When the flag bearing the emblem of mine ancestors lies once again upon the roof of City Hall, then to thee I shall indeed be indebted!
"Darkblade. In return for the powers I'm giving you, you'll capture Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous for me."
—Hawk Moth
Marinette runs against Chloé and Sabrina for class representative. Meanwhile, after losing an election, D'Argencourt gets akumatized into Darkblade and recruits the unwilling citizens of Paris into an army of knights.
Tropes:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: One is created when Darkblade plants his flag on top of city hall.
- Artistic License – Politics: D'Argencourt unsuccessfully challenged André Bourgeois in the mayoral elections, garnering the votes of only a small percentage of Parisians. In real life, however, Parisians don't vote for their mayor directly, and the Council of Paris instead elects the Mayor of Paris from among its members. Moreover, a prerequisite for sitting on the Council of Paris is being elected to an arrondissement (administrative district) council. There's no mention of D'Argencourt being a member of the Council of Paris or an arrondissement council, though, and him continuing to work as a P.E. and fencing teacher seems to outright refute that.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Happens as Jagged Stone comes out during the middle of the fight between Cat Noir, Darkblade, and the akuma's army. Cat Noir is seen on the offensive against Darkblade before fleeing from a cluster of mooks.
- Blackmail Backfire: Chloé successfully blackmails all the school students who wanted to run against her except for Marinette. Attempting to blackmail Marinette ends up with Sabrina's hand being stuck in Marinette's magic box and an I Never Said It Was Poison scenario.
- Catapult to Glory: Darkblade and his army's way to get to city hall's roof after he turns cars into catapults.
- Chekhov's Gun: Marinette creates a box for her diary which automatically traps anyone (or anything, such as Tikki) inside in case someone tries to steal it. When Sabrina tries to grab the diary, it closes on her and she doesn't get it off until later on. It is also the downfall to Chloé when everyone discovers that she tried to have it stolen and exposed for Marinette to look bad.
- Comically Missing the Point: Sabrina stops looking for anything to embarrass Marinette while looking through the latter's room to admire herself with some of Marinette's custom fashion designs and take note of what Marinette has lying around. She even dismisses how many pictures of Adrien she has. Chloé has to yell at Sabrina to get her back on task.
- Continuity Nod: Ivan and Mylène are still shown to be a couple, as Ivan comforts Mylène when she's scared. Kim's crush on Chloé is also referenced when Marinette suggests that she agreed to go out with him if he won't compete against her.
- Department of Redundancy Department: When Tikki learns Marinette keeps all her secrets in her diary, she asks two questions: what if someone finds out Marinette is Ladybug, and what if someone finds out Marinette is Ladybug.
- Well, averted in the English subtitles, where the second question is what if someone finds out Marinette's ladybag.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
From a broadcast standpoint. Jagged Stone is established here before taking on a larger role in later episodes. - Election Day Episode: The main premise for Marinette vs. Chloé and Sabrina, as well as the reason Darkblade wants revenge on Mayor Bourgeois for claiming what the akuma considers his rightful land.
- Epic Fail: D'Argencourt loses the election, acquiring the least number of votes in Paris's history (only 3%).
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Darkblade knights women as well as men.
- Gratuitous French: D'Argencourt's catchphrase/rallying cry in the English dub is "Par le fer" (literally "By iron," but closer to "By the blade").
- Hypocritical Humor: D'Argencourt's reaction to being accused of being stuck in the Medieval Ages.D'Argencourt: Poisonous wretch! Darest thou approach with such venomous questions. Begone now, pestilent pain in the neck!
- Imagine Spot: Marinette has one, realizing her duties as Ladybug when asked why she doesn't run for class representative by Alix.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Chloé denies stealing Marinette's diary, currently stuck in a box around Sabrina's hand, but Marinette points out that Chloé wouldn't know it's a diary unless she stole it.
- Intrepid Reporter: Nadja Chamack as she interviews D'Argencourt. She keeps trying to find ways to interview him, only for him to turn her down. When she manages to say some insulting stuff about him, he angrily slashes apart a poster of André Bourgeois he bumped into.
- I Shall Taunt You: The Dark Blade sword tactic consists of D'Argencourt/Darkblade dropping his guard and laying both arms spread eagle at his sides to lull the opponent into false security.
- Landslide Election: As detailed above in Epic Fail, Bourgeois's victory over D'Argencourt counts.
- Layman's Terms: Mayor needs someone to explain to him Darkblade's threats due to his unique way of talking.Knight: Oye, oye! Darkblade shalt speak now! Listen or be imprisoned!
Darkblade: Henceforth, my flag shalt fly over thy kingdom! Bourgeois, pathetic knave, come hither and do battle!
Mr. Bourgeois: What did he say?
Alya: Basically, he's gonna bust you up. - Legacy Character: D'Argencourt takes up the name Darkblade, after his ancestor.
- Mythology Gag: Before breaking it, Ladybug gains Darkblade's sword. In placeholder animation, she is seen wielding a sword, but whether or not that is to be used is yet to be seen.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: D'Argencourt's ancestor is only referred to as Darkblade.
- Paparazzi: Nadja Chamack and her cameraman trespass onto school grounds to squeeze an interview out of Armand, spy on him while he's having a private conversation with Adrien, and follow him around asking insulting questions when he tries to leave.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: How Chloé first gets Kim and Rose to drop out, and how she gets Jagged Stone to sign autographs for everyone to get them to vote for her.
- Signature Move: D'Argencourt/Darkblade uses the Dark Blade sword tactic a lot. Cat Noir falls for this twice, but it backfires on Darkblade once Cat is on to him.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Chloé's first idea to remove Marinette's box from Sabrina's hand: chainsaw. Fortunately for Sabrina, this never happens.
- Title Drop: D'Argencourt explains to Adrien that his special fencing move is called "Dark Blade," which becomes his name later on.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Darkblade is ticklish.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We never see what happened to D'Argencourt after he is turned back to normal, and Jagged Stone is nowhere to be seen, either. Same goes for the other characters who were turned into knights.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Tikki gives a calm one to Marinette for placing all of her secrets into a diary, thinking that someone could find out she is Ladybug before realizing the failsafe that comes with the diary.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Kim is revealed to be afraid of spiders, which Chloé uses to blackmail him.
- Ye Olde Butchered English: Darkblade simply cannot get his Middle English grammar right. In French, his dialogue is grammatically correct, but his vocabulary is both antiquated and extremely flowery.
