RWBY V9 C4

## Plot

Ruby finds the cat, who tells the girls that they don't go to the tree, the tree goes to them. She asks them if they can take them to the tree, since they've been there before, but that's exactly why they don't want to go back. Blake points out that they helped Alyx. They remember her, and ask the girls how they know her. They explain that she wrote a book about her adventure in the Ever After. Blake asks for some time alone to consult with the others. She points out that the Curious Cat was described as an ally with an appetite for information. Just because they don't want to go back to the tree doesn't mean they can't lure them there. They just need to keep their attention along the way, but that's easier said than done. They tell them literally everything they know about Remnant and what they've been through so far, which the writers use for a fourth wall breaking moment, like referencing all of the many minor characters that aren't important, pointing out unfortunate implications, etc. They tell them that they know more about the origins of Remnant than Alyx did. She could barely see past herself, and was concerned with trivial things. Still, she did learn her lesson in the end. They take them to the edge of the garden acre, which is a dark forest filled with bioluminescent plants, as well as multicolored falling maple leaves. Yang compares the acres to a puzzle, and asks how anyone makes sense of it. The cat explains that each acre is made specifically for its inhabitants and their roles. It's not like that on Remnant. Weiss asks how much longer it will be before she, Blake, and Yang are back to their normal size. The garden acre should have all the ingredients they need to make food that can grow them back. They shouldn't talk to anyone without the cat around though. If they're not careful, they might get their heads cut off. Curious asks questions about Salem, like how they're even supposed to stop her now that Atlas is gone, which makes Ruby stop in her tracks. Blake suggests that maybe they shouldn't worry about home right now. They've got enough problems to deal with… like the fact that the cat is gone again. Weiss wishes they could've gotten help from a different character with a better attention span, like the sweet Lively Carpenter, or the handsome Rusted Knight. They hear humming from a pile of leaves. A three eyed creature is inside and asks them what they are. Ruby is getting really tired of answering that question. The giant caterpillar-butterfly-moth hybrid thing makes itself known and tells the girls that he's the Herbalist, until he's not anymore. Ruby asks for his help with getting to the tree. He says that everyone needs help these days. He takes them to his home to make them Grogurt Parfaits. Having learned her lesson from the Red Prince's reaction, Ruby tells him that they're Huntresses, and they fight monsters. She doesn't understand why this matters. He doesn't understand why she doesn't understand. He is an Herbalist. He makes medicine and remedies to help others on their journeys. It is what he is. So do they know what Huntresses are, or do they guess? Blake says that huntresses are heroes. They protect those that can't protect themselves. He asks them if they're good huntresses. I can't help but wonder if that line intentionally relates to Ruby, and possibly even Jaune and Weiss's arc (similar to Ren's in the previous volume), about whether or not they're capable of being Huntsmen. Yang asks the Herbalist if he can help them or not. He says he's trying to, but they're making this more complicated than it needs to be. They all have their titles; their roles to play, but in order to help them become whatever it is they need to be, they should really have a better understanding of what they are now. He says this is how a king winds up a prince. They try to leave, but the door disappears. He once again asks them what they are as smoke fills the room and they're all separated from each other, like in volume 6 during Jinn's tale. Are they sure they know what they are? They have to be sure of what they are, and what they're going to be. They're each confronted by past versions of themselves in their original designs. Old Yang tells our sunny little dragon that she doesn't have to go forward. She could go back to before. Old Blake tells our favorite cat girl that she could be human, or a cat, and live a simple life, instead of trying to be a bridge between humans and Faunus. Why struggle with that responsibility? Old Weiss asks our Ice Queen what the Schnee name even stands for now. Instead, she could be a nobody, and not have any baggage on her shoulders. Isn't that what they want? To be free? To be something simpler? To be whole again? I'm just going to quote each of their speeches verbatim now, because they're all excellently written and delivered. Major props to the writers, directors, actresses, animators, musicians, etc. **Yang:** "No. My losses, my failures, those more than *anything* are what have shaped me into who I am, showed me how I need to grow. If there's something I'm missing, it's not because I lost it. It's cuz I haven't found it yet. And the only way to do that is to keep going." **Blake:** "A simple life wouldn't be *my life*. My family, my friends, my culture. I belong to them just as much as they belong to me. To give that all away wouldn't be simplicity. It would be betrayal." **Weiss:** "I don't know who you think you are, but let me tell you who *I am*. I am the granddaughter of a hero and the child of a villain. *I* am a citizen of a fallen kingdom, and an heir to *nothing*. I will *not* be defined by my name because *I* will be the one *to* define it. I am Weiss Schnee. And I am a Huntress." **Blake:** "I am a Huntress." **Yang:** "I am a Huntress." Weiss's in particular reminds me of Princess Zelda from *Breath of the Wild*. You probably noticed that Ruby wasn't included here. There's a reason for that. She doesn't know if she's a huntress. The ones from the books she read always knew what to do, always saved the day, and always won in the end. Life isn't like a fairy tale though. She thinks it's up to *her* to make things better. Everything all depends on *her*. Her sister needs her. Her friends need her. The *whole world* needs her to keep fighting forever, against an invincible monster that took her mother away from her. Even Summer couldn't defeat Salem. None of this is fair. Ruby asks "herself" what she's supposed to do. She can do whatever she wants. *Be* whoever she wants. She doesn't even have to be Ruby Rose. So, what is she going to be? Luckily, Curious shows up and saves her by blowing away the smoke. They tell the Herbalist that he's supposed to be helping others find their way, but he's lost his own. They use the same power that they used on the prince to "make him feel better". It's referred to as giving someone a piece of their heart. The Herbalist instantly apologizes for being a workaholic. And then he falls into a hole that suddenly appears, which just as suddenly closes up. The girls are horrified, and the episode ends. Weiss, Blake, and Yang are credited in this episode as tiny versions of themselves. According to the RWBY wiki, the Curious Cat is nonbinary, like Little, and I'm just going to call them Curious in the future to save myself some grammar, syntax, and personal pronoun related headaches.