Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-14138255-20180109165438/@comment-30530552-20180109190727

So, I haven't really shared my extensive thoughts on the episode, so I guess now's the time to do it while this thread is semi-clear.

Some of the animations I found really janky and kind of took me out of the actual episode. Case in point with Jaune recovering from his slide to crouching near instantaneously. Similar parts happened when Oscar whapped Lionheart with the cane (still nice, but no resistance? Come on) and when Qrow was deflecting Leo's elemental barrage...which I wish had been more like what he did during the Tyrian fight with the bullet deflection. There are more examples but I won't be going into them because I've made my point already.

Seeing Dust infusion for the first time was nice, and I want to see what else Hazel can do with it and other Dust types, if possible...is his basic invulnerability and extreme strength why Oz was so scared of Hazel? Either way, I also am curious about the side effects of Dust infusion.

I feel like Hazel's backstory and motivations lacked some of the nuances I'd hoped it had, but hey, at least we get ourselves Hansel and Gretel, so...that's good, right? And knowing character motivations, even despite their hypocrisy like with Hazel, is always a plus for me.

The Ozpin versus Hazel fight, while I felt was somewhat janky, had some of the luster and flash of previous fights that made me come to enjoy the series. Perhaps if all of the fighting hadn't been split up into sections it would've felt better. On the plus side, the fight was very tense and I liked that Qrow was getting his ass whooped trying to defend Oz-car from Leo and Hazel.

I must say, the Haven vault was absolutely gorgeous. Of all set pieces and environments, this has to be their most pretty environment so far...and even with all that beauty you could still feel the sense of impending darkness and danger due to both the echoing sounds, the overall dark/sublime location, and circumstances. Probably didn't help there were 3 antagonists down there. I also like that they placed the figurative "Tree of Knowledge" down there...I think it'd be very interesting if the actual relic was an apple-shaped artifact, due to the implications that come with it. Similarly, most stories prophesize the cost of knowledge is death, which I think was subtle foreshadowing.

Back on the surface, Yang is getting her ass kicked both because she's out of practice and because she's getting 2v1ed...so I found it awesome that RNJR was stepping in to do their jobs, Ruby going to defend her sister (and don't think I noticed that trailer concept art pose, RT), Nora defending Jaune and Weiss, Jaune either using an advanced Aura technique (which I hope is to be the case) or his Semblance to heal Weiss, and Ren going off to help Oz-car.

So, what went down in the Vault was horrific and dark, which was to be expected but still caught me off guard. Cinder demonstrating some of her other Maiden abilities than fire (she has used ice before, but not to the extent of fire), Raven trying to help Vernal in a seemingly motherly and almost caring fashion we hadn't seen from her, and Vernal getting gutted similar to Sienna by Cinder's Nuck 2.0 arm (Vernal probably didn't have her Aura up because she was distracted). I really just want her to have a mechanical arm instead of a Grimm one because it's so much more useful and she could dual-wield again, but I guess we needed Cinder edge, for some reason. Let the crappy Half-Grimm OCs come flooding in (dear God, why). I like Vernal more than Raven, and while I think it's unlikely, I hope she survives her gutting. Perhaps that's why Weiss and Vernal were focused on so much last episode, because both were getting put out of commission, in Vernal's case probably permanently.

Raven's revealed, even if it shouldn't have been surprising due to the many hints sprinkled throughout the Volume, caught me off-guard and was very well done in my opinion. Even the VA work for Raven, which is usually "eh" at best for me and "no" at worst, was on point this episode. Perhaps the extra emotion helped to elevate it past the monotone. The "I AM!" keeps giving me chills, even if I know she's gonna say it. Similarly, Raven's glowing eye effect is much more terrifying than Cinder's and I hope Raven kicks her ass. It also brings up questions about whether eye color, Aura color, or other factors influence the color of the Maiden flames, or if the color is stagnant for all who wield that particular Maiden's powers.

Oh yeah, Raven being the Spring Maiden makes her basically the most levelled character on the playing field...2 kinds of magic, a pretty dank Semblance, and Huntress-level sword skills (presumably including Dust blades) would mean even if she has some trouble that Raven should have this in the bag and should be free to grab the Relic since she's aware of all of Cinder's cards she can play. The fact that we need her on the side of the heroes makes me angry, but at least it's better than the option of Cinder having excess power.

I also couldn't help but notice a parallel between Vernal and Cinder...they're both basically posers with a power that isn't really theirs, only in Cinder's case she obtained it unnaturally and Vernal didn't have any true powers at all...and both are effectively pawns for a higher power, CInder for Salem, Vernal for Raven.

I'm looking forward to next Episode and it's 3 teased fights....

Em. & Merc vs. Ruby & Yang I imagine would probably go in favor of the antagonists unless there's interference.

Raven vs. Cinder should be a win for Raven, but I wouldn't be surprised if Cinder did an asspull.

Qrow, Oz-car, and Ren vs. Hazel is very up in the air for me...I get the feeling something bad is going to happen, maybe to Ren.

Something tells me Blake & crew will be in the next episode and will be the primary focus, and our Maiden v. Maiden battle will probably be pushed to Episode 14 for maximum hype.