Holy crap, great episode. Schnee-dad's gone full on awful to finally push Weiss to let loose break out of her situation. That should be fun.

I am absolutely loving the unique and ridiculous ways these characters keep using their weapons. There were a lot, but Qrow throwing his blade ahead of him to catch himself and stand on it definitely takes the cake this time.

Chopping Sr El Scorpion's tail point off was pretty satisfying. But since she didn't cut it off at the base, I imagine he's going to come back even crazier with some sort of artificial replacement at some point.

Anyone else noticed that they stepped up the cursing? I mean, I don't particularly care about it for myself, and it's not unlike Roosterteeth to include it, and given the circumstances of the scenes, they've been totally warranted, but... it just seems noticeably different than previous seasons. And maybe that's the point, with this being a kind of new beginning season. Really, the only thing I'm kinda concerned about is the fact that some parents might be more wary of showing their kids this show (It's a REALLY STUPID problem, I know, but that's reality). Qrow's singular outburst from last season aside, it's been a pretty family-friendly show up until recently (by most stupid standards). Anyways, as long as the context/scenes legitimately warrant it, like they have thus far, I'm fine with it for myself. It's just noticeably different to me.

Even though not much actually happened(it was mostly all preparations), I really liked this episode.
Call me out if I'm wrong, but I think this was the first one where all 4 girls got scenes. That was certainly nice. Of the 4, I think I'm most interested in Weiss's. After her brother was talking about the difference in effectiveness between an army and huntsman, I'm really looking forward to Weiss making him eat those words.

Glad Yang's out of her slump, but I don't really know where they're going with her. I imagine when she's ready, she'll either run right out to meet up with someone else, or someone will swing by her island to pick her up.

I definitely wasn't expecting chameleon girl. Pretty cool. I guess her color-shifting goes a little hay-wire when she's angry. I really liked the part where the music subtly changed when Sun started using his projections. It added a kind of mystical/eastern sense to the track.

The Ruby scene was pretty sad. I guess after last season, even Qrow might be fair game to die, but still I doubt it.
Anyone else find it odd how only Ren got a hug, but not Nora? I mean, I think they're implying that Ren's got history with that abandoned town, but still it was kinda weird. The foot print reveal was definitely a nice touch.

all around, good episode. I think my only complaint is the difference in severity between what it looked like when Sun got hit my chameleon girl's electro-whip, and Blake's life-threatening reaction to it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it certainly looked like the attack packed a pretty severe punch, but if it's supposed to be enough to make Blake freak out like that, then I think they should've amped it up a bit to make it more clearly life-threatening.

Great episode. Managed to take this season even darker. 'lil Nora & Ren were adorable.

So, I guess Ren's Semblance is like "infectious courage" ? Seemed that way to me, unless something else was going on.

I loved how they showed off that new horseman grimm thing. Just silhouettes and pieces. Very interesting design with both hooves and clawed feet.

Another episode with all 4 girls, and this time it even had a 5th setting, starting with Cinder. It makes for a nice episode, but I'm curious how well jam-packing that much into such little time will hold up on a straight watch-through. I guess "weekly episode" is still the most common approach (I mean, obviously it is right now, I'm just thinking ahead).

Anyways, I think all but Yang's scene fit pretty well. Not that Yang's was bad. It was just so brief that I feel like they could've had a longer better version of it later, rather than packing it in with all these other scenes of the episode. But I suppose they needed to get this out of the way soon, cuz I bet we'll just not see her again for a few episodes and then she'll jump right into a fight right when she's needed by one of the other girls. Better yet, maybe her grand re-entrance will be the season finale.

Anyways, I think this show's finally sold me on the scorpion guy's style of craziness. His intro in this season was just too silly for me, but seeing him go nuts at Salem's disapproval and the way he cheered himself up by ripping into a grim with tears streaming down his face while laughing maniacally... yeah, he's alright now.

The Ruby team scene was pretty solid. Brief, but it worked as a great lead in to the next episode. I really liked how when they said to listen, you could hear exactly what you would expect from that weird grim in the last episode with the hooved and clawed feet.
pound clop POUND CLOP POUND CLOP. It was perfect.

The best part of this episode by far for me was Blake's scene. Her parents are hilarious, definitely got a big laugh out of their entrance. But what really made the her part great was that freaking kitty smile she put on after Sun's little speech. DID YOU SEE THAT? WHEN DID SHE GET THAT!? IT'S ADORABLE AND I LOVE IT.

This season's been absolutely amazing so far, but this moment just takes the cake.

Not as ecstatic about it as Shmits, this episode just leaves Tyrion in a boring state of "Not really a character" for me. He exists to be one thing - he's the laughing mad evil enemy. His motivation is "Make the evil proud of me by being evil." Which isn't really a motive, exactly. I am a little bit excited about Cinder. We need to see something of her with her lackeys, to give them meaning in this season. Cinder's expressions this episode open the door to a new avenue of development for the character, which makes her automatically more interesting than just about everyone she's interacting with.

I kind of feel like this episode should have been next episode and next episode should have been this episode. We've been kind of lacking on good whole-episode fights that feature an entire team's skillset this season, and we need to see one.

Eh.

I'm still not really sold on this season as a whole. I might drop RWBY after this if Season 4 doesn't show me something interesting by the end - and I mean -by- the end, not -at- the end, like in S3.

A show only gets grace like that once, yo.[/quote]

This was a really good episode. We got to see a little about each member of Team RWBY, which is nice. I'd be interested to see how different each episode would be if they focused on one person, though. Cali continues to be an adorable cat-milf, and it's nice to see Blake get a little character development. Not to mention the major backstory and development we got for Ren finally. Cinder's reaction to Salem/Tirion has got me really excited for the future of her character. I'd love to see her strike out, and do her own thing.

S4 continues the trends that have plagued RWBY since the beginning - an extremely overpopulated cast that has zero sense of how to re-use characters effectively, a slow-moving plot that focuses far too much climax on Grimm instead of the people using them, and a lore that builds only in width, never in depth.

I've complained about the series' overpopulation before, but even when S4 manages to give itself a good reason for having new characters (each member of RWBY going a different direction allows for some focused minor characters), I'm baffled at everything involving Salem.

Introduce Salem more? Excellent, glimpses into the villain behind Cinder are worth it. Introduce these other chuckleheads and completely dump the previous antagonists (Mercury, Emerald, Neo, Adam) in favor of completely new ones, only one of which gets any notable screen-time in the season. Adam's absence can certainly be justified (and his antagonism is honestly more useful without his presence in this season), but the others? What is the point of introducing recurring antagonists, and actually starting to develop them as characters, only to dump them for an entirely new group?

Grimm focus has been an issue quite a bit. While useful as an opening form of antagonism, as well as general obstacles and threats, putting focus on them (without a concurrent focus on what attracts them, such as negative emotions) makes me not care in the slightest. We already know there's a bigger bad guy - in fact, there's several levels of them.

Grimm make for excellent additions - their presence in the Battle for Beacon was warranted and useful, as they were outshone by the presence of Adam and Cinder, but allowed the make the attack seem much more fierce than two people could have made it. But like the finale to S2, when they start getting multiple episodes of focus and climactic fights, I just have to ask - why is there not focus on any of your more interesting antagonists, instead?

And then there's the lore. Holy shit, what a mess. I complained about the infodump of the Maidens when it happened, but I thought the lore itself was interesting. The end of S3 threw the Silver-Eyed Warriors, I remembered the hints towards them, but it was still out of left field and had no real development, since. Connections to the Maidens were teased, and just left unknown for...some reason.

Then S4 comes out with these hidden relics associated with each of the academies, while simultaneously introducing a pair of gods to the mythos...which, again, has no connection to the previous lore. It is possible that the four relics are connected to the four Maidens, but given that Ozpin is the one who explained both, that seems questionable. If they are, it begs the question - why not tie them together? If they aren't, then it begs the question - how many directions can you pull one story?

In addition to the continuation of problems, the tragic end of S3 (which single-handedly convinced me to watch S4) promised a heavy emphasis on character development. And we kind of got that - I'm just not sure how much of the development was actually meaningful or impactful.

Ruby's was fine. Weiss' felt like a sharp break from her normal characterization, seeing her so blatantly timid, that the sharp difference makes me question just how believable it really is. It was also intensely frustrating, watching her be so non-functional, but without the reason of Blake and Yang. And Blake's development went well, with a solid ending for it, though I still think Sun was a meaningless addition.

Yang had me the most excited, because there were obvious PTSD indications at the end of S3. I looked forward to how they dealt with them, and sure enough, just as I'd hoped against, they seem to have all vanished by the end of S4. A pep talk, a new arm, and she seems good. Maybe it's a fakeout. Maybe she's not fully healed and ready to jump into the fray, and I hope not - I want to see actual growth from this, not "let's use this to correct one of your only character flaws (and traits) and make you not so hotheaded".

Jaune gives me hope. Pyrrha's death has had long-lasting effects on him, and they show throughout the season. I would have liked to see more from him, since we got only that early ep and the conversation with Qrow, but I want to see him challenge the ideals of the series more directly, want to see him confront the idealism and hope of other characters, while simultaneously maintaining his own out of respect to Pyrrha. I want to see him become the most complex character in the show by virtue of what he's gone through here, because he has the capacity.

But I'm not sure I trust RT to do it.

First of all, I love this theme. I think it's a great one not only on its own, and a great message that has heavy application to reality, but also as a contrast to the previous three seasons. Together, they carried a series of themes that built into the main characters believing they were being held back or protected from dangers unjustly, that they had the power to change the world as forces of good and should be allowed to do so - that they had great destinies.

Obviously, the end of S3 shot this into the ground, and that execution was superbly done. It may have taken too long to get to that point, IMO, but the sharp turn after the buildup was what the series needed.

S4 was meant to be about recovery and discovery, of the team overcoming their individual hangups following the fall of Beacon and making their choices of how to continue. This is where I was most excited for S4, as it seemed obvious that it would be forcing the characters to confront their childish beliefs and recent traumas, and I'm a glutton for heavy character development. And in some ways, it delivered on this.

The season opened with Ruby, leading RNJR, doing minor Huntress work. Not tracking Cinder, not handling criminals, but fighting Grimm and protecting some small town. This was good shit.

And then it's gone.

The rest of Ruby's involvement in the season is irrelevant or huge. Their fight with Tyrian was important, and certainly had a place in the season, but the horse Grimm? As cool as it was, and as nice as it is to see Nora and Ren get some attention, it felt like nothing more than a sidequest to give a character ab issue, and then resolve them.

But the show missed the opportunities to really tie this in - even ones they already had. Every destroyed village Ruby came across was implied to have been visited by the horse Grimm, but the narrative always shows up too late (sometimes by years). Because of this, the entire arc of fighting this Grimm doesn't feel like anything more than a revenge or justice plot.

And this is exactly the opposite of what the season was going for, particularly Ruby. Her stated goal throughout the season was to do what she could to help people - and instead, she spends the season wandering an empty region and killing a Grimm that doesn't even seem to be threatening anyone (remember, the first village was initially attacked by Raven and her bandits). We never actually see this Grimm threatening anyone besides RNJR - which robs them of any meaningful screentime doing their stated goal.

In fact, given how much of the season was focused on individual development, having that disconnect makes the fight even worse - instead of being something that could help tie down the theme, it comes across as arbitrary and irrelevant to it. I'd rather have had no fight, and ended with a personal climax the way the other three ended.

Speaking of them, the others aren't as bad about it, particularly since they don't start off so strongly with it, and I think Blake's went the best of all, having a solidly-paced development that ended in a solid resolution for her character. Weiss and Yang had similar endings, but their paths to those points were hazier, suffering from some questionable characterization that I didn't quite buy (Weiss' timidity and Yang's directness-as-a-fault).

But Ruby ends the season exactly where she started, with her only accomplishment a significant one - a sharp contrast to the season's theme, which emphasized small accomplishments. She's clearly the main character, even more with the addition of the Silver-eyed Warrior lore. There's a lot drawing her into the spotlight, and because of that, having her circumvent the core theme makes it feel hollow. Had that been one of the other three, that would have been fine, and even been a nice variation to play with.

Instead, it makes Ruby feel like she's above the narrative, that she has nothing to learn from the theme, and that the story isn't interested in making her learn.

I definitely agree about the horse grimm being a mistake, or at least badly timed and executed. This season was a recovery from Beacon, it didn't need to toss in the Norra/Ren sad background on top of that when they could have made much better use of that screen time. It didn't really connect to anything that was going one.

It was kinda nice seeing 'lil Ren & 'lil Nora. And the initial intro of the Horse Grim was actually pretty cool (only the silhouette and its feet). But when it was revealed in the episode, it got rid of all the hype and mystery and didn't look all that impressive. On top of that, the fight against it was particularly disappointing. They just kept failing at disjointed attacks, and then the MOMENT that they realize "oh right, we're a team, we should try acting like one", the struggle was gone, and they killed him easy-mode style. Working as a team, is supposed to make the fight doable, not easy.

This fight also continued a trend of uselessly timed weapon reveals. I'm talking about Qrow's first Scythe-mode, Ironwood's guns, and now Juanne's super-sword. Significant weapon reveals are best used when they actually make a real difference in the combat they're used for, ideally against really difficult foes that they otherwise wouldn't be able to stand up against. And for the most part, they never do this. Jaun just pulled out his shiny new sword configuration and... sliced up some limbs like he could've done with his regular sword. Useless reveal. And I'd bet anything that Yang's gonna end up doing the same thing. They're just gonna toss it into a random fight or attack that doesn't really matter.

I think the only potentially lasting thing that came out of the horse-grimm arc is Ren's semblance of... infectious courage or something, but even that wasn't described or used all that well. This arc could have been decent if it happened in a later season, and was segmented out over a longer period of time. But it's too soon after the major tragedy of beacon, and it's too condensed (practically just the last two episodes) to feel meaningful. If a season had Ren and Nora's background and flashbacks early in a season, it would feel waaaay more meaningful later on, but they just threw this story at us all at once with a "here's why you should care about this! and now here's how it resolves! Season OVER!!"

My guess is it hides the target's presence. He used it to initially get to Nora, and then keep them both hidden, in the flashback, and then used it to hide Jaune and Qrow during the fight against horse Grimm - you can see it start looking around for them, before focusing on Ren.

It fits his style as a hit-and-run fighter with a heavy assassin motif, I feel. I like it, but I think making someone literally disappear in front of a very attentive Grimm is OP as fuck - it would be more interesting as something more subtle, like making non-focused attention slide off the target, the way skills like that typically work, rather than straight invisibility.

Glancing at the wiki, their impression is that it only works on Grimm, which is better, but still kinda OP.

Decent first episode to start things off and set the tone and environment for everyone.
Qrow's drunken discovery was funny.
I'm curious what the Haven headmaster typed into the device.

Wow, now this season's really rammped up.

The bee fight was cool, but I got some nitpics about it. The way it initially showed off their harpoon stingers was cool and all, but then way they started ripping that ship in half made no sense. Also, how the heck did Weiss not bring her own dust? At first I just assumed they had to show off something as nonsensical as that just to establish the fact that there was a bunch of dust aboard the ship for a later plot point, but then they went and blew all of them on an inneffective attack right afterwards, so... kinda pointless.
I loved the introduction of floating islands though. I hope they're used again for something.

Cinder's kinda acting like a kid these days, I hope she gets back into a more... respectable role sometime soon, and doesn't just rage and throw a fit or something. I do like how they've acknowledged that Ruby's now severly injured two of their members and how they're getting really pissed at her though. Also, cool dress.

I reeeeally wish they'd established Sienna (leader of the White Fang lady) as a character sooner. It was a really good scene, and I was definitely like "wooooooooah!!" when he killed her, but I'm fairly certain the shock would have been that much more dramatic if we'd gotten to know her more ahead of time. At the very least, Adam's character as a crazed extremist is now even more concrete.
I'm not sure what the point of bringing that Hazel guy in was though. They kept saying that he had something to say, but he never got to say anything before everything hit the fan. It was nice to see that he seems a bit more level headed compared to most villians though. I'm curious to see if, or how much, conflict that'll generate between him and Adam.

Definitely looking forward to seeing more screen time with Raven now. I don't recall whether or not Weiss will have any idea who she is. I'm guessing not, as that would make for more interesting conversations.

Not a ton actually happened in this episode, but it certainly conveyed a lot of information.

At first I was confused about the scene over at Blake's family's place, but then someone in the comments said something about their "current" story being 1 month behind the others and now it makes sense. I wonder what sort of plan/decision they'll make that'll end up burning a whole month to catch up.

I'm guessing Weiss is gonna attempt to break out with initial success but eventually get caught, just as Ruby and the others just happen to arrive while looking for the Maiden. So their tentative meet-up seems like its in the works. I'm curious about how Yang and Blake will meet up with the group.

I'm not sure what Ruby's gonna learn, but I'm interested to see what semblance Jaun's finally gonna unlock. It would be... interesting if he somehow got Pyrah's magnetism, but I can't really think of a logical reason why he would beyond arbitrary Maiden power shenanigans and the emotional effect it would have on him.

Now that Ozpin's secret's out of the bag, I'm curious just how long he and Salem have been at it, and what all's changed in the world since then. I'm also curious if "Ozpin" is just the previous body's name, or if it's the eternally reincarnating soul's name (I'm guessing the latter, but it hasn't been stated yet.)

I believe that Leo typed in the code/number to contact Dr. Watt, as his voice appears after the group has left.

Sienna definitely should have been fleshed out more as a character. Then again, it would have made it worse. Poor faunus-waifu.

As such, Adam continues to be a huge douchenozzle, moreso than before. I'm glad to see that Cinder has regained her voice, and Hazel looks like a cool villain. His stoicism is a nice contrast to Tirion's over-the-top crazy and seemingly Watt's smug intelligence.

Weiss will likely run into Vernal on the escape, and probably get wrecked, as it's pretty obvious that she's the Spring Maiden. Or maybe a run-in with Raven and discover her relationship to Yang.

The whole Ozpin thing is interesting. But if he failed to stop Salem before, then who did? How did/does the world look relatively un-broken, considering the area Salem lives? Or did Ozpin's failure simply cause a massive increase in Grimm?

Despite the Menagerie (Belladonna) scenes being a month(?) behind, it's still a *huge* deal that at least someone knows what the hell the bad guys are up to. It was kinda frustrating to have the entirety of the first few seasons be a cakewalk for Cinder and co.