The hiatus is dead. Long live the hiatus. It’s been a long one, and eventful in ways both non-RWBY-y - hurricanes and clowns and Ash Ketchum losing another goddamn Pokemon League (You were right there, Ash! Right. There.) - and RWBY-y - the Pyrrhexit, RWBY And The Cursed Child coming out (way too much time travel, tbh) and apparently there was something about chibis? Anyways, it’s over now, rejoice all, and Volume Four has come to break us down into base components of pure sadness, also rejoice all. There’s a whole lot to look forward to, but before that let’s do a quick recap of the V4 Trailer then get in some general predictions for the madness to come. Sound like a plan?



We begin with a mysterious red-cloaked figure in a forest. A mysterious red-cloaked figure in a slightly different art style forest, to boot. Lookin’ good, mysterious red-cloaked figure in a forest!

The mysterious red-cloaked figure comes upon a town in the distance being raided by the Grimm:

Curious, seeing a town that small even daring to exist in wild lands, but I suppose we see how that worked out for them, huh. And speaking of curious, just who is this mysterious red-cloaked figure? SUMMER?!



No, it’s not Summer, sorry that one guy, it's…



Where last we saw Ruby Rose, she was setting out on a perilous journey to Mistral with the remains of Team JNPR, in what some recappers believe to be the greatest teamup of all time and have been eagerly awaiting to see. Right now, however, we see Ruby on her own, which may make you think my first V4 prediction post was correct and her new team turned to cannibalism in the winter, but more likely it’s the whole “deliberate callback to the original Red Trailer” thing. Let’s not discount cannibalism as a rule, however. Pyrrha’s dead, Yang’s an amputee - anything goes now!

Ruby hijacks a nearby Nevermore to take her into town, making a big splashy dramatic entrance by destroying a statue.



Forget Batman, she’s Spiderman - a menace, I say! And respected newspaper mogul J. Jonah Jameson would no doubt agree with me!



“Where are all the people fighting back? This is the country dammit where are all the farmers with guns? And farmers’s mums?”

It’s about now we get a full look at Ruby’s spectacular new outfit. It’s easily my favourite of all the new ones, keeping the basic goth Red Riding Hood vibe but maturing it with Ruby herself (the most hilarious comment about her added bust size I saw was someone on the subreddit referring to her “coming into her Entire Team genes”, btw). It’s crazy how already used to it I am - seeing fanart of the V1-V3 outfit feels wrong now, somehow.

Our girl Ruby goes to work on the enemy, quick as a flash, old hand at all this, right up until one of the Grimm start throwing rocks at her face. Throwing rocks, starting fires… these country Grimm do it all!

The whole rock-throwing thing is an indicator of increased intelligence in the wilder, older, Grimm, and I imagine they’re only going to get smarter the deeper into the heart of darkness we go. Calling it: by Volume Nine all Grimm will all be wielding gun-guns. But Ruby’s picked up a couple of tricks on her own, especially in regards to her semblance -

- and she takes care of ‘im, no big, kinda awesome move. New outfit, new badass tricks, V4 Ruby has it all.

But then comes along the boss fight to ruin her day.

This here’s a Beringel, and he’s a scurry-lookin’ fella despite having a name that makes me think of a brand of hair gel.

The threat of Grimm in general has been increasing exponentially since the back of V3, and this tank’s no exception. Ruby begins the fight on the back heel, getting tossed around and having lower levelled Grimm tossed at her.

Tossing everywhere, really. Even her new semblance tricks ain’t doing it!

Round one goes to Grimmrilla Grodd, but he can’t bask in his victory for long. There’s rose petals in the air, the music’s doing that build-y up-y thing…

George Of The Jungle certainly doesn’t see what’s next coming, which may have something to do with only having one eye and all. Ruby Rose, picking on the disabled. Menace, I say.

Spiderbatrubyman does whatever a Spiderbatruby can, and in this case it’s making like the end of King Kong and having beauty kill the beast. Shot to the head and swirly cloak and everything. Juuuuuust like King Kong.

After taking a moment to be annoyed the Beringel was one of those RPG bosses that doesn’t give any EXP (the worst), Ruby gets a call from her (not cannibalised) fam.

Aww lookit them all tiny and stuff. The new designs they’ve teased for these three are just perfect too - especially if you have a fetish for long hair. And Ren in general. Meow, Ren. Me. Ow. Anyway, thing of note is the “local area only” thing, which indicates that yes, the CCT system is still down, and RNJR’s just using walkie talkie mode. Unfortunately, budget cuts meant there was no time to record and animate each character’s line ending with the appropriate “over and out”. Shame.

Ruby tells the gang to hurry up and join in on the action, and jumps back into it herself in true Ruby fashion…

And now it’s time to get into the prediction game. A dangerous one, I know, but here we go. Super Special Awesome Team RNJR first - it’s a potential dynamic that has fascinated me from the moment it appeared, because it’s two separate teams united by their losses. There’s endless possibilities for friction between kids who are still grieving and trying not to replace anyone with anyone else, not to mention possible clashes of leadership or Ruby going off on her own like this being an actual thing… But I’d wager they’ll be a pretty solid unit overall, and hella fun to watch right up until the sad feels will happen. And they will, at some point, because just because it’s been six to eight months doesn’t mean anybody’s gotten completely over losing Pyrrha, and her presence will be felt (And just that, thanks. Any miracle Pyrrha resurrection bullshit and this recap will go nuclear on general principle. Am bracing myself for that possibility Jaune will go full Joan Of Arc and seeing her ghost, though.). There’s some emotional catharsis to be had somewhere with these four, because there has to be for the team to truly come together, and it’ll be great!

In a general plot-y sense, they’re headed to Mistral, but are still hanging out in the outskirts of Vale. This is probably for a number of reasons, most of them involving aquatic Grimm attacks when they catch a ship to Mistral, but it could be we get our fabled Ren and Nora backstory if we pass by their old village, but yeah. Gang’ll get to Mistral this volume, more sad feels if Pyrrha’s family is involved, and some reckoning with some member from Salem’s organisation will ensue. Qrow’ll show up, something something Ruby’s silver eyes, something something Jaune’s semblance finally who knows. Add some whacky fun adventures along the way and some new villains, and we’re golden. Speaking of gold, as in monetary value of gold, as in high monetary resources for certain families, as in the Schnees, as in Weiss Schnee, as in who we glimpse at the end of the trailer…

Weiss Schnee was last seen on her way back to Atlas with her father Mr Eduardo McMoustache Schnee (it’s canon until it isn’t). Considering her whole deal for three years was getting away from her family, going back is going to be a problem for Weiss. But she’s where she is to give us first looks at Atlas and Schnee Corp, not to mention more Schnee family dynamics that are no doubt less positive than Weiss and Winter’s (I’m still betting that despite all the buildup, Papa Schnee’s real evil is that he just tells dad jokes. Because it seems like what would happen, let’s be real), and there’s also the possibility of exploring either Atlesian military (bring Ironwood back to me, Weiss. I believe in you) or various White Fang activities. It might be nice to see some Schnee Corp’s atrocities first-hand and how this new and improved Weiss reacts, because this is a Weiss who threw herself at a lava plume for Yang and risked getting cleaved by a Paladin for Velvet - knock 'em dead Weiss, you’re the real secret MVP. Meanwhile, with the former less secret MVP…

Blakey Blakey Blakey… What oh what are we going to do with you. Crushed by the guilt of all things Adam related, she ran away at the end of V3, so this year she’s in for an emotionally charged season (who isn’t, huh?) for sure. Her destination is an open book, but returning to her less terrorist-y Faunus roots might be on the menu for her - so Menagerie, Mistral or Vacuo here we come, and possible Belladonna family funtime with it (just tell us they existed, at least?). Last I heard she’s travelling with Sun and there’s some (literal) ships involved, which I can dig. It’ll be nice to get some measure of continuity of their relationship, whatever it may be or how it’ll end up, but I imagine the purpose of Sun is to be a platform for Blake’s ongoing issues with getting close to people at all, and how that conflicts with her knowledge that one day Adam could take it away from her. Whether or not she’ll go after the White Fang in some capacity remains to be seen, but she’ll be doing something. Back in Volume Two we had an episode involving Team RWBY thinking about their goals - Weiss wanted to change Schnee Corp from the inside, and since she’s is in a prime position for that kind of storyline, Blake might be headed the same way with hers, to do something involving true equality for Faunus and stopping the White Fang’s from ruining the dream. Meanwhile, Ruby’s also off being a heroic huntress through and through (and without hesitation, simple soul and all that), and Yang…

Well, remember when Yang said she was just in it for the adventure? Just living for the moment? Well, the adventure broke her, a moment she lived changed every moment to follow, and now she has to regain her sense of self. We see her here in the trailer at her lowest, but we’ve seen her badass promo art too, and that tells us Yang’s story this volume is about a phoenix rising from the ashes. Current thinking is that she’ll orient toward her goal of finding her wayward mother and all kinds of madness will ensue, but her proximity to Vale could lead to some arc there involving those still dealing with the aftershocks of the Fall Of Beacon, or whatever. Either way, I imagine it’ll be a slow and steady one - she’s in a dark place now, and she’ll spend some time with her father (whose own journey with depression will be explored for the parallels and stuff) - and it won’t be easy on her. It’s okay Yang, I’m sure the show will be kind to you one day. And the recaps, too!

Eventually, anyway…

So now that I’ve gotten those more specific predictions out of the way, let’s hit the general ones. Some of these are really out of left field, but here goes:

If literally every character does not show up in the first scene of the first episode, then the show is ruined, RT’s going to the dogs, Miles and Kerry deserve to be lynched, et cetera.

A small but admirable sect of the fanbase will become convinced that everyone has been replaced by a shapeshifting Neo. Again.



More than likely, folk will misunderstand that characters reuniting later in the season than right away is, y'know, dramatically satisfying and stuff.



People will continue to think that the Youtube episode captions are actually officially written and/or endorsed by RT. They’re not. Stop thinking things.



For every one post of someone enjoying any form of Ruby and Jaune interaction, there will be twenty posts telling people off for enjoying it, and to stop doing that.



Sun is travelling with Blake, which either means a further development of their relationship which will lead to riots from certain subsections of a section of the fanbase, or he’ll be a good friend who’ll encourage Blake and Yang’s eventual reunion, in which case he becomes the new patron saint of those aforementioned certain subsections of a section of the fanbase despite the posts currently talking about how much of an abusive asshole he is. Never change, unnamed certain subsections of a section of the fanbase. Speaking of, there will be an actual Bumblebee song on the soundtrack this time, but that song about Qrow’s ode to whiskey will also be claimed as one too, just in case.



All those people who bailed after Volume Three’s ending (for whatever various reason) will still be mysteriously hanging around to talk about how they bailed after Volume Three’s ending. They will occasionally say as much before talking about the Volume Four episode they just watched.



A meteor will crash into the earth, killing billions, destroying civilisation as we know it, and sending humanity back to the dark ages. This one’s my outta left field prediction, by the way.



Volume Five will come after Volume Four. I know, I know, I’m getting silly now. I’ll stop.



And that’s all from me, folks. V4 is less than a day away from current writing, and I’m excited as hell, and I’m sure y'all are too, 'cause as it stands, the sky’s the limit. Everyone’s out of Beacon, the oyster that is the world of Remnant is at optimum shucking levels, the gang’s split up, feels like anything can happen, visuals’ve kicked it up another notch, there’ll be new characters and new fights and new music… Yeah, twelve episodes of complete and utter hype are about to ensue, and I hope to see you all back here for the recaps every week! You da best. I’m also out of general positive things to say about my readers, so I’m going to end this with some eerily specific affirmations. Josh, that shirt looks great on you. Lisa, did you do something with your hair? It’s fantastic! James, I’m proud of you for your recent exam score/performance in local sport game. Danica, good luck with your driving test. Nicholas, congrats on your recent engagement, I wish all the best for you and [insert name here]! Rhonda, you keep being you, because you is awesome. And Jessie, I know you had a hard day, but tomorrow is another day, and you can do it!

… Hmm. Yeah I’ll stick to the general ones. Even if that shirt really does look great on you, Josh.