RWBY IX: Fractured Fairy Tales

[Reddish Mage]

Spoiler: V5 C11

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Okay, this chapter is very straight forward..there is a whole lot of action that goes down in this episode...as in literally a whole lot of action in that good old fashion RWBY way so rather than try, and fail, to address it all in the order that it happens I'mma just break it down fight by fight after addressing the talking bits.

Spoiler: V5C11

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One on One Duels taking place simultaneously are the traditional RWBY fashion now? I must have missed something somewhere along the line...

Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we see Leo's tail.

Spoiler: V5C11

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Nora/Ren vs. Hazel: ..but it looks like Hazel's arms are covered with scars from just the tiniest bit past his sleeves and up...what...what is going on underneath of Hazel's jacket?

Leo vs. Ozcar: nyway, Leo wasn't joking about being past his prime but Ozcar seems competent at least...and either has already had his aura broken or he's called Ozpin out..but considering when we do hear Ozpin its in his internal voice I don't thin...ohhhhhh....they were showing Ozcar engaged his aura right before he was hit. Alright then, wasn't super clear though. However when Leo does get unhinged...well...he has a moment where he talks to himself about if he does one last thing for Salem..if he can give her Ozpin..than she'll have to let him out from under her. Boy...I hope you don't succeed at all Leo but for your sake I hope you aren't wrong about that.

Spoiler: V5C11 Fight!

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Good catch on Hazel's arm. It sounds like Oscar, not Ozpin, fighting, Ozpin is all in his head doing a <insert remote supporting character here - I'm thinking Oracle, Old Man Bruce Wayne, Martin Stein, probably a few dozen others without getting super obscure>. Oscar probably is shown engaging his aura to block the meteor.

Also Leo's wrong, of course, Salem doesn't care about people and discards them when she's finished with them. Raven has mentioned that and she is apparently in a position to know this having spied on Salem from way back when. However, Leo is like the only fight that doesn't look like its going the villains way

Spoiler: V5C11

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Yang vs. Mercury: Alright, this was probably the most expected fight but its also the one we see very little of and there's not a lot of banter either. I think this is another fight being held off on, not the least of which is because I feel like Yang is being saved for a confrontation with Adam down the line.


Ruby vs. Emerald: This is the first of the weird pairings..because I figured Emerald fighting Jaune was a sure thing! It seemed just perfect to further Jaune's hang-ups about Pyrrha's death to fight Emerald who both knows Jaune (Mercury and her were the ones that interacted with people, not Cinder) and could use her Semblance to **** with him in that way. Instead, Emerald makes it very clear that she wants Ruby to get nowhere close to Cinder and intercepts her. So..Emerald isn't Salem-loyal...she's Cinder loyal because Cinder has given her everything. Makes sense, just wish we knew more about it. We do get a brief shot of her using an illusion of Cinder to take Ruby off guard but the big scene between them is that when Cinder gets Jaune on the ropes and Ruby, in a fit of panic, actually starts to use her Silver Eyes again (and the effect for them looks SO MUCH better than the eyeball wings from before, kudos on the vast improvement there RT) just for Emerald to shut that crap right down and...I think knock Ruby out cold. The big thing here was Emerald openly saying she's completely devoted to Cinder and the new Silver Eye effect that looks much better.

Spoiler: V5C11 Fight! Part 2

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Yang is totally being saved for the Adam fight. This doubly means something has to send this neat little arena into chaos. Yang actually has very little emotionally invested in a Mercury revenge match. She does have quite a bit of issues to work out with Adam. By which I mean the recommended therapy for Yang's tremors is hitting Adam repeatedly in the face.

Spoiler: V5C11

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Cinder vs. Jaune: This is arguably a more important fight but has things relating to the next one, so going to address it first. For one we see the return of Cinder making weapons seemingly from nothing which we can probably assume is Maiden powers..and while we get a moment from Jaune where we again get an indicator that he's really, really strong physically..Cinder still crushes him in this fight and outright plays with him. To the point that when Weiss gets into a tough spot she has the gall to taunt him that he can keep fighting her but he'll be letting Weiss die in the process. The brief flash of Silver Eyes brings Cinder to her knees though and Jaune actually goes for the goddamn kill with Cinder leaning out of the way at the last second so it knicks her...mask...which we get a clear view of. And..it doesn't just look like Cinder got her eye damaged its downright gone. Ouch. But once she has Jaune literally beneath her heel she decides to twist the knife rather then finish him off...by summoning up a big honking spear and CHUCKING IT RIGHT THROUGH WEISS' F***ING TORSO. WHAT THE HELL RT?!

Spoiler: V5C11 Fight! Part 3

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Juane has been the golden boy of the franchise. So far he's managed to be alternatively awesome or cutely incompetent. Now, he's basically threw everything off by launching at Cinder like she was a Manadator-IV Dreadnought. I suspect he's going to be vindicated by having his semblance unlocked. Otherwise he has to face that his actions got Weiss skewered (women take note: Juane liking you means you will inevitably be mortally wounded by Cinder).

Either way, once again Juane's character development is absolutely a top priority for this series and they are sidelining (when they aren't literally killing off) many other characters and plots for it.

I don't mind the return of classic Cinder, that's her face to the world. I suspect soon enough we will see angry and afraid Cinder again.

Spoiler: V5C11

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Weiss vs. Vernal: This is, in my opinion, the best fight of this entire episode in large part because at one point they do one long, uninterrupted shot at one point that's very nice and it has a bit of basic fight psychology to it. Raven told Vernal to save her mojo for later so we know for a fact that this is all just Vernal, her semblance, dust, and/or her weapons. So she challenges Weiss to prove she's more than just the Schnee name which is an interesting wrinkle, is Vernal projecting a bit? In either case once the fight start Vernal doesn't give Weiss ANY breathing room, any time Weiss gets some distance to set up her dust shenanigans or summon Vernal is either chucking her chakrams at her or closing the distance to keep the pressure on. Its nice, simple fight psychology that works, especially when they throw in details like Weiss' closest attempt to a successful summon looking like the Gigas is clawing its way out of the ground in a show of Weiss' desperation to just summon the damn thing without interruption. But she does constantly be interrupted which is good...for the bad guys that is, bad for Weiss because after that last attempt Vernal blade locks with her and fires her weapon, in what looks like Dust lasers, into Weiss at point blank range to shatter her aura. Which again leads to WEISS BEING SHISH-KABOBED but Weiss, one of the heavy hitters on the good guys side..below Qrow and maybe Ozpin, depending on what he can really get up to, but tied with Yang just cannot land a solid blow on Vernal. Compared to Amber, Vernal seems like a far more lethal combatant which is admittedly a good thing especially since we know for a fact she's not using any Maiden powers and is still accomplishing this.

Spoiler: V5C11 Fight! Part 4

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In opinion is the REAL RWBY fight of the episode. The rest are all sideshows and fail to show anything of note. Juane fight is important mainly because it drives the drama and the action, but he himself is basically just whaling against Cinder, who spends most of her time blocking and being amused.

Weiss is also not awesome mainly because her strategy is to get the space to summon her Gigas. She should be attacking Vernal with her awesome speed. Instead, she uses her skills mainly playing defense.

I don't know where the RWBY members rank on a scale honestly. If Season 3 choices was an indication of strength than yes, Weiss is second strongest in RWBY. However, the skills of the team vary greatly, and Weiss, as the "mage" definitely has her weak points. Hardiness, lacking Yangs ability to take a hit or Blakes clones, is probably one of them.

I don't think you are giving Amber enough credit, the one fight scene we see she fights CME on her own and appears to win and limp away. Cinder pulls a victory out of nowhere.

Vernal is fighting Weiss basically one on one and ultimately, she doesn't beat Weiss, Cinder comes along and finishes the job for her.

Spoiler: V5C11

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also the fact that Watts isn't around is very telling..I mean I know he said he wouldn't have anything to do with the murder plan for Qrow because he doesn't want to take the fall if it goes wrong but..he's also not helping get the relic right now either. In other words, I feel like Watts is off doing something terrible right now.

Spoiler: V5C11

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Watts was obviously not going to be around since he said as much. He can't very well be helping getting the relic and still not be around.

What's he doing? I imagine he is readying to bring down Atlas in the next volume. Any chance Winter is actually the Winter maiden? What do you think the chances are of Jacques turning out to be a Salem proxy? Will Ironwood go full-on antagonist or will he admit his approach is just playing into Salems hands?

Ah it doesn't matter yet. Volume 6 is still here and the question is what's going to happen in Episode 12 and 13