Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-27312496-20160211001150/@comment-10390252-20160211125302

So, it looks to me that we're going to see the two senior pairs of the two senior teams, Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune, fight the Dragon. Officially, they're doing it to save the day for all the innocent but in reality, it's because Blake, Yang, Nora and Ren are too badly wounded to survive having to evacuate the city. To flee now is to leave their friends to die.

I would say that we've got about a 50% probability that they'll kill the Dragon and save Vale. Both success and failure would have their own narrative consequences but neither are unthinkable at this stage in the story.

What I consider interesting is the complete absence of references to the throw-down between Ozzie and Cinder. Something tells me that this is going to be the totally-embargoed and secret 'Wham!' event about which we are going to know nothing until it happens.

What about the actual outcome of the episode? Well, I suspect that Pyrrha will get pretty badly mashed up and that Jaune will save her, unlocking his Semblance in the process. I also suspect that Weiss will fully unlock her Summon special ability. It is possible that Ruby will reveal a massive power-up of her own, possibly the ability to manipulate kinetic energy on a large scale (enabling her to bounce the Dragon around like it was a ping-pong ball surrounded by a storm of rose petals).

Prediction: If the Dragon is killed or driven off, the other Grimm will spontaneously die off or retreat.

As for the other (and probably more significant) Boss Fight? Well, I stick with my assessment that it is too early in the story for the Narrator of Authority (Ozpin) to become unavailable. If he does die, he'll get better in some way, possibly continuing to appear to Ruby and others as an 'Aura Spectre' or something similar so that he can continue to exposit on bits of the backstory.

My current big prediction for Volume 4: New character art being introduced at the end of v4e01 as a consequence of the characters' reassessment of their abilities and motives.

I wonder if Ruby may thread motion dust (which she already uses in the Cross Clip) into her costume, enabling her to 'throw' her Semblance at targets. I'm also hoping that she has kept a couple of Penny's swords and teaches herself to use them, partly as a tribute to her friend and partly as an oath herself never to be so dumb and helpless again as she was against Mercury. She now knows what the cost to the innocent will be.

I also suspect that the new costumes will include strong auxilliary armour, practically battle plate for infantry or brawler characters like Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Yang and extremely light reinforcements for agility or dust-based fighters like Weiss, Blake and Ren. Pyrrha is a bit of an anomaly of course; with her Semblance, putting her in heavy metal plate/mail armour basically is a strength enhancer, enabling her to boost her own motions with her Semblance.

I still like the idea that, lacking resources, Ironwood's doctors graft Penny's arm onto Yang. As well as being deeply disturbing for four girls who knew Penny quite well, Yang starts hearing Penny's voice. It turns out that there was an aura merging but it wasn't Pyrrha and Amber.