Recap / RWBY V5 E12 "Vault of the Spring Maiden"

RECAP:
Index | Character Short 1 | Character Short 2 | Character Short 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

Volume 5, Episode 12:

Vault of the Spring Maiden

A bit grander than the one at Beacon.

Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Gray G. Haddock & Miles Luna

"The first Maiden in - why, I'm not sure anyone knows how many years - is about to open a vault. I would say it's quite an exciting time."

— Cinder Fall

The fight with Salem's group gets more intense as Weiss is injured, Hazel goes into a furious rage, and Cinder enters the vault.

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Tropes in this episode include:

• Artificial Limbs: Cinder's long left sleeve hides that her left arm is now entirely Grimm. It includes sharp claws that allow her to pierce the skin, and enables her to absorb the powers of a Maiden through simple physical contact.
• Call-Back:
  • At the end of Volume 3, Cinder justifies her theft of the Fall Maiden's powers by claiming that Pyrrha would not have been as worthy of them as herself. In this episode, she espouses the same logic as she attempts to drain Vernal.
  • Ozpin was able to hit Cinder with a burst of rapid cane strikes that knocked her back quite a distance. While in control of Oscar's body, he repeats the move against Hazel, although his movements are slower and less effective. This demonstrates both Ozpin's weakened state and Hazel's overwhelming might.
  • Hazel recognizes Oscar from their first meeting at the train station, and snarls that he would never have helped the boy had he known that he was harboring "that evil" inside him.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Subverted. Raven assumes that Cinder will allow Vernal to open the vault before turning on them, since only the Spring Maiden can do so. Cinder's plan is different; she intends to steal Vernal's powers and open the vault herself. It would have been a clever trick if Vernal ever had the powers to begin with.
• Harmless Freezing: Cinder usually favors fire when she uses her own Maiden powers, but this time freezes Raven solid so she can have a clear shot at Vernal. Raven quickly breaks out of the ice with her own power, completely unfazed.
• Healing Hands: Just as Jaune is begging for Weiss to wake up, his hands unconsciously surge with his Aura. The energy spreads to Weiss's prone body, and she appears to regain consciousness. Ruby realizes that Weiss is recovering, and tells Jaune to keep up the flow.
• Hulking Out: Hazel powers up by embedding Dust Crystals into his forearms, by means of stabbing himself. The raw Dust swells up his muscles, deepens his voice, and strengthens his attacks with whatever element he's using at the moment.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Raven Branwen has been consistently depicted, since her introduction, as a powerful Huntress on par with her brother Qrow. The ending of the episode reveals that on top of her skill and cunning, she's the Spring Maiden.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Cinder impales Vernal with her Grimm arm in an attempt to steal her powers. Even without powers to drain, Vernal screams in agony as Cinder digs in her claws.
• An Ice Person: Fall Maiden Amber has demonstrated that she could conjure ice in combat. Cinder has only ever used fire after stealing those abilities, but chooses ice in this episode to incapacitate Raven.
• Moral Myopia: Hazel sees Oscar as just another of Ozpin's "victims", yet has no compunctions in trying to render him an actual victim of murder. His hatred of Ozpin is so great that he shuffles the blame of his own crimes onto the reincarnator's shoulders.
• Nothing Personal: Cinder says this to Vernal as she's killing her, smirking as she claims to be more worthy of her powers.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Ozpin can only mutter "Oh, no" as Hazel recognizes Oscar as his host. Whereas Ozpin advised Oscar to simply "fight" Lionheart one episode prior, here he insists that Oscar just "run". Not only is Hazel leagues stronger than Leo and a serial killer of Huntsmen, he holds a personal grudge against Ozpin for the death of his sister Gretchen during a Beacon training mission.
  • Cinder's triumph at draining another Maiden fades to panic as she can't detect any magic in Vernal's body.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As the battle for Haven rages on, stress takes its toll on several characters and pushes them to otherwise unlikely actions.
  • Oscar is a sweet, shy, and soft-spoken young boy who's still overwhelmed and struggling to inherit Ozpin's legacy. When he notices that Weiss has been impaled and Ruby knocked unconscious, he becomes so angry that he strikes Lionheart with enough power to send the grown man flying down the stairs. That act brings Oscar to Hazel's attention, leading him to discover that this is Ozpin's new host when he chastises Lionheart for being bested by a child.
  • Ozpin is obsessed with giving people choice. However, when Hazel powers up with lightning Dust, Oscar refuses to let Ozpin take control of the fight, even though he has neither the skill nor experience to handle such a dangerous threat. Ozpin is forced to assume control against Oscar's wishes just to keep the boy alive.
  • Ruby is a cheerful, bubbly person, who always sees the bright side of everything, no matter how dark a situation gets. After seeing several allies come close to death, her attitude here shifts. When she joins Yang to help against Mercury and Emerald, Ruby is neither optimistic nor cheerful. When she coldly asserts "No. I'm angry", the music itself stops dead.
• Red Herring: Part of the reason Vernal was assumed to be the Spring Maiden was because her name means 'of spring', much like Cinder's surname Fall references her own Maiden abilities. Raven even called attention to Cinder's name when they first met earlier in the Volume. All to perpetuate the ruse that Vernal, and not Raven herself, was the Spring Maiden.
• The Reveal:
  • After several volumes of not being able to activate his Semblance, and not understanding why, this episode reveals that Jaune can transfer his Aura to others. It took Weiss almost dying right in front of his eyes for his Semblance to have a reason to kick in, and this power saves her life.
  • Ever since Ruby injured Cinder at Beacon, Cinder has hidden her destroyed arm with a long, flowing sleeve. When she attacks Vernal to steal the Spring Maiden's power, said arm is revealed to be a Grimm implant that can drain magic.
  • The entire volume has focused on the fate of the Spring Maiden, and who can control that Maiden to obtain the Relic of Knowledge. Raven's stake in this conflict is revealed to be more personal than first believed, as she has been said Maiden all along.
• Rubber Man: Cinder's Grimm arm can elongate. She uses this ability to Sneak Attack Vernal from a distance.
• Say My Name:
  • The episode opens with Jaune yelling Weiss's name in horror, bringing everyone to life after they'd all frozen with shock at the end of the previous episode when Cinder impaled Weiss.
  • Hazel tends to be quite placid and soft-spoken even when situations start irritating him. As soon as he realizes Ozpin is present in the room, he roars the man's name, forcing everyone in the room to freeze once again.

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Cinder: What is this? Where's the power?!
Raven: You won't find it, because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden... I AM!