RWBY General Discussion

1) It was a joke 2) If you want to be serious, Blake could have just switched the lights on instead of starting a fire

Insurance agent: So, tell me why you burnt your house down again?

Policy holder: Well, there was a burglar inside with us and we wanted to smoke them out. I mean, we had a gun in the cabinet and I'm a fifth-degree black belt, and my partner is a former marine trained in savate, and all of us were wearing kevlar, and our security system had already gone off and police officers were already swarming the house, but we felt burning the house down was the safest option.

Insurance agent: Mmmmm-hm.

Edited by Soble on Oct 19th 2018 at 10:21:18 AM

I mean, the burglar in question had stealth powers. A gun and karate skills are useless if you can’t see your enemy.

That moment where you notice the thread hasn't been uncharacteristically quiet recently, you just accidentally clicked the unfollow button a few weeks ago.

Anyhow, new trailer, yes. It's pretty nice. I'm not trusting it much since V5's trailer was pretty good and not at all indicative of the actual volume, but at least it was nice. The old lady character looks interesting, the fight on the train seems to be well-made, and Ruby appeared to actually be doing something since V4, even if part of that something was the stupidest thing since she told Yang she wasn't ok, she was angry. Girl, that's not an answer, and "don't let anyone else die" isn't a plan. Also, Qrow is right freaking there. Why is Ruby in the lead?

Other than that... Well, there's Adam, because the show hasn't failed him enough yet. There's Emerald teasing the people who think she's the new Maiden. And continued hints of people turning against Osz for some reason or another. Also there's a very minor change of wardrobe that makes little sense.

I'm partial to thinking that scene of the characters walking through the snow takes place after the train fight.

So yeah, I'm neutral at this trailer. I'll let the volume speak for itself, and agree with some that this is a make it or break it volume for me as well.

They started production a lot earlier this time around, and finalized the script with editing/review from creative talent on other Rooster Teeth shows at least a few months ago. It's still rather professional by western animation standards, but I do think there's cause to be optimstic about at least some improvement over volumes 4 and 5.

I'm not sure it'll be enough to keep me watching however.

I hope they make this a good volume indeed. I'd love to be hyped about the series again. But as it stands, I'm not feeling very positive about it at the moment. Volume 5 did a lot of damage in that regard.

I hadn't come across those theories before. However, I do like the theory that she's a silver-eyed warrior whose eyes have gone or been damaged, and it would actually make sense for the ever-optimistic Ruby to encounter a older, broken or cynical silver-eyed warrior at some point (although I'm not getting 'broken' vibes from this particular character; I'm just talking in general).

I also like the idea of a techno-heavy ancient Maiden, especially if we're talking about the Winter Maiden and the technology-heavy Atlas. It makes a wonderful kind of sense to think that perhaps the Winter Maiden truly embraced the technological innovation of Atlas, and the symbolism of the Relic of Creation (assuming that's the relic Atlas is looking after which is a fairly safe assumption, I think), to create a Maiden who isn't simply a magical 'Wizard' but a techno-wizard as well.

I really like that idea.

That's not what I mean. If she's the Relic of Knowledge, then I would expect her to be completely real. However, she only manifests to those who the Relic's power is working on. That doesn't make her a ghost or insubstantial in the sense of a ghost. This is more like a guiding spirit, hence my observation that she looks like a techno-shaman.

You have to bear in mind that my primary genres are science-fiction and fantasy. In both genres, it's not uncommon for stories to crop up where a character has the guidance, or is visited by, a being or spirit (depending on story) that only they can see. For example, characters who are 'out of phase' with reality for techno-babble reasons, or alternate dimensions that are almost (but not quite) in the same space and time as the story's primary dimension, or characters who are cloaked by magic, or transmitting an image over great distance, or spirits who can choose who sees and interacts with them, etc. They can appear in a range of ways — when called, when summoned, when they choose (often to the annoyance of the target), some might appear at the start of the adventure and remain for as long as the quest remains unsolved or uncompleted. In other words, they're a permanent addition to the group, until their mission is completed — regardless of how many of the group can actually see and interact with them.

None of these examples are typically portrayed as ghosts or see-through, and many aren't even insubstantial.

Now this was my thinking while I was watching the trailer:

Yang's body language is very different to the rest of the group's in that scene. Now this could be as simple as the fact she has to push a motorbike through the snow, which is going to become a very annoying task after probably a very short while, and her body is positioned that way for no other reason than traction through the snow.

Or it could be that the reason the techno-shaman is sitting on the bike is because Yang is the one she's currently communicating with (in other words, manifesting for), and she is becoming a weight that Yang is struggling with (the weight of knowledge can free, but it can also chain).

After all, Yang was the one who entered the chamber, and she collapsed in tears as soon as she touched the Relic. I'm not convinced that moment was as simple as her confrontation with her mother getting to her... I think that was more like the Relic's power bringing out the truth about her inner self in that moment. Like the the Sword of Shannara.

What I was thinking is that scene where people are running through the building and Jaune and Nora are visible, the techno-shaman turns towards the camera. Now, that might be nothing more than a cute shot for the trailer, to pique the audience's curiosity about the character, but it could also be a vision scene for whichever character is being taken into the vision by her. The camera angle — the audience — is seeing through that character's eyes, if you like.

There is definitely a symbol on the skull-staff that is only partially visible, and the tiny bit that's visible does strike me as similar to the Mistral symbol — it's even the same shade of blue that the show tends to use to symbolise the Kingdom of Mistral.

Anyway, that was the thought while I was watching the trailer.

I was just about ready to drop the show after volume 2, then volume 3 was good enough to earn back my goodwill. That ran out after volumes 4 and 5. I'm starting to see a pattern.

That's a trailer-plant — a line of dialogue that exists solely to be used in the trailer. It's supposed to make the audience wonder who died.

Of course, we can all guess that's the nameless travellers on the train they're on and not a named character. So it's not really that speculation-worthy, but that is why I think that line of dialogue exists.

How? Politely ask Ilia to stop attacking at her long enough for her to walk over to the light switches and turn them on?

Perhaps, when her parents have the home rebuilt, she can ask them to have voice-controlled lighting next time so she doesn't have to burn the place down.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Oct 19th 2018 at 9:58:52 AM

Excuse the double-post.

Tharkun, I've just seen your suggested quote changes for Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ozpin. I have absolutely no problems with any of them. I really like the Jaune quote you've come up with.

If a fight's about to break out in a populated place, it is actually important to clarify which of the following you want your people to choose if forced to pick:

1. Save a life.
2. End a threat.

There are arguments that can be made for both.

Honestly, Ruby's line is such a stock "badass" trailer thing I'm surprised anyone is actually questioning it.

Whether you think it's actually cool or not, I feel like everyone has heard something similar 100 times before.

Edited by LSBK on Oct 19th 2018 at 10:36:27 AM

I'm still more stunned that Qrow was right there and they asked Ruby what the plan was. The line doesn't really bother me.

But Qrow is literally Badass Huntsman Mc Badass, chosen by Oz himself. And he's an adult. Ruby is a teenage girl who lost the map and killed a giant bird once. I mean that's like being trapped in a burning building with a fire fighter and your school's valedictorian, but asking the latter how to get out.

Edited by Soble on Oct 19th 2018 at 4:36:46 AM

So, it's less "accept badass line as hype" and more "breaks the WSoD?"

Edited by erazor0707 on Oct 19th 2018 at 4:53:26 AM

To me it's more a matter of it being so out of context. We don't know what the danger is, what's been lost to it already, or what the stakes are. There's no investment or sense of urgency when it's just a trailer. Maybe in-episode there'll be more gravitas to the whole thing, but here, it kind of feels like she's still referencing the deaths from Beacon after all this time while on a big, unrelated train battle.

It feels like they're trying top hard to give us a cool trailer line, but because there's no real tension to it, it kind of fails. It's a placeholder trailer line with no real meaning to it.

Plus, as I mentioned, it wouldn't be the first time Ruby has a line that's just there to sound cool but has no real meaning to the situation at hand.

Being an experienced badass huntsman doesn't mean he has a comprehensive understanding of each individual RWBY member's strengths and weaknesses, experience commanding a team of four in battle, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the various combos and battle plans they've spent months mapping out amongst themselves.

Ruby's the team leader. If I wanted someone to solo a giant Grimm, I'd turn to Qrow, but if I want a battle strategy, I'm not looking at Loner McSolitude for team tactics. Especially when his superpower is making misfortune befall everyone and everything around him. You, sir, can go stand over there while we figure out how to fight these guys.

Mind you, Ruby's answer was more of a badass trailer line as noted above than an actual plan. But the principle of asking her for a plan instead of Qrow remains sound.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 19th 2018 at 7:34:03 AM

Dang shame a good bit of Ruby's leadership skills were demonstrated against... giant Grimm.

Which very well may be the case when we get to that episode.

We can't forget that Qrow's not a leader, he followed Summer in Team STRQ, followed Ozpin's directive whilst operating largely on his own, and when he was with RNJR he wasn't the best at leading the group (being busy dying for most of it and ineffectual and providing leadership afterwards until Ozpin came back).

Exactly. Qrow's an operative. He's the guy you send to go into enemy territory, accomplish an important objective, and then get the f*ck out before they know what hit them. He's not the guy to call the plays.

Being good at a task doesn't make you qualified to lead people.

I hate that I'm trapped in an abusive relationship with this show. Sigh... I'll be watching this season... I liked the trailer. I'm hoping that it changed for the better so much, but I fear I'm just going to be disappointed and frustrated yet again. Let the cycle begin again.

Also, I wouldn't care to ask Ruby for leadership advice as I feel her leadership skills are an Informed Ability.

Edited by Prime_of_Perfection on Oct 19th 2018 at 2:28:45 PM

An Informed Ability is still better than no ability ever stated or depicted.

Not really. The end result will be exactly the same if neither can do it. If anything, someone with an Informed Ability they can't actually live up to is more dangerous since it carries expectations that won't be met and creates unmerited confidence.

I'm not arguing for Qrow, though. I'm just saying they both suck at that specific task and Ruby deserves no props whatsoever.

Edited by Prime_of_Perfection on Oct 20th 2018 at 4:57:30 AM

If anything, Jaune has the Informed Ability of being the "strategist".

Unless his plan at the Battle of Haven was to draw aggro and reverse psychology Cinder into hurting Weiss instead of him.

RWBY Chibi: Season 3, Episode 16 (season three finale)

Well, that would certainly explain why Jaune didn't bother to do anything when Cinder prepared to throw the spear at Weiss. And now that I think about it, he didn't care enough to do anything when Ruby was about to be stabbed by Tyrian either...

Jaune is secretly an agent of Salem. His fight with Cinder was just a part of the play.