Review: RWBY Vol.4 – Chapter 3: OF RUNAWAYS AND STOWAWAYS

This episode delves into three separate storylines without Ruby or Weiss in the mix…

Click Here to see what you missed from Episode 2.

And now Spoilers…

Story-A: Yang

Yang tries to adjust to life with one arm and as she channel-surf’s it feels like a giant “Exposition Dump” on how much the RWBY universe has changed ranging from news coverage of people trying to fix what’s left her old school Beacon to the CCT Tower “Preventing contact with the outside world” after it got fixed to even their government putting a stop to methods of traveling on airships and then stops at a Lisa Lavender news report about Adam but she quickly turns it off and her Dad shows up with a gift.

When Yang sees it, It turns out to be a White Atlas-Tech mechanical arm which at first you’d think would be cool for her to have (And in a way feels like meta-commentary for the rabid fans who want her to have one at this point despite her promotional art claiming otherwise.) Taiyang says it was Ironwood’s way of saying thanks for fighting bravely  during the Beacon disaster and despite having good-intentions behind the gesture, She still goes upstairs to further sulk in her room.

I’m surprised they brought out the arm so soon, but in a world where having prosthesis is common then it’s not too far-fetched. I think since everyone guessed yang would get a metal arm at some point they decided to make the focus on accepting her loss and frustration about losing to Adam and failing to protect her friends the growth catalyst rather than just powering up again with a new arm. I think that’s the most logical approach for her growth in general because she’s used to being able to endure life and keep her happy attitude. However, she was stripped of that when facing Adam, by not being able to endure his strike and losing instantly, which in turn made Blake run again because of her guilt for endangering her friends with the past she’d be warning them of the entire show. I think we’ll all be waiting for the day when Yang realizes that sitting and doing nothing won’t fix her problem but moving forward and acting on it will. The arm is a part of what she’ll need to accept her loss but I know it’ll be awhile before she thinks she deserves it or even puts it on which I’m cool with because PTSD is some serious shit and if people don’t understand that and think she’s just being whiny remember she’s never felt a loss this big before since her mother left and we’ve seen how it affected her, it made her reckless.

We then see a montage of her doing daily stuff until she gets hit with a PTSD moment when she accidently breaks a glass as her dad wonders how to help her. (Because we need another reminder of Legend of Korra right fellas?)

While, RWBY and team JNPR are showing hints of the psychiatric scars from it the shit that went down last season, You can also tell that they’re fighting hard to keep it in check and suppress it because that’s what they have to do to keep moving forward. Still, it makes sense that Yang would be the only one to have full on PTSD to the point that fighting it back isn’t something she’s able to do yet. She went from being the most powerful girl on the team in terms of raw capabilities and being able to at least hold her own against any opponent that wasn’t Neo, to being defeated in a single blow and being permanently disabled, (discounting the robot arm of course). They’re also handling her emotions and state of being after all of that pretty perfectly. The girls have spent their lives training to be warriors, so for the most part, they have been readied to accept defeat and move on for the greater good. But in many ways, Yang was never really like them. Everyone else has had reasons to fight and better themselves, and move past their fears and heartaches to keep going. Yang though was only ever in it to have fun and see the world and go on adventures. She’s not a weak character emotionally speaking, but all things considered, she was the most fragile, and she got hit the hardest by what happened at beacon…..

Story-B: Blake

While on a ship, Blake figures she won’t be needing her bow to hide her cat-ears anymore and drops it while unbeknownst to her, a cloaked figure is following her.

Moments later, Blake see’s the cloaked figure and pursues the individual only to be interrupted by a giant Grimm Fish monster that closely resembles a Chinese Dragon and starts to attack the boat that she and others are on.

The ship begins to fire cannons at the Monster while Blake tries her best to use her “Ninja-Skills” against it but the Grimm grows wings on it’s back making it even more difficult to fight but in a big reveal, the Cloaked figure turns out to be Sun who design-wise hasn’t changed much but uses his semblance powers and Blake catches him much to her annoyance towards him and she decides to put aside her disdain aside to try and put the Grimm down swiftly.

The captain tells them both that if they damage the Grimm’s wings they’ll have a better advantage but since Blake is the only one with Blades, she ends up having to do that part herself. With Sun’s help, Blake takes higher ground and dives towards the Grimm monster and straight up slices one of his wings and distract it long enough for the Boat to blow it’s fucking head off with a large Cannon. (Nice!)

And just when you think Sun is expecting a high-five for their efforts, Blake Bitch-slaps him,  (because abuse against men is funny right?? Fuck you Inuyasha and Prison School!)

It then cuts to night-time and Sun begins to poorly assume that Blake is on a “one-person war” against the Whtie fang which angers Blake even more. (when in reality we all really know why.) Blake gets further annoyed by Sun because she thinks he left his friends behind but as we previously know, Neptune is scared shitless of water and the rest of his team are in Mistral.

Blake explains that she needs to sort things out with herself before she can take on the White Fang and Blake simply says to Sun she just wants to go home to a place called the “Menagerie” (Get it?) and Sun is ok with the idea calling it a “Journey to the East” Very subtle, RT… Changing the direction, but we get it. Sun Wukong is inspired by the legendary Sun Wukong of Chinese Fairytales. (and also the inspiration behind Goku from the Dragonball Franchise.)

Sun managed to bring some comical levity in Story-B. Also, the animation definitely brought out his features a lot better. Can’t wait to see the rest of Team SSSN Again in future episodes. Hopefully, they show up.

I think my favorite part of the episode features the Captain. I really liked the guy and his joyful attitude, and doesn’t seem to lose hope that easily judging from that huge fight scene. Kind of read Blake right with the paranoia but with Sun following her guess we can see she was Justified there. Seems like a big moment ditching that bow of hers after the conversation.

Story-C: Salem

We finally cut to the Throne Room of Salem’s Evil Council where Salem interrogates the sort of voiceless Cinder (due to her intense injuries) and feels the need to ask if Cinder really killed Ozpin and forces Cinder to answer without Emerald’s help with a raspy “Yes”.

And apparently, there’s an evil, freakishly-weird, Jellyfish Metroid Grimm thing that Salem uses to communicate with her followers. Seriously, Emerald and Mercury need to haul ass out of that evil castle. I get that they were tired of being stepped on and just wanted to have the power for once, but I’m sure that not even they signed up for this. And Cinder is starting to talk again but has yet to use her Maiden Powers. Maybe she’s going through her own kind of PTSD. And am I the only one calling BS on her killing Ozpin? I thought maybe Cinder produced a corpse or something but no; Salem is just going off of her word that she killed him. Theoretically, he’s definitely still alive.

She then tells this jellyfish thing to reinforce their Grimm at Beacon to seek out some sort of relic. (Ok is this some new lore we don’t know about yet? We have Maidens, Silver-eyed warriors and now some ancient relic??)

Overview:

Fear seems to be one of the prominent emotions in the air in this chapter. Not only is Yang still at her lowest after the shit which went down in Vol. 3, but Adam still haunts her. Her fears almost made her seem like Blake at some moments (and no, I do not want to start a convo about “that!”) We’ve known Blake to be pretty fearful now and I’ll talk about her and Sun’s part in a bit. Back in Salem’s domain, looks like Cindy’s in trouble! Maybe we were  already skeptical about Ozpin’s status. And not only is Cinder feeling threatened about her lie (I’m assuming!), Salem seems worried about something, related to Ozpin I’m sure.

While the bulk of this episode focused primarily on Blake, It was refreshing to have some breathing room for the other characters and to know what Salem’s Endgame is as we find out how much of the world of Remnant has changed.

I’ve been depressed before. That look Yang wore? I’ve seen it in the mirror. When she saw the arm, I could practically hear what was going through her head. And Taiyang, seeing how much pain his daughter was in but not being able to help was, well, let’s just say I did not get my permission slip signed for this feels trip. Mad props to Rooster Teeth for doing such a good job with such a serious topic.

This is the first episode this season not to include Team RNJR or Weiss, and while I’m still intrigued by those story arcs, I hope everyone gets an equal share of this season. We’re already running out of time for everyone to get their shit straight and go after Salem and her evil council. Let’s wait and see what next week will bring us.