Our Way
Her spirit is indomitable. And it always will be.
Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Kerry Shawcross & Connor Pickens
Directed by Kerry Shawcross & Connor Pickens
Yang: Was that a giant Grimm?
Weiss: Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it...
Weiss: Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it...
With the destruction of Argus imminent, and the only weapon capable of saving it out of commission, there is just one untested option left to try.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Art Shift: To activate her silver eyes, Ruby tries to summon memories of friends and family to promote the required state of mind. All the memories of scenes from past episodes are done in 2D illustrations, as are some of her memories of scenes that never occurred in the show.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- When Ruby's Silver Eyes fail to fully destroy the Leviathan, Cordovin, who has managed to get the cannon arm off, barges in with the mech, revealing a This Is a Drill option in the remaining arm, and digs it into the giant Grimm, destroying it.
- When the heroes try to compliment Oscar for managing to safely crash-land the airship after Cordovin shot it down, Oscar tells them that he didn't do it alone. While he was panicking at the controls, Ozpin returned to calm him down and guide him into a controlled landing, thereby saving the lives of everyone on board and preserving the craft for their flight to Atlas.
- Book Ends: The Mistral storyline starts at the beginning of Volume 4 with Mercury and Emerald standing at a window staring down in horror at the Grimm that emerge from the inky pools at the base of Salem's tower. The Mistral storyline ends in Volume 6, where the final scene consists of them both standing at the same window staring down in horror as Salem brings forth new Grimm from the inky pools below.
- Breath Weapon: The Leviathan produces a huge jet of flame from its mouth that slams into the shields protecting Argus. It destroys the pillars generating the shields within seconds.
- Call-Back: When Neo reveals to Cinder that she can disguise their Mistral airship as an Atlesian one, Cinder tells Neo that someone once asked her if she believes in destiny; she states that she's happy to confirm that she still does. Cinder is referring to the question Pyrrha asks her just before Cinder kills her.
- Continuity Cavalcade: When Ruby tries to settle herself into the correct frame of mind for invoking the power of her silver eyes, she tries to think of her family and friends to evoke the feelings of the beauty and preciousness of life and how it must be protected. The images that flash across the screen cover family scenes that predate the show as well as happy or bonding scenes from the show itself, such as the Volume 2 food fight or when Teams RWBY and JNPR are eating noodles during the tournament. When she struggles to maintain the happier memories and begins drifting into unhappier moments, traumatic scenes from previous episodes also appear, such as Pyrrha and Penny's deaths.
- Chekhov's Gun: Ruby has been carrying the Relic of Knowledge ever since the second episode when the train crash separated the Relic from Ozpin. As a result, it doesn't seem at all unusual or important to see Ruby carrying the Relic into battle against the Leviathan. However, when she runs out of time for trying to put herself into the right state of mind to call forth the power of her silver eyes, she immediately summons Jinn to freeze time. She's not interested in asking Jinn a question, she's just trying to buy herself some time to summon her power. Jinn accepts but warns Ruby that it'll never be allowed to happen again.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: The entire city of Argus cheers in joy after Ruby manages to stop the Leviathan, and again when Cordovin finishes it off.
- Hybrid Monster: In the final scene of the volume, Salem stands next to the inky pools as new Beringels emerge. As each one appears, she forces feathered wings to sprout from its back and it then flies off to the cliff side to join the rest of the army she's creating. The noises the winged Beringels make are a mixture of the Beringel and Nevermore sounds and the wings look like Nevermore wings. The implication is that these creatures are a hybrid of the two types of Grimm.
- It Only Works Once: Jinn makes it clear that she's not going to let Ruby get into a habit of summoning her just to take advantage of the fact that time stands still whenever Jinn appears. She allows it this once because she's amused by Ruby's clever thinking, but her purpose is to answer questions so she will not appear again unless someone has a question they want answered.
- Made My Self Sad: When trying to invoke her Silver Eyes, Ruby thinks back on the past. However, the happy memories soon segue into unhappy ones, such as Pyrrha and Penny's deaths, Jaune and Yang's depression, her friends getting injured at the Fall of Beacon, causing Ruby to falter.
- Not the Intended Use: Ruby summons Jinn, not to ask a question, but to take advantage of the fact that time stands still whenever Jinn appears. She apologises to Jinn and says that she needed more time. Jinn accepts it this once because she's amused by Ruby's cleverness, but she warns Ruby that this will never be allowed to happen again.
- Post-Final Boss: After two lengthy, climactic battles against Cordovin and Adam in the last few episodes, the Leviathan Grimm is defeated much more easily, and mostly serves as a way to resolve Ruby's arc this volume about learning to use her silver eyes.
- The Reveal:
- When Ruby is thinking about past memories to help create the frame of mind required for activating her silver eyes, her memories suddenly shift to her mother. Summer Rose is shown standing on the cliff her grave is located, watching the sun set. She turns to face the camera, revealing for the first time what she looks like when the hood of her cloak is lowered.
- The volume ends with the protagonists arriving at Atlas. The city is revealed to be floating in the air, suspended by cables that extend down to another city based on the ground below. The ground the city has been carved out of lies directly beneath and smokes away like a furnace. Above the city, the entire Atlesian air fleet is hovering, facing outwards as if preparing for an attack.
- The Stinger: The post-credits final scene of the volume reveals that Salem is standing beside the inky pools from which new Beringel emerge. As each Beringel emerges, she uses her powers to transform them, giving them feathered wings. Emerald and Mercury watch in fear as Hazel observes the old saying that if you want something done properly, you have to do it yourself.
- This Is a Drill: The left hand of Cordovin's mech unit can draw back to reveal a huge drill. Although she never uses this on the protagonists, she activates it against the Leviathan.
- Triumphant Reprise: "Big Metal Shoe", which in "The Lady In The Shoe" was basically a "The Villain Sucks" Song towards Cordovin, is heard again (without lyrics) when she arrives to destroy the Leviathan Grimm for good.
- Time Stands Still: When Jinn first appeared, her arrival was heralded by time standing still around the Relic. When Ruby fails to activate her silver eyes in time to stop the Leviathan from attacking her, she calls on Jinn, deliberately freezing everything so that she can buy time to activate her power. She apologises, and Jinn warns her not to do this again.
♫ You may have taken the lead but I'll even the score
You won the battle you won't win the war
Not now and
Nevermore. ♫
You won the battle you won't win the war
Not now and
Nevermore. ♫
