Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-26512661-20200118161649/@comment-33389681-20200118202328

Incoming long post, because I really liked this episode. Shit.

Fuck, this episode was one of the best so far. The way that the conflicts built up until now all came to a head is very well-done. It makes sense that all of this would happen and it really leaves me thinking, "What the fuck is gonna happen next?"

I love the gray and gray morality between the Ace-Ops, Ironwood, and RWBY. I honestly side with Ironwood here but I can kinda sorta understand why RWBY is doing what they're doing. Not following orders makes sense because you're following your own morality. However, in the military you're supposed to follow orders because even if you don't understand them, surely there must be a reason behind it. It makes sense that Ironwood capitalizes on loyalty, even blind loyalty, because that's what they teach in the military. If you go against plans, you could ruin everything just because you didn't understand why they did what they did.

I also loved the fights this episode. Watts and Ironwood fight really had me thinking that something horrible was gonna happen to Ironwood. Also did not expect his gun to have gravity shit in it. The fighting styles and weapons of both the competitors were pretty creative and I loved how Ironwood used his gravity gun to propell himself around. Shame he doesn't have it anymore, but I'm sure he'll get a new one.

The Tyrian fight was short, but well-animated. It made sense that he went down that quickly. I mean, it's a three against one fight! Not only that, but Tyrian and Qrow were evenly matched. And now, you have Tyrian vs Qrow, Clover, and Robyn, all at once! I figured they would win easily.

But even though they won the Tyrian fight easily here, next time they'll have to deal with Tyrian while they're fighting amongst themselves. That's gonna be a pain and Tyrian mmight escape custody. Maybe. But that'd be kinda lame. I'm honestly wondering why they didn't already kill Tyrian, 'cause that guy is insanely dangerous. It's probably a cowboy cop move but still.

The wins from this fight don't mean they win the war, and that's alright. Salem didn't necessarily want her henchmen to win. Instead, she was okay with them losing so that they help progress her plan to invade Atlas. Honestly, I was wondering when she was gonna show up but I didn't think she'd actually do it right now. Shit.

And honestly, the heroes fighting amongst themselves is exactly what Salem wants. Ruby should have said that to Ironwood. By being paranoid and not trusting RWBY, he's falling right into her hands. Granted, he's got a sorta good reason for not trusting them and they're literally going against his plans, but both sides should have tried to come to a better compromise. I mean seriously, once they're done fighting each other Salem's just gonna pick off whoever's left! If they actually fight, they're more screwed than before.

And we all know the Ace Ops are gonna win the fight against RWBY. Team JNR are gonna have to avoid getting arrested so they can save Oscar. Penny and Winter are gonna fight against Cinder. Maybe if Neo regroups with Cinder, Oscar can join the fight? But who knows. And hopefully Qrow, Robyn, and Clover will have enough sense to not fight until they've fully got Tyrian into jail or whatever. 'Cause if they fight right now, obviously no one's gonna win. But Robyn may not see that.

Fuck, I loved this episode so much.