Look, I'll admit, it's a fun scene. Again, I see this as further proof that this is a team of people that are clearly having a blast making this show; I don't think it's possible to construct a scene like this unless you love what you do. It doesn't move the plot forward and it hardly develops the characters past what we already knew about them, but it was still fun.

But one thing I was thankful for was the pulling away from the shenanigans with a refined focus on moving the narrative forward (albeit, after the food fight of the century). Pretty much right away from episode 2 onward, Team RWBY had a very definite goal to accomplish, and the show had a direction to move towards. The shady going-on's of the villains from Volume 1 were being actively investigated by our characters; all of their team decisions and most of their individual ones were motivated by identifying/pursuing a group of criminals that were causing severe emotional harm to one of their members. As story motivation and plot direction go, this is not a bad path to take, and as a result Volume 2 was significantly more watchable and its climactic finish all the more effective. I still have many issues with Volume 2 (writing and dialogue are weak, pacing needs work, standard animation still abysmal, I pretty much disliked the entire "school dance" arc for completely lacking nuance), but I won't deny that the team managed to address the show's structural issue. The show went from "characters fighting" to "characters fighting for something" (even bothered to ask them "why" they were fighting in the process), and that to me is a definite victory.

My biggest issue with RWBY is that the creative team jams so many amazing action set pieces into their show, but in regards to the narrative only a couple are ever truly earned. Volume 1 is loaded with crazy choreography, but it's so frequent and overdone I hardly feel any of it. But the end of Volume 2, they earned that. The earned their big flashy collision by preceding it with a series of slower respites, soul searching and an arrangement of character focused moments.

In a lot of ways, I view Volume 2 as the creative team's highest point in terms of confidence and union. A lot of work needed to be done to make Volume 1 even possible, but for Volume 2 most of the construction work was done and the team could focus on refinement. There was a chance to really buckle down and ask "what story are we telling, and why". Granted, I'm sure a fair chunk of the story direction was built around pleasing a newly discovered fanbase; again, not a fan of the school dance teen drama arc, but much like its characters during said dance, this was the high point of the emotional journey for everyone. Tragedy was right around the corner, and RWBY and it's production team would never be the same...

Volume 3 - A Series of Unfortunate Events

The third run of RWBY is, in an interesting fashion, the season with both the least and most connection to the series' brand. Featured in Volume 3 is everything you should expect from RWBY: generally overindulgent fanfare, character development that continually misses the mark, the introduction of way too many pointless/gimmick characters, and the largest arrangement of action for action's sake the series has ever seen. On the other hand, Volume 3 also features some of the best character and dramatic moments up to this point, very reservedly uses some of its better characters to solid effect, develops plot in ways that completely challenge and eventually obliterate the status quo refreshingly, and while most of the action scenes feel really tacked on, they are all executed well and show off some of the series' best choreography to date. Volume 3 is like watching a drunk attempting to do an acrobatic pirouette off the handle, slamming its body all over the floor over and over before eventually landing with the grace of an angel (and then falling over again).

That being said, I don't think there was any other possible outcome for Volume 3 than to be inconsistent, flailing and occasionally very emotional, largely because the season was ultimately defined by loss.

By the end of Volume 3, it's actually easier to keep track of what characters have lost rather than what they've gained, and that's also true of the story as a whole. There were 3 main character deaths with ascending levels of emotional plunge (the third being probably the lowest point of Ruby's "hero's journey" so far). The entire setting of "Beacon Academy" - the safe haven that the majority of the story exists within - is completely destroyed. One member of Team RWBY loses an arm, and all of them are forcibly split apart by the end of things. Even the primary antagonist after having stolen an ultimate power, practically loses everything in the process. What was there to gain? Ruby learns more about her destiny/birthright, and is even able to make decisions regarding her future, but at the cost of losing a close friend. And, of course, there was the most tragic loss of them all.

Midway through the development of Volume 3, Monty Oum suffered an allergic reaction during a standard medical procedure, rendering him comatose and in critical care. Things were looking terrible, and despite the support of friends, fans and family, Monty Oum passed away tragically young and early in his career. He was loved, he was mourned, and he left behind a world with a now uncertain future. For any creative project to lose its creator is difficult beyond measure, and is only more difficult for a show as upbeat and energetic as RWBY. Imagine being Rooster Teeth in this situation: What do you do? You've already completed a large portion of the development of Volume 3, but you're now without a director and are left with a grieving team.

I unfortunately don't have all the details or facts on how things went internally. I do know what's been made public though: Gray Haddock, the Animation Head of RT, announced that Volume 3 would premiere in 2015 as planned (and was only a couple months behind the intended release), the show found a new director with Kerry Shawcross (who has been the director ever since), and RWBY has continued strong through an overwhelming show of passion, both from its team and its fanbase.

But I can't help but see Volume 3, in all it's cluttered mess, as a reflection of the internal creation at this point. The show starts off in its standard upbeat, frantic fighting mindset and having all the fun in the world when it is suddenly and violently jilted mid-season, forcing one of its main characters out of commission and leaving them with a degree of lasting mental trauma. Only a couple episodes later, the story completely flips over and threatens to destroy the characters' home, which is (due to a lack of other settings in this world so far) their entire world and functional safe haven. They struggle, throwing everything they have at the problem, but not only do they lose the battle but also lose one of the most iconic figures in the story altogether...and ultimately for almost nothing. I may be reading too far into it, but there's just too much matching structure of events for me to write off as entirely coincidental. I sincerely think the creative team fashioned Volume 3 not just with the story in mind, but also to help their audience empathize with how they feel right now: defeated, scattered and grieving.

But the show must go on, and whether the team has realized it or not, the passing of Oum didn't cripple the show. If anything, it gave them a moment to take a pause and reevaluate where the story stood, and RWBY would be all the better for it...