#rwby v9 ep 1

[blackdagger456]

Ruby Faints; Ruby Roses Mental Breakdown Begins

[rubyinasnuggie]

i have literally no basis for this but my kneejerk reaction to the jabberwalker is that its jaune

[scrion7]

I FUCKING KNEW THERE WAS TIME SHENANIGANS

There was NO WAY for Neo to fall AFTER RWBY in Ever After, because she fell in at the same time as Ruby, so therefore time in Ever After must not be the same as time in Remnant.

Jaune fell in FAR after the rest of RWBY, and yet came in chronologically way before RWBY. At least, assuming that's the Jaune we know. There could be some shenanigans there too. We know absolutely nothing about how Ever After really works.

And, this calls into question where in the Remnant timeline the gang leave Ever After into. For all we know, it could be before Volume 1 and we get a STRQ centric volume or a massive timeskip after Atlas falls and we get to see Renora's kid.

Timeline shenanigans. In RWBY. Oh, this will be good.

[great-crater]

I Shoulda Never Smoked That Shit Now Im In The EverAfter

[lily-cmdier99]

051/365

[rwbyrg]

If it's alright, I'm just curious, do you have any thoughts of your own or theories about Oscar or Ruby or both of them in terms of v10? To add, do you have any theories for the merge and how it will end up for both Oscar and Ozpin? Like will it be a good or bad thing? Sorry if these questions seem vague lol

Of course it's alright to ask! I do have many thoughts and a handful of theories. I'll admit most of them are wishful thinking since there's truly no way to tell where the story will go until it actually happens. But if I were to distill it to the ones I'm most expecting and why, then I'd probably say:

Expansion on Ruby's solo arc that kicked off in V9

Acknowledging the setups (plural) between Ruby and Oscar's arcs

The merge-curse is eventually broken (blame the allusions)

I'll elaborate a bit below.

1. Expanding on Ruby's Arc

What we saw Ruby go through in V9 is very much not the end of that particular plot line, imo. We saw a bit of this in Justice League: Part 2 and the final ep of RWBY Beyond where she talks to Clark and Yang about her struggles a bit. Ruby needs to learn how to both ask for and accept help from those around her so the weight of everything she's carrying doesn't crush her. Especially now when they're down to the wire and she's come back as a resurrected martyr who's face has been used at the centre of the resistance movement she's now helping to lead. How will she live up to the expectations and pressures of that impossible pedestal when she's only a human girl with very normal knees who's barely keeping it together? Also, while I don't know exactly how they're going to address everything she experienced, and I struggle to imagine her speaking about Neo's Horror House to anyone directly... that sort of trauma doesn't just go away once it's over. So I would be very surprised if the effects of it didn't ripple throughout the remaining chapters of the show. Especially when every other member of RWBY has seemingly had the bulk of their main character arcs already. It's long overdue for Ruby to get that time in the spotlight. Which does sort of lead into my next point...

2. Acknowledging the Setups in Ruby and Oscar's Dynamic

For starters, we've got the merge and ascension parallels to address. Ruby and Oscar have always mirrored each other's issues around identity, choice, fear, responsibility, leadership, etc., and this buildup seems to be coming to a head following V9. From Oscar's "I'm just going to be another one of his lives, aren't I?" to Ruby's "What if you could be anyone?", and how the two of them will relate to each other in light of those contrasting - but similar - experiences. Especially with Ruby having just come back from the tree to find Oscar fighting against the merge harder than ever before. But we also have their attachments to each other to sort out as well. Ruby and Oscar have been watching each other's backs in different ways since V5, their reunion hug in V8 was interrupted where no other "pairing's" was, and they were the only "pairing" still to be split up between the Ever After and Remnant. Not to mention that, while they were separated, Ruby was pushed to a breaking point after being shown an illusion of losing Oscar, while Oscar was back in the real world eulogizing about how he lost Ruby. CRWBY doesn't setup relationship parallels and focuses as intensely and intentionally as this without pay off at some point.

Again, while the specifics are nearly impossible to predict, I'm expecting a bit of a Dojo Scene Reprise, heart-to-heart of sorts, and/or, something that puts those attachments to the test. My immediate thought is that this test will finally push Oscar to unlocking his semblance since getting shot, falling from Atlas, being kidnapped, and tortured were all not enough to make it happen. (Although my wishful thinking is that it unlocks in a happier moment, I think that's much less likely.)

If I were to engage in pure speculation on this, my easiest bet is that it will come at the hands of Tyrian. When our Little Prince was first introduced, it was almost as if he was waking from a nightmare of that villain laughing with glee at the opportunity to hunt down a certain rose. And with this being the Vacuo arc with Ruby and Oscar getting a lot of focus, and Tyrian already on the prowl within the kingdom, it would make a lot of sense. The little prince fated to have a confrontation with a venomous antagonist in the desert over his attachment to a rose is about as textbook as it gets. (I could also see it go to Cinder or being delayed until they follow through on the threat of Ruby being kidnapped by Salem, if that's the route they decide to take. But again we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.)

3. Oscar and the Merge

I'm not entirely sure where they're headed with this one between now and the resolution... but I do think the resolution itself will otherwise be a happy one, if not bittersweet. RWBY is a story about breaking cycles, and Oz has been part of one of the longest on Remnant since the very beginning. Pairing that with this show being, ultimately, a happy story, as well as a looking at two of Oscar and Oz's shared allusions, I can only imagine they will be separated by the end.

The first allusions to mention are from The Marvelous Land of Oz. Princess Ozma (aka Oscar) is the rightful heir to the kingdom and next in line to take over when it's time for the wizard to retire. It's very clear that - however this plays out - Oscar is the final incarnation. Typically, when one ruler leaves the throne that's it. They're gone. Oz has fiddled with Remnant's history for countless millennia now in his endless fight against Salem. When the dust settles and it's time for Remnant to rebuild, it should be up to the new generation to take charge without his influence from "the old world" in the mix.

From a Little Prince lens - for those unfamiliar with the book - the aviator (aka Oz) spends much of the story waffling about the little prince he is stranded with in the desert... only to be very sad when his new friend leaves him behind to go home to the stars. RWBY is already subverting this story a bit with Oscar being the one wanting to be rid of his pilot instead of the other way around. If I were to guess how the show will carry this further, it would be that Oz moves on, but perhaps with some lingering attachment on either (or both) sides. Maybe a bit of a "all this time I wanted it to end, but now that it's finally happening, I wish I (you) didn't have to go".

At least that's what seems to make sense to me, thematically speaking. Oscar will be irreversibly changed by these events even if he is freed from the curse, however. There is no question about it. Because that is what the Hero's Journey is all about.

The hero leaves their farm and they fall through a new world. It is both horrifying and exciting in equal measure. And throughout it all they are changed by the experiences they have and the people they meet - both good and bad, within their control and outside of it. And when the quest is finally over, there is grief. Because you are not the same person you were when you left home, and you can never truly return to what you had and who you were before it all happened.

This is also, coincidentally, just what it means to grow up. Which - while not the only one, and certainly not unique to Oscar's arc alone - has always been one of the loudest allegories hiding within the merge to me. We meet and know people, we don't always have a say in how long they can stay and how they change us... and then one day they are gone, but their influence and our memories of them stay with us. And then, as RWBY has taught us since the very beginning, we keep moving forward despite it all.

( @creatoriamari tagging you here just in case to make sure you get the notif because I don't know if it still works if I saved the ask as a draft. 🙇‍♀️)

[warriordreamer95]

Little in EP 1 of RWBY V9 2/2 *Requested by @steve7thsamurai​*

[cosmokyrin]

Hi there! Hope you're doing awesome! Quick question,I know we're only 2 episodes into Volume 9,but what's your take on the whole Penny situation? I was crushed when she first died in Volume 3,then excited to see her again in 7,then crushed again to see her die just 1 volume later,as I'm sure everyone was. I'm hopeful about 9 though,it's looking good,but one of my friends has been turned off by all the gut punches with Penny & everything else,& I'm watching the series through with another friend & I don't want them to get turned off the same way. I'm hoping for something but not sure what at this point.

ayoooo i just remembered this ask now that i have some time kjdflsd kek

Anyway regarding Penny!! The best girl ever /lh

I totally understand if one of your friends got turned off with what had happened to her character so far--- because two years ago I was in the exact same position lol. In fact I came to watch the first ep of V9 without any expectations nor as much interest as I did with V8. I was mostly curious as to what direction they'd be pushing the story into.

And hooo boy was I surprised! And I mean, the kind of "Oh shit I'm caught off-guard by all that Nuts and Dolts moments because it's so in-the-face what thE HELL". Exactly like V8 lmao. I know I'm now speaking about the ship but jfdfdskfj I also do mean Penny content. I caught up with RWBY V6 and V7 during the 2020 / V7 hiatus, and when the Penny content was suddenly given the spotlight, that gut-punched me too.

And yeah that's exactly what I'm seeing with V9. Two years of grieving not really having much canon material to speculate about Penny's direction as a character and the premiere of V9 gave me new hopes actually! From a better perspective, I'm a little more positive that the theories / suspicions that had been floating around the Nuts and Dolts / Penny fandom (since V8) are in the right direction. I'll be bold now when I say it, now that I have moved past the pains of V8 lol: Nuts and Dolts is a living ship, and I have 95% confidence when I say it's actually a canon pair now. The first two episodes especially emphasized this, and I trust CRWBY knows what they're doing with the implications of it. And because they're less likely to bury gays, aside from an entire thesis (no kidding lol) from the Nuts and Dolts nation on why Penny would come back, looking at what the show might be bringing (hopepunk, wlw, LGBTQIA+ reps) gives me a positive view of Penny's general direction as a character.

One of my friends / mutuals said it aptly when they mentioned that RWBY doesn't benefit much from being watched while airing, because as a fan of the show who painstakingly waits between hiatuses it might sometimes feel underwhelming when you've been expecting something big for so long. I've been here since 2013, but it gets better when you rewatch volumes at once especially before a new season premiere! If one gets the hints given by CRWBY right, there is a pay-off there (I had my moment here with Pietro in V8). So I guess technically that means it's better off changing one's mindset that whatever they do with characters / the story usually has a reason forward, but then it would take a while to really get there.

[arnieb95]

where did u say rwby is wstchable ? i have decided i musnt wait any longr

AAAAAAA!!! I'm so happy!

So, RWBY is watchable either on Crunchyroll or the Roosterteeth site. If you already have Crunchyroll Premium, I'd suggest watching there since V9 is exclusively on Crunchyroll. Otherwise, you can watch V1-8 for free on Roosterteeth.

Before you start, there are four trailers, the Red, White, Black, and Yellow trailers, which you can find on Youtube. These will introduce you to both the world of RWBY and the four titular main characters. Iirc, Crunchyroll does include these before ep 1

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask

[yangscowlick]

Also this may be controversial, but given the DCAU approach the past decade has worked pretty well, I wouldn’t…hate if future RWBY took the form of Direct-to-DVD releases.

The RWBY/JL movie part 1 is basically half a season length. So Volume 10 could be two “movies” done in bursts.

V9 was my first volume I watched week to week, and I have to say it felt choppy until I watched it all in a few sittings once it was over. I hate binge-drops generally, but RWBY episodes are really just not long enough to stretch out over a week. 12-15 minutes of actual episode (once you subtract the intro and credits) is just not enough content to chew over until the next ep (thus fans nitpicking or blowing small items that will be resolved by next ep out of proportion). I really think this show and its narrative cohesion work better in a gulp or two.

I am not trying to start rumors, so to be clear this is ENTIRELY based on my own stray thoughts and ruminations.

[nightmare-foundation]

Does rwby v9 ep 1 come out at 10:30 am est???

[blackdagger456]

Lets Talk about: RWBY Volume 9 Ep 1

Oh boy we are in for something this season and I don’t mean that in purely good terms.

Firstly lets get out what I liked about this episode, I did love that they’re not going for the whole ‘group gets separated and takes forever to find each other’ trope. With what i think is happening I don’t think it woulda worked in the long run, personally i’ve grown to slightly dislike the trope but that’s just me.

Then there was this line towards the end of the episode.

“If you thought we wouldn’t come for you you must have forgotten who raised me.”

Something that doesn’t get acknowledged enough in my opinion is how much Yang had to take care of Ruby once Summer died. Qrow was out doing Ozpin missions and missions in general and Tai was a depressed—and theorized— drunk who wasn’t looking after his kids. That left Yang to look after and care for a young Ruby Rose for a long time.

We don’t know exactly how long but it lead to her trying to seek out Raven to try and fix her family so she wouldn’t have to shoulder that burden anymore. Even after Qrow saved her Yang didn’t stop looking after Ruby in her own way—at that point, although i think the show doesn’t show it enough cause i want more, the two were sisters but also had a slight parental child situation going on in their own way.

Now for my favorite part of the episode.

I know they only have ten episodes this season ,which is the shortest season ever in RWBY, but I am REALLY hoping they do Rubys mental breakdown well. I saw hints of it last volume and after everything?

After losing again, the whole complicated thing with Ironwood, the reveal of what the hound was and what that might mean for her mother and now losing Penny AGAIN?

Losing Penny after doing literally everything they could to save her, succeeding in saving her and not being there for her final moments a SECOND time? Well—the way her voice sounded dead when she woke back up probably said everything.

I’ve said before that Ruby either needs to step back and let others take control or have a mental breakdown to further her character growth. With how things are looking they are definitely going with the latter and I hope they do it right since, from the opening, it looks like it’s going to be a heavy focus.

See how she gets further and further away from the group as they go through the areas we’re going to see in the show? And how when everyone else in the team looked bright and hopeful in their solo openings that go through their Volume changes she’s the only one with her back turned?

They are trying to hype up this aspect of the volume and i hope they do it well because once agin they only have ten episodes and most of this episode seemed...off.

Guess that’s a good segway to the negatives eh? Okay so it’s the first episode and I’m not going to lambast it because imma give it room to get better—but I can’t be the only one who noticed the VARIOUS off things in this episode right?

I don’t wanna talk about the opening so imma skip it but It felt like as soon as we shifted to Weiss and Blake the animation took a weird nosedive. There was that moment when they’re trying to get Gambol Shroud and it sounded like the VAs were being held at gunpoint.

It was adorable yes but felt off watching it a second time for analysis.

The animation in the mices were fucking—good lord I aint even gonna get into it but it’s the first episode and imma let it slide by the thinnest of hairs for now.

Another thing I didn’t like is—well i’m not sure if i’m right but that new girl is Neo right? The girl in shadow at the head of the group in the OP and at the end has to be Neo right? If so i feel like they should have saved how she looked like for her first appearance in the actual show. Also, if it turns out that’s not Neo but instead a reincarnation of Pennys soul or some shit i am going to lose my god damned mind.

[miaicefyre]

So, I finished season 2 of my here academia, it’s coming towards the end of October, and there’s still no news on RWBY volume 9. The biggest RWBY news we’ve gotten is the release of the upcoming fairytale show, which don’t get me wrong I am pretty exited about, but it’s not quite what I need right now…

The trailer for volume nine will be the decider for weather or not I watch that volume or not. If it’s all clips of the island then no, I want even try it; then I might want to go back to watching 1 ep of mha every other day to make it last longer and fill the gap for another year.

However, if there is but one small shot of Oscar or vacuo or even Qrow and the ace ops then yeah, I’ll give it a try; then I might be faced with a slight dilemma since, even if I speed up watching it, there’s no way I’ll be completely caught with mha by the time RWBY v9 coms out and it’s probably not a good idea for me to watch RWBY and mha at the same time so I’ll have to take a break from mha while RWBY is going on and if I do that I’ll want to leave at a good spot, either at the end of a season or half way through…but I can’t plan any of that until I at least know the release date.

For such reasons, I will not be watching any of mha season 3, neither trailer nor intro, until I see the said RWBY v9 trailer. There’s a LOT ridding on this trailer.

And it’s here I remember spotting a couple of mha movies on Netflix while I was searching for season two - then promptly forgetting all about them 😅 - one of which is set right after season 2. The movie I can watch but it still might not be for a while. since it’s longer, it’ll be hard for me to find roughly 1 or 2 hours free time where I can watch it without interruptions or pauses.

[lyricaris]

tired

TW: references to suicide, death

So I watched the RWBY V8 finale yesterday, and...besides being not okay, I’m fucking tired. 

I’m taking a moment to rant, because this episode really bothered me. As someone who started watching this show in ~2015, I feel like I’ve invested a good chunk of time in the series. For fans who enjoyed V8 and are looking forward to V9--I’m happy for you, I am. And I completely respect your opinion. 

But personally, I couldn’t stand this last episode. 

It felt like sloppy writing. Sloppy writing, combined with an artificial shock factor. And on top of that, cheap emotional manipulation. 

I’ll start at the beginning--

I’ve been really bored with the Ace Ops storyline for a while, but I recognize that’s just my personal disinterest in the characters, nothing to be upset about. But to break them apart further by having Vine sacrifice himself, when we BARELY knew Vine? If there was a flagship character for the remaining Ace Ops, that would have been Harriet. Adding the death of ANOTHER of her colleagues came off as an incredibly easy way out, and terribly unplanned. Like RT was dumping development onto characters with a very crude inclusion of self-sacrifice. 

Then, of course, there’s Penny. 

I don’t really have the words to express how disappointed I am that Roosterteeth chose to kill her again. To kill her, again, when she just got her body and overcame all of Watts’s manipulation. To kill her, again, by having her deliberately kill herself. To kill herself with Jaune’s sword, when HIS development has already been rooted in the death/sacrifice of another girl character already. To kill her, and then in her last moments with Winter, to portray her as looking HAPPY. 

I have a real fucking problem using suicide as the climax of a plotline (I think there are places for this but it has to be done VERY carefully, and TWICE IN ONE EP, REALLY?!?), and now I’m also realizing that the maiden powers being based on death-transfer makes me incredibly uncomfortable. Especially when we KEEP coming back to this device like it’s the only way to get around this OP power.

Do I even need to mention that Penny suggested sacrificing herself before, two eps ago, and Ruby expressly REFUSED to even consider that option? THAT is what makes team RWBY and their friends strong: that they believe every person matters. 

With the amount of screen time Penny has gotten the last two volumes, and the amount of energy that has gone into giving her a nuanced plot...well, it felt like we were throwing all that down the trash. To kill a character, resurrect her, give her growth and a continuation story....and then have her kill herself? There were so many better ways to execute this.

(As a side note, I’m not against the ending because it was sad. Sad finales are often quite phenomenal. I was on board with the end of V3, and I loved Pyrrha even more. But Pyrrha walked into a fight with bad odds because she believed she could make a difference. She wasn’t just giving up. Stabbing yourself because the only choice left is your death, is, well, another matter entirely. And it’s not like Pyrrha had ALREADY died once before. Character deaths should MEAN something. I will include here a very quick note that when it comes to Penny or Winter or even Cinder, the power inconsistency is getting on my nerves.)

And re: Winter--

I fucking love Winter. She’s a great character. Seeing her reach out to Weiss and confront Ironwood made me incredibly happy. 

Having the show insinuate that Winter 1) NEEDS maiden powers to defeat Ironwood, after 2) writing an entire arc where Winter comes to terms with her destiny of NOT being a maiden? That makes me mad. 

Generally, I like the idea of Winter as a maiden. And the design of her powers? Pretty cool. But after V8, it feels like Penny was simply a vector for Winter to get those powers. And you know what? I wanted Winter to learn that she was ENOUGH—that she was damn powerful, maiden powers or not. And that she doesn’t have to be following orders or witness a friend’s death to BE that powerful and make a difference.

Last but not least--damnit, if RWBY falling into magic rabbithole means that they get split up AGAIN, I will be extra pissed.

Overall I’m just exhausted with this show, with this finale. It wasn’t enjoyable. I don’t know if I’ll tune into V9, or how excited I’ll be if I do. And that’s okay--as they say, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. 

That’ll teach me not to have such high expectations, lol.

[warriordreamer95]

Jabberwalker in EP 1 of RWBY V9 *Requested by @kaiyeti*

[warriordreamer95]

Little in EP 1 of RWBY V9  1/2 *Requested by @steve7thsamurai*