Three seasons ago, Ruby Rose foiled a robbery and got herself free cookies and tuition for it. Two seasons ago, the greatest food fight in history of Remnant took place (only to be later usurped by the Blake Vs Adam fight in V3, if only for Yang’s arm fitting the loosest possible definition of food). One season ago, everyone was alive and happy and still in school and fighting in a tournament, and now… boy did Bob Dylan have it right: the times they did-a-change. Lots to talk about, new faces everywhere, and also in this week’s recap Salem attempts to educate a group of rough and tumble inner city students, while Jaune takes tactician cues from the guy responsible for The Bay Of Pigs. Intrigued? Click the KEEP READING below.

Before we get started, brief housekeeping: past recaps can be found at the new RECAP MASTERPOST. It’s new and shiny and is now my fourth such post. Because it’s the fourth year doing this. My god, time makes fools of us all. How many housekeeping paragraphs like this one have I written? How many nights have I stared into the recapping abyss, hoping it would blink first? Do I even exist anymore, or am simply a recap of someone else’s life, a recap that exists only to recap? Do I need to stop having deep thoughts? Do I blame the Black Mirror binge watch for said thoughts? I don’t know, but let’s just get on with the show before the abyss swallows us all…

Mazel tov! It’s a nightmarish creature from hell! Talk about an opening shot, yeesh. Fluid dynamics, shades of the Urak-hai being born under Isengard, beautiful alien landscape. And then to those watching…

Gotta admit, did not expect to see those two so soon. They look like they’re having fun, don’t they? Wonder who they carpooled with.

So, uh, Cinder. Heeeey gurl. Have you changed your hair? Because it looks great. And that eyepatch is very festive - who are you meant to be? … Oh, you aren’t dressing up for Halloween? … Oh. Well this is awkward.

After a good couple of seasons of getting Cinder Fall the implacable mysterious speechifying femme fatale, we start off this season with a defeated, scarred, mute. Initially, seeing this right state she’s in might inflict one with a satisfaction that karma came back around - her wound seems to echo the one inflicted on Amber, at least. Still an arrow to the throat away from fully avenging Laura Bailey, though! - but the hilarious writing trick here is how some of that satisfaction melts away when we meet her cohorts.

How do you make your old villain a little less villain-y? Introduce the older villain kids who beat her up in villain high school. Ever since we knew for sure Cinder wasn’t the one in charge, she was destined to be shown on a totem, and right now she’s at the bottom. The young upstart who picked up an urchin, an assassin’s son, a street rat and the first meninist to walk on the moon as her posse, and gave it the ol’ college try.

Dr Watts, the moustachioed fellow who has “golfs with Weiss’s dad in his spare time” written all over him, is the aggressor while Hazel naps and Tyrian fails to learn how chairs work. Watts is introduced condescending Cinder for her injury and her company. How dare.

As far as character-y business goes - Watts invokes “watt” which, y'know, makes you think yellow, but Watts seems to be a last name, could have a colour-y first name. No clue of his inspiration; most folk so far like to guess it’s Dr Watson gone spare after putting up with Holmes’s shit for too long. Ahh, who knows. Anyways, onto Tyrian.

Tyrian - a shade of purple - seems like a well adjusted individual, and I won’t hear a single word otherwise. It’s Hazel you gotta watch for - it’s always the quiet ones who like to nap that are to be feared. He’ll be a tough nut to crack. Heh.

Quick thing before we move on: another speculation is to exactly where this magical purple and red world is, and that starts in on the crazy underworld theories. I’m just going to go with the simple one: Salem is the Wicked Witch Of The West, and that western dragon-y continent on the map is awfully empty these days. There. And hey, speaking of the walking witch trial.

Salem glides her way into the room, commanding attention in the way only a potentially thousand-year-old witch with a twenty-something’s perky bust can, and shuts down Watts’s notion of Cinder having failed right off the bat.

No Voldemort-esque torture from her; Salem’s been to a few management retreats in her time, couple of wellness retreats. Ozpin just threw cookies and mysterious speeches at people.

And she’s right, really. Cinder didn’t fail any more than the Michael Bay Transformers movies did. The box office numbers love her! Silver eyed warriors, not so much.

Ominous much? Potential Summer shoutout also much?

It seems like there’s some sort of inherit weakness in Maidens that’s related to the Silver-Eyed Joes (where did they come from and where did they go?). Cue the plot twist where the Maiden magic powers and the Grimm (aka the thing the Silver Eyes were meant to kill) are from the same source or whatever. Callin’ it.

Well anyways, Salem gets to assigning her people - Watts to Mistral (guess we’ll be seeing him again), Tyrian to hunt for the Spring Maiden (Summer and Winter Maidens are where, exactly?), and Hazel is to go with Adam and meet with the White Fang’s leader, Sienna Khan (fun fact: we got a glimpse of the WF’s leader back in Blake’s story to Sun in the V1 finale. Also “Sienna Khan” evokes Shere Khan, the tiger from the Jungle Book. Must be a fish Faunus…). As for Cinder, she’s on bed rest. Thankfully not with Watts as her doctor, ‘cause he’s a meanieface.





Stupid Dr Watts. Bet he’s not even a real doctor. Like Dr Phil. Or Dr Pepper. Also dammit way to make us sympathise with Cinder some more (though success may vary if you’re still holding a grudge over that whole “murdering Pyrrha” thing).

Salem, again earning her #1 Boss coffee mug, does Cinder a revenge-y solid and retasks Tyrian to hunt for Ruby instead - boy won’t his sane face be red when it turns out Ruby’s also the Spring Maiden all along!

Before we go from here, quick thing: there’s two empty seats here at the Evil League Of Evil’s table. It’s a smart narrative move to not introduce all the bigger fish at once - best to wait until after Tyrian or Watts trip and fall into pits first before bringing out the bigger guns. As to who those guns might be, speculation is running like that Woody Harrelson film as to whether or not we’ve actually met one of them before. Raven seems the popular choice, though I doubt it (unless she was a member then left, which is a very Raven move), and other candidates include the shopkeeper, Neo, Ironwood’s evil twin Frank, Negan (he might be busy though), Neo disguised as the shopkeeper, and Bad Horse, the thoroughbred of sin. Either way, whoever’s not there probably has a good reason - it’s been six to eight months since the fall of Beacon and they could only just meet up now to chat, and destroying the world is like the most intensive group project ever. Goddamn miracle they got five in the same room this far from their deadline, honestly.

Annnnd end scene. Beacon has fallen, Haven is next, a totally sane individual is coming for Ruby Rose’s eye. Welcome to Volume Four. Call it a hunch, but we’ll be back in this evil council room by the end of the season, maybe with a new member/another council member revealed. Same setup as the Summer gravestone last year, amirite.

Meanwhile, in the world of Harvest Moon (yeah that’s right I eschewed the more relevant Stardew Valley reference with the game I’ve fonder memories of WHAT OF IT KAREN)…

As far as introductions go, this one’s strange and unlike any other new RWBY character. We meet a mysterious farm boy, waking up from a dream that may or may not’ve been a vision of the scene before who even knows, and he gets up and does his morning routine.

Annnnnnd that’s it. He’s farming for potatoes, and he wants us all to join in. So. What’s up with The Artist Formerly Known As Farmboi? The two leading horses in this theory race we’re all going to lose money on is that he’s either the Spring Maiden (the rare exception to the female only rule or a trans character? pick your take!) or Ozpin (perhaps reincarnated or having passed on his wizard-y powers like the Maidens pass on theirs, and some part of him may continue on). Both are valid options, let’s not lie, especially since he’s introduced juxtaposed against a scene that discusses finding the Spring Maiden heavily, and that the firm belief of Salem’s that Ozpin is dead seems ripe for a “BITCH YOU THOUGHT” moment down the line. The wildcard third option is that he’s just a normal guy who’s going to intercede with Team RNJR’s journey, maybe join them and be an enjoyable and uncomplicated adventure seeker who will then get some sort of bigger picture thing shoved at him. Who knows. It’s something. Probably. Let’s not say crazy things so quickly. Remember how people think Neo is more than a character created from a genderbent Torchwick cosplay and inserted into an episode like three days before it was going to air? Maybe Kerry was on a Harvest Moon kick one day, and voila…

Whatever the big reveal to come may be, I seriously hope it happens in the finale, and only after every episode we begin with a brief minute of this guy’s life. Like, just have him show up every episode, no explanation, people begin to lose hope there’s really a reason, and then BAM. He’s Ironwood’s secret evil clone Phineas, and his compost is made up of tiny children corpses. That he then EATS.

So anyways, Farmboi glances off in the distance - indicating a proximity to Team RNJR? His spidey senses tingling? Tell me your secrets already man or I swear I - wait. Mysterious, not telling us anything, probably farming cocoa beans. Yeah it’s Ozpin all right. Quick, someone ask Farmboi about his opinion on penis chairs. So anyways take two, let’s see what the gang’s up to.

Ren and Nora are enjoying an afternoon stroll in some pretty pretty forests (super pretty. And so was the farm in the scene before. Animation/environments/et cetera team the real MVPs here), discussing one of the friendlier fandom arguments of the past hiatus: what’s their new team name?

Nora wants JNRR, because she’s wrong, and Ren wants RNJR, because he’s right, and unfortunately, Jaune still needs time to come 'round from also being wrong. Team RRNJ is not floated. I was on Team RRNJ at first, but in time I’ve happily moved onto “Super Team RNJR Awesome Fun Team Awesome Time”.

First thing to notice is that while Nora and Ren got their upgraded looks - I bet Nora’s jacket doubles as a life preserver, and Ren’s arm coverings (I almost typed “arm leggings”) could be used to signal planes - Jaune has not. Same ol’ hoodie, no assless chaps in sight.

Some new determination, though, because this stroll ain’t no picnic. It’s a bug hunt man, a bug hunt!, and their hunter emerges from a nearby tree, having found their prey.

Cue to callback to The First Step here, landing strategies and all that, hey let’s look again at the title of this episode neato! But what’s Ruby hunting, again?

This is a Geist Grimm, essentially possessing a rock golem to become a Petra Gigas. Neato, huh?

You can thank Miles for tweeting the names too, though I find no fault in my Rock Lobster reference. And neither will any of you.

So anyway, it’s time for your standard battle recap text here. There’s fighting, it’s great, I’m rewatching it now and more paying attention to it than the recap as I write this sentence something about an ice cream sundae just drizzled with caramel and a quarter past five microwave orange monkey eagle.

Ruby’s got a new trick with her specialised Dust rounds - electric rounds to start, better used for crowd control tasings (or ExtraLife stream tasings) than on these big fellas. Nora can also travel on her hammer’s smoke trail, and Ren’s guns have new sound effects (that make it sound more effective). Ren’s also got more ninja skills going (he’s a joy to watch this whole battle, honestly), and Ruby’s also got her rosey teleport-y badassery, and Jaune…

Again: he’s trying.

Curiously, he seems to be without his weapon. I wonder why! I wonder if we’ll find out! I wonder if it’s related to his lack of outfit upgrades!

I wonder a lot of things, really. Like if the team strategy meeting that put Jaune in charge of battle strategies was also being led by Jaune, hence Jaune being put in charge of battle strategies.

He witnesses the chaos just fine, as Nora scores the first hit by taking out an arm.

I joke, but if Yang’s replacement for her stump is an actual stump, it’s both good wordplay and foreshadowed here!

As Jaune runs, Ruby takes a leaf out of Weiss’s book and prepares to burn the leaf, the book, the entire forest… Which backfires. Heh. Get it. Back”fire”s.

Cue the team strategy meeting. Jaune is in his element - I wanna say… Potassium? - which is nice to see. It’s a general fandom idea that Jaune’s got the potential tactician chops, because better this than him upstaging or outclassing anyone in fight scenes and having to deal with that fallout…

Anyways, the team puts together the intel: the Grimm’s protecting its face, which means…

But also means… That they just have to hit it. And by it, its limbs. And then its face. Flawless strategy. Flawless recapping.

Nora prepares a new upgrade for the occasion that involves the release of electricity to activate her semblance (not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping they’d do that but with Ruby shooting her with her electric bullets. It’s a great mental image.

In the end, every limb is not cut off one by one like Nora probably did to some poor flies in her youth, but Ruby and Nora do a fusion dance (and earn themselves a few new shippers) to blast the Petra Gigas to smithereens.

Leaving the poor Geist stuck in a useless body. Like a turtle on the back of its shell.

Almost sad, isn’t it? A Grimm, a creature of hatred and malignancy, forced to confront the realities of mortal existence in its basest form, stuck between the bounds of space and time, an eternal instant of knowing that they can’t do anything but comprehend that they are trapped, like so many human minds in their own anxieties and - oh wait, the Grimm just flew away from his problems. Lucky bastard.

Ruby snipes it - the simplest little finishing move like that is always hella satisfying for some reason - and the team gathers in to dunk Gatorade on the coach.

Good work, team. I know I’ve said this before, but man, I love seeing these four hanging out. It just feels like a great balance - they’re four characters on a serious mission, yes, but they’re also four of the lighter characters, and they’re still themselves, still bickering and bantering and enjoying the sunnier days while they can. And they just groove so well already - all through this episode you can feel the camaraderie of having survived the wilds together for months. Sigh… Can I keep this forever?

Godspeed, Torchwick’s Avengers (™). Godspeed. And off they go, back to town to turn in the quest and check for new support conversations.

So by now it’s clear that RNJR’s not just been hanging out in the woods, Walking Dead style, but they’ve been based out of a nearby village, taking care of the local Grimm population for travel money.

And c'mon look at these amazing kids - not even fully licensed and trained Huntsmen, and they’re doing the job because it’s the right thing to do. They’ve probably delayed their quest a dozen times to rescue cats from trees. How can you not love them.

Like pfft you think Weiss, Blake and Yang have been doing stuff like this? Doubt it. Everyone else from Beacon probably just went home and told their parents they’ve “got plans next year” and did jack all.

Anyways, this quaint and small town’s quaint and small townish way of life is highlighted in such a way to contrast with the bigger Vale - the danger is greater out in the wilds, and it wouldn’t take three volumes worth of evil people planning to destroy a village like this, just a stiff wind and a Geist possessing that stiff wind. It’s both sad and highlights RNJR’s decision to do good samaritan work while they can. What’s the point of saving the whole world if you don’t save all the little ws. The os. The rs. The ls. The ds.

On a related note, what’s the point of saving the world if you don’t upgrade your gear? Turns out there was a reason Jaune went weaponless in the last battle. No wonder!

And with this outfit change is the moment of truth. RIP the first true casualties for the season: those who thought there truly was something there. I kinda pegged the bunny, same one as his kickin’ onesie from V1C3, since the moment we learnt there was a secret symbol (because when it came up, Miles or whoever at the time called it a stupid joke. Occam’s bunny symbol strikes!)

Absolutely blindsided me they decided to drop that here, though - it’s such a hilarious juxtaposition to the end of V3 and a screw you to those who thought RWBY was going down the grimdark only path, I love it. And Lindsay’s VA work on Ruby’s laugh was A++.

And speaking of blindsided… We’ve known for a bit Jaune’s outfit upgrade would include a red sash in honour of our dear departed P-Wozzles, but then along came this moment:

Both shield and sword are upgraded with Pyrrha’s circlet (and/or her shield and/or weapon fragments), no doubt recovered from the top of Beacon Tower and delivered to either Ruby or Jaune. Either or, this was a nice moment and yeah, actually a pretty great way to honour Pyrrha. She was a defender and a fighter both, a champion of her craft, and her spirit living on in a sword and shield feels like the highest honour this show, this show that lives and dies by its weapons, could give. It’s the first actual base weapon upgrade we’ve had, and it wasn’t done for the sake of a cool future fight scene, but for the emotion, the history, to have Pyrrha Nikos, in her passing, achieve immortality. She was destined to die before the show started, but her influence, her spirit, her everything, will outlive her, maybe even as far as ten seasons from now. Think about that for a moment. Think about the sheer beauty in Jaune merging her metal into his family arms - a sword and shield passed from father to son, Arc to Arc, for years and years, now forever entwined in legacy and destiny with Pyrrha Nikos. For every Arc to follow Jaune, there will be Pyrrha, a paragon of virtue and glory risen above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. That’s practically marrying into the family’s very soul, but, y'know, post-mortem. It’s perfect.

Oh, and there’s also a great joke about how Pyrrha got melted down and so they decided to melt her remaining belongings down to truly honour her, but hey, let’s not ruin the serioustime moment, Matt. (Also, there’s a dozen theories already about Pyrrha’s literal spirit being in the sword; italeteller’s is pretty neat, check it out).

The gang prepares to head out on the ol’ dusty trail, their plans detailed: get an airship in the next village to Mistral, prevent Ruby from getting her eye gouged out by the declared-sane-by-six-psychological-experts Tyrian, and then pop 'round the Winchester for a pint.

There they go. My team. Please don’t be gone too long.

As Jaune, Ren and Nora count off their supplies - they especially have to be careful with their food unless they want another winter incident. Poor Zwei, shoulda stayed home… - Ruby decides to take the SchneeCorp namedrop as an opportunity to dwell…

It’s a fair question. How is Weiss doing?

Well, she looks good. Her butler, Klein, has news that her father wishes to speak to her, which I’m sure bodes well, but other than that, can we go back to Team RNJR now? No? All right…

Before we go, there’s the opening to quickly go over. It’s a little less dark than last year’s, sort of “business as usual let’s go save the world” kinda deal, starts with confirming Blake’s heading to Menagerie by way of coloured lights on the world map, then shows us Ruby and her team, then heads to Weiss (who has a possible white-haired relative in her midst. Cousin Oliver, I’m watchin’ you.), and then a brief peek at the Most Important Thing:

Ironwood. Ironwood with stubble. Ironwood who’s been having a bad time but lookin’ damn good at the same time. Lord have mercy. Oh, and there’s also Blake on a boat.

She’s on a boat with Sun and two cat-like individuals that most have pegged as her parents. In which case - jeez Blake way to hide that from us. For my sake I hope it’s just parents, and not, god forbid, that Blake has a… sister.

SISTERWATCH2K16 BEGINS. I thought I was free from the tyranny of getting new sisters sprung on me outta nowhere after last year. But I see that this volume’s may not be as kind to me. Fool me once, RWBY. Go on and fool me. Pray that that’s Blake’s mother. Not her aunt, because then her aunt is a sister to Blake’s mother, and that’s just as bad as Blake having a sister. Anyways, more flashing images - Ruby Vs Tyrian, Ren, Nora and Jaune fighting Grimm (we need to get that lot some nemeses, stat), Blake Vs Adam (and he has two goons with him, neato), Weiss having a meltdown while practicing her summoning, and, of course, Yang…

… is dealing with her PTSD. So, y'know, that story’s going to be a right laugh. Especially to recap.

So that’s about it from me, yeah? Next episode’s less than a day away, and there’s not much to predict. The transition at the end of this one means we’re headed to Weissland for a bit, but I doubt it’ll be the whole episode (and I doubt that then Blake would get Ep3 and Yang Ep4. Ain’t happening) - Ep2 will probably be a look at what Weiss, Blake and Yang are all up to. Checking in, catching up, couple of new characters, and, if the fates are kind, a hundred screencaps of Ironwood and his new stubble. Swooooon.

Until then, be sure to like/reblog/share/leave a comment (my favourite joke of the recap was probably Jaune’s new sword - what’s yours?) here or on the Recap Masterpost on the RT site or on the R/RWBY thread that’ll pop up… Spoilt for choice, all. So peace out, be good to each other (except to that one guy. They don’t deserve it) because one day there could be no each other, thanks for reading, something something caramel sundae.