Picking up after a somewhat lackluster fourth season, we move into the fifth volume of RWBY with a bit of trepidation. And, for those unaware, this is probably the single most controversial season of the entire show. Do I feel the same way about it?
Well, let’s discover the answer together as we get into things!
Episode One – Welcome to Haven
Ruby, her friends, and a recovered Qrow meet with Professor Lionheart of Haven Academy to discuss the need to find the Spring Maiden before Salem, Cinder, and the other villains can. Oscar meets up with Qrow and the others, introducing himself as the new host of Ozpin’s soul. Blake and her family confront the White Fang in Menagerie, but they deflect blame. Yang travels with a ruffian who promises to take her to Raven.
As far as season premiere’s go, this is one of the tamest across all of RWBY, if not the tamest. It’s almost entirely devoted to exposition and worldbuilding across our various heroine’s POVs. The most interesting stuff is definitely with Ruby and friends meeting Professor Lionheart and exploring a bit more of Haven. Learning more about how this world works is always fascinating. Blake and Yang’s sections of this episode are more setup than anything, but not boring. It’s a perfectly serviceable opening episode.
Rating: 8.5
Episode Two – Dread in the Air
Lionheart, a mole for Salem, reveals the secret that Raven knows where the Spring Maiden is. Salem dispatches Cinder to retrieve the Maiden. Weiss, traveling by airship, partners with her ship’s pilot to take down a horde of aerial Grimm, but the ship crashes in the process. Weiss is attacked and knocked unconscious by Raven. At a clandestine White Fang meeting, Adam assassinates the organization’s leader and takes control himself.
As with many episodes, the villains of RWBY continue to really lend themselves to the most fascinating parts of the show. Lionheart and his conversation with Salem and Cinder is great, not only teeing up a ton of stuff to come, but doing a great job at showing how Salem has wormed her figurative tendrils throughout this entire world. Weiss’ big action scene is a little less impressive, though it’s not terrible. The part where the music kicks in when she summons her big knight guy is really fun. And then Adam’s scene at the White Fang council is beautifully tense, I love how it’s paced and scored. Is it also a waste of Sienna’s character? Uh, maybe, yeah.
Rating: 8.5
Episode Three – Unforeseen Complications
Blake and her family hold a public conference in Menagerie to try and sway public opinion away from the White Fang, but Ilia sabotages the meeting and argues in favor of the White Fang instead. Ozpin explains to Ruby and friends about how his reincarnation works, and he tells everyone that they need to train in preparation of Haven Academy most likely being the next target of attack. Weiss is taken to Raven’s bandit tribe camp and held prisoner, and she’s taunted by a coy woman named Vernal who claims that no one is coming to help her.
While I broadly enjoy Blake’s storyline in Menagerie across the previous season and this one, I can’t pretend that it doesn’t drag a bit for the first half of this season. Blake and Ilia’s contrasting ideals is certainly entertaining, but there isn’t a whole lot of forward momentum with the plotline in this episode. Learning more about Ozpin is nice, at least, and I really like the scene of Weiss in prison, taunted by her captors. She teeters on the edge of giving in to despair, but showcases her growth by quietly steeling her resolve and preparing an escape attempt. It’s a really nice scene for my favorite character!
Rating: 8
Episode Four – Lighting the Fire
Ruby, Oscar, and the others train their fighting skills, semblances, and auras together. Yang effortlessly handles a bandit ambush, defeating them all, and arrives at her mother’s camp. She and her mother have a tense confrontation, with Vernal itching to join in the fight. In the chaos, Weiss launches an escape attempt and reunites with Yang. Raven eventually calms everyone down and invites Yang and Weiss into her tent to talk.
Ruby training with Oscar and the others is totally fine, but Yang and her storyline is what makes this episode so exceptional. Her fight against the bandits is a ton of fun, and is significantly more natural-feeling and kinetic compared to many of the fights in the previous season (so it shows that RWBY‘s crew is getting much better with their new animation software). And if that wasn’t good enough, her standoff with her mother at the bandit camp is wonderfully tense and edge-of-your-seat exciting thanks to the acting, writing, and soundtrack. And if that wasn’t enough, that wistful piano tune when Yang and Weiss hug is guaranteed to wring out a tear or two from wholesomeness.
Rating: 9.5
Episode Five – Necessary Sacrifice
Blake and Sun try to recruit allies to go with them to Haven to help fight against Cinder, to little success. Blake renews her commitment to do what is right and fight against Cinder and the White Fang, even if it puts her into conflicts she’d rather avoid (like having to fight Ilia). At Haven, Ruby and Oscar reassure each other’s insecurities and struggles. In a secret room in Menagerie, Ilia is instructed to assassinate Blake’s parents and capture Blake. Her faith shakes, but she remains loyal.
The montage of Blake and Sun looking for petitions isn’t too exciting, though I do really like the conversation they have afterwards. It does a great job of characterizing Blake’s frustrations with wanting to help more than she is, and Sun’s infectious optimism that he’ll always be willing to help her out. They have a great friendship dynamic going on, and their seasons really help carry this plotline. Additionally, so does Ilia, and I like her scene in this episode too. When presented with a choice that would lead her down the path of no return, she chooses the bad option, but we see that it weighs on her and it naturally leaves the door open for her to be swayed back to the light.
Rating: 8
Episode Six – Known by its Song
Qrow tries to find other professional huntsmen in Haven, to little success. At the bandit camp, Raven tells Yang and Weiss about Salem, the unstoppable force of the Grimm, and how she, Qrow, and a few others were Ozpin’s first attempt at being “child soldiers”. She demonstrates her ability to shapeshift into a bird, and then asks Yang to stay and help fight alongside her. Yang rebukes her, heading off with Weiss to Haven to reunite with Ruby.
Raven’s lore dump to Yang and Weiss is a bit of a dark echo of Qrow’s similar expository scene from the previous season, but it’s a thousand times more engaging because of how untrustworthy and complex Raven is. Unlike Qrow, who we can take at face value, Raven’s every word requires intense scrutiny and doubt, making it so much more fascinating. Raven and Yang’s interactions are at the heart of this entire season, so any time that either of those are on screen is guaranteed to be a good time. And yet, even with that being said, my favorite part of this whole episode is the montage of Qrow trying to find huntsmen to join the fight. It’s sad in the way that hits you like a sucker punch, and is one of the show’s best written moments.
Rating: 9.5
Episode Seven – Rest and Resolutions
Yang and Weiss meet up with Ruby and the others, and everyone has a wholesome and cathartic reunion dinner. Yang later asks Ozpin about some of the things Raven said he did, and Ozpin admits to granting Raven and Qrow shapeshifting powers. Ozpin is also revealed to be the same old man who, centuries ago, created the original Maidens. The kids reaffirm their desire to believe in Ozpin and fight against Salem. Cinder and her team arrive at Raven’s camp to confront her and retrieve the Spring Maiden.
Another classic ‘totally fine‘ episode, and as the moniker implies, that’s totally fine! Nothing amazing, nothing crazy, but at this middle point of the season I couldn’t really ask for much else. There’s a lot of wholesome and silly shenanigans as our group eats dinner, and it’s pretty comforting and relaxing to watch. It evokes the vibes of the show’s first two seasons pretty strongly. My complex-plot-loving self yearns for more, but again, I think the episode is totally fine and don’t have any big issues with it.
Rating: 8
Episode Eight – Alone Together
While hanging around and relaxing, Yang becomes heated and defensive when Blake is brought up, clearly wounded by Blake running away after the Fall of Beacon. Weiss finds Yang in her room later, and the two bond over some of their past familial issues. Weiss helps Yang to recognize that she needs to trust in Blake. In Menagerie, Blake is lured into a trap by Ilia. Ilia restrains Blake, and then goes off to attack her home. Blake, having laid her own trap, frees herself with help from Sun, and the two set off to confront Ilia.
This episode is split neatly into two halves, and both work pretty well. The first deals with Yang’s repressed anger and sadness at Blake running off when Volume Three ended, and she has a really beautiful and sad conversation with Weiss about it. It’s super nicely written stuff. And then we have Ilia kicking off her plan to attack Blake’s family, teeing us up for the next big set piece. I like Ilia’s reveal about having feelings for Blake, but it does come off as a bit clunky in this scene (and makes her just seem like a petty and jealous person). Thankfully, the next two episodes do her much more justice. I also like that Blake wanted Ilia to make the right choice here, but also wasn’t naive enough to come without backup.
Rating: 9
Episode Nine – A Perfect Storm
Raven barters with Cinder, enticing Cinder with the possibility of getting all of her enemies in one place and killing them all at once. Though Watts cautions Cinder not to let her arrogance blind her, Cinder agrees to the terms with Raven, the two factions forming a truce. At the Belladonna household, Sun helps Blake’s dad fight off the White Fang, while Blake is waylaid in her search for her mother by running into Ilia.
Raven gets a big focus in this episode, so of course I enjoy it on that merit alone, especially when Cinder also gets a big focus. But I really do think that this is an entertaining and well-written villain-driven episode. Seeing our antagonists actively plot and scheme is something that I feel we aren’t shown often in storytelling, and it’s so fun to see how they shape their schemes while also each clearly having their own egos and agendas. The short bit of fighting we get at Blake’s house is, ironically, less exciting than the conversation that proceeds it, but still doesn’t lack for energy.
Rating: 9
Episode Ten – True Colors
Ilia wrestles with her resentment of humanity, her loyalty to the White Fang, her heart that longs to do good, and her own feelings for Blake. The Belladonna house catches on fire as the combat becomes more intense. Blake’s desperate entreaties finally wear Ilia down, and when her life is saved (from falling debris) by Blake’s dad, she fully switches sides. Ilia helps Blake and Sun finish off the rest of the White Fang attack, and then Blake delivers a passionate plea to the citizens of Menagerie to unite as one.
While it takes the tiniest stumble due to the animation of the fighting not quite living up to the highest heights of the first three seasons, the climactic battle at the Belladonna house is still pretty great (especially when Sun whips out those gun-chucks again). But more than the physical fighting, it’s the verbal sparring that really hits. Blake and Ilia’s back-and-forth rapport is excellent, and really serves to bolster Ilia’s already strong performance as a tragic antagonist. I also love Blake taking a passionate stand after the dust settles, and how her act of forgiving Ilia is the perfect catalyst to spur the rest of the Faunus into action. The Menagerie arc isn’t perfect, but it ends pretty perfectly here.
Rating: 9
Episode Eleven – The More the Merrier
Ruby and the others meet with Lionheart at Haven Academy, where Cinder’s trap is sprung. The heroes are confronted by the full force of the villains, spearheaded by Cinder and Raven. The White Fang has also arrived, championed by Adam, to destroy the entire school once the heroes are dead and the relic is secured. Blinded by his hatred of Cinder (because she killed Pyrrha), Jaune rushes at Cinder and is defeated effortlessly. He gets a good hit in, though, infuriating Cinder. In a rage, Cinder impales Weiss with a spear.
These next few episodes are, by far, the most infamous part of this entire season. When viewed from a logical perspective, none of it makes sense. Too many characters exist in the same space, the choreography strains credulity, and theoretically there are moments when characters were just standing and doing nothing (if you stop and think about it). I absolutely get why this would bother some people, and it’s absolutely an oversight/flaw in the animation and structure of the setting. But it just has never really been a detracting factor to me, not in the face of Jaune’s great acting, Cinder’s joyously evil scenery-chewing, and the shocking cliffhanger of Weiss being impaled. Those moments far outweigh the bad to me.
Rating: 8.5
Episode Twelve – Vault of the Spring Maiden
Hazel is revealed to have a deeply-rooted hatred of Ozpin, and he begins attacking wildly when he learns that Ozpin’s soul has reincarnated in Oscar. Jaune’s semblance unlocks, and he uses the power to boost auras in order to help Weiss heal from Cinder’s attack. The others try to get past the bad guys, as Cinder descends into the vault alongside Raven and Vernal, the Spring Maiden. Once in the vault, Cinder betrays the other two, freezes Raven, and kills Vernal. However, the deception is revealed as Raven figuratively unmasks herself as the true Spring Maiden.
In a mild inverse of my review of the previous episode, this one I am a little less glowing towards. Out of all of the antagonists in RWBY, Hazel is easily my least favorite, and I find him a bit hard to take seriously once he hulks-out and just starts rampaging around. Jaune unlocking his semblance is cool, though! Also, the stuff with Cinder and Raven down in the vault is great, such as Cinder’s ego compelling her to betray her allies, and Raven’s big reveal about being the true Spring Maiden. It’s a great twist that was pretty excellently foreshadowed if you knew what clues to look for.
Rating: 8
Episode Thirteen – Downfall
Ruby helps distract a few of the villains so Yang can make it past to pursue her mother to the vault. Weiss, healed, uses her summons to turn the tide of battle. Blake and the rest of the Faunus from Menagerie also arrive, with Blake chasing Adam off and Ilia disabling the bombs planned to be used to destroy the school. Inside the vault, Cinder and Raven battle furiously, their clashing Maiden powers explosive and destructive. A last-ditch gunshot from a barely-alive Cinder gives Raven the opening she needs to decisively defeat Cinder, sending the twisted villain plunging off the side of the bridge. Yang then arrives.
To get the minor parts of this episode out of the way, Weiss having a big damn heroes moment (pardon my Firefly French) with her summons is a really cathartic act for the girl who has had, to be honest, a rough go of it this volume! Blake’s equally heroic arrival is fun too, as is Ilia officially joining the heroes side by disabling all of those bombs. But these good moments are small potatoes compared to Cinder and Raven’s epic clash. The first fifteen-ish seconds are, admittedly, a bit rough in terms of the animation and choreography, yet everything that comes after is stellar. Exciting action, fantastic music, and an unforgettable finish that left me with my jaw on the floor the first time I watched this episode.
Rating: 9
Episode Fourteen – Haven’s Fate
Blake’s family reclaims ownership of the White Fang, vowing to return them to their normal peaceful ways. In the vault, Yang and Raven have an intense conversation, their ideals clashing. Inevitably, Raven admits that she’s terrified, and Yang explains that (especially with her friends backing her up) she’s brave. Raven tearfully runs off, and Yang retrieves the relic from the vault. The other villains escape thanks to a mass hallucination conjured by Emerald, Blake officially rejoins Team RWBY, and Ozpin announces that they need to go to Atlas next.
What a fantastic finale. And you know what? It manages to accomplish that feat without even having our heroines launch some massive attack against a foe (not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course). The big ‘fight‘ of this season boils down to a simple conversation between and mother and her daughter.
I couldn’t possibly talk about how much I love the confrontation between Raven and Yang in the small space I allot myself for an article like this. In some shape or form, I’ll gush all about this scene sometime in the future (I’m thinking of doing a U.I.C.S. article for Raven). For now, just know that I love the scene so much. Everything that comes after it is quite good too, like Blake and the Faunus saving the day, Emerald leveling-up her semblance due to despair at thinking Cinder is dead, and Blake reuniting with the rest of Team RWBY. It’s a wonderful closer to this surprisingly character-driven season.
Rating: 10
SEASON CONCLUSION
As I alluded to during the intro to this article, Volume Five is a controversial one. It’s actually probably apt to say that more people hate this season than those who love it. Whether it’s complaints about certain parts being too slow, complaints about the animation not being great during some of the action scenes (which, yeah, is kind of fair for some of the fights), or complaints about some random little nitpicks, people really were up in arms about this season.
I hope I’ve made clear through this retrospective look at Volume Five that I am not one of those people. It’s not my favorite season of the show, but it’s up there! And let me reiterate that I adore RWBY, so a season “not being my favorite but being up there” is code for “still super duper great“. It’s a genuinely excellent season carried hard by the strength of Yang and Raven, and additionally supported by a ton of other great moments of character writing and development. I’ll never understand the haters on this one.
Rating: 9
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 