En: What you've got here is no ordinary book, it's a 10th grade history book and I should know, cause I've got the very same book. Could our very own Ladybug be a high school student in real life ?
Fr: Ladybug a fait tomber un livre. C'est un manuel d'histoire de 3e, je suis bien placée pour le savoir j'ai exactement le même à la maison. Notre justicière masquée préférée serait-elle une collégienne dans la vraie vie ?
Ladybug dropped a book. It's a 9th grade history book, I should know, I've got the exact same one at home. Could our favourite masked superhero be a middle schooler in real life?
School systems are VERY confusing! But in the French show the characters are in Troisième (3e), aka 9th grade in the US or Year 10 in the UK, aka their last year of middle school (which lasts for 4 years in France).
Marinette
En: I told you from day one Tikki, I'm a total klutz.
Fr: J'ai écrit mon nom dans ce bouquin Tikki. Alors là je suis fichue.
I wrote my name in that book Tikki. I'm so screwed.
I feel like the English dub is confusing because it doesn't explain why Marinette would want to get her book back so bad. It might just be because I watched it in French but to me it wouldn't really make sense why she would need to retrieve it. They also made Marinette be hard on herself :((.
Tikki (about Alya)
En: You know how persistent she can be with her blog totally dedicated to Ladybug.
Fr: Il faut absolument qu'on récupère le manuel avant qu'elle voit ton nom a l'intérieur.
We absolutely have to get your book back before she sees your name inside of it.
Same as the previous line, I don't really get why they removed the fact that Marinette's name is written in the book from the English translation? Is it that it's not customary to write your name in school books in anglophone countries?
Marinette
En: Maybe I'm not cut out for this whole Ladybug thing.
Fr: Je crois que je suis pas la fille idéale pour être Ladybug.
I don't think I'm the ideal girl to be Ladybug.
This is a very slight change, but (in my opinion!!) I feel like French Marinette is less hard on herself. It's more of a "I'm not the best person to do this" than "I can't do this".
Tikki
En: You are the chosen one Marinette.
Fr: Mais tu as été choisie Marinette !
But you were chosen, Marinette.
Once again this is a very slight difference that probably only matters to me, but the French dub makes it sound like she was chosen because someone saw her and thought she would be able to do it, when the English translation makes it sound like a sort of prophetic thing.
Marinette
En: Well, I don't know how I'm gonna convince Alya to go to an Egyptian exhibit, much less convince her that I'm not Ladybug.
Fr: Mouais, je vois pas comment je vais pouvoir convaincre Alya d'aller voir une exposition sur l'Égypte. La seule chose qui l'intéresse c'est Ladybug.
I don't see how I'm gonna convince Alya to go see an exhibition about Egypt. The only thing that interests her is Ladybug.
While explaining the manuscript, Jalil says "There are exactly 100 mummies beside them" at the end of the story in the English dub but the line isn't there in French. It was probably added in order to explain why he turns so many people into mummies when akumatised.
Pharaoh, throwing Chat Noir into a coffin
En: Enjoy your coffin.
Fr: Couché le chat.
There's no accurate way to translate this, but "couché" in this context is the order you give a dog when you want it to lay down. Here however, Pharaoh uses it with "the cat", which makes it really funny.
Chat Noir - Ladybug
En: That Alya is one brave chick. - If by brave you mean bossy, feisty and bold yep, that's her.
Fr: Elle est courageuse cette Alya - Si par courageuse tu entends imprudente, téméraire et inconsciente oui, c'est bien elle.
That Alya girl is very brave. - If by brave you mean careless, bold and reckless yep, that's her.
It makes sense that they changed the adjectives a bit since they're pretty redundant when you translate them literally, but the bossy part kind of came out of nowhere.
Ladybug, after running into a time bubble from Pharaoh
En: Oh no, I ran into one of those time bubbles.
Fr: Oh nan, faut vraiment que j'apprenne à regarder où je mets les pieds.
Oh no, I really need to learn to watch where I step.
In the French dub, Pharaoh calls Ladybug "déesse coccinelle" aka "ladybug goddess", when he simply says Ladybug in English.
Chat Noir
En: What the?
Fr: Hein ?
Huh??
No swearing!!!
For the people who are curious, I found a table that summarises the differences between the education levels of France, the US and the UK, which might be useful to understand what grade Marinette and the others are in. As of season 1, they are in Troisième, aka the last year of collège. (Source.)
Miraculous Descendent Chapter 62: The Ancient Desert King
Previous Chapter
In the museum, Sabrina is still searching for a hint about the Miraculous on the papyrus Barkk pointed to. However, the lighting isn't helping her much. Nate and Adrien look at different papyrus to find the same hint as she does this. Chloe looks bored as she looks over a golden coffin. However, the four's inspection stops when they hear panic inside the museum. They quickly turn around to see a museum employee blowing their whistle to alert everyone.
"There's an Akuma in the museum! Everyone needs to get out of here!" The employee shouts in a panicky manner as Pharaoh turns the corner and reveals himself to the four teens.
Jalil's new form is that of a tall, muscular individual with pitch-black skin and a golden human pharaoh mask with glowing cyan eyes, a cobra ornament on the top front of it, and a necklace littered with beads and gems. Surrounding the eyes of the mask is a black domino mask-like design. With it, he also has golden arm bands, wrist bands, and anklets. The scarab necklace around his neck also changed. It became a lighter shade of blue with bird-like wings spreading around it and a golden sun disk above it.
Pharaoh sees the employee blowing his whistle while telling people to leave, and civilians panic when they see him.
"Thoth, give me time!" Pharaoh exclaims as he raises his arms and looks to the roof.
Suddenly, the mask changes form and looks like a baboon while losing the cobra ornament. He then puts his hands almost together and creates a bubble of golden energy before throwing it at the employee, trapping him. While trapped in it, his body is seemingly in a form of stasis. Pharaoh then launches more golden bubbles at different panicking civilians and trapping them.
He's about to do the same to Adrien before Nate tackles the other teen out of the way. The two teens then crawl off the floor behind an exhibit while Sabrina and Chloe do the same.
"You okay?" Nate asks him as they hide behind a coffin.
"Y-yeah, thanks." Adrien stutters slightly from his panic as he tries to figure out what happened.
"I really need to stop leaving the hotel at this point. I can't seem to go anywhere without an Akuma showing up." Nate jokingly tells Adrien before ducking to his knees when a bubble passes them.
"I wouldn't say that. This is still better than being locked up in my house." Adrien tells him as he tries to figure out how to escape and transform.
"Get out of here faster!" Pharaoh suddenly shouts as he telekinetically sends the bubbles out of the museum so they're not in his way.
He then walks toward Tutankhamun's scepter and has it float toward him. Adrien takes the chance to run and manages to pass Pharaoh without being seen. Sabrina doesn't do the same, though. She feels it's still too risky. While Adrien runs for it, Nate sends a quick SOS to Marinette, letting her know what's happening and telling her to rush over here.
When Adrien turns the corner and sees it's empty, he smiles as Plagg appears.
"Huh, not going to lie. I didn't expect this. I probably should have, though. Maybe Nooroo told his wielder about the exhibit too, and the wielder hopes it'll give him a hint about the current Ladybug." Plagg says casually as he leans past the corner and stares at Pharaoh.
"Can he actually do that?!" Adrien asks in alarm.
"No. Not to my knowledge. It's a very loose connection at best." Plagg explains as he turns to Adrien with a shrug.
Hearing this causes Adrien to sigh in relief before deciding to intervene.
"It's time to transform. Plagg, claws out." Adrien states as he raises his ring.
Plagg flies into the ring, and Cat Noir quickly turns the corner with a practiced grin.
"You know, there are better ways to be a part of the exhibit than stealing it." He tells Pharaoh while inwardly happy about the joke.
Pharaoh turns around, and Cat Noir becomes slightly more nervous as he stares into the glaring cyan eyes of the baboon mask. This nervousness grows when the museum's security system activates, and iron bars drop behind him, trapping him with Pharaoh.
"I'm not stealing this. It was stolen from me, and I'm just claiming back what's rightfully mine." Pharaoh claims, causing Cat Noir to blink at him in surprise while Chloe raises an eyebrow.
"Does he think he's the real pharaoh? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. This is one of the most delusional Akumas yet." She whispers in annoyance as she glares at Pharaoh.
"Not the time, Chloe," Sabrina tells the girl as she looks for a chance to run for it while Cat Noir distracts Pharaoh.
Pharaoh's mask morphs back into its human shape as he stares at the hero. While it does, Cat Noir pulls out his baton and glares at Cat Noir.
"I think you might need a hit in the head to set you straight." Cat Noir tells him as he charges at the villain.
He suddenly swings a fair distance from Pharaoh and extends his baton to get a quick sneak attack. But Pharaoh raises a hand between him and the baton and grabs it. As he holds the other end of the baton, he shouts.
"Sekhmet, give me strength!"
His golden masks into a lioness, and his strength seems to grow. With this newfound power, Pharaoh tosses Cat Noir into a wall with enough force to leave his indent on a papyrus.
"Ow. I wonder if this is what it feels like to fight Majesta?" Cat Noir groans as he slides off the wall.
The other three teens in the room winch when they see this.
"That looks like it hurt." Nate absently mutters.
Pharaoh doesn't hear him and walks straight to the iron bars. With the lioness mask still on, he grabs the bars and bends them to give him more room to exit. When Cat Noir gets up and sees this, he panics and rushes after the villain.
"Stop!" Cat Noir orders.
Pharaoh does stop. However, only to turn around and rebend the bars back into place, trapping the teens inside. He then raises his hands in the air and shouts.
"Horus, give me flight!"
His golden mask turns into a hawk. He then floats before flying out of the museum at high speed. Once outside the Louvre, he flies up and stares at all the civilians surrounding it.
"It's time for the next phase. Who is worthy of being the sacrifice to the sun god?" Pharaoh asks as he searches for someone specific.
Unluckily, Alya is heading toward the Louvre as he's searching, planning to take pictures of the Egyptian exhibit for her blog to try and get more followers and give her a chance to focus on something besides Hawkmoth's hint. When Pharaoh sees her, he immediately dives toward her and lands before her, causing her to fall to the ground in shock and fear.
Pharaoh crouches before her and grabs her by the jaw while examining her features.
"Your face. To think I would find you so soon. Fate has placed you in my path, telling me I'm right!" Pharaoh announces before slinging Alya over his shoulder, causing the girl to kick and hit him.
"Watch the threads, buddy. Let me go!" Alya orders as she continues to struggle.
Just then, Cat Noir runs out of the museum and glares at Pharaoh when he realizes one of his classmates is in his clutches.
"Are you seriously hiding behind a hostage? That's weak!" He angrily shouts at Pharaoh while glaring at the villain.
Pharaoh turns to Cat Noir, and the hero can feel himself getting glared at.
"I'm way more powerful than you are. I have no need for a hostage. But I do require her." Pharaoh announces before shouting.
"Anubis, bring me mummies!" After saying this, his mask turns into a jackal, and he stares at the civilians sticking around to record the fight or wondering if this is a publicity stunt.
Cat Noir is confused by his action before his eyes widen in shock when golden lasers shoot from the mask's eyes and hit a civilian, turning them into a mummy. Pharaoh then repeats this process while Cat Noir is in shock before the hero charges at him.
"Stop!" Cat Noir shouts desperately as he charges at the villain.
He extends his baton behind him to close the distance between him and Pharaoh while also getting some height before shrinking it and going for a downward strike on the villain. But like before, Pharaoh grabs the baton to stop his attack before throwing him to the side.
"Pathetic. And you call yourself a warrior. You've grown weak. Neither you nor my nemesis will stop me like you did five thousand years ago." Pharaoh announces as he stares at Cat Noir.
After saying this, a rubber ball strikes him in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward. He then turns around to see Canine glaring at him as the ball bounces back into her hand.
"How dare you strike a king?" Pharaoh asks in anger before shooting lasers at the heroine. However, Canine easily avoids them with her enhanced agility, and Pharaoh's focus on her gives Cat Noir a chance to charge at him and slam his hand into the ground under him.
"Black Hole!" He shouts, trapping Pharaoh's feet in his power as it expands under Pharaoh's feet.
"What!?" Pharaoh shouts in alarm.
"Gotcha." Cat Noir says with a grin.
"Nice work, Cat Noir!" Canine praises as Alya cheers while filming this whole confrontation.
"Did you see that, folks? Cat Noir and Canine just captured the villain." Alya says excitedly while having the camera focus on her face.
However, this excitement is short-lived with Pharaoh's words.
"Sekhmet, give me strength!" Pharaoh orders as his mask morphs back into a lioness, and he slams into the ground around Cat Noir's power with his enhanced strength.
The ground shatters and is blown away by Pharaoh's strength, disrupting Black Hole and causing the power to fizzle under the Akuma.
The heroes are in shock at this display of power. They're not the only ones, though. Anyone watching Alya's livestream is, too.
Luckily, someone important is watching right now. A group consisting of Marinette, Alix, Kim, Max, Nathaniel, Ondine, and Nino are enjoying some of the lunch that Kim got. As they're enjoying it, Nino has his phone out and watches Alya's livestream.
"Oh man, this new Akuma is crazy!" Nino shouts in shock as he stands up in surprise.
"New Akuma?!" Marinette urgently asks as she slams her hands on the table while leaving her seat to look at Nino's phone.
"Yeah. Cat Noir and Canine are fighting some kind of living pharaoh near the Louvre." Nino says while showing Marinette his phone.
Marinette stares at it in shock before quickly rushing to find somewhere to transform.
"What's got her in such a panic?" Kim asks with a raised eyebrow as she watches her run.
"I'm uncertain. But it seems she can give you a run for your money, Kim." Max states as he observes her speed.
"Ha, no way. I know for a fact I could beat her in a race. She doesn't look like the athletic type." Kim tells him with a grin.
Alix watches Marinette go, neither she nor anyone else at the table noticing her bracelet glowing again.
Marinette quickly dives into an alley, and Tikki appears.
"We need to hurry over there, Tikki. Hopefully, the others are handling the situation well." Marinette hopes before transforming.
Back with Cat Noir and Canine. The two aren't handling the situation well. Pharaoh seems to be taking them more seriously now and orders some of his mummies to distract the two while the rest bring him civilians to turn into more mummies or hold Alya so both hands are free.
He's trying to hit the heroes while still in Sekhmet form, but the two manage to avoid his strikes. The problem is that this form seems to have strengthened his durability, causing none of their attacks to work against him. Not even Canine's rubber ball is working against him.
The two soon get distracted by the sound of a scream, and they instinctively turn their heads to see a family getting dragged toward Pharaoh by his mummies. This moment of distraction lets Pharaoh slam a fist into Cat Noir's side, sending the hero flying. He tries to hit Canine, too. But the heroine ducks under his punch and rolls to the side. She then decides to activate one of her powers.
"Command!" She shouts as Pharaoh turns around to attack her again before she says something else.
"Freeze!" She shouts, causing orange-tinted soundwaves toward the villain and causing his body to involuntarily freeze mid-step toward Canine.
Seeing her chance, Canine throws her rubber ball at the mummies, hitting one in the head and causing it to bounce into the other mummy's head. The force from the attack causes the mummies to drop the family and gives them a chance to run off.
Canine winches at this, feeling sorry for having to do that since she knows the mummies are ordinary people. She doesn't have long to think about it, though. She has to duck under Pharaoh's fist as the villain powers through Canine's power with Sekhmet's strength to attack her.
"Freeze!" Canine shouts again to try and force him to stop, but now it's only slowing him down instead of outright stopping him like before.
"You cannot order a king," Pharaoh tells her as he continues pushing through her power before getting hit in the head by Cat Noir's baton.
"That was for the punch! You hit harder than Stoneheart!" Cat Noir shouts at the villain while glaring at him.
Pharaoh growls and wants to charge at Cat Noir but can't because of Canine's spell. Having enough of this, he decides to stop wasting.
"I don't have time to waste fighting you two. I need to prepare the ritual." Pharaoh announces before breaking the spell and quickly changing his mask into Horus.
With that, the Akuma flies off at high speed. A few seconds later, Ladybug appears in the opposite direction.
"Hey, Ladybug. It looks like you're the last to appear again." Cat Noir laughs somewhat awkwardly, causing Ladybug to apologize.
"I'm so sorry. I only just learned that you guys were fighting." Ladybug tells them.
"It's fine, Ladybug. You're here, at least. It seems like the Akuma can change their mask into different forms. Each mask gives a different power." Canine explains, having analyzed the Akuma mid-fight.
"Yeah. It's like a better version of your Seamstress since he can constantly change it. There was a lion mask that gave him strength, a bird mask that let him fly, a monkey mask that traps people in bubbles, and a jackal mask that turns people into mummies." Cat Noir explains while counting the masks off with his fingers.
"Didn't you hear the names he was shouting before he transformed? Those were all Egyptian gods." Canine adds.
"I mean, he does think he's an ancient pharaoh." Cat Noir shrugs.
"Do you guys know what he might be after?" Ladybug asks them urgently, wanting to stop him as soon as possible.
"He mentioned something about a ritual." Cat Noir states, causing Canine's eyes to widen as she realizes what Pharaoh is planning.
"He probably wants to finish that ritual on the papyrus!" She shouts before running into the museum.
"Where are you going?" Ladybug asks in worry as she and Cat Noir follow her.
Canine runs into the Egyptian exhibit and notices the iron bars are still bent from when Cat Noir escaped. He had used his baton to bend the bars by extending it. She crawls through them and enters the exhibit to see the papyrus missing. The other heroes soon join her, and Cat Noir notices the same thing.
"Wasn't there something here before?" Cat Noir asks while motioning toward where the papyrus used to be.
"Yeah. A papyrus with a ritual on it. Pharaoh is probably going to try and perform it." Canine tells them.
"What was the ritual?" Ladybug asks in worry.
"Apparently, it's to bring the dead back to life." Canine reveals, much to Ladybug's shock.
With Pharaoh. The Akuma is in a more populated area and uses his Anubis form to turn more people into mummies. While he's doing this, Alya is watching, trapped in the clutches of two mummies, as another set of them walks past her while carrying the papyrus. As the papyrus passes her, Alya notices something, thanks to the sunlight.
One of the smaller pictures on the papyrus has the symbol of a woman spinning a yo-yo.
"Hey! Is that woman holding a yo-yo?" Alya shouts her question toward Pharaoh.
Pharaoh turns his attention toward her and notices what she's staring at.
"Yes. That is a depiction of my long-time nemesis, Ladybug." Pharaoh claims, surprising Alya.
"But that papyrus has to be over a thousand years old," Alya states, causing Pharaoh to nod again.
"You're right. Five thousand years ago, she stopped me from completing the ritual to resurrect Nefertiti. However, she and her allies will not be so lucky this time. I've already nearly completed all the necessary preparations." Pharaoh promises before going back to turning civilians into mummies while leaving Alya with something else to think about.
Back with the heroes, Canine and Cat Noir try to remember the steps to completing the ritual while Ladybug is busy figuring out where Pharaoh is.
"I found him. He's a few blocks away and is turning people into mummies." Ladybug informs the two after checking her yo-yo.
"Alright. Let's go." Cat Noir nods, and Canine adds.
"We may not have a lot of time before Alya is sacrificed." She claims, causing Ladybug to look at her in surprise.
"Alya is what?" She asks worriedly.
"Oh yeah, Pharaoh plans to use her as the sacrifice to revive Nefertiti." Cat Noir says upon realizing they forgot to mention that.
"We need to hurry," Ladybug states, not wanting one of her classmates to be sacrificed.
The three heroes rush out of the museum and head toward Pharaoh. Ladybug takes the liberty of grabbing Canine by her waist and using her yo-yo to zip them across buildings while Cat Noir uses his baton. In what seems like no time, the three lands on a rooftop near where Pharaoh is. He and his army of mummies are seemingly heading back to the Louvre.
"Why are they heading back?" Cat Noir questions in confusion.
"I don't know." Canine says suspiciously as her eyes narrow at the moving army.
"Do you two know where his butterfly is?" Ladybug asks them as she observes Pharaoh.
"I think it's in that necklace." Cat Noir gestures to his chest as if there is something there.
Ladybug nods, and Canine can see she's thinking about something.
"What are you planning, Ladybug?" She asks the other heroine.
Ladybug turns to her and Cat Noir with a somewhat joking smile.
"I was just thinking, since we're dealing with mummies, it would be right to give them a burial." She jokes, causing Canine to look at her in confusion.
Cat Noir looks the same, but after a couple of confused blinks, he realizes what she's talking about and grins.
"Oh. This is going to be awesome." He tells Canine, who's even more confused now.
Ladybug takes a few steps back so Pharaoh doesn't notice what she's doing before saying.
"Seamstress."
Light envelops her, and her costume changes into a familiar suit.
"Eath Seams." She announces when the transformation ends, and she's in her yellow trenchcoat with a yellow black-polka-dotted mask.
Canine blinks in surprise at Ladybug's choice before deciding to ask something else.
"Wouldn't it have been better to use Reverse Seams and turn the mummies back into people?"
"That forms a bit unpredictable, and I don't know what would happen if we used it against Pharaoh's mask-changing ability. So, I don't want to use that against him." Ladybug quickly explains to her, causing Canine to nod.
"Alright. So, what's the plan?" Canine asks.
"I'll keep the mummies away from you guys with my powers. You need to use Fetch to get the pendant from him." Ladybug tells Canine, causing the girl to nod.
Ladybug then looks to Cat Noir.
"Try and help her as best you can," Ladybug tells him.
"You've got it. It shouldn't be too hard. Right? All we have to do is get the pendant and not fight him." Cat Noir laughs in slight nervousness as he remembers when he and Canine fought Pharaoh head-on.
"I'll do what I can to help you guys, but I also have to save Alya," Ladybug promises.
"Alright." Canine says before she and Cat Noir prepare to jump down when Ladybug gives the signal.
And that signal soon comes in the form of Ladybug raising her black-gloved hands and the ground under the army trembling before rising in tsunami-like waves, pushing the mummies away from their master. However, it also drags Alya and the papyrus with them.
"Woah! What is happening!? Help!" Alya panics as she's being swept up with the mummies.
Luckily, a hand of earth forms under her, lifting her out of danger and next to Ladybug.
"Glad that worked," Ladybug mutters in relief as Alya looks around in shock before seeing Ladybug and grinning.
"Oh my god, guys. I just got rescued by Ladybug. In style, too. I was literally in her grasp." Alya says to her livestream excitedly, having kept it going after she got captured.
She then runs next to the heroine and films the fight between Canine, Cat Noir, and Pharaoh. Like Ladybug said, she's keeping the mummies from interfering by manipulating the earth to form walls they can't climb over. This leaves Pharaoh alone to deal with the two on the ground and Ladybug.
Cat Noir jumps at Pharaoh and goes to hit him with his baton. Pharaoh tries to grab it, but Cat Noir immediately retracts it.
"I'm not falling for that again!" He yells at Pharaoh before backing away.
Confused, Pharaoh tries to figure out why he's backing away before remembering Canine and turning around to see the girl throw her rubber ball at him. The rubber ball almost hits the pendant but barely lands under it. The impact is enough to cause him to bend over slightly and hold his chest in pain.
"How dare you strike a king," Pharaoh grunts before changing his mask.
"Thoth, give me time!" He shouts as the mask morphs into a baboon, and Pharaoh creates golden bubbles to try and trap the two.
However, Ladybug uses her powers to pull out chunks of the ground before throwing them at the bubbles, making them useless against the other heroes.
"Curse you, Ladybug! You and your new allies will not stop me like you did five thousand years ago!" Pharaoh angrily shouts at Ladybug as his mask morphs into a hawk, and he tries to fly at her.
But Ladybug acts quickly again by crossing her arms and causing columns of earth to fly out of the ground and trap Pharaoh. Ladybug glares as she focuses harder and creates more columns to try and contain him.
"Hurry!" Ladybug urgently shouts at the two as she can feel Pharaoh try and escape through her connection with the ground.
The other two heroes run along the columns right as Pharaoh breaks through them using Sekhmet's strength.
Cat Noir jumps at Pharaoh and grabs him by the head, covering his eyes.
"Get off me!" Pharaoh roars as Canine runs at him and hits the pendent with her rubber ball. She then tries to grab it with her free hand, but Pharaoh grabs Cat Noir and throws him at Canine.
The two hit the ground, but it's already too late.
"Fetch!" Canine shouts from the ground with Cat Noir lying atop her.
Her rubber ball flies at Pharaoh and hits his pendant before they fly back to Canine in a bright orange orb of light.
"No!" Pharaoh angrily shouts as the ball returns to Canine with the necklace, and she takes the chance to break its pendant.
As she breaks it, Ladybug jumps down and captures it with her yo-yo as Pharaoh de-transforms. In a swift, practiced motion, she activates Miraculous Ladybug to fix the city. Doing this causes the ground she manipulated to return to normal, and Jalil rests on his knees in the middle of the three heroes.
"Ugh, what happened?" Jalil asks as he holds his head and looks around.
"You may have gone a bit far in trying to test your theory." Cat Noir tells him.
So in the new S5 teaser we see Adrien and Nathalie hugging, but I just noticed:
Nathalie? Where did your earrings go? Why was your character model suddenly animated without them when that was never the case before as far as I noticed?
You know, the earrings we got to see more up close in “Felix” when Nathalie is trying to protect Adrien from the akumas and we can make out that there is a symbol on them:
I just cant entirely make out what it is??
It looks like a bug to me though? My mind went to “Pharaoh” where we see the holy Scarab Beetle as a necklace from the Pharaoh Akhenaten (in the Eng Dub for some reason changed to Tutankhamun?) that TOTALLY isnt a secret miraculous no no, why would you think that?
Because the Kubdel family was brought back for their time travel history narrative in 5x01 and “Pharaoh” was one of THE episodes that set the history part of the show up back in s1. But it's not the same bug design. Of course there is also the possibility that it's a Ladybug, but I wouldn't quite understand why? I'll keep thinking.
Maybe it can help us figure out more about Nathalies mysterious past we see hinted at in her room, which also is clearly decorated with Egyptian artefacts etc:
Remember in The Pharaoh when a man who wants to bring his deceased wife back to life was brought back to life too and akumatized and the only thing he had to do was to sacrifice another person and get the love of his life back which makes me wonder how stupid Gabriel actually is when he literally gave someone else the thing HE wanted and a whole ass army WITHOUT REALIZING WHAT HE JUST DID?
I've been thinking (people probably already said this too but..) I'm really disappointed the Pharaoh episode wasn't used to not only show off how old LB is but Chat too.
Especially since Egyptians worshipped felines as deities and also, I think Sekhmet (lion = feline) or Anubis (destruction = Chat's ability) could've maybe just glanced at Chat Noir prancing around in his feline glory and just go: "....Bast(et)?"
Or the Pharaoh transforming into Bastet and using increased agility etc to outmanouver LB? Chat Noir would be the only one who would be able to keep up since his Miraculous is the Black Cat?
The walls not only showing Ladybug but a past Miraculous owner of Chat Noir? Which in context, would have made some sense. There can't be no creation without destruction (if LB was there, Chat Noir must've been somewhere too). (Bast would've done the same turning humans into loyal followers willing to sacrifice themselves in order to summon Nefretiti...etc.)
Maybe I'm just desperate to get more historical info about the Cat Miraculous in general, we've seen a few things of LB but no Chat Noir so far (except that Chinese one but no info whatsoever).
Miraculous Descendent Chapter 61: The Heirloom Two, The Unraveling
Previous Chapter
In André Bourgeois' bakery, the man is working hard to prepare a special cake for one of his more famous clients. As he does, Chloe walks down the stairs and notices her father hard at work.
"Do you need any help, Dad?" She asks him as she prepares to grab an apron to help her father.
"There's no need, Princess. I have everything under control. You can enjoy yourself today. I hear there's a new Egyptian exhibit opening in the museum. Maybe you can go out for a bit and see that. I'm sure it'll have some interesting stuff to see." André tells his daughter while wiping a bit of sweat off his brow.
Chloe gives her father an unreadable expression as she thinks about his suggestion. However, she doesn't have much else to do.
"Alright. Let me know if you need anything while I'm out." Chloe tells him before leaving the bakery.
"Will do, Princess. Thank you for all your help." André thanks her with a smile as he watches her leave.
In the restaurant of Le Grand Paris, Alix and her father are sitting at one of the tables in celebration of Alix's birthday.
"Thanks for taking me out, Dad. But are you sure this is a good idea? A new exhibit is opening today. I know how important your job is to you." Alix says as she looks around the restaurant somewhat awkwardly.
"Yes. But today is also especially important for you and our family." Her father says before seeing his daughter's sneakers.
"Though. I wish you had dressed more appropriately for the occasion." He says, and Alix shrugs.
"I took my cap off, didn't I? Besides, two people from my class live here, and I helped around once." Alix casually says while pointing to her cap.
"I know, but it's a special day." Mr. Kubdel states, and Alix shrugs.
"It's just a birthday. It's nothing that special." Alix tells him with a raised eyebrow.
"You may change your mind when you see my gift." Mr. Kubdel states as he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out the box he wrapped a little less than a week ago.
Alix raises an eyebrow at her father before taking the box. She stares at the panjas bracelet in shock when she opens it. She's not one for clothing or jewelry. But even she can tell this looks valuable.
"That's a family heirloom that's been passed down for generations. I thought now would be the best time for you to inherit it." Mr. Kubdel explains to his daughter with a smile.
"Uh. Thanks. Shouldn't Jalil have inherited this, though? I thought the oldest was supposed to get stuff like this." Alix tells him while examining the bracelet.
Hearing this question causes Mr. Kubdel to sigh.
"As much as I love him. I don't know if I can trust him to take care of such an important object to our family." Mr. Kubdel tells his daughter honestly, causing her to snicker slightly.
"Knowing him, he'd probably break it to test some crazy theory." Alix agrees with a smile as she puts the bracelet on.
"That's what I'm worried about, too. Which is why I'm entrusting you with this responsibility." Mr. Kubdel tells his daughter.
"Well, thanks. It even goes with my fashion." She says as she examines the silver chains.
Soon, the two's food arrives. Surprisingly, Marinette is the one setting their plates.
"Hey, Marinette. I didn't expect to see you." Alix waves with a slight grin as Marinette gives them their food.
"Yep. I'm helping my mom in the kitchen and with orders a bit today." Marinette tells them with a smile before she sees the panjas bracelet.
"That's a beautiful bracelet, Alix." She compliments the girl.
Alix grins before raising her hand to give Marinette a better look while saying.
"Thanks. It's a family heirloom, apparently. Dad just gave it to me for my birthday." She tells Marinette.
"That's amazing. I got a family heirloom for my birthday a while back, too. Though, mine was a puzzle box instead of jewelry." She tells Alix with a smile.
"Huh, that's cool," Alix says before hearing her father cough to get her attention.
"Oh, right. Dad, this is Marinette, one of the gals in my class. Marinette, this is my Dad. He's a historian at the Louvre." Alix quickly introduces the two.
"How do you do?" Mr. Kubdel asks as he introduces himself with a welcoming smile.
"It's nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy the food while you're here." Marinette says back.
"Thank you. I'm sure we will." Mr. Kubdel says before Marinette leaves.
"She seems nice." Mr. Kubdel states as he digs into his food.
"Yeah, she's cool. Definitely not what I was expecting. I figured she'd end up like another Chloe. But she's nice." Alix says as she grabs some of her food.
"I'm glad you aren't having any problems with your classmates." Mr. Kubdel tells her.
Alix shrugs at this.
"Other than Chloe, everyone seems okay. I've hung out with a few of them besides Max and Kim. Alya and Rose are weirdos, though." Alix tells her father.
As the two have this conversation and Marinette heads back into the kitchen, Tikki messes with her wielder's computer. She soon stops when she notices a page on the new Egyptian exhibit in the Louvre. Her eyes widen as an idea pops into her head.
At Adrien's house, Plagg has similar thoughts when he sees the Egyptian exhibit article. Adrien is playing on one of his arcade machines to calm his nerves as Plagg messes with his computer.
"Hey, kid. How open would your old man be to you going to the museum for the new Egyptian exhibit?" Plagg suddenly asks Adrien.
"I don't think he'd be against it since it'll be educational. Why?" Adrien asks while continuing to play his game.
"Because I thought I'd let you know there's a bit of history about the Miraculous hidden within the exhibit. So, if you want to learn more about us, you can probably go there." Plagg reveals to him.
Adrien freezes in shock when he hears this, and his character dies.
"Are you serious?" Adrien asks Plagg excitedly.
"Yep. When I looked at some of the exhibits, I saw something related to the Miraculous." Plagg explains.
Hearing this causes Adrien to immediately sprint out of his room to beg Nathalie to convince his father to let him go to the museum. While he's running, he's thinking about inviting Nino. Plagg watches him go with an amused smirk before thinking.
"I wonder if the others will see the exhibit and bring their wielders there.
In Sabrina's room, the girl listens to her Kwami as Barkk tells her about the hint she'll find if she goes to the Egyptian exhibit.
"So, there's a section in one of the exhibits about a previous Ladybug Miraculous wielder before ours?" Sabrina asks for clarification's sake as she looks at her Kwami.
"Yes. I recognized her on one of the inscriptions." Barkk nods.
Sabrina decides to check it out. She quickly texts her dad about this before grabbing a bag and exiting the apartment.
While these two inform their wielders about the exhibit, Tikki goes to the restaurant area to inform Marinette. But she stops when she sees Marinette and Alix talking again.
"So, Kim and I are having a challenge at the front of school today. Almost everyone in class is supposed to show up because of his boasting. You up for it? I can finally show you the art room when I beat him." Alix tells her, and Marinette smiles.
"Sure. I don't have anything planned today." Marinette nods.
Seeing her wielder already making plans, Tikki decides against telling her and goes to the second person who knows about her.
"I'm sure he won't be busy." Tikki thinks before flying into Nate's room and stopping directly in his face, causing the teen to jump and fall back onto his bed.
"Don't do that!" Nate snaps at her as he sits up and glares at the giggling Kwami.
"Sorry. I promise that was an accident." She apologizes to him.
"What do you want?" Nate asks, getting to the point.
"There's a new exhibit opening in the museum. Incidentally, it has something involving one of my past wielders." Tikki explains, causing Nate's eyes to widen.
"Why are you telling me about this?" Nate asks in confusion.
"Because Marinette has already made plans to go with that Alix girl in your class to the school for a contest between her and Kim," Tikki informs him.
"So, what do you want with me? This isn't going to be something where I have to steal an exhibit, is it? Because I have no way to do that." Nate quickly tells her while raising his hands nervously.
"Of course not. I know there's nothing you can do about that. I thought you might want to go down there in her place and tell her about it later. That's if you can figure out which exhibit it is." Tikki states.
"Wait. You're not going to tell me which exhibit it is?" Nate asks her in confusion.
"Nope. It doesn't matter to me as much if one of my wielders finds information on a former one since they're all different. I thought this would be a good test of your observation skills." Tikki explains to him.
Shrugging, Nate decides to go since he doesn't have much else to do ever since they stopped messing with the Miracle Box. He gets ready and heads down before leaving the hotel. Not long after he's gone, Marinette and the Kubdels come down.
"You girls have fun and be careful. I have to get back to the Louvre before my break ends." Mr. Kubdel says as he waves the girls goodbye.
"We'll be fine, Dad. Make sure Jalil doesn't do anything stupid." Alix says before she and Marinette leave for the school.
"I'll try." Mr. Kubdel sighs as he watches them go for a second before heading to the museum.
After a long walk, the two arrive at the school, where several classmates and Ondine are waiting. When Kim sees them arrive, he grins at Alix.
"What's this? Did you bring someone else to see your birthday crushing?" Kim playfully asks with no genuine mocking in his tone.
"Yeah, yeah, keep talking, Kim. I'm going to enjoy having you as my servant for a week as my last birthday gift." Alix taunts back with a smirk.
"Servant?" Marinette asks in confusion as Kim and Max walk up to them.
"Yes. Kim bragged that he could beat Alix in a race even if she used her rollerblades. Alix got angry, and the two made a bet where the other must listen to the winner for a week." Max explains to Marinette as Alix and Kim butt heads.
"It's not too late to back out. You already lost to a panther after you bragged about beating that." Alix mocks with a smirk, causing Kim to scowl.
"That was a magic panther. It doesn't count. Besides, you need the skates as a handicap since you have a height problem." Kim mocks back while holding a hand above her head at his height.
"Are they always like this?" Marinette asks as she observes the two.
"Yes, they're both extremely competitive. They'll have contests like this all the time." Max nods before some of the other spectators add fuel to the fire.
"Come on, Alix. Kick his butt and show him some girl power." Rose roots for Alix.
"You better not lose a second time, dude," Nino calls toward Kim before Ondine joins him.
"You've got this, Kim!" Ondine shouts toward him.
"You've got this, Alix." Nathaniel awkwardly roots for Alix while raising an arm.
At the same time as this is happening, the three people who know about the Miraculous are arriving at the museum nearly simultaneously.
"What are you guys doing here?" Nate asks in surprise when he sees Sabrina and Adrien walking to the entrance.
Recognizing the voice, the two turn. Adrien sees Sabrina and Nate behind him, while Sabrina only sees a confused Nate.
"Did you guys come to see the Egyptian exhibit, too?" Adrien asks, somewhat excited at this development since Nino said he couldn't make it and Adrien had to go alone.
"Well, I did. I thought it would be educational since it's the grand opening and will likely have a lot of people giving it attention." Sabrina calmly explains.
"I had nothing better to do," Nate says honestly with a shrug.
"Cool," Adrien says before the three enter the museum and find the new exhibit together.
"I didn't expect you to be interested in the exhibit, Nate. You never seemed like the type for this kind of thing." Sabrina tells Nate as the trio walks.
"Like I said, I had nothing better to do. I wasn't interested in seeing Alix and Kim race each other at the front of school, like Marinette." Nate explains.
"Oh yeah, Nino is there, too." Adrien nods.
"I'm pretty sure it's because it's Alix's birthday," Sabrina says, remembering everyone's birthday on the class list.
"That would make sense if your birthday is anything to go by." Nate jokes to Adrien.
Adrien laughs uncomfortably as the group walks into the Egyptian exhibit. This is short-lived as someone suddenly runs into him and Nate from behind, causing the person to drop a yellow binder and a black-stringed dark cyan scarab pendant with a golden base and gold details. When the two teens see who ran into them, they see Alix's older brother, Jalil, even if they don't know that yet.
Jalil himself quickly grabs the pendant and checks it before sighing in relief.
"It's not broken!" He says a little louder than he needs to in his happiness.
"We're okay, too. Usually, people ask the ones they run into if they're okay." Nate tells him with a glare as he rubs the arm Jalil pushed.
Hearing this, Jalil quickly realizes what he did and gathers his binder before getting up and turning to the group of three.
"Sorry about that. Wait, you're in Alix's class, right? I'm her older brother, Jalil. Are you here to see the new Tutankhamun exhibit, too?" Jalil introduces himself before he realizes who he's talking to.
"Yeah..." Nate says, a bit put off by his cheerfulness.
Before anything else can be said, Mr. Kubdel walks up behind the group.
"I'm glad to hear some of my daughter's classmates taking an interest in our exhibit." He says with a smile.
"Dad!" Jalil exclaims in surprise before grinning at him and pushing past Nate again.
"Dude," Nate says in annoyance before deciding to let it go and look around for that hint Tikki talked about.
Adrien and Sabrina aren't far behind him. Each of the three looks at the various exhibits for a hint of the Miraculous while Jalil and Mr. Kubdel talk.
Back with Marinette, she watches as Alix and Kim get into place after their trash talk session. Max stands in front of the two as he goes over the rules of this race.
"Let's review the official rules. Two laps around the fountains, which is approximately 500 yards. The first one across the line after their second lap is the winner. The loser will be forced to listen to whatever the winner wants for the 168 hours. Which should be approximately 11:49 next Saturday." Max explains before looking at the two contestants.
"Do you both understand the rules?" He asks them.
"I do. But you may have to say it a second time for Kim. You know he's pretty slow when it comes to comprehension." Alix says with a smirk.
"Hey!" Kim says before Max cuts them off.
"The trash-talking session is over. You're moment of talking the talk ended. Now it's time to walk the walk." Max states, using some of the sayings he learned while being friends with these two.
"You've got this, Alix!" Rose calls.
"Take him down." Juleka murmurs while pumping her fist slightly.
"You've got this, Kim." Nino roots since it seems like Kim is the underdog in this situation.
"Just make sure you don't trip!" Ondine calls toward him.
"On your marks," Max says, causing the two to get into their ready positions.
"Get set," He continues as the two slightly lean forward.
"Go!" Max shouts, and the two take off.
Kim takes an early lead over Alix, but she manages to catch up with him on the first corner. The two continue to be neck and neck. Every time one would take the lead, the other would soon catch up and overtake them. Kim is really demonstrating his athleticism while keeping up with Alix for a long sprint like this. It's clear to everyone who didn't know already that his constant boasting isn't just for show.
The spectators watch as they soon complete their first lap around the fountain and start cheering for the two contestants. But neither can hear these cheers as they're too focused on the contest. When they reach the third corner of the second lap, Alix grins excitedly while thinking.
"I'm so close. I need to be a little faster. I'm almost there."
After thinking that, she pushes herself a little more. In her excitement, she doesn't notice that her new jewelry starts faintly glowing. It soon vanishes as quickly as it appeared, though.
When they turn the last corner, it seems the amount of running is starting to hit Kim slightly as he slows down a bit during the final stretch. This lets Alix overtake him and cross the finish line before him.
"Alright!" Alix shouts as she raises an arm in victory while people cheer for her.
She then looks at a slightly tired-looking Kim as Ondine runs over to him with a water bottle.
"And that's what you get for messing with the birthday girl!" Alix announces with a smirk while pointing at Kim.
"Yeah, yeah. You just got lucky. I'll beat you next time." Kim promises before downing the water Ondine graciously gave him.
"We'll see about that after you spend a week as my servant. Now, get me lunch. Chop, chop." Alix orders while clapping her hands together smugly.
Groaning, Kim asks her what she wants, and Alix shrugs.
"I don't know. I think I saw a food cart around the corner." Alix tells him while pointing toward a corner.
Sighing, Kim walks off with Ondine following him, trying to keep his spirits up.
"You almost won. I'm sure you'll get her next time." She tells Kim with a smile, causing him to rub his head while blushing.
"Thanks. It's cool that you came after last time, Ondine." Kim tells her.
Ondine's smile grows as she stares at Kim as the two walk to get Alix something to eat. While they do that, Alix skates up to Marinette and grins.
"So, what do you say I show you the art room?" Alix asks before getting a confused look from Nathaniel.
"Alix. The school is closed today. Even clubs aren't allowed inside." He tells her, causing her to groan.
"Seriously? I had a project I wanted to work on today." She groans in frustration.
"It's alright. Maybe we can come back tomorrow." Marinette says reassuringly.
Back at the museum, the searching trio can't find anything about the Miraculous on any exhibits. They're not sure what to be looking for anyway. It isn't until Barkk points Sabrina at a specific Egyptian papyrus that one of the three finds anything.
"Over there. That should be where you find something." Barkk whispers to her wielder, causing Sabrina to rush toward a darker part of the area where a massive papyrus rests on the wall.
Sabrina looks at the papyrus but can't find anything about the Miraculous. Her search is soon interrupted by Jalil's voice coming up behind her.
"I'm telling you, Father, it's right there in the hieroglyphics," Jalil states while pointing at the papyrus in front of Sabrina.
He then notices her and lightly pushes her out of the way so he can continue.
"There, as you know, the one with the scepter is Tutankhamun, the first. And opposite of him is his princess, Nefertiti. There are exactly one hundred mummies beside them. She died several years before him, and the sun god Ra took her as his goddess." Jalil explains while pointing to different sections of the papyrus, causing his father to sigh.
"Yes, I know. I'm the director of this exhibit, Jalil." He tells Jalil in a slightly deadpan manner.
"Then you should also know Tutankhamun wanted to bring Nefertiti back to life and tried offering the sun god a new wife to replace her. This section seems to decipher the ritual he devised to do this." Jalil explains as he points at a different section. The section shows a woman being held by two men as a ray of sunlight surrounds her.
Jalil then takes off his glasses while proudly saying.
"Nobody has ever fully deciphered this section of the hieroglyphics, but I have. And I believe it's a magical chant used to complete the ritual. I'm sure of it." He announces to his father and anyone in the room who's listening, which includes Chloe, as she's just showing up.
"Oh great, another crazy guy." She mutters in annoyance as she walks over to the group.
Mr. Kubdel sighs at his son and rubs his temples while saying.
"Jalil, these types of frescoes are almost always the illustration of a legend. There's a reason why these are called legends."
However, Jalil isn't done.
"That's what everyone thinks, but I can prove it's real," Jalil promises his father while grabbing his arm, causing Mr. Kubdel to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"How exactly do you plan to prove this?" Mr. Kubdel asks in slight worry mixed with his skepticism.
"I just need the scepter." He promises his father before reaching for one of the main exhibits of the new Egyptian section of the Louvre. A gold and cyan-striped staff that curves into a recent moon at the top with a red-eyed cobra tip.
However, his father quickly grabs Jalil's arm and turns him away from the staff before glaring at his son.
"Absolutely not. I forbid you from touching that scepter. I'd lose my job here in an instant. That's a priceless historical object. It's not a toy." He chastises his son while raising a finger at him.
"Come on, Dad. We know magic is real because of Hawkmoth and the heroes. Our world is full of things that were once considered fiction. What if Tutankhamun actually managed to discover how to bring someone back to life?" Jalil pleads with his father desperately.
But his father doesn't care.
"Listen, Jalil. You need to get your head out of the papyrus scrolls. Even if what you say is true, you should know the steps of this ritual. I don't want to hear any more about this." Mr. Kubdel tells his son while motioning toward the mummies on the papyrus before storming off, ending the conversation with his son.
Jalil looks down in sadness and drops his papers while Chloe smirks slightly.
"Too bad, so sad." She mocks him, getting a scowl from Sabrina.
"Must you constantly mock others?" She asks Chloe with a disapproving glare.
"Yes. It's fun." She says with a smirk as Jalil dejectedly walks off.
After watching him leave, Sabrina gives one last glare to Chloe before returning to examining the papyrus for a hint about the Miraculous. They don't know that Hawkmoth senses Jalil's growing negative emotions from his lair.
"You weren't wrong in how we live in a world where the fantasy can become real. Now, let me help you make yours real. I know I could find some use out of having the power to resurrect the dead." Hawkmoth states as he creates a butterfly and sends it after Jalil.
Later that day, Jalil dejectedly sits outside the museum, looking down at his glasses. He doesn't notice the butterfly heading toward him before entering his scarab pendant.
"Pharoh. I am Hawk Moth. I have endowed you with the magical power of the ancient gods. Use them to complete the ritual and prove yourself right while bringing me the Miraculous of the heroes." Hawkmoth orders.
"My precious Nefertiti will come back to life!" Jalil grins as he talks as if he's Tutankhamun.
The corrupted black smoke envelops his body as he starts to transform.
