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Recap / Miraculous Ladybug S05E07 "Passion"

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"Monarch. I am Safari. How many times have we failed in hunting the Miraculous when our true obstacles are their holders? They are the ones that I will hunt down and put out of action. Right now, I want you to give me the power to never miss a single prey."
Nathalie

As Marinette tries to convince herself that she loves Cat Noir to try and forget about Adrien, Adrien, who has given up on being in love with Ladybug, tries to find a way to declare his feelings to Marinette. As everything turns upside down in their lives, Ladybug and Cat Noir exchange their Miraculous to escape a ruthless villain. But the return of Mister Bug is about to make things even more confusing in Lady Noire’s heart.


Tropes:

  • #HashtagForLaughs: Cat Noir accuses the homing Venom bolt of "following him" and drops a "#Run" when he runs by Officer Roger while carrying the paralyzed Ladybug. Roger is understandably nonplussed.
  • Abnormal Ammo: Safari has access to six different Miraculous powers, which she can imbue into her crossbow and whip. These include shooting illusions and homing Venom bolts.
  • Adventurer Archaeologist: Nathalie's previous career, apparently.
  • Adventurer Outfit: Nathalie, Gabriel, and Emilie were seen wearing them in flashbacks. Nathalie still has hers on a display case mannequin, which becomes her Akumatized object.
  • Automatic Crossbows: Safari's crossbow fires arrows made of magic energy, and thus doesn't have to be reloaded.
  • Badass in Distress: Ladybug falls victims to Safari's Venom arrow and needs to be transported to safety by Cat Noir.
  • Bat Deduction: Played with. Mister Bug's Lucky Charm is a perfume bottle, which he connects to Gabriel Agreste's house based on a perfume advertisement that lands right next to him. Lady Noire thinks it's a reach, but he asks her to trust him, since she has often drawn similar conclusions from seemingly flimsy evidence. In reality, he has already deduced where the akuma is, and the Lucky Charm was just a pretense to hide where he got that knowledge.
  • Call-Back:
    • Tikki is in the art room drawing a picture of a galette.
    • Tikki tells Plagg that Marinette won't get anywhere with Cat Noir, because her idea of confessing her love is knitting hats and hatching impossible schemes, referencing all the Adrien-related shenanigans Marinette has found herself in the past.
    • Mister Bug references Ladybug's past Lucky Charms, one of which was a radiator.
  • Combo Platter Powers: In addition to her powers from Akumatization, Monarch gives Safari the power of the Goat Miraculous so she can create her own weapons, and the powers of five other Miraculouses which she can utilize using her crossbow. She only ends up using the Bee and Fox though.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Monarch tells Safari that six Miraculous powers is the limit. In "Evolution", Monarch was completely paralyzed after unifying seven Miraculouses.
    • Just like in "Reflekdoll", wearing the Black Cat Miraculous makes Marinette more outspoken and reckless. This time, however, instead of making fun of Mister Bug, she can't go two seconds without praising his looks.
    • Much like in "Reflekdoll", Mister Bug is able to use the Lucky Charm to create an object he specifically asked for. This time, it's something that he can use to connect Safari to the Agreste manor and lead himself and Lady Noire there without blowing his secret identity.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Safari's arrows track her chosen targets (Ladybug and Cat Noir) exclusively. Which is to say that they cannot track Adrien, Marinette, Lady Noire, or Mister Bug, even though those are technically the same two people. Cat Noir is inches away from being hit when his powers run out, and the arrows immediately stop and fly off in random directions. Similarly, when the two swap powers, Safari is given no warning when the Miraculous-swapped heroes track her down, since she targeted their other selves.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Plagg mentions hating cheese from a can.
  • Double-Meaning Title: The episode is all about passion in multiple senses: romantic passion (Adrien for Marinette, Marinette for Cat Noir/Mister Bug), Gabriel's passion to get the Miraculous, Nathalie's passion to hunt magical objects and protect Adrien, and, of course, the primary power Monarch grants to Safari.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Nathalie tells Gabriel to Akumatize her so she can get him the Miraculouses, but she actually plans to use them for herself if she succeeds.
  • Dramatic Irony:
    • When Marinette says that being in love with Cat Noir is good because he loves her back, Alya says that Cat Noir loves Ladybug, which is not quite the same thing. Unbeknownst to them, Cat Noir/Adrien is actually more interested in Marinette than he is in Ladybug.
    • After Nathalie is de-akumatized, Mister Bug claims that Monarch is a monster for using a vulnerable person in his plans. The viewer is well aware that the whole scheme was Nathalie's idea and Gabriel went along with it.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: Lady Noire cannot shut up about how attractive she finds Mister Bug now, causing him to wonder if the suit isn't having some weird effect on her.
  • Equivalent Exchange: Adrien considers using the Miraculouses' ultimate power to heal Nathalie (although he tries to present it to Marinette/Ladybug as wishing to solve all the problems in the world), but Marinette explains that for everything they gain, something else will be lost.
  • Entertainingly Wrong:
    • Nathalie doesn't expect Adrien to be up early and looks for him, worried. Then she sees Adrien looking upset at his food and assumes he really didn't like the bananas on his pancakes that Gabriel gave him since she was under the belief he preferred them plain - meanwhile, Gabriel has actually been the best father he could be this day and Adrien did want bananas with his pancakes (he was just lost in thought about being in love with Marinette).
    • Adrien sees Nathalie and Gabriel wearing the same rings and appears to still think there's a romance between two. Immediately after he leaves, Nathalie pins Gabriel down and berates him, making it clear she's not on his side anymore and the only reason she's still here at all is to care for Adrien.
  • False Flag Operation: Safari uses Mirage to create an illusion of Timetagger announcing his intent to send Paris’s landmarks back in time, to trigger a Megakuma alert and lure out the heroes.
  • Foreshadowing: Early on, Adrien wonders if giving Marinette a ring is a good way to express his feelings for her, only for Plagg to retort that such a gift is best reserved for a more serious occasion, like a marriage proposal. Adrien laughs it off as they're not at that stage yet, but he does end up giving Marinette a ring; specifically, the Black Cat ring.
  • Irony: Adrien decides to ask Nathalie for advice about a girl he has a crush on. Nathalie has spent years of her life on the man she was in love with who is also decisively in love with another woman entirely (even while she's dead). It's not for nothing Nathalie answers that her falling in love "was...complicated."
  • Little "No": Upon seeing Gabriel's expanding Cataclysm injury, a visibly horrified Nathalie can only utter this in shock.
  • Loophole Abuse: The power of Passion normally only makes non-magical objects, but having access to five other powers allows Safari to create objects infused with those powers, in this case a bandolier with magic dust containing the essence of the other five.
  • Love Makes You Dumb: The norm for Marinette, of course, but now she starts fumbling in the presence of Adrien's superhero personas instead of his civilian self, including asking Cat Noir out while there is still a supervillain on the loose or asking Mister Bug for a goodbye kiss instead of swapping Miraculous back.
  • Not in the Face!: Lady Noire snarls at Safari not to try to smash her partner's pretty face. Safari assures her that it's not personal; she's out to flatten Lady Noire's face as well.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Safari looks just like Nathalie, but with purple skin and different eyes. Adrien recognizes her instantly when she comes out of hiding. On the other hand, despite having met Nathalie before, Marinette does not recognize her.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: In response to Lady Noire's strange behavior, Mister Bug says, "My suit has a really weird influence on you." He incorrectly thinks that the Black Cat Miraculous is affecting her personality, but his Exact Words are correct: she's acting weird because she thinks he looks really good in his ladybug-themed suit.
  • Sadistic Choice: Nathalie has this dilemma after Gabriel reveals his ever-expanding Cataclysm wound to her: Either she helps him obtain the Miraculous so he make a wish to save them and Emilie, or let all three of them die, leaving Adrien with no one.
  • Sarcastic Confession: Safari honestly admits why she wants the Miraculous, then brushes it off as a lie when Monarch asks why she said that.
  • Secretly Dying: Gabriel shows Nathalie that his Cataclysm injury is getting worse, but he keeps it a secret from Adrien.
  • Shot in the Ass: Cat Noir hides behind a statue of himself, which is hit in the ass with a Venom bolt. Cat Noir quips that he's glad to have a stunt double.
  • Sigh of Love:
    • Adrien does this every time he thinks about Marinette, starting from the moment he wakes up.
    • Lady Noire does two: one when Mister Bug makes a plan and leaps away, and a more subdued one when Mister Bug expresses his outrage at Monarch akumatizing the ailing Nathalie.
  • Super-Persistent Missile: Safari's Venom arrows perfectly follow their target indefinitely, and she can always fire more if one is stopped. The only way to avoid them is by changing appearance.
  • Super Wrist-Gadget: Safari wears a touchscreen device on her arm that she uses to lock on to Ladybug and Cat Noir.
  • Swapped Roles:
    • Marinette and Adrien switch Miraculouses and become Lady Noire and Mister Bug again. However, this also applies to the fact that Lady Noire spends a lot of her time unsuccessfully flirting with Mister Bug, complete with cat puns. At one point, he wonders if his Miraculous had an effect on her personality.
    • Because Ladybug is taken out by a sneak attack early into the episode, Cat Noir does most of the heavy lifting where defeating the villain is concerned, since she isn't in a position to help. As Mister Bug, he even lampshades that he rolls with whatever crazy plan she comes up with, and asks her to trust that he knows what he's doing this time.
    • After convincing him to go with her plan, Nathalie gives Monarch the dramatic pre-akumatization speech. Somehow, she manages to do this before he's actually sent out the akuma.
  • Trapped in Villainy: As Nathalie tries to push for Gabriel to give up his stint as Monarch, he reveals The Worsening Curse Mark on his arm, showing that if they don't see their mission through, he, Natalie and Emilie will all die and Adrien will be left with no one.
  • Video Wills: It's revealed that Emilie left Gabriel and Nathalie a series of videos before her coma. Gabriel told Nathalie to delete them, but she secretly didn't. In one of these videos, Emilie asked Nathalie to convince Gabriel to give up on finding the Miraculouses, and to take care of Adrien.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: Lady Noire gives off this vibe when she protects Mister Bug. At one point, she pins Safari to the ground and says that she's the only one allowed to pursue him.
  • Wham Shot: Gabriel reveals the Cataclysm wound on his forearm has spread from a simple burn mark to almost the entire forearm, making it clear that if he doesn't succeed, he's marked for death.
  • You Monster!: Mister Bug calls Monarch a monster for akumatizing the ailing Nathalie.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: Gabriel's Cataclysm injury is getting worse, as is Nathalie's condition. Gabriel points out that if he doesn't get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses soon, Adrien will be all alone.
  • You Are Not Alone: Nathalie tells this to Gabriel when he wonders how to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses without help. However, Nathalie does this is to cover up her intentions to get the Miraculouses for herself.

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