Review: RWBY “Welcome to Haven”

We’re off to see the lion.

Overview

Ruby, Qrow, and the remains of Team JNPR head over to Haven to meet up with Professor Lionheart. Weiss escapes on board a cargo plane and has a moral dilemma. Blake and Illia have a face to face, and Yang sets out on her own.

Our Take

More of the maidens are discussed this time, specifically why they are so important. Qrow knows that. They are the only ones that can reach the Relics, but the Spring Maiden fled her responsibility. Since then, she is with Raven’s bandit crew, and they need to retrieve her as soon as possible. Lionheart is reluctant to do so instantly. It seems that this season is going to focus on the Spring Maiden and her retrieval. Considering we only really know about the Fall Maiden and Cinder, this should be interesting lore-building.

Lionheart is most likely based off the lion from the wizard of Oz, who was at first cowardly and learned to find his strength. He is clearly being blackmailed or forced back by an unknown figure, which is preventing him from acting as the support the main team needs. It’s likely that he may even betray them in the upcoming future. It’s still a little early to gauge how I feel about this, because he initially brings up a strong point– his kingdom’s borders are weak from their territory being so large, they’ve lost a significant part of their defensive force, and it’s not easy to convince a council to deploy troops on a whim. Haven is in chaos, and he has the responsibility of trying to hold it together. While the blackmail angle could play out in the story’s favor, it’s a little disappointing to see that the story isn’t really addressing a very stressful and real part of leadership in crisis management.

The first episode sets up a lot for the coming season, and hopefully, it can deliver on this new and complex threat.