Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-1599757-20151205162304/@comment-11188061-20151205170433

Well, I quite literally theorized that since the end of Volume 1. They did mention during an interview (or director's commentary) that Penny is going to face a crisis and Ruby has to make a choice, so this isn't unexpected.

On a more serious note, this is a completely wasted episode - one similar to Episode 2 except worse, because Episode 2 at least introduced Qrow and moved the plot forwards. This episode? This episode serves no real meaning. The truly meaty part at the back doesn't even last 2 minutes! Even if we suppose the fight with FNKI is meant to show Weiss' growth as a person it is still really hard to justify eating up 80% of the episode's length. I was worried months before Volume 3 started that there won't be enough time to squeeze the plot of Volume 3 into the story and here they are wasting it away like they're nothing! Just so, so wasteful!

Graphic wise, Myrtenaster looks so 2D as compared to the one at White Trailer. Could just be the angle but it's like taking a step backwards. This applies to some of the scenes throughout the fight too, and holy jesus that aliasing issue. It's screwing up my viewing experience so bad it's not even funny anymore. This was almost unnoticeable during Volume 1 & 2 so I don't quite understand why it's surfaced right now.

Music wise, that was actually pretty cool. Again some of the special effects just seem too cartoonish or 2D to me, but the matching of music and action is really great. This might be one of the Monty shots they mentioned earlier.

Overall this is a below average episode because of it's poor use of episode length. Animes are often criticized because they skip too many points and advance the story too fast, but in this case it's literally come to a halt walking an ant's pace at the end. Dislike much.