YMMV / Miraculous Ladybug S04E26 "Strike Back (Shadow Moth's Final Attack Part 2)"

• Alternative Character Interpretation: After Team Miraculous defeats Strike Back, Félix says a rather somber apology before heading to Shadow Moth. Was he feeling guilt over betraying the team, or was he lamenting that he couldn't save the Sentimonsters? And if he was really sorry for the Sentimonsters, why?
• Catharsis Factor:
  • To those who had grown sick and tired of Gabriel repeatedly coming close to victory only to fail at the last second, it's rather satisfying to see him use Ladybug's yo-yo to take every single Miraculous from the box before Ladybug can stop him, including taking two of which lead to his previous defeats.
  • Also, to those who had grown to feel like Marinette had become a Designated Hero in season 4 for her treatment of Cat Noir and refusal to explain her decisions as Guardian, not only does he finally call her out on it when they're fighting Strike Back, but after Félix steals all but two of the Miraculous, Marinette breaks down and apologizes for the problems her Control Freak tendencies caused.
• Fridge Horror: Marinette demonstrated she is able to use three active Miraculous (Ladybug, Horse, Rabbit). This meant if not for Risk, she could have prevented losing all but two Miraculous if she had used the Ladybug, Rabbit and Dog Miraculous herself or recruited Sabrina.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • When Marinette learned about Adrien leaving with Lila she comically overreacted and called it the end of the world. At the end of the episode she and Adrien would have preferred this scenario over what actually happened.
  • In "Risk" we learned that the code for Gabriel's safe is Hawk Moth wins this time. It is not so funny when it actually happens.
  • Lila's "ballophobia" is less funny when Flairmidable uses his ball to steal Ladybug's yo-yo.
  • Back during "Ephemeral", Su-Han demanded Ladybug find out Cat Noir's civilian identity, only for Ladybug to rebuff him. Come this episode, and now we see that Ladybug could've avoided a lot of problems had she gone through with Su-Han's request.
  • Ladybug and Cat Noir leaving many of their issues unresolved in "Kuro Neko" hits a lot harder knowing how badly they come back to bite the two of them this episode, particularly Ladybug's Control Freak tendencies and keeping Cat Noir Locked Out of the Loop.
  • In "Risk", Cat Noir had offered his help to Ladybug for the second time to retrieving the Miraculouses. Maybe if she had accepted his help, she could have saved at least some of the Miraculouses.
  • Back in "Sentibubbler", Marinette had a nightmare of Alya, one of her closest friends, betraying her and giving Shadow Moth the Miraculous Box. Come this episode, and this nightmare very much becomes a reality, though it's not Alya who betrays her but "Adrien"/Félix.
    • Though one could argue that the dream was trying to tell her that trust is fragile and her defeat was inevitable.
• Moral Event Horizon: While he was at best a selfish jerk in previous episodes, his betrayal of Ladybug cements Félix as a villain. He even seems very proud of himself despite the fact his actions have made Gabriel more dangerous than ever.
• She Really Can Act: Cristina Valenzuela was already a good actress, but when Marinette discovered that Félix deceived her as Adrien and took her yoyo with Fetch, she really delivered. The way she did the accurate panic attack, and the desperation in her voice as Marinette begs that all the Miraculouses weren't taken, was heartbreaking.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Despite having been recruited in Penalteam, Sabrina/Miss Hound and Nathaniel/Caprikid don't join the fight against Strike Back. Given the loss of the Miraculous at the end of the episode, this means they only get one adventure apiece and don't even get transformation sequences or any real focus.
  • Luka/Viperion also counts as his power could have prevented the loss of the Miraculouses, and his knowledge of Cat Noir's identity as Adrien could have exposed Flairmidable's identity is Félix all along. Even if the episode ended the same way, Ladybug's refusal to listen to him or Luka/Viperion being affected by Risk would have been interesting to explore, rather than his notable absence.
  • Once again Lila plays only a very small role and has barely any interaction with "Adrien" on the train.
• What the Hell, Costuming Department?: Several fans consider the outfit of Pennybug - the result of Marinette unifying the Ladybug, Rabbit, and Horse Miraculous together - to be incredibly tacky and hard to take seriously even by the standards of the show. For starters, she has wide shoulder pads and a ball on her neckbone.

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