Redemption Denied: Chloé’s True Story

Part 1 of how the authors ruined Chloé's character

Miraculous is one of the most successful animated series of recent times, thanks to many factors: from references to superheroes to those from famous movies, not to mention the puzzle Ladybug solved every time with her lucky charm. However, today we'll do an in-depth analysis of one of the characters with the most wasted potential in the series: Chloé Bourgeois. She went from being a simple, snobbish, selfish rich girl who annoyed the protagonist to gaining an interesting insight, eventually fighting alongside Ladybug as a superhero. But then how did it end? Today we'll talk about this: her denied redemption arc, which began to disgust many fans of the series. Now I'll calmly analyze her story, showing how Thomas Astruc and his animators wanted to tell one story but ended up making another. (To make a comparison with Avatar, the authors wanted to create an Azula but created a Zuko without realizing it. Keep this comparison in mind as you analyze it). I wanted to write this article to make a comparison. How Thomas Astruc/others see me vs. how Chloé/I really am.

Season 1

In the first season, she's very simple, as many characters are when they introduce a series. Chloé causes problems for Marinette and sometimes she herself treats someone unlucky, causing her akumatization. There's little to love about this person: rich, capricious, stupid, and willing to cheat just to win. No one loves Chloé except her father and Sabrina, but she doesn't love her back. Adrien also loves her, but only because they're childhood friends and Adrien has a kind heart. Empathizing with her is impossible; we don't know why she behaves this way. She's a narrative tool for akumatization. I'll briefly mention the "Antibug" episode, where Chloé is portrayed in a slightly different light: she wanted to help when Sabrina was akumatized and showed she cared about her friend. Chloé's akumatization was a direct consequence of the heroine's treatment.

We're never shown her perspective; we don't know her thoughts, desires, aspirations, and problems because there didn't seem to be a need back then, but then came the second season.

Season 2 Doudou Vilain

The revolution begins with this episode. After the entire class is given detention because of her, Adrien calls her out on her behavior, demanding a change of heart as a condition of maintaining their friendship. Chloé displays a different attitude toward Adrien; she appears kind to him, willing to listen to his reprimand and reflect instead of attacking him and rejecting all responsibility.

The reaction in her room appears immature and childish, like a little girl offended more by the threat of not being friends than by the fear of losing the affection of a loved one. However, when the butler makes the same request as Adrien, Chloé doesn't force the butler or her father to intervene and force Adrien to remain her friend, but instead shows a hint of maturity by agreeing to learn something new. Be kind.

When the butler shows the teddy bear, images of how Chloé was abandoned by her mother appear. Chloé's childish attitude in this scene was intended, in Astruc's mind, to send the wrong message: a clear indication that she didn't really care about her friendship with Adrien, and that these were just tantrums. But there's a point in the dialogue with the butler that changes the perception of the character, at least for a good portion of the audience.

The teddy bear was a real anchor to which Chloé clung throughout her childhood after her mother abandoned her. Suddenly, what we were introduced to as a capricious and immature child becomes a vulnerable character, her childishness explained and justified in the viewer's eyes by childhood trauma and a lack of maternal affection. For the first time, we're able to understand Chloé's feelings, to see things from her perspective, to feel pity and empathy for her.

Thus, the episode becomes the beginning of a difficult but possible redemption for Chloé, who is learning much later than her peers how to be kind to others and cultivate friendships. Even though she doesn't seem much changed at the end of the episode, you feel like patting her on the back and telling her that her first day wasn't bad. Ladybug also encourages Chloé to improve her behavior. It's like giving a little educational reinforcement to a child (keep this detail in mind for a future episode).

It wouldn't be fair to scold her for the butler's akumatization; he brought it on himself, showing off the teddy bear in front of all his classmates. It was a bit humiliating; anyone would have reacted like Chloé. Compared to Antibug, Ladybug has learned a lesson from how she treated Chloé in Antibug, being more assertive and encouraging her to be kind. Remember that assertiveness can help much more than aggression.

Season 2 Rossignoble

In this episode, Chloé continues to behave like the bully from the first season, causing the singer to akumatize. What's surprising, however, isn't her apparent regression, but rather the fact that there are no references to the previous episode, as if the other characters didn't remember. No one mentions her brief but positive change.

The only reference to the previous episode is Chloé using her mother to blackmail her father by threatening to complain to her because he is unable to please his daughter, thus clarifying his role as a submissive husband.

We immediately notice some contradictions, primarily a lack of connection between supposedly fake positive moments and a return to her old behavior. Rather than a character who pretends to change for convenience but remains the same inside, as Astruc would have us believe, Chloé seems like a schizophrenic with two distinct and independent personalities alternating in her head, or a character played by two different voices to which the director has given opposing directions.

And then there's the relationship with her mother: the flashback from the previous episode showed Audrey leaving, leaving Chloé behind without even a glance, suggesting the woman's complete disinterest in her daughter. Now we discover that Audrey is ready to scold André at her daughter's slightest whim, to the point of being used as a blackmail tool.

Let's not forget that Chloé auditioned to be Ladybug, and that Marinette turned down the role for fear of revealing her secret identity, but then changed her mind simply to avoid giving Chloé the upper hand. And then there are those who say this akumatization is Chloé's fault.

Let's recap the key events of the episode: Marinette goes to the event only as an extra; Clara offers her the part of Ladybug without auditioning, without her having to prove she can dance; Marinette refuses; Chloé auditions, proving she can dance. Clara wouldn't have chosen her but recognizes her talent. Marinette steps in to get the part ONLY TO AVOID GIVING CHLOÉ THE WIN. Not even Gabriel seemed to have any plans to akumatize anyone, Marinette set everything in motion, not out of justice or talent, but out of pride.

Season 2 Zombizou

This is perhaps one of the best episodes of the season, if not of the entire franchise. This episode demonstrates that the writers know how to play well with classic movies and literature, in this case zombie films, balancing seriousness and parody with excellent results.

Finally, in this episode, Chloé's light and darkness coexist in the same episode, showing us a character with a complex personality, rather than two separate personalities in a schizophrenic mind.

Chloé ruins Marinette's gift because she forgot her teacher's birthday. However, the episode provides us with new information that encourages us to continue to empathize with her a little.

Sabrina: It's not her fault, okay? Chloé just doesn't like birthdays! She never remembers them, JUST LIKE HER MOM.

A comment that annoys Chloé. We are thus shown the figure of a young girl, rich and spoiled, yes, but also: "lacking in her mother's hugs" (Angel Dust’s quote). She suffers from this lack of attention, and who perhaps, MAYBE, has found in that good and kind teacher a surrogate mother figure.

Chloé: No… I did… I forgot your birthday, once again. And when I saw everyone had prepared a gift for you, I totally lost it. Because I, too, would like to offer something. I'm sorry, Miss Bustier.

Do you understand? Chloé appears envious of Marinette because she, too, would have liked to remember her birthday and give Bustier a gift, whom she actually shows she loves. Let's repeat it out loud together: Chloé wanted to give a gift to someone else!

Thomas Astruc's answer: Chloé doesn't love anyone but herself. The only one who was stupid enough to get infatuated with Chloé was Kim, as shown in Dark Cupid. But I guess he learned his lesson.

At the beginning of the episode, she even tried doing the teacher's kindness exercises. And remember, Marinette provoked Chloé for not having given her a gift even in previous years, saying that Chloé is heartless (our heroine said this). Sabrina defends her, and Chloé goes on the defensive, reluctant to open up to others about her relationship with her mother. A mother who, as we remember, should care so much about her that she could be used as a blackmail tool for her father, but who, at the same time, is shown to be completely disinterested in her daughter, to the point of living on another continent and not remembering her birthday for 14 years—a conflicting message, don't you think?

Bustier gives Marinette a beautiful speech about FORGIVENESS and SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE for people like Chloé so they can have a chance to change, and once again, the viewer is led to believe that the plot could go in that direction for the blonde.

Throughout the entire escape from the zombies, Chloé acts like her usual bully, failing to recognize how her classmates are sacrificing themselves for her against the zombie horde. However, she worries that her father will be infected, and finally, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, she shows she's realized her mistakes: instead of complaining about the situation for the umpteenth time, scolding Ladybug to hurry up and save her, Chloé cowers under Gustave Eiffel's desk, muttering sullenly that this way she'll avoid getting in the way of the heroine. She even apologizes later, admitting bluntly that what happened is entirely her fault. And in the end, she sacrifices herself, like everyone else, to help Ladybug win (this is already the second time Ladybug has defeated an akumatized person thanks to Chloé).

When Bustier feels guilty for being akumatized, Chloé intervenes, taking full responsibility for what happened. She admits to being envious of the others, that she would have liked to give them a gift too. For the second time in a single episode, Chloé apologizes bluntly. The face she makes in reaction to Bustier's hug confirms the impression I mentioned earlier that the professor represents a sort of mother figure for Chloé. Just imagine how much she longed for that hug and that approval.

Thomas Astruc: Come on, it's all in your head. Can't you see she's incredibly evil? Look at this monster, what good do you see in her?

Yes, at the end of the episode she resumes her rude and aloof attitude, but she no longer seems the same as before. Now she seems like a character who, for a moment, opened her heart and showed herself vulnerable in front of those few people she trusts. But not yet ready to do so completely, she reverts to her old attitude, which now, however, inevitably appears to us as a MASK. Her lack of kindness begins to seem like armor, a way to keep others at a distance, so as to avoid suffering if they, like her mother, were to abandon her.

Yet no, this wasn't the authors' intention. The real Chloé, so they'll say to impose their point of view on us, was the bad one, and the various positive moments were merely the result of a selfish soul who, in that moment, had gotten what she wanted, whose whim had been satisfied. But can I consider this need for attention and approval a defect if you yourself don't present it to me as simple vanity for its own sake?! But as the result of a mother's abandonment and indifference from an early age?!

Season 2 Style Queen

After disappearing for a few episodes, Chloé returns in the Battle of the Queens trilogy: Style Queen, Queen Wasp, and Maledikteur. In Style Queen, we are finally introduced to Chloé's mother. Her character is one of the most negative in the series; even Gabriel, the main antagonist, says he considers her the most evil person he knows. Another detail to keep in mind.

The first scenes featuring Audrey couldn't give us a clearer picture not only of her, but of the family situation in general. Audrey is completely focused on herself, while her husband and daughter literally trot behind her like puppies, hanging on her every word and craving every ounce of her attention, especially her daughter. Audrey doesn't even remember their names, calling her daughter Clara and her husband Anthony. Chloé and André would literally kiss the ground she walks on.

All of this alone would be enough to definitively cement the narrative anticipated in Doudou Vilain and Zombizou: a Chloé grew up without her mother's love, with a father capable only of spoiling her, perhaps fearing abandonment by his daughter as well as his wife, and a butler who is well-intentioned but unable, due to his role, to provide her with a proper education.

The scene clearly shows that André fears Audrey might leave again, a fear later confirmed in Maledikteur, and he transferred this fear to his daughter at the time of her first abandonment. His modus operandi of fulfilling every whim and showering her with gifts is clearly an attempt to buy Chloé's affection and be perceived as indispensable, so that the girl, even as she grows up, won't distance herself from him.

In short, both parents are toxic, devoid of love or positive role models. Chloé lived with them for 14 years, clearly turning her into a snob, capricious, spoiled, and lacking empathy for others. No one, no one taught her to be a good person. And the author's official position, the one who wrote and approved this stuff, is...

Thomas Astruc: None of this matters because she's rich.

I'm not kidding; a quick browse through old tweets shows not only how pointless and frustrating it is to argue with this man (who blocks anyone who contradicts him), but how childish his reasoning is: if you're rich, you're automatically evil, and every breath you take is stolen from the lungs of the proletariat.

(And then he says that Chloé is the childish one, when they say that every time you point the finger, you're revealing a part of yourself you haven't yet seen, or that when you judge someone, you're revealing your way of seeing the world, not theirs. In my opinion, Astruc is much more similar to the series' villains than he'd like to admit: Like Audrey "abandoned" the character of Chloé and denied her redemption arc, and like Lila Rossi, Astruc lies and disowns parts of the story he wrote and approved to protect himself from criticism).

Anonymous fan comment: Develop Chloé properly, you can’t establish a neglected child and demish them into a weak evil character with no redeeming qualities. She is 14 your sending a bad image to children and others in her situation.

Answer by Thomas Astruc: What’s her situation exactly? Being a rich girl, living in a palace, in a beautiful city, with a loving father, her own personal butler, classmates and teachers who tried to help her, but still treat all of them like they’re worthless?

Translation: Did your mother abandon you at a young age? Doesn't she remember your name or your birthday? Does she refuse your gifts in front of the cameras? So what? You're full of money; that should adequately compensate for all of this. (This is Astruc's opinion).

By the way, I wouldn't call André a loving father: he certainly loves Chloé, but he expresses it in the wrong way, and his attention always ends up doing as much harm as Audrey's lack of it.
Astruc here inexplicably chooses to ignore a trait that he himself wrote for one of his characters, namely André's habit of indulging Chloé's every whim and spoiling her by showering her with gifts, instead of giving her a proper education. But apparently this isn't a flaw. André is a loving father, and as you'll recall, in season five he'll be handed redemption on a silver platter, because he wasn't born rich! As a young man, he was a poor, penniless director!

Adrien, Kagami and Felix are rich, the latter gets redemption very easily, despite having given almost all the Miraculous to Hawk Moth. Emilie and her sister are rich and aristocratic, yet they're positive characters. But the same thing that happens to André will also happen to Gabriel. He, too, was poor but later became rich. He redeems himself at the last second, in a rushed and forced manner, and will be remembered as a hero.

The theme that Chloé is rich, and therefore anything bad that ever happened to her doesn't matter, is an undeniably recurring point in Astruc's responses to fans. Astruc is only good at justifying the ruining of the only well-written and well-argued redemption arc in Miraculous, ruining some of the most beautiful episodes of the entire franchise. Looking individually at the episodes I'll write about Miraculous seasons 2 and 3, they're beautiful, but considering how the story will evolve...

Fan comment: I think Maledikteur episode showed us exactly that Chloé really wanted to change. Her declaration proved it. Marinette has friends, has Tikki, support from parents and she is a really strong person. Chloé is mentally weak. Look how her emotion are unstable. She really has problems with her personality. She has no friends, no support from parents. NOTHING. It’s not fair to compaire her with Ladybug.

Thomas Astruc’s response: Boohoo, Chloé’s life so hard.

Translation: no, she doesn't have a hard life because she's rich.
Yes, but we weren't talking about having a hard life: not having money for rent or food, not being able to afford a vacation, a car, or a dog. We were talking about personality, the emotional development of a minor, and teaching empathy. When the fan in question mentioned the lack of parental support, it was obvious he wasn't talking about financial support, but emotional support. Audrey doesn't provide that kind of support, and André phrases it in the wrong way.
The shiny phone case or the limousine that takes Chloé to school don't constitute true father-daughter moments.

Chloé was shown to us in the series as the exact opposite of Marinette. Let me explain: Marinette may be poor, but, as the fan said, she has a happy and supportive family, friends, Tikki... Chloé has an unhappy family, she feels unappreciated and makes mistakes, and that's why it's easier for us viewers to empathize with her.

But the height of Astruc's hypocrisy comes when he even denies Audrey any responsibility in Chloé's character development.

Fan comment: I also would like to add that I don’t think all characters can be redeemed, some people are evil or irredeemable, thought we’re talking about a 15 years old bully.

Thomas Astruc: You state many false things: that she was abused by her mother, that she showed that she can change, etc. I don’t think that’s what depicted in the show. IMO, the potential kindness you see in Chloé is the reflection of your own. But she’s not what you think.

Yes, my dear clever Astruc, technically I wouldn't call it "abuse" by Audrey, but simply because, as far as we know, she was largely absent from her daughter's life, and therefore couldn't physically commit any kind of abuse. Too bad the problem lies precisely in that absence: everything you showed us on your show indicates that this woman has never, in her entire life, shown a shred of affection to Chloé. In fact, consistently not remembering her daughter's name, calling her completely random names every time, or not remembering her birthday, I think it could easily be defined as psychological abuse.

Sorry if I've lengthened the article a bit with this search for Astruc's comments just to debunk his dirty lies, let's get on with the episode.

Style Queen is an important moment in the Chloé saga, also because it offers us another glimpse into the girl's mind. We understand that she desperately desires her mother's attention; in fact, we see Chloé mimic her mother's gestures and expressions. Audrey is presented to the viewer as the main reason why Chloé behaves this way. André isn't innocent either, but his spoiling and indulging her in everything has instilled in Chloé the idea that her mother's attitude toward others is the key to success. And maybe, if Chloé tries hard enough to be like her, maybe she'll notice the daughter.

But there's another person Chloé admires and whose attention she craves: Ladybug. We've already seen this in the Antibug episode, although it wasn't clear whether she was doing the right thing or just showing off, but then we saw Doudou Vilain at a moment where he could have replied, "It's not my job, you take care of it." And instead, she made her contribution.

When Audrey is akumatized in Style Queen, Chloé offers to be her assistant, but there's no malice or evil intent in her actions; rather, she indulges her mother to avoid becoming a statue, buying time while waiting for Ladybug to arrive. His good faith is demonstrated when Ladybug gets the worst of it in the first round against Style Queen. Chloé literally saves Ladybug for the third time and prevents Hawk Moth from winning, telling her mother that the heroine isn't worthy of her attention and advising her to take her revenge on Gabriel, whom Audrey wanted revenge on at that moment. But now I wonder why Gabriel doesn't sometimes use his power over the akumatized to force them to stay focused on the goal and do as he wants? He does sometimes, like with Evillustrator, but this time he indulged Audrey. He doesn't stop Adrien from turning into glitter, he doesn't order Audrey to bring him back to normal, and when Chloé distracts Audrey from Ladybug, he says nothing, waiting for mother and daughter to search his house without finding him, before reinstating Ladybug as the main target.

The battle moves to the Eiffel Tower, because this cartoon always has a lot of imagination when it comes to choosing locations for the final showdown. Chloé seems to show genuine concern for Adrien. When her mother leaves her alone, Chloé despairs, wondering what to do: she doesn't rejoice because she's helping an akumatist, she doesn't ask herself how to use the situation to her advantage or gain that power for herself, she worries about Adrien, trying to break the barrier, and when Ladybug arrives, she reveals where the akuma is.

Chloé's attitude changes only after Audrey is back to normal; only then does she start seeking her mother's attention again, asking her mother if she wants to go to New York with her, only to be disdainfully rejected.

Season 2 Queen Wasp

Chloé's request will become important at the beginning of the next episode. After the fashion show, Audrey discovers that Marinette created the feather hat and is so impressed that she invites her to go with her to New York that same day. This is a moment of absolute, utter humiliation and mortification for Chloé. Not to mention Adrien's reaction. The one who should have been her best friend since childhood, the one who should know her better than anyone, the one to whom Chloé, logically, I imagine has mentioned at least once how much she wanted to go to New York with her mother, what does he say to her?

Adrien: Hey Chloé, isn't this fantastic news for Marinette?

And Audrey, who gets her name wrong for the umpteenth time, tells her mercilessly, bluntly, and in front of everyone, that she's worthless, to the point that the only exceptional thing in her life is having Audrey as a mother. (Do you realize how sad, horrible, and humiliating it must be to hear something like that said in front of everyone by the woman who carried you, and brought you into the world, and who is therefore supposed to love you unconditionally)?

In such a context, the decision to transform in front of everyone, ruining her secret identity, is absolutely understandable, if not justifiable. Astruc will invoke this moment as one of Chloé's many faults to make us understand how unworthy she was of a Miraculous, along with the subway accident. The writers wanted it to be a signal to us that Chloé was only interested in fame and glory, that she wanted to be the center of attention, and that to achieve that, she was willing to harm innocent people, the passengers. But then don't bring in the shitty mother subplot. You've undermined the entire point you were trying to show.

If this was supposed to be the story of a spoiled, rich girl whose only problem in life is a bad temper, and who, when fate offers her a chance to change, is unable to seize it because she's too self-absorbed, don't give her character additional motivations that, moreover, elicit empathy.

Returning to the episode, her extreme gesture of transforming in front of her mother and convincing her that she's special in her own way is thwarted by Audrey, who dismisses her daughter as an exhibitionist in front of everyone, then walks away, unconcerned about what happened to her daughter or whether her new powers might put her in danger. And it's precisely to impress her mother and gain her approval that she causes the subway accident. In her defense, it must be said that Chloé initially searches for real crimes in progress to foil, and when she finds none, she has the terrible idea of ​​staging an accident. She miscalculates, the two protagonists help her, and she refuses to return the Miraculous, treating it as her own property.

Here I might even agree with the image Astruc paints of her in his tweets. Here, she's truly behaving selfishly and immaturely: she's just made a mistake, she's put people in danger, but she doesn't acknowledge her mistakes and doesn't accept her punishment. But let's see how it goes on.

Thomas Astruc: She transformed in front of everybody, willingly damaged a train to play the savior, nearly killed all passengers, refused to give the miraculous back, get akumatized as a miraculous holder (double threat, nice gift to Hawk Moth)

Focus on the last sentence: akumatized as a miraculous holder? But please, this is a uttery irrelevant detail to how the butterfly miraculous works. We've seen in various episodes that the butterfly and peacock miraculous grant any power: Antibug, Sentibug, and Copycat have the same powers as Ladybug and Chat Noir; Volpina the same powers as Rena Rouge. Queen Wasp's power wasn't connected to the Miraculous but to Chloé's feelings.

Despite her immature behavior regarding the subway incident, Chloé appears to have reformed by the end of the episode. At first, she begs Ladybug for a second chance. But then, after yet another humiliation from her mother on live TV, once again demonstrating what a terrible parent she was, Chloé listens to the two heroes' advice, returning the hair comb and apologizing for everything. If you still have any doubts about Chloé's motives, Chat Noir himself tells his childhood friend that he understands the reason for her actions: to impress her mother! It's not a hallucination; Adrien, who has known Chloé since childhood, also thinks so.

When she apologizes, the animation in that scene conveys a body language that communicates sincerity and awareness of her mistakes, and her tone of voice is undoubtedly sincere as well. Chloé is no longer the pathetic whiner she was earlier, begging Ladybug for a second chance. Now, Chloé is actually presented to us as someone who is truly maturing, and it's at this point that something inexplicable happens: the protagonist pushes Chloé towards the dark side!

It won't be the last time, but I think this is the very first. In the next scene, Marinette accompanies Chloé to her mother so that Chloé can leave in her place. Oh, what a beautiful gesture, Marinette! Well done, well done! You've shown altruism and the ability to forgive, all to help someone your own age reconnect with her mother. Well done, that's how a true protagonist behaves.

Marinette: (groans) You’re also wrong about your daughter not being exceptional. In fact, Chloé is exceptionally mean. She’s the worst person I’ve ever met. She may be more heinous, pompous and selfish than you. Comparated to both of you, even a rock seems more capable of love.
See? You’re both much alike than you think. (walks off)

Translation: You should get along because you both suck.

What, excuse me? Marinette, what the hell are you doing? What seemed like a beautiful, selfless gesture—even the potential beginning of a friendship between Chloé and Marinette, a moment where they both buried the hatchet and the blonde decided to trust her arch-enemy—turns into a scene where Marinette helps Chloé build a relationship with a horrible person, even pushing them to bond based on their most negative character traits, encouraging them.

All her life, Chloé has emulated this terrible role model, hoping to get a shred of attention and affection. Now, when she finds herself in a situation of great emotional vulnerability, but also at a potential turning point in her life, rather than definitively opening her eyes and showing her that this is the wrong path, perhaps offering her an alternative, Marinette convinces her that up until that point, she had been right to emulate this negative role model, validating her mother's toxic behavior. Marinette, are you stupid?!

A moment earlier, that scene had been extremely touching, in which Chloé, heartbroken, asked her mother in a whisper why she doesn't love her. No tantrum, no expensive gift, just a simple, completely legitimate question towards a parent. I was on the verge of tears, until Marinette ruins everything by deciding that the best strategy is to give them a common enemy—herself—and encourage them to bond because they are evil.

This is important because it goes to the very core of Astruc's canon (the one where he lies to us fans, saying that many helped Chloé but she rejected them). By inserting a scene like this, he ended up showing us that it's not Chloé who refuses to change, but Marinette who prevented it precisely when she was most inclined to do so. And this, alas, will happen again.

Before moving on to the next episode, I'll write you an alternative idea to the Queen Wasp ending and tell me if it's not better than the canon one: Marinette takes Chloé to her mother, Chloé asks Audrey why she doesn't love her, Audrey denies it even though she can't find the words, Marinette asks Chloé if it's worth having the approval of someone like that and the bad behavior she's given her, Chloé tearfully responds to her mother by saying that everything she's done would never be enough, that the butler, Bustier, and even Marinette were kinder than her mother ever was, and she leaves with Marinette who leaves her crying on her shoulder. Isn't this a better ending?

Season 2 Maledikteur

That beautiful moment of maturity and self-awareness seen at the end of Queen Wasp seems completely forgotten, when Chloé makes a video of herself dressing up as Ladybug and talking to herself. Even here, in the minds of the writers, it was meant to be a selfish moment of pure vanity, to show us poor idiots that Chloé is a bad person and doesn't deserve the audience's pity. But once again, watching the scene, I can't help but think of the subtext of the girl who has never received love from her mother.

Her desire for attention doesn't translate to the viewer as the vain display of a petulant, spoiled child, but rather as the clumsy, pathetic attempt of a sad and lonely person to impress her peers. At this point, Astruc has always maintained that fans of the series were projecting onto the character their own expectations, what they would have liked to see. But, as I've already said, the problem was introducing the mother subplot. This made the character inevitably likable and encouraged the audience to root for her.

The other classmates will then recall Chloé's mistakes, including the subway accident, trying to convince the viewer that she wasn't worthy of a Miraculous. Astruc continues to defend his ideas, saying that plenty of people reached out to help her, but she refused to change. And I would like to say that no, this is not the situation that was staged. And this, for me, is the second glaring error on the part of the writers: we've seen some people in her life offer positive examples, but their words have never been followed up with facts.

Marinette pushed Chloé to the dark side by bringing her closer to her mother, instead of taking advantage of the fact that the blonde is hanging on Ladybug's every word, who could have shown her the path to change. And Bustier, after the beautiful scene in Zombizou, what contribution did she make? There are no scenes where Bustier tries to reason with Chloé like she did with Marinette before she was akumatized in Zombizou. And no, Astruc saying that we aren't screenwriters and therefore can't judge his work is not an excuse. If Astruc had shown me moments like this where Bustier took her aside, as she did with Marinette in Zombizou, but Chloé refused to listen, I would be on Astruc's side by now. Because at this point, he would have effectively portrayed Chloé's famous reluctance to change.

The only visible change is Chloé, who is now supported by an adult figure who approves of this change, Audrey. Thus, the blonde girl resumes her usual tantrums with even greater arrogance, even going so far as to demand that her father banish Marinette from Paris. And Audrey proves to be exactly the negative role model Chloé has always looked up to. Faced with the impossibility of getting what they want, Audrey decides to return to New York with Chloé.

And here we have another important scene: to convince his daughter not to leave, the mayor finds nothing better than trying to bribe her with the usual expensive gifts. It's not just a pathetic scene because of the way this man humiliates himself, but it's also very significant. André here demonstrates that giving expensive gifts is the only way he knows to maintain human relationships. He never learned to relate normally, if the person doesn't react the way he wants, he tries to buy them. And this was the other parental model Chloé had for 14 years. No, but it's all Chloé's fault; she's evil inside, it's in her DNA. You shouldn't waste time with people like that, at least that's what Astruc thinks. I would like to point out that all, and I mean ALL, of the other characters in the series have AT LEAST ONE decent parent to serve as an example to them, or a parent-like figure.

If I were a teacher, working and following Astruc's reasoning, how many children would I have to ignore? Anyway, a desperate André is akumatized into a being capable of taking control of others with a simple statement. Let's overlook how much Gabriel sucks at akumatizing a childhood friend from his time with Emilie, a person Gabriel must have seen slowly transform into a shadow of his former self as he spent time with Audrey. Yet he shows no mercy toward her and is ready to exploit her pain for his own purposes, and at the end of season 5, he will be remembered after his death as a national hero. I'm not kidding.

Meanwhile, Chloé publicly announces that she's leaving town. Everyone jumps for joy. The scene is deliberately comical, noting the reactions of the students and teachers, and Chloé, who doesn't realize how others perceive her, since the intention behind her announcement was to hurt and humiliate her classmates, but it backfired. Even the kindest creature in the universe, ready to scold Marinette at the slightest negative thought, Tikki, recognizes that without the blonde's presence, there might be fewer akumatizations.

At this point, Adrien returns to the scene, interrupting the moment by dampening Marinette's enthusiasm with a few simple words. He shows empathy for Chloé, pointing out that their classmate is leaving town unhappy and angry with everyone, and reminding her that she was his only friend throughout his childhood. The writers never showed us anything about it (aside from flashbacks of Chloé as a child in Doudou Vilain), but Adrien must have fond memories of himself and Chloé as children, otherwise he wouldn't be digging up their childhood to defend her now. In this scene, Adrien embodies the voice of reason that intervenes to bring Marinette back to earth, chastising her for over-celebrating, even though she and everyone else had good reason to be happy about Chloé's departure. Adrien forces Marinette to humanize her rival and try to empathize with her as much as possible rather than indulge her own impulses.

But according to Astruc's official statement, Adrien is simply too kind and therefore tries to see the good in Chloé, too, but Astruc is only deceiving himself. Now tell me, is this what a scene like this communicates to you?

When the akumatized mayor arrives, Marinette assumes she shares some responsibility for the incident, sharing it with Chloé. When the mayor intercepts his wife and daughter, Chloé doesn't appear at all thrilled to discover that her father has been akumatized. But why? As he himself points out, he now has the power to do everything their mother and daughter demanded of him, and Chloé (canonically) should only be interested in power, social status, and wealth, so WHY isn't she happy? WHY does she sneak away and struggle to overcome her disgust for a means of transportation used by the plebs while wondering what her heroine would do in her place?

Astruc will explain to us on Twitter that Chloé's desire to become a heroine was merely a means to be the center of attention; in short, she just wanted to feel part of a famous elite. So why didn't she simply stay with her father and ask him to name her the official superhero of Paris? Or to force Ladybug to return the bee's Miraculous? Let's think about it: a being capable of bending the will of others to her own desires desires to indulge her daughter's wishes, but she prefers to walk away and think of a way to return everything to normal, wondering what Ladybug would do in her shoes.

Here comes the point that her other role model remains her heroine. But unlike Audrey, Ladybug is a positive role model, and what seems to be suggested in episodes like this is precisely the fact that Chloé could improve if only she spent more time with the right people, including Ladybug, perhaps as Queen Bee, to learn how to be a hero and sacrifice herself for others. In short, the overall vision offered in this show is that of a person at a crossroads: she could continue down the path her mother blazed, the dark side, or change course and become a better person thanks to the right influences, including Ladybug. And this episode seems to push strongly in that direction; the writers go to great lengths to have her return to fight as Queen Bee.

Co-director and storyboard artist Wilfried Pain, in a tweet a few years ago, responding to the controversy surrounding Chloé's evolution, justified this and other similar situations in which Chloé is called into action because it's an emergency in which Marinette had to give the blonde girl her hair comb when she would normally have preferred not to.

But if we look at these episodes, we see that this is absolutely not the case. In this episode, it's true that Chat Noir is transformed... into a cat, but that doesn't mean anything. How many other times, since the first season, has he been knocked out or taken over by the villain of the moment and she's fought alone? Without needing to summon anyone else. Remember The Puppeteer? Ladybug fought Chat Noir and four akumatized characters, including Manon.

Here, however, the protagonist says she needs Chloé to defeat the mayor, but it makes no sense. If you're going to tell me she needed the Miraculous, Ladybug could have simply fused the two kwamis and become Ladybee, or given the bee's Miraculous to someone else. When she chooses the Miraculous, she says she needs someone who isn't impressed by the powerful. This statement by Marinette doesn't make the slightest sense because, from what I'd known her until now, Chloé was the exact opposite, a member of a rich and powerful family who admires money and power and despises those who don't. But what does that have to do with anything? To face Maledikteur, one must not be impressed by the powerful? That's nonsense. It's not like you become immune; once he strikes you, you're under his power; willpower can't save you in this case.

In short, all of this seems to be pushing in that direction: the return of Queen Bee, a clear REDEMPTION for the blonde, who does well by supporting Ladybug and helping her defeat her father without causing any trouble. But the most important part of this episode is the scene at the top of the hotel with Chloé and Ladybug together. Because here Chloé opens up to her, she's clearly sincere, and in this sincerity, she doesn't reveal the despicable nature Astruc always describes. As in the ending of Zombizou, here too she admits her own faults and expresses her regret. At first, she's unpleasant as usual, throwing barbs at Marinette; Ladybug resents it, but in the end she holds back and says nothing, partly to avoid compromising her secret identity, partly to be more mature than Chloé and not stoop to her level. But slowly, with the right words, the heroine manages to get Chloé to admit that the problem wasn't the teasing from Marinette and her classmates, and that her father hadn't lost his temper by chance, but had been pushed into it by her and her capricious demands.

Ladybug: (puts a hand on Chloé’s shoulder) Chloé, it’s me, Ladybug. You can trust me, you can tell me the truth.
Chloé: I-- I--
Labybug: Mh-hmm.
Chloé: It – it was me. I hurt my daddy’s feelings. Because I want to leave Paris, forever.

Thomas Astruc: Her first act as Queen Bee was to put people in danger in order to be able to save them. Without getting there. She never admitted her mistakes, nor apologized for anything. This is what you wanted to understand. Not what was shown.

In short, the blonde opens up and admits her faults, she is even ashamed of her video when she discovers that Ladybug has seen it. She also says that deep down she doesn't care that much about Marinette, and perhaps most importantly, she admits, for the first time, that she's perfectly aware that no one at school likes her, confessing her sadness and regret over not having any friends and how useless it makes her feel. A very touching scene that made me cry, and which this time wasn't ruined by something stupid from Ladybug.

Ladybug: Because of what happened in school? I’m sure Marinette probably didn’t exactly mean what she said.
Chloé: Oh, it’s not just her – actually. I don’t even care about her – it’s because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me, I have no friends. I’m… USELESS.

Marinette then remembers Adrien's speech and repeats it to Chloé to comfort her. It's a bit strange that Chloé doesn't even count Adrien and Sabrina among her friends; I classify it as one of the many errors and inaccuracies in the writing. When I discussed this scene with Miraculous fans who hate Chloé, they gave me all sorts of negative responses. Astruc has the nerve to say that we project our own desires and preconceptions onto her: that we want to see a positive character at all costs where there isn't one. But from some of the responses I've received, I'm led to believe the opposite: that among the fans who didn't like Chloé, there's a certain group of people who project personal hatred and various frustrations onto her. Because when faced with a touching scene like this, I've read comments saying: those are fake tears, serves her right being alone and friendless, more slaps are needed, not Miraculous, and so on. Others say: she apologized, so should we forgive her for everything? (I won't mention who wrote this bullshit because, unlike Astruc, they don't write the plot, and because I'm not like them and Astruc.)

To the question of whether we should forgive her for everything, the answer is no. The point isn't whether she can get away with it like this, but the fact that she apologized, and did so in a scene where she appears sincere both in tone of voice and overall body language, should be considered a sign that the character is telling the truth, is sorry, and therefore wants to change.

Ladybug encourages Chloé by telling her she can prove herself better by REPAIRING her mistakes, and Chloé does so, eventually willingly giving the Miraculous back BEFORE she's asked, a very mature gesture, much like the speech she gives after transforming. (Alya begged for keep the Miraculous back the first time she was Rena Rouge and wouldn't have given it back if it hadn't been for Trixx.)

Chloé: (gives back her Miraculous) Being a superhero isn't only about fixing messes.

Ladybug even rewards her, letting her join in the fist bump she and Chat Noir always do when they successfully complete a mission. Just beforehand, we see Queen Bee cast a sad look at her parents, who are arguing after André reverts to normal. Back as Chloé, she interrupts them by taking them by the arm and inviting them, in a very sweet scene, to go home.

Thomas Astruc: Chloé doesn't love anyone but herself. The only one who was stupid enough to get infatuated with Chloé was Kim, as shown in Dark Cupid. But I guess learned his lesson.

Chloé's transformation from a negative, shallow character to a positive one with an interesting backstory, a new secondary hero on par with Alya and Nino, seems complete with this episode. We've seen her repent, apologize, change her tone and attitude, and make the right choices at the right time instead of giving in to her usual selfishness. Of course, she clearly still has some way to go, as we see in the final scene during the party in her honor. However, what has happened up to that point isn't denied just because she boasts about the shiny cover. In fact, it's more realistic if the character doesn't completely change overnight. Marinette herself, first with Master Fu and then at the party, admits that Chloé will change; she just needs to give her time, little by little. She adds to the Master that becoming Ladybug has made her a better person, and this could happen to Chloé too.

Season 2 Catalyst & Mayura

Chloé returns as Queen Bee in the season finale, when Hawk Moth and Nathalie put their first truly grand plan into action, structured in several steps and clearly well thought out. In Catalyst, Chloé boasts about being a hero and uses her status to exempt herself from the obligation to do good deeds, limiting herself to simply handing out autographs (yet another clue in Astruc's head that she hadn't changed and didn't deserve the Miraculous).

But let's face it, just like the shiny cover, this too is a ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, little sin of vanity that can't be enough to make me think that everything she did in the previous episode was fake. In fact, I see her in that moment and think: Okay, in everyday life she's still a bit spoiled and haughty, but last time she showed me that in times of true need, she's capable of putting aside her personal vanity and acting mature. Who cares if she signs a couple of autographs to feel important?

I'd like to pause for a moment to compare Chloé to the character of Arthur in the TV series Merlin, season 1, episode 11. In that episode, the prince, not yet king, kills a unicorn because they're rare and to keep the horn as a trophy. This unleashes a curse that causes food and water to disappear from Camelot; supplies are rationed, and the water is almost gone. When Arthur was guarding the granary, he generously donated some grain to a poor man in need, and the man said this gesture would not be forgotten, and in fact the water returns. Then Arthur fails the second test, but in the third he offers to drink what could have been poison to save his people. That episode is my favorite, not only for the biblical references it contains, but also because Arthur is like Chloé here. Usually, the two of them are vain, haughty, and so on, but in important moments, they manage to make the right choices, like a true Christian would. We don't look at others for what they do occasionally or in ordinary situations, we look at what they do in the worst moments.

Going back to the episode, when the scarlet akumas invade Paris because everyone believes Ladybug has gone over to the side of evil and that Chat Noir is dead (Volpina's illusion), the blonde convinces everyone to stay calm. Some people, including Juleka, listen to her and aren't akumatized. This is what it means to make the right choice in difficult times, to not lose hope even in the darkest moments. That’s what a true Christian do.

Later, when Chat Noir brings her the comb, she acts a bit like her usual arrogant little girl, but then she regains her composure and asks please. When the heroes gather ready for battle, we see her well-defined in her own way, as the team's hothead eager to leap into action. Her scene is better than Alya and Nino's pointless argument over who protects whom. At the same time, she seems to have learned from her past mistakes.

The real action comes in the second episode of the finale, "Mayura." Ladybug's team faces the swarm of akumatized scarlet characters. Queen Bee fights alongside the heroes. She's a bit like her usual self when she tells Rena Rouge to call her Queen Bee or when she criticizes Hawk Moth's costume, but otherwise she fights well, if not better than everyone else. She doesn't stop to take selfies and brag about having deakumized one of Hawk Moth's victims, and she doesn't just sit there wiping her hands because she touched a poor man or anything like that.

When things get worse and Alya and Nino are akumatized, we actually see how Chloé's public identity allowed Hawk Moth to directly attack her by akumatizing her family (it's strange they hadn't been akumatized beforehand). Unfortunately, however, this scene doesn't work well, especially given the following season's theory that Chloé absolutely couldn't return to being Queen Bee due to the risk her public identity posed to her and the rest of the team. Firstly, because Alya and Nino fall before her much more easily than she does, without Hawk Moth knowing who they really are, and secondly, because Queen Bee isn't defeated specifically because she found herself facing her family. After the initial surprise, Chloé returns to the fight without holding back.

And here's a crucial detail that most Miraculous fans ignore. After Alya is akumatized, Nino, out of despair, is akumatized himself WITHOUT Dark Cupid hitting him with her arrows, which generate negative emotions, allowing the akuma to take possession more easily. However, the two of them will be allowed to continue being superheroes and know their secret identities, despite rule number 1 regarding Miraculous owners. Despite Astruc and his impartiality.

Unlike Alya and Nino, Chloé has to be literally blocked by Doudou Vilain and then hit by Dark Cupid's arrow, only to be akumatized at the end. But no, for goodness sake, she's a hero out of pure vanity and selfishness. Let's not give her credit, she's the Antichrist.

I'd like to share an interactive chapter I wrote about Vegeta in my interactive psychology of imaginary characters. Why Vegeta? Because Toriyama hated the character of Vegeta, unlike the fans who loved him, he wanted to make him die on Namek, but in the end he resurrected him and so the proud prince of the Saiyans had a well-constructed redemption arc, with a relapse into Majin Vegeta, yes, but in the end he became good. Toriyama continued to express his hatred for Vegeta by denying him the chance to defeat the main villain, something only Goku and Gohan did. However, Toriyama didn't ruin Vegeta's redemption arc, unlike Astruc.

https://www.writing.com/main/interactive-story/item_id/2339469-Psychology-of-ima...

At the end of the episode, after the battle is over, Chloé returns with the other two heroes and once again demonstrates her strong dedication to her role. At the end of the mission, she returns the Miraculous without problems. In the final sequence, we see her attending Marinette's picnic. While she maintains a snobbish and haughty demeanor, bringing a lawn chair so as not to sit on the ground like the others and refusing Sabrina's food, it's also true that showing her in the park with her classmates instead of lounging in the luxury of her hotel suggests that she is indeed changing and socializing with others. Her treatment of Sabrina is presented in a light-hearted and comical way, rather than as problematic behavior.

Conclusion

At the end of the second season, this is the overall picture: Chloé has gained a depth she hadn't had before: we were told about her unhappy childhood and we met her mother, the key factor in her daughter's personality development up until that point. She remains a somewhat unpleasant and snobbish character who treats others poorly, but then she became a superhero, acknowledging some of her mistakes, apologizing, and trying to make amends.

But for now, I'll stop here because I've written 15 pages, and thank you for making it to the end. I'll continue in a future article with season 3, which, in the writers' minds, was supposed to be the declining arc of a character who squanders her chance at redemption, was instead portrayed as an abrupt and inexplicable turn of events that ended up splitting the series' fans in two. Let me know what you think with a review, and if you like my content, you can support me by sending me GP. See you for the second part.