As an extremely popular show dedicated to complex characters and elaborate interpersonal relationships, Miraculous Ladybug has plenty of twists, turns, and shocking events.
- The season two premiere. You hear that sound? That's the sound of most of the fandom screaming "I KNEW IT!" after Hawk Moth finally reveals who he is. Then he Akumatizes himself.
- Dark Owl started as what seemed to be a lighthearted filler episode, and then the following things happen in succession: Dark Owl imprisoned Ladybug and Cat Noir, threatening to kill them unless they hand over their Miraculouses. Ladybug and Cat Noir unmask in front of each other, but keep their eyes closed the whole time, causing Tikki and Plagg to not only see each other but see who the other hero's secret identity is. And in the final standoff in Monsieur Damoclès' "lair", Dark Owl succeeded in pulling an earring off, causing Ladybug to start detransforming right there and then. The fandom just about had a collective meltdown.
- "Zombizou". SO! Did you want an in-series confirmation that Marinette and Adrien weren't immune to Akumatization? Well, you're in luck! Besides that, Miss Bustier becomes the first person to try and resist the akuma's influence after keeping it from infecting Marinette, Chloé gets some actual Character Development, and we get further confirmation that Hawk Moth/Gabriel's goals involve bringing back Emilie!
- "Troublemaker", like "Dark Owl", quickly made waves in the fandom after the titular akuma pulled an earring off Ladybug.
- The "The Queen's Battle" duology. Hoo boy. Between the two episodes, we get the following: Chloé getting the Bee Miraculous and quickly breaking the rules by transforming in front of others (including Gabriel); the reveal that kwamis are seriously overpowered (with Plagg unleashing a Cataclysm that, in the past, apparently wiped out the dinosaurs); the reveal of Chloé's mother in all her bitchy glory; Gabriel almost giving up his pursuit of the Miraculouses, and Ship Tease between him and Nathalie; the current location and condition of Emilie Agreste; and a confirmation that, not only can people get akumatized more than once, but Miraculous holders aren't immune...even if they're transformed when the butterfly is sent after them.
- "Catalyst", period. Highlights include Volpina back in action; the first time an Akuma voluntarily leaves its target; illusion Cat Noir being killed by Akumatized illusion Ladybug; Hawk Moth empowering himself via his latest villain which leads to the return of a majority of the past Akumatized villains; and the very first time all five of the Miraculous holders gathering to battle!
- The follow-up episode, "Mayura" is no slouch either. Hawk Moth is finally fought head-on; Nathalie dons the Peacock Miraculous (becoming the titular character), which reveals both its power set and that something happened to it that now causes its powers to be Cast from Lifespan (which paints a good picture of what might have happened to Gabriel's wife to put her in a coma); and Marinette finally acts on her feelings for Adrien!
- "Ladybug". HOLY. SHIT. Hawk Moth brings back Catalyst and transforms into Scarlet Moth. He then proceeds to Akumatize most of Marinette's class, Sabine Cheng, and (thanks to Lila) Marinette herself, at least until Nathalie's health problems force him to withdraw the butterflies before Marinette gets transformed... which is good, because she'd started removing her earrings the second Hawk Moth gave his get-me-the-Miraculous speech. It bears repeating: Hawk Moth almost won. On top of that, what does end up being the plan of the week is darker than usual. Knowing the stakes and risking her life to become Mayura again, Nathalie puts so much power into a Sentimonster copy of Ladybug that once she loses the object the feather was placed in, which allows her to control the Sentimonster, it proves to be fully sentient. When she chooses to help the heroes defeat her former master, Nathalie simply withdraws the feather, causing the clone to vanish - this time, the death of a human being, or at least someone who was clearly as sentient as one, is not an illusion, not a case of Fridge Horrornote , and not undone at the end.
- "Feast". Not only do we finally learn Master Fu's backstory and how he became the last Miraculous guardian, we also find out that there are more Miraculouses that were eaten by the titular monster, only to be restored when it is defeated. And now Hawk Moth knows who Master Fu is, putting the heroes in more danger. Also, it turns out that there is no time limit on the ability of Ladybug's World-Healing Wave to undo akuma/sentimonster damage. When the title monster is defeated, the temple and all the other Guardians are restored after nearly 200 years! Mind you, that changes the heroes' status quo less than you might think. Hawk Moth still has the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous, which means there will still need to be heroes to oppose him, so the need for our dynamic duo and Master Fu to keep up their activities and secrets remains.
- "Cat Blanc". Holy shit, "Cat Blanc". We're treated to a Bad Future where Hawk Moth finds out Adrien is Cat Noir and takes advantage of the fact to Akumatize him. The end result? Cat Blanc kills everyone in Paris before flooding the city. Thank god Bunnyx managed to Set Right What Once Went Wrong.
- "Heart Hunter" and "Miracle Queen". Chloé betrays Ladybug and joins Hawk Moth; losing her Miraculous permanently as a consequence. Thanks to Chloé, Hawk Moth learns the identities of almost all heroes except Ladybug and Cat Noir. He also manages to fix the Peacock Miraculous. Master Fu makes Ladybug the new Guardian of the Miracle Box, loses his memories and leaves Paris together with Marianne. Adrien/Kagami and Marinette/Luka grow closer, almost to the point of being Official Couples.
- Good Lord, the ending of "Gang of Secrets". Marinette tells Alya she's Ladybug!
- "Wishmaker" most certianly counts, with Luka learning the idenitites of both Ladybug and Cat Noir while using the powers of the Snake Miraculous.
- "Ephemeral" has Marinette learn Adrien is Cat Noir per Su-Han's request. What follows is a montage of Marinette seeing Adrien as Cat Noir in her daily life, and vice versa, which culminates in Ladybug revealing her identity to Adrien, after which the two start dating. Eventually, Gabriel learns his son is Cat Noir after Adrien calls Marinette "m'lady" while on the phone to her and Gabriel puts the pieces together. Gabriel takes Adrien to the bunker underneath the Agreste mansion where Emilie lies comatose. Adrien sees his mother and Gabriel reveals to him that he is Shadow Moth, knows he is Cat Noir, and wants to use his and Ladybug's miraculous to revive Emilie. He promptly akumatizes Adrien, and forces him to comply while forcing him to give the Cat Miraculous. We then see Marinette at the cinema waiting for Adrien, but when she hears someone at the door, instead of Adrien she sees Shadow Noir. Immediately panicking, she transforms into Ladybug and uses her Lucky Charm, before Adrien, now Akumatized into Ephemeral uses his powers on her causing her to detransform faster as Shadow Noir mocks her before eventually grabbing her and takes off her Miraculous, meaning he would be successful if not for Luka going to Sass in Marinette's room and causing him to use the Second Chance ability before Shadow Noir destroys the universe, taking them to right before Ladybug finds out Adrien is Cat Noir, which in turns sets the timeline right as Ladybug gets distracted by the effects of Sass' Second Chance and she never learns Cat Noir's identity.
- And if Season 4 wasn't surprising enough, the two-part finale blows all of the shocking moments out of the water. When Adrien is forced to go on a business trip with Lila, Félix shows up at the Agreste mansion and suggests to Adrien they should switch clothes like when they were younger, so that Adrien can be free from his father while Félix stands up to Gabriel for him. Adrien, under the influence of the akumatized villain Risk, agrees to Félix's plan. This leads to Félix sneaking around the Agreste Mansion disguised as Adrien, and in turn he discovers the underground lair where Emilie's corpse is hidden. Later, per Nathalie's orders, Félix is on the train with Lila until Ladybug, under the influence of Risk, recruits him to her team and hands him the Dog Miraculous, under the belief he is Adrien. After learning what the powers of the Dog Miraculous are and using them to help defeat Risk, Félix would go on use his powers to double-cross Ladybug by touching her yo-yo (which contains a portal to all of the Miraculous in the Miracle Box) with his ball, creating a link between them. Later, he uses this to form a deal with Gabriel; he will give Ladybug's yo-yo, the Dog Miraculous, and the wedding ring he stole from him in exchange for the Peacock Miraculous. Although initially hesistant, Gabriel accepts the deal. This results in Gabriel gaining every single Miraculous in Paris save for three as Ladybug freaks out as she realises her blunder after confronting the real Adrien. Thus, the finale sets up a massive shake-up to the status quo, with Ladybug only having her and Cat Noir to rely on, and Gabriel becoming stronger than ever before, and appropiately the ending shows a Mass "Oh, Crap!" reaction from various major characters before ending with the Parisians coming together cheer on Ladybug as her and Cat Noir brace themselves for the upcoming battle.
- Marinette and Cat Noir sharing a kiss in "Elation". While they don't reveal their identities, the fact it's on the opposite side of the Love Square and this wasn't a what-if episode like Cat Blanc or Ephemeral, made the fans go wild.
- Gabriel announcing to Adrien his intentions to send him to London in "Pretension".
- Lila managing to get a hold of Gabriel's secrets in "Revelation".
- Everyone discovering the truth about Lila, who later abandons that identity in "Confrontation".
- Chloé becoming Mayoress of Paris by force in "Collusion".
- Adrien and Marinette's first kiss as a couple and Chloé being forced to leave Paris in "Revolution".
- Adrien and Félix's origins revealed in "Representation".
- Re-creation ends with Monarch essentially winning (though he's not around to enjoy it) and with Marinette choosing not to tell Adrien about Gabriel's identity.
