History Recap / RWBYV9E9ATaleInvolvingATree

[[Recap/{{RWBY}} Index]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E1APlaceOfParticularConcern 1]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E2AltercationAtTheAuspiciousAuction 2]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E3RudeRedAndRoyal 3]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E4ACatMostCurious 4]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E5TheParfaitPredicament 5]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E6ConfessionsWithinCumulonimbusClouds 6]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E7ThePerilsOfPaperHouses 7]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E8TeaAmidstTerribleTrouble 8]] | '''9''' | [[Recap/RWBYV9E10OfSolitudeAndSelf 10]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E11Volume9BonusEndingAnimatic 11]]-]]]

[[Recap/{{RWBY}} Index]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E1APlaceOfParticularConcern 1]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E2AltercationAtTheAuspiciousAuction 2]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E3RudeRedAndRoyal 3]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E4ACatMostCurious 4]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E5TheParfaitPredicament 5]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E6ConfessionsWithinCumulonimbusClouds 6]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E7ThePerilsOfPaperHouses 7]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E8TeaAmidstTerribleTrouble 8]] | '''9''' | [[Recap/RWBYV9E10OfSolitudeAndSelf 10]] ]]-]]]

* ClippedWingAngel: While the Curious Cat has Neo's fearsome evolved Semblance to fall back on, they don't use her infamous ConfusionFu tactics, lashing out like the beast they are.

* GroundShatteringLanding: [=NeoCat=] does this with a ThreePointLanding just before insinuating that he disposed of Alyx.

->''"I don't understand. Alyx? The Pleasers? Now Ruby? What does this place want?!\\

->''"I don't understand. Alyx? The Pleasers? Now Ruby? What does this place want?! ... What did I do wrong?"''

* MeaningfulEcho: As Jaune finally learns to forgive himself, he muses that the Curious Cat may have been right about the Tree and starts to quote their line from the previous episode. After he is transported with WBY to the Tree, Weiss completes the quote for him.

--> '''Jaune:''' Maybe that Cat was right. Maybe I just needed to accept it. "It's not a place you go..."
-->''(WBY and Jaune are transported to the Tree.)''
--> '''Blake:''' ...What?
--> '''Weiss:''' "...It's a place you know."

* MeaningfulEcho: As Jaune finally learns to forgive himself, he muses that the Curious Cat may have been right about the tree and starts to quote their line from the previous episode. After he is transported with WBY to the Tree, Weiss completes the quote for him.

* DeathOfPersonality: Discussed; when the heroes find Ruby as part of the Tree, Yang fears she may no longer be Ruby when she emerges, which the Curious Cat taunts her with as they battle the heroes. Within the Tree itself, Ruby, weighed down by her feelings of failure, must cast aside her old self and become someone else, a choice manifested by the Blacksmith with an array of weapons, any one of which Ruby can choose to become the person who once wielded it.

[[Recap/{{RWBY}} Index]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E1APlaceOfParticularConcern 1]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E2AltercationAtTheAuspiciousAuction 2]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E3RudeRedAndRoyal 3]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E4ACatMostCurious 4]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E5TheParfaitPredicament 5]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E6ConfessionsWithinCumulonimbusClouds 6]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E7ThePerilsOfPaperHouses 7]] | [[Recap/RWBYV9E8TeaAmidstTerribleTrouble 8]] | '''9''' | 10 ]]-]]]

* BookEnds: The episode begins and ends with a voiceover from Summer Rose as she reads "The Girl Who Fell Through the World" to her sleeping daughters.

* DeathOfPersonality: Discussed; when the heroes find Ruby as part of the Tree, Yang fears that she may no longer be Ruby when she emerges, a fear that the Curious Cat taunts her with as they battle the heroes. Within the Tree itself, Ruby, weighed down by her feelings of failure, faces the choice of casting aside her old self and becoming someone else, a choice manifested by the Blacksmith with an array of weapons, any one of which Ruby can choose to become the person who once wielded it, thus leaving "Ruby Rose" behind.
* DidntSeeThatComing: The Curious Cat needed to possess an empty person, but had no idea that such a state would leave them without any attachments to Remnant and therefore unable to return there. Neo's lack of purpose means the door to Remnant keeps rebuffing the Cat's attempts to pass through. The Cat plans to remedy this by going back to their original plan of possessing Ruby, who they believe still wants to go back to Remnant.

--> '''Yang''': Whatever happens to Ruby is up to her. Not you or anyone else.

* GoThroughMe: WBY and Jaune stand in front of Ruby's wooden statue to protect her from the Cat; who is more than willing to torment and kill the group if it means getting their intended vessel back.

** Ruby admits to the Blacksmith that all her life she wanted to be the hero just like in the stories her mom told her and "do the right thing", but her constant failures despite all her efforts have led her to wonder if that's just not possible and if she can even be that person as she is now.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: The Curious Cat reveals when Alyx and Lewis were at the door, Alyx talked to the tree and had a crisis of conscience from all the harm she caused in the Ever After, including poisoning Jaune. So, while Lewis went through the door and returned to Remnant, Alyx chose to stay despite having promised the Curious Cat she would take them to Remnant. The Cat killed Alyx in response.

* InUniverseCatharsis: After seeing the Paper Pleasers [[CameBackStrong return]] as the Genial Gems, Jaune realizes how wrong he was about Ascension and is dismayed that he spent so long keeping the Pleasers from Ascending because of his own selfish need to be a hero after his failures. With Weiss' help, however, Jaune finally accepts that his failures don't define him, with the accompanying feeling of catharsis being what finally brings the heroes to the Tree.

* MultipleChoiceFuture: Ruby is presented with a WallOfWeapons, each representing a different identity she could take, with each weapon giving off empathic signals of the kind of person she would be if she took it. After some hesitation, Ruby realizes she wants to be like her mother, and the episode [[{{Cliffhanger}} stops]] as she reaches out to learn what that future would hold for her.

* SamaritanSyndrome: Ruby says she wanted to be just like the fairy tale heroes, but since she can't seem to find the right thing to do and can't save everyone, she feels worthless, saying she can only feel the state of her own feelings of inadequacy.

* YouMonster: Incensed by the Cat's admission they killed Alyx before she could atone for the damage she'd done in the Ever After, Jaune calls the Cat a monster while they fight.

->"''Even the best Huntsmen in history? They've all'' lost. ''But they were still incredibly brave...'' and good."

* WouldHitAGirl: The Cat reveals they killed Alyx once she decided to atone for her actions in the Ever After, before following that up with them planning to send WBY [[ImpliedDeathThreat "into the ground"]] when they get in their way.

** Tormented by his failures for so long, Jaune took to unintentionally holding the Paper Pleasers hostage just to experience the cheap thrill of saving lives, sabotaging his own, and even Team RWBY's, attempts to get home due to his misplaced fears of the Tree. Seeing the reincarnated forms of the Paper Pleasers make a beautiful sculpture out of the water that destroyed their previous forms makes him realize what he's been doing. Weiss then tells him even the greatest heroes fail time to time, making him realize and admit to his selfishness, and this epiphany enables all four of them to travel there and locate Ruby's wooden form.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: The Curious Cat reveals when Alyx and Lewis were at the door, Alyx talked to the tree and had a crisis of conscience from all the harm she caused in the Ever After, including poisoning Jaune. So, while Lewis went through the door and returned to Remnant, Alyx chose to stay despite having promised the Curious Cat she would take them to Remnant. The Cat killed Alyx before she ever had the chance to make amends.
* HiddenDisdainReveal: Their true nature revealed, the Curious Cat takes a moment to note that they always considered Weiss "the worst of the bunch".

* PlantPerson: When Ruby asks if the Blacksmith is the tree, the Blacksmith explains that she could say that, but it would be too simplistic for what the Tree really is. She's very deeply connected to the tree, acting as a guide to help people make the choices that best suit themselves and who they want to become. Despite being made of metal, there's a very large root visible on her back.

** Alyx was killed by the Cat, while Lewis returned to Remnant; he wrote the story but excluded himself from the tale as a memorial to his sister. This makes his name even [[Creator/LewisCarroll more]] [[MeaningfulName meaningful]] than it already was.
* SamaritanSyndrome: Ruby says she wanted to be just like the fairy tale heroes, but since she can't seem to find the right thing to do and can't save everyone, she feels worthless, stating that the state of her own feelings of inadequacy is the only thing she can feel anymore.

* WouldHitAGirl: The Cat reveals that they killed Alyx when she wanted to atone for her actions in the Ever After, before following that up with them planning to send WBY [[ImpliedDeathThreat "into the ground"]] when they get in their way.

* YouMonster: Incensed by the Cat's admission that Alyx wanted to mend the damage she'd done in the Ever After, only to be murdered by the Cat because of it, Jaune calls the Cat a monster while they fight.

** Alyx was killed by the Cat, while Lewis returned to Remnant; he wrote the story but excluded himself from the tale as a memorial to his sister. This makes his name even [[''Creator/LewisCarroll'' more]] [[MeaningfulName meaningful]] than it already was.