This past week’s been one for the history books. The Cubs won the World Series, Vine’s got a terminal illness and has six seconds to live, Pokeshippers became the fandom equivalent of Holocaust deniers, and my Ironwood Problem (™) has returned with a vengeance. In this week’s recap, there’s more Schnee family dysfunction than you can shake an equally dysfunctional stick at, Ren taps deep into his inner angst well, and Pyrrha’s former existence is both acknowledged and treated with respect. Previous recaps can be found at the RECAP MASTERPOST, but for more blatant lies like that one thing I said about Pyrrha just now, click the KEEP READING below!

All the thanks to those who read/et cetera’d last week’s recap - was a pretty fun one, wasn’t it? Hey remember when Jaune’s sword was Yang’s arm? Haha good times… Unfortunately no Yang jokes this week (I know I know, really letting the team down), thanks to her blessed lack of existence in the episode. But hey, there’s always next week! Or never, if we’re really really lucky… Haha even better times…

So, funnily enough, we begin where the last episode left off, with Weiss preparing for some happy family fun time with her happy fun time father.

With all the airs of someone heading to their own execution, Weiss walks through Schnee Manor - big, cold, empty, quiet, lots of white; what you’d expect - until she bumps into her brother.

Yep. Brother. Name starting with W and everything, so you know it’s legit. Whitley here may just end up holding the honour of being the last surprise sibling the main cast have, at least until we meet Blake’s nineteen identical sisters, Ren and Nora’s secret half-brother (His mother being Ren’s and his father being Nora’s) and Pyrrha’s younger sister (also voiced by Jen Brown, also dying horribly in three seasons).

But hey, could been worse. He could’ve been named Wendell or something. Or been another sister. Also named Wendell.

(To be fair, if my brother looked like the bastard offspring of Draco Malfoy and Jack Frost, I’d probably avoid mentioning him too.)

The siblings get to chatting, with Whitley dropping some prime gossip about crepes and their father meeting with someone… a male someone… Could it be?! Irondaddy senses are-a-tingling…

And because Whitley’s existence wasn’t surprise enough already, we learn that the Schnee matriarch (probably named Willow if that old screenshot still applies?) is still alive and kickin’. And off drinking her breakfast. Uh oh.

My god! All the theorists thinking Qrow was Ruby’s father had it all wrong! Wake the mayor, alert the presses, call in the National Guard! In all seriousness, Weiss’s mother being alive is totally worth upsetting the years worth of headcanons the fandom has accumulated if she’s a literal wine mom. Certainly would add another twisted and sad dimension to the Schnee family home life - Is she a trophy wife with nothing better to do but drink? Is she a full-on drunken Lady Macbeth who’s secretly running the show? What’s her relationship with her children like and vice versa? And will we ever meet her in person? Who knows?!

Whitley’s existence also adds another dimension: despite being the youngest Schneeling, you can bet Papa Schnee thinks of him as his true heir (because of course he would). We don’t know Whitley’s age - I’m assuming like fifteen/sixteen, had a growth spurt while Weiss was off to Beacon - but I’d wager Weiss and Winter were old enough to cotton on to as much early on, and this is what drove Winter into her military career and Weiss into her perfectionism, trying to make up for being born a second daughter.

And if Whitley is his father’s son, right down to the core, then having him take over the family business would only lead to more badness… thems the stakes for Weiss, right there. Her position is precarious, even moreso after all the positive character development she went through at Beacon, so it’s no wonder she’s been hiding in her room and not making trouble.

It’s also striking how much Whitley’s first impression contrasts with Weiss’s way back in V1 - Weiss was haughty and abrasive, because she was buckling under the pressures of being perfect, whereas Whitley is all smarm and smiles, because he can do no wrong. He may surprise us down the line, but for now, he best check himself before Weiss wrecks his self.

Speaking of surprises, instead of doing the predicted thing and checking in on Blake and Yang, we get more RNJR fun times! Where last we left our intrepid heroes, they were awake. And now they are asleep. They also probably ate dinner in between, but canon has yet to support the theory that dinner exists in this universe, so I don’t feel comfortable saying as such.

We start with Ruby waking up from a bad dream that sounded an awful lot like last volume’s finale and, from her reaction, it’s probably not the first time this has happened. My god, someone get that girl 20ccs of therapy, stat.

Later, Torchwick’s Avengers are seen making like every animated travelling group and getting lost. I half expected Team Rocket to show up and try and capture Nora, tbh. (And whoops, lied about no Yang jokes too.)

The gang’s destination is Shion, where they hope to catch an airship to Haven in time to catch Salem’s next show there. Jaune’s got history with this village, it seems, which may be a hint about where he actually lives and if it’s nearby (and oh god is that mention of his sisters foreshadowing something), and also will most definitely mean something bad’s happened to the village.

And while Ruby and Jaune banter about ponytails and hiking trails - everything I ever wanted from this season, no lie - they fail to notice the sky darken ominously…

… and, y'know, also fail to smell all the dead bodies ahead of them. Way to go, guys. At least Nora and Ren were on the ball.

Instantly, things have gotten very real. This isn’t like the village in the V4 trailer, this isn’t a battle they can walk into and fight, a day they can stroll into and save - the enemy is long gone and there’s no one left to save. It’s everything living outside the kingdoms was promised to be, and it’s horrifyingly right before our eyes. Neato.

Ren, we notice, is the most visibly affected. He’s the first to rush in, his pace quick and grimly determined, and he finds the only survivor, a dying Huntsman who tells the team what happened.

“Bandits… The whole tribe… Plundering and pillaging… Going house to house and demanding our candy… Dressed up in costumes - Harley Quinn, David S. Pumpkins, Slutty Huntsmen and Huntresses… and then the Slutty Grimm showed up, but they weren’t Slutty Grimm, they were actual Grimm! And they didn’t want to treat, they wanted to trick, and the trick was killing us all!”

After hearing the tale, Ruby, Jaune and Nora huddle together and come up with the plan: they’ll save the injured Huntsman’s life by taking him to the next village, and while they’re at it, they’ll cure cancer, end world hunger, bring their dead friends back to life, prove Yang isn’t the worst, and other things that are just as impossible.

But these kids wouldn’t be who they are if they weren’t determined to at least try, which is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking that Ren isn’t. In the background we see him silently far beyond the denial, already busy processing the inevitable: the man is dead, and there’s another ruined village seared into his memory forever.

Sad as it is, it’s also a fascinating and tantalising hint at Ren’s - and Nora’s by extension - past. What secrets are hidden beneath those luscious locks?

While Ren is busy abandoning the body without a second glance, Jaune takes it hard. Who can blame him? Compared to the rest of the gang he’s had it easy in the death department, and now, an innocent town full of people he knew that laughed at his ponytail that one time, all gone…

Sucks, man. Even if, y'know, statistically, some of them probably had it comin’. Had to have been at least one retired serial killer in town, who lives across the street from a retired art thief, and the two must team up to stop a serial murderthief that comes to town to intrude on their turf… Man, best movie premise ever.

Where’s the lie.

Oh, there he is. As if we hadn’t already got enough Ren goodness, here comes a mysterious symbol in the dirt. Now the questions: is this an actual symbol related to the bandits who attacked (and this moment is Ren and Nora realising it’s familiar and potentially related to their own backstory?) or, y'know, just a footprint of some big ol’ Grimm out there who led the pack of trick-or-treaters. Hope for the former, it’s probably the latter, stay tuned to find out!

Meanwhile, there are important things going on in Atlas. Very. Important. Things.

Hnnnnnrgh. Yep, it’s Ironwood, and he looks like he’s been taking the Fall of Beacon hard. Unshaven, down a button or two on his jacket, all classic signs. Makes sense, really - this guy lost his prize robohuntress, his best prisoner got eaten, his robot army Order 66’d everyone, and to top it all off, Ozpin’s gone…

Man, just think about it for a moment… What if some nights James just lies in bed beating himself up for his failures, how he went against Ozpin back in Volume Two for the safety of the kingdoms and ended up playing right into Cinder’s plans and now Penny’s dead and Beacon’s fallen and his credibility’s shattered and all he can think is how he’d trade it all - his rank, his armies, what’s left of his body - to have Ozpin back and believe in him, truly believe in him this time around, because the world seems darker than it used to now he’s gone, and all that’s left is the slimmest of hopes, a promise that maybe not all is lost, that they can save the kingdoms from destruction, reclaim and rebuild Beacon, end the war and the waste forever… Yeaaaaah, try not to think about Ironwood’s regrets, it’ll make you sad. This poor fuckin’ guy. And to make matters worse, he’s reduced to begging help from some asshole named Jacques.

Yep, Weiss’s dad isn’t a Wendell, or a W-name at all. Combine that with his hair in the family portrait shown earlier previously being black, and that’s how theories start about Jacques marrying into the Schnee family via Winter, Weiss and Whitley’s mother and taking the name for himself. Probably not, but who knows.

So anyway, Weiss sneaks in late in the conversation, and it’s clear whatever Ironwood’s there for, it’s not making Jacques Schnee happy. Then again, I don’t know what would make a guy like Jacques Schnee happy.

Yeah that might do it. (Side note: I wrote down “Weiss’s dad is Cave Johnson” as a note like three years ago, and prayed that that joke wouldn’t get sniped by someone in the fandom first. Unless I’m mistaken, it hasn’t, and as such, my prayers are confirmed to be actual magic. I will use my power for good, promise. Lancaster here we come!)

Something something Dust embargo costing Jacques millions, something something the council (glimpsed at the end of Volume Two, mentioned in the recent WoR), something something Ironwood’s got two seats on it (one for general-ness, one for headmaster-ness?), and the two get ready to go to blows before Weiss’s presence becomes noted.

Whoops. Ironwood recovers his composure nicely -

- and makes his exit while Jacques continues to look obstinate and moustache-y.

After promising to pick up the conversation later, the tin man takes a moment to try and collect the second Schnee sister for his collection (She’s a holographic card, very rare!).

The kindness of that brief interaction is about to be harshly contrasted with her own father’s treatment of her very existence, so let’s just enjoy the moment for another, err, moment.

And we’ll also take a second moment to mourn Ironwood leaving us, however briefly. Come back to us soon, you beautiful tropical starfish…

Right off the bat, Jacques chastises Weiss on her manners - “Weiss, why were you staring at the General’s crotch that whole time?” - and then promptly starts talking about his own problems.

And, to be fair, there are some legitimate ones. Cinder’s plan worked perfectly: Atlas’s robots were caught on video hanging out with those White Fang ruffians and Grimm punks right before Beacon fell, and the world knows it. No doubt they’re under enormous pressure to make up for it.

To that end, Ironwood’s forbidden the export of Dust from Atlas. Which is actually a hilariously smart move in one respect - it was shipments coming from Atlas that were being heisted by the White Fang all the way back at the end of Volume One, remember. It’s also meant to be a precaution against other kingdom armies from deciding to make Atlas pay for what happened to Vale.

However, the drawback is that cutting off supply lines might be, again, playing directly into the enemy plan. Without Dust, ammunition and the like to help defend the other kingdoms will run low, and if those kingdoms were attacked by outside forces that already have a bunch of Dust they stole, like, say, the White Fang and Salem’s faction… Hell, they might not even have to directly attack. Just let the supplies dwindle, the civil strife to start as demand increases and the economy goes to hell, the Grimm to show up as panic and fear increases… If this happens, even a little, then it’s also technically Ironwood’s fault. Again. Fuckin’ A, man, leave the guy alone.

But the real drawback, according to Jacques “Astounding Humanitarian” Schnee, is that he’s haemorrhaging money. Shocker.

To make up for such a thing, and to give Atlas’s public image a much-needed boost, they’ll be holding a charity concert. Suddenly the fancy gown Weiss was wearing in the concept art comes to mind…

Oh man oh man I hope it’s a full on opera scene. You can literally never go wrong with an opera scene. Think about it. Final Fantasy VI, The Fifth Element, Mission Impossible 5… It’s just science.

Weiss does not seem all that excited to make a show out of all her classmates dying horribly, however. And herein comes the part we all expected: Jacques is exactly the kind of domineering rich patriarch who’s used to getting what he wants from his children, and he doesn’t ask Weiss to sing, he tells her. Their body language makes it clear this is not an unfamiliar situation - she’s poised but smaller, hesitant and drawn, and he’s just steeping his fingers like a damn Bond villain. He can pull the “for the good of the family” card all he wants, but this, and everything else, is for his own sake. The Schnee name, the legacy, the shitton of charity money he’ll embezzle through the Red Cross. Keen eyes will notice the only picture on his desk is one of Whitley; if he didn’t need Weiss’s personal experience with the Battle of Beacon for this concert, they wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Warms the heart, really.

Outside, Weiss is met by her only ally, the kindly butler Klein. And while he’s not the seven robotic dwarves I’d personally hoped for, he’ll do. He’s kind, isn’t afraid to badmouth Papa Don’t Preach, and even makes crepes, hot coffee and Weiss laugh. … Yeah, he’s doomed.

And yep, he’s apparently all seven dwarves in one - eye colour changes and everything. And yep, his full name, Klein Sieben, basically means “little seven”. And yep, no one could go five minutes without busting out every other eye changing theory available (Yes Yang and Neo do it, no the eye colour changes for characters between V1 and V2 isn’t actually anything other than lighting changes, so stop that.)

Elsewhere, Ruby awakens from another nightmare - Pyrrha saying Jaune’s name over and over, and when it persists into reality, and Jaune himself appears missing, she’s heads off to investigate. It’s a beautiful night, pretty in an eternal sort of way, and in a nearby clearing she finds him, and he’s not alone.

Jaune is in the middle of training, for his training sessions are vampires and only come out at night (and preferably on rooftops), testing his new sword and shield out to the sound of Pyrrha’s voice, coming from a video on his scroll.

At first, it seems strange that she would’ve recorded such a thing. I mean c'mon Pyrrha you share a room with the guy don’t literally phone it in, but as the instructional part winds down, it soon becomes clear: Pyrrha left this message as a goodbye. Perhaps recorded as she was in the midst of accepting her fate to be the Fall Maiden, or maybe on a random Tuesday she read this recap, became aware of how doomed she was, and took a couple of minutes out of her schedule just in case. We don’t know. We don’t know when Jaune realised he had it either. It doesn’t matter, not really. She tells him he’s making progress. She tells him he’s unlike anyone she’s ever met. That he’s grown, that it’s only the beginning, that she… that she’s happy to have known him. That’s what matters.

And Jaune watches this, night after night, no doubt beating himself up just as much as anyone would in that situation - “I should’ve been better, I should’ve been there there, I should’ve told her she made me happy too, even if she smelled vaguely of cabbage.” - but, most importantly, he’s not just torturing himself with it. He’s processing his grief by believing in the only words she left him - he’s following her every instruction, making progress, growing, honouring her memory. He remembering her as she was, his teacher, his friend, and not some dead girl. He may be walking off in secret and doing this alone, but at least he’s doing it.

Ruby, meanwhile, hasn’t allowed herself to feel it. This is a girl who lost her mother too young to really understand, but still had an ache inside, and she recklessly courts death to try and fill it. She lost Penny and Pyrrha and her team in one fell swoop, unlocking a greater destiny and not refusing the call, because she’s Ruby Rose and she’s the paragon of hope… but she’s still having bad dreams. It’s not just hearing Jaune’s training sessions, and it’s definitely not some silver eyes visions that’ll somehow lead to Pyrrha’s eventual resurrection (or, well, it better not), it’s trauma, it’s grief, it’s a dam that’s building and building, and it’s going to explode. Sometime, someday, somehow.

I like to think the thing to take away from this scene is that Jaune’s grieving will be a set up for him to help Ruby with hers, or something. Either way, this scene and the one earlier are framed by Ruby waking up from her vaguely repressed experiences, and she’s due one last awakening in the future. Hopefully. I don’t know. I think on that note I’m just going to make one last Pyrrha joke and bounce.

Heh.

Two down, ten to go! Schnees being Schnees, Actual Cannibals Team RNJR, Ironwood being really really good looking, bit of sadness there at the end… Was a good ‘un. Next episode should - as hilarious as it would be otherwise - be the great return of Blake and Yang, doing Blake and Yang things. Or, well, Blake things and Yang things, separate from each other. If each episode ends up keeping the same ratio of RNJR then that would be amazing, but I doubt it. As for other predictions… Weiss is going to use that concert to make one hell of a public statement, Klein is going to die horribly or be horribly evil, RNJR are going to run afoul with bandits, and I’ll be back next week with those fifty Yang jokes I have already written.

Until then, may your dreams be filled with Ironwood fighting off those pesky chibis. Preferably shirtless. And pantsless. Wearing only some kind of metal codpiece… Mmmm. Good dreams to us all!