Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-24573226-20171012080158/@comment-10390252-20171014184711

It's kind of difficult to read this volume opener but it has done a very good job of setting up the story to come. I'll summarise my impressions so far and where I think it will go from here:


 * I've got the feeling that we're on the verge of a Menagerie Civil War; from the opening, Adam is clearly out of town so I think that Ilia and the Fox brothers are going to be the key as to whether the Belladonna family can break his hold on the White Fang;


 * Yang is looking for Mummy Dearest; I've got the feeling that she's going to be the spoiler in the eventual fight for Spring (who, from the opening credits, doesn't feel much sisterly affection for Cinder);


 * We get another hint that Ruby is the key to all of this somehow; Oscar was looking for her, not the rest of Team RNJR; she's the important one to the spirit of Professor Ozpin;


 * Difficult to say what is going to happen with Weiss. I'm wondering if she's going to be absent for most of the volume and then literally drop out of the sky to save the day at mid-season;


 * It looks like Professor Lionheart is completely under Watts' power; I'm guessing that he brokered a deal with Salem's cabal in exchange for a lessening of attacks on Mistral. I've no doubt that he believes that Salem will spare Mistral if he helps her seize the Artifact of Knowledge. Poor fool; I wonder how long he'll have to realise that he was a patsy before he dies?

It looks like Yang isn't entirely over her PTSD. I'm hoping that my wish that Raven gives her some tough love and helps her move on from her trauma will be fulfilled.

I'm also wondering if each reincarnation of Professor Ozpin has his own unique reaction to the things that he knows and his own reaction to the people he knows. It will be interesting to see how a teenage boy handles having the knowledge of lifetimes and handles being around Ruby, Nora, Blake, Weiss and Yang. Ah! The trials of being a teen boy surrounded by beautiful young women who see you as either some weird kind of authority figure or, worse, a cute kid brother!

So, as I said a very different start from the previous volumes, perhaps indicating how far we have come since the last detailed outlines Monty left us. Not bad you understand, just different. Certainly enough to whet my appetite for what is to come next.