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WHAT WE KNOW

Emilie had been remembered time and time again by her family in a good light. Gabriel has commented on more than one occasion that certain aspects of Adrien and Chat Noir’s personality come from (or reminds him in the case of the latter) his wife.

For a prime example see:

Jackady/Simon Says

Time stamp: 12 minutes 38 seconds

This tells us a little something about Emilie when it comes to just Gabriel and her alone. At the least. By all means, they could’ve appeared very different in public, but in terms of their private personal relationship, we can get a slice from this. The conversation goes like this.

Chat Noir: You're in danger, like everyone else! So stop pretending you're above us all, and just do what I tell you to!

Gabriel: Quite a temper. You remind me of someone.

(Narrowing his eyes in discontent, dramatic music plays, and Cat Noir exits the room with a small huff. The track goes silent, and the frame follows Gabriel as he look over his shoulder to the painting of Emilie once he’s gone)

Now by this, we can already drag up that Emilie had a tendency of blowing up on Gabriel and ordering him around. As we’re talking current facts as the moment, I won’t delve too deep into what this means just yet, but I believe it’s a testimony to their relationship that he’s only reminded of her by the boys when they’re being rude or otherwise bossy.

Prior to her condition, she was a famous actress. The only canon one we have seen her be in as of yet is Solitude. A silent noir film directed by André before he became the city mayor. We don’t know about any other civilian activities she got into during her time alive other then that her family has always had money.

We know for sure now that she was the past peacock holder. While this used to a theory and heavily implied through voice lines, a webisode in the Miraculous Secrets Webseries called "Gabriel" has him confirm this. In The Collector, Master Fu admits he lost the spell book and both the Miraculous in Tibet while escaping it. Gabriel states in the same episode he found each of these items during an overseas trip with Emilie. Presumably in 2013 or 2014. This was when they obtained their respective Miraculous, the peacock most likely already damaged from the fall Fu lost them to.

No matter what they used their powers for, Emilie over used it despite the rapid decline in her health it caused immediately after using it. She, like Nathalie, would’ve been reduced to bed rest at some point but it continued past this point until she was ultimately rendered comatose. Adrien has even stated to have strong memories of Emilie's frequent dizzy spells, being able to link them to Nathalie in the episode Feast. He even says how his father and him has had the same conversation before about it not being serious.

Adrien often expresses how much Gabriel has changed since the loss of his wife. Another fact I will be delving into shortly.

It is confirmed in the episode "Chat Blanc" that he had now ulterior motive. His only motivation being to revive his wife, no matter the cost. Gabriel and Emilie also made a promise to keep Adrien safe and possibly together for him to wake her up. Exposing Gabriel's strict and controlling behaviour. Unfortunately, in main thing this, it’s ironically making things worse. His relationship with his son becoming strained and his own character beginning to harden.

Not only does this act as a catalyst to the series, it also adds a touch of irony. As Adrien’s been left in the dark in a play to keep in safe, he’s inadvertently foiling his father. And in Gabriel’s attempts to win, he’s accidentally going directly against their promise to keep him safe. Whatever their definition of safe may be.

There’s no doubt that she’s important to the show. Hawkmoth wouldn’t even exist if whatever goal they had before hand hadn’t rendered her comatose. If she wakes up, her role in the series would most likely be a main one. Whether that be as a pro or an antagonist.

The creators of the show themselves have also teased a future episode and comic that will chart Gabriel and Emilie's relationship and trip to Tibet. Saying that there is still so much more to explore. What we have currently is a mere scratch on the surface. Here are the Voice Lines of Note that tell us the above:

“Quite a temper. You remind me of someone.”

“Until then, I promised to protect our son every day.”

“Emilie, we should never have used the Miraculous of the Peacock. If we hadn't, you wouldn't be where you are today.”

“Nathalie has used the Miraculous of the Peacock, just like you did before her.”

“Nathalie has always been a tremendous help. Without her, we would’ve never found the two miraculous.”

“I don't want to break our promise, but… I can't keep putting our son in danger.”

“I have to apologise for me son, he’s like his mother. Way too overly dramatic.”

But now we’ve gotten into what we know for sure, let’s speak show subtext and other points before going into its additional references. This naturally takes a lot more interpretation and assumptions, but I will leave them open ended to allow for personal opinion.

SUBTEXT and NATURAL COUNTERS

Case 1: Family Memory

This, for obvious reasons, is not a very good source of information. Even if it is true. Not only could she have acted very differently depending on the person or those around them, they would naturally be in denial about it. Maybe even oblivious or viewing it as normal fond behaviour.

Case 2: Amelie

Her twin, Amelie could even be a window to what Emilie was like. She, in the short time we saw her in the episode, not only encouraged Félix’s behaviour at the end of the episode, but actively looked down upon Gabriel. Going as far as to ask a widow in the anniversary (who we learn was only widowed a year ago on that very day) to surrender their wedding bands.

There tends to be two types of twin tropes in media, and depending on which type the writers have gone for, is going to be how Emilie turns out. The radically opposite duo (one often rebellious and mean, the other not, or even the ‘evil’ twin depending on the genre) and the identical duo (the same throughout).

Despite being two types, there are three ways it could go. Amelie is the evil/opposite and Emilie is kind. Emilie is the evil/opposite and Amelie is kind compared to her or they’re just as bad as each other. So really, probability wise, there’s a 2/3 chance she isn’t all as good as she’s made out to be.

Case 3: Adrien’s past

Adrien has never had freedom before cannon. Not only the only he was allowed to have over was Chloé, he was also always homeschooled by Nathalie and Gabriel. Adrien had no idea what he was missing until Emilie herself passed on. It’s subtext is that Emilie most likely placated him into believing the life he was living was the best, and until he actually got a taste of freedom, he would believe that wholeheartedly.

The fact alone that he is only getting freedom NOW, a few months after her disappearance come Origins, is enough to shine light on what kind of parent she was. Since Gabriel ‘wasn’t always like this’ it does say that the homeschooling and rules was her doing. If the canon episodes are Gabriel at his most overprotective ever since Adrien’s brith, one can only imagine what Emilie was like if he’s been trapped in the mansion his whole life.

Case 4: Adrien’s Reaction in Jackaday

To say the least, he was NOT Please when he father said to him he was like his mother. Narrowing his eyes and storming out without saying anything more. There was even a play of dramatic music until cutting off to silence so Gabriel could look over his shoulder.

You can assume Chat knew right away who his father was referencing. He wasn’t surprised or otherwise panicked like he usually gets as such comparisons if they’re to do with him. So he understood immediately that Gabriel wasn’t referencing his civilian counterpart, but rather his mother.

Needless to say, you don’t often get angry and annoyed at being compared to a parent you think fondly of unless it was a quality you viewed poorly in them. Chat Noir narrowed his eyes for a reason. He did not like being compared to his mother whatsoever in that scenario. Of course, yet again, this can be interpreted in many ways. From that he knows it’s an insult to his character, to even just that his father is being patronising. But it’s important to keep it in mind.

Case 5: General Animation/Media

The lines and actions themselves are clearly important. As an example of the last point, from a media standpoint, the music wouldn’t of been added and silenced at the points they were and the frame wouldn’t of followed Gabriel unless it was important.

In animation, every frame is moved as such for a reason and every piece of music is added to suit it perfectly. The type of median itself speaks testaments to how import subtext is. It isn’t over analysing, since if they didn’t want there to be something in there, they wouldn’t of taken the time and money to meticulously animate and add in as such.

So whenever he gazes to Emilie after saying something, know the writers mean means it, and it’s important to the story itself. So you have to pay attention to it. It’s how we figured out as an audience that she had the broken Peacock miraculous before the show even openly admitted it.

Case 6: Style Queen Aftermath

This is a point I’ve made in a previous essay, and will be bring it up again in the context of this one. Let’s pull back the imagination. Leave all the expectations we hang on Gabriel and Emilie for half a minute. Don’t imagine a perfect parent for Adrien or a bad father. Whatever your ideals are, pretend they don’t exist for a while.

The greatest way to see Gabriel and Emilie without any bias is in the aftermath of Style Queen. This is arguably Gabriel Agreste at his truest. No clouded judgment, no miraculous and no Emilie.

We learn a lot. Since he has fully decided to renounce the miraculous at that point, he begins talking as though it would be the final time. Gabriel says and I quote: “I don’t want to break our promise, but… I can’t keep putting our son in danger. Style Queen was supposed to be my masterpiece… but even she failed. I feel like I’ve done all I possibly could, you know? I’ll never be able to fulfill my wish without Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous. Forgive me, Emilie. I’m giving you up, Nooroo.”

This shows that Gabriel can and will put Adrien over his wife. A goal that is now clear was something Emilie actually assigned to him. Since protecting Adrien is one of their promises, the fact he’d be breaking another in keeping him safe is all but an admission from the writers she was the one to convince him to begin looking into ways to wake her.

When breaking a promise, it’s a natural human response to defend such a choice or even reason they technically had done it anyway. “I feel like I’ve done all I possible could, you know?” We can conclude from this that Gabriel must of agreed to something along the lines of doing everything possible.

He, at that point, seriously believed he had reached that. He’d put their son in danger, no accidentally or in a round about way, but willingly let Audrey be mad at himself which naturally roped Adrien into it. He would’ve given up Hawkmoth indefinitely had Chloe not inadvertently rekindled the emotional draw to try again. Leaving the opportunity would be directly betraying Emilie’s trust if not order.

Case 7: Behavioural (Psyche Analysis)

By how desperate he seems to rationalise his choice and gain forgiveness from her, I’d even take a stab and possibly call their relationship codependent. In its simplest terms, a codependent relationship is when one partner needs the other partner, who in turn, needs to be needed. This circular relationship is the basis of what experts refer to when they describe the cycle of codependency.

A person who is codependent will plan their entire life around pleasing the other person. Which makes a whole lot of sense considering how Gabriel has lived his and his son’s life so far. The codependent’s self-esteem and self-worth will come only from drastically sacrificing themselves for their partner in some way, who is only too glad to receive their sacrifices. He’s more then happy to become Hawkmoth and ruin his son’s relationship in order to bring her back. A red flag for such a thing.

One or both parties can be codependent. A codependent person will neglect other important areas of their life to please their partner. Their extreme dedication to this one person may cause damage to:

Other relationships (see: his son)

Their career (see: Gabriel’s withdrawal from interviews and public appearances)

Their everyday responsibilities (see: Nathalie taking the brunt of things he misses in order to be Hawkmoth and bring her back)

It can be hard to distinguish between a person who is codependent and one who is just clingy or enamoured. But, a person who is codependent will usually find no satisfaction or happiness in life outside of doing things for the other person, stay in the relationship even if they are aware that their partner does bad things, do anything to please the other no matter what the expense, use all their time and energy to give their partner everything they ask for such as requests and promises, feel guilty about thinking of themselves in the relationship or not being able to do something they wish, not expressing any personal needs or desires and ignoring their own morals or conscience to do what the other person wants.

The codependent person will feel extreme conflict about separating themselves from the enabler because their own identity is centered upon sacrificing themselves for the other person. It often leaks into other things such as parenting too. Sound familiar?

For other evidence, codependency if often learned and passed down. The children of the two can become either of the types. The dependent one or the enabler. In the case of Adrien, he seems to be the first.

Children develop their sense of identity, identify their values, and learn how to communicate and express their needs and feelings based on parental interaction. Parents play a large role in shaping who and what their child becomes in life. With a codependent child, they often become dependent on one of their parents. Then someone else once they’re older.

Codependent children can have many different symptoms and warning signs. Most often mirroring off the other by behaviours and habits such as nervous tics and ways of acting. Types of these can be low self-esteem, the need to be in control, an excessive need to please others, anxiety and stress, extreme worry, not feeling good enough, non-assertive communication, blaming self for others' problems, a lack of trust or feeling as though people don’t trust them, a fear of being alone, intimacy problems, difficulty making decisions, and extreme anger when it is felt leading to running away on a whim or destroying things.

Again, uncanny

Of course, not all codependent people have toxic relationships. And Emilie could be a great influence on the two. But the risk of having it tends to be that you are more likely to enter destructive or otherwise unfulfilling relationships. So again, a statistical coin flip when it comes to what kind of partner she may of been.

Case 8: Logistics (will it be done)

Another thing often raised is that an animation made to be at the very least kid friendly would never make her evil. And to that I say, Gabriel. They’ve already made the father of the protagonist a bad guy. Nothing is stopping them from doing both.

They’ve already started delving into deeper topics this season too and we’re only a few episodes in. Such as rocky marriages, half siblings, step parents (all of these being in the Bourgeois/Lee family alone), trust issues between the heroes, responsibility, child abandonment in the case of Luka and Juleka, and general teenage angst. So an evil Emilie plot isn’t all that insane to think about happening. Besides, there have been far deeper plots in so called kid shows.

Case 9: Duusu

A relatively straightforward subtext, but right at the beginning of truth when Gabriel has finally fixed the miraculous. “Wow, I feel so much better! What happened? Huh? Nooroo! Oh wow, everything was so chaotic in my head, like a nightmare where I'd fallen into very bad hands!” I’d like to remark here that their time with Emilie also counted as these very bad hands.

Case 10: Shanghai

Another small addition here, but we learn in that episode that Gabriel’s schemes started 15 years ago. Increasing the possibility that Emilie was in on whatever plans they had, or at least was aware of underhanded dealings. I mean Nathalie literally bought a magical bracelet for him that was stolen from the girl of a man their buyers burned alive in an arson. She had to have at least signed off on a few things that makes her a less then kind person she’s made out to be.

Case 11: Overall

Overall, we already know that she isn’t the perfect parent by the fact Adrien was never allowed to have other friend or go to school before when she was still active. So to think she is now would be plain wrong.

However, with the added subtext and other possibilities, the likelihood of her being worse then just a woman not cut out for letting her kid have a very sociable life has mounted past the point of no return. The few times Adrien or Gabriel mention her they don't imply she was weak willed or submissive. The complete opposite actually. So if she didn't like Adrien being locked up, she'd have let them both know and changed it.

She’d actively been part of the problem

THE REASONABLE DOUBT

We don’t actually know a lot about her and this could all just be the wrong assumption

OTHER POSSIBLE REFERENCES

The Home

It’s interior design anywhere but the personal rooms is entirely white and black. Which we’ve learned to be Emilie and Amelie’s main colour pallets. Gabriel, the entire time we’ve seen him on screen has been the designer he is, and always worn or wines things with splashes of colour. Whether that be red or purple.

It doesn’t seem feasible to me that he would’ve decided to make his house so bland. In fact, the conversation pit with the tester catwalk he has in the front of his atelier is a pink colour. You can see it briefly in a few scenes with long shots of his atelier. As it’s his office, it makes sense he’d add such a thing himself.

The only input he seems to have taken on the rest of the home is the butterfly patterns, but apart from that, it seems to have taken her hand in making it. This could be another hint to her character that she’d revolve the house in her colours, and wouldn’t let him take the reigns on many things.

The Painting and Statue

We can at least agree that Gabriel worships his wife in a certain way. He’s been known to show his care in less physical ways and more environmental. His office is plastered with photos of Adrien and family painting line the walls of the dining room.

However, the best example of his devotion to Emilie can be shown through to prime points in the Agreste household. The painting behind his workspace in his atelier and the statue in the garden.

The first is a clear reference to Gustav Klimts painting “Adele Bloch-Bauer” from 1907. If you were in the fandom in the earlier years before we were made aware of her name, you’d removed Adele was one of the many names floating around at the time when we discussed Adrien’s mother.

In 2006 a galery paid 135 million to display it in their museum, making it one of the most expensive paintings in history. Priceless even. The fact Gabriel got a commission of her in such likeness is pretty important. The sculpture however, while not a reference to any piece of art I’m aware of, is just as key.

These two objects paint her as perfect. Maybe even godless like. I should hope we all agree in saying viewing your spouse in such a way is unhealthy. Photos and certain extents of artwork makes sense, but to have her constantly at your shoulder and a reference to something so valuable? It raises questions.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because we need to know when these were installed. It’s pretty important believe it or not. It’s different if they were installed after her quote of quote departure. Although it’s not stated, it could very well be a form of tomb stone. A remembrance. Akin to families that create park benches with little plaques on the back board. Just a rich version. However, if it was beforehand? It brings into light the credibility of Emilie’s good character yet again.

Her portrait acts as the lift to the crypt. Right? All these hidden constructions couldn’t of been built post her death. Not with Adrien stuck there and aware either. Besides, where was Emilie going to go during the time it took even if his son was oblivious to secret builders and loud construction? I seriously doubt Gabriel kept the pod keeping her alive anywhere but the basement. It would’ve been easily found. Besides, the buttons themselves seem to be built AS part of the painting. So it would’ve needed to be commissioned to fit that purpose.

So it had to have been around well before they found the miraculous. With the implication of crippling devotion, and the fact the painting (at least) was there for longer, it means Emilie was perfectly fine with his idealising. Enabled it, even. This could mean any amount of things. But the following is what I’m more concerned about. It implies she may have been vain. Past the general self confidence and more broaching into I’m above everyone. Akin to what Lila shows in her appearances.

FINIAL COMMENTS

All in all, you don’t have to believe she’s evil. Or even otherwise an awful person. But you can’t ignore the subtext and facts that she is not perfect. And will not be a perfect parent for Adrien post Hawkmoth either as she was just as bad as Gabriel.

We can agree, at the very least, she also shut her son off socially, which I see Emilie stans refuse to take into account. You can believe whatever you want, but I feel as though we as a fandom should generally consider what we’ve been told at least a little bit instead of ignoring it.