Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-24573226-20161003151422/@comment-3257939-20161004124623

But what if it's not a sunset? What if the sun is actually coming out and what Blake is seeing is the morning light? Think about it. It's currently daylight in Patch which is at the right side of Vacuo meaning if the Sun is already illuminating Vale, it's still about to become visible for Vacuo. That would match. Morning in Vacuo, followed by Aftertoon in Vale and finally Night in Mistral and Atlas. It fits the Sun's position perfectly.

Well, this entire Volume seems to be about facing your demons. The time-skip might serve the purpose of skipping all the depression and showing us the results. It wouldn't be bad writing and certainly not unwelcome. Imagine half a volume, or at least four episodes, of Blake crying and lamenting herself until she finally decides to deal with it and hunt the White Fang at Mistral. That doesn't sound very entertaining. Not to mention, Blake has never been a patient person. As soon as she knows where the White Fang is and what they're planning, she interferes. It wouldn't be character development if she does it. It's her characterization instead.

As for the writing part. Showing us flashbacks, explanations and references to the things Blake had to go through would still do the trick. You don't need to see it for yourself for it to be considered proper writing. We saw what provoked that depression and we're aware it took her six to eight months to do something about it and even then she's still not 100% back in the game. If she decides to finally get back, it wouldn't be out of place. Six months are a good off-screen excuse.