RWBY VIII: Well, THAT escalated quickly

[Callos_DeTerran]

Well, two people said yes so...*Vomits up all of my words*

Content warning (It's like, PG13 guys):

Spoiler: Violence THIS S A FANFIC

Show

at one point there's some guts visible. Blood is mentioned. Ruby may or may not cut a wolf in half.

Red White Black Yellow, Chapter 1

Spoiler: Zodi's dumb FAN FIC dear lord

Show

Chapter 1

It began the way it always did. She was playing with her older sister. By one year, she'd always remind herself. It was getting late, but the ringing of gunfire in the night had woken them up. It was just the local Hunters practicing, or firing warning shots. But it started getting louder. They didn't realize what this meant. In an instant the house collapsed with a crash.

She wakes up, covered in rubble, her sister over her. She's hurt. Both of them. Fire is burning everywhere, she can smell it. Her sister pushes the rubble off of them and holds her tight, trying to keep her hidden. Five feet from them, in what was once their living room, was a body. It was their neighbor. She was pitched over a pile of rubble, blood leaking from the sides of her mouth. Leaking. Leaking leaking leaking.

Ontop of her was a large creature. A wolf. It's body was thick and sinewy, covered in black fur, dark as night. Accented with red fur, unclear if it was natural or just dyed with carnage. Along parts of it's hide where areas of white fur that made it look like it wore bones on it's body. It's head was dipped down into their neighbor's body, and as it lifted it's head up she could see it. It's maw was tinged a deep crimson, entrails hanging from it's mouth. It sniffs the air, it's eyes burning with a bright white light, like dying embers that refused to fizzle out. For a moment, it stares at her.

------

Ruby Xiaolong woke up in what many would consider a cold sweat, but she'd consider a regular old day. She got out of bed and shuffled over to the window, careful not to wake her sister. She looked outside the window of their wooden shack. The sun was just rising over the horizon. Six in the morning. Perfect.

She got dressed, a black shorts and shirt under a simple black dress with red fringe that went down to just past her knees. It was padded with leather, protective but not heavy. Tights, with a garter belt attached that connected to little loops of iron in her dress, so it'd stay down if she ended up flipping through the air. A bright red cloak that she pulled the hood up on, concealing her pale skin and short black hair. Only the very fringes of it, which had thinned out to a red shade, could be seen. She stretched her legs, making sure the garters where loose enough for free movement while still keeping her skirt in a reasonable position. Satisfied, she picked up her axe. She slung it over her back like a back pack, the haft folded up into the head, the small engine at the end closed. For now.

It was time to go hunting.

------

It had been six years since the day in her dream. Five years since she and her sister decided to be Hunters. Four years since their Uncle had told them they weren't allowed until they could prove it. Three since her sister had proven she could...and Ruby had failed to. In the remaining time since then Ruby had been working on proving she could make it as a hunter. The blacksmith in their new village helped her build it, taking pity on her. Ruby hummed to herself as she thought of all this. She wondered if the blacksmith had expected her to be so adept at using it. She was a lithe, 17 year old girl. An axe that large seemed...out of place.

Her thoughts suddenly stopped. She sniffed the air. A musty smell of ash filled the air. She reached back and touched the trigger on her axe, extending the haft enough for one hand. A single swing would be enough to unfurl it completely. The creature was near. She looked around her, view obscured by the woods around her. But she spotted it, skulking behind a tree, eyes glowing. Ruby felt the edges of her mouth rise, in a thin smile. A human would call it crazed. The beast might recognize the look, if it was old enough. Ruby knew what it was. She smelt prey.

The two stood for a moment, the dawning sun shining through the leaves over head. After what felt like an eternity the wolf lunged out, extending it's claws. Ruby swung, axe unfolding. It's weight caused her to almost fall over, but she dug in her heels. The creature's claws ringed against the red, metallic wedge of the axe, and it jumped back. She had swung too early. She grabbed the haft in both hands, thumb on the trigger of it's engine. She lifted her head enough for her silver eyes to be seen. She glared at the wolf. It was young, but wild. It wanted to eat. So did she.

It howled and lunged at her, and she jumped to the side. It's claws ripped through where she had been standing, clearly aimed at her chest. She gave a short, quick swing at the wolf, the thick edge of the axe hacking into it's back, spilling blood on it's black fur. It yelped and swirled towards her, lunging forward, maw wet with slober. Ruby lifted her axe up above her head.

The weight of her axe was just heavy enough for her to lift with effort. An overhead swing was just a little too much. It's why it had the engine. She triggered it, and a red-white flame burst from the port, like a jet engine in flight. Ruby held on tightly, finger pushed down on the trigger, and in one fluid motion hit the wolf. The edge of her axe was thick, and not as sharp she'd like. But it's weight and speed was more than enough. She smiled down at the now two pieces of wolf on either side of her axe, the head wedged into the ground. She was holding on so tight, she was now balancing upside down in the air. She flipped over and slide down the haft. Now...to bring it home.

------

Ruby dragged the wolf's body through her village, axe slung over her back. She hummed to herself happily, holding onto one of it's legs in each hand. People gave her stares that she took to be friendly smiles, and smiled back. The children running away reminded her that she was still thinking like hunter. She thought of her sister and gave them a more proper smile. It seemed to make the younger kids less scared, but the adults looked...upset. Ruby shrugged and focused on bringing the two halves to the blacksmith. He paid her well for their bones and hide, and this time would be no different.

It was ten in the morning when Ruby arrived home, a large sack of gold coins on hand instead of a dirty corpse. Her sister was just leaving as she arrived home. She wore her brown leather hunting jacket with a yellow t shirt underneath, black leggings underneath padded beige jeans, and knee high hunting boots. Her golden yellow hair flowed down her back, swishing as she shook her head and sighed.

"What're you doing, Ruby?" her sister asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Getting us some money, Topaz." Ruby said simply. Her sister gave her an exasperated look.

"Ruby...we have enough money. You don't have to risk your life for a few pieces of gold." Topaz said with a sigh. "Besides, Unc's still sending those monthly alowances for us, remember? AND since I'll be going to Veil soon, you'll have that money all to yourself."

"But I want to go to." Ruby explained. "I want to go to Veil with you." Topaz gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Ruby, we...we talked about this. You...NEED to wait a year. The school won't take people under 18. The money isn't the..." Topaz tried to explain. Ruby looked at her, expression unchanging. "The problem...the problem is we need to...check the money jars. So get inside."

Before Ruby could get inside Topaz grabbed her by the face and drug her in, closing the door behind her. The two headed to the living room and looked at the two jars on the fireplace mantle. One had a cute drawning of Topaz on it, the other Ruby. Topaz's was full, but Ruby's...less so.

"Well, this'll probably be your laaast chance." Topaz said with a smirke. She brought down Ruby's jar and opened it. "Put in your cash. If you get to the top...you can come. To VISIT. You'll have to go home before school starts."

Ruby's eyes lit up and she opened the bag of coin into the jar. Topaz made a exaggerated gasp as the coins filled up to the top, then spilt out over the sides.

"Well sis, looks like SOMEONE gets to go to Veil with me." She said. Of course, Ruby already knew she'd be coming. Topaz did as well. But their uncle had friends in the village who kept an eye out for them, so they had to keep up the act.

Nether where very good actors, but Ruby's giddiness at going to the capital was the most real thing she'd felt that day. As soon was they had finished lunch, the two sisters chartered a caravan to the big city, laughing all the way.

Spoiler: Changes from canon log STILL A FAN FIC NOT REAL

Show

Ruby Rose => Ruby Xiaolong
Yang Xiaolong => Topaz Xiaologn
Crescent Rose, Scythe => my axe, an axe
Vale, city of Vale => Veil, capital of Velum
Grimm, annoyances that somehow end the world, bone plates => Grim, monsters of the dark with white and red patterned fur. Not world ending. Still very dangerous.
Other minor stuff you'll see as I get around to writing more stuff but isn't required to list here.

Hmmm, first question that comes to mind are about the changes you made (cause the rest is too early to really critique just yet).

Why change Yang's name?
Crescent Rose is an axe now?
Why remove the bone plates from the Grim?

Not saying any of these are bad, but I am curious as to the reasoning behind these changes.

[LaZodiac]

Hmmm, first question that comes to mind are about the changes you made (cause the rest is too early to really critique just yet).

Why change Yang's name?
Crescent Rose is an axe now?
Why remove the bone plates from the Grim?

Not saying any of these are bad, but I am curious as to the reasoning behind these changes.

ALL THIS IS FAN FIC STUFF NOT REAL, FYI (hedging my bets here on the Rawhide warn =p)

In an effort to make the world more "real" I'm changing the names to be more consistent. Ruby Rose and her sister Yang Xiaolong just stands out to me as a very...frustrating "why have this even be a thing" difference. There are other reasons, for Topaz specifically (among those: it's a yellow gemstone) but the rest would arguably be spoilers. Other characters will be getting name changes as well, to fit with the more expanded upon culture "real-ness" of the kingdoms.

To elaborate on this point a bit, the basic idea is that each Kingdom's culture tends to emphasize certain "things" with how they name things. This isn't a steadfast rule in our out of universe it's just how things are culturally, and even then it's not always true (Vellum is sort of a melting pot that disseminates culture by it's very nature, as an example). So consider it a hint, of sorts. Ruby and Topaz, their parents clearly wanted to name their daughters something precious. And at least one of them was from Mistral (spoilers for the future renamed to Kochi, which means "Eastern Wind".)

After spending a good 15 or so years trying to make a scythe work dynamically and properly in writing, and after seeing Soul Eater do the best you can possibly do with a scythe and have it work, I'm of the opinion that it's just not worth having a scythe as a weapon. Also, a part of me DOES want to pay service to the idea of this being a fairy tail inspired world, though I'm expanding upon that to a degree, so Ruby has the woodcutter's axe (though obviously more mechanical and anime-d up, naturally) from her Little Red Riding Hood esque inspiration.

The bone plates on the Grimm make them too much like Hollows from Bleach. It's just too immediately clear an inspiration for me. The change of the Grim having patterned fur (and in the case of non furred creatures scales) gives it a harder to pinpoint inspiration, and also sort of feels like a child's painted doll. Think of it like those skeleton dolls from mexican day of the dead ceremonies. I also just think it's cooler if they're fully furred/scalled/hided/whatever. Skin havers.

[HMS Invincible]

For a second, I thought lazodiac was going to review the rest of the manga chapters.

[LaZodiac]

For a second, I thought lazodiac was going to review the rest of the manga chapters.

I'm going to try really hard to get a subscription to WSJ so that I can do this as well. As well as watch the episodes of RWBY that I've missed. Things have just been a bit hectic over at ye olde Zodi Fort.

[Phexar]

Spoiler: V4E7

Show

Regarding Tyrian's venom, he seemed like he was going to jab Ruby with that and his orders were to bring her in alive, so it's probably not fatal. Will likely put Qrow out of commission for a while though. But at the same time Tyrian was badly injured with losing his stinger, so he'll be absent from threatening Ruby for a while as well.

Also I read a YT comment that noted that Whitley might have a certain legitimate gripe for being how he is, considering both Winter and Weiss ended up leaving him all alone with Jacques and their no-doubt regularly drunken mother ("I heard Father shouting with someone in his study earlier""Mother?""No, she’s already drinking in the garden"), which would have treated him to all of Jacques's ever so lovely attention. Not to mention Jacques probably wouldn't have let him, his last child, go off elsewhere like his two sisters. He might feel he's owed the Schnee Dust Company for being the only child to stay home and put up with their dad as a result. There could also be some jealousy there as Winter and then Weiss would have been the favourites ahead of him, both their being his elder.

[jindra34]

Spoiler: V4E8 Reactions

Show

1. Lets start with a well needed plot dump and some backstory. Now the question is HOW THE BEEEEP is Ozpin so bloody sure about all of the things that relate to PRE-Human/Early Human era information?
2. Blake's mom is the best mom in the show. I know thats not saying much, but seriously she'd be in the competition anyway. Seeing whats needed and then causing it to happen.
3.Also Blake's family actually behaving like a normal family. Refreshing.
4.And goddammit Blake's Dad, its like your in a competition with Taiyang to see who can be the best dad. Blake appreciate your family, because you got it good there.
5.Sun... You need to learn the whens, wheres and whys of how to do things. BADLY. And if you can't... just get out of the SHOW. Screwing up what could have been a very helpful scene.
6. And no one points out to Qrow that the way things are going there is going to be another Great War one way or another?
7.Qrow's semblance relates to his name... and is more of a curse. Whelp.
8.And yep Sun is wrecking what little therapy and support Blake is getting. Good job kid, good job.
9. The predictable thing happens. Good news: It took all episode. Bad news: It looks fairly bad what with coughing up purple.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Okay, so I was okay with all the various power sources up to this point, except maybe silver eyes.

Two universal powers for humans, a universal destructive force, and one limited power source to give a specific objective to the conflict.

We didn't... need... relics. FOUR relics. Four is the magic number.

Oh and none of RNJR knew that scorpions were venomous, apparently. Maybe they were following the logic of "bigger scorpion = less venomous" I guess I can't fault them if that's the case.

But we really don't need another death. Yeah, storylines often have only one or two deaths and it can get a little predictable that no one else is going to die. But there's a reason for this! This is also the most predictable character to kill!

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Okay, so I was okay with all the various power sources up to this point, except maybe silver eyes.

Two universal powers for humans, a universal destructive force, and one limited power source to give a specific objective to the conflict.

We didn't... need... relics. FOUR relics. Four is the magic number.

Oh and none of RNJR knew that scorpions were venomous, apparently. Maybe they were following the logic of "bigger scorpion = less venomous" I guess I can't fault them if that's the case.

But we really don't need another death. Yeah, storylines often have only one or two deaths and it can get a little predictable that no one else is going to die. But there's a reason for this! This is also the most predictable character to kill!

Spoiler: V4C8

Show

I think Team RNJR is operating under the assumption that a faunus trait doesn't necessarily mean they share that animal's traits...which would make a degree of sense based of what we know. Qrow's comment in the WoR: Rain is that he swears he saw a lizard faunus regrow his tail implied that no one believes such a thing can happen...but that's a pretty common and well known trait of various lizards.

Or maybe Team RNJR has never seen an actual scorpion, just death stalkers which seem to be venomless.

If that IS the case then it means that Tyrian's venom is either unusual or a function of his Sembalance considering his eyes change color when it happens. Also, it looked like the purple on Qrow's hand came from pressing on the wound, not from coughing it up.

[BRC]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Okay, so I was okay with all the various power sources up to this point, except maybe silver eyes.

Two universal powers for humans, a universal destructive force, and one limited power source to give a specific objective to the conflict.

We didn't... need... relics. FOUR relics. Four is the magic number.

Oh and none of RNJR knew that scorpions were venomous, apparently. Maybe they were following the logic of "bigger scorpion = less venomous" I guess I can't fault them if that's the case.

But we really don't need another death. Yeah, storylines often have only one or two deaths and it can get a little predictable that no one else is going to die. But there's a reason for this! This is also the most predictable character to kill!

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Eh, at this point, I've just decided to treat RWBY as a generic fantasy setting with the pretenses of some better-defined system.

Aura, Semblance, Dust, and "Magic"

What is "Magic", well, it's an unexplained Power that is neither Aura, Semblance, or Dust.

Maidens have it, the Four Relics have it. You know what, I'm going to call Silver-Eyes just another type of "Magic".

And heck, Ozpin Ghost Resurrection is also "Magic".

Salem is probably also Magic, although we have not seen any particular powers from her.

Qrow is probably also Magic, since he can turn into a bird, and we know his semblance isn't transformation.

Semblance WOULD be Magic (in that it can do just about anything, from making clones of yourself to summoning monsters to turning you into rose petals), except that it's common enough for people in-universe to have a full understanding of how it works, so it gets a different name, and is treated as a normal thing.

As for scorpion venom. I don't know if we've seen anybody actually get stung by a deathclaw (or bitten by one of the giant snake things for that matter), but they could very easily be venomous.

That said, most Faunus we've seen so far have been 99% human in terms of their capabilities. A couple of them have claws, maybe better hearing from big ears, and Sun has a prehensile tail. But I don't think we've seen anything as extreme as a venomous scorpion tail. And even then, "Hey, my tail has venom" could very easily be a semblance power.

Regardless of if they knew or not, they might simply have had no good way to help. They wouldn't necessarily have an antitoxin on them, they don't know exactly what venom he's been hit with (lets say they were stocked up on a cure for Deathclaw venom, as any prepared huntsman should be, doesn't mean that would work on whatever Tirion has in his tail). Any attempt to treat his wound would mean extended exposure to the jinx-aura, and there wasn't exactly a doctor nearby.

So their plan was "Wait and hope he's not poisoned".

[Hiro Protagonest]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Eh, at this point, I've just decided to treat RWBY as a generic fantasy setting with the pretenses of some better-defined system.

Aura, Semblance, Dust, and "Magic"

What is "Magic", well, it's an unexplained Power that is neither Aura, Semblance, or Dust.

Maidens have it, the Four Relics have it. You know what, I'm going to call Silver-Eyes just another type of "Magic".

And heck, Ozpin Ghost Resurrection is also "Magic".

Salem is probably also Magic, although we have not seen any particular powers from her.

Qrow is probably also Magic, since he can turn into a bird, and we know his semblance isn't transformation.

Semblance WOULD be Magic (in that it can do just about anything, from making clones of yourself to summoning monsters to turning you into rose petals), except that it's common enough for people in-universe to have a full understanding of how it works, so it gets a different name, and is treated as a normal thing.

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

That doesn't matter. What matters is it's like Final Fantasy saying "collect the four crystals to seal away the evil." Then it's saying "what actually matters is the triforce of wisdom, power and courage, but you're still after the crystals remember!"

Except what the characters are actually doing is just trying to find one of the major cities, they can't actually do anything related to the big stuff yet. But we're getting all this exposition for it.

[BRC]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

That doesn't matter. What matters is it's like Final Fantasy saying "collect the four crystals to seal away the evil." Then it's saying "what actually matters is the triforce of wisdom, power and courage, but you're still after the crystals remember!"

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Not really?

We didn't have a Meta Plot Goal previously, besides "Stop Salem, and whatever her vague evil plan is".

Like, they were trying to get the Maiden's powers, but I wouldn't call the Maiden's Macguffins. The other three are theoretically powerful fighters on their own, and will now be on-guard.

The Relics are Macguffins in the classic sense, and explain why the academies are being targeted.
Before they just had the vague goal of "Go to Haven and do something to stop Cinder?" Now they know that they need to protect the Relics.

Before it was like "The Crystals exist! The fact that the villains have one is a BAD THING!"

Now it's like "Go get the Triforce! But remember, the crystals, and the villains have one"

[HMS Invincible]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Not really?

We didn't have a Meta Plot Goal previously, besides "Stop Salem, and whatever her vague evil plan is".

Like, they were trying to get the Maiden's powers, but I wouldn't call the Maiden's Macguffins. The other three are theoretically powerful fighters on their own, and will now be on-guard.

The Relics are Macguffins in the classic sense, and explain why the academies are being targeted.
Before they just had the vague goal of "Go to Haven and do something to stop Cinder?" Now they know that they need to protect the Relics.

Before it was like "The Crystals exist! The fact that the villains have one is a BAD THING!"

Now it's like "Go get the Triforce! But remember, the crystals, and the villains have one"

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Maybe the writers are trying to paper over all the bad/dumb stuff Monty wrote so they made up a new plot point so they would have something more useful than maidens. It's tough spot to be in, but I was really hoping they didn't do this. Why not just jam the four maidens into each academy, you'd accomplish the same thing but without having to make up new things. Or maybe they didn't want to add more people?

[BRC]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Maybe the writers are trying to paper over all the bad/dumb stuff Monty wrote so they made up a new plot point so they would have something more useful than maidens. It's tough spot to be in, but I was really hoping they didn't do this. Why not just jam the four maidens into each academy, you'd accomplish the same thing but without having to make up new things. Or maybe they didn't want to add more people?

Spoiler

Show

The convenient thing about inanimate Macguffins is that they're not characters, so they're easier to work into an already overstuffed plot and world.

They also don't defend themselves, and their power goes to whoever has them. The Fall maiden got taken out by Cinder's goon squad, but they just established she was inexperienced. If they want to use the Maiden's as McGuffins, they need to have a Villains vs Maiden fight, + Maiden almost dies thinking of the villain for EACH ONE.

As it is, the Maidens can just kind of exist in the background, and the protagonists can focus on the Relics.

[jindra34]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

Maybe the writers are trying to paper over all the bad/dumb stuff Monty wrote so they made up a new plot point so they would have something more useful than maidens. It's tough spot to be in, but I was really hoping they didn't do this. Why not just jam the four maidens into each academy, you'd accomplish the same thing but without having to make up new things. Or maybe they didn't want to add more people?

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

The issue isn't getting the madiens in the 4 academies. Its keeping them and their powers there discreetly. Having long term students who become teachers/professors? And a string of them? Kinda draws attention. A little trinket that you can literally throw in a vault and (almost) never look at again? (Almost) No one will ever notice that. So there is a difference. Though it seems like Salem is gathering power in every form possible, and with the 'goddess' term being thrown around... maybe she has other plans.

[Anyr]

Spoiler: V04E08

Show

Sun continues to be a total waste of screen time. No surprise there.

I too really dislike the relics. They seem to be totally redundant. A substantial portion of Volume 3 was devoted to introducing the Maidens; And establishing them as the four key objectives that Salem is chasing. Why exactly does the plot need another set of four now? What value do they add?

[kjelfalconer]

Spoiler: V4E08

Show

Ah, but here's the thing. Salem doesn't actually want the maiden powers at all. They're not a thing that she needs for her plans. What they are is a threat. And we know Salem is patient, and likes to weaken her opponents, and that the maiden powers can't be destroyed. So she's doing the next best thing - she's stealing them.

By taking the maiden powers, she deprives humanity of one of its most potent defences. Adding it to her own arsenal is an incremental bonus. Given what we know now about soul mingling too, we also have an extra reason why she's so keen to both be reasonable to Cinder, and to get her talking again. Depending on the degree of soulmelding, there could be a very real danger of Cinder's loyalty wavering, but, more importantly, what are the odds that the maidens know about each other? Who the others are? Pretty good, I'd say. Which means Cinder knows. And could tell her. It may also be why she lets Cinder keep her goon squad around, because Emerald is the only other female she has to work with by the looks of things.

/end conjecture

[HMS Invincible]

Spoiler: V4E08

Show

Ah, but here's the thing. Salem doesn't actually want the maiden powers at all. They're not a thing that she needs for her plans. What they are is a threat. And we know Salem is patient, and likes to weaken her opponents, and that the maiden powers can't be destroyed. So she's doing the next best thing - she's stealing them.

By taking the maiden powers, she deprives humanity of one of its most potent defences. Adding it to her own arsenal is an incremental bonus. Given what we know now about soul mingling too, we also have an extra reason why she's so keen to both be reasonable to Cinder, and to get her talking again. Depending on the degree of soulmelding, there could be a very real danger of Cinder's loyalty wavering, but, more importantly, what are the odds that the maidens know about each other? Who the others are? Pretty good, I'd say. Which means Cinder knows. And could tell her. It may also be why she lets Cinder keep her goon squad around, because Emerald is the only other female she has to work with by the looks of things.

/end conjecture

Spoiler: s4e8

Show

OK, you've written yourself out of that plot hole. Too bad RWBY hasn't. The meta point here is we are eternally hopeful about the shows direction and writing. I dunno how long they intend to Naruto us into a never ending adventure, but they should consider finishing old plot threads before making new ones. Which they kinda did with the schools collapse and separated members.
You should remember to separate the meta discussion of the story vs the actual story.
]

[BRC]

Spoiler: s4e8

Show

OK, you've written yourself out of that plot hole. Too bad RWBY hasn't. The meta point here is we are eternally hopeful about the shows direction and writing. I dunno how long they intend to Naruto us into a never ending adventure, but they should consider finishing old plot threads before making new ones. Which they kinda did with the schools collapse and separated members.
You should remember to separate the meta discussion of the story vs the actual story.
]

Spoiler

Show

Well, in the Actual Story, there is no indication that Salem has further plans for any of the Maidens.

They successfully stole a Maiden's power, that's a big win for Team Evil. The other Maidens are out there, but just because there is a set of powerful things, doesn't mean those things need be plot threads.

Plot Thread of last season: Cinder wants to steal the Maiden's power and destroy Beacon. She succeeds in the first, and kind of succeeds in the second (Beacon itself still stands, but it's basically gone). We learned that there were 4 Maidens, but there was nothing that told us the other three are supposed to be an immediate concern.

Now, Qrow just told us that Salem is after the Relics, which are secured within the Academies. Now we have an immediate plot thread.

w

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: v4e8 kjelfalconer, BRC

Show

Ah, but here's the thing. Salem doesn't actually want the maiden powers at all. They're not a thing that she needs for her plans. What they are is a threat. And we know Salem is patient, and likes to weaken her opponents, and that the maiden powers can't be destroyed. So she's doing the next best thing - she's stealing them.

By taking the maiden powers, she deprives humanity of one of its most potent defences. Adding it to her own arsenal is an incremental bonus. Given what we know now about soul mingling too, we also have an extra reason why she's so keen to both be reasonable to Cinder, and to get her talking again. Depending on the degree of soulmelding, there could be a very real danger of Cinder's loyalty wavering, but, more importantly, what are the odds that the maidens know about each other? Who the others are? Pretty good, I'd say. Which means Cinder knows. And could tell her. It may also be why she lets Cinder keep her goon squad around, because Emerald is the only other female she has to work with by the looks of things.

/end conjecture

Well, in the Actual Story, there is no indication that Salem has further plans for any of the Maidens.

In episode 1 of this season, Salem says, not that Cinder has eliminated a threat, or that Cinder's acquisition of the Fall Maiden's power is an incremental bonus, or that Cinder has deprived humanity of a potent defense, but specifically that Cinder holds the key to their victory. It's not airtight, but the most direct explanation for this is that Salem is after the Maiden powers because her as-yet-unknown plans depend on using them. This is the same status the Relics currently hold.

Potato: Yang finds out that she's descended from a long line of golden-haired warriors with special powers. She and Ruby form Team Precious Metal Anatomy.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler: v4e8 kjelfalconer, BRC

Show

In episode 1 of this season, Salem says, not that Cinder has eliminated a threat, or that Cinder's acquisition of the Fall Maiden's power is an incremental bonus, or that Cinder has deprived humanity of a potent defense, but specifically that Cinder holds the key to their victory. It's not airtight, but the most direct explanation for this is that Salem is after the Maiden powers because her as-yet-unknown plans depend on using them. This is the same status the Relics currently hold.

Potato: Yang finds out that she's descended from a long line of golden-haired warriors with special powers. She and Ruby form Team Precious Metal Anatomy.

Spoiler: V4C7

Show

I'm willing to wager that Cinder is the key to their victory because only someone who can use magic/a Maiden can actually use the relics once they are found. Salem targeting the other Maidens is still an unknown for why she is, but it didn't seem to be as pressing a concern as the fall of Haven considering Salem pulls Tyrian from the hunt to basically settle Cinder's grudge with Ruby.

I mean, Salem could have a goal in mind for Ruby as well considering she wants Ruby alive, but Salem only ordered her capture AFTER Cinder brought it up...in other words she only considers it important because Cinder does and ranks the Spring Maiden of similar importance or they can afford to wait on taking her out.

My guess is she's only hunting down the other Maidens because Salem only needs one (which she has) but the others could throw a wrench in her plan and is premptively taking then out of the picture. Which would mean the Maidens interact with the relics in some manner. Mostly because Salem says Cinder is the key to their victory...not that she's one of them.

On relics: They don't bother me. We knew very little about Remnant until recently so the fact these things exist without people knowing about them doesn't bother me. We were never mislead into thinking that Aura, Dust, and Semblance were the only amazing things in the world, that just seems to be something that others decided on their own despite evidence to the contrary (Penny). I do wish we had learned about the relics in a better way though..this is another bit of big plot exposition to come in story time format which I don't mind because I like the style of them but it feels clunky after so long.

Plus, here's the big one...I don't think that this particular story is entirely true. Not because of anything to do with the relics but because of the Grim...it doesn't mesh with what we've learned about the Grim or seen from them. And Qrow opened up the story with 'if you believe Ozpin' which plants a seed of doubt about the whole thing. Something isn't jiving with the story about the relics...

[Lemmy]

Spoiler: V4E8

Show

The relics do seem redundant... But there are four of them, so I'm guessing they have some relation to the maidens. Like.. .Only a maiden can use them, the maidens are actually powered by these relics, or they are meant to keep each other in check... Something like that. Remember, so far, all we know about the Maidens and the Relics is what Qrow and Ozpin told us, but even their knowledge is based on really ancient legends that are considered fairy tales by everyone else, so we can't be sure how accurate their information is.

Still... This volume is really dragging out... Too slow paced. Almost 10 episodes and nothing really happened.

[jindra34]

Spoiler: v4e8 kjelfalconer, BRC

Show

In episode 1 of this season, Salem says, not that Cinder has eliminated a threat, or that Cinder's acquisition of the Fall Maiden's power is an incremental bonus, or that Cinder has deprived humanity of a potent defense, but specifically that Cinder holds the key to their victory. It's not airtight, but the most direct explanation for this is that Salem is after the Maiden powers because her as-yet-unknown plans depend on using them. This is the same status the Relics currently hold.

Spoiler: V4E8

Show

Given how EVEN the Battle of Beacon was (which ever side one pretty much won a pyrrhic victory), it simply could be that Salem needs that scale of power to even consider attempting an assault on any of the academies. Or maybe more because she there won't always be a dragon grade grimm around to make the situation worse. And heaven forbid a skilled maiden shows up a throws her weight into the battle. Or someone uses the relic in defense of the school. Its possible Salem needs every little bit of power she can get to stand a chance of pulling this off. Possible enough that I'm willing to wait and see at least before judging.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: v4e8 jindra34

Show

Given how EVEN the Battle of Beacon was (which ever side one pretty much won a pyrrhic victory), it simply could be that Salem needs that scale of power to even consider attempting an assault on any of the academies. Or maybe more because she there won't always be a dragon grade grimm around to make the situation worse. And heaven forbid a skilled maiden shows up a throws her weight into the battle. Or someone uses the relic in defense of the school. Its possible Salem needs every little bit of power she can get to stand a chance of pulling this off. Possible enough that I'm willing to wait and see at least before judging.

For what it's worth, I'm not judging. I don't object to the proliferation of special powers and objects--if anything, I'd have preferred to see more such mysteries from the start. Any actual judgments I have will be explicitly labeled as such, or they'll be in my episode writeup, which the holidays delayed. I'm just offering a factual correction.

None of what you described would make Cinder the key to victory. It would make her one more (admittedly significant) asset in the ongoing collection of power. Moreover, I don't think Salem is ultimately concerned about not having enough power, as such--remember her conclusion in the prologue.

[Calemyr]

Spoiler: V4E8

Show

First, not many have the VA skills to spew THAT much exposition and not make it horrible. The fact that it was only as painful as it was is a testament to Vic Mignogna's skill.

Second, RWBY is definitely getting Artifact Fatigue. It's starting to feel like a Legend of Zelda game: "First collect the four keys of peace to get into the palace, then the three amulets of wisdom to unlock the time-travelling sword, then the seven fragments of the Triforce of Patience to open the door to the final boss and the legendary three weapons of supreme niftiness to overcome his magic.. oh, and while you're at it, collect the 100 Bling Spiders to unlock the dreaded spell Chicken Storm."

That said, however, each set of artifacts or powers shown so far serve a specific purpose. Dust provides several major setting aspects such as depictions of wealth, non-contemporary technology, and making traditionally impossible things commonplace. Aura provides a setting where they can have big wild battles without having Game of Thrones level casualties and minimizing battle damage to reduce the complexity of the animation. Semblance adds a mystical wildcard that allows everyone to have unique abilities without having to explain each one individually. Faunus provide a new dimension for generating compelling character designs and serves as an avenue to make "subtle" social commentary. Grimm provides a limitless number and variety of expendable fodder for flashy battles with threat levels that can be adjusted to fine tune the tension of the fights. Those are the setting-based ones. I think we've now got the plot based ones, as well. The Relics are Salem's goal. They're the end-game that everyone needs to worry about. The Maidens are Salem's tool. They're the leverage that will allow one ambitious woman to gather (and dominate) a power base sufficient to pose a "credible" threat to an entire frickin' world of empowered super badasses. Finally, Silver Eyes provide Salem's bane, the counter force that could destroy her plan, simultaneously forcing her to act cautiously and giving the audience enough breathing room to not feel like this world isn't completely screwed. The number of artifacts at play here is both the strength and the weakness of RWBY - combined, they create a unique and customizable setting that has a semblance of logic to it while providing solid "spectacle"-based entertainment. The flip side is that it's so convoluted and unnecessarily complex that more thoughtful members of the audience see the cluttered mess beneath the surface rather then the spectacular ballet of eye candy it's meant to be.

As for the episode itself, I don't know if Qrowe is meant to survive this. Mignogna can't be cheap and, while I think he's worth it, the exposition fairy has played his part. They could kill him off right here pretty easily. On the other hand, Ruby did remove Tyrian's stinger, which would be an obvious element in buffaloing a quick antidote if they can get him to a healer, rendering Qrowe conveniently incapacitated to up the tension without removing him from play.

The whole Brothers story was somewhat Lost on me. Jacob Big Brother has a deal going with his devious and destructive Little Brother to create a world creation and destruction without their direct involvement. Nice and neat, painting humanity as the special snowflake, equal parts scourge and savior. Apparently this is one "true" myth, according to the closest thing this setting has to an expert, though he himself has proven unreliable. Not a bad addition, but I'd really rather we got some of our fluff finished rather than new stuff added. What was the great war, for example, beyond an excuse to name kids after colors?

Finally, what the hell is wrong with that ninja? She might as well have been wearing bright orange and shouting self-aggrandizing propaganda from the rooftops. First, white might be a practical color in the winter, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in a desert. Actually, a sore thumb would probably blend in better. More importantly, however, White Fang are welcome here! Adam's masked sect is only just now being outed as being bad guys. You could walk around unmasked and nobody would bat an eye, but instead you wear the one thing, the one frickin' thing, that identifies you as being not just White Fang, but that White Fang. Was the giant neon "I'm a villain" sign just too expensive? Because it obviously didn't clash with your style.

Also, the Belladonna's are great. To say more would be to repeat what others have already said eloquently.

Ah, well. All in all, not a bad episode. Bit of a breather. A lot of information, some wonderful heart, and then a couple of solid calls back to action.

[Rawhide]

Spoiler: S4E8

Show

{snip}

Spoiler

Show

{snip}

Spoiler

Show

{snip}

w

You've started to forget to include the volume and chapter number in the spoiler title. Please try to remember every time.

It might not seem important now, but 5 pages and 2 chapters later it can be quite helpful!

[Lethologica]

Double feature? Double feature.

Spoiler: v4e8 thoughts

Show

1. Implied exposition followed by repetition of the material anyway. Hm.

2. "Their souls combine" -- I'm gonna take this as confirmation that Ozcar is the reincarnation of the old man from the same myth.

3. "Not many people know about the silver eyes, but those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced"--so no one good knows about the silver eyes, or the good people aren't happy because SEW surfacing signals conflict? Not that there wasn't abundant signaling of that already.

4. Qrow doesn't outright reject the accusation about using Ruby as bait.

5. "Will you just tell us what's going on?!" Well, no, but he'll advance your questioning from "why the schools" to "why the Relics," if that's any help.

6. Qrow puts down the bottle when he gets to religion. So religion is more important than alcohol. Duly noted.

7. "Long enough that people have created dozens of gods" -- oh, is that all?

8. This creation-destruction myth is rather slapdash. Also, now I'm thinking about a kid asking where humans come from, and the adult saying, "When an older brother and a younger brother love each other very much..." But it's enough to hold up the story.

9. Which relic d'you suppose Beacon got? Do I need to go back through WoR to look for symbol clues? .__.

10. "They'd be able to change the world, and that's exactly what the enemy wants." Because Good Guys Uphold The Status Quo, kids!

11. I wonder how long the period was between the relics being created and the schools being created.

12. "If she gets them, it's not going to end well." Yep, that explained everything.

13. Kali be sly. Ghira be protective. Blake be porcupine-y. Sun be a dolt. (I bet Ghira is expressing Zodi's sentiments there.)

14. Bandages over clothes, Qrow? Well, I guess you didn't pack a change anyway. (Ew.)

15. "Vacuo is...well, Vacuo. We haven't unlocked that quest area yet." (The reasoning actually given is silly.)

16. No talking while Raven's watching, then?

17. I expect Ruby and Jaune to fight about Qrow soon.

18. Next time, Jaune, try knocking.

19. Spying on Blake or on Ghira? But, y'know, wearing the mask is dumb.

20. Okay, watching RNJR sit up like robots is pretty entertaining.

21. Reverse escort mission!

22. It's a good thing Vic is their best VA. Anyone else would have made a hash of that much dialogue.

Spoiler: v4e9 thoughts

Show

1. Argh, Taiyang's VA is driving me nuts. Complete visual-aural mismatch.

2. ARGH TAIYANG'S VA IS DRIVING ME NUTS sorry I know we're getting a lesson on emotional balance and hearing about Raven but I can hardly concentrate with this guy talking like an obnoxious 15-year-old.

3. Now Whitley's a dolt. They say the second-generation tyrant is cruel but not competent.

4. That chase scene was...trying to draw attention to how cliched it was?

5. Aura seems a lot weaker than it used to be. I guess that's useful when you need Sun to be not-all-right but can't make time for a proper fight scene.

6. Why did Ilia change color except to show what kind of Faunus she is? Also, if that amount of smoke let her escape now, why didn't she escape after cutting the steam pipe?

7. "Without the map"--wait, they actually left the map behind?! :facepalm: It's a good thing the amusement park attendants left their signs behind.

8. I, too, hug anyone shorter than me around the head...wait, that's not the important thing right now. Don't split the party! Not even so Ren can avoid his tragic backstory! Well, odds are Raven's gonna show up soon anyway.

9. And there's her sign (or her monster's footprint), right on cue.

[Ramza00]

Spoiler: Vol 4 Episode 9

Show

God I love Zwei, Corgis are awesome even if they are computer animated.

Part of me was screaming in my head Sun use your god damn semblance, there is no better time to use it than a chase since your semblance creates a numbers superior advantage. Sun only loses some points for he did what was completely obvious, but he did so several seconds later doing so on a roof instead of the tree ambush.

On the subject of trees, it appears Blake and Sun are tree lovers, while Pyrrha, Yang, and Ruby are tree haters.

9. And there's her sign (or her monster's footprint), right on cue.

That would be evil step mother thank you very much, since Ruby is the daughter of Summer Rose (Taiyang's 2nd fling) and Yang is the daughter of Raven Branwen.

Teasing, get your fairy tale tropes right

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: v4e9 Ramza00

Show

That would be evil step mother thank you very much, since Ruby is the daughter of Summer Rose (Taiyang's 2nd fling) and Yang is the daughter of Raven Branwen.

Teasing, get your fairy tale tropes right

Her (Raven's) monster. Not mother.

Raven isn't Ruby's stepmother, anyway. Summer is Yang's stepmom, but it doesn't go both ways.

[Ramza00]

Spoiler: v4e9 Ramza00

Show

Her (Raven's) monster. Not mother.

Raven isn't Ruby's stepmother, anyway. Summer is Yang's stepmom, but it doesn't go both ways.

LMAO that is what I get for reading too fast.

[Shackel]

Spoiler: V4E8

Show

Urgggggh. There's something about the "siblings of light and darkness" creation myth that just sounds so lazy. I was rolling my eyes from the beginning after hearing that.

Were four more MacGuffins really needed when we've only even seen one of the first four MacGuffins? We've already got the Maidens and Designated Protagonist Silver Eyes.