User blog:DarkStalker719/Volume 6, Episode 1 Review

So…. I just watched the first episode of Volume 6 and I figured that I would write a review on it, since no one else is going to do anything like this. For those of you who have not seen the episode; SPOILERS!


 * Note: some information presented here may not be completely accurate, as I watched the episode once, and tried to watch it a second time while writing this, but the website was being very stubborn, and I could not get the episode to play a second time very easily, so in certain parts I just mentioned what I remembered.

Beginning
The episode begins with Team RWBY on the roof of the train, battling a group of Manticores, as well as what I can only assume is the Sphinx, although it had several features that made me think of the Chimera, such as the snake tail. However, I will refer to it as the Sphinx.

Anyway, so Team RWBY is fighting the Grimm, absolutely tearing through them, and Nora, Jaune, and Ren, along with Oscar, are climbing onto the top of the train to help them. They enter the battle, and kill several more Manticores, before both teams start to retreat.

As they are withdrawing, Weiss is narrowly missed by a fireball from one of the Grimm, and starts to fall off of the side of the train, before Ruby catches her, and uses her semblance to fly both her and Weiss back to their teammates.

Adam
After this part, we cut to Adam, who is ordering several White Fang members to step away from the throne. When they do not comply, stating that they knew what he did in Haven, and accusing him of being obsessed with Blake, he kills them. This is all shown off screen so that you just hear their voices. Then the camera slowly pans to the right, revealing the White Fang members’ bodies with blood pooling around them, before focusing on Adam who is sitting on the throne, and he talks to himself very briefly before slicing the top of the throne off.

The Train Station
We then head to a train station, where Qrow recaps on what had happened at Haven in a letter to Ironwood. Ruby then walks up to him and asks him what he is doing standing around. She then uses her semblance to fly over to where the rest of Team RWBY is, except for Blake, along with Nora, Jaune, Ren, and Oscar. They all talk for a bit before Dee and Dudley walk over and state that they are protecting the train. Qrow then tells them to leave. Oscar then makes a joke about how he is glad that they are the ones attempting to protect Remnant, instead of Dee and Dudley.

Blake and Others
After this, we head over to Blake, who is saying goodbye to Ilia, who mentions that Ghira is forming a new organization to replace the White Fang. Sun then shows up with Neptune and says that he is going back to Vacuo. Neptune heads over to talk to Ilia, and Sun states that he needs to work with his team. Blake and Sun then say their farewells, and Blake heads over to the rest of Team RWBY.

On the Train
We then cut to the train, where we get a brief shot of Maria Calavera, before heading into Team RWBY’s compartment. Ruby challenges Yang to a video game, and we have a brief bit where Blake retrieves Yang’s bag for her, showing that she feels the need to redeem herself to Yang. Qrow then enters the compartment, and is about to play with Ruby and Yang, before the train shakes, and the team heads to the top of the train to defend it.

The Battle
We then see the team clamber onto the top of the train, where we also see Dee and Dudley. The Sphinx lands on top of the train and several Manticores are seen flying behind it. Dee (I am pretty sure that it was Dee, again, I’m not going back to check) then charges the Sphinx, before being knocked off the train and presumeably being killed by a Manticore. We then get the “Don’t let anyone else die!” bit from Ruby.

Team RWBY then engages the Grimm, and Oscar looks out of a window, and then Nora, Jaune, and Ren then ask him what is going on.

Dudley then activates the train’s defenses with his Scroll, and Qrow attacks the Sphinx, but is forced back. Nora, Jaune, and Ren, along with Oscar climb onto the top of the train, and Qrow orders Oscar to get Dudley to turn off the defenses, saying that they are attracting the Grimm. However, Dudley refuses.

Suddenly, the Grimm begin to withdraw, much everyone’s confusion, until Oscar notices that they are almost at a tunnel. Everyone scrambles into cover, except Dudley, whose arm is badly broken.

We then enter the train, where Dudley is writhing in pain. Qrow then orders him to turn off the defenses, but Dudley refuses, but relents when Ruby asks him. Jaune then heals him. Nora then asks Ren if he could use his semblance to mask the emotions of the trains ‘passengers. However, Ozpin/Oscar then states that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. Ruby decides that she and Team RWBY, along with Qrow and Oscar, will stay on the rear cars, while Nora, Jaune, and Ren will remain on the train to mask the passengers’ emotions.

Blake then separates the cars, and the Sphinx and Manticores attack. Team RWBY, and Oscar battle the Manticores, while Qrow attacks the Sphinx again. However, Qrow is unable to defeat the Sphinx, and is knocked back. Team RWBY then manages to defeat the Sphinx, but not before it blasts the tracks out in front of the cars that RWBY, Qrow, and Oscar are on. The train then crashes off the rails and they are knocked to the ground.

As the episode ends, we see Maria Calavera step out of the train’s wreckage, and then the episode ends.

My Thoughts
All in all, I thought that this was a very good episode. It was well structured, had a good amount of action and combat, and had a balanced amount of humor, with the only joke that I didn’t like was Oscar’s joke about how he was glad that they were the ones attempting to protect Remnant, instead of Dee and Dudley.

On the fight itself, I thought it was quite well done, and definitely better than the majority of the combat in Volumes 4 and 5, except for the Sun vs. Ilia and Raven vs. Cinder. I really liked how the fight was positioned, to both begin and end the episode. I felt that the Sphinx’s defeat was well planned, being, in my opinion, satisfying and believable. I was annoyed at how easily the Manticores were defeated, as I feel that RWBY already has enough fodder Grimm in it. The choreography was definitely better than Volumes 4 and 5, but still not up to the standards of the first three Volumes.

As for the story and presentation, I was worried that Qrow’s introduction narration would be just that, a narration, but the fact that it was a letter was a relief to me. I also felt that the pacing was well done, not too fast and not too slow, and overall I like the story that they are trying to set up.

Well, that’s all I’ve got today, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the episode as much as I did.

-Ensei