History DarkestHour / WebOriginal

** Volume 3's climax brings together strands of plot that have existed ever since the pilot episode to reveal just how dangerous the Creatures of Grimm can be, how precarious Vale's situation now is, and just how evil humans and Faunus are capable of being to each other. [[spoiler:Cinder obtains the Fall Maiden's full powers, and kills both Amber and Pyrrha. Roman dies, Neo and Ozpin are MIA, Adam stabs Blake and severs Yang's arm. Beacon and the CCT are in ruins, a Grimm Wyvern is frozen on the Tower but still attracting Grimm, and Team RWBY is forced to split and go their separate ways; Blake is on the run, Weiss is dragged home by her overbearing father and Yang is bedridden with depression. The Female Narrator is revealed to be the BigBad; even as Ruby and Team JNR begin their journey to Haven to learn more about the villains, the BigBad announces her intention to destroy all hope, that it's the beginning of the end and Ruby is the key to her victory, and that she cannot wait to see Ozpin burn.]]

** Volume 8 is a spiral into horror for everyone in the Kingdom of Atlas. With Salem's Grimm army assaulting both cities in a war of attrition, some of the heroes struggle to cope with the magnitude of what's facing them. Oscar uses a one-shot ability that Ozpin had been preparing for millennia to buy the kingdom just a few hours grace from Salem's threat, only for the heroes to discover the hard way that the remaining villains step into the temporary void she leaves behind. [[spoiler:With Ironwood threatening to bomb Mantle if the Winter Maiden doesn't surrender to him and Cinder successfully eavesdropping on the heroes' plan to save the kingdom's inhabitants, the result of the emergency evacuation results in the entire kingdom being destroyed, Team RWBY and Jaune being lost to TheVoidBetweenTheWorlds, Penny dying, the refugees being stranded in the middle of the harsh Vacuan desert instead of the outskirts of the City of Vacuo, and Salem ending up with two Relics. Although the ending is not entirely without hope, all the heroes are experiencing their darkest moments since the end of Volume 3.]]

** Volume 3 ends with this, [[CerebusSyndrome made darker by how light the show was up until now]]. it starts with [[spoiler:the [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath brutal death]] of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Penny]] in Chapter 9 and only gets worse from their. First her death was broadcast across the world, and the resulting panic causes a ''massive'' influx of Grimm. Next the White Fang arrive on Cinder's orders with even more Grimm, and begin their own attack on Beacon Academy, led by Blake's former mentor Adam Taurus, who gives Blake a painful CurbStompBattle, and then ''cuts of Yang's arm'' when she tries to save Blake. Meanwhile Cinder finally obtains the Fall Maiden power by murdering Amber, and uses that power to murder Pyrrha, and destroy the CCT tower, shutting down the world's communication network. By Chapter 12, Vale is wrecked, Beacon has been closed down and in ruins and crawling with Grimm, Ozpin is missing, and to top it all off, [[BreakingTheFellowship Team RWBY is scattered across Remnant, currently without any convenient means contacting each other]], with Ruby (who is so far, the only member who has not completely given up) tracking Cinder with help from the surviving members of JNPR (Jaune, Nora and Ren), Yang stuck in bed, still in HeroicBSOD mode, possibly having crossed the DespairEventHorizon, Weiss has been forced to return home by her father, and Blake has run away again in shame.]]
** Volume 7 ends in an almost similar manner. [[spoiler: General Ironwood suffers a mental breakdown, giving in to his paranoia and deciding that their best course of action is to abandon the citizens of Mantle to die. He declares Martial Law and orders the arrests of Team [=RWBY=], Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Qrow to keep them from interfering while he raises the city of Atlas into the clouds. Team RWBY are forced to fight the Ace-Ops, while Qrow is forced to deal with Clover and an escaped [[SerialKiller Tyrian]]. Cinder ambushes Winter and Penny in order to steal the power of the Maiden, while Neo attacks Oscar to steal the Relic of Knowledge from him. While they are able to fend off Cinder and keep the Maiden's power from her, Winter is critically injured and forces Weiss to abandon her by calling for back-up. Neo is able to escape with the Relic and deliver it to Cinder, while Tyrian murders Clover and frames Qrow for the killing. Oscar breaks from the rest of the group to meet with Ironwood, in a last desperate attempt to talk him down from abandoning the world. Ironwood refuses to back down, shooting Oscar off the ledge of the Vault and to his apparent death. While Oscar is able to survive by awakening Ozpin's magic, he is left weakened and separated from the rest of the heroes. Qrow and Robyn are arrested for Clover's murder, while the others flee in a stolen airship and witness Salem's arrival with an army of Grimm]].
** The entirety of Volume 8 is even worse, Ironwood slips further into insanity, it starts with Ironwood shooting Councilmen Sleet dead in cold blood in front of everyone, he calls up Penny, trying to beg her to come back, but Ruby answers and Ironwood blames her for dooming Atlas, Ironwood hires Watts to hack Penny, threatens to bomb Mantle if Penny doesn't surrender herself to him, Marrow defects and Ironwood tries to shoot him dead only to be saved by Winter who joins him in defecting while Winter tries once more to appeal to Ironwood only to be immediately shot down, Winter, Oscar and Team JNPR take him down and imprison him, Ironwood is released by Watts and he shoots Jacques dead with his canon, he and Winter fight to the death for the fate of Atlas, Team RWBY grabs the staff and temporarily saves Penny's life, they create a pathway to Vacuo, Cinder mortally wounds Penny, Jaune is forced to kill Penny, Winter becomes the new Maiden, Ironwood is left to die with Watts in the fall of Atlas itself. During the attempt to save everyone, Harriet fights Qrow, The redeemed Ace Ops talk her down and get her to realize that by blindly following Ironwood's orders, she has killed them all. Vine agrees to sacrifice his own life to save his friends much to Harriet's despair. The ending leaves Salem without two members of her inner circle while Tyrian and Mercury were sent to Vacuo while Hazel died fighting her. Overall, this Volume took last Volume's Darkest Hour and made it darker.

** The entirety of Volume 8 is even worse, as [[spoiler: Ironwood slips further into insanity, it starts with Ironwood shooting Councilmen Sleet dead in cold blood in front of everyone, he calls up Penny, trying to beg her to come back, but Ruby answers and Ironwood blames her for dooming Atlas, Ironwood hires Watts to hack Penny, threatens to bomb Mantle if Penny doesn't surrender herself to him, Marrow defects and Ironwood tries to shoot him dead only to be saved by Winter who joins him in defecting while Winter tries once more to appeal to Ironwood only to be immediately shot down, Winter, Oscar and Team JNPR take him down and imprison him, Ironwood is released by Watts and he shoots Jacques dead with his cannon, he and Winter fight to the death for the fate of Atlas, Team RWBY grabs the staff and temporarily saves Penny's life, they create a pathway to Vacuo, Cinder mortally wounds Penny, who is then KilledOffForReal by Jaune, Winter becomes the new Maiden, Ironwood is left to die with Watts in the fall of Atlas itself. During the attempt to save everyone, Harriet fights Qrow, The redeemed Ace Ops talk her down and get her to realize that by blindly following Ironwood's orders, she has killed them all, Vine agrees to sacrifice his own life to save his friends much to Harriet's despair, and during the fight Team RWBY, Jaunne and Neo are all sent falling to their apparent deaths into the Void Between the World. The ending leaves Salem still immortal and unkillable, in possession of half of the Relics with Cinder, and without two members of her inner circle while Tyrian and Mercury were sent to Vacuo while Hazel died fighting her. And with Team RWBY gone and the people of Atlas without a home, therefore no longer considered a threat to Cinder and Salem, it's very unlikely anyone or anything else can stop them. Overall, this Volume took last Volume's Darkest Hour and made it darker, and [[DownerEnding ends the volume at the series' bleakest point to date]].]] And while a 9th volume is planned to be released in 2023, how does one even come back from an ending like ''that''?

** The entirety of Volume 8 is even worse, Ironwood slips further into insanity, it starts with Ironwood shooting Councilmen Sleet dead in cold blood in front of everyone, he calls up Penny, trying to beg her to come back, but Ruby answers and Ironwood blames her for dooming Atlas, Ironwood hires Watts to hack Penny, threatens to bomb Mantle if Penny doesn't surrender herself to him, Marrow defects and Ironwood tries to shoot him dead only to be saved by Winter who joins him in defecting while Winter tries once more to appeal to Ironwood only to be immediately shot down, Winter, Oscar and Team JNPR take him down and imprison him, Ironwood is released by Watts and he shoots Jacques dead with his canon, he and Winter fight to the death for the fate of Atlas, Team RWBY grabs the staff and temporarily saves Penny's life, they create a pathway to Vacuo, Cinder mortally wounds Penny, Jaune is forced to kill Penny, Winter becomes the new Maiden, Ironwood is left to die with Watts in the fall of Atlas itself. During the attempt to save everyone, Harriet fights Qrow, The redeemed Ace Ops talk her down and get her to realize that by blindly following Ironwood's orders, she has killed them all. Vine agrees to sacrifice his own life to save his friends much to Harriet's despair. The ending leaves Salem without two members of her inner circle while Tyrian and Mercury were sent to Vacuo while Hazel died fighting her. Overall, this Volume took last Volume's Darkest Hour and made it darker.

** Episode 47 in its entirety. [[TheNarrator Cecil]] is nowhere to be seen. [[ScienceHero Carlos]] is now trapped in the house that does not exist since his scientists have been arrested. [[RebelLeader Tamika]] has been captured. [[FauxAffablyEvil Lauren]] and [[StepfordSmiler Kevin]] have taken over the radio station and [[DeadlyEuphemism re-decorated]] it to make it [[EvilIsVisceral "more like home."]] And to add insult to injury, the citizens of Night Vale have now been herded into an "eternal picnic" (or rather, internment camp) where they are to stay and work, and never leave. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Night Vale has also become a part of the Greater Desert Bluffs Metropolitan Area.]]

** Volume 3 ends with this, [[CerebusSyndrome made darker by how light the show was up until now]]. it starts with [[spoiler: the [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath brutal death]] of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Penny]] in Chapter 9 and only gets worse from their. First her death was broadcast across the world, and the resulting panic causes a ''massive'' influx of Grimm. Next the White Fang arrive on Cinder's orders with even more Grimm, and begin their own attack on Beacon Academy, led by Blake's former mentor Adam Taurus, who gives Blake a painful CurbStompBattle, and then ''cuts of Yang's arm'' when she tries to save Blake. Meanwhile Cinder finally obtains the Fall Maiden power by murdering Amber, and uses that power to murder Pyrrha, and destroy the CCT tower, shutting down the world's communication network. By Chapter 12, Vale is wrecked, Beacon has been closed down and in ruins and crawling with Grimm, Ozpin is missing, and to top it all off, [[BreakingTheFellowship Team RWBY is scattered across Remnant, currently without any convenient means contacting each other]], with Ruby (who is so far, the only member who has not completely given up) tracking Cinder with help from the surviving members of JNPR (Jaunne, Nora and Ren), Yang stuck in bed, still in HeroicBSOD mode, possibly having crossed the DespairEventHorizon, Weiss has been forced to return home by her father, and Blake has run away again in shame.]]
** Volume 7 ends in an almost similar manner. [[spoiler: General Ironwood suffers a mental breakdown, giving in to his paranoia and deciding that their best course of action is to abandon the citizens of Mantle to die. He declares Martial Law and orders the arrests of Team [=RWBY=], Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Qrow to keep them from interfering while he raises the city of Atlas into the clouds. Team [=RWBY=] are forced to fight the Ace-Ops, while Qrow is forced to deal with Clover and an escaped [[SerialKiller Tyrian]]. Cinder ambushes Winter and Penny in order to steal the power of the Maiden, while Neo attacks Oscar to steal the Relic of Knowledge from him. While they are able to fend off Cinder and keep the Maiden's power from her, Winter is critically injured and forces Weiss to abandon her by calling for back-up. Neo is able to escape with the Relic and deliver it to Cinder, while Tyrian murders Clover and frames Qrow for the killing. Oscar breaks from the rest of the group to meet with Ironwood, in a last desperate attempt to talk him down from abandoning the world. Ironwood refuses to back down, shooting Oscar off the ledge of the Vault and to his apparent death. While Oscar is able to survive by awakening Ozpin's magic, he is left weakened and separated from the rest of the heroes. Qrow and Robyn are arrested for Clover's murder, while the others flee in a stolen airship and witness Salem's arrival with an army of Grimm]].

** And even that is topped by episode 110. [[spoiler:The collapse of reality, initiated by [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Huntokar altering time to save Night Vale from nuclear war in 1983]], is completing itself. The sky has been replaced by a giant hole. The five-headed dragons are rampaging and setting the city on fire. Most of the few people left in Night Vale have given up on the town, and are retreating into visions from more pleasant alternate realities. The situation gets so dire that, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness for the first time in the series, Cecil almost doesn't bother with the Weather report and simply signs off "good]]''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness bye]]''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness, Night Vale" rather than his usual "good night"]]. Fortunately, he comes up with an idea immediately after.]]

** And even that is topped by episode 110. [[spoiler:The collapse of reality, initiated by [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Huntokar altering time to save Night Vale from nuclear war in 1983]], is completing itself. The sky has been replaced by a giant hole. The five-headed dragons are rampaging and setting the city on fire. Most of the few people left in Night Vale have given up on the town, and are retreating into visions from more pleasant alternate realities. The situation gets so dire that, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness for the first time in the series, Cecil almost doesn't bother with the Weather report and simply signs off "good''bye'', Night Vale" rather than his usual "good night"]]. Fortunately, he comes up with an idea immediately after.]]

** Volume 7 ends in an almost similar manner. It ends with [[spoiler: Ironwood [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumps Off The Slippery Slope]] and demands that Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Oscar and Qrow be arrested after learning that Cinder was in Atlas and he was getting tired of the secrets of lies. This leads to Qrow and Robyn being arrested after [[TheFrameup Tyrian frames them for Clover's death]], Neo stealing the Lamp of Knowledge from Oscar, Oscar being left behind by our heroes after he ends up lagging behind and tries to persuade Ironwood to stop his foolishness and his nearly killed for it and Winter fails in obtaining the Winter Maiden's power. On top of this, Salem is knocking on Atlas' door, waiting to come in and steal the Staff of Creation that keeps the nation flying. The only good things out of this is that the teams escaped Atlas with Penny, who was not only rebuilt after the events of Volume 3, but was the one who obtain the Winter Maiden's powers and that Oscar has unlocked his Semblance.]]

* The 9/11 attacks in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. While rescuing people from the World Trade Center, four Guardians members were seriously injured (one to the point of being permanently paralyzed) and another killed when the towers collapsed.

** Volume 7 equally ends with this as [[spoiler: Ironwood [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumps Off The Slippery Slope]] and demands that Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Oscar and Qrow be arrested after learning that Cinder was in Atlas and he was getting tired of the secrets of lies. This leads to Qrow and Robyn being arrested after [[TheFrameup Tyrian frames them for Clover's death]], Neo stealing the Lamp of Knowledge from Oscar, Oscar being left behind by our heroes after he ends up lagging behind and tries to persuade Ironwood to stop his foolishness and his nearly killed for it and Winter fails in obtaining the Winter Maiden's power. On top of this, Salem is knocking on Atlas' door, waiting to come in and steal the Staff of Creation that keeps the nation flying. The only good things out of this is that the teams escaped Atlas with Penny, who was not only rebuilt after the events of Volume 3, but was the one who obtain the Winter Maiden's powers and that Oscar has unlocked his Semblance.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[spoiler: Volume 3 ends with this, [[CerebusSyndrome made darker by how light the show was up until now]]. it starts with the [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath brutal death]] of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Penny]] in Chapter 9 and only gets worse from their. First her death was broadcast across the world, and the resulting panic causes a ''massive'' influx of Grimm. Next the White Fang arrive on Cinder's orders with even more Grimm, and begin their own attack on Beacon Academy, led by Blake's former mentor Adam Taurus, who gives Blake a painful CurbStompBattle, and then ''cuts of Yang's arm'' when she tries to save Blake. Meanwhile Cinder finally obtains the Fall Maiden power by murdering Amber, and uses that power to murder Pyrrha, and destroy the CCT tower, shutting down the world's communication network. By Chapter 12, Vale is wrecked, Beacon has been closed down and in ruins and crawling with Grimm, Ozpin is missing, and to top it all off, [[BreakingTheFellowship Team RWBY is scattered across Remnant, currently without any convenient means contacting each other]], with Ruby (who is so far, the only member who has not completely given up) tracking Cinder with help from the surviving members of JNPR (Jaunne, Nora and Ren), Yang stuck in bed, still in HeroicBSOD mode, possibly having crossed the DespairEventHorizon, Weiss has been forced to return home by her father, and Blake has run away again in shame.]]

* ''Series/CobraKai:'' Second-season finale "No Mercy," on the first day of school at West Valley High, erupts into a flat-out MobWar between [[RivalDojos Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do.]] One representative of each dojo is hospitalized (Sam, for three lines worth of stitches where Tory's spiked bracelet caught her; Miguel, after Robby knocks him over the railing several feet onto the lobby stairway). Daniel's relationship with Amanda is in trouble on account of his extended absence from the dealership. Johnny has been disowned by Carmen in the wake of Miguel's life-threatening injury. Worse, he learns that [[TheBadGuyWins Kreese]] usurped the dojo -- and almost all of its students -- while the war was brewing, putting him right back down to ground zero.