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RWBY V8E11 - Risk

My main question going into this episode is... why did Ironwood's Ultimatum ask the same thing of Penny as the hack (assuming the Vault is in Atlas Academy)? I mean, in-universe it makes sense, he doesn't know what's going on. But we know. I'm not sure what's the narrative purpose of duplicating Penny's orders. Is it to have both Penny and her hacked self agree in what they need to do? To make her "lose" to the virus only because she agrees, without compromising the possibility of her coming back? Hm.

Anyway, I have no idea what the episode's title could be about so let's do this!

I think not even Palpatine in Star Wars went this hard with the dramatic lighting after his mask came off.

I hadn't considered that the bomb would be the thing to push people to reconsider working under Ironwood but, well, of course. On the other hand these guys saw Ironwood murder a councilman in cold blood without it ever coming up again, so I feel I have a pretty good reason for not thinking "this, this is the thing that breaks their loyalty"

All the light is gone from Ironwood's eyes, I guess the bomb threat finally killed whatever was left of him.

I love how the Ace Ops went from being awesome during their introduction to the slow reveal of how much they actually suck.

Winter just saved Marrow's life and there's no way she didn't know what she's doing.

I'm laughing IRL at their expressions and the situation.

Oscar is reaaally sounding like Ozpin right now

And Ruby finally, finally, got to her breaking point.

There's never going to be enough time for the show to get really into whatever is going on with Nora and Ren but I love the potential.

This is the payoff I've been waiting for almost two volumes and I'm loving it. Give me all the drama.

Nora's VA is killing it. I think I've never heard that particular tone coming from Nora before.

Wait.

What?

Of all the things I expected this is not one of them.

I wish they showed what Ren is seeing with his semblance. But I guess he could always be not using it right now.

Oh no, Jaune made me laugh. I'm getting soft in my old age.

I can't tell if that was a good apology or not. He assumed responsibility for what he said, explained the reason and made it clear that he knows what he is apologizing for.

I wonder if Nora thinks Ren regrets the kiss, since he mentioned Robyn's rally and she very clearly reacted to it.

That tiny flinch from Nora is absolutely wonderful.

The one thing that is distracting me here is Ren's VA. But maybe it's the way Ren in general gets directed which usually works for his character but feels a teensy bit stilted here, in a "ah, an actor is reading these lines" versus "Ren is saying this" way.

Still loving this scene.

Nora backstory!

now I wonder if he can turn off his semblance

If I hadn't been pausing I'd be crying right now, but this definitely got me teary-eyed.

All aboard the murder ironwood train

The most subtle of weapons, a giant Final Fantasy sword.

With that camera angle, he's already gone.

Welp, never mind

On one hand this is a natural continuation of Qrow's character development. A small return into his bad habits before continuing to get better.

On the other hand, I'm just not invested in his storyline. It lost me when Clover got killed and now I just want the writers to speedrun this bit so Qrow can either return to the main group or go do something else away from the show.

Who could it be to cause that reaction? Maybe Winter and Marrow?

lol at Ruby's angst pose.

Oh. We're going right into this.

I 100% thought they had missed the silver eyes or maybe save it for the last episode or something.

Ruby's VA is making a herculean effort to make her sound gravely while still keeping her squeakiness. And it's working.

This is amazing. I never expected the show to acknowledge that Ruby is perfectly capable of doing the same speculation as the fandom once she had the info. And I love how she's speaking.

Also, I think I can hear the fandom's reductive perception of Ruby taking a big hit.

And now I can hear my heart breaking.

I hadn't realized how much I needed this scene. When was the last time they got to be sisters?

aaand, it's gone. It can only be Penny, right? The one remaining issue in the mansion.

aw, c'mon. I don't mind (I do) if she's fully hacked but the internal fighting is destroying me. Just get it over with.

Nuts and Dolts fans: "Not like this... not like this."

This is very tragic but I can't help but find her eyes funny.

Emerald is helping! She's helping!!

Big fan of Jaune's semblance interacting with others'

From an objective point of view, this tracks. She's making a choice while she still can.

From my point of view: AAAAA, why am I watching this.

I'm 99.9% sure that this is not going to happen just because a super powerful main character makes the story harder to write.

And, also, I'm not sure Ruby would be able to do it, even though earlier in the season they talked about how sometimes they have to make hard decisions that they don't necessarily like. They were just talking about being optimistic, there has to be reason for that.

Winter would kill Penny here but Ruby is not there yet, and I doubt she'll ever be. That's just not who she is. I feel she's going to take a risk (ohh, that's why) here but I'm not sure what the plan could be. They can't stop Penny forever.

This episode keeps surprising me with things that make sense and I hadn't even remotely considered before.

That was weirdly anti-climactic.

same Weiss, same

I think I love Emerald.

lol

Okay, now you're just overdoing it with the title drops.

I think this is my favorite episode of this season so far, I liked every single scene. Marrow finally got a spine, Winter is (or seems to be) finally doing something, Nora and Ren finally talked, Ruby finally got to open herself up and reconnect with her sister, Emerald finally acknowledged she's switching sides and Penny finally "dealt" with the virus. All those "finally" are payoffs from things that have been building up for whole seasons in some cases, and all of them worked (for me). If I had to choose, I think Nora and Ren are the highlight of the episode, with Ruby being a close second.

For the first time since Penny got hacked I feel hopeful that she's not going to straight up die or choose to die. I mean, I'm still leaning towards that being the case but the aura thing is making me reconsider my pessimism. It no longer feels inevitable. Which is probably for the worse, since now that there's hope it'll just crush me harder when the writers decide to go ahead with it anyway.

I think that's all for now so, until next time!

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I'm dying at Neo's contact picture. There's definitely a story there.

What a wonderful troll.

The writers are pulling every thread together after a volume of everyone doing their own thing and I'm very hype. And there are still 4 episodes left!

This is very cute but I'm very distracted waiting to see everyone's faces once they notice Emerald.

kiss kiss kiss

SHE'S BLUSHING

kiss kiss kiss

cowards

but still very cute

Ohhh, that's the face I was waiting for.

I know I skipped a lot without screenshots but damn, that speech.

I already thought Ironwood was gone, irredeemably gone, by last volume, but this episode has to have removed every possible doubt that anyone could have about it. Even if he dies in remorse.

I'm crossing every finger I have that this won't end with a sacrificial play by Penny flying with the bomb in her arms until it explodes, while saying about it being her choice, etc. It shouldn't, since I'm not sure what would happen with her powers in that case. Although, if Cinder doesn't steal them, I think they'd go to Winter. I feel Penny would try to give them to someone who would protect Mantle and Winter will be exactly that if she fights Ironwood over this.

Wait

Robyn is Mantle. Hm. I initially discounted her because she's been such a non-player this volume but her whole thing last season was that she was ready to do anything for Mantle. And it'd definitely have better optics, both in-show and in real life, to give Penny's powers to Robyn than to a military officer.

Anyway, I'm very curious about where this is going. And I'm curious about what happens with Emerald. And I want to see Ren talk to Nora. So, until next time!

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That was fast, there was no way that bomb wasn't important.

Showing his arm while saying this is not exactly subtle it's better than usual.

Also, Atlas really does have the best technology in the world if they got Ironwood a new arm and he's able to use it as without any issues.

What I find interesting about this is that Ironwood seems to be still somewhat in control here, but Winter is terrified. She knows him so well that there's no need for him to scream or have crazy eyes for her to already know his mental status is degrading very fast. And that's taking into account she saw him kill a councilman without blinking that much.

Hm.

So, is he thinking about using them as hostages to get Penny and the others?

welp

welp welp welp

Winter looks like she's regretting every decision she's made in the past 72 hours.

Also, I guess it's time for Harriet's revenge for Winter pulling rank on her.

Poor Winter. Really bad luck in father figures.

Winter has never looked so soft.

Oh. Ohhhh. So, that is what the bomb is going to be for.

Jesus.

Okay then. That's bad. Silly me for thinking Ironwood was out of the picture when trying to guess what kind of Ultimatum it'd be.

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Hm. No Emerald. Did she run?

cute

Well, nevermind then.

Please RT, please let jerkass Emerald stay and interact with everyone.

Mr. Character Development here thinking he can be preachy about it now.

I had to go back to episode 7 because I couldn't remember what pink means, and I still don't. But, it's the same color that Ren saw in himself. Guilt maybe? Hm. Also, no instant explanation from Ren, which is great. Let us guess.

They keep showing Emerald giving glances at them and I keep thinking she's going to escape and break my heart.

Anyway, that's an interesting explanation and it works pretty well to avoid using the most powerful attack we've seen so far again. If it's kinetic energy, was it still magic?

ships have been born from less.

I'm so, so intrigued by where Emerald is going. Is it going to stick? Or is she going to see all of this and still go to Cinder because she thinks she can help her?

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I was going to write about how they'd react to having their base of operations explode but Salem being unable to be killed just means that they need to wait. It does give everyone else some time to recover though (how many hours has it been so far since the volume started?)

I paused a long time here because I wanted to see the screen but nope, nothing. No canon text message AU sadly.

I just realized that everyone left the Whale in some way or another. Which, duh, but still, it didn't feel forced that we knew exactly where everyone was and who would be affected by the explosion. Neat.

I have been avoiding thinking about Penny but Watts saying "mechanical body" feels important.

...right. Hm.

Yess, yess, character development for Cinder. And it actually uses stuff from the earlier volumes instead of setting up everything in this one.

I feel like fans of the Star Wars prequels probably feel when something gets referenced in newer canon. Volume 4-5 still exist and they have been referenced multiple times this volume.

aw. Wait, no 'aw' for Cinder, no 'aw'.

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Neo once more shows she was the only competent person in that whale besides Salem. And Hazel is dead and Emerald ran away(?) so now she's the only who knows how to summon Jinn.

I'm trying to decide if I'd be more annoyed at Neo suddenly talking than at having Emerald possibly return and give the word to Cinder. They could be red herrings but I'm not sure.

Something that I realized only after I finished last episode is that the cliffhanger wasn't solely about Salem, or the magic explosion.

It can't be a coincidence that the topic of how the use of magic affects the speed of the merge between Ozpin and Oscar was suddenly brought up just before there's an enormous magic explosion. I feel they can't have fully merged (it'd be a weird resolution to Oscar's arc) but the explosion definitely didn't help.

Marrow, marrow, marrow. That is not how you get promoted.

The bomb is now a chekhov's bomb. A narrative hot potato, because... it has to explode at some point, right?

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tiny irises = crazy

I love her face, definitely not a fan of Ironwood's current state.

A screenshot doesn't really work to convey how the music just stopped without actually reaching a climax.

ah, here's the bass drop.

It's a neat parallel to Salem's anger in Volume 6 when she calms herself before making the windows explode. We don't see Ironwood actually give in to his anger though. He's still barely in control.

Winter is leading a charge from the 1800s

Well, I guess that's the end for Winter, Harriet and Marrow's storylines.

The whole "sad music while explosion happens" thing reminds me of Mass Effect for some reason. Which is not precisely a good comparison, but at least the scene works. And, on the bright side, the cliffhanger from last episode was immediately resolved which is always appreciated.

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I had a brainwave

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Well, this is worrying.

Time for Ultimatum! I was going to watch this last week but instead I ended up playing Citizen Sleeper, which may be my GOTY if nothing else appears this year so check it out if you like Cyberpunk.

Anyway, an Ultimatum requires someone to actually give it but I'm not sure who it could be. Salem is already attacking, and she already tried to get Ironwood to surrender but I guess she could try again? Ironwood is not really in the position to give ultimatums, unless it's more of a personal one.

I'm very curious so, let's do this!

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How long, baby, have I been away?

:’) + hound only

#happy mother's day #rwby #rwby v8

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Didn't do much but Yang gets bragging rights as the first main hero to get a Salem kill. And with an exploding boon punch at that!

Now that we know it's possible, it's time to open the bets! Who will be next from RWBY? My bet is Blake, unless they catch Ruby in a bad mood.

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I love this!

Gotta wait to see how it resolves but still, it makes a lot of sense for Yang, someone who has worked very hard to keep moving in spite of everything. Someone who literally let the source of her abandonment issues go so she could finally move on.

Second episode in a row that makes me go "huh, that's neat"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

waiting for summer lore

uuugh, what a tease

well, rip hazel

he has managed to kill salem before, a delay of a couple of minutes while she revives herself would be enough for everyone else to escape

the most anime of episodes

There's been a lot of flourishes and decisions this episode I don't remember seeing before, like this slow down and Salem's sudden movements.

That's a great way to make his powers look cooler. But he's dead.

aw

...they are making the fight in V5 look even worse in comparison.

Well, Oscar is the current expert in the strength of Hazel's punches so I'd believe him.

I know this is very badass but I just can't process it that way. I keep thinking of Freeza shrugging off everything in DBZ.

Good to know that Fire does work, or at least hurts more than getting most of her face blown off.

do what

do WHAT

DO WHAAAT

---

First thought was: Everyone escaped so... where's the drama caused by the bomb? But, maybe Oscar is going to hang around long enough to make it matter.

Ren's thing still feels very sudden but I'm waiting until he talks to Nora before giving up on it.

I've been informed that Hazel didn't punch Oscar before taking him into the chamber with Jinn so the whole thing is less funny than before but at least now his heel-face turn makes more sense. I still think it was rushed mind you. And I wish the fact he cared about Emerald was slightly more explicit _before_ the episode where he died. There was enough to imply it (since everyone in the FNDM already considered Hazel the dad of those two goblins) but sometimes that's not enough.

The big question is... more whale or penny next episode? This ended in a cliffhanger so it'd make sense to switch teams again. But who knows, there are 5 episodes left after all and I still have no idea about the endgame of this season.

Even if they do explode the whale, that doesn't do much, I remember more whales around. And even without the whale, there are a ton of more grimm.

Ironwood's plan for the relic was bad enough that I doubt it'll succeed if he gets it. Or maybe he'll get to raise Atlas only for Salem to steal the relic anyway and make the city crash down even harder.

And even with Atlas in the ground, what happens with everyone else?

I have no idea so, until next time!

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There's absolutely no way they are going to resist killing someone with the bomb.

Marrow's voice is weirding me out. I guess he hasn't talked much this season.

And of course the answer is yes. That's the tragedy of Winter's character.

Atlesian anthem goes here.

The real question is... what's Marrow going to do?

Well, nice to have met you Emerald.

Tonight in Dragon Ball Z

Okay, this is a nice visual.

I hadn't thought about that but yeah, of course Salem would consider Remnant a ruined world. She even saw the "ruined" part of it happen live.

Salem expression is very funny without context.

And even with context I can't decide if it's too much or not.

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I had a brainfart for a second and thought "Wait, there are MULTIPLE guys with a trumpet as a weapon???" but then I remembered his semblance. Honestly multiple guys with a trumpet would have been funnier.

I wonder if they'll screw up again to show how much their team harmony sucks. They lost to RWBY and then, just in case it wasn't obvious, we got the reason explained by Ren. I feel like it has to happen again to reinforce the point.

Marrow needs to leave somehow. And Harriet's anger management issues have been building up too.

ohhhhhhhhhhh

so Hazel was the "he" Emerald was talking about.

I still think Hazel being a bad liar makes sense... but this works too.

...that's way too trusting, Jaune. It's Emerald, Oscar could be Salem for all they know.

gotta get some barbs in

If they do manage to escape with Emerald, I hope they keep her around for at least a season. Weiss is too nice these days, having an acerbic jerk around would be almost nostalgic.

well, that was easy

"what are you talking about? no emotional vulnerability here whatsoever"

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I had to break out the gif maker for this because wow, Salem is way too extra.

It's like the writers heard my pleas and are skipping all the fight scenes.

I guess this is how they are going to deal with Ren.

Which is okay. It's not like it doesn't fit the characters to just go "No words needed other than to show we're still a team" but I would have liked more words.

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First time Jaune runs out of energy?

And I guess they need the characters to be colorful, so there goes that particular semblance effect.

Seeing emotions immediately gives you a leg up in empathy. And he was already good at that.

But I'm still having problems parsing his turnaround. Or maybe Yang and Jaune are just too kind. I feel I'd be having less issues with it if someone would acknowledge it more directly.

aw

still doesn't make up for treating Jaune like ass but y'know, it's something.

Is this the first time an aura breaks out of sheer exhaustion?

Oscar or Mercury? Because Mercury is definitely not going to be okay with Tyrian.

Time for an evil monologue? "Whale stomach linings... have ears"

Hazel being a bad liar makes a wonderful amount of sense. He's been very straightforward all this time. Still a child beater but y'know, honest.

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Shift over. Time to go home, re-bandage his knuckles, read a little and then maybe go back for more punching to get some extra hours in. All in a day's work.

Wait, you can't bring your work home, what example does that set for Emerald and the other kids? Gotta respect yourself and set boundaries.

Wait. Wait. Wait a second.

So, did Hazel woke up today thinking "Today I'm going to check the code word for the relic. But first, I gotta get some hits in. It may be the last time, who knows when there'll be another kid to punch??"

I mean, that's neat and all and something everyone has predicted since Hazel was a thing. But still, his turnaround is very funny. "He's still Ozpin so I have to punch him for Gretchen's sake! But for Gretchen's sake I have to help Oscar escape. And this other kid."

Also, Jinn's face looks way too anime for some reason.

I know it's for expediency's sake but I feel they are skipping a conversation here since Hazel doesn't know that Emerald overhead them before. So, he's just assuming Emerald is on-board the "gotta escape Salem" train.

The gap can be filled with "well, maybe they have talked before" but still.

That's a code word for "salem will kill me before I can do it"

I'm very curious about what's going to happen once Yang and company encounter Emerald.

Hm. But Emerald does. Hmmmmm.

Maybe "Hazel is assuming things" was on purpose and Emerald is not actually on board?

Heeello Neo. That's a neat use of her powers.

I guess now she knows the password too. Well. It'd definitely be a surprise if her sole spoken line in RWBY is "Jinn"

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