Bruh, Rick has gradually became the most enjoyable and insightful part of the reactions, loved his analysis in Frieren and here. He has a strong grasp of internal struggles and thematic narratives. My dude really adds a lot to the team.
in the commentary track for this episode the writers describe the Blacksmith as "built like a truck, talks like a therapist" which is my favourite character descriptor of all time.
The thing Eric seems to be overlooking with Jaune is that he was told the rules of the world, he just refused to believe them. The people pleasers tried to tell them it was time for them to ascend, but he wouldn't listen. That's why they resorted to causing disasters. Jaune was focused only on his own selfish desire to feel like the hero and was ignoring the actual needs of the people pleasers.
As someone who just got out of a depression brought about by parental expectations, Ruby's character arc really resonated with me. At the end of the day it can be helpful to remember that your parents "loves you just the way you are".
Ruby doesn't just want to defeat Salem, that's not what this is all about. After all of the losses and failures, right now a large part of her wants to just give up and let someone else take over. She doesn't believe she's good enough to do this and that's why the tree is offering an chance to stop fighting and let someone better handle all of this. Honestly I'm not sure where all the confusion is coming from, she literally got it beat into her in the previous episode.
Since fans have already gifted you guys the RWBY manga I suggest you give it a read. The manga is fantastic with phenomenal art, like every page is a captivating painting.
@@waszner Fairytales of Remnant. It's not a story like the novels, but the stories within are stories in universe, and the afterwords for each of the stories written by the various teachers of Beacon are meant to be taken as canon.
Alyx being the Blacksmith is a popular theory which I personally do believe to be true. My guess is that the Tree couldn't have conversations with the Afterans ascending, and that it only read their mind/heart before the Blacksmith.
I had wondered a similar thing, but I was thinking that the tree created the blacksmith as a part of itself specifically to converse with.. Remnants? Remnantians? Remnites?, since what they want is a lot more complicated than Afterans, that the blacksmith came into being back when Alex entered the tree, made for Alyx rather than from Alyx.
I think when Alyx ascended, she wanted to help Jaune, and Juniper was the one who found him and brought him to the Paper Pleasers. I think Alyx became Juniper.
I do wish the characters spent a little bit more time reflecting on what they learned, so that it would be more clear. But for Jaune, I felt there were two key parts of his growth, both related to acceptance: 1. He had to learn to accept that some things are out of his control. Penny and Pyrrha's deaths were not his fault. He believed that if he was good enough, or strong enough, he could save anyone. The fact that people died meant it was because he was a failure, which isn't true. To emphasize this, the Ever After put him in the perfect situation. He was never going to be able to stop the Paper Pleasers from ascending, no matter how many days he spent preventing their schemes. He simply had no real control over the situation, and it was going to happen eventually. 2. He had to accept that people make their own choices. He was trying to take away the Pleasers' agency, which is what he was retroactively doing to Penny and Pyrrha. They didn't die because Jaune failed them, they both made a choice to sacrifice themselves. Not for Jaune, but to save countless lives. In the Ever After, he believed that he knew better than the Pleasers, but he didn't. He doesn't have all the answers, and he shouldn't, and he has to be willing to trust people enough to make choices for themselves. I also love Rick's interpretation that the season is about the power of fiction. I had never thought of that
What you want to do and what you want to be can be quite different. Yeah Ruby might want to beat Salem but that's what she wants to do. What kind of person she is when she confronts Salem and then beyond is what she want's to be and I think that's the struggle with Ruby. She's always wanted to be the fictional heroes of stories but she's being faced with real world problems and real world consequences and she's having trouble learning to deal with these things. Back in Beacon when she was the leader it meant helping make sure the team was doing what it could and was becoming an efficient well oiled unit. Now being a leader means being trusted with people's lives and she's got this glorified image in her head that because of that she needs to be perfect and every decision has to be the right one but as Weiss said "We’ve been telling ourselves that failing means we’re no good. But I can guarantee even the best Huntsmen in history… they’ve all lost. But they were still incredibly brave…and good." While that might be the main lesson Jaune had to learn I feel like it applies to Ruby too in many ways.
Not only that, but the last few episodes emphasize that she has been unfairly comparing herself to this fictional, idealised version of her mother the entire time. She truly believes (at this point) that her mother always got it right, and that she should be able to do the same, but is failing to do so.
In my interpretation, Ruby's struggle is that she's facing an impossible task and she knows this. She feels like she's failed too many times already, so she doesn't even want to try anymore because she is afraid of losing everything when she faces Salem. She already knows that Salem cannot be beaten (allegedly), they have no plan, and everyone is going to look to her for guidance. She has to accept that she might fail and that it's okay if she does - at least she will have tried. Even if all she does is what she can, to the best of her abilities, then she has a chance to make a positive impact. And that's what counts. She was viewing herself as "not enough" because she did not think she was capable of winning and therefore she was a complete failure. She had to get past that and see that losing wasn't the same thing as failure.
Now I feel sorry for Neo. I hope she comes back and is on good terms with Ruby. Maybe come back 15 years younger (I know Neopolitan is currently 25 years old with a short growth spurt)
"It's time to pound this...." "Stop Eric" "i did." Errriicc please. I'm glad that in this episode Eric seemed more open to talking about understanding Ruby with the others, when in previous episodes he seemed frustrated and discounted her feelings. I totally get not knowing how she feels, for some people who may not have experienced that specific brand of depression it might seem silly and alien. But i'm glad at least that Eric was more open in saying he didn't really connect and understand, but then listened to Rick explain his perspective. I also totally get Eric's confusion with the disconnect between the rules of the Ever After being used to teach the method of acceptance. Jaune had no way of knowing that letting these things die, willingly, would allow them to grow. But in remnant, saving people IS a must. Or they DO die. So it's a bit odd. But as they do all pick up on, it's more the metaphor then the literal message. The tree just wants him to feel that failure but understand it's not an end.
I think Rick is right about this volume being “the power of fiction”, the real Alice in wonderland is nonsense writing, the only meaning it has is what you derive from it. I think the ever after works the same, the rules are strange and not relatable, but like a fairytale where kids become a monster’s dinner for not behaving, the major take away we come out with is not “I’m gonna get eaten?”
Are y'all going to roll straight into RWBY Vol 9 beyond that's coming out or waiting awhile? It will probably fit well into y'all wanting to know what's been happening in remnant during the rest of Vol 9 and may be the last RWBY for awhile.
Think Eric’s concern with the “lesson” was pretty common when it came out, like they said this world has different rules and jaune was trying to apply the rules of his own to it, the lesson isn’t really “let them die”, to me it’s more to accept change and by resisting it he was stopping them from being who they wanted and needed to be.
They forgot something extremely important. Calvin said "he blame himself for Phyrra", but much more recently, HE HAD TO KILL PENNY so the Maiden powers would go to Winter, not to Cinder. So yeah, he had to not only let someone die, but actually kill them with his own hands to prevent even more destruction. Eric doesn't understand that because he literally just forgot about the circumstances around Penny's death. I know they don't read those and especially now they've already finished, but they really should've been told that the last 3 volumes or so happened in a window of days for them. Oh welp. My enjoyment of BWs reactions is decreasing a lot and I don't see it stopping. They can't really enjoy content if they don't make an effort to understand what they're watching through things that literally have already been explained. Watch some videos of previous seasons, look up things you didn't understood, have the editors or someone else to look through comments and give you some explanations spoiler free. Don't rely only on your notes and memory. They're not good. Even the Normies improved a lot on those aspects and they were TERRIBLE at it. It isn't fun to see them just going through the motions and "carrying" the discussions only through jokes that aren't even that funny.
Fun fact about the whole Jaune Penny thing: thematically, that is why his sword broke on the next strike, he is based on Joan of arc who was said to wield a holy sword, forged in heaven, and according to legend that sword broke after being used to strike an innocent.
This was the first episode that was affected by the budget cuts Rooster Teeth was suffering from; so sadly, it definitely felt rushed for the characters processing and accepting these lessons. I can understand the disconnect in that regard. A lot of these themes are not given time to breathe.
Well, this is basically the last episode until WB decided to continue RWBY, as they bought and own Rooster Teeth (which is no more) (forgot this was a 2 parter, technically the next episode would be the last lol)
Not exactly up to WB. They have owned Rooster Teeth for a couple years now. They just now decided to disolve Rooter Teeth and are selling the shows. It's up to someone to buy RWBY and say "hey you guys may continue your work and please continue the story for us show people. They have mentioned that they are still looking for the right partner for that.
It’s hard to grasp what the characters should be feeling because they never really talk about exactly what they think has just happened to Ruby. We can trust they know she’s not dead because there is no death, but they still seem too calm. Yang’s BEAMING smile when she hugs Jaune really makes it seem like she barely cares at all until we see her in front of the petrified Ruby.
Emotions are complex. When my grandma passed away I was heartbroken, destroyed and crying. I remember literally 2 days later I was crying again but with laughter at a video game I was playing with my friend. Then a few more days later when it was the funeral I was upset and depressed again. But even in the funeral service I was smiling and laughing at a few jokes from some of the eulogies. You can still smile and be happy about something even when a bad thing has happened to you etc. Yang is no different. After hugging the gang she might have been thinking about Ruby and feeling upset again before she saw her. It's simple to understand lol.
Eric mentions something, that I think a lot of RWBY fans have mentioned when it comes to this Volume. Our characters perceiving ascension as death makes for a very weird allegory. Was Jaune really in the wrong for not letting the Paper Pleasers ascend? If a friend wants to die and tells you it's best for them, then you aren't in the wrong for trying everything you can to prevent it. In a similar vein for all that Ruby knew, she as Ruby Rose would disappear and that was her intent when drinking the tea, she didn't want to be herself anymore. Ruby for all intents and purposes commits suicide when she drinks the tea... and that is what ends up solving Rubys issues? I think the ultimate message of "You are enough as you are" is a good one but the way the show arrives there is a bit questionable.
They also added the Burden tree. I read about it at least 40 years ago. When we die, before Judgement, we each visit the Burden Tree. You can remove your burdens and hang them on a branch, and then walk around the Tree and try on the burdens of other people that are hanging there. In the end, EVERYONE puts their own burdens back on as they have learned that no one has had it any easier than themselves, and your burdens are yours and very familiar.
The main issue was they were all told multiple times that in this world death is not permanent and when you have either finished your purpose or can no longer fulfill the purpose they must ascend to become something new and better. Jaune basically just didn't believe that the rules of the Ever After on death could be so different despite the fact that he probably would know what happened to the Red Prince even if he didn't know of any other examples and despite the fact that so many other rules of the world were different. And then he told RWBY that and so when the Paper Pleasers said otherwise they were like "They say this, but you say this. They live here but they don't remember any previous versions of themselves to prove what ascension is while you act like they will cease to exist like you've seen it happen." Jaune just continues in disbelief and RWBY is left in confusion on what to believe.
This season is about accepting failure and that trying your best is enough - you don't need to be perfect, you just need to be trying. That's why the paper pleasers weren't upset with Jaune for trying to save them. They realized why he did it. But it's also why they never stopped trying to ascend. That one-off comment from the one, about being optimistic about it working this time even though it's failed every other time, is even important. I really love the way they handled this season. Ruby has been beating herself up for her mistakes for seasons now despite having the best of intentions and going above and beyond to try and save everyone. And it's something that I think a lot of people can resonate with, if they don't try to read it negatively. We can't individually save the world, but if everyone just tries their best to do the things they can do, the world would be a much better place. Committing suicide didn't solve Ruby's issues - because she chooses to remain herself. She does not change. She didn't need to lose herself, or disappear - she needed to accept herself for who she is, limitations and all. She needed to accept that she might fail, and that that's okay, because at least she'll have tried.
![เป็นไปได้ไหม - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_6lZ6b3_7Vo/mqdefault.jpg)
Bruh, Rick has gradually became the most enjoyable and insightful part of the reactions, loved his analysis in Frieren and here. He has a strong grasp of internal struggles and thematic narratives. My dude really adds a lot to the team.
Rick get off the secondary account, lol but no you're right dude has high emotional intelligence.
He’s a very analytical person.
in the commentary track for this episode the writers describe the Blacksmith as "built like a truck, talks like a therapist" which is my favourite character descriptor of all time.
The thing Eric seems to be overlooking with Jaune is that he was told the rules of the world, he just refused to believe them. The people pleasers tried to tell them it was time for them to ascend, but he wouldn't listen. That's why they resorted to causing disasters. Jaune was focused only on his own selfish desire to feel like the hero and was ignoring the actual needs of the people pleasers.
I don't blame jaune for this at all i would do the same even if it was wrong
Moment people miss is the Blacksmith was working on what looked like a mouse skull.
Oh I did miss that. Good eye.
As someone who just got out of a depression brought about by parental expectations, Ruby's character arc really resonated with me. At the end of the day it can be helpful to remember that your parents "loves you just the way you are".
Congratulations on getting out of it. That is one hell of an achievement.
And they don't really know who you are, any better than you do.
Ruby doesn't just want to defeat Salem, that's not what this is all about. After all of the losses and failures, right now a large part of her wants to just give up and let someone else take over. She doesn't believe she's good enough to do this and that's why the tree is offering an chance to stop fighting and let someone better handle all of this.
Honestly I'm not sure where all the confusion is coming from, she literally got it beat into her in the previous episode.
Exactly.
She's just tired and doesn't want to keep going. The tree is just giving her an option.
Next episode is gonna be so wild, I'm so goddamn excited AHHH!
Since fans have already gifted you guys the RWBY manga I suggest you give it a read. The manga is fantastic with phenomenal art, like every page is a captivating painting.
I don't think they got the manga. They did, however, get all four canon books from me, though.
@@DarthTingleBinks Wait, 4? After the fall, Before the dawn, Roman holiday... what's the 4th?
@@waszner Fairytales of Remnant. It's not a story like the novels, but the stories within are stories in universe, and the afterwords for each of the stories written by the various teachers of Beacon are meant to be taken as canon.
This and the next are great episodes.
Alyx being the Blacksmith is a popular theory which I personally do believe to be true. My guess is that the Tree couldn't have conversations with the Afterans ascending, and that it only read their mind/heart before the Blacksmith.
I had wondered a similar thing, but I was thinking that the tree created the blacksmith as a part of itself specifically to converse with.. Remnants? Remnantians? Remnites?, since what they want is a lot more complicated than Afterans, that the blacksmith came into being back when Alex entered the tree, made for Alyx rather than from Alyx.
I think when Alyx ascended, she wanted to help Jaune, and Juniper was the one who found him and brought him to the Paper Pleasers. I think Alyx became Juniper.
I have been waiting for this and i can not believe this one more week and rwby after years finally end
I do wish the characters spent a little bit more time reflecting on what they learned, so that it would be more clear. But for Jaune, I felt there were two key parts of his growth, both related to acceptance:
1. He had to learn to accept that some things are out of his control. Penny and Pyrrha's deaths were not his fault. He believed that if he was good enough, or strong enough, he could save anyone. The fact that people died meant it was because he was a failure, which isn't true. To emphasize this, the Ever After put him in the perfect situation. He was never going to be able to stop the Paper Pleasers from ascending, no matter how many days he spent preventing their schemes. He simply had no real control over the situation, and it was going to happen eventually.
2. He had to accept that people make their own choices. He was trying to take away the Pleasers' agency, which is what he was retroactively doing to Penny and Pyrrha. They didn't die because Jaune failed them, they both made a choice to sacrifice themselves. Not for Jaune, but to save countless lives. In the Ever After, he believed that he knew better than the Pleasers, but he didn't. He doesn't have all the answers, and he shouldn't, and he has to be willing to trust people enough to make choices for themselves.
I also love Rick's interpretation that the season is about the power of fiction. I had never thought of that
22:35 b r u h.
That hits deep and true.
I'm struggling to see what Eric is struggling to see.
What you want to do and what you want to be can be quite different. Yeah Ruby might want to beat Salem but that's what she wants to do. What kind of person she is when she confronts Salem and then beyond is what she want's to be and I think that's the struggle with Ruby. She's always wanted to be the fictional heroes of stories but she's being faced with real world problems and real world consequences and she's having trouble learning to deal with these things. Back in Beacon when she was the leader it meant helping make sure the team was doing what it could and was becoming an efficient well oiled unit. Now being a leader means being trusted with people's lives and she's got this glorified image in her head that because of that she needs to be perfect and every decision has to be the right one but as Weiss said "We’ve been telling ourselves that failing means we’re no good. But I can guarantee even the best Huntsmen in history… they’ve all lost. But they were still incredibly brave…and good." While that might be the main lesson Jaune had to learn I feel like it applies to Ruby too in many ways.
Not only that, but the last few episodes emphasize that she has been unfairly comparing herself to this fictional, idealised version of her mother the entire time. She truly believes (at this point) that her mother always got it right, and that she should be able to do the same, but is failing to do so.
In my interpretation, Ruby's struggle is that she's facing an impossible task and she knows this. She feels like she's failed too many times already, so she doesn't even want to try anymore because she is afraid of losing everything when she faces Salem. She already knows that Salem cannot be beaten (allegedly), they have no plan, and everyone is going to look to her for guidance.
She has to accept that she might fail and that it's okay if she does - at least she will have tried. Even if all she does is what she can, to the best of her abilities, then she has a chance to make a positive impact. And that's what counts. She was viewing herself as "not enough" because she did not think she was capable of winning and therefore she was a complete failure. She had to get past that and see that losing wasn't the same thing as failure.
Now I feel sorry for Neo. I hope she comes back and is on good terms with Ruby. Maybe come back 15 years younger (I know Neopolitan is currently 25 years old with a short growth spurt)
"It's time to pound this...."
"Stop Eric"
"i did."
Errriicc please.
I'm glad that in this episode Eric seemed more open to talking about understanding Ruby with the others, when in previous episodes he seemed frustrated and discounted her feelings. I totally get not knowing how she feels, for some people who may not have experienced that specific brand of depression it might seem silly and alien. But i'm glad at least that Eric was more open in saying he didn't really connect and understand, but then listened to Rick explain his perspective.
I also totally get Eric's confusion with the disconnect between the rules of the Ever After being used to teach the method of acceptance. Jaune had no way of knowing that letting these things die, willingly, would allow them to grow. But in remnant, saving people IS a must. Or they DO die. So it's a bit odd. But as they do all pick up on, it's more the metaphor then the literal message. The tree just wants him to feel that failure but understand it's not an end.
I think Rick is right about this volume being “the power of fiction”, the real Alice in wonderland is nonsense writing, the only meaning it has is what you derive from it.
I think the ever after works the same, the rules are strange and not relatable, but like a fairytale where kids become a monster’s dinner for not behaving, the major take away we come out with is not “I’m gonna get eaten?”
Awesome reaction of my favorite episode of RWBY!!!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Loved your reaction as always💗
You should check out society of the snow, i would love to hear what you have to say about that one
Are y'all going to roll straight into RWBY Vol 9 beyond that's coming out or waiting awhile? It will probably fit well into y'all wanting to know what's been happening in remnant during the rest of Vol 9 and may be the last RWBY for awhile.
Think Eric’s concern with the “lesson” was pretty common when it came out, like they said this world has different rules and jaune was trying to apply the rules of his own to it, the lesson isn’t really “let them die”, to me it’s more to accept change and by resisting it he was stopping them from being who they wanted and needed to be.
I still think Alex accended and became Juniper. Went back to help Juane.
They forgot something extremely important.
Calvin said "he blame himself for Phyrra", but much more recently, HE HAD TO KILL PENNY so the Maiden powers would go to Winter, not to Cinder. So yeah, he had to not only let someone die, but actually kill them with his own hands to prevent even more destruction.
Eric doesn't understand that because he literally just forgot about the circumstances around Penny's death.
I know they don't read those and especially now they've already finished, but they really should've been told that the last 3 volumes or so happened in a window of days for them.
Oh welp.
My enjoyment of BWs reactions is decreasing a lot and I don't see it stopping.
They can't really enjoy content if they don't make an effort to understand what they're watching through things that literally have already been explained.
Watch some videos of previous seasons, look up things you didn't understood, have the editors or someone else to look through comments and give you some explanations spoiler free.
Don't rely only on your notes and memory. They're not good.
Even the Normies improved a lot on those aspects and they were TERRIBLE at it.
It isn't fun to see them just going through the motions and "carrying" the discussions only through jokes that aren't even that funny.
Fun fact about the whole Jaune Penny thing: thematically, that is why his sword broke on the next strike, he is based on Joan of arc who was said to wield a holy sword, forged in heaven, and according to legend that sword broke after being used to strike an innocent.
Just happy to hear a reference to the power rangers movie.
Jesus was an Ailen.
It's ok Aaron, I also get easily distracted by kneehigh boots
This was the first episode that was affected by the budget cuts Rooster Teeth was suffering from; so sadly, it definitely felt rushed for the characters processing and accepting these lessons. I can understand the disconnect in that regard. A lot of these themes are not given time to breathe.
Well, this is basically the last episode until WB decided to continue RWBY, as they bought and own Rooster Teeth (which is no more) (forgot this was a 2 parter, technically the next episode would be the last lol)
Not exactly up to WB. They have owned Rooster Teeth for a couple years now. They just now decided to disolve Rooter Teeth and are selling the shows. It's up to someone to buy RWBY and say "hey you guys may continue your work and please continue the story for us show people. They have mentioned that they are still looking for the right partner for that.
It’s hard to grasp what the characters should be feeling because they never really talk about exactly what they think has just happened to Ruby. We can trust they know she’s not dead because there is no death, but they still seem too calm.
Yang’s BEAMING smile when she hugs Jaune really makes it seem like she barely cares at all until we see her in front of the petrified Ruby.
Emotions are complex. When my grandma passed away I was heartbroken, destroyed and crying. I remember literally 2 days later I was crying again but with laughter at a video game I was playing with my friend. Then a few more days later when it was the funeral I was upset and depressed again. But even in the funeral service I was smiling and laughing at a few jokes from some of the eulogies. You can still smile and be happy about something even when a bad thing has happened to you etc. Yang is no different. After hugging the gang she might have been thinking about Ruby and feeling upset again before she saw her. It's simple to understand lol.
Eric looks like he’s trying so hard to understand what’s happening and why it’s happening and I can’t say I blame him.
Eric mentions something, that I think a lot of RWBY fans have mentioned when it comes to this Volume.
Our characters perceiving ascension as death makes for a very weird allegory.
Was Jaune really in the wrong for not letting the Paper Pleasers ascend? If a friend wants to die and tells you it's best for them, then you aren't in the wrong for trying everything you can to prevent it.
In a similar vein for all that Ruby knew, she as Ruby Rose would disappear and that was her intent when drinking the tea, she didn't want to be herself anymore. Ruby for all intents and purposes commits suicide when she drinks the tea... and that is what ends up solving Rubys issues?
I think the ultimate message of "You are enough as you are" is a good one but the way the show arrives there is a bit questionable.
They also added the Burden tree. I read about it at least 40 years ago. When we die, before Judgement, we each visit the Burden Tree. You can remove your burdens and hang them on a branch, and then walk around the Tree and try on the burdens of other people that are hanging there. In the end, EVERYONE puts their own burdens back on as they have learned that no one has had it any easier than themselves, and your burdens are yours and very familiar.
The main issue was they were all told multiple times that in this world death is not permanent and when you have either finished your purpose or can no longer fulfill the purpose they must ascend to become something new and better. Jaune basically just didn't believe that the rules of the Ever After on death could be so different despite the fact that he probably would know what happened to the Red Prince even if he didn't know of any other examples and despite the fact that so many other rules of the world were different. And then he told RWBY that and so when the Paper Pleasers said otherwise they were like "They say this, but you say this. They live here but they don't remember any previous versions of themselves to prove what ascension is while you act like they will cease to exist like you've seen it happen." Jaune just continues in disbelief and RWBY is left in confusion on what to believe.
This season is about accepting failure and that trying your best is enough - you don't need to be perfect, you just need to be trying. That's why the paper pleasers weren't upset with Jaune for trying to save them. They realized why he did it. But it's also why they never stopped trying to ascend. That one-off comment from the one, about being optimistic about it working this time even though it's failed every other time, is even important.
I really love the way they handled this season. Ruby has been beating herself up for her mistakes for seasons now despite having the best of intentions and going above and beyond to try and save everyone. And it's something that I think a lot of people can resonate with, if they don't try to read it negatively. We can't individually save the world, but if everyone just tries their best to do the things they can do, the world would be a much better place.
Committing suicide didn't solve Ruby's issues - because she chooses to remain herself. She does not change. She didn't need to lose herself, or disappear - she needed to accept herself for who she is, limitations and all. She needed to accept that she might fail, and that that's okay, because at least she'll have tried.