Season Review: RWBY Volume 9

RWBY is in a very different situation since it began back in 2013. What began as an experimental western take on the anime style rapidly ballooned into a runaway financial boon for its company, Rooster Teeth, and became the most profitable series there. Now it has made it through nine full seasons, several comic and manga spin-offs, and even a full blown anime production last year. When it started, RWBY was in creative conditions that had allowed RT’s previous flagship show, Red vs Blue, to reach ten seasons with many more on the way, so it was a clear expectation that something like RWBY would follow in that path. However, a decade on, RT has been absorbed by Warner Brothers, the performance of other properties has waned, and most if not all of their production staff has been let go or moved on to other things, leaving RWBY’s future very much in doubt. It’s a real, non-zero chance that Volume 9 may be the show’s premature end. So, let’s take a look back at how they handled it.

Down the Rabbit-Hole

Following up the conclusion of Volume 8, Team RWBY, Jaune, and Neo all end up falling to their supposed deaths and landing in a Wonderland-inspired realm called the Ever After with no clear idea on how to get home. As implied, the Ever After is much more fantastical than anything the characters have witnessed, running into talking animals and objects, emotion dependent weather, and even the laws of life and death in flux. And with the team having no clue whether their friends are alive or dead, they must all face their respective doubts and fears about their future if they want to survive. And right off the bat, the season establishes that the Ever After is far and away the most bizarre and challenging land the characters have ever been to, not only because of the literal talking animals, but also the instances when the land itself forces them to confront aspects of themselves. Blake and Yang finally admit their feelings for each other in a very cute sequence, Jaune must accept his limitations to save everyone and that change is the only constant, Neo understands the hollowness in her pursuit of vengeance against Ruby, Weiss gets…well, nothing really, and Ruby herself finally feels the weight of the world beginning to drag her down.

And right off the bat, I have to give what could easily be considered a backhanded compliment. Because what I consider one of Volume 9’s greatest strengths is that by diverting to this new location and clearing the board of most of the main plot and main supporting cast, it finally gives time to flesh out the main characters as individuals for the first time in several seasons. Aside from brief mentions and acknowledgements, this is not a story about Salem, the Relics, the Maidens, the Grimm, or any of the other pre-established details, even to the point that some are claiming this season to be a “filler” story, but honestly think it is better for clearing the board for the moment. Apparently this detour had been planned in some way from the beginning, but it may have unintentionally provided a breather from some of the more bungled aspects of the show, and I’m honestly kind of dreading getting back to it in potential future seasons. I’ve seen some speculate that the Ever After business was a separate idea that got folded into RWBY, and if it is, good on them, because this is the most deliberately interesting the show has ever been.

The Ever After itself turns the characters’ perception of reality on its head, not just for the weirder surface elements, but most importantly with whether death is truly the end. Early on in the season, the characters hear of “ascending” when a being approaches the tree at the center of the world. Their natural and understandable assumption is that this is some form of death, and thus are scared to have to deal with that. However, it becomes clear later on that those that do ascend are in actuality given a chance to become an improved version of themselves. In a broad sense, changing one’s self, even when moving towards positive change, can feel like a death of some kind, especially when letting go of aspects that one thought made them who they were. However, the subject is mostly presented in an ambiguous enough manner that the more helpful meaning and intent is at least apparent, though there is some muddling and mixing of metaphors that I have seen cause some confusion. Either way, it’s by far the best execution of more delicate subjects than I’ve seen from the show.

I’m Late, I’m Late, I’m Late!

Even more odd to consider is that this season feels like the first serious attempt in the show’s history to properly get into the head of its title character, Ruby Rose. Can you imagine any other series waiting until the NINTH season to start taking an interest in the development of its main character?! But yeah, after years of speculation by fans that Ruby was letting all the traumatic events she’d witnessed boil and fester in the back of her mind, we finally get some acknowledgement that the little red hood has not been absorbing the emotional damage as well as it previously seemed. After having an already flimsy stated motivation, the Ever After finally takes Ruby to task about what she wants to be and how she intends to protect what she has left. It all culminates in probably the most triumphant moment I’ve seen in the show yet, showing that while it’s okay and even important to feel doubt and hesitation on her path, Ruby is on her way to what she wants.

Similarly to the lateness of developing Ruby, the mythos surrounding the Ever After itself seems to be based on retroactive knowledge of an in-universe tale, The Girl Who Fell Through the World, that is not mentioned in any way, shape, or form until the eighth episode of Volume 8. And based on how the characters discuss its importance in THIS season, you would think it would’ve been brought up at least once, or even collected in that REAL LIFE BOOK of in-universe fairy tales that was released years ago. The season does its best to make use of it effectively, but it’s things like this that make me seriously doubt the continuous claim that things like this have been planned from the beginning of the series.

Honestly, this whole season is full of things that would have been better served appearing or being mentioned many seasons prior. As satisfying as I’m sure it was to finally get Blake and Yang to kiss on screen and once and for all confirm their romance, I can see multiple opportunities from Volume 5 at the earliest that this sort of plotline could’ve been introduced that would have much better served developing their relationship. Likewise, we finally get a crumb of details regarding Summer Rose’s last mission, as well as giving her a proper design and voice, and while it’s nice to finally have those, they are also things that could’ve been brought into things many years ago to the benefit of every other plot. It’s things like this that make me completely understand why so many have dropped this series in its decade of existence, because who would wait this long just for something so obvious? For those like me who stayed, I’m sure it’s gratifying, but to get these things at what could be the premature ending is beyond late…but I guess it’s better late than never, which very well could have happened.


Who Dreamed It?

As for whether or not I would consider this season filler, I would probably say no. As mentioned, it does feel like detour from the main story and I understand how it might seem like some of the elements introduced here end up not mattering at the moment, I honestly think that it’s introduced some of the more intriguing character moments of the series thus far. That’s probably bittersweet in saying so, especially when this might be the end of RWBY, I think whatever the writing team was on this season, they need to save it for whenever they get another. And sadly, the fact that this could actually be the end is a sign of how RT’s judgment and resources have changed since the show began. Back then, they could greenlight multiple seasons at once and only worry about getting a product out by the deadline, but policy shifts and management changes have now severely limited their abilities. And even if it is the end, we’re not going to know for quite some time, as RT shows never get a big cancellation announcement in the first place, but are quietly dropped.

Currently, RT is trying for a big push of RWBY content, rereleasing old videos, promoting the recently released Justice League crossover movie and comic series, and doing whatever they can to keep RWBY in the public consciousness. However, looking at the Popular rankings on Crunchyroll’s app, the only place to watch RWBY now that it has to wait to be on RT’s site, I’ve only ever seen RWBY crack into the bottom 20, and it’s since plummeted to the 40’s with the season’s end. After seeing so many other animated shows cut short or having the compromise when completing their story, I truly don’t wish that fate for RWBY, and hope Monty Oum’s dream can come to fruition. But if Volume 9 is the last we see of these characters, I won’t consider it a death. I’ll try to think of it as an ascension.