Episode 4 - Heikegana

This song was recommended to me, and I chose it mostly because it talks about a desert, and Heikegana comes from Arizona. Rivers in the Desert by Lollia, a cover of a song from the video game Persona 5. I’ve not actually played the game, so I can’t comment on the relevance.

Continuity

Considering my plan was for every episode in Season 3 to be a self-contained narrative, I think it’s safe to say I failed with the second draft. After the unexpected double episode opening the season, the rest of Season 3 Part 1 is a continuously flowing narrative. We have the hints about Heikegana in Chamela 2, between Alya doing her research, and the actual cameo at the end of the episode, then in this episode we have the moment where Adrien and Kagami sense that someone’s watching them halfway through this episode, revealed to be Nathalie at the end. Next episode, therefore, is Mayura 2, which ends with a hint about the Akuma coming in The Reporter. I’d caught myself by then, and stopped it, which actually made the mid-season break point feel nicely definitive.

The Team

Another rule I’d set out to achieve in this Season was not to have the established Rogues make an on-screen appearance, but that was another one I failed at. In the first draft, Tangle always popped up in Fantôme, because I wrote myself into a corner. Regarding this episode, I’d written myself into a corner again. Originally, Aodh had started thinking that Chloé was cheating on Maria back in Dark Cupid 2, but I hadn’t established that Maria and Chloé were dating at that point in the second draft.

Hence, when fighting Édeerneument (one of my top three bilingual Akuma pun names, and the only one I explain in the narrative) originally I only needed to bring in Queen Bee, but this time I needed both Queen Bee and Tangle. It actually worked out though, because it allowed me to introduce Korvid’s new ability, and give more credence to the cover story Chloé and Maria are using.

Just having Carapace along was also a nice touch. As I mentioned in the commentary on Grendel I wanted to have all of the Core Team make an appearance somewhere through Season 3, and Carapace had a great sequence in this one.

Aodh and Caarcon

They’re still tricky characters for me to navigate. I need them there, to push the other characters in different directions, but they’re still tricky to handle. We only get a little look at how Aodh’s settling into life in Paris so far, but more of that comes up over his next few appearances.

I mean, there was never much doubt where Heikegana was really going to side. Even if he doesn’t trust the Miraculous team, because of Caarcon’s prejudice against Guardians, it’s Papillon and Chamela who are imprisoning the Other Kwamis. I dragged his reluctance out as long as I could manage, but there was only so much I can do. I’ve also been setting up this joke about his name and his outfit since the moment he first appeared in Miraculous: Contingency.

Establishing Alix as Heikegana’s liaison really helps as well, because she can be as much of a playful jerk as he can be. Dropping her off the side of a building was a bit much, but we’ve already established that she and Aodh know each other so she wasn’t in much danger – even if Heikegana hadn’t been there, Kagami, Alya, and Nino would all have risked their anonymity to save her.

Adrien, Marinette, & Kagami

The idea that their first anniversary was coming only came in in the second draft, when I had the full timeline sorted out. Once I’d worked that out, it made sense to have something said about it. For reference, although Kagami and Adrien got together in January (Arbalest), six months before Marinette suggested the throuple in July (Moonspell), they subsequently only count their anniversaries from then.

I am still very fond of their dynamic and think that they all offer something unique to the combination. Also, now that we’ve lost the secret identity subplot, they are able to support each other more appropriately. For example, in this episode, I like the moment where Adrien and Kagami are both trying to think of the ideal way to help their girlfriend relax. This comes up again in the first episode of Season 4, The Unstoppable Monsieur Pichon, for their second anniversary, where they take things a step further than discussed in this episode.

Kagami & Chloé

Again, part of Chloé’s redemption subplot is her learning to relate to people more. Chloé already had developed a greater appreciation for Kagami, after being given helpful advice in Dakukani, and then discovered that she was Ryuko in The Reprise. I honestly don’t know if this moment was Chloé trying to let Kagami know that she’d found out the secret, or if it was just automatic on Chloé’s part. Kagami’s ability to bluntly put people in place really works when Chloé is receptive to feedback.