15 – Volume 2, Episode 2, “New Challengers” | Table of Contents | 17 – Volume 3, Episodes 4 and 5
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This post contains mentions of abuse and alcoholism. Many thanks to
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astra_aurora for beta work! So, this post is kind of like the Jaune arc from Volume 1 and Weiss/Jaune nonsense from Volume 2, in that it’s kind of the one for this volume (or, the first of a few…) that I’ve been waiting to write and have had in my head for a little while now. With those first two, fandom generally agreed with me that they were terrible, but I hadn’t seen anyone go into depth as to why. This one, though…I was alone. Nobody seemed to be taking issue with this the way I was. Hopefully that will change if I can explain why here.
So, let’s dive back into late 2015, with the third episode of Volume 3 of RWBY:
V3E3 “It’s Brawl in the Family”
Last time, we saw the remainder of the fights from day one of the Vytal Tournament that included our heroes. Now, we get to see what’s happening in the downtime. We left off on Weiss being overwhelmed at the sight of some particular airship, and we open up this episode on Weiss running across the courtyard of Beacon, with Ruby following. As we hear the low engine purr of a parked aircraft, Ruby demands to know what the big deal is.
If you paid attention to the opening animation I discussed in the first post of Volume 3, you’ll already know. Ruby’s question of “Who is she” is answered when we close-up on Weiss’ face smiling and saying “Winter”. 
R: Wait… Your sister?
Bi girls and lesbians, you may go crazy now. Weiss calls out to her older sister, who looks like the embodiment of ‘professionalism to a tee or a bitch will be cut down’ and runs over. Winter, flanked by several armed security robots, turns to meet her. Weiss is positively squeeing, saying she’s so happy to see her, before modifying herself with “Your presence honors us” and curtsying.
Winter slowly strolls forward, observing her surroundings, and in a contralto delivered by Elizabeth Maxwell, remarks that it’s been a long time since she was at Beacon, and that the air feels different. Ruby offhandedly remarks that it’s fall, so it’s probably colder, and Weiss punches her on the arm to try and communicate to her that she needs to shape up so she doesn’t send a bad impression. Weiss asks what Winter’s doing here, which is simply answered with “Classified”, as is the question of how long she’s staying.
Let me declassify that second one for you: not very long.
Weiss takes both answers and the ensuing silence and stare from Winter with polite manner, and Ruby is noticeably struggling in the awkward atmosphere. But Weiss is the first to break.
W: You’re going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale, too! The government and school are school are completely separate, can you believe it—?!
This is intended to be a hint as to the rather ironclad nature of Atlas and that the combat schools there are overseen directly by the government. I’m not sure what I’m intended to take from this given the scene at the end of Volume 2 where the Council strips Ozpin of oversight of the Tournament, nor the fact that, for all that we have an overseeing Council at all, Vale’s individual government levels have gone completely unspoken of.
Winter interrupts her, however, critically saying that she’s aware of how Vale’s “bureaucracy” works.
From Simple Wikipedia: “Bureaucracy is the structure and set of rules that control the activities of people that work for large organizations and government. It is characterized by standardized procedure (rule-following), formal division of responsibility, hierarchy, and impersonal relationships.”
The use of that word would better suit what we’re apparently intended to think Atlas is, and definitely not Vale. There’s the partnership of the Schnees with the military arm of the government, yes, but as we’re soon to see, Atlas’ style of leadership is about as impersonal and rule-oriented as it gets.
Furthermore, that’s not why Winter came, which is...arguably true.
Wn: Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle.
That is not true. Weiss was the motherfucking MVP in that teams round we saw, she carried half the fight—which lets us in on the very high standards Weiss is being held to by her family. Weiss protests that they won, and Winter is still highly critical, referring to at least three missed strikes. She waves an arm, bidding the security robots (and one human guard in armor) to give them space. Then she actually sighs as she asks how Weiss has been, as though it’s an informality she’d rather decline.
Weiss happily and somewhat proudly says she’s been great and happens to be in the top rankings when it comes to sparring classes—which is a significant feat given how I’ve made sure to note her relative lack of durability.
W: The rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too—!
Wn: Silence, you boob! I don’t recall asking about your ranking.
What the fuck. Why did she just smack her sister upside the head?!
Wn: I asked how you’ve been. Are you eating properly, have you taken up any hobbies, are you making new friends?
Oh, well, that’s nice, as is the smile that plays on Winter’s face. But all the same, if the goal of this scene were to show that Winter might be strict and icy, but has a warmth for her sister underneath, maybe it would’ve done better without a physical element? You could have just had her interrupt Weiss without slapping her over the dome. This is supposed to be telling me what Weiss is used to from her family and home life, and it’s telling me her family just wallop her at the slightest provocation!
Weiss refers to Ruby on the subject of new friends. Naturally, this does not impress Winter all that much. Despite openly insulting Ruby as “underwhelming”, she greets her by full name and thanks her for taking an interest in Weiss. Ruby responds as gracefully as she can, still struggling with the whole professional way, causing Winter’s eyes to narrow disdainfully.
Wn: I have business with the general and your headmaster. …But, seeing as I’m early, why don’t you take me to your quarters?
Weiss is thrilled to do so, being careful to mention that the bunk beds only look unstable, which causes Winter to repeat the term “bunk…beds?” as if she’s never heard of them before. She leads Winter and her security guard team off, leaving Ruby behind.
Winter and Weiss only get halfway down the courtyard drive before something interrupts them, however. *already grinding teeth* 
The drunkard from before has stumbled up and promptly decapitated one of the security robots, causing enough alarm to Winter that she puts a hand on the hilt of her sword. After tossing the head at them, he tosses the body away and says:
Q: Yeaaahhh, I’m talkin’ to you, Ice Queen.
This is about the worst introduction of a character I’ve seen on this show, and it’s killing me that I have to wait to tell you why. Weiss strolls right up to the boozy bastard, having heard her signature derogatory nickname “ice queen”, and demanding to know if he knows who he’s talking to. The man puts a hand on her head and shushes her, as he was actually talking to Winter.
This dude looks positively sleazy. If he puts his hand on a teenager again I’m going to castrate him.
He pushes past her and Winter’s eyes yet again narrow. A red-eyed raven atop a street light caws before winging off (this might be important later).
Q: Saw that gaudy ship o’ yours in town. Guess you’re here, too.
W: …I’m standing right before you.
Q: [pause] So it would seem.
W: You realize you just destroyed Atlas military property?
[The camera pans to the drunkard amidst more than one busted robot.]
Q: Ohhh, I’m sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of sentient garbage.
Okay, first, this is not nearly the trash talk that someone at HQ apparently thinks it is. Second, that all but works as a threat to attack human guards as well as robot, which I realize is relatively meaningless but doesn’t look good, and third, clearly the man has some disdain for robots? Or at least Atlas using a lot of them? What’s the beef there?
I’ll spoil it for you: there is no beef. Oh, with Atlas? Sure, maybe. But with Winter herself? Nope. This drunk asshat has no reason to be antagonizing Winter. This is, again, not a good look.
Winter declares that she has no time for this man’s immature games, finally naming him—this is Qrow, Ruby’s uncle that allegedly trained her in combat and in particular the use of a scythe, and who Yang says rescued the two of them from Grimm at an early age. Weiss is baffled that they know each other.
Q: Jeez. You Atlas Specialists think you’re so special, huh?
W: It’s in the title.
Q: Well, you know what you really are? A bunch of sell-outs. Just like your boss.
W: I don’t know what you think you’re implying, but I’ve heard enough.
Between the lame trash talk and the needlessly confrontational, aggressive behavior from Qrow, I can solidly say I didn’t like him from the very start. Everybody else did, though. More to tell soon. Winter is steadily getting more and more agitated and Qrow is continuing to be a dickhead.
Q: Oh, I heard, too. I heard ole Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin.
Ah, we’re referring to the scene last volume where Ozpin put the city in danger with a stupid plan and the Council transferred oversight of the Vytal Festival being hosted in this city to Ironwood? Sounds a lot different with context, doesn’t it?
Weiss is trying to keep up, but Winter brushes her aside and says it’s time for her to go: shit is about to go down.
Q: Listen to your big sister, Weiss. She’ll protect you. Just like Atlas is gonna protect all of us, huh?
Uhhh, they have. They were fighting Grimm and you were getting drunk.
Wn: If you won’t hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you.
It’s worth noting that by now, a crowd has gathered. Winter draws her sword as she speaks, and Qrow invites her to come take her best shot.
Winter blasts the fuck off, closing the distance so fast it leaves Weiss stumbling, and is in front of Qrow taking swipes immediately. Qrow dodges a little too easily; the fight hasn’t really started yet, but when her sword hits the back of Qrow’s, which is strapped to his back, he draws it and brandishes it.
After a bit more testing the water, Qrow swings, and Winter deflects. Qrow begins pressing forward and Winter dodges his every blow before they meet in the center of the court, swiping their swords back and forth while the audience watches. Ruby strolls up and asks what’s going on.
W: Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister.
R: Oh no! Who would do such a thiiiii-[looking and realizing who it is]-aaaat is my uncle!
W: What?!
R: Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!
W: [Stunned, trying to recover and compete] Uhh, teach him respect, Winter!
Mercury walks through the surrounding crowd, sparing a glance at the fight, but then turning back and taking a good look at the combatants with a shock on his face.
The two are moving extraordinarily fast as they cross blows and neither has landed a hit yet. This changes when Winter dodges a swing and smacks him upside the head with the hilt of her blade. He stumbles, but then grins with a glint in his red eye (uuuurrrrgh), and swings upward. 
Winter leaps high—right off of a glyph that we know appears when Weiss uses her semblance—as he brings his blade down and creates a huge crater in the ground with the force of his swing.
He’s bearing down on her when she lands and his next slash cuts a stone pillar, which she dodges as it tumbles. She leaps over his head, landing behind him, and when he swings on her, simply backflips right back over his head and lands on his outstretched blade. With a devious smirk, she backflips yet again, kicking him in the head with her high heels that she is somehow fighting in. Both first and second blood are now Winter’s. She lands on the stump of the fallen pillar and dodges Qrow’s thrown sword by leaping high again, now landing atop a streetlamp at the edge of the court. 
Qrow fires on her with a very, very inconvenient-looking shotgun that is built into the hilt of his sword, but misses. Winter lands against a pillar with her blade embedded in it, then just climbs straight upward. She begins running and leaping across the stonework making up the courtyard, dodging more shots until Qrow jumps up onto the same level of the court.
I am not entirely sure what happens next. A cloud of white smoke rises from where Winter is, but I have no idea if it’s supposed to be his shot landing, his shot kicking up smoke from destroyed stone, or something Winter did to hide herself from his view. The latter looks most likely as Qrow stops, squinting at the cloud. 
Winter comes bursting out of the fog with blade extended, and Qrow readies to block as, mid-air, she splits her already-slim sword into two, now dual-wielding as she crosses the courtyard in one leap and meets Qrow on the other side. At first, it looks like their clash ends with both foes stopped short…except that they actually barrel right down over the wall and Winter lands Qrow into a crater of her own. The two are right back into it an instant later.
Their clashing comes to a short pause as Winter crosses her blades and forcibly repels Qrow, sending him skidding back hard enough for him to, by necessity, stop himself by digging his sword into the ground. Cheers from the surrounding audience, who should really leave for their own safety, ensue.
Winter takes a new stance, stabbing her blade into the ground, producing a large snowflake glyph underneath herself and a lot of ice shards hovering into the air, which are joined by small Grimm birds made of ice that rise out of the ground around her and are sent flying towards Qrow. They surround him and he struggles to fend them off as she grins. At least until he manages to slash his sword hard enough to send a wave of air that she repels easily, but forces her to stop with the summoned Grimm. Winter is gritting her teeth, and for a change, Qrow is looking annoyed as well. 
The music takes on a dramatic turn as Winter prepares another glyph. Qrow’s sword starts to bend into its alternate scythe shape, and an ominous, howling wind starts to surround Winter as she glows white in the light of her glyph. Just then, however, Qrow sees something that makes him stop short. He shuts down the sword transformation and stows it back behind his belt, which makes Winter slow her sinister-looking charge up and look confused for a moment. Then he makes an audacious “come get some” gesture. Winter predictably moves to strike, crossing the distance in an instant.
But, a nanosecond before her blade can make contact with Qrow’s exposed throat, a voice calls out.
I: Schnee!
Winter, stopped short, immediately adopts her professional demeanor with a heavy dose of deference as she greets General Ironwood, whose hands are behind his back in an obviously unhappy display. Penny is accompanying him, silently onlooking, as he asks what the hell she thinks she’s doing. Winter immediately defends herself by declaring that Qrow started the altercation. Qrow pipes up, however.
Q: That’s actually not true. She attacked first.
Ahahaha, nu-nu-nu-nuh noooo. No sir, that is not fucking true. Here, let me paste that gif for you again:
You attacked first, you boozed-up motherfucker. You destroyed security robots and most definitely started the altercation with clear hostile intent, which we’d be able to discern even if you hadn’t declared last episode before all this even happened that Winter was the “fight” you were here for. You attacked guards meant for security protocol in a civilian area, and at that point, Winter was more than justified in repelling you as you were an obvious and immediate threat. Were the characters in this show moved according to what is sensible rather than what is cool or funny, she’d point that out and Ironwood would have you removed from the premises. Hell, just go point to the decapitated robot—which they actually pan across in the next cut! But instead, Ironwood asks if that’s true and Winter is left silently looking guilty and shamed in front of her superior.
Ill Logic: 30
Hypocrisy: 9
It Was Right There: 4
This is supposed to be the cherry on top of our Qrow introduction, but unfortunately, it’s the cherry on top of a shit sundae.
Ironwood surveys the area, taking in aforementioned brutalized robot, then strolls forward to quietly and coldly ask what Qrow is doing here.
Q: I could be asking you the same thing.
No!!! No, you motherfucking couldn’t!!! God, it’s like they’re ripping every cliched, over-used brand of smart-ass backtalk they’ve ever encountered to write Qrow! Ironwood has been here for weeks and is in charge of the place for now, as you very well know!!! This is also something that’s gonna come up again with this particular character—deflection to avoid a question both a character and the audience are asking. More on that later.
Before Ironwood can actually state what I just said, Ozpin and Glynda stroll up. Late to the party, I see. Lovely of you to only get involved once the altercation’s already over, you two.
Reliable Leaders: 10
Ozpin reminds everyone that if they want to see a fight, they need only proceed to Amity Colosseum. Glynda’s sharp warning sends every background NPC scurrying. Ironwood rigidly demands “Let’s go.” of Winter, and behind her, Penny trails along, waving to Ruby behind her with a smile. Ruby then leaps at Qrow and latches onto his arm, excitedly greeting him and getting a ruffle to the head and a smile from her uncle. Ozpin beckons Qrow to follow before they can catch up, though. 
Qrow has to leave to get his stern telling-off from the teacher, and Weiss walks up and remarks where Ruby gets all her recklessness.
R: You’re just mad that he whooped butt.
W: …That was a draw at best.
The scene cuts after here, but we’re gonna stop so I can go over every last grievance I have with that fight scene before we get into yet another scene that’s going to piss me off.
Do you know what every RWBY fan’s reaction to that scene was? Here, let me try and act it out:
“OH MY GOD Qrow is the BEST he’s such a BADASS and he’s SO HOT HE’S AMAZING AND HE TOTALLY KICKED WINTER’S ASS AAAAAGH NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER”
ad infinitum.
But Weiss is right. That was a draw at best, which was likely Rooster Teeth’s intention, and at worst, and more honestly, the only one who “whooped butt” was Winter. Yet to hear what the RWBY fandom had to say at the time, the best credit to Winter was that she “kept up” with someone who was obviously older, more experienced, and definitely her better when it comes to fighting. Praise for her was very faint and damning indeed.
I didn’t miss anything when transcribing that fight to you, guys—there were only four hits landed in that fight, maximum, and Winter landed all of them. Both times the two met in a show of strength, she actually pushed him back, twice, and he couldn’t stop her. The only times a strike landed, Qrow was the one getting hit—which looks really bad for him, as yes, he is the one who started the altercation. He wanted this fight to happen, made it happen, and then doesn’t even manage to scratch his opponent once. That’s bad.
But it gets worse. See, Qrow has a semblance that we’ll find out about later—one he was using in this very fight. It’s a semblance that tips the scales in his favor a good bit, and he still didn’t manage even one single hit. That’s fucking embarrassing.
“Oh, but he wasn’t really trying, he was just playing with her—“ often said to the accompanying gif up there of Winter swiping at him before the fight really starts and him dodging. Don’t even try that. If he were just playing with her, he’d have punted her across the courtyard, not made himself look like crap.
And he does look like crap here. I’ve unfortunately never been very receptive to the whole “drunk master” trope, especially when it comes to irresponsible family members, but I can tell you the RWBY fandom bought it hook, line, and sinker. I hated Qrow just from this fight scene and I’m going to hate him more as time goes on.
Worst of all?
*strong inhale*
They shipped these two. Qrow and Winter. The fanbase, I mean. Oh god, I hated it so much. Qrow and Winter will never interact again after this episode, but the fanbase went nuts. My god, it was so annoying. These two clearly hate each other and Winter was about to skewer him, but no, it’s just horny shenanigans between friends. It’s just “bickering like an old married couple” when you try to maim someone who is obviously aggressive or embarrass someone in front of their boss. I had a shipper tell me to my face that I was obviously unfamiliar with Belligerent Sexual Tension and this was a clear example of it. I haven’t seen misinterpretation and reaching like that since the days of Fairy Tail fandom.
Consider this my Mervin-hating-Alice-style breaking point. If you ship Qrowin, I’m so sorry, but I do think less of you. At least the shippers I actually got into fights with back in the day over the main cast’s relationships actually have something to grasp onto.
Because Rooster Teeth so badly fumbled “drunk dude is actually a badass hero” so terribly, I’m giving them one of these:
Y.A.S. Queen: 4
And there will be more to come.
The last thing I have to remark on with that fight is the weaponry and the outfits. Qrow about to unveil his scythe but putting it away at the last second was apparently a last-minute decision (which contributed handily to the ‘Qrow could’ve destroyed Winter’ narrative by falsely claiming that he’d obviously be much more of a fighter with his scythe). The problem is, there’s no point in that. We already know what his weapon’s alternate form is! They’re teasing a reveal we already know about!
The final thing we have to say is that Qrow’s weapon? It sucks.
That’s worse than Port’s blunderbuss! That’s not functional! He has to angle the sword out of the way to the point he can’t use it so that he can fire the shotgun properly! Ruby’s extremely mechanical scythe can fire the rifle without sacrificing the cutting blade, but Qrow can’t manage to make a weapon that doesn’t inconvenience him? Hell, Adam’s sword sheath being a shotgun doesn’t deter him from using both in tandem at all!
That, along with Winter’s fairly ridiculous shoulder sleeve cut-outs in her military-issue uniform where shoulder pads should be going, is enough for me to debut a new count.
LuLaRwe: 2
This one is just for my personal distaste, so don’t get too up in arms about it. This is when the design of some physical object within the RWBY universe is appalling, whether it be a weapon that simply doesn’t work or an outfit that’s simply fugly. That’s the count.
Anyway, the next scene.
We cut to Ozpin’s office. We see from above, so we can see the moving gears in the floor, that Ironwood is standing with his arms crossed and Winter is pacing back and forth with her arms behind her back. The elevator opens and Glynda, Qrow, and Ozpin make their way in. Winter and Ironwood immediately open up:
W: What were you thinking?!
I: If you were one of my men, I would have you shot.
Qrow responds that if he was one of Ironwood’s men, he’d shoot himself. I sure hope RWBY is going to go into detail about why Qrow hates Ironwood and his military so damn much, because right now, it’s not clear and I’d hate to imagine that he’s just being pissy that Huntsmen aren’t as popular an institution there. It’s not like Ironwood did that to spite him, or did that at all, and it’s not like Qrow works in Atlas anyway.
G: While I don’t condone his behavior, retaliating like you did certainly didn’t help the situation.
While Glynda has a point in that Winter could’ve just turned and left, nothing about Qrow’s behavior makes me think he was above just straight-up attacking her if chopping up her robots and goading her didn’t work. Winter comments that he was drunk, Glynda responds that he’s always drunk, and they both look at him while he sits there, flask attached to his mouth.
Ozpin sits at his desk, exasperated, and—wait, it’s nighttime now. When did it become nighttime?
Oh, anyway, Ozpin asks why Qrow is here. Great, so even Ozpin doesn’t know why he showed up at random? Or…does he? Because we’re about to find out that Qrow is bizarrely (and I mean that very critically) dedicated to Ozpin. Let me continue:
I: You’ve been out of contact for weeks! You can’t just go dark like that in the field!
Q: I’m not one of your special operatives, Jimmy.
W: General.
Q: Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I’m telling you, our enemy is here.
Thanks dipshit, but I think they knew that already. Perhaps if you’d done your super-secret-spy job a little better, your niece wouldn’t have had to gather intel on Ozpin’s enemies for him and wouldn’t have almost gotten killed at Mountain Glenn. But that’s just my two cents.
I: We know.
Q: Oh? Oh, you know? Well, thank goodness I’m out there risking my life to keep you all informed!
You presumably went to combat school to be a Huntsman, now teach at a combat school and train Huntsmen, and are a professionally-employed Huntsman, but you have complaints to make about risking your life? Pretty sure you’d be doing that whether it was for Ozpin, Ironwood, or neither, because that’s in your job description. Do you have anything to bring to the table to justify this bitching, or did you randomly decide to show up to harass the Atlesian military?
I: [sigh] Qrow—!
Q: Communication’s a two-way street, pal. You see this? [getting out his Scroll and pointing to it] That’s the ‘send’ button!
W: They had reason to assume you’d been compromised.
Communication is most certainly not a two-way street in this instance! You are the field agent, you are the one gathering intel, you are the one who should be contacting them. What Winter just said is the exact reason it works that way. If you have the potential to be captured, why would they go out of their way to potentially send a phone call that the enemy could pick up and answer? That’s how scouting and spying works. Besides, what the hell were they supposed to send you, Qrow? Life updates, tidbits on all the best juicy gossip? Whatever help they could send you is reliant on them being able to keep track of you.
Hypocrisy: 10
I’m so confused by what he think he’s saying. He’s just going “but, you didn’t contact me either, so there!” when that makes no sense in the context of the original complaint!
Q: And I have reason to assume you don’t need to be here.
You belligerent, argumentative, bratty manchild motherfucker. What are you, her boss? No, her boss is standing right there watching you bitch. You don’t decide where she goes, and the fact that Ozpin is sitting here letting you continue to deride her and her work is a testament to how little he cares about his working relationship with Ironwood.
And again, instead of pointing this out, Ironwood answers Qrow’s question of “who invited her?” not by saying “I invited her, dumbass, would you like to take that up with me?”, Ironwood simply says to Winter that they’ll discuss this back on his ship. And then he dismisses her. I’m so glad that Qrow was around to poke all the necessary holes in Ironwood’s decision-making, aren’t you?
Winter is part of the military system. Qrow can sneer at her “specialist” ranking all he wants, the fact of the matter is that she is part of the network in which regulation of information happens on the regular, and in that respect, is a more secure choice of confidant than he is, when Qrow answers only to Ozpin and would risk very little in turning on him.
Hypocrisy: 11
When she’s gone, Qrow goes on that “your little infiltrator isn’t just another pawn.”
Ohhhh, that’s right! He just reminded me of something! Here, let me show you:
So he’ll contact Ozpin when it suits him, but Ironwood can just get fucked, huh? Was it him that chose not to message Ironwood, or Ozpin that didn’t see fit to share? You really handicap your narrative with this, Rooster Teeth, when I can remember your own canon better than you can.
Of course, it’s always possible that Qrow sent this before his ambiguous “weeks” of being unheard from, but he’s still never going to actually say what caused him to just go dark to begin with, and we’re never going to see it! For all that I can see, Qrow just does whatever the fuck he wants!
Qrow continues:
Q: They’re the one responsible for Autumn’s condition.
Glynda responds with a shocked “What?” The music gets real somber and emotional as Qrow continues on, with panning shots for added effect.
Q: Despite what the world thinks, we’re not just teachers, generals, or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we’re the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about.
This is bugging the fuck out of me. State the obvious a little more, why don’t you? Everyone in the room that he’s speaking to already knows this, and the audience has long since been shown it as well. He gets real up in Ironwood’s face while he says the next bit.
Q: It’s why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows. So you tell me, James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet? Or did you just not give a damn?!
This again!? We went over this last volume, god damn it!!! Why are we rehashing an old complaint that I already went through at length so that Qrow can condescend to Ironwood agai—oh, right, that’s exactly why.
Well, Qrow, you wanna talk about discretion? Subtlety? Here’s some news for you: starting a huge confrontation and a brawl in the middle of a populated area in broad daylight, which had spectators and which almost certainly made it onto the internet under the title “Drunk Dude and Ice Lady Fight” on RWTube, is about the least discreet thing you could’ve done. In fact, your enemy was in the crowd and saw you!!! Mercury is going to run back to Cinder and tell her you’re here, and she’ll be able to adjust for you presence in her plans because of that! But no, indiscretion is only bad when it’s Ironwood, huh?
Hypocrisy: 12
Instead of pointing this out, again, Ironwood just moves on and says that “Discreet wasn’t working”. Well, he’s got that damn right judging by last volume. Not for the heroes, anyway. It worked for Cinder.
Ironwood lays his scroll on the desk and presses a button, and a hologram is triggered in the middle of the room, depicting Vale, Beacon, and a fleet of airships over its head alongside the Amity Colosseum. Ironwood says that he’s here because “this” (meaning the airships) were what was necessary. Qrow interrupts again, saying he’s here because Ozpin wanted him here.
Ozpin also probably would’ve said something if he didn’t want Winter here, considering it’s his damn office, you pigheaded assclown.
Hypocrisy: 13
Q: He made you a part of his inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that’s in front of us.
I: I am grateful—
Q: Oh, well, you’ve got a real funny way of showing it.
So that’s why Qrow’s here. It’s because Ironwood had the nerve to not toe Ozpin’s line and now, well, Qrow’s just going to have to say something about that! How dare you annoy Ozpin, Ironwood.
My respect for Qrow started at zero and has been dropping since, but it must be said that this is really affecting my already critical opinion of Ozpin even further. He’s barely said a word since this meeting started, and has let Qrow do 100% of the talking and control the entire meeting. It should also be said that Qrow is being a condescending asshole to, I should remind everyone, the most powerful person in the room. Ironwood is the leader of an entire country’s military, and is in charge of the Vytal Tournament’s security, and he could decide that, well, if his help is so repugnant to the likes of Ozpin and his cronies, he could just walk out and leave them to hang. Qrow, in fact, appears to be trying to do everything in his power to push Ironwood to such a point, but Ozpin continues to say nothing to reign him in. This could really bite him, but there he is, playing the bystander!
I: The people of Vale needed someone to protect them. Someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will feel our strength.
Get ready, because Qrow is derisively laughing, and Ozpin is soon to finally pipe up.
Q: Aha, you, you think they’re scared of your little ships? I’ve been out there and I’ve seen the things she’s made and let me tell you, they are fear.
Having my spoiler-ey knowledge as I do, I can openly doubt this given what “she” brings to the table in later volumes, but that’s for another time. Before that:
Oz: And fear will bring the Grimm. A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There’s an energy in the air now. A question in the back of everyone’s minds. If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we’re expecting to fight?
Not quite. Everybody, do me a favor, and this might require some effort: put aside everything you know about current affairs, the military, and American militarism/imperialism and that of whatever country you live in or have your various concerns about.
We live in the real world, with all its conflicts of interest and manipulations and manslaughter. But Remnant is not the real world. If you or I saw a tank sitting on a street down the block from here? Hell yeah, we’d be worried about that and what it’s going to be aiming for. It would indeed cause panic.
But thankfully, at least in the scope of actual military nation-to-nation conflicts, most of us are not so engaged, and my heart goes out to anyone who is.
The people of Remnant do not have that. There is always an enemy lingering outside their walls that would deeply love nothing more than to destroy them and everything they love, and they would be there regardless of the mysterious enemy Ozpin fights from the shadows. They’re well known and they’ve been there for as long as humanity has been there: the Grimm. The people of Remnant aren’t wondering what it is that these airships are going to fight, because they already know! They live in a world where just next door, their death awaits! The Grimm are arguably the dominant species on the planet, so it’s not like this is the case of some petty inter-neighbor conflicts that catch civilians in the crossfire. The enemy is not one they have to imagine, they know. And they’d probably rather have the extra firepower than not. Even if you could say that people are getting antsy about the size of the Grimm that a military force like that would presumably bring, it's definitely less a question of how much the military display is making them anxious than how much it's protecting them and providing for their security.
And then again! This is the Grimm. That’s what this is all about. That’s why this whole nonsense is a secret in the first place, guys: the Grimm. The reason Ozpin’s Big Good Conspiracy is kept in the shadows and isn’t public knowledge—they just don’t want people to panic. Panic is a bad emotion, and bad emotions bring the Grimm.
Do you remember what I said in the Volume 2 World of Remnant post? About how that fact makes this whole world a dystopia in plain sight? Ozpin is so afraid that letting people know what sort of danger they’re actually facing will draw the Grimm that he keeps everything hush-hush, despite the fact that this handicaps his defense. He would rather have the civilian population undefended than panicked! He is essentially waving his arms and saying “Act like there isn’t a big giant horde of monsters next to you, guys! Act normal and they won’t notice you!”
This is why we have this count:
Prowling Wolf Fallacy: 2
Ozpin, maybe you can keep the big shadowy enemy secret, but your ability to prevent negative emotions from occurring in the population is limited, unless you want to take the route I suggested in the World of Remnant post and just start dosing everybody with happiness pills. If your overall tactic is to simply work around the enemy while putting as much focus as possible on not alerting the public to danger, you should not be in charge because that is a plan guaranteed to end in failure.
That’s the problem with the Prowling Wolf. Even if you don’t alert the wolf, you can’t guarantee nothing will or that something won’t go wrong. You can’t go putting yourself in a situation where you have to either pick up a sword or hide in the shadows without one, and if you must choose, then don’t be shocked when this gets you in the belly of the beast. Who fared better, the man who died fighting the wolf or the man who died hiding from it?
One more thing. Ozpin, the reason there’s an “energy in the air” is less likely to be because of the airships than what they saw the airships fighting, that being the Grimm breaching Vale because, and I cannot stress this enough, of your shitty decision-making.
Hypocrisy: 14
And that will not be the last time Ozpin’s hesitant approach to dealing with Cinder lands the city in trouble.
Ironwood looks around, sighs, and dispels the hologram. Ironwood once again resentfully defers to Ozpin’s suggestion as to what they should do. I wouldn’t be bothering at this point.
Oz: I suggest we find our guardian.
Before we move on to the final scene of this episode, let me say one final thing. It’s about the whole Harry Potter comparisons I’ve been making with Ozpin and co.
I called Ozpin Dumbledore, because he is a blatant and poorly-written Dumbledore expy, with Glynda as his McGonagall. Now, we’ve entered a situation where the Harry Potter setup is most likely not intentional, but set up with influence from it and similar plots following the conspiratioral Big Good example. Now that we’re in Volume 3, and everyone has decided Ironwood is a big mean dummy doo-doo head, I can firmly call him the Fudge in the equation—or possibly Scrimgeour.
Ozpin (Dumbledore) is the older, experienced, wiser one everyone trusts whose advice is being questioned and disregarded by the younger, brasher and puffed-up compatriot who is technically above him, but has deferred to him up until now (Fudge). Glynda is the McGonagall, the staunchly supportive and no-nonsense right hand who is not afraid to give the Fudge a piece of her mind.
Now we’ve introduced Qrow into the mix, who functions as a hybrid of Hagrid and Snape, a younger supporter who is nonetheless aggressively supportive of him and hostile to his opposition, despite his limited authority. The Wizard, the Good Witch, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow (which is the intended parallel) all in one room make the vibe we’re supposed to get clear. But you may have noticed there is a problem, and that problem is that the setup is exactly the opposite of what made Dumbledore vs. Fudge/Scrimgeour so dramatic.
In Harry Potter, it was Fudge who was hiding Voldemort’s return from the populace, trying to avert mass panic that would cause problems (mostly for himself). This had the effect of letting Voldemort run around in the shadows gathering power for an entire year and left the wizarding world completely unprepared for his return when the time came, which led to a lot of needless death and destruction that could’ve been avoided had he listened and acknowledged it. Dumbledore was the one trying to act before it was too late. Here, they’ve inverted the positions—we’re supposed to side with the one who’s keeping everything hush-hush even when it presents the potential for the enemy to do more damage that way, and root against the one who wants to be prepared.
There is a Voldemort out there in Remnant, and she’s enjoying all this effort Ozpin is putting into keeping the populace ignorant and happy, I promise you.
The last scene of the episode is when we cut to Cinder’s dorm with Mercury and Emerald.
C: And you’re sure?
M: Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day.
You could smell him from twenty feet away while he was fighting? Yikes on bikes. Like Mercury’s alcoholic father, it’s going to turn out that Qrow isn’t such a great guardian either, but that’s for later. When Emerald asks what they should do, Cinder says that they should do nothing. “We stay the course.”
C: They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry. Besides… The last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of, thanks to our clever little friend. Ahh, speaking of which, it appears we have a new access point.
She’s talking about Ironwood’s Scroll, by the way. Apparently him connecting to the wifi or whatever it was he did to create that hologram got his personal device infected with Cinder’s hack-in virus. *looks sidelong at all that ranting I did in Season 2’s infiltration plot*
Emerald and Mercury are dismissed, and we get a close-up of Cinder’s tablet as she scrolls through faces four at a time, two versus two. The ones she lands on, Mercury and Emerald’s, are soon matched up with Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi. We then cut to Amity Colosseum the next day, where Port is saying the “randomization process” is complete over the speakers, and the crowd, including RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN, are cheering on the upcoming doubles rounds fights.
Cinder herself claps in her chair before we cut to black.
The sheer amount of condescension in this post has given me a headache. Next time, we get back into the combat side of things, seeing more of the tournament. See you there.
Counts:
- Jaune: 16
- It Was Right There: 4
- Fauxminism: 6
- Hypocrisy: 14
- Ice Cream Queens: 0
- Reliable Leaders: 10 + 2
- Prowling Wolf Fallacy: 2
- Threatening Enemies: 4
- Love to Be a Part of It Someday: 20
- Your Fight Scene Sucks: 27 + 13
- Evisceration Evasion: 13
- Ill Logic: 30
- Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Veil: 11 + 2
- Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge: 1
- Band-Aid Brigade: 1
- RSVP: 25
- Road to Nowhere: 7
- Y.A.S. Queen: 4
- Rooster Tease: 5
- LuLaRwe: 2
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15 – Volume 2, Episode 2, “New Challengers” | Table of Contents | 17 – Volume 3, Episodes 4 and 5
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Date: 2024-02-07 11:59 pm (UTC)From:As for the Qrow/Winter stuff... fandom misogyny strikes again, even here. Sigh.