I'm just gonna say it right off the bat, this Volume was bottom 2 in the series and honestly depending on my mood its flip flopping with Volume 5 for worst Volume. There was just so many derailments, stupid decisions, lazy writings and even action that just made me want to bang my head against my wall.
(Fun fact, some of the reasons I listed were also reasons I disliked Total Drama All Stars, rewrite from me when?)
Now that I believe a ton of people have either left or maybe writing comments I'm actually NOT gonna start off with my problems first, but actually highlight what I liked about the Volume in the form of 8. So, lets get to it.
(Also, this IS a review so expect spoilers)
Likes:
Reason One: Oscar
This guy right here is one of the two people who CARRIED this fucking Volume, and hell was one of the 10 bets characters of the past 2 volumes period.
Lets all take a quick look at what our boy Oscar, Mr. My development was skipped out on and I had next to nothing to learn about my life previous to this, had done in this volume, shall we?
He had fought and lost to the Hound, was captured by the series big bad and was tortured for info basically, decided instead of just taking the pain infiltrate Salem's Forces from the inside before doing JUST THAT! He not only converted both Hazel and Emerald into his squad, but then also destroyed Salem and her fucking whale for the rest of the volume-granted it was a deus ex machina- before holding the peace so Emerald couldn't get harmed on her time with the group. Not to mention with Oz's help got Team RWBY the steps for the Staff and Oscar, being the outstanding lad he is, decided that when everything went to hell and he needed to know what was going on on the other size was the ONLY person who tried to go back and help. What didn't he do?!
Oscar did fucking damn near everything this Volume, only rivaled by Ironwood and co. against Salem. He's the only one of the good guys...who actually made decent decisions and before someone tells me "What about Team R-" they sent the population of Mantle and Atlas to Vacuo and was the reason Atlas fell, think about that cause its coming back later.
Ya know funny thing, I didn't really care for Oscar a few months ago as I watched the Volume. But after going through it again along with things from other volumes I just feel bad for this guy. HE was chosen to be the next reincarnation of this ancient magic guy, HE has to deal with his bullshit and crazy ex, HE has to deal with Team RWBY and their shenanigans while trying to play peace keeper, HE went through so so much physical shit throughout his time in his new life, AND everything in Volume 8.
Who's Ruby? Oscar's the main character of this show. Nobody can debate me, he's doing the stuff the actual main character should be doing, plot lines and all.
Asides from actions and main characterness Oscar actually playing peace keeper, trying to understand Ironwood, and overall tactics-asides from Vacuo-all were decent if not good ideas. Hell even though he didn't try to talk to Ironwood much HE was the only one willing to hear him out, not lie to him, and sympathize with him next to Ren.
Really, Oscar is an actually quality character in this show. Could he use more development? Yeah but he's also the only one who got any GOOD ones, let that sink in.
All in all, Oscar's a top 10 character and his back must be hurting.
Reason Two: Ren Early Volume/the Argument
Ren...Imma get into you a bit later but as of right now lets talk about your good traits. This is gonna be a bit short, so I'm sorry.
Ren was one of the most logical characters this show has had in a while.
HE was the one to call out all the bullshit that Team RWBY was doing and I'm gonna say it, he was right. They screwed up big time and the fact Yang tried to disprove it with "accomplishments" was sad...hold up what did they accomplish?
Haven? You all were getting folded and if it wasn't for Raven "killing" Cinder, giving you the relic because you bitched to her, and because beating Cinder forced a retreat you would've lost. NOT TO MENTION Blake and an entire Fanus force coming up, and that was a coincidence because they went to stop Adam,
Leviathan? You guys did jack shit to it! Ruby had to stun it and even then it was because of a hax she could "rarely" use before Cordovin killed it
Lamp? Ren a second later said you lost it, by giving it to Oscar instead of ya know, Ironwood who for months done nothing but be trusting, helped them, and was genuinely shocked and hurt when he learnt you lied to him?
Yang l don't think she had anything to say to push this argument in her favor, even getting mad at Ren for...getting mad Oscar got captured? Then saying "Do you want to push everyone away?" as if having a different opinion and for not liking how things for going? Also Yang I dunno if you realized but you want a literal pussy-both literally and metaphorically- who's been known to push people away a ton...
As for the Jaune comment a ton of people saying he cheated was a weak insult...but I actually beg to differ. Ren basically told Jaune that if someone actually competent, actually good at fighting and leading, actually useful and smart was around and leader then things would be better; remember Jaune cheated his way into a school like Beacon, probably taking up a slot that could've been used for a more promising person, unlike a guy who didn't know the basics of aura, had a Semblance, or couldn't fight well. I don't think this was intentional but if it was actual props, subtle hint and I liked it.
All in all, this argument was a highlight and actually really good. Too bad Ren had to get bullied and had to get a literal upgrade in order to back back in the hivemind...
Reason Three: Penny's Character
Now here's the thing...I liked Penny as a character, but not how she was handled. I'll get into more on the latter later but for the former its actually pretty simple.
She actually had development, and had a conflict that made sense.
She was torn in between doing what's right for the people and her friends ideas, friends who basically kept reassuring her that they were right and her boss that actually cared for her a ton was "using" her. And even through this reassurance she was still uncertain, clearly shown by the way.
Was her death lame? Yes. Could she have been smarter? Yes. But regardless the reason above is the main reason I liked her this season, hell I'd say from this arc she was a top 10 character, Seasons 7 and 8 actually did some good for her though that's just my opinion.
Also before we move on is it just me or did they go all out when she was "dying?" Like when she was falling that shit looked sexy as fuck-animation wise-and when she died the third time-Beacon, Robot, Cinder-it actually was kinda beautiful...idk just something I noticed and I liked it.
Reason Four: Watts...Just Watts
Watts was actually a good villain.
Everything about him was good really, but Volume 8 did him justice. Though I'm mainly talking about his interactions with other...mainly Cinder.
Him laying out to Cinder how much of a worthless, useless, dumbass bitch she was-bit aggressive wow- was really nice to hear. That's the main reason I put him reason, he was nice and its sad to see him go,
Reason Five: Ruby vs Neo
As a Neo fan who considers her best girl this Volume did her NO justice which I'll highlight more later...but oh my God did this fight actually help her.
Neo just folding the girl who was being a dumbass with easy and in her Neo way was just amazing and welcoming to see. Hell, I'd go as far as to say its the best fight of the Volume though Hazel vs Salem is right behind it.
Neo actually going to FINALLY fight Ruby and kill her was great, built it up for 3 volumes and after seeing her damn near succeed was fun.
This fight was possibly Neo's best moment this Volume.
Reason Six: The Hound
Wait...an actually good and intimidating Grimm since the Apathy? Who would've thought!
The Hound was one of the best things this show's seen in a while. An actual competent Grimm who defeated the villains-granted they had to act stupid- was a breath of fresh air after seeing the heroes breeze through everything that stood in their way for such a long time...INCLUDING Neo vs ORNJ!
His fight at the Schnee manor was actually pretty good, and his reveal was neat too. Thought it'd have more of an impact on Ruby's character but...
Anyways, the Hound was good and even had cute moments with Salem. Moving on.
Reason Seven: The Ace Ops and Winter...for the most part
Reason I say for the most part was because of the bomb thing and Winter's fight with Ironwood...but I actually liked them this volume.
Good interactions with each other and even others, ACTUALLY doing something and fighting Salem's forces, having an actual plan. Good!
Also notice how the Ace Ops and Ironwood never actually approached Team RWBY and friends with hostility and only tried bringing them in, using force if they needed to? Just a thought~
Reason Eight: Whitley
Whitley's back also must hurt, that's crazy.
He literally did the most work on the Manor side. He called up Klein to help Nora which I'm surprised NO ONE tried getting medical help for her, decided to use his families unfair advantages to help the people which Weiss only complained about, THEN called in ships to help the people. Whitley did all the work, change my mind...NOT TO MENTION HE HELPED KILL THE HOUND! ANOTHER POINT!
Whitley had to get "redeemed" for being a snark which imma say right now was dumb, cause he wasn't that bad if he was just a bit of a snark to his siblings...which I think most siblings have done or witnessed at least a few times. Didn't need the redemption, but it proved how truly confident he is as everyone else-minus May- was useless.
Also, if you can tell me how its justified that Weiss pulled a fucking sword on him after a small witty comment-which is justified because of Jacques arrest-then I'll wait. Seriously, you can't tell me its justified, bet you can't and telling me they were in a rush isn't a good argument.
Now for the characters of this series, which is gonna be...fun. Only doing the big names, or characters who I have a problem with soo...lets begin!
Characters:
Ruby:
Ah Little Red, where to begin with you~
Now to begin, I would actually say out of all the main characters I think I like Ruby the most after Oscar and Ren. She has a nice outfit, cool appearance, nice weapon, and neat Semblance and I am probably in the few who like her voice new and old. BUT, that's not gonna stop me from tearing into her for all her dumb decisions in both this section and a later one.
Ruby...was FUCKING USELESS this entire Volume! What did she even do?!
"She called Amity!"
...For a reminder that was Ironwood's plan on a platform that was magically available for her when it wasn't for Iron-cock-alpha and hell she didn't even do that, that was Penny along with Pietro, Maria, and May who did anything significant that entire time. Besides her call for help is dumb be-actually, I'll save that for later, it needs a section of its own in her decision category.
First we got her Semblance explanation...its alright but this actually makes both her AND Mercury actual God tier characters. Ruby is literally splitting herself-which by the way should hurt..a ton if not kill her-into atoms which based off the explanation could place her at faster than light speeds, destroy large landmasses just on speed and might create a black hole? Then Merc here gave one kick that put her back together, literally rearranging split atoms back into a human form and with high ball could make him a reality bender...no joke, look at the explanation of her Semblance and you'll realize how broken they could be.
As for everything else she did nothing of significance during this Volume, and what she did do literally needs a whole section on themselves. So get ready for a Tea Scene analysis, a Staff of Creation analysis, and her plan analysis.
Also I'm surprised she didn't try using her Semblance to save Yang. Maybe it was because she was knocked down but you would think she'd use her SPEED SEMBLANCE to dash towards her sister and help her.
One thing I think was meh was her reaction towards the Hound, though her initial reaction was because he was a human before having no reaction the next episode we see her before acknowledging it again later. Really...I think this could've been done better, give her more development and actually change her thought process a bit; executed better Ruby could've been a top tier character with a complex mindset and thinking down the line...
...A reason I believe she should've been the only one of her team to not fall in the void. Imagine if she thinks her team is dead, having to deal with all the shit she caused that forces development and change from her that needs to happen, changing her for possibly the good and make a complex main character. Really, Ruby is kinda wasted potential, cause this Volume COULD'VE been amazing for her with Salem, the Hound, and the Void. Hell, have her actually be the one to kill Penny and Ruby is interesting again. Sounds like I'm bullying her at this point but I'm sorry, she needs some more to do since the MAIN CHARACTER done nothing and whatever she did was dumb.
Really, she did nothing but whatever she did was dumb...huh?
Weiss:
Weiss, how we were fooled. We thought this would be her time to shine, her home and all but SHE ALSO DID NOTHING! If anything her contribution was less than Ruby, cause the only thing she really did was get folded by Cinder.
Also why didn't she use her glyphs to save Yang? She CAN use them long distance, so why didn't she?
I really got nothing to say for Weiss, she did jack shit but be a brat towards my boy Whitley.
Blake:
...Honestly I didn't mind Blake.
Now while she was useless at LEAST she did something the last two episodes, trying save everyone and fight while landing some hits. But other than that the only thing I got on her was sucking up to Ruby, who she barely spoke to and for some reason is her number one fan.
Didn't do much but was actually attempting, points from me
Yang:
*Sighs* Now for those who don't know, I fucking hate Yang nowadays. Volumes 1-3 Yang I would say is one of the best characters, but now she is just so...why?!
She was just a brat this Volume. Bitching to Ruby, then to Ren, then to the Ace Ops, then to Salem...other than that she did nothing.
Oh she did finally call Summer her mother! After not...acknowledging her for a long ass time and was more focused on Raven...
Yang did jack squat and I hated whenever I saw her, fucking hell I'm shocked at how much she spoke to Emerald instead of JAUNE, RUBY or PENNY! Three characters Emerald's fucked over hard.
Jaune:
Now I know Jaune isn't a self insert, I'll defend him there but I think he's playing too much of a favorite as weird as that sounds.
Jaune killed Penny, something I believe Ruby should've done, before having his sword broken by Cinder AND THEN fall into the void? See where I'm going? Jaune is getting all this new development which at this point he doesn't really need, has a new arc enemy of Cinder since she broke his family sword that was also something that reminded him of Pyrrha(may she rest in peace), and now is going into the void which could've actually developed Team RWBY and even Neo more.
Also he should've had more scenes with Emerald, criminal only YANG got to talk with her.
All I'm saying is this...the Jaune centered fanfics and hentai's gonna go crazy. Beach season WITH five girls who are always apart of Jaune's harem? Crazy. He even got the OP Semblance with it.
Ren:
Now as said previous I liked Ren...but then he got bullied back into the hivemind.
They had to upgrade his Semblance to make him KNOW others emotions and have a shift from his brooding, realistic personality-actually good by the way-to a...Jaune dick rider and Nora simp. Like seriously, he spent a minute praising Jaune then followed Nora who was calling him out over some bullshit.
Really, poor Ren. He was one of the only people thinking.
Nora:
Then we got Nora, oh Nora...I don't like how they did you.
They tried to make you own "character" when they literally took you out of the season, had you bitch to Ren about "being a team" when he had a different opinion on how to do things, and at the end we didn't even see you leave the void properly...hell, your STILL with Ren!
Seriously, what was her character arc again? It clearly wasn't important.
Penny:
Oh Penny...What did they do to you?
Not gonna spend much time on Penny here, but her ENTIRE character was the essentially give Winter the Maiden Powers in cursive. Really. She took them for...two days then when Winter "proved" herself she gave them to her instead of WEISS! Who was fighting for her fucking LIFE against Cinder mere feet away! HELP HER!
Anyways she dies a second t-wait no third time, cause her robot part died. Also I'm just gonna say it, her hacking shit was useless at the end, did nothing but give her a new body which was WEAKER and got her killed two episodes later! WHAT WAS THE POINT!
While it was nice to see Penny again it kinda felt it was a waste of time because they killed her off so quick after giving her so many storylines and killing her off so many times. This COULD work, hell look at Dragon Ball but it didn't here...cause while its gonna impact the story I doubt its going to be much and Penny didn't really do jack shit asides have the Maiden powers.
Sad really, though Penny still was one of the better parts of the past 2 volumes combined. Yays for Penny!
Hazel:
Now I like Hazel, and I'm willing to say I think he was handled alright. HOWEVER, he could've been better.
This boils down to the fact they needed to give him a backstory, which SHOULD'VE been done once he learnt of Jinn. How did he join Salem, who was Gretchen, why he hates Ozpin and all that stuff cause at the moment he was just a rather nice guy-granted he beat up Oscar-who joined Salem.
Emerald:
...Her redemption arc was rushed and I don't think its good.
Ok, ok first my thoughts on Emerald. She was nice to me, worked well off the boy Mercury, actually nice Semblance and had some chance to be given a redemption arc...but it wasn't done well, that's the thing.
First off I'm questioning if she should even get one, as she one "almost" felt bad for causing the destruction of an entire city if not country and was scared of Salem, who isn't. Really she's in it for survival which respect but she shouldn't have been so easily forgiven...and this is coming from a guy who loves Sasuke and wanted him on good terms with others.
First off she was easily forgiven as said which makes no sense. Mind you she's doing this for pure survival, not to help others though that reason may play a part since it'd leave people like how she was pre-Cinder. Other than that nobody asides from Oscar should want to be around her, ESPECIALLY not Jaune or Ruby because of what she did to Pyrrha and Penny; instead of letting her roam free they should've tied her up at least, cause she could've just left just as Yang said to when she disagreed with them.
Also as a side note...never have your characters in universe say "I've switched sides" unless its like a game or something of that nature, in her situation its just...though that might be personal taste idk
In the end, Emerald could've been done better. But weirdly enough, don't dislike her
Neo:
...WHAT DID THEY DO TO BEST GIRL?!
Seriously they made her an idiot this Volume! To begin her working with Cinder. Now I along with most of the community thought she was playing the long game to kill Cinder-and eventually Ruby- but at the end she gives the lamp back to Cinder, continues following her, and dares ask for help when she about to fall into the void...WHY?! NEO YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE SMART! WHY ASK THE ONE GIRL WHO HATES YOU FOR HELP?!
Don't get me STARTED on her fight with Maria! How is this little old lady gonna beat NEO?!
Now you may be saying "But Drago she's a veteran who Qrow wanted to b-" Maria is a hundred year old lady who can barely walk and see who is WAY past her prime. JUST BECAUSE her Semblance is slightly advanced reflexes, which she only caught a falling lemon, that doesn't mean she can avoid and block every attack from Neo...the nimble, quick, flexible girl who has the third if not second most broken Semblance in the entire show who can cast illusions, clone herself, and damn near teleport with her abilities...no, just no. Hell, with her hax Neo might even be able to beat Young Maria if she can tire her out, though I won't argue that now.
Funnily enough, Neo's best moments are when she's just existing. When she was skipping through the whale, floating, and her facial expressions were her saving grace this Volume other than her fight with Ruby.
Sad thing...Neo only came back to make CInder more interesting, at least that's what I know. If that's the case...Cinder dragged her down hard.
Cinder:
SPEAKING OF THE DEVIL! Cinder was easily...actually...she was neutral this volume.
Weirdly enough I never hated Cinder, only was meh to her after Volume 5 and she was just meh if not boring this Volume. Like, she didn't really do anything but lose and for most of it, got told off by Watts, and got her backstory...which I'm gonna discuss right now-
Cinder's backstory was just meh really. Like we got her as a kid but didn't answer the other BIG questions on Cinder; how did she meet Salem, how did her obsession with the Maiden powers come from, how did she get so top tier cause all we know is Salem "possibly" trained her, you get it? Cause we know she became one of those "Abused Reader" characters and killed her mentor...who didn't try to save her and let her continue in her h-why did he not get her out of there? Like, break her out or tell higher ups or something, aim higher!
Like wanna know how you could've done that better? Make Rhodes younger and still in school and any higher up corrupt so the owner lady would buy them off with the money she learns int he hotel and-if you want to get DARK-sell Cinder off to them once and a while. So Rhodes has enough, tries his best but no one listens to him so one day he tries breaking her out by force but learns young Cinder already murdered everyone; with this he has actually helps her more by taking her in and giving a story that makes it seem it was in self defense, which would detain him and Cinder a bit but with not much evidence against them they eventually walk free. Fuck, you could eventually have them BOTH meet up with Salem and Cinder's eventual power obsession kinda scare Rhodes who would eventually fight her once he realizes she's losing her way more and more, killing more people for power to make them fear her like she had them.
Right there is how I would've done it, though I also would have to add Cinder's backstory should've been a full episode...granted we would've gotten less Mercury but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to take.
Anyways onto Cinder the final few episodes she learns to stop acting entitled and realizes she needs to sit and listen, and once she does it FUCKING WORKS! SURPRISE! And her fight is...weird.
Like in the beginning of the volume she fought Maiden Penny WITH Emerald and lost mid-dif then at the end she was DESTROYING the team of Maiden Human Penny, Weiss, Jaune, Blake before having to leave because of Maiden Winter and the void closing. Unless you tell me Maiden Penny is that strong then Cinder really shouldn't have done as well as she didn't, her aura didn't crack either if I'm not mistaken.
As for her decisions after I'm not surprised she killed Watts and "Neo", as she got rid of her two biggest threats though with their help she'd have a better chance at winning, as Watts with the staff is broken and Neo is Neo...and lying to Salem's biting her in the ass, calling it now.
Really, Cinder was just meh this volume, nothing more nothing less.
Salem:
Mommy Salami, the MILF of RWB-wait no that's Raven...take 2!
Salem, the big bad of the entire series...and was wasted and did nothing this volume. No joke, if you took her out nothing of significance would change, especially if you just bring in the whale.
What did Salem do here? She...hurt Cinder...fought Team ORJY, and Hazel before "dying" and being taken out of the story for the rest of the Volume before coming back to collect Cinder and the relics...Huh?
That's your big bad...Her Volume which was hyped up and she did nothing! That was a terrible way to introduce her cause now she doesn't seem anymore fit than Cinder, Merc, Neo, Roman, Watts, Tyr-you get my point. Introducing your villains is a BIG way to both characterize them against others and show their threat levels; wants some examples?
- Madara
- Ulquiorra
- Esdeath
- Acnologia
- Sukuna
- The Tensens
- Majin Buu
You get the point? Each villain had something that made them intimidating and gauge their threat levels. Oh, anime doesn't count? Maybe I should also do...
- Amon
- Fire Lord Ozai
- Vlad Masters
- Bill Cipher
- Slade
- Fucking Doodlebob
Now, tell me if Salem had an entrance like any of them? Cause if Doodlebob, a mostly one off character who wielded a giant ass pencil and just played pranks was more threatening than the BIG BAD who controlled an army, had magic, and was immortal then...you know you messed up, even if Doodlebob is a top 10 Spongebob character.
Salem, as said, as all this power and hax not to mention an army of Grimm and henchman that have of the most hax abilites in the series(Neo and Emerald's Semblance, Tyrian's Aura Cancel, Cinder's abilities) and yet she doesn't do any of the work and the HEROES do what she set out to is just sad.
Final thoughts? Salem's that one kid in class who did nothing on the project but still receives credit.
Well that was everyone I really had to say...wait...you think I'd say something about the others huh? Well here's my quick answers, *breaths in*
1. Qrow did nothing
2. Robyn is still bad
3. Fiona and May are the Best of the Happy Huntresses
4. There's a four member?
5. Jacques got wasted, you hate to see it
6. Willow stays neat and Klein may be banging her now
7. Mercury and Tyrian stay top tier
8. Maria and Peitro are forgotten
But wait I feel like we're forgetting...like one of the best characters in the series who the writers had to fuck over for Team RWBY to be right and for the FNDM to hate him...but who could it b-
Ironwood:
Ironwood. Did. Nothing. Wrong.
Just for some conext for those who want to tell me "Ironwood's a bad guy" "His change was well developed" and "He was always bad", peep this...
1. Disagreed with Ozpin for sending out children to fight the Grimm
2. Built robots to limit human causalities and make sure no other young child died in the line of battle
3. Was willing to accept death for a crime he didn't cause, cause he knew it was his machinery that helped the villains
4. Defended Weiss at the party against everyone
5. Proceeded to give Weiss some advice and helped her out
6. Didn't detain Team RWBY and friends for stealing military equipment, which is a crime by the way, and let them go
7. Shared EVERYTHING with Team RWBY and friend, plans and all and was open to suggestions but got none
8. Gave out their huntsman licenses
9. Allowed them to train at his school and work with him, upgraded their weapons, gave them shelter and outfits
10. Actually showed compassion and hugged Qrow as he was glad a good friend of his was alright
11. Did his damn best to try and stop Salem while getting Amity up, all while getting lied to
12. Tried to detain Robyn for actual crimes, though didn't even want her in prison but wanted to talk and get her help
13. Beat Watts, a Salem force while proving he was willing to do anything to help the people of Remnant
14. Weighed his options and tried to at least buy time to beat Salem
15. Needed Penny's help so tried to get her back through peace, but was met with hostility and even after the nuke threat he was GENUINELY happy to see her happy and alright
16. STILL let Winter be his right hand after learning of her letting go of the captives
17. Only wanted Team RWBY and co detained, never wanted to harm them until he went full crazy because plot
18. Despite all the shit he did STILL believed he was doing the right thing and was under the impression the cities was still fucked because Salem was regening, to which no one tried to talk him out of asides from Oscar-pre Volume 8 at least-and with the mindset that Team RWBY and friends were about to DROP A CITY went out to fight
Now tell me...was it all still planned? They tried, failed, and had to make him go crazy...and even that can be explained as to why he's write based on his character by saying "So much peace actions did jack squat and he can't waste any time, force is best at this point". Really, Ironwood was done dirty as this person who wanted to SAVE lives wants to nuke a city...huh?
Onto his fights and...he got wrecked by ORNJ, Winter, and Emerald which I can see and was alright of a fight THOUGH the problems hinders from the fact the next big bad the sacrificed SALEM for went out in a 40 second fight. As for Winter...whoever made that clunky ass gun should be fired-in universe-, its not practical at all for a fight and I'm mad he didn't use his other guns. Really, he got folded this Volume fight wise.
THEN WE GOT HIS DEATH! I must say for someone with a Semblance that literally hyper focuses him I'm surprised he didn't stick to fighting to the end, cause at least he would've went out a badass. Actually...
Fires danced around the city, a result of the Fall Maiden Cinder setting ablaze the city as she and her leader walked through the ruins of the Vault. It was crumbling down, the rocks above and around falling and destroying the ground as everything around them shook, signaling the city was close to falling to Mantle. Cinder would look around, a proud look on her face though a submissive one went back on as Salem looked at her, her black-red eyes seemingly piercing into the younger woman's very soul.
"Lets get out of here." The Grimm Leader tells her subordinate, who nods as they began ready to blast off...
*CRASH*
"RAAAAAAARGHHHHH!"
Both women's eyes would widen in surprise, not expecting anyone here much less a roar from said person. Looking back, the two would see none other than James Ironwood in the middle of a ton of Rubble, though he looked worse for wear. Bags under his eyes, his hair noticeably grayer than before, pants a bit ripped, and his jacket completely gone as only his half metal was on full display as blood poured from the many wounds on his body.
He would raise his gun up to the two, rubble crashing down around him as he narrows his eyes.
"I may be alone...but at the end...I'm going to make sure I get a hit off on the person who caused the destruction of my city." He says, though there was a noticeable waver in his voice. In fact, his whole body was trembling, sweat beading down his body as the tiredness and his injuries finally catching up to him, though he swore on himself he wouldn't go down without a fight.
Cinder would put up her guard slightly, ready to take the male down but the white haired woman next to her held a hand out in front of her; the Maiden would get a glance from the woman that read one thing, "I'll handle this myself."
"I didn't expect this James, for you to last until the very end like this. Though it is in your character I suppose." Salem says, walking slowly towards the faulting male, him trying to pull the trigger though holding himself back for some reason
"And I didn't expect you...To be out of the battle so soon..." He remarks, getting a small frown from the female
"Well I guess we both didn't fully expect each other huh?" She tells him as he is now in front of him, raising her hand as it go forward at speed nobody can react to as...
*SPLATTER!* *CRUNCH*
Blood, gore, and bone rocket from the other side of Ironwood's chest, Salem's hand lounged through the general's chest as blood spills from the wound as well as her hand and arm, her having torn apart his lung and some of his heart in the process. Blood would come gushing out of the male, who can barely move as is as he looks directly into the smirking woman's face.
"This is checkmate, James~" She cooes at the general, who raises and presses his gun to Salem's heart
"To my friends its James...To you...Its general." He says, pulling the trigger as a bullet pierces Salem through the heart and rockets right at Cinder, who dodges but still takes the bullet to the side as it explodes on the wall behind her
"Shit, lets get out of here!" Cinder calls out, holding ehr Grimm arm to her bloodied wound as Salem wipes the blood from her mouth, pulling her arm out of the male's chest as he stands unresponsive
"Nice seeing you James, shame you couldn't last longer." Salem says, brushing his wild hair across his face before frowning at the site of the general's lifeless eyes
James Ironwood was dead, and was still standing proud against the foe who threatened his country.
Sighing, Salem would begin to fly off with Cinder in tow, the two managing to get out of Atlas as it finally crashes into Mantle, ruptures and quakes erupting around the land as any unfortunate soul still around died in the cross hairs.
Now I dunno if this was good, but I think this is slightly better than the weak death he was given.
Also did you know he had a Semblance called Mettle? You know, a Semblance that makes him hyper focus essentially? First I don't treat it as canon since nobody in the show treats it as such and if it is...then his treatment is worse, as this PTSD ridden war veteran quite literally can't control himself and nobody is trying to help him asides from a single person.
I could go on longer on why Ironwood was done dirty, but there's too many things I could say and there's a ton of videos and analysis on his character that could do it better than I ever could. But let me say this.
Ironwood did what he thought was right and what he could at a time no one had any better plans, and did what he could to limit causalities and panic, something his so called "allies" most definitely caused.
Think about that.
Team RWBY's Plan
This aspect was a driving force on their triad to help Mantle right? Well they sure fucked it up greatly.
First lets get onto the plans shall we?
Amity Arena:
First lets state that Amity wasn't even close to being ready a few hours ago for Ironwood BUT when Team RWBY needs it during much more dire times SUDDENLY its up and ready? Plot convenience if I ever seen it. Anyways using Ironwood's plan to unite the world Ruby lets everyone hear a speech on how to unite and come to together to fight Salem while also saying how Ironwood isn't trustworthy. Now this...isn't good.
First off there was no way she was getting help. Mind you Vale is still invested with Grimm and barely has any fighters, Mistral is still in shambles because of the hunter shortage, Menagerie doesn't have enough Fanus to fight an ARMY of Grimm, and Vacuo doesn't really like Mantle or even Atlas. Seriously, Atlas is their best bet and even that is getting overwhelmed. I'm sure combining would cause more conflict than actual help, which Ironwood was worried about AND what Ruby herself admitted was stupid later on.
Also telling the world about Salem's existence isn't smart, as an all powerful being as come to the strongest continent and laying waste and they NEED the help! That's troubling!
Also telling people Ironwood isn't trust worthy is dumb as...no one expect maybe the dumb people of Mantle cause he's a MILITARY LEADER! Te biggest thing that's happened to him is literally the hacking but even then anyone's he's worked with might put an end to talk around him quick especially if they know him. BUT if everyone believes him the sheer panic from learning the general of Atlas isn't on their side is a big problem!
Vacuo:
This is dumb. They want to send the people of Atlas and Mantle to a deadly environment that highlights Raven's philosophy to the max which is also invested with Grimm...mind you most of those people can't fight and might not even have aura so THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS will die in the first day! Either from the environment, Grimm, or resources getting low! Both short and long term this doesn't end well for the sheer amount of people.
Not to mention the people of Vacuo doesn't, ya know, like the people of Mantle because of the last war so they might just raid, kill, and capture the giant group that will be walking and separating for that reason. I doubt anyone's gonna be happy their home is invaded by the people who tore them to shreds a while back.
This plan is bad, literally Mistral or even Vale would've been a better choice. Oh what was the reasoning?
"There's capable huntsmen?"
...Fighting for thousands if not millions against Grimm, other Vacuo people who probably are stronger than the nice and "capable" ones. Really, its not a good idea, I'm sorry.
Now for the next and final part I'm going to go over something that just irritate me about Volume 8, just...you'll see.
The Tea Scene:
So you got three of our heroes...sitting comfortably in the Schnee Manor one of them THREATENED to get into by the way not fighting the Grimm army that's invading.
Like...Who decided to go and say "Hey we should have our protags do NOTHING about the enemy they ostracized everyone else for not wanting to do anything against?" Cause its a dumb one, seriously. When the main characters do nothing but sit on their asses and not fight for most of the Volume it gets boring AND puts a bad example on them!
"B-But they were tire-"
Bitch don't give me that excuse! In fact, I'm debunking that shit right now!
NOBODY ASIDES FROM IRONWOOD, THE ACE OPS, WINTER, OSCAR AND THE VILLAINS SHOULD BE TIRED!
Team RWBN did nothing but sit in a manor most of the two days, rested up and ready for fighting and if someone wants to tell me how they just fought the Ace Ops...who held back...and weren't no where near full power...you get where I'm coming from? This not only makes them look like asses for not helping fight when they're at max BUT it also makes them weak against the Grimm who came to fight, especially Ruby who seemingly couldn't do anything and needed to be carried by Blake!
The only way for this group to be tired is if they fought their way to the Manor and across the control rooms or if they fought the Grimm beforehand, which both clearly didn't happen. They aren't tired, just weak or bored.
Then we got ORJ who mgiht have lost energy because of the Grimm fight, the cold, then Salem but here's the thing that makes both them AND the Manor friends tiredness invalid...*ahem*
Jaune.
This man heals and replenishes aura, and can even do it to himself. Realistically, he most definitely healed everyone and got them back to max before the void fights, where he had half a day if not a full one to do so. Also he had healed Nora and Penny, so to anyone who says he couldn't they are the examples.
So because of this no one is really tired but just weak from what I got, especially Yang if a simple Neo swipe knocked out her aura...damn Neo really got stronger.
(Also to those who thinks Yang would win against Neo...Sure Yang "trained" a bit and got sticky grenades but Neo got a hax Semblance, clones, hard illusions, also got stronger-noted by Cinder-and boxed Base Cinder into using her Maiden Powers to get her off her. Give me a reason to think Yang's beating Neo currently, cause based on abilities she won't ESPECIALLY if there's intent to kill. Stop overhyping Yang, please.)
Really if anything the Ace Ops and Winter should be tired, actually FIGHTING! Not to mention Penny and Oscar who dealt with so much shit but they also were probably healed...and don't get me STARTED on Ironwood being tired, he should be the one about to pass out the most!
Really then "tired argument" doesn't work, and can't work in terms of the story. Sad to think out of the main group only Oscar and Penny did anything, with Whitley doing his damn best and May being smart and trying to do stuff. Respect to those four.
With that said that's my review...wait you want a rating? Well if I had to do it out of ten...
5/10
It had some moments but the dumb decisions, ideas, dumb character moments, and even action took a dive. Oh I didn't even mention action so let me say this...Only Ruby vs Neo, Hazel vs Salem, and somewhat Iroonwood vs Squad and Penny vs Cinder is worth something...even the emotional battle between Ironwood and Winter(which spawned the crying Ironwood meme) lost impact because of how the writers continued pushing against Ironwood.
Best characters of this volume definitely were Oscar, Whitley, Watts, Penny, Ace Ops surprisingly, Winter, Ren, Hazel, Mercury, Tyrian, and crazy Ironwood weirdly enough. They were what kept me through this Volume.
Next Volume my hopes are actually high, I hope its good and I'm actually excited to see what they are gonna do. Beach season? Fanservice? Hopefully Neo stops acting stupid? I'm in.
With that said I got not much else to add, I hope you enjoyed this review/slight rant and let me know your favorite character of the volume, your thoughts on the volume and your rating.
With that said, take care everyone and I hope you all have a good one!
PEACE!