I think the cat dislikes Weiss so much is because her sarcasm answers nothing. She’s either pointing out the obvious or asking questions when she’s being sassy
She also is very resistant to manipulation because she got so much of it from her father, but yeah I think it's great she's the only one who can out sass the cat
"They weren't cut out for this, they're children" THANK YOU. I'm like... the only person I've seen saying this this whole time. They enrolled in monster-fighting combat schools as children and have been getting thrown from one catastrophic disaster to another since. They haven't had the time to develop healthy emotional control/responses, mature, etc. Everyone keeps saying "Oh why aren't my characters acting like emotionless efficient machines accomplishing their tasks~" THEY ARE EMOTIONALLY UNDERDEVELOPED CHILDREN IN THE MIDDLE OF WHAT COULD BE AN APOCALYPSE-LEVEL CATASTROPHE. There is no reason why they would be able to act rationally and efficiently at every moment under these circumstances.
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate jaunes fighting skills has improved a great deal? He's come a long way since getting training from Pyrrha. Literally one of my favorite characters with an incredible amount of development over the last 10 years.
I think the Cat is stuck in a bit of a paradox so to speak. It seems to only be able take over someone’s body if they have no purpose left, however if someone has no purpose then there’s no reason they would want to leave the Ever After (which we see with Neo). No matter what, it looks like the Cat’s win condition is unobtainable.
We finally get a Summer scene, took’em long enough. Also, couldn’t help but notice how we saw kid Yang’s right hand, like they just wanted to remind us she had both hands once.
@@lockskelington314 But they didn't, actually. Juniper isn't in the flashback at all; the earliest mention of Juniper in the timeline is "Juniper found me and brought me to the Paper Pleasers." So it could very well be: 1) Alyx poisons Jaune, 2) Alyx regrets it, 3) Curious kills Alyx; 4) Alyx ascends into Juniper; 5) Alyx as Juniper "remembers" in her heart that she needs to rescue Jaune and goes off to find him.
You know, I just rewatched the whole episode, did anyone else notice the hug differences? Weiss hugs Jaune from the neck, while Blake and Yang hug him from the torso. I would guess it’s short hand for, “I am here for you, versus we are here for you.” Both of which are extremely valuable when it comes to recovering from a traumatic event. It’s a good healing scene. Also, shippers, I’m not implying anything other than healing vibes.
Yep her team literally watches Ruby beaten down commit suicide, and barely an episode later they're all grinning like fools and acting like nothings wrong. Wow what caring friends Ruby has. But heck should we be surprised, it`s not like they haven't spent the whole season standing around watching Ruby mental state spiraling down while doing nothing to help.
I've heard it was done because it was the best point to cut things off. Sometimes that's just how it is. I've also heard a rumor that the Finale is going to be 26 Minutes, and while I'm taking things with a grain of salt, here's hoping.
So my personal thought on where this goes. little will return first, and fight back the cat, as Neo Cat is obviously slowly winning out against the remaining team. It'll probably get to the point where it'll be Little one-on-one with the cat, fighting valiantly but never actually trying to kill Neo-Cat because it didn't come back to be a killer. Ruby will eventually return, having learned the lessons from Summer's mistakes, choosing not to be her mother. But rather than join in the fight, beyond defending herself and likely Little immediately, she'll call to the cat and offer to talk. Because the Cat isn't a foe that can just be killed, much like everything else in EverAfter. And even if it could, why would they want to kill it? Because it lied and manipulated them? Ozpin has been doing that for centuries, and as angry as they got, they never outright tried to kill Oscar. No, because now, above all other times, is the best time to apply the lesson that Ruby will have learned. To talk and offer to make good on Alex's promise. To prove the cat that human's are complete shit, but more than that, because she knows they won't be able destroy Salem with force of arms. And if they can't do that, why bother doing so? Why not try and mend the bridges? Because Rigger is Right, the Cat is somewhat analogues to Salam. both left forever to go crazy and rot? Like the fact that Salem was even capable of conversing, let alone being able to love Ozpin still, proves that there is still a person in there. My thoughts anyway.
Totally agree and hope to see this outcome. Even more than that though, I really hope Neo would join them in going back after the cat gets purged/ gets a chance at revival. I can see Ruby confronting her and at least offering aid as a proof that Neo can move on from revenge. I just hope she isn't a husk after we leave.
Ruby is gonna talk to Summer or at least a vision of her and she’ll end up choosing to return as herself instead of being someone else except maybe with Summer’s weapon
I think next episode (or at least the first scene with Ruby) will open with Summer appearing behind Ruby before she actually grabs her weapon. They’ll have a talk and Ruby will realize she has to different from her mother. The thing with Jaune reminds of a phoenix when they die and are reborn from their ashes so I do think that in a way he will ascend and he’ll become young again. The thing with Little and Alyx is rlly weird. There is still a chance that they are the same person but for Alyx, it makes me go back to the jackelope theory. It always seemed weird to me for her to have allusions to rabbits and for it to have no meaning but had dismissed that idea since Jaune made it sound was as if he had already known juniper. Whether both or either of them go back to remnant would be an interesting question to keep in mind.
I like that this world is at it's core a therapeutic experience. I hope, narratively speaking, Neo gets that chance as well. Ruby comes out talks/deals with the cat, then handles Neo post shut down. I would hate to see her as the only person un-able to change but it's only a hope.
I think that Ruby will acquire her mother's weapon in placement of Crescent Rose or Crescent Rose will have her mother's influence in design. Also I predict she will get a semblance upgrade similar to Flash Step from Bleach
I have an odd feeling. Okay, follow me for a second. Neo's only purpose in life is hating Ruby. Making Ruby suffer. It's carried her all the way to this point. What if... when Ruby pops out of her statue "cocoon", Neo's consciousness kicks back in and she forces the cat out of her body, because now her raison d'etre is back. Or! Just Ruby being back isn't enough for Neo to assert control, BUT it does rekindle a "desire" within her. The cat says she has no attachment to Remnant and that's why they can't pass through the door. But if Ruby heads through the door and returns to Remnant, NOW Neo has a reason to want to go back, thus providing a method for him to finally pass through the door.
Yeah it could go that way, but I hope they wrap it all up here. I don't particularly like the idea of CC-Neo as another enemy. Hoping to see Neo at least regain consciousness and be offered the chance to revive or start over. If she declines, at least it through her own agency.
I had more or less this same thought. Ruby ascends and returns, Neo sees this through the Cat's control, recognizes Ruby... and her raison d'etre is back, and so now filled with purpose anew, Neo is no longer an ideal host for the Cat, forces the Cat out... helps RWBY and Jaune fight off the Cat. Once the battle is over, Neo makes it clear to Ruby that they still aren't friends - points her parasol at Ruby, or finger-gun again - and turns toward the door, ready to leave. Before Neo crosses over, though, she glances over her shoulder again and offers a small, almost imperceptible nod to Ruby - a sort of grudging respect, like 'I still don't like you, but I see now that eliminating you forever isn't the answer I wanted'.
Yeah, hated that too. Least they have her acting as she should when they see her, frantically tearing at the wood to try and get her out, worrying her little sister’s not gonna be her little sister when she comes out, etc. Its not much, but its better than what we’ve been getting from her lately.
@@LegendPurpleDragon152 slightly mad to think the gang had more reaction to the death of paper pleasers than to the death of thier own teammate/sister but whatever I guess she coming back next episode so who cares
Yea it was such an egregious tonal whiplash, i thought theyd have learned a lesson about this already but nope they gotta mess up the tone every volume it seems
I think Alex became juniper. I think that deer rabbit remembers but can't speak. It was not there when they went to the tree. I hope juane was caught by it when he fell.
If she is the smith then who made her? And if the answer is the tree, then what is the role of the smith if the tree can just do it? Either how she came to be makes no sense, or her existing as the smith is pointless and achieves nothing because it would happen without her anyway.
16:14 on that note, that was the same kind os strike that winter give to iron wood, not so much physical damage more so like aura damage. 23:21 i keep thinking that jaune will not leave ever after. 25:07 nah, i think this will be the end of neo in the series.
I would like to put into question whether death actually exists in the Ever After. If Alyx was killed by the cat, whilst still in the Ever After, perhaps she ascended...and as the Cat said, Alyx wanted to make amends with Juane, with that said, im now more willing to accept that Alyx is Juniper, as Juniper found Juane after Alyx betrayed him, so she came back for him as Juniper to help Juane get home(and their eye colour matches and Alyx has a Rabbit brooch which could tie her to Juniper)... And perhaps when they are about to go through the door to Remnant. Juniper will somehow appear as Alyx, and will choose to stay behind and fix all the other things she broke in the Ever After, like she wanted to before the cat 'killed' her. It will be a great way for everyone to actually engage with Alyx beyond jst hearing people talk about her. And it gives us an almost ceremonious departure for Juniper, Juanes helper for years, and also, close the chapter on Alyx completely...but then speaking about Alyx/Juniper getting to say goodbye properly, I wonder how we are going to say goodbye to Little...
Can we agree that between the Paper Pleasers becoming living gems, and the blacksmith's colors being revealed and she has rainbow hair... Someone in CRWBY was just like "Steven Universe was cool" xD?
On the subject of Little's ascension: This episode made the important distinction that the person/being chooses whatever they WANT to ascend into. It is fairly obvious that Little, when asked what they want to be/do, would respond with something along the lines of "I want to help Ruby and her friends get home" So the tree is going to give Little a form that will be able to help with that task... in particular, in facing off against the cat. (After I unpaused I realized, as I should have since you've shared most of the thoughts and theories I've had the last few weeks, that you came to roughly the same conclusion, but yeah xD)
I was thinking the reason neo and alyx lined up in the intro was because neo was ascended alyx, but now it makes more sense as it represents how they were both used by the cat
I don't think Ruby is going to become Summer or lose her memories. That would be way too risky for the show to change the identity of it's protagonist. She needs remain Ruby Rose all the way through to the end of the show. Next episode will very likely feature flashbacks of Summer. Ruby will learn that her mother isn't this perfect idol, and that everyone has their flaws. Ruby's lesson that she needs to learn before she can leave Ever After, is to not aspire to become like her mother, but to simply just forge her own path. Yet Ruby can't be remain unchanged coming out of metamorphosis. She needs some sort of an upgrade, hinted through the Afterians ascending. Maybe we will see an older version of Ruby coming out, to match the age of her teammates. Maybe with peace of mind, Ruby will master her silver eyes and/or evolve her Semblance to a higher level, similar to what Neo achieved.
I’m pretty sure Jaune isn’t paralyzed. Even if he is, I think it’s heavily implied that the tree took him when he fell off the platform. That colored smoke that leaps up after he fell of screen was very similar to the Herbalist’s smoke, which looking back on it I’m almost certain was made using the tree’s leaves. I think the tree grabbed Jaune when he fell and is putting him through ascension, something I think it’s been wanting to do ever since he arrived
Personally for me this was the weakest episode this season. It was far too short in my opinion and the flow of the episode felt... off. But I'm hoping this is setting up for a huge finale
me when waiting a whole week for a 10 minute episode BUT im not complaining like c'mon We got to see summer and i dont know if jaune died i have no idea so worried for that dood.
Some missing lines from the trailer: Ruby: “where am I”( with an echo effect over it) Summer Rose?: “you never were the hero” Blake: “but we don’t know, how to get to the tree?!” Volume 9 was recorded 2 years ago so who’s to say that these made the final cut as they don’t make super sense to be in the finally chapter
Always need to take trailer lines and moments with a grain of salt. They can be offcuts, extra lines recorded for the trailer, changed scripts etc. But some of them for sure can still happen. the "you were never the hero" seems likely to come back.
My only real problem with this episode is that we got practically no reaction from Jaune and team RWBY at Ruby's death. I wish we would have picked right up to seeing them devastated that Ruby effectively chose death instead of being with her team and everyone. Even if they were sure she would come back the action that Ruby chose that is very heavy and deserved a reaction. I would have loved to see Yang fall to her knees head tilted up just silently crying followed by Blake falling down and embracing Yang telling her she doesn't always have to be the strong one, don't hold it in. Then Yang let's out a scream of anger and sadness and loss, letting it all go instead of holding it in. During this scream we cut to Weiss who turns away and we see tears falling down her cheeks, cut to Jaune head hangs low as tears fall. Then the scream stops and Yang fully collapses into Blake, followed by Weiss coming over and embracing them both. Cut to Jaune through tears and even a coarse voice that we have to keep going. Ruby isn't gone, she will come back and we should be there when she does. (Or some hero speech). To me that would be a great payoff to them really understanding what just happened and I feel like the ball was dropped. We needed some reaction from the group.
Considering WBY literally fought with jaune over letting the paper pleasers ascend I'm not that surprised because the only person who saw it as potentially death in the first place was Jaune. Everyone else just viewed as a change. Additionally they weren't there to see her basically get gaslit by neo into making the decision so they're operating under the assumption that ruby chose to ascend voluntarily after their argument. Yangs worried about how different her sister might be when she returns, but that's not the same as thinking she died. Now in terms of irl production, they really needed like 3 more episodes to wrap this up tbh. They're basically speed running to the ending now. It's understandable but unfortunate.
Someone pointed out the Little might come back as the Big Bad Wolf, only this version would be a friend to Ruby and a mount, the same way Juniper is to Jaune. That way, our two main characters Jaune and Ruby, who have always wanted to be heroes, will be able to charge into battle atop their noble steeds and defend the innocent. I think Jaune is going to ascend and return as a shining white knight, and I hope he looks mostly the same, I don't want him to de-age, or lose his new armor, but I wouldn't be apposed to it being cleaned up and have the rust removed.
"A being who was created and cursed by the Gods, left to go insane." If the group learns to help the Cat in some way, it'll be huge in them helping end Salem. Idk what that looks like, because both the Cat and Salem have suffered for eons and haven't changed at all. If they don't want to change they won't, but whatever happens next episode I think will be huge in aiding team RWBY and everyone with ending Salem.
This could be the trial run for ending the Salem issue. The cat is a mini Salem analog. However they deal with it could point to a similar solution for stopping Salem's plan.
Another point to little being alex is her aversion towards cats. If she was killed by a cat in her previous life, it reasons she is going to be afraid of cats. And turning into a mouse could be a manifestation of that fear.
I took jaune falling off the platform as him falling into the tree because of the smoke that came right after so I think he'll become his younger self again
Remember what Qrow said in Volume 4, introducing the relics as gifts to humanity: "And most importantly, [humanity] would be given the power to choose. To have free will, to take everything it had learned, and to decide which path to follow. The path of light, or the path of darkness." There are both gods on the doors because they represent the choices given to humanity, and they follow the same design pattern as the vault doors we've seen so far. This is almost certainly the choice vault, and if so the relic of choice must be somewhere in the Ever After.
Something that I still think about is that line spoken by both Cinder and Ironwood of “the timeline has changed”. It was never elaborated on, and most people overlooked it. I’d like to see something play out and call back to it. As for Ruby becoming Summer, what I’d like to see is perhaps Ruby remembering things from her early childhood, that has been blocked because of trauma, and begin to realize that her mother wasn’t perfect. Coming to understand that you can promise something, and have the intention to keep it, but circumstances that prevent you from doing so doesn’t reflect on you as a person. That it’s okay to make mistakes and okay to fail.
Oh, I had thought that there was a possibility of Ruby becoming Summer and being trapped in this timeloop, but... I never considered Jaune being Tai. That's... terrifying that is now a real possibility.
Well summer rose is going to help get ruby back on her feet and get her back to her normal self and get ruby crescent rose back and her mom emblem back
I have a theory where I think Ruby won't become her mom but I believe that she well live as her mom. Like she'll be in her mom's shoes and she'll see the struggles she had to deal with and the fact that she faced the problems on her own, trying to carry the weight on her shoulders and she ultimately failed. Then she'll be back in the void and the blacksmith will ask, well? is that who you need to be? I got this idea from a show where the protag had the chance to not carry the weight of the world, even though he failed a lot, the world would be much worse if he didn't take the mantle
The Jabberwock also talked about fixing something before running into Neo when it got cut and started bleeding on a blade of grass maybe the Jabberwocky is Alice
I'm sorry, but my takes on the Cat, Salem, and Cinder are all the same: What they suffered was wrong but they're now no better. And unlike some characters they never seem interested in being better. And that means whatever punishment they get is fully deserved.
While I understand this approach what is important isn't necessarily what happens to the villains but what it teaches our heroes. My point isn't purely that the cat deserves better, my point is that the villains should serve the progression of our heroes. Right now we're in the position where despite how villainous the cat is being we can see the parallels between the cat and Salem in their circumstances. Therefore this is a good moment for our characters to perhaps learn from how they deal with the cat so they can apply it later for how they might approach Salem.
@@YouAllWrite couldn't this be said about Neo? That's why I would feel off about her staying a vegetable or being left to go crazy in the EA. I genuinely hope if Ruby talk-no-jutsu's CC then the same should be at least *offered* to Neo. Having her stay in the EA through her own agency would be the fair conclusion in my eyes. I feel like Neo hasn't done worse than Salem and CC. They let Emerald change so Neo should have the offer at least.
I also believe next episode will be a flashback of Summer’s final mission where she will encounter Hazel and Tyrian with a massive fight between the 3 of them happening ending with Hazel or Tyrian killing her since Hazel mentions they had dealt with silver eyed warriors before during the meeting in Salem’s castle in volume 4 which was set before the Grim reaper and tock fight in volume 6
So the more I'm thinking about your thoughts of the Cat being a foil/parallel to Salem, the more I'm loving this as being the way they discover how to "beat" both the Cat and Salem. It could also be tied in, kinda, in the way of making Jaune's experience in this Volume yet another parallel. Because, much like Salem was cursed by the god and left to wander for all eternity, and much like the Cat was cursed with curiosity and abandoned in the Ever After, Jaune was thrown into the Ever After through no fault of his own for trying to do a good thing, and then thrown back in time so that he would be alone most of the time, and was betrayed the few times he wasn't alone. And when his friends finally show up, and they don't seem to take very well to how he's been handling his trauma, what does he do? He lashes out at them. Much like the Cat. The Cat was cursed and left in the Ever After. Finally, someone comes along (Alyx and Lewis) that may be able to get him out of the Ever After, so he can learn more about what is outside of it and maybe find some closure on why he was abandoned. But, he was "betrayed". While it may not have been intended as such (Alyx wanting to stay and right the wrongs she did in the Ever After), the Cat took it as a betrayal, of wanting to keep him in the Ever After, to not allow him to escape it. And then comes along Ruby & crew. And, for a short time, he seems genuinely interested in them and possibly in helping them; but then, he begins to see all the parallels in what they're doing compared to what Alyx did, and sees them being turned against him by Jaune. He starts suspecting that they're just going to betray him like Alyx did (he even kinda directly states that during the Ponder Storm). So, he begins plotting his own way out and ends up betraying and lashing out at WBY+J in turn, when they might have been willing to take him with them peacefully had he not jumped to the conclusion that they would turn out the same as the situation with Alyx. Now, whether we actually -get- a forgiveness and redemption of the cat, and how much that may or may not line up with the direction for the rest of the conflict with Salem, I don't know. But it's a fun thing to think on during the ABSOLUTELY TORTUROUS wait for the volume finale next week.
Hey Riga!! Here’s a video for ya!! I believe that jaune if you look at that scene had an aura break due to the fact while it was reminiscent of yangs arm loss scene we didn’t get to see like a crack or clear skeletal break scene but with Jaunes recent realization about the tree and his loss of time and sanity like ruby, it was time for him to reincarnate to his true self so instead of being knocked off the tree he was knocked into the spores of the tree and next episode will be his little self journey through the tree and what that means for team JNPR I mean all the team members have went through some sort of evolution it makes sense that Jaune and his semblance do as well plus with all the recent Pyrrha that’s been happening the last 2 episodes I’m sure we’ll see her one more time next episode I mean jaune has a lot to reflect and grow on with her death and penny’s request to assist with her self sacrifice.
I love Summers weapon because it looks like the original crescent Rose but it's just like you just tilt the blade to make it look like an ax so it's not a huge change and also kind of makes sense because Red Riding Hood story I mean who saved her The Woodsman
When I did the video on it I said that it seems like a perfect half of crescent rose. If you put that weapon and Qrow's together they perfectly equal crescent rose as ruby took inspiration from both to make hers. Qrow trained her after all and she based using a scythe off of him and it's chunky transforming style, but she used the long range rifle idea from her mum and the alternate form being completely firearm based instead of a different melee weapon like Qrow's sword. She perfectly mixed the two concepts together.
Not necessarily, if you look at it closely it's saying the top and bottom edges of the axe telescope out from the centre piece on the butt on the stock which then pops in and out to form it's base. It has nothing to do with it pivoting the blade around to stick out like a scythe, it's about collapsing the axe blades in and out of the stock when it changes modes.
My thoughts: I really hope Ruby doesn't decide to become Summer. Because her whole "who I am now isn't enough" is bullshit. Just because she's failed a few times (Atlas I fully blame on Cinder; RWBY's evacuation plan was a stroke of genius and the only reason it went so wrong is that Cinder decided to be her usual bitch self and cheated with the Lamp) doesn't invalidate everything she's done *right*. Leviathan? Ruby. Telling the world about Salem? Ruby. All RWBY's fights with Torchwick? Ruby. WBY's emotional development and the desire to improve? A good chunk of that was Ruby's influence. Most of the things Ruby blames herself for (Ironwood losing it, Penny & Pyrrha's deaths, Atlas falling) were Cinder and Salem being dicks. She's doing fine as Ruby. Remnant doesn't need Summer. It needs Ruby Rose. I don't see the cat coming with them. Sure, it's a victim of the gods as much as Salem is, and I'm hoping for some kind of redemption there due to Ruby purifying her of Grimm goop to get her to come to her senses, but the cat doesn't have that excuse. He just flat out went nuts and started killing people. I think really the only course for him is Ascension. So he can come back better. Neo I think will also Ascend. True, when Ruby returns, so will her purpose, but at this point, I think Neo will realize that even if she kills Ruby, it's not going to fix anything. She has nothing left, and she realizes now that revenge isn't going to fill in the cracks. So, honestly, I think she's going to Ascend. If she was going to run to her illusions, I feel like she would have done that after Ruby "died". Instead, she now has nothing and needs a clean slate. Once she does that, I think Neo could go either way at that point, Ever After or Remnant. Jaune... yeah, I can see him Ascending into his younger self. This version, I think, would be the best of both Jaunes: the physicality and optimism of Jaune Arc, but with the maturity and experience of the Rusted Knight. However, I think he's going to have his own chat with the Herbalist before that, given how he fell into Herb's smoke. Also, yeah, these guys are kids. SOMEBODY GET THEM A THERAPIST
Juniper's horns are very similar to the GoL while the Jabberwalker's are similar to the GoD. I wonder if they were beings left behind by each god. Later on Remnant they decide to create a being together.
Tbh the cat leaving neo may be a net worse outcome in terms of the fight, like if we are being honest that cat isn’t doing so hot considering it’s awesome power, nothing like how we’ve seen neo be This makes sense the cat probably never really fights but it is not fighting to neos standard I may be overhyping her but I think many undersell her skills, we’ve seen her go toe to toe with some of the best fighters on remnant, she isn’t Adam, he lost to two school kids, Neo is far more comparable to the top tier fighters like qrow and raven, granted she may not be at that level precisely we have never seen her defeat anyone of that level but we’ve seen her go to toe with a good few people around that level. She’s also fast, evasive, has a crazy semblance which is supercharged rn which means she isn’t really outnumbered Plus let’s be real her opponents wouldn’t be tough, most of team rwby haven’t proven to be insane fighters, Weiss infamously hasn’t won a fighter in forever, Blake also has almost no notable wins, and rwby is also notably not too great Yang and now jaune (seemingly) are quite good though, and with Weiss to support they could maybe take neo but with clones that can fight it won’t work. (Jaunes skill is hard to place as we haven’t seen him fight much, he is obviously very good now but he cannot have had many quality opponents here so unless he’s been going and having weekly fights with neo he isn’t enough to win)
For the cat, I think it’d make sense if it dies at the end of this volume. Some stories are better off self contained & RWBY has been said to be overcrowded in terms of its characters. That being said, I’d love if the cat got through to Remnant because I love him as a character. He’s witty, kinda self-aware but not in an annoying way and could stir up some trouble. But if he did get through he may potentially become a threat as big as Salem which would take the focus off her as the most dangerous villain. I do see a possibility that if the cat went to Remnant that they’d be this kinda spontaneous chaotic character that’d just cause mischief in the world or possibly join Salem? (Both being motivated to summon the gods) But I think the likely answer will be that the cat will just be a self contained villain. Better to have a villain you’d love and miss than one that sticks around with no purpose 🤷♂️
They kinda cut corners with Yang and ruby as kids, it's not that important but ruby looked much older than she should have as mentioned, but back in volume 2 when Yang told Blake about her quest to find raven we see that she had dark almost black hair when she was younger.
To me, the point of the Cat is exactly what you said. A parallel to Salem. But here's how it works: Ozpin was around when Salem was corrupted. He knew all about what was going on. No one "close" to him truly understood. And team RWBY? Barely even understand the bare minimum of it. With the cat, they're getting to know and understand Salem that much more. And not just Salem, but themselves as well. They are seeing and understanding things from a new perspective. And because of all they learned there, they will have a much better understanding on how to defeat Salem and bring everyone close again.
This episode was insultingly disgustingly short like FIFTEEN MINUTES??? FIFTEEN??? WITH THE OPENING AND CREDITS?!?! so annoyed, the finale is gonna have SO MUCH to go over thats its inevitably going to disappoint.
They could have done so much with emotions from the team and all…I’m kind of disappointed. They could have made an emotional first part, before the whole revelation and tree part.
The gods weren't cruel, nor were they being unreasonable. They told Salem straight up what she needed to do to end her curse. And instead of using her time wisely to do it, she tried to force an outcome in her favor that not only blew up in her face in the worst way imaginable, but also dragged literally everyone else down with her. The cat said it best. She couldn't accept her own futility. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's to accept the things you can't control or change. You have to own up to your own decisions and live with whatever consequences they cost you to make said decision. Once that's done, let it go and move on. Salem is literally making the exact same mistake as last time. She's trying to force an outcome she wants to happen. It's not going to work out the way she wants it, and it's going to cost her and everyone else everything. The only difference I see is that other people know about it. I do have a question though. Are we sure she's doing all of this in the hope that the gods will kill her along with all of Remnant? Or is she doing all of this just to spite Ozma? Because he chose the gods (i.e. his mission) over her?
I'm wondering if Summer's weapon here is an illusion like Penny's sword was in the 5th episode. How could it actually be here? Penny's sword was a disguise for Alyx's silver dagger which makes sense because Alyx was here and stayed here, so of course her dagger would be here. I'm hoping Ruby comes to some epiphany and Summer's axe is actually Crescent Rose, because she doesn't have it on her in this void. Fingers crossed in the last episode she turns to the Blacksmith and asks to use her anvil and hammer. Intrigued, since nobody had ever asked that of the Blacksmth, she agrees. Ruby goes on to reforge both herself and Crescent Rose, renewed in her purpose. And because it's reforging and not rebirth, she gets around the whole losing your memories thing.
I'm not sure why anyone thinks it's really here, I have never believed it was actually here it all. Be it something summoned from Ruby's memory or from simply just the magic of ever after, there's never really been a reason to assume the weapon was ever actually here. If it actually did end up here for real I'd be quite surprised but I've never thought that was the case personally. There's so much magic involved in the Ever After and so little reasonable explanation for it actually being here that it seems like the logical conclusion it's it's simply an illusion or something similar.
i would have to say, the cat if they are spared, would have to be on a very short leash. since they are like salem, would be very hard to like control and all
Salem chooses to keep going the way she is. She refuses to listen and learn the lessons the gods tried to teach her. I don't believe the gods are total dicks. Well, the god of darkness mostly is, but even he can listen to reason. Salem turned out to be just like her father. A control freak who will get what she wants no matter what, and woe to whomever gets in her way.
Not entirely true. Salem is also corrupted by the pool of destruction which according to Jinn left her with an appetite for pure destruction. That's a magical influence from an equivalent source to that which gave her immortality. I'm not sure she can entirely be held responsible for her actions and urges. While it's true she demonstrated some control around Ozma for a time, that didn't last and her reactions were incredibly destructive and violent. It's unclear how much she is influenced by the effects of the pool we must assume it wasn't inconsequential especially since it's clear that her bestowed immortality from god was the only thing that allowed her to survive such a horrific experience.
@@YouAllWrite I understand she was corrupted by the pool of destruction. However, the fact remains that even before then, she acted as a spoiled, "give me what I want or else" brat. I understand her grief, but she would not consider no for an answer, no matter how reasonable the god of light was. She just heard, "No," and didn't even listen to anything he said after. Then she goes and manipulates the god of darkness, who was so starved for worshipers that he didn't see she was being deceitful . Then, after they give her the punishment of immortality until she learned the importance of the balance of life and death (which is kind of stupid on their part, granted), she manipulates the others of Remnant to rise up against the gods. This shows she was already much like her father whom she resented for locking her up in the tower. The pool of destruction just enhanced all her negative traits which she already had.
I’ve read several of the comments and I have just an absolutely ‘out of left field’ thought. What if Alex became Juniper and Juniper ascends again to become Pyrrha? That would make a huge difference in the fight against cat/neo.
@@YouAllWrite lol thats true, plus it would be interesting seeing the Jaune possessed cat actually making it into Remnant and having an epic battle with team RWBY and Jaune himself. That would be epic
I’m not convinced Alyx is actually dead since her death scene was mostly shown by her dagger falling down. Once you show me her body then I’ll believe it, the way I see it is the cat “kills” Alyx and she either ascends into Juniper or the Blacksmith although I’m leaning more towards Alyx being Juniper
They could just _kill_ the cat. It's not like they don't have their reasons, and Juane seemed pretty willing up until he got distracted. Honestly, all of them are probably in the state of mind for murder right about now.
Alternate theory for if Jaune is paralyzed: War has broken out when they get back. Jaune has to struggle with the fact that he can't fight anymore. Ultimately keeps contributing by acting as a sort of general (his ability to lead and strategize was always his strong point rather than pure combat prowess). Emerald fills in on team... NEOR?
I LOVE the Blacksmith's design now that we've seen it fully but why they decided to animate their metallic face is lost on me it just looks off but this episode is making me crazy about what's going to happen at the end
Theory: What if Jaune returns, and the cat possesses him? Like, Neo could be drained and exhausted, but Jaune manages to fight the cat's possession and the makes the ultimate sacrifice. That would be crazy.
Well, I think it wouldn't be that tragic anymore, since now we discovered the rules of the tree and the ascention. And now, even if Jaune and the cat dies on the ever after, they will ascend to a new form from the blacksmith, so that way Jaune can become stronger and yet more resolute into what he wants to himself. So it woun't be that terrible, but that actually can be a good thing. A new way to him accept himself.
Perhaps, but CC can only take over Neo or Ruby, right? He needs someone who's given up, Jaune never has. At least that's implied due to the fact the the cat never possessed Jaune. He'd have done it before RWBY showed up. Though, if you mean the cat tries to take Jaune out mid-revival then I could see that. I would think it odd to have him die, get revived then have to sacrifice himself right after reviving.... It'd be like Penny. I feel like they should all come back in the end.
@@harperl2 I agree with you, so I think that's why he didn't die from the fall, but he will comeback and die with the cat just to ascend and come back later.
the last ep will be long I can feel it. this is a short season compared to the rest of them. mabey over 20 min or mabey a short move so probably 40 min due to the last few seasons having about 13 to 14 eps about and this is me kinda guessing here about 20 min each. i do recall a interview about them being able to wright quite a few seasons ahead of time. and i do believe we need to at least set foot on remnant before this season wraps up. like the ever after but cant stand any more of it.
I’m thinking and kind of hoping the Jabberwalker (that seems to be oddly MIA right now…) will show up and eat the cat. As for the cat being sympathetic like Salem?… well it’s important to remember that life dealing you a bad hand and making you suffer does not give you the right to harm other people for your own benefit. The Cat, like Salem, are too actively malicious to deserve pity and mercy.
Im calling it: The post credit scene in the finale will be a pan up to Penny’s wooded statue on the tree that starts to break ( remember that her body must have fallen in the Ever After)
As nice as thatd be, penny would have had to still be alive when she fell in order to ascend, and she was already gone as the maiden powers had transferred so I sadly don't think its likely
@@chrissycurtis4152 yeah it could be, but Little died too and the tree (since the body was glowing when it fell with Ruby) was taking effect anyway. It could be argued that little was already part of the Ever After but we don’t know how she will be back. I’m not a huge fan of this actually ( I talk of the possibility with a friend since no one saw penny’s body and we know it could have fell at the same time as the others ) but it seems like they are setting up this possibility. Penny died, she lost the Maiden power but she still comes back as her own person through the Tree. But it would be the Third time she came back so……I dunno
@@chrissycurtis4152 You see that exactly why I’m conflicted about it! On one hand I was really angry that she became human just to die an episode later, on the other it would ruin her final sacrifice and I don’t want to fear another death
the blacksmith is totally alyx right? she's fixing everything in the world starting with jaune and this is totally the job of the blacksmith - probably created the paper pleasers to look after jaune after he was poisoned. i hope he die's and becomes young again.
![Путин и ПЕСКОВ ждут звонка от ТРАМПА 😁 [Пародия]](/img/n.gif)
I think the cat dislikes Weiss so much is because her sarcasm answers nothing. She’s either pointing out the obvious or asking questions when she’s being sassy
She also is very resistant to manipulation because she got so much of it from her father, but yeah I think it's great she's the only one who can out sass the cat
Weiss is pragmatic, she wants things to follow a logical course, and I’m sure she’d be the hardest for the cat to manipulate
@@diverman467It's hard to manipulate a manipulator. She is or was one. You recognize the tricks.
"They weren't cut out for this, they're children"
THANK YOU. I'm like... the only person I've seen saying this this whole time. They enrolled in monster-fighting combat schools as children and have been getting thrown from one catastrophic disaster to another since. They haven't had the time to develop healthy emotional control/responses, mature, etc. Everyone keeps saying "Oh why aren't my characters acting like emotionless efficient machines accomplishing their tasks~" THEY ARE EMOTIONALLY UNDERDEVELOPED CHILDREN IN THE MIDDLE OF WHAT COULD BE AN APOCALYPSE-LEVEL CATASTROPHE. There is no reason why they would be able to act rationally and efficiently at every moment under these circumstances.
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate jaunes fighting skills has improved a great deal? He's come a long way since getting training from Pyrrha. Literally one of my favorite characters with an incredible amount of development over the last 10 years.
he showed his skill and then he was slashed by pyrrha.😔
I think the Cat is stuck in a bit of a paradox so to speak. It seems to only be able take over someone’s body if they have no purpose left, however if someone has no purpose then there’s no reason they would want to leave the Ever After (which we see with Neo).
No matter what, it looks like the Cat’s win condition is unobtainable.
That's a Catch 22.
We finally get a Summer scene, took’em long enough.
Also, couldn’t help but notice how we saw kid Yang’s right hand, like they just wanted to remind us she had both hands once.
If Alyx wanted to fix everything *starting with Jaune* then my money's on her being Juniper.
I think not because Jaune Had Juniper When He Met Alyx! I heard that She's Actually Alyx!
@@lockskelington314 But they didn't, actually. Juniper isn't in the flashback at all; the earliest mention of Juniper in the timeline is "Juniper found me and brought me to the Paper Pleasers." So it could very well be: 1) Alyx poisons Jaune, 2) Alyx regrets it, 3) Curious kills Alyx; 4) Alyx ascends into Juniper; 5) Alyx as Juniper "remembers" in her heart that she needs to rescue Jaune and goes off to find him.
@@thegneech But Jaune Mentions that it was JUNIPER who he already had that saved him shortly thereafter!
You know, I just rewatched the whole episode, did anyone else notice the hug differences? Weiss hugs Jaune from the neck, while Blake and Yang hug him from the torso. I would guess it’s short hand for, “I am here for you, versus we are here for you.” Both of which are extremely valuable when it comes to recovering from a traumatic event. It’s a good healing scene. Also, shippers, I’m not implying anything other than healing vibes.
Yang was pretty dang happy during that hug even though her sister just committed suicide in front of her eyes
Yep her team literally watches Ruby beaten down commit suicide, and barely an episode later they're all grinning like fools and acting like nothings wrong. Wow what caring friends Ruby has. But heck should we be surprised, it`s not like they haven't spent the whole season standing around watching Ruby mental state spiraling down while doing nothing to help.
I liked how all of Ruby’s life options were weapons! Her whole personality was once about relating more to weapons than to people.
They trolling us with the 15 minutes tho😢
13 if you exclude the opening…
Next episode better be at least 30 minutes w/o OP and ED 😭
I've heard it was done because it was the best point to cut things off. Sometimes that's just how it is. I've also heard a rumor that the Finale is going to be 26 Minutes, and while I'm taking things with a grain of salt, here's hoping.
So my personal thought on where this goes. little will return first, and fight back the cat, as Neo Cat is obviously slowly winning out against the remaining team. It'll probably get to the point where it'll be Little one-on-one with the cat, fighting valiantly but never actually trying to kill Neo-Cat because it didn't come back to be a killer.
Ruby will eventually return, having learned the lessons from Summer's mistakes, choosing not to be her mother. But rather than join in the fight, beyond defending herself and likely Little immediately, she'll call to the cat and offer to talk. Because the Cat isn't a foe that can just be killed, much like everything else in EverAfter. And even if it could, why would they want to kill it? Because it lied and manipulated them? Ozpin has been doing that for centuries, and as angry as they got, they never outright tried to kill Oscar.
No, because now, above all other times, is the best time to apply the lesson that Ruby will have learned. To talk and offer to make good on Alex's promise. To prove the cat that human's are complete shit, but more than that, because she knows they won't be able destroy Salem with force of arms. And if they can't do that, why bother doing so? Why not try and mend the bridges? Because Rigger is Right, the Cat is somewhat analogues to Salam. both left forever to go crazy and rot? Like the fact that Salem was even capable of conversing, let alone being able to love Ozpin still, proves that there is still a person in there.
My thoughts anyway.
Totally agree and hope to see this outcome.
Even more than that though, I really hope Neo would join them in going back after the cat gets purged/ gets a chance at revival. I can see Ruby confronting her and at least offering aid as a proof that Neo can move on from revenge.
I just hope she isn't a husk after we leave.
@@harperl2 it seems it will be a husk from now on
Ruby is gonna talk to Summer or at least a vision of her and she’ll end up choosing to return as herself instead of being someone else except maybe with Summer’s weapon
I think next episode (or at least the first scene with Ruby) will open with Summer appearing behind Ruby before she actually grabs her weapon. They’ll have a talk and Ruby will realize she has to different from her mother.
The thing with Jaune reminds of a phoenix when they die and are reborn from their ashes so I do think that in a way he will ascend and he’ll become young again.
The thing with Little and Alyx is rlly weird. There is still a chance that they are the same person but for Alyx, it makes me go back to the jackelope theory. It always seemed weird to me for her to have allusions to rabbits and for it to have no meaning but had dismissed that idea since Jaune made it sound was as if he had already known juniper. Whether both or either of them go back to remnant would be an interesting question to keep in mind.
I like that this world is at it's core a therapeutic experience.
I hope, narratively speaking, Neo gets that chance as well. Ruby comes out talks/deals with the cat, then handles Neo post shut down.
I would hate to see her as the only person un-able to change but it's only a hope.
I think that Ruby will acquire her mother's weapon in placement of Crescent Rose or Crescent Rose will have her mother's influence in design. Also I predict she will get a semblance upgrade similar to Flash Step from Bleach
I have an odd feeling. Okay, follow me for a second. Neo's only purpose in life is hating Ruby. Making Ruby suffer. It's carried her all the way to this point. What if... when Ruby pops out of her statue "cocoon", Neo's consciousness kicks back in and she forces the cat out of her body, because now her raison d'etre is back. Or! Just Ruby being back isn't enough for Neo to assert control, BUT it does rekindle a "desire" within her. The cat says she has no attachment to Remnant and that's why they can't pass through the door. But if Ruby heads through the door and returns to Remnant, NOW Neo has a reason to want to go back, thus providing a method for him to finally pass through the door.
Yeah it could go that way, but I hope they wrap it all up here. I don't particularly like the idea of CC-Neo as another enemy.
Hoping to see Neo at least regain consciousness and be offered the chance to revive or start over. If she declines, at least it through her own agency.
I had more or less this same thought. Ruby ascends and returns, Neo sees this through the Cat's control, recognizes Ruby... and her raison d'etre is back, and so now filled with purpose anew, Neo is no longer an ideal host for the Cat, forces the Cat out... helps RWBY and Jaune fight off the Cat. Once the battle is over, Neo makes it clear to Ruby that they still aren't friends - points her parasol at Ruby, or finger-gun again - and turns toward the door, ready to leave. Before Neo crosses over, though, she glances over her shoulder again and offers a small, almost imperceptible nod to Ruby - a sort of grudging respect, like 'I still don't like you, but I see now that eliminating you forever isn't the answer I wanted'.
Yang said ruby could "hardly talk yet" she could have meant lots of baby talk
Just as you said Ruby will envision Summer inside the tree Jaune will likely envision Pyrrha
We're in the Endgame now and the way how Neo makes those Ghoul Rubys just Screams Evil Reflection.
Basically every episode review: “So ya, I was right. I told you so.”
Congrats on all the great predictions man.
Lol, if only. But you gotta celebrate when it does actually happen haha.
@@YouAllWrite If the cat turns out to be the crown, I'll be waiting for the meme video to celebrate.
The tone at the beginning of this is borked, Yang having a goofy grin as if her sister didn't just commit die like 10 mins ago
Yeah, hated that too.
Least they have her acting as she should when they see her, frantically tearing at the wood to try and get her out, worrying her little sister’s not gonna be her little sister when she comes out, etc. Its not much, but its better than what we’ve been getting from her lately.
@@LegendPurpleDragon152 slightly mad to think the gang had more reaction to the death of paper pleasers than to the death of thier own teammate/sister but whatever I guess she coming back next episode so who cares
Yea it was such an egregious tonal whiplash, i thought theyd have learned a lesson about this already but nope they gotta mess up the tone every volume it seems
Honestly thought i had skipped stuff with the tone shift from ep8 end to ep9 start. Ike nobody cared that ruby basically self deleted
Weiss's Sass to the Cat was THE Best thing in This Episode!
I think Alex became juniper. I think that deer rabbit remembers but can't speak. It was not there when they went to the tree. I hope juane was caught by it when he fell.
Alyx being the Smith makes sense since she wanted to help rebuild the ever after.
If she is the smith then who made her? And if the answer is the tree, then what is the role of the smith if the tree can just do it? Either how she came to be makes no sense, or her existing as the smith is pointless and achieves nothing because it would happen without her anyway.
16:14 on that note, that was the same kind os strike that winter give to iron wood, not so much physical damage more so like aura damage.
23:21 i keep thinking that jaune will not leave ever after.
25:07 nah, i think this will be the end of neo in the series.
I would like to put into question whether death actually exists in the Ever After. If Alyx was killed by the cat, whilst still in the Ever After, perhaps she ascended...and as the Cat said, Alyx wanted to make amends with Juane, with that said, im now more willing to accept that Alyx is Juniper, as Juniper found Juane after Alyx betrayed him, so she came back for him as Juniper to help Juane get home(and their eye colour matches and Alyx has a Rabbit brooch which could tie her to Juniper)...
And perhaps when they are about to go through the door to Remnant. Juniper will somehow appear as Alyx, and will choose to stay behind and fix all the other things she broke in the Ever After, like she wanted to before the cat 'killed' her. It will be a great way for everyone to actually engage with Alyx beyond jst hearing people talk about her. And it gives us an almost ceremonious departure for Juniper, Juanes helper for years, and also, close the chapter on Alyx completely...but then speaking about Alyx/Juniper getting to say goodbye properly, I wonder how we are going to say goodbye to Little...
I think jaune being younger again could work if they incorporate his rusted knight design into it
Can we agree that between the Paper Pleasers becoming living gems, and the blacksmith's colors being revealed and she has rainbow hair... Someone in CRWBY was just like "Steven Universe was cool" xD?
I've always been partial to Neo. I hope the ending to her story is at least a fitting one, if nothing else.
On the subject of Little's ascension:
This episode made the important distinction that the person/being chooses whatever they WANT to ascend into.
It is fairly obvious that Little, when asked what they want to be/do, would respond with something along the lines of "I want to help Ruby and her friends get home"
So the tree is going to give Little a form that will be able to help with that task... in particular, in facing off against the cat.
(After I unpaused I realized, as I should have since you've shared most of the thoughts and theories I've had the last few weeks, that you came to roughly the same conclusion, but yeah xD)
*LE GASP*
Little will become a Dog!
So She'll become a Door Mouse Protecting the Door Out of The Ever After
I was thinking the reason neo and alyx lined up in the intro was because neo was ascended alyx, but now it makes more sense as it represents how they were both used by the cat
I don't think Ruby is going to become Summer or lose her memories. That would be way too risky for the show to change the identity of it's protagonist. She needs remain Ruby Rose all the way through to the end of the show. Next episode will very likely feature flashbacks of Summer. Ruby will learn that her mother isn't this perfect idol, and that everyone has their flaws. Ruby's lesson that she needs to learn before she can leave Ever After, is to not aspire to become like her mother, but to simply just forge her own path.
Yet Ruby can't be remain unchanged coming out of metamorphosis. She needs some sort of an upgrade, hinted through the Afterians ascending. Maybe we will see an older version of Ruby coming out, to match the age of her teammates. Maybe with peace of mind, Ruby will master her silver eyes and/or evolve her Semblance to a higher level, similar to what Neo achieved.
Oh great, reveal that Ruby is Qrow's daughter incoming lol
I’m pretty sure Jaune isn’t paralyzed. Even if he is, I think it’s heavily implied that the tree took him when he fell off the platform. That colored smoke that leaps up after he fell of screen was very similar to the Herbalist’s smoke, which looking back on it I’m almost certain was made using the tree’s leaves. I think the tree grabbed Jaune when he fell and is putting him through ascension, something I think it’s been wanting to do ever since he arrived
I don’t know which Relic vault door they are going through though Beacon or Vacuo because they haven’t shown the vault door for Beacon or Vacuo yet
Personally for me this was the weakest episode this season. It was far too short in my opinion and the flow of the episode felt... off. But I'm hoping this is setting up for a huge finale
eddy said the next one is the longest episode of this volume
me when waiting a whole week for a 10 minute episode BUT im not complaining like c'mon We got to see summer and i dont know if jaune died i have no idea so worried for that dood.
Some missing lines from the trailer:
Ruby: “where am I”( with an echo effect over it)
Summer Rose?: “you never were the hero”
Blake: “but we don’t know, how to get to the tree?!”
Volume 9 was recorded 2 years ago so who’s to say that these made the final cut as they don’t make super sense to be in the finally chapter
Always need to take trailer lines and moments with a grain of salt. They can be offcuts, extra lines recorded for the trailer, changed scripts etc. But some of them for sure can still happen. the "you were never the hero" seems likely to come back.
My only real problem with this episode is that we got practically no reaction from Jaune and team RWBY at Ruby's death. I wish we would have picked right up to seeing them devastated that Ruby effectively chose death instead of being with her team and everyone. Even if they were sure she would come back the action that Ruby chose that is very heavy and deserved a reaction.
I would have loved to see Yang fall to her knees head tilted up just silently crying followed by Blake falling down and embracing Yang telling her she doesn't always have to be the strong one, don't hold it in. Then Yang let's out a scream of anger and sadness and loss, letting it all go instead of holding it in. During this scream we cut to Weiss who turns away and we see tears falling down her cheeks, cut to Jaune head hangs low as tears fall. Then the scream stops and Yang fully collapses into Blake, followed by Weiss coming over and embracing them both.
Cut to Jaune through tears and even a coarse voice that we have to keep going. Ruby isn't gone, she will come back and we should be there when she does. (Or some hero speech).
To me that would be a great payoff to them really understanding what just happened and I feel like the ball was dropped. We needed some reaction from the group.
Considering WBY literally fought with jaune over letting the paper pleasers ascend I'm not that surprised because the only person who saw it as potentially death in the first place was Jaune.
Everyone else just viewed as a change.
Additionally they weren't there to see her basically get gaslit by neo into making the decision so they're operating under the assumption that ruby chose to ascend voluntarily after their argument.
Yangs worried about how different her sister might be when she returns, but that's not the same as thinking she died.
Now in terms of irl production, they really needed like 3 more episodes to wrap this up tbh. They're basically speed running to the ending now. It's understandable but unfortunate.
Someone pointed out the Little might come back as the Big Bad Wolf, only this version would be a friend to Ruby and a mount, the same way Juniper is to Jaune. That way, our two main characters Jaune and Ruby, who have always wanted to be heroes, will be able to charge into battle atop their noble steeds and defend the innocent. I think Jaune is going to ascend and return as a shining white knight, and I hope he looks mostly the same, I don't want him to de-age, or lose his new armor, but I wouldn't be apposed to it being cleaned up and have the rust removed.
My theory is that ruby might give up her being to bring back summer cause she saw her mom's weapon and reach for it. Or ruby talks to summer.
"A being who was created and cursed by the Gods, left to go insane." If the group learns to help the Cat in some way, it'll be huge in them helping end Salem. Idk what that looks like, because both the Cat and Salem have suffered for eons and haven't changed at all. If they don't want to change they won't, but whatever happens next episode I think will be huge in aiding team RWBY and everyone with ending Salem.
This could be the trial run for ending the Salem issue. The cat is a mini Salem analog.
However they deal with it could point to a similar solution for stopping Salem's plan.
Another point to little being alex is her aversion towards cats. If she was killed by a cat in her previous life, it reasons she is going to be afraid of cats. And turning into a mouse could be a manifestation of that fear.
Jaune's fall at the end shows his fall into leaf smoke. Is this him ascending into the tree?
Wild Prediction: Ruby will know magic.
I took jaune falling off the platform as him falling into the tree because of the smoke that came right after so I think he'll become his younger self again
Remember what Qrow said in Volume 4, introducing the relics as gifts to humanity:
"And most importantly, [humanity] would be given the power to choose. To have free will, to take everything it had learned, and to decide which path to follow. The path of light, or the path of darkness."
There are both gods on the doors because they represent the choices given to humanity, and they follow the same design pattern as the vault doors we've seen so far. This is almost certainly the choice vault, and if so the relic of choice must be somewhere in the Ever After.
Something that I still think about is that line spoken by both Cinder and Ironwood of “the timeline has changed”. It was never elaborated on, and most people overlooked it. I’d like to see something play out and call back to it. As for Ruby becoming Summer, what I’d like to see is perhaps Ruby remembering things from her early childhood, that has been blocked because of trauma, and begin to realize that her mother wasn’t perfect. Coming to understand that you can promise something, and have the intention to keep it, but circumstances that prevent you from doing so doesn’t reflect on you as a person. That it’s okay to make mistakes and okay to fail.
The voide give me this kingdom heart vid
Yeah, I called by saying that to my friends. LOL
Oh, I had thought that there was a possibility of Ruby becoming Summer and being trapped in this timeloop, but... I never considered Jaune being Tai. That's... terrifying that is now a real possibility.
Well summer rose is going to help get ruby back on her feet and get her back to her normal self and get ruby crescent rose back and her mom emblem back
Speaking of weapons i love how summers weapons folds up like a trapper style pocket knife. Looking forward to more of summer and ruby.
I have a theory where I think Ruby won't become her mom but I believe that she well live as her mom. Like she'll be in her mom's shoes and she'll see the struggles she had to deal with and the fact that she faced the problems on her own, trying to carry the weight on her shoulders and she ultimately failed. Then she'll be back in the void and the blacksmith will ask, well? is that who you need to be?
I got this idea from a show where the protag had the chance to not carry the weight of the world, even though he failed a lot, the world would be much worse if he didn't take the mantle
The Jabberwock also talked about fixing something before running into Neo when it got cut and started bleeding on a blade of grass maybe the Jabberwocky is Alice
I'm sorry, but my takes on the Cat, Salem, and Cinder are all the same: What they suffered was wrong but they're now no better. And unlike some characters they never seem interested in being better. And that means whatever punishment they get is fully deserved.
While I understand this approach what is important isn't necessarily what happens to the villains but what it teaches our heroes. My point isn't purely that the cat deserves better, my point is that the villains should serve the progression of our heroes. Right now we're in the position where despite how villainous the cat is being we can see the parallels between the cat and Salem in their circumstances. Therefore this is a good moment for our characters to perhaps learn from how they deal with the cat so they can apply it later for how they might approach Salem.
@@YouAllWrite couldn't this be said about Neo?
That's why I would feel off about her staying a vegetable or being left to go crazy in the EA.
I genuinely hope if Ruby talk-no-jutsu's CC then the same should be at least *offered* to Neo.
Having her stay in the EA through her own agency would be the fair conclusion in my eyes.
I feel like Neo hasn't done worse than Salem and CC. They let Emerald change so Neo should have the offer at least.
Actually what if the smith is actually Alyx.
This is a good thought. I guess it's a question of whether or not the Smith existed before Alyx or not.
@@AsherEntropic could be similar to how jaune was the rusted knight. But hard to say
I also believe next episode will be a flashback of Summer’s final mission where she will encounter Hazel and Tyrian with a massive fight between the 3 of them happening ending with Hazel or Tyrian killing her since Hazel mentions they had dealt with silver eyed warriors before during the meeting in Salem’s castle in volume 4 which was set before the Grim reaper and tock fight in volume 6
So the more I'm thinking about your thoughts of the Cat being a foil/parallel to Salem, the more I'm loving this as being the way they discover how to "beat" both the Cat and Salem.
It could also be tied in, kinda, in the way of making Jaune's experience in this Volume yet another parallel. Because, much like Salem was cursed by the god and left to wander for all eternity, and much like the Cat was cursed with curiosity and abandoned in the Ever After, Jaune was thrown into the Ever After through no fault of his own for trying to do a good thing, and then thrown back in time so that he would be alone most of the time, and was betrayed the few times he wasn't alone. And when his friends finally show up, and they don't seem to take very well to how he's been handling his trauma, what does he do? He lashes out at them.
Much like the Cat. The Cat was cursed and left in the Ever After. Finally, someone comes along (Alyx and Lewis) that may be able to get him out of the Ever After, so he can learn more about what is outside of it and maybe find some closure on why he was abandoned. But, he was "betrayed". While it may not have been intended as such (Alyx wanting to stay and right the wrongs she did in the Ever After), the Cat took it as a betrayal, of wanting to keep him in the Ever After, to not allow him to escape it. And then comes along Ruby & crew. And, for a short time, he seems genuinely interested in them and possibly in helping them; but then, he begins to see all the parallels in what they're doing compared to what Alyx did, and sees them being turned against him by Jaune. He starts suspecting that they're just going to betray him like Alyx did (he even kinda directly states that during the Ponder Storm). So, he begins plotting his own way out and ends up betraying and lashing out at WBY+J in turn, when they might have been willing to take him with them peacefully had he not jumped to the conclusion that they would turn out the same as the situation with Alyx.
Now, whether we actually -get- a forgiveness and redemption of the cat, and how much that may or may not line up with the direction for the rest of the conflict with Salem, I don't know. But it's a fun thing to think on during the ABSOLUTELY TORTUROUS wait for the volume finale next week.
Hey Riga!! Here’s a video for ya!! I believe that jaune if you look at that scene had an aura break due to the fact while it was reminiscent of yangs arm loss scene we didn’t get to see like a crack or clear skeletal break scene but with Jaunes recent realization about the tree and his loss of time and sanity like ruby, it was time for him to reincarnate to his true self so instead of being knocked off the tree he was knocked into the spores of the tree and next episode will be his little self journey through the tree and what that means for team JNPR I mean all the team members have went through some sort of evolution it makes sense that Jaune and his semblance do as well plus with all the recent Pyrrha that’s been happening the last 2 episodes I’m sure we’ll see her one more time next episode I mean jaune has a lot to reflect and grow on with her death and penny’s request to assist with her self sacrifice.
wood statues remind me of "Over the garden wall"
I'm going to assume scene where Summer is reading to a younger Yang and Ruby takes place just before she disappeared.
Do the "Ruby was Summer this whole time thing" loooool
I love Summers weapon because it looks like the original crescent Rose but it's just like you just tilt the blade to make it look like an ax so it's not a huge change and also kind of makes sense because Red Riding Hood story I mean who saved her The Woodsman
When I did the video on it I said that it seems like a perfect half of crescent rose. If you put that weapon and Qrow's together they perfectly equal crescent rose as ruby took inspiration from both to make hers. Qrow trained her after all and she based using a scythe off of him and it's chunky transforming style, but she used the long range rifle idea from her mum and the alternate form being completely firearm based instead of a different melee weapon like Qrow's sword. She perfectly mixed the two concepts together.
If you read the summers image where it says telescopes, it means the scythe blade comes out
Not necessarily, if you look at it closely it's saying the top and bottom edges of the axe telescope out from the centre piece on the butt on the stock which then pops in and out to form it's base. It has nothing to do with it pivoting the blade around to stick out like a scythe, it's about collapsing the axe blades in and out of the stock when it changes modes.
@You All Write true but knowing rwby and the scythe being a part of her character it might end up being able to
Why with the Volume 1 episode length though? I had to wait a week for 10 minutes of content. . .
My thoughts:
I really hope Ruby doesn't decide to become Summer. Because her whole "who I am now isn't enough" is bullshit. Just because she's failed a few times (Atlas I fully blame on Cinder; RWBY's evacuation plan was a stroke of genius and the only reason it went so wrong is that Cinder decided to be her usual bitch self and cheated with the Lamp) doesn't invalidate everything she's done *right*. Leviathan? Ruby. Telling the world about Salem? Ruby. All RWBY's fights with Torchwick? Ruby. WBY's emotional development and the desire to improve? A good chunk of that was Ruby's influence. Most of the things Ruby blames herself for (Ironwood losing it, Penny & Pyrrha's deaths, Atlas falling) were Cinder and Salem being dicks. She's doing fine as Ruby. Remnant doesn't need Summer. It needs Ruby Rose.
I don't see the cat coming with them. Sure, it's a victim of the gods as much as Salem is, and I'm hoping for some kind of redemption there due to Ruby purifying her of Grimm goop to get her to come to her senses, but the cat doesn't have that excuse. He just flat out went nuts and started killing people. I think really the only course for him is Ascension. So he can come back better.
Neo I think will also Ascend. True, when Ruby returns, so will her purpose, but at this point, I think Neo will realize that even if she kills Ruby, it's not going to fix anything. She has nothing left, and she realizes now that revenge isn't going to fill in the cracks. So, honestly, I think she's going to Ascend. If she was going to run to her illusions, I feel like she would have done that after Ruby "died". Instead, she now has nothing and needs a clean slate. Once she does that, I think Neo could go either way at that point, Ever After or Remnant.
Jaune... yeah, I can see him Ascending into his younger self. This version, I think, would be the best of both Jaunes: the physicality and optimism of Jaune Arc, but with the maturity and experience of the Rusted Knight. However, I think he's going to have his own chat with the Herbalist before that, given how he fell into Herb's smoke.
Also, yeah, these guys are kids. SOMEBODY GET THEM A THERAPIST
Juniper's horns are very similar to the GoL while the Jabberwalker's are similar to the GoD. I wonder if they were beings left behind by each god. Later on Remnant they decide to create a being together.
Not one Phillip J Fry, but TWO Phillip J Frys!
Now I'm curious on how that would work
Tbh the cat leaving neo may be a net worse outcome in terms of the fight, like if we are being honest that cat isn’t doing so hot considering it’s awesome power, nothing like how we’ve seen neo be
This makes sense the cat probably never really fights but it is not fighting to neos standard
I may be overhyping her but I think many undersell her skills, we’ve seen her go toe to toe with some of the best fighters on remnant, she isn’t Adam, he lost to two school kids, Neo is far more comparable to the top tier fighters like qrow and raven, granted she may not be at that level precisely we have never seen her defeat anyone of that level but we’ve seen her go to toe with a good few people around that level.
She’s also fast, evasive, has a crazy semblance which is supercharged rn which means she isn’t really outnumbered
Plus let’s be real her opponents wouldn’t be tough, most of team rwby haven’t proven to be insane fighters, Weiss infamously hasn’t won a fighter in forever, Blake also has almost no notable wins, and rwby is also notably not too great
Yang and now jaune (seemingly) are quite good though, and with Weiss to support they could maybe take neo but with clones that can fight it won’t work.
(Jaunes skill is hard to place as we haven’t seen him fight much, he is obviously very good now but he cannot have had many quality opponents here so unless he’s been going and having weekly fights with neo he isn’t enough to win)
Anyone else wonder what happened to the people that Cinder knocked pff the bridge?
Shouldn’t they have been here as well?
They died from the explosion…kinda make sense in hindsight since you need to train to get an Aura or have someone else unlock it…
@@dragonstouch1042 I keep forgetting about aura and how their power system works.
Wasnt JNPR there with alyx and Luis when they traveled with jaune
Ruby Rose reborn like a Phoenix?
For the cat, I think it’d make sense if it dies at the end of this volume. Some stories are better off self contained & RWBY has been said to be overcrowded in terms of its characters.
That being said, I’d love if the cat got through to Remnant because I love him as a character. He’s witty, kinda self-aware but not in an annoying way and could stir up some trouble.
But if he did get through he may potentially become a threat as big as Salem which would take the focus off her as the most dangerous villain.
I do see a possibility that if the cat went to Remnant that they’d be this kinda spontaneous chaotic character that’d just cause mischief in the world or possibly join Salem? (Both being motivated to summon the gods)
But I think the likely answer will be that the cat will just be a self contained villain. Better to have a villain you’d love and miss than one that sticks around with no purpose 🤷♂️
They kinda cut corners with Yang and ruby as kids, it's not that important but ruby looked much older than she should have as mentioned, but back in volume 2 when Yang told Blake about her quest to find raven we see that she had dark almost black hair when she was younger.
Well, it was obvious from the start that Ruby is going to take Summer's Axe Rifle. I don't want for Ruby to completely gone
To me, the point of the Cat is exactly what you said. A parallel to Salem.
But here's how it works:
Ozpin was around when Salem was corrupted. He knew all about what was going on. No one "close" to him truly understood. And team RWBY? Barely even understand the bare minimum of it.
With the cat, they're getting to know and understand Salem that much more. And not just Salem, but themselves as well.
They are seeing and understanding things from a new perspective. And because of all they learned there, they will have a much better understanding on how to defeat Salem and bring everyone close again.
See i have a feeling the Jabberwalker might turn up again and jump the cat and that how this fight ends.
This episode was insultingly disgustingly short like FIFTEEN MINUTES??? FIFTEEN??? WITH THE OPENING AND CREDITS?!?! so annoyed, the finale is gonna have SO MUCH to go over thats its inevitably going to disappoint.
They could have done so much with emotions from the team and all…I’m kind of disappointed. They could have made an emotional first part, before the whole revelation and tree part.
Agreed there. I think it was honestly a budget/time thing idk
There's still the matter of Penny's body...
ALYX IS JUNIPER!!!! Oh you said it as I was typing this comment
The gods weren't cruel, nor were they being unreasonable. They told Salem straight up what she needed to do to end her curse. And instead of using her time wisely to do it, she tried to force an outcome in her favor that not only blew up in her face in the worst way imaginable, but also dragged literally everyone else down with her.
The cat said it best. She couldn't accept her own futility. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's to accept the things you can't control or change. You have to own up to your own decisions and live with whatever consequences they cost you to make said decision. Once that's done, let it go and move on.
Salem is literally making the exact same mistake as last time. She's trying to force an outcome she wants to happen. It's not going to work out the way she wants it, and it's going to cost her and everyone else everything. The only difference I see is that other people know about it.
I do have a question though. Are we sure she's doing all of this in the hope that the gods will kill her along with all of Remnant? Or is she doing all of this just to spite Ozma? Because he chose the gods (i.e. his mission) over her?
11:38 I think we should say "NeoCat" for the Neo and cat combo and i'm not sorry for the pun.
Or "Neow"
Originally a Hunter Mouse.. Little will be reborn **The Warrior Rat!**
I think Alyx is Juniper!
You forgot about the part after jaune was knocked off there were purple smoke coming from where he fell
Wild theory, but is it possible that the tree is how we'll end up beating Salem? By fixing what's broken in her and ascending her to something new?
I'm wondering if Summer's weapon here is an illusion like Penny's sword was in the 5th episode. How could it actually be here? Penny's sword was a disguise for Alyx's silver dagger which makes sense because Alyx was here and stayed here, so of course her dagger would be here. I'm hoping Ruby comes to some epiphany and Summer's axe is actually Crescent Rose, because she doesn't have it on her in this void. Fingers crossed in the last episode she turns to the Blacksmith and asks to use her anvil and hammer. Intrigued, since nobody had ever asked that of the Blacksmth, she agrees. Ruby goes on to reforge both herself and Crescent Rose, renewed in her purpose. And because it's reforging and not rebirth, she gets around the whole losing your memories thing.
I'm not sure why anyone thinks it's really here, I have never believed it was actually here it all. Be it something summoned from Ruby's memory or from simply just the magic of ever after, there's never really been a reason to assume the weapon was ever actually here. If it actually did end up here for real I'd be quite surprised but I've never thought that was the case personally. There's so much magic involved in the Ever After and so little reasonable explanation for it actually being here that it seems like the logical conclusion it's it's simply an illusion or something similar.
i would have to say, the cat if they are spared, would have to be on a very short leash. since they are like salem, would be very hard to like control and all
Salem chooses to keep going the way she is. She refuses to listen and learn the lessons the gods tried to teach her. I don't believe the gods are total dicks. Well, the god of darkness mostly is, but even he can listen to reason.
Salem turned out to be just like her father. A control freak who will get what she wants no matter what, and woe to whomever gets in her way.
Not entirely true. Salem is also corrupted by the pool of destruction which according to Jinn left her with an appetite for pure destruction. That's a magical influence from an equivalent source to that which gave her immortality. I'm not sure she can entirely be held responsible for her actions and urges. While it's true she demonstrated some control around Ozma for a time, that didn't last and her reactions were incredibly destructive and violent. It's unclear how much she is influenced by the effects of the pool we must assume it wasn't inconsequential especially since it's clear that her bestowed immortality from god was the only thing that allowed her to survive such a horrific experience.
@@YouAllWrite I understand she was corrupted by the pool of destruction. However, the fact remains that even before then, she acted as a spoiled, "give me what I want or else" brat. I understand her grief, but she would not consider no for an answer, no matter how reasonable the god of light was. She just heard, "No," and didn't even listen to anything he said after. Then she goes and manipulates the god of darkness, who was so starved for worshipers that he didn't see she was being deceitful .
Then, after they give her the punishment of immortality until she learned the importance of the balance of life and death (which is kind of stupid on their part, granted), she manipulates the others of Remnant to rise up against the gods. This shows she was already much like her father whom she resented for locking her up in the tower.
The pool of destruction just enhanced all her negative traits which she already had.
I’ve read several of the comments and I have just an absolutely ‘out of left field’ thought. What if Alex became Juniper and Juniper ascends again to become Pyrrha? That would make a huge difference in the fight against cat/neo.
I think it would be a little messed up if the cat gets desperate and tries to posses Jaune...😢
messed up is good, nothing wrong with a little messed up
@@YouAllWrite lol thats true, plus it would be interesting seeing the Jaune possessed cat actually making it into Remnant and having an epic battle with team RWBY and Jaune himself. That would be epic
I’m not convinced Alyx is actually dead since her death scene was mostly shown by her dagger falling down. Once you show me her body then I’ll believe it, the way I see it is the cat “kills” Alyx and she either ascends into Juniper or the Blacksmith although I’m leaning more towards Alyx being Juniper
Alex isn't jnpr. Jnpr was there while Alex and Louis were going through EA.
JNPR was not there during the flashback but was only mentioned after Louis Walked through the gate
They could just _kill_ the cat. It's not like they don't have their reasons, and Juane seemed pretty willing up until he got distracted. Honestly, all of them are probably in the state of mind for murder right about now.
Alternate theory for if Jaune is paralyzed: War has broken out when they get back. Jaune has to struggle with the fact that he can't fight anymore. Ultimately keeps contributing by acting as a sort of general (his ability to lead and strategize was always his strong point rather than pure combat prowess). Emerald fills in on team... NEOR?
I like team OLEV as their name but yes I agree!
I LOVE the Blacksmith's design now that we've seen it fully but why they decided to animate their metallic face is lost on me it just looks off but this episode is making me crazy about what's going to happen at the end
what If Alyx became the blacksmith?
and Little was in fact Penny,
Her body fell into the void didnt it?
Theory: What if Jaune returns, and the cat possesses him? Like, Neo could be drained and exhausted, but Jaune manages to fight the cat's possession and the makes the ultimate sacrifice. That would be crazy.
Well, I think it wouldn't be that tragic anymore, since now we discovered the rules of the tree and the ascention. And now, even if Jaune and the cat dies on the ever after, they will ascend to a new form from the blacksmith, so that way Jaune can become stronger and yet more resolute into what he wants to himself.
So it woun't be that terrible, but that actually can be a good thing. A new way to him accept himself.
Perhaps, but CC can only take over Neo or Ruby, right? He needs someone who's given up, Jaune never has. At least that's implied due to the fact the the cat never possessed Jaune. He'd have done it before RWBY showed up.
Though, if you mean the cat tries to take Jaune out mid-revival then I could see that. I would think it odd to have him die, get revived then have to sacrifice himself right after reviving....
It'd be like Penny. I feel like they should all come back in the end.
@@harperl2 I agree with you, so I think that's why he didn't die from the fall, but he will comeback and die with the cat just to ascend and come back later.
the last ep will be long I can feel it. this is a short season compared to the rest of them. mabey over 20 min or mabey a short move so probably 40 min due to the last few seasons having about 13 to 14 eps about and this is me kinda guessing here about 20 min each. i do recall a interview about them being able to wright quite a few seasons ahead of time. and i do believe we need to at least set foot on remnant before this season wraps up. like the ever after but cant stand any more of it.
This episode could’ve been longer.
I’m thinking and kind of hoping the Jabberwalker (that seems to be oddly MIA right now…) will show up and eat the cat.
As for the cat being sympathetic like Salem?… well it’s important to remember that life dealing you a bad hand and making you suffer does not give you the right to harm other people for your own benefit. The Cat, like Salem, are too actively malicious to deserve pity and mercy.
Im calling it: The post credit scene in the finale will be a pan up to Penny’s wooded statue on the tree that starts to break ( remember that her body must have fallen in the Ever After)
As nice as thatd be, penny would have had to still be alive when she fell in order to ascend, and she was already gone as the maiden powers had transferred so I sadly don't think its likely
@@chrissycurtis4152 yeah it could be, but Little died too and the tree (since the body was glowing when it fell with Ruby) was taking effect anyway. It could be argued that little was already part of the Ever After but we don’t know how she will be back.
I’m not a huge fan of this actually ( I talk of the possibility with a friend since no one saw penny’s body and we know it could have fell at the same time as the others ) but it seems like they are setting up this possibility. Penny died, she lost the Maiden power but she still comes back as her own person through the Tree. But it would be the Third time she came back so……I dunno
@@mar.k.4983 that is true, and honestly you're right. As much as I love Penny, bringing her back again will cheapen her sacrifice and her loss
They just need to let her go. They've killed her twice already. i don't want to have to wait for when they kill my favourite character a THIRD time.
@@chrissycurtis4152 You see that exactly why I’m conflicted about it! On one hand I was really angry that she became human just to die an episode later, on the other it would ruin her final sacrifice and I don’t want to fear another death
the blacksmith is totally alyx right? she's fixing everything in the world starting with jaune and this is totally the job of the blacksmith - probably created the paper pleasers to look after jaune after he was poisoned. i hope he die's and becomes young again.
don't make older sibling mad