surgeworks

RWBY Volume 7

Written by Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross, Eddy Rivas, and Kiersi Burkhart
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Connor Pickens, Dustin Matthews, and Paula Decanini
Produced under Rooster Teeth

Alternate Title: The One Where Miles and Kerry Were Locked In A Basement

Welcome to Volume 7 of RWBY.

After Volumes 5 and 6, what can you really expect? RWBY is rapidly becoming a laughingstock and its own fanbase are getting very vocal about it not being good anymore. What to do to stem the flow of mockery and preserve those lovely FIRST subscriptions? Would there be any salvaging this show? Would it ever again be remembered as good in its current shape? Well, I have some news for everyone that is going to shock:

Volume 7 of RWBY is fantastic.

Why? Well, as you can see, there’s a lot more names under that list of credits as usual. Four directors, and four writers—and one of them is one you should pay special attention to. Kiersi Burkhart, unlike the rest, is a published author.

The rumor mill having found me a few times, I don’t imagine I’d like much of Burkhart’s work, or Burkhart herself. But apparently, practice makes perfect, because the very first time Rooster Teeth brought a writer on board, the quality of the writing didn’t just improve, it skyrocketed. Familiarity with the process probably had a lot to do with it. Eddy Rivas has also been brought on as a writer, apparently helping out more than a bit and taking an active, if questionable, role in RWBY’s plot and worldbuilding.

However, every hero that rises must have a villain to menace them and all they have built. For Miles and Kerry and the bigwigs at Rooster Teeth that have let them drive the show into the ground, that villain was undoubtedly whichever newcomer penned the bulk of Volume 7. Ten episodes of the volume work fine and make total sense—and the final three enter one of the most severe cases of derailment I’ve ever seen, setting the stage for a total crashing-and-burning makeover in Volume 8 that makes it abundantly clear that the people in charge did not care for ‘improvements’ to what they apparently thought they’d already done perfectly good work on, despite hiring three new people for writing and directing.

Well, there’s no use dallying. Here’s the counts so far:

Jaune: 67
It Was Right There: 52
Fauxminism: 50
Hypocrisy: 36
Reliable Leaders: 40 + 15
- Prowling Wolf Fallacy: 15
Threatening Enemies: 33
Love to Be a Part of It Someday: 75
Your Fight Scene Sucks: 112 + 33
- Evisceration Evasion: 33
Ill Logic: 135
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Veil: 51 + 58
- Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge: 27
- Band-Aid Brigade: 31
RSVP: 69
Road to Nowhere: 21
Y.A.S. Queen: 16
Rooster Tease: 20
LuLaRwe: 33
The Lovegood Fallacy: 12
How to Piss Off Gay People: 22
Invisembl: 10
Broke-Ass Clowns: 20
Shut the Fuck Up: 7