The 5th season of RWBY is nearing its end. For sure , there is going to be a 6th season ( the developers call it Volume ), in Fall , 2018…..still a long ways off, sadly. The nice thing about Rooster Teeth, the developers, is that they always honor their promise to put out new volumes, without fail, since 2013.
So much has happened on Volume 5….. betrayals, discoveries , character twists, and quite a few hiccups. Volume 5 is jampacked with so much story twists and backstories that I don’t know where to begin.
But, first things first………..
RWBY stands for the team of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, 4 students of Beacon Academy who are studying and training to be Hunters/Huntresses. Only those with potential skills and power ( manifested in their auras and semblances ) are trained to protect the people of Remnant ( this is what they call their world ) from the Grimms, creatures of destruction. The head of Beacon Academy is Prof. Ozpin. Prof. Ozpin’s origin has been a mystery to all ( except a few “trusted” people ) up until Vol. 5 when he himself reveals who he is. In this volume, we learn he is actually one of the two principal characters in the the story, the one who started this all. The other is Salem, the main antagonist, Prof. Ozpin’s counterpart, and the core of all that is evil in their world.
In Vol. 1 to 4, Beacon Academy has been attacked by Grimms, and the violent rebel group White Fang, headed by Adam, a Faunus , a species different from humans ( although they look like humans …… how should I say it…… they are the ” other” , and in today’s America, they are the non- whites ) Blake , the B in RWBY, is a Faunus, and was a member of White Fang who had a change of heart.
In the attack, Prof. Ozpin ” dies” , the city of Vale ( where the academy is located,) and the school itself are destroyed. Blake and Weiss go home to their families, Yang’s arm is decapitated ,( by Adam ) Pyrrha, a member of another group ( Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora and Ren ) is killed by Cinder.
While Yang is recuperating, Ruby decides to go to Haven Academy to seek refuge, and to continue her training. She is joined by Nora , Ren, and Jaune ( and Ruby’s Uncle Qrow who secretly follows them )
Vol. 4 is merely the 4 students’ travel to Haven , and their battles with the Grimms that they have unfortunately encountered on the way to Haven. It ends with a cliffhanger….. the re-appearance/ reincarnation of Prof. Ozpin who has possessed the physical body of a 14 year old farmhand named Oscar, and his meeting with Uncle Qrow, who is not even surprised when Oscar introduces himself as Ozpin.
Below are Qrow ( left ) and Ozpin ,as Prof. Ozpin
Below is Ozpin as Oscar
The other characters, Ren, Nora and Jaune
Facts we have learned from Vol. 1 to 5.
a) Ruby Rose and Yang are sisters, with the same father, Tai, and different mothers. Yang, 2 years older than Ruby, has Raven, still alive , and is the leader of a tribe, while Ruby had Summer Rose, deceased .
b) Qrow and Raven are siblings. Qrow , therefore, is not Ruby’s biological uncle. Ruby and Qrow though are very close, and he’s very protective of Ruby, which makes me suspect he is actually Ruby’s father. Add the fact that Ruby ‘s last name is her mother’s , Rose, but Yang’s is Xiao Ling, Tai’s last name. Why is that ?
and Ruby, the split image of her mother, and her silver eyes ( significant characteristic in RWBY )
c) Ozpin is more than a thousand years old, the king of Vale, and the powerful wizard in the legend of the Four Maidens. ( Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer ) and the one who had bestowed enormous power to the four maidens, hoping that this power could be used against Salem.
d) The existence of the four maidens is the real core and heart of RWBY. ( a whole new post for this )
e) The headmaster of Haven Academy ( Prof. Lionheart ) betrays the good guys, especially Ozpin, and allies himself with evil forces, Salem, Cinder, Adam, Raven , Mercury, Emerald, Hazel , et al, to save his butt.
f) The forces of Salem attack Haven Academy.
g) Dramatic battle between 2 maidens, Cinder ( Fall ) and Raven ( Spring ). Awesome ! ! Cinder dies???? Not sure about this. I’m sure she will reappear in Vol. 6.
The story and plotline is definitely more mysterious and complex than my long summary. Take note…… this is the plotline of 5 volumes of RWBY.
h) Side of good wins , although ,, except for Prof. Lionheart and Cinder, the rest of evil forces manage to escape/
This is all for now. I highly recommend RWBY which I rate 8/10. Watch it on YouTube or Netflix.
Thanks for reading.
Renxkyoko's Space 
Nice review . . . but I’m still in the “not watching” camp.
Perhaps someday, when I’m old, bored, and no other stuff is left for me to read or watch, I’ll give it another go.
It could also be I’ll go senile and I’ll forget what I’ve already watched, get curious, and try it again.
However, glad you’re enjoying it.
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I immediately thought of you after watching Chapter 13, the penultimate episode. You once commented about the main characters’ strength and power , and in the end, they are actually lame . ( like their weapons that can’t kill enemies, * shakes head * ) Well, its kinda like that in this episode.
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No, she’s still alive. These master story-tellers probably forgot about her and when they remember they’ll mention that she died. She is, after all, Oz’s assistant, so why not call her to him (his new vampiric possession of a kid)? What’s she doing back in Vale, anyway? the place has been pretty much destroyed and there’s no reason for her to remain there especially since all the other major characters left.
The thing is that while you say the “kids” are fighting more experienced and older and powerful enemies, the experienced and older and more powerful characters on their side are mostly ineffective. Recall the professors . . . both they and their weapons seemed underpowered. And, where are they now? For that matter, where is Winter? She was there for a brief period of time and now must be conserving her power in case she has to fight Qrow again.
Basically, the series is following the trope of kids being better than adults at both solving puzzles and fighting enemies. You see this in every interaction with adults and established huntsmen. One can only assume as Team RWBY mature and become Huntsmen they will gradually become worthless. After all, Qrow was saved by them when they were attacked by the uber-annoying maniacal tail guy.
Recall also back in previous volumes, none of the adults amount to squat and it’s the “kids” that are more effective and capable at nearly everything they do.
That’s why it’s annoying when the adults stop and ponder about them (RWBY) being young an inexperienced . . . what does that make them? Old and ineffective? Check.
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Haha, disperser ! ! You’re watching ! L(^w^)L
I didn’t know Glynda was still alive. Beacon Academy was simpy overwhelmed . If you recall, there was this orange guy’s group, the White Fang was there too, the Grimms, and Cinder’s group.
Wait….. Woodside was there and his army…… Oh, well……
I have to admit you’re right. though. The good side’s power seems to be ineffective. ….. but they did get to kill so many Grimms on their own.
Everyone thought Ozpin died, so I guess everyone just went to where thy’d be safe. Even Weiss went home. Blake abandoned them. Everyone was gone , out of Vale.
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Not watching the current Volume. I watched the first one or two episodes of Volume 5 (I don’t remember exactly where I stopped, but it was early on Vol. 5) and then got annoyed. Have not watched since.
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The inconsistency in their ” strength ” is what’s annoying me….. their physical strength, and their stupid weapons .
And if the bad guys are so , so much stronger than the good guys, why not just kill them already. ( although Salem wants Ruby Rose taken alive, and when Ozpin sees Ruby down and unconscious, he says : no, no, we need you …. he doesn’t say that to the others. That’s the mystery of Ruby that I want to know .)
There are actually 5 more volumes , disperser. I think these events that just happened are just a set-up for the real story.
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Five more volumes?!
. . . I’m glad I’m no longer engaged with it otherwise I’d be worried about dying before seeing the conclusion.
Seriously, that sounds like a lot of padding. Those guys are on record saying they make it up as they go along so that pronouncement doesn’t bode well for storytelling.
If that is truly the case, I predict many of the followers will give up on them. Of course, I also predicted people would embrace Beta as the better product, would eventually realize Apple is mostly hype, and that Joe Versus the Volcano would come to be known as the greatest movie ever made. Two of those are still theoretically possible.
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I don’t think the followers will give up. There are just so many mysteries to solve. a) What is Ruby’s true power ? I know she has the silver eyes , which she had actually already used on Cinder when she witnessed the death of Pyrrha ( she doesn’t know she had used the silver eyes…. she still has no recollection of that event ) b) Is her mother , Summer Rose, really dead …… my own speculation is that she isn’t , and Summer Rose is Salem ……. just like Ozpin, Salem is a spirit who can possess people …. and that’s the reason why she wants Ruby Rose captured alive. c) Is Cinder really dead ….. I don’t think so…… it doesn’t jibe with the fact that her maiden power as the Fall Maiden has not been passed on to another d) Is Qrow really Ruby Rose’s father ??? e ) Will the RWBY team become the 4 maidens at the end of the story ? f ) Fans are shipping Ozpin and Ruby…… for some reason , I am , as well, Ruby and Oscar , as himself, not as Ozpin. I don’t think Oscar will allow himself to be taken over completely by Ozpin. ozpin’s curse of not dying until Salem is defeated will be broken at some point, and Ozpin will get out of Oscar’s physical body and disappear forever, his obligation finally done.
there are so many questions that need to be answered, and this is the reason why I need to watch til the end.
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Well, I hope they do right by their fans and answer all the questions to your satisfaction.
I would like nothing better than to be proven wrong and then be able to watch the series to completion (apparently, 15 years from now . . . if I’m still alive).
Unfortunately, at this point, I have no confidence in the creators. Also, long series always worry me. Writers are under pressure to keep stuff fresh and exciting and that means that they usually screw things up unless they have the whole arc planned out ahead of time (few series do that because they live from season to season).
I know for a fact these guys don’t have a plan for the story, so that instills little confidence.
But, like I said, I hope they do right by the fans.
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Wow! That’s a big incentive to watch it!
. . . no, wait . . .
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On the side of good are Ruby Rose, Yang , Nora, Jaune and Ren. all first year students who didn’t even get to finish their first term at Beacon Academy. The only experienced combatants on their side are Oscar and Qrow. They are fighting older and more experienced enemies, including Cinder who is the Fall Maiden, and thus , extraordinarily powerful, Hazel whose semblance is he doesn’t feel pain, Mercury, Emerald, Raven ( who is revealed at the end of the episode as the Spring Maiden), and this girl what’s her name, Raven’s sidekick and decoy, ( everyone believes she’s the Spring Maiden ), but powerful and strong as well. Ozpin himself forces them to train because he realizes these young students lack real time combat skills to fight strong experienced thinking enemies
What is making me scratch my head is the lameness of their weapons.
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Think back to the first episode when Ruby’s weapon was said to be soooo powerful.
Plus, remember all the monsters they killed using weird and way too complicated maneuvers and abilities we never see again.
But, I shouldn’t knock it. The A-Team used to unload entire clips at people and no one ever got hit. Many cowboy movies used six-shooters that held 87 rounds . . . and so on and on and on.
Also, think back at the person with the wand (I don’t remember her name). She seemed pretty powerful and I don’t think we’ve seen her again.
Anyway, the problem I have with the series relate to the inconsistencies in the plot and the way they seem to make stuff up as they go. At this point, I’m still resentful of having watched the last volume and gotten absolutely nothing for my time.
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Ha ha That’s nothing. Think Bleach, and Hunter x Hunter. They die only when they’re split in half, from head to feet. That’s anime sense.
She’s Glynda, Ozpin’s assistant ) but I think she died .
At this point in the story, I think the ” inconsistencies ” are gradually being clarified. It’s the inconsistencies in the strength of their weapons that I have a problem with.
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