Table of Contents - RWBY

Wanna hear a story?

In late 2012, a curious little video was released under the Rooster Teeth channel on Youtube. This wonderfully-animated spectacle, quickly revealed to be the work of Monty Oum (you may know him from works such as “Haloid”), offered first a haunting atmosphere, showing a young girl in a blood red hood turning away from a cliffside gravestone and walking through a snow-covered forest. She emerged in a clearing full of inky black wolves, one of which took a swipe, and so began the slaughter: Little Red Riding Hood leapt skyward, silhouetted against the moon, and began raining wanton dismemberment and disembowelment upon a horde of monsters, using an enormous unfolding weapon that was some unholy yet incredibly badass combination of high-caliber sniper rifle and deadly scythe.

It was beautiful, it was jaw-dropping, it screamed its testaments to a man’s skill, insight, and passion...it was the “Red” Trailer for upcoming Rooster Teeth series “RWBY”, directed, written, and animated by Monty Oum in cooperation with Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross.

So began a legend that soon became a legacy, one that was rotting from within even before the unfortunate passing of its beloved creator.

The “Red” trailer was the first of four teasing a new animated series titled “RWBY” and pronounced “ruby”, the four letters being the initials of the four main characters as well as the starting letters of four colors they’d be heavily identified with. Trailers for “White”, “Black”, and “Yellow” followed, introducing us to Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, each with their own gorgeously animated fight scenes and heavily loaded theme songs.

This should have been great. For a small studio that had only ever done comedy and never delved into a truly serious self-contained work before, this looked incredibly promising. And in 2013, it was all the internet could talk about. RWBY, Volume 1, would premiere in late summer of that year, unveiling 16 episodes released on a weekly basis. It should have been an unparalleled experience.

But all was not well behind the scenes, and this wouldn’t become apparent until many years later, when things began to look quite bad even from a mile away. RWBY will bring us the most extensive count system I have ever laid out for myself, and net us a couple of guest sporkers, too, and I may be joined by at least one other. Unfortunately, we can’t even start this series off with a recap of the first episode, as the four trailers are part of the story and are necessary to having certain context—and to catching a few early hints of the derailment of a great man’s dream. So, “Post Zero” will be a recap of those four trailers.

Unfortunately, Monty Oum, the series creator, passed away in February of 2015. His work would be continued without him, but in loving memory, or so we’re told. Be warned, all ye who enter here: there’s shady shit going on, and while I won’t pretend I was any fly on the walls, there’s not only very clear signs, but insider testimony. My analysis of this series and the happenings behind it are intended as honest, and as respectful as humanly possible, yet they are unavoidable.

I only have one spork planned outside the context of the show itself, and that is the infamous Shane’s Letter. If you’d like me to recap any specific creator input or commentary, such as RWBY Rewind or Reddit AMAs or the like, you’ll need to send me the link you want sporked and I’ll give it a look. In fact, I encourage it.

For now though, let’s take a gander at this list, and below it, the Table of Contents for RWBY Volume 1. Be aware, this list isn't even complete--I know of at least one I'll be adding.

( Let's start a long and painful story... )