RWBY V5 C5

## Plot

Blake and Sun are trying to get other Faunus to sign up to help defend Haven, but they don't have any luck. Blake explains that most Faunus came to Menagerie because they were tired of fighting. They just want to be left alone. But if Adam's plan succeeds and Haven falls, it's only going to make things worse for all the Faunus, everywhere. In fact, I think that this is the first time that Blake has mentioned Adam by name since volume 3. Yes, she did mention him to Ilia in the first episode, but this is her first time talking about him to Sun. And no, we still don't get confirmation on whether or not the two ever, you know, dated or not. Blake says that if she could describe her friends in one word, Ruby would be purity, Weiss would be defiance, and Yang would be strength. She's still not sure what Sun would be, but she's leaning towards earnest. Anyways, she first thought that Adam was justice, then passion, but she was wrong. He was spite. Not hatred or even rage, just spite. He won't accept equality. Not because it's impossible, but because he wants to make people suffer for what he believes they did to him. She's worried that Ilia could become like him. She wants to help Ilia the way Sun helped her. He showed her that sometimes you need to be there for a friend, even when they don't want you to be, and never give up on them. Oscar is training by himself when Ruby tells him that it's almost time for dinner. She mentions that he'll be combat ready soon, and that makes her sad because it was Penny's catchphrase. Oscar asks her how she handles everything. He admits that he's more scared than he's ever been before in his life, and he never asked for any of this. Ruby says that they all went to Beacon to help people, but they didn't ask for any of this either. They just need to press on. Oscar yells at her. He asks her how she can be so confident when people have tried to kill her, and the world is about to go to war all over again, etc. He asks her how she can be okay with any of this. She tells him about how she lost Penny and Pyrrha during the Fall of Beacon. She *is* scared, but not just for her. What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing in her way or not. She'll kill anybody. And that scares Ruby more than anything else. She admits that she hurts from Penny and Pyrrha's deaths, she thinks about them everyday, and she wish she had spent more time with them. She knows that if it had been her instead, they would've kept fighting too. So that's what she chooses to do. To keep moving forward. Love you Monty. Ruby goes upstairs, and tells Oscar that he's braver than he thinks. Ozpin and Oscar both comment on how remarkable and amazing she is, and how she can inspire others even in the darkest of times. Corsac and Fennec meet with Ilia. They tell her that the operation with Sienna was a success. Adam is now the new High Leader of the White Fang. The Belladonnas are the only ones who stand in their way. So they have to be killed, like Sienna. Ilia is clearly horrified at this, even after they assure her that Adam wants Blake to be taken alive. However, she can't be around when they launch their attack, because she would undoubtedly defend her family. Ilia has concerns about how the people of Menagerie will react, but with Ghira dead, they will be without a leader, and by that time, the White Fang will have already won. Ilia leaves, and Fennec admits that she's right to worry about the citizens. They could come to see Ghira as a martyr. Nevertheless, they have to follow their orders from their current High Leader. They received a message from Adam, ordering them to assassinate the Belladonnas, capture Blake alive, and bring her to him. Believe it or not, Adam seems even *more* unhinged than when we last saw him. It seems like the power and leadership have taken a real toll on him, a la *Macbeth*. A bat Faunus named Yuma comes in, saying that he killed Ghira's messenger. The one that was heading to Mistral to warn the government. Well, this is bad. Really, really bad.