RECAP:
Index | Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Epilogue

Destiny

Jedi Council: You were deafened.
Kreia: At last you could hear.
Jedi Council: You were broken.
Kreia: You were whole.
Jedi Council: You were blinded.
Kreia: And at last, you saw.

Ozpin reveals the truth about his group and the history of the Maidens to Pyrrha. Pyrrha, in turn, tells Ozpin what she believes is happening to Jaune. Later, she finally confronts Jaune over how he's changed after the Breach.

Tropes in this chapter include:

Adaptation Distillation: After Ozpin asks Pyrrha what her favorite fairy tale is, the scene where he explains the existence of the Maidens to her is skipped over and instead the scene transitions to after their conversation as Ozpin takes Pyrrha to the Beacon Vault deep underground.
Adaptational Context Change:
- Pyrrha asking Jaune whether he believes in destiny. In canon, it was related to Pyrrha being uncertain about whether she should become the next Fall Maiden. Here, it's asked in the context that Pyrrha is referring to both herself and Jaune.
- The scene from Volume 3 where Pyrrha uses her Semblance to slam Jaune against a wall. In canon, this was a complete accident caused by Pyrrha's internal conflict at being chosen as the new Fall Maiden by Ozpin. Here, it's done as an act of self-defense after Jaune violently grabs Pyrrha by her arm and nearly uses his Force Drain on her.
Armor-Piercing Question: While trying to get through to Jaune, Pyrrha asks him if he was ever planning to tell her that his powers could drain Grimm. Jaune responds by opening his mouth to protest, only to pause as he realizes that he doesn't have an answer to counter her question. He then closes his mouth and looks away, breaking eye contact with her.
Back from the Dead: Darth Nihilus finally returns to the world of the living by possessing Jaune's body and physically changes its appearance so that it is identical to his former body.
The Bad Guy Wins: The chapter ends with Darth Nihilus accomplishing his goal of taking over Jaune's body.
Big Entrance: Nihilus loudly announces his presence while taking over Jaune's body by forcing Jaune to scream in pain, turn his body into a Living Shadow, and unleash a shockwave that knocks down everyone nearby. Suffice to say, he gets a big audience for when he reveals his true form.
Big "NO!":
- When Pyrrha suggests removing Nihilus from Jaune by letting Amber's attacker remove Jaune's powers, Ozpin reacts by slamming his cane down and shouting "No!", startling everyone present.
- When Pyrrha explains to Jaune that Ozpin only wants to help him, Nihilus intervenes by showing Jaune an out-of-context vision depicting Ozpin locking him up and trying to steal his powers. In response to this, Jaune roars "NO!" and accuses Pyrrha of "selling him out".
Big "SHUT UP!": Jaune screams this in response to hearing Nihilus' voice in his head taunting him as part of his Breaking Speech.
Break Them by Talking: Nihilus pushes Jaune past the Despair Event Horizon by telling him that it’s his fault for hurting Pyrrha and that stating that Jaune is still weak.
Broken Smile: Jaunes gives Pyrrha one right before putting the mask on.
Casting a Shadow: While taking over Jaune's body, Nihilus covers it in a mass of shadows to the point where Jaune resembles a Living Shadow mid-transformation.
The Cameo: Cinder and Neo are briefly shown to be amongst the students watching Jaune's breakdown and transformation into Nihilus.
Death Glare: Blake and Weiss give one to Jaune after being told that he attacked Pyrrha.
Despair Event Horizon: Jaune crosses it after attacking Pyrrha and nearly using his Force Drain on her. He completely loses the will to resist Nihilus and allows his soul to take full control of his body.
Downer Ending: The chapter sees Jaune being driven into complete paranoia by Nihilus's mask and he turns on all of his friends before undergoing a complete mental breakdown. The ending has Jaune surrender his free will to Darth Nihilus, allowing Nihilus's spirit to possess him.
Dramatic Irony: Despite being displeased with Yang for seemingly attacking Mercury after he was already defeated, Jaune takes some solace in Mercury's leg being broken as he believes that Mercury's injury put an end to whatever he was planning. He doesn't know that Mercury's legs are prosthetic and having them broken by Yang was All According to Plan for Cinder.
Dramatically Missing the Point: When Pyrrha calls Jaune out on his Lack of Empathy for Yang and points out that Yang is his friend, his only reaction is to internally wonder why he's supposed care for Yang at all, labeling her as a "fool who refused to learn". Of course, this only further proves Pyrrha's point, but Jaune is still unable to see it.
Emotion Bomb: Nihilus's mere presence overwhelms the heroes with feelings of fear and hunger.
Enemy Mine: Defied. Remembering how Cinder was able to steal Amber's powers, Pyrrha suggests asking her to use that same method to remove Nihilus from Jaune's body. Ozpin immediately shuts down her idea and explains that Salem's people are more likely to team up with Nihilus rather than help any of them.
Fog of Doom: After Jaune puts on the mask, Nihilus appears in the physical world as a black miasma that covers Jaune's body in a black tar before transforming him into Nihilus.
For Want Of A Nail: In canon, Pyrrha almost immediately accepted Ozpin's offer to have the Fall Maiden's powers transferred to her. Here, she hesitates and asks to be given more time to think about it. This is because she finds the situation eerily similar to what Jaune is going through and had just learned in the previous chapter that Nihilus is slowly taking over Jaune's mind.
Gasp!:
- Ruby, Nora, and Ren all gasp in reaction to learning from Pyrrha that Jaune attacked her.
- Everyone present gasps in horror when Jaune nearly stumbles off Beacon's cliffside in the middle of his mental breakdown.
Godzilla Threshold: Pyrrha has certainly reached this in regards to Jaune's possession by Nihilus. As she struggles to come up with an idea on how to remove Nihilus's spirit from Jaune's body, she finally suggests letting Cinder drain Jaune of his powers like she did with Amber. Luckily, Ozpin hasn't quite reached that point yet and refuses.
Gotta Get Your Head Together: Jaune starts to clutch his head during his Madness Mantra. He clutches his head and screams in pain again upon going past the Despair Event Horizon and hearing Nihilus give him a Breaking Speech inside his head.
Hearing Voices: Nihilus speaks to Jaune in his head, further deteriorating his mental state and making him more unhinged.
He's Back!: A villainous example happens at the end of the chapter. After spending most of the story as a disembodied spirit trying to subtly corrupt Jaune, Darth Nihilus makes his triumphant return after possessing Jaune and morphing the latter's body into his own.
Hope Spot: After Pyrrha's gives her What the Hell, Hero? speech to Jaune, things briefly start to look up as her words have clearly gotten through to him. Then Nihilus starts whispering his lies into Jaune's head, and everything goes downhill from there on.
Internal Reveal:
- Pyrrha learns about the Maidens and Amber's condition from Ozpin. She also learns about how Jaune drained the life out of the Grimm during the Breach. In turn, Ozpin learns about how Jaune's memories are seemingly being overwritten by Nihilus's.
- Jaune's friends finally see the Mask of Darth Nihilus for the first time.
Kick the Morality Pet: Jaune finally does this to Pyrrha by violently grabbing her arm and nearly using his Force Drain on her.
Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: When Pyrrha tells Jaune that she would like to speak with him alone, Nora assumes it's because of this trope and pulls Ren away to give Pyrrha and Jaune space.
Locked Out of the Loop: Nora, Ren, and RWBY have don't know that Nihilus has been trying to take over Jaune's mind. When he says that he just wants the voices in his head to stop, Pyrrha and Qrow are the only ones who understand what Jaune is saying while the rest of his friends react with confusion.
Madness Mantra: After attacking Pyrrha in a fit of rage, Jaune experiences a complete mental breakdown and runs away while muttering "I didn't mean to" over and over again.
Multiple-Choice Future: Nihilus's spirit shows Jaune visions of two possible futures. One has him using his powers to help Ozpin defeat Salem. The other shows him Strapped to an Operating Table by Atlesian scientists while Ozpin and Ironwood attempt to destroy Nihilus's mask.
My God, What Have I Done?: During a fit of rage, Jaune violently grabs Pyrrha by her arm and nearly uses his Force Drain on her. When Pyrrha knocks some sense into him, he is immediately horrified at what he did and runs away from Pyrrha while crying Tears of Remorse.
Never My Fault: Jaune is initially unwilling to accept that he attacked Pyrrha and blames Qrow for "turning" her against him.
Oh, Crap!: Pyrrha has this reaction when she realizes that Jaune is unknowingly draining her Aura while violently grabbing her arm.
Our Hero Is Dead: The chapter ends with Jaune seemingly undergoing a Death of Personality as his mind is erased and his body is taken over by Nihilus's soul.
Painful Transformation: If Jaune's scream was anything to go by, transforming into Nihilus was not a pleasant experience.
Say My Name:
- Pyrrha yells out Jaune's name after he puts on Nihilus's mask and screams in pain from his transformation into Nihilus.
- Ruby also yells out "J-Jaune!" after Darth Nihilus takes control of Jaune's body.
The Scream: Upon donning the mask, Jaune lets out a scream so loud that it overtakes all other sounds at the fairgrounds before it is followed up by his Transformation Sequence.
Shy Finger-Twiddling: Pyrrha nervously twiddles her thumbs while waiting on the elevator to Ozpin's office.
Standard Female Grab Area. Subverted when Jaune violently grabs Pyrrha by her arm. She initially doesn't try fighting back because she doesn't want to hurt Jaune and can tell that he's Not Himself. Once Jaune starts to subconsciously drain Pyrrha's Aura, Pyrrha finally uses her Semblance to pick up Jaune and throw him into a wall.
Tears of Remorse: Jaune starts breaking out into these after he realizes that he hurt and nearly killed Pyrrha.
They Would Cut You Up: Nihilus turns Jaune against Ozpin by showing him a possible future where is Strapped to an Operating Table by Atlas scientists.
Title Drop: Pyrrha when she says the iconic line "Jaune… do you believe in destiny?"
Transformation Sequence: When Jaune puts on the Mask, his body undergoes a flashy transformation as his clothing and appearance changes to that of Nihilus's.
The shadows spread all over Jaune, completely covering his clothing and his face, only leaving a vaguely human shaped mass of darkness before them. The darkness soon began to refine, shifting and twisting as the details filled in. From Jaune's body came long, flowing black robes, his limbs wrapped similarly in all black. A matching hood covered Jaune's head, in fact the only part of Jaune that wasn't jet-black was the white-and-red mask on his face. Jaune's new form fell to one knee, as if he wasn't used to standing.
Two Roads Before You: Nihilus shows Jaune visions of a possible future where Ozpin's group decide to use Jaune's power in the war against Salem, then he shows Jaune two possible branches. One future where Jaune and Pyrrha fight through hordes of Grimm into the heart of Salem's domain, another where Ozpin and Ironwood have put Jaune in a medical coma and are having him vivisected him to try and siphon his power.
Villain Has a Point: Although he only did it to push Jaune past the Despair Event Horizon, Nihilus was correct when he pointed out that Jaune had no one else to blame but himself for lashing out and harming Pyrrha.
Wham Episode: The episode ends with Jaune succumbing to Darth Nihilus's influence and finally putting on the mask, allowing Darth Nihilus to take over his body.
Wham Line: The narration has one at the ending where it's being told from Pyrrha's POV after Jaune puts on Nihilus's mask.
This wasn't Jaune in front of her. This was Nihilus.
What the Hell, Hero?: Pyrrha finally decides to confront Jaune about his recent behavior and calls him out on not only keeping secrets from her, but also for the way he callously disregarded Yang being framed.
Win Her a Prize: Gender-inverted with Nora and Ren. Nora offers to win Ren a stuffed animal at the fair and mention having already won him one.
"You!" Exclamation: Jaune's reaction upon seeing Qrow in person for the first time due to recognizing him from the out-of-context vision Nihilus had already previously shown him which made it seem as though Qrow was conspiring against Jaune with Ozpin.