RWBY Volume 8 REVIEW

[@kevintan3705]

Ironwood: *Helps the main cast however he can with full trust* Main cast: *Trusts Emerald over Ironwood* Me: *Has an aneurysm*

[@losnfjslefn8857]

😂 So true 😭

[@pinklove1924]

Agreed while I like Emerald she’s my favorite villain. I felt like her redemption wasn’t earned. While I wanted it, the crew didn’t deliver. I like the idea of having ironwood becoming a full villain sort of like a tragic fallen hero. And Judgmental mad it works in his ironwood section. I see the potential of making him evil or a misunderstood hero, the crew again doesn’t deliver.

[@thomasraines1396]

It would be like Batman trusting Two-Face or Joker over Commissioner Gordon or Alfred.

[@DocMicrowave]

@@pinklove1924 They did Emerald just like Illia. They will also do it to Neo.

[@PrismOpal64]

That pissed me off so much and Emerald's lines about switching sides made me cringe SO HARD it felt so forced.

[@ragingmonkeycritic]

Volume 8 is like an over confident gymnast. It started off great and had some cool tricks and all it had to do was stick the landing, but right before it landed, CRWBY thought "We can do another flip" then it landed straight on it's face and thats all people remember

[@skyaguilera992]

Lol, vol 8 is like that one gymnast scene from final destination

[@ChloroPhobeTarantino]

Very excellent analogy!

[@thatdude937]

That's an ingenious way of looking at it.

[@havinearlong9055]

ACTUALLY THEY MADE A MISTAKE THE MOMENT THEY HACKED PENNY, ANDONE WITH COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE KNOW IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.

[@jexelbur6872]

Sky Aguilera I was thinking the same thing.

[@kaiserzer0468]

Ironwood could’ve been such an amazing character that represented an inverted Tin Man, but this volume didn’t get rid of his heart, it got rid of his brain.

[@Cruxinoli]

This made me laugh so bad 💀

[@kidprime6863]

Which I think was the whole point because he's blinded by his goal in keeping the Relic out of Salem's reach, he doesn't see the emotional harm and potential consequences that comes with it.

[@000Dragon50000]

The fact that NOBODY thought to ask Pietro how to fix Penny being hacked infuriates me SO much.

[@MrRemicas]

I guess they just didn't waste time on it. Pietro was out of Scroll range, and they had no idea where they could be. So while it would have been nice to have the characters spent a thought, I don't mind the show skipping that part and focus on what they actually can do.

[@000Dragon50000]

​@@MrRemicas They know exactly where he is, on the flying arena island thing they shot into the sky, and flying vehicles are fairly common.

[@danishsyed1068]

@@000Dragon50000 buddy once into a point into the air let alone upper atmosphere you are not going to land anywhere near launched form.

[@000Dragon50000]

@@danishsyed1068 Its a huge ass floating piece of rock, Cinder and co flew up to it no problem. RWBY team just needed to do that.

[@dylann.2970]

@@000Dragon50000 cinder and Co went to the aren before they shot it up into space, plus we have no idea what happened to it after Penny was hacked. For all we know they crashed and died, maybe they took the portals if one showed up, we don't know his fate as of now.

[@MonsterKing_97]

You know between Crow teaming up with Tyrian last Volume and the heroes teaming up with Emerald this Volume the heroes seem to trust criminals way to easy.

[@thomasraines1396]

They’re setting themselves up to be screwed over.

[@TF2Fan101]

Honestly, Emerald's change to good could have worked had they changed up her motivations and story. Just make her motivation for this season being she wants to save Cinder from herself, so she goes rogue, helps Oscar escape with the lamp, and teams up with Ruby and the others. That said, unlike the show, none of them are willing to trust her. Eventually, they let her join, but they make it clear that if she does anything fishy or suspicious, they'll drop her. Cut to the finale. Emerald and Cinder finally meet, and Emerald is told point-blank by Cinder that she doesn't need her anymore. She tries to kill Emerald, only for Jaune to save her. Cue personal realization for Emerald that Ruby and the others have something she and Cinder never had: Genuine care for each other. She then joins the fight against Cinder and the others, and after the finale, tells the others she's on their side now, and she's now willing to do whatever it takes to stop Salem.

[@EmerickSin]

To be fair... Qrow 100% tried to tag team Tyrian instead but CLOVER is the one who kept targeting Qrow specifically. Even after Tyrian offered their team-up, Qrow still went for Tyrian one more time wherein Clover AGAIN intervened, so at that point, yes, the only real option was to team up or flee as a bird because there was no way Qrow could take them both on at once, especially with Clover's semblance. Was it the right choice? Obviously not, we know that as the audience, but from Qrow's perspective and Clover's actions, yeah, it was that or run and leave Robyn. People throw soooo much shade at Qrow for this but like, Clover really didn't give him a choice here.

[@blacksmoke6292]

@@EmerickSin I mean, right before that, Clover did insisted they shouldn't fight and take Robyn to a hospital instead, but Qrow, for a weak reason, did wanted to fight. So Qrow does deserve that shade.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@blacksmoke6292 Qrow started the fight on the ground.

[@orangemarissa50]

One thing that bugged me is the fact that Winter didn't use her glyphs to save Weiss from falling. She literally used them against Cinder by summoning so her using the gravity glyph should have been possible.

[@houdini9739]

Tbh I found the entire last episode hilarious. The second Ambrosius said “do not fall off” I IMMEDIATELY knew someone was going to fall off. Because it was Chekhov’s Gun, right? If such a minor detail is mentioned, it has to be used as a plot point later on. However, what I wasn’t expecting was for literally ALL of Team RWBY plus Jaune and Neo to fall down 💀. It was just such a quick turn of events. Plus it’s kinda boring. We already have Team RWBY dynamic and Jaune’s had a LOT of character development. Tbh the character dynamics were wack in the last part. Seeing Whitley and Willow get that much screen time and seeing the Schnee family bond was incredibly sweet and made me tear up. I really like Penny and Nora’s bonding, and seeing Ren and Yang interact was fun, considering how zen Ren is and how chaotic Yang is. But the last couple episodes were disappointing. Nora saying she wanted to distance herself from Ren but then being pushed into the portal with him. It would’ve been WAY more interesting if Nora went with the girls who fell in. And we get it, Yang and Blake are in love, but I found it odd that Blake was so much more torn up over Yang falling than Ruby, but then she just fell into the void with her. It would’ve been nice to see them separated and have Blake deal with her feelings and finding herself. Also having Jaune kill Penny was lame because he had such little interaction with her. The entire season was about Ruby realizing how tough it is to be a hero and how sometimes you can’t save everyone. The perfect way to wrap that up would be to force her to kill her friend. You could even have Nora do it after she bonded with Penny. I kinda lost my train of thought here but......character development and dynamic and relationships were meh

[@furyberserk]

Winter doesn't use dust.

[@orangemarissa50]

@@furyberserk Yes she does. In the fight with Ironwood this past volume, when she was working with JNP and Oscar. She used electricity and ice dust. She may have even used gravity dust so she can lift Nora up for her strike. Winter does use dust.

[@Vigriff]

@@houdini9739 Am I the only who thinks Ambrosius may not like the God of Light?

[@backpug1228]

One viewer of vexed viewer pointed out that Winters aura broke before, so that she even summoned against Cinder was a plot hole xD

[@yashaoftheflames8475]

Ruby reacted more to her weapon falling than her sister.

[@secondaegis9190]

Ruby really likes her baby

[@marichatismynameandladynoi1990]

Don’t blame her I’ll be pissy over sythe more then yangs annoying ass jk lol

[@TortoiseNotTurtle]

That was her Sycthe girlfriend

[@johannesseyfried7933]

@@TortoiseNotTurtle Ruby is confirmed as a Gunsexual then? Got it! I'm immediately gonna edit her TV Tropes Page. 😄

[@ZoraVisions]

That's not true. She was crying when she fought neo

[@StoogesFan]

Ironwood never should've gone full villain. He could've started to slip down that path, but Winter and the Ace Ops should've talked some sense into him, or conclude that his semblance (which I still think was a really stupid idea) has had his mind on autopilot and break him free of it. He breaks down and admits that he doesn't know what to do and fears that Atlas and Mantle are lost, then Winter and the others could tell him maybe they will succeed or not, and if they don't, they'll put up a last stand that Salem will never forget, and for now let's focus on getting the civilians of Atlas and Mantle out of the way.

[@marichatismynameandladynoi1990]

Exactly him being a villian dosent make sense anyways because he never had anger towards mantle as he helped them in s7 he had anger for Salem so when she was gone he should’ve been much nicer and work ruby and friends so when the grim bitch comes back the army ironwood ruby and friends will be ready to fight Salem together like bruh so simple

[@angelhalliwell7348]

Actually they tried to at one point hell Rwby and co even the two representatives tried and one was shot ironwoods semblence was what made it impossible to change his mind change his mind no matter what and they prove that not only when he killed the male representatives infront of them but also when he betrayed Oscar, and he was actually going to shoot marrow when he said something so they knew he would kill then if they did even winter figured that out

[@BlueV205]

The writer decided that he'll just became another Leonardo smh.

[@takkarsasori8961]

​@@BlueV205 gotta remember rwby lied to ironwood went behind his orders to capture robin and clover being killed by qrows weapon. when all he did was put his trust in them and that trust was betrayed time and time again. and you know a giant spawning grimm invading atlas. i would be amazed if you can handle that amount of stress. i can see why he went crazy.

[@anafu-sankanashi8933]

@@takkarsasori8961 and yet somehow he is still the bad guy.

[@lilacthorn4333]

"At this point you could tell me Ruby doesnt have object permanence and wouldnt remember her sister the moment she wasnt directly in front of her." Lost it! Lol

[@thomasraines1396]

It feels like what happens on the CW version of “The Flash” where the villains (normally people running on foot a good majority of the time) are able to “get away” by simply walking off screen for a few seconds.

[@prokolipsi5607]

It bothers me that Ruby fell with Blake, when instead Weiss could've fell with Blake, leaving Ruby to be the final one to fall in reverse order. In that instance, Ruby would've been the one to kill Penny and we might've finally gotten some character development as her sister and closest friends have all presumably died around her. Instead, she gets shafted for Jaune (who has already been developed) and so that Winter can see her sister fall. Incredible writing.

[@EmerickSin]

Ruby would have never killed Penny. Jaune did it because he's the freaking tactician of the group, he's the strategist, that's been his job since the start. And he wasn't blinded by his friendship with Penny. Ruby was too close and would have NEVER done it. So already there's an issue with your poetic reverse order. Ruby's whole arc this 3 volume thing has been DOUBTING HERSELF, losing her innocence, her optimism. People who say she has no development are hilarious. She never comes out and says it but you can see her development through each volume, building on itself. It's not shoved in your face so maybe y'all just miss it because god forbid something not be stated expressly. But sure, continue to hate on the show you keep watching even if you apparently can't stand it, because that makes sense.

[@shayla106]

@@EmerickSin You can’t make us accept the plot holes in your favorite show. Starting argument with everyone and ignoring their valid criticism just makes it more clear that the fans that RWBY have left are more like a cult, that doesn’t really care about the story or characters.

[@EmerickSin]

@@shayla106 I'm not trying to make them accept anything, but you guys keep stating something is a pothole because "this" didn't happen or "that" wasn't shown, when most of the time it was, it just wasn't in your face.

[@Phos67]

Nah, I like the way it went.

[@ProjectLethargic]

@@EmerickSin Ruby's whole "arc" has been her randomly deciding she's not good enough randomly dispersed in with her monologuing at villains, having Ruby kill Penny would make just as much sense as half of the shit that happens in this show does, but actually pay off, as much as you can convince yourself she's gotten development its no more than a pipe dream, its not like I'm denying she has development because "god forbid something not be stated expressly" its because her so called development is forced and stated expressly, you cannot seriously tell me that she's changed. Every action she does in this volume she would've done in volume 1. Don't act like them having Jaune kill Penny was because Ruby couldn't and Jaune's the strategist, they couldn't even place Nora on the mission to go help Mantle when last volume she kept fighting for Mantle. They just gave more spotlight and development to Jaune who does not need it when the title characters have barely done shit since volume 3

[@BolderoffBros]

Imagine how impactful Penny's death would have been if Ruby was the one that killed her. Penny's first friend, Ruby the "theoretical" main character of the show who lost Pyrrha but was not able to save another friend...

[@zakai-kaz]

Right but no let's get self insert jaun to do all the main character stuff

[@SuperBrunout]

Yeah But Juan had to steal the spotlight. Again.

[@jknetwork6211]

Problem is it’s not in Ruby’s character to do so. She could kill Penny before then so why now?

[@SuperBrunout]

@@jknetwork6211 Also not in Jaune's character. But between the two, Ruby would make more sense to do so

[@sandraswift7280]

right? i've watched this show since i was in high school and i love it, i do, but sometimes shit writing like that really grind my gears. jaune has had enough focus and character growth, why not let the actual main characters have the spotlight for once?

[@lilyovalle7254]

With Ironwood’s part I actually wanted to tear up because of your narration, I have only two words: “Good job”

[@gingersnapcam7334]

YEP 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@noctisastrum7495]

Speaking of ironwood, Idk if this is me but I feel like as of now that so far any character who has somekind of moral ideology different from the main cast gets booted off, turned to their side, killed off, or more notably immediately turned Into a psychopath, Forcing the fact that the Heroes way is the only correct way.

[@izzymosley1970]

@@noctisastrum7495 these are the signs of bad writing

[@LegendrayFoenix]

Word she even tried to save it too 😂😂

[@ragingmonkeycritic]

"Why couldn't they trust him like he trusted...nevermind

[@theshire9173]

I’m still wondering what happened with Maria and Pietro. They’ll have a spin-off called Adventures in Amity where they just pass the time by telling stories of their past

[@supersparrowJ]

I’d watch that

[@BumbleCrumble1072]

The plot was done with them so they were shot into space.

[@gommodore6441]

Imagine if that's how Fairy Tales of Remnant started

[@softwet9630]

I would actually watch that

[@Snaaaaap]

I thought Maria would've been more of a mentor to Ruby like say Genkai to Yusuke Urameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho) and train her butt off to be better with SE and a warrior in general, but I guess getting her hunter license made that unnecessary maybe.

[@TheLastHylianTitan]

God all that shade at Bumblebee during the “emotional moments stolen” section is just so goddamn gratifying and cathartic. I am SO sick of that ship and the way the writers waste so much screentime and sacrifice the importance and potential of other characters just to tease a ship that will probably never be confirmed canon within the show. The fact that Yang cared more about Blake’s opinion than her own sister’s wellbeing during an End times scenario made me want to throw up.

[@thomasraines1396]

It would be like if Batman cared more for Catwoman’s well being as opposed to any of the Robins or Alfred.

[@TF2Fan101]

#BlackSun4Ever

[@MxPokirby]

You can be mad about how they're handling it, but don't be upset the ship itself exists. Don't wanna sound homophobic, do you?

[@nenmaster5218]

@@MxPokirby Seen Hbomberguys now-legendary Essay on RWBY?

[@Game-ne5nb]

@@MxPokirby "Omg they're hating an awful ship that has no chemistry and makes 0 sense, but it's LESBIAN!! They're definitely homophobic!!!"

[@tonjolley6422]

I enjoy the bumblebee rant. It's not bad to have bumblebee, it's bad to prioritize it when the alternative is a sisterhood bond with the death of a mom being the reason for them fighting in the first place. AND THEN, the cherry on top is that bumblebee can't even kiss on screen. Like no more bs, if the writers prefer bumblebee, cool, just commit to it harder than they are.

[@kylebarton1106]

Part of me also finds it amusing that the shippers keep demanding a kiss and yet when that scene happened and people were bringing up how they keep ship teasing them, the shippers responded "Well, they're basically canon. We don't need a kiss." Like???

[@SolitaryLark]

I’m also annoyed that they have mischaracterized suns relationship with Blake if there gonna have her be in a relationship with Yang. Like is Blake stringing sun along she joke about Neptune barking up the wrong tree with chameleon friend but hasn’t clearly friendzoned sun to my knowledge.

[@jamesbond3w]

@@SolitaryLark This is what triggers me the most. It's so obvious; so clear! That Black Sun was originally the Ship. Blake had no interest in love(straight or lesbian) openly blushed when her mom commented "I like him" during Season 4 and had a decent combat relationship. But sure; let's just say Yang had a sudden lesbian interest for Blake during her PTSD and Blake is just having pubescent feelings for Sun because brains don't work that way

[@silentecho92able]

@@jamesbond3w You know my gay friend does not even like how they portray Blake and Yang relationship by this point, as he said the writers feels like they have to remind people they are in a relationship. At the expense of growing the relationship with others. They don't have to keep jamming it in we get it already. However at the expense they got rid of Adam which is a character that has a lot of lost potential the way they made him a crazy ex-boyfriend and etc. I would like to see these two get to develop more relationships with others.

[@jamesbond3w]

@@silentecho92able I honestly saw Adam as an Ex- Master or Sensei. He was the one that helped Blake hone her skills but because he was more intent on killing people for us sake of the Faunas; Blake knew it was time to cut ties with him. The boyfriend nonsense was just some left field BS

[@BolderoffBros]

I've always felt that Ruby should have been mad at Yang for going behind her back. Also that argument wass contrived because they were going to split up regardless. You're telling me in RWBY they wouldn't have chose to split and do both plans?

[@gommodore6441]

Doesn't help that Yang blames Ruby for lying to Ironwood, but then did the same without Ruby knowing. Especially when Yang was like "we told her" which indirectly throws Ruby and Weiss under the bus with them without either of them knowing about it.

[@martirecu3010]

@@gommodore6441 Also makes less sense for blake to still support Ruby's leadership after she went behind her back last volume when SHE was the one to say they'd follow her lead

[@gommodore6441]

@@martirecu3010 I'd be mad, but it's been awhile since Blake interacted with anyone except Yang

[@demetriusprime1505]

@@gommodore6441 Would have been something good to talk about between Blake and Ruby or Blake and Weiss or all 3. But nope Blake only gives some encouraging pep talk to Ruby that I completely forgot about.

[@MrRemicas]

Apparently Ruby does not know the difference between splitting up to handle multiple tasks and being divided. In spite of splitting her group up, or going on her own away from the group, time and again.

[@anotherstrangecommenter]

When I saw how long the video was, I was like: "Critter, you are obviously great, but please get some rest after this because it already seems well-deserved"

[@frogradar]

Ok, something I JUST realised about the Neo sneak attack... why did she SWIPE her adamantium cane-blade... If she wanted to Kill Ruby, surely she should have just... LUNGED into her. The velocity would have been faster, she would have IMPALED both Yang and Ruby. Oh, right that's why. It was never to harm Ruby/Yang... it was so we could have Neo bat Yang away like a fly over the edge nvm

[@KeeKage37]

This! One hundred percent this! ☝️☝️☝️ How the hell is Neo supposed to kill Ruby with a slashing attack from a thrusting weapon that has no edge? Mitch less have a girl that’s less than five foot nothing and has been shown to weigh so less that a breeze can ether carry her away or make her float with her umbrella toss yang over the edge and hit her with enough force to break her aura and knock her out? This makes no freaking sense.

[@KikiCatMeow]

I literally don't see how Neo's thin ass needle of a blade could not only launch Yang that far, but also shatter her Aura. It launched Yang at LEAST a few feet, either Neo got HELLA arm strength and an unbreakable weapon or Yang is equivalent to a balloon in terms of mass and weight And yeah, a swiping motion would leave a nasty scar but the only way I could see it being immediately fatal is if Neo got her neck

[@valerie_sees]

@Unova Slankiite more like a water balloon

[@demetriusprime1505]

@Unova Slankiite I laughed too hard when she bounced. Roosterteeth: PHYSICS BE DAMNED AND TO HELL WITH LOGIC WE'RE GONNA MAKE THIS SH*T DRAMATIC!

[@curseofgladstone4981]

@@KikiCatMeow when i first saw the scene i thought she was knocked into cinders inferno which broke her aura. i was wrong but that would of made more sense at least.

[@selena44842]

Blake's reaction to Yang falling and subsequent rage while fighting Neo feels eerily similar to Jaune's reaction to seeing Cinder again and Weiss's impalement in volume 5. Both got to cry, scream and fight one of the season's main antagonists, while Ruby, who saw Cinder kill Pyrrha, is Weiss's partner and in the case of this season was the reason Yang fell in the first place (since Neo was targeting her), as you point out Critter, gets pushed to the background and doesn't get to react to anything that's happening around.

[@thomasraines1396]

Blake had what should’ve been Ruby’s reaction in regards to Yang’s “death” but that doesn’t happen for some reason, or at the very least they should’ve both been absolutely livid, but Blake is the only one to really react.

[@EmerickSin]

To be fair, in this volume it happened in seconds. Ruby was pushed, Yang screamed in pain, then suddenly Yang was gone. Ruby barely had time to stand up before Neo was on her again, so how was she supposed to react, really? She didn't have time, the mission had to come first, she's been trying to stay focused on that this whole time. Do I think the writing this season was top-notch? no, I enjoyed volume 7 far, far more, and I understand they were rushed due to the pandemic and it wasn't as good as it could have been, which is why they are taking so much more time on volume 9. Is it perfect? no. Is any show? No. Should we judge it as an actual TV show? No. Because it's not. it's a web-series made to honour their friend's wishes, so people judging it as an actual tv show is ridiculous to me. It's so much better than it used to be, can't we just appreciate that? Or, if you don't like it, why watch it? I certainly don't waste time watching something once I've lost interest.

[@teriosshadow17]

@@EmerickSin Ok, few problems with this argument. Blake had time to try reach for Yang, cry and scream in sadness. Not to mention Ruby has Super Speed as semblance so she had time to do so but you are telling me "She was shocked" when Yang was still alive. It would be like having Spiderman watch his loved one fall to their death in shock instead rushing to save them when he has the fucking power to do so.

[@EmerickSin]

@@teriosshadow17 you're right Spiderman doesn't stand on the sidelines, instead he's killing them by trying to save them because the sudden stop isn't good for normal humans... Also Ruby is like 16. And was on the ground. By the time she stood up Blake was already crying at the edge with Weiss holding her. Yeah, we can say there was a way to save Yang but there's also the fact RUBY IS A CHILD and just potentially lost her sister, she's allowed a second of shock I'd think. Yeah, WE know what could have happened, but that's like blaming Yang and the group for being shocked when Oscar was kidnapped by the Hound... yeah they stood around and watched IN SHOCK because the thing spoke to them and was more intelligent than anticipated. Shock happens. I'm happy you've never been in shock but shock does happen. Also. Ruby doesn't have super speed, as was established in the show. It's more akin to teleportation and breaking people down into molecular level than a speed semblance like previously thought. And even based on the speed thing this does NOT mean she can react super quickly, as was stated by Harriet in volume 7.

[@teriosshadow17]

@@EmerickSin React super quickly? What are you on about? She had time to watch and slowly stands up to her feet instead of quickly getting on her feet and try rushing for Yang. Also Ruby is 17, not 16 and Peter Parker was around same age as her when he started his career as crime fighter. And considering how Ruby has saved them from death from earlier with semblance earlier. Also teleportation is about moving to different place without crossing with intervening space, not fast dashing as shown in the show.

[@astereotypicalgamer1708]

"But... that's NOT what happened." - never have the words been harder to hear.

[@anthonydugar282]

Adding a point about ironwood, did yang ever thank him for her arm

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

She did not, and that infuriates me. I was SO CONVINCED she was like, going to start training under him to learn how to use her arm better. But no....

[@joyin9852]

Oh my god that annoys me so much Edit: like literally just a throw away line just “thanks for the new arm btw. I’m still getting used to it”

[@theshire9173]

@@joyin9852 these are the same people that can’t write a throw away line explaining Ironwood’s semblance in the show. Do you think they’d actually put effort in their dialogue?

[@groynin]

This show has just so many missed cool talks opportunities. Yang never even talked to Penny about having a robotic arm, they were both made in Atlas with the latest technology so they could very well be the same model or something. The problem is that Yang's robotic arm doesn't feel like a robotic arm, it never jams or needs maintenance or hurts her arm when it's connected/slotted or anything like that.

[@theshire9173]

@@groynin true. I recently took a class on disabilities. Just getting a prosthetic doesn’t fix everything. Plus there was no adjustment period. Yang just uses the new arm like a normal arm as soon as she puts it on. I swear CRWBY did zero research with that arc

[@vsGoliath96]

I think the most insulting part of this season was Winter's fight with Ironwood, specifically where she says that Ironwood has sacrificed nothing. What the actual shit is she talking about? That poor man has more machine parts than Darth Vader from all the personal sacrificing he has done. He has no family, basically no friends, he has given himself completely to his kingdom all out of the good of his heart. Screw you, Winter.

[@MrTigracho]

They really dumped Ironwood character. He did a LOT of things for others, and went through a LOT of mental suffering(And I´m only talking about what we see in the show, not even mentioning his robots parts), only for the writers to make him go 180° based on the excuse that his semblance made him take this path(A stupid and a waste of a semblance, mind you).

[@thomasraines1396]

@@MrTigracho a semblance which is only confirmed outside the show itself.

[@EmerickSin]

@@thomasraines1396 Exactly.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@EmerickSin it’s fucking crazy.

[@kidprime6863]

I think it could've worked better if she said "You have sacrificed everything FOR nothing".

[@rileygay9170]

i need you to know that “WHY, W H Y- why are you just letting yourself get distracted with the schnee b i t c h, instead of doing the smart thing and FINISHING OFF YOUR MISSION????” is the funniest thing i have heard in years and i will be quoting that for the potential disaster that is rwby’s next volume

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

Thank you, I'm honored! :D

[@Theking-sk1bz]

When is the time stamp😂

[@natezrodlowski9986]

@@Theking-sk1bz 1:29:31

[@Theking-sk1bz]

@@natezrodlowski9986 thank you😂

[@sombraelerizo]

As someone who grew to like Weiss only to kinda dislike her again, I agree it sounded beautiful.

[@bb-chan4849]

the best part of this Volume for me is that after the finale, I learned Penny's VA has a youtube channel dedicated to her Betta fish. It really helped with the Post-Volume Salt.

[@thejasminedragonmerchant6843]

It's a lovely channel, tbh. You can seriously hear the enthusiasm and happiness Penny is known for in the VA's love for her animals.

[@rockhistoria2537]

As someone who used to take care of a Betta fish before (Emo Nemo was his name) from now on penny is my favorite character and I am not backing up my decision

[@buttery_gooch6]

whats the channels name??

[@bb-chan4849]

@@buttery_gooch6 Simply Betta

[@kidprime6863]

Nothing bad happened, EVER

[@bplatinumpaladin]

Yeah, Nora would've made SO Much more sense, BECAUSE of her interactions with Penny, all the character growth she made thanks to Nora. How they were "Just like" Each other.

[@marichatismynameandladynoi1990]

And there both ginger too

[@mastermelee2543]

@@marichatismynameandladynoi1990 Nora's a walking death flag. I swear.

[@ken7007]

No

[@djmars1983]

@@mastermelee2543 well I wouldn't say walking death flag they're not going to harm Nora I believe that they're going to harm Ren

[@patchwurk6652]

@@ken7007 Okay... Why? Or is "No" all you got as a response?

[@Kat-xc7xf]

42:25 Those Ironwood edits of it all flooding back and repeating history for him were fire

[@draconicdemigod9696]

You forgot one last Penny Robot Joke Critter. "A ginger android? There's a soulless machine joke there, but that's beneath me."

[@djmars1983]

Ohhhhhhhhhh Team Four Star reference

[@darkyoumemento5307]

Love the TFS reference

[@autisticauthoress6296]

Ruby: (mildly shocked) ...Yang? 😥 Also Ruby: (after losing her weapon) NOOO-! 😱 😭

[@Phos67]

I like that Ruby reacted more to her sister falling than her weapon.

[@ronnoc5278]

Ironwood's semblance would be fine but I wish they just explained this stuff in the show. It wouldn't even be that difficult. Just have Oz or Qrow explain that Ironwood isn't bluffing because of his semblance.

[@DarkBlitz15]

I wish they gave us any visual or audio cues of it being used instead of it just being left in the air for character convenience

[@ronnoc5278]

@@DarkBlitz15 I *think* it's supposed to be an always active part of his personality. This is ofc confusing because even semblances need aura to function right? But he didn't magically realize he was being an idiot when his aura was broken. So is it not the semblance? All the questions must be the result of great storytelling. So glad they leave important plot points unmentioned and unexplained. I'm half expecting Salem to get killed off-screen and Ruby to launch into a flashback.

[@DarkBlitz15]

@@ronnoc5278I would rather it be like Klein’s semblance at the bare minimum.

[@nozon5686]

@@ronnoc5278 Qrows semblance is also always active just like ironwoods. I'm not saying it really makes sense but it has occurred before

[@ronnoc5278]

@@nozon5686 Somehow didn't think about this. Was able to find Q&A where Kerry was asked "Does Qrow’s semblance constantly cost him aura or are passive semblances different in that regard?" and he responded "It's not necessarily constantly running, it's more that it randomly spikes to cause unfortunate situations. If he chooses to amplify it in a fight, then yes, it does cost him." So still not super clear but I guess for Qrow it's not a constant drain at the least. Do the random spikes cost aura? I feel like it could make a cool scene if he purposely kept himself just a bit injured so his semblance wasn't active until he needed it. He could literally use Clover's pin to poke himself (deactivate aura first) and then his body would eventually run out of aura trying to heal it. The best example I can think of is if he was on a glacier or something with allies. He keeps his semblance inactive. Eventually, they are found and he manages to hold off the enemies while everyone else escapes. Then we see that he is actually wearing the pin now. He uses the sliver of aura he has to spike his semblance and cause the glacier to collapse. Don't think Vacuo will have many glaciers though.

[@iattacku2773]

Salem: “ Looks like my work here is done” Cinder: “but you didn’t do anything” Salem * flies off

[@shorewall]

Salem: "Didn't I?" * Beams me up, Scotty *

[@MadMannz133]

I HATED when Emerald said she switched sides, it felt so weird. She could of said something like change instead.

[@mauriceisaac3646]

Yeah, it came off as her doing it because Hazel wanted her to, not really a personal decision she came to herself, despite that being what was built up. It’s especially off-putting that once she does, she doesn’t mention Cinder once, despite her established undying loyalty to her, which as far as we know, hasn’t changed. But they never touch on it since they send Emerald to Vacuo before she can see Cinder again, so we have to wait, what, another 1-2 volumes before they confront each other?

[@averageasianelephant]

It sounds like something a little kid would say during a Nerf gun game lol

[@WanderingSorceress]

Honestly, I saw Emerald leaving the bad guys, & considered she *might* join the good guys, but when it did happen it felt super dissatisfying. It felt like she didn't earn any kind of "redemption". & yeah, "switching sides" sounded weird.

[@victor2641]

Eh didn't mind it

[@kidprime6863]

​@@victor2641Me either

[@kriblar98]

Critter pointing out Weiss summoning a bee should not of made me laugh as much as it did

[@btrando1]

Do you know whats worse? In the same episode we see Weiss use a glyph that PULLS Cinder toward said glyph... SOMETHING Weiss could have used to save a DEAR friend.

[@ughgowonsscalpandcrunchyvo4926]

what made me question is how it broke Yang’s aura which I know is pretty low since she’s been fighting nonstop. she ain’t Adam so how could her tinsy tiny blade doing a swiper no swiping slash did the job

[@torreywilliams6154]

@@btrando1 You wanna know what's even worse? How Weiss is still alive after getting literally blown up by Cinder point blank with no aura.

[@babaloo526]

The way they ruined Ironwood proves to me that they unintentionally bumbled into writing him so good the previous volume. Damn, writing an amazing character on a fluke, yep that's RWBY I know and love.

[@johannesseyfried7933]

I honestly don't know what's sadder: That they wrote a good Character by Accident(!) or that they purposefully ruined him as soon as they noticed.

[@derrickdaniels3955]

I actually like that made a great character by accident. RT should have more accidents and stick with them.

[@pookie.7492]

The judgemental critter: "I hope this video doesn't get to an hour long" The video: *2 hours long*

[@johannesseyfried7933]

On the plus side: It didn't become an hour long, just like she wanted. 😄

[@crowthewicked8344]

Critter: "Barnacles! What could be worst than an hour long video?!" Oh I know! *_TWO HOUR LONG VIDEO_*

[@Narutosotelder]

Yeah the video was a bit “xiao” long... I’m not sorry.

[@pookie.7492]

@@Narutosotelder I don't know whether to laugh and applaud you or rip my hair out and send you to the cringe corner😃

[@pookie.7492]

@@johannesseyfried7933 hahaha *distant screaming*

[@brighteyes6929]

Ya know, when I first saw Yang fall, I thought they would be having them fall in reverse order, Yang, Blake, Weiss, then Ruby last. Then Ruby fell with Blake, and I once again realized that Rooster Teeth has never had good cohesion like that. Not intentionally anyway without ruining it eventually.

[@kylebarton1106]

Or at the very least have Weiss fall in with Blake. And then when Winter doesn't see Weiss or Cinder boasts about killing her, we can see Winter go crazy. I don't get these decisions RT made.

[@halleyk7Art]

Oh wow, that would’ve been pretty cool.

[@BolderoffBros]

I hate how Nora wanted to be seperate from Ren to discover herself. Nora wanted to help team RWBY in the finale, Juane prevented her from doing so and told her to stick with the plan. Juane then stays to help RWBY and is separated from his team, leaving Nora... with Ren.... I knew all of Nora's investment would lead to everything remaining the same...

[@BunW.Bun21774]

It would've been nice if she was the one to fall with RWBY and Neo instead of jaune. It also would've been nice if she was the to kill penny as well -- and also get the maiden power since it would give JNPR more agency in the story -- because I think those two bonded a bit.

[@ShizuruRavenRobin026]

Nora should have killed penny and penny could have been apart of her and then she could have gone in to volume 9

[@Door3234]

Isn’t ren and nora together better because now they can work out there issues together like BRUH just because nora got some character development doesn’t mean they can’t spend time together any more

[@BolderoffBros]

@@Door3234 the show has a history of saying one thing and doing the other. Raven doesn't believe Qrow and Ozpin would be truthful, then tell Yang to ask them for answers. RWBY doesn't trust Ozpin yet they still proceed to do his plan. Nora and Ren could be good, lets hope, but I'm tired of lip service.

[@SonicMaster211]

@@BolderoffBros What plan?

[@gokbay3057]

Ironwood literally did nothing wrong until this volume where they assassinated his character. Because the protagonists could not be allowed to be wrong. Because they had accidentally written an interesting character who many people agreed with against the protagonists. And they had to make him a monster to keep the protagonists in the right.

[@Nova_363]

To preface I loved V8 but that is the one big critisim I have about this entire arc. Why didn't the protags atleast think about what Ironwood was proposing. It isn't like he has to be right about it, just think about it and be conflicted. The worst part is Nora being annoyed at Ren for considering his plan. Rwby as a show has been full of hard tragic situations and decisions. Ren used his brain and was shamed by his GF for being human.

[@takkarsasori8961]

its not just about "ooo we made a great character time to make everyone hate him" tell me if you can handle the stress knowing your top fighter was killed by your friend and a massive grimm invasion outside your kingdoms walls putting your trust in people who lied to you and disobey orders. am i the only one who sees why ironwood turned villain?

[@Nova_363]

@@takkarsasori8961 Oh it makes sense why he turned. The reason it's bad is because the main characters didn't consider his plan at all. It wouldn't mean the plan is moral at all, but they just instantly judged him as being evil as soon as he proposed it.

[@Aurora-313]

@@takkarsasori8961 No, the turn against RWBY makes sense. He's definitely right to turn antagonist against them because RWBY has proven themselves a threat to the safety of the Kingdom as much as Salem and her Grimm are. I still believe he is in the right. He was handed a trolley problem and he chose to make the tough call. My problem is: they could have let this morally ambiguous situation play out as a through-line of the volume. Showing RWBY the grim (no pun intended) reality about the War they've signed up for. About the costs and casualties of war and reinforcing that ideals are pretty, but they don't save lives. Even have half of the protagonists venture that Ironwood was right to sacrifice some to save the many, and showing empathy towards his singularly unenviable position (and accusations of betrayal since it was Yang and Blake who told Robyn about the Tower, thus the catalyst for Ironwood's rage and distrust). Resolve or don't resolve internal conflicts, drive a wedge between characters whose ideas about what's the right thing to do jar and clash against one another. Show that this isn't a situation where there's a right or wrong answer. Show positive and negative consequences of the decision each party made. If Ironwood had to die, then fine. Ironwood had to die. But what could've happened was at the end, after all efforts failed against the Grimm Whale and his forces are in full retreat, he could make a final desperate entreaty to RWBY+Co, telling them that he's planning on activating a massive nuke inside Atlas and is planning to take down the whale and Salem with it. Warning them to get the heck out of dodge. In a last desperate bid, and with Winter as the Maiden (Penny becoming the Maiden was pointless, lets forget that ever happened), Ironwood orders her and the Ace Ops to go to the vault, retrieve the staff and escape Atlas. On their way out, they encounter Qrow and Robyn who've escaped their cells. Rather than fighting, the Ace Ops more or less say 'sh*t's f*cked. We're legging it, get on the transport or die here'. They link up with RWBY+Co, who the latter of whom propose using the staff to escape Atlas using the roads thanks to Ozpin's advice. Maybe the Ace Ops could use that strange concept called Logic to explain to RWBY that Vacuo is a poor choice and move the denizens to Mistral instead, especially given the abundance of resources and empty townships they could inhabit as temporary shelter. Then you can more or less have the same events play out, sans Penny's second pointless death, and Ironwood maintaining his heroic character. Cinder gets the relics, Salem gets the relics after destroying Ironwood in a fight but leaving him crippled in the vault. Atlas goes down then blows up with the power of a nuclear warhead.

[@Aurora-313]

​@@Nova_363 Oh, no mate. They didn't consider his plans, they **stole** his plans. RWBY wanted to get Amity up to restore communications and inform the rest of the world what happened? Yeah. that was Ironwood's original plan when they first arrived until Salem parked her Grimm outside the Kingdom. RWBY eventually wanted to abandoned Atlas and Mantle to the Grimm while taking the Relic as far away from Salem as possible? Yeah, ALSO Ironwood's original plan... that THEY railed against. They certainly have a plan when someone else thinks of it first. :/

[@egg6295]

My thoughts when seeing Yang fall off: “Oh no. Anyway-“

[@thomasraines1396]

Or alternatively “I’m sure she’s fine.”

[@MorningDusk7734]

I honestly thought that the writers were so used to beating up Yang that they actually killed her off, but then someone else fell and I said "oh, no she's fine."

[@kenthefele113]

@@MorningDusk7734 Same. At first I was like, “Wow, they actually had the balls to possibly get rid of a main character or separate team RWBY again.” And then the other RWBY members fell off and I was like “Nah, she’s gonna come back next volume.”

[@Exarch_Of_Justice]

Can I just say the fight of Ruby vs Neo just highlighted for me even more that Crescent Rose is a completely garbage weapon? She looks like she is trying to swing a god damn boat around.

[@houdini9739]

@Unova Slankiite yeah she used to use the gunshots a lot more strategically to maneuver around her opponents. Specifically in the Ruby vs Neo fight, Ruby was very slow with her scythe and the way she handled it made her seem slow and clumsy. Compared to the fight against Tyrian, it almost seems like she’s gotten worse. In the fight with Tyrian she was incredibly smooth, using the weight of Crescent Rose to swing around and dig into the ground to make sharp turns. She used the gunfire to get extra height and move even faster.

[@groynin]

Yeah I feel CRWBY should look up some real combat to base her off, of course not scythe since there isn't much material on that but some kind of Polearm fighting would go a long way into making her fighting style make more sense and make it more unique instead of just spinning it around trying to hit stuff.

[@thatguythere6161]

It’s a Grimm killing weapon being used against people, so it makes sense.

[@brandonontama2415]

@@thatguythere6161 Did you watch the first episode of the series?

[@thatguythere6161]

@@brandonontama2415 Thank you for reminding me. I still think it’s not great for fighting people who can dodge. Still though, it seems RT has forgotten that she can use the rest of her body to fight instead of just swinging the scythe.

[@fandomonium3789]

How to realize a show has bad characterization: a youtuber quotes a character in a way that defined them in the first season that's so glossed over you actually forgot it was part of her character. I legit forgot about Ruby's entire "normal knees" line which define her in the early story, yet she's never once lamented her silver eyes, or getting pulled into this war with Salem. She just wanted to be a normal huntress going on normal missions.

[@thomasraines1396]

You would think she would be freaking out about what’s going on or question it at some point.

[@sagastar4108]

Real talk tho I forgot cinder’s backstory was in volume 8.

[@falconeshield]

We all did

[@softwet9630]

At this point to little to late

[@groynin]

Seriously could have been Character Trailer for Volume 4 like they did with Adam later, would have fit perfectly with her getting blasted by Silver Eyes and then starting Volume 4 all broken and weak.

[@softwet9630]

@Unova Slankiite in my opinion the reason why cinder wants power so badly is because in her broken mind power means freedom as when she got it she broke free from abusive environment as to why she craves power well just like a crackhead she got hooked on it and now she constantly wants it

[@Astraldragon0]

Same here except I keep forgetting about most of what happened in the first half. Probably because everything in the first part feels so disconnected from the latter.

[@asteryker7472]

Specifically on the ironwood segment about his character before v8 is probably the best explanation ive seen. You understand why he feels the way he does at the end. But suddenly he has to become this evil villain in V8......it feels like anytime rwby makes a good character by accident.

[@wander1139]

I think eruption fang did a good one to

[@sammorgan31]

>Be Nora >Want to be independant woman >Get full body tattoo >Pass out for whole season

[@merikmalhads1676]

I'm still not understanding why Cinder can now 1v7 against a team that includes the maiden who beat her so badly she needed a rescue from emerald. So bloody weak, if it was Salem in that fight I can see how she could even get close to winning this alone

[@miuletzmitzu6641]

plot armor I guess. One hit can either destroy your aura immediatly or that same hit can barely even hurt you at all. Cinder kept taking hits that would make Jaune's aura jealous while the others fell like flies.

[@jerm-gv9rv]

@@miuletzmitzu6641 this, it infuriates me so much when a simple hit doesn’t make them sneeze once second and then one shots them the next

[@thomasraines1396]

Because plot.

[@rosesongoku6980]

Cinder has the power of being the writers’ pet, which is why she constantly gets screen time over her own boss and STILL hasn’t been killed yet despite her idiocy.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@rosesongoku6980 it feels like something a CW show would do.

[@mintchoccy]

Okay, but I am OBSESSED with your version of how Ironwood could have declined. Ironwood was one of my favorite characters in the series for every one of the reasons you had explained. Despite the fact that he was doing what he saw was best, he was still making heavy handed decisions out of paranoia. The concept of him slowly slipping more and more into his paranoia until it concluded with him killing Jacques because he sees that no one around him can be trusted much less a Schnee would have been so delightful. It makes me lament how they honestly destroyed his character over the course of one volume. The end of Volume 7 with him had me on the edge of my seat. The end of Volume 8 with him left me with my head in my hands. If they had gone any sort of way with him like how you thought, I would have adored him still. A well meaning man that let his paranoia consume him until he lost his heart? That's engaging. The sudden decline into murderous villain with no sense of thought towards his surroundings and choosing to do drastic measures all the time? Awful. Hated it.

[@BolderoffBros]

You may be right about Oscars separation BUUUUT how do you get Yang's hair into Oscars mouth???

[@justapotato1176]

Yangs hair looks like cheese. Oscar probably doesn't like cheese. Sad.

[@xavierpanohaya2647]

You ask nicely xD

[@HyperfixationStation]

@@xavierpanohaya2647 XD

[@fatherdezz6134]

That's a good question🤔

[@toshido_yamada]

I personally would've prefered that scene not existing

[@YourLadyStar]

Now that we're at the end of Volume 8, I feel like I need to bring something up. Remember that Grimm art contest during the wait for v8, where the winner would have their Grimm be featured in the volume? Yeah, that Grimm never showed up in the entire volume outside of (maybe) appearing in the background, but looked no different from the normal cannon fodder Grimm we've seen before. I don't know the artist of the contest winner, but I can't imagine them being happy with how their creation was treated.

[@cookiesandcream7668]

It made 2 appearances I believe, both in the form of salems grim whale vomit army, and I'm not sure but maybe the grim river? Idk about that one tho

[@groynin]

They show up in Vacuo at 1:01:29 here in the video, but yeah its literally a background fodder grimm. Could have been that 'mini boss' slug that fights Blake in the mansion or something but nope. Don't know if they plan on having them being a big thing during Vacuo's arc but that was very disappointing to me and I just followed the contest, imagine being the winner how shitty it must feel.

[@YourLadyStar]

@@groynin Yeah. But that contest was caked in problems. Remember the Wendigo Grimm situation?

[@KikiCatMeow]

I think they're meant to be native to Vacuo, since they show up in Vacuo and are desert-themed (the Whale's grimm pools probably don't care about what region it makes grimm from) So HOPEFULLY we see more of it, because it was a very cool grimm in its 5 seconds of combined screentime

[@YourLadyStar]

@@KikiCatMeow I hope that's the case, cause the Grimm is pretty sick. But if they knew that they wouldn't use this Grimm in Atlas, they probably should have said something.

[@OneTaker]

I feel that volume 8 is just an example of " its not over till its over". I thought it was going to be better than what it was and the beginning gave me hope but well the second half happened. Even though yes we had already seen ( spoilers) Penny die before, it still got me more emotional at the time than the first time did. I think I mostly agree with Critter that a few tweaks here and there would, not necessarily fix all the issues but make it better, and it did feel like a first draft at parts. For the next volu.e I think they might go with a volume 6 approach. As in focusing on those that fell into the void for the first half, then them getting back to their world or rejoining the others if where they went is still part of Remnant, in the second half. Very worried they will split episode screen time into a back and forth between the 2 groups. I know one of the big criticisms is not seeing the fights but I think we can skip Winter fighting the grim on her end and just have them where they need to be but that's just me. Also wondering if RT will remember the few citizens that fell too or just forget them and it only be team RWBY, Jaune and Neo. Time will tell but I wonder if Jaune's confidence will be broken after all this. His role with Penny and not making it through the gate must have shaken that confidence Ren and Yang talked about up quite abit.

[@EmerickSin]

Volume 8 suffered from being rushed due to the pandemic. It's why they are taking their sweet time with volume 9, which good for them, they definitely should. We would rather wait a bit than have another rushed volume. Still, the animation was good, the background music was good, but the story could have used another pass to smooth edges and fix plot holes. It's not perfect. But I still enjoy the show and am eager for volume9.

[@brighteyes6929]

1:27:37 Did anyone else notice Yang's eye's popping between expressions? How did I not see that before? And now I can't unsee it.

[@sophiri.]

Sometimes I see videos where people talk about how they’d do something different in the show, and it makes me disappointed the show itself couldn’t be at least that well written. Your version of Ironwood in Volume 8 is no different, and I wish he was handled more like that. Great review, agree with pretty much all of it.

[@Terrance07]

You know what could’ve been interesting with the “Penny returns” plot point is that in Volume 03 when Cinder finds out Penny is a robot, she could’ve secretly installed the virus within her. That way, when she is repaired (not rebuilt/resurrected), Penny will be compromised already since she could be a sleeper agent for Watts and Salem. It could’ve given more weight when Ruby has to kill her for good.

[@victor2641]

@@Terrance07 neh

[@Jordan-gp3mj]

As far as Cinder’s concerned, I hate that this volume basically force-fed us her now consistent line « without you I am nothing ». This was my biggest issue (among a lot with her) because she NEVER said anything close to that in past volumes. She’s always been able to speak freely, so why the did she start saying that?

[@badassnumber13]

What I thought was weird is that they didn't go for "Don't think, obey." From vol 2 it was a good line and already in the show.

[@Jordan-gp3mj]

@@badassnumber13 exactly ! Other great things they weren’t consistent with lol

[@darkyoumemento5307]

Yeah it's almost like she's an entirely different character from the first volumes

[@mauriceisaac3646]

Couldn't help but agree with pretty much everything you said, especially their decision to bring Penny back, only to kill her again, and the unusual prioritization of characters outside the ones the show is named after. The volume had plenty of good/great moments, but they were unfortunately sprinkled within poorly executed plotlines and questionable writing decisions, leaving the entire volume a mixed bag. I also want to express my sympathy to the undeserved attacks you and your sister have gotten over your criticisms. Your opinions are perfectly valid and should be respected, not ignored/shamed for not being 100% supportive. The show needs people like you to point out its flaws, so it can hopefully improve. But sadly, that's feeling less and less likely.

[@fishnewt1331]

45:41-48:41 *slow claps that gets faster* Amazing! Incredible! Can I just mentally make this the head canon and not what we got?

[@RyanBurgerplays]

Can’t wait for volume 14 when it’s revealed the beacon relic was actually on the moon and they spend an entire volume going on a road trip across the solar system

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

Lol! I'm definitely expecting it to be something way lamer. Like, "oh the relic was in my desk drawer the whole time!" And we're all just supposed to forget that Salem's forces searched across the whole kingdom trying to find it.

[@talesealog5457]

I love how the rage starts getting to her. By the hour mark more or less every adjective became "that bitch" xD

[@CandyGames63]

i was about to go to sleep but IT SEEMS THAT THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG

[@Door3234]

Wa it’s only 4

[@Mica_T]

Haha yes!

[@CandyGames63]

@@Door3234 so we just gonna forget that timezones exist or

[@SpikeTheWolf]

Does anybody know why nora turned him down.

[@Door3234]

@@CandyGames63 damn your so aggressive even if you don’t notice and yes I did

[@connorrichardsonx5105]

Critter: I'm worried this review is going to be an hour long Me: *awkwardly laughs* well on the brightside it's not an hour long exactly...

[@MelralCT-]

Nearly *2 HOURS* long. YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY

[@johannesseyfried7933]

"I'm worried this Review is going to be an Hour long." Me *laughs in MauLer.* : "That short?"

[@tiara9624]

time to grab some popcorn

[@lanegolden7614]

I have to disagree that Salem's fight was epic and intense. She kinda goes down like a bitch. The fact that she took an L to Hazel and let Yang do damage to her is kinda weak. If they wanted to build Salem up as a scary villain they should've had her easily kick hazel and everyone else's ass and then have Oscar use the cane at the end in desperation. Instead it gets used when Salem is already getting burned and fucked up. Idk, I don't really like any of the fights in this show anymore. The old fights used to make some characters look so cool and strong, now everyone thats supposed to be strong looks weak.

[@SuilongV3]

Yeah. They do a really bad job at making any characters seem scary by any means. Like when Salem had everybody tied up and was threatening Emerald, I was legit yawning because I knew Salem doesn't do shit. Like the only character I was even remotely intimidated by was Ironwood. And that was only because he had gone insane and could kill anyone at the drop of a hat. Something even Salem didn't seem capable of.

[@Aurora-313]

Salem isn't intimidating. She's about as annoying and effective as a Karen. If they wanted her to be intimidating; the second Yang sassed off at her about Summer, Salem should've ripped her head off as if she was plucking a grape from the vine, and continue her course as if nothing happened while the others wail and lament. Or, if she didn't want to get her actual hands duty - send a mental command to the Grim arms holding Yang down to snap her neck. It would've been sudden, shocking and definitely raised the stakes. Not even a main character would be safe when Salem is on the screen. And when she demands to know where the relic is, have her threaten the same to the others if Os/pin doesn't confess. Every denial he makes, another neck snap. Further emphasising the notion that life is just a toy to her. Want me to view Salem as a threat? Make her do something that makes her an inhuman threat. Killing off a main character for good makes her a pretty tangible threat.

[@eem2wavy133]

@@Aurora-313 you really over estimate this show if you think they would kill yang lol but yeah killing of a main character should of happened

[@Aurora-313]

@@eem2wavy133 Bold of you to assume I estimate anything about this show at all. My expectations for this show have been so low that they literally have to keep digging deeper into the planet's core to crawl beneath them. What I'm saying is, if they wanted Salem to be intimidating, she should've killed off Yang since its been established she's done more for less. But no, can't breech that heavy heavy plot armour. There's no threat there at all since narratively speaking, you know RWBY and Ruby are going to win by talk-no-jutsuing Salem down from her wicked evil ways - conveniently forgetting that she caused the extinction of the entire last generation of mankind. And is the reason why the world's in such a twisted fractured state as it is. Honestly, at this point, I want Salem to win because I can't stand the protagonists. Know-it-all holier-than-thou little sods that actively cause more harm than good - and often making Salem's job _easier_.

[@arandomclown5394]

I honestly think everyone in this comment chain forgets what makes Salem so fucking deadly. It isn’t the fact she controls grim, or the fact that she’s powerful. It’s because she can’t be fucking killed. I think you all assume just because she’s the big bad, you think she’s incredibly powerful. That’s not what Salem is about. She has no need to use her full power. She KNOWS she’ll come back. Literally this entire story is a suicide quest from Salem. You expect too much from a sad old lady who’s been actively trying to kill herself for years. There is absolutely no need for her to go all out against anybody in the series. The reason why people fear her, is because she’s unkillable.

[@Jordan-gp3mj]

JC: YOU! Me: Omg me? I feel so important now.

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

You know it! You're super important! Just look at you! That's an important person if I've ever seen one! :D

[@Jordan-gp3mj]

@@thejudgmentalcritter6584 I love it here!😭

[@SwiftGundam]

Your scenario for Ironwood's 'downfall' sounds so much better than what we got. Best part of your scenario is doesn't really make Ironwood a bad guy, at least in my book, but a leader forced to do some shitty things in a progressively shitty situation. This Volume had many good PARTS but the sum total was just.....:groan:

[@kanden27]

I enjoy your videos. Because you can go from having a calm articulate point. To cussing out the tertiary characters.

[@Symia_ChaosAMVs]

I actually like Bumblebee, but this volume I wished it was just left alone. Like they had their moments, they can have more moments, but stop giving Ruby and Yang development to Blake and Yang. SHE HAS A SISTER THAT SHE BASICALLY RAISED! She supposedly only signed up for this shit so she could support Ruby, now she's suddenly not believing in her sister's leadership? Like, stop pretending Yang cares about Ruby if she doesn't, stop saying she loves Ruby but SHOW IT. She shows the most concern for Ruby in her Vol 5 short and Vol 1. The conflict between her and Ruby this volume wasn't even solved it was like Yang didn't insult Ruby's leadership while simultaneously going behind her sister's back the previous volume. When they reunite it's brief and they later talk about Summer and the hound briefly (Which I liked) but it's less of them apologising or coming back together and more like the conflict is ignored but resolved since they cry together.

[@thomasraines1396]

It seems like something out of a CW show: words are exchanged but it doesn’t really give the impression that anything has changed or they won’t just fall back on the same shit to incite cheap drama.

[@Symia_ChaosAMVs]

@@thomasraines1396 exactly

[@thomasraines1396]

@@Symia_ChaosAMVs it’s so bad.

[@EmerickSin]

Yang clearly cares for Ruby? It's been SHOWN so freaking much? Sorry it hasn't been outright stated to you I guess but it's all over the place. Meanwhile Blake and Yang had NO dialogue together this entire volume but sure, tell me again how Bumblebee is somehow detracting from the sisterly love lmao.

[@fallenstars8775]

@@EmerickSin Proof?

[@MelralCT-]

I really wished they would've done the Ironwood route you just did which was miles better than what we had my opinion.

[@itol2201]

I've wanted to express my distaste with Bumblebee for a while now, and you perfectly encapsulated my issues with it in your "Emotional Moments" segment. I don't have an issue with Bumblebee, provided it doesn't compromise her teamwork or relationships. Ruby's Silver Eyes unlocked when she watched Pyhra(?) die. Her eyes started acting up when she heard her mothers name. You mean to tell me that Ruby's eyes wouldn't be firing nonstop at seeing the death of her only sister? She should've lit up that entire void, and that could play into other characters messing up and falling.

[@thomasraines1396]

Her eyes should’ve went off like a nuke over Yang’s “death” but no she apparently needs to “concentrate” or Neo attacking her somehow stopped her from doing it attacking a bomb as it’s about to go off isn’t magically going to stop it.

[@aplant179]

i love your ironwood section… the way you talk in your videos is so eloquent and it really came across when you were talking about his character through the volumes! keep up the great work critter :D

[@lanecarter0]

I think the worst thing that could possibly happen next volume is somehow Neo is going to be able to talk. It’s probably gonna involve the spirit world they’re in and it’s gonna be tasteless.

[@lanecarter0]

The second worst thing I could think of is Penny gets revived again.

[@GFHGGDJHJHJ]

@@lanecarter0 Nope. Penny being revived would be the best of all time.

[@lanecarter0]

@@GFHGGDJHJHJ From a narrative perspective no. Because we’ve killed her, revived her, gave her a virus to kill her, turned her into a real girl to keep her alive, then killed her again. Reviving her again would be a very bad idea

[@TheRedRoseofJujutsuKaisen]

If they make Neo talk, I’m going to fucking kill Roosterteeth. The point of having Neo mute is a part of her character and it’s who she is.

[@martirecu3010]

Since they've bothered to keep her alive they might as well give us a flashback with Torchwick, he was the most fun villain by far and our (non-main-character) heroes actually went after him instead of just stumbling into the plot

[@julianhenry8141]

Ruby should've fell first and that would've made yang furious to the point it awakens her semblance, imagine her so consumed by rage. Imagine yangs hair flowing with fire and having more dragon like characteristics thus giving yang her rematch with neo. the second awakening semblance was established there's no reason why our girls should have to wait to get an upgrade . Also REALLY hope critter sees this I really want to know her opinion of this. Maybe even fuel for a video lol

[@kylebarton1106]

I also feel like Ruby should have activated her Silver Eyes out of grief. She did that when Pyrrha died and when she thought Jaune was going to die. But for her sister? Nothing.

[@joycesummer3818]

@@kylebarton1106 Exactly. Just a "Yang.. D:"

[@thomasraines1396]

@@kylebarton1106 the very first canonical showing of her super special eye powers comes as a direct consequence of some chick she barley knew dying. If Pyrrha of all people can cause that to happen then it should be no question that Yang, her beloved older sister should garner the same reaction.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@joycesummer3818 yeah it’s more of a “Yang… you’re the only who knew the WiFi password.” not the emotional turmoil of someone seeing their older sibling die.

[@romulusnuma116]

The start of this volume seems so long ago I've forgotten most of it

[@s1mpc0r39]

I hate how critter is a better ironwood then well, IRONWOOD.

[@theviewer6889]

If I had a nickelfor every time Rooster Teeth mangled a message about su*cide, to the degree where it makes it seem like a good thing to do, I'd have 2 nickles. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice.

[@Scaring-Crows]

"And then there were 5 more episodes" I think out of every weird choice in the volume this one confuses me the most. You have at MINIMUM 3 antagonist this volume; Salem, Cinder, and Ironwood. And the one that's the biggest threat and the most powerful... Is the first to be defeated?.. And then Ironwood is defeated, and our final villain, the one who succeeds is Cinder? Idk just felt like an odd way to write out the volume

[@firewolf950tfwgaming7]

I swear they wanted to write ironwood out cause they felt like they were done with ATLUS stuff since volume 7 honestly wrapped a lot of things the writers seemed to want to do with ATLUS(while also ignoring some other things but sure why not) yet failed to organically do it. Cause there’s honestly better ways of doing things than rushing it but nope.

[@thomasraines1396]

It would be like having Darkside show up in a story, he gets bodied, and the rest of the story is spent fighting Condiment King or Polkadot Man.

[@Scaring-Crows]

@@thomasraines1396 "Finally, now that I've defeated Doc Ock I can focus on Big Wheel!"

[@thomasraines1396]

@@Scaring-Crows or Stilt Man.

[@rosesongoku6980]

“Alfred. I blew up Ra’s Al Ghul. It was surprisingly easy. Also I did it like several hours ago. BUT NOW FIREFLY IS BURNING ME ALIVE! HEEEEEEELP!”

[@warriorofthegrandline2y618]

You’re take on ironwood was more thought out than the writers and that’s why I agree 100% You have my sub

[@chinwenduizenwata6763]

The voice change on the "knife cut from a tiny little girl" just made me subscribe all over again 😂😂

[@elementalscreator10]

I would say Cinder was just a slave instead of adopted. Her being an orphan, and a violent one at the orphanage, telegraphed her killing them too easily. If they had kept the familial connection of losing her dad like the fairy tale, it might have added more to her hatred of her stepfamily.

[@storminfirefang09]

"the emotional moments stolen from characters who deserved them "is my favorite part of the video. i could feel the anger in you voice and its cathartic to have it vocalise how bs this all was. I was rollin when you called harriette the fast b*tch lmao

[@SageMoon341]

The Ironwood rewrite was 10/10 excellent vid critter

[@idontknow_1102]

This volume started off so strong. I was really excited to see the show improve but I was let down again. I honestly would love to drop the show but it really got me into the art of writing and critiquing media so dropping it would honestly be kind of sad for me since it played such a big part in teaching me how to properly critique media.

[@zerotohero1483]

I feel you dude.

[@BrunoFerreira-yk4tz]

This: Vol 6 in a nutshell.

[@Snaaaaap]

Maybe CRWBY should release an episode every 2 weeks to a month rather than every week for future volumes? That should give them time to work things out better, right? Also, add an extra 10 minutes to each episode since they've got extra time to polish things. Well, that and they would have to streamline the story more of course. Not jam in so many things in a finale like V8 and make sure to keep focus on the "main cast" and main "villain". Really all they had to do this volume was follow up on the finale of V7. Have Salem come in with an army of Grimm at the start. Total chaos. Have her kick butt and take names on her warpath to Ironwood with the bruiser (Hazel) being her backup. The V8 Trailer heavily implied she would do things herself, so it is kinda disappointing that she decided to stay in the whale the whole time until it got blown up. lol

[@muriefury9712]

So I’m kinda new to this fandom, just started watching RWBY like a week ago, but I really enjoyed this review(you cussing out the ace ops and Robyn was a highlight)

[@Messiah.Complex]

Welcome to the fandom, we all hate it here lol

[@rosesongoku6980]

The way she was rapidly banging the desk furiously ranting about how Penny died twice but Robyn still made it out really got me.

[@NurseValentineSG]

If the writers from the actual show won't hear you, be assured that at least one writer will. Because I love listening to critique of media to improve my own work.

[@Jay-ch5xu]

Team rwby accepting Emerald just like that is so infuriating after all the shit they put Ironwood through in being careful about who they trust. Like, what?? What made Emerald, the girl who helped destroy Beacon and tried to kill them in Mantle easier to trust than Ironwood, who'd been open with info, defended Weiss, and sent Yang her arm. Priorities, team rwby! At least be suspicious until Emerald does something to earn it. Or have Ruby trust her more easily because being distrustful ended so badly with Ironwood that she doesn't want to make that mistake again. Don't trust easily but don't distrust so much.

[@skeksilthechamberlain1479]

I disagree on the opinion of Whitley staying in the background. He is part of the Schnee storyline and should get more screen time along side his sisters. As far as the volume is concerned so far him, Oscar, and Penny are the only characters who haven't made any decisions that were dumb or have any dialogue that made me angry.

[@somenerdpng]

For ironwood in that scene, I legit turned to my brother and went "how funny would it be if he just went out there and shot him" and we laughed because there was no way they would do that... then they did that..

[@nothingiseverperfect]

I like watching RWBY criticism videos more than actually watching RWBY LOOOL

[@blackkitty369]

Same!

[@Proiteus]

For fun; Share some RWBY Head Canon you’ve come across? Example; “Ironwood’s cell didn’t conveniently malfunction, Watts let him out.”

[@CaffeinatedRoman]

"Oh, Penny didn't have a choice before! Yeah well you know who did? The writers!" I absolutely love this quote, thank you.

[@KeDe1606]

Those types of rants from Critter are SO goddamn cathartic for me. I can’t even begin to count up all the times I’ve criticized a [needlessly attractive] character design, or some obscene moment (most of the time involving SA or similar acts) in a show, and people just respond with stuff like „but some women irl just look that way“, or „actually, no one forced x character to [SA their friend while they’re unconscious, or else they’ll get blown to bits by some higher power]“. Whenever I hear that, I always think „that doesn’t make any sense! Those aren’t *real* women! They’re characters! Someone *designed* them to look that way“ or „a writer put these characters into that specific situation! The writers forced them to commit that act! Their actions don’t align with who they are as a person! They didn’t have a choice!“. But I’ve rarely, if ever seen… anyone think the same way. So I was absolutely *elated* when I saw that section of the video, and the part where she talks about the characters proportions during the caterpillar/smoke scene from the volume 9 review

[@awkwardorangedrawz5914]

Woah, an hour and forty minutes!? Rad. It's like a big ol' movie! We must protec... She can attac... But, most importantly... She has a cute laugh.

[@johannesseyfried7933]

And that's a Fac 😉

[@Yngxcory]

I don’t know if they talked about this in the show but why couldn’t the dude remove the virus from penny and she cloud still be a robot

[@ShizuruRavenRobin026]

Im still wondering why crewby didn't just have oscar an ozpin get taken by salem blow her up,be friend emrald then us the last of ozpins magic to open the vault,take the staff and save everyone ,penny only got hacked caz they want an excuse to some how make her human and kill her

[@fishnewt1331]

You mean the Staff Genie dude? Logically, it is because none of team RWBY are hackers which could explain a device that could take away the virus. It’s a staff of creation, not a staff of do whatever you want. Though, considering how terribly it was instituted, I wouldn’t blame anyone thinking it was just a plot device that does everything.

[@kennnnny]

In which Ambrosius installs McAfee Antivirus on Penny

[@jacksimpson8529]

You'd think that maybe the cast would try PIETRO. You know, the guy who built Penny in the first place? Can't he do it?

[@fishnewt1331]

@@jacksimpson8529: Bingo. The only character who could do that.

[@KikiCatMeow]

Im so sick of the "Oscar is missing! 😱" plot-point, they've done it like 4 times and 3 of the times they found him immediately. It kinda feels like they don't have anything important for Oscar to do so they keep having him run away or get kidnapped My views on this volume are fairly positive, though there's definitely a lot of flaws. I won't pretend that just because I like it, it's perfect. One thing I've noticed this volume is that the voices all seem a bit flat? Salem, Watts, and Winter were okay but the rest just seemed off. I hope the VA's are okay and that it's just a lack of direction or something :( I also didn't really like Cinder's backstory? It's okay, but it felt really uninspired. They just kinda, took the Cinderella story and put a slight twist. It'd also have been cool to see her meet Salem? Or be recruited by another lackey? I loved the scene volumes back where Cinder brought on Adam, getting a similar scene would've been really cool And yes!! Watts was SO GOOD this volume. Definitely glad he got utilized well during volumes 7&8, since Atlas really was his time to shine I understand the frustration with the Hound, I was frustrated too because that was one of the most INTERESTING parts of this volume. I'm just glad the Silver Eyes didn't completely stop it like the Wyvern or the Leviathan. It definitely had an impact, but it was only dazed at most, which is another good way of showing these human-grimm hybrids are leagues above even really powerful Grimm in terms of endurance Your take on Ironwood is really good!! It keeps the downward spiral and paranoia while not making him a saturday morning cartoon villain I could keep going on about points you've made but then this comment will be way too big. You did really good with this review! You made a lot of great points about the flaws while still being positive about the good stuff. Anyone who thinks you're "just being hateful" can shut up immediately

[@aaronstrerk5521]

Just a side note about all the crimes Emerald is guilty of. You forgot about the bookshop owner, Tuckson, they straight up murdered that guy.

[@troperhghar9898]

My quick change to volume 8 When everyone is at the manor Oscar and Whitley plug penny into the computer and delete the virus and then we delete the "penny becomes a real girl" plot point

[@Door3234]

Who are you so knowledgeable in the ways of science

[@troperhghar9898]

@@Door3234 Whitley: I'm no programmer but I do have access to the best anti viral software money can buy

[@Door3234]

@@troperhghar9898 bruh noice

[@katecampbell6464]

This made my day😂 I don’t know why but this is the best thing ever❤️

[@KikiCatMeow]

It'd be funny as hell if the virus was as simple as deleting a file

[@momonomo2008]

When I saw this was an hour and forty minutes long I gasped SO EXCITED

[@maxs2d2ace]

Loved every minute of this review. Really relaxing and cathartic. I'm dropping Rwby but its nice to have this video as a nice send off for me.

[@FiercesomestDragon]

Hey, can I just say I. love. your reviews. You hit such a good balance of analysis of what's good and what's bad, and you're EXACTLY the same level of baffled as I am about every random plot development. The first half of this volume was superstellar-- the party splitting up was an amazing move, the Hound was terrifying, Penny's voice acting was fantastic and her scene falling from Amity made me /cry/. And then the second half swung hard and /missed/. You hit the nail on the head-- it felt like a first draft, and the decisions that went into it are super confusing. Anyway, keep it up. Here's to volume 9! Let's hope Neo stays at least chaotic neutral and Kara doesn't have to phone her lines in this time around!

[@tidebringer4517]

It’s weird how every volume characters abilities get limited even though they’re supposed to get stronger but instead they just trash the powers they had before, why doesn’t yang launch herself at Neo and punch her away, Why doesn’t Blake try to grab cinder out of the air and slam her on the floor, why doesn’t Weiss use her wind glyphs to part cinders flames or knock her away, what doesn’t Ruby try to split apart and carry everyone away or even shoot herself at cinder and continually shoot herself upward to gain more speed, why doesn’t penny use her swords individually to keep cinder confused about attack rather than gather them all at once, why doesn’t Jaune who has been training from what he learned from pyrrha use his weapons in more creative ways or even USE HIS FUCKING CLAYMORE ABILITY WITH HIS HARDLIGHT SHIELD TO MAKE IT STRONGER AND WITHSTAND CINDERS SWORD

[@thomasraines1396]

Everything changes at the behest of the plot.

[@EmerickSin]

Eh my biggest issue is that Ruby didn't immediately use her eyes on Cinder. Before it was ON SIGHT in volume 7, but volume 8, where it really matters/could help? Nah. Don't do it. Let your sister 'die' instead and STILL don't do it.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@EmerickSin they had to give Cinder her little “win” consistency be damned.

[@victor2641]

@@EmerickSin right like cinder who has knowledge of her silver eye would let her get the chance to do that🙄

[@exquisitetoast3859]

I really wish you were one of the writers based on a lot of your ideas

[@miadaorerk1681]

i keep rewatching this video because it's just so well done but also the energy you say "if i saw the BITCH" at 1:04:27 never fails to make me laugh

[@jamescampbell6728]

59:52 "This sandstorm isn't just killing visibility" *shows them the lack of connection visually*

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

That what happens when you lose your AT&T plan.

[@battykat7086]

Thank you for putting my own opinions on this volume into words. You've earned yourself a subscriber! 💖 On a side note, I do worry that Nora's scars won't be permanent, just because, unfortunately, electrical scars go away very quickly. That being said, this show usually doesn't shy away from the Rule of Cool, so I could see them letting her keep her scars going forward anyway, and I hope they do!

[@tonjolley6422]

That opening statement is very easy to resonate with.