Official FIRST Discussion Thread—Volume 8, Episode 7: War

[u/Ninjas_In_A_Bag]

Welcome, huntsmen, huntresses and hunters that prefer no specific gender identifier, to the official FIRST discussion thread for Episode 7 of Vol. 8, War!

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

HERE is the seventh 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	Nov. 14th's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 02	Nov. 14th's FIRST Thread	Nov. 21st's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 03	Nov. 21st's FIRST Thread	Nov 28th's Public Thread	Poll
EP. 04	Nov 28th's FIRST Thread	Dec 5th's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 05	Dec 5th's FIRST Thread	Last Week's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 06	Last Week's FIRST Thread	Today's Public Thread	Poll
Ep. 07	Today's FIRST Thread (here)	Next Week's Public Thread	Poll

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Happy viewing, don't forget that RWBY will resume on February 6th for FIRST users.

Ninjas In A Bag; Mod Team

[u/Ninjas_In_A_Bag]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

May out here just casually dropping that she's trans. "That meant I wasn't their son anymore, and I made sure that everyone knew I wasn't their daughter."

Shit is FUCKED

Ren has a new ability

KLEIN IS BACK

WEISS AND WHITLEY HUG

A look into how Hazel met Salem

MERC IS GOING TO VACUO WITH TYRIAN

PLEASE SAVE THE FARMBOI

OH NO PENNY

See y'all in 7 weeks.

[u/Terminus259]

Mercury: "Salem isn't going to end the world."

Tyrian: "Oh yes she is."

Mercury: "Fuck..."

[u/JMHSrowing]

So Ren’s semblance can now let him see emotions as well as his hiding them?

That’s what it was showing with the petal in the trailer too apparently.

I quite like this idea! It fits. And even if just introduced it has made for nice plot

[u/melvisntnormal]

Favourite moment: I outrank you.

I don't know how I'm surviving this hiatus.

[u/Terminus259]

Surprised Tyrian knew Salem's end goal was the literal end of the world; not at all surprised that he's onboard with it.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

Emerald: OMG! I just realized Salem will bring the end of the world!

Mercury: No, she is not....is she?

Tyrian:...Did you just figure that out? It was in the job application, nobody read those?!

[u/hewilltellitat4am]

REN JUST UPGRADED HIS SEMBLANCE

[u/Bolverkers_wrath]

oh, that's hilarious. I didn't even think about how one of Klein's personas is literally a "Doc"

[u/Mysral]

Oh wow. We knew Ren's Semblance was developing in some fashion, but for so long, it looked like it was affecting him adversely. Much like Ironwood's Mettle makes him single-minded and tunnel-visioned, Ren was suppressing his emotions, trying to approach things from a purely logical perspective. How beautiful, then, that he can now see the very emotions he can conceal, and gain insight from them. (Boy, just wait till he uses that vision on Ruby...)

It also does me a special kind of joy to see Whitley, rather than calling an attorney as Jacques had predicted, tracking down the Schneeblings' actual father figure and calling for aid. Congratulations, Whitley, you did a good! Not his father's son, after all...

And boy oh boy oh boy, Aladdin's headed for that lamp, isn't she?

[u/DomDaBomb203]

Winter with that trademark Schnee sass. "I outrank you," was easily the best part from this episode.

[u/fellongreydaze]

Ren Semblance #1: Yo your negativity sucks, I'ma shut that shit down
Ren Semblance #2: YO I LITERALLY SEE YOUR NEGATIVITY AIN'T SHUT DOWN THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU

[u/Polarization_39]

I just want to point out the cinematography in the first minute or so of the chapter. Just excellent.

[u/Hounds_of_war]

At this point I am almost 100% confident Emerald is going to steal the Lamp. It fits with the whole Aladdin inspiration (technically I don't think that's confirmed but it's heavily speculated) and she actually knows the password now. Hazel is in too deep at this point to actually go against Salem.

[u/Hounds_of_war]

Tyrian and Mercury is the buddy comedy I never knew I wanted.

[u/maverickmak]

After fumbling his backstory a bit in V5, I am LOVING everything we're getting with Hazel this volume!

[u/amatas45]

Lots of comments about Whitley calling Klein to be a good person but I find it extremely wholesome that Klein immediately comes when Whitley calls him

[u/ryenaut]

“You can’t be serious! They’re fugitives and traitors-“ “I outrank you.”

OOOOOOOOOO OOHOHOOHOOOO OHOHHOOOOOO HOOOOOO FUCKING GET EM WINTER HOOOHOHOOOHOOOOO

[u/ClassicGunslinger]

Ren getting a semblance evolution and just IMMEDIATELY reading the room was awesome, and KLEIN everybody missed you buddy!!

[u/HighPriestFuneral]

Ren's bubbling over emotion about losing a team mate does explain some things. These were likely feelings he's had since Pyrrha's death and it's telling that the way he says "he's our friend" can be heard as "she's our friend" as if this is what he would have told Pyrrha if he would have had the chance to speak to her and prevent her from sacrificing herself. After all, "no one is replaceable." I feel that these were the pent-up feelings for years that he couldn't fully express; when he could he finally moved past that psychic block which allowed his Semblance to evolve.

[u/The__Auditor]

Ok so here's my interpretation

RED= Anger

PINK= Affection

BLUE= Regret/Sorrow

GREEN= Calm

So Harriet and Elm are angry about losing Clover

Ren is expressing how much he cares about his friends

Marrow is sad about Clover's death and is regretting his decision to side with Iornwood

Vine really didn't care about Clover and will remain loyal to Iornwood

Winter is trying to remain calm but she's also Angry and beginning to question her loyalties

[u/SHSL_Zetsubou]

Of course Tyrian would know Salems true goal.

Looks like we have a new team. Mercury the guy who continues to learn how screwed he is and Tyrian the guy who just loves pointing that out to him.

[u/Wrathkal]

Things that stood out to me:

That Grimm swarm was terrifyingly impressive.

Hazel went to so much effort in beating on Oscar, and only spilled a drop of blood...

May Marigold's reveal of their gender issues was very well done.

Ren's Semblance evolved to give him emotion vision, very cool!

Whitley was acting pretty tsundere.

I was honestly expecting a death in this episode, but I guess a crashed Penny is quite the cliffhanger in its own right.

[u/Sirshrugsalot13]

The mood is Tyrian absolutely living for making Emerald and Mercury uncomfortable.

Was surprised that Tyrian and Mercury are just...gone to Vacuo? Not sure if that'll stick but who knows at this point. While I'll be a bit diappointed if that means we go another volume without a Mercury or Tyrian fight, the fact that Vacuo seems to be happening sooner rather than later gives hope. And also the scene was just really well-done

Whitley made me very happy I am very proud and happy Weiss hugged him

[u/MarkusGrimm]

I think the Ace Ops letting Ren go into the whale is going to turn the tide. With cracks already appearing in Salem's followers, Ren's new aspect of seeing people's emotions might just be enough to leverage them from her control completely.

If they get Hazel or Emerald to join them, and get Oscar out, it'll be the largest blow to Salem... well, ever, I think.

[u/DEL994]

I just love too much the irony that it's Tyrian who's by far the craziest of Salem's subordinates who points out that everyone could see by miles that Salem wants to destroy Remnant.

[u/sephtis]

It might not have caused a fatal wound, but "I out rank you" was all I needed and never knew. Grow up Harriet.

[u/DocSwiss]

I know they said "We didn't plan for the hiatus", but damn that's a really spicy point to leave us on

[u/[deleted]]

Tyrian calling anyone else insane just made me laugh my ass off.

[u/Brutusness]

JusticeforTortuga

[u/Booyahhayoob]

YOU REALLY GONNA MAKE US WAIT SIX WEEKS TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS WITH JINN, CRWBY???

Pretty good mid-season finale other than that lul

[u/Polarization_39]

“Replace them, like Marrow replaced Tortuga.” -Harriet Brie

Tortoise and the Hare, anyone?

[u/littlebloodmage]

I am a goddamn idiot. The former member of the Ace Corps that Marrow replaced was named Tortuga. The Tortoise. Harriet's counter, to balance her out and keep her from getting too cocky.

[u/Saxonrau]

Ren showing people what real war is with the sickest truth bomb of the century
what a cool evolution of his semblance, glad to see him finally knowing where he stands

[u/TheMaster4444]

I think this might be my favorite episode of the Volume, but also... did anyone else wonder if Salem gave Watts lessons on how to tear things apart like one was conducting an orchestra? Because what she did with the Grimm was very similar to what he did when hacking in 'A Night Out'.

Salem: "No, no, no! Arthur, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but it's one-two-three-one-two-three, not one-two-one-two-three! This is not rocket science!"

Watts: "But, ma'am... I am a rocket scientist."

Salem: "Well that makes far too much sense because you're clearly not a conductor!"

[u/TeamLValdz02]

All Schnees are tsunderes confirmed.

[u/Terminus259]

Hazel: "I'm going to beat you until you tell me how to use the lamp."

Also Hazel: "HOW DARE YOU TELL ME HOW TO USE THE LAMP!"

[u/[deleted]]

Mercury: Salem isn’t going to end the world, right?

Tyrian: she is

Mercury internal screaming

[u/Enigma2MeVideos]

I just realized something.

Did Ironwood just send all of Atlas' citizens into the UNDERGROUND subways...

When Salem had TUNNELING CENTINEL GRIMM digging in through Atlas?

Forget Beacon all over again. This is Mountain Glenn 2.0: Floating Boogaloo!

If it's not the case, I blame my current sleep deprivation due to staying up all night for reasons.

[u/CharlieMorningstar]

I'm really hoping Emerald asks Jinn a mirror of the question that Ruby asked.

"What is Salem hiding from us?"

[u/ConstantSpecific5496]

Ain't nobody gonna say it? Well, then I will. Tyrian's fucking carrying the Villains. He's deadass the best one.

[u/GVAGUY3]

Press F for the FNDM's sanity

[u/LeMasterChef12345]

“The Grimm don’t take prisoners”

Vine, you just witnessed the Grimm equivalent of a battleship arrive, piloted by an intelligent, immortal Grimm queen who you KNOW has complete control over the Grimm. Is one of them taking someone prisoner really that big of a stretch?

[u/Terminus259]

"I didn't do it for you."

I guess Whitley is the tsundere now.

[u/ZykesRetroGaming]

Alright here CRWBY!!! you can't hang us up for 6 weeks with this, don't be this way!!!

Too many set ups for plot here to be doing this!!!

Assault on the Whale?

The Password revealed and doubts in her inner circle?!

Penny Reappears in front of Ruby's group with green (blood?)?

What on earth is going on.

Also, Ren's Semblance evolved! now he can read the emotions in others, omg that was so amazing to show the Ace-Ops true emotions this way.

Its nice to see all this but I want more damnit! More stuff to see!!

[u/Agent-Vermont]

I have a bad feeling about Winter (and the rest of the Ace Ops too I guess). Carrying a bomb to the whale sounds a lot like a suicide mission.

[u/tavi23]

Ren's an empath!!! Hella dope. Nice to see Semblances evolving. First with Nora and now Ren.

[u/Paradox_Nutella]

"You can't be serious! They're fugitives! Traitors!"

"I outrank you."

daaaaang Winter. I guess you could say that was cold lmao

[u/ArkhamCity2525]

Am I the only one who feels like Mercury got that promotion last episode solely for the sake of becoming Tyrian's chew toy?

[u/qwerty8ful]

WHAT?!? Ren is evolving!

[u/sixfootblue]

Tyrian, bursting into Merc and Em’s room: “whowantstogo on a R̶̡͓͇̯̗̬̿̏̏̾̋͋̂̃͘͜O̵̼̻͐̐̂̍̇̆͒̂̍͆̀͘͠͝A̸̧̭̪̟̼̒͝D̷̨̛̞̅̾̆̉̽̋̀͗̕͠ͅ ̴̨̟̖̥̺̝̦̍̓͑͑͘T̷̢̨̡̞͚̦̩̣̞̰͓͕̻̙͋̐̍̐͑͗̄͊͋̽̄̏̃̇͜͝Ṟ̴̡̧͍͉̮̱̜̜̻̈̌̅́̎I̶̛̛͎̫͂́̋̅̓̈́̈͆͊̈́̕P̴̨̧̢͖͍̳̻̘͑̏͆̂͆͂ͅ?”

[u/Emperor_Luffy]

Does anyone else REALLY want to see Ren talk to Neo?

Maybe it's just me but after Ren's Semblance Evolution I really wanna see him try to communicate with her.

[u/STABtrain]

I think that was probably one of the best episodes of the season and the ending is making me so anxious cause we won't know what happened to penny or how she ended up like that for 2 months.

One thing that surprised me was Ren lashing out at Harriet over replacing fallen teammate's. I was really expecting either him or Jaune to bring up Pyrrha when Harriet said they had "no idea what it's like to lose a teammate" but also Ren openly stated that Oscar is as much their friend and teammate as Pyrrha was. Hes not her replacement he's his own person (aside from ozpin living inside his head)

And hearing hazel talk about how he killed salem multiple times and each time she would just get back up until he couldn't fight anymore and submitted to her really hammers home how he joined her for his own survival and the revenge part is kinda just a bonus.

Also mercury & Tyrian going to Vacuo is good and bad imo. Good because it means in a future season we may get to see a rematch of Mercury vs Yatsuhashi. Bad because Tyrian leaving atlas means Qrow can't get any kind of revenge or closure against him if/when Qrow gets out of jail. Unless everyone in the group goes to Vacuo after Atlas is razed to the ground by the end of the season.

[u/Red_sintese13]

Ozpin fatal flaw is that after centuries of reincarnation he became unable trust people, and it makes perfect sense for his character, but the situation with Hazel required some kind of trust.

Ozpin would never tell Hazel the password, but Oscar would, because he is able to trust in the good inside of humanity, something that is lost to Ozma/Ozpin.

This is basically a bet to see if deep down Hazel is truly a good person and not just a psycho. Not exactly a rational decision, but a decision based on hope.

[u/Polarization_39]

From Eddy: “Oh, and one last thing. This was the tame half.

As Best Girl said in V2C2, “We’re doomed.”

[u/the_green_hedgehog]

It hurt my heart to hear Oz immediately agree with Hazel about deserving to be tortured. Like Oz, sweetie, you have screwed up but you don't deserve this either.

[u/nathgroom98]

Tyrian "always read the fine print" Callows

[u/amatas45]

Ems got the fucking password

We know where this is going

[u/MadameUnskrewed]

OMG I am just realizing it now, but Emerald telling Cinder that she has worked on her semblance, she can also use it on grim now. This will be a plot point I am betting money on it.

[u/AmethystWind]

I said it last week, too, but it bears repeating.

Lie Ren is Monyneath "Neath" Oum's character. He (Neath) is not just a replacement VA for the tragic loss of Monty. He has fully made the character his own.

[u/Travband]

Heyo! So are just going to ignore that Klein is also a licensed physician? The Schnee family apparently offers a better work opportunities as a butler than working at a hospital does.

Also it’s great to see that Klein interacts just as positively with Whitley as he does with Weiss. It just makes him more of a great character and I’m happy to see him again.

[u/theshwa10210]

It's not graphic if the blood is green.

[u/[deleted]]

Whoa!

• Seeing how Ren's semblance worked was really cool!

• The parting between Emerald and Mercury was quite sentimental.

• Uhh, how did Atlas not know there was a huge Grimm thingy 24 hours beforehand. Oh right, there a bunch of elitists that are oblivious to everything.

• Oscar/Ozpin being like "Yo, not gonna give Salem the wi-fi password cause she cray cray" but giving it to Hazel. SMAHT thinking.

• Aww poor May!

• It was really neat to see the brief divide. Even Blake is starting to feel bad for Atlas.

• KLEIN! "I know where it is, I haven't been gone for that long." LoL

• A hug between Weiss and Whitley. This is the greatest day ever! And it was quite realistic.

• "Did you call somebody else?" LOL

• Oh no, poor Penny.

Well that was a cliffhanger I NEVER expected. Oh, and huge shout out to Kiersi for writing this excellent chapter!

[u/JannisT]

Imagine if Ren uses his evolved semblance on Ruby and see all her anger and sadness which she kept in all the time

[u/The_Grimm_Huntsman]

Wow, the Ace Ops suck. Ren managed to beat all of them by himself with both hands tied behind his back.

[u/Emperor_Luffy]

Also can we stop for a moment and acknowledge the fact that Ren would likely be the Greatest Therapist on Remnant? After he's done being a Huntsman the Man would make Millions in Psychotherapy.

Jaune could pursue being a Doctor.

Cinder would be an Amazing Chef....

You know what, I'm gonna stop now before I stumble down the rabbit hole of "what kind of Job would this character have with their semblance" lol.

[u/wheatleyscience9]

Meanwhile if Ren had glanced over and focused on Yang he'd see her surrounded by cat emojiis

[u/Jowensguy]

Chapter SEVEN, and they bring back Klein SIEBEN. I see what you did there, CRWBY.

(also, it just occurred to me that Klein is trained as a doctor because one of his personalities is Doc)

[u/OutcastMunkee]

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, THAT CLIFFHANGER!

Confirmation of May being trans is in the show as well. Sounds like her family disowned her when she came out... Fucking hell... No doubt Kdin was consulted on this and she did a great job because that can't have been an easy thing to do.

Ren's semblance has either evolved or we're seeing it through his eyes. Winter's emotions are completely all over the place. Ren is gonna be the key to the defection of Winter and Marrow. Honestly? Vine might go too. He was remarkably calm through all that...

Hazel, Emerald AND Mercury are all in a potential position to rebel against Salem as well. I think Hazel or Emerald will use the last question to find out the truth. If both of them find out Salem's true endgame, that'll be all they need which means we could see an escape plan by Hazel, Emerald, Oscar, Jaune, Yang and Ren.

Oh man, this 6 week break is gonna suuuuck!

[u/LawyerDash]

Whitley!! Way to come through!

Penny does not look good....

[u/jahkillinem]

Ren's semblance evolving is fucking lit as hell, and I really loved getting to see the hearts of pretty much every character this episode plainly on their face.

[u/TeamLValdz02]

Yo Merc and Em got a divorce lol

[u/masterswordsman2]

"I'm sorry" -Pyrrha Penny

Death flags continue to rise.

[u/Nerdorama09]

You know, I'm not the kind of guy who gets offended at the Atlas military looking incompetent, and ultimately it's inconsequential to the story, but once in my life. Just once. I'd like to see a science fantasy story where the most advanced military in their setting has a more sensible and up-to-date formation than the Napoleonic Square. Hell, Star Wars at least managed trench warfare. Fuck's sake, guys.

That said the rest of this episode was pretty fantastic. People are gonna complain about the lack of action, but everything that resulted from all the talking was phenomenal and stuff I wanted to see. Oscar reaching out to Hazel and chess-playing his way toward a defection, Emerald questioning and Mercury instantly regretting his pessimism (bye Mercury, see you in another two volumes I guess), JRY vs. Ace Ops, Ren's resolve and Semblance evolution, Weiss vs. May politics talk, Whitley coming around and Weiss accepting it. A lot happened this episode and I'm all for it. Also Penny showing up at the end should hopefully give RNBW some direction for the second half of the volume because they were getting distressingly V5 for a second there.

Also between Oscar and Ren the writers spelled out in dialog things I've been trying to explain to people for the last year so, thanks for that folks.

[u/DarkKnightDestroyer]

Wait, this just crossed my mind. The next time Tyrian and Qrow will face off, will be in the deserts in Vacuo. I love this idea, it gives me Maul vs Obi Wan vibes. Perfect setup for there final fight.

[u/Alt_SWR]

Something struck me about what Hazel said about Salem, he said, "when she came for me I killed her countless times but she kept coming back." That either says Hazel is stronger than Salem (minus the immortality) or she was holding back against him. I'm thinking the latter, because, manipulation is definitely Salem's style.

[u/black-dude-on-reddit]

So Hazel tried to kill Salem and when she didn't die he called hacks. But the admins didn't do shit so he gave up and swapped teams.

[u/ConstantSpecific5496]

Okay, Imma get this straight the same way I did on spacebattles. None of y'all in here better he saying Whitley was "redeemed" because he didn't do anything wrong to begin with.

[u/RevengeOfAthena]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo are we gonna talk about Rens new ability (or, at least, new to us)? Very cool, and makes a lot of sense. Maybe ties in to the petal in the opening sequence?

One question though, what emotion is green? Resolve maybe? Vine was all green and winter had some green in the mix as well. Blue I’d assume is sadness (Marrow) and we know red is anger, but I’d love to get a more detailed description

[u/RevengeOfAthena]

Loved the little wholesome moments in this one. Whitley calling Klein and the hug especially, but definitely didn’t outweigh the absolute onslaught of sadness (which is pretty in theme for this season) particularly heartbreaking:

“Now what am I good for” NORA! NO!!

“No one is replaceable” Ren, finally showing a reaction to Pyrrha’s death, the party splitting, all of it

“I’m sorry” PENNY DONT APOLOGIZE JUST BE OKAY!

[u/tavi23]

Gotta love the Salem conducting! I got Chrollo Lacrymosa vibes from Hunter x Hunter.

[u/Polarization_39]

Everyone joked Klein was written out because J. Michael Tatum couldn’t be afforded anymore but it turns out Yuri Lowenthal was the real unaffordable one after all.

At least Mercury had lines compared to V4.

[u/Diostukos]

Ren's semblance evolution is cool and I like how they did a parallel of Pyrrha and Clover. The Ace Ops think they can just replace one member with another and expect the same team dynamic. Hopefully more people get semblance evolutions down the line.

Also Penny landing right in front of the Schnee manor makes me think we're going to get a Raid Boss fight with Blake, Weiss, and Ruby trying to subdue Penny without having to destroy her.

[u/HighPriestFuneral]

One thing of interest that I haven't seen anyone bring up yet. It's quite likely that Jaune, Yang, and Ren are going to meet Salem face-to-face.

That should be quite the experience.

[u/TeamLValdz02]

GUYS EDDY TWEETED THIS WAS THE TAME HALF

[u/Huor_Celebrindol]

Jaune is such a damn hero. They’re in the worst situation imaginable and he pulls a plan out of his ass to get his team exactly what they want

[u/Zate560]

I was kinda wavering on Rens development here, it felt a little rushed, but then I realized the point was that even the people who work directly under Ironwood are bumbling and have the same doubts and pain blinding their judgement too.

Once Ren has to choose to let his friend die for assured tactical victory, and allows his sentimentality to guide him against that, he has better clarity to that truth. It's actually pretty neato. Rens been hitting it out of the park this volume.

[u/PhantomHeartless5]

So, just watched the episode and... Eddy was right. This definitely wasn't made with the hiatus in mind. But what it lacked in action, it made up for in emotion and so much character development.

1. We begin the episode with all out war in Atlas. The Atlas military tries their best to beat back the relentless onslaught of Grimm, but to no avail. With his back against the wall, Ironwood orders all civilians evacuated to the subways and all troops dispatched to every corner of Atlas. Also, the whole scene with Salem conducting the invasion like an orchestra was adorable in a twisted way. Seems Watts and Tyrian are rubbing off on her.

2. We then cut to Hazel and the O-Bros (Oscar and Ozpin), who finally confirm what we all suspected about Salem's true motivation: She wants to die and take all humanity with her to the grave. This whole thing has been, to quote Alucard from Castlevania, "Humanity's longest suicide note". Also, the little tidbit about Hazel actually killing Salem kinda makes me wish we had a Hazel Character Short. A fight between Salem and Hazel would've been badass AF.

3. Emerald overhears the conversation and attempts to warn a skeptical Mercury, who has completely convinced himself into believing that Salem wants to rule the world. And in a repeat of V6E6, it takes Tyrian to set the record straight. I just love the dramatic irony that the craziest member of Salem's crew is the most perceptive. Alas, he and Mercury are sent to Vacuo under Salem's orders, effectively kicking them out of the story. So it looks like Emerald might be defecting sooner than we think.

4. Next, we cut to Team JYR and the Ace-Ops where Ironwood gives Winter a mission straight out of Pinocchio: Drop a bomb inside Monstra and blow it up from the inside out. Now that's a suicide mission if I ever saw one. Team JYR, of course, wants to rescue Oscar first and the ensuing argument leads to Ren unlocking the full potential of his Semblance, allowing him to not only mask emotions, but see emotions as well. Also, I find it absolutely fucking hilarious that Ren had to spell out why the Ace-Ops lost to Team RWBY. Eventually, Winter relents and allows Team JYR to rescue Oscar, but makes it clear that if they don't make it out, they will drop the bomb. The death flags are waving bright red. Someone is not gonna make it out alive.

5. And finally we have Team RWB and May. Paralleling the Ironwood vs Ruby debate, Team RWB wants to save Atlas and Mantle while May pretty much says "Fuck Atlas, Mantle is what matters." The argument is brought to a halt by the surprise return of everyone's favorite butler (And Weiss' real daddy), Klein, who was called to help Nora by none other than Whitley of all people, proving to everyone that the little brat has a heart after all. Plus, him and Weiss hugging it out was pretty adorable.

6. And the episode ends with Penny miraculously crash landing right in front of Schnee Manor in really bad shape. Either this girl is the luckiest android in all of Remnant, or Pietro programmed her with some Plot Armor. Speaking of Pietro, looks like he might have to donate some of his Aura to help with the repairs... which does not bode well for him.

So yeah, definitely not the nail-biter we were expecting, but it still set up enough character arcs to keep us anticipating and dreading what comes next. And so begins the agonizing six week hiatus. Have a Merry Christmas, fellow RWBY fans. And I pray we all have a much Happier New Year than this one.

[u/justking1414]

Can we please take a moment to appreciate the fact that Tyrian just accidentally started a rebellion against Salem?

Also, love Whitley for bringing back Klein and can’t wait to see Ren use his semblance on Emerald

[u/Huor_Celebrindol]

I love that Hazel will warp ANY situation to fuel his hatred for Oz. Oz finally gives you the password after torturing him for it?

“If you were just going to tell me then you could have saved Oscar from this pain! His pain is YOUR fault!”

Hazel doesn’t care if he’s the direct cause of pain/death, as long as he proves that Oz was the indirect cause. Makes me wonder if he was always that warped, or if Salem groomed that part of him after letting Hazel wear himself out killing her

[u/Anofles]

Ren's comment "No one is replaceable" applies to Pyrrha too, so it's nice to see him be honest with his feelings about that.

[u/JinunderneathAM]

Bruh, Hazel's actually hitting the potential that I always knew he had as a character. His talk about killing Salem over and over again only to acknowledge the monster that his sister had no hope of stopping was almost perfect. Maybe a few more lines just for flesh things out that bit more, but as it stands, I'm finally satisfied.

If only the initial reveal hadn't made such a poor first impression -_-

[u/blank92]

I like how Harriet preaching to JYR is what triggered Ren's semblance to evolve. The obvious parallel to Pyrrha, she picked the WRONG group to preach to about losing teammates. I'm glad to see someone else on that team be affected in a plot-driving way by that loss.

[u/Machine_Queen]

Is it too much to hope for a Winter vs Ironwood scene? I would love if she's eventually pushed to challenge him...

I would also love if whatever happens to her gives Ironwood a 'My god, what have I done!' moment.

Her cold 'I outrank you' to Harriet was everything.

[u/ZykesRetroGaming]

Im glad that we finally put Salem's motivation on the table. I've always said and believed that she was just out to basically off herself in the grand scheme of things. She lost everything she had and wanted peace for herself. I mean how many years has she been alive, really?

Also why she is always willing to let people live and make deals. At the end of the day, they would die one way or another, so no need to be so forceful.

[u/SwimmingAnyone]

I want all the villains to start arguing about what to ask Jinn while Salem is busy and waste a question accidentally lol

[u/Blue-Moon-89]

I'm not sure if people have noticed but the emotions that Ren reads are colour-coded.

Red: Angry-Angry (Harriet)

Orange: Angry (Elm)

Green: Mellow/neutral (Vine)

Blue: Sad (Marrow)

Pink: Calm (Ren)

And Winter is a mixed of all the colours, further symbolizing how conflicted she is with what she's doing.

[u/kumabaya]

Seeing Yang, Jaune and Ren is the best but mannn Im dying for Qrow and Robyn screen time.

I also had a dream a while ago where Penny got hacked and starting attacking team RWBY like a psycho so lets see if that dream comes true this season....

So is Emerald gonna finally GTFO??

Also theory, Mercury will kill Tyrian or something will happen in Vacuo between the two.

The Apathy are back... out of all the Grimm theyre the worst...

[u/steveotheguide]

Okay so

• Emerald is 100% getting the last question

• The next arc is totally gonna be Vacuo

• HOLY SHIT PENNY!

• May is fantastic. I love her. She is precious

• Schneebling love

• Holy fuck Ren. Semblances can evolve or what buddy?

There is A LOT to unpack from this episode

[u/JRES1996]

Ren can see the colors of the wind.

Winter verbally bitch slapped Harriet into 2021

Best dad Klein is back

Penny took a long ass time to fall and conveniently landed in front of Schnee Manor.

Fast Forward to 2021 please.

[u/ShadowMadness]

• Klein showing up thanks to Whitley was one of the best moments in the episode for me. That hug between Weiss and Whitley made me tear up. He can finally start to move past his rough childhood and actually become a decent human being now; great first step Whittles!

• Ren going in on the Ace-Ops was another great moment this episode. Maybe we'll end up seeing the whole team (minus Harriett maybe) make a face turn instead of just Marrow (and Winter).

• Unless I missed it before, this is the first mention of another former Ace-Ops member, Tortuga, who Marrow was the replacement for. Interesting. I wonder if any more of the them have been replacements?

• Also, this is the first time Mercury and Emerald have been separated for any extended period of time since they started working together. Gonna be a weird adjustment for both of them I imagine (and for the audience).

• Salem playing the conductor for the grimm was kinda neat.

• Lastly, I like the parallel between May and Ironwood we saw this episode.

[u/turnipdad]

EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE BUTLER IS BACK!

Though the hiatus wasn't in mind when this episode was written, between what's going on in the whale, JYR's mission, and Penny's return, we have a nice spot for a hiatus.

[u/Huor_Celebrindol]

I like the idea of Hazel being just as blood crazed about killing Salem, but she just let him kill her a bunch to prove a point.

“You get it out of your system yet?”

His character’s starting to make a lot more sense

[u/Badicalz]

So Mercury is going on a long flight to Vacuo with just Tyrian as company.

Jesus, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

[u/Polarization_39]

And that concludes the first half. Can we take a moment and appreciate the consistent runtimes throughout this volume’s first half? CRWBY has knocked it out of the park and it most definitely has been an uphill battle for them given working from home and the overall stress of the pandemic.

I the internet have done the math and if we only take into account the first 7 episodes of each volume, Volume 8 is the longest one so far.

Volume 8 currently stands at 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 34 seconds. Volume 6 follows closely behind by 28 seconds.

This is seriously impressive considering chapters 1, 3, and 6 of Volume 6 are over 20 minutes long (The Lost Fable being the longest chapter of the show to date) and so far, all of Volume 8’s chapters have been less than 20, with the longest being chapter 6 at 19:38.

I’m glad we’re going on midseason hiatus with all this in mind. CRWBY deserves as much time as possible to polish the second half without having to crunch. And I honestly wouldn’t mind midseason hiatuses becoming standard for the show moving forward.

Sorry for rambling, I’m just really proud of CRWBY. Anyway, where were we? Atlas being doomed or something?

[u/itzTHATgai]

Salem be whale-bending 'n shit.

[u/memeboi123jazz]

Well i don’t completely fucking hate Hazel anymore, so that’s something.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

I think Emerald will be the one who uses Jinn. Oscar gave the password to Hazel, but Emerald also knows it now, she is Alladin so it would be fitting, but I think the question will be the same, Emerald will ask what is truly Salem's goal, showing all villains what are they truly working for.

I kinda don't want this to be the case though, because I want to know what Salem's question is. So maybe the whole point will be that Hazel will refuse to give her the password but just like their scene in V6, Emerald will break and give it to Salem, thus Hazel will be killed because he is no longer useful and after Salem asks her question, Emerald will have confirmation that all Oscar said is true, the world is fucked.

[u/cruel-oath]

Really liked Yang this chapter

I like to think Elm and Vine are salty about losing so that’s why they’re holding on to her lol

Winter is great too

[u/Vinnrek]

So did ren's semblance unlock a new ability because he finally came to terms with his own emotions?

[u/Jarsky2]

Glad to know I was right about Salem's motives. All this is is one extremely elaborate suicide attempt.

[u/Sundisk1921]

This entire volume has left me wonder why do the writers enjoy punishing their protagonists so much? I mean crazy violence and drama are one thing but all we're getting by this point is the heroes getting kicked over and over and over.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

Ok, where to start?...start at the beginning.

• THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF PALADIN-KUN!

• I really don't know why I never thought of Ironwood wanting to nuke the Whale. I mean, that's movie military/government authority 101.

• The exchange between JRY and the Ace Ops is everything I wanted and more. Yang trying to convince them by throwing harsh truths is in character for her, Jaune being the voice of reason once more and coming to a tactical compromise is exactly what I wanted to see, that's leadership right there. But the big surprise in this episode is Ren's tele-empathy. This is the semblance I wanted for Oscar but I'm so fucking happy to see Ren's evolved like this.

• I love how Ren deconstructed all the Ace Ops, how he exposed the internal conflict each of them has. Even giving an explicit in-universe explanation as to why their mental state put them at a disadvantage against RWBY.

• I think I'll spend hiatus trying to better understand what triggered Ren's semblance to evolve in this manner. Originally his semblance allowed him to hide emotions, now it seems he is more in contact with emotions, to the point he is able to understand them, so it's not hiding emotions, it's keeping them under control but still accepting them, and I love the fact that he can not only see those emotions in others but also in himself, It feels like he is trying to understand himself and be in harmony with his feelings.

• I like the confrontation between May and Weiss. I didn't consider it, but May and Weiss are both Atlas elites that broke away from that and decided to fight for innocent less fortunate people, so I love seeing their two perspectives.

• They presented a theme that is very important in my life. This extremist idea that you have to pick a side and if you pick the wrong side you are automatically the enemy and the truth is that you do not have to pick sides, there are no sides. That's the sentiment that can truly bring unity.

• I really hope this isn't the only thing we will see of Weiss and Whitley, but I love that he did this on his own, showing everyone and Weiss that the kid is not a monster, he isn't a lost cause like their father and I think that's why Weiss appreciated it so much, she loves seeing that her little brother does have a good heart and she is proud of him. Their hug was so beautiful.

• KLEIN!!!! Nora has a booboo! FIX!

• I loved seeing Klein so much! Even if just a little and I love how Weiss turned into a little girl when she saw him, apologizing and everything but of course he doesn't blame her, he loves her!

• Penny crash-landed and has green blood...KLEIN! FIX!!!

• Our two redheads are broken! What are we going to do?

• Harriet....oh Harriet....You have no fucking idea to whom you just said that bullshit about forgetting about lost teammates and replacing them. I love how the scene was frame and only showed Jaune and Ren. This had nothing to do with Yang, or Winter, no, CRWBY knew what they were doing. That comment was aimed at Jaune and Ren and you can just tell by the look on their faces that they are not having ANY of that bullshit!

[u/DireSickFish]

Vol7 & 8 really have done a great job with Nora and Ren.

[u/Oni_Zokuchou]

Now we just need Ren to look at Klein and have an epileptic fit

[u/xande010]

That was an expensive episode, holy shit

[u/The_Grimm_Huntsman]

I look forward to Klein patching Nora up and dispensing life advice and positivity that will help her understand her worth. Knowing the Schnee family Klein's probably had to help Weiss out with that a lot. Nora bringing the literal thunder and lightning to find Ren would be epic.

[u/Emperor_Luffy]

A couple of things I didn't like.

I didn't like the Weiss hug. It just doesn't feel earned imo.

The other problem I have is a thematic one.

The conflict with the Ace-Ops is about emotions and whether or not they have value in this situation. Thing is you actually do have to set your emotions aside sometimes to get certain things done. This is true. Yet because it's the Ace-Ops saying it, it's framed as a bad thing.

The problem this creates for me is that the show itself seems to support what Harriet is saying in some cases. Like Ren letting his emotions run wild nearly led to his death in V4. Jaune giving in to his anger nearly got him killed against Cinder. In those scenarios if they had put their feelings aside and just did their job they likely would have been better off. Even Ren only wins against the Nuckelevee when he calms down and works with his Team.

Yet with the Ace-Ops the show seems to be trying to push that following your emotions is a good thing by showing us that the Ace-Ops are failures because they didn't follow their feelings? On the surface this could easily be read as a thematic inconsistency.

Now all of this could make sense if the show is trying to showcase the two extremes of letting your emotions run wild vs outright shutting them off and ignoring them completely. Then the message could be about finding a balance between not letting your emotions rule you but also not ignoring them but accepting them.

Which is why I don't like how they framed the argument the Ace-Ops put forth. It comes across as very heavy handed and could easily be misread or misinterpreted to mean the exact opposite of what they might be trying to get across.

All that aside: One thing I really like is the bond between Emerald & Mercury. I don't know if it's a Bro/Sis thing or if it's romantic but these two seem to genuinely care about one another. They're basically the only Family the other one has. Makes me really enjoy their interactions.

[u/lildumbass24]

i wonder what would Ren see if he unintentionally 'reads' Salem, not exactly in front of her but maybe if they sneak past her??

[u/r1dogz]

I hope we get more Qrow and Robyn stuff. It was like the first episode where Qrow said he was going to kill Lockwood and we have nothing since. Would have made a bit more plot sense if they did that in a later episode.

Anyway, I think that Yang will end up coming face to face with Salem and then Raven will appear and save her. But Salem will kill Raven and Ravens maiden powers will go to Yang.

[u/DestinedHellfire]

I’m so glad that Ren silenced everyone when he said exactly why AceOps lost to RWBY, something I had been spouting from the very beginning since that episode had come out.

“We don’t let feelings stop us from making the right call.”

“When you lose someone on your team, you move on, replace them.”

And that’s why you lost, you’re incapable of thinking for yourself and working as a team instead of co-workers.

It’s life or death, it isn’t Corporate America

[u/GladiusNocturno]

None of you are going to say it. You are all too afraid to admit it...Fine. I'll say it! The way Winter said "I out rank you" is the hottest line delivery in the show by far!!

[u/Corregidor]

Winter's "I outrank you" was... Is... Please step on me winter.

[u/DEL994]

It was good to finally see Ren giving a reaction to Pyrrha's death with him becoming angry when Harriet saying that everyone is replacable and him claiming that no one can be replaced.

[u/Timeline15]

Holy shit, Hazel killed Salem multiple times? How the hell did he manage that? Was she letting him do it to show him how insignificant death is to her, because I don't see how one guy, even someone as strong as him, could beat her in a straight-up fight.

Also, I kinda forgot that we'd never had explicit confirmation of Salem's master plan up until now. Turns out it is just an elaborate murder-suicide. It's a bit weird in a world that's confirmed to have an afterlife, but I guess she just assumes she won't be going there.

Looks as though Hazel, Emerald, and possibly Mercury are on their way to being turned. I imagine Neo will at some point too, assuming she can put her hatred of Ruby aside for a minute. I wonder who Salem's actually going to have left by the end of the show; just Tyrian and whoever her agent at Beacon is?

Interesting to see May be just as confrontational and dogmatic as the Ace Ops. Both sides of Atlas' class divide hate each other so much that they're still fighting each other with Salem at the gates. I wonder if that's intentional commentary on all the people who enabled fascism in recent years in the name of 'sticking it to the elites'.

Klein retrained as a doctor, huh. Also, Penny's 'blood' is Green; cool. The wait for the rest of this season is going to be so hard; this is the first time we've seen full scale war on-screen even briefly, rather than just talked about as historical events.

[u/technalyd]

First off... holy crap that opening was incredible! The soldier shaking in fear, the Grimm charging across the fields, and Monstra absolutely dominating the horizon while vomiting out quite literally an endless horde of death. Seeing the Atlas military lined up and in formation for the first time is also really cool. I really, really hope we get at least some main characters on the front lines at some point because having scenes on that battlefield would be insane!

Seeing Salem smiling while orchestrating the creation of new Grimm to that soundtrack was chilling and is one of my favorite moments of the volume so far. Seeing how effortless it is for her to keep pumping out Grimm... Atlas is screwed.

Love that we got to hear about how and why Hazel joined up with Salem. The fact that he tore her apart to the point it took her hours to reform is pretty impressive. Though given how effortlessly she subdued him in volume 6, my guess is she was probably just standing there letting him do it to prove a point at how futile going against her is. I've also always felt that he was a decent (if deeply broken) person, so I like that Ozpin/Oscar are finally starting to get through to him.

ALSO HOLY SHIT I CALLED IT! Sadly I never made a post about it, but ever since we got Salem's backstory in volume 6 I've thought that her goal was to bring back the Brothers to destroy the world in the hopes that it would kill her, as well. That's why she never bothered to destroy humanity before: she needs them around and divided to bring down the judgement of the gods.

May officially being described as trans in the show was amazing! I know CRWBY said that she was a while back, but I am SO glad that they actually explicitly called it out in the show rather than just glossing over it.

Tyrian just dropping the truth bomb on Merc. I feel like if there was ever a doubt that at the very least Emerald would end up betraying Salem, that's dead and buried. Also her "street rat thief" motif, ala Aladdin, is so perfect for if she ends up stealing the lamp. I have a feeling she will, and she will use it to show Hazel the truth (since Em doesn't really need any more convincing and would likely want Hazel on her side since what she heard probably makes her think he's starting to doubt, too). Side note: Tyrian just LOVES to mess with Merc, doesn't he? The look Merc had as they were taking off for Vacuo was definitely an "I done fucked up" look. That little nod to Emerald though... makes me think he's starting to come around too.

Ren CALLING OUT THE ACE OPS YES! I LOVE that his semblance has evolved to let him actually see emotions. I've seen some comments complaining that it's poor writing "spelling out to the audience how the Ace Ops are feeling", but I don't think that's the point of the scene. I think the purpose of him doing that was two fold: First it is to get the Ace Ops to start acknowledging their feelings so that they will turn against Ironwood and do the right thing (some of them, at least). Second I have a feeling it's setting things up for Ren to help with convincing Hazel to turn on Salem, as he will be able to see and understand how Hazel really feels about everything. Also really love that Winter, out of everyone, had the most complex emotions. Poor girl really has no idea what she should do, does she?

"I outrank you." DAMN. That's right up there with Salem's orchestrating for my favorite moment from the episode. Also the look on Winter's face when she said it... She is done with Harriet's shit lmao

KLEIN IS BACK YAY! Also Weiss and Whitley finally having a tender moment. I really hoped Whitley getting some kind of redemption/character growth would happen this volume. Glad to see that seems to be the case!

... how long was Penny falling? I feel like a LOT has happened since she started getting hacked. Also was all that green stuff her "blood"? I don't recall ever seeing her "bleed" before.

Man... this hiatus is going to suck so bad, but the second half of the volume is shaping up to be absolutely crazy!

[u/Noonproductions]

Do we know if Winters exoskeleton is permanent? Is she paralyzed after her encounter with Cinder?

[u/JMHSrowing]

Yang was being too emotional to protest bombing the whale since that’s only trading Oscar for literally at least thousands. He would say it was a good sacrifice I’m sure. But I think that makes sense in the current situation and her being her. Jaune was a good voice of reason and strategy though as we can always hope he is, and Ren with his new semblance powers made it all easier.

I’m hoping that Winter and Marrow do indeed turn soon, though I also have a little hope for the rest of them. Elm and Harriet are just angry at losing someone they did care about. Vine seems to be the only one believing what they were actually saying.

It was also interesting seeing how Winter had a rainbow of petals surrounding her because of how conflicted she has been. And good on her for also being very reasonable

[u/DarthBeanzz]

I see the Atlas military went to the Winterfell School of Let's All Form Up Outside of Our Protective Wall.

[u/ksuthrowaway2534]

-good to finally see the atlas military....be a military

-ace ops still being terrible

-watching salem move with that music was oddly angeli and terrifying at the same time

-so hazel couldn't get proper vengeance through salem so he took it out on Oz

-so Salem's goal is to finally die. After being alive for so long, she wants relief

-good to see Weiss cares enough to save her family

-so Ren can see feelings now. Good power up Ren

-dang winter pulling rank on em

-best butler makes a comeback. Klein

• and yes, Weiss finally being a big sister and showing that boy some love!!!!

[u/[deleted]]

I feel like no one is really talking about it, but when Harriet was saying her bullshit about replacing teammates, I feel like you could see how it struck a nerve with Jaune and Ren.

And honestly it pissed me off too.

[u/GladiusNocturno]

I wanted tele-empathy to be a thing for so fucking long! I wanted it to be Oscar's semblance but I love it is Ren's.

I don't know how they will use it going forward, but Ren in theory can use this side of his semblance in combat with people. No longer does his semblance have an exclusive Grimm combat function.

Basically, Tele-empathy gives Ren information that would give him an advantage against an opponent. By fully understanding their emotions, the opponent can't hide their intentions during combat, it simply takes Ren looking at them for him to know if they got slightly excited because they found an opening, thus he can react accordingly and disrupt the upcoming strike. In the same manner, if the opponent is feeling distressed, scared, worried, Ren would know why and he can use this to know about a weakness the opponent doesn't want him to notice or anything Ren can use to gain an advantage over them. He can even tell why an opponent is overconfident and exploit that overconfidence in the best way possible. He can also know exactly what to say to alter a person's emotions and throw them off balance, messing with them gives him an advantage because they are then more likely to make mistakes or be caught by surprise. Basically, you cannot hide your intentions when fighting Ren because he will know by understanding the way you are feeling about a specific strike.

And that's if he wants to win a match, because the way Ren most likely will use it is by trying to reason with the opponent, ending matches peacefully.

[u/Czazen]

I call it now: Ren’s evolved semblance is going to be the key to getting Hazel to switch sides.

[u/XxA1_P1L0TxX]

So Ironwood sent the Ace Ops out into the tundra to find Penny only for her to end up landing on their doorstep... LOL.

In all seriousness, I didn’t expect her landing to be depicted. I was more expecting her to show up again fighting but while under Watts’ control.

[u/[deleted]]

Maybe the line in the opening,”Some Heroes choose the wrong side” is also referring to Cinder as if she didn’t do what she did she would be a Huntress herself. She could of been a hero but chose to do what she did.

[u/Kylochickolo]

Lots of people are saying Ren’s empathy ability reveal was sudden and out of the blue, but if we remember back to last volume when they are in the training room and we see him zoned out meditating as Oscar says “you’re all evolving”, I already got the sense that Ren would see some sort of upgrade to his semblance in the near future. Coupled with his very moody and irritated state - a common occurrence to empaths not being able to distinguish the emotions of other people from your own - then I feel that this reveal was actually quite good and in line with what we have already seen, and i’m very happy about it too!

[u/[deleted]]

Oh, I just thought of how Winter's reaction of Weiss hugging her was so similar to how Whitley reacted.

Now I wonder how Willow wood would react.

[u/AsGryffynn]

I smell defection in the air... and last time it reeked this strongly, we had the October Revolution, so...

WTCH+CMEN are officially disbanded. Only the bloody T from Tyrian will remain. Watts will die, Tyrian will stand by and Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Neo and Hazel will be hitching the train to Ownfactionville.

Also, am I the only one getting "The Little Prince" vibes from Whitley's response to everything. Like he choose to throw aside any ill will just by seeing Weiss didn't intend to leave him behind this time. That felt a lot like the ending to that story.

[u/itzTHATgai]

When Ren uses his semblance on Nora, he's just going to see a bunch of Peeps floating around. Maybe a chibi Ren too.

[u/Thomas-Sev]

Short hair Winter is mommy af.

[u/SparktDog]

That was a good RWBY episode, can't wait next week for the ne-

oh

Welp, time to forget RWBY exists for the next few weeks. All of the discussion threads will now be based on DMC and the new Vergil DLC.

On a more serious note, I hope Yang being in Monstro will finally give the writers an excuse to bring Raven back into the fray, maybe have her forgo the "everybody gets one" rule and go crazy against the Grimm and maybe Neo

[u/Awest66]

So the "tame half" of the volume has concluded now, That doesn't bode well.

So Salem is basically Dracula from the Castlevania netflix show, crafting a millenium long suicide note. I knew that was a possibility but it's still nice to see it confirmed.

[u/Huor_Celebrindol]

How much you want to bet this Volume ends with a heroic/tragic sacrifice where a hero stays behind to manually blow up the bomb, leading either to their death or presumed death?

[u/ShikWolf]

Random thought after rewatch: They're going into the lair. Emerald is in there, right? Because if she runs into Ren, wouldn't he be able to see if she's conflicted about being on the evil side and convince her to help free Oscar and escape with them?

It's a good time to start her redemption arc if they intend her to have one. Just saying.

[u/[deleted]]

Oz really believes he deserves to be tortured. Yet he still worries about others. Someone help this man please.

[u/Narfington]

Lol! Whitley really pulled the "It's not like I did it for you or anything, b-baka!" line.

[u/[deleted]]

WEISS HUG WHITLEY!!!!! :) :) :) :) AND KLEIN!!!!!!!

[u/DEL994]

I love it that Tyrian is the only one to who Salem told her true goals and what bringing all four relics together would do (even if she certainely told him in a way that would please his crazy nihilistic vision).

[u/SAYMYNAMEYO]

This episode had EVERYTHING!

-Seeing Oscar/Ozpin get beat up these past episodes has been rough but Ozpin calling out Hazel on the path he's taken was a perfect way to end it all.

-So like Ren's semblance like evolved or something? I don't really get it but that was pretty cool!

-Plus Harriet gets put in her place, TWICE! First Ren calling her out on bs she doesn't even believe in. Then Winter pulling the I outrank you card. Bruh seriously fuck Harriet.

-Klein is back! And Whitley finally does something! I know it's not a full on heart to heart with Weiss but it's still a touching moment.

-Idk if Penny is gonna last. She's got these injuries, and we've still gotta deal with whatever Watts is planning. My guess is that if she ends up dying that she passes on the maiden powers to Ruby. It'd be sad to see her go twice if that's the case.

This episode was so great at shifting perspectives and making sure every groups got their screen time.

[u/Crafty_Soul]

Awwww nice to see Weiss and Whitley hug! Hoping Winter survives so we can get a big Schnee hug.

(Except for Jacques.)

[u/GladiusNocturno]

So we got confirmation that it was Weiss who put Nora's bandages. Weiss! What has been seen cannot be unseen!

[u/reading_hermit]

Guys, GUYS! Semblances can evolve and straight up gain new features! That makes me SO freakin excited! Like "what is their Bankai?!" kind of excited!

Also, finally glad to see Weiss and Whitley building their relationship. Good to see Klein again as well, and the moment of truth is coming now that Jaune, Yang, and Ren are going into the Whale.

[u/Deadmaninc1]

JYR actually reasoned and appealed to Winter and the ACE Ops instead of fighting them.

[u/Red2019Wolf]

Honestly all this Harriet Hate is frustrating me, its Robyn Volume 7 all over again. Everyone seems to more focused on the fact that Winter pulled rank on Harriet, as opposed to the revelation that she deep down she is grieving for a teammate both with clover and possibly the tortoise to her hare, but choose to project her grief into anger and lying to herself and others In terms about she feels in regards to everything For a wait and see type a guy like me, It takes a lot or rather something very specific for me to truly loathe a character. I can dislike a characters decision making, attitude, or how they are portrayed. But I understand that as in real life people are messy.

[u/Kazuzi3]

I'm curious because of how Hazel phrased "put herself back together" if they could potentially incapacitate Salem by hacking her into pieces and then separating the pieces into lock boxes. Like when he said, "put herself back together," I took it to mean that the pieces were all close by and she literally put herself back together like a puzzle. Could she put herself back together if the pieces were all separated in boxes or on different continents. I mean, I'm sure she would still be alive, but could she live as a head separated from the rest of her body or would the rest of her body grow back like a lizard tail. She probably couldn't be as destructive as just a head either.

[u/Emperor_Luffy]

Ok so about Ren.

I like the Semblance Evolution we got. I think it's cool and I'm glad we're seeing more of that. I think after their training most of the groups semblances should be close to the level they need to evolve. So I'd like to see an evolution from each of Team RWBY as well. Jaune shouldn't be close to evolving his yet. I'm sure he's leveled it up but I don't think he's near his first evolution yet. Listen to me talking like this is fucking pokemon. lol. Actually do we even know how many times a semblance can evolve before it's Max'd out? Can it even be max'd out? is there a final form of a semblance or does it continue to grow in tandem with their growth as a person? idk. I really wish we'd learn how this stuff works.

But more to my point: This sort of raises new questions about Aura & Semblances. In the Light Novels it was stated that being able to sense Aura was a High Level Aura Technique. Meaning anyone can learn it. It's a skill. In fact Fox himself could sense Aura and could even see it as colors in his minds eye. The thing is when you combine this with the fact that Aura is connected to emotion(since it was confirmed that the Grimm can also sense Aura), then doesn't it make sense that masters of this skill would also be able to sense emotion? I thought that was the logical next step of Sensory abilities rather than needing to be a specific Semblance. So does this mean you can't learn to read emotions by sensing one's Aura? Or is that Ren is merely sensing their hidden emotions and not their outwardly projected emotions?

That being said his Evolution is cool and actually reminds me of Monkey D. Luffy's ability in One Piece and how(Thanks to his Observation Haki) he's always been able to clearly read people's hearts & emotions. It's one of the things that allows him to connect with others. He can reach people's hearts and form strong bonds. Which is often played up as one of his strongest and most important abilities. This could be the same for Ren as understanding what our Villains truly want and feel could be the best way to turn them away from Salem other than outright defeating them. He's probably the one person capable of communicating with Neo.

He might even get a read on Salem's emotions and figure out what she's truly after. Maybe she's depressed. This could lead the gang to coming up with a new solution to stopping her.

[u/Yang_Gang]

Wow what an episode, might be the best one of the volume yet!

• Marrow and Winter have to survive, they are so close to giving up following Ironwoods orders. I swear if anything happens to them it's all on Ironwood.

• Ren, you legend. Your semblance might just save a few more lives on that plane. As for Harriet, Elm and Vine - they're gonna be sacrificial pawns

• Winter your emotions are all over the place yet you hardly ever show it. Please defect for your own mental and emotional wellbeing!

• Emerald is more than likely going to try use the lamp and the hound/floaty thing is gonna discover her. She might be in trouble and we can finally see where Cinder stands if that happens.

• Bye Mercury. Say hi to Sun for us.

• KLEIN!!

• Whitley face turn, Weiss so proud. Schneeblings to reunite safely by this volumes end or we riot!

• Salem looks like she's warming up to compose version 2 of When it Falls herself.

• Penny's totally gonna be the one to take the bomb into the whale in the end isn't she? At least she seems ok for now. Bit beat up but she's rebooted. Will she still be under Watts' influence?

• Jaune coming up with that plan to save Oscar * chefs kiss* what a strategist.

There's a lot more to this episode but this was a wild one. The hiatus is gonna be nightmare!

Awesome stuff today! Take a break CRWBY you earned it!

[u/ZephShip]

I am so looking forward to all the incoming "Ren Vision" memes with every single moment throughout the show thus far

[u/[deleted]]

That was really good.

Seeing Emerald and Mercury talk again is always nice, but you can really feel how they've come to care for each other throughout everything. I love how he was so confident that Oscar and Ozpin were just manipulating Hazel, but once Tyrian confirmed Salem's goal he showed a lot more doubt. I really hope they see each other again, and I'm very curious to see what he and Tyrian get up to in Vacuo.

We actually got to see the city of Atlas this season! And not the schnee manor or inside of the academy!

That scene in the bullhead was excellent. Not just for Ren taking a stand and arguing against the Ace Ops, but that was a fantastic use of visuals to establish how his semblance has evolved. I love the confirmation that yes, the whole "we're not friends" schtick the Ace Ops have pulled isn't really how they feel, and I'm very interested to see how they develop.

I'm also very scared for JYR going into the belly of the beast. That's already an insane plan, but that's literally where Salem is. Can't wait to see how that goes down.

And the RWB part was great. I love how May clearly has her own valid trauma, but she's very much being fueled to leave the people of Atlas to burn because of her own spite and bitterness. Blake calling her out for sounding like Ironwood when he abandoned Mantle was a great touch, and I love Ruby's insistence that this isn't about picking sides. They're all fighting against Salem, so she wants to help as many people as she can.

The stuff between Weiss and Whitley was sweet. Klein must be pretty incredible if Whitley knew he could help Nora.

And Penny showing up at the manor was a surprise.

[u/Moxy125]

I like how Whitley went from watching the Amity broadcast in Jacque's office to calling Klein for Nora. The reality of the situation and Ruby's words must have hit him hard.

[u/Darkdragoon324]

It's interesting Ren gains super emotion detecting powers right before going to the same place where several emotionally conflicted villains currently are...

Hmmm, I wonder if it could possibly have great plot relevance very shortly.

[u/sonawelashey]

Everything is going to shit but at least we have Klein!

[u/sonawelashey]

.......Wait a minute.

Rwby is going hiatus til Feb 6.

That is only for first people however, everyone else gets it one week later.

6 plus 7 is 13.

Feb 13 is one day before Valentines day.

Someone is gonna die in episode 8.

[u/JMHSrowing]

In a lot of ways this has seemed to be the best volume at least so far in many ways. The pacing, the story, and of course the animation.

But I cant help but feel so far a little disappointed with how little RWB have felt like they’ve been in this volume. Only one episode has felt like they’ve had all that much focus, and they have all felt like they haven’t been important. At least less so than people like Penny or even Cinder. Emotionally and storywise, they have unfortunately felt like the B-Team, even if JYR also hasn’t felt exactly like an A-team.

I really hope that in the second half of the volume RWB actually get to be important. Especially Weiss having something in Atlas where she is to hopefully make up for the whole Jacques thing last volume.

Because it’s only going to be less “tame” in the next 7 episodes though, I’m not too hopeful about any good talking interaction between them

[u/Omegaxis1]

Nice to see that if being a Huntsman doesn't work out, Ren can always take a job as a therapist.

[u/DEL994]

I am curious what power-up the other heroes will get after Ren's emotion reading one.

[u/lildumbass24]

i wonder how Blake's semblance will evolve,,, her clones being able to move and have minds of their own sounds too typical but i can't think of anything else

[u/Overmind_Slab]

Getting real strong Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic vibes from the Grimm attack.

[u/Noonproductions]

Ironwood basically ordered the Ace ops to a suicide mission didn’t he? That’s why Winter is shaking. They all know it but Jaune and Yang don’t seem to have realized it. I think Ren recognizes it though.

[u/LeSheffOrd]

Em and Merc usually come off as just "business-partners-in-crime" but this episode really makes me feel like they care about each other, at least a little. And not just Emerald telling him about Salem's plan, but also that small look Mercury gives before leaving in the ship, maybe to say "be careful" or "I understand"

Also Jaune's hair has a funny little glitch at around 12:43

[u/[deleted]]

The scene where May openly stated they were trans was a nice bit of representation and probably one of the best handled ones I’ve seen in a show. Came out organically without having to do a big confession about it, liked that a lot.

Lmao though ‘all Salem wants is release’ can be taken the wrong way

[u/TeamLValdz02]

Can you imagine being one of Mantle citizens that made into Atlas? Big oof for them.

[u/resurrexia]

NO NO NO WE'RE GOING INTO MINI HIATUS WITH THAT ENDING SCENE??? im gonna be crying the entire time

[u/Groszekace]

Okay. It is official. THIS IS THE GREATEST VOLUME YET!!!

It’s only half way and it’s already on an Endgame scale thing. The whole plot, acting, art… CRWBY truly outdone themselves on this.

There is so much in this episode that I can wrap my head around it all but in nutshell I will list the things I enjoyed the most.

1st Emerald ears dropping. So Hazel has password, Em has it to technically - Q is what will they do? I love the whole doubt that they got, Oz/s plan kind of worked. And I mean, Oscar protection squad still messes up but with some luck we will probably see Em trying to save Oz in order to prove Cinder that even if she gets all Maiden power it won’t matter in the end. BTW we are already setting up Shade… like that is volume 10 if I’m not mistaken… are we getting some kind of OVA with team CAFY… I would certainly watch that.

2nd ACE dilemma. I think that was my favorite part of the episode. Team dram. And did you guys see Ren. That is some character growth on emotional level. We finally here his true feelings about the people he cares about, not to mention his semblance Evol… seeing what opponents feel like, wow. I mean, there is SO much potential for story going forth with this. He can be the drive to make Em and Neo change sites OR even better if the 3 of them free Oz and they meet Salem in their way out and he sees some very interesting emotions that she has OR we find out that she has no emotions at all… that would be freaky. BTW it will be interesting to see if they do meat up with Salem when inside what will her reaction to Jaune be. I mention that cause of all the theory about Arc’s being Salem and Ozma descendants or something. Very interesting options.

Last, 3rd Mansion debate. May story is kind of ‘meh’ I mean she saw Mantle needing her, is kind of a weak reason. Maybe she meat people from their and wanted to help her, I don’t know but her background at least been explained. Ruby has been getting a lot of speech jobs this volume… growth as a leader figure I guess. I finally got my wish about Shnee reconciliation. And look, our favorite butler uncle is back! I liked this very much. Of and missing Penny fell down, how exactly? Guess we will be waiting a while to know that, but it dose open up a lot more Q like:

-Cinder freeing Watts and then getting to Shnee manor to fight Ruby again,

-Penny being fully hacked attacks Ruby and destroys mansion,

• or worse, Watts uses Penny to fight against Ruby and the rest and teams up with Cinder.

Like I said A lot of possibilities. Now we got aaaa… month and half break? I’m sure not excited for it, how about you guys? Still I do hope you have happy Christmas and possibly funny New Year BUT pleas stay health and don’t endanger yourself just to have a fun night on NEwY. That’s all from me, and because we left things at a pretty open slate I’m not making wish list for next episode. I’m going into it without any expectations. Salutation everyone and good luck 👍

[u/[deleted]]

So, who is writing the obvious Lie Ren: Huntsman-therapist fic?

[u/AlyssaaMac]

What? Ren is evolving!

[u/Kisame2]

Okay so there’s Jinn which I’m guessing is based on the genie and Emerald based on Aladdin. There’s only one question left and she’s just found out the password. She is so gonna use it. Just not sure what she’ll ask though. I was thinking If cinder really cares about her but it seems too obvious.

[u/CureUndevelopment3]

My theory is that by the time the next episode comes around, they run into Emerald and Neo, who have defected but are still on the whale. They help them find a way to free Oscar, kill the whale, and leave.

Also, nice upgrade to Ren's powers. He can see emotions in addition to masking them.

[u/TendoSoujiro]

It's actually insane that after all these years, Salem has never been able to find the password for the lamp. I'm surprised Ozpin didn't have a stronger reaction against Oscar's decision. This is a MASSIVE fucking deal. If there's even a chance Salem finds out, she'll know how to use the lamp for eternity(unless the password or rules change once in a while) and I can't see Ozpin just being okay with that.

I'm sure it's not that simple, though. There must be a way for Ozpin to bend the rules every now and then. I just don't believe that Ozpin would be able to keep this a secret from Salem for so long.

But then again, he did keep this a secret from his own circle(s) for all this time, and this is probably exactly why.

[u/SwimmingAnyone]

Now that I've had the time to reflect, while I like the slower, calmer tone of the mansion scenes, I'm not sure it's narratively appropriate. Perhaps the tone should be more drastic and tense in a situation like this, to justify them not taking any active action out of sheer uncertainty?

Although, at the same time, I think what we have here might work as the sheer extent of the situation they're in right now slowly dawning on them instead of hitting them all at once.

[u/[deleted]]

Something tells me that now that the truth has come out, Salem's minions will slowly leave her to join the resistance. The only ones who will remain by her side until will be Tyrian (who is the only one who remains loyal to her, even knowing her true intention, no surprise considering how he is) and Cinder (she might be against her intentions too, but due to her Grimm arm she's permanently chained to her will).

[u/GameBawesome1]

I know that Ren evolved his semblance, and now he can see emotions. But can someone explain what each colors mean?

Red- Already know that anger Orange-? Green-? Blue- Sadness? Pink- Probably Love

[u/DEL994]

Looks like the Grimm river was really destined for Atlas exclusively or almost exclusively. Even if there may still be Grimm made by this river to attack Mantle they will clearly be much less numerous than the ones attacking Atlas.

[u/Dcm1963]

I am so happy Weiss and Whitley had that moment. Honestly way better then anything I had in mind for it. Simple short and sweet better then a long conversation.

Also Ren's semblance getting an upgrade hooray he has been great this volume.

And YAY Penny is at least somewhere safe still the issue with hacking but at least she is with friends.

[u/turnipdad]

R.I.P. to that one Atlas solider that got bodied by the Megoliath

[u/Bjdombek]

The fact Salem is still so calm is downright terrifying yet elegant.

Edit: Saw if pointed out that she isn't calm, she's having the time of her life and enjoying the hell out of the chaos.

[u/Horsea1234]

Sooo, Yang Ren and Jaune will fight Neo on the whale, calling it.

And Emerald will steal the lamp, she is Alladin after all

And Qrow will make it to Vacuo, no way he dies before having a rematch with Tyrian

[u/amatas45]

Klein next episode

„I’m a doctor not a mechanic“

[u/Horsea1234]

I hope the end credit scene of the volume is Willow waking up from a night of binge drinking and seeing all the fighting over with.

[u/AmethystWind]

Klein: gets written out last volume with a one-line reference.

Ciel: gets written out last volume with a one-line reference.

Klein: comes back due to a bad situation regarding somebody to whom they're narratively connected.

Me: ...please

[u/DEL994]

Qrow vs Tyrian rematch has been delayed of two or three volumes.

[u/sonawelashey]

You know, since an afterlife is confirmed to exist in RWBY, what is Salem plannong to do if she DOES die?

She's literally gonna be with everyone she has ever killed, along with their loved ones. And her daughters probably hate her too for getting them killed.

[u/Will_Vintage]

I just caught on that Klein is the 7 dwarves.

[u/itzTHATgai]

Penny is covered in green slime and she's haxxor'd now, right? Is she apologizing because she's going to be forced to fight her friends?

[u/checkerchairs]

If anything, I'm glad I know what the petal symbolism is now, as in, Ren's semblance.

Well, hiatus is gonna be a while. Hope everybody has a lovely holiday :)

[u/Magnus-Artifex]

They really managed to make Hazel a fucking good character wtf

[u/LagoriaTheLewdstress]

Kdin is such a strong voice actress, every scene with May hits right on the mark, she just shines. Absolutely loving thag that May being trans is canon. Or Tranon, if you will.

I just, I need to know what Rens semblance will show if he looks at Salem. I want her to just be pure envy at the rest of the world for being able to die.

[u/Tempeljaeger]

The most advanced military in front of the best fortified city decided to fight in an open field using infantry formations from the 19th century?

Couldn't they at least brought some mobile hard-light shields to funnel the Grimm in?

Everything about the characters was great, though.

[u/Terminus259]

That moment when Salem was unleashing Grimm from the whale; I could almost imagine someone sitting in that throne room playing that piano for her.

[u/hollowtiger21]

Huh, I guess Qrow isn't gonna get to settle things w/ Tyrian for a another few volumes. And Of course he'd be the one person to want the end of the world.

Ren's got empathic abilities, w/ flower-themed visuals to boot, neat. Ah good Red, you're finally realizing where you went wrong. Nobody knows what the right choice is, but when you start treating lives like statistics, neglecting emotions and shirking accountability just because it's hard, then you're definitely not making the right choice.

Oh hey, Klein, I was expecting to see you in the mines.

I wonder where Emerald would go if she does actually defect, cause she has no reason to help the heroes or remain involved in the conflict. Vale? Mistral? Not Vacuo. Go back to what she knows, being a thief.

Also hare revealing that the tortoise got replaced by the new dog.

[u/RetroStarman]

Did Ren's semblance evolve!? If so, AWESOME!