RWBY V7 C5

## Plot

The episode starts with Penny excitedly waking the girls up in their new dorm at Atlas Academy. We're treated to a montage of everyone doing Huntsmen work while we hear Clover briefing them, set to a new song by Jeff and Casey that's apparently called Brand New Day. It's difficult to hear over the sound effects and Clover talking though. Their top priority is protecting the materials heading to the abandoned mine for Amity Tower, as well as protecting the site itself from Grimm. Because of this though, there are no materials left over to fix Mantle's damaged outer wall, so they also have to patrol its perimeter and keep Grimm out. We even get to see Jaune's "mission" of escorting little kids to school. Their moms flirt with him a lot. Nora thinks it's the haircut. Also, the phrase new haircut gets mentioned in the song, which is fitting with all of the new hairstyles everyone is rocking. Weiss summons the knight and shows Winter, who doesn't seem impressed, but it's clear that she's proud of her. Ironwood shows Oscar the training room and spars with him to see if they can get him to reach Ozpin again. Vine Zeki asks Jaune if he's ever thought about extending his Aura outwards, but this never goes anywhere, at least not in volumes 7, 8, or 9. Ren gets clothes lined by Elm and wants to go again, and Ruby races against Harriet with help from Weiss's glyphs. After the montage, we transition to Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Oscar sparring in the training room… against all of Team FNKI! Flynt and Neon have new designs, and we finally meet their other teammates, Kobalt and Ivori, even if they don't talk. JNPR is able to defeat them, and yes, I'm calling them that because Oscar's last name is Pine. Anyways, they invite them to have lunch together, but Jaune, Nora, and Ren's Scrolls alert them to their new missions. Also, I loved the long tracking shot they did. If there are three things I can't get enough of in animation, it's cool cinematography shots that would be difficult or outright impossible to pull off in live action, excellent lighting; particularly outdoors and at night, and amazingly detailed plants. Anyways, Ruby is tired and bored while on a supply run with Penny, and asks her why they can't just use the airships to take the supplies to Amity instead of using trucks. Penny tells her that the construction materials for Amity Tower are too heavy for the airships, and all that extra weight would mean they'd have to use more Dust, which they should save for the launch itself, and the Grimm that will come after. Ruby asks Penny if she's made any new friends since… everything. She hasn't, because she's no longer on a team anymore as the official protector of Mantle, and General Ironwood told her that she didn't have time for friends. She wishes she could do the things she needs to do and the things she wants to do, and Ruby tells her that's about as normal as it gets. It turns out that Clover and Qrow are playing a card game in the back, and Clover has won every time so far. He tells Qrow that Ruby is special, and Qrow tells him that they all are. They've been through a lot together. It's a good thing they had someone to look up to and get them through it. Not everyone is so lucky. Qrow thanks Clover for looking out for them. He hopes that they'll leave Remnant better than they left it for them. Qrow says he would've had a drink to that not long ago, but tells Clover that he gave up drinking. Clover tells him that he shouldn't change the subject and deflect a compliment like that. The kids wouldn't be where they are today without him. Clover thinks he's had more of an effect on them than he's realized. Ruby tells them that there's something up ahead, but it's not Grimm. Clover wants Ruby and Qrow to go with him to try and sort this out while Penny watches their backs from inside the truck in case they need an element of surprise. Robyn Hill and the lamb Faunus from before, whose name is Fiona Thyme, are blocking their path with a makeshift barricade. Robyn is voiced by Cristina Vee, who is probably most well known for voicing Marinette in the English dub of *Miraculous Ladybug*, as well as a few characters in the game *Genshin Impact*. Also, she tells her Happy Huntresses to show their teeth, confirming that the graffiti we saw in the premiere was about them, not the White Fang. In hindsight, I probably should've realized that sooner, because that same graffiti was shown behind Robyn in the opening. Anyways, it seems like Clover and Robyn know each other, but it could just be by reputation. He asks her why she's blocking an official military transport, and she asks him why the construction materials that are supposed to be going towards Mantle's outer wall are in the middle of nowhere. Clover doesn't tell her, and she asks him what Ironwood is doing with Amity at the old SDC mine, confirming that she's been keeping tabs on what's going on out there. She thinks Mantle deserves to know what the construction materials they need are being used for. When Clover still doesn't tell her, she asks Qrow and Ruby. Ruby tries to tell her that they're planning to help Mantle, but Clover interrupts her and tells Robyn to let them pass. She tells him that one way or another, the supplies are going to get to Mantle. She could do it through the proper legal channels if she gets elected, but she asks where the fun in that is. Before a fight can break out, Penny comes out of the back of the truck with her swords drawn, and asks Robyn to call off the Huntresses approaching the rear. She does so, revealing that two Huntresses, including the one with Fiona that we saw in the previous episode, were sneaking up on them from behind while invisible. Their names are Joanna Greenleaf and May Marigold. Robyn sarcastically calls Penny the protector of Mantle, which hurts her feelings, but she still politely asks Robyn to let them through, which she does, albeit reluctantly. Clover is sincere about wishing her good luck in the election though. However, after they leave, Robyn tells the others that she wants to know why Amity is so important, no matter what it takes. Meanwhile, Weiss and Winter are sparring with their summons. Winter's Beowolf defeats Weiss's knight, but it was also impaled on the sword, and she compliments her little sister on her unique technique, albeit in a very roundabout way. She tells her that they can move on without Jacques and the Schnee name together. General Ironwood would have a place for her in the Atlas military. However, Weiss doesn't think she could accept. She hates seeing her kingdom close itself off from the rest of the world. Winter tells her that they'll help the rest of the world after they've weathered the storm. She knows that Ironwood hasn't done everything perfectly, but he's doing what he thinks is right. Weiss says that everybody *thinks* what they're doing is right, but usually, they're just looking out for themselves, and their secrets. Winter says that Ironwood isn't keeping any secrets from her, and when Weiss asks her how she can be sure, she tells her to come with her. They go to a secure location with lots of guards and cameras. It looks like a hospital. Winter enters a room alone… and has tea with the Winter Maiden, who is an elderly woman. It's hard to hear anything through the one way glass wall, but luckily, closed captions exist. There are two pods close to the entrance that look like the aura transfer machine we saw Amber in during volume 3. It also looks like the Winter Maiden, whose name is Fria, loves to paint, since there's an easel by her bed, and the wall has paintings all over it. She could die any day now. Winter is the only one allowed to see her, because Ironwood has chosen her to be the next Winter Maiden. She's known since Beacon fell. Weiss asks her if it bothers her, since that means that Ironwood has practically groomed her for this her whole military career. She admits that it did at first, but over time, she saw it as a privilege and an opportunity to do some real good for Atlas and Remnant. Weiss points out that her destiny was chosen for her without her input. However, Winter tells her that she's made her destiny her own now, and she takes pride in it. Unfortunately, the sweet sister bonding is interrupted when Winter gets a message from Ironwood telling her to check the news. Jacques is holding a live press conference from his manor. He tells everyone that he's not in favor of Ironwood's embargo either, and it's hit his family just as hard as normal people down in Mantle. Until it's over though, he has "no choice" but to close all non-essential Dust operations, effectively putting a lot of people down in Mantle out of a job unless they vote for him in the upcoming election. It's hard to tell whether people are mad at him or Ironwood, but either way, Winter tells Weiss that he's just provided the spark that will set the kingdom on fire, and a riot starts as the episode ends.