Sole Crusher

**Sole Crusher**

**Season 4, episode 07 (Production order); Episode 85 (Overall)**

> Zoé, no one will judge you here. You can just be yourself. You might trip, you might fall and they'll always be someone to help you back up. I'll always be there for you!
>
> Marinette Dupain-Cheng, "Sole Crusher"

**"Sole Crusher"** is a Season 4 episode of the series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. As based on the series' production order specifically, **"Sole Crusher"** is the 7th written and produced episode of Season 4. It is also the 85th written and produced episode of the series, overall.

## Synopsis

Marinette meets Zoe. They instantly hit it off, but Marinette didn't know that Zoe is Chloe’s half-sister! Chloe forces Zoe to be mean to Marinette to earn her place in the Bourgeois family. Indeed, to Chloe, there are two types of people in life: those who crush others, and those who get crushed. Zoe hesitates between Marinette and Chloe and gets akumatized into Sole Crusher, a giant golden supervillain who look just like Chloe who absorbs people with her shoes. Ladybug and Cat Noir won't let her walk over them if they want to stop her!

## Plot

The episode starts with a taxi driver giving Zoé a tour of Paris. They pass by multiple landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Jardins du Trocadero and the Louvre. During the tour, Zoé sees the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, and asks the taxi driver to stop, saying that she always wanted to eat Parisian croissants. Inside the bakery, Zoé asks Sabine Cheng for some croissants and receives them quickly. Marinette then walks in with a box of apples and accidently bumps into Zoé. Marinette apologizes and Zoé says it's ok. Zoé helps Marinette up, and Marinette begins to explain how clumsy she is. Zoé laughs, and helps Marinette place the apples back in the box. Marinette asks if Zoé needs anything, but she says she is okay. Marinette, however, asks her mom for a dozen extra croissants in apology, but then pauses since she doesn't know the other's name. Zoé tells her name to Marinette, and Marinette says she is Miss Walking-Disaster. She asks Zoé where she's from since her accent is "really pretty". Zoé tells Marinette that she is from New York, and she came to live with her family that lives in Paris. Marinette notices Zoé's sneakers and asks if she drew on them herself. Zoé says that on them she wrote everything she'd been told that was nice. Marinette points out there's only one thing, and Zoé answers saying that she only had one friend. Marinette tells Zoé that she and her friends are going to put on a show in the *Liberty* that night in the Seine River. Before going, Marinette writes her number on the box Zoé ordered, while Zoé writes downs hers on Marinette's hand.

A while after, Zoé arrives at the Le Grand Paris hotel and gives the croissants to the taxi driver telling them to share it with their kids, they ask about if she wants to keep some for her family, and she says no, they prefer sour to sweets. The taxi driver thanks Zoé and tells her to enjoy her journey, as Zoé looks at Marinette's number, storing the box in her purse. At the entrance, Armand greets her, and takes her inside to see her mother, Audrey Bourgeois. Zoé tries to put on a mean façade in order to match her mother's demeanor, saying her flight was terrible when asked if it was horrific because she looked the part. Zoé talks of someone in economy class having disgustingly smelly cologne and the flight attendants' refusal to open the window. Audrey questions her not getting a private jet from her forgetful father then says he's "too busy for anyone as usual". Zoé's told it's fine she wants to come with them in Paris but asked about what exactly was wrong with her boarding school. Zoé blames her want to move on the existence of roaches in her locker and that on the establishment.

At Audrey's order Zoé is taken to meet Chloé, her half-sister. Chloé looks her up and down, telling her that she measures up to the family standards so far due to her blonde hair and blue eyes and makes an at least physically acceptable sister. She shows disgust at Zoé's phone and sneakers and introduces diamond ones saying that, in life, there are winners and losers, and winners have their "perfect little feet" in said shoes, while losers get crushed under the souls. Chloé asks her if she wants the shoes and Zoé reaches out, but Chloé takes moves them away. Chloé says if Zoé wants to be a winner and part of the family, she's going to have to earn her place. Chloé says she'll mentor Zoé and that if she proves worthy as a sister, she might maybe get to borrow the diamond shoes. Zoé continues to act mean so as to appease Chloé. Rule 1# is that her father only exists to give her whatever she wants whenever she wants. Calling up her father -who appears in seconds- Chloé demands he have something painted pink before she goes to school and then cuts off his protest by closing the door. Chloé says if she becomes her sister Zoé can use her father (Mayor André Bourgeois) since her birth one isn't there. Rule 2# is the existence of a minion in your possession and when asked for hers Zoé says she left them in New York. Chloé calls that a "fatal mistake" saying "you never go anywhere without your minion" and walks over to her closet stating, "don't confuse a minion for a pet" and that she'll teach her that later. Chloé says "a minion is someone who does everything for you" then opens her closet doors and berates Sabrina about not having finished some math homework yet. Sabrina apologizes saying it's because of the darkness.

At school, after making Sabrina run next to the car the whole way, shoving her bag on a boy, she thought good enough, and forgetting Zoé's name, Chloé introduces Zoé to the student body, demanding that they treat her with respect. Alya, Rose, Juleka, and Alix immediately think the new girl is bad news, like a second Chloé, but Marinette puts their anger to rest by saying not to judge quickly. She tries to talk to Zoé and ask about the macaroons. When Chloé gets angered over the fact that they seem to know each other, Zoé claims she had 'good taste' and threw the macaroons away. Disheartened, Marinette leaves, and Zoé gains admiration from her sister and Sabrina.

Zoé is eventually settled into Ms. Mendeleiev's class after threatening to call her stepfather. In art class, the girls discuss ways to get Zoé away from her sister's toxic influence, with Rose asking if they could adopt her. Marinette says she'll make the first move. On the way home, Chloé finally allows Zoé to have the diamond heels she promised.

At home, Marinette ponders why Zoé was so mean earlier; Daizzi suggests it was because she was hungry. Confident that Zoé's true self was the one in the morning, Marinette texts her; Tikki says that as long as she acts with good intent, nothing bad will happen. Back at the hotel, Chloé searches for the shoes while Zoé receives the text, saying they can talk in private and that she's still invited to the party that evening. Zoé writes back that she'll explain everything later. Chloé notices this and is infuriated, telling Zoé that she either walks over others or she walks on her and that Zoé should be proud to be in the family. Zoé, acting mean once more, says she plans to humiliate Marinette by throwing the macaroons in the river. Buying this, Chloé begins writing down other ways to ruin Marinette's life while Zoé steps onto the balcony.

Looking out onto the city, Zoé contemplates throwing the shoes away, but relents. She is noticed by André, who asks if she's okay. He tells her that he used to be a filmmaker but was pushed into politics by his family. Zoé explains that, back home, she liked acting, but ended up acting so much she tried to please everyone and concealed her true self. André shows her his 'dream depository' where he keeps his movie scripts and supplies away from Audrey and Chloé so that they would accept him and says he can make room for her things. Saddened and remembering Chloé's harsh words, Zoé ends up putting her sneakers in. Meanwhile, Shadow Moth detects Zoé's sadness and lack of acceptance, sending out an akuma for her.

As Zoé puts on the diamond shoes, the akuma infects her old sneakers. Shadow Moth christens her 'Sole Crusher', offering her the power to get revenge on Chloé. Zoé accepts and transforms as André runs to hide. Now Sole Crusher, she uses her powers to absorb Armand and the hotel residents into her shoes, making her grow to a gigantic size. When she comes for Chloé, the latter runs away, eventually stopping at the bakery and causing Tom and Sabine to get absorbed. She breaks into Marinette's room and barricades the door, but Sole Crusher simply tears the roof open. Chloé pushes Marinette into the villain's grasp, but Sole Crusher simply holds her instead of absorbs her (due to her earlier kindness towards her) and continues chasing Chloé across the city. Tikki instructs Kaalki to teleport to Plagg and send for Cat Noir, before leaving to be with Marinette. Though hesitant at first, Kaalki opens Voyage into Adrien's room, but it has the side effect of sucking Plagg's camembert and Adrien's globe into space and Adrien's football table into a gorilla exhibit at the zoo. Adrien is caught up and transforms.

Sole Crusher continues her rampage as Chloé gets near the Liberty, where Kitty Section is setting up. Chloé tells her sister that she should pick on the 'losers' instead of her, calling her a ridiculous copy of herself. Marinette says that Zoé shouldn't need to crush anyone as Cat Noir shows up. Marinette continues, saying that it's just unique people and that Zoé will always have someone like her to help when she falls. Shadow Moth contacts Sole Crusher, threatening to remove her powers and put her on the losers' side. Sole Crusher listens to her master and continues, saying that no one will boss her around again. Cat Noir trips Sole Crusher with his baton, causing Marinette to be freed. She runs into a safe spot and reunites with Tikki. She then transforms into Ladybug.

The heroes fight Sole Crusher, but their battle ends up causing mass destruction. Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, receiving a shoehorn. She takes this as a hint that the akuma is in one of Sole Crusher's shoes. Cat Noir Cataclysms her right heel and Ladybug breaks the left one with her yo-yo; this makes Sole Crusher loses her balance, but no akuma comes out of either one. Chloé yells at her sister for causing harm to her priceless shoes and tells her to go back to her old sneakers. As Sole Crusher finally absorbs Chloé, the heroes realize the akuma's true hiding spot and race to the Hotel to search Chloé's room. They didn't find one, but André comes out of hiding and says he knows the sneakers' location. As they reach the depository, Sole Crusher arrives, now bigger than the building itself, and winds up for a punch. Ladybug uses the shoehorn to quickly open the bin and rip up the infected shoe. She purifies the akuma, repairs the damage with Miraculous Ladybug, and gives the freed Zoé a Magical Charm. Thankful, Zoé says the heroes are truly miraculous as they leave. Vengeful, Shadow Moth tells Ladybug that he will crush her one day.

In the evening, Zoé is welcomed aboard the Liberty with the macaroons as Chloé and Audrey watch from the Hotel balcony. Zoé apologizes for the mess she caused, saying she only wanted to impress her family and be accepted. Back home, people bullied her and called her a loser, but she vows to be different. Ivan takes the first step and warmly hugs her, with Mylène saying that they can be her new family. Chloé is outraged as they all eat the macarons and party into the night.

When Zoé returns to the hotel, she returns the diamond shoes and Chloé demands André to let Zoé leave Paris. André says that the paperwork will take a while, so Zoé will have to stay with them for a couple of months. Chloé wants her in the basement, but André takes her to another room instead. Away from Audrey and Chloé, Zoé thanks him and tells him not to give up on his dreams.

In bed, Marinette receives a text from Zoé, thanking her and the others for being by her side. A montage shows Zoé meeting more of Marinette's friends and allowing Rose and Juleka to dye a strand of her hair pink, finally giving her the freedom of being her own person.

## Characters

### Major Characters

* Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
* Shadow Moth
* Tikki
* Plagg
* Akuma
* Zoé Lee/Sole Crusher
* Chloé Bourgeois (Queen Bee indirectly mentioned)

### Minor Characters

* Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir
* Sabine Cheng
* Armand
* Audrey Bourgeois
* André Bourgeois
* Sabrina Raincomprix
* Rose Lavillant
* Alya Césaire
* Juleka Couffaine
* Mylène Haprèle
* Alix Kubdel (Timebreaker pictured)
* Nino Lahiffe
* Denis Damocles
* Daizzi
* Mullo
* Tom Dupain
* Kaalki
* Ivan Bruel
* Luka Couffaine
* Gorillas
* Doorman (background)
* Jean Duparc (background)
* Olga Mendeleiev (background)
* Marc Anciel (background)
* Mireille Caquet (background)
* Aurore Beauréal (background)
* Nathaniel Kurtzberg (background)
* Trixx (background)
* Orikko (background)
* Xuppu (background)
* Fluff (background)
* Sass (background)
* Max Kanté (background, Gamer pictured)
* Markov (background)
* Lila's second mother (background)
* Emilie Agreste (pictured)
* Jessica Keynes (indirectly mentioned)
* Mr. Lee (mentioned)
* Students
* Civilians

## Trivia

* Internationally, this episode first premiered in Brazil on Gloob.
* According to Feri González, this episode features Zoé's first appearance and chronologically takes place before "Queen Banana".
	+ It's also seen in the end scene card where it's Chloe next to a neon purple butterfly foreshadowing her akumatization.
* It's revealed that Audrey had an affair with a man back in New York, and they had a daughter together; Zoé.
* This is the second 7th produced episode to feature an appearance by Luka Couffaine, the first time being in "Silencer".
* This is the third time that the akuma lands in a pair of shoes, the first time being Alix's roller blades in "Timebreaker", and the second being Philippe's ice skates in "Frozer".
* In the Brazilian Portuguese version, the episode is called "Esmagadora", which is the literal translation for "Crusher", which is half of the English name for the akumatized villain.
* This is the first time Chloe has ever been in Marinette's room.
* It's revealed that Marc Anciel is part of Olga Mendeleiev's class.
	+ He's also seen sitting in the same row as Aurore, possibly being a reference to both of their names being based on natural phenomena.
* It's revealed that Mayor Bourgeois had the dream to become a movie director and that he was the one to produce and direct the movie *Solitude*, which Emilie Agreste starred in.
	+ This finally reveals "A. Bourgeois", as seen in the film's credits, is André, which he later confirms in "Queen Banana".
* It's revealed that Sabrina does Chloé's homework in Chloé's wardrobe, in the dark. As she says that her eyes are getting used to the dark, it's implied that she has been doing Chloé's homework in the wardrobe for quite some time.
* This is the fourth time a Kwami (Kaalki) has used their powers without an owner following Plagg in "Style Queen" and "Catalyst" and Trixx in "Gang of Secrets".
	+ This time the unrestrained version of Kaalki's powers is revealed when she uses Voyage: her portals can suck nearby objects and teleport them to random locations, including space.
* When Kaalki arrived at Adrien's room, she faceplanted *George of the Jungle*-style into his window.
* Kaalki is one of the few Kwamis to know that Adrien is Cat Noir following Plagg, Wayzz, Tikki and possibly Sass (who must have heard Aspik's confession to Ladybug during one of the time loops).
	+ Despite being aware that Plagg has an owner up until this episode Kaalki didn't know what Cat Noir looked like in civilian form mostly she used her powers while thinking about Plagg and his location.
	+ Meaning that Kaalki and her owners can not only use their powers in the terms of where they are thinking about but also who they're thinking about.
* This is the third time the akumatized villain is not in direct contact with the akumatized object when the akuma makes contact, following "Zombizou" and "Gang of Secrets".
	+ This is the first time the akumatized object was not held by the person immediately before contact.
* This is the fourth time when an akumatized object isn't in constant possession of the villain following “The Dark Owl”, "Style Queen" and "Weredad".
* In the English dub, Kaalki says "Voyage" with a French accent.
	+ She uses the same pronunciation in "Optigami", suggesting this is how she naturally pronounces the word.
* This is the eleventh time where the heroes appeal to reason with an akumatized villain following "Gang of Secrets", "Christmaster", Weredad, "Frightningale", "Riposte", "Robostus", "Volpina", "The Mime", "Rogercop" and "Stormy Weather".
* When André Bourgeois picks up a pamphlet with Emilie Agreste inside of the Cellar of Dreams, another pamphlet can be seen underneath with a female figure with similar features to Kagami Tsurugi.
	+ According to Thomas Astruc, she's not related nor will appear in the show.
* The Adrien the Fragrance ad from "Gorizilla", "Anansi" and "Oblivio" is seen in the magazine Audrey is reading.
	+ It is also seen on a billboard looking over the street when Ladybug and Cat Noir discuss using Cataclysm on Sole Crusher.
* When thinking about the ways Chloé can get along with her half-sister, she references the instances from "Stoneheart" and "Ladybug", as well as the incident Zoé had in boarding school. It's later revealed in "Derision", that Chloé once did put cockroaches in Marinette's locker, prior to her becomming Ladybug.
* The neon drawings at the endcard can be seen as foreshadowings to major events involving Zoé: ° The purple buttely near Chloé foreshadows the events of "Queen Banana", where Zoé becomes the new holder of the Bee Miraculous. ° The green cat foreshadows the events of "Transmission", where Zoé becomes the temporary holder of the Cat Miraculous. ° The pink hearts foreshadows the events of "Adoration", where it's revealed that Zoé has a crush on Marinette.
* This is the twelfth time, where Cat Noir used his powers on someone else following "Dark Cupid", "Princess Fragrance", "Despair Bear", "Troublemaker", "Malediktator", "Miraculous Shanghai" "Miraculer", "Cat Blanc", "Ladybug", "Miraculous New York" and "Furious Fu" but the ninth time of his own free will.
	+ When Ladybug said, "We don't know what would happen if you Cataclysm her directly. It could be fatal!", she was likely referencing to "Miraculer" and "Miraculous New York".
	+ But like in "Lies" and "Psycomedian", he was prevented from doing so by Ladybug.
* This is one of the many episodes where Ladybug and Cat Noir are seen fighting an akumatized villain off-screen, if they didn't then it's likely they were off on patrol or dealing with another emergency.
* This is the sixth time where Adrien is a minor character following "Style Queen", "Truth", "Gang of Secrets", "Mr. Pigeon 72", and "Furious Fu".
* This is one of few episodes where Shadow Moth was close to victory without realizing it.
* Just like "Gorizilla", the titular villain or sentimonster rips the ceiling off and to take someone hostage.
* When Mr. Damocles mentions mid-year admission, them running on the French school system it's likely they have five marking periods and with a total of 144 days and them starting in September this episode suggests that it centers around mid-November.
	+ As of "Transmission", it turns out what is mentioned above is false according to Max only 286 days have passed since Adrien came to school as well as Cat Noir and Ladybug becoming heroes, Season 4 is about 4 months long for the in-universe and the Bourgeois' couple's anniversary likely happening in February it suggest that Zoe came to the school after it or the latest March.

### Errors

* When Zoé steps out of the taxi by the bakery, her left sneaker has the drawings it resived at the end of the episode. This also happens after she revealed to Marinette that she had only one friend in New York.
* When telling Alya, Juleka, Alix, and Rose about how she met Zoé, Marinette's earring is missing when she turns her head to the side.
* When Ladybug catches the akuma and said 'Gotcha!', she was in her original suit for a split second.
* When Tikki left to chase after Marinette and Sole Crusher, she said Marinette's name to the other kwamis, which she is supposed to be unable to do.
* When Adrien says "Hi" to Zoé, his mouth doesn't open.
* When Chloé puts her arm around Zoé, Zoé’s hat turns white for a single frame.
* Similarly to "Miraculer" and "Lies", when the akuma flies out of the window of Shadow Moth's lair, the Butterfly and the Peacock Miraculouses are missing from Shadow Moth's chest.
* When Shadow Moth corrupts the butterfly, the background butterflies are missing for the entirety of the first half of the sequence, before glitching into existence.
* When Chloé looks through her binoculars Zoé is eating a yellow macaroon and Marinette is eating a pink one but, in the end card they are switched.
* When Sole Crusher reaches into Chloé's room, no debris is thrown.
	+ In one frame, Sole Crusher appears to have two different expressions at the same time; through one window, she can be seen with a frown, and through another, she has a smile.

## Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for Sole Crusher.
*Click here to view the gallery.*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://twitter.com/MLadybug\_Blog/status/1502605498956324865/photo/1
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/LadyblogBrazil/status/1392250683353702400
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wkHFJLOisM
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/MiraculousMX/status/1381680018787606536
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/Thomas\_Astruc/status/1397477354725912576

Template:Episodes
de:Willkommen in Paris
es:Reina Aplastante
fr:Pirkell
it:Sole Crusher
pl:Zdeptucha
pt-br:Esmagadora
ru:Сокрушительница