Miraculous Ladybug Season 3 Episode Review Fact Check

Hey there and welcome back to another Miraculous Ladybug retrospective review where I go through old episodes of

Miraculous I never made videos on and give my thoughts. Today we're entering into the third season which for a lot of

fans is filled with numerous highs but also the lowest of lows. There were super iconic episodes such as Cat Blanc,

but at the same time we had the downfall of Kloe as a hero and reverting her to the same type of character she was

before a big arc across season 2. In many ways they actually made her worse than she was before. But let's not get

too bogged down in the salt right now. There's going to be plenty of time for all that across the season after all. I

made this video expecting that I'd need to bridge the gap for a long hiatus at the end of the sixth season, but turns

out I'm wrong on that score. We have the final four episodes announced and upcoming, so that's something to

celebrate. With all that being said, though, let's jump into the episode. So, we begin with Marinette, of course,

being late for school. And I do have to marvel at how she can be so consistently late all the time. I know the show tries

to make it seem like it's because she's Ladybug and thus she's always struggling because of that, but hey, Adrien doesn't

have that same issue. and he also doesn't live right next door to the school. She arrives at class to find

that Alia and Nino are sitting together whilst there's now a spare seat at the front next to Adrien for her. She of

course gets super hyped up because this is everything she ever would have dreamed about. Although that being said,

I did laugh when she was praising Alia for convincing everybody to swap seats, but at the same time also having the

self-awareness to realize this is probably not a good thing for her work ethic because she'll never focus again.

She begins ranting about how this could prevent her having the house, three kids, and hamster she's always planned

to share with Adrien. Gowa. It's always a bit weird to come back to these older seasons from the modern show where

they're already together and so there's far less of this obsessive shtick. I mean, she's outright saying this out

loud where he can hear her. Here we come to the big reveal, though, because Alia tells her that Marinette's not sitting

next to Adrien and that she is in fact sitting at the back of the class all alone. Apparently, Laya has a hearing

issue and so she needs to sit at the front to make it work. Apparently, now Ivan and Milen sit together whilst Nate

and Alex do the same. I'm not sure how those swaps impacted anything, but there you go, I guess. Nino then moves next to

Alia, allowing Yla to sit next to Adrien and banishing her best friend to the back of the class. Yikes. This feels

like such a shitty move to tell you the truth. Imagine doing this to your friend. There's no reason that Adrien

and Nino couldn't have gone to sit at the back together, right? And Laya sits alone at the front. I'd be pretty pissed

off if my friend did this to me. Anyway, this is when Yla enters the class with Miss Booier, and we see the IQ of every

single member of the class drop in real time. Seriously, their brains just smooth over completely. This is probably

one of the biggest weaknesses with the writing in regards to Laya, and it honestly lasts all the way up to season

5 until Sabrina helps Marinette share the truth to the school. Laya's lies are so blatant and easily verifiable as

false that it seems completely ridiculous that only Marinette seems to take issue with her and is treated as a

massive conspiracy theorist as a result. People tell her that she's just jealous because Laya also likes Adrien, which I

guess is their attempt to show that Marinette being a bit obsessive and crazy is something that can come back to

bite her in the ass. But in the context they use it, it's just stupid. So yes, Laya comes in and is all thrilled that

she is the front seat as she tells Marin that she actually developed tonitis when the sound of an airplane engine burst

her eardrum when she was rescuing Jagged Stone's kitten from a runway. This is surely information the school would have

to try to verify, right? As in the tonitis, Marinette questions why she should have to go sit in the back row

all alone. And despite Adrien offering to go there, she essentially gets shot down, leaving her angry and isolated

whilst Laya Fawns all over Adrien. Enter Gabe, who senses her negative emotions as she gets madder and madder and sends

out Numa, only for Marinette to take a sudden deep breath and calm down just before it touches her, which is some

plot armor if you ask me. I mean, I think it's fine in terms of teasing it and getting people hyped up

for a Marinette accumatization, but seeing as it's actually going to take three more seasons to get to that point,

it feels frustrating to see these scenes in hindsight. Gabe tells the Akuma to be patient, and the day continues on. Laya

has the entire class wrapped around her little finger to the point that they're delivering all this food to her in the

cafeteria. way more than any one person could possibly need to eat. Marinette, of course, gets mad and drags Alia and

Nino off to the side to try to convince them that Laya's bad news and openly says that on the first day that Laya

came to school, she followed her. Yeah, that's probably her first big mistake, admitting to something like this because

it makes her seem crazy. But at the same time, Alia is full of here. She says that a good reporter will always

verify her sources and thus Alia needs proof that Yla doesn't know Ladybug. Yet, her journalistic integrity mindset

apparently does not extend to verifying any of the very outlandish claims that Laya unleashes, such as her diplomatic

trip to Achu or whatever that country was called. I think the easy victory would be googling any of her supposed

feats and dispelling the BS. Hell, if I had a classmate that was making these sorts of claims, I would probably do

just that because it's interesting. Saving a rockstar's kitten and then hanging out with a world famous prince

who we saw is highly scheduled and followed by fans and paparazzi. I would want to read the articles. Why is a

character like Alia, who wants to be a journalist, not doing any of this? Instead, the narrative forces logic out

the window and makes Marinette even more unhinged than usual with her throwing something at Laya to try to prove her

point. It just feels off because we've seen Marinette jostling for Adrian's detention before, and she never goes

this far. Plus, we already had her sort of learning her lesson in this regard after the events of Alpena, where she

went way harder on Yla than she needed to. On top of that, Laya is very frustrating because she bends the

characters to suit the plot and it doesn't feel organic. Of course, Laya catches the napkin very easily. And then

when she looks to be found out, she starts talking about how she saw a napkin gouge somebody's eye out in India

and then fakes being in pain from saving Max from that fate. Even though he was wearing glasses, which would probably

block a scrunched up piece of paper. Somehow though, people buy this and Marinette's friends ask her if she's

proud of herself. Nice. Then again, these are the same friends that stood by and did jack whilst Khloe bullied

Marinette for years. And Kim actually played a big part in that bullying. It's wild. Marinette storms off and rages in

the toilets. And honestly, based on how quickly Akumas usually travel, it feels unrealistic that it hasn't gotten her

because she had to stomp all the way from the cafeteria through the halls to the toilet. And then she has this

conversation with Laya where she's angry before the akuma comes calling. Anyway, this is the origin of the Marinette and

Laya beef as prior to this, Laya simply hated Ladybug. It's actually a really interesting scene because it's the only

one where Yla tries to use her charms on Marinette and wrap her around her finger, too. every scene after this.

She'll only do it when others are present, but is fine showing her true face when it's just the two of them

alone. In that regard, I think the character's really cool, and so is their dynamic. I just wish the lies were more

believable, so the class didn't look so brain dead. Also, her backing Marinette up as she threatens her was pretty damn

cool. And I love that she even acknowledges the rest of the class are just clearly dumb as hell. Marinette

rages alone after Laya leaves, and it's only at this point that Gabe feels her anger. I mean, she's been pissed off for

ages now, and then fearful as Laya threatens her. Was that seriously not enough? Feels a bit ridiculous, to tell

you the truth. I mean, where were you about an hour ago, mate? >> Then he only tries to get her and

Tikki's able to be out and about to warn her to dodge it. It's just a blatant finger on the scales moment from the

writers, if you ask me. Plot armor to the extreme. We then cut over to Adrien where Laya finds him in the locker room.

And so, she tries once more to work her charms on him, first by asking for a time for them to meet up to work

together before trying to get him to give her some private piano lessons. He tells her that whilst he's very happy to

be her friend, that he doesn't want her to lie to him again like last time. And to his credit, he says all of this very

nicely. In a moment of good character building though, we see that this is actually a trigger point for her. She

was easily able to flip the script on Marinette, but the reminder of Ladybug humiliating her is too much and so she

gets angry at Adrien as well. He also in this conversation gives his classmates way too much credit when he talks about

how if Laya keeps on lying, it will turn everybody against her. Turns out at the end of the day, this isn't the case and

she only gets found out because she stops lying to Sabrina, who unexpectedly grows a spine and betrays her.

Marinette's able to calm down and ward off the Akuma before it can transform her into a villain and she in turn

transforms into Ladybug to hunt it down, but it's too late because Yla's transformed already. I have to say

though that whilst the lying took me out, a lot of moments in this episode are really good. Another one comes when

Laya outright grabs the Akuma and puts it into her earring herself whilst introducing herself to Hawk Moth instead

of the other way around. It sets her up as a pure antagonist in that way, one who's completely unrepentant. This

episode has done a lot for her character, too. takes her from a sore loser in a joke like we saw in season 2

and turns him into a genuine threat. She becomes chameleon and immediately finds Adrien and puts him to sleep with a kiss

while stealing his appearance. She stuffs him into a locker and goes off to wreak havoc, stealing Nino's hat and

talking to him as Adrien before leaping off into the city, obviously indicating that Adrien's been

accumatized because Adrien's never had these sorts of abilities before. Chameleon tells him not to miss his

performance at the Eiffel Tower before he goes. And Ladybug follows in pursuit, almost catching her once, but Chameleon

almost causes a collision which would have killed a mother and her baby crossing the road. Now that is a true

miraculous classic. Nothing ups the stakes like a baby in a pram, almost being obliterated by a heavy vehicle.

Chameleon arrives at the Eiffel Tower and starts popping balloons before leaping up the outside of the tower and

pretending like it's Adrien about to fall. For some reason, everybody's taking this seriously, even though

something's clearly off because normal teenagers cannot scale the Eiffel Tower in seconds. Knowing that Ladybug's going

to catch her anyway, Chameleon falls off the tower and when they land, she tries to kiss Ladybug on the cheek and thereby

steal her identity just like she did with Adrien. Luckily, despite this being quite literally everything that

Marinette ever dreamed of, she was able to keep her head in the game and says that she knows that this can't be Adrien

and Chameleon admits the jig is up. Here is where their battle begins and I will say the battle is very bare bones.

Although I think the concept is probably hard carried by the fact that you're watching Adrien Aggress fighting

Ladybug. Chameleon loses his first exchange and Ladybug goes for the hat and rips it but finds no Akuma. Man,

poor Nino's hat. She needs to be more aware. She saw outright that Adrienne stole the hat from Nino when she was

watching, so it couldn't have been in there to begin with. I do like that she makes the mistake, though. It feels very

human to forget that detail and go for the obvious item that's different about him. Also, good god, she is strong. I

feel like the show never really hypes up just how much of a power boost you get from the Miraculous. Caps are pretty

strong when you think about it. And she rips it clean in half with ease. Doesn't strain at all. Just a casual pull and a

rips. How much do they have to hold back so they don't accidentally kill somebody when they're fighting? like when randoms

get mind controlled or something. I mean, this type of show would never actually go into that sort of thing, but

it's a fair question, I think. While she's distracted with the hat, Chameleon runs away and escapes somehow, despite

Ladybug only looking away for a second or so. Got to keep your eye on the prize. How is everybody just walking

around casually, though? That's what I want to know. Why aren't they all watching and telling her where the

villain ran off to? I mean, they saw this fight going on. Where's their sense of civil responsibility? Did they think

that Ladybug and Adrian were just sparring for some reason? Bit weird. Anyway, Lla transforms into somebody

else and then Adrien wakes up just as Plague is going to try to kiss him to wake him up. I personally would have

tried some of that cheese under Adrienne's nose to tell you the truth. But hey, he shows his dedication to the

cause here. Whilst Cat Noir tries to get to the battle, Ladybug keeps hunting Laya, who this time has become a real

creeper and kiss some little kid called Quentyn to steal his form, which would allow her to get close to Ladybug and

take her out. Here is where we get the first of many future examples of Cat Noir having next to no story relevance

per episode when he blocks the kiss and gets knocked out, saving Ladybug. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some stan. He

doesn't have to be the center of the universe. But in hindsight, this is a very troubling precedent they set. He

does nothing in the battle for the most part, and they just do this again and again going forward for a very long

time. So, it's Ladybug versus Chameleon Cat Noir, and their battle at first is pretty dull for what is too miraculous

going headto-head, given that Laya currently has Cat Noir's powers. I did like that Laya chooses not to take the

sleeping Cat Noir's miraculous, though, because it tied into what I said earlier. Even if it goes against her

goals, she hates Ladybug that much and she can't resist. just like when she lost her cool with Adrien earlier. So,

the battle goes up to the Eiffel Tower and eventually Laya loses to some They fall through the ceiling

and apparently this power works on inanimab objects because she gets turned into a clam or rather I think she

becomes the pearl inside the clam. Then they open the clam up and Ladybug releases the akuma by smashing the

pearl. So, if Yla is the pearl, does that mean that Ladybug just killed her to release the akuma? That's certainly

one way of solving things. M good. So, Ladybug fixes everything and it's revealed the entire time that Nino's

been depressed about losing his cap. And Ali's been consoling him, which was pretty funny. And then Ladybug tried to

get Yayla to be good and not lie. And so, she lies to Ladybug and goes full serial killer face after the heroes

leave. I got to say that judging by how she acts in the London special and then season 6, in a non-miraculous world,

Laya really would be prime serial killer material, wouldn't she? The very same day, it becomes clear that Yla's not

going to be changing to the surprise of absolutely nobody. and she continues to tell very obvious lies to the idiots in

the class, including swapping what ear has tonitis. Seriously, how dumb are they? I know I keep going on and on

about it, but at a certain point, it's so frustrating, isn't it? When Marinette goes to confront her, though, Adrienne

steps in and tells her it's better to let her have this. And as long as they know the truth, does it really matter? I

would argue yes, but at the same time, I would also say that this is not the moment for it. She needs to confront her

with a clear head instead of being angry because otherwise liar can simply play for sympathy or get her flustered like

usual. Regardless though, I kind of get what Adrien means. These are meaningless lies. There's no need to start a fight

about them, especially since it won't end up changing anything at all about what's going on. In class, Adrien

decides to sit in the back row with Marinette because, well, he secretly has a crush on her. It's not made very

explicit because he's in love with Ladybug at this time. But looking back, it's very obvious to what's building

here. Sadly, this lasts about 5 seconds until Marinette's moved to the front of the class because she zones out because

she's spiraling about Adrian again. And so Laya swoops in and sits next to him with the back as miraculously her

tonitis has been cured and yet nobody suspects Come on, not even the teacher. And this woman becomes the

mayor. The mayor. This of course all backfires on Laya for some poetic justice because everybody decides to go

back to the original seating plan. And so she's at the back with Nathaniel. But of course this leads to her declaring

war on Marinette because of course she does. Now she hates her. I did like that Marinette stood her ground with her here

though. Shows a bit of growth. In the end I mixed on this episode. The way that Laya acts is awesome and you can

see that slow build on her becoming a major villain already at this point. The way she's acting makes it very obvious

that she was set to become a big player. That being said, I also think it was bogged down by the class being hit with

the idiot stick and Cat Noir being a complete nothing hero there to be cannon fodder so Ladybug could save the day

alone. On top of that, I felt that the action was really rather poor even for the era that we're in. I mean, the

season 2 finale had a really awesome action sequence and this was as bland as it could be really. Regardless though,

it was a decent start to season 3 and I'm eager for more retrospectives going forward. With all that being said

though, these have been my opinions and now that to hear yours, what did you think of Chameleon? Did you like it?

Hate it? I'm curious for your thoughts. So, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe and let me know.