RWBY V7 C4

## Plot

Taking place right after the previous episode, four trucks arrive at the abandoned mine, along with something large enough to block out the sun, which turns out to be Amity Coliseum. Two women are watching them, and one of them is a super adorable lamb Faunus with the same bird pin as Robyn Hill is wearing in the opening. Speaking of which, based on the thumbnail, we'll finally be meeting her in the next episode. The Ace Ops and Qrow exit the mine with teams RWBY and JNR behind them. The kids are still in awe of the Ace Ops and their incredible teamwork and tactics, especially Jaune and Ruby, and Nora is just Nora. Clover tells them that the Ace Ops are handpicked to focus on their assets so they can leave their liabilities behind. Their abilities complement each other. Nora really likes Elm. Yeah, Elm and Vine are basically grown up Atlesian versions of Nora and Ren. Ruby tells Harriet that she wants to have her friends' backs just like that someday, but Elm and Harriet tell her that they're not friends. They get along well enough and count on each other to save their lives during missions, but that's it. At the end of the day, they're co-workers, nothing more. They leave so Ironwood can debrief them. Ruby asks the others what they want to do when they get back, but they tell her that they're tired, they just explored an entire continent on foot before flying to this one, and they almost died on the way. Ironwood asks to speak with Qrow, Jaune, and Ruby. He tells them that someone is taking out people in Mantle who speak out against Atlas, and more specifically, him, and he shows them the mugshot and body of Forest. It's the third murder of its kind in the last week. Jaune recognizes Forest, and Ruby is horrified to learn that he died. Qrow tells Ironwood that his opposition dropping dead isn't a good look for him, but he says he's not worried about his public image. Someone is clearly trying to frame him and Atlas for the murders, and it's working. Jaune tells him that people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame him for everything if it wasn't for the embargo making them upset. Luckily, Ironwood agrees with him and says he wants to talk to them about the problems in Mantle. They're interrupted by someone arriving in a fancy airship. It's Jacques, who's come to yell at Ironwood for seizing his property. However, he tells Mr. CEO that he's already informed the council, and because the mine is now the site of a classified military project, it didn't even require a vote. We find out that Jacques is the tycoon who's running for the council seat in Mantle against Robyn Hill, and Ironwood is looking forward to watching him lose. He finally notices Weiss, and demands to know how long she's been back in Atlas and if Winter knows. Weiss tells him that it was her decision to come here, just like it was her decision to leave. She also tells him that she knows exactly what kind of man he is. He tries to make her feel guilty about leaving by bringing up how her mother reacted to it. Blake holds her hand, she and Yang glare at Jacques, and Ruby smiles at her. She tells her father that her teammates are more than her friends; they're her family. Winter finally shows up when he leaves. Penny literally drops in with a congratulations message, but they haven't started the surprise yet. Inside Amity Coliseum, Ironwood makes a speech to the kids, and updates their licenses from students to official Huntsmen and Huntresses. The girls look at each other though when he mentions needing more trustworthy people by his side. He and Winter leave. After everything they've been through, Yang almost forgot that this is what she wanted in the first place. Blake didn't think it'd be possible after Beacon fell, and Weiss says it seems almost trivial now. Qrow tells them to lighten up and celebrate. As they do, he talks to Ruby, who is off by herself. It's a lot to take in, and not just the getting her license part, but also the finally getting to Atlas and lying to Ironwood parts too. She's trying to do what she thinks is best, but she really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if she's no different from Ozpin. Qrow tells her that she is, because while Ozpin only ever trusted himself with the whole truth, she's willing to trust other people with it after they prove themselves. She told Jaune, Nora, and Ren, and she's willing to tell Ironwood, just not right now. Her license says that she's a Huntress now, but she doesn't feel like she knows much more than what she did at Beacon, and Qrow tells her that feeling never goes away. Her mom would be proud of her. She asks him if her last mission was another Ozpin secret. He seemed just as in the dark as any of them were, but who knows? Ruby asks Qrow what he thinks Summer would've done if she found out that Salem couldn't be killed. He thinks she would've pressed on just like her. She was the best of any of them, and he jokes that she was a bit of a brat, but he likes brats. Yang tells Ruby that she has to see something. Just like in volume 2, they can sign up for missions. Elm, Vine, and Marrow show up, and remind them that the real mission is making sure the Amity Tower launch is successful, but there's no reason that they can't improve their skills and help out where they can in the meantime. Jaune takes a "mission" escorting kids in Mantle to school so their parents don't worry. Marrow gets his name wrong. Meanwhile, Jacques is drinking by himself in his office when Whitley comes in and tells him that he has a visitor, despite the fact that he asked not to be disturbed. The man let himself in, and it's revealed to be Watts. Jacques is surprised to see him, and tells Whitley to leave and close the door. He thought Watts was dead, and he reveals that he faked his death so the authorities would think that. He's heard that Jacques has an Ironwood problem. He'd lay off every employee in Mantle if he didn't need their votes to win the election. However, Watts tells him that he can have his cake and eat it too.