"Y'know, we can just skip this episode. I don't see any reason for us to watch it. What do you guys think?" Yang asked the group. Raider gave the girl an unimpressed look, and the rest of the room agreed.
"It seems rather pointless if you ask me," Weiss adds. It was fairly obvious that the entire room didn't want to spend a whole episode that would show Jacque for the majority of it. None of them had the patience to deal with his bullshit and horribly bold attempt to get the General removed from the Council. All of them were beyond irritated as Raider reminded them that they did, in fact, have to watch the episode.
"Well, you can expect displeased guests throughout the whole thing," Nora said, pouting while she crossed her arms.
Raider nodded, "Yes, I was made apparently aware after the last episode when the General first received the invitation. Now, are you all finished with your huffing? Because the sooner you start the episode, the sooner you can get it over with and move on." Unanimous grumbles echoed across the room, and Raider took that as her sign to begin.
(Volume 7 Intro)
Weiss held the invitation in her hand that read she was invited to the Schnee Manor for a banquet. "Only my father would turn a hostile takeover into a fluffy PR move."
Winter tsked under her breath as her father would take any kind of opportunity to gain the upper hand. Considering this was an attempt to place the power of politics in his favor, it was even more disgusting. "How low can Mr. Schnee go?" Oscar mumbled under his breath.
"Using a whole other race as corporate slaves."
"Taking a massacre to win an election for his own personal gains."
"Invite everyone to a pretty dinner so he can boot the General off the Council."
Of course, those were just to name a few. Oscar hummed, his expression turning into a deadpan.
"On the news, he just said he wanted to break bread and hash things out, maybe it won't be so bad. We do want the General to start opening up to these people, right?" Ruby says.
They all knew it wasn't going to be anything of the sort. Jacque Schnee has himself on another power trip and wants to use it for all its worth.
"Yeah, but on his terms. Ironwood's going to be locked in a room at his rival's own dinner party. I know Jacque says he's happy to moderate, but all that really means is he'll be the one controlling the conversation," Oscar states, rolling his eyes on the word 'moderate'.
"Sorry, this, um, might be off topic, but did Blake and Yang ever tell the others about their encounter with Robyn? Revealing Amity to her?" Blake asks. She hopes so because that doesn't exactly seem like a good thing to keep from your team. Especially when that decision was essentially made on a whim.
"Knowing how this volume is with secrets, I unfortunately doubt that," Yang said. Blake frowns, not liking the idea that the two of them are keeping their teammates in the dark.
"Back to the scene, Oscar is right, the General is forced into this situation, and all that will do is make Ironwood even more closed off, not open. The last person he'd be open with is a man like Jacque Schnee," Jaune says.
"Not hard to imagine how that's going to play out," Blake says sarcastically. Weiss still can't believe that her father won.
"Yeah, I want a revote!" Ruby shouted. There was definitely some kind of cheating business going on. There's no way that the majority of the people want Jacque Schnee to be the one making the calls.
"Robyn was supposed to be the people's champion, wasn't she? There's just too many coincidences." Yang asks Weiss if she thinks her dad might have something to do with Salem.
"Certainly not Salem herself, Watts and father might be working together, but I doubt he'd let her existence slip," Weiss said.
Weiss states that her father would do whatever it takes to win.
Even if that means people's lives are the cost. He's already proven that one too many times, not counting the election party.
"Then we should do the same," Ruby says, and Weiss is curious as to what she means. "Well, no one knows your dad better than you, and out of everyone going tonight, I'd say you're the only one who can snoop around the house and not be questioned."
"Hm, so you're saying this is a stealth mission to break into Jacque's office? Then I say, while you're at it, destroy a few things in there." Nora rubs her hands evilly, but the idea is shattered when both Winter and Weiss shake their heads. As much as they want to, they can't get caught.
"If Jacque Schnee is up to something, I think we should know what it is." Weiss looks ahead in determination. At the driveway of the Schnee Manor, four cars stop as everyone steps out.
Ironwood asks Winter if they should smile for the cameras. "Sir, with all due respect, you'd have to pay me."
The response got a few chuckles from around the room as they would have to be paid to enjoy Jaxque Schnee's presence. "It better be one heck of an amount of money," Sun murmurs.
General Ironwood rings the doorbell, and Whitley is the one who greets them.
Weiss frowns. Where was Klein? Normally, he'd be the one to answer.
Weiss asks where Klein is. "What an interesting way to say 'Hello dear brother, how have you been?'" Whitely responds, then folds his arms.
What…what does that mean?
"I'm afraid you won't find him here. He was let go, I can't imagine why." Weiss gasps, looking down at the ground in guilt.
"Klein was…fired?" Weiss stares down at the floor, but quickly notices her vision becoming blurry as she's tearing up." Klein was fired…because he helped me to escape. He was fired and it's all my fault…" Ruby holds Weiss close as she sobs quietly.
"Weiss," Winter said softly, "Klein knew the risks, but he did it anyway because he cares for you. It was his choice just as much as it was yours." Though her sister's words made her feel a little bit better, the crushing guilt remained.
Whitley sees the General's group and asks him if he knows how large their dining room table is. "I happen to know it's enormous, but most guests will be on standby in case the Council requests additional eyewitnesses. Until then, I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating your father's victory."
"'Happily' as in we'll be dreading every waking moment Jacque Schnee sits on the Council, then yes," Yang says.
Whitley escorts them into the manner and asks for those who are going to be in the dining room. The General, Winter, Penny, and Clover head that way.
Winter tries not to show her displeasure too much, but it's hard when you have to sit in a room with Jacque Schnee. The rest of the group feels bad for the woman, and they give her their condolences.
As they were heading towards the doors, Clover asked them to wish them luck. "I mean, they already invited you, didn't they?" Qrow replied. Clover smirks and continues on that way. A Faunus server walks up to Qrow and asks him if he would care for a drink. "Uh, no, n-no thanks. I think I'll just stick to patrolling the grounds."
Ruby and Yang look at their uncle with pride, proud of how far he's come from his old drinking habits. Now, they would just need to find a way for their uncle, back home, to quit his habits. It won't be easy, especially with the withdrawls, but damn it, they were going to make progress. For Qrow's sake.
Marrow chooses to do the same as he watches the waiter walk away.
It must be difficult for Marrow and Blake to stand in the house of the man who's caused so much pain and suffering for the Faunus.
"Right, well, don't wander off, don't break anything, and be ready in case the General calls on you," Harriet tells the group.
"Mm, how about we do wander, consider breaking some things, and some of that other stuff?" Yang suggests.
Vine proposes the idea of hors d'oeuvres, and Elm agrees. "Counterpoint, how about we do wander off, consider breaking things, and then all that other stuff," Yang encourages.
"Even from a different timeline, you two share the same mind," Blake says, giggling. Yang chuckles, rubbing the back of her head.
Weiss points to her ear and says she'll be in touch, walking away. She heads to the stairs when she's stopped by Whitley. "Dear sister, I was hoping we could use this time to catch up."
As much as that sounds lovely, Whitley, I'm currently on a mission.
Weiss is only able to get out a single 'oh' before Whitley begins to speak. "I have to know, why did you go through so much trouble to leave home, only to come crawling back?"
Weiss wouldn't particularly use that word to describe the Schnee Manor, as it never truly felt like a home, more like a prison.
Oscar mumbles that Whitley could be a problem.
"We need some kind of distraction, possibly a scene?" Ren suggests. Nora cracks her knuckles, knowing that out of all her friends, she might be the one to cause it.
In the dining room, Jacque welcomes the General for him to take a seat. The General nods to his party, and they all sit. Ironwood greets Councilman Sleet and Councilwoman Camilla. "Councilwoman Hill would have had a nice ring to it, though I suppose I should just be grateful I got invited to the table." Robyn makes her presence known and takes a seat, looking at Penny, who averts her gaze.
"Please tell us that, sooner rather than later, Robyn knows the truth and that the cause for the election party wasn't Penny," Ruby pleads. Penny is innocent, and if she were there, she would be trying to do everything in her power to prove it.
Jacque chuckles.
Everyone glared at the screen because if that wasn't the most fake laugh any of them had ever heard. "We've only heard your voice for a second, and it's already too much," Sun grumbled.
"Ms. Hill, that vigor of yours is precisely why we're grateful to have you with us tonight," Jacque says. Robyn looks at the General, and the man asks what she is doing here. "What we're all doing here, James, addressing the concerns of our kingdom. Which means we have much to discuss."
As much as they all despised the man sitting at the end of the table, it would be wise to hear the exact topic of discussion. Unfortunately, they fear they're aware of just exactly where the conversation is going.
"Indeed, I was hoping we could start by–"
"Are we safe with her here, by the way?" Jacque cuts the General off to ask.
"Shut up! Penny is not to blame! It was all Tyrian!" Ruby shouts while abruptly getting up. "And I know you have something to do with too!"
"Yeah! So stop talking like she's the biggest problem in the room!" Yang adds, joining her sister on her feet. Weiss and Blake gently eased the two back in their seats, both of them grumbling agitatedly.
"I do recall some confusion regarding her involvement in that horrific massacre."
"As the official reports stated, that footage was doctored, Penny is completely under my control," Ironwood says, and Jacque still has his concerns as two staff members step into the room.
One of Blake's ears flicked as she believed she heard something familiar while Jacque was talking. "Did you hear something?" Sun asks.
"Yeah, it was very familiar, like we've heard it dozens of times before," Blake states in thought. The Faunus gestures for a small rewind, to make sure she wasn't hearing things, but once played back, Blake knew it was something. "It was faint, but it was there. It's very specific, but I can't make out what."
"What does it sound like?" Pyrrha asks.
"It was a tiny, eerie melody, but I don't know the instrument used for it." If they hear it again this episode, Blake and the others might be able to tell, but they're definitely going to look out for it.
"Let's talk about exactly what it is you control." Back in the main hall, Yang complains about Whitley and would like him to just buzz off. Blake states they need to do something.
Nora is positively bouncing. "What was that earlier about 'breaking things'?" Jaune asks with a mischievous smile.
Nora looks at the screen, seeming to have some sort of moment as a gust of wind flies through her hair. "My time has come." The others next to her were wondering where the wind had come from.
Jaune sneaks through the crowd, Nora grabs any food that she can, and Ren causally walks with a plate in hand that has a single hors d'oeuvres. Weiss says that she's sure the company is lucky to have him, trying to leave, but he steps in her way. He attempts to ask where she's going. "Careful, messy food coming through!" Nora exclaims while Jaune gives a thumbs up.
Winter is seriously wondering how no one is bothered by any of this and why no one has come to stop them. Winter was going to consider it a miracle if this worked, but who is she kidding? This is the same group who stole an Atlas Airship and got away with it scot-free.
Weiss doesn't hide her boredom as Whitley explains that the company is giving him his own department. A staff member asks a woman if she would care for a drink, which she greatly takes and announces that she is going to leave to get something, as Ren and Nora bump shoulders. Nora, very convincingly throws up the plate of food that heads straight for Whitley, time slowing down as everything unfolds.
"This is about to land on that poor woman, isn't it?" Pyrrha asks. All of the students collectively 'yep' as they watch. All of them felt bad that this poor lady would be the one who is going to take the brunt of everything.
"Next time, we should wait till no one is walking in front of the two, that way no bystanders will get hit," Jaune mumbles.
"Or even better, come up with a different plan," Winter suggests, sighing while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"But where's the fun in that?" Nora asks, only receiving a stern look from Winter.
Jaune celebrates too early when the unsuspecting woman walks in right in the middle of the crossfire, getting splattered with the food, effectively ruining her outfit. Both Jaune and Ren wince.
Everyone in the room does the same. "And that was a white dress too," Yang says, sucking air in through her teeth. They felt apologetic for the person who was going to have to attempt to clean that out.
The woman cries out in dismay, throwing back her wine that splashes all over Whitley.
"You think when he tries to wash the wine out, his hair will turn a light purple?" Ruby asks.
Jaune, Ren, and Nora smile as the woman rushes off, wailing. Whitley holds his arms out as he's covered in the drink, and Weiss holds both her hands over her mouth, clearly trying to avoid laughing out loud. "If you'll excuse me." Whitley takes his leave, and Weiss looks back at her friends. Yang nods while Ruby is laughing hysterically.
"Ruby," Weiss scolds, but she's having trouble hiding her own smile as most of the room is giggling.
Weiss heads up the stairs, and the mission officially starts. "The fact of the matter is, you've operated with a fair amount of autonomy for the past few years, James, but what we need now is for you to work with us," Sleet states. Winter taps her finger on the table in agitation.
As much as they wish it were so, the matter is much easier said than done, as with the weight of everything going on and Jacque Schnee sitting on the Council, in that very room, it would be nearly impossible for Ironwood to genuinely open up. And another thing is if Amity Tower isn't finished, then Ironwood won't tell the full truth to the Council.
Ironwood tries to speak, but Councilwoman Camilla interrupts him, telling him that no kingdom intends to declare war on Atlas.
No kingdom wants to declare war, but a much worse foe is creeping on all of their doorsteps.
"We had no involvement with the incident at Haven, we have proof our drones weren't acting on orders at Beacon. At this point, the closure of Atlas borders is only serving to hurt our relations with the rest of the world."
"'The rest of the world'? It's hurting us!" Robyn shouts, "The people of Atlas are suffering, and they want to know why." Robyn looks directly at the General, already knowing the answer, but wanting him to say it himself.
"Ugh! If only everything weren't so frustrating and complicated!" Nora shouts. "Panic and terror are inevitable, so wouldn't it be better to tell the people now instead of waiting until Salem gets here?"
"The tower isn't finished, and if it's still on the ground, then Grimm are still able to access and destroy it," Winter reasons. Jaune's mind goes back to asking Winter about possibly suggesting to Ironwood that they get started on the tower. With enough pros to back it up, Jaune is sure the General will agree and would possibly already be finished at this point.
Ironwood's expression is guilty as he looks at Robyn, but it switches to a frown when Jacque speaks. "Quite right, Ms. Hill, and I'm afraid there's more than just your choices that have brought harm to your citizens, as of late. Have your forces found any additional evidence as to who is slaughtering innocent civilians down in Mantle?" Clover tells him that's an ongoing investigation and that the details are classified.
Winter looked down at her hand to find she had been absentmindedly tapping her finger on her leg. Tyrian is tied to Salem, and Winter could feel her own thoughts becoming more and more conflicted on whether or not the truth should be shared now or when Amity is complete. Her mind was weighing the pros and cons of each option.
"I'm afraid of the ever-growing list of classified information you seem to be keeping. I asked our fellow Councilman here to shed some light on your Amity Colosseum project, and as it turns out, they know about as much as I do." Robyn is surprised to hear that even Jacque is unaware.
A couple of the students sink lower into their seats as they can feel the rising tension as if it were coming through the screen itself. Both Winter's finger tapping was becoming more rapid, and the students knew she was going to crack at some point in the meeting.
"The Amity Project will help with all of the issues you've presented, but you have to understand that discretion is a top priority at this time."
"Are you saying you don't trust us?" Jacque asked, sounding offended.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Winter and her counterpart both slam their fist down.
"You can't just buy trust like everything else! You have to earn it!" Both Winters scream in unison. The one on-screen bangs her fist on the table, making everything rattle.
The room goes silent, but Jacque smirks as if he were waiting for those exact words to be said. Jacque states so, that he couldn't have said it better himself. Winter quietly gasps, realizing her error.
Winter freezes as she's realized it too. She had just given Jacque the upper hand he needed.
"General, if I may be blunt, you have spent what little trust this Council had left in you. The hacker who turned Atlas drones against us was never captured, whoever's been murdering your critics is still at large, how are we supposed to give you our trust when you've given us nothing as of late?"
The reality dawns on all of them that General Ironwood truly does lose his seat on the Council, both of them. This surely has to be a very important moment in General Ironwood's descent into madness. There are so many other factors, and this will just be added to the list.
Winter attempts to fix the situation, but Ironwood shuts her down, telling her that that's enough.
Winter clenches her fists, aggressively sitting back in her seat and thinking over what she had just done.
Winter excuses herself, almost bumping into the same waitress from earlier, before Winter exits the room.
The group found that to be a little odd, as the woman never said anything. Blake's eyes narrowed, as she came to think of it, that melody did play when she entered the room, but that theory could be for the waiter just the same.
Weiss roams the manor halls, looking around when a waitress with empty glasses asks her if everything is okay. Weiss tells her everything is fine and to keep up the great work. Upon arriving at his office, she steps inside before quietly shutting the door. "Hello darling."
Both Weiss and her counterpart gasp as they immediately recognize the voice. Mother. What…what was she doing in father's office? Weiss and Winter think to themselves.
Weiss turns around to find her mother standing behind Jacque's desk, a bottle in her hand.
Weiss and Winter immediately frowned when they noticed the glass. The others notice as well, and Yang and Ruby wonder if Weiss's mom also has an issue with alcohol. Most likely because of Jacque, no doubt.
Winter leans against a wall, her arms crossed as she glares at the floor. Penny peeks her head around the corner and asks if she's okay. "I'll be fine, I just let my emotions get the better of me." Penny asks what she means. "You wouldn't understand." Penny looks down at her hands, rubbing them sadly as she lets out a small 'oh, right'.
"No, Penny, that isn't what I meant," Winter says, immediately trying to reassure the girl.
"No, no, what I mean is…this place holds a lot of memories, for me specifically. I thought I was in control, but you heard me, I sounded like a petulant child."
"But…you were only letting out your emotions," Oscar said, a little confused.
"That's the problem," Winter replied.
Penny thought she sounded fine, she was only speaking from her heart. "And that is precisely the problem, I should have just stayed in line." Penny agrees with Winter's earlier statement: she doesn't understand.
Because you would have let your thoughts and feelings be heard, no matter what , Winter thinks to herself. That's just how the two of them are different, one speaks with their mind while the other speaks with the heart.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come down for your party, I'm…afraid I'm not feeling well," Willow says, walking around the desk and setting down her glass.
"Um, it's okay, mom, it's fine."
There were a few in the room who noticed the word choice. Weiss referred to her as 'mom', not 'mother' like she does with her father. Those two obviously must have a closer relationship with one another than with Jacque.
There's a moment of silence before Willow asks what Weiss is doing in Jacque's office. Her eyes widen in panic as she comes up with the excuse that she left something. "It's right here…left…" Willow mumbles, twirling the glass.
Both Weiss and Winter's hearts pang as they watch their mom eye the glass of alcohol. Her voice is so solemn and forlorn, making the students figure she wasn't talking about the drink as she looked at it in thought.
"You left…" Something must have overcome Weiss as she admits that she needs to use Jacque's computer. "Why?"
"Because, I think he may have done something…something wrong." Willow leaned against the desk and stated she thought all of them assumed that at this point. Weiss looks down at the glass Willow has her fingers over, "Yes, well, some of us are trying to do something about it." Willow's fingers tighten on the glass.
Willow reaches and grabs the bottle of alcohol.
Weiss and Winter's eyes widen as they witness mother's drinking has gotten worse. Much worse. Did she go deeper into drinking because of…me? Weiss thought with horror. Is it connected to her leaving the manor? Not only was she the reason Klein had gotten fired, but Willow's drinking had gotten worse because she left.
Larger cracks were beginning to form in the wall that was her composure. Tears had fallen when Whitley announced Klein had been let go, but Weiss felt like she was about to have a breakdown. The very thread that was tethering her was her girlfriend, friends, and sister being present.
Willow began to drink from the bottle, and Weiss looked away. "He started locking his home computer." Willow set down the bottle and picked up her scroll. "But, he still has blind spots." Willow taps on the screen to show them from a camera in the corner of the room. Weiss questions that she put a camera in the room. "I put them in every room of this house, for our safety, in case I needed to–" She cuts herself off.
In case she needed to fight back.
In case she needed to take the kids and run.
In case Willow needed to use something against Jacque to get him out of their lives.
"You haven't come back to stay, have you?"
Weiss never wants to come back to stay.
"No," Weis replies strongly.
"Good…" Willow's voice cracks as tears stream down her cheeks.
Weiss wasn't able to hold it in any longer as her vision completely blurred and tears fell. A figure knelt in front of her, but hesitated to reach out. Weiss thought it was Ruby but was surprised to see Winter, grasping onto her shoulders as her own eyes were welling up. Winter grasped both of her hands and held them as the two sisters quietly cried. Words could not describe the feelings passing between the two: sadness, longing, wishing things could have been different in their family. A thought passed through both their minds: why did their family have to be so broken? Why did they have to have Jacque Schnee as their father?
Raider made extra space on the couch for Winter to sit beside her sister. Winter wordlessly sat down as the two released their emotions.
Willow wiped away her tears, handing Weiss the scroll as she began to leave. "A man came by. I'm afraid your father may be involved in something more dangerous than he realizes." Weiss looks down at the video as Willow parts with her final words, "No matter what happens, Weiss, please don't forget about your brother."
Weiss promises herself that she won't. She will not leave her brother alone to suffer in that world.
Weiss says that Whitley wants nothing to do with her.
Because I left him alone with father and mom. Both Winter and I did.
"Of course not, you left him alone…with us."
Both Schnees are filled with guilt as they are both to blame. Winter didn't just leave Weiss; she had left Whitley too, and then Weiss did the same.
Willow leaves the room, and Weiss looks down at the scroll. "Who are you?" She clicks play, and thunder rings out as Watts stands on top of a building.
Weiss really hopes her counterpart recognizes that he's the same man in Pietro's photo so she can go and ask him.
Watts looks across the city of Mantle, pulling out his scroll to press it. All the heaters across Mantle shut off, causing everything to freeze and, what once was rain, snow to fall.
"All the people of Mantle are going to freeze without their heaters!" Pyrrha exclaims in dismay.
A boy runs up to their window and calls out to their mom. "Hey, mom, it's snowing!" The kid rushes outside to play as the wind picks up. "How much more is Mantle going to have to suffer?!" Ruby shouts. Until there is no more Mantle, but they'll see that for themselves later. Ruby got no response as they all had the same question themselves. Weiss and Winter's thoughts switch back to their mom, worry evident as she seems to have gone deeper down the rabbit hole.