The RWBY RPRT: Destiny

If there's anyone that knows anything about Destiny, it's ALBERTOOOO DEEEEL RIIIIOOOOOOO!!!!

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with the RWBY RPRT! Let's dive on in!!

Episode eight of RWBY Volume 3 is titled 'Destiny' and it picks up with General Ironwood in Team RWBY's room asking Yang about what happened during the fight where she most definitely crippled Mercury (Or at least, that's what everyone who saw it thinks). Yang sticks with the story that Mercury was the one who attacked her and she was merely acting in self defense, to which the rest of Team RWBY also defend the blond...everyone except Blake who silently watches on. Ironwood excuses what Yang did, saying that the attack was caused more by stress than anything else. Unfortunately, her actions can't go unpunished and because of this, Team RWBY is disqualified from the Vytal Festival Tournament; and after making that big announcement. the general leaves the room of Team RWBY. Afterwards Yang asks her team that they believe her when she said that Mercury attacked her first. Ruby and Weiss answer yes with no hesitation, but Blake once again is silent. Seeing how quiet her partner is when asked this question causes Yang to break down in tears, like so:

And then Blake gives her...very stupid reasoning. Seeing Yang mercilessly attack Mercury after the end of the match gave her flashbacks to her mentor Adam. His shift in behavior started out the same as Yang's, going after downed victims and excusing it with self defense until he got worse, more violent, more ruthless. Need I remind you that Blake is comparing her teammate who attacked an already downed opponent in a tournament match (And she honestly believed the guy was attacking her which was why she did what she did) to her mentor who is a leader of a terrorist organization that believes that violence (and killing if need be) others who've treated them unfairly is the only way to gain true equality. Blake...you just might be reaching a little with that comparison. Some may argue that she was justified in doing that, but I honestly just thought that scene was there for the sake of having more drama in the episode. Blake asks that Yang look her directly in the eye and tell her that Mercury attacked her to which she does and Blake believes her. The scene ends with team RWBY leaving Yang alone to her reflect on the events of the day.

Upon leaving the room, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are met by Jaune and the rest of Team JNPR who are also worried about the condition of Yang. The team gives them their reassurance that she'll be fine and Ruby gives Pyrrha her best wishes in her match, hoping that she'll win one for Beacon; and the three remaining members of Team RWBY wish their fellow team goodbye and split on their own directions. It's afterwards we get some well timed Comic relief from Nora and Ren who try to offer Pyrrha a boost so that she can be ready for her own match. Nora's way involves working out and getting them gains while Ren's is a simple juice while wearing an apron that only real men would wear. With all the shenanigans from those two, it's actually Jaune, picking up on how troubled Pyrrha seems, who suggests they all go outside to get some air.

Back with Yang she's still in her room moping over the results of the tournament when good old Uncle Qrow walks in. He much like everyone else is wondering why the heck did she attack what looked like a harmless student, thinking that she's either lying about the situation or she's crazy; Yang retorts that maybe she is crazy to which Qrow jokingly calls Yang Emo which, excuse me for the tangent, but does anyone in the year 2016 even use the word Emo anymore unless it's describing Peter in Spider-Man 3? Hearing that word being used, even jokingly, in what's considered to be a serious scene is cringe worthy stuff...back to the show, Yang reveals to Qrow that she thought she saw her mother during her fight with Neo back in Volume 2; and Qrow not only tells her that she most likely saw her, but he tells her that he and Raven keep in contact with one another. From the way Qrow describes her, Raven is a very serious, very cutthroat kind of gal; he even gives Yang the message Raven wanted him to send her pretty much telling her to not expect Raven to save her again. Qrow then tells Yang to not let the tournament get her down and to move on, and his idea is to tell his oldest niece about the info Raven gave out that revealed where she was and where Yang could track her down.

Now if we all take some time to go back to the after credits scene of RWBY Volume 2, you'd remember that there was a scene where Yang and Raven stood face to face with one another (I still think it was a bad idea that they revealed Raven's identity so soon) with Raven telling Yang that there was much they had to talk about. I assumed that scene happened soon after the events of the last episode of Volume 2, but with this new info involving Raven, maybe that scene was a glimpse forward into the future involving Yang's character. Whether that's the case or not, it'll be interesting to see where this story goes.

The next scene has Pyrrha sitting against a wall in the school with a fall leaf falling at her feet (Symbolic message is symbolic). Her mind still heavy on whether or not she should become the new Fall Maiden and take the other half of Amber's soul. She is soon joined by Jaune who tries to do everything in his power to cheer hear up. Which I guess now that we're here I can bring this up: Something that's always been a problem for Pyrrha as a character was that any sort of development she got was from her being a secondary/supporting character in a plotline that was about Jaune, so it's cool to see the situation reversed for this scene.

The conversation between the two is done really well, albeit a little cliche. Pyrrha lets out what's on her mind, her confusion on what she should about the matter, the fear of losing herself if she goes through with have Amber's soul injected into her, and just how upside down her world is now with the info that's been given to her. Jaune tries to cheer her up with his confidence in her, telling her that if she's able to save the world than she shouldn't let anything get in her way. Those were the wrong words to say as Pyrrha is crying from those words and the implication that she might just have to let go of herself and everything she holds dear for the sake of the world; and when Jaune tries to comfort her again, Pyrrha uses her Semblance to push Jaune away from her, inadvertently pushing him into the wall and causing several cracks to the wall upon impact (Either Jaune got better at using his Aura or that is hella tough armor he's wearing). Realizing what she's done, Pyrrha releases her hold on Jaune and runs off, leaving him to wonder just what he said to make her react that way.

We then cut to Ruby walking around campus where she catches Velvet snapping some bad photos. The bunny girl gives quick apologies for what's happened to Ruby's sister saying that even the best of fighters can start to see things that aren't there on the battlefield; and she even takes that sentence a step forward by saying that her team leader Coco thought she saw her other teammate Yatsuhashi next to her in their match in the tournament when he wasn't even close to her. Velvet called it a stress induced hallucination...just like what happened at the end of Yang's match. This causes Ruby to start questioning stuff. She goes back to the tournament stadium to see, much to her surprise Emerald is still in the stadium when it was thought that she was going back to Haven with the injured Mercury (Also, does Ruby have sniper vision? She spots Emerald from all the way across the stadium). She leaves where she's currently sitting to maybe see if she can get a closer look at Emerald I'm guessing. That's when she goes into an area that people in the audience aren't supposed to go to and there she spots Mercury walking without a single ounce of trouble. She questions jut what Mercury is doing in that area when the next match is announced, one that many have called to happen for a while: Pyrrha vs Penny. What makes this match so special, those who haven't seen RWBY are asking. Well, Pyrrha's Semblance allows her control over magnetism, and Penny herself is a robot, you guys can do the math from there. Will Penny get destroyed? There's a good chance, I haven't seen the episode yet, but we'll know soon now won't we?

Destiny was a good emotional episode of RWBY. This may have been the first episode of this Volume that didn't have a fight scene, but what it lacked in action it made up for in story progression and the further progression of Pyrrha as a character. At this time folks, I would like to take the time to gratuitously plug The SuperKamiAnime YouTube Channel who do RWBY recaps/reviews also video titled the RWBY RPRT. Why just some weeks ago, they uploaded the first two parts of their theories in regards of Volume 3, and a certain Shaman of Animation may or may not have shown up in said videos (Just you know...don't make fun of his voice man).

But all that shameless plugging aside, it is 5:30 A.M. where I am in the world, so I'm going to post this and pass out. Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation

Take Care...