Maotif, but she sheepishly turns them down, knowing that Pollen is quietly fuming in her purse at the prospect.

Later that evening, as she's getting ready for bed, Marinette laughs about how fun it was to see "Scarlet Queen" and "Antibug" get their comeuppance. She also notes how weird it is seeing a version of herself with the earrings, chalking it up to "the fun of fiction." Watching her settle in for the night, Pollen reflects that according to Tikki, her Queen was originally meant to have the earrings... and if they ever retrieve them, they'll probably be returned to their intended recipient. But if that's the case, then Pollen will have to leave her beloved bearer behind...

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This episode contains examples of:

• Adaptational Jerkass: Chloé handles the destruction of Marc's journal here.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the original episode, Nathaniel is the one who rips up Marc's work; he initially assumed that the diary actually belonged to Ladybug and angrily accuses Marc of intentionally trying to deceive him. Since Ladybug is a purely fictional character here, Nathaniel doesn't leap to the wrong conclusion and is much more receptive to the idea of working with Marc.
• Adaptational Villainy: In-Universe, Nathaniel creates "Scarlet Queen" as a villainous version of Scarlet Lady who opposes Ladybug.
• Adults Are Useless: After Chloé makes a huge scene in front of the art club before storming off, the art teacher chides Alix for not giving Chloé a chance to share her project. Alix retorts that Chloé is a known bully, Spoiled Brat, and thief who would've tried hijacking the whole club. Subverted during the denouncement when the art teacher informs Chloé that she's been banned for destroying Marc's journal.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Played for Laughs when Alix casually guesses that Chloé's "revolutionary work" is just another collage of selfies, causing Chloé to stutter and deny it.
  • Seen in this exchange after Marc and Chloé leave:
    Art Teacher: Well Alix, if Chloé really did have an art project, it's too bad we didn't give her a chance to tell us about it, isn't it?
    Alix: Uh, no? Why would I want her here? So she can come insult everyone, take over the art club, and try to steal ideas from us?
    Art Teacher: ...
    Alix: Yeah, that's what I thought.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • Chloé gets hit by two of these during her tirade in the art room:
    Chloé: [pointing at Juleka and Rose] No one cares about your dumb baby unicorn songs!
    Juleka: You seemed to care when you helped XY rip us off. We literally have a recording contract.
    Chloé: [whirling on Marinette] Y-your designs are trash!
    Marinette: Gabriel Agreste and Jagged Stone don't think so. And you also tried stealing my "trash" designs. Twice.
• Berserk Button: Ziggy is not pleased by Nathaniel implying that Caprikid's powers are a downgrade from what he got as Evillustrator.
• Big Damn Heroes: Nathaniel manages to save Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir, and Marigold from drowning when he pulls them out of the water by Scarlet Lady's yo-yo string.
• Bridal Carry:
  • Caprikid carries a blindfolded Chat Noir over the roof of a building this way, the latter being too afraid to walk across himself.
  • The Goat hero does this again after catching a detransformed free falling Marc.
• Catch a Falling Star: Caprikid catches Marc after they're deakumatized... at the cost of letting Chat Noir fall instead.
• Cowardly Lion: Despite Reverser stealing away all his self-confidence, Chat Noir proves willing to do whatever it takes to save the day... however reluctantly.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: While under the effects of Reverser, Scarlet Lady whines that the Lucky Charm won't help. She ends up being right since the heroes defeat the akuma without the Lucky Charm object.
  Caption: Well, Scarlet was at least right about that Lucky Charm being pointless lol.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Chloé attacks Juleka, Rose, and Marinette by claiming nobody is interested in any of their work... despite the fact that she previously attempted to steal credit for the very same things she's insisting are worthless. It's clear she doesn't know how to respond when they point this out to her, aside from switching targets and pretending they didn't say anything.
  • Marigold exploits this as part of her plan to distract Reverser; as she points out to Reverser, they turned Chat Noir into a coward, then expected him to still be brave and noble enough to risk his life against the akuma.
  • Played for Laughs when Caprikid catches Marc, leaving Chat Noir to keep free falling in the process.
• Distant Reaction Shot: When Chloé checks out Nathaniel's latest work, we get a zoomed-out look at the school as she shrieks in indignation.
• Dramatic Irony: Marc's story imagines a universe where Marigold got the Ladybug Miraculous instead of the Bee, making it much closer to Canon... save for the part where Chloé (as Antibug) exists alongside the evil Scarlet Queen.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Upon overhearing Alix and Nathaniel discuss his new sketches of his own version of Scarlet Lady, "Scarlet Queen," Chloé thinks that her classmate is glorifying her superhero identity in his latest creations. She's very disappointed when she checks the artwork he's posted on the school blog and learns it's actually the opposite.
• Extreme Omnigoat: Ziggy, the Kwami of the Goat Miraculous, ends up eating the drawing Nathaniel gifts them.
• Foil:
  • Marc is shown to have a lot in common with Marinette, being a highly creative person who shows their love for others through their craft. Marinette likes designing things for her friends while Marc is inspired by Nathaniel's art and creates an entire world around it. Marc's anxiety about the prospect of actually approaching Nathaniel also mirrors Marinette's canonical struggles to deal with her crush on Adrien, including her disastrous catastrophizing about how doing so could go horribly, horribly wrong. Unlike canon, however, Marinette's plan to help them hook up goes off without a hitch... save for Chloé's involvement.
  • Reverser hits Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir with the exact same effect, stripping both of their confidence. As a result, Scarlet Lady... remains The Load; the only real difference is that she drags the team down with her whining about how making any effort at all is pointless. Chat Noir, by contrast, reluctantly forces himself to do whatever needs to be done.
• Gilligan Cut: Chat Noir is quite nervous Marigold announces she has a plan, but she reassures him it'll be okay. The scene cuts to Chat Noir being bridal carried over a roof by Caprikid while wearing a blindfold.
  Chat Noir: [screaming] THIS IS SO NOT OKAY, MARIGOLD!
• Godzilla Threshold: Master Fu actually transforms to help the heroes, even though he warns that at his age, he'll suffer a nasty backlash when he drops it.
• Incoming Ham: Chloé announces her arrival in the art club with a dramatic flourish while boasting about how her latest work will prove far more impressive than anything that any of her peers have created.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Chloé gets angry at Marc and Nathaniel when she discovers that they were writing and drawing, respectively, villains based on her both as Scarlet Lady and her civilian identity. While it was very mean of her to rip Marc's notebook in half, their writing did lead to Nathaniel drawing pictures of her civilian self as a villain and posting them on the school blog without her permission, which the author admits likely counts as bullying. When she later gets banned from the art club for destroying someone's work, she points out that she wasn't actually at school when she did it (not that it helps).
• Laser-Guided Karma: Destroying Marc's journal gets Chloé banned from the art club.
• Loophole Abuse: When the art teacher calls her out on ripping up Marc's journal, breaking the art club's one rule, Chloé claims that it doesn't count because the vandalism didn't happen inside the club itself. The teacher isn't swayed.
• Noodle Incident: Going by Alix's comment, this isn't the first time Chloé has tried to present a collage of photos of herself to the art club.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Marinette and Adrien both panic when they see Chloé making her way towards the fountain where Nathaniel and Marc are meeting up.
  • Marigold and the cyclist react this way when Reverser exploits her distraction to snipe her.
• Painting the Medium: Whenever anyone reads excerpts of Marc's writing, it's accompanied by sketches that resemble Nathaniel's particular style of drawing.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: The art teacher runs into this when he suggests that it was a shame that Alix and the others drove Chloé away before she could show off her "masterpiece" to the club. Alix counters by bluntly reminding him of just what kind of person she is.
• Skewed Priorities: Upon seeing Reverser, the first thing Officer Raincomprix does is ask the akuma if they have vehicle registration for their flying paper plane.
• Spanner in the Works: Marinette's plan to help Marc and Nathaniel get together and start collaborating is ruined by Chloé finding out about their "slander" and confronting them at the fountain.
• Splash of Color:
  • As usual, Pollen has blue sclera.
  • The Lucky Charm object isn't seen, but there is a burst of red when Scarlet Lady summons it. The magical ladybugs that appear afterwards are also red.
  • A pale yellow glow appears when Master Fu is transforming and accessing the Miracle Box.
  • The jetpack created by Caprikid's Genesis is initially surrounded by a teal glow.
• Stealing the Credit: It's pointed out that Chloé has a history of this, with her victims citing several examples. Alix asks the art teacher outright if he really wants to give somebody who's known for stealing others' works and attempting to pass them off as her own easy access to the art club.
• Suddenly Shouting: Master Fu does this after explaining to Chat Noir how he can't transform without consequences anymore, prompting the Cat hero to pick a Miraculous already so that he can drop his form faster.
• This Is Going to Suck: Poor Chat Noir expresses this sentiment several times after his confidence gets shot. First when Master Fu forces him to accompany him all the way up the stairs, again when Marigold announces that she has a plan, and a third time when Caprikid warns that he'll want to keep the blindfold on.

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