Review: RWBY “Downfall”

Maiden vs. Maiden.

Overview:

Cinder and Raven clash in the basement, while the rest of the group fends off Hazel the best they can. Meanwhile, Adam’s machinations are stopped by a surprise.

Our Take:

We finally see a fight between two Maidens, and it’s absolutely great. RWBY’s strength continues to be its action sequences, and this time is no different. It’s flashy, it’s great, it’s a big chunk of the episode, and that’s all we really need.

It ends in Raven’s victory, with a bit of help from Vernal, and Cinder is cast away frozen into the depths. Cinder’s main issues are her constant quest for power, and her tendency to underestimate people. Her quest for power turned the Spring Maiden into a certain enemy, and her supplemented arm let her become more susceptible. While she insulted Raven before to bait her, during their battle it’s clear that she did underestimate Raven. She can’t brute-force her way through a fight with a fellow Maiden, and falls as a result. I sincerely doubt that this is the last of Cinder, but she’s out of the picture— for now.

Jaune’s Semblance becomes clearer— it’s not healing, but rather amplification. In the end, it wasn’t necessarily Jaune that allowed Weiss to recover from her wounds, but Weiss’ own power amplified. This is even more fitting, seeing as Jaune’s role of support is even more defined. He can’t stand out much himself, but he can make his powerful teammates even better.

Blake’s storyline concludes as she and the rest of the rallied Faunus confront Adam. The people she leads aren’t exactly fighters, but they’re willing to fight for what they believe in. Adam’s extremism has especially highlighted this episode, where he attempts to detonate the bomb regardless. This strikes a sour note with his own people; while they are willing to fight for his cause, they’re not willing to be sacrificial martyrs. Blake manages to take down Adam, but now she has to reunite with the rest of her team, which is another challenge.

Yang chases after her mother the moment the way is clear, and the episode ends with a possible confrontation. It’s hard to tell what exactly is going to happen with their confrontation— Yang doesn’t trust her mother, but it doesn’t seem like she purely hates her either.

This episode was truly a downfall for several characters, but we have to wait until next week to see if it’s time for Raven or not.