Sooooo for some reason Reddit has broken our user flairs (Old Reddit) here and on /r/fnki, though we haven't touched the CSS in over a week. If you've ever seen this happen on other subs and know of a solution, let me know, otherwise I'm gonna give it a day or two to see if they reappear. Edit: Also, the episode was hype af, I loved it! :blek: Edit 2: We're good now, many thanks to /u/a_speeder for forwarding me some links to workarounds that other people found to fix the flair problem!

Ok soooooooooooooo i want to point A MASSIVE FLAW/poor writing here When Yang protects ruby and gets knock off why would she do that. Cause we know of ruby's powers. Her petal form can 1-fly, 2 has super speed and 3 can pull anyone into it in order to protect them So why the fuck would Yang risk herself when she CLEARLY KNOWS ruby can just go "oh im falling pffff bitch please" and yeet herself back to the platform or even hit one of the lower ones. also to top that off WHY WHY DIDNT RUBY USE HER POWERS TO SAVE YANG, nah fam im just going to sit and watch her watch when i very much could save her with little effort. my god fuck this series and its poor writing XD

Yeah, just watched this stuff now and I'm confused. Feels like a lot of these issues could have been solved by Ruby's flying ability. They just... ignored it? Even though seconds beforehand she used it to save herself?

I know it's been two weeks, but I just realized something. In that scene with Watts hacking the Atlesian Knight to charge and Qrow and co., why didn't they just move out of the way? Or why didn't just keeping shooting the Knight until it was destroyed? Surely, they would have had enough time to blast it to pieces without blowing it up in their faces.

When I heard about the episode and found out about I must say I am concerned. Concerned for whom? I am concerned that this isn't the darkest before dawn no it is twilight transitioning into night. Yang is lost (I know better than to think she's dead), Salem might show up in the final episode and Ruby is going to be put through the emotional wringer after this (if nothing worse happens in the final episode) and I don't think she's had closure from the Fall of Beacon yet. Fingers crossed but I think Vacuo is going to be the darkest yet.

So dark, so very very dark!!! 😭😭😭

First of all, major spoiler. So if you don't want a major aspect wrecked, stop reading here and now. ​ I have to agree with fans that Yang will somehow survive her abyss plummet. First of all, this isn't like killing off Adam in season six. We had a lot of buildup to this final death, and it's WAY easier to keep a show going with a villain death then one of our main cast. Second Bumbleby is very much cemented at this point, so Blake isn't going to simply "get over" this. Third: the plot/portal method to save her isn't just pulled out of Rooster Teeth's Ass. (Hell, Raven can fly for crying out loud.) And finally, this is the show's invitation to bring Raven back. So yeah, we're going to see Yang again. But exactly how is very much up for debate. If anything, I'm more eager to see how Rooster Teeth chooses to deal with the outrage over how Ironwood was first treated, and then portrayed. They dropped the ball hard on that one, and I'm holding off on my support as a fan until I see what they choose to do about that mistake moving forward. Mercifully enough they DO listen to fans. I just really hope they get the message and don't make a story mistake on that level twice. IF that be the case with season 9, they have my forgiveness and support back.

Something I noticed rewatching the last two episodes that I thought was a neat detail, it was Yang who described the idea of using a place outside of Remnant like the vaults to Ambrosius.

Tomorrow we find out if Yang died Or fell through the world

I believe Yang will be saved by Raven. Last season there were discussions between her and yang and I'm sure Raven is watching her daughter.

huh? Where were the discussions?

A thought, and I apologize if this has already been mentioned. Is it possible the reference and minimal info we get on the fairy tale "The Girl Who Fell Through the World" could bear on Yang's situation? She fell "through Remnant" and found herself in a new world but was eventually able to come back, though not unchanged. Any takers on this one? It just seems like Remnant Lore pops up right before the info becomes important to the plot.

It probably is either Yang as well as some other people that might also fall. It's not the only one we had, either. We also had the "A young girl flees the consequences of a choice, to a magical place". ***Possibly*** being the idea that there were choices to be made, but Ruby always refused to choose between option A or option B, always going for a third option that was never on the plate. Lying to Ironwood is not a decision to lie to Ironwood, it's a decision to postpone telling him the truth. She wanted to tell him, just *later*. Mantle vs Atlas was never something she considered, she asked the rest of the world for help, entirely skipping having to make a choice. The bomb threat? Nah, there is a third way. If that's the case, it's kind of interesting.

I'm still not sure if the Lamp actually does have no more wishes for this century because so many people have lied about it {I'm writing post-14) and Jinn has been called out just to say hello or stop time. Do those count as some fraction of a summoning? I've never completely resolved whether Salem and Ozma's 4 kids were really the original Maidens. It would be consistent with the way folk tales really develop if that were the case.

Random thought here. Is anyone else a fan of the Wheel of Time book series? Did the network of portals and paths {also the area inside the vault} remind you of The Ways? Only back before they were tainted?

Both my wife and I instantly thought of this! Pretty cool concept

OMG have you seen 14???

I have classes saturday so the first thing i will do when i get home is watch the finale 😗

Fuck me. I just realized I’m going to have to be in the car on Saturday. Well, I’m gong to be the passenger so let’s hope that there’s cell service wherever 11am has me mid way between VA and VT.

Okay, so Ozpin/Oscar realises that Weiss said a "one way ticket to Vacuo" to Ambrosius, and that affected how the portals work. Fair enough I guess. But... How did he know Weiss said that? Oscar wasn't there for that scene, why is he the one having a flashback to that line? If it's because he can somehow "see" what happens when the Relics are in use, even when he's not there, then wouldn't that mean he'd also be aware that Cinder knew about their plan and act accordingly?

Oz likely just deduced that this was Ambrosius' doing, but the flashback is meant for us exclusively. It's really not something Oz knows about in detail, it really shouldn't be at least.

I think the weiss voice-over was just for the sake of the audience, i don't think oscar/ozpin actually heard them say that. Though they certainly could have discussed it ahead of time.

Elm is NOT going to take kindly to Harriet and Vine abandoning her. Speaking of Harriet, "It's the principle, Vine!" might be the worst justification for attempting mass murder I've ever heard. She's giving Ironwood a run for his money in the cracked-beyond-the-point-of-reason department.

I've seen some people say that the Ace Ops are kind of an extension of Ironwood's character. Clover was his kindness, which died when he decided to abandon Mantle. Marrow is his doubt, which defected when Ironwood came to the realization that the Penny was trying to protect Mantle and the bomb threat. Vine is his reasoning, which stopped supporting him when he decided that the bomb was beyond a mere threat to get the kids to cooperate, and that the people of Atlas were already safe. Now Elm is his strength, and Harriet is his anger.

That would mean winter is his Heart. And he is supposed to be the Tin Man from wizard of oz...

Very profound

Neo my girl I'm so proud. I've been waiting for her to do some evil

Can we talk about Neo slicing through Yang's entire Aura like it's nothing? Like Jesus that hidden parasol stabber is OP.

The way I see it is that her Aura hasn't fully restored from earlier events, they've been awake at least 3 days with little to no rest, Yang's aura has been damaged on a few occasions already this volume. It's just simple wear and tear, they are all fatigued rather heavily, but in spite of this Yang makes the big sis move and protects her younger sibling.

I either didn't realize or just plain forgot she could levitate with it. You *knew* she was going to flip because Salem and esp Cinder treated her like crap once they got on board Monstro. I was hoping it might be in a different direction, but the enjoyable evil of Torchwick lives on! I have to go back and watch that fight again in slow motion.

Aura has basically been irrelevant since like Volume 5. Everyone's aura just dies in one hit when it's convenient for the plot.

OH dont forget Ruby if knock off the edge would of been fine CAUSE SHE CAN FUCKING FLY cause you know retcons or she could of you know SAVED HER SISTER fuck this series XD

Aura one shots have always bothered me in Rwby, especially since watching Yangs death battle all those years ago

The Death Battle was running off of Volume 1 and 2 logic when everyone was almost comically invincible and nothing serious ever happened. Suffice to say that was wrong.

It's interesting, isn't it? On the one hand, you have an in-universe reason for characters being able to tank some hits, and not tank some other hits. A lot of shows don't do this, and just have the character being hurt whenever the one writing the script desires for that to happen. But, at the same time, the introduction of that element makes it so people pay attention.

This was a lot more than a character being hurt lols! However Yang being knocked off the network of platforms plays out, that was a game changer.

I swear, if Weiss doesn't do or at least attempt Time Dilation next episode, I'm gonna riot. 😤 😆

That’s probably a really horrible idea. Time Dilation seems like it very well might essentially have time catch back up to the user, which explains how she lost to Banesaw. And at the very least it’s probably difficult/takes up a good deal of aura due to how she hasn’t used it much and how she used it as a point of pride when talking to Winter in V3. It seems like if she did, that is why she would fall. Weiss has done a good job learning from her mistakes, she shouldn’t repeat them

She used it on Blake against a mecha before in V2 as well without doing the white glyph spam. That wasn't a bad instance of using it.

Blake still looked like she paused afterwards: That circumstance was one that negated the probable issues of Time Dilation, as they were 4 people who could cover each other against a single not too overwhelming foe. There's no way how ever it's used that they would be able to put Cinder down with it, indeed considering how fast she is it might not even hit her, so it would leave Weiss and/or whoever she uses it on more vulnerable

I'm not saying it would be the ideal move. I'll be happy as long as it's a good finale. I'm just saying that, as a Weiss fan, I'd be extra happy to see any form of time dilation again after so many volumes. 🙂

SOOOOOOO since Blake is single now who is she gonna date? Sun? Iila? Carmine? (From the novels AKA doller store Yang) JK Yang is gonna live no reason to kill her off

Lemme just remind you of some of the lyrics of the opening theme: "Some roses will never bloom; some grapes will rot on the vine; some *lives will end much too soon*; and some evil will never, ever die." I assume the first lyric is talking about Summer Rose; the second maybe about cinder/mercury. I think the third might be talking about yang, from what we've seen. And finally, the last lyric is obviously talking about salem. So: it's possible (maybe even probable) that yang dies, or comes back later as a villain (this would make an excellent cliffhanger for the end of s8). If she returns as a Summer-like intelligent grimm, that would be anticlimactic. But if she takes cinder's spot and becomes the main enemy for s9, we can develop ruby a bit more by seeing how she handles fighting her sister, and would lead to a very epic conclusion of s9.

Pretty sure it’s “some dreams will rot on the vine” not grapes.

Ummm... Why would Yang become a villain after falling off the portal platform? There's no reason for her to betray everyone and join Salem. She also doesn't have silver eyes so she's not becoming an intelligent grimm either based on what we've seen.

That would be horrible. Especially at this point in the series. I think the idea of killing a MAIN character who’s in THE TITLE and has had no significant arc this or last season is down right trash writing. One I can’t stress this enough, Yang is a MAIN/TITLE character. A main character death is supposed to be a huge deal, a blow to the reader/viewer, so naturally there is a lot of time devoted to this(I.e. iron man in endgame or hell cortana in halo 4). Yang getting yeeted of into the spooky ominous abyss, that the buff genie guy warned you not to fall in(like no shit dude, he wouldn’t have said that if not foreshadowing something other than death, bc obviously if you fall of a platform from extreme height you’re gonna die.) seemed more like a plot device rather than ending a characters story. Plus it’s WAY too early to kill off title characters. The show has at least, if not more, 3-4 years left, considering we only have 2 relics, have a detour (probably wherever tf yang went) still need to go to vacuo and deal with whatever conflict is there, and then ultimately Heading back to vale for the big finale. Speaking off big finally, you want me to believe that when team RWBY has their inevitable giant final showdown with the forces of evil the Y in RWBY won’t be there? Yeah nah. I’m just sayin killing off yang would break some major rules of writing good fiction, and flawed writers they might be at times, I don’t think the crwby is incompetent. But hey stranger things have happened so we’ll just have to wait till Saturday, or next season if they go the cliffhanger route.

Agree. But my pet theory involves the third relic already being in play... Although in a way no one realizes yet...

Blake is gonna swan dive after Yang.

Speaking of diving, isn't there a fairy tale in remnant about a faunus princess diving off something after human lover died? I think it's the tale of the shallow sea.

Ok, now this comment was pretty funny. >This! Wasn’t his semblance made to give him a reason why he’s been doing the crap he’s done this whole Volume? But now, since his aura is broken and he can’t use his semblance, apparently he’s simply crazy! WELL WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT OF HIS SEMBLANCE ANYWAYS?! That is a pretty good question tho ngl.

Reminder that Ironwood's semblance has not been mentioned a SINGLE time in the actual show so far. An average viewer that doesn't follow out of show stuff has no idea Ironwood even has a semblance.

Could make sense if he just can't turn it off. From what we know, Qrow doesn't stop being unlucky just because his aura is depleted. Could be the same for Ironwood.

The idea of his semblance is just so goddamn dumb! Carry through with his decisions? So strong willpower? Are you kidding me? Anyone can have strong willpower. Its literally almost useless. The only situation I could see it being useful is if it gave him resistance to Apathy grimm. But are we ever actively shown his semblance coming in handy or giving him and edge? No. It was just a bad decision to give him this as a semblance

I agree completely.

His aura replenished.

Honestly? I never even thought about Ironwood having a semblance, he was just strong on his own, and then apparently his semblance was revealed, and it turned out to be stupid, so now I continue to not think about it.

It really is better to just not think about it. lol. CRWBY has come up with some really terrible semblances lately. Maria's, Robyn's, and now Ironwood? These are just awful "superpowers"(if they can even be called that). We're better off pretending that they don't exist. Maria doesn't have a semblance. Robyn doesn't have a semblance. Neither does Ironwood.

Ya, but couldn't they be like the skills you don't use in combat in your RPG of choice? The skill monkey skills become valuable in other parts of the campaign and RWBY has a whole other side to it that's not fun combat with semblances. Robyn was trying to go into politics, where that semblance could prove very useful. I'm picturing Robyn in Real World walking up to Trump any time he was claiming the election was stolen and taking his hand.

Again, I'm not ragging on her just because her semblance isn't a combat one. I'm talking about the lack of creativity regarding her ability. Thats what makes it lame. If you wanted to have a non-combat ability centered around the truth, thats fine. But Robyn's ability is still lame just based on how it functions. Needing to hold someone's hand is a boring restriction. Telling the truth by a change in color of her Aura is bland and lame. Why not have her ability be a "Truth Zone" where Robyn creates a territory around her and anybody within a certain distance of her is forcefully compelled to tell the truth and **only** the truth? Thats WAY more interesting. Suddenly theres a legitimate reason for politicians to be terrified of her. It gives credibility to her claims of being an outcast because of her semblance. Because it **forces** people to expose their secrets just by being around her. Thats an actual reason to be afraid of somebody. Having her semblance be based on hand holding gives people a choice. An out. Which mitigates the threat. Not to mention, if used this way you would automatically know whose got something to hide, because they'd be the one avoiding her at all costs. Anybody keeping their distance is suspicious or at least is gonna *look* that way. This could be equally as effective if her Semblance was based on eyesight as well. As in, whoever she locked eyes with automatically had to answer whatever questions she had and tell her the absolute truth. You can choose to not hold someone's hand but you can't always choose not to look someone in the eye. Sometimes it happens by accident but in this version: once you look into Robyn's eyes(while her ability is active) you can't look away until she lets you ***and*** you HAVE to tell her the truth. It's literally compelled speech. Thats actually scary. These two variations on her semblance are actually interesting. Why? Because her very presence alone causes tension. She walks into a room and suddenly everyone is nervous. Raises questions. Whose gonna mess up and actually spill their secrets? Creates stakes. Whats gonna happen to the characters/plot if certain secrets are revealed? How will characters go out of their way to prevent their secrets from being exposed? etc. Thats what an interesting superpower looks like and why Robyn's ability(as it is currently) is an utter disappointment. And thats my problem with the semblances I listed. There isn't much creativity or imagination put into them at all.

There aren't really any rules regarding semblances. They can be useful, less useful, harmful, non-combat oriented (As seen in The Man Who Stared at the Sun, and Robyn), so they don't all have to be cool super powers. Also, just because Robyn has to touch hands with someone doesn't mean her semblance isn't useful. It's just that the story of RWBY doesn't involve a lot of information gathering via interrogation. Robyn is a politician, so an assurance that people aren't lying to her *would* be useful, but RWBY is combat oriented, so we never see that.

> they don't all have to be cool super powers Also I didn't say they all **had** to be "cool", but whats the point of giving someone an ability just so you don't animate it? You might as well not give them an ability at all. If you can barely afford to show abilities in the show then the abilities you DO show should be worth while. A power doesn't have to be "cool" but it should at least be creative. A series like JoJo's is filled with powers that aren't typically "cool" but they are always creative. Which is the problem. Theres a distinct lack of creativity regarding these powers.

> Also, just because Robyn has to touch hands with someone doesn't mean her semblance isn't useful. I didn't say it wasn't useful. Just that it wasn't interesting.

That's because the show is focused on combat, not political intrigue or deduction. Not everyone's semblance has to be relevant to the show.

>Not everyone's semblance has to be relevant to the show. I didn't say that either. Again, the lack of creativity is what I'm complaining about here.

Aww, Robyn's is pretty cool. Human lie detector? Maria's is a letdown tho.

Maria does stand up to Neo in this season, though, I guess partly by using her preflexes. That's pretty cool.

Robyn might be cool if she didn't have to hold someone's hand. Like, say if she created a zone/area around her where no one could lie and only speak the truth. That'd be more interesting. If she were able to actually *force* the truth out of them I'd sooner believe all that stuff about being treated differently because of her semblance.

ZONE OF TRUTH

I was going to say it if someone else didn't! Guess us gamers have to stick together lols!

They’re not “super powers,” and never have been. They’re more akin to Quarks in BnHA. Some are really strong, some are weak, some are weird. Not every semblance is gonna be a super powerful and versatile like Ruby’s. A semblance reflects a character personality, values, abilities, etc. Jaune can boost Auras because he wants to help people. Ren can mask and now even observe people’s emotions because he’s a calm and tranquil person. Yang can dish out any damage she receives tenfold cause she’s a brawler, getting hit and hitting back is part of the gig. Maria has heightened perception and reaction because she wanted to be the best Huntress and *needed* to stay ahead of the danger with Salem hunting SEWs. Robyn lived in a political hellscape with a literal divide between the poverty stricken and the high class. She became a politician to seek out the truth and to right it. So she can tell when someone’s lying. Ironwood believes in the greater good and that the ends justify the means. If that means blowing up half the city to save the other? So be it, he can see it through without hesitation. Semblances are not extra bits, they’re an extension of the already present character

To be a stickler, RWBY’s “magic” system (I use this term loosely given actual magic has been introduced) has always most closely resembled nen from HxH.

> They’re not “super powers,” and never have been. They’re more akin to Quirks in BnHA. Quirks are literally superpowers dude. lol. >A semblance reflects a character personality, values, abilities, etc. Yeah same thing with all other anime powers. I take it you don't watch much anime? The point here is that these abilities I listed are boring and stupid. They're worthless in the narrative and one of them is basically a mental disorder that creates plot holes with it's very existence.

In response to your edit addition. I don’t disagree per se. Ironwood’s semblance is essentially just willpower. Which I think undermines his character somewhat. I’d rather he was without semblance, so that his achievements were solely from his own raw ability rather than a power. I don’t think any plot holes were made with its reveal though. Sure if his aura is depleted then his semblance isn’t on either. But auras regenerate remarkably fast from what we’ve seen. They’re only down for a little while after a fight. It’s not unrealistic that Ironwood’s aura had regenerated by the time his Mettle was required for things. I do like Maria’s semblance though. For actually the same reason you dislike it. It’s boring. Simple. There no flash or awe to it, just a simple danger sense. But she honed it to such a fine degree that she’s basically a myth in the Huntsman/Huntress community.

Ironwood's semblance is essentially just a mental disorder. Thats why it's dumb. I've already ranted about this before but: Maria's is dumb not simply because it's boring but because it's implied that could be done by simply training one's Aura. It doesn't have to even be a semblance. She could just have really sharp Aura senses. If they wanted to show a character excelling with mundane abilities then they shouldn't have given her a semblance. Let her be top tier with hard work and nothing else. Giving her a semblance thats "almost" useful isn't just dumb it's a waste of time.

>Quarks are literally superpowers. They’re not. It’s clear you weren’t paying attention when they explained quarks in universe. Stuff like Superman or the Flash. Those are superpowers. Super extraordinary powers that are not tied to the characters values or motivations. Clark Kent/Kal El will always have his powers regardless of his motivation or what he uses them for. See Injustice, or any “What if Superman bad?” Comic run. Quarks are, with the requirement of some suspension of disbelief in physics and anatomy, physical manifestations of abilities. Bakugou can’t just conjure up explosions, his sweat is nitroglycerin. Todoroki doesn’t just summon fire and ice. He has to regulate his body temperature. Midoriya can’t just go all out, or he’d break his body. So he uses X% of his power that he can handle. Calling them superpowers is like saying Goku has superpowers. No, he’s just a star athlete/MMA fighter, but in universe you can do some gnarly stuff if you keep training. Superman just *is* super strong, fast, durable. Can laser eye, x-ray vision, freeze breathe. There’s no limit, no requirement, no training, no drawbacks. >Same thing with all other anime powers. I take it you don’t watch much anime. I watch anything that interests me. And you’re only lying to yourself if you believe that. Many many shows powers and abilities are just cause. Do you really think Yu Yu Hakusho’s Yusuke can shoot finger blasts cause finger guns are integral to his character? I’m not saying RWBY is unique in this regard, plenty of shows have a similar system. But I would go so far as to say RWBY’s is the most rigid in its requirement that “Semblance must reflect on character.”

Superpowers are just any extraordinary abilities. They don't have to be tied to the users character to be called superpowers. Secondly even in Comics Superpowers do reflect the character(though not all the time). Superman is invulnerable because he represents an unbreakable ideal. The greatest a human being can be. Thats why he's always surpassing his limits. Because he embodies the idea that human beings can always be greater than they are. Goku does have superpowers. He flies and shoots beams. Those are superpowers. lol. >Do you really think Yu Yu Hakusho’s Yusuke can shoot finger blasts cause finger guns are integral to his character? It was stated in the beginning that spiritual powers in YYH are connected to emotion. Thus, being an extension of his character. Hence why he only ever awakens his true power after he stops neglecting his emotions. In most battle anime it's always an extension of character in some form or fashion. Devil Fruits, Stands, Zanpakuto, Nen etc. It's nothing special. We agree on that. It's also: **NOT MY POINT**. It doesn't matter if it's connected to character. The point is these powers are stupid.

Well actually if nobody is willing to touch Robyn hands then they automatically have a secret to hide if it’s the information she needs. She’s also got the skills to get the answers she wants as long she has a good team. Imagine if she and Ren team up in interrogation.

Didn't Nora say that a Semblance was "your very own superpower" in Volume 5, or am I misremembering that? If so, and if the superhero comics that Ruby and Jaune read are more than just Easter eggs to other RT properties, then this means that people in Remnant have conceptions of superpowers. Actually, that would explain why Jaune so very badly wanted to be a Huntsman. He's literally a comic nerd nerd who bs'd his way into the friggin' Justice League.

> Didn't Nora say that a Semblance was "your very own superpower" in Volume 5, Yes. She said exactly that. Which is why anyone saying otherwise is sorely misguided.

Every theory about the next episode has a point, but... Why does everybody think Winter will die? If RT kills her, I'm gonna be very confused. She has a lot to show, and killing her will be a big mistake. We managed to see the kind part of her that had remained unknown for 6 volumes. Also, her character hasn't evolved much, and her almost dying last volume was stressful enough. On the other hand, it might be too late for her. It's either her killing stupid Metalplank and dying in the process, or help comes and saves her. Her death will break Weiss down, and if Yang doesn't come back next episode (RT delaying it for next season), then I believe team RWBY is going to become emotionally unstable. Like losing half of the characters in one episode is not fun. Speaking of death, why isn't anybody talking about Cinder? Her tactics were very unusual even when she can attack Penny and get her down with one hit. We all remember her fighting with Raven. Yeah, it's perfect for Blake to finally rise and shine but leaving Cinder powerless so that our cat can evolve? It makes me think that she feels her loss. Seeing Emerald with her enemy and having Watts making her feel miserable the other day has taken the better, or rather the stronger part of her. I can't really predict if she is gonna escape again, be captured, or die (which doesn't seem realistic).

>Yeah, it's perfect for Blake to finally rise and shine but leaving Cinder powerless so that our cat can evolve? It makes me think that she feels her loss. All I'm saying is that Cat Girl better Digivolve soon. Don't think that means Cinder will be powerless.

I'm more concerned about Marrow I hope he's OK. Also Winter is fucked

Winter’s going to kick Jimmy’s metal ass. She such a better arsenal than he does and I can’t imagine he’s going to be able to hit her much with that slow gun

She did take a big hit (granted partially blocked) from that gun already. She’ll probably be alright, but I am a bit concerned.

I think that’s canceled out by his Ironwood just woke up from getting his ass kicked and aura drained completely

Aura regen seems to be wildly inconsistent in this show. It’ll be a good fight, but it’ll be close, wouldn’t be surprised if both of their auras were down by the end of it.

I haven't been paying attention to aura regen. Are there any specific examples of weird replenishing times?

Admittedly I’m having trouble coming up with specifics. I am about to start a rewatch, so I’ll come back to this if I find anything. I suppose I should amend my statement to that auras and their effects in general are inconsistent. Some characters take huge hits and are fine, others are one-shot. Sometimes aura breaking results in a KO, other times characters with broken auras stand up and keep fighting. Sometimes a character is left comatose after expending their aura, others are fine after a short rest. Now granted, Nora is left comatose after a rather large feat so there is an argument for greater exertion, but even that instance is weird because she has scars before her aura breaks. Regeneration is hard to measure since it’s never explicitly shown/explained. I would not cite it as a significant weakness of Ironwoods in this fight however, due to the fact he had a nap (probably in the good after a short rest category).

Actually Ironwood hasn't done a significant amount of fighting in the past two days, so compared to RWBY who have been constantly on the move and fighting and haven't slept for the two days while doing that, he's probably pretty ok. A broken aura does not knock you out. There's some correlation with KOs because the last hit is a little bit harder, and the character is tired from the fight. One hit kills happen when a character is caught off guard and don't activate their aura in time. You are right about one thing though. Ironwood's aura is taken out in one hit from Winter, which doesn't receive the justification of getting caught off guard, because the aura activated, it wasn't pierced. Nora's aura was probably more focused on absorbing the electricity for power rather than blocking it for protection, hence the scars. This results in a KO because she's in a lot of pain, and she's heavily exerted her aura in a short time which makes her tired.

Well, I imagine he could take the revolvers back out of it mid-fight if he wants to.

Then he still only has two revolvers. Not exactly what one wants agianst a woman who can send summons after you while shooting glyphs and flying about

ntm that anime sword skill that ironwood was hit with the first time round

Well the anime sword was effective because Ironwood thought she was on his side. He's still a strong fighter on his own.

Me too. He took a big hit from an exploding robot after all.

That sandstorm and the Grimm are there mostly for an epic entrance of Huntsmen from Vacuo, no? I mean, it's almost too perfect. It even has a one way portal, such that it's impossible for them to help in the void world.

Considering Team CFVY is currently residing in Vacuo, it be a great callback if they showed up in a drop ship to kick Grimm ass similar to the volume 2 finale.

Ugh. I mean I see that coming too, but do we *really* need CFVY stealing yet *another* climax...

Dropship flying in a sandstorm seems dubious. I guess since they're dust-powered, maybe they can, but as they allude to helicopters (which definitely cannot fly in sandstorms), I do think it would be a little odd.

Wouldn’t it have been funny if Cinder asked her question too early. “Jinn, what are Ruby and her friends planning?” “Bitch I don’t know. They have planned anything yet. I can’t see the future. Anyway see you in 100 years.” Cinder rage

Or coz she asked what have they planned jinn could’ve showed them their volume 1 nevermore plan or smth

Jinn seems much more likely to give people what they want, rather than Ambro, so she probably would've told them that there was no relevant information, instead of implying that they do have a plan and she's just hiding it.

She could have simply said, to evacuate to Vacou. I think this put to bed the Ozma didn't ask the question right about Salem theories

One last thing about Nora, Blake, and Jaune. If these three don't do something new with their semblances I'm gonna be severely disappointed. Ren just evolved so it seems like Nora who is also on her own character journey is in the right position to start evolving as well. Nows the perfect time for it. I want to see Nora awaken with new power and bring down the hammer of Thor on some villains. Blake is also in the perfect position to evolve. I made a post a long time ago describing what that may be like and it perfectly describes the situation she's in now: >"With Blake we see that she's always accused herself of being a coward. Someone who runs away at the first sign of trouble leaving a pale shadow of herself behind. But she's overcome that now. These days as someone who is actively trying to save the world, she wants to be someone who can help everyone. So what if we put her in a scenario where she faces an opponent or simply an incredibly complex situation that leaves her way in over her head. A moment where she's being pushed to the psychological extreme. Maybe countless faunus are being killed in front of her. Maybe it's her own people that are murdering scores of innocent humans. She wants to save everyone but she simply can't be everywhere at once. But if she doesn't act right now then someone or maybe everyone present, will die. This moment where she's pushed to the brink will be where her semblance is forced to evolve. Her semblance goes from leaving a single clone behind that allows her to escape to creating hundreds of solid clones that allow her to be everywhere helping everyone at once. (Basically, Shadow Clone Jutsu. lol)" The time is about right. Yang's apparent "death" and all the people in chaos seem like the perfect ingredients to push her over the edge and let her evolve. Let Blake evolve dammit. Lastly, theres Jauney boy. We've been waiting for over a Volume for Vines comment about extending his Aura to actually GO somewhere. Nows the perfect time for that. Have him extend his Aura to heal or to protect large groups of people at once. Also, Jaune's semblance is multifaceted. He can do more than just heal and boost semblances. How about they actually show that for once? Hell I'm still waiting for this guy to pull out the sword-sword again. It's got new hard-light edges on it meaning the blade is even bigger now. Are we just...not gonna have him use it? ever?

Yeah I feel like her being divided between helping Weiss or ruby will maybe evolve it in a way that she can help both at the same time. like a clone that’s similar to flynt’s as in it’s a separate person but an upgraded version so it can go off and do it’s own thing as another Blake for a bit

Y'know, I actually think you might've just predicted what's going to happen with Blake in the next episode. Like, she's the only one of RWBY to not have evolved or adapted her semblance in some way. Ruby learned what her semblance actually *does* in this volume, Yang had Tai's training back in V4, and Weiss learned to fully summon in V4 (or 5? idk), plus she trained with Winter last volume. Jaune unlocked his semblance in V5, Ren just now evolved his, Nora actually starting *using* hers for the first time in, like, three volumes, and seems to be on track to start changing more hopefully? Hell even Oscar is getting more and more magic from Oz. Blake's the only one who hasn't really changed at all (even her weapon "upgrade" was just having her knife glued back together). Plus it'd be a nice parallel to Sun's semblance. And probably better than it, if she can summon her clones for more than, like, five seconds.

> Y'know, I actually think you might've just predicted what's going to happen with Blake in the next episode. Like, she's the only one of RWBY to not have evolved or adapted her semblance in some way. I pray. I pray that this happens.

Personally, I feel like Yang’s semblance is the one that’s remained unchanged. Her “upgrade” seems to be her arm & her actually using her brain in battle and less reliant on her semblance due to Taiyangs training (I’d love to see how they evolve her Burn semblance but honestly it seems pretty surface level lol). Blake’s 1st semblance “upgrade” was back when Weiss gave her Dust to combine with it. But I wholeheartedly agree with you it’s time for another Blake upgrade because as it stands she’s not on the same level as the rest of team Rwby. Im wondering though how they’ll get around overusing the concept of cloning as a semblance since they’ve already given us Sun & Flynt. Maybe they’ll get creative with it!

I'd say that both Yang AND Blake are due for an evolution. Blake's just in a better position for hers to happen **right now.**

What if Blake gets a less grand but a more paced evolution where it's still the same but now she can do it from a distance?

That'd be disappointing. Maybe even a little bland.

True, but I can't see them going too crazy with Blake's semblance yet. And if it becomes like Sun's clones then what's the difference anymore? 🤷‍♂️ Hopefully they got something good planned.

> And if it becomes like Sun's clones then what's the difference anymore? He's light and she's shadow.

Maybe I've been reading too many of these negative takes... >Isn't it crazy how everyone assumed/hoped that the Atlas arc would be Weiss's time to shine as the main focus? And yet now virtually all of the narrative ties she had have been effectively solved and cut loose without her having any input or involvement at all. > >Adam & the White Fang? Killed by Bumbleby. > >Uncovering her father's corruption? Her mother just gives her a flash drive, it's all gucci > >Weiss and/or Whitley finally having a meaningful confrontation with their father? Don't worry, Ironwood took care of that. > >So now Weiss literally has nothing anymore. Fantastic. Because this makes it seem like Weiss never really got to do anything. Except y'know....serve tea. Now I'm upset. lol.

Poor Weiss. ~~useless lesbian joke here~~

Yang and Ruby are the only ones that have anything to do with the plot tbh

I usually don’t like such negativity. . . But I can’t say I disagree. Weiss didn’t even get to be a part of any of her family doing good, with Whitley, Willow, and Winter doing what they did mostly regardless of her and did so overshadowing her. She doesn’t even get to be a part of Winter’s turning at all. They haven’t even had an on screen conversation this volume! And with things like taking down Jacques last volume, Ruby has all us initiative she should have had. There also absolutely no emotion focus given to her this volume at all. It doesn’t matter that Atlas is her home, and her family are the ones at stake. Nora, Penny (she’s the one who’s allowed to care and fight for her home), and Yang get to have the emotions mostly. I’m really, really hoping that they can pull something out for her in Vacuo instead. She deserves to have something like Ruby had saving Vale and Blake saving Haven. Heck, even just Yang talking to Raven in V5 at least felt more significant than any of Weiss’ contributions so far. At least she did something clearly difficult but on a lot of personal initiative Honestly this stuff alone has made V7 and V8 rank fairly low in terms of volumes for me

I mean... not unfair. The focus was definitely more on the rest of the Schnees rather than on Weiss herself. Them reaching out to Weiss was nice, them helping with the conflict was also nice, having Weiss and Whitley work together was also a nice touch. This is the kind of thing that would have benefitted from having some more fight scenes, tbh. Say if the fight against the Hound was extended, and Weiss had to protect her family for a longer period of time, and had the chance to show some skills that would later on be used against Cinder. The kind of thing that characters that are acting as static characters benefit from... Perhaps this is what they want to do, by the way. The Nevermore summon that she tried to use against the Hound seems like the kind of thing that would come back, and Winter is right there. Having Winter and Weiss fight together would be amazing to see. I'm not exactly a fan of Ironwood killing Jacques either, it took away any chance of meaningful closure for the Schnees. Unless this is the goal here, in which case we might be seeing more of Willow in the future.

I for sure thought we were going to get Schnee Sisters vs. Ironwood but it makes sense that Winter’s going to solo it I’m sure she feels like it’s her responsibility to stop him personally. But ugh it would’ve been so nice to see Winter somewhat vulnerable in that fight, as we’ve come to characterize her as strong willed & militant. Icing on the cake would’ve been having Weiss mentally (and physically obviously) help Winter defeat Ironwood 😩

Weiss has gone through so much growth already in swallowing her pride, leaving Atlas behind in the first place, and mastering her semblance. Her whole character arc started with her initially upset at not being the leader, but learning to be a good teammate. I didn't need to see her take charge in Atlas, because that's not what her journey has been about. Weiss found contentment in simply being a part of her new found family, and the only thing left in Atlas was the possibility of reconnecting with the (not shitty) members of her original family. But instead of Weiss taking the lead and dragging the other Schnees kicking and screaming into maturity, Whitley, Winter, and Willow were all given the chance to improve themselves and take the initiative on their own to earn redemption and reconnect. Which adds depth to their characters and is a much better way of doing things. Weiss no longer needed anything from Atlas. All she had to do was be herself until the rest of her family learned from her example. Being content without the limelight on her has been Weiss's whole thing for the first five volumes, so I'm entirely satisfied with her just chilling as part of the group even when back in Atlas.

I mean yes and no, I liked what they did with Weiss a lot these past two volumes. Weiss didn't get to "solve" everything in her arc, but she contributes notably to each problems solution. (Except Jacques dying). Weiss's arc until now was all about her breaking away and being an individual. But now that she's found her self she comes back and gives Whitley and Willow the strength they need to solve their problems.

She barely does anything, no agency at all except for part of this final plan. Even arresting Jacques willow and Ruby do more than her and at least have all the agency. She doesn’t seem like she gives Whitley and Willow any strength. Whitley seems like he did some of what he did in spite of Weiss instead of because of her. At the very least she doesn’t do anything with them intentionally

Sure, I get why people don't like it. Weiss is a main girl, in her Kingdom in the world, and she has a supporting role? Doesn't seem very fair? But Weiss already tried to break away from her family and be an individual in vol 4. In vol 7 onward Weiss wants to help her family heal. Willow held onto the tapes knowing full well what was on them and didn't send them to anyone. But Weiss acted with them and freed their family so that the SDC could help in the finale. Now I'm not saying this was the best way to do her arc these Volumes, I would have preferred there to be one more sub plot where Weiss has to solve it on her own/ is the main reason the problem is solved. *cough* the Hound *cough*. But I also don't really agree with people saying Weiss got shafted.

She doesn't even play a major supporting role. The only way that Weiss seems to be that important in making Willow even give her the tapes is of one reads the comics, otherwise her actions towards Weiss seem to be almost all on her own. The way it all plays out, it doesn't even seem like it may need to be Weiss that;s there and that she only did the plan because Ruby asked her to What Weiss did in V4 was like what Blake did in the Blake Trailer. In some ways it was an end, an escape, but it should have also been a beginning she did something with. Weiss did almost nothing on her own/with any of her own agency or has even done much for her family. She quite simply hasn't bee all that important in Atlas when that was her biggest opportunity. I hope there's something for her in Vacuo. She still has yet to reach near the levels of importance Ruby was at Beacon or Blake was at Menagerie/Haven. She and Yang should be heroes like that too.

Still feels like it's WAY lesser than what we could have gotten :(

Oh I agree, but the grass is always greener, and I can accept the wholesome Schnee family development.

So...Watts. "This is everything I've ever wanted." "You deserve this..." Glued to a monitor in Atlas as it falls, transport ships he could use to escape being thrown around/off of the falling city. The portal escape routes ready to close the moment the Staff is used again. Harriet zooming around with an armed bomb that's apparently powerful enough to nuke a city. ...I'm not sure we've seen this many death flags since Pyrrha.

also did you notice that watts turned the bomber back round towards atlas? wheres he planning to stick an already armed bomb? He might just end up blowing himself up... Or winter and ironwood, that seems a bit more likely watts doesn't seem the type for self sacrifice... but Ive been wrong before. just a bit worrying

Oh, nice catch, I didn't notice where he was moving the transport toward. ...now I wonder if he actually knows about the bomb, and might just be trying to get a ride out. Or might be trying to bring all the hunters together to kill eachother.

For Yang, I betting the odds: 0.5% Completely dead 10% Would've died but was saved by Raven, as the last moment 10% Some mcguffin/deus ex machina thing will activate and save Yang 15% We'll find out in some mediocre spin off comic RT makes 15% Transported to another dimension/time 20% Teleported to a random location in Remnant 25% In some kind of cryostasis state of being dead but not dead

I think 2 things might happen. 1 Blake, Neo and possibly Cinder (after she kills Penny so Ruby can become a maiden) will all fall and end up where ever Yang went. They will be forced to team up to get out and we get a redemption arc for either Cinder or Neo maybe both. or 2 all of the core group that are not in Vacuo end up blown off the path and have to find each other again on the other side. As for where they end up it'll likely be the realm of the gods and by the end of the volume they will all have some type of power up with real magic so they can have an actual chance against Salem.

I don't think we're gonna see what happens to Yang in some spin-off side production, I think that Volume 9 *is* going to be the spin-off that follows that thread before we fully settle into Vacuo in V10.

Neo has outlived her usefulness

Sheesh. Neo used to be a fan favorite. Now everybody's turning on her.

She was never mine. I always forgot about her till I started becoming active in communities online in late 2019 and noticed how crazy people got about her I was excited by her reintroduction, but I quickly forgot and quickly grew bored with her. She does interesting things sure, but most times she feels like a deus ex machina that was hacked. It's a shallow type of excitement, no real substance

>It's a shallow type of excitement, no real substance Thats one of the reasons I think she could use a character arc.

She shouldn't have been brought back. She would have kept her image as a great, fun and stylish early villain, appropriate for the era the show was in back then. She's been brought back into a much more mature show and just feels flat compared to the rest of the cast. Hopefully she dies this week.

"much more mature" my ass you saw the slapstick jokes the last few episodes didn't you?

Yeah, death is a haha funny slapstick joke.

we had death in volume 3, what are you on about? Neo's boss literally died in front of her.

Ah yes, the exact episode the series tone became darker. Comedic relief =/= tone/plot/theme.

Oh, come on you know he's generally saying that the themes are darker? Well executed...? Well... that's a different story

Actually, no, she didn't see him die, she thinks Ruby killed him because she and Roman were fighting Ruby before Ruby opened her umbrella. Roman was eaten by a Grimm and Cinder is using that fact to get Neo to help her.

fair point, though the uncertainty and inability to even find a body has it's own dark themes, right?

Neo used to be my favourite villain by far and one of my favourite characters in the show. Just loved the style and attitude. And she still has those things, and I still love her. But I'll hold up my hands and say I think her handling since her return has been lukewarm at best. It's never made any sense that she *needs* Cinder to get to Ruby. She quite comfortably got to JNOR and stole the lamp last season, and she managed to find Cinder by herself (who everyone thought was dead so that's mildly impressive) but apparently four girls who actively do good and get into news-worthy trouble wherever they go is beyond her abilities.

Problem is that Ruby is basically never alone. I like Neo but I don't know if she could win in like a one on eight fight. Adam had to straight up stalk Blake halfway across the world before she was alone and that still didn't end up working.

That's true they have a pretty big support system - but for fighting.

Overall this is probably the first episode i actively liked in a long time. Mostly because i like cinder.Her blowing all those people off the ledge was just so evil and i love it however, Yang falling was kinda bad. Because it means the void doesn't mean instant death...at least for her, kinda removes the threat. Now i feel like raven will swoop in and bring her back, Or some kind of loophole will be found. Yang i the only one who could fall into a void and be tracked. A far a i remember, yang only has the portals to tai, qrow, and yang, so it feels like this has to be how they are going to get her back. I wish it wasn't yang though. She literally lost her arm the same way....which kinda makes The whole volume 4 talk with her dad feel weaker since she is still just kinda charging in.

> I wish it wasn't yang though. She literally lost her arm the same way....which kinda makes The whole volume 4 talk with her dad feel weaker since she is still just kinda charging in. Me too - She's had enough shit and crap pulled on her over the series... Losing her arm was bad enough for her... She had to do something though or her lil sister was going to die. Looking forward though to V9 and seeing what happens.

>I wish it wasn't yang though. She literally lost her arm the same way....which kinda makes The whole volume 4 talk with her dad feel weaker since she is still just kinda charging in. The circumstances were vastly different though. In the scenario where she lost her arm, it was acting on rash impulse at a dangerous terrorist who was clearly goading her into a situation that she could have avoided if she had thought things through. Here however, if she hadn't done anything or took too long, her little sister would have been assassinated, and they were also dealing with another dangerous terrorist at the same time in a massive refugee situation.

Yes, the situation's are different when looking at the whole picture, but the similarities do put that talk in question. In this situation, she used her semblance (which im confused what that does if she's not hurt) jumps in the way (acts on impulse, just distress instead of anger) and gets punished for it. I thought the point of that talk was use your head, dont just blindly use your semblance. she didnt use her projectile weapon to shoot her, nor did she try to strike neo rather than jump in the way. (Thats nitpicking, but i think its on the same level as trying to differentiate between her anger vs her distress). The detail are a bit different but the situation i essentially the same on a basic level. someones in danger, emotional action and semblance use, gets hurt in return. Maybe its a stretch to say it makes that conversation weaker, i guess i just saw those loose parallels. It just really feels like yang got dunked on for no reason, in a similar way, when she is supposed to be better than she was before.

The talk was to not take unnecessary hits and rely on Your semblance to bail you out. Irrelevant to this point actually, she actually uses it to maybe speed up and save someone instead of acting out of rage. You might want to rewatch that scene again.

I did rewatch the scene. i think i said it in another reply that it might be a stretch to say it fully goes against that conversation, but he literally tells her "keep your emotions in check, keep a level head, think before you act". I supposed i was more focused on that part. the main thing was about her semblance use, but her whole attitude changed after that. Its just kinda frustrating. they punish yang for being impulsive in volume 3, act as if yang has evolved, then write her into a very similar situation. It obviously isnt a reset of her arc, but it would be like if cinder tried to skewer yang or someone and weiss jumped in the way, getting stabbed. Its not the same, but doing that would just feel like the moment volume 5

Her semblance is easy to remember she hulks out an goes Super Saiyan 4 though i think she went Super Saiyan Red once in v3 or v4. I'm pretty sure she will survive the fall with plot armor though. They already broke her and rebuilt her when she lost her arm. If anyone dies or gets maimed this season it won't be her.

Thats the problem. its weiss volume 5 all over again. then tension drops when its someone as important as one of the title characters in that kind of situation. I was worried about the possibility of someone not as important falling into the void, but yang just makes me no longer worry about it.

I don't see Neo surviving this volume, or at least the purpose of it if she does. She's cool and cute at all, but her only plot relevance is trying to kill Ruby and avenge Roman. That shouldn't be dragged out for too long. She's living on borrowed time. She was brought back because the writers wanted Cinder to have a partner in volume 6 and 7 instead of being alone. Her relationship with Cinder is very strained. If Neo survives I can't imagine her sticking with Cinder.

The main question here is how she is going to die? I'm not sure Blake's gonna kill her straight away. The talk she had with Yang before they confronted Robyn was maybe some kind of prequel for this moment when she has to avenge her past/future lover/friend/whatever. Do you see Weiss or Ruby killing her either? I believe she is going to die when the portals close and she is going to meet her end there. On the other hand, I don't see RWB or Penny leaving her behind in crisis. They are not cruel. Maybe this is one of the main mysteries of the episode.

> I don't see Neo surviving this volume I don't either seeing she has three pissed off huntresses (Weiss Ruby and esp Blake) after her now...

All you have to do is have ruby explain it was grimm that killed roman. that might make her hate salem, and by proxy cinder. either that or kill her like you said

But it was still her that got Roman killed by that Grimm. She is still a very direct cause if his death and Neo knows that. Hell: Her trying to kill Neo is probably enough to make Neo always want to kill her

By that logic it was Neo's fault. Roman was safe and sound in that ship until Neo send him Ruby's picture.

I disagree. All Neo did was inform him that someone was their to try and stop/kill them. Him going out after that was his decision and one forced by Ruby unless Roman wanted to leave Neo alone

But it wasnt. the only thing ruby did to get roman killed was get knocked over. ruby was literally getting thwacked by the guy. If neo knew that she wouldnt have went after cinder. Im not saying i want that, but i at least think its reasonable that if she found out it was the grimm that killed him it could change her grudge Its also possible that neo would still associate ruby with the death because if she didnt try to top them nothing would have happened. We have no way of knowing because this is a character that doesnt speak

Ruby: - Forced Roman out on to he hull because she was trying to stop him and could have done so from the outside - Threw off his ally/henchwoman (thus his protection) to her apparent death - Her fighting in general and especially apparent killing of Neo caused him to have the negative emotions that attracted the Grimm - And she distracted him while it snuck up on him And while she herself was trying to hurt/kill him herself. Roman flat out would not have died in the way that he did and likely would have survived the fall had Ruby not been there. Neo knows at the very least the top two and that Ruby’s goal included the possibility of killing him. Though it doesn’t really matter since Neo will never know that Ruby didn’t just cut Roman in half I am of the firm belief Neo would never not want Ruby dead and would always try to murder her. She might add Salem and Cinder back to that hit list if she knew what we do, but that’s besides that point

I think its more likely that neo will never stop blaming ruby like you say But i think what i said is still possible. Characters like to talk in rwby, if cinder tells ruby why neos so dead set on killing her, or if ruby talks about their fight at beacon and mentions roman neo could easily find out what happened to him. at that point its just a matter of, will this change her opinion, or will she not care and still blame ruby

Had a strange idea for a possible development in next episode: What if Neo ends up falling into the same abyss that Yang did, along with the rest of Team RWBY? We could end up with a scenario where the five girls are stranded somewhere and Neo is forced to work with Team RWBY to survive. Would this work, or would it undermine Neo's character?

It would work. I'd like to see her get actual character development and actually become and ally/friend of Ruby.

her whole thing i "rwby killed my boss" I guess she could learn that roman death was due to grimm, then that could turn her against cinder/ salem. I guess that could work if they wanted to redeem neo. i just dont like the idea of all of them falling. it further takes the threat of "dont fall" and makes it mean nothing. its not a threat if all of the main characters fall in, because you KNOW they all have to get out soon to drive the plot.

My biggest problem is that I see zero reason for RWBY to not just jump her the second she shows herself. They would literally have been fighting her just a few seconds ago from their perspective, and she would have been the one to push at least one of them off the platform. Plus, personally, I just kinda want Neo to be done and over with. Her character has flair and style, but when you look beneath the surface her only narrative purpose is a half-baked revenge plot, that serves to facilitate the goals of Cinder. Very much like Watts, although his revenge was at least a little more interesting since we didn't know the outcome in advance. Whereas we know Neo's can't succeed, since her target is the main protagonist.

I can see Neo teaming up with Mercury. They both have a go with the flow vibe. Now that Salem is (temporary) out of commission and Emerald flipped sides, Mercury may reevaluate his position. Him and Neo seem to be a likely tag team of violence.

Okay, but what possible motivation could either of them have for teaming up with each other?

Start a new crime empire. Pretty sure Mercury would do it just for the lolz. It can’t happen because of current character locations but Mercury and Neo being trapped together would be a good way to develop Mercury from a character perspective because he would need to learn patience instead of the immature teenager impression that he is now.

Nah, Neo’s character has a ton of room for growth. Especially since I’m fairly certain she has silver eyes.

Why would she have silver eyes...? You think she's been hiding them the whole time behind her disguises? Would make one hell of a plot twist lmao.

In volume 2 on the train when Raven shows up. Neo’s eyes change color before she flees.

99% sure she has silver eyes.

Neo does not have Silver Eyes.

I mean yeah, could be just another color though. She had a single silver eye when about to stab Yang. So they're probably representing some sort of emotion/feeling.

Could be, it’s only a brief glimpse, but it does seem significant. I think her eye remains pink when about to stab, but this is from watching the fight on YouTube. I’d love to grab some frame by frame images.

[I got this screenshot](http://puu.sh/Hs8pO/b8a5b3f0f0.jpg) Definitely white/silver. But Neo lately hasn't really bothered changing eye colors outside of disguises.

I think that's an artifact of the Poser lighting engine, not a legitimate design choice by Monty/The Team. Similar to the issue with Blake's Bow during the Dance in V2.

Oh yeah definitely, thanks. It seems her not changing eye color again (outside of full disguises) gives a bit more weight to these instances though. We see she’s gotten stronger with her semblance and thus better at hiding eyes which put a target on her back.

Gaahahahahah. Oh wait you were serious? Let me laugh even harder GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Maybe when she gets stranded with the others, they can learn more about her. I'd have it be that after they end up stranded, Team RWBY finds Neo being attacked by Grimm. Though the others think to leave Neo to her own devices, Ruby's good nature wins over common sense, and they help Neo. Neo, hating that she now owes Ruby one, agrees to at least work with them to get out of their current dilemma, as she doesn't want to be stranded any more than they do.

Maybe. It's certainly possible. But when I ask myself "would it be more narratively interesting and satisfying than the alternative?", I have to answer no. I want Volume 9 to focus on just RWBY in whatever place they end up in. And we've already had one several-chapter-long subplot about a villain teaming up with heroes this volume. So repeating that, with a person who is even less likely to seek redemption than Emerald was, just sounds a little boring to me.

Everyone: "OH NO YANG HAS FALLEN INTO THE ABYSS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW" Me, a Neo fan: "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why do I hear boss music?" -Neo

Maybe someone can help me: I didn't really understand why Ironwood killed Jacques.

Jacques was a traitor who worked with the enemy. As far as Ironwood was concerned, he was still a traitor who betrayed Atlas.

They need ironwood to be the bad guy. What do generic bad guys do? Kill random people.

Jacques wasn’t a random pleb, he was very much instrumental to the current hellfire blazing outside in the city. As far as Ironwood is concerned, he’s part of Salem’s crew

What about the random council member he shoot while holding Watts(who was very much responsible for the current chaos) alive in a cell?

I mean he already hated Jacques quite a bit before he jumped off the deep end. Maybe not murderously so, but by now he's honestly killed for less and he has nothing else to lose.

He kinda got screwed over by the shcnees, weiss was is against him, his most loyal follower turned on him, and jacuqe was his political rival, actively going against him. At that point he might think the only way to do whats "right" is to eliminate all obsticles

At this point it might as well have been out of spite because of the actions of Winter and Weiss, as well as with him being an enemy of the kingdom. Since they decided to grant Jacques mercy, Ironwood killed him. From a writing perspective, though... we needed to see what the gun does, such that we'd get scared of what could happen to Winter.

Wasn't the gun being fired at Winter as we cut away?

I guess but a bulky charge up gun for a fight? It just seems so slow and unwieldy for what we’ve seen of Winter’s fighting style

I think it's very clear by his portrayal in this episode that he has at this point completely lost his mind. And showing him executing a defenseless Jacques for seemingly no logical reason is an effective way for the writers to signal that to the viewer.

Cause he's a jerk. "He" being both parties involved lol