RECAP:
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Breach

"If you care for others, then disperse with pity and sacrifice and recognize the value in letting them fight their own battles. And when they triumph, they will be even stronger for the victory."

— Kreia

Jaune deals with the fallout of accidentally brainwashing Weiss into being his date. The Grimm launch an all-out assault on Vale, forcing Jaune to make a costly sacrifice.

Tropes in this chapter include:

Adaptational Badass: The Grimm horde that attacks Vale during the Breach is much more powerful than in canon. It's is numerically larger and includes several stronger variants of Grimm like Beringels and Griffons, which weren't part of the Breach in canon. The Grimm here also manage to exhaust and nearly kill both RWBY and JNPR.
Assurance Backfire: Seeing how depressed Jaune is following Weiss's rejection, Ruby attempts to cheer him up by pointing out how on the bright side, Weiss doesn't seem like she's going to sue him or use her family connections to make him disappear. This turns into a weak joke once she realizes that both are options Weiss could actually use to retaliate against Jaune.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The King Beringel stands at over 30 feet in height and each of its arms are at an impressive 20 feet in length.
Big Damn Heroes: Just as Weiss is about to be overwhelmed by a flood of Beowolves who try using the Dog Pile of Doom on her, Pyrrha throws her shield and bisects several of the Grimm mid-jump.
Bittersweet Ending: Jaune manages to save Vale from a massive Grimm invasion and keeps his friends from being killed. However, this comes at the cost of Jaune falling to the Dark Side and losing all his morals. Additionally, Jaune's relationship with team RWBY is permanently strained as a result of his confession and he has lost any trust he once held with Weiss and Blake.
The Cameo: CFVY and SSNN are briefly seen arriving as back-up for the heroes and helping fight off the Grimm.
Catch and Return: While Jaune is juiced up by the Dark Side, he kills a Nevermore by telekinetically catching its Feather Flechettes and firing them back at the Grimm.
Deadly Lunge:
- A pair of Beowolves lunge at Ren and pin him to the ground while he's distracted by the sight of Nora being crushed by the King Beringel.
- After Jaune falls to the Dark Side, a Beowolf attempts to attack him by lunging at him, only to be caught in a Neck Lift mid-air.
Dog Pile of Doom: After the other Grimm separate Weiss from her team, a pack of Beowolves all gang up on her and try to pile onto her.
Drunk on the Dark Side: While absorbing the Grimm's life force and letting it flow through his body, Jaune is nearly overwhelmed and in awe of the power he has. As he uses that energy to generate a Force lightning storm to wipe out most of the Grimm, he lets out an Evil Laugh at the sheer power he feels coursing through his veins.
Extra-Long Episode: On average, chapters for Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger tend to be around 5000 words long. This chapter is more than double that length at nearly 11k words. The author explains in his notes that this was because this chapter was originally two separate chapters that they chose to cram together. This chapter also represents the turning point in the story where Jaune fully embraces the Dark Side and undergoes a Face–Heel Turn.
Eye Color Change: At the end of the chapter, Jaune's eyes have turned from blue to yellow, signaling his fall to the Dark Side.
Facepalm: Ruby facepalms in response to Jaune Tempting Fate by saying that he hopes her field trip goes better than last time.
Half the Man He Used to Be: A couple Beowolves that try to dog pile onto Weiss get their bodies bisected mid-jump by Pyrrha flinging her shield at them.
Heroic BSoD: After using his remaining strength to empower Nora with Force lightning, Jaune collapses to the ground and is barely able to move due to fatigue. He is then completely helpless to watch as his friends as gradually being overwhelmed by the Grimm and more of Vale's civilians are being killed. Being unable to do anything as his friends are getting hurt causes Jaune to experience a complete emotional breakdown as he hates himself for not being strong enough to protect his team. Nihilus takes advantage of this moment to appear before Jaune for the first time and goad him into falling to the Dark Side.
Heroic RRoD: Jaune expends most of his energy early in the battle trying to seal up the Breach with his telekinesis alone and then uses up the rest while shooting Force lightning for the first time, causing him to collapse to the ground physically spent. Nihilus takes advantage of this by offering him the power he needs to continue the fight in exchange that Jaune willingly falls to the Dark Side.
High-Voltage Death:
- The majority of the Grimm attacking Vale are vaporized by Jaune's Force-lightning.
- At the end of the chapter, Jaune kills a Beringel by impaling its jaw with Crocea Mors and then using the sword as a lightning rod for his Force lightining.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: The Nevermore that attacks Jaune is killed with its own Feather Flechettes when Jaune catches them mid-air and redirects them back at the Grimm.
Hope Spot: During the Breach, there's a moment early in the battle where Jaune seems to have stopped the Breach after using up all his remaining energy to seal the Grimm's entrance into Vale using building debris. Then the ground suddenly starts shaking before a gigantic King Beringel smashes through the debris blocking the breach and the Grimm continue flooding into the city.
I Can Still Fight!: Both Yang and Blake insist on still fighting even after they're both visibly worn out and struggle to even move.
I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Pyrrha's reaction to Nora suggesting that Jaune misuse his mind control powers for petty gain.
Nora: Yeah! Besides, think of all the good ways you can use this power Jaune! If Ren doesn't want to make us pancakes you can just tell him to! Or you could convince Professor Ozpin to share his coffee stash with the rest of the students!
Pyrrha: Nora, I don't think either of those would be a responsible usage of Jaune's powers.
Jerkass Has a Point: While Jaune may have been acting overly controlling, he was right when he told Yang and Blake that they were both too exhausted to fight any further and should pull back.
Killer Gorilla: The King Beringel, which makes the regular Beringels seem tiny by comparison. It nearly kills Nora.
King Mook: The King Beringel.
Life Drain: Jaune uses his own variant of Force Drain to suck the life out of the Grimm, healing and strengthening himself in the progress.
Militaries Are Useless: Lampshaded by Jaune, who notes how the soldiers aren't doing much better against the Grimm than Beacon's students and wonders what's the point of having a military if they're going to be useless.
Mook Horror Show: Jaune subjects the Grimm to one after fully embracing the Dark Side.
Neck Lift: After embracing the Dark Side, Jaune demonstrates his new power by grabbing a Beowolf mid-air and holding it by its throat while draining it of its life.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Jaune unlocks the ability to shoot Force Lightning and use Force Drain right when he needs them the most. He shoots lightning for the first time when Nora is being crushed to death by the King Beringel and supercharges her into overpowering the ancient Grimm.
Next Tier Power-Up: After falling to the Dark Side, Jaune's connection to the Force and his combat prowess increases drastically to the point where he destroys most of the attacking Grimm single-handedly.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jaune's attempt to seal up the the Breach using nearby debris backfires horribly when the King Beringel easily punches through the barrier and sends pieces of rubble flying into nearby buildings, killing civilians who were hiding inside and causing extensive amounts of property damage.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Jaune asks to speak with all of team RWBY, Yang can tell that something is seriously bothering him and holds back on her usual teasing remarks.
One-Man Army: Jaune after falling to the Dark Side. He takes on the horde of Grimm alone and wipes out most of them single-handedly.
Power Misidentification: Pyrrha incorrectly concludes that Jaune's Semblance is a Semantic Superpower based on control.
Power-Strain Blackout: Downplayed. After using Force lightning for the first time, Jaune becomes so exhausted that he collapses to the ground and his body stops moving.
Psychological Horror: For Weiss, the knowledge that her feelings for Jaune were the result of mind control means that she can no longer trust her own emotions.
Weiss: I can't forgive you, because I can't hate you for what you did! Something inside of me won't let me. I still feel what I felt last night! Our friendship that could've gone even further. And how much of this my own feelings, and how much is just… manipulation!?
Psychotic Smirk: Jaune gives Ruby one at the end of the chapter when she asks if he's okay.
Rejected Apology: When Jaune apologizes to Weiss for accidentally mind-controlling her into being his date, she makes it clear that "sorry" is not good enough to fix what he did to her.
Weiss: [hysterical] Sorry!? You think being sorry is good enough!? (takes a moment to calm down) Ruby, I know Jaune didn't mean it. But I just... can't accept it. I can't forgive him.
Say My Name: Ren cries out Nora's name when he sees her being subjected to a Killer Bear Hug by the King Beringel.
Spider-Sense:
- Right before the King Beringel bursts out of the ground, Jaune "danger sense" spikes up, causing him to scream at his friends to get back.
- Jaune's danger sense starts up again warning him of the massive flood of Grimm pouring out of the Breach through the hole created by the King Beringel.
- After falling to the Dark Side, Jaune's danger sense alerts him to the deathstalker moving in to finish off an unconscious pyrrha
Stunned Silence: When Jaune confesses to accidentally mind-tricking Weiss into going to the Beacon Dance with him, Weiss and her teammates react with wide-eyed eyed silence as the full meaning behind his words starts to sink in.
Summon to Hand: Jaune draws his sword this way at the start of the Breach, using his telekinesis to make Crocea Mors fly out of its sheath and into his hand.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Jaune confesses to Weiss that he mind controlled her into being romantically attracted to him, she naturally freaks out and ends their friendship on the spot. The fact that it was accidental or that Jaune is sincerely sorry does little to alleviate the terror of having her own mind violated by someone she thought she could trust. She can't even find it in herself to forgive Jaune since she can't tell if her desire for forgiveness is genuine or if it's because her mind is still under his influence.
Tempting Fate: Jaune tells Ruby that he hopes her field trip goes better than last time, which Ruby lampshades is just asking for trouble.
Ruby: Jaune! Why would you say that!? That's bad luck! You did the same exact thing last time and you were nearly killed!
Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Pyrrha kills several Beowolves that try jumping onto Weiss by using her shield Akoúo̱ as a Deadly Disc to slice the Grimm in half.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works:
- While fighting the Grimm attacking Vale, Jaune briefly throws his sword and uses it as a flying buzzsaw to kill several Creeps that were about to sneak up on Pyrrha.
- Near the end, Jaune throws his sword so hard that the blade impales a beringel's jaw.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Once Jaune falls to the Dark Side, his POV becomes more temperamental and condescending. He also starts acting like he's Surrounded by Idiots.
Trauma Button:
- Weiss finding out that Jaune mind controlled her pushes a major trauma button of hers since it reminds her of her emotionally-abusive father's attempts at controlling her life.
- Blake supports Weiss' decision to reject Jaune's apology because his attempt to apologize ends up reminding Blake of her Psycho Ex-Boyfriend Adam and his attempts at gaslighting her into obedience.
Use Your Head: After being supercharged by Sith lightning, Nora goes completely berserk and kills the King Beringel by repeatedly headbutting its face over and over until the Grimm dissolves into black mist.
Wham Shot: The final scene in the chapter shows Jaune's eyes are now a sickly yellow, showing how he's been completely corrupted by the Dark Side.
Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: The lightning that shoots out from Jaune's fingers when he uses Force drain on the Grimm is colored red-and-black.