User blog:HalointheSkye/Volume 3 Chapter 8 - Destiny (IN WHICH SH*T'S GOING DOWN)

So... That was a thing...

'''RoosterTeeth: Here's your present, everyone! Hope you enjoy it!'''

RWBY Fans: *crying*

I hope RoosterTeeth starts selling some hearts for RWBY merchandise, because I'll need mine back, thank you very much.

But all jokes aside, RoosterTeeth have really outdone themselves in this episode - the visuals, the animation, the dialogue, the voice actors, the music... It all just came together and created (in my opinion) one of the best episodes in all the RWBY Volumes. It was just absolutely stunning.

And absolutely ''heart-breaking. ''

So here is my in-depth review of Volume 3 Episode 8 - Destiny. Warning, it'll be long. If you've seen my blog of the Episode 8 teaser, you'll know that I can write pages on just 30 seconds. Imagine what I can do with 17 minutes of footage.

'''1. "Aw yeah! Team RWBY is back together again!!!" '''

Honestly, this went a whole lot better than what I had in mind - and I'm very glad that it did.

General Ironwood is here (of course he is - but WHERE'S OZPIN WHEN YOU NEED HIM). I'm glad that no other punishments are being done to Yang. It seems that she's on dorm arrest, as I said in my previous blog: either by the authority's orders or simply because the public really hates her, or both. Ironwood tells them that their team is disqualified from the Tournament, which was to be expected. Then he leaves RWBY to deal with their problems.

Surprisingly, it went smoother than I thought. Ruby, as I predicted, is whole-heartedly 100% loyal to her sister and believes her fully. What surprised me the most was Weiss' reaction actually. I was thinking she might've been a little sceptical given her nature, or maybe she wouldn't believe Yang - but sure enough it was Weiss berating Blake! (which we'll get to in a moment) It really does show how much character development has happened since Volume 1. I'm glad that the team really do trust each other.

Blake is a little different and doesn't trust Yang's story as much - but she has a perfectly legitimate reason. She talks about someone whom she cared about who slowly dissolved into a murderer. I'm thinking it could be none other than Adam Taurus - our favourite leader of the White Fang! This talk made me wonder about the relationship between Blake and Adam - not in a shippy sort of way - but seeing as she talked about how dear he was to her, I'd like to maybe see a little more backstory for them. My respect level for Blake has increased a lot :)

2. Nora Valkyrie - Personal Trainer, and Lie Ren - Dietitian

This was one scene I wasn't expecting in this episode. But I'm sure glad they are. Definitely needed the comedic relief.

Nora and Ren were absolutely amazing in this episode. Although when Nora popped up in front of Pyrrha as soon as the door closed, it nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought this episode was going to be all emotionally devestating - but then Nora came in and obliterated everything XD

So Nora's dressed in what I presume is her gym outfit, and starts doing hyperactve push-ups, star jumps and lifts a barbell with 1000 written on the weights. It's so insane that I just fully cracked up at her crazy expression. Also - HOW DOES NORA LIFT THAT MUCH MY GOD!

And then just as I think everything is back to normal, Ren suddenly appears out of nowhere and sports an pink apron that says "PLEASE DO NOTHING TO THE COOK" which made me laugh so hard I had to pause the video and wipe the tears away. He then produces one of those disgusting protein-shakes containing "algae" and proceeds to then feed it to Nora, who then immediately throws it up.

And then sage old Nora says the very wise words, "If it looks the same coming up as it does going down, then there's something wrong!" You know what, I'd listen to Nora's quotes all-day everyday. She's much wiser than one would think.

I'm really surprised about Ren. Neath Oum is doing an absolutely wondeful job voicing him, considering he's no professional VA. He also spoke way more in this one scene than ever in the previous Volumes. It's good to see Ren talking a lot more. He's really warmed up to me :3

'''3. Qrow and Yang! '''

This heart-to-heart was very much needed. It's great to see how much Qrow trusts his niece. And it's great that we finally get to talk about Raven! Yessssssssssssssss...

Raven's a little different to what I thought, with the whole "She saved you once, but you shouldn't expect that kindness again." It's so very ''mysterious. ''She left Yang as a baby and hadn't seen her in years, she suddenly appears to save her and then disappears, telling her not to expect it again. WE NEED MOAR BACKSTORY ON RAVEN PLS.

I really like how Qrow is encouraging Yang to move on too, and that he's actually going to help her look for Raven. Can't wait for some more future bonding time on adventures with Yang and Qrow!

4. LET THE SHIP SAIL DAMMIT



Before I get into all the deep stuff (ack), I'd just like to say that Jen Brown and Miles Luna did an incredible job with the voice acting in this scene. It just felt so real.

So Jaune being not-so-oblivious in this episode (which I really do wonder about - must be some natural leader instinct kicking in) noticed that Pyrrha was a little down, so he proposed to his team that they go out for some fresh air.

Then we cut to Pyrrha sitting down, thinking about her decision on Amber, when suddenly Jaune appears with fairy floss (I DUN CARE WHAT YOU KIDS CALL IT BUT WHERE I LIVE IT'S FAIRY FLOSS) and sits down beside her and actually starts talking about how Pyrrha's always been there for him, even when his family wasn't.

And then - OUT OF NOWHERE - RoosterTeeth decides "Let's mess with all the fans!" and decides to make Jaune place his hand on hers to sate the hunger that Arkos fans have been craving. Pyrrha's shocked (no, she dropped that freaking good-looking fairy floss that I really wanted to eat), and then they have the same ol' cliche line of "You're already helping" - *cue dramatic flair and rest head on the other person's shoulder while closing eyes and contently smiling*

Pyrrha suddenly frowns and then starts talking about destiny and sh*t, and then things just keep rolling down from there. Poor Jaune has absolutely no idea what Pyrrha's talking about, and he's trying to comfort her - but really he's making it worse: because he is the obstacle to her destiny.

It was just awful seeing Pyrrha so vulnerable (good character development, though) and agitated and so stressed, and her expressions were tearing my heart to bit by bit, when suddenly it escalated, and she slammed Jaune against the wall with her Semblence.

That's when my heart shattered.

What really interests me the most (after I got over it) is how her Semblence lashed out like that. It shows that Semblence may be more closely related to the human personality after all. If the character is under a high amount of stress and anxiety, then the Semblence will have more chance of going crazy. It does make sense after all.

Seeing Pyrrha crying just made me feel even worse. Thanks, RT!

I have a few theories as to what might happen in the next episodes. From my previous blog, I'm now unsure about what Pyrrha's decision to become the Fall Maiden is going to be. No one knows what's going through her mind right now, because let's be honest: Pyrrha's an absolute ''mess. ''I'm even more worried about the fact she's going to fighting in the tournament too. That sounds ''grand. ''

I just can't help the feeling that something terrifyingly horrible will happen to her soon, either in next week's episode, this volume or the next ones to come. It's like someone said: it was almost like she was set up to fail. But it's all for the sake of character development!

Another thing I'm really concerned about is Jaune. Being flung into a thick brick/stone column must hurt a little right? It's a good thing he has armour, but seriously that really should hurt. At least a concussion or some bruises or something. Or maybe Jaune's Aura absorbed it all? Maybe it did. Either way I still hope he's okay. His last line was so sad and utterly depressing.

"What did I do?"

5. Ruby and the Aussie bunny Faunus!

Onto a more happier note, Velvet and Ruby's conversation was so cute. I also loved the music that played while Ruby spotted Velvet taking photos of Sun Wukong (haha).

In my last blog, I posted several theories about why I thought Velvet was talking to Ruby. Turns out my crazier logic was right - Coco did mention to her team that she thought Yatsuhashi was with her when he was clearly knocked out of the round. And then immediately you can see the cogs turning in Ruby's head. It's about time someone noticed that ''something wasn't right. ''

Also, is Velvet's weapon that camera? She was taking photos of Sun Wukong, and the photo that she showed Ruby didn't even include his head (or his abs, for that matter). It was centred on his nunchucks. I'm thinking along the lines of putting that magical camera into the box and printing out 3D copies of the weapons. That would be super cool. I'm also thinking that there's more in that box than just her camera. Velvet looks too cute with that camera XD I'm hoping we can see more of it in the future!

6. Mercury you disgusting

Well this is something I definitely wasn't expecting either.

I'm a little bit salty at Blake and Weiss for ditching the Tournament for coffee (and tea), but then again I understand where they're coming from when they don't want to watch anymore fights. Poor Ruby however, is left alone to deal with everything by herself. Man. She should've totally gone with JNPR. Nora would've really come in handy.

But alas destiny took its place, meaning Ruby had to sit alone and see Emerald. Ruby must really have amazing eyes because man I wish I could see that much detail looking from afar.

Did Emerald see her? I know Emerald leaned a little foward as if she were searching or found someone - and I can't help but think she spotted Ruby. People have been making theories about the fact that Mercury is a hallucination of Emerald, but I doubt that because:

1. We didn't hear the Emerald Hallucination SFX that is pretty much always played when her Semblence is in use

2. Emerald was on the other side of the arena. There's no way she could've projected hallucinations to a person that far away from her. In all the instances she's done them, she's always been close by at hand.

3. Emerald couldn't have seen exactly where Ruby went for her hallucination to work.

4. I don't know about you, but Mercury seemed pretty real to me. Real and ready to kill Ruby, that's what.

And that leads me to my next point: RUBY RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

I'm very worried for Ruby as well. That lead-up was beautifully done by RT. And of course she left her weapon back at Beacon. I assume that you just don't bring your weapons into the actual stadium crowd. Only people participating in fights are allowed to bring them, which makes sense.

So now Ruby's alone, facing a guy who holds the record for the most on-screen murders in RWBY, in a hallway/room that she could possibly be locked in (or not) without her weapon. This is great.

But if it's the real Mercury, what the hell is he doing here at the stadium? Doesn't he know what will happen if he disobeys Cinder? I'd say the same for Emerald because that was a pretty stupid move to make her go there, seeing as anyone could've recognised her as Mercury's partner and wondered why she was still at the Tournament. Instead, Cinder's ignored that - which mean Emerald has to have a pretty damn good reason to be there in danger of her cover. She's needed, I bet, for some hallucination magic in the next fight.

Ugh. The next fight...

7. "Polarity vs Metal... That could be bad..."

Well, sh*t.

I've got to give it to Cinder for this one. She's a genius. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

We all know that this isn't a good fight, a fair one or one that could be narrow. Well, it could be narrow at the start, but the outcome is what really will change everything. There's really only two ways this could go: either Pyrrha obliterates Penny with her Semblence, or Penny obliterates Pyrrha because she's just such an emotional wreck.

Oh this is so very very bad...

I have absolutely no idea who's going to win. But for the sake of predictions, I'm siding with Pyrrha on this one, just because she's my favourite character. I have absolutely nothing against Penny. Pyrrha does have the upper-hand with her Semblence of Polarity, but that's downgraded because she's very mentally unstable right now. Her Semblence however, could lash out again at Penny. I was just hoping for a normal, good and fair fight. Ack.

Well that's me for this week. Sorry if it's too long or anything - I'm on an adrenaline rollercoaster and I'm just emotionally drained from this episode. I need to recover, dammit XD

Who do you think will win in the next round? Leave thoughts and theories and predictions in comments below!