Spoiler

I'd say the shot to the heart and the being reduced to ash is the real killer, less so the arrow to the heel. That said, one of the writers mentioned that not all of JNPR will share the same fate as their counterparts.

 

Adds some meaning to her earlier words:

Spoiler

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

 

I'm currently watching first 2 volumes again and going to watch the 3rd. Super excited

 

I really liked RWBY for its humor and character interactions. I enjoyed the dynamic between Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. The 'evil people' were kind of a remote antagonist - nothing to get up in arms about.

This last season, obviously, moved away from that feel and I'm finding myself missing what attracted me to the show in the first place. To me there was a charm to the show that isn't there anymore. I realize I'm in the very small minority (if not the only one) who feel this way.

There are many reasonable arguments why the show has taken the direction it has, why this is logical and even desirable, I'm not arguing against those.

Just talking about how I feel: the charisma the main girls had is sort of dismissed or lost right now. I hope they come back because that's why I watched the show.

 

Spoiler

I agree, it may have lost the original charm. Of course, for me the show has always had trouble measuring up the shenanigans from initiation, but it's a bit more pronounced now.

On the other hand, if they immediately try to start off next season with humor it might just piss off the fanbase. There's a balance they'll have to achieve in order to get back to anything humorous in the future.

My main issue is that I haven't kept up with Red vs Blue in the last decade at all, so I'm not sure if RT can actually pull off serious storylines in the long-term. I guess I'll see. The upside is that at least the cast is out of school now.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, RWBY's charm was about the very personal journey/adventure of Team RWBY. Now I do like it when shows take the risk of breaking the status quo and trying to progress things (many anime refuse to take the risk and try to return everything back to normal after ever climax - eg, Code Geass), but there's always a risk that it'll lose everything it had (eg, Naruto Shippuden).

Have zero interest in seeing Ruby hang out with Team JNR, but I'm hoping that it will lead to some good character development for Team RWBY. We can see them thrive and develop separately, each having their own arc and come back together more awesome than ever. The trick will be making those arcs actually interesting without that interaction. I think I'd rather see Ruby to have been all alone to be honest - having Team JNR with her feels like it'd diminish her own journey (I suppose they didn't want to abandon those character though).

On the rest of the episode:

Felt Pyrrah's death was a bit meh. Just didn't feel it.

Interaction between Yang and Ruby on the other hand was done quite well.

Crazy evil Grimm lady at the end juxtaposed with the scene of Summer Rose's grave. Intentional?

Also. Evil look from Taiyang to Qrow. Qrow demanding time alone with Ruby. "You're special. That's not just in a Daddy telling his daughter way." Pretty much confirmed parentage there?

 

I think we can stop the spoilers now.

Oh jeeze, so I wasn't the only one thinking that? I remember reading a fanfic on that premise once. I'm not sure how RWBY will react to that...

 

The dynamics for team STRQ keep getting more and more interesting and we haven't even gotten a single flashback yet!

 

Salem's Speeches Spliced

Found it somewhat interesting to watch the two together - which makes sense, as it seems to be an ongoing conversation between Ozpin and Salem.