A Tale Involving a Tree
Written by Eddy Rivas and Kiersi Burkhart
Directed by Dustin Matthews and Yssa Badiola
Directed by Dustin Matthews and Yssa Badiola
"I don't understand. Alyx... the Pleasers... now Ruby? What does this place want?!
... I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"
... I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"
— Jaune Arc
With Ruby gone, our remaining heroes must continue on...
Tropes in this episode include:
- Armor-Piercing Question: While examining the wall of weapons, Ruby talks about her burden and her feeling she'll never be enough. As she's drawn to her mother's weapon, the Blacksmith asks her what she would measure as enough. Ruby references her mother in surprise and reaches for the weapon.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When asked about Ruby's fate, the Blacksmith tells her the only thing that will happen is whatever Ruby wants; what she becomes and where she ends up is for Ruby alone to make. Though Ruby already realized from Herb's vision she doesn't know what she wants, she's troubled by the realization of why that matters. The Blacksmith later points out to Ruby she has no idea what she wants.
- Book Ends: The episode is book-ended with Summer Rose reading "The Girl Who Fell Through the World" to her sleeping daughters.
- Came Back Strong: Upon returning to the ruined village of the Paper Pleasers, Jaune and WBY are greeted by the reborn Genial Gems. Despite Jaune's fears, they truly did Ascend and are not only still as kind and helpful as before, but now they have new bodies that can never be harmed by fires or floods. Also the Herbalist to a lesser extent — he's reborn with a much more imago-like form and fully-functional wings for more convenient means of travel.
- Came Back Wrong: Exploited by the Cat, who torments the heroes - and Yang in particular - with illusions of zombified-looking Rubys, suggesting that what comes out of the tree might no longer be her. Indeed, Yang expresses this fear mere moments beforehand, with Blake countering that whether who comes out of the tree is or isn't Ruby may not be up to them.
- Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, Jaune is blasted off the tree while Ruby reaches for what appears to be her mother's weapon after the Blacksmith asks what measure would be enough for Ruby to live up to so she can cope with her burden.
- Collateral Damage: During the fight with the Cat, Weiss launches a fire attack at them, only for them to be revealed as an illusion when they shatter on impact. It then winds up hitting Jaune instead, knocking him off the edge of the tree.
- Crystalline Creature: The Paper Pleasers have been reborn as the Genial Gems, retaining their original star shapes and their desire to help and beautify the world, but now made of crystal so they won't be so easily destroyed.
- Death of Personality: Discussed; when the heroes find Ruby as part of the Tree, Yang fears she may no longer be Ruby when she emerges, which the Curious Cat taunts her with as they battle the heroes. Within the Tree itself, Ruby, weighed down by her feelings of failure, may cast aside her old self and become someone else, a choice manifested by the Blacksmith with an array of weapons, any one of which Ruby can choose to become the person who once wielded it.
- Didn't See That Coming: Despite needing to possess an empty person, the Cat didn't realise such a state would leave them without any attachments to Remnant and thus unable to return there. Because of Neo's emptiness, the door to Remnant keeps rebuffing the Cat's attempts to pass through. The Cat plans to remedy this by going back to their original plan of possessing Ruby, who they believe wants to go back to Remnant.
- Dramatic Irony: Upon seeing the Genial Gems makes WBY and Jaune realize and accept there's no such thing as a perfect Huntsman and even the greatest lose. It doesn't stop them from being brave and good people, but they need to stop setting themselves up for failure by demanding perfection of themselves. At the tree, Ruby agonizes about her imperfection, how she can't measure up, and she's failing everyone because of it, while her friends have already had their own epiphany about this and are actively protecting her right to become whomever she wants to be.
- Epiphanic Prison: The moment Jaune and WBY fully understand and accept the Tree and its purpose, a storm of leaves blows around them and they are immediately taken to the Tree and the door to Remnant. This helps Jaune realize that the Tree's true purpose is acceptance.
- Evil Is Hammy: Since they aren't bothering to hide their true nature (and possibly to compensate for their new, more limited body), the Curious Cat is far more emotional and theatrical than they were previously, going on long deranged rants about their hatred of Alyx and their desire to claim Ruby as a vessel, summoning illusions to torment the others, and cackling as they recount killing Alyx.
- Evil Is Petty: While battling the heroes, the Curious Cat uses Neo's semblance to psychologically torment them, creating twisted images of Ruby to taunt Yang and attacking Jaune with an image of Pyrrha after distracting him by turning into Penny. The smirk that the Pyrrha illusion sports demonstrates that the Cat is enjoying this, not just using the images for a tactical advantage.
- Failure Hero: Ruby tells the Blacksmith everything she does fails and all her attempts to make things better just makes things worse for everyone, which puts her through a Crisis of Faith.
- Good All Along: After much debate about Ascension and its implications it's confirmed that the Tree is just as benevolent as the Afterans expected it to be, speaking gently and patiently to Ruby to help her figure out what she wants and offering the rest of Team RWBY and Jaune the way home once they accept that its purpose is about helping people to accept who they are and what they want to be.
- Go Through Me: WBY and Jaune stand in front of Ruby's wooden statue to protect her from the Cat, who's willing to torment and kill the group if it means getting their intended vessel back.
- Ground-Shattering Landing: While possessing Neo, the Cat jumps off the platform the door to Remnant is on to make a Three-Point Landing in front of the heroes. They then use the broken ground beneath them to emphasise their point when insinunating that they crushed Alyx for being a "broken, useless thing".
- Heroic Wannabe:
- Tormented by his failures for so long, Jaune took to unintentionally holding the Paper Pleasers hostage just to experience the cheap thrill of saving lives, sabotaging his own, and even Team RWBY's, attempts to get home due to his misplaced fears of the Tree. Seeing the reincarnated forms of the Paper Pleasers make a beautiful sculpture out of the water that destroyed their previous forms makes him realize what he's been doing. Weiss then tells him even the greatest heroes fail time to time, making him realize and admit to his selfishness, and this epiphany enables the four to travel there and locate Ruby's wooden form.
- Ruby tells the Blacksmith she wanted to be the hero just like in the stories Summer told her and "do the right thing". However, her frequent failures have led her to wonder if that's just not possible and if she can even be that person as she is now.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: The Curious Cat reveals when Alyx and Lewis were at the door to Remnant, Alyx talked to the tree and had a crisis of conscience from all the harm she caused in the Ever After, including poisoning Jaune. So, while Lewis returned to Remnant, Alyx chose to stay despite having promised the Curious Cat she would take them to Remnant. The Cat killed Alyx in response.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: With their true nature revealed, the Curious Cat notes they always considered Weiss "the worst of the bunch".
- In-Universe Catharsis: Upon seeing the Paper Pleasers return as the Genial Gems, Jaune realizes his selfish needs to become a hero after so many failures have led to him keeping the Pleasers from Ascending. Thanks to Weiss, Jaune finally accepts his failures don't define him, with the accompanying feeling of catharsis being what finally brings the heroes to the Tree.
- Meaningful Echo: As Jaune finally learns to forgive himself, he muses that the Curious Cat may have been right about the Tree and starts to quote their line from the previous episode ("It's not a place you go, it's a place you know"). After he and WBY are transported to the Tree, Weiss completes the quote for him.
- Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: As Jaune angsts over his selfish treatment of the Paper Pleasers, Weiss reassures him even the greatest Hunstmen in history failed at times, but were still incredibly brave.
- Multiple-Choice Future: Ruby is presented with a Wall of Weapons, each representing a different identity she could take, with each weapon giving off empathic signals of the kind of person she would be if she took it. After some hesitation, Ruby realizes she wants to be like Summer, and the episode stops as she reaches out to learn what that future would hold for her.
- Plant Person: After Ruby asks if the Blacksmith is the tree, she explains it would be too simplistic for what the Tree really is. She's very deeply connected to the tree, acting as a guide to help people make the choices that best suit themselves and who they want to become. Despite being made of metal, there's a very large root visible on her back.
- The Reveal:
- Summer Rose is finally revealed in person, confirming that Ruby's emblem came from her mother.
- Alyx was killed by the Cat, while Lewis returned to Remnant; he wrote the story but excluded himself from the tale as a memorial to his sister. This makes his name even more meaningful than it already was.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Ruby says she wanted to be like the fairy tale heroes, but since she can't seem to find the right thing to do and can't save everyone, she feels worthless, saying she can only feel the state of her own feelings of inadequacy.
- Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: When Jaune knocks the Cat-possessed Neo down and winds up to stab them, the Cat uses Neo's Semblance to take the form of Penny, causing him to hesitate and be unprepared for being attacked by a smirking Semblance copy of Pyrrha.
- Transflormation: Those taken by the tree are transformed into wooden statues, which will then break and release their new selves. The team sees this happen to the Herbalist, who bursts out with a new set of wings, and protect Ruby's own statue from the Cat until she reemerges.
- Transformation of the Possessed: In addition to the initial changes the Curious Cat inflicted on Neo upon possessing her, they show they can also take it further such as by changing her arms into large glowing claws.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Weiss consoles Jaune as he realizes that he has unwittingly kept the Paper Pleasers from becoming what they needed to be, telling him that he shouldn't be too hard on himself. While Jaune, like the best Huntsmen in history, may suffered failures, he nevertheless remains an incredibly brave and good person. She then embraces Jaune tightly; Blake and Yang subsequently join them in a Group Hug.
- You Have Failed Me: The Cat was about to enter Remnant when Alyx had a crisis of conscience and betrayed them. The Cat subsequently killed her in revenge. This also applies to Neo who no longer has any attachments to Remnant, and the Cat plans to make Ruby their vessel once again.
- You Monster!: Incensed by the Cat's admission they killed Alyx before she could atone for her misdeeds in the Ever After, Jaune calls the Cat a monster while they fight.
"Even the best Huntsmen in history? They've all lost. But they were still incredibly brave... and good."
— Weiss Schnee
