“Gabriel Agreste” (the episode only some talk about)
So, I know nobody asked for this, but I’m still going to talk about it, (also because I don’t really have anyone else to do it, and mi niece doesn’t count cause she’s four and wants to be Chat Noir), so “Ephemeral”, everyone is really exited about this episode, so after rewatching the chapters for the 4th season in order I noticed something. Like the plot for “Gabriel Agreste”, and it’s possible someone else has already talked about this but, let me rant, cause I need to. More under the cut.
Okay, so I think that episode will be about Gabriel investigating, obviously he has left Natalie to do most of the work, but I think that at this point they had figured out that Ladubug’s ‘charms’ are what’s preventing repeated akumatizations, he has probably akumatized Marinette’s grandmother and also her father again, cause they didn’t had any charms by this season, but this might not be the one thing they’re actually focusing (I also think he has been actively trying to akumatize Marinette, but something or other gets in the way always, an that’s suspicious), or something else just pops out when they’re checking the videos.
Like, the sudden prescense of Adrien around the place, maybe he finds his way to the bakery and talks with Marinette, and checking on his schedule, they notice Adrien was supposed to be at any of his extracurricular activities. This prompts them to look into other instances, where Adrien wasn’t supposed to be around if he was at some of the Akumas events.
So, what I think, is that in this episode where Gabriel start suspecting that Adrien is Chat Noir, but he still has to prove the theory of the charms first and for that he needs one, so maybe he will use as an excuse some of Adrien’s absences for special classes or practices, and get hismelf akumatized again, maybe he will use Nino or be there in a moment where this friend he doesn’t approve of is near to have enough reasons to be ‘vulnerable to akumatization’.
Cue to worried and sad Adrien, cause he fears for his freedom and friends, and also his father’s wrath since he started going to school has had him in constant doubt about him doing the right thing or not, by making his own choices and decisions (but I think that’s material for a different ocasion).
And maybe the collector will show up again, but briefly, this episode is not really one for a villian, but for Gabriel to gather information, so the akuma will show up in a moment where Adrien is scheduled to be at an event/ class/ practice, and will try to prevent Ladybug from calling other heroes (or capture them) until Chat Noir shows up, is then that they actually defeat the akuma and Ladybug offers him the expected ‘charm’ that will ‘prevent him from being akumatized again’.
Just then he will pretend to need to contact his son to tell him he’s okay, it all depends on Chat Noir’s reaction to that, or maybe out of scene he tries to call him, however it is, Adrien remains a suspect but a stong one. So let’s say it takes him many episodes to figure out the charms, but that’s my prediction for the Gabriel Agreste episode.
Now, Ephemeral is just the confirmation of everything they had been researching, I don’t know but I think this could be another ‘same day episode’ thing, just with Adrien perspective (like Truth and Lies), cause we must remeber Adrien was sad that day, and even though briefly Gabriel tried to talk to him. So in the trailer Adrien seems dazed, somehow, so I’m going to say he either cried for some time or had a nap (or both) and when he noticed his father he tried to go after him to finally tell him a bit of what happened.
And we get to the scene where he notices he goes down to the ‘creepy basement’, he doesn’t follow right away, maybe talking with Plagg about it, so later that day, he goes there and finds out the truth, and hey, ShadowMoth is there and tries to convince Adrien of joining him, he even detransforms and shows him the miraculous, overwhelmed Adrien gets akumatized, and as usual ShadowMoth asks for the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous, half expecting to have Adrien just transform and help or hand out the miraculous... which he ends up doing! ...And I think, by the end of the episode Adrien will give up his miraculous, feeling like he betrayed everyone.
How we get to ShadowNoir and Ephemeral going after Marinette and finding out her identity? I don’t know. Will Bunix show up to save the day? Probably... This rant was about the Gabriel Agreste chapter, which I think is an important episode and what I think leads to the base of Ephemeral later. Maybe this is a two parter with a different name or Kuro Neko is just a way to convince Adrien to take his place back as Chat Noir. I love and hate this show at the same time.
So thank you for reading, I’m not usually one to do this, I mostly read everyone elses thoughts, but rewatching the season led me to this, also I think that episode is also part of the reason Chat Noir is left out in some of the episodes after this. It’s all Gabriel’s fault!!! (Oh, he has been guilty all along, I almost forgot!)
