"This is Beacon", with the subtitle "Exam", is the second episode of RWBY: Ice Queendom. It premiered on YouTube, Crunchyroll and the Rooster Teeth website on June 24th, 2022 and officially aired on Japanese Television networks on July 10th, 2022. The English dub was released on October 2nd, 2022 on the Rooster Teeth website.
Summary[]
This episode recounts and expands upon the events of the Beacon Academy Initiation as a reference to the Episodes "The Shining Beacon" Parts 1 and 2, "The First Step" Parts 1 and 2, "The Emerald Forest" Parts 1 and 2, and "Players and Pieces".
On a screen, a reporter mentions the new batch of students enrolled into Beacon. Weiss Schnee realises everyone would later be split into teams, and wishes to get on a decent one. Nora Valkyrie is telling Lie Ren about the floating airship, and Jaune Arc, nauseous, is asking around for something. Weiss then notices Pyrrha Nikos and refers to a cereal advertisement featuring her. Yang Xiao Long tells her little sister that her early enrolment people would make people start calling her a genius. However, Ruby says she knew no one in Beacon.
Yang suggests that she make new friends, first introducing themselves to a Blake Belladonna busy reading. Just then, a broadcast reports that the Schnee Dust Company was considering security enhancements due to robberies caused by the White Fang. Ruby and Yang point out the company's corrupt practices, only for Weiss to reveal her position as Heiress of the company. She tells Ruby she had believed the White Fang's lies, and starts arguing with Blake over the White Fang. Yang advises her to get along, and Ruby proposes to go shopping together. Weiss approves, pointing out that Jaune was cute, but immediately turns Ruby away. She laments at the failed attempt to make friends.
A screen appears with Glynda Goodwitch and Ozpin on it, announcing the exam venue and instructions. Glynda wishes them well before the broadcast ends. Weiss meets Pyrrha at the lockers asking her to team up, but Jaune says he and Weiss would make a better team instead. She then starts rambling about Pyrrha's achievements, pulling Jaune away after he said he disliked the cereal that featured Pyrrha. Jaune walks away, disappointed.
The candidates are transported by an airship, who are blasted into the air by springboards one by one. Glynda and Shion Zaiden wonder that teams would be formed and what kinds of leaders there would be respectively. Ozpin chats with Shion. Yang propels herself with blasts, Ruby uses her Scythe to land, and Jaune gets saved by Pyrrha's spear on a tree when he falls. Ruby continues looking for Yang, only to find a Weiss looking for Pyrrha instead. Weiss ignores a helpless Jaune, dragging Ruby, her now-partner, away. Her only goal was to get onto Pyrrha's team, even if it meant being with Ruby. Jaune falls off, only to be met by the silm, gifted woman Weiss had been looking for.
Yang is calling for Ruby and hears a rustle from a bush. Weiss berates Ruby for her sluggishness, but she dashes swiftly using her Semblance, surprising Weiss. Still, she is unconvinced and tells her to stop showing off. Yang punches the Ursa that had popped up, which dissolves and reveals a Blake who is officially her partner. Though Weiss and Ruby are surrounded by Beowolves, they continue blaming each other. Ruby shows her admiration when Weiss managed to kill them, but she accuses Ruby for making her set the forest ablaze. As the both argue, Ruby chops down a tree. Though unexpected, Weiss walks away. Ruby loses it and expresses her hatred, but Weiss says she still was imperfect, though leagues better than her.
A feather from a Nevermore falls down, transitioning to Blake and Yang at the temple wondering which relic to choose. Yang chooses a White Knight Chess piece. Nora hammers an Ursa using her hammer, and her good friend Ren tells her to fight more normally. Nora then retrieves a White Rook from the temple, childishly singing she was the queen of the castle (rook) and Ren was the king. Yang and Blake notice Ruby and Weiss being chased by a Nevermore, panting. Blake takes out her Gambol Shroud, firing multiple shots at the flying creature. Ruby is relieved that her big sister is fine, but Weiss, in a rush, tells her to just take any relic. She uses a Glyph to block the incoming feathers being fired at her.
Pyrrha and Jaune then are launched into the commotion, ambushed by a Death Stalker whose sting Pyrrha blocks with her shield. Jaune grabs one of the White Rooks. Weiss freezes the Scorpion Grimm and calls Pyrrha, who she had been looking for all this time. Blake warns the group to focus on retrieving the relics. Ruby tells everyone that they had to kill the Grimm, but gets interrupted by Weiss who insists on running away. The eight candidates of the exam start to run, avoiding the feathers the Nevermore had shot. Team JNPR helps attack the Nevermore with Pyrrha slicing off its tail, while Team RWBY helps to decapitate it with Ruby decapitating it. Shion stands on a cliff, intently observing them. Ozpin, off-screen tells them to prepare for the worst.
In the academy, he announces the new teams formed - Team JNPR as well as Team RWBY. Jaune is surprised to be selected as the team leader, but Pyrrha says he would make a good one. Ruby is shocked as well, but Yang congratulates her for being the leader. Everyone is clapping, but Weiss seems unhappy. Unbeknownst to anyone, a crack-like mark has appeared on her neck.
Transcript[]
Characters[]
Changes from the Show[]
Difference between the show and anime[]
- Ruby and Yang meet Weiss and Blake on the Vale Airship instead of Beacon Academy.
- Pyrrha meets Jaune and Weiss on the Vale Airship instead of Beacon Academy.
- Yang does not ditch Ruby to hang out with her other friends.
- Ruby and Jaune do not meet with each other nor they interact like in the show.
- Jaune does not accidentally throw up on Yang's boots.
- Ozpin appears along with Glynda as holograms to welcome the students, but introduced their Initiation. In the show, only Glynda appears as an hologram where she welcome new students to Beacon Academy.
- The Beacon Academy Initiation starts on the first day rather than the following day.
- Jaune does not ask questions to Ozpin before he gets launched into Emerald Forest.
- Cardin and Russell are absent at the Initiation.
- Blake, Nora, and Ren do not appear in the first row at the Initiation.
- Ruby and Yang's landing strategies are different than the show.
- The scene where Ruby was searching for Yang, where she looks for potential partners like Blake and Jaune is cut.
- Jaune swears while complaining about being stuck to a tree. In the show, Jaune does not swear until later volumes.
- Jaune does not smile at Pyrrha when she asks him if she can join his team.
- Yang and Blake's fight against the Ursas ended shortly.
- Blake and Yang only fight one Ursa instead of two.
- Ren's fight against King Taijitu is cut.
- Ozpin and Glynda does not comment on the teams pairing up.
- Pyrrha does not unlock Jaune's Aura.
- Ruby and Weiss do not ride on a Nevermore.
- Jaune does not get thrown by a Death Stalker. Instead, Jaune and Pyrrha gets chased by it.
- Yang does not lose her temper by Nora's antics.
- Weiss saves Pyrrha from a Death Stalker instead of saving Ruby from a Nevermore.
- The Death Stalker's death is different from the show. It gets pierced through Miló and Akoúo̱ by Nora's Magnhild.
- The scene where Team RWBY attempts to combine their attack at a Nevermore is cut.
- Weiss's freezes a Nevermore in far distance instead of close distance.
- Team CRDL were not present when the teams are formed by Ozpin.
- Besides Yang, Weiss and Blake brought their weapons are Beacon academy team forming ceremony. In the show, Weiss and Blake did not bring them like Jaune and Ren.
- Weiss' reaction about Ruby becoming team leader of Team RWBY is different compared to the show. In the show, Weiss was surprised, but retained her stoic composure, but in the anime, Weiss was very disappointed that she was not made team leader.
- The weather was shown where Teams RWBY and JNPR's fight against a Nevermore and Death Stalker was cloudy, but in the show, it was sunny.
- After Jaune was made leader of Team JNPR, Pyrrha does not accidentally shoulder bump Jaune hard to the ground. Instead, Pyrrha says to Jaune that he will make a great leader. Jaune responds yeah in guilt.
- Ozpin smiles at Team RWBY after Ruby is made team leader which was never shown in the show.
- A scene where Roman began his next plan is cut.
Original scenes[]
- Lisa reports on the news about first years attending Beacon Academy.
- A extended scene shows not only Lisa reports about Faunus Rights, but mentions the Schnee Dust Company.
- A unknown Grimm spying on Weiss and Jaune.
- Shion observes Teams RWBY and JNPR's fight against a Nevermore and Death Stalker.
- At the end of the episode, a black crack-like marking appears on Weiss' neck.
Trivia[]
- Ursa’s design is based off from Volume 1-3 except Beowolf and Nevermore’s designs since they are based off from Volume 4.
- The end card for the episode was made by okama.
See Also[]
Image Gallery[]
- Main article: This is Beacon/Image Gallery
References[]
| RWBY: Ice Queendom | ||
|