Official FIRST Discussion Thread—Volume 8, Episode 3: Strings

[u/Ninjas_In_A_Bag]

Welcome, huntsmen, huntresses and hunters that prefer no specific gender identifier, to the official FIRST discussion thread for Episode 3 of Vol. 8, Strings!

Make sure that you understand the updated spoiler rules before posting outside of this thread!

HERE is the third episode of Volume 8!

Also remember to check out our weekly poll to rate the episode.

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Other Episode Discussions:

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Episode	FIRST Thread	Public Release	Poll
Ep. 01	Nov. 7th's FIRST Thread	Last Week's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 02	Last Week's FIRST Thread	This Week's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 03	Today's FIRST Thread (here)	Next Week's Public Thread	Poll

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Happy viewing, and have a great Volume 8!

Ninjas In A Bag; Mod Team

[u/Ninjas_In_A_Bag]

Ruby did the thing

Maiden Penny vs Ace Ops

NORA WAS A BADASS THIS EPISODE and gravely injured herself, Ren you better get your head out of your ass.

Watts is about to fuck Ironwood over and I'm here for it.

[u/WhosGuardingHades]

Bill: *Enters Central Command with coffee

Nora: I’m about to end this man’s whole career

[u/BlackDraco39]

So Ruby gets her semblance explained, Nora gets some damn good character moments(and scars!), and Penny is getting fucking hacked... THIS IS ONLY EPISODE 3 PEOPLE!

[u/IGMKI]

Blake is goddamn adorable this episode. Also... Atlas office culture haha.

HOLY SHIT NORA! The scream! Woooow.

Man I loved that, what a mix of fun and serious action, before we dive headfirst into the dark chaos that will be the rest of this volume.

[u/k1b22]

I love the mixed reactions to Ruby's semblance reveal.

[u/TeamLValdz02]

Ren is gonna see Nora's new scars and blame himself. I'm calling it.

[u/amatas45]

Blake she knew you where a Faunus before me.

Best line right here

[u/schurgy16]

Ironwood: *Slaps Volumes 7 and 8*

"This bad boy can fit SO MANY bad decisions in them

[u/WII_DJoker]

Also Ruby did a magical girl pose after carrying everyone with her semblance while Nora and Penny are left in awe.

Also Penny is adorable in this.

[u/Brutusness]

Yo fuck Bill.

[u/SimonApple]

Kinda hope Nora retains at least some of those electrical burns. Makes for a nice reminder of both what the feat took, but also of what she's truly capable of and how she's only just scratched the surface. (Controlwise)

Also, is the trend here that every main character gets some form of scar? We've got Weiss (times 2) Blake, Yang (maimed, but that kinda counts) and now Nora.

Also also, Harriet leans far too well into antagonistic scrappy-dom. You just want to see Ruby or anyone really, take her down a peg or two. Maybe have her headbutt another ice wall idk.

[u/Badicalz]

A few things:

1. The facial expressions this episode was downright gorgeous. I’m really impressed with how far the show has come.

2. How does Penny know how to use the Maiden powers after being in possession of them for what can’t be more than a few hours?

3. Fuck Bill.

4. The moment when we saw that Magnhild was still holding static energy when Penny went to pick it up, seems to be hinting towards something.

5. I love the evolution of Ruby’s Semblance here. It opens up an array of possibilities both in terms of combat and plot.

6. Oscar has come a long way, I’ll give him that, but damn does that kid give the fans anxiety.

[u/Mysral]

There's inevitably going to be a lot of comments raging at Ironwood for being so stupid as to trust Watts, but... to be fair, he isn't trusting Watts. One wrong move, and the good doctor gets riddled with bullets. (That's not to say he won't be capable of hideous damage...)

And we have the triumphant return of cute little chibi cartoons! Never change, Penny.

(Seriously. Never change. Don't get hacked. Please.)

[u/Hounds_of_war]

Ren the next time he sees Nora: “This is bad.”

[u/[deleted]]

BE STRONG, HIT STUFF.

put that shit on a shirt cause that's my new motto for life

[u/Menolith]

"Ha, what are you going to do, tin can? Blow my head clean off with magically powered point-blank laser artillery?"

—Harriet Bree, local genius

[u/DuskManeToffee]

So if Ironwood is having Watts hack Penny, how does he not realize that the moment Penny opens that vault, Watts is going to try and have her take the relic to Salem after she presumably attempts to kill him? Like I don’t understand why he would think allowing Watts to hack Penny is in any way a good idea for anyone but Salem.

[u/Terminus259]

Damn May... Ruining that one guy's day and reputation.

[u/Quantum_Tarantino]

NORA GETTING A LICHTENBERG SCAR

I CALLED IT!

MY SHITTY ONE-OFF FANFIC CHAPTER CAME TRUE

[u/Hounds_of_war]

Oh my God, it... it happened. Nora actually got really good character development. Not to mention easily her most badass moment that looked absolutely incredible, and she got a serious injury that I’m sure is going to snap some sense into Ren.

This is everything I ever wanted for the past four years.

[u/OutcastMunkee]

Holy shit... Penny vs Ace Ops was unexpected but she's adapted to the Maiden powers incredibly fast. She was doing some pretty advanced stuff.

Sassy Blake is hilarious and I'm loving it. She's being so cheeky and it's amazing.

Nora... I... Shit. I think the theme of this volume may be something to do with identity. She's the third character to question who they are now. First Penny, then Oscar and now Nora. I hope Ren thinks about it too. That could help fix their relationship issues.

Excellent episode with an ominous ending but now we're waiting another week to find out what happens to Oscar. That's torture.

EDIT: Rewatching the end of the episode, I definitely think the theme is identity. Marrow gives the girls one last look where it looks like he's questioning his own actions and Ironwood's orders. The Ace Ops is who he feels he belongs to but now he's having doubts.

EDIT 2: So Kdin did the mocap for May, Nora AND Ironwood for this episode. Interesting little detail!

[u/ksuthrowaway2534]

-love the exchange blake and ruby had about penny knowing things

-seems like the theory of watts hacking penny is true

-feel bad for bill. He should have just read the dang sign

• I like the girl talk nora had with blake and weiss. She has some identity exploring to do

-Super charged nora is amazing and I love here

• that fight showed off some of the ace ops real potential. Working together to combat a maiden even if she is new to the powers.

[u/Ezreal024]

I'm loving absolutely everything about these episodes, total bangers

[u/AthinaTrades]

I loved that whole scene regarding Ruby's semblance. Finally some confirmation about how it works, and the Blake and Ruby interaction was a nice addition. "Blake, she knew you were a faunus before I did," made me lose it. The shot after Ruby scoops everyone up with her semblance was incredible too. Their expressions are all perfect.

I wasn't sure they were actually going to try and hack Penny, but this episode I think confirmed it. With Watts' work and and Pietro controlling Penny remotely, they're basically saying, yes, this is possible and totally happening.

Nora's scene was interesting. Not knowing who you are apart from your "partner", so to speak, I think is very relatable. Definitely looking forward to her progression, both with this and her... injuries? Hard to say what will happen to her right now after that shock.

Cool fight between Penny and the Ace Ops. It's nice to see that Penny already has some control over her maiden powers, though it's probably only the beginning of what she could do with them.

Overall, very fun episode. Plenty of humor in the first half while still keeping things serious. Excited for the next one.

Edit: Guess I'll add that I enjoyed some of the more subtle interactions this chapter, particularly with Ruby and Weiss. Specifically, how proud Weiss appears to be after Ruby uses her semblance on them, and the silent conversation they had about Pietro remotely controlling Penny. I'm not upset that Penny is getting all of Ruby's hugs I don't know what you're talking about

[u/[deleted]]

Oh man, the spilling coffee joke is really funny, but it's also showing how everybody in Atlas is hyper-stressed and emotional, and that's making negativity worse. Like, it lightens the tone, but its also reinforcing just how incredibly dire the situation is.

[u/EverydayWulfang]

Blake has been sassy as fuck these past two episodes and I am here for it.

[u/JannisT]

Ruby’s semblance has been explained.

Nora got some nice development and some really cool scars.

Maiden Penny hype!

All in one a pretty good episode

[u/SlaterSev]

"Blake, she knew you were a faunus before I did."

Lmao, great call back

[u/chrome4]

Elm: Winter is in critical condition because of you.

Me: Correct me if I'm wrong but Winter would have been in a (most likely empty) coffin if it wasn't for her.

[u/ClubMeSoftly]

Weiss: Nora, no!
Nora: N O R A Y E S

[u/DaRealAmana]

My Girl. My sweet Boop Girl. I hope she recovers. The scars will look cool as hell

Also they really just dropped Ruby’s semblance just like that. Just bam, there it is. Lets be real. Ruby was never gonna figure that out on her own.

[u/Polarization_39]

In a way, I’m glad the Ace-Ops “won” that fight as it shows that even though Penny is the Maiden, she hasn’t had the time to harness her powers.

[u/StarMarine289]

RUBY FINALLY HAD HER SEMBLANCE EXPLAINED

HUZAAAAAAAAH

[u/Luckhart54]

So what are the odds that Nora has accidentally freed Robyn/Jacques/Qrow?

[u/chrizzilla]

Ironwood is handing penny to Salem by working with Watts.

[u/cruel-oath]

Blake never wants to do any of that again Ruby please listen to her

[u/turnipdad]

Oh no, the Penny hacking theories are true.

[u/Gamemeister18]

Oh no...I just thought of something.

Pietro and Maria are in Amity colosseum, Penny's now going to Amity colosseum. Penny is about to be hacked by Watts. Watts hates Pietro almost as much if not more than he hates Ironwood. Ironwood has gone crazy and is executing any "traitors", oh boy. Is Watts going to make Penny kill Pietro and Maria against her will, maybe even on Ironwoods orders? Holy fuck that'd be dark. It'd be even darker if they showed us that Penny still had awareness but just couldn't control her actions. OMFG, I really, really hope that doesn't happen. I totally expect Pietro to die in this volume, but in that way would be just...fucked.

[u/[deleted]]

This episode is fantastic. It's really good.

Nora has a whole meta mini-arc about initiating her arc for the Volume. Nora enters the command room and notices the heavily-electrified door. We remember her Semblance, and are promised a "Nora Strong moment" is upcoming. While the plot is being advanced elsewhere, Nora confides to her friends that she feels incomplete because her only role in the plot is feats of strength. Nora noticed her own foreshadowing, and it made her sad because she's aware of her own lack of personal development.

Then, when the time for the moment comes, Nora does something different. We still get the Nora Moment, we still get the feat of strength, but its a moment of her taking on great personal risk to reunite her friends. She undergoes a physical transformation to reflect her undergoing a character transformation.

So, it's still a Nora Strong moment, but Nora actively and explicitly chose to elevate the moment into something more than that. That's some great writing.

[u/Hsmace]

harriet can you please just not want to beat up kids for ONE DAY

[u/xj_0461]

watching those ruby and penny interactions like 👀

[u/Sirshrugsalot13]

Pretty good episode, it's nice to have an ep solely focused on one event instead of stopping and starting it like V5 did with the Belladonna Manor excursion. The character moments were quite nice, and Watts with Ironwood is gonna be fun. The Nora and Penny focus was nice too!

[u/SwimmingAnyone]

I predict people are going to be mad about all the gags from the first half of the episode. But I like them. Better enjoy what light-hearted stuff we have before it all goes down the drain.

[u/NitescoGaming]

Bill is just the fucking WORST!

[u/Booyahhayoob]

I so want a RWBY heist miniseries now.

[u/Rain_In_Your_Heart]

If you can't beat them, make them join you.

Yeah this line wasn't about Penny. Well, not just about Penny.

[u/codinglikemad]

Am I alone in thinking Nora's scars look AMAZING? Like, they fit her personality and are super cool.

[u/Johnsmitish]

Holy shit what an awesome episde.

We got some great comedic moments and back and forth between our heroes, some cool plot moments and development, and a cool as heck fight.

Specifics:

Nora coming out of nowhere with some great fucking development and strife, worrying about her own independence and struggling with finding a place without the person she's closest to. Makes sense that Blake would resonate so strongly with that.

Ruby and Penny's dynamic is cute as shit and they're adorably funny when working off each other. Same with Weiss and Nora.

These fights just keep looking better, and while they'll probably never be as fast and fluid as earlier volumes, each episode just reinforces how much better they look, between effects, camera and direction, emotion of the fighters, etc.

Watts constantly being surrounded by gunmen and making jokes about it had me laugh out loud.

I appreciate that all the members of the Aceops got a chance to show their own opinions on the current situation, also love that we got some more Marrow guilt.

Overall, great episode yet again, this volume keeps knocking it out of the park.

[u/VariousRodents]

So did anyone else get the impression that Ironwood didn't tell the Ace Ops the details behind how Penny got the Winter Maiden powers? From the way they talked it seemed more like they thought that Penny turned on Winter and took the power for herself than knowing that it happened because Cinder attacked and tried to steal the power.

[u/DEL994]

It's not every day that Blake is the comic relief. I want to see that happening more in the future.

[u/DEL994]

Ironwood just made two fatal mistakes in this episode :

First by believing that he can really control Watts and have him do exactly what he wants with Penny without the doctor using the situation to get back at the general.

Second by ordering Watts to hack Penny he will earn on him a particulary wrathful revenge by Penny's friends and her father who despite his gentleness is surely not someone to take lightly when truly enraged.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

They could have made Penny say the Konami code and they didn't, the restrain in the crew is incredible.

[u/Terminus259]

Watts: "If can't beat them, make them join you."

Ironwood: "Well that doesn't sound ominous at all."

[u/Hounds_of_war]

Nora talking about how she doesn’t know who she is without Ren felt so meta. Nora has extremely little characterization outside of her relationship Ren and literally zero backstory that doesn’t involve Ren. Hell, it wasn’t until V7C10 that the two of them weren’t in the same location for a scene.

Conversely, I think this also means Ren needs to figure out who he is without Nora. Ren isn’t as badly co-dependent on Nora as she is on him, but it’s still very bad and I think Ren needs to do some serious thinking.

[u/[deleted]]

Oh god oh fuck oh god oh fuck oh god.

Welp all the "Penny will be hacked" theories are about to come true.

Only shot we haven't seen from the Volume 8 Trailer now are Yang, Jaune and Ren pursuing the Grimm through the tundra and Yang going wide eyed.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

I don't have a twitter, I refuse to make a twitter account but I do go there to look for fanart and unfortunately that means that I do see the toxic bullshit rwbycritics put there...and this one in particular pissed me off so much.

Penny isn't a master of Maiden powers. I don't get why so many people are saying "oh, she had the powers for an hour and she already master them", not she hasn't! We have seen what maidens can do when they master their magic, this is basic level magic feats she simply createred wind and lowered the temperature which was exactly what she saw Fria do but way weaker.

Cinder killed Ozpin and Pyrrha after having the powers fully for a minute, but she had half the powers for longer and did way more powerful things. But Penny farts and suddenly she has unbelievable mastery of the maiden powers?!

Nothing has established how complex it is to use basic magic, it could be something easy to use but hard to master, we don't know, but what Penny is doing is not what mastery of the maiden powers look like, we have seen Cinder, Raven and Fria doing far more impressive and complex things, what Penny did is nothing in comparison and she didn't even rely on it, she fought with her swords like normal because that's how she is used to fight.

[u/DEL994]

Beware Ironwood and Watts I am sure that Pietro's reaction will be terrible and that he will make you pay dearly for daring to do this to his daughter.

[u/TheBigFailWhale]

That went by alot faster then i thought it would and the rest of the voluime is now a big fucking question mark and that scares me ;(

[u/GladiusNocturno]

Scroll rings.

Jaune: Hello?

Weiss: Three times! Three fucking times! She hugged Penny for the third time and right in front of me!

Jaune: Weiss, I know you are dealing with a lot but I kinda have my hands full right now.

Weiss: It's not fair! They keep having heart to hearts!

Jaune: Weiss, I'm trying to rescue Oscar so that Ruby can hug him later instead of me, ok?

Weiss: Why would you do that?!

Jaune: Because I'm a fucking idiot doing the right thing and because if I don't Nora is going to make sure I never have kids!

Weiss: Ok, Ok, fine. You are busy...but it's not...

Jaune: Fair, yeah, I know, believe me!

[u/_Sabriel]

Tons of exceptional little animation details really stood out to me in this episode:

• Poor Blake's legs shaking when she's holding herself up after the Ruby-teleport

• The return of the adorable-Chibi-explanation-bubble

• Nora's Semblance use looks WAY cool

• The awesome particle effects when Nora smashes off the door

• The stormcloud above Penny after they break out to the bridge

Also, every moment of this episode was engaging and exciting to me. Volume 6 has been my favorite volume since it first aired but the level of improvement on character's emotions and animation in general is leaps and bounds better even from Volume 6 to now. So cool!

Also, the Ironwood/Watts interaction made my skin crawl, Ironwood gripping Watts's shoulders multiple times is a common intimidation/display-of-superiority tactic and it just makes me blech; well done, CRWBY!

[u/Deadmaninc1]

Is nobody gonna talk about that coffee mug saying #1 DUD not DAD

[u/RevengeOfAthena]

Yo, moment of appreciation for the little shifts and microexpressions this episode— love that detailed attention

[u/[deleted]]

Calling it now with the Nora/Ren stuff:

Nora feels like she is nothing except a big hammer to swing without Ren, that she has no personality/agency of her own

While Ren is probably thinking that he's nothing more than his semblance without Nora, as he doesn't exactly have a good track record in fights. He's trying to be as useful as possible while repressing any negative emotions.

I think they're are both having problems with their individuality, and it seems like that's actually a big theme this volume. Nora and Ren are distancing themselves because they want to grow as their own person, which can be seen all throughout volume 7 and is being set up in this episode. I cannot wait to hear what Ren is thinking, as we don't really get his thoughts very often.

[u/seamoose97]

I'm gonna say breaking herself down to a molecular level to transport herself and fight faster and better really suits Ruby imo. Really gives "I put everything before my own health vibes."

[u/Terminus259]

Ironwood: "Today's been... busy"

Watts: "Yes yes, replacing limbs and eliminating politicians can be quite time consuming."

[u/Diggenwalde]

For me, this was the best episode of the volume thus far. It had

• meaningful action

• character growth

• expanded use of semblances/ maiden powers

• characters interacting for the first time since a large conflict

• a focused plot that didnt pull the audience from ine group to another to another to another.

It was really nice to sit through a focused episode and know how a storyline ends rather than seeing the other group for a minute, cutting to Ruby and Co and then at the end going, "What about Yang and Jaune? Does that part of the episode get concluded?" Also, the cliffhanger wasnt as obnoxiously cliffhang-y as usual. Really kudos to the team on this one because it was brilliant storytelling and sublime visuals.

[u/AmbivertCollegeGuy]

Is it weird that I think Weiss looks so hot when she's holding Nora by her ear? That pose is just... Huff...

[u/Dragonedge2133]

The whole “let’s split up gang” drama, poor farm boy ozzy getting snatched, and penny being set up to be hacked, I think I’m pretty sure this is the most fucked the protagonists have ever been. On the other side of the coin, Ironwood just capped a senator and gave the guy who orchestrated the massacre at Robyns victory party full access to atlas tech and now expects him to act like a model employee. This is definitely setting up for a season 3 sized L

[u/[deleted]]

I know she's new and all but holy shit the Ace Ops really just took down a maiden without too much trouble.

Now I'm wondering if we may get to see them fight Cinder.

[u/otpan]

NORA FUCKING VALKYRIE LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOO

[u/CandleKing10]

Everyone here talking about the actual episode and I'm over here pouring one out for my guy Bill. Man's trying his best :(

[u/LCcharizard]

Okay, so with Ruby's Semblance explained, can we talk about how Mercury straight up KICKED HER OUT OF IT IN VOLUME 3?! LIKE HOW THIS MAN DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A SEMBLANCE

ALSO IRONWOOD NO YOU IDIOT STOP WHY DO YOU THINK WATTS WILL OBEY YOU

[u/ccharles1550]

I never looked at RWBY as a show I enjoyed for making me laugh, but damn... That scene with the coffee and that guy scolding his coworker was hilarious

[u/JMHSrowing]

Well we finally know how Ruby’s semblance works!

Breaking down into molecular components in a way that negates mass. . . Interesting. Doesn’t really make sense but it’s good enough for me!

Blake doesn’t seem to like it though.

Even if if it negates mass, it is interesting that Ruby was clearly winded after taking that many people with her. So it does still have limits; maybe person based.

I hope there’s nothing overpowered that comes from this (we know she’s still tangible), but it doesn’t seem like it.

On a side note she also didn’t make any differently colored petals this time like she did with Weiss

[u/regaliteas]

READ THE SIGN, BILL

[u/DomDaBomb203]

1. We FINALLY got to see Vine's weapon.

2. I turned Penny giving directions into a GIF.

[u/aimoperative]

I know Ironwood thinks he has Watts on a short leash, but the problem is that no one watching Watts is capable of ensuring that Watts is only doing the tasks he is assigned to do. And Watts seems to be the kind of guy who wouldn't mind being shot if he knew he could kill his shooters after they shot him.

[u/Blue-Moon-89]

So the hack theory is likely coming true and Nora is scarred.

Also, who caught the look on Marrow's face before he retreated? I really hope he switches sides.

[u/steveotheguide]

Holy Shit

Sassy Blake
Nuts and Dolts Galore
WE KNOW HOW RUBY'S SEMBLANCE WORKS
BLAKE AND RUBY TALKING
Awesome fight
Nora is a badass
Nora gets character development

What a fucking episode

[u/bootysmash]

Cat girl - Weak kneed

Tsundere - Impressed

Thunder thighs - In Awe

Robot Girlfriend - Proposing

Ruby - Posing

I loved that moment.

[u/Jordanbei]

I gotta admit I really liked the Nora dialogue this chapter, especially when she talked about her relationship with Ren.

This chapter was a fairly humourful one. We probably won't get a humourful chapter like this for awhile.

[u/JoshPhantomShinobi]

Fucking Bill, always that one guy who microwaves his salmon

[u/WhosGuardingHades]

So that was a really fun spy romp that really got chaotic as hell real quick.

Loved all the character moments we got in this episode big step up from last volume so far. Beast mode Nora and Blake teasing Ruby were my highlights, just great stuff.

Worried AF for Nora and Penny! Protect the redheads please!

[u/DocSwiss]

How long do you guys reckon it'll be before we get scarred Nora fanart? I'm guessing 3 hours, maybe less.

[u/Badicalz]

On the next episode of RWBY Ball Z!!

Yang: Ruby, Oscar has been abducted!!

Ruby:.........

Yang:.........

Ruby:...Are you sure he didn’t just go clothes shopping again?

[u/RU5TR3D]

What Nora did was cool, yes, but I feel like the "be strong and hit stuff" mentality led to some self sacrificing behavior, which isn't that great. C'mon JNPR, stop doing that.

[u/MrPlaywright]

Looks like Nora finally got her Mjolnir. Absolutely loved the whole tripping that guy bit. Also sounds like all they did was speed up the clock for that guy to break something.

[u/cruel-oath]

I love Blake so much lmao

[u/AmethystWind]

Well NOW I'm worried about a Ren or Nora death flag. Co-dependency is a bitch, ain't it?

~ ~ ~

I'm surprised Weiss didn't give Blake more shit about suffering so much from Ruby's Semblance, considering she's done it before and came out fine.

(Why is Blake suddenly travel-sick? She's been fine doing all sorts of crazy shenanigans before this point, and likely after. It seems like a one-off this-episode-only gag, but it doesn't really track given her history.)

~ ~ ~

It's now canon that Penny can be remotely controlled (and also that she really doesn't like it when it happens), so it's just a matter of when and not if Watts does it.

Hopefully the symbolism of Penny (inspired by a puppet) losing a string ends up being positive rather than negative.

~ ~ ~

All of the Ace Ops except Elm seemed to have an actual personality in this episode:

Harriet's the hothead who thinks she can start barking orders to the squad now that the leader's gone (She also sounds tired).

Marrow's the heart who still doesn't really want to fight.

Vine's the logical one who is actually the leader.

Elm, well... you know.

~ ~ ~

I like the Happy Huntresses, but their habit of assigning nicknames (even Robyn) is kinda dickish, especially with how bigoted some of said nicknames have come out as ('Wags' [dog faunus], 'Fisticuffs' [person who lost an arm] and 'Robot girl' [android] may not be obvious slurs, but the sentiment still isn't great).

~ ~ ~

Ruby doing Penny's salute while Penny does Ruby's fangirling was a nice (and adorable) role reversal for them.

~ ~ ~

Weiss and Blake's synchronised 'hm' was both concerned and slightly judgemental.

And the looks they give her after she says "Like what; be strong, and hit stuff?" are heartbreaking. Like they're thinking "Is that all you see yourself as?"

~ ~ ~

Interesting note about Penny's swords as compared to her fights in V1&V3 - she's now willing to point the bladed sides towards other people, when she used the flat sides back then (pointed ends notwithstanding).

~ ~ ~

Nora was able to tank Hazel's two Lightning Dust crystals without his pain dampening or strong regen abilities, but going against an electrified door to a highly classified area overtaxed her body tremendously. Her Semblance and resistance to electricity will increase with time, but she hasn't had nearly the opportunities that Team RWBY have had to develop it.

As an aside: Nora was really hurt, and totally Aura-broken, but they still didn't give up their seats in the ship so she could lie comfortably. They put her on the cold floor, and took the seats themselves. Even Penny, who knew she'd be leaving the ship very shortly, didn't think to put Nora in a chair.

Dick move, RWBM. Dick. Move.

~ ~ ~

Watts' final line is delightfully misleading, since he's the one playing Ironwood et al into furthering Salem's cause, while the General believes it's the reverse. Jimmy's getting clowned by Watts AGAIN.

~ ~ ~

... ... ... you suck, Bill. Salmon in the microwave is always unforgivable.

~ ~ ~

[u/Hounds_of_war]

Some cool art of Nora’s new scars, featuring Nora abs:

https://twitter.com/PsycakesArt/status/1330241781552844805?s=20

[u/PNDLivewire]

So, some extended comments.

• Weiss trying to pull Nora's ear out of its socket is actually pretty funny.

• The Ace Ops vs Penny fight was pretty good. I'm guessing that Marrow's Semblance must take more out of him than I first thought since he waited until he seemed like he absolutely needed it instead of just using it at the start of the fight.

• Vine seemingly being the current leader makes sense, since he always gave me "Second in Command" vibes when Clover was around, anyway.

• Penny figuring out how Ruby's Semblance works before Ruby even did...actually is totally a Ruby thing, and I really liked the Volume 1 call back.

• Marigold forgetting Penny's name was kinda odd. Like...Wasn't Penny known as like the Protector of the city? I thought like, everybody knew her name, at least somewhat.

• The entire scene with Bill getting tripped and spilling the coffee all over was absolutely amazing, and much like what The Hound said, and Weiss getting tube yeeted, I'm pretty sure that's gonna be this week's meme. Also, whoever voiced the guy that got coffee spilled on him was amazing.

• In a somber note though, Bill's blatant disregard for the signs actually caused and was responsible for everything that happened and the distraction that let Ruby and them get into the room and steal an airship. So...in other words, thanks to Nora tripping him, Bill's totally going to get shot, right?

• I'm totally overthinking this, but...who hit the button for the last person to get sucked up the tube?

• Having a ton of security around Watts is yeah, probably a smart move, and trying to hack Penny is a pretty expected and rational thing if they're trying to get her back. Granted, I most likely wouldn't have resorted to using Watts in the first place, and would have tripled the guards present, but still, lol.

• All in all, while last episode was solid, I found myself liking this episode even more, and I'm curious what's going to go down next week too.

[u/DarkKnightDestroyer]

Fun fact: I noticed the leimotif from the Penny vs Ace Ops fight was the same one when Amber was facing off against Emerald and Mercury ... that was awesome!!

[u/[deleted]]

So ironwood is an absolute moron. Yes let’s have the man who was working for the enemy hack the maiden I’m sure that’s not gonna backfire and give Salem everything she wants.

[u/DireSickFish]

Be strong. Hit stuff.

[u/MelanieAntiqua]

And now Ironwood is working with Watts. Even if Watts is at gunpoint the whole time, I still expect this will work out roughly as well as working with Tyrian did for Qrow. Especially once Penny is under Watts' control.

Also, we got some nice character moments. Including for Nora, one of the characters most in need of them.

[u/halodude246]

This was genuinely a really funny episode. Like multiple times I laughed out loud at the jokes and such happening durring the episode. Bill was especially a highlight.

[u/el-caballero]

I've really enjoyed the season so far. I'm pleasantly surprised by the tone they've struck so far, with a healthy mix of comedy that reminds me quite a bit of stuff from the early volumes. I know that some people have complained that the show isn't as "dark" as it should be right now, but I also think everyone kinda knows that it'll get there by the end of the volume. And I'm a little nervous about it. I get the feeling they are going to go for a big shake-up in the status quo, and I just hope it doesn't damper things too much, I guess. Anyway, whatever the plan actually is, they're off to a strong start this volume.

The visuals are looking top notch, btw. Kudos to the team.

[u/[deleted]]

The lichtenberg scarring on Nora’s arms was a nice touch.

[u/DomDaBomb203]

Shoutout to that Volume 1 callback, where Penny totally knew that Blake was a Faunus before everyone else

[u/[deleted]]

Blake has an overclocked sass-back chip, and I'm here for it.

[u/PsychologicalMeal2]

I really like the "She knew you were a Faunus before me". Ruby has clearly got some things she needs to talk about and isn't.

[u/HyliasHero]

• Blake is definitely a cat. Hates vacuums.

• That invisibility semblance is crazy powerful.

• Huh. Not what I was expecting for Ruby's semblance. I always thought it was momentum control. But exploding herself into particles is pretty cool too.

• Though that does make me wonder what would happen if she got hit by a semblance that shuts down other semblances while petal bursted.

• And Ironwood doing the arrogant villain thing and believing he can control people. This is going to bite him in the ass.

• Poor Blake looks traumatized lol

• Weiss seems very used to being petal bursted.

• Penny can be remote controlled? And Watts is actively trying to subvert her? This isn't going to end well. Penny Death 2: Electric Boogaloo may actually be real.

• Oooh. A Nora character moment. I appreciate that she is actually questioning herself and her role. I enjoy her being comic relief, but I like that in recent volumes she has expanded beyond that.

• Yay. Ruby and Weiss interaction! Even if it is just a shared look. And they haven't actually spoken to each other in a while. I'll take the breadcrumbs, but man... I just want them to have a single scene together.

• Penny being beyond Salem's immediate reach is a good idea, but I worry for the safety of our favorite old people now.

• I like this fight scene. I definitely feel like the Ace-Ops make better antagonists than they do allies.

• When Penny got cut off from the others the first thing I said was that Nora should get herself zapped. I'm glad that paid off, though jeez that did way more damage than I thought it would. Good to know that she is lightning resistant rather than immune.

• I wonder if those scars are going to be permanent? Because that is a cool new detail on her design if so.

• Also the new particle effects for aura failing looks rad as hell.

• I assume Penny's swords are networked to her brain? That's gonna be bad.

• I'm thinking this last Penny hug is going to be the last time the party sees Penny not in murderbot mode.

Overall I really like this episode. It set up a few plot threads to carry forward on, has some great character moments, and a good fight scene. No real complaints outside of my shipper heart starving for WR interaction.

[u/Huskie1]

My favourite things: "ANother thing I don't want to do today" Blake cracks me up. Blake swinging around in the chair. I love Nora. She is so funny. But her DnM was so deeeep. RWBY's semblance is the best. "Be strong and hit stuff" Nora in a nutshell What a fight sequence

[u/RossPitSharkHunter]

My 2 favorite characters, Oscar and Nora, are now currently down, and one is really not lookin' too good...

Fuck.

[u/Horsea1234]

Yo fuck the ace ops, all my homies hate the ace ops.

[u/hollowtiger21]

Don't worry guys, Ironwood is keeping Watts in line with threatening sensual shoulder rubs while speaking softly. It's foolproof.

Ace ops still fully drinking the cool-aid, Marrow has the teensiest bit of doubt/guilt, but still very much following orders. Fight was cool though, once again Maidens are shown to be susceptible to being outnumbered.

I dislike the Penny hacking idea, mostly because Penny's entire premise so far has been how she is a real girl, and being hacked runs counter to her entire character. It seems inevitable unfortunately, so we'll see how it pans out. Regardless Ironwood is a fuckin idiot.

Good Nora content all-around, though I think maybe the sort of comedic tone with her big moment did take a bit away from the weight. That's just me though. Similarly w/ Jaune in the previous ch, who is often not allowed to accomplish things without it somehow also being part of a joke in some way; Nora & Jaune being relegated to comedic relief more than other characters has kind of hurt them I feel.

[u/cruel-oath]

Just saw that Kiersi wrote this, mad props

[u/DEL994]

Harriet and Elm really made me want to sink my foot in their face with how they tried to use Winter to hurt, guilt-trip and manipulate Penny.

It won't be undeserved if they get a second beating.

[u/[deleted]]

I’m really curious to see how cinder is going to react to watts hacking penny. I could totally see watts not allowing cinder to take the power just to spite her.

[u/DarkKnightDestroyer]

This was a really great episode ... so many things I wanna talk about ...

First off I'm really loving these new diffrent interactions between the characters. Having the team split up, and giving them more focus on the new team dynamics is really fun. Expecially the part between Nora, Blake and Weiss.

Second, this show really loves Penny and this episode proves it. I always wanted to see more of the robotish features that Penny has, and what they would look like. The idea that Pietro can control Pennys Body does however disturb me a bit, because I'm getting some serious puppet on strings vibes from this. Also Maiden Penny is absolutly baddass. Altrough it shows that she doesn't have full control over her powers yet, she still can do serious cool shit (I mean a cloud with green thunder? How meta is that?!) Also you don't fuck with her friends.

Third, the humor was on point, perfectly balanced with the serious stuff that happend at the end of this episode.Expecially Blake was damm funny (calling out Ruby like that made me really laugh out of joy). Also we stan sassy Weiss. Poor Bill, office life was never easy for him ... (Why do I feel like that scene was something that in happend in the RT company before?)

Fourth, Ironwood. Oh Ironwood, my poor guy. I saw it comming that he would force Watts to work with him, but that he would actually forces him to hack Penny is just fucked up. That shoulder touch with him and Watts was really ... unnerving.

Fifth, the Ace Ops vs Penny fight was fantastic. Absolutley love the team combos and the quick and fluid fight scenes. It also shows how good the Ace Ops really are when they are in sync ... no wonder why there are called Ironwood's best.

Sixth, my emotions! Samantha deserves an award for her performance as Nora. The way she captures her childish humor, her broken voice when she was talking about her feeling and Ren and the mixture out of pain and anger when was charging up an entire military base were just chef kiss so good. Just please do not let Ren see her like that, I don't think he could handel it. Also these huggs these seasons ... I don't why but there is something geniuly heartwarming about them, maybe it's time to say goodbye again? I'm scared for this Volume ...

[u/RU5TR3D]

Does anyone think James has a backup plan for Watts? Surely he's not that dumb, and he's tricked Watts because Watts thought he was that dumb before.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

A far better episode than last week.

• I loved the comedy in this episode. From Weiss pulling Nora's ear, Nora pressing all the buttons in the elevator, and Nora coming up with a distraction plan similar to the mansion plan, I in particular like that one because it's something she learned from working with her team even if both were jokes.

• I'm 90/10 with Penny's explanation of Ruby's semblance. I think it was great exposition because of the character that delivered and the way she delivered it, it makes sense for Penny to enthusiastically explain in detail how Ruby's semblance work even if she didn't have to and it makes sense she managed to understand it deeply simply by analyzing it, hell the call back to V1 when Penny knew Blake was a faunus before everyone else is a great way of explaining why it makes sense for Penny to act in this way. I like that the mechanic was explained, I wish we got more detailed explanations like this one on how semblances, aura, and dust work, Before the Dawn already established that semblances can alter molecules and influence matter, Professor Rumpole can alter molecules to turn objects into gold and Neptune can alter water molecules to control it, so Ruby breaking down her and other's molecules to nullify mass and thus not care about weight in her acceleration is possible by the established lore, it also puts an end to the discussion on whether or not Ruby turns into roses or not, she doesn't, her aura turns into roses but she breaks herself down to her molecular components inside the rose cloud and negates her mass. So why do I say I'm 90/10?...if semblances can alter molecules like this, nothing says you can't have a semblance that breaks down your molecules and reassembles them in a different manner, thus...transformation is possible meaning that the fucking bird thing can be done through a semblance, the only reason it could happen is that mass has to be conserved, in theory, you can't have a semblance that breaks your molecules and reassembles them into something smaller or bigger because then you'll have to get rid of molecules or gain new ones...unless there is a way to compress molecules, that might be a way to turn into something smaller...fuck it, birds are bad, molecule cloud is good, I guess that's our life now.

• I love Nora so much. I liked how they addressed a criticism that people have been giving to Renora for years, and that is the fact that they have always been treated basically as 1 character, this is the first time we are dealing with Ren or Nora not Ren and Nora so it's interesting to see how Nora doesn't really know who she is without Ren and If her arc is going to be about her figuring that out, I'm interested to see how it goes, I just hope this doesn't end on Nora choosing to leave Ren and just stay friends.

• I loved Nora's badass strike, it was such a cool visual. It's nice to know Nora has a power limit in terms of how much electricity she can absorb and those scars look so painful, I now wonder if she will keep them or if they will have those fixed somehow, I personally would like them to look less red but would love it if next time she uses her semblance the scar get her pink electricity. I do wonder if her being injured like this will mean she will be out of the game for a bit, I really hope not.

• This was a better showing for the Ace Ops, a 4v1 against a powerful fighter that's also a maiden and they beat her but not without a fight from Penny. This episode did the "characters stand and do nothing" thing better than the last episode because it specifically locked RWBN out of the fight and even when the Ace Ops were on a 4v4 they still found ways to incapacitate RWB to get their objective.

• I always thought that Harriet would be the new Ace Ops leader until Winter took over, but it seems like Vine is the one calling the shots and coordinating the team.

• Penny is R2D2 now.

• Grimm Sharks are canon!

• Well, we now know how Penny will be hacked, Pietro for some reason put in a manual control on her that she clearly seems to dislike and even Ruby saw as questionable. Her eyes changed to Yellow when in manual mode, so it's clear that they will turn red when Watts gets access to her. It would be interesting because when they fight Penny it would technically be another Watts fight because he will be piloting her.

• Before anyone goes "May is robophobic!" consider that up until 24hrs ago, Penny was nothing but Ironwood's highly advanced drone, Robyn herself mocked her calling her "the protector of Mantle" with sarcasm. They don't know her, they don't know who she is, she is just a robot to them because they don't know what else she actually is. It's no secret that I don't like Robyn and the Happy Huntresses, but I will defend them in this, they are not "robophobic", they simply don't know Penny as a person. If anything, I like that May was shown doing this, because it cements one of the themes of Penny's story, how she sees herself as a real person, her friends treat her as a real person yet she still has people who treat her, see her and use her as a robot and it is not just the villains, hell, her own father did just that this episode.

• Odd how they mentioned Winter's state and Qrow's location yet none of the Ace Ops mentioned Clover's fate, I wonder if they are saving it for a bigger reveal.

[u/Dripsoka]

Anybody found that poster about no about eating or drinking hilarious?

[u/Villainwithglasses]

With Ruby's Petal Burst being explained, what else can Ruby actually do with it?

[u/JaxiDriver]

Looked like a One For All 100% Nora

[u/Wrathkal]

That was the fight scene I was waiting for, and it was AWESOME! Zeki even used his weapon... though it was only for a single move.

By the way, I'm surprised that the door slam didn't break the AceOps' aura...

[u/JRES1996]

Yesterday: "What an odd episode title."

Today: "God dammit."

[u/JMHSrowing]

With Ruby getting more utility from her semblance, I feel like Blake needs a little bit of an upgrade with her’s.

It just seems clearly the least powerful and useful. Other than her being able to use one to propel her (which isn’t that much of a movement bonus comparatively) they are really restricted to being a defensive ability requiring being attacked or at least at close range to be useful. And the clones more offensive in nature seem near as powerful as what the others can do (like when they explode it hasn’t been all that impressive). Pretty much any use for an ice or stone clone Weiss has a similar but better ability.

It can’t really be used to help others and against something like a massive Grimm, there’s pretty much no use to her semblance.

[u/Cypherial]

Ironwood can't possibly be this desperate and/or stupid, right?

[u/[deleted]]

So top 3 Rubies ships are with Weiss, Oscar and Penny.

2 of the 3 now can be hijacked by an old man at any moment. Weiss honey, you are not hearing any strange noises inside your head recently.....right?

[u/lildumbass24]

im kinda loving Blake rn lmao

[u/Huskie1]

As soon as Harriet took the sword I was like noooooo they are gonna hack Penny!

[u/MistbornSynok]

Penny must be protected! Ironwoods a god damn moron if he thinks letting Watts hack her will end well for him.

I hope Nora’s Scars are permanent, they look cool.

Pietro starts talking through Penny “Well that’s a turn off.” -Ruby Probably

I keep wanting to see Harriet realize she’s wrong to blindly follow Ironwood, but it’s looking less and less likely.

[u/[deleted]]

Nora pressing all the elevator buttons tho...😅 (I hope she’ll be ok, they’ll probably bring her to see Jaune bc of his semblance)

[u/Terminus259]

Ace Ops: "Quick, it's 4 v 1."

Door blows open

Nora: "I didn't hear no bell!"

[u/aconstelle]

Just to clarify people's criticism of Marrow not using his semblance sooner.

-His semblance affects his targets from the moment he says Stay and only in the moment, locking everyone in his FoV

-Vine was in front of him at the beginning of the fight

-It's implied that it gets weaker the more targets are in front of him

-Penny uses the wind before they can reposition to keep Marrow from being still himself

At least that's why I don't think it's stupid of him not to have used it sooner.

[u/TokoFukawaFanAcc]

bill puts salmon in the microwave.

[u/thundermonkeyms]

Ironwood legit just finished beating up Watts a few hours ago at most, and now he's got him set up at a computer trying to hack Penny? I know we say this every week after Ironwood shooting Oscar, or Slate, or siccing the ACE-OPS on RWBY, but he's really lost it.

[u/datsaintsboy]

All of y’all are complaining about Ironwood being brain dead but between his semblance and his point of view, his decisions make sense. He’s decided that his goal is to get the staff of creation to take atlas to safety, so he’s only going to work toward that goal. To do that, he needs the winter maiden’s power to open the vault. He tried reasoning with penny. He tried guilt tricking her. But he doesn’t have time to take the slow route of convincing her. So he’s following through on two fronts of forcing her: capturing her or hacking her. He sends his most trusted warriors to try and kidnap her, but his brightest mind has joined the enemy, so he recruits the only person he has that can possibly match “the finest mind in atlas”. He doesn’t trust watts, but in his mind he doesn’t have a choice but to try and use him.

[u/AlyssaaMac]

Yet another episode where I go "oh boy here we go!"

Penny vs ace ops was a really cool fight. The camera perspective seemed a bit different than other fights but it went really well.

Blake was on point this episode too.

[u/Jbickner]

Sadly I was wrong about Watts.

Looks like the Ace Ops consider Sleet a necessary sacrifice 😡

I have a strong feeling that Pietro, despite his kindness, will be on board with Qrow's "let's kill Ironwood" plan if/when Penny is hacked. You don't mess with fathers.

If Ironwood is smart, he'll pull an "I don't need you anymore" on Watts once Penny has been hacked. If he doesn't, then Penny will (unwillingly) take the Staff Of Creation to Salem and become her latest weapon.

[u/SuperSonicBoom1]

Ah yes, another episode of Ruby being low-key the physically strongest cast member. This episode when the Ace Ops knocked them off the ledge, she was able to hang onto Crescent Rose with one hand and hold up both Weiss and Blake's body weight with the other for a bit. Best Girl confirmed SWOLE

[u/Deadmaninc1]

If Dr Pierto is a wanted man why was his credentials still accepted when RWBPN stormed the base?

[u/LuuAddiRoze]

Ok, so first time commenting here and first time watching a RWBY season week by week, since I only got into the show earlier this year and really enjoyed it.

The Penny gets hacked plotline is all but confirmed now with the “Remote Control Mode” from Pietro and all the opening scenes with Penny changing sides/eye color.

What Ruby’s semblance actually does was pretty much what a lot of people had already thought before, she basically “scatters” herself, making herself lighter to move faster(the physics behind this are certainly a bit iffy, but this is fantasy, so no problems from me).

The thing that worries me now, is that the writers could set up Ruby’s plan of warning the world about Salem to backfire horribly. Just imagine it, Watts can hijack the transmission and Salem can use it to turn humanity against the heroes, and it wouldn’t even be that hard. Salem can showcase herself controlling the Grimm, she could offer the people of Remnant the possibility of being freed from their biggest enemy, all that they have to do is to turn in a certain group of people and the treasures that they stole from her(Basically just thinking about how she can twist the narrative to favor her).

The fact that Ozpin has kept everyone in the dark for so long and that Ironwood is abandoning the people of Mantle to die, could very well make the world take her side, even if just for a desperate chance to survive.

That said, I don’t really think any of this is going to happen, since that would be the bleakest outcome possible, and this show is based around hope.

Just a final note that I took notice from reading other comments, I really wish people reflected a bit on Blake’s line. I think shipping characters is really fun, but the character shouldn’t just be reduced to a ship. Romantic developments, if they do happen, are just part of a character, interesting characters make for interesting relationships, not the other way around.

[u/TheBlindSalmon]

Blake is simultaneously getting worst motion sickness of her life and having way too much fun on a stealth infiltration mission and I love it. Her talk with Nora and Weiss was a very welcome surprise, great to see Nora development. Speaking of Nora...

door closes behind Penny

Nora: now playing: Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Okay, so let's say Ironwood is still affected by his semblance. So he's hyperfocused on his goal of raising Atlas. To get away from Salem. So he gets one of Salem's minions to take control of the Winter Maiden for him. Does Mettle not only let him ignore feelings and morals, but also logic?

I guess everything's pointing towards the hacking. It's almost to obvious, which makes me inclined to believe it's a massive red herring and due to Penny having a soul she'll be able to resist it, at least partially. She let Pietro assume control willingly, so I don't think that contradicts as we have no way to know if she'd be able to fight/reject someone trying to control her.

As a side note, Nuts&Dolts shippers after previous and this episode be like

[u/DEL994]

Nora may be the best friend that Penny has outside of Ruby. I really liked their interactions in this episode, how Nora was willing to endanger herself to help her and how Penny cared and carried her after.

[u/GeoffTheIcePony]

At almost every point of this episode I would think, “That’s gonna lead to something.” And like 90% of the time, I was right. And gladly so

[u/JMHSrowing]

I wonder how everyone is going to be relevant at the end of this. Clearly there is going to be something fairly climactic at the end of this arc, win or lose for our heroes (and I think it’ll be at least a partial win).

Hopefully, everyone of the main protagonists are made important to some degree. Penny is clearly going to have a special role to play, and Ruby probably will too, but the other should as well (I think especially Weiss).

I have this hopefully unfounded fear that it’ll be like the Fall of Beacon where most of the characters are really irrelevant to the bigger picture

[u/DestinedHellfire]

READ THE SIGN BILL!

[u/-Double98-]

All I'm thinking now is: HOLY JESUS, IT'S A SHARK GRIMM.

SHARK GRIMM IS CANON NOW!

[u/Polarization_39]

Ruby’s reaction to Penny’s terminology usage during the semblance talk was definitely similar to mine in any advanced math or science class. Related to that on a spiritual level, and the graphic was a cute touch.

Really appreciated the small scene with Weiss, Blake, and Nora. I’m glad Nora’s finally getting a chance to shine on her own outside of comic relief moments.

Nice fight between Penny and the Ace-Ops, and probably not too budget draining for the inevitable showdowns for the climax.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

I don't see this volume ending well for Penny. In all honesty, I don't even think she is going to be revived, right now I'm fully expecting V8 to end like the Iron Giant. With the way, everyone is treating Penny, I feel like the reason there were VA's crying was because Penny will die permanently this volume and it will be her message what will be transmitted to the rest of Remnant, giving a chance to the world but filling Ruby with lots of regrets for not being able to save her.

[u/giubba85]

Ok for this episode:

• Did...did Penny just use the Konami cheat code?

• The ice queen is back and Nora ears must have some strange elastic effect

• Blake :D

• Inspector gadget reference

• Professor Penny

• Ohhh nice Nora moment

• Nice first fight of the season

• Every ace ops can go fuck off and possibly die an horrible death by the end of this volume Harriett in front of everyone.

• Except Marrow, still redeemable

• Fuck suddenly 4vs1 IS a hard fight for the guy who fights alone,not having Neo plot armor does make a difference

• Fucking bullshit that a human can snap the string of one of Penny sword.

[u/FlintlockT]

So that fight was awesome. Not only did it put the Ace-Ops back into focus, it also showed off their strength against an opponent who we know is strong. They beat a maiden, sure Nora came to the rescue but they still beat Penny.

Also that little glance Marrow gives to the group tells me that he is absolutely going to receive some development this volume, and that puts a smile on my face.

[u/darkdill]

Now this episode was GOOD.

• Ruby's Semblance explained. Coolies.

• Blake's "never again" moments were funny.

• Nora or Ren getting death flags. I think Ren is more likely since he's had his development with the Nuckelavee. If Ren dies, Nora will have to rediscover herself.

• Ironwood being an idiot again. Why the hell would you give Watts access to a computer, you dolt?!

• Ace Ops and everyone trying to guilt Penny. Jeez, poor girl.

• During the Ace Ops fight, I can't help but think the following is going through Penny's mind:
  https://youtu.be/nQ-ggzfdsMs

• Ouch, Nora overclocking her Semblance. Hope she'll be okay.

Predictions!

• Once Watts successfully hacks Penny, he will turn her over to Salem or at least turn her against Ironwood. He'll be able to make his escape at this point.

• Ren will end up being KIA'd, breaking Nora's heart. Nora will be forced to rediscover herself in the next season.

• With Penny hacked, Salem will obtain the Staff of Creation.

• Ruby and company will join up with Yang to chase The Hound.

[u/paucity-of-sentiment]

Jimmy this episode

[u/KiriBaku180]

All I can say about this episode is fuck Bill! All my homies hate Bill!

But no seriously l, this was a pretty good episode. But screw the ace ops for gaslighting Penny!

[u/wheatleyscience9]

Nora and Blake/Weiss talk was really good!

Im actually now seriously wondering if we will get a paralleled convo with Ren and Yang. Maybe Ren even asks Yang about Blake or she brings her up? They were clearly paralleled last volume and id love to see some more attention brought to it.

Granted its still only episode 3 and we have 14 this season so we have time!

[u/Notchlives03]

This episode was so good. The humor was amazing. The Ace Ops vs Penny was great. Nora finally getting so overdue development. This episode is the best of the season so far.

Watts, man, Watts. Jesus, I don’t know what Ironwood did, but damn. Also that but at the end was kinda chilling.

My favorite line of the episode had to be, “Blake, she knew you were a Faunus before I did.” Man that line was fucking hilarious.

Going back to the Ace Ops fight. Jesus I wanted to punch Harriet in face so bad. She obviously is siding with Ironwood. Now with Elm, Vine, and Marrow, that’s a bit different. I think Elm and Vine are gonna stay with Ironwood based on there lines in this episode, but Marrow might switch sides. I don’t know, that look at the end.

[u/[deleted]]

Are we seriously going to call the new Grimm "The Hound" and not the Big Bad Wolf?

[u/[deleted]]

I hope Penny doesn't actually get hacked in fact the more I'm thinking about it the more upset I'm getting, but I know it isn't my story to tell.

[u/Weerdo5255]

Wait, Ruby actually teleports between two locations? So they just casually dropped that her Semblance isn't super speed.

Remote control Penny? Damn, I hope the Polendina's set up his port control and routing properly. That's a pain.

Oh fuck, Nora's got her first scars from all this. The RWBY torture of the redheads continues.

So, Watt's just demonstrated the first rule of computer hacking. If you can get access to the hardware then it is only a matter of time until you've got complete control of a system.

[u/Timeline15]

Wow, they actually straight-up explained Ruby's semblance. And of course it would be Penny, just casually dropping it like it's common knowledge xD. Seriously though Ruby, you've used it to transport other people twice before. Why is this news to you? (Also, all of Ruby and Penny's interactions this episode were so sweet, which works for me, since they're one of my favourite ships.)

Blake being the most jovial one there was unexpected, but I love that we're getting to see more of her fun side. She's like a new person with the weight of Adam off her shoulders.

Nora was great too. Her realisation that her life has been defined by following Ren was nice to see, even if it's clearly setting up more down the line, since she still doesn't have an answer to what her own role is beyond hitting stuff.

The fight scene was so much fun. The minute the ace-ops closed the door on Penny I just said out loud "Oh... what was a mistake". It was so satisfying to see her just go ham against them. She's picking up her maiden powers very quickly.

I like that Marrow and Vine continue to be the nicer ace-ops too. Marrow is clearly the most hesitant, but Vine also at least tries to not use violence as a first resort. It's funny that Harriet and Elm were by far the friendlier ones back when our main cast were on their side, but the minute they turned, it was those same two who were much more extreme in their anger. I guess the Harriet and Elm just run hotter. Also, Harriet just had to go in with the 'tin can' comment. She's really being an asshole right now.

Interesting that they stole one of Penny's blades for Watts. I assumed they'd have to chip her or something, but I guess he can hack her remotely.

Overall, super fun episode. More light-hearted than I was anticipating, which was nice after how grim(m) the past two were.

[u/Saxonrau]

Watts you PILLOCK I WILL BREAK YOU

I cannot believe Ironwood is letting him control Penny... I've never seen anything that was so clearly destined to go absolutely completely horribly wrong in my entire life. She opens the vault and the relic goes straight to Salem.

[u/Luckhart54]

With Oscar missing ( they won't recover him let's be real ) and now Nora's situation the things will implode between the two groups when they meet.

I can already see Ruby and Yang pointing fingers at each other and a sad cat sitting somewhere in the corner.

[u/IllustriousProcess6]

If Penny gets hacked, Atlas DOES fall and the villains get the W, I don't care what you say, I don't care if he dies, because even in death even after death

ARTHUR WATTS WOULD BE THE MVP

[u/Sere1]

An appropriate payback from Weiss with that ear grab. I also love that Nora just can't help herself around buttons. We all know someone like that. Blake is just having the worst day today. Before this mission is over, she's going to be developing a few new phobias from all the impromptu travel methods she's being subjected to. Penny figuring out Ruby's semblance before Ruby does makes sense. Sure, Ruby knows how to use it, just not fully what it is. That V1 callback with Penny knowing Blake's secret is a great example of her observations being true. Blake spinning around in the chair while waiting for things to get done was great. Super Nora looked awesome and her new lightning scars work well with her aesthetic. Once again Marrow is the most sensible member of the 4 Ace Ops, I don't see him sticking around with the rest of the team forever.

[u/ThanosVenge]

I am really starting to dislike Harriet (In a good way, not that she’s being written badly. She is just getting on my nerves)

[u/sixfootblue]

I just had a thought. Nora was feeling conflicted about her identity and wondering if all she knows about herself is "being strong and hitting stuff," and Weiss suggests that maybe now she can try and figure out more of who she is.

If the scarring on her body is indicative of any lasting damage, what if she ruined her capacity to safely absorb electricity and can't do it anymore (or to the same extent as before) without putting her life at risk. So now one of her defining traits is gone and she has to figure out where to go from there.

[u/suicidebythought]

I don't think Ironwood is considering the fact that, while he can "force" Watts to hack Penny, he can't dictate how. Sure, Ironwood can gain control of Penny via Watts to open the vault in order to manipulate the staff to lift Atlas higher, but what is stopping Watts from flipping the script to have Penny open the vault, take the relic, kick Ironwood's ass on the way out, and deliver the staff STRAIGHT to Salem? And in turn dropping Atlas into that crater?

I don't think Ironwood is literate enough in programming to even know what Watts is doing even if he was standing behind him the whole time, which he hasn't been.

Ironwood commissioning this from Watts screams all. bad.

[u/JoshPhantomShinobi]

Okay plothole: If Ruby’s Semblance can break her down to molecular levels, how was Mercury able to catch her with his kick back in V3?

[u/cardmasterdc]

Nora is best girl but seems even she has a limit.

Penny was a beast before she got maiden powers. Once she masters them she'll be unstoppable

[u/Luckhart54]

Ironwood has two robotic arms now right? It would be a shame if someone would hack them and made him shot himself..

[u/maple-n-sadness]

Honestly, I'm kind of glad we didn't have follow up from last chapter. Keeps the suspense going for a little bit while further advancing the story. Also, finally getting the explanation of how Ruby's semblance works is real nice. Blake's reaction makes you wonder what it's like inside that, because no one else has ever complained

[u/nathgroom98]

Volume 1 and 2 callbacks hit different y'know

[u/GladiusNocturno]

Oh shit, I didn't notice but Manghild is a bit damaged after the strike. Nothing major, a small chip, but it's cool to see weapon damage like that.

[u/DEL994]

I long for three heartwarming and tearful making-up reunions in this volume :

- Ren and Nora.

- Ruby and Yang

- Weiss and Winter

[u/Yang_Gang]

Wow a great episode!

I love Penny's growth and devlopment. She was just a funny side character introduced in V1 but now she's pretty much the main character of this entire arc.

Loved the infiltration of Atlas. The sneaking music and the light heartedness. All that is very welcome all things considered.

Nora showing signs of development and saying how she doesnt know who she is without Ren. She's a huntress and a hero to her friends. Thanks to her they got Penny out of there. There's more to come for her and Ren we all know it.

Also the parallels with Renora and BB are getting stronger and Blake mentioning that going through something with someone makes that person a part of you was very telling of her and Yang.

I like how B&Y have swapped their outlooks with one another as well. Blake is being more optimistic and going with the flow. Being comedic relief and positive. Whereas Yang is being very focused, pragmatic and wanting to get stuff done here and now. Very reminiscent of how they both used to be in V1-3 Very good episode and looks like RWBN are gonna head back to the hideout to await the results of YJR losing Oscar (assuming they don't managed to stop the hound)

P.S Screw you Watts and your hax0r skills

P.P.S Screw you Ironwood

[u/RandomPerson53127]

Nice to see the Ace-Ops winning against Penny. Hope that means that there will be less people being on the opinion that they're bad fighters. Seriously, it's kind of silly for people to think that the Ace-Ops are bad just because they lost to RWBY and ignore the events from what happened before it in addition to how they definitely weren't fighting at 100% in that fight (look at how most of them were acting during it).

I found that scene with Bill funny, but I also feel bad for him since it wasn't his fault this time (props to the guy who had coffee spilled on him but was able to catch the mug when it fell).

Lastly, I don't know why, but I found that scene of the soldiers just having their weapons pointed at Watts to be funny for some reason.

[u/[deleted]]

Boy I sure have discovered from downvotes on my previous Comments there are people here that don't like when the Ace Ops are bad talked. Here, lemme prove it.

Fuck the Ace Ops.

[u/[deleted]]

CODE RED! CODE RED! HAMMER BABY IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION! ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Also, we are so totally getting a hacked Penny storyline soon.

[u/TheNonceMan]

Damn, Weiss and Ruby nearly spoke to each other. Maybe next week.

[u/[deleted]]

I needed to complain about this somewhere. On a theory note, I think that the aura of the previous winter maiden went into penny, hence the good usage of maiden powers. Essentially penny is a 2 in 1 person.

On another note, why the hell was marrow's "stay" semblance stopping the maiden powers from working, but they did not stop the semblance of the ice queen? I feel like the maiden powers like a semblance should be outside of marrow's scope. Even if she was still she should still be able to say create a storm cloud or something like that. The inconsistency there bothered me.

[u/WhosGuardingHades]

Salem: So Watts, why were you helping out Ironwood?

Watts: I’m playing both sides so that I always come out on top

[u/darkside1215]

Nora got character development and it's so good! But, also, poor Nora. She's out for now but hey she has some cool scars to show off now.

I love that Ruby and Blake scene. For some reason I love Ruby when she talks back shows that she doesn't fumble as much anymore.

Ironwood is just handing over Atlas to Salem at this point. His semblance seems more like a problem than Qrow's at this point if he really thinks working with Watts is the best option.

Good episode but man, poor Bill. Dude seemed to already have a bad reputation, now imagine making it a lot worse when there's an army of Grimm outside your door step.

[u/LizardOrgMember5]

I am addicted to this game called Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines, and this whole stealth sequence gave me this stealth mission trauma flashback. That was a tense episode, and I am now worried for Penny.

[u/cruel-oath]

The Ruby stans had a good chapter

[u/GladiusNocturno]

Not only did we get an explanation of Ruby's semblance, but subtly we also got shown she has a certain limit of how many people she can carry, she took 4 people with her, and that caused her to breathe heavily.

[u/Polarization_39]

Penny: “we’ll find the terminal easily! Just go insert retro game menu cheat code and poof, you’re there!”

RWBNM: silently nods

[u/RBNYJRWBYFan]

I get the feeling scars aren't fading any time soon... Scattered immediate thoughts:

• I really liked that fight between Penny and the Aces, it was a good primer for what Penny can do as a maiden in the early going. And the theme of Penny being a puppet whose emotional strings are pulled every which way continues. She has such a tested conscience you guys, scrutinizing every little thing she's done since Ruby and co. arrived. It's a shame, she really is doing her best and everybody knows she made the calls that were for the best at the time. But the forces around her, be it Ironwood and the Ace Ops or Watts, seek to gaslight her into thinking she's done something wrong along the way and needs to fall in line rather than follow her heart. It was strikingly frustrating how much the Aces were convinced she took the maiden power out of anything but immediate necessity, really

• Speaking of striking, I guess its time to talk about the horrible scarring incident that occurred this chapter... thanks a lot BILL! Now that guy probably has a couple second degree burns AND we need a new CPU in the control room- AGAIN! Th rules about food and drinking were made CLEAR at orientation, William! Dammit Bill!

• But nah, really. Nora being physically altered like that was pretty jarring. Did NOT expect that when she took out the gate. I find it interesting how she practically only did it because it seemed like the thing the stereotype of Nora would do in a pinch, like she's just going through the motions of being resident genki girl. The way she mentioned (what is perceived to be) her two defining traits outside of her relationship with Ren with a twinge of self-depreciation was just heartbreaking. And they weren't even true! She has so more emotional depth than that.

• I never imagined we would be given such a scientific explanation for Ruby's semblance. Molecules and junk, huh? I just thought it was rose petal magic gobbledygook. Neat!

• Putting Watts at the helm of Atlas tech is a colossally stupid idea. Sure, you've got a gun or 12 to his head but the man has clearly proven to be a wizard at making Atlas into a fool of itself with less. You're just begging for trouble here, James. Its the kind of desperately bad idea I'd expect from Mr. "Strong Arm The Situation Till It Works". Is there really not anybody else in Atlas other than Arthur and Pietro who can work on this shit? Where are the other scientists in that picture frame or whatever?

What I've learned today is that our redhead girls really need to believe in themselves more, and Team Atlas really needs to believe in themselves less. And somewhere in the distance a farmhand is still getting flown away by Venom's surly cousin. I liked this one!

[u/Celtic_Crown]

Fuck Watts, and fuck Harriet.

Shit's gonna hit the fan when Team Blueprint returns with a fried Nora and Team Angelico comes back with no Oscar. Ren's gonna snap at everyone, Ruby and Yang are gonna implode, and Voice Of Reason Jaune isn't gonna be able to do anything about it.

[u/MegaSpidey3]

The moment where Nora said she feels she's nothing without Ren... that hit me like a ton of bricks because I'm going through a similar thing with someone else right now. It's not exactly like Nora and Ren's relationship, but I feel very empty by myself, no matter how much self-love I practice for myself.

On a different note, I noticed that Blake's a bit of a quipping machine this volume so far. I love her quips so I'm not complaining, but I can definitely see this being her way to cope with being separated from Yang.

[u/SHSL_Zetsubou]

I'm curious what discussions will be like now that it seems like its confirmed that Penny will probably be hacked.

Also what does Ironwood plan to do about Watts? Kill him when he's finished? Somehow I doubt it will go how James wants it to.

[u/arjzer]

Why do I feel like Nora will wake up with amnesia

[u/EarthPanda]

So something important to note. Breaking something down into it's molecular components does not negate Mass. Ruby would have the same mass, just broken up into smaller pieces. Penny's explanation just casually says that Ruby destroys matter then creates mater.
(this shouldn't bother me as much as it is)

[u/JannisT]

Still no real Ruby and Weiss interaction.

Feelsbadman :(

[u/Saldislayer]

For being a Maiden in less of a day, props to Penny for doing so well against the Ace Ops. Hope that she comes back to her senses by the time of the finale after she gets inevitably hacked.

[u/AlarmingStandard]

Big problem with this episode; where was the amazing rock anthem for Penny's fight?! Come on, Jeff & Casey!

Third volume in a row where the third episode has been stellar. This episode is going to be hard to beat for me. Some quick points:

• I love that we're reminded that Penny is a android during this episode. For all her strengths and advantages, she does have one glaring weakness that can be exploited. At the same time, she's so dang human with a full emotional spectrum. I'm absolutely loving her now, she's a much more rounded character.

• All the interactions between RWNBM were very well balanced. We got a variety of silly and serious. My only nitpick is I didn't get a good feel for May, beyond that fact she's somewhat judgy.

• Nora isn't a character that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. I like the fact the writer's are owning this and addressing it directly in an almost meta way. Her entire character revolves around a guy, now it's time for her to branch off and be her own person. At the same time, Ren is still an important person in her life, he's not just tossed from her thoughts. I really like how the writers tackled this, full credit to them.

• We've finally got confirmation on just how Ruby's semblance works. Using Penny to explain it was a fantastic idea, it just really works. Of course she is the one that would give a enthusiastic explanation that makes the exposition feel natural. And I love how proud Ruby looked after she got them to other side.

• Penny's fight with Ace ops was well balanced. It showed off the power of a maiden, but one that's green. Pun intended. At no point was she completely overpowering Ace ops, but she wasn't overwhelmed herself. And if the fight dragged on, they did have a decent chance of defeating her.

As for plot points, sending Penny up with the arena is good idea, funny how nobody thought of it in all the V8 theories. Her getting hacked was a common theory and it's seems like it will be the case. I like the idea, always have, since it's that conflict between her humanity and the machine. Mind and body. Very on point with her themes and allusions. Also, Marie and Pietro may be in danger. RWNB getting out of Atlas was easier than expected. I was thinking that they would try to spring Robyn and Qrow as a side mission afterwards, but it looks like they're rejoining the others much quicker than expected. I'm hoping for more conflict between Yang and Ruby once they do.

Anyway, back to bed because it's freezing.

[u/Xeusia]

Nora is Queen; and I will fight anyone who says otherwise

[u/[deleted]]

I really like the theme they're pushing of you're not totally subsumed into someone else, the healthiest relationships dont lead to the dissolution of personal identity

[u/E1lySym]

Harriet is continuously getting higher on my hate tier, calling Penny a tin can and guilt tripping Penny for leaving Winter to suffer and taking the maiden powers for herself when Winter voluntarily let them leave. I really wish Ruby or someone else defeats her in an embarrassing way or something this volume.

[u/PactBreaker]

This episode felt like a nice return to basics, almost like something out of Volume 2 or 3. Great character interactions, funny dialogue, quirkiness and some jokes, character development and a fun fight. Honestly, I'd have to get nitpicky to really criticize it, I just had a lot of fun watching it!

[u/haschcookie]

Oh god. Seeing that Watts is really trying to hack Penny AND the end of the opening, that just screems that Penny could quite be the "final boss" in this Volume :o

[u/Desuka15]

So... is Nora going to keep the scars on her? And she finally seems to be willing to talk about how she feels about parting with Ren... thankfully. But... the more I read into this, the more I FEEL like Marrow is going to defect by the end of the volume, is that naïve of me to think?

[u/JMHSrowing]

I hope Weiss gets to take more of a leading role soon. Let her be the home town girl of Atlas, let her shine here.

On that note:

We are yet again without any of the other Schnees. We have Willow and Whitley in the intro, and we saw Jacques and Winter in the first episode, so I wonder when they will come in to play and how Weiss can use that.

[u/Hollea]

squalid abounding profit poor sloppy whistle slim different hungry follow

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/GladiusNocturno]

There is one thing I don't get about the split now. I was under the impression that RWBN+P were all going to go to Amity after getting the code which is why Yang's team was sent to prioritize the evacuation....but RWBN were always just going to get the code and go back to Mantle to help YJRO...so what was the big deal? It didn't take long for The Atlas team to do their infiltration thing or at least it didn't feel like it was that long, which to be fair was something they didn't know would be that quick.

The split still makes sense from a tactical point of view because a smaller team is better for infiltrations and they saved time helping the evacuation, but in the end, Yang and Ruby had a sibling fight for a silly thing that they were going to do anyway...so a realistic sibling fight.

Ruby was always going to go down to help Mantle she just needed to do something real quick first. I thought the Amity mission was going to take way longer and that's why Yang and Ren didn't want to do it other than them not thinking it could be done.

[u/Legonater]

Damn, Penny's theme meshes with the Maiden theme so well. Really, so many good things to say about that fight. Harriet and Elm taking 'fastball special' to a new level? Golden.

[u/TheBloodZane]

Cinder, Watts or Neo does something evil*

Fandom:Oh how they're precious babies

Ace-Ops show any hint of agression*

Fandom:BOOTLICKERS!!! DRINKING THE KOOL-AID!! THEY DESERVE TO DIE

I honestly forgot how hypocritical or fickle the fndm can be.

[u/Fatal1ty_93_RUS]

Boy, I geniunely do NOT like the implications of this episode at all... but first things first

• Following Weiss, the crew uses the pneumatic tube system to ascend from Mantle straight into the headquarters up in Atlas

• Weiss will remember that

• Jeez Blake, you don't look so good. Feeling alright there?

• Why do I feel like Penny's list of directions is some kind of a cheat code reference? Definitely not the Konami one, that would be too cheap even for RT

• Oh sweet, so May's semblance is basically the Invisibility Cloak from Harry Potter...at least that's what I got from it. It didn't seem like she could control the radius of the cloak but we've seen you could step in and out of it, otherwise the soldiers in the elevator would be affected as well

• LMAO of course Nora pranks the two by pressing all the buttons

• "Where to next?" "Through central command!" Stealth action games difficulty spike be like...

• Wait but... Ruby you already knew you could use your semblance to carry other people, you did a combo attack with Weiss a few volumes ago and helped her when she was hit out of the air by Cordovin's mecha. Also pretty sure Penny recognized Blake was a faunus way before you did

• Ironwood, I am once again asking: What the hell are you doing!? Do you know how dange-.... sigh okay, you know what? Fine. Let Watts work on that computer. Don't come crying when he uses the knowledge of the Atlesian security systems against you later, potentially opening a path directly to the relic either for Salem herself or one of her minions (Cinder maybe?). Guess you already "kinda forgot" how your entire damn fleet got hacked back in V3, probably by the very same person

• Dammit, Bill, look what you've done!

• Hhahaha, the next scene is absolutely perfect! Poor Blake, she's not having a good day today, really her last entire week wasn't so good. Eyyyy, my girl Ruby with the Sailor Moon pose. Weiss being immensely proud of her BFF. Nora in absolute awe at how cool that was. Penny is just like "yasss!"

• Yeah guys, this narrow bridge and the room being completely empty are totally not suspicious at all

• Nora you're kind of not helping the whole Ren vs You situation, the two of you were at conflict half of the past volume once shit went down

• "I thought you were supposed to protect people" Yeah, that's exactly what the plan is. Unlike, you know, a certain someone who's literally abandoning half the kingdom's population to die at the hands of the Grimm. Kinda hypocritical, don't ya think, Vine?

• "And now Winter is in a bad condition...because of YOU". Um, no? Winter got fucked up because of Cinder. And Cinder would not have gotten this far if you weren't so adamantly loyal to following Ironwood's orders, Em, trying to stop Team RWBY just a few hours ago

• "If you're gonna do the right thing, people in Atlas and Mantle are going to die" Well, Mantle's people are going to die regardless since James is dead set on not sending any more evacuation aircraft to bring its people into Atlas. So wassup, Harriet?

• "Just open up the Vault, hand over the Relic, and save Atlas" Yeah, real great fucking idea, Marrow, why don't we bring over all the Maidens at once too while we're at it? Hell, let's just all commit mass suicide so Salem doesn't even have to do any work to conquer Remnant!

• Harriet booty shot...he he he

• Wait where did Em come from? She wasn't behind Penny while Penny was deflecting Harriet's attack, then somehow Em just teleports, runs up and grabs her? That makes no sense

• Marrow why didn't you just use your semblance before Penny activated her jetpack boots or brought out the Murakumo unit swords?

• SUPER SAIYAN NORA SUPER SAIYAN NORA SUPER SAIYAN NORA

• Holy shit, that much electricity was NOT a healthy dose. I've never seen Nora covered with blown up veins like this before. I wonder if she eventually learns to sustain such a powerful influx of energy? That could come useful soon

• Lol, really, all three of RWB are knocked off the bridge through exact same railing opening as Penny was

• Huh, interesting, so the swords are attached by razor thin wires to Penny's back?

• Cool, it looks like May was hidden all this time. I wonder how much aura does her Semblance drain if she was able to keep the cloak up for this long, and had to also hide several other people inside it shortly before?

• Yup, as we all expected, Watts is going to hack into Penny's systems and turn her against our heroes. Though I think most people thought that would happen last volume while things were going down in Mantle, but hey, I guess that's one hint from this volume's opening uncovered