History Recap / RWBYV9E10OfSolitudeAndSelf

* HappyEndingOverride: Inverted: with this ending, most of the ''villains''' biggest wins from the previous Volume were undone: in addition to most of Atlas' people having been saved, Cinder's plan to kill Ruby and her friends resulted with their emotional strengthening in Ever After, and it's later revealed that Ruby's call to arms actually worked, making the world more united than ever. As Salem summoning the Brothers will ''only'' destroy the world if humanity is still divided, this effectively puts her further from her goal than she started the series at. In terms of the Volume itself, the bleak ending in Recap/RWBYV9E8TeaAmidstTerribleTrouble is also completely undone as Ruby maintains her identity, rendering Neo's already PyrrhicVictory in that episode moot.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The Curious Cat's defeated by a reunited Team RWBY, but their end comes about from the actions of Neo, whom they had possessed, and Jaune, to whom the Cat had displayed personal animosity and indirectly tormented through its manipulations of Alyx. Jaune tells WBY to burn the Ever Tree's leaves around them to expose the possessed Neo to the smoke, saying [[AssimilationBackfire Neo isn't immune]] to its effects; the resulting flood of memories and painful emotions connected with them evicts the Cat's form from her. The cat tries attacking Ruby one last time, but Neo uses [[DevouredByTheHorde a pack of Jabberwalkers to devour the Cat]], ensuring they're KilledOffForReal. Furthermore, it's revealed the Cat and the Jabberwalker were created by the Brother Gods, with the Jabberwalker being a "failed" creation, making their end at their counterpart's hands doubly fitting.

* HappyEndingOverride: Inverted: with this ending, most of the ''villains''' biggest wins from the previous Volume were undone: in addition to most of Atlas' people having been saved, Cinder's plan to kill Ruby and her friends resulted with their emotional strengthening in Ever After, and it's later revealed that Ruby's call to arms actually worked, making the world more united than ever. As Salem summoning the Brothers will ''only'' destroy the world if humanity is still divided, this effectively puts her further from her goal than she started the series at.

* MeaninglessVillainVictory: On one hand, the villains succeded in claiming two of the Relics back in Volume 8, which Salem needed to summon the Brothers to blow up Remnant. On the other hand, Ruby's broadcast at the Amity Tower and subsequent evacuation plan worked out in the end, since the people of Remnant ''finally'' joined forces as a response, meaning that Salem's EvilPlan is already doomed in the first place.

* HappyEndingOverride: Inverted: with this ending, most of the ''villains''' biggest wins from the previous Volume were undone: in addition to most of Atlas' people having been saved, Cinder's plan to kill Ruby and her friends resulted with their emotional strengthening in Ever After, and its revealed Ruby's call to arms actually worked, making the world more united than ever. As Salem summoning the Brothers will ''only'' destroy the world if humanity is still divided, this effectively puts her further from her goal than she started the series at.

* HappyEndingOverride: Inverted: with this ending, most of the ''villain's'' victories from the previous Volume were undone: in addition to most of Atlas' people having been saved, Cinder's plan to kill Ruby and co only served to make them stronger and its revealed Ruby's call to arms actually worked, making the world more united than ever. As Salem summoning the Brothers will ''only'' destroy the world if humanity is still divided, this effectively puts her further from her goal than she started the series at.

->''"What happens... if I choose me?"''

* AbsurdlyLongWait: The Tree had been waiting for so long for Jaune to come to it, and tells him so through the Blacksmith (subtly emphasizing "long") when he and WBY finally meet her in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds. Jaune could only sheepishly reply that he's made it at last.

** Summer Rose and Raven Branwen's flashback has Summer walking past Raven and purposely bumping her aside - just as Yang would in "Haven's Fate."

* ClippedWingAngel: After being forced out of Neo by the rush of memories and emotions, the Curious Cat changes into a large BeastMan to continue trying to kill the heroes. Unfortunately for them, losing access to Neo's Semblance gets rid of [[UnskilledButStrong the only advantage the Cat had]], and while they battle WBY and Jaune with a slight advantage, the reunited Team RWBY is able to absolutely trounce them. Once Ruby joins the fight the Cat is barely even able to scratch any of them before the four launch a CombinationAttack that puts them down for good.

* DisappointedInYou: While Summer went with Raven on her last mission, she made it clear that she wasn't pleased at all by Raven's abandonment of Taiyang and Yang, being unusually cold toward Raven and shoulder-check her despite Raven's attempts to justify herself by saying that Summer was better suited for family life and motherhood than her.

-->'''Jaune:''' ''This''...is what I sounded like?

* EurekaMoment: After being affected by the smoke of the Tree's burned leaves, Jaune realises that he can use them on the Cat. The Cat may be immune, but Neo isn't, ending the Cat's possession of her.

* EurekaMoment: After being affected by the smoke of the Tree's leaves that burnt, Jaune gets the idea to use it on [=NeoCat=].

* HelpfulHallucination: When Jaune was affected by the smoke of the Tree's leaves that burned as he fell from the previous episode, a vision of Alyx came to him. She states what was bothering him, that "Maybe [it was] time for a change. To be the kind of man [he] always wanted to be," and offers her hand. He takes it and comes out of the smoke. This helped inspire him to use the smoke on [=NeoCat=].

* DemiurgeArchetype: The Ever After, through the Tree, embodied the concepts of destruction and creation as Dark and Light to respectively tame the overgrowth of the land and the places for future Afterans to live in. They eventually figured out, in secret, how to [[RecursiveCreators create beings of their own to carry out this function for them]], and stepped further beyond their bounds fighting over their creations, disrupting the balance of the realm while growing more powerful all the while. Thus the Ever After opened a pathway to other worlds for them to work out their squabbles and experiments, where they're revered as the sole gods of all that is.

* EasilyForgiven: Aside from the crimes she committed against the kingdoms of Remnant across the previous volumes; Neo has set clones of the Jabberwalker (which can permanently kill Afterans) on innocent denizens of the Ever After in her pursuit of the heroes, and just two episodes prior, Neo inflicted ferocious psychological torture on Ruby -- including but not limited to the murder of Little -- which essentially drove Ruby to commit suicide via ascension in front of her team and Jaune. Upon accepting Roman's death, Neo parts ways with Team RWBY and Jaune on mutually friendly and sympathetic terms, which stands in stark contrast to the lack of mercy the unrepentant Curious Cat receives from both parties.

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Ruby's vision shows both [[GoodStepmother Summer]] ''and'' [[MissingMom Raven]] displaying behavior later seen in their [[HasTwoMommies daughter Yang]], with Summer shoulder-checking Raven in much the same way Yang will do years later in the Haven Vault.

-->''"Then maybe... that girl is enough."''
--->-- '''The Blacksmith'''

-->''"Then maybe... that girl is enough."''

* AbsurdlyLongWait: The Tree had been waiting for so long for Jaune to come to it, tells him so through the Blacksmith (subtly emphasizing "long") when he and WBY finally meet her in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds. Jaune could only sheepishly reply that he's made it at last.

* AbsurdlyLongWait: The Tree had been waiting for so long for Jaune to come to it, and the Blacksmith tells him so (subtly emphasizing "long") when he and WBY finally meet her in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds. Jaune could only sheepishly reply that he's made it at last.

-->'''Curious Cat:''' (struggling to get up) You’re broken! You break everything you touch! I call Humans… weak! Confused! Incomplete!
-->'''Weiss:''' No, you’re wrong.
-->'''Yang:''' [Ruby]’s never been any of those things.
-->'''Blake:''' That’s why we follow her.

* BreakThemByTalking: The Curious Cat tries breaking Ruby down once more by reminding her of her failures. This time, it doesn't stick, and the Cat leaves itself wide open long enough for Neo's Jabberwalkers to land the killing blow.

** Back in the second volume, Neo gave Team RWBY a mocking curtsy way back in their first meeting. When saying goodbye to them in this episode, she curtsies genuinely, as thanks for freeing her from the Cat.

* BreakThemByTalking: The Curious Cat attempts to break Ruby down once more by reminding her of her failures. This time, it doesn't stick, and the Cat leaves itself wide open long enough for Neo's Jabberwalkers to land the killing blow.
* BrokenPedestal: By touching Summer's old weapon, Ruby sees how on the night she left, she lied to Tai about going on a mission for Ozpin when was actually meeting up with Raven for some important mission. Stunned and frustrated at how deceitful her supposedly perfect mother was, Ruby pushes the weapon display over, shattering its glass. [[DownplayedTrope However]], Ruby also remembers Summer assuring her and Yang that she would always love them the way they are and realizes she doesn't have to be a perfect Huntress either.

** When Neo first met Team RWBY back in Volume 2, she gave them a mocking curtsy. When saying goodbye to them, she curtsies genuinely, as a thank you for freeing her from the Cat.
** When Ruby first met Little, they said that Ruby was "a lot of things". Since they've Ascended, they realize they also want to be "a lot of things", and names themself Somewhat to reflect that.

* BreakThemByTalking: The Curious Cat attempts to break Ruby down once more by reminding her of her failures. This time, it doesn't stick, and the Cat leaves themself wide open long enough for Neo's Jabberwalkers to land the killing blow.
* BrokenPedestal: By touching Summer's old weapon, Ruby sees how on the night she left, she lied to Tai about going on a mission for Ozpin when was actually was meeting up with Raven for some important mission. Stunned and frustrated at how deceitful her supposedly perfect mother was, Ruby pushes the weapon display over, shattering its glass. [[DownplayedTrope However]], Ruby also remembers Summer assuring her and Yang that she would always love them the way they are and realizes she doesn't have to be a perfect Huntress either.

** When Neo first met Team [=RWBY=] back in the second volume, she gave them a mocking curtsy. When saying good-bye to them, she curtsies genuinely, as a thank you for freeing her from the Cat.
** When Ruby first met Little, they said that Ruby was "a lot of things". Since they've ascended, they realize they also want to be "a lot of things", and names themself Somewhat to reflect that.

** The Cat's death is one to the original Jabberwalker's. Neo kills them in much the same manner as she did to the Jabberwalker, ganging up on them with a squad of clones as they scream out a RapidFireNo in realization of just how utterly screwed they are.

* CombatPragmatist: Getting overwhelmed in direct combat with the Curious Cat, empowered with Neo's Semblance, Jaune recovers from getting exposed to the smoke of the Ever Tree leaves through making peace with his lingering Guilt towards Alyx's fate, and gets the idea to use the same tactic against the Curious Cat. Whilst they gloat that they're immune to the effect, Jaune notes that [[AssimilationBackfire Neo isn't]]; which evicts the cat and sets up their CurbStompBattle against the reunited Team RWBY later on, unable to use Neo's semblance to distract their foes anymore.

* DemiurgeArchetype: The Ever After, through the Tree, embodied the concepts of destruction and creation as Dark and Light to respectively tame the overgrowth of the land and create people and places to live on it. They eventually figured out, in secret, how to [[RecursiveCreators create beings of their own to carry out this function for them]], and stepped further beyond their bounds fighting over their creations, disrupting the balance of the realm while growing more powerful all the while. Thus the Ever After opened a pathway to other worlds for them to work out their squabbles and experiments, where they're revered as the sole gods of all that is.
* DevouredByTheHorde: When the Curious Cat tries futilely attacking Ruby again, they're grabbed by Neo's Jabberwalkers and eaten alive while Team RWBY watch in horror.

* FalseDichotomy: The Blacksmith says the Brother Gods, in embodying Creation and Destruction, ultimately fell to this. She describes balance as a living ecosystem that will find equilibrium in itself, not two forces locked in constant battle, and the Brother Gods fighting was why the Ever After eventually sent them away to hash out their disagreements somewhere else.
* FinishDialogueInUnison: In the flashback, Taiyang and Summer do this quoting Ozpin.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Though the first few moments of the Curious Cat's death at the hands of Neo's Jabberwalker clones are shown before it cuts away to Team RWBYJ's horrified expressions as well as Neo's expression of pure vindictive rage, the very disturbing sounds of them viciously ripping the Cat apart and eating them alive with a SickeningCrunch can be heard before the illusions dissipate.
* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: The Brother Gods were the first creations of the Tree in the Ever After, Dark made to clear the raw stuff that existed in the realm's primeval state so there would be space for the new creations, and Light made to make homes and structures for the Afterans. They began as a young goat and deer, respectively, but as they grew older and more powerful, they eventually started to take the forms that Remnant would know them in, and started to make their own creations in secret, those being the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker. After they started arguing over the fate of the latter, they were eventually sent out of the Ever After to create worlds of their own, namely Remnant.
* HeelRealization: After discovering the emptiness of her vengeance, breathing in the leaves' smoke, the heroes saving her, and then seeing Team [=RWBY=] together all causes Neo to realize that she wants to be a new, better person. She lets go of Roman, curtsies to the team, and lets the Tree ascend her.
* HelpfulHallucination: When Jaune was affected by the smoke of the Tree's leaves that burn as he fell from the previous episode, a vision of Alyx came to him. She states what was bothering him, that "Maybe [it was] time for a change. To be the kind of man [he] always wanted to be," and offers her hand. He takes it and comes out of the smoke. This helped inspire him to use the smoke on [=NeoCat=].

* ParentalAbandonment: A discussed example; Summer leaving on her final mission means leaving her husband and daughters behind, something Raven questions her on despite, as Summer points out, [[{{Hypocrite}} not having much ground to do so]]. Summer's dialogue implies that she never intended for leaving her family to be permanent, [[ForegoneConclusion though the viewers are aware it will be.]]

** Averted with Ruby as she decides to just [[BeYourself be herself]].

* ResidualSelfImage: In Jaune's tree smoke induced vision, he flickers between his current aged appearance and his youthful one.

** The two Brother Gods were actually creations of the Ever After who outgrew their roles; They became too much of a disruptive force after squabbling over the inhabitants they created, resulting in the Tree sending them out into the Void to make new worlds.

* ShesBack: After two volumes of pain, loss, defeat and angst, Ruby Rose breaks free from her tree form with a renewed sense of purpose, all to the tune of "Red Like Roses Part III".

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: After an entire volume of suffering from depression and insecurity, as well as the possibility being discussed of them having to pay a price to return to Remnant, Ruby and Jaune regain their optimism and self-confidence, Jaune regains his youth, the Curious Cat's dealt with, and they and WBY return without difficulty to Remnant. The heroes arrive in Vacuo to see Ruby's message ''was'' heard, and the kingdom has received reinforcements.

* VillainousBreakdown: The Curious Cat devolves into mad ranting after being soundly beaten down by not only Team WBY, but also the restored, rejuvenated Ruby. When they're left behind, they angrily try attacking once more... only to be destroyed by the Neo-controlled Jabberwalkers.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: The lesson Ruby ultimately learns is this, that Ruby Rose herself is more than enough.