Season Review: RWBY Vol.8

RWBY Volume 8 was a series of revelations, some that gave long overdue closure to what the fans have demanded such as the Origins of Cinder Falls, while other storylines reveal potential pieces of information about the unexplained events of Ruby Rose’s Biological mother, Summer Rose. The entire theme of the Season was about questioning authority as people from different sides of the battle questioned if they were doing the right thing. Some were driven by emotions, and some by the end of the season were driven to kiss the asses of their overlords to the point of favoritism.

After the chain of events that transpired in Volume 7 where General Ironwood went batshit crazy due to the paranoia of Cinder and by-extension Salem’s enemy forces infiltrating his presumed impenetrable fortress and closing Atlas off from the rest of the world, This has also consequently lead to Ironwood making a string of unequivocally terrible and stupid decisions that progressively continue such as throwing the people of Mantle under a bus when Ironwood declared Martial Law in favor of the people of Atlas and Relic of Creation. Also, this has caused him to fight against the very people who are supposed to be his allies (Team RWBY) and try to do things in his own way for better or worse…

It’s also noteworthy that the way this Season progressed was in a twisted way, Both Cinder’s and Penny’s story. Penny gained godlike elemental Maiden powers and struggled for individuality as the people’s champion because she felt her Atlas overlords who were supposed to protect the people of Mantle were not doing their jobs. While we understand the mentality and upbringing Cinder had growing up in such an uncaring elitist society. I’m surprised the world of RWBY doesn’t have child labor laws or even child protective services otherwise Cinder’s origin wouldn’t have happened in the first fucking place!

On the subject of Atlas, for years as a kingdom was a society that’s had a shitty track record of being ruled by authoritarian and a questionably unchecked government that has zero limits with its own upper-class society and own military which has to lead to some Judge Dredd-like inhumane policies and procedures that progressively drove it down a narrow path of hypocrisy and self-degradation. This was exemplified in Vol.7 where the people of Mantle were helplessly victimized against oncoming Grimm attacks due to the Atlas military outlawing any sort of 2nd amendment or method of self-defense unless the individual has a Hunter/Huntress License which has to lead to the creation of Robyn Hill’s crew in the first place. How is it that we spent 2 fucking volumes in the most militaristic kingdom in all of Remnant and yet the only huntsmen we’ve seen are Ironwood’s Ace Ops and the Happy Huntresses? Not to mention Ironwood and by-extension Atlas society have been stuck in their little bubble are forced to stay calm and blindly ignore the problems around them, until the latter half of Season 8 when Salem and her giant Grimm whale shows upright on their floating Doorstep. Ironwood could have been a good guy just with a different viewpoint and he could have represented the show’s gray area that was willing to hear Team RWBY out and give them a chance, but it felt like anyone not on the side of Team RWBY is the villain no matter what.

Also, to address a major elephant in the room, it doesn’t help that despite not seeing it, or nobody within the show saying it out loud, Ironwood could’ve been under the influence of his Semblance powers called “Due Process” gives him extreme determination to achieve his goals which may have clouded his better judgment and have forced him to make a lot of questionable and at times, under-handed decisions. This was confirmed in a recent Zoom Interview with Rooster Teeth and yet his “semblance” was never addressed within the show and this hurts the storytelling to a casual audience. But unless your a hardcore fan who saw the Interviews in advance, casual viewers wouldn’t know his Semblance was supposedly at play during the Volume without going outside the main media and interviews to know that crucial fact. Plus the fact they just treated this info as an afterthought didn’t seem to have any real impact on the season anyway considering no one brought it up. I don’t have a problem with the idea of making an established supporting character turn into a villain, my problem is that it happened so fucking fast and NO ONE within his own circle gave one shit about his well-being.

While the action sequences do deliver, and we had some decent character moments, It’s been overshadowed by bad storytelling decisions and certain points of character growth that remain inconsistent. The way the narrative constantly forgets what characters are and aren’t aware of creates the most infuriating inconsistency when watching, best summarized by one scene, in particular, the team knew and already acknowledged with a scene of Ruby saying “let’s hope we accounted for everything” as it zoomed in on Cinder foreshadowing the contrived shit-show that later happens in the last two episodes. Everyone acts like a complete idiot to make her life infinitely easier. It is just ridiculous at this point.

As a whole, while Volume 8 had a strong start with its lore & characters, but after the 2nd half, everything surrounding this core storyline became an unexpected mess of rushed conclusions, which denies other characters the depth of exploration they equally deserve. I feel like the writers or RWBY have come across as mean-spirited, dismissive to fans, and casually cruel in recent years leaving me to wonder if they’ve even forgotten about Monty Oum’s legacy when their 100th episode didn’t do anything to commemorate their achievement which could properly explain why specific characters are either entirely forgotten, or being inconsistently butchered or defeated in hideously contrived ways. In a recent interview after volume 8 ended, Kerry Shawcross in a video, outright even confirms a character’s death which happened off-screen in the last episode just to hit the point home that they didn’t wanna give him a redemption arc of any kind. It’s the wrong way to treat your characters, and the wrong way to treat your fanbase in what feels like they are purposely trying to both hurt and disrespect them. I sure hope that if Volume 9 actually does get made, that it has a lot to compensate for everything that’s happened and hopefully expands on the lore & characters in ways we’re supposed to give a shit, because I really want this series to as the late Great Monty Oum would often say: “Keep Moving Forward”.