From day one, there have been multiple theories and interpretations about what Adrien’s future career path and passions would be as we all wanted to see this boy be able to choose and discover something for himself rather than the dozens of activities his father was making him do.
I believe the most popular theories in the fandom were Adrien becoming a baker or a stay-at-home dad. I think the popularity of these theories arose due to Adrien being good with kids and showing a fondness towards Marinette’s family and their bakery in early seasons. Furthermore, as Miraculous is built on subverting gender roles, and Adrien’s characterisation is more traditionally feminine with the narrative I guess we were building on that (and men taking on more domestic roles seems to be loved in fandom spaces in general).
However, I hadn’t quite seen running as a potential career choice for Adrien and most of us wouldn’t expect it either.
I, for one, didn’t expect it but I am not disappointed and I think it makes a great lot of sense for his character for three reasons.
As much as I love baker and stay-at-home dad Adrien aus, I’m glad that canon chose not to take that route in this episode. I think that choice would be more detrimental to his character rather than beneficial in our canon narrative.
As Thomas commented, so much of his character already revolves around Marinette considering that he’s pretty much all he has left and feels the most comfortable around her right now.
(Even before his father’s death, his sense of identity seemed to revolve around her a lot as we saw him expressing that his love for her was the only thing he was sure of in S5. I think it’s because he’s been deprived of autonomy so much that he seems to be used to basing his desires around other people’s).
That’s why I believe him going into baking or being a stay-at-home dad at the future would not really help him grow as a character as both those choices still keep him under Marinette’s wing.
As this episode established, Adrien needs to figure and explore his passions for himself. Whilst Marinette will always be there for him, he needs to understand what he wants by his own volition.
(Having him make a breakthrough in discovering his interest for running without Marinette at the end of this episode was a great start!)
Reason #2
I thought it was interesting how they started this sequence with Adrien looking up sadly at his big and lonely house before running away from it.
It takes me to what Sublime asks him later on.
This is what Adrien has wanted from Season 1: to run away and escape the four corners of his house to explore the outside world. It feels like a callback to Origins where I think of Adrien running away from house to start school.
There’s also several times in the show where he runs away to escape the cold and lonely atmosphere his house brings.
The bars on the gate of the house in this scene also makes it look so much like a prison.
Of course, we now have Adrien standing on the outside of it rather than inside considering that the person who was keeping him in the house in the first place is dead.
It still doesn’t mean that Adrien thinks of the house as less of a prison. An association like that is hard to forget especially now that the house is where both his parents died.
But now, without Gabriel, we know he’s free to run from it for as long as he wants.
I also want to add that in Hinduism, running is considered as a physical response to escape distress.
Should someone’s passion really be built on running away from something else? Well no. But I don’t think we’re meant to see it that way. Adrien running at the end of this episode away from his house is meant to symbolise him finally breaking free from the Gabriel’s controlling influence. Him running away is mainly a step towards his growth.
Besides, running isn’t only seen as means to escape problems but it also signifies pursuit of a goal and taking on a spiritual journey for self-growth.
(Dream analysis tends to associate both escapism and pursuit to running in dreams depending on the context and circumstance).
This also fits Adrien’s character quite well. Not only is he escaping past trauma, but he’s taking on a new journey to explore what he wants in life.
So yeah, let the boy run!
I’m super excited to see where they take his characterisation with this one. The symbolism behind his potential passion/career choice is just gorgeous.
