The Bubbler

"The Bubbler" is the first episode of the first season and the series premiere of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. It premiered on December 6, 2015.

Synopsis
Armed with his magic bubbles sword, Nino becomes the Bubbler and plans to rid Paris of all the parents.

Plot
Marinette and Tikki are asleep in Marinette's room when Marinette's phone alarm begins ringing. Cheerfully, Marinette remembers that it's Adrien's birthday, practicing saying, "Happy Birthday," and even accidentally saying it to her mom as she leaves the house.

At the Agreste mansion, Plagg gives Adrien cheese as a birthday present, but as it's a "filthy piece of Camembert," Adrien doesn't like it. Plagg eats it instead. While eating breakfast, Nathalie gives Adrien his schedule for the day. When Adrien asks if his father agreed to letting him have a birthday party, Nathalie responds that Adrien's father decided against it and wishes a saddened Adrien a happy birthday before leaving.

At school, at the beginning of lunch break, Nino and Adrien chat on the steps of the school, Nino blowing bubbles. Nino is surprised that Adrien's father won't throw him a birthday party, resolving to speak to Mr. Agreste after school. Meanwhile, Marinette and Alya hide behind a banister. Alya is encouraging Marinette to hand Adrien a gift that Marinette made, and Marinette is trying to gain the courage for the task. Marinette stands up, looks at Adrien, and immediately returns to hiding, terrified. Alya pushes Marinette out from behind the banister, and she stumbles in front of the boys. The boys immediately cease speaking, staring at her.

Chloé, while speaking to Sabrina, realizes she forgot it is Adrien's birthday. Extremely nervous, Marinette stutters and babbles, trying to say she has a gift for Adrien, but before she can spit it out, Chloé shoves her aside. Chloé walks up to Adrien, lies about getting him a present that failed to be there on time, and leaves, telling Sabrina to find him a present right away. Adrien leaves soon after that for a photo shoot, much to Marinette's and Alya's disappointment. Nino walks away to the Agreste mansion to talk to Gabriel.

In front of the gates of the Agreste mansion, Alya and Marinette stand there. Marinette tries to pry open the mailbox, but is unable to. Alya suggests ringing the doorbell, and while Marinette is protesting, does just that. A camera immediately pops out of the wall focusing on Marinette. Stuttering, Marinette explains that she has a gift for Adrien. The mailbox opens, swiftly closes after the present is placed inside, and swiftly closes, dismissing Marinette. Marinette does a little dance, hoping Adrien enjoys the gift. Alya asks if Marinette signed it, and Marinette freezes, realizing she did not.

Nathalie, who is sitting in a white room with a white desk, sighs, putting the present on the corner of her desk. When Gabriel Agreste calls her to ask who was at the gate, Nathalie explains it was one of Adrien's friends with a gift. This leads to Gabriel questioning why Nathalie has not yet given Adrien a gift for him. After Gabriel hangs up, Nathalie frets over not getting Adrien a gift before spotting Marinette's gift. She sees it and is relieved, deciding to claim it as a gift from Gabriel. Another person rings the doorbell; it's Nino.

Nino and Nathalie wait inside the Agreste mansion's foyer. Gabriel stands at the top of one set of stairs, assuming that Nino is there for Adrien. Nino says otherwise, stating that he is there to speak with Mr. Agreste. He attempts to persuade Gabriel into giving Adrien a birthday party, but his speech is littered with colloquialisms such as "dude." Gabriel tells Nino to drop the subject, but Nino does not. Adrien walks in, hearing the tail end of Nino's speech. Gabriel reiterates that a birthday party will not be happening and banishes Nino from the residence. Nino angrily leaves, and Adrien tries to apologize for his father's strictness, but Nino doesn't believe it to be fair.

Nino sits on a bench in the park next to Marinette's house, blowing bubbles to calm down. He spots a crying boy being dragged away from the park by his father; the boy had chores to do and could no longer play. Nino grumbles over it, frustrated with parents. Hawkmoth, from his lair, senses Nino's frustration and sends an akuma to him. The akuma embeds itself in Nino's bubble wand, and after Nino agrees to getting powers to get revenge on the adults and in turn taking Ladybug's and Cat Noir's Miraculouses for Hawk Moth, he turns into the villain, the Bubbler.

The Bubbler flies across Paris, a trail of purple bubbles flying from his bubble wand. These bubbles catch the adults, turning green when they have someone. They then rise in the air, going off into space.

Marinette, during school lunch break, is eating lunch with her mother. Marinette daydreams about Adrien's reaction to her present while her mother opens a window. Right before Marinette's eyes, a bubble scoops up her mother. Marinette spots her father in the sky next to her mom, too far for her to reach, among many other adults trapped in bubbles. Tikki pops up next to her, and they both agree they need to fix this immediately, hence Marinette transforming into Ladybug.

Ladybug runs outside the bakery to find two crying children with their older brother, watching the remaining bubbles. The bubbles act as projection screens, displaying the Bubbler's face as he conveys his message about parents keeping their kids from having fun and how they can have fun now. Marinette consoles the two children, promising to bring back their parents, and swings away to the rooftops with her yo-yo.

Adrien, eating alone, leaves the dining hall in the Agreste Mansion, intending to go back to school. As he leaves, he finds a surprise in the courtyard; all of his classmates from school have set up a surprise birthday party for him. Adrien immediately realizes that Nino was akumatized, and runs back inside, trying to figure out what to do. Plagg wrongfully convinces Adrien that he should party first--it's not like he'll get another chance to do so, and Adrien agrees.

Ladybug, on the other hand, spots fireworks bursting over the Agreste mansion. Both Adrien and Ladybug realize that the kids at the party are not dancing for fun; they're dancing to keep from being sent into the sky. Chloé asks the Bubbler--who is currently acting as the party's DJ--to switch the music over to a slow song, since it would be Adrien's first slow dance. The Bubbler agrees immediately, as he wants Adrien to experience every new thing. The other children begrudgingly partner up, and Chloé takes Adrien for herself.

Adrien doesn't want to dance with Chloé. He leans away from her, especially when she tries to kiss him. Ladybug, angry, calls out, "Lucky Charm!" A vinyl record appears. Using her lucky vision, Ladybug bounces the record against the side of a building and the record ricochets to the DJ booth, changing the song. Ladybug then jumps over the side of the building, releasing her transformation.

Tikki scolds Marinette for wasting power out of jealousy. Marinette apologizes before hiding Tikki in her purse and entering the courtyard. She takes three cookies, giving them to Tikki to recharge her energy. Before she can change back into Ladybug, Alya arrives. She leads Marinette through the Agreste mansion to Nathalie's office. The present from earlier is there, and Marinette takes the time to sign it. Tikki worries about the time Marinette's taking and for good reason; the Bubbler spots Ivan not dancing, and decides to place him in a bubble for not complying.

Marinette transforms back into Ladybug and stands on the wall of the Agreste mansion's gate. Ladybug interrupts the party by throwing her yo-yo at the power cord for the speakers and DJ booth. Ladybug and Bubbler begin to fight, causing the children to hide behind banisters in front of the Agreste mansion. Adrien runs inside, scolding himself for not taking out Bubbler. Plagg ignores him, dancing. Adrien then transforms into Cat Noir.

Ladybug continues with her attack, going nowhere, when Cat Noir joins in on the action, the two deflecting bubbles left and right, the children watching in awe. Just when everything seems as if it's going in favor of the heroes, the Bubbler snaps his fingers, the bubbles swirling around Ladybug and Cat Noir. Paris' two heroes become trapped in a massive bubble. The only way they can escape is by giving up their Miraculouses, something that neither one of them will do. Ladybug tries to convince the Bubbler that children need their parents, and Cat Noir agrees though he is slightly hesitant.

Enraged, the Bubbler tosses the heroes into the air, sending them into space. Above the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug suggests that Cat Noir uses his Cataclysm, which he does, breaking the bubble. Ladybug grabs his arm as he throws his staff into the second story of the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug hooks her yo-yo around it, the two swinging to the ground safely. Ladybug tosses back Cat Noir's staff, and they race back to the Agreste mansion.

Ladybug and Cat Noir return posthaste, the children cheering on Ladybug. Before anything can be done, the Bubbler captures all of the children, sending them off to their parents. The Bubbler flies off, the battle being brought to the Eiffel Tower. With only one paw left, Cat Noir reminds Ladybug to hurry, and she calls out, "Lucky Charm!" This results in a large wrench. The Bubbler hurls bubbles at Cat Noir, exploding on impact with the tower. Using her lucky vision, Ladybug spots an HVAC and takes it apart. She sends the pipe with air spewing out of it to Cat Noir, who uses it to deflect the bubbles. The Bubbler raises his bubble wand, about to take another swing, when Ladybug catches it with her yo-yo and wrenches it out of his grasp. Breaking it in two, she captures the akuma and cleanses the city, returning the parents, children, and Nino back to normal.

Hawkmoth vows to capture and crush Ladybug.

The episode returns to the Agreste mansion, party supplies gone. Nathalie is typing on her computer when Gabriel calls and asks if Adrien liked his gift. Nathalie says that she will check. Hanging up, Nathalie takes the present, removes the note Marinette signed, and hands the gift to Adrien, who is eating dinner. Adrien is extremely surprised by the gift, and asks Nathalie to thank his father before he even opens it. Nathalie agrees, walking away.The next day at school, Chloé is yelling at Sabrina over the lateness of Adrien's gift (it hasn't been delivered yet and won't be for another week). Adrien steps out of a limousine, a new blue scarf around his neck. Marinette is silent, exuberant that Adrien is wearing her gift. Alya mentions the scarf, and Adrien explains it is a gift from his father. He then explains that though his father banished Nino from the house, he would not stop hanging out with him. Marinette decides not to ruin the moment, deciding that she'd rather Adrien's happiness over hers. Alya hugs Marinette, and they all enter the school, ending the episode.

Major characters

 * Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
 * Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir
 * Hawk Moth
 * Tikki
 * Plagg
 * Nino/The Bubbler
 * Akuma
 * Alya
 * Chloé Bourgeois

Minor characters

 * Sabrina
 * Nathalie Sancoeur
 * Gabriel Agreste
 * Sabine Cheng
 * Tom Dupain
 * Ivan
 * Rose
 * Nathanaël
 * Juleka
 * Kim
 * Mylène Haprèle
 * Max
 * Alix Kubdel
 * Agent Roger
 * Adrien's chauffeur
 * Civilians

Transcript
View the episode transcript here.

Trivia

 * This episode was the second episode for the show's run in France and Korea.
 * When Hawk Moth tells the Bubbler to get the Miraculouses, the paw print on the Cat Miraculous is upside down in the French version.
 * During the Ladybug transformation sequence, Marinette's face is visibly different than in the normal transformation sequence; she is not happy that her parents were taken away.
 * An error in this episode is when Ladybug breaks the bubble wand. Somehow, it ends up reformed and in the Bubbler's back container before he returns to normal.
 * Another error takes place when Cat Noir first enters the scene; his staff clips through Ladybug twice.