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In Chat Blanc, when Gabriel tries to separate Adrien and Marinette, Marinette’s response is to comply to that demand and breaks up with Adrien, prompting him to run after her and is forced to out himself as Chat Noir. This incident leads to the blue-eyed nightmare that is Chat Blanc.

But in Pretension, when Gabriel tries to separate Marinette and Adrien again, this time by threatening Marinette that if she doesn’t give up Adrien, he will make sure she can never work a single day in the fashion business. However, this time, Marinette stands up to Gabriel. More importantly, she reassures Adrien that she will NEVER abandon him.

This is important for 2 reasons:

1. It really demonstrates how gutsy Marinette has grown. She is no longer weak in the face of a looming authority like Gabriel Agreste. She is now confident, assertive, and not going to obey anybody, much less Gabriel.

2. Marinette shows Adrien that she can be his emotional pillar of support, so that he is no longer alone. He has somebody to rely on when his father fails (which, let’s be real, Gabriel gets worse and worse each season). And to show him that standing up to Gabriel is possible and absolutely the right thing to do, she could have inspired him to try and stand up for himself too.

Is Chat Blanc still a looming specter of threat? Perhaps as both Marinette and Adrien grow up into confident and self-assured adults, he will become less and less of a nightmare, just a “what could have been.”