The Next Step

"The Next Step" is the forty-first episode of RWBY and the first episode of Volume 4. It premiered for Rooster Teeth sponsors on October 22nd, 2016 and was released for registered users of the Rooster Teeth site on October 23rd, 2016 and was made public on October 29th, 2016.

Summary
In a dark, barren land, Grimm spawn from pools of a black, viscous, tar-like substance. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black watch in fear and disgust, respectively, from a window overlooking the wasteland. Along with Cinder Fall, the three attend a tense meeting with three of their allies – Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows and Hazel. Watts and Tyrian belittle Cinder, who is barely able to speak above a whisper and missing an eye after the battle on the tower, for being defeated by Ruby Rose. Hazel states that they have dealt with Silver-Eyed Warriors before.

Salem herself enters. She chastizes Watts and praises Cinder for successfully attaining the mantle of the Fall Maiden, destroying Beacon Tower and killing Ozpin. Salem states that Cinder's status as the Fall Maiden comes with great strength, but also a crippling weakness, and thus orders Cinder to stay close while they continue her "treatment".

Salem orders Watts to meet with their informant in Mistral while Tyrian continues his hunt for the Spring Maiden. Hazel is to attend a meeting arranged by Adam Taurus with the leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan, in order to bring them to heel. Cinder asks, with Emerald speaking for her, what is to be done about Ruby Rose. However, Salem reassigns Tyrian to capture and bring Ruby to her. Salem concludes that following Beacon, Haven will be the next to fall. Tyrian assures Cinder that he will repay Ruby an eye for an eye, and cackles maniacally.

Far away, a dark-haired young boy with freckles and yellow-green eyes awakes with a start. As the sun rises over his farm, he tills the soil and pumps water alone, before gazing into the distance.

In the forests of Anima, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren argue about the name of their new team. Nora argues that it should be called Team JNRR (pronounced "Junior") since it consists of three members of Team JNPR, but Ren thinks that it should be called Team RNJR (pronounced "Ranger") as they are assisting Ruby. However, Jaune Arc calls them to action as an enormous Grimm apparently made of giant stones bursts out of the foliage chasing Ruby Rose.

The Grimm, known as a Geist, is capable of "possessing" inanimate objects, such as stones, and integrating pieces of the landscape into its body. Its stone body is impenetrable to attacks from Ren's Stormflower blades, and while Nora is able to remove one of its limbs with her hammer Magnhild, it simply replaces its lost limb with a nearby tree. Ruby attempts using Lightning and then Fire Dust ammunition against it, but these prove to be equally ineffective.

Jaune, the "strategist", formulates a plan to take down the enemy by destroying all of its limbs at once, exposing its only vulnerability – its face. They finish the Geist with a coordinated team attack involving Ruby's Semblance and Nora's upgraded Magnhild, shattering its limbs. The Geist leaves its stone body, and once exposed, Ruby finishes it with a single shot from Crescent Rose.

An official representing a nearby village thanks Team RNJR for destroying the Geist, which had been attacking their village for weeks. Ruby offers to escort them to the safety of the walls of the Kingdom of Mistral, but the official declines, stating that the villagers are accustomed to their way of life and the journey would be too long for them to survive. At a blacksmith's, Team RNJR accepts their payment in the form of a new set of armor and an upgraded Crocea Mors for Jaune, using metal that had once belonged to Pyrrha Nikos. Continuing their journey to Haven Academy, the team leaves for the next village in high spirits, but Ruby grows somber at the mention of the Schnee Dust Company.

In Atlas, Weiss Schnee sits alone in her room, gazing forlornly out the window. Her butler, Klein, informs her that her father, Jacques Schnee, wishes to speak with her. Weiss solemnly goes to see him.

Trivia

 * As with previous Volume premieres, when the episode was released at the scheduled time of October 22nd at 10:00am CST, the volume of users attempting to access the Rooster Teeth website was so large that it was inaccessible for some time. Director of Technology at Rooster Teeth, Adam Baird, even received calls incorrectly informing him that the website was under attack by DDoS. A delay in export also meant the episode also had to be re-uploaded, compounding the problem. It was announced that the episode release would be delayed to 3:00pm CST. In lieu of the episode, the Volume 4 Opening was released to the public. The problem was fixed sooner than anticipated and the episode released for Rooster Teeth First members at approximately 1:00pm CST.
 * The title of the episode, "The Next Step", may be a reference to a similarly-titled episode in Volume 1, "The First Step". Ruby also says "Bad landing strategy!" while falling through trees at the beginning of the battle agains the Geist, another possible callback to the episode.
 * A portrait of the Giant Armor appears in Weiss' room.
 * The theme when Salem walks into the meeting room is named a "A Dark Cabal".