RWBY V9 C6

## Plot

This episode also has a photosensitive warning for epileptic people. Also, for the first time in its history, the show's opening has changed. Now when it shows the Rusted Knight, his helmet is off, revealing that it's Jaune. While falling through the void, he saw Crescent Rose and went after it, although he didn't catch it. Shortly after landing in the Ever After, he came across a strange tree that had clocks as fruit. When he picked one, time started reversing, and it didn't stop until he destroyed it, revealing that he really did fall after everyone else, but then accidentally sent himself back in time, so he decided to wait until the girls fell. They all hug and go to a field of flowers. He tells them that Cinder and Salem have the staff and the lamp, but everyone else got to Vacuo safely. Ruby asks what good is saving anyone if Salem just destroys the world anyway? Yang points out that's how Ironwood thought. Her little sister can't really believe that… can she? Side note, but Ironwood and Ruby do have a lot of similarities to each other, at least during volumes 7 and 8. They're both leaders with way too much pressure put on them, and they don't deal with it in a healthy way. They both did what they thought was best and/or right, but neither one of them did everything perfectly, which their teammates/confidants/underlings pointed out to Weiss and Yang. For some reason though, people both in and out of universe seem to blame Ruby more than Ironwood, even though Ruby is only 17 years old, or in other words, a minor, and Ironwood was an adult. Normally, minors and adults are not held to the same set of standards and expectations in the real world, because why the hell would they be? Anyway, Jaune starts leading the girls to safety. Blake finally notices that Curious isn't there, and hopes they're okay, but Jaune stiffens and asks about the cat. Curious reaches them. Since Jaune is the Rusted Knight, he already knows them from the story, but he's not their biggest fan. He believes that the cat is a liar and a trickster. He reveals that going to the tree is death. It absorbs you, takes your memories, and turns you into something else. If they go there, it's going to erase them. They call it ascension here. The roots of the tree got the Herbalist. Curious says that only happens to residents of the Ever After, and they're not from here. Jaune says that's not true, because something happened to Lewis after he went there. He's Alyx's brother. Curious claims that they never told the girls about him because they never asked. The bedtime story they've been following this whole time; the one they all heard as kids, isn't even true. Storm clouds roll in, and when the cat says they're at a crossroads, everyone is sent to a literal topsy turvy crossroad area called a Punderstorm. The only way to get out is to either wait for the storm to pass or resolve their emotional or mental problem. Blake and Yang aren't with them, so they must have something bigger to work out. I mean, Ruby also has a lot of stuff to work out that the rest of her friends and teammates need to know, so I feel like this could've helped her too, but it doesn't. Blake and Yang are standing on opposite sides of a bridge with a platform in the middle, but they can't get to it because most of the planks are missing, and they're so high up that they can't even see the ground, assuming that there even is one. I mean, even with the wind, I'm pretty sure they could both just use their weapons to get there, but whatever. Ruby doesn't understand how the story is both real and not. The water rises up into mirror shapes and shows them reflections of people and places that they have trauma about, but this time, Ruby doesn't notice that her reflection is actually her mother again. Jaune sees Penny. It all happened, just not the way Alyx wrote it. Weiss sees the destruction of Atlas. Before the girls fell, Alyx and Lewis showed up first, and Jaune started helping them. He realized that he was the Rusted Knight from the story, but things weren't always the same as the book. Alyx wasn't just a little petulant or inconsiderate. She was selfish and cruel, like this whole world was make believe and the rules didn't apply to her. Her brother Lewis was the kind and clever one. They went places she didn't mention in the story, like the Herbalist's house. Jaune doesn't know what he told her, but she changed after that and became distrusting and accusatory of her brother and Jaune. He wondered if it was his fault. Did he change the story? He couldn't even be the make believe hero. Alyx eventually poisoned him and said that she was going home, no matter what it took. No one was going to get in her way. That reminds me of Ironwood too. Jaune sees a reflection of his younger self. He thinks that the cat's true role is to lead those that are lost to the tree and sacrifice them to it so it can be fed, because they came back for him after Alyx left. Lewis went with them to the tree, but he didn't make it back to Remnant. When Blake says she'll feel better when she and Yang are standing on the platform together, another plank appears. Yang is sure that Blake will figure out how this works. She's good at that. Two planks appear for her. Maybe they have to talk about the other person? Yang admits that she finds Blake's cat ears cute, which makes another plank appear. They need to say things that they've never said to each other. Blake tells Yang that she thinks she's an extraordinary person. She's always the first to lighten a situation. She acts bravely even when she's afraid, and she does what she says. This makes a lot of planks appear. Yang likes that Blake has never been intimidated by her, even when she didn't like her all that much. Blake admits that she was a little wary of people in general back then. Yang points out that she never gave up on them, even when they hurt her, because she never gives up. She knows what matters to her. Are there any big truths they haven't dropped on each other yet? Blake blushes and smiles as the sky lightens around them. However, Yang hesitates and looks away, which sends them back to the beginning, because she thought of something, but didn't say it. This can't be about that… can it? They might be able to hear each other's thoughts here too? Yang thinks it's like a cliff, and if she does it, she's just going to fall. Blake thinks they're already falling (for each other), and tells Yang to just say it. They admit that they love each other, and kiss on the platform. FINALLY! It only took them a decade! As someone who finally came out to my immediate family less than a year before this episode came out (pun not intended), I don't think I realized how much I needed this until I saw it. Everything is just perfect. The music, the imagery, the symbolism and double meanings, the voice acting, etc. A new song called "Worthy" plays, which is basically "BMBLB" part 2. Meanwhile, the others run into the cat. Ruby asks them why they haven't been telling them the truth. They pretended like they had never heard of the story when they met, but Jaune had already told them about it. Curious thinks that Jaune isn't all there, and we see another reflection of his younger self. They don't know what happened when they took Alyx and Lewis to the tree. Alyx said she'd take them with her to Remnant, but she lied and used them, just like she did to everyone else… Just like the girls have been tricking the cat with information so they could get to the tree, like how the cat only sees others as sources of knowledge and entertainment. At least now they know what not to do. Curious feels betrayed, thanks Ruby for the lesson, and leaves, which sends them all back to where they were before… and everyone sees Blake and Yang kissing. They reach Jaune's house, and he reveals that he has something for Ruby. The reason they haven't found Crescent Rose yet is because he found it years after he fell, and has been keeping it here ever since. However, Ruby zones out while looking at it, and shuts the box after Jaune leaves, not even touching or picking up what is supposed to be an extension of herself. Jaune thinks that Alyx traded Lewis to the tree in order to get home, and then wrote him out of the story.