#i did infact give it a glowing review on there so!!!!

[indeliblescarspivotalmarks]

she may not have won the golden globes but she did win this!

[calliecat93]

Well guys, we made it. We made it to the end. The ride to this point has been utterly insane. Political corruption, Amity Arena, thirsty moms, the uncertainty of who to trust at every corner. November feels like a long time ago now, but alas here we are. To say that last week was a shock would be an understatement. It set the stage though, cause while IDK how this is gonna end, I don’t expect it to be happy. Am I right? Only one way to find out. For the final time this volume, let’s do this.

Overview

It’s JNR+Oscar vs Neo, and she’s so far able to hold her own against them. But she is still outnumbered four to one, so she uses an illusion to escape. Before the four can truly ponder on it, the Atlesian guards come after them, forcing them to flee. Meanwhile, Cinder is fighting Winter and Penny and having no trouble, though her anger is slowly growing. She outright says to Winter that, like everyone else in Atlas, they try to expand their power but it just makes those wanting it as well hungrier. And Cinder refuses to starve. It eventually leads to Cinder charging them all through a wall and out of the building, though they each save themselves form following to their death (Cinder via Maiden magic, Penny with her boosters, Winter by Summoning) and the fight continues on. Unfortunately, Cinder is able to break both Winter’s Summon and her Aura, forcing Penny to let Cinder go back into the building to save her. Winter protests, saying that her life isn’t worth it, but Penny disagrees.

JNR and Oscar continue to flee from the guards, but Oscar can’t keep up and ends up losing the other. He seems to be saved by Nora… except not. It’s Neo in disguise, and she’s now got the Lamp. Oscar runs with Jaune finding him, but Neo gets past him. Ren tries to stop her… but when he gets close and sees her as Nora looking sad, he hesitates. As such, Neo gets past him. The three boys run into more guards, forcing them to flee once more. The real Nora catches back up… and notices a visibly distressed and tearful Ren. Neo, now disguised as an Atlesian officer, walks away with the Lamp now in her possession.

If that weren’t bad enough, Cinder has pried open the Aura Transfer Pod and Fria is now awake. The poor old woman doesn’t understand what’s going on or even really remember why she’s been waiting in the facility. Cinder gets her Grimm Arm ready to kill Fria… but Fria grabs her arm. She remembers that she has a job to do, and thus activates the full Maiden power. It causes a massive explosion of magical snow and ice that is so cold, Cinder has to back away from it. Penny and Winter see this as the power explodes through the rooftop. Winter realizes what’s happening, but she too can’t get through because of the cold. Penny, however? She jumps through the hole and into the storm, leaving a shocked Winter behind.

JNR and Oscar are hiding in the training room, the latter feeling guilty for losing the Lamp. Jaune tells him it’s okay, but Ren is much more stressed. He feels that they weren’t ready to become Huntsmen and freaks out about how the enemies have the Relic while they’re failing, forcing Jaune to tell him to calm down. Fortunately, our heroes finally get a breather as Pietro has restored the Comms. He, Maria, Blake, and Yang are commandeering a ship and plan to come and get JNR. Which is good since the guards just found them. One problem though, at some point during this, Oscar left. He comms JNR to tell them that he can’t go with them, having something that he needs to do alone. He doesn’t explain what or why, just running through the Academy corridors. 

Penny gets back into Fria’s room, even as the ice tries to freeze her leg. She approaches Fria, who seems to be in some kind of trance state, and asks her if she’s okay. Fria notices, remembering that she is meant to protect the Maiden powers until she was ready. She seems to realize that it’s time, and is ready to tell James this. Penny points out what’ll happen, but Fria despite her fading memories is fully aware of this. The storm dies down and Fria collapses, Penny catching her. Fria asks her if she is ‘the one’, and the Protector of Mantle is unsure of how to answer.

In the Vault, Ironwood hears someone entering. He assumes it’s Winter and starts to apologize for what he made her do… but he turns and sees Oscar. While he is holding the cane in an Oz-like manner, this is infact Oscar as he tries to convince Ironwood to stop and repair the damage. Oscar wants to restore the trust, even though at this point even James notes that he doesn’t trust himself. He asks if Oscar is going to fight him, but the farmboy refuses, having the cane just because it helps comfort him when afraid. Though it’s likely due to Oz. He puts it away, trying to reason with James… but once he mentions this, James snaps. He feels that he was right and when he let his guard down, ti cost him. Oscar tries to point out everything wrong that he is doing by doign Mantle… but it all falls on deaf ears. 

James continues to go off about how people like Robyn and the Council, those he deems unable to look at the larger picture, are in his way… and that includes the person standing before him. Does he mean Oscar? Oz? Or both? You decide. When Oscar, at this point backed to the edge, says “Then you’re as dangerous as she is James”, the man in question points out that his friends call him by his first name… and coldly says that Oscar can refer to him as general. Without any hesitation or emotion, Ironwood draws and fires his gun right at Oscar. This not only breaks his Aura but knocks him over the edge. Ironwood merely watches the boy fall into the chasm below, doing nothing nor expressing anything at all.

Back at the facility, Cinder tries to attack once more, but Winter re-enters and slices off Cinder’s Grimm arm. She is screaming in pure agony as the arm grows back, which gives Winter time to see Penny with Fria and realize not only is Fria about to die, but her chance of getting the Maiden powers is slipping. But Cinder, arm grown back, launches a violent, rage-filled onslaught onto Winter. Penny stays by Fria, wordlessly comforting her as the elderly woman peacefully dies. But it looks like she’s chosen who her Maiden power will go to...a s the blue energy begins to transfer form her to Penny. Cinder realizes this too late as the familiar eye mask ignites vis Penny’s eyes. Yes, my friends, Penny Polendina is our new Winter Maiden.

Oscar continues to fall, the cane alongside him and his expression is almost blank. It seems like he’s given up and he starts to close his eyes… until a familiar voice echoes in his mind. His eyes flare green and this seems to reignite his will to go on as he reaches for the cane. At the same time, Ruby and Weiss finally arrive at the facility and see a battered Winter. Weiss is concerned, but the second that Ruby sees Cinder, she wastes no time. Her Silver Eyes activate just as Oscar grabs the cane, a green glow emitting from it. He presses the cane forward, blasting apart the bottom of the chasm and plunging him out of Atlas and into the open sky,

Throughout these next few moments as Oscar falls, we get a monologue from Ozpin. About how the one constant of every living thing in this world is fear. How we fear so many things. Failure. Loss. Growing close to someone. And of course, what those fears will manifest into. But it isn’t fear itself that is the issue, it is what we do in the face of it. Who we will become once we are stuck with it. What kind of person will we become? Will we be proud of that person? Can we forgive them? Do we even recognize that person as ourselves? Or do we end up becoming the very same thing that we feared all along?

“I supposed we all find out, sooner or later”

Cinder escapes, enraged at her failures once again. Neo gives her the Lamp though, which helps her calm down, though Neo is still as un-thrilled as ever. Maria, Pietro, and the Bees pick up JNR and head to pick up the others. Weiss rushes to Winter, who demands to know what she did to become wanted. She tells them to stand down and comply to the General… but a clearly broken up Weiss tells her that they can’t. Therefore, Winter tells them to go. Weiss refuses to leave her, but Winter says she’s giving them a head start as she calls for both medical and reinforcements. Weiss realizes what this means… and she, Ruby, and Penny get on the jet. Penny is understandably conflicted by what happened, but Ruby and Weiss comfort her and her father is also close by. We also get a short, but beautifully somber ballad called Until the End that was not only sung by Casey, but also her first song as the songwriter. Beautiful.

Our heroes escape, but not all is well. Qrow and Robyn are arrested and taken back to Atlas, the latter now having Clover’s bloodied badge. We also find out that Watts is alive, though incarcerated, but he sees something outside that makes him smirk evilly. Oscar is able to create a kind of energy bubble that breaks his fall and land safely but he is now all alone… well, almost. Ozpin is back now and Oscar knows that he saved him… but Oz counters this. It was Oscar who saved /them/. Oz begins to say something, but Oscar cuts him off. Right now, all he wants to know is how they can save Atlas now. As our heroes flee from the Kingdom, a direct parallel to when they first arrived back in the beginning, reports come in of some kind of enemy approach. One like nothing that they have seen before. In the sky, dark clouds emerge as what looks like a giant Grimm Whale emerges from them. That can only mean one thing. The chapter, and with it Volume 7, ends with the arrival of the Wicked Witch, and she is ready to unleash her wrath.

Review

Oh Lord… this was… something…

There is so much to go over, so let’s get on with it. First is the Maiden stuff. I think we all knew that neither Winter nor Cinder would get the power, but I’m glad that Penny did. I predicted it a week ago, but I’m certianly happy to see it come true. And honestly? She’s earned it. Unlike anyone else in Ironwood’s lot, Penny followed her heart. She valued feelings and emotions, even if she was still learning the concept. She could have followed Ironwood’s orders, but she didn’t. She could have killed Fria to stop her power, but she didn’t. She simply went up to her and talked to her, asking her if she’s okay. Like a compassionate human being. She allowed Fria to have a peaceful death. A death that she accepted herself, and due to ti, rewarded Penny with her power. Penny got her own Blue Fairy, and has now been proven to be a Real Girl. It is the perfect way to conclude her character arc this season, and I am so happy about it.

But it, of course, comes at a cost. Winter doesn’t get it, and unfortunately, she stays by Ironwood. It’s clearly not a choice that she’s making lightly. As I’ve said so many times, she feels that she owes Ironwood and the military. She feels like the General is trying to dow hat’s right, despite her heart telling her otherwise. We even see here, with her constant worry for Penny and ultimately giving Weiss the chance to escape, that she isn’t heartless. Winter still has hope, and er not getting the powers is probably the best thing for her. She didn’t get the destiny she was groomed for, and hopefully, this will allow her to look at the bigger picture and begin carving her own destiny. But t won’t be right now. It hurts her. When she tells Weiss that she’s giving her a head start, she sounds on the verge of tears. But nevertheless, she won’t turn on Atlas. On James. So for now, she and her sister and now enemies, and they both know it. But hopefully, this will only be temporary.

Upside though, the fight with her, Penny, and Cinder was excellent. It’s been V3 since we saw Winter fight, and while she got beat up pretty hard, she managed to hold her own against Cinder. The fight was excellent, especially when it went into the air. Probably one of, if not /the/ best fight of the volume. Neo vs JNR and Oscar was also good. Neo knew that she was outnumbered, and resorted to using trickery and craftiness just as her mentor would. As such, she got out without a scratch and with the Lamp. But JNR definitely managed to put up a fight and it was a really fun watch. I do worry about Ren though. He was horrified when he nearly harmed Neo while she looked like Nora and the recent events have him frustrated and worn down. I’m pretty sure he’ll stick by the heroes’ side, but with how much more closed off he’s been becoming, I worry if this will make him worse. We can only hope that Nora and Jaune can pull him back if that’s the case.

Then we have Cinder. I expected her to not be happy by the end, but… man, she went Azula-esque insane here. I think it’s becoming more and more clear why. Whatever happened in the past, it made CInder desire power. She doesn’t want to starve. Considering her inspiration of Cinderella, I have a pretty good idea of what likely happened. But even so, Cinder again fails. She’s so obsessed with power, she won’t grow what she has or realize what got her the Fall power, to begin with. It wasn’t because she overpowered Amber, it was because she had Emerald and Mercury there aiding her. But she feels that she’s powerful enough on ehr own now, but she keeps being proven wrong. She’s failed twice now, and with each failure, her rage grows more and more. Not to mention once again, Ruby came in unexpectedly and like before, ruined her chances by forcing her to flee to not get Silver Eyes blasted. Which seeing Ruby use it with zero hesitation just from seeing Cinder? Perfection. Due to it, Cinder lost her biggest chance at getting more power, though she does have the Relic. That’ll likely get her back into Salem’s favor, but I worry for Penny int he future since Cinder knows that she has it…

But it emphasizes the thing about Cinder. She is desperate for power. Even though she has a great deal already, she wants more and more. No matter what she has to do to get it, or who she has to slay. This is going to be her undoing one day. There’s been some talk about Cinder being redeemed… but I don’t see it. Cinder has taken immense pleasure in killing people, ruining people’s lives, and even jut injuring people like Weiss in V5 out of pure spite. She’s pretty much… well, Adam. She uses and abuses people to get what he wants, she takes pleasure in harming others even if they did nothing to her, she is obsessed with power, and most of all she has zero remorse for any of this. She wants power, and that’s all the justifications he needs. She’s done too much to earn redemption, especially considering what Adam and even Tyrian have done. I just don’t see her doing so. At most, she may turn on Salem, but it ain’t gonna be out of remorse. This chapter confirms for me that there is absolutely more to Cinder’s quest for power than just wanting it for itself… but that will only explain it, not justify it. If anything, with two failures under her belt, I only see her becoming much, much worse…

But now we come to the big thing.

Oscar tries to appeal to Ironwood but it fails. It is here that Ironwood goes from a good man making all the wrong choices to true villainy. Despite what he may claim, fear has absolutely taken control of him. Everything he is doing is out of fear of Salem winning. Sacrificing Mantle? Trying to raise Atlas? Sacrificing Fria and grooming Winter to do it? Trying to arrest a bunch of kids who tried to reason with him? All of it is because he is afraid, and that fear has shaped him into the very thing he feared all along. He has become like Salem. The moment that proves this? Him shooting Oscar. He shoots a teenaged boy who did nothing to him and only tried to help him. Why? Because he didn’t want to even consider that he may be wrong anymore, Oscar tried to help him. RWBY trie to help him. Even Ozpin, back in Volumes 2 and 3, tried to help him. Even Glynda talked to him! And every single time, Ironwood ignored it. He refused the help or the one time he did he snapped all because of a chess piece.

James was a good man, but he kept failing. He refused to listen, outright overthrew people if he didn’t like what they said even when it wasn’t his kingdom (hi end of V2!), and continued to fail. This is the final step in his fall from grace. No longer is he the good man who despite his missteps has the best of intentions. Even though he knows that he’s causing hundreds of deaths, he’s too lost in his paranoia and fear to care. He not only shot a teenaged boy with zero hesitation but in his mind, shot the man who refused to listen to him from the start. The same person who, in his mind, allowed this all to happen. Despite Oz’s lies, he /did/ honestly try to reason with Ironwood so many times, and again, Ironwood didn’t listen. The only person to blame for his position is himself, but he won’t’ admit it. His hopes are shattered, and they can’t be mended any more. The James Ironwood we met in Volume 2 is dead, now replaced with a heartless tin soldier.

Indeed, the ending is bleak. Our heroes escaped, but they’re still wanted by the Atlesian military. Penny got the Maiden powers, but it paints a target on her back form all sides and Fria still died. Winter survived, but she stands by Ironwood and thus lets go of Weiss. Oscar awakened his powers, but he’s separated from everyone. Qrow and Robyn have been arrested, meaning RWBYJNR lost one of their best fighters and Ruby and Yang their uncle, and Mantle lost its hero and the Happy Huntresses’ their leader. Atlas doesn’t get raised, but James is as enraged as ever and he still condemned Mantle to die. But worse of all, Salem has arrived. She not only has the giant Whale Grimm, but her massive army of Flying Monkeys. The military is likely unprepared, Mantle is defenseless, and Salem looks more than ready to unleash her wrath. Things… do not look good, folks.

I think the thing that best describes this chapter, and the volume as a whole, is the credits song Fear. Which first, another amazing song! But the song talks about the same things as Oz’s monologue. About how we all feel fear, and do so for various reasons. But it’s what we do in its wake that matters. James gave into the fear and ended up becoming the exact thing that he fought against. If he realizes it like is implied, he’s past the point of caring anymore. As I said, he’s no longer the same man we met. But in contrast, look at Ozpin. He’s lived in fear even longer, and it cost him so much. Volume 6 alone demonstrates this. But it seems like he may have realized it now. He knows what fear can do to someone. What it can turn one into. He’s been there, and he hated the person that he saw. It turned him into someone so different he didn’t even go by Ozma anymore. Due to it, he quit trusting others, and in turn, the heroes no longer trusted him. But has he learned now? It’s hard to say, but he is correct that at some point, sooner or later, we find out what fear turns us into.

The finale did its job of wrapping things up while leaving things open for the next volume, and did so excellent;y. It wrapped up all the remaining major plot threads, but left a couple open and opened plenty of new ones. It was animated very well. It had so many different emotions and the monologue from Oz was absolutely perfect. The only real bummer is that we didn’t get a stinger for the first time but honestly? It didn’t really need one. I think it ended exactly where it needed to, as mean as that ending is. In the end, I felt… no happy or even sad. I guess the word is somber. I think that may be the perfect way to describe this volume and where it lead us to as a whole, somber.

Volume Eight Predictions

It’s going to be outright war.

So we have Salem invading, but IDT she’ll unleash all the forces immediately. She’s gonna be smart about this. With the Lamp, Cinder will be able to get back in her good graces I feel, though if Emerald and Mercury are there IDK how they’ll feel about Neo. Emerald especially. James is not only going to want to face Salem for obvious reasons, but he’s going to want RWBYJNRO for both the Maiden and for screwing his plans over as massively as they did. IDK what the heroes are gonna do, though my guess is they’ll flee to Mantle since they’re the most vulnerable and since Atlas won’t save them, they will. But it won’t be easy. The city is without heating still, and at this point, the people are likely broken. Hopefully, they can fix this and resolve any of their own issues like Ren’s problems and any issues that these events will cause amongst themselves. Oscar will likely catch back up with the others very quickly, but who knows?

Any specifics? Well, we have Penny with the Maiden powers, so that could result in who knows what. We have O back and while I think that Oscar is willing to listen to him and accept his help, the others… ehh. Very least, I don’t see either Yang nor Jaune immediately accepting him back. Ruby I cans ee still having her issues, but she’s always but what’s best for others over anything else, so I think she’ll at least listen. Everyone else is right down the middle. Not to mention with Qrow gone, the kids are pretty much on their own now, and considering none of them have been in a war, they’re… not gonna have an easy time. We all thought this volume was rough? IIRC, CRWBY described this as Part One. Up next is Part Two, and all I can say for certain is it’s gonna be wild.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Penny Polendina and Oscar Pine Favorite Scene: All the scenes during Ozpin’s monologue Least Favorite Scene: None. It was all fantastic Favorite Voice Actor: Shannon McCormick (Ozpin) Favorite Animation: Oscar falling through the sky Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts

I loved this chapter. IDK where it ranks among other finales, but it was still amazing. The emotions were so well conveyed and despite the cliffhanger ending, it wrapped up all that it needed to perfectly. This entire volume has been one heck of ride, and this was the cherry on top. I was greatly satisfied with the ending, and it was another amazing chapter to another amazing volume of RWBY. So Volume Eight? Bring it on.

And… that’s it, guys. I only have one more RWBY related review to do until V8, and that’s the full Volume Seven review. Though to be fair I am splitting it into two parts cause there is a loooot to cover. But as far as Episode Reviews go, that’s it until RvB18 starts. I’m kind of glad cause boy do I need a breather. But thank you, everyone, who has read this and my previous reviews, and I hope that you’ll stick around for the Volume 7 review. I’ll see you then~!