User blog:HalointheSkye/Volume 3 Chapter 9 - PvP (IN WHICH A LOT OF SH*T IS HAPPENING)

Right then. Time to start a new blog!

WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH

Aw gee, I did not expect things to go like this. I mean, the fandom did predict the whole "Penny-gets-obliterated" part (shout-out to deviant-artist dishwasher1910 for that wizardry of art prediction), but that didn't make watching it any easier.

At first, I was kind of surprised that the episode was so short - only 12 minutes and 28 seconds in total, and with intro and credits (and those Lazer Team ads) crammed into that, the running of the episode would probably be only 10 minutes - so I only thought that there was barely enough time to do two fights, and they would end it there.

I was so completely and utterly ''wrong. ''

So let's all take a deep breath and start another in-depth review of one of the most shocking episodes we've ever had. Heck, it's probably one of the best too - because EVERYTHING IS FINALLY HAPPENING, YAY! (nay...)

1. PvP - Pyrrha vs Penny (ahahahaha I see what you did ther- not funny).

That's right. I'm mean enough to shove a picture of a dismembered Penny right up in your face.

RIP in pieces Penny Polendina: 2013-2016

Okay, before we all start talking the final outcome - I'd just like to say that damn - that was an amazing fight. In fact, one of the best animated fights I've seen so far in this volume. Everything was so smooth and fluid and beautiful. This episode they do give credits to Monty Oum - he might've done it, because it looked familiar - but man, I'll just give a round of applause to whoever did it. Well done.

So Pyrrha's still troubled but she's still a little intact (at the beginning of the fight) and it begins. Pyrrha's combat skill is ''absolutely incredible. ''Not because I'm being biased to my best girl, but the fact that she can hold her own very well against all of Penny's swords is pretty cool. And then we see Pyrrha's Semblance crap up in a bad way - her weapons warp in her hands (that part actually scared me a bit - to see Milo being bent at such an angle). In fact, at the beginning of the fight, when Penny greets her, she looks down at her hands in worry, as if she knew. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. All I know for a fact is that if you ever want to use millions of swords to try and defeat Pyrrha Nikos, you're still very much screwed.

Gotta be honest, Emerald's hallucination was genius, because I was watching this and even those millions of swords scared the sh*t out of me. So of course, Pyrrha uses her Semblance, except it's not in a way we've seen before. Instead of controlling all of the swords individually, Pyrrha sets off a blast of her Semblence that knocks the swords in the opposite direction, pulling the strings and tearing Penny to pieces.

Sorry for being blunt. My mental mantra right now is the more times I casually admit it, the more I can get used to the shock. Is it working? Nope.

That Semblance blast really got me thinking. After all, Pyrrha's stress has just been building up ever since Episode 6 when Ozpin and the Brotherhood let her in on their little secret. If Semblances can mirror personalities (because they are linked to Aura and Aura is linked to the soul), then Pyrrha must've been holding back on her Semblance the whole time as her stress culminated, and when she panicked, it just exploded. This also proves that no: Pyrrha Nikos does not need to touch every single metal object to control it. That was how she was able to control the soda cans in Volume 2 Episode 1 during the food fight. She sent a polarity blast into the floor, brought up the cans, and was able to control waves of the cans to attack Blake.

So all the swords are going backwards, and let me tell you - watching the strings slowly pull Penny apart in slow motion is absolutely horrifying. People have been asking "Why on Remnant did Penny not protect herself with her Aura?" and I've seen some good theories out there. The most plausible one is that Penny imbues Aura into her weapons and her Aura of course cannot repel itself, which is why it simply wrecked her. That got me thinking again - how strong was Pyrrha's Semblance blast? Because if Penny can stop a truck with her hands, I'm guessing it'd take a lot more force to sever her. Damn.

I still can't get over the fact that they decided to kill Penny off this whole time. I mean: damn, the fandom totally called it, but it was a lot more disturbing than I expected. Kudos to RT, I guess, you bastards.

Ruby's crying broke my heart a little, but I felt like her tears or her voice wasn't as convincing as say... Yang or Pyrrha in the previous episode. Her facial expressions were definitely on point though.

And I'd like to say a final "GG" to Pyrrha, because she's probably f*cked up mentally now. Wow.

Oh and I forgot the mention: f*ck you Emerald. That was perfectly executed on your part, but you just killed the fandom. Look at what you've done.

2. Ruby vs Mercury whoaoaoaoa

This fight was pretty cool. And I think I have an explanation as to why Mercury was there when we all thought he was ordered not to - but we'll get to that later.

First off - HOLY CRAP MERCURY'S KICKS ARE SO COOL. He managed to kick Ruby out of her Speed crazy rocket thing that she used in the food fight. Damn, that's some skill right there.

Also, he has some crazy good aim because he blasted Ruby's scroll right out of her hand using his magical feet air blasts. Damn - guess she'll have to get a new one now.

As for the reason why Merc was there - his only order must've been to distract Ruby and to stop her from entering the stadium and allowing her to tell everyone else that she saw Emerald and a walking Mercury. That's why he waited for the match to start, and why all he did was to block off Ruby from running out. He never attacked her directly.

So by the time Ruby got out, it was too late. She sees Penny and she breaks down for her friend (and the Nuts and Dolts ship sinks), and Mercury then casually closes the service and maintenance door behind him, satisfied with his work.

Cinder's plan is freaking brilliant.

3. Queen Cinder's speech to the people of Vale

I hate you so much right now. So much. With all the passion that's left of my heart (which isn't much, seeing as it's been shattered and crushed every episode lately). But at the same time, I love you and you're freaking badass and holy crap, your plan is amazing.

I kinda called it, I guess. I knew that Cinder's plan was to create a negative feeling in the crowds and people of Vale and to then attract the Grimm. What more, she also wanted to expose the "lies" that the Atlesian military had shoved into the people's faces, as well as Ozpin's failures. This would then cause distrust between the people and the authorities, and if the people don't trust the authorities, then they have no power or control. Which will only cause and wreck more havoc! Yay!

This speech was pretty cool though, and damn right scary. I loved how they switched between the different places and different people reacting to the broadcast, including Yang, Blake and Weiss.

And then suddenly - boom, Grimm alert is in, at level 9. And if we're talking on a scale of 10, which I assume we are, then damn this is scary.

My reaction to all this is: EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING HOLY CRAP IT'S FINALLY GOING DOWN

And I'm kinda glad and happy that everything is (I know, I'm so weird), because now we get to see some action!

4. Ozpin and the Brotherhood

AHA WE GET TO SEE OZPIN REALLY ANGRY AND I LOVE IT. I WANT MORE PISSED OFF OZPIN PLS.

So yes, Ozpin is so very angry (understandably) and sends off Qrow and Glynda to defend the city, which makes me question "What the hell is Ozpin up to?" Wouldn't you need to protect the Fall Maiden from getting her other half of her powers absorbed into Cinder? Do we even know where Cinder is? Nope. She could be anyone. In Beacon, in a warehouse... anywhere. I have to say though, those windows where Cinder was situated are quite similar to those ones at Beacon. She could be there for all we know.

I hope we get to see Ozpin and his weapon/Semblance in action soon. I have a theory and it's extremely crazy and probably not true, but I think that Ozpin's Semblance is got something to do with time. The fact that people have been questioning how old he is, the fact that he lives in a clock tower... I don't know, it was just a thought. I just can't wait 'til we see him fight. That's something I'm surely looking forward to.

Also, that line that Ozpin says to Ironwood, "You brought your army to my kingdom, James. Use it!" was so perfectly executed, I gotta give a round of applause to Shannon, because Ironwood deserves his ass to be ''kicked. ''

5. ROMAN YESSSSSSSSSSSS

OUR FAVOURITE (well, he's one of, anyway) VILLAIN IS BACK, YEY!

But before we get to Torchwick, can I just point out the fact that Neo managed to obliterate everyone on an Atlesian airship? That's gotta say something, seeing as these are all military-trained personnel with weapons. Damn, Neo, you go girl! (don't ask me why I'm cheering on the villains too. I have no idea.)

Once again, Cinder is a genius. It's great to see Torchwick's wonderful beautiful face again and to see him blowing up other airships, yay! I also love Neo's new military outfit - she's officially the best cosplayer in the RWBYverse. I'll tip my hat to both of you.

6. ADAM AND WHITE FANG GANG ARE HERE YAYYYYYYYYY

ADAM YAY FINALLY WE SEE YOU

When I said everything was happening, I mean ''everything. ''Grimm are invading, Roman's attacking other ships, Cinder gives a speech... And now Adam and his friends have joined the party!

Frick - I love this.

Adam also shows up at Beacon not only with other White Fang members, but two other Bullheads filled with Grimm (which leads me to question - how do you get Grimm into an airship and leave them without cages or restraints?) but oh well, it's still pretty cool. If I have a good guess, the reason they're doing this is to block off the students and staff from trying to help the city because they're too busy fending for themselves, and that will cause more distrust in Ozpin. Wow.

When I first watched the intro and listened to the song "When it Falls", I didn't think it would actually happen O.o This is probably the first intro that's actually accurately predicted everything that would be happening in this volume. Well damn.

Overall, I'm shocked, disturbed and equally amazed at how much this episode managed to slap us in the face within the short 10 minutes it had. Brilliant writing, brilliant animation - I give air tacos to all the RT people! YOU GUYS ARE HORRIBLE.

So now of course, we're given a cliff-hanger to hang onto for the next two weeks until the next episode comes out. In the mean time, comment your thoughts below! What was your reaction to the episode - and do you have any predictions for the rest of the volume?

I'll probably do a blog as well for next week's World of Remnant. Until next time!