RECAP:
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Nihilus

"He is a wound in the Force, more presence than flesh, and in his wake life dies... sacrificing itself to his hunger."

— Visas Marr on her Master.

Picking up from where "Destiny" left off, a newly transformed Darth Nihilus is surrounded by a squad of Atlas soldiers and drones. The soldiers open fire on the Sith Lord after he ignores their orders to surrender, only for Nihilus to use his telekinesis to deflect their bullets back at the soldiers, killing them as well as a large crowd of bystanders. Realizing that the situation has turned deadly, Qrow and the students attack Nihilus with everything they've got, only for their attacks to have little-to-no effect as the Sith Lord easily dodges or blocks everything the heroes try to throw at him. Nihilus then proceeds to trounce every single one of his opponents, brutally murdering Team ABRN and destroying Ruby's scythe in the process. Just as he's prepared to finish off Ruby, Nihilus is interrupted by the arrival of more student Huntsmen coming to fight him. Uninterested in continuing the battle, Nihilus uses his telekinesis to force Ironwood's airship to crash into the school courtyard, creating a massive Dust explosion that scatters the heroes and knocks Ruby and Pyrrha unconscious.

Hours later, Ruby wakes up amongst the rubble of the fairgrounds alongside Pyrrha, only to find that Beacon Academy is in flames as the Grimm and White Fang have launched their own separate assault upon the school.

Tropes in this chapter include:

Alternative Character Interpretation: In-universe case with Pyrrha. When Nihilus seemingly holds back during their fight and even gives RWB and NPR time to summon their weapons from their lockers, Pyrrha has trouble deciding whether it's because Jaune is Fighting from the Inside or if Nihilus is so confident in his victory that he's willing to give up his advantage.
Ambiguous Situation: Did Qrow's Semblance cause the waitress to trip while trying to flee from the incoming airship? While Qrow himself is uncertain, the guilt he feels from the possibility that his Semblance is responsible for an innocent woman's death is enough for him to abandon his own attempt to flee and stay behind to shield the waitress's body from the airship's explosion.
Antagonist Title: The chapter's title "Nihilus" clearly references Darth Nihilus, the main villain.
Attack Pattern Alpha: Ruby assigns codenames to the Combination Attacks that RWB and NPR use against Nihilus, such as Ice Flower (Ruby and Weiss), Flower Power (Nora and Ren), and Checkmate (Weiss and Blake).
Bitch Slap: At the start of their fight, Nihilus parries Qrow's sword strike and gives him a backhanded slap strong enough to knock him back.
Blood-Splattered Innocents: When Nihilus splatters Bolin's head, the blood covers Ruby, symbolizing how this is her Break the Cutie moment.
Bullet Catch: Taken up to eleven. Nihilus catches thousands of bullets mid-air using the Force.
Call-Back:
- In "Leadership", Ruby mentioned how she and Weiss were developing team combo attacks. Here, team RWBY gets to use them against Nihilus.
- While possessing Jaune's body, Nihilus uses several of Jaune's Force techniques from previous chapters to fight Jaune's friends.
  - He uses the same Catch and Return technique that Jaune used to turn Mercury's own missiles against him to catch every bullet being shot at him by the Atlas soldiers and then uses the same wrist flicking gesture that Jaune used to deflect the Nevermores' flechettes during the Breach to fling all the bullet back at the soldiers.
  - Nihilus also uses the Force to telekinetically summon Crocea Mors to his hand and uses his sword as a projectile. Both were moves Jaune first showed off in "Breach". When Nihilus throws his sword, the sword is even described as a flying buzzsaw, the same description used when Jaune threw the sword during the Breach.
Calling Your Attacks: Ruby calls out the codenames for her team's Combination Attacks during the fight against Nihilus. Deconstructed as her yelling out what attack her team is going to use alerts Nihilus to what they're attempting and enables him to prepare for their attacks.
The Cameo: Amongst the those who arrive to act as The Cavalry are team FNKI and a Huntress who is inferred to be Raven.
Catch and Return:
- Nihilus uses the Force to catch thousands of bullets being shot at him by Atlas soldiers and flings all the bullet back at them.
- Later when Ruby fires two Dust rounds at Nihilus, he uses the Force to catch both bullets and fling them at Ren and Nora.
Character Death: Every member of team ABRN is killed by Darth Nihilus.
Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with the heroes scattered, Qrow is seemingly killed, the Battle of Beacon has started, Nihilus has disappeared, and Ruby and Pyrrha are both weaponless and depleted of Aura.
Colony Drop: Using the Force, Darth Nihilus pulls Ironwood's flagship out of the sky and forces it to crash into the Vytal Festival.
Combination Attack: Both RWBY and JNPR attempt to use their team attacks like "Checkmate" and "Flower Power" against Nihilus, who just shrugs it off.
Crowd Panic: Once Nihilus starts killing people, the majority of students and tourists watching panic and make a run for it.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Pretty much the entire chapter consists of Darth Nihilus vs. everyone, with Nihilus winning easily.
Curb Stomp Cushion: Qrow gets his ass handed to him by Darth Nihilus. However, he fares better than Nihilus's previous opponents and even makes Nihilus trip up twice with his Semblance. Qrow is also the first person in thousands of years to land a solid hit on Nihilus, whereas Nihilus was previously untouchable in a fight.
Darkest Hour: The Fall of Beacon has started early, Jaune's body is fully under Nihilus's control, and Darth Nihilus has been fully restored to life. The heroes are beaten, separated from each other, and possibly dead. To top it all off, most of Beacon Academy has been destroyed and the school has been overrun by Cinder's forces.
Don't Ask, Just Run: When Nihilus starts charging up to unleash his Force Scream, Qrow quickly realizes what he's doing and yells at everyone to fall back. Pyrrha immediately obliges, being Genre Savvy enough to know that when an experienced Huntsman like Qrow is screaming "Run!", you run.
Fighting Your Friend: Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Ruby all find themselves having to fight Jaune, whose body has been possessed by Darth Nihilus.
Flash Step: Nihilus uses one against Qrow, moving so fast that he appears almost right in front of him and nearly cuts off his head.
Forgot About Her Powers: Pyrrha appears to have forgotten about her Polarity Semblance as she never attempts to use it during the battle against Nihilus, who is wielding a metal sword.
From Bad to Worse: As if Darth Nihilus coming back wasn't bad enough, Cinder chooses this moment to enact her own plan to destroy Beacon by having the White Fang and Grimm attack the school and pick off the survivors of Nihilus's rampage.
Fury-Fueled Foolishness: Blinded by anger at Nihilus for killing his teammates, Bolin loudly screams while charging at a distracted Nihilus, alerting the latter to his attack. Nihilus even internally lampshades how stupid Bolin's decision was and notes how even a pre-Dark Side Jaune could deflect his obvious attack.
Gorn:
- The deaths of the Atlas soldiers are extremely graphic with their bodies getting obliterated by hundreds of bullets as blood and bits of viscera go flying everywhere.
- Bolin's death. Nihilus splatters his head using the crushed remains of Crescent Rose as a cannonball. This results in a fountain of blood shooting up from his headless torso, coating everyone nearby with his remains.
Grievous Harm with a Body: During the fight, Nihilus grabs Pyrrha by her neck and uses her body to beat Arslan.
High-Pressure Blood: When Nihilus splatters Bolin's head away, his body shoots out a fountain of blood that covers everyone nearby, including Ruby.
High-Voltage Death: Nadir and Reese die when Nihilus hits them with his Force lightning.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: The Atlas soldiers who shot at Darth Nihilus are killed when Nihilus catches the bullets mid-air and flings it right back at them.
I'm Having Soul Pains: When she hears Nihilus' Force Scream, Pyrrha describes feeling as though the scream was tearing into her very soul.
Immediate Sequel: The chapter picks up exactly where "Destiny" had left off, with Jaune's friends staring in horror at a recently-transformed Darth Nihilus.
"Instant Death" Radius: Nihilus's Force Scream kills anyone who hears him while in close proximity. When he charges up to unleash it, Qrow realizes what he's about to do and yells at everyone to run.
Jaw Drop: Ruby feels her jaw drop open in shock when she sees Nihilus use his telekinesis to catch thousands of Dust bullets without difficulty.
Kick the Dog: The way Darth Nihilus destroys Crescent Rose screams this trope. Logically, there was little reason for him to destroy Ruby's scythe and he could have killed Bolin in any number of ways. But he specifically chose to disarm Ruby of her cherished weapon, crush it into a makeshift cannonball, and then use it to splatter Bolin's head while Ruby watched in horror. He probably knew how attached Ruby was to her scythe from her previous interactions with Jaune and did this solely to cause her emotional pain and traumatize her further.
Kick Them While They Are Down: After using his telekinesis to slam Ruby into the ground face first, Nihilus then walks over to a downed Ruby and waits for her to struggle to get up before kicking her in the face with his boot.
Laser-Guided Karma: At the start of the fight, Nihilus uses his powers to kill a large number of civilians and causes their organs and blood to fly everywhere. Later, while fighting Qrow, there's a moment where Nihilus has the upper hand, only to step on the blood of his earlier victims and slip. This momentary loss of balance gives Qrow time to dodge Nihilus's attack. Justified, since it was the result of Qrow's Semblance acting in time.
Line in the Sand: Before fighting Nihilus, Qrow gives the present members of RWBY, JNPR, and ABRN the chance to leave. All of them choose to stay and help him.
Ludicrous Gibs: When Nihilus telekinetically flings thousands of bullets at the Atlas soldiers, their bodies get shredded as viscera and blood are splattered everywhere.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": Pretty much everyone's reaction when Nihilus pulls an airship down from the sky.
Mirthless Laughter: When Nihilus forces Ironwood's airship to crash down on top of the heroes, Qrow can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation while everyone around him stares in horror at the incoming airship.
More Dakka: Nihilus uses the thousands of bullets he telekinetically caught to utterly shred the Atlas soldiers and cover their bodies in bullet holes.
Multi-Directional Barrage: After using his telekinesis to catch every bullet that that Atlas soldiers fire at him, Nihilus arranges the floating bullets into a dome surrounding him and then sends them flying in every direction, shredding apart the soldiers alongside dozens of nearby civilians.
Neck Lift: Nihilus briefly holds Pyrrha by her neck before using her to inflict Grievous Harm with a Body on Arslan.
Not His Blood: After Nihilus slaughters the Atlas soldiers who fired on him, Pyrrha's finds that her face is wet with blood and then realizes that it's not her blood, but that of one of the Atlas soldiers who Nihilus killed.
Offhand Backhand: When Ruby tries a desperate melee attack from behind Nihilus, he catches her mid-air with his telekinesis and slams her into the ground without even sparing a glance at her.
One-Man Army: Darth Nihilus easily takes on the combined force of Qrow, Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, and ABRN; and dominates the battle while not even seeming winded by it.
Opportunistic Bastard: Cinder piggybanks on Darth Nihilus's rampage and has the White Fang attack Beacon while everyone is distracted by Nihilus.
Out-of-Character Alert: The total Lack of Empathy that Nihilus shows towards the soldiers and civilians he kills at the start of the chapter confirms to Pyrrha that Jaune is no longer the one in control of his body, since even he wouldn't be so apathetic to this much death.
Pyrrha then looked back at Jaune. No… at Nihilus. She knew that this was Nihilus she was looking at, not her leader. Because only Nihlus could look this… apathetic to the death and destruction he just wrought.
Person of Mass Destruction: Nihilus demonstrates what he is capable of when he isn't holding back. He all but destroys Beacon by using an Atlesian airship to perform a Colony Drop.
Psychic Strangle: Nihilus uses a Force-choke on Arslan before pulling her in for the kill.
Red Shirt Army: The Atlas soldiers and drones who try to shoot Darth Nihilus at the start of the chapter. Nihilus establishes himself as a serious threat by butchering every single one of them with ease.
Rule of Three: Qrow's Semblance kicks in three times during this chapter. The first two happen during his fight with Darth Nihilus and end up saving his life. The third time happens to a random civilian and results in Qrow to being subjected to an Uncertain Doom.
Say My Name: Pyrrha shouts out Jaune's name in horror when Atlas's soldiers open fire on Darth Nihilus.
Screaming Warrior: After Nihilus kills all of his teammates on ABRN, Bolin charges at Nihilus while screaming in rage. This gets deconstructed since Bolin's screaming ends up telegraphing his attack to Nihilus, who had his back turned at the time, and he easily counters Bolin's attack before killing him.
Shell-Shock Silence: Happens to Pyrrha twice in this chapter.
- When Nihilus unleashes his Force scream, the sonic blast knocks Pyrrha off her feet and temporarily causes her to lose her hearing. As Arslan helps Pyrrha up to her feet, she tries to shout something at her but Pyrrha can't hear what she's saying, leading Arslan to just point to where Nihilus is standing and reveal the corpses of students and soldiers who had been instantly killed by the Force scream.
- When Pyrrha wakes up after being knocked out by the explosion caused from Ironwood's crashing airship, her ears are ringing with a high-pitched buzz.
Shooting Superman: When a squad of Atlas soldiers and drones open fire on Darth Nihilus, he uses the Force to catch every Dust round they shoot at him mid-air. Despite seeing that their weapons have no effect, the soldiers continue firing until their magazines are emptied.
Silent Antagonist: Darth Nihilus doesn't say a word throughout the entire chapter, which makes him all the more intimidating as he effortlessly defeats the heroes. He only makes a sound twice during his fight against Qrow and the students. The first time was when he unleashes his Force scream and the second time is when he lets out a low growl out of frustration at Qrow's Semblance causing him bad luck.
Summon to Hand: Nihilus starts the battle by using the Force to summon Crocea Mors to his hand from where it's stored in the locker.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: While fighting Weiss, Nihilus throws Crocea Mors at her so hard that the sword is described as a "flying buzzsaw" as it spins through the air.
Tuck and Cover: Right when Ironwood's airship crashes into Beacon's courtyard and creates a massive explosion, Qrow sacrifices himself by choosing to stay behind and using his body to shield an Innocent Bystander from the blast.
We Hardly Knew Ye: All the members of team ABRN are both introduced and killed off in the same chapter.
Wrecked Weapon: Darth Nihilus destroys Crescent Rose by using his telekinesis to lift the scythe out of Ruby's hand and crushing it into a ball of metallic scrap.
You Will Not Evade Me: While fighting Arslan, Nihilus kills her by Force-choking her from afar, then pulling her in close to his body and slashing her through the torso with his sword.
Your Head A-Splode: Bolin, the last surviving member of ABRN, is killed when Nihilus uses the remains of Ruby's scythe as a projectile to blast through his head.