RWBY VIII: Well, THAT escalated quickly

[Anyr]

Spoiler: v5c2

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I sure hope cRWBY stops playing coy with the silver eyes power soon. It's messing with Ruby's character development and Cinder's character development and the layers of any upcoming conflict between the two, and it bugs the hell out of me. Salem refusing again
to explain what she means by Cinder having a weakness to Ruby is just the most recent manifestation of this problem. They don't have to explain everything about the silver eyes to provide a foundation that can be built on, but as of now they're too far in the other direction.

Spoiler: V05E02

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I'm still bemused by her being so late to mention it. The silver-eyed people are a known factor, that Salem has faced before. She must have realised that Cinder might meet one at some point. So why didn't Salem warn Cinder ahead of time? 'By the way, watch out for people with silver eyes. Once you absorb the Maiden's power, you'll become especially vulnerable to such foes'. If Cinder had known that, she could have arranged for Ruby to be eliminated beforehand. That would have saved the villains a lot of headaches.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: V05E02

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I'm still bemused by her being so late to mention it. The silver-eyed people are a known factor, that Salem has faced before. She must have realised that Cinder might meet one at some point. So why didn't Salem warn Cinder ahead of time? 'By the way, watch out for people with silver eyes. Once you absorb the Maiden's power, you'll become especially vulnerable to such foes'. If Cinder had known that, she could have arranged for Ruby to be eliminated beforehand. That would have saved the villains a lot of headaches.

Spoiler: v4c1

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I don't mind that Cinder didn't know silver-eyed warriors would be a problem. I can buy that Salem simply wasn't expecting silver-eyed warriors to be around anymore, for example. There are other possible explanations.

If Cinder's 'crippling weakness' is broader than just silver eye power, then yeah, Salem really needed to have that chat beforehand. But even in that case, her failure to do so is not a key element of the plot moving forward, so I don't have to dwell on it.

[Ramza00]

Spoiler: V05E02

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I'm still bemused by her being so late to mention it. The silver-eyed people are a known factor, that Salem has faced before. She must have realised that Cinder might meet one at some point. So why didn't Salem warn Cinder ahead of time? 'By the way, watch out for people with silver eyes. Once you absorb the Maiden's power, you'll become especially vulnerable to such foes'. If Cinder had known that, she could have arranged for Ruby to be eliminated beforehand. That would have saved the villains a lot of headaches.

Oh what Anyr said

Spoiler: Vol 05 E02

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To add what Anyr said, remember Monty Oum supposedly had a rough plan for 10 vols and part of his rough plan was for an encounter between Raven in JNPR in vol 3 according to a disgruntled employee? (Who knows if this is literally true and is not just mythmaking by the current RWBY / Rooster Teeth team, and how much is true or lies by the disgruntled employee)

But in hindsight / better story telling RT, in vol 2 or vol 3 they could have a person who tried to go after RWBY with a failed assassination attempt in public (to make it look like an accident), but after the failed attempt Cinder stops the assassination attempts on Ruby for it risk disrupting the plan and she wants to "lay low" until the plan of Vol 3 takes place. Aka you are risking my / cinder goal of gaining more power, and this can be hubris, but also where there is no really good options.

Meanwhile Ruby is not really aware of what is happening, she understands like conflict such as Roman criminals tried to kill her, but she does not understand why and the audience does not understand why and we just assume it has to do with Vol 1 Episode 1 Ruby Rose, or Vol 1 Episode 16 Black and White, or Vol 2 Episode 4 Paint the Town when Ruby and company got in the way.

But in Vol 4 or Vol 5 after Cinder is attacked by Ruby's silver eyes in the Vol 3 finale, it will now make a whole lot more sense when team evil reveals why the attack took place and it shows the gamble team evil made and we are now more aware of the choices and trade offs team evil decided to chose. Then queue up Salem sending Tyrian after Ruby for now she is with no protector and there is no real downside to the plan besides delay the search for the Spring Maiden a little bit longer.

Aka part of storytelling is to make moves which to the audience with limited information make no sense, but with you the writer who knows all the cards in the story the actions make sense and are internally consistent.
This is a form of world building, not with creating culture, or locations, or set pieces but instead world building / tale building with setting up expectations of the readers / viewers on what is possible in the RWBY world and to set expectations but also to make the reader feel that anything is possible and all people are at risk, for you may not "hear the bullet" prior to the death blow, you may not see it coming, until after the shot is fired and there is nothing you can do to stop it. This unlike Aura which lowers the stakes actually raises the stakes for it makes the audience be aware that they do not have all the information in the story, that you can't "out-think" or "out-will" problems and that you are just a participant in a greater story.

[Anyr]

Spoiler: v4c1

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I don't mind that Cinder didn't know silver-eyed warriors would be a problem. I can buy that Salem simply wasn't expecting silver-eyed warriors to be around anymore, for example.

Spoiler: V05E01

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We already know that that explanation isn't true. Salem's subordinates mention having fought silver-eyed foes before. None of them are surprised by a new one appearing now. They just didn't realise that such people were dangerous to Maidens: Because Salem didn't tell them.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler: V5E2

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Look again. Salem cuts Lionheart off while he tries to bring up Qrow distrusts him. I was playing the scene (3:35-3:45 is the segment).

Spoiler: V5 C2

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Yeah, I finally got my second watch in and I see what you mean. I think he's trying to tell her that Qrow won't stick around for the council to approve huntsmen and...well...lets be honest, anyone who knows Qrow (and Salem and Company seem very familiar with him) know he's not going to wait for Lionheart to scrounge up some huntsmen.

Spoiler: V5C2

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The content of what they are doing doesn’t really matter. I’m talking about how the two project power. We already suspect Lionheart is going to turn on Salem from the scene. Why? Because she is all stick and no carrot here, he’s being cut off when he’s trying to be helpful, and Salem is threatening him physically suggesting she has no other hold on him.

Lionheart is not acting like someone with any sort of loyalty, he’s acting like someone scared out of his mind.

Salem is better when she is persuasive and manipulative, but she’s also better when she is projecting the depth and extent her power runs. Salem’s heavy-handed threat Lionheart in the scene suggests her control is limited.

I don’t have much confidence in how she is going to get either Lionheart or Raven to side with her in a pinch.

Adam, in contrast, acts like he is in full control of the room the entire time (because he is), while he lets Sienna be the one to get angry. In the end, it appears she is putting the noose around her own neck. I believe Adam has full control over the White Fang. I think Salem’s followers all have their own agenda and reasons for following her that doesn’t completely coincide with her use for them.

As far as whose most persuasive, well Hazel acts like he has this fantastic plan and argument that would have won Sienna over and potentially told us a lot what Salem’s agenda really is. However, no one is actually doing a lot of persuading here.

Lionheart was already scared out of his mind and he just goes from being hysterical to more broken. Salem doesn’t do any favors for herself here. If Lionheart has to be constantly broken to be kept in line, he isn’t a whole lot of use.

Adam, in contrast, goes in one scene from #2 to #1. He gets exactly what he wants out of things.

Are the two trying to accomplish the same thing? No. But one projects power and the other doesn’t.

Spoiler: Salem and Adam Taurus

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What I find interesting about Hazel is this weird implication that even if he didn't win over Sienna that his words will still hold true. No one would have still died and Hazel would likely have left to try a different tract on another occasion

And the context is still pretty important. Adam is able to project power because of what his goal is and his location. He's there to kill Sienna and he's in the room with her, so it doesn't matter what she says, what Hazel says, or even what he says really.

Salem is...wherever Salem is (for some reason I suspect the moon) and is reinforcing her control on Lionheart. Yeah, its obvious that she controls Leo through fear and y'know what? Its working. Its worked for however long Leo has been a turncoat but if he's starting to lose that fear...then yeah, he is not loyal to her because Leo doesn't have the same fascinating loyalty towards Salem that her inner council has. Why would he? Why does he need to be loyal?

Salem's group is very small and tightly knit and we know from Qrow that she uses other people so they can only point their fingers at each other in blame. No one aside from Cinder, Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts (probably Ozpin too) likely have any clue what Salem is up to and if they did know, they would be a threat to her plans for the very reason you point out that Lionheart will likely turn on her if he isn't kept constantly afraid.

And he doesn't seem all that broken for being in a constant state of fear, he still seems perfectly functional.

I think we just disagree on this topic. I think both scenes worked but they really aren't all that comparable to one another when it comes to projecting power.

Anywho! New episode!

Spoiler: V5 C3

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Forewarning this is going to be all out of order! Probably...not sure of the order of events, just the major events cause...there's really only three big events this episode.

It opens with Ghira getting ready to address the people of Menagerie about the White Fang and Adam Taurus but being a bit nervous about the whole ordeal. I guess its been awhile since he's had to address large crowds on such important matters? It makes sense but strikes me as a little unusual since it implies Ghira is able to handle chief business in largely small meetings. Kali, Blake, and surprisingly Sun each offer the big guy some support before he heads out there.

Ghira still looks like he wants to murder Sun and I love Blake-Dad's disapproving rage at Sun. Anyway, Ghira begins his big address by talking about his history as the leader of the WF and how Sienna came to power. It wasn't a violent take over or anything of the sort, Ghira saw that the wind was going to change and the White Fang wanted to pursue a more aggressive path towards peace and equality. So he stepped aside and Sienna took the helm. He does name a stark difference between Adam's splinter group (oh if only Ghira knew...) and the main group of White Fang even as he notes that while he didn't condone Sienna's actions, he believed that she and him stood for the same end goal and, if nothing else, that was a reason to respect her. Meanwhile he calls out Adam's actions at the Fall of Beacon as only serving himself and, worse, Adam was going to repeat them at Haven which is why the faunus should stand beside humanity in defending Haven.

This..does not get the reaction that Ghira wanted from the crowd who previously seemed into the speech and on his side, but standing along side humanity seems a step too far for them. Ghira talks about how he can understand that reluctance but thinks if they hear from someone who was at the Fall of Beacon, they'll better understand what Adam is all about.

Then things get interesting because Illia comes out (because of course she was going to) and basically calls the entire Belladonna family a bunch of race traitors. So this was the bad things Illia mentioned in the first chapter this volume, she uses the address as a means to not just promote the White Fang but try to recruit for them. Points for ballsiness and an impassioned plea if nothing else! Ghira relied on a logical appeal to peace to try and win the crowd over while Illia went for the emotional call back to past injustices to do the same. Actually she did more than that, she flat out says that any faunus can join the White Fang but if they don't want to the White Fang will fight for them anyway. Its a decent PR attempt to try and make the WF look more reasonable than Ghira.

Ghira: "We need to fight with the humans in solidarity so everyone knows we're in the same boat in solving this (so it seems) human problem."

Illia: "The White Fang is fighting for all of you and has been this entire time! And if you don't want to fight with us, that's fine, we'll fight for you anyway just stay out of the way."

Sun tries to catch Illia but fails cause Sun is not allowed to succeed at anything and the fox brothers smile at a job well done. Or...well..maybe it is. I didn't really see anything that implied the crowd was siding with Ghira or the White Fang but that is useful in its own right, if Menagerie can't make up its mind it also can't interfere.

Second big event of the episode was RNGR and Oscar interacting along with the reveal that Ozpin can ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL his host if he needs to. He reveals why he's able to reincarnate like this (mentioning the gods again) and that he's cursed to do this for failing to stop Salem in the past. Now..the curious thing here is that this means Ozpin has reincarnated an unknown number of times but implied to be quite a few and it is unlikely that all of them were tragically cut short. ...Just how long has Salem been around? Important question, but not answered right now.

Anyway, Ozpin talks about the fact the headmasters are supposed to report to him and be his trusted lieutenants but Leo was acting weird so neither Qrow or Ozpin fully trust him right now. In part because there are apparently plans in place for when Ozpin dies that have not been enacted. Too bad they didn't not-trust him sooner cause Salem has already got the Spring Maiden's location out of him. Qrow reveals he's got a list of hunters he's going to look up and see about recruiting so that, surprise surprise, they can go after the Spring Maiden on their own. Ozpin wants people they can trust but Qrow says that isn't as important as making sure they can fight

...Going to call it right now, considering that Qrow had no idea who Tyrian was or who he worked for, my bet is that Qrow ends up recruiting Watts to take on this mission. Cause Qrow only ever has one job but he will bungle it up in some manner.

Before they do that though, Ozpin tells RNGR that they are going to spend the time until the suspected attack on Haven (they gave a time, but I don't remember it offhand, its before classes resume) training so that they'll pose an actual challenge if say...someone like Tyrian shows up again. Even points out some of their flaws, like Ruby being rubbish in a fight without her scythe and Jaune still not knowing what his Semblance is. At the same time, he needs RNGR's help to train Oscar...the boy might have his memories but his body isn't ready for combat so all the muscle-memory that Ozpin had won't do Oscar any good if Oscar can't act on it. That is a good point brought up and I'm glad they did, cause it makes the important distinction that Oscar will eventually know how to fight just as well as Ozpin did, but right now his body can't actually do it and thus needs training

So looks like RNJR is getting a training montage while they are doing other things, good stuff! This can be a great chance to learn more about how Remnant, Aura, and Semblance function that I hope they take full advantage of.

The last event which..isn't that big but did happen is that we see Weiss wake up in Raven's camp. The bandits flat out say they're going to ransom her or just plain sell her and Weiss' response is...that'll never happen because Winter will rescue her and had been expecting her in Minstral. She's rather confident about that in fact until a new comer tells her she's behind the times.

The (probably) Spring Maiden approaches and tells Weiss that no one is coming to save her because Winter, like all other Atlas personnel in the other Kingdoms, was recalled to Atlas to make sure the border stays shut. So no one's coming to save Weiss and she'll be back in her comfy mansion in no time. Man, Raven and the Spring Maiden are going to be real surprised to find out there probably won't be a deal to make thanks to Weiss getting disowned.

Sadly, despite it being her first scene, the Spring Maiden doesn't get a whole lot of characterization here...There's little bits like the guards hiding their alcohol when she first approaches and then relaxing and drinking that imply she's a 'reasonable second in command' type who isn't as big on discipline and her comments that if they weren't going to ransom Weiss it'd be great if she could join the bandits...but honestly the scene is too short. Also a bit of enjoying Weiss' blustering when Weiss clearly isn't in the loop, but...Its too short and the Maiden doesn't have a whole ton to do in it. As far as first impressions go, something RWBY is usually pretty solid on, this was definitely a dud. Usually RWBY does a good job of communicating a character's personality in their first scene so that even if you don't like it (most people here for Tyrian and Watts), you still know what it is. Right now the Spring Maiden doesn't stand out that much. Hope to see more and better from the Spring Maiden soon.

...That said, once Weiss is left alone for the night she does exactly what I mentioned previously...she summons a tiny version of the knight. Its either going to go for help or start cutting Weiss' bound but yeah, Weiss is a terrible target for kidnapping for this exact reason, she is far from helpless with her rapier which the Spring Maiden does have.

...This review and recap probably missed things, but in my defense it was the first thing I watched this morning and then I did a bunch of other things before thinking to come to this thread.

[Lemmy]

Spoiler: RWBY v5c03

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Another boring scene where Blake doesn't do anything... And then 15 minutes of exposition. I REALLY hope this season doesn't keep the same pace as the last one... Between that and the wonky fight scene of last chapter, I'm honestly afraid this season might kill whatever enjoyment of the series managed to survive the glacial plot progression of last season. I have no idea how well volume 4 was received, or what was the general feedback from fans... But I seriously hope they don't make the same choices this time...

[Rawhide]

Spoiler: Salem and Adam Taurus

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{snip}

Please please please please always remember to include the volume and chapter number the information you are referencing discusses. When this is in reply to someone else's spoiler, this will generally be at least the same episode as the spoiler. You can "break out" of it being a spoiler tied to the episode you are replying to by noting that's what you are doing in the title, but be very careful when doing so as breaking out can also accidentally reveal spoilers unintentionally.

e.g. A discussion about "Darth Vader" immediately after discussing "Episode V" will tell people that Darth Vader plays some sort of role in Episode V.

What's the week-later cutoff for spoilers this season? Presumably it's not after the subscriber release on Saturday. So is it the free RT release on Tuesday or the Youtube release on the following Saturday?

I think I'm going to change the spoiler rules slightly in order to clarify this now that we have such a fractured split.

All discussions about the most recent episode(s) will be considered spoilers for at least one week after the first release of the episode for any audience, or 24 hours after the YouTube release for all audiences, whichever is later. This will usually mean that discussions about episodes are considered spoilers for a week and a day from the first release for paying subscribers.

This will give everyone a chance to watch it, even those who can only use YouTube, before spoilers can come out into the open.

[Ramza00]

Spoiler: Vol 5 Episode 3

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So back to RWBY



I believe that it is important for the people of this territory to understand the truth!



Listen to the Dwarf in the Flask, I mean the Panther Faunus who lives on a literal island that means cage or zoo! Listen to him and protect the humans.

Blah blah blah stuff happens except it doesn't involving Blake, Sun, and Ilia and the Fenric brothers both made hand signals representing praying and knod their heads.

Meanwhile back in RNJR and Haven A, RNJR swarm Oscar to the point that the big brother Edward cranky part of Qrow comes out of his drunken stupor telling people to give his little brother Alphonse Oscar a little personal space.

And with all their questions all I can think back is damn it, no one of RNJR read the book that Blake was reading on her first day of Beacon Academy, here is a reminder for the people who forgot.



Back to Weiss...don't make this complicated...yeah that will work with a Schnee, that is like the exact opposite of what will happened!

Back to RNJR how would Leo know that Ozpin is dead and has reincarnated?

Oh yeah stick a stick so far into Ruby's face that if she did not move her head back it would hit her, is not the way you have your first encounter with a girl Ozpin / Oscar. Followed by a scene later and somehow Oscar is now 2 feet backwards compared to where he used to be due to him waving his stick around.

My Little Pony White Knight in Shining Armor! OMG please have the White Knight go solid snake on Raven's camp!

[Ramza00]

Tuesday so its RWBY time! Vol 5 Chapter 3 Unforeseen Complications is now out on RT's website for free users.

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rwby-volume-5-3-g4ogoh4

Goes watch Fate Apocrypha while everyone else catches up.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Tuesday so its RWBY time! Vol 5 Chapter 3 Unforeseen Complications is now out on RT's website for free users.

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rwby-volume-5-3-g4ogoh4

Goes watch Fate Apocrypha while everyone else catches up.

How is Apocrypha? I'm going to wait until its on Netflix to give it a watch, but I'm super excited for it.

[Rater202]

How is Apocrypha? I'm going to wait until its on Netflix to give it a watch, but I'm super excited for it.

Saber of Black is a beast, Assassin of Black is adorafying(but needs to wear age-appropriate clothing more often), and Ruler is a massive dork.

But that's just from the first couple of episodes. I've got to catch up.

[Ramza00]

How is Apocrypha? I'm going to wait until its on Netflix to give it a watch, but I'm super excited for it.

I love and adore Fate Apocrypha the light novels even though there are lots of flaws and problems with specific storytelling aspects of the light novels, overall I think the art rises above the flaws (much like RWBY). Now the anime so far is kind of meh, it has some high points but the implementation of Apocrypha actually suffers many of the problems that RWBY does, and if I really wanted to I can do LaZodiac line by line take downs for the Apocrypha anime.

Even though I say all this, the Apocrypha anime is fun. And I am still eagerly looking forward to it each week's fansubs, but part of me wishes the writters and the anime studio spent a little more time massaging the clay for it is very "close" but it also feels like it is missing something that as a cherry on a sunday "acts as a ribbon and brings it all together."

-----

Sidenote one of the characters in Fate Apocrypha is one of my favorite Fate characters of all time, and also one of my favorite characters in literature period. He literally feels me with Yorokobe Shounen (Rejoice!!! Boy / Hero.)



Note the Yorokobe Shounen scene I just referenced is from FSN and not Apocrypha, for I do not want to spoil anything about Apocrypha and this character for you. But if you are familiar with the meaning and the interplay of Yorokobe meme you will understand why I bring this up, and it will make even more sense when you see Fate Apocrypha.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I love and adore Fate Apocrypha the light novels even though there are lots of flaws and problems with specific storytelling aspects of the light novels, overall I think the art rises above the flaws (much like RWBY). Now the anime so far is kind of meh, it has some high points but the implementation of Apocrypha actually suffers many of the problems that RWBY does, and if I really wanted to I can do LaZodiac line by line take downs for the Apocrypha anime.

Even though I say all this, the Apocrypha anime is fun. And I am still eagerly looking forward to it each week's fansubs, but part of me wishes the writters and the anime studio spent a little more time massaging the clay for it is very "close" but it also feels like it is missing something that as a cherry on a sunday "acts as a ribbon and brings it all together."

-----

Sidenote one of the characters in Fate Apocrypha is one of my favorite Fate characters of all time, and also one of my favorite characters in literature period. He literally feels me with Yorokobe Shounen (Rejoice!!! Boy / Hero.)



Note the Yorokobe Shounen scene I just referenced is from FSN and not Apocrypha, for I do not want to spoil anything about Apocrypha and this character for you. But if you are familiar with the meaning and the interplay of Yorokobe meme you will understand why I bring this up, and it will make even more sense when you see Fate Apocrypha.

Spoiler: Apocrypha

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This is just a guess mind, but I'm guessing you are referring to Amakusa? Or rather Shirou Kotomine as is easier for me to spell?

[Ramza00]

Spoiler: Apocrypha

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This is just a guess mind, but I'm guessing you are referring to Amakusa? Or rather Shirou Kotomine as is easier for me to spell?

Yes

Spoiler: Fate Apocrypha Spoilers

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I find him an interesting character with how they took the historical Amakusa as a mythological character, his fate counterpart,
and the philosophy of his solution to the problem of the human condition. While doing all this they made you sympathize with the character due to his sincerity but also internal consistency for he understands what he asks and how it is both good and bad, sacred and profane.

Sidenote Apocrypha would be so much better as a 3 cour series with 39 episodes instead of trying to squeeze everything in 2 cour with so many characters.

[LaZodiac]

Gonna shift the topic away from the vaguely kinda bad waifu anime to the other, also kinda bad waifu anime. By which I mean I'm watching the episode now.

Spoiler: V5C3

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You know an episode is gonna be -full of excitement- when it opens on Blake's part of the story. Goody.

The perspective as Blake!Mom puts a shoulder on Blake!Dad's shoulder is SUPER ****ed, it looks really bad. I get the guy is huge but this just looks wrong, especially with the background being what it is. Also, like with every other Blake based scene in this season so far, we're not...given the context of what's going on. Based on the basically illegable handwriting on the paper Blake Dad has, he's...giving a speech about how Adam is a creepo murderer. He says the truth is hard to swallow, but important, so...I think I'm right, it's just initially unclear.

Wukong also suffers from the same perspective problem BlakeMom did, and also he put his hand on BlakeDad without asking so hopefully he gets his face punched in. He doesn't, but he does get a really awkward stare from everyone. Please Wukong, they were having a moment.

A cute detail I actually like! The press people (who are all not faunus) are all wearing Press badges because otherwise they'd probably get ignored outright by everyone at best because this is Zoo country. I actually kinda like this. Also just because you have throwaway background characters doesn't mean you should design them overly elaborately. Some of these news reporters look ridiculous. Also who are they reporting FOR, Beacon's destruction took down basically every channel except for "local networks" and I doubt Zoo is capable of broadcasting news to other countries without that assistance...and I also doubt anyone cares what the zoo people are talking about. We joke about Blake Dad being the zoo king and Blake being the terrorist princess but...he is JUST THE MAYOR of a CITY on Zoo. Unless they're implying this is also the only city AT ALL on Zoo, which means he's the Mayor-President-King...which is ridiculous.

Blake Dad's speech is alright. It's not amazing, but it's written well enough and shows that he...really shouldn't of stepped down as leader of the White Fang since he's the only really sensible person we've seen part of it.

Blake Dad mentions Blake and Wukong were seriously injured by the chameleon girl and...nooo? They were? I don't...remember that. If they were I do not recall. Also, Tragedy, the phone they stole from the chameleon girl reveals Adam's plan to overthrow Sienna Khan. Too late, she's already dead. Why should we care, as an aside? Khan didn't...do anything. Ever. She's a non character. Give us a reason to care.

One of the Press Pass people is a Faunus and I feel like this is a mistake on their part. Just a personal thing for me.

...oh my god the plans on the phone also detail his entire plan to attack Haven for some reason? This feels like a trap. Also if it's NOT a trap, or more correctly "the information is right" then...we have two months of in universe NOTHING to look forward too while Adam preps to attack Haven and it's big TV tower.

Aaand we learn why Blake Dad stepped down from the White Fang. People were sad change didn't happen over night. ****in'...that's dumb. Look, there's not a lot I can say on this particular subject because of how it heavily relates to real world stuff, but Rome wasn't built in a day stupids. Every little bit counts. He supports the reasons why she fights, but not her actions (her being Khan in this case, which...again, if we saw anything she'd actually done this would matter). Blake finishes off his speech by noting that Adam Taurus's goals only benefit himself, which is completely true, and then says that they should show they ARE equal to humans...by banding together with the humans to stamp out the current evil White Fang to replace it with the good original one. Which...okay, but that's not going to work. That...that doesn't work. History has shown that. But yeah, moving ooon.

Blake Dad says that his plan is to go to Haven with the...army he doesn't have, to protect it at all costs.

Let me remind you. Zoo is on THE SOUTH EAST of the ENTIRE PLANET. Haven is in Mistral...AN ENTIRE HALF PLANETS DISTANCE AWAY ON THE NORTH WEST SIDE OF THE WOOOORLD. Look, you have good intentions, but THAT ISN'T HAPPENING. THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN MAAAAN. YOU'RE THE ZOO COUNTRY. YOU HAVE...BOAT. SINGULAR.

The crowd reacts AS I DO. They are...baffled by this REALLY stupid statement. Blake Dad then deflects this by having Blake come up, to talk about her story. As both a former White Fang, and as a survivor of Beacon's fall. This is gonna be a lot of "And then Adam was a really creepy stalker bro" that won't...hit any of these people at all. Blake's bad at talking in general, public speaking about her trauma is going to be really bad.

So, random aside. Blake Dad doesn't have animal ears or an animal tail. What animal is he?

Before Blake can speak the idiot chameleon shouts "TRAITORS" and reveals herself. By which I mean removes a cloak, not...whatever. Chameleon girl rants about how humans did a lot of bad. The dust companies used them for slave labor, the kingdoms...huuunted Faunus for spooooort? Whaaat? That's...that's ABSURD. I don't doubt it happened, but that's...that's ridiculous. She then goes on to ask where HER help was when her parents died in a dust mine accident, which...does't...doesn't matter for her point, but I get it. She's angry. And I mean yeah it does matter to a degree, the mine was likely unsafe and the people in charge worked them in unsafe conditions, but...I mean. They talked about this. The situation is still bad but slavery's OUTLAWED, right? They mentioned that. They don't DO that anymore. THEY DID THE HELP.

I realize she's just **** stirring, I do, but it's...it's REALLY BAD **** stirring.

Blake Dad says that cooperation is required and...the chameleon girl outright calls them race traitors, and I...I am literally unable to comment on this. This writing is REALLY. REALLY. BAD.

She finishes her little rant by saying that if you won't fight, the White Fang will...and Wukong decides to jump her and start a fight, which....isn't...isn't going to help. at all. Wukong no. You ****ed it.

Beyond ALL my expectations, the chameleon girl just leaves by escaping off screen, NOT starting a riot that kills or hurts countless individuals so she can pin blame on Blake Dad and his "stooge" Wukong. You're REALLY bad at the whole terrorism thing girl.

We cut over to THE MAIN ****ING PLOT where our heroes are wondering what the deal is with Ozwald and why he...exists. Same. Saaaame.

Duuumb anime joookes. Qrowe tells Ruby and friends to back off since Ozwald is...probably the most wierded out of everyone, and everyone zips backwards without animating because that's quality.

Also Ozwald does this doofy grin and laugh while looking at Ruby which is creepy in SO MANY WAYS and he plays it off as never having met hunters before. But he says "huntsmen and huntresses" instead of "hunters" because Roosterteeth decided to use clunky, unneeded gendered terms for the thing that our heroes are. This is just a minor point that's always bugged me. But yeah no please don't even consider bothering to pretend to ship Ozcar and Ruby god you ****ing morons. Ruby plays it off by saying well they've never met someone with two souls, which...I mean is categorically wrong, I think? Even if they don't know it.

Aaand Qrowe asks Ozcar to show off his "trick"...which is just letting Ozpin speak through him via possession. Because...I guess Ozpin just isn't dead. He gets to live on through this boy and probably eventually they'll subsume each other and become "him" again. Creepy, weird, why is this a thing again?

One thing I do appreciate is that they don't...use Ozpin's original voice actor, it's just Ozcar's voice going, and that's okay. I like that. That's a good touch.

Nora finds this situation very strange and Ozpin's response is "oh good to see you still have your sense of humour" which...no. No. That's not...that has nothing to do with that. And Nora's not funny.

Ozpin explaaaains the backstory. He's cursed to live eternally, reincarnating into a like minded soul whenever he dies. Except this...isn't reincarnation. He's just possessing the body of someone. Reincarnation implies being RE BORN. He is not RE BORN, he is...just a passenger in another person. This isn't reincarnation. He explains the body they knew was not his first, and "clearly" not his last...which...is the wrong word to use. He should of said obviously, I think? I don't know, clearly works, but it's...not perfect. Also this...does basically just imply that Ozpin will eventually subsume Ozcar and be the only person who exists. And this isn't a me thing, Ozpin explains that who he "really" is is a "combination of thousands of men trying to protect Remnant" which...does mean that eventually Ozcar will just be subsumed into the prime personality like some kind of nasty hivemind. Jesus this is dumb.

He explains he's cursed like this because the Gods punched he face for failing to stop Salem. So this is...meant to be gods OTHER than the "god of light and god of dark" yeah? Cause those guys hated each other, but decided to band together to curse some loser for not killing a witch lady? That's silly. So there are other gods. Ozpin says that the next thing they need to do, the most important step to stopping Salem...is to ensure the Relic of Knowledge is kept safe. I forget what season this is related to but I'm going to assume Spring because of context.

Aaaand over to Weiss, prisoner. She's beaten up and tied up but in a really bad, inefficent way, and being watched by two drunk idiot bandits while inside a cage. I'm sure this will go well for everyone.

Finally, we meet the Spring Maiden. She's shocked to see a Schnee here, which is fair they're rich and fabulous and this is a -bandit triiiiibe-. She's also stolen Weiss' sword. I...really don't like the Spring Maiden's design. The tattoo of a bird is nice, but otherwise it feels...generic. And I mean, I'm all for toning down the designs a bit, this series is loud, but it doesn't really work...at all. It feels like the outfit of someone who isn't important.

And to be fair, maybe that's true. Also god her asymmetrically pulled up shorts to show off the straps of one of her thigh high boots is SUPER bad. That's so dumb. Roll both short legs up of put both down, god. You look like ****ing Tidus.

Springy says that the bandits usually don't sell people, which...is dumb, but fair I guess, but since she's a Schnee that's different. They'll ransom her off...which is a shame, because she'd make such a good bandit.

Is...what? How? She's in a pretty dress and has a sword and was found in the wreckage of a smuggler's transport ship unconcious. How would she...make a good bandit? Weiss...points out that this is a stupid thing to say, and that she'd never drop to that level. Ignoring that she hitched a ride with a smuggler.

Spring gets fussy and tells her to just shut up and make this easy so she can go back home. The quote unquote irony here is that we know Weiss is unloved and unwanted and doesn't WANT to go back and...I don't find it funny or compelling.

Instead of staying quiet, which is smart, and instead of bringing up she's unloved and unwanted, which is super dumb but potentially workable, she...threatens them that her sister Winter is gonna come kill them all when she realizes Weiss didn't show up. Which...is the worst possible thing she could of said. Like, I'd argue saying "I'm actually worthless for you money wise" would work out better because then they'd just press gang her into the bandit class. Or kill her, which would be bad, but they'd probably untie her to kill her so she'd get an opening to escape. Telling them "big sister gonna smush you for being mean to me" is the worst possible choice she could of made. All because of her stupid ****ing pride of not wanting to be a bandit. Her pride that she BASICALLY THREW AWAY. You know, Weiss saying "I'm worthless to you money wise, but let me join the bandits" would of been INTERESTING.

Also, calling it now. Springy was trained by Winter and that's why she caved under the pressure.

Everyone laughs, and Springy says that Winter is gone because no one from Atlas is in Mistral, because Ironwood gave in to his stupid idiot paranoia and closed all the borders. I don't really think Winter would listen to that order personally, but she might of. Weiss has a sad and we cut back to the main plot.

Nora is insufferable. She's...very happy that Ozpin is back. And she does the dumb anime jooookes. Yaaay. I don't like this. Ozpin agrees, and asks her not to refer to him as "cute little boy Ozpin" which...I'm gonna be honest, I don't find Nora's shtick funny, but that's a good name for him.

Okay look I don't WANT panty shots but when Nora sits down on the couch you can kinda blatently see that her legs just stop at the upper thigh and float underneath her dress. There's nothing up there, these girls are like the Sailor Moon girls, they have no pelvises. I don't want a panty shot but when you outright give us what would be one, and instead show us how your animation and models are bad, mistakes have been made.

Anyway Qrowe points out Lionheart is kind of obviously Not Good, even if he's potentially Not Evil either.

Aaaah, good to have Ozpin back. I don't want to jump to conclusions but I don't want to rule out any possibilities. Congrats, you said ****ING NOTHING. This means nothing. Look, you're DEAD right now, and trying to rebecome. The worst case scenario has happened. Go with your gut, he's obviously compromised by Salem. Obviously.

Ozpin says they shouldn't let Lionheart no that he's inside of Ozcar but...um. Guys. He's SOME RANDOM ASS FARM BOY with Ozpin's stick. Lionheart knows Ozpin's secret. He KNOWS, okay? He's gonna figure this out immediately.

And so begins the battle planning. Step one, find random NPCs that don't matter because our heroes can't actually take down an entire bandit fort by themselves. Qrowe's gonna look up some generic non plot important shadow runners at the bars he knows to supplement the actual plot important characters but honestly I don't know why you'd use them, Glory's claws are insane and Dietrach's shamanism is really great support. Eigen's also got a shotgun AND a sniper. I...could take or leave Blitz, but he does tech stuff if your OC doesn't do it.

This has been a very long and elaborate Dragonfall joke. I don't apologize.

...Qrowe randomly breaks the ****ing table by putting his feet up on it, which breaks one of it's legs???? Why is this thing? Did the animation break and they decided to roll with it? Guys this isn't real life you can fix this stuff and then not have it be a problem.

Ruby's tights are assymetrical in length for no reason and one of them is slightly ripped. This is the character design of a 12 year old, and I know because I was 12 and used to design my characters this way and spoilers, it's BAD.

Part two of Ozpin's big plan is to level grind our heroes because...again, the npcs they recruit are literally going to be worthless and are just there so that it's not actually four small children and drunkle Qrowe beating the **** out of an entire city of bandits.

Ozpin...for some reason keys in on the fact that Ruby is worthless without her weapon. Guys, everyone is. Except Ren, who's worthless WITH his weapons, and would be far more effective if he just did a punch build. I do appreciate this, it's a a good idea, but also...no. One of the problems I have with this series, in perpetuity, is that the fighting is all same-y. While it's sensible to make sure everyone is good at everything, this will just make the problem worse.

Oozpin then notes that Jaune is...continuing to be useless. He's gotten better but yeah no he's still basically not...even remotely a factor. So they're gonna work on that. He says nothing about Ren and Nora because they're not important enough. I'm actually bugged about THIS because they...ARE actually meant to be more than tertiary characters right now.

Also, HE is going to have to train as well. So that...Ozcar can..."inherit his muscle memory". Because again, CREEPY ****ING HIVE MIND OZPIN. He's LITERALLY just going to subsume this random ass farm boys brain. He'll be "changed" from it, sure, but he's still the thousands upon thousands of people who make up Ozpin. Ozcar will suffer mind death. That's ****ing creepy.

...I'm sorry. I was almost distracted by the bad jump Ozpin did but he says they have "aprox one month until fall classes begin in Haven". Back in Zoo, they said two months. So ALL OF BLAKE'S **** is ONE MONTH AGO. God, that entire story arc is USELESS GARBAGE. But yeah, one month to train to even approach "can fight Salem" levels. That's...not happening, but good luck guys. You'll need it.

....and for some reason the episode continues. That would of been a good note to end the episode on. Like, insults about the quality of all of this aside, that would of been a good ending note. But no, back to Weiss's adventure as a useless prisoner.

LIKE I SAID. They tied up Weiss in such a way that she can MOVE HER HANDS FREELY, so she just opens her palms and summons her knight. So now she knows she can free herself. She smiles, and the episode ends. What a ****ing awful ending.

Well that's over. Thoughts:

Spoiler: V5C3

Show

Bad. Bad episode. Look, I'm not one of those weirdos who wants shows to always be fight fight fight fight. I get it, that's THE SHOW, but you can have slower paced episodes.

As long as they're good. And this wasn't. Blake's entire plot line continues to be literally pointless. Weiss's plotline is DUMB because they...they don't tie her up correctly, so she can still do her random semblance magic that apparently is supposed to use dust since if you slot a juicebox into your gun it changes your body's semblance, but she has no weapon but can still do it, and so she can just free herself at any moment if she wanted. But she won't until "something happens" which will inevitibly be Yang showing up. Who didn't show up AT ALL today, by the way. And Ozpin gives us a big explantation on what he is, and what he is is ****ING HORRIFYING. He is an ageless amalgum of everyone he's taken the body of, and he will slowly subsume Ozcar's identity. I cannot stress enough that this is A WAY BIGGER DEAL than everyone's making it out to be. I realize it's not his FAULT, he was "cursed" by some gods that may or may not exist, and honestly everything Ozpin says is a half truth anyway, but...he's GOING to eat Ozcar's personality. He SAYS THIS. The farm boy is going to be dead, and replaced with "Ozpin but also with like 1% more farmer".

So yeah. This episode featured bad perspectives, poor showing of their models that are way more advanced than the previous seasons but still suffer the same problems some how, and way too many unfortunate implications due to their writing...when the writing is actually something that matters. All around, it sure is RWBY in here huh.

[Ramza00]

Gonna shift the topic away from the vaguely kinda bad waifu anime to the other, also kinda bad waifu anime. By which I mean I'm watching the episode now.

A bad waifu and husbando anime thank you very much

[LaZodiac]

A bad waifu and husbando anime thank you very much

Completely genuine mistake on my part I forgot about Ozymandius, bae of baes.

[Ramza00]

Completely genuine mistake on my part I forgot about Ozymandius, bae of baes.

Damn it, you already discovered my weakness to my favorite guy in the fate multiverse.

[LaZodiac]

Damn it, you already discovered my weakness to my favorite guy in the fate multiverse.

He literally finds a shirt that has the whole earth on it and goes "...yes this is my jam". There is nothing bad about the person who is ruler of all who live.

but yeah no I did...write about the rwby. We can gush about how Fate/Zero and I suppose the associated things are somehow good despite being spawned from a kinda creepy poorly written h-game where the main canon love interest is a lesbian forced to screw a man in our off time.

[Ramza00]

He literally finds a shirt that has the whole earth on it and goes "...yes this is my jam". There is nothing bad about the person who is ruler of all who live.

but yeah no I did...write about the rwby. We can gush about how Fate/Zero and I suppose the associated things are somehow good despite being spawned from a kinda creepy poorly written h-game where the main canon love interest is a lesbian forced to screw a man in our off time.

(the shirt of the whole earth on his chest...I am now confused...)

Spoiler: Fate Stuff with Pictures, not RWBY stuff

Show

Wait are we talking about?

Iskandar also known as Alexander? Aka this



Or

Ozymandias also known as Ramasses the II? Aka this



For it is Iskandar who has the whole shirt on his chest theme in Fate Zero

but yeah no I did...write about the rwby. We can gush about how Fate/Zero and I suppose the associated things are somehow good despite being spawned from a kinda creepy poorly written h-game where the main canon love interest is a lesbian forced to screw a man in our off time.

The screwing is literally the worse part of Fate, and is for the most part removed from Realta Nua. That said the crappy romance is still in their in the 3 fate routes (not counting spin offs).

But Fate is wonderful not for that stuff, but because of its world building and its 200 plus awesome heroes. That and Kara no Kyoukai part of the Nasuverse, I mean Shiki Ryougi and Touko Aozaki are worth it themselves for the price of admission into the Garden of Sinners.

-----

Damn it I am threadjacking a RWBY thread with a far more enjoyable show!

[LaZodiac]

Okay look I'm very tired and sick and full of pizza and kit kat bars, I may of mistakenly conflated Ozymandius and Alexander the Great as the same person. I meant the latter.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Gonna shift the topic away from the vaguely kinda bad waifu anime to the other, also kinda bad waifu anime. By which I mean I'm watching the episode now.

Spoiler: V5C3

Show

You know an episode is gonna be -full of excitement- when it opens on Blake's part of the story. Goody.

The perspective as Blake!Mom puts a shoulder on Blake!Dad's shoulder is SUPER ****ed, it looks really bad. I get the guy is huge but this just looks wrong, especially with the background being what it is. Also, like with every other Blake based scene in this season so far, we're not...given the context of what's going on. Based on the basically illegable handwriting on the paper Blake Dad has, he's...giving a speech about how Adam is a creepo murderer. He says the truth is hard to swallow, but important, so...I think I'm right, it's just initially unclear.

Wukong also suffers from the same perspective problem BlakeMom did, and also he put his hand on BlakeDad without asking so hopefully he gets his face punched in. He doesn't, but he does get a really awkward stare from everyone. Please Wukong, they were having a moment.

A cute detail I actually like! The press people (who are all not faunus) are all wearing Press badges because otherwise they'd probably get ignored outright by everyone at best because this is Zoo country. I actually kinda like this. Also just because you have throwaway background characters doesn't mean you should design them overly elaborately. Some of these news reporters look ridiculous. Also who are they reporting FOR, Beacon's destruction took down basically every channel except for "local networks" and I doubt Zoo is capable of broadcasting news to other countries without that assistance...and I also doubt anyone cares what the zoo people are talking about. We joke about Blake Dad being the zoo king and Blake being the terrorist princess but...he is JUST THE MAYOR of a CITY on Zoo. Unless they're implying this is also the only city AT ALL on Zoo, which means he's the Mayor-President-King...which is ridiculous.

Blake Dad's speech is alright. It's not amazing, but it's written well enough and shows that he...really shouldn't of stepped down as leader of the White Fang since he's the only really sensible person we've seen part of it.

Blake Dad mentions Blake and Wukong were seriously injured by the chameleon girl and...nooo? They were? I don't...remember that. If they were I do not recall. Also, Tragedy, the phone they stole from the chameleon girl reveals Adam's plan to overthrow Sienna Khan. Too late, she's already dead. Why should we care, as an aside? Khan didn't...do anything. Ever. She's a non character. Give us a reason to care.

One of the Press Pass people is a Faunus and I feel like this is a mistake on their part. Just a personal thing for me.

...oh my god the plans on the phone also detail his entire plan to attack Haven for some reason? This feels like a trap. Also if it's NOT a trap, or more correctly "the information is right" then...we have two months of in universe NOTHING to look forward too while Adam preps to attack Haven and it's big TV tower.

Aaand we learn why Blake Dad stepped down from the White Fang. People were sad change didn't happen over night. ****in'...that's dumb. Look, there's not a lot I can say on this particular subject because of how it heavily relates to real world stuff, but Rome wasn't built in a day stupids. Every little bit counts. He supports the reasons why she fights, but not her actions (her being Khan in this case, which...again, if we saw anything she'd actually done this would matter). Blake finishes off his speech by noting that Adam Taurus's goals only benefit himself, which is completely true, and then says that they should show they ARE equal to humans...by banding together with the humans to stamp out the current evil White Fang to replace it with the good original one. Which...okay, but that's not going to work. That...that doesn't work. History has shown that. But yeah, moving ooon.

Blake Dad says that his plan is to go to Haven with the...army he doesn't have, to protect it at all costs.

Let me remind you. Zoo is on THE SOUTH EAST of the ENTIRE PLANET. Haven is in Mistral...AN ENTIRE HALF PLANETS DISTANCE AWAY ON THE NORTH WEST SIDE OF THE WOOOORLD. Look, you have good intentions, but THAT ISN'T HAPPENING. THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN MAAAAN. YOU'RE THE ZOO COUNTRY. YOU HAVE...BOAT. SINGULAR.

The crowd reacts AS I DO. They are...baffled by this REALLY stupid statement. Blake Dad then deflects this by having Blake come up, to talk about her story. As both a former White Fang, and as a survivor of Beacon's fall. This is gonna be a lot of "And then Adam was a really creepy stalker bro" that won't...hit any of these people at all. Blake's bad at talking in general, public speaking about her trauma is going to be really bad.

So, random aside. Blake Dad doesn't have animal ears or an animal tail. What animal is he?

Before Blake can speak the idiot chameleon shouts "TRAITORS" and reveals herself. By which I mean removes a cloak, not...whatever. Chameleon girl rants about how humans did a lot of bad. The dust companies used them for slave labor, the kingdoms...huuunted Faunus for spooooort? Whaaat? That's...that's ABSURD. I don't doubt it happened, but that's...that's ridiculous. She then goes on to ask where HER help was when her parents died in a dust mine accident, which...does't...doesn't matter for her point, but I get it. She's angry. And I mean yeah it does matter to a degree, the mine was likely unsafe and the people in charge worked them in unsafe conditions, but...I mean. They talked about this. The situation is still bad but slavery's OUTLAWED, right? They mentioned that. They don't DO that anymore. THEY DID THE HELP.

I realize she's just **** stirring, I do, but it's...it's REALLY BAD **** stirring.

Blake Dad says that cooperation is required and...the chameleon girl outright calls them race traitors, and I...I am literally unable to comment on this. This writing is REALLY. REALLY. BAD.

She finishes her little rant by saying that if you won't fight, the White Fang will...and Wukong decides to jump her and start a fight, which....isn't...isn't going to help. at all. Wukong no. You ****ed it.

Beyond ALL my expectations, the chameleon girl just leaves by escaping off screen, NOT starting a riot that kills or hurts countless individuals so she can pin blame on Blake Dad and his "stooge" Wukong. You're REALLY bad at the whole terrorism thing girl.

We cut over to THE MAIN ****ING PLOT where our heroes are wondering what the deal is with Ozwald and why he...exists. Same. Saaaame.

Duuumb anime joookes. Qrowe tells Ruby and friends to back off since Ozwald is...probably the most wierded out of everyone, and everyone zips backwards without animating because that's quality.

Also Ozwald does this doofy grin and laugh while looking at Ruby which is creepy in SO MANY WAYS and he plays it off as never having met hunters before. But he says "huntsmen and huntresses" instead of "hunters" because Roosterteeth decided to use clunky, unneeded gendered terms for the thing that our heroes are. This is just a minor point that's always bugged me. But yeah no please don't even consider bothering to pretend to ship Ozcar and Ruby god you ****ing morons. Ruby plays it off by saying well they've never met someone with two souls, which...I mean is categorically wrong, I think? Even if they don't know it.

Aaand Qrowe asks Ozcar to show off his "trick"...which is just letting Ozpin speak through him via possession. Because...I guess Ozpin just isn't dead. He gets to live on through this boy and probably eventually they'll subsume each other and become "him" again. Creepy, weird, why is this a thing again?

One thing I do appreciate is that they don't...use Ozpin's original voice actor, it's just Ozcar's voice going, and that's okay. I like that. That's a good touch.

Nora finds this situation very strange and Ozpin's response is "oh good to see you still have your sense of humour" which...no. No. That's not...that has nothing to do with that. And Nora's not funny.

Ozpin explaaaains the backstory. He's cursed to live eternally, reincarnating into a like minded soul whenever he dies. Except this...isn't reincarnation. He's just possessing the body of someone. Reincarnation implies being RE BORN. He is not RE BORN, he is...just a passenger in another person. This isn't reincarnation. He explains the body they knew was not his first, and "clearly" not his last...which...is the wrong word to use. He should of said obviously, I think? I don't know, clearly works, but it's...not perfect. Also this...does basically just imply that Ozpin will eventually subsume Ozcar and be the only person who exists. And this isn't a me thing, Ozpin explains that who he "really" is is a "combination of thousands of men trying to protect Remnant" which...does mean that eventually Ozcar will just be subsumed into the prime personality like some kind of nasty hivemind. Jesus this is dumb.

He explains he's cursed like this because the Gods punched he face for failing to stop Salem. So this is...meant to be gods OTHER than the "god of light and god of dark" yeah? Cause those guys hated each other, but decided to band together to curse some loser for not killing a witch lady? That's silly. So there are other gods. Ozpin says that the next thing they need to do, the most important step to stopping Salem...is to ensure the Relic of Knowledge is kept safe. I forget what season this is related to but I'm going to assume Spring because of context.

Aaaand over to Weiss, prisoner. She's beaten up and tied up but in a really bad, inefficent way, and being watched by two drunk idiot bandits while inside a cage. I'm sure this will go well for everyone.

Finally, we meet the Spring Maiden. She's shocked to see a Schnee here, which is fair they're rich and fabulous and this is a -bandit triiiiibe-. She's also stolen Weiss' sword. I...really don't like the Spring Maiden's design. The tattoo of a bird is nice, but otherwise it feels...generic. And I mean, I'm all for toning down the designs a bit, this series is loud, but it doesn't really work...at all. It feels like the outfit of someone who isn't important.

And to be fair, maybe that's true. Also god her asymmetrically pulled up shorts to show off the straps of one of her thigh high boots is SUPER bad. That's so dumb. Roll both short legs up of put both down, god. You look like ****ing Tidus.

Springy says that the bandits usually don't sell people, which...is dumb, but fair I guess, but since she's a Schnee that's different. They'll ransom her off...which is a shame, because she'd make such a good bandit.

Is...what? How? She's in a pretty dress and has a sword and was found in the wreckage of a smuggler's transport ship unconcious. How would she...make a good bandit? Weiss...points out that this is a stupid thing to say, and that she'd never drop to that level. Ignoring that she hitched a ride with a smuggler.

Spring gets fussy and tells her to just shut up and make this easy so she can go back home. The quote unquote irony here is that we know Weiss is unloved and unwanted and doesn't WANT to go back and...I don't find it funny or compelling.

Instead of staying quiet, which is smart, and instead of bringing up she's unloved and unwanted, which is super dumb but potentially workable, she...threatens them that her sister Winter is gonna come kill them all when she realizes Weiss didn't show up. Which...is the worst possible thing she could of said. Like, I'd argue saying "I'm actually worthless for you money wise" would work out better because then they'd just press gang her into the bandit class. Or kill her, which would be bad, but they'd probably untie her to kill her so she'd get an opening to escape. Telling them "big sister gonna smush you for being mean to me" is the worst possible choice she could of made. All because of her stupid ****ing pride of not wanting to be a bandit. Her pride that she BASICALLY THREW AWAY. You know, Weiss saying "I'm worthless to you money wise, but let me join the bandits" would of been INTERESTING.

Also, calling it now. Springy was trained by Winter and that's why she caved under the pressure.

Everyone laughs, and Springy says that Winter is gone because no one from Atlas is in Mistral, because Ironwood gave in to his stupid idiot paranoia and closed all the borders. I don't really think Winter would listen to that order personally, but she might of. Weiss has a sad and we cut back to the main plot.

Nora is insufferable. She's...very happy that Ozpin is back. And she does the dumb anime jooookes. Yaaay. I don't like this. Ozpin agrees, and asks her not to refer to him as "cute little boy Ozpin" which...I'm gonna be honest, I don't find Nora's shtick funny, but that's a good name for him.

Okay look I don't WANT panty shots but when Nora sits down on the couch you can kinda blatently see that her legs just stop at the upper thigh and float underneath her dress. There's nothing up there, these girls are like the Sailor Moon girls, they have no pelvises. I don't want a panty shot but when you outright give us what would be one, and instead show us how your animation and models are bad, mistakes have been made.

Anyway Qrowe points out Lionheart is kind of obviously Not Good, even if he's potentially Not Evil either.

Aaaah, good to have Ozpin back. I don't want to jump to conclusions but I don't want to rule out any possibilities. Congrats, you said ****ING NOTHING. This means nothing. Look, you're DEAD right now, and trying to rebecome. The worst case scenario has happened. Go with your gut, he's obviously compromised by Salem. Obviously.

Ozpin says they shouldn't let Lionheart no that he's inside of Ozcar but...um. Guys. He's SOME RANDOM ASS FARM BOY with Ozpin's stick. Lionheart knows Ozpin's secret. He KNOWS, okay? He's gonna figure this out immediately.

And so begins the battle planning. Step one, find random NPCs that don't matter because our heroes can't actually take down an entire bandit fort by themselves. Qrowe's gonna look up some generic non plot important shadow runners at the bars he knows to supplement the actual plot important characters but honestly I don't know why you'd use them, Glory's claws are insane and Dietrach's shamanism is really great support. Eigen's also got a shotgun AND a sniper. I...could take or leave Blitz, but he does tech stuff if your OC doesn't do it.

This has been a very long and elaborate Dragonfall joke. I don't apologize.

...Qrowe randomly breaks the ****ing table by putting his feet up on it, which breaks one of it's legs???? Why is this thing? Did the animation break and they decided to roll with it? Guys this isn't real life you can fix this stuff and then not have it be a problem.

Ruby's tights are assymetrical in length for no reason and one of them is slightly ripped. This is the character design of a 12 year old, and I know because I was 12 and used to design my characters this way and spoilers, it's BAD.

Part two of Ozpin's big plan is to level grind our heroes because...again, the npcs they recruit are literally going to be worthless and are just there so that it's not actually four small children and drunkle Qrowe beating the **** out of an entire city of bandits.

Ozpin...for some reason keys in on the fact that Ruby is worthless without her weapon. Guys, everyone is. Except Ren, who's worthless WITH his weapons, and would be far more effective if he just did a punch build. I do appreciate this, it's a a good idea, but also...no. One of the problems I have with this series, in perpetuity, is that the fighting is all same-y. While it's sensible to make sure everyone is good at everything, this will just make the problem worse.

Oozpin then notes that Jaune is...continuing to be useless. He's gotten better but yeah no he's still basically not...even remotely a factor. So they're gonna work on that. He says nothing about Ren and Nora because they're not important enough. I'm actually bugged about THIS because they...ARE actually meant to be more than tertiary characters right now.

Also, HE is going to have to train as well. So that...Ozcar can..."inherit his muscle memory". Because again, CREEPY ****ING HIVE MIND OZPIN. He's LITERALLY just going to subsume this random ass farm boys brain. He'll be "changed" from it, sure, but he's still the thousands upon thousands of people who make up Ozpin. Ozcar will suffer mind death. That's ****ing creepy.

...I'm sorry. I was almost distracted by the bad jump Ozpin did but he says they have "aprox one month until fall classes begin in Haven". Back in Zoo, they said two months. So ALL OF BLAKE'S **** is ONE MONTH AGO. God, that entire story arc is USELESS GARBAGE. But yeah, one month to train to even approach "can fight Salem" levels. That's...not happening, but good luck guys. You'll need it.

....and for some reason the episode continues. That would of been a good note to end the episode on. Like, insults about the quality of all of this aside, that would of been a good ending note. But no, back to Weiss's adventure as a useless prisoner.

LIKE I SAID. They tied up Weiss in such a way that she can MOVE HER HANDS FREELY, so she just opens her palms and summons her knight. So now she knows she can free herself. She smiles, and the episode ends. What a ****ing awful ending.

Well that's over. Thoughts:

Spoiler: V5C3

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Bad. Bad episode. Look, I'm not one of those weirdos who wants shows to always be fight fight fight fight. I get it, that's THE SHOW, but you can have slower paced episodes.

As long as they're good. And this wasn't. Blake's entire plot line continues to be literally pointless. Weiss's plotline is DUMB because they...they don't tie her up correctly, so she can still do her random semblance magic that apparently is supposed to use dust since if you slot a juicebox into your gun it changes your body's semblance, but she has no weapon but can still do it, and so she can just free herself at any moment if she wanted. But she won't until "something happens" which will inevitibly be Yang showing up. Who didn't show up AT ALL today, by the way. And Ozpin gives us a big explantation on what he is, and what he is is ****ING HORRIFYING. He is an ageless amalgum of everyone he's taken the body of, and he will slowly subsume Ozcar's identity. I cannot stress enough that this is A WAY BIGGER DEAL than everyone's making it out to be. I realize it's not his FAULT, he was "cursed" by some gods that may or may not exist, and honestly everything Ozpin says is a half truth anyway, but...he's GOING to eat Ozcar's personality. He SAYS THIS. The farm boy is going to be dead, and replaced with "Ozpin but also with like 1% more farmer".

So yeah. This episode featured bad perspectives, poor showing of their models that are way more advanced than the previous seasons but still suffer the same problems some how, and way too many unfortunate implications due to their writing...when the writing is actually something that matters. All around, it sure is RWBY in here huh.

..Zodi, I say this with nothing but concern, but I think your 'I hate RWBY' schtick is starting to get a lot worse.

Everything okay? Normally when this happens you're being overworked or already in a foul mood about something else.

[Ramza00]

Okay look I'm very tired and sick and full of pizza and kit kat bars, I may of mistakenly conflated Ozymandius and Alexander the Great as the same person. I meant the latter.

Is super jealous right now. I am at the stage of making pizza where I am waiting for the dough to rise before I then put the toppings and sauce and cheese. Except I am lacking toppings and sauce and cheese so I am just making pizza dough bread. Right now my pantry is bare but I have not had time to go to the store during daylight hours and buy real food, and at the end of the day I am often cranky so I decide to do it some other day but not tonight.

[LaZodiac]

..Zodi, I say this with nothing but concern, but I think your 'I hate RWBY' schtick is starting to get a lot worse.

Everything okay? Normally when this happens you're being overworked or already in a foul mood about something else.

Doing this write up at the end of a long, stressful day, at the end of my two day day off after a long stressful week, in a relatively stressful series of months due to family stuff was...perhaps a mistake.

So yeah, thanks for the support and concern. I do count you as a friend, and it's nice to see someone cares. I'll be better about this in the future.

Spoiler: V5C3, vaguely

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Also the episode was kinda boring so I had to do something to make it at least interesting to read. Sorry if it came off as a bit to acidic, I just...it's got some genuine problems right now, which I think are due to the writers realizing that they've kinda put the show into a huge tangled mess and they have to wring it all out. Splitting the party and introducing too many plot stuff all at once was kind of a poor idea.

That said I also think it's important to note that...Blake's part of the story really is just poorly written.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: v5c3

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I have to say, the possibility of personality overwrite was presented as a lot more conflicted when it was Pyrrha's choice. And she at least had a choice. This is old hat for Ozpin, but certainly not for Oscar. Here's hoping it's closer to the ATLA situation than the Orochimaru-style "I want your body Sasuke" situation.

That said, cRWBY, don't let this stop you from making The Man With Two Souls, Part Two: The Man With Four Souls.

I was expecting somewhat more from both Ghira and the White Fang at that gathering. Ah, well, there's plenty of time for the long knives to come out. (Except no, there isn't, because we still have five separate groups to cycle through every season.)

That 5/4ths-speed idea is surprisingly appealing right now. Everyone seems to be talking/acting slightly too slowly. Or maybe that's just the pacing.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler: v5c3

Show

I have to say, the possibility of personality overwrite was presented as a lot more conflicted when it was Pyrrha's choice. And she at least had a choice. This is old hat for Ozpin, but certainly not for Oscar. Here's hoping it's closer to the ATLA situation than the Orochimaru-style "I want your body Sasuke" situation.

That said, cRWBY, don't let this stop you from making The Man With Two Souls, Part Two: The Man With Four Souls.

I was expecting somewhat more from both Ghira and the White Fang at that gathering. Ah, well, there's plenty of time for the long knives to come out. (Except no, there isn't, because we still have five separate groups to cycle through every season.)

That 5/4ths-speed idea is surprisingly appealing right now. Everyone seems to be talking/acting slightly too slowly. Or maybe that's just the pacing.

Spoiler: V5C3

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Ozpin's made it basically 100% clear that the latter. He'll have some of Oscar's personality in there, but given he has a thousand people plus inside of him, that's like...a 1% change. And like you brought up...this is FORCED. Ozpin has no control over it, and Oscar has no say. This is going to happen, and there isn't anything that can be done about it.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Doing this write up at the end of a long, stressful day, at the end of my two day day off after a long stressful week, in a relatively stressful series of months due to family stuff was...perhaps a mistake.

So yeah, thanks for the support and concern. I do count you as a friend, and it's nice to see someone cares. I'll be better about this in the future.

Hey, there is no actual, physical demand for you to do these write-ups. If you aren't feeling it at a given point in time, just don't do it or wait until you do. You're personal happiness means more than a funny review.

...And not just cause the quality of the write-up is down as a result.

You need to relax and not worry about talking about RWBY in an online forum! That's the main take here though.

Spoiler: V5C3, vaguely

Show

Also the episode was kinda boring so I had to do something to make it at least interesting to read. Sorry if it came off as a bit to acidic, I just...it's got some genuine problems right now, which I think are due to the writers realizing that they've kinda put the show into a huge tangled mess and they have to wring it all out. Splitting the party and introducing too many plot stuff all at once was kind of a poor idea.

That said I also think it's important to note that...Blake's part of the story really is just poorly written.

Spoiler: V5C3ish Stuff

Show

Well there is a difference between slow/not the most interesting and actually bad. Which is something you differentiate between most of the time and why I enjoy your reviews. I get the funny hate-filled 'review' then your real thoughts which sometimes provides some good insight from perspectives I haven't considered. Cause yeah, there are problems but a lot of them have been straightened out or in the process of being straightened out...and overall, so far, the pacing has been a lot better this volume.

If you don't mind me asking, and after you've gotten a chance to unwind, I'd love to hear why or what you feel is poorly written about Blake's part of the story! I feel like her part of the story has made Blake a better character and introduced other ones but the story itself can be touch or go. Would enjoy talking and debating the specifics with ya though!

@Leth:

Spoiler: V5C3

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There's good reason it was more conflicted in Pyrrha's case that...I really, really liked honestly. Pyrrha not only had a choice (that Oscar didn't) but there was also no guarantee that it would even happen in the first place...if it even worked! It was presented as a situation where the best case outcome was Pyrrha's soul merged with a complete stranger's...and yeah, Pyrrha would probably be an entirely different person. And I love that this gives more weight to Ozpin and Pyrrha's interaction during the transfer scene. Before it just seemed like guilt at recklessly (but necessarily) risking Pyrrha's life and identity...having to hear Pyrrha agree to the process and apologizing once its begun, just so he could sleep at night after wards. Now? Now we know the truth. That Ozpin knew what would happen if the process worked and he regretted that Pyrrha was going to become something like himself, even if on a much smaller scale because he is intimately familiar with the type of hardships she will be going through.

With Oscar though? Different story. Aside from being a curse, Ozpin's situation seems designed so there is always someone to stand against Salem and with that...certain contingencies are put in place. With Pyrrha, she was being merged with a complete stranger...they could have hated each other for all anyone knew and fought over who controlled the body or torn each other's souls and minds apart. With Ozpin..he says he only 'reincarnates' (and yeah, its just possession) into someone with a like mind and values. Oscar and Ozpin may disagree on things but their...er...union(?) is going to be an essentially healthy one because they were already similar individuals at heart. That's the whole reason Ozpin reincarnated into him...and Ozpin didn't pick Oscar either (as far as we know) so its not like Ozpin could be a poor judge of character and he and Oscar have nothing in common, the curse itself will have to be borked in someway to pick someone not of like-mind to the previous Ozpin and considering the situation..we basically have to assume that the curse won't 'mess up' like that. So there's less conflict because there...will actually be less conflict between Oscar and Ozpin..in theory. Which makes a lot of sense.

[LaZodiac]

Hey, there is no actual, physical demand for you to do these write-ups. If you aren't feeling it at a given point in time, just don't do it or wait until you do. You're personal happiness means more than a funny review.

...And not just cause the quality of the write-up is down as a result.

You need to relax and not worry about talking about RWBY in an online forum! That's the main take here though.

Spoiler: V5C3ish Stuff

Show

Well there is a difference between slow/not the most interesting and actually bad. Which is something you differentiate between most of the time and why I enjoy your reviews. I get the funny hate-filled 'review' then your real thoughts which sometimes provides some good insight from perspectives I haven't considered. Cause yeah, there are problems but a lot of them have been straightened out or in the process of being straightened out...and overall, so far, the pacing has been a lot better this volume.

If you don't mind me asking, and after you've gotten a chance to unwind, I'd love to hear why or what you feel is poorly written about Blake's part of the story! I feel like her part of the story has made Blake a better character and introduced other ones but the story itself can be touch or go. Would enjoy talking and debating the specifics with ya though!

Spoiler: V5C3

Show

The problem with Blake's entire story right now, and with the White Fang plot in general, is two fold.

First off, due to the time gap of a month and just how far away Zoo is from everything...it's really hard to get a feel for how it relates to any of the actual action. Yang is on her way to Raven's bandit camp. Weiss is IN the camp, getting ready to free herself. Ruby and pals are on their way to the camp soon.

Blake is on the other side of the planet hiding in her castle as her father inadvertently starts the race wars up again. It...just doesn't connect very well.

The other problem, and this is more with the White Fang aspect of Blake's story arc than Blake herself is that...it's...it's muddled. It's really confused. And like I've said before, and as I'm pretty sure everyone has kinda noticed themselves, there are parallels to the real world in this that can't really be avoided, and the show is making a mess of conflicting views in their attempt to make a realistic depiction of animal people racism. I cannot actually say more on this because of the forum rules (not a complaint, I kinda don't want to get into it anyway) but it's a situation where there is a lot of confliction going on.

In short, in the best way I can, making Sienna Khan the sacrifical goat of "the Faunus need to do a violence" so Blake Dad can be entirely "let's do a peace instead" makes the situation really silly, and really only furthers the idea that Blake Dad started a terrorist group by mistake and ran away from it when faced with solutions to problems he couldn't bare to take. The irony of all this is that...the Blake story arc is bad for the story, but good for Blake. She's had the least characterization next to Weiss, and this is helping with that. It's also at least trying to develop Wukong, and giving us an interesting and nuanced (if flawed) character in chameleon girl and Blake Dad.

I actually like the slower pace, but the way they're handling it feels...conflicted with their writing style. They want to be bang zoom fast, but they're being bang zoom fast about sitting in a room listening to exposition. This is honestly why I think the random break a table gag is in the episode. The writers and animators both were just bored. And when you're bored with what you're writing, you don't write as well as you could.

[Malak'ai]

Spoiler: V5C3

Show

The problem with Blake's entire story right now, and with the White Fang plot in general, is two fold.

First off, due to the time gap of a month and just how far away Zoo is from everything...it's really hard to get a feel for how it relates to any of the actual action. Yang is on her way to Raven's bandit camp. Weiss is IN the camp, getting ready to free herself. Ruby and pals are on their way to the camp soon.

Blake is on the other side of the planet hiding in her castle as her father inadvertently starts the race wars up again. It...just doesn't connect very well.

The other problem, and this is more with the White Fang aspect of Blake's story arc than Blake herself is that...it's...it's muddled. It's really confused. And like I've said before, and as I'm pretty sure everyone has kinda noticed themselves, there are parallels to the real world in this that can't really be avoided, and the show is making a mess of conflicting views in their attempt to make a realistic depiction of animal people racism. I cannot actually say more on this because of the forum rules (not a complaint, I kinda don't want to get into it anyway) but it's a situation where there is a lot of confliction going on.

In short, in the best way I can, making Sienna Khan the sacrifical goat of "the Faunus need to do a violence" so Blake Dad can be entirely "let's do a peace instead" makes the situation really silly, and really only furthers the idea that Blake Dad started a terrorist group by mistake and ran away from it when faced with solutions to problems he couldn't bare to take. The irony of all this is that...the Blake story arc is bad for the story, but good for Blake. She's had the least characterization next to Weiss, and this is helping with that. It's also at least trying to develop Wukong, and giving us an interesting and nuanced (if flawed) character in chameleon girl and Blake Dad.

I actually like the slower pace, but the way they're handling it feels...conflicted with their writing style. They want to be bang zoom fast, but they're being bang zoom fast about sitting in a room listening to exposition. This is honestly why I think the random break a table gag is in the episode. The writers and animators both were just bored. And when you're bored with what you're writing, you don't write as well as you could.

Spoiler: V5C3

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Menagerie isn't on the other side of the world, Anima (the continant where Mistral is located) is right above it. You're thinking of Vacuo.
Also, Ghira didn't start the White Fang, he was just the pervious leader before Sienna. The White Fang came into being just after the Faunus Wars which happened, he's also the Chieftain of the whole island of Menagerie, not just the mayor of one city.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler: V5C3

Show

Menagerie isn't on the other side of the world, Anima (the continant where Mistral is located) is right above it. You're thinking of Vacuo.
Also, Ghira didn't start the White Fang, he was just the pervious leader before Sienna. The White Fang came into being just after the Faunus Wars which happened, he's also the Chieftain of the whole island of Menagerie, not just the mayor of one city

.

Spoiler: V5C3

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He's also the mayor of what's implied to be the only city, so it counts. Pretty sure they said he was mayor, but if I got that wrong I do apologize. Also he...said he founded the White Fang in this episode, right? I'm pretty sure he did.

Even if the continent is right above then, Haven itself is basically on the other side of the map to them.