#wouldnt feel so absolutely devoid of meaning and reason besides “shes the good one he's the bad one”

[kikigeh]

Miraculous had 5 seasons to try and turn Gabriel/Hawkmoth into a good, interesting or at the bare minimum a convincing threat but I feel like, even despite all of the brand new lore and backstory, his impact is pretty meaningless when at the end of the day he is going to be facing off against Ladybug and not someone else who'd make infinitely more sense for him to be battling against.

Hawkmoth really has no business thinking Ladybug is his greatest enemy when his own incompetence is the only thing he has ever battled against and Ladybug's gripe with Hawkmoth has more to do with the fact that she can't live her normal teenager life because she was chosen to be responsible to stop him. There's absolutely nothing that connects the two besides the fact that Hawkmoth wants her miraculous and the fact that they are both connected to Adrien somehow.

There's no clashing ideologies that are put at the forefront, they are in no way foils, Hawkmoth's "noble" motive of resuscitating his wife is impossible to root for because he spends the rest of the show being utter shit to his son so you can't convince anybody that he's a good person who deserves to be rewarded. The fact that at the end he's going to be rewarded with anonymity, a wish come true and his son never once being able to learn about anything about his deeds, all to make the showdown about how Hawkmoth and Ladybug have always been destined to fight against one another... it's just so silly.

The show really is a monument to wasted potential because how do you miss the chance to make it at least the kind of show that you'd recommend wholeheartedly because at least "the ending is good", and instead opt for the silliest kind of undeserved ending for the bad guy? It's seriously kind of depressing.

And to top it all off, the show actually gave Ladybug a formidable foe in Felix/Argos but then tossed that storyline away over... Lila??? Man.