RWBY V8 C11

## Plot

This whole chapter is basically set up for the last three episodes of the volume. Some people have needlessly hated on it for this because they only watch RWBY for the action, which, if I'm being perfectly honest, there hasn't been a lot of this volume, and when there is it's not consistent. I do love some of the cuts they do, but it does interrupt the action or a conversation to switch to another scene. Maybe we only feel this way because of the extra long break, or because, aside from the Hound, "fights" with Grimm are usually pretty boring? Also, oh no, the characters are interacting. This means we'll actually care about what happens to them! Yeah, that's storytelling 101, geniuses. No one is going to care about the story you're trying to tell if they don't care about at least one of the characters in it. We see the reactions of normal people in Atlas and the crater as they hear the end of Ironwood's ultimatum. They're terrified and devastated, especially Fiona, who cries as May and Joanna hug her. Everyone from Mantle and the slums are hiding in the mines. Grimm are everywhere. Just like in the final episode of volume 7 after he shot Oscar, Ironwood's eyes look dead in this episode because they've lost the lights that everyone else still has. Elm tries to convince Marrow that he's not actually going to do it, but bluffing with a whole city full of people… Ironwood tells the Ace Ops and Winter that he needs a squad of drones on standby to drop the payload in case the kids don't do what he asks. Winter, Marrow, and Elm are shocked that he's actually willing to go through with it. Before he can walk away, Marrow finally calls him and the others out on their actions and behavior. He believed in the general. He thought they could works towards something better, but now Ironwood is throwing it all away. He's doing Salem's job for her. Harriet threatens to make him shut his mouth, and Vine says it's worth it if it gets the kids to cooperate. Elm doesn't like it either, but their top priority is saving Atlas. Marrow asks Ironwood if he even believes what he's saying anymore. Do any of them believe in anything? He used to wear this rank with pride, but now he sees it for what it truly is: A collar. As he starts to walk away though, he hears a gun click behind him. Before Ironwood can shoot and kill him like he did with Sleet, Winter punches Marrow, cuffs him, and decides to "throw this traitor in the brig", saving his life. The other Ace Ops are shocked at what Ironwood almost did, especially Elm, but they fall in line, although Elm's eyes are still shining with emotion, and Vine looks at the general as he walks past them. Harriet's eyes are still unemotional and obedient. Team RWBY, Oscar, and Emerald are in the dining room, trying to figure out how to stop Ironwood. Qrow and Robyn are still in his custody, and May said that Atlas drones are watching the crater, so they're trapped too. Salem won't be gone for much longer either. Also, this isn't the ideal time to mention it, but Oscar's injuries have healed, and his clothes are magically back to normal. Ruby says it's impossible. Emerald says that if Ms. Hero with all the answers doesn't have an answer, then they've got theirs. Weiss tells her to shut up, and Yang approaches her and tells her to just leave if she feels that way. Oscar once again asks them to give each other a chance. Emerald's not with Salem anymore, and Ozpin is back. All of this doubt and worry and distrust isn't getting them anywhere. Ruby yells that nothing has changed since the start of the volume then. They're still arguing over what to do while the kingdom waits to die. Her sister puts a hand on her shoulder, but she runs out of the room, and Yang goes after her. Meanwhile, the others are in Weiss's room. Ren tells Nora that he's glad she's okay. No matter how much Jaune boosts her Aura, her scars won't go away. She tells them that she got hurt doing what she always does. Just another ditzy move on her part. Ren tells her that's not true, but she asks him how he would know that. They were supposed to be a team, but that didn't matter to him. When things went wrong, he pushed them away. He shuts people out so he doesn't have to feel things that are hard. Wow. Nora *yelled*… at Ren. She's right, but… damn. Ren agrees with her. He apologizes to her and Jaune for his behavior. When their team lost Oscar and things got difficult, he said terrible things. He's been so angry at himself, for not being as good as the Ace Ops, for what happened at Robyn's rally, and for losing the lamp. He thought if he just focused on working harder and getting stronger, he wouldn't fail, but his biggest failure was as a teammate and a partner. Jaune, in a reversal of what happened back during volume 3, recognizes a romantic moment between partners, and awkwardly excuses himself to see if Klein needs any help with Penny. This will come back later. Nora asks Ren why he didn't say anything. They fail as a team, but they succeed as a team too. He thinks he was the one holding them back, but Nora thinks it's her. All she does is make dumb jokes and hit things with a hammer. Ren tells her that's not true. She puts everything she has into what she does. She supports everyone around her, she helps without worrying how it might hurt, and that's what he loves about her, and it's why he loves her. Yes! He finally said it! Embrace your feelings Ren! It's revealed to us that Nora had a mom, but she ran from the Grimm and left her behind, and then Ren found her. They became Ren and Nora, but she realized on this mission apart that she doesn't know who just Nora is. And if she's ever going to find out, she has to do it alone. She's always loved Ren. The pretty head on his shoulders seems to be doing a lot better, but she still has to get hers sorted out before she can be the partner he needs. She starts crying and asks him if that's okay. He sees that her petals are white. She's ready for this journey. He brushes away her tears and says it's definitely okay, and then he boops her on the nose and they bump heads together. Aw! Also, yay, a healthy romantic relationship! That technically isn't official yet because Nora wants to find out who she is first, proving that just about every relationship in this show is set to "Extremely Slow Burn", which I'm fine with. Also, I don't know how it took me literal years to realize this, but now, no one can convince me that Nora isn't basically Amy Rose. Her color scheme is pink and she has a giant hammer. Qrow gets his and Robyn's weapons back, and asks her if she has the hallway cameras on a loop yet. She's watching Ironwood's ultimatum broadcast, as well as footage of the bomb being loaded up, and Mantle. He's really going to do it. Qrow tells her that they'll stop him first. However, before he can summon the elevator, she says there might be a better way. This isn't just about him, it's about everyone. If they fail, innocent people will die. Qrow yells that Ironwood deserves this, and Robyn claps a hand over his mouth, since they're still fugitives. Luckily, no one shows up. She knows he's hurting, and has been for a long time, but what he's trying to do here isn't for anyone but himself. Clover was a lot of things. Qrow respected him, but Robyn thinks he's the better Huntsman. Not because he was the one who walked away, but because he was the one who was fighting for what was right. He better not tell her that's changed. Just then, the elevator arrives, and they look shocked at who's inside. Yang finds Ruby on the staircase in the foyer, next to the pieces of the knight statue. Blake told her what happened. That Hound kicked her team around like they were nothing, but Ruby and the Schnees managed to take it down. Blake also told her what it was underneath, She makes a joke about her little sister always having to one up her. She's clearly just doing that so she doesn't have to think about the implications. Like Ren told her though, she doesn't always have to hide what she's feeling with a joke. Ruby says that's what happened to their mom, and Yang starts crying. Salem used to kill people with silver eyes, like Maria, but she's always wanted Ruby alive. Why would that change, unless when she met Summer, she realized that she could do something new? They shouldn't lie to themselves. Ruby thinks she wasted their time getting Amity up. Help didn't come, and Amity fell. She was being childish. Yang tells her that she was being optimistic. Blind optimism isn't great, but no optimism means they've already lost. They need hope; they need to take risks. Ruby says that hers didn't work. Yang tells her that it still got a warning out. They're not called sure things, they're called risks. Yang's plan for Mantle didn't work either, but they got Oscar back, and did a lot more that was never in the plan. Summer took a risk the day she left, and it didn't go the way she wanted it to, but she's still Yang's hero. She hugs Ruby, who looks devastated. They hear a crash upstairs, and see Jaune running down the stairs. Everyone heads outside and sees Penny conscious again, and under the control of the virus. Ruby hugs Penny as she takes off. Blake and Ren fire their weapons to hold her arms, and Yang, Jaune, Nora, and Oscar help them hold on. Weiss uses a gravity glyph to hold Penny down, but then she activates her maiden powers. Emerald fires her weapons to help hold her down, and Jaune boosts Weiss's Aura to make her gravity glyph stronger. Ruby asks Penny to tell her how to help. Penny asks her first friend to *kill her*. She can make sure the power goes to her. Everyone is horrified at this suggestion. Penny, you really need to get better at the whole "taking a third option" thing. She can't fight the virus, but Nora reminds her that it's only a part of her. If she was just a machine, she never could've fought back for this long. Ruby realizes that she's right and tells Jaune to boost her Aura, which gives her control over her body again. Ruby and Nora hug her, and everyone huddles around them. Ruby also hugs Yang. Aw! Penny tells them that the virus is still there though. She's their friend. That's who she is. Ruby and Nora hold her hands. Emerald tells Ruby that she thinks she's wrong about being in the same place they started in. Yes, they've been getting their asses kicked, and some of that is her fault, but they're at war. They're gonna take hits. She claims that she'll just be super pissed at them if they finally decide to give up the moment she switches sides. Oscar points out that she just confirmed that she's on their side now, and everyone else laughs. Emerald is such a tsundere. Oscar tells them that Ozpin wants to say something, and they switch. Throughout the episode, Oscar has been displaying more of Ozpin's mannerisms than ever before, even though he's been the one in control throughout the episode until this point, proving that blowing up Monstra probably did accelerate the merge. Thanks to Oscar, Ozpin was recently reminded of an old fairy tale, *The Girl Who Fell Through The World*. A young girl flees the consequences of a choice, to a magical place, but having never learned from her initial failure, only succeeds in spreading it. He failed all of them. He should've trusted them with the truth, and he never should've run the day they discovered it. It was rough, but after everything that's happened, they understand now that trust is a risk. Weiss looks at Klein and her family. Ozpin says it's a risk he hopes they're willing to take on him again. Ruby nods, and everyone looks at Ozpin, who looks at Emerald. Penny can still feel the virus fighting her. Jaune can't just keep amping her Aura forever, and they can't keep Ironwood waiting, or he'll destroy Mantle. Nora says Penny has to go to the vault. This gives Ruby an idea, who says that's a risk they haven't considered. She calls Ironwood and tells him that Penny will do it. He wants her to meet him alone at the academy entrance. Unfortunately, Watts is using his broken Scroll and plugs it into a wire from a downed drone that somehow lets him hear this, and Neo meets with him and Cinder.