Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-34633327-20171229202410/@comment-34039012-20171231122419

Good episode. Weiss's injury caught me off guard, I thought at least one of the good guys would jump in to deflect the spear or something because I didn't think M&K had it in them, but there it went anyway. We seem to be following the fomula for Volume 3, so not entirely surprising, just startling. Also, major props to the sound team for that juicy THUNK. That's what hit me right in the heart.

Also props to Miles for that amazing performance. I'm not Jaune's biggest fan, but Miles knocked it out of the park, and the animators have done an excellent job showing emotion on the characters' faces through the Volumes, his scenes were no different. The anguish was palpable, both in the acting and on screen. Kudos.

I think my only major gripe, now that I've had some time to digest the episode, is that I feel as though poor Weiss has become the series punching bag. Out of all the characters she has been knocked out the most, and she seems to have acted as a catalyst for another's character development the most, while all of her development has largely taken place on her own. Thematic for her considering loneliness and self-discovery play a huge part in her writing, but even so it is getting a little frustrating. My girl needs a win, which I'm hoping comes in a big way before the end of the volume.

Other smaller nitpicks include some of the awkward fight pacing and how the fights have lost their tension (but that's been a running theme since volume 4 IMO so I won't go into it too much), and that Jaune was the catalyst for Cinder's attack instead of Ruby. We'd gotten hyped up for Cinder to seek out her revenge against Rubes only for Cinder to duke it out against Jaune. Ruby could have easily been the one provoked by Cinder's sociopathy, but M&K seem to really be pushing for Jaune's semblance reveal, so it just feels like a missed opportunity for some Ruby character development. Ah well.

Here's looking forward to episode 12 and how they'll save find a way to save Weiss, and hopefully a full RWBY reunion as Blake comes in with the calvary!