RWBY IX: Fractured Fairy Tales

[Spacewolf]

Spoiler: Spoiler: V5C7

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I'm abit confused as to why turning people into birds without any negative downside is considered some massive moral issue, I can understand the scepticism that is is something that exists but why are people getting outraged about it?

[Lethologica]

I feel the need to point out that Blake was not suggesting that her "one word" thing was meant to define the character, but to define the trait.

That may have been what was intended, but it's not what was written. "X is the personification of Y" means both that X defines Y and Y defines X. And the subsequent descriptions are "When I look at X, I think of Y" (or even "I used to think X was Y or Z, but now I see that X is W," for Adam), indicating that Y is the primary or defining trait of X in Blake's eyes. Blake does not say "If I want to see Y, I look at X," which would indicate that X demonstrates what Y is about, but not necessarily that Y is what X is about.

I think a better-written version would still be a poor storytelling choice, but it could certainly avoid this particular problem. It just didn't.

[Reddish Mage]

Spoiler: V5C5 - Exemplars

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I feel the need to point out that Blake was not suggesting that her "one word" thing was meant to define the character, but to define the trait.

The language Blake used implied some people personify a single word, not the other way around.

That may have been what was intended, but it's not what was written. "X is the personification of Y" means both that X defines Y and Y defines X. And the subsequent descriptions are "When I look at X, I think of Y" (or even "I used to think X was Y or Z, but now I see that X is W," for Adam), indicating that Y is the primary or defining trait of X in Blake's eyes. Blake does not say "If I want to see Y, I look at X," which would indicate that X demonstrates what Y is about, but not necessarily that Y is what X is about.

I think a better-written version would still be a poor storytelling choice, but it could certainly avoid this particular problem. It just didn't.

I don't see this as poor storytelling. Blake statements can be taken as her point of view, or as giving insight into how the writers think of the characters. If you care enough about what Blake says to hate on its philosophical foundations, then your giving thought to her statements, which is probably what they were tryign to achieve.

However, they are getting through a very specific plot point. Blake saying that Adam personifies spite says a lot about him. A lot about what he's doing and where he is taking the White Fang. Of course, the counter to that statement is that it is better to show then tell.

On that note, I think its telling that the Menagerie leaders are already contemplating getting rid of him.

Spoiler: Post-V5C7 Predictions

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As for predictions, I'm going to bet that Cinder will walk in, wreck the place, and successfully recruit Vernal (maybe because she's a "free" Maiden like herself, maybe because Cinder is able to intimidate her). Raven will try to resist, but the conflict will bring the Grimm and guess what side they'll be on? Raven will die (or be forced to retreat, leaving most if not all of her tribe to die), possibly sealing Vernal's compliance.

Spoiler: V5E8 Speculation: Battle match-ups, Round 1

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Raven and Vernal will be on the same team. Vernal knows everything Raven said about Salem, Ozpin, and the bird thing. Vernal has been practically raised by Raven, unlike her own daughter. I doubt Vernal is going to prance off the first chance she gets. Unlike certain other daughters that haven't actually received any mothering...

However, there is still the possibilty Raven decides to go along with Cinder. Cinder is going in with intimidation, but that's no different from how Yang showed up. Raven stated explicitly that she thinks opposing Salem is hopeless. Salem herself has suggested that they use Raven rather than go in and take the spring maiden.

Still, if Raven and the bandits join for the attack on Haven there will be strings attached, like Yang's off-limits (Ruby remains fair game). I think this is a more likely outcome than Vernal joining and the bandit camp burning. Raven dies saving Yang after the deal sours, or Qrow and Raven take each other out.

Spoiler: Post-V5C7 Predictions

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Meanwhile, Ilia does her job of distracting Blake, but the assassination fails because nobody ever takes Sun seriously. This is the biggest fight before Haven, with Sun and the Belladonnas working together to take out the assassins. Realizing Menagerie is a lost cause for the time being, the four head off to Haven to do their part.

(My thoughts favor the Belladonnas surviving mainly for two reasons: a) we need more good parental examples than TaiYang and b) they're a lot more fun to watch than Raven. Raven, for her part, has completed all the roles she's been set up for. She either has to evolve or die at this point.

Spoiler: V5E8 Speculation: Battle outcomes, Round 2

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I agree, Blake's parents aren't going to die. Blake's had enough angst and losing her parents at this point is redundant. We need a little hope here. However, far from Menagerie being a lost cause...the Belladonna's turn the attack into an opportunity to retake the island and the White Fang in Menagerie. Blake's parent's stay in Menagerie and Blake and Sun are sent to Haven.

[Lethologica]

I don't see this as poor storytelling. Blake statements can be taken as her point of view, or as giving insight into how the writers think of the characters. If you care enough about what Blake says to hate on its philosophical foundations, then your giving thought to her statements, which is probably what they were tryign to achieve.

However, they are getting through a very specific plot point. Blake saying that Adam personifies spite says a lot about him. A lot about what he's doing and where he is taking the White Fang.

I have only cared to the extent of arguing that it was a poor storytelling decision. And the work of making me care about the story enough to be annoyed with what I perceive as a poor storytelling decision was done by previous episodes, not by that scene. If that's evidence of it being a good storytelling decision, literally anything would be.

Suggesting it was Blake's POV was me being charitable. I'm far less interested in the writers telling me flat-out what words they used when they were filling out character questionnaires in the brainstorming phase. The central purpose of the 150 seconds or so of dialogue starting with that segment is to develop Blake's past relationships with Adam and Ilia. That Blake's impression of Adam went 'justice -> passion -> spite' is good information to put in this dialogue. But to get to that information directly, the writers use this 'personification of a word' segue which has nothing to do with Blake, Adam, or Ilia, and is badly written besides--it distracts from the scene rather than adding to it. The next segment, wherein Blake basically reads Ilia's backstory off a character sheet, is also lacking, so there's a lot of screentime that could be reworked into a single improved whole.

I bring up layered storytelling a lot, and this is an opportunity to actually implement it. Blake's relationships with Adam and Ilia are one layer of this scene, talking about why Adam is dangerous and needs to be stopped, and why Ilia is in danger of falling to Adam's level and needs to be saved, but that's not enough to make a conversation. One layer that could go on top of that is Blake's own history with the darker side of the White Fang. Last time she talked to Sun about this stuff, everything bad the WF did was a "they". They started to use violence, they started to rob companies that exploited Faunus labor. I would like Blake to begin moving towards talking about what she did--not all of it, but some. Blake is who we really care about in this scene, after all, far more than Adam or Ilia, and an ounce of her development is worth a pound of theirs. But we can learn about Adam and Ilia in that context and be more invested in it--Adam is the person who led Blake into that dark place, and Blake recognizes Ilia's situation because Blake's been there. And this naturally adds another layer, which is Blake implicitly somewhere on the spectrum between confessing to, confiding in, and challenging Sun. "This is who I was, this is what I did, this is who I did it with, this is how bad it got, and (implied) if you can be my friend knowing that, maybe I can make peace with it as well."

This conversation could take place in the same amount of time and convey far more of import to the viewer. But instead everything is broken up into a series of single-layer chunks. And then one of those chunks--the first chunk, no less--isn't even related to the topic of conversation. That's why the storytelling frustrates me.

Of course, the counter to that statement is that it is better to show then tell.

On that note, I think its telling that the Menagerie leaders are already contemplating getting rid of him.

It is, isn't it? But if that ever comes to anything, I think it'll go about as well as Sienna's attempt did. If public opinion turns against Adam, the foxes can probably scramble to disown him, but they can't wag the dog themselves.

[Reddish Mage]

I have only cared to the extent of arguing that it was a poor storytelling decision. And the work of making me care about the story enough to be annoyed with what I perceive as a poor storytelling decision was done by previous episodes, not by that scene. If that's evidence of it being a good storytelling decision, literally anything would be.

Suggesting it was Blake's POV was me being charitable. I'm far less interested in the writers telling me flat-out what words they used when they were filling out character questionnaires in the brainstorming phase. The central purpose of the 150 seconds or so of dialogue starting with that segment is to develop Blake's past relationships with Adam and Ilia. That Blake's impression of Adam went 'justice -> passion -> spite' is good information to put in this dialogue. But to get to that information directly, the writers use this 'personification of a word' segue which has nothing to do with Blake, Adam, or Ilia, and is badly written besides--it distracts from the scene rather than adding to it.

At the very least the fact that you are so upset at poor storytelling decisions suggest you have strong feelings about the overall material. For most shows, the problem is not so much the people that hate them, its that a lot of people find them boring.

The personification of word concept isn't the sort of abstraction a show should pull often. However, RWBY has a lot of devoted core followers. It can make an inside joke or break the fourth wall and put forward an out there concept from time to time.

It is, isn't it? But if that ever comes to anything, I think it'll go about as well as Sienna's attempt did. If public opinion turns against Adam, the foxes can probably scramble to disown him, but they can't wag the dog themselves.

I agree. Adam is there to be defeated by Blake and her friends, no one outside of that will depose him.

Spoiler: Predictions

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The fact that Adam is acting high and mighty, petty, and clearly out of personal spite, suggests he doesn't have long before he will get what's coming to him. Pride goeth before a fall. My guess is that the end of the Haven Academy attack will end with Adam being defeated by Yang and Blake and probably end up dead.

[Lethologica]

At the very least the fact that you are so upset at poor storytelling decisions suggest you have strong feelings about the overall material. For most shows, the problem is not so much the people that hate them, its that a lot of people find them boring.

Thank you for repeating what I have already said. If I ever gave the impression that I was arguing RWBY is the worst show ever, that was in error. That has nothing to do with the quality of the storytelling decision under discussion.

The personification of word concept isn't the sort of abstraction a show should pull often. However, RWBY has a lot of devoted core followers. It can make an inside joke or break the fourth wall and put forward an out there concept from time to time.

It's hardly 'out there', and doesn't break the fourth wall either.

I have no complaints about RWBY making inside jokes per se. If your opinion is that the inside joke is sufficient reason for the scene to be told as it was, that's your prerogative. My comments about the scene stand regardless.

[Reddish Mage]

It's hardly 'out there', and doesn't break the fourth wall either.

I have no complaints about RWBY making inside jokes per se. If your opinion is that the inside joke is sufficient reason for the scene to be told as it was, that's your prerogative. My comments about the scene stand regardless.

I think its a mess of things. It started with the need to reveal this side of Adam. They decided he doing everything not only to Blake but everything he was doing was driven by that petty sadistic hatred of others. So they decided why not just have Blake say it and went with it.

Blake is awkward and romantically intellectual enough it seems like something she could say.

The bit about her saying all this to Sun is a bit of an inside joke.

That’s the theory.

Next is Adam’s scene soon after saying he is going to kill the Belladonna’s for a promise. I think having set Adam up as spite before the scene (although Blake could have used other words)helps drive home that Adam is being very petty and unstable in that scene.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: v5c7

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I enjoyed the first third of the episode for what it was.

The rest was pretty head-scratching. Apparently getting neat bird powers is a terrible burden. The reveal that Oz is indeed the wizard of the Maiden story is interesting in itself, but has no immediate relevance to the story at this point, so the reaction it produces is, "Yeah, and...?" On the other hand, Qrow doesn't bring up the recruiting failure and nobody asks him how it's going, even though that's why RNJR were cooking for guests last I checked. We've learned basically nothing about the war against Salem this whole season, but Ozpin pulls out the "now's your chance to leave" card as if everyone now knows what they're getting into. Which is Yang's cue to pull her "Ruby is the best" line out of the blue. And Ozpin concludes the conversation by telling the kids to go back to what they were doing at the beginning of the episode, which highlights the lack of any ongoing impact from this discussion.

Apparently we'll have more sitting and talking tomorrow? Oh, boy! RNJR haven't done anything this entire season except sit and listen to other people talk. I should have heard the warning bells when Ozpin started talking about training - RWBY has never given training the respect it deserves. Turns out it's code for doing nothing while Miles and Kerry catch everything else up - the Meereenese Knot in miniature, as it were. And this quiet episode is a break from...an episode of Yang and Weiss sitting and listening to Raven talk. *sigh*

Speaking of tomorrow, I assume it's the next day when CWME (the Elmer Fudd version of CRME) shows up at Raven's camp, since the shadows show it's around noon. Guess the Mistral gang are all sleeping in.

[Calemyr]

Spoiler: v5c7

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I enjoyed the first third of the episode for what it was.

The rest was pretty head-scratching. Apparently getting neat bird powers is a terrible burden. The reveal that Oz is indeed the wizard of the Maiden story is interesting in itself, but has no immediate relevance to the story at this point, so the reaction it produces is, "Yeah, and...?" On the other hand, Qrow doesn't bring up the recruiting failure and nobody asks him how it's going, even though that's why RNJR were cooking for guests last I checked. We've learned basically nothing about the war against Salem this whole season, but Ozpin pulls out the "now's your chance to leave" card as if everyone now knows what they're getting into. Which is Yang's cue to pull her "Ruby is the best" line out of the blue. And Ozpin concludes the conversation by telling the kids to go back to what they were doing at the beginning of the episode, which highlights the lack of any ongoing impact from this discussion.

Apparently we'll have more sitting and talking tomorrow? Oh, boy! RNJR haven't done anything this entire season except sit and listen to other people talk. I should have heard the warning bells when Ozpin started talking about training - RWBY has never given training the respect it deserves. Turns out it's code for doing nothing while Miles and Kerry catch everything else up - the Meereenese Knot in miniature, as it were. And this quiet episode is a break from...an episode of Yang and Weiss sitting and listening to Raven talk. *sigh*

Speaking of tomorrow, I assume it's the next day when CWME (the Elmer Fudd version of CRME) shows up at Raven's camp, since the shadows show it's around noon. Guess the Mistral gang are all sleeping in.

Spoiler: V5C7

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I think it's a matter of perspective. Raven wanted, I think, to impress two facts onto Yang. First, magic is real. This ain't dust, it ain't semblance, you are in the deep end of the pool now, kiddo. Second, Ozpin uses people, turns them into tools - sometimes literally transforming them to make them more useful. Since it kinda weakens her claims that Ozpin is dubious, she understates the fact that she volunteered. But from Yang's point of view, this is all just a lot of proof that Ozpin hasn't been playing straight with them and that they have all suffered because of it.

I'm pretty certain the whole "all my friends are dead" bomb is already dealt with, at least a little. You can see the seats set out for Qrow and Oscar at dinner, but they're empty and the two only arrive after the meal. It seems very likely that they have been hashing out the matter in private rather than drag down this reunion. Remember that, even after the heavy talk they had about it being okay to back out now, Ozpin re-asserted that they should at least have this night to enjoy themselves. That mood would be pretty wrecked if they knew that not only were they storming the fort on their own, but at least a dozen full-fledged Huntsmen have been systematically eliminated without anyone raising an eyebrow. The next day, Qrow will either tell them the truth or try to brush it off as being distracted by Raven's portal. If the latter, Ozpin might score some honesty points by spelling out what happened and what it means.

One scene I'm expecting to see:
Qrow: I know, I know. I'm a freak...
Nora: Well, yeah. Freakin' AWESOME!

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: V5C7

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I think it's a matter of perspective. Raven wanted, I think, to impress two facts onto Yang. First, magic is real. This ain't dust, it ain't semblance, you are in the deep end of the pool now, kiddo. Second, Ozpin uses people, turns them into tools - sometimes literally transforming them to make them more useful. Since it kinda weakens her claims that Ozpin is dubious, she understates the fact that she volunteered. But from Yang's point of view, this is all just a lot of proof that Ozpin hasn't been playing straight with them and that they have all suffered because of it.

I'm pretty certain the whole "all my friends are dead" bomb is already dealt with, at least a little. You can see the seats set out for Qrow and Oscar at dinner, but they're empty and the two only arrive after the meal. It seems very likely that they have been hashing out the matter in private rather than drag down this reunion. Remember that, even after the heavy talk they had about it being okay to back out now, Ozpin re-asserted that they should at least have this night to enjoy themselves. That mood would be pretty wrecked if they knew that not only were they storming the fort on their own, but at least a dozen full-fledged Huntsmen have been systematically eliminated without anyone raising an eyebrow. The next day, Qrow will either tell them the truth or try to brush it off as being distracted by Raven's portal. If the latter, Ozpin might score some honesty points by spelling out what happened and what it means.

One scene I'm expecting to see:
Qrow: I know, I know. I'm a freak...
Nora: Well, yeah. Freakin' AWESOME!

Spoiler: v5c7

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The easy way to prevent the "let them have their night" consideration from messing with telling the story is to have the meeting in the morning. Considering what's already been discussed, the mood isn't making a comeback anyway. With that said, I have to believe that the next, even more mood-wrecking meeting is going to be interrupted by Vernal stumbling through a Raven portal or something. If they actually just sit and talk for another episode, this was a waste.

I'm sure Qrow and Oz have been hashing lots of things out in private, but it's not actually dealt with as a plot thread until someone decides what to do about it, on screen.

And the issue isn't just what Raven wanted to sell, though her big speech was scattered in purpose and consequently incoherent, and we could talk about that for a good while. But Qrow and Yang and Ruby all react as if magical bird powers are something shameful or horrifying that Oz did to the Branwens--yes, even Qrow; his defense is "We volunteered," not "Hey, magical bird powers ain't that bad." And it's not because Oz was using the Branwens as tools, which would be an actually interesting conflict-generating element--the reactions come before Oz talks about what he asked Raven and Qrow to do with their bird powers, and what he asked turns out (so far) to have been pretty darn innocuous, and nobody presents any skepticism or outrage on that score. It's all very bemusing.

[Celestia]

There's something that I just realized about this show. I don't know if anyone else has noticed it or what, but it seems to me like there's a lot of similarity between RWBY and the Fable games. I don't know if they were actually inspiration or if these are all just coincidences, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

First, the Huntsmen academies are incredibly similar to the Hero's Guild. They train people to be adventuring monster slayer types and even have a system whereby they give out official quests/missions for graduates. The Huntsmen are also trained in three distinct areas: melee combat, ranged combat, and dust/semblance. This is very much parallel to Fable's three Hero aspects of Strength, Skill, and Will. In addition, they have an uncommon aesthetic of a world that possesses both guns and swords side by side, just like the later Fable games.

There are also similarities with specific characters. The first one is with the player's mother, Scarlet Robe. She's a Hero who iconically wears a red, hooded cloak and wields a two-handed axe. Her most notable achievement was in slaying balverines, which are humanoid wolves. When the player is a child, she goes missing and is presumed dead (though later came back after being imprisoned by the enemy for over a decade). Compare this with both Ruby and her mother. They both have names that are similar to Scarlet, Ruby Rose and Summer Rose. They both wear hooded cloaks (Ruby's is even red). Ruby wields a scythe which is visually very similar to a two-handed axe, though we don't know what Summer used. Ruby's first appearance was in slaying believes, which are humanoid wolves. When Ruby was a child, Summer disappeared and is presumed dead (though I would bet cash money that she's not actually dead.)

Next, we have Theresa who disappeared while the player was a child and was raised by bandits. She became a highly trained fighter and rose up to (effectively) lead them. She also possesses a unique ability that is beyond what even other Heroes can do (prophecy). Compare that with Raven who disappeared when Yang was a child and was raised by bandits. She became a highly trained fighter and rose up to (actually) lead them. She also possesses a (moatly) unique ability that is beyond what even other Huntsmen can do (transformation).

Lastly, there are even similarities in the big bads. Both Jack of Blades and Salem are mysterious, ancient figures of unknown origin and supernatural power who lead armies of unnatural monsters and have a penchant for the black/red/white color scheme.

And there was a big scene involving an arena where the Heroes/Hunstmen fought for the amusement of the masses. And the Hero's Guild/Huntsmen Academy gets almost destroyed/destroyed by the forces of evil. The main plots also involve ancient artifacts of ambiguous power. Hell, all we're missing is a scene where someone infiltrates a prison as a prisoner to help someone else escape.

You know, though, at least we never had to deal with Ozpin calling up the other characters to say "Your aura is low. Do have any potions or food?"

[Reddish Mage]

There's something that I just realized about this show. I don't know if anyone else has noticed it or what, but it seems to me like there's a lot of similarity between RWBY and the Fable games. I don't know if they were actually inspiration or if these are all just coincidences, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

Scarlet Robe sounds close enough to Ruby and Summer that there might be something to the similarity.

The other parallels are such cliches that I really don’t think there’s that much there.

Ancient mysterious figure of great power leading a army of monsters? Could be Sauron, could be countless fantasy villains.

Everyone’s after an artifact with unknown but potentially world changing powers? Now we’ve got a plot device almost as venerable as kidnapping the princess.

I think guns and swords side by side is way too common a fantasy mash-up to mean anything and the Hero’s Guild is not really even so much like Hunters’ Academies.

Beacon never put an emphasis on 3 specific skills, the mission boards are a generic video game device or guild device, and everything else shown parallels just about every guild, magic school, or Xavier’s school for gifted children.

If Fable contributed anything it’s minor considering the soup of other anime-esqe inspirations.

[Celestia]

Scarlet Robe sounds close enough to Ruby and Summer that there might be something to the similarity.

The other parallels are such cliches that I really don’t think there’s that much there.

Ancient mysterious figure of great power leading a army of monsters? Could be Sauron, could be countless fantasy villains.

Everyone’s after an artifact with unknown but potentially world changing powers? Now we’ve got a plot device almost as venerable as kidnapping the princess.

I think guns and swords side by side is way too common a fantasy mash-up to mean anything and the Hero’s Guild is not really even so much like Hunters’ Academies.

Beacon never put an emphasis on 3 specific skills, the mission boards are a generic video game device or guild device, and everything else shown parallels just about every guild, magic school, or Xavier’s school for gifted children.

If Fable contributed anything it’s minor considering the soup of other anime-esqe inspirations.

I'm not trying to say that RWBY is for sure inspired by Fable; I honestly have no clue. I just found the similarities, coincidental or otherwise, humorous.

[Future Sword]

RWBY could take a lot more cues from Fable, honestly. For example, it needs more characters with English accents.

Unless they're like Hammer, in which case they can smeg off.

[Lemmy]

Spoiler: V5C7

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The first few minutes of everyone enjoying their reunion is sweet and all... But doesn't change the fact that nothing really happened. At this point, it feels like we've been watching two whole seasons of filler. I knew the series would suffer without Monty Oum, but I never expected to be BORED by it.

[Celestia]

RWBY could take a lot more cues from Fable, honestly. For example, it needs more characters with English accents.

Unless they're like Hammer, in which case they can smeg off.

Ozpin totally should have been British. *nods*

[Reddish Mage]

I got a first look at the new episode that plays for FIRST members called RWBY Rewind just the first two minutes but it gives a solid clue as to the direction they are going.

Spoiler: S5E8 First Look

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Prepare for more slow episodes. Ruby and Yang start off in the early morning staring into a field and talking when Weiss joins them with coffee.

I like seeing the girls be all mature and look bad on school days like they are past their prime and everything, but we're supposed to be getting to the action and they seem to be really set on pushing that off.

[LaZodiac]

What is RWBY Rewind?

[Lethologica]

What is RWBY Rewind?

Recap and discussion show for each episode, like After The Thrones for GOT. Each episode ends with a sneak peek at the next RWBY episode.

[LaZodiac]

Recap and discussion show for each episode, like After The Thrones for GOT. Each episode ends with a sneak peek at the next RWBY episode.

Oh. Well that's....sure a decision they made.

[Future Sword]

Why can't they just put the show out like normal people? How many layers of early access are we on, at this point?

[Lethologica]

Two words: price discrimination. (Okay, strictly speaking that's not accurate, but spiritually it is.)

[Reddish Mage]

Its a show where two fans from another segment of the company interview staff and cast members while receiving questions as tweets from fans. They speculate on what's going on and what will happen, but no one the've had on yet has any insider knowledge. Example, they speculate on whose going to die next and the rule they came up with is that everyone who died so far had red hair.

This week, Barbara Dunkleman (voice of Yang) said she thinks Raven was posing for the bandits and inside really loves Yang. They also talked a lot about what's so bad about being birds.

They have a bunch of this commentary content behind the paywall for all the affiliate sites. I also get DeathBattle commentary episodes where they flesh out the characters a bit more and talk about why they picked them and whatever.

[Ramza00]

Its RWBY day

New Episode on Rooster Teeth's website for paid subscribers.

Vol 5 Chapter 8: Alone Together

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rwby-volume-5-8uoizl8es

And if you are free, the last week episode, Vol 5 Chapter 7, Rests and Resolutions is now available on youtube.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Alright, alright, I'm going to break my usually very strict policy on spoilers and include a very minor one before I get to the recap.

S%#% FINALLY F$#^ING HAPPENS IN ZOO!!!

Spoiler: V5C8

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Going to open with the fact that I really enjoyed this episode and not least of which is because it finally picks up with action of consequence!

The chapter opens on Ruby relaxing the morning after the talk with Ozpin (presumably) and the leader of Team RWBY is just staring at the morning sky when she's joined by Yang and eventually Weiss who comes bearing coffee. Now there's a lot of little interactions and a callback that make this scene a lot of fun but I'm going to cover them in brief because there's more important things to discuss. Things like Yang messing around with Ruby using her long hair, something that Yang probably wouldn't do with anyone else, Weiss remembering that Ruby takes her coffee with 'blasphemous' amounts of cream and sugar all the way from Volume 1, and Ruby being low-key excited for the existence of 'Nice Weiss' just for Weiss to threaten to scald a bitch with coffee if she says that again. Have I mentioned Weiss has probably become my favorite character over time? Cause she has and this chapter..well..I can't say that it cements that because it already was cemented but its reinforced!

The three comment on how remarkable it is that they all managed to meet up again in Mistral and how Weiss (I think) comments that she never thought that she'd see her friends again which becomes sad in a happy way later on. They all definitely agree, even if they're now caught up in a world of magic, Salem, and maidens but one of them brings up Blake and how it wouldn't really feel right/can't wait to include Blake back with everyone else. And Yang shoots that down hard, so I guess we're going to be dealing with Yang's feelings towards her scaredy-cat girlfriend (joking..maybe). And it goes pretty much how you think, Ruby and Weiss can't believe that Yang could say that but Yang rather aggressively asserts, red eyes and all, that Blake made the choice to abandon them so why would they want her back? Ruby tries to calm Yang down but Yang storms off to deal with another...I can't say its an episode but another hand-shaking moment that signals she's still dealing with her trauma moment.

We cut to Yang trying to collect herself in her room when someone knocks and Yang assumes its Ruby and starts to tell her that she's fine but its Weiss that's come in to see her. At first Weiss doesn't really talk and just lets Yang spill whats on her mind that while Weiss had a big family with recitals and dinners and what not, Yang was alone for a lot of her youth. Raven left her, Summer died, and Tai Yang was busy with Signal (his job, remember that?) so it left Yang to pick up the pieces and be the responsible one way before she was ready. Yang was essentially alone, playing mom to her sister, and can't understand why Blake would chose isolation like that when she didn't have to. In fact Yang almost seems to resent that Blake didn't stick around so that RWBY, and more importantly Yang, could be there for her in her moment of crisis before finally confessing that Yang wanted Blake to be there for her. And yeah, a little selfish but from a completely understandable and reasonable place. Yang lost a limb for Blake and Blake couldn't be there for her? It does in fact majorly suck.

Once Yang's gotten it out of her system, Weiss relates her own experience with loneliness and we find out that, to the surprise of none, that Papa Schnee was a terrible father/person. Yes, Weiss had recitals and dinners but her father actually confessed to Weiss-Mom that he only married her for the Schnee family name on Weiss' tenth birthday and that was the straw that broke the camel's back of that marriage. Her parents stopped actively seeing one another and Weiss-Mom started to drink more and more wine as time passed. So Weiss admits she doesn't have experience with the kind of loneliness that Yang does, but she has her own and its part of the reason that she treasures team RWBY above her own family. And she does say that she cares for them more than her father, brother, or even her mother (but not Winter, important to note). And she thinks Blake does care for them as well and asks Yang to see things from Blake's perspective. Over the course of Blake's time at Beacon Blake was worried that her past would catch up to her and so she kept people at arms' length because Blake was worried that if she did let her walls down then when her past (aka ADAM) caught up to her that both she and the people she cared about would get hurt. But Blake couldn't help but grow attached to her team-mates and what happened? The Fall of Beacon and the universe proved Blake right that getting close to people would just get them and herself hurt so she opted to be on her own. That's how Weiss' sees it anyway and that's why Weiss is going to be there for Blake when she comes back to them but Yang still seems to harbor some doubts but doesn't seem as angry about the situation either. Ruby peeks her head in to see what happened in there and Yang tells her that everything's fine which points out an important, but good, flaw with Ruby.

Sure, she's a good leader when it comes to strategy/tactics and is a strong moral center for her team mates. She's the type of person that can inspire them and lift them up but that very same simplicity that Ozpin lauds in her also means she has difficulty relating to her team members and the crap they've been through. So much of it is just water off a duck's back for Ruby that she wants to help the other members of RWBY but she lacks the...context and experience to do so effectively. Which is a good flaw! And she doesn't have to be the one handling the emotional turmoil of her friends because they can do that for each other so long as they are together. A good display that Team RWBY is better together than they are apart and calls back to the end of Vol. 3 when Salem talks about how humanity is capable of great things...so long as they are banded together. Team RWBY was split up and they've been struggling with their issues and problems but now that they're back together? They already feel like they're in a better place and working through things better than they were on their own.

================

So cut to Menagerie and the Blake storyline cause it seems like we're getting the pay-off to the hints that something would finally happen of importance with Blake and her family after so much time apart from them. Blake is staring off into the night sky, presumably moping because she seems like a mopey person when she finds a secret message from Illya taped to the banister. And its really simple too, Illya is worried the WF is going too far, wants help, wants to meet Blake alone in a private place...you know, something a possible defector would want but we know its all a set-up for the assassination attempt on the Belladonnas. So when Sun interrupts her musings and talks about going on another recruitment drive to the Nocturnals (...what? Hold on, back up and explain that Sun!) but Blake says she has something she needs to take care of and will meet up with him later.

So right away, goddammit Blake, stop trying to handle everything WF related on your own! Not just because this is a trap but because its not a good idea or healthy for you! Mentally or physically!

But nope, she meets up with Illya and Illya apologizes right away but Blake says she can't apologize but she can help stop whatever the Fox brothers have planned and her family can protect her. And Illya stops her and says she's sorry again right as Yuma (bat(?) Faunus from before that is voiced by Lannipator of TeamFourStar fame as Vegeta and others) enacts some attack from above and plants Blake in the ground via boot to the spine. Ow. Two more WF operatives show up, one of which is apparently a spider faunus that webs up Blake before Illya and her get into it.

Now...can't go into full details because it probably buts up against board rules a bit too closely and also because I won't remember the fine details that are rather important here. Needless to say though the two don't agree. Blake finds out that Illya and company are going to kill her parents because everyone needs to sacrifice for the greater good of the Faunus if need be. Blake retorts that it can't be the greater good if it requires sacrificing innocents, demanding to know what deranged world Illya lives in. Illya replies the same one as Blake and talks about how there's only two kinds of humans, the ones who hate/hunt the Faunus and those who sit idly by and allow it to continue. Goes on about how the only thing that can stop hate is fear which...uhh...lets just say I disagree rather strenuously with that claim but it does make sense as a short-term band-aid for a rather massive problem. Again it falls into the problem where it kinda/sorta reflects RL issues and problems but not quite for the same reason mutant discrimination in X-Men doesn't. (admittedly not as badly).

That's most of the details in short, not going to go too deeply into them in this post but then comes the whammy when Illya confesses (I forget why, I got distracted by RL when this moment happened) that Blake never noticed Illya's feelings because while she was growing so close to Adam that Blake never noticed that Illya wanted Blake to look at her that way. And we know that Adam and Blake were a number. So yeah, confirmation on Illya being a lesbian and whatnot but to be honest my only thought was. WHAT THE HELL BLAKE?! What kind of weird catnip are you for crazy 'ex's' that want to hurt you? Also what the hell am I missing? Sure, Blake's design is cute but it doesn't explain why so many people seem to want to get into her pants! How many people is it by this point? We've got Adam, Illya, Sun, and probably Yang as well! Can we just get some kinda of Winner-Gets-Blake deathmatch between the four? Cause that'd be all sorts of messed up in the best ways!

...Ahem...

Anyway...

Illya and Yuma go off to ensure that the Belladonnas are properly taken care of while the other two operatives are instructed to take Blake down to the docks to be loaded onto a ship and taken to Mistral...and Adam as well. So...way to be a really bad prospective girlfriend there Illya, docked ten points. Still above Adam though! Those two leave and we get character development in two big areas! Blake calls in her back-up (which yeah, it IS Sun) which is a big deal for her considering she let somebody else in to help her out! Woo Blake for leaning on others! And Sun does something useful because he takes out both guys in short order! Good for you Sun! And I will say the new method of animation for fights actually seems to suit Sun which...is probably a shame because we almost never see Sun fight and when we do he's primarily helping someone else out. The two take off towards the Belladonna home and Blake tells him to either call or fetch the police (not sure which) and meet her back at her house.

So how's the Belladonna house looking? Well its full of gunfire.

And a slowly growing number of bodies.

We see Khali taking cover (cover?! In RWBY?!) with one of the guards while two WF goons stand out in the open (that's more like it..) and one gets shot for his idiocy by the guard before they get shot and die. Khali grabs up the gun to return fire but we cut to Ghira with a guard of his own! And y'know what? Good for these two! Ghira smashes a WF grunt in hand to hand combat and I like his bestial method of hand-to-hand cause its distinct (from the short view we got of it) from Yang and Mercury's take on it while the guard lays out his own opponent. While the guard hurries over to the chieftain to check on him though, a red (fire?) Dust round hits center of mass and the guy drops to the ground dead. The Fox brothers make an appearance with artsy little daggers that seem to use Dust to attack and make a smarmy comment about how its time for the chieftain to step down. Ghira responds by tearing off his coat, growing his claws out, and roaring at the two as the episode fades to black!


=====================

Goddamn c***teases! There is finally action of consequence with stakes in the story going on and its nice to have it back! Its the perfect chaser to the more subdued but emotional first half of the chapter, buts not enough dammit! I want to know what's going on in the Belladonna household! Are Ghira and Khali going to make it? Will Illya be redeemed or is she going to stay a crazy lesbian (don't go full Adam Illya...you never go full Adam)? What's Yuma going to get up to? Cause he's like...the first competent WF grunt we've seen since Adam's lieutanent all the way back in Vol. 2.

We finally have action with stakes going on, even if its not entirely clear when it happens, and they end it right before the good stuff on a goddamn cliffhanger!

...I'm a big fan of this chapter. Everything felt well executed and there wasn't the questionable execution of the clash of ideology between Illya and Blake that Blake's description of Adam had which doesn't make it great, but it was serviceable and the emotions were on point. The first half was just good wholesome feels about the group bonding and working together to help each other's emotional states while the back half of the chapter had real tension to it. Cause even if we know the big attack on Haven isn't happening yet and we all suspect Blake will be in Mistral for it, we don't know how she gets there and in what state! For all we know the WF wipe out her family, kill Sun, and Blake gets to Mistral via being the captive of creeper-Adam. Or she could get there in far better condition, we just don't know but we're FINALLY at the point were we'll find out the answer to that question!

So my prediction is by the end of this volume we'll find out how Blake gets to Mistral (and she'll probably get there) and we'll have the encounter at Raven's camp with the first REAL clash between Cinder and Company vs. Team RWBY but I don't think we'll see the attack on Haven until the next volume which would set up a nice pattern. Its been said they were left with enough material for a bunch of volumes but if they follow the current trend it means there is three volumes leading up to an attack or attempt on one of the Academies. One volume to deal with the fallout from the past attack, one to set up and build tension, and a final volume to resolve the attack itself and set up the next attack. That means up to Volume 12 will all be dealing with attack on the Academies and gathering/collecting Maidens/relics.

...And I'm not sure if I welcome that set-up or not! I guess it depends on if they can keep things fresh in the process.

Whew..what a write-up!

[Rater202]

Spoiler: V5C7

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So The Wizard Oz is the source of the Maiden's powers.

I wonder... Is the Maiden's power reincarnating related to his own reincarnation curse?

[Reddish Mage]

Last week Yang drew the line of “no more lies, no more half-truths” but she didn’t say “no more secrets.” Ozpin still has left his own origin story as well as Salem’s. We also don’t know about the origins of magic. Salem’s motives seem pretty end-of-worldish but even that has not been elaborated. How long can Yang be satisfied without a full explanation of these basics? Will she feel betrayed when the next big revelation comes?

Spoiler: S5E8 I love the smell of coffee in the morning and dust in the evening

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Things start slow with that early morning conversation. At this point I’m wondering if the lack of action is anything new though. I recall we always had long periods where the plot seemed to move slowly on a week to week basis. I think this season may be the lightest we have had yet on combat however.

Yang’s heart to heart with Weiss seems likely to mean she’s prepared to accept Blake back. Also #bumblebeecanon.

Blake’s conversation with Illia prove 1) Blake is the most sought after girl in Remnant, 2) getting captured on purpose so the villain will monologue their plan is now a thing and 3) no one ever considers Sun.

By the way, it took them a bit long to explicitly acknowledge homosexuality, don’t you think? Also, it comes first from a minor character who didn’t come into the picture until season 4. Even though we’re getting major signals of #bumblebeecanon, I’m trying to decide whether Yang’s feelings for Blake are more or less clear than in Legend of Korra.

The end is a cliff hanger with Ghira fighting the wolf brothers. I tend to think Ghira is going to survive this one. My prediction is that he cleans up the White Fang in Menagerie after and Blake leaves for Mistral because she is done running and Adam must pay, but its possible the White Fang prove they are stronger and the Belladonna’s are forced to flee. The latter may actually be a more dramatic outcome as it fits the darker mood to come that comes from Menagerie becoming full-on a branch of Adam’s White Fang. However, I don’t feel that is where they are going with the Faunus.

Also, because it was requested:

Spoiler: S5E8 Blake’s lovers Battle Royale

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So it has been raised that Blake’s lovers should all fight to the death with winner gets the girl. This is how I see it going down.

Adam is the early favorite coming out of the gate strong with his blade. He heads straight for Yang. Yang has the shakes and is mortified, but has trained with her dad extensively just for this moment. Instead of immediately launching an offensive she just dodges each blade stroke without retailiation. Adam continues with taunts as well as his blade while Yang retains a defensive posture. Finally, however, Adam taunts breaks into Yang when he says what he delightfully describes how Blake will react to Yang’s death afterwards. Yang eyes turn red and she shines like the sun and swings at Adam just as Adam resheaths his sword...everything becomes white...

We see Adam slice clean and Yang’s arm separate from her body! Then it goes back to color, and we see that Yang’s detached arm is her robot arm! Adam gets hit by Yang’s rocket punch full in the face! Yang follows up with kicks, because that is now a thing she does (we see she does that a lot against the bandits and also Tai-Yang does it a lot when training her). Adam is down!

Just as Yang finishes her kill, however, Illia changes colors from black, where she was hiding the whole time and charges in. Waiting for the opportune time to strike, and attacking from stealth is exactly what one would expect from Illia.

Illia’s sword stings Yang, who is now exhausted, down an arm, and already exhausted her semblance. Yang attempts to fight back but its clear fighting Adam took a lot out of her and Illia’s speed and distance make her a difficult target for Yang. Yang gets a few ineffectual distant shots before Illia has Yang down, but as Illia goes in (successfully) for the final kill, Sun comes right out and strikes Illia a full-on blow with his staff!

Sun has been right on the battlefield this whole time, but no one was paying attention to him, since he’s just Sun. Sun gets the drop on Illia just as he did in this weeks episode, because Illia is apparently incapable of learning from the way Blake uselessly tries to get Illia to see reason. Illia was able to get Sun with her sword-stinger last time they met, but Sun is prepared now and has the drop on her. Sun dodges Illia’s attacks, splits his weapon into nunchuck-guns and gets several shots on Illia, who flees, but then he finishes her off with his semblance-clones, who move directly in on her, their light preventing her from melding into the blackness.

Since its a deathbattle the rest is (just a little bit) callous:

Sun saunters over to Blake, who of course is tied up and having to watch this whole things unfold, says he’s hungry and suggests they hit up an all-night ramen place.

Sun, the most underestimated and least offensive member of the group, wins by virtue of no one taking him seriously.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler: S5E8 I love the smell of coffee in the morning and dust in the evening

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By the way, it took them a bit long to explicitly acknowledge homosexuality, don’t you think? Also, it comes first from a minor character who didn’t come into the picture until season 4. Even though we’re getting major signals of #bumblebeecanon, I’m trying to decide whether Yang’s feelings for Blake are more or less clear than in Legend of Korra.

Spoiler: V5C8

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Not...really? There wasn't any obligation for RWBY to explicity acknowledge homosexuality, same for any other medium. You can make the reasonable assumption that it exists unless told otherwise and we weren't.

The RWBY staff took the stance that they were always completely open to having homosexual characters in RWBY...so long as it fit rather than being tossed in just for the sake of being tossed in. That's the best stance to take with any under-represented group to prevent tokenism. Illya isn't defined by the fact that she wants to live happily-chameleon-kittens-after with Blake, but by her personality and actions which make her a violent extremist with some serious reservations about if what she is doing is right or not. Her being a lesbian is an important facet of who she is because it gives some context to why she was so close to Blake (and to a degree Adam) but just by virtue of the previous sentence she's not a walking stereo-type which is important.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: Upcoming Episodes, V5C7 kinda

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I'd like Yang to get a rematch with Mercury and break something of his that isn't as easily replaceable as his legs.

Since Ruby and co are going for the Spring Maiden Soon and Cinder's team is present there, now would be the time.

[LaZodiac]

Tired sick and with a work shift on Tuesday for the month, sorry for the delay in watching this show and saying words about it. Let's watch the old episode. Maybe also the new. I'll try and go a little fast about this because the overall "vibe" I've gotten is that episode 7 is boring as ****.

Spoiler: V5C7

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Holy **** how did they make egg beef ramen look gross. This food looks entirely unappetizing.

Yang and Weiss talk with Ruby and friends about their time spent away, and it's actually kinda cute and nice. Like with basically everything positive at this point in the series, it deserves a better actual series. I even kinda like that Ren comidically doesn't get that "out of control" from Ruby typically means a positive thing. It's simple characterization but given it's Ren, who has had basically no character till this point, I like it. Though it's on contrast to his characterization from that manga one shot a year ago which basically had him be V from Order of the Stick (which is to say, a sort of cocky but still calm and collected badass).

Animation complaint: I don't believe Nora would sit on her knees like that. She seems like the type who'd just splay out her legs for comfort.

Yang and Weiss then talk about their journey and adventures, and Weiss uses her summoning power to scare Nora with a boar because she doesn't believe Weiss could ever stand up to a rich lady person in public. I'll accept this, they've never interacted before so this can be the establishing moment in their connection, I think. I just...this opening feels like it's something that should of happened with the full teams at some point, in the early seasons. Have our characters intermingle and have discussions with each other, about things they did and stuff. You know, like people. Yang shows off her robot arm and Ruby is of course estatic. Yang says she's still as strong as ever, and Nora smashes the table. It's time for ARM WRESTLE to see if that's accurate.

I kind of hate how good this scene is compared to the entire rest of the series up to this point. This is a good scene, but it's coming at a time where I'm all jaded and stuff. It would of been nice to get good characterization and actually funny scenes earlier on. I even like the stupid "You can do it Yang you can't lose to a girl in a skirt!" "YOU'RE wearing a skirt" "WEISS YOU'RE NOT CHEERING LOUD ENOUGH" scene. It's doofy and not perfect, but it touches on something that was actually established as "a thing" between them, they're skirt sisters etc etc.

My only real complaint about this scene is that we never got to see Nora and Yang have round one. The dialogue implies it happened, but we've never gotten to see it. Which is sad.

...Yang then ends the arm wrestling contest by SHOOTING HER ROBOT ARM OFF HER SHOULDER TO SMASH NORA INTO THE WALL. Unlike some OTHER problematic comedy scenes, it doesn't smash the wall to pieces and is clearly meant to be comedic instead of being treated seriously, so it works...though I question the use of giving Yang a rocket fist that's this weak and also...doesn't return? Still, actually a funny finish and it sort of implies Yang would of lost cause she pulled out a trick. Nora is of course freaked out by holding the entire removed rocket arm and throws it, which Yang catches as everyone laughs. I'm glad Yang's hit the point where she can joke about getting her arm sliced off. It's still clearly "a thing" but she's having fun with it now.

Jaune cleans up all the food they eat and Yang callsback to the time he threw up on the airship at the beginning of the series. Unfortunately he directly makes reference to the fact that they're referencing that, which makes it less funny than him just giving a beleagured sigh. Ah well, the writing can't be perfect. The next bit with more old stuff references is a little weak, and...Ruby's laugh is just really weird. The animation is also...bad, especially when Yang sticks her tongue out at Weiss for being vaguely salty about being confronted on the fact that she used to be kind of a bitch. That doesn't work with these models guys, it just doesn't.

Ren then has a moment that I really like aside from the constantly repeated point I've been making of, where was this character the last four seasons of the show. He talks about how they've all grown, and how...a lot of the stuff they've done in the past is stupid and the fact that they realize that means they've gotten better. I like that Jaune's response to this has a little more edge to it then everyone else's, considering his "stupid stuff" was actually really important and also relates entirely to his dead friend. Jaune is the only character who's desire to go back and fix things actually has real weight to it, so of course this wistful and meaningful conversation Ren is having bites him harder than everyone else.

I'm choosing to accept this as an apology for how ****ty the older episodes of RWBY are by RT. Now don't disappoint me. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I'd like to believe this is true. This ends with Ruby making the joke of "Yeah turns out Ren gets real deep when he decided to actually talk" which...is actually a good joke. Just straight up.

The scene is interrupted by Drunkle Qrowe shouting at them for being loud, but it's the kind of nice shouting that shows he approves, but also jeez guys I've got a drunk headache please stop. Oscar is also there. Now it's time for serious talks. Ozpin catches Yang and Weiss up off screen on all the important bits (good use of cutting away the fat!) and asks if this is what YangMom said to them. Weiss confirms because Yang seems kinda annoyed by all this, and we find out why. She brings up the "thing" that Ozpin did to Qrowe and Raven. This is a poorly communicated fact because...again, we don't really know how powers and things work in this series. We know that Raven's aura power is the portal thing, but we don't really have a frame of reference for WHY "also he made me able to turn into a bird" is bad. Like, there's no actual reason for us to assume this is actually negative.

Ozpin explains that he gave Raven and Qrowe the ability to see more, to move freely within the world. Which is all symbolic phrasing for "I just gave them the ability to turn into birds with my wizard powers" which he admits sounds really silly. And I mean it does. And there's not one single way to phrase this as a negative. They don't have a risk of getting mode locked, they can switch back freely, there's...literally no downsides. For some reason everyone seems really angry at this revelation. Jaune is the only one with even a slight justification, in that he's not annoyed at the bird power itself but more annoyed that oh man, Ozpin has once again bent the truth to benefit himself. He's just thinking about Pyrrha again, which is fair.

But the fact that everyone else is down on this is...weird. There's really no negative. Are we to assume that the unsaid implication is that Ozpin FORCED them to do this? Because that's not what it looks like to me at all. Qrowe and Raven obviously volunteered for this. What the **** is so bad about THE ABILITY to become a bird. It's not like they're PERMA BIRDS. Qrowe EVEN SAYS AS MUCH. This was THEIR choice, they offered themselves up for this.

Ozpin goes on to explain that this was actually a really tough decision for him, especially since as he grants powers to people, he loses his own wizard abilities. And like...they needed the advantage of being birds to do scouting and stuff. This is perfectly reasonable and given they volunteered for the service it's ENTIRELY positive. Also yeah Ozpin reveals he's the old wizard from that story of the four maidens of seasons. No one is surprised, not even going to celebrate I called it because literally the dumbest RWBY fan could of called this. Given the story is now known to be literal truth, given the original Winter Maiden looks EXACTLY like Salem, I'm calling Salem is still the Winter Maiden or somehow survived dying.

Ozpin then apologizes for lying to them. About...what? That he's a wizard? He didn't lie. I mean yeah let's suppose lying by admission counts when you're the secret wizard that wants to save the world and you know all the secrets of the world, but that's a little much to dump on people all at once. You're allowed to find that a little sketchy, but the bird magic is ridiculous and Ozpin's basically entirely in the right here. He then adds the very fair, if...muddled point that, if they dont' want to do this, they can leave. There's no shame in abstaining from being part of the fight (but retreating is). This statement makes almost no sense but I think I know what they're going for.

Yang has a statement. She'll stick around to help, but only if Ozpin just tells them everything. No more lies, no more half truths. Ozpin says he'll tell them basically everything of importance tomorrow, because tonight is a night to get together and have fun...

Which...is how this episode started. Did you just position everything backwards, RT?

Aaand at the end of the scene Nora shows that she is the dumbest RWBY fan, only not getting the name thing as it relates to their bird forms. Also she gets a movement that would entirely show her panties. Which is part of why I said earlier she'd definitely not sit on her knees all conservatively and stuff, she clearly does not care.

And we end with Cinder's team arriving at Raven's encampment. We get a quick look at Emerald's new weapons but it's hard to tell what tehy are aside from long and green. Episode done.

And that's episode 7. My thoughts?

Spoiler: V5C7

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Aside from the unbelievably baffling idea that "being a bird is bad somehow" this episode was great? Nothing HAPPENS, sure, but you need quiet moments. You need moments of characterization. This is something I WISH happened earlier. Show us these characters actually interacting. Have them bash their character bits together and see what comes up from the natural flow of things. Have ANY SORT OF CHARACTERIZATION AT ALL. This is ACTUALLY GOOD.

Now, as for the bird thing...if they say, had thee bird form look like a Grimm, implying something more sinister about the whole thing, it might make some sense. But no, bird form is just regular ole bird form. The fact that it's not forced on them, that it's not damaging or dangerous to them in any way, just makes this entire conflict ridiculous. The BEST thing I can think of with regards to why this brid thing might be bad is either weird racism overtones because they're "becoming animals" or because this universe has some kind of "thing" with having your original base "self" never changing because otherwise it's weird. Which of course it doesn't given robot limbs are prevelenet to the point that Ironwood has an entire half of his body replaced with robot. There's nothing in this universe that implies that their bird form stuff is even remotely negative, and the reaction to it AS negative is really dumb.

But yeah that aside this episode was great for finally, albeit it very lately, doing what RWBY has needed since forever.

I'll do episode 8 tonight probably, since tomorrow is a day off. But yeah, hope my genuinely positive comments on a rWBY episode don't get overshadowed by the new episode because there's a lot of stuff to actually discuss on 7, for as 'nothing' as it seems to be portrayed.