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Context Recap / RWBYV6E3TheLostFable

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1[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\
2[[Recap/{{RWBY}} Index]] | [[Recap/RWBYVolume6CharacterShort Character Short]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E1ArgusLimited 1]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E2Uncovered 2]] | '''3''' | [[Recap/RWBYV6E4SoThatsHowItIs 4]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E5TheComingStorm 5]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E6AloneInTheWoods 6]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E7TheGrimmReaper 7]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E8DeadEnd 8]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E9Lost 9]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E10StealingFromTheElderly 10]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E11TheLadyInTheShoe 11]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E12SeeingRed 12]] | [[Recap/RWBYV6E13OurWay 13]]]]-]]]
3'''Volume 6, Episode 03:'''
4!The Lost Fable
5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwbythelostfable_2.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:When gods were among us.]]
7->Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross\
8Directed by Kerry Shawcross & Connor Pickens
9
10->''"This planet was a beautiful experiment, but it is merely a remnant of what it once was."''
11-->-- '''The God of Light'''
12
13Jinn tells Team RWBY, Qrow, Oscar and Maria a fairy tale. It involves a legendary hero, a maiden trapped inside a tower, and how they fell in love.
14
15It does not involve them living happily ever after.
16----
17!!Tropes in this episode include:
18* AdamAndEvePlot: While Salem knows Ozma has been reincarnated with a desire to unite humanity, he doesn't tell her the full truth of his divine mission until he learns her interpretation of 'unity' means destroying any humans she disapproves of. She decides the God of Light's command doesn't matter any more; instead of putting in the effort to redeem humanity, they can just remove the modern, depowered humans and replace them with their own descendants, all of whom will possess the magical abilities of the original human race and therefore be what the modern human race can never be.
19* ApocalypseHow: Salem inciting humanity to rise up against the gods causes the God of Darkness to use a blast of energy, wiping out [[ApocalypseHow/Class3A every human life]] bar one. The rest of Remnant is left intact, including other living organisms. Salem is also left alive to prove the God's point if she incited war against the gods because she assumed she couldn't be punished any more than she already had been, she was horribly wrong; the two gods depart leaving her alone in addition to being unable to die. When the God of Light asks Ozma to redeem humanity, he warns that if Ozma fails the two brothers will [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX destroy even the planet]] next time.
20* BodyHorror: When the God of Darkness appears before Salem in his domain he twists and contorts as he unfolds his body into a humanoid shape. The hideous clicks, distortions and thrashing of the body of the God of Darkness as he emerges from one of his pools of annihilation are almost the same as the Nuckelavee's movements in Volume 4.
21* ColorCodedCharacters: Ozma and Salem's four daughters are colour coded: blue, green, pink, and red/orange dresses to go with eye colours of similar hue. Not only does the colour-coding evoke the four sisters who were turned into the Four Maidens at a later date by Ozma, but ages coincide with the order in which the Four Maidens arrive in the fairy tale: Winter arrived first, and the oldest daughter, who develops magical ability first, wears blue. The implication is that there is a connection between the four daughters and Ozma's decision to create the Four Maidens.
22* CurseEscapeClause: The gods inform Salem "as long as the world keeps turning", she cannot die. If she wants to be freed of her immortality, she needs to learn the importance of life and death.
23* DetonationMoon: When Salem tries to demand the gods remain on the world with her, the God of Light simply fades away. The God of Darkness chastises her for continuing to make demands of gods who are also her creators and then smashes through the moon as he departs, creating the shattered remnant that exists in the modern day.
24* DidntThinkThisThrough: Salem incites humanity to rebel against the gods and leads an army to the Domain of Light. The army use all of its magical might to attack the gods, but that magic is captured in a single instance by the God of Destruction. Salem and the other humans are shocked, and the God of Destruction lampshades the foolishness of humans using magic to attack the very being that gave them magic in the first place
25* DisproportionateRetribution: Salem leads an army with soldiers from different kingdoms to confront the two gods. Although there is no indication that these armies represented all the kingdoms on the world (there could have been more kingdoms that hadn't even been visited by Salem), the God of Darkness destroys all humans on the world based upon the actions of only a fraction of them, and to teach Salem a lesson. And the God of Light lets it happen.
26* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Concluding the Gods are fallible, Salem raises an army to defy and overthrow them. The God of Darkness however doesn't take too kindly to humanity's uprising against their creators especially with the very gifts he gave them. Thus in response to this insolence, he effortlessly wipes out in a single flash ''all of humanity'' except for Salem.
27* DrivenToSuicide: When Salem is made immortal, it's to prevent her from being able to reunite with her dead lover in the afterlife. Over time she becomes bitter and spiteful towards the Gods, and tries to kill herself with a sword. When the gods destroy humanity and leave her to exist alone on an empty planet, she wanders aimlessly until she reaches the Pools of Grimm. Reasoning the Pool of Life gave her immortality so the annihilation pools should remove it, she tries to drown herself in the pool only to discover how wrong she was: since infinite destruction cannot overcome infinite life, she becomes a being of both [[YinYangBomb infinite life and destruction]].
28* DrowningMySorrows: After Ozma's first reincarnation is killed in a magical battle with Salem that destroys their marriage, kingdom and children, he sinks into a cycle of pain. At least one of his incarnations attempt to handle the pain by turning to drink, and carries around a hip flask that is very similar to Qrow's.
29* EmpathyDollShot: When Ozma and Salem battle to the death, their four young children are caught up in the crossfire. What happens to the children isn't shown; instead, all that's seen is a badly damaged toy lying alone among the rubble.
30* EvilIsNotAToy: The God of Darkness has a PR issue with humans: because he's a god associated with destruction and darkness and all things monstrous, humans won't go anywhere near him and his domain, instead lavishing their worship and praise on his brother, the God of Light. Like most humans would, Salem first seeks out the God of Light to resurrect Ozma after he dies. However, when the God of Light refuses, she decides to visit his brother. Knowing about the God of Darkness's issues, she's careful to imply that she's come to him first, knowing that only he can do what she's asking, without mentioning the elder brother. Flattered and thrilled, he resurrects Ozma without question. The God of Light immediately objects, causing the brothers to argue to the point of almost fighting each other. They reunite when the God of Darkness realizes how Salem manipulated him, and the two brothers punish Salem for her deception and arrogance. It's only much later on that Salem realizes that the fact she almost succeeded in manipulating the gods as if they were ordinary humans means they can't be as infallible as humanity thinks they are. Seeking revenge, she manipulates humanity into forming an army to the overthrow the gods, but her army is easily defeated by the God of Darkness. She is then punished further when the God of Darkness destroys the whole of humanity before the two gods depart Remnant, leaving her completely alone. Just because he's not omniscient, doesn't mean he doesn't have the raw power to wipe out the human race with a single thought.
31* FantasticRacism: After the weakened second iteration of humanity arose, Salem was dismissive of them because of their lack of magic compared to her and Ozma's species. Salem initially argued that the new humanity needed someone to "guide them" when she reunited with Ozma. Later, when she learned that she and Ozma could pass their magic onto children of their own, she decided that the second humanity weren't worth trying to redeem anymore and declared she intended to supplant the species with her and Ozma's magical descendants.
32* FreezeFrameBonus: One of Ozma's reincarnations has two children who are only briefly seen. Freezing the scene is required to spot the little white notches in the eyes that make it clear the children have silver eyes like Ruby rather than ordinary grey eyes. No character in the episode draws attention to the children and their eyes, so it takes attentive viewing for the audience to realise that this is another clue as to the origin of Ruby's power.
33* GodGuise: After reuniting with Ozma's reincarnation, Salem mentions the reason humanity is completely divided is because they are godless. Thus, should Ozma want to unite humanity, they should use their powers and immortality to take on the guise of gods and bring people together. This works for a short period of time, until Ozma realises that Salem wants to take over the world this way and destroy any humans who don't conform. When he reveals the truth about his divine mission, she suggests it's irrelevant because they can wipe out this version of humanity and repopulate the world with their descendants, who possess the magic of the old world.
34* GodIsFlawed: It's only after Salem has been punished with immortality that it occurs to her that she successfully manipulated the gods and accidentally pitted them against each other. She concludes that they're not infallible and therefore can be opposed. She manipulates monarchs with the promise of immortality and raises an army to take down the gods. However, humanity is no match for the beings that created them and gave them their gifts, such as magic. The God of Darkness takes back the magic from humanity, then wipes outs the entire race except for Salem. The two gods depart with the God of Light saying that they will reflect on the mistakes they have made while Salem should reflect on hers.
35* GoryDiscretionShot: The battle between Ozma and Salem is so brutal that it's only shown in shadows and flashes of magical power. While buildings are shown being destroyed, their four young daughters are only shown to have died through the sight of a badly damaged toy lying alone among the rubble. Ruby and Weiss can only watch in shock as the the fight unfolds.
36* HaveYouSeenMyGod: After the God of Darkness wipes out humanity save for Salem, the two Brothers decide to leave the planet and abandon their "experiment", deeming it a failure they will learn from. The God of Light eventually decides to reincarnate Ozma into a second, de-powered version of humanity to guide humanity to salvation. It is Ozma's job to find a way to unite humanity in preparation for a 'Judgement Day', where the gods will return to decide whether humanity has been redeemed enough for the gods to want to once more live with them and make them whole, or whether they should just be given up as irredeemable and the whole world be destroyed.
37* HornedHumanoid: The two gods initially appear as humanoid figures to humans that approach them. However, the God of Light wears large antlers on his head, while the God of Darkness sports the curled horns of a ram or goat.
38* HumanityOnTrial: After the God of Darkness destroys humanity, the God of Light allows a second, weaker form of humanity to return to the world. He reincarnates Ozma with a divine mission: unite humanity in harmony and then summon the gods back for judgement. If humanity is living in harmony, the gods will return to live among them and make them whole once more. If the gods are summoned while humanity is still divided and fighting among themselves, they will judge humanity to be irredeemable and destroy the entire world. The problem Ozma has with this task is that Salem is determined to divide and destroy humanity; to save humanity, Ozma has to destroy Salem, but she cannot be killed.
39* IJustWantToBeLoved: The God of Darkness is upset that while the God of Light receives worship and requests from humanity, no one comes to petition him for anything, unless they've already failed to get what they want from the God of Light. He is thrilled when Salem comes to him for help; to show he's worthy of her faith in him, he instantly resurrects Ozma with no strings attached.
40* LoveMakesYouEvil: Salem's love for Ozma and her refusal to live without him started a chain of events that eventually spiralled down to the events transpiring today.
41* LovingAShadow: By the time she reunites and has a family with Ozma, Salem is so far gone that she cares less about being with the man she loves than being with the man the Gods tried to keep her from.
42* TheMagicGoesAway: During humanity's creation, the God of Destruction gave humans the ability to wield magic. However, when humanity rose up against the gods, the Brothers destroyed the race and abandoned the planet. Although the God of Light allows a second version of humanity to return to the world, it is a de-powered, fractured form of humanity that cannot wield magic. The God of Light reincarnates Ozma into this new world with the instructions to guide humanity back to unity and harmony, as a second chance for redemption. Should Ozma succeed, the gods will live among humans once more and make them whole again. However, should he fail, the gods will judge humanity irredeemable and destroy the Remnant. Salem, whose punishment from the gods means she survived the destruction of the original humans, can still use magic. Ozma retains his magic from his reincarnation as well. All magic in this new world comes from either Salem or Ozma: when Salem and Ozma's first incarnation had children, their children could wield the full magic of the old world; the four Maidens were created from Ozma's magic, as was the shapeshifting abilities of the Branwen twins.
43* MagicStaff: Ozma travels only with a sceptre. He primarily fights by blasting magic from a green stone at the top of the sceptre, although he can use it as a fighting staff as well. It follows him through all his reincarnations, until one incarnation remodels the staff into its modern cane form.
44* MeaningfulEcho: Having been rescued by Ozma, Salem asks him where they'll go and he responds by offering his hand and saying "Wherever you'd like." Later, after reuniting with Ozma's second incarnation, he asks Salem what they'll do and the two hold hands as she responds "Whatever we like."
45* TheNarrator: To answer Ruby's question about Ozpin's secrets, Jinn pulls the group into a blank, white world where she uses her mist to create visions of the story that she tells. She isn't visible for most of the episode, narrating the stories as the images play out their scenes. Only at the end of the episode does she reappear, as a vision from the past. She therefore still narrates the story over the actions and words her past self is carrying out.
46* NeverMyFault: The reason Salem is cursed is because she refuses to listen to the gods and understand the balance between life and death. Instead of contemplating her mistakes, she tries to incite humanity to rebel against the gods in the hope that she can either end her curse or make the gods suffer. She does neither, instead finding the severity of her punishment increased when the gods destroy humanity and abandon the world to leave her alone for eternity. Jinn mentions that she blames absolutely everyone for her plight except for herself, completely failing to learn the lesson the gods had hoped she'd learn.
47* NoBodyLeftBehind: When the Brothers wipe out life, they do so by completely disintegrating it. Ozma is repeatedly vaporized and brought back to life while the Brothers are arguing, and the God of Darkness unleashes an ApocalypseHow whose aftermath includes ashes in the air as Salem finds herself alone where her army used to be.
48* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: Ozma was a renowned warrior, able to best large creatures and challenges where many other warriors could not. He died not on the battlefield, but at home from an illness.
49-->'''Jinn:''' Ozma, the infallible hero of legend, fell ill. And where all the beasts and blades of the world had fallen short, a single sickness prevailed.
50* OminousLatinChanting: Numerous wails can be heard in the soundtrack as the God of Darkness decides to wipe out humanity when they turn against him and his brother.
51* OriginsEpisode: The story explains where Salem and Ozpin come from and why they're fighting each other. It explains how they first met, how they became enemies, and the kinds of abilities they're both capable of wielding.
52* OurDragonsAreDifferent: While the brothers normally manifest to Salem in a humanoid form, when they become aggressive towards each other, they transform into dragons. The God of Darkness takes the form of a four-limbed dragon (akin to the western stereotype) with bat-like wings and the skull of a ram for its head. The God of Light, however, transforms into a serpentine dragon with tiny legs, no wings and catfish-like barbels on his snout (akin to the eastern stereotype). Both of them retain their signature horns in their dragon form (ram horns for the God of Darkness and antlers for the God of Light).
53* TheProblemWithFightingDeath: When Ozma died, Salem tried to bring him back by petitioning to The Two Brothers. Ultimately, they curse her with CompleteImmortality for her attempts at circumventing the circle of life.
54* PurpleIsPowerful: The God of Darkness appears to be formed from darkness that takes a dark purple shade with lighter purple edges. When he uses his power, it also manifests in purple shades. When he destroys the whole of humanity, a wave of purple light sweeps across the world, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake.
55* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The Gods cursed Salem with immortality so that she can never be with Ozma after she inadvertently tricked them into reviving him and disturbing the balance of life and death. Following this, Salem unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide, before fomenting a crusade to overthrow the brothers. By the modern day, everything Salem does has been in order to spite the Gods and their creations and remake the world in her image.
56* ReincarnationRomance: After Ozma breaks Salem out of her father's tower, neither of them are looking for love. They find it despite themselves. After Ozma dies, Salem never stops loving him, despite all the years her immortality forces her to live. When the God of Light reincarnates Ozma, he warns Ozma that Salem is no longer the woman he loved and that if he seeks her out, he'll find only pain. Ozma and Salem recognise each other instantly and rekindle their relationship. They eventually build a prosperous kingdom and have four children until Ozma learns that Salem wants to control the world and destroy all humans who don't want to conform. As she suggests they get rid of humanity and repopulate the world with their superior descendants, Ozma leaves her behind. Salem catches him stealing away with their children, and the two fight to the death, inadvertently killing their children in the process. They have been bitter enemies ever since.
57* RescueRomance: Many heroes tried to brave Salem's prison tower and rescue her, hoping to win her love as a reward for it, but they all failed. Ozma ''wasn't'' trying to rescue her to romance her -- he did it because freeing her was the right thing to do, with no expectation of reward -- but the two quickly fell in love regardless.
58* TheReveal: The episode is Jinn's attempt to answer Ruby's question about what Ozpin is hiding. She covers how he and Salem met, fell in love, and all the tragedy, pain and suffering that has unfolded since his premature death from a sickness that couldn't be cured. Jinn explains how the moon broke, how the pair became immortal, that Ozpin has a secret mission handed to him by the God of Light to try and guide humanity to salvation, and that Salem is trying to sabotage that mission from being allowed to succeed. After making it clear that humanity will be destroyed by the gods instead of redeemed if Salem cannot be killed and that it led to one of Ozpin's hosts asking her how he can destroy Salem, Jinn reveals the awful truth: he can't.
59* SelfMutilationDemonstration: To rally up an army against the Gods, Salem visited multiple kingdoms and kings, showing off her immortality to them by letting their mightiest warriors to try and cut her down. At one point, a bloodied axe is thrown onto the floor from off-screen.
60* ShadowDiscretionShot: After being cursed with immortality to prevent her joining her dead lover in the afterlife, Salem eventually resorts to trying to stab herself to death. This is not directly shown, appearing instead as shadows on the wall that cut to Ruby witnessing the whole thing and [[ReactionShot covering her mouth in horror]].
61* SiblingYinYang: The God of Darkness represents destruction and annihilation, and his domain contains the Pools of Grimm from which come forth the Creatures of Grimm. He is an impulsive, impetuous god, easily prone to acting in anger or jealousy. The God of Light represents creation and life, and his domain contains the single Pool of Life. He is more thoughtful and patient than his younger brother.
62* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Salem's initial actions against the gods were motivated by genuine grief over her lost love, and by hiding the fact she planned to ask the God of Darkness if the God of Light turned her down, and that she had asked the God of Darkness second instead of first, she accidentally almost turns the brothers against each other. After being punished with immortality, she realises that the gods could only have made that mistake if they were fallible. As a result, she incites humanity to rebel against the gods in the hope of either ending her curse or making them suffer. She achieves neither and the gods destroy humanity, leaving her to walk the world alone for so long that she tries to end her life by falling into the God of Darkness's annihilation pools; it instead corrupts her into a being of pure destruction. After spending countless years alone, the newly returned humanity only know of her as a witch, an evil sorceress whom commands the beasts and Grimm but who avoids humanity and lives in isolation. When her lost love is reincarnated with a mission to unite humanity, she suggests they guide humanity by passing themselves off as gods. However, she ends up deciding to kill humans who won't convert and then plans to destroy humanity and replace them with her own descendants upon discovering that her children can use magic. Ozma and Salem end up fighting when the former tries to take his children away from her, accidentally killing them in the process. This triggers the bitter enmity that has existed between them until this day, and her determination to divide and destroy humanity just to see him burn.
63* StartOfDarkness: The episode reveals Salem's origins and how her problems began when she lost the man she loved. Her attempt to undo his death puts her on a collision course with the gods of Remnant that changes the entire fate of the world and transforms her into the evil being she has since become.
64* SympathyForTheDevil: Ruby's face and posture is visibly empathetic after she watches the Gods curse Salem to [[CompleteImmortality never reunite with Ozma in the afterlife]] purely because she tried to dupe them into resurrecting him in her raw grief.
65* TimeAbyss: This episode firmly establishes that Ozma and Salem are at '''least''' several millennia old, the latter far more so given that she had wandered the world for an indeterminate period of time before a new, weaker form of humanity came back into existence.
66* TogetherInDeath: After the Brothers cursed Salem, she tried and failed to commit suicide to be with Ozma. Ozma himself was originally content to remain in the afterlife when the God of Light offered to let him return until he learned that Salem wouldn't be there.
67* WeCanRuleTogether: When Salem learns of Ozma's desire to reunite humanity, she suggests they become as gods to them and guide them to unity. Despite his misgivings, Ozma agrees. However, once he learns that she wants to kill humans who don't support them and that, due to their children manifesting magical abilities, she's contemplating wiping out humanity and replacing them with her descendants, Ozma turns his back on the plan.
68* WhoWantsToLiveForever:
69** Salem was cursed with immortality until she learns the importance of the balance between life and death. She tried to kill herself through mortal means but was unable to do so. Her attempt to use supernatural means by drowning in the Pools of Annihilation don't succeed either; instead the pools turn her into a being of pure destruction.
70** Some of Ozma's lifetimes were during a period of nihilistic despair, exhausted by the constant cycle of reincarnation, the sheer hopeless of his holy mission and reminders of the monster Salem had become. He only dragged himself out of this mindset when paired with the host that created the cane, who also went on to have a family of his own. Jinn tells the heroes that it doesn't matter how much life knocks him back, Ozma always finds his way back to his mission.
71* WorldsBestWarrior: Ozma was such a renowned and skilled warrior that neither beasts nor men could fell him. Instead, he dies young after contracting a fatal illness. During his first reincarnation, he and Salem fight to death. While severely injured, he succeeds in obliterating Salem. However, her form of immortality means she reforms completely unharmed, allowing her to kill his body and forcing him to reincarnate into a new body.
72* WorldWreckingWave: The God of Darkness uses a blast of energy to destroy every human being except Salem. On the other hand, the rest of Remnant is unharmed, including non-human living organisms.
73* YinYangBomb: Salem is a being who combines the powers of Creation and Destruction to achieve the threat level she poses to Remnant. Cursed by the Pool of Life to have infinite life, Salem tried to kill herself by drowning in the Pools of Grimm, waters of infinite destruction. However, she proved that waters of infinite destruction cannot destroy a being of infinite life: instead of dying, she emerged as an unkillable force of pure destruction. With the magic she still possesses from her mortal life and the control over the Grimm she possesses, she is unstoppable by both mortal and magical means.
74* YouExclamation: When Salem revealed herself to the Brother Gods as the instigator of humanity's rebellion against them, the God of Darkness hissed "''You!''" in outrage, making it clear that he took her previous deceit of him [[ItsPersonal personally]].
75----
76->'''Ozma:''' How do I destroy Salem?\

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