Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-14061097-20131111023452/@comment-82.12.156.248-20140113210228

I posted a while back my thoughts on how Volume 2 will play out:

Episode 1 (Living in the Past) - Weiss and Blake are still a little uncomfortable around one another, however they are slowly recovering their friendship. Weiss has begun intense training for the Vytal Festival trying to put her's and Blake's troubling past behind her whilst subconsciously giving herself a reason to avoid Blake. Meanwhile Blake herself has been keeping an eye on White Fang movement and may have found a lead. Blake, Yang and Ruby interfere with a WF attack on a dust shipment only for Adam Tauros to make an appearance. Adam defends his faunus allies and fends off Team RWBY sans Weiss long enough for the shipment to escape. Soon Weiss makes an appearance only for it to be too late.

Episode 2 (Truth and Realisation Part 1) - Weiss is furious at Team RWBY for attacking the White Fang without her and begins berating them. Meanwhile Pyrrha continues her training of Jaune.On their day off Ren and Nora find themselves up against some seemingly petty criminals, but all is not as it seems. During Weiss' venting she lets it slip that she knew couldn't trust Blake again.

Episode 3 (Truth and Realisation Part 2) - Jaune asks Pyrrha to come at him full force, whilst Jaune does do admirably against her Pyrrha overcomes Jaune, this disheartens Jaune but Pyrrha insists that she thinks she's made strides and that she has a plan for proving it. Weiss and Blake have a heart to heart.

Episode 4 (Taking a Stand) - Cardin is still bullying everyone around him, even Jaune is still being harrassed despite saving Jaune's life. Team JNPR has had enough and Jaune challenges Cardin to a duel, as Ren and Nora attempt to get involved Pyrrha holds the duo back. This is Jaune's fight. And she knows he can win it.

Episode 5 (Let the Games Begin! Part 1) - The Vytal Festival is here and RWBY and JNPR are excited for the tournament. However the first round will be far from a breeze. Can these two teams with the strongest of bonds overcome the best the other three kingdoms have to offer? (Yes it's a montage episode full of awesome fight scenes.. because stuff).

Episode 6 (Let Games Begin! Part 2) - Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora have found their way to the next round. Can Jaune overcome his biggest challenge to date? Meanwhile Yang finds herself on the defensive against Penny, will she be eliminated in the first round?

Episode 7 (The Aftermath) - Team RWBY eagerly await news on Yang's condition following her battle with Penny. They all end up by her bedside culminating in Ruby pouring her heart out about how Yang swore to protect her, However as Yang awakens Ruby isn't there...

Episode 8 ("Just a Weapon") - Ruby sets out in search of Penny for answers as to why she never stopped attacking Yang after her aura bar was depleted, however she instead finds what looks to be a doting father and daughter relationship between Penny and her guardian. However, as Ruby is about to leave the man stops her. It soon becomes apparent that Ruby shouldn't have judged this book by it's cover.

Episode 9 (Down With a Fight) - Ruby finds herself up aganst Penny's guardian, however Team RWBY arrive just before a fight breaks out and Penny's guardian disappears.It's the next day of the tournament. Upon arrival back the festival they find out that Ren and Nora have been eliminated from the tournament in the last two days. They then watch as Pyrrha is defeated by Penny and Jaune overcomes his latest challenge.

Episode 10 (Familiar Faces) - Blake battles Sun on her road to the semi-finals. Yang watches on as Weiss and Ruby are forced, via tournament rules to fight one another. Following these victories, Jaune, who is fearful of his upcoming match with Penny visits Pyrrha in hosptial for a pep talk and Blake finds herself face-to-face with Adam who has an... interesting offer.

Episode 11 (Evaluation Part 1) - In order to prepare for his battle against Penny Jaune finds himself asking Weiss for training and advice. Meanwhile Yang, Blake and Ruby discuss Blake and Ruby's upcoming match.

Episode 12 (Evaluation Part 2) - Jaune and Weiss' training culminates in a friendly sparring contest in which Weiss attempts to overpower Jaune using her Glyphs. Is Jaune ready to ovecome an opponent that has power similar to Penny's?

Episode 13 (For Pyrrha and Yang) - The time for doubt and procrastination is over. Jaune must now face Penny in the semi-finals. Can Jaune really overcome this seemingly omnipotent and sadistic enemy?

Episode 14 (Blake vs.Ruby) - Ruby and Blake watch on as Jaune is defeated by Penny. However Penny's recent showcases of her crossing the line aren't seen, what is this enigma's agenda? Is it even her own? Regardless, Ruby and Blake have their own semi-finals to worry about, who between them will advance to the finals to face Penny?

Episode 15 (Is It Her Time?) - Ruby fights Penny. However with Penny's guardian waiting in the shadows can Ruby focus on fighting Penny... And more importantly can she fight back the fear of the strange girl she once called friend?

Episode 16 (Remnants of a Dead Flame) - The Finals of the Vytal Festival are crashed by White Fang, Roman and Cinder. Can everyone escape? And what message does Cinder have for the rest of the world? (Seriously... I have no idea... Insert segue into Season 2 here..)

Tl;dr Version:

If you read the above you probably know what fights would actually play out. Anyways:

Round 1: Awesome montage, Jaune vs. Someone, Penny vs. Yang (first major fight of the tournament)

Round 2: Ruby vs. Weiss, Blake vs. Sun, Pyrrha vs. Penny (though not exactly the full fight)

Round 3: Ruby vs. Blake, Jaune vs. Penny (and also technically a friendly- not tournament match between Jaune and Weiss)

Round 4: Ruby vs. Penny

Personally I don't see Volume 2 being as action packed as it has the potential to be. It's going to have a lot of character of plot and character development, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Other than that, there are simply far too many people that will likely be involved in the tournament to show all the fight. I think the majority of fights will take place off-screen in between story arcs (Blake getting to the Semi-Finals, Ren/Nora getting eliminated) and what fights we do see will likely involved Penny and Team JNPR as well as friendly competition between Team RWBY. Also the reason I always liked the ideas of Penny going rogue and eliminating Yang in the first round is because:

a) They need to thin out the contenders for the finals. There are 10 people presently considered main characters: RWBY, JNPR, Penny and Sun and there will likely be a few more people introduced throughout the tournament since we've only seen the Vacuo ship arrive. Someone had to be eliminated.

b) Yang has won every fight she's had on-screen so far. Losing after a good showing against a chaotic Penny wouldn't hurt her standing in the eyes of the fans as much as it would if Ruby or Blake took the fall.

c) Having Penny place Yang in the hospital gives Ruby motivation to win the tournament as well as a great story arc that would allow the introduction of Penny's guardian/parent heard at the end of Black and White.

d) Out of all of the potentially friendly match-ups I see Yang vs. Anyone being one of the least appetising. It would still be cool but Ruby/Blake, Sun/Blake and Weiss/Ruby are more interesting.

As for Ren and Nora: They are major character but they aren't THAT major. They can easily be eliminated off-screen without causing much a fuss. Or they could be given a short cut-scene akin to the length of Weiss's fight with the Boarbatusk.