RWBY V5 C1

## Plot

Oh my gosh, RWBY's finally back! Yes! And I thought the wait between volumes 3 and 4 was long? Anyways, Qrow is taking Team RNJR through Mistral to Haven Academy. I love the leaning on the fourth wall here. For example, Nora says that it took them forever to reach the city of Mistral, poking fun at people who thought it wouldn't take the kids very long to reach Haven. It's similar to the last volume with Ruby's two weeks comment. And they chose to walk, when there are many other ways of faster transportation, which some reviewers have complained about. After all, boats, trains, and airships exist. This is conveniently ignoring the fact that the group tried to get to the airship at Shion village, but it had already been destroyed by bandits and Grimm by the time they got there. And they presumably took a boat or ferry to get from Patch to Sanus, and another, or an airship, to get from Sanus to Anima. Anyways, Mistral is beautiful. Weiss is *still* on that airship. I can't wait for her to get off that thing. And say goodbye to that no good pilot. In this episode, he hears some people in help near them, and decides to head away from them. Yep, he just casually condemns some innocent people to death because he has a cargo ship, which isn't equipped with the weapons or defenses to handle a Grimm attack. I'm sorry, but if a cruise ship can have the ability to fight off a Grimm with two trainee huntsmen, then you should be able to too, especially since you're in an *Atlas* airship. And you've got a rich, very powerful trainee huntress on board. But no, you just wanna go home. I kind of hope that he dies. In Mistral, the others have made it to Haven Academy, but no one is there. Qrow suspects trouble, but it turns out that the headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart, is still there. No one else is though, so there's no one guarding the relic. I love Leo's voice, provided by Daman Mills. Qrow explains that he filled the kids in on the Maidens and the relics. Remember, Lionheart is secretly working for Salem. Back in Menagerie at the Belladonna household, Sun and Ghira finally agree on something! They both hate the Albain brothers! Blake goes outside and talks to Ilia. It's explained to us that they confronted the Albains with the information on Ilia's Scroll, and they denied knowing anything about it, passing the blame onto her. She's okay with that though. Blake plans on going public the next day to sway the rest of the Faunus to their side. Ilia says that this plan won't work, and asks her to leave Menagerie before things come to a head, but Blake refuses. Lionheart says that Mistral also suffered a Grimm attack after what happened at the Vytal festival. They lost a lot of good huntsmen, including some teachers. Okay, where are Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet, if they flew back to Mistral? I get that school isn't in session, so where are they? The Mistral council is at odds with representatives from Atlas over Ironwood's recent decisions, like the Dust embargo and the closing of their borders. And they don't know where the Spring Maiden is. Ruby asks why she's so important. Qrow and Leo explain that each relic is hidden in a chamber that can only be opened by one of the Maidens. Winter for creation in Atlas, Summer for destruction in Shade, Fall for choice in Beacon, and Spring for knowledge in Haven. The problem is, the Spring Maiden ran away over a decade ago after being unable to handle the responsibility. Qrow did some digging, and found out that she's with Raven's bandit tribe, at their base camp. It turns out that Ruby and the others know about Raven and her being Yang's mom. She picked up a lot of followers after recruiting the Spring Maiden. Leo says they can head out with a retrieval force in a few weeks. Qrow is angry, since they need to go and get Spring as soon as possible. However, it's going to take time to convince the rest of the council that they need the huntsmen for that kind of mission. Qrow wants to just go with Leo and the kids, but he and Raven are evenly matched, Leo's gotten too old for fighting, and the kids don't stand a chance against a Maiden with a decade of experience under her belt, *and* an entire bandit tribe. They have no choice but to wait. Jaune is angry after learning that everything Haven has on Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury was fake. Qrow sends the kids back to the house they're staying at while he heads to a bar for a drink. It turns out that Watts bugged Leo's office and heard the whole thing. Uh oh. Remember the end credits scene during volume 4? Well, this is when it takes place. I know, right? This timeline can get a tad confusing, especially with the titular Team RWBY scattered across the globe. So, yeah, we see that scene play out again. In exactly the same way. I would've loved it if they extended it and made it longer, or had it from Oscar's point of view, but nope! Oh well. With a show with as much story, characters, and sheer possibilities as this, you're bound to miss a few opportunities, usually due to lack of relevance, not enough time, or something like that, such as animation restrictions. Yang is fueling up Bumblebee at a gas station and gets a water since it's hot out. A shady drunken guy won't stop hitting on her, so she hits him. And by that, I mean she literally uses her new arm to punch him out of the store. She still has some psychological issues to work through though, since we see her left arm shake as she reaches for the water. The only person of note in the area is Raven, and the shady guy says that he can help Yang find her. Yang still having to work through her PTSD makes sense. It's a real disorder, it's not gonna disappear overnight because of a pep talk. Some people like this, since we only saw Yang in chapters 3, 4, 9, and 12 in the last volume, where she recovered physically, but didn't make much headway on an emotional level (which actually seems in character for her). Others dislike it because they want Yang to get better already. I'm okay with it if it means we see more of her this volume. And I understand psychology. I don't want to see any real life mental disorders trivialized, especially since, outside of PTSD and depression, I don't see them portrayed very often in media. What about general anxiety disorder, or panic attacks, or seasonal affective disorder, or something like that? Assuming that said shady man, and yes, that is how he's credited, belongs to Raven's tribe, then Yang's red eyes probably reminded him of her. Back in Mistral, Jaune answers the door to their house. It turns out to be Oscar, who asks for Ruby. Qrow is really, *really* drunk right now. As in, the giddy kind of drunk. Ruby comes in, and Oscar notes that she has silver eyes. She asks who he is. He says that his name is Oscar Pine, but they know him as Professor Ozpin. And that's where the episode ends. Time for the new opening! It looks gorgeous. The new theme song, The Triumph, sounds amazing. I doubt you've heard Casey sing like this before. *Back to the fairy tale Back to the show* (Ha!) *Back to the wall And there's nowhere to go Hopeless and desperate All paths adverse Things looking bleak and they're bound to get worse Helpless and doomed And there's no way to win Goals unachievable Faith running thin Lost and forlorn Impossible odds That's when you'll learn you've been messing with gods Send in your Grimm Tear off my limb Strike me with bolts of lightning I won't die! The battle seems unwinnable But all we need's a miracle We're going up We'll never be denied! Can't wish away the dismal days Can't bring back what is gone Won't waste more tears on yester-years Instead we'll carry on (Carry on!) We'll win, we're sure We will endure And though our goal is far We'll be the ones to touch the sun! The triumph will be ours!*

## Review

I loved it so much! I love the new opening, I love the new song, I love the animation. I. LOVE. IT. ALL! If I had one worry, it would be that Blake and Sun might stay in Menagerie and not go to Mistral right away. At least the other girls are in the area or actively heading there. The Belladonna family and Sun just want to fry some very small fish at this point. I get that regaining an organization takes a lot of time and effort, but couldn't Ghira and Kali handle that while Sun and Blake went to Haven? To, you know, *warn them?* Also, it seems like, contrary to what almost everyone, myself included, thought, Yang is gonna meet up with Raven first instead of Ruby. She has yet to confirm whether that was her initial intention though. The sister part of me is *pissed* at this. I owe my sister literally everything. I know her as well as I know myself. I would do anything for her. Admittedly, Taiyang and Yang might not have gotten any of Ruby's letters, because I have a feeling that if Yang had read that last one, she would go to Haven immediately, no questions asked. I really hope that Team RWBY reunites this volume, even if I think the chances are on the slim side.