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RWBY - Vol. 9 Ep. 7 + 8 - Reaction (Full) (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-23 13:00:17
Edited:
2026-09-20 19:18:21
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Holy shit! This was intense! Dragon Fly Creations: https://linktr.ee/dragonflycreates Upload Schedule: https://trello.com/b/60VKaFPE/not-so-average-schedule Socials: https://linktr.ee/notsoaveragefangirl

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phaiko Hafzal

This makes 3 for 3 times that something bad happened after a kiss

Becca ^-^

I know…. I’m so sorry we had such a happy moment to then be hit with some of the worst trauma. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Stormyweather

Man I needed this today! Thank you!

Isadora

At least it wasn't in the same episode!

Pain

Was I the only one depressed for the whole week when this episode first dropped ??

Lulu Page

These are some of my favorite episodes of rwby...(for real though) yaaay 😂 P.S I am so sorry *hugs*

BrightHeart

Yssa (The purple paper pleaser) during voulme 9 was an episode director and also worked on the writing team from volume 6. She was also the episode director for volume 9 chapter 6. She was also the co-host of the RWBY after show, RWBY: Rewind.

Enchanted_Echo

So, THAT'S how you know about Summer's weapon. I see........that was unfortunate, at least it was with good intentions

LaviPastelQueen

It's crazy that I love these two episodes but they are some of my favs in the series, my baby girl ruby has been through so much not saying the others haven't but like damn

FullmetalNinja25

So about Roman: -Originally Billy Kametz was cast to take over for Roman's original VA Gray Haddock who was fired all the way back during the production of Volume 7 (For reasons we need not get into as it has nothing to do with Billy) and he recorded like 70-80% of Roman's lines in Volume 9 before sadly dying of Pancreatic Cancer in 2022. -Christopher Wehkamp who played Clover in Volume 7 took over for the role and recorded the rest of Roman's lines so when Roman talks in Volume 9 like alot of it is Billy but Christopher has some and there are moments where the difference is notable. -Side Note: In case you ever wondered the reason why Loona was mute for several Episodes of Helluva Boss is because Erica Lindbeck was Billy's longtime partner and she was understandably heartbroken so she decided to take a break from Voice Acting.

julia

ruby, it’s YOUR turn for the torment nexus!!!!!

LikeCat

As a MASSIVE RoseGarden shipper (nothing against WhiteRose or Nuts 'n Dolts) that scene with Ruby and "Oscar" hurt SO MUCH first time around

Curtis Murphy

Yeah the fact they had the two most devastating moments be both Penny and Oscar. They knew what they were doing.

Connor Hines

Neo’s parents made her wear a color contact on her pink iris

Suplee215

I said it before but Neo feels like a giant outlier to morality. Its real hard to judge her. Also that book is amazing. Roman and her was amazing and I did not expect yo feel for them so much. As someone with a big speech impairment and also other things seeing Roman (sloght spoilers) being the first person who actually takes the time to understand her instead of relying on writing hits hard.

Bobby Bobson

It's a shame she didn't read the list of catastrophes. I have only seen a few reactors do it.

Curtis Murphy

The scene of Ruby mocking Yang and Blake's feelings led to a "homophobic Ruby" meme that was funny for the first day it was created. Then it was co-opted by ACTUAL homophobes and weaponized against the fandom.

Dreanner95

The next two episodes makes it obvious that CRWBY had to make substantial cuts late in production but those are still very good episodes. Also because it can be confusing: After Episode 10 there is a Bonus Ending Animatic that is also designated as Episode 11 which is about 15 minutes long and there are about 4 short episodes of RWBY Volume 9 Beyond. You will have to decide if you want to watch both in the same video or in two videos.

bloodyshadow1

so part of the tragedy with Ruby is that she was asked several times throughout the volume if she was alright. Unfortunately they were always interrupted, by the world, by something they had to fight, by Jaune who wanted them to move, a few times I think by the Cat. Looking at the volume with new eyes, it actually makes sense that the cat was targetting Ruby the whole time. they knew what the herbalist would do to them and probably banked on Ruby having the worst experience she she was the most emotionally fragile of the girls. the constant prodding and poking with questions at first seems to be just the cat's nature, but also making Ruby Relive the worst day of her life before she has a chance to process the trauma or actually be comforted from it, making sure to cast blame on Ruby specifcially, not Weiss when they're in the Punderstorm to dig in the knife.

bloodyshadow1

you could tell elijah was really distraught at the end because she didn't even comment on how the bee's were practically attatched at the hip during the last segment and only commented on one moment there

Vince

I read Roman Holiday before Volume 9 started and when they showed Neo’s parents I *immediately* felt fucking sick lmfao Neo is my baby, I was like ‘ooohhhh thisssss is gonna go poorlyyyy’ no fucking way could I have predicted what we got

Mare

- Regarding Neo's power, it was explained by Eddy Rivas that she landed in the "gods' acre." Sadly it wouldn't be explained in any of the episodes because it fell victim to the last minute budget cut. Rooster Teeth, had already finished episodes 1-7 and after 7, their budget (from Crunchyroll) was slashed. So according to Eddy, they were just hoping that the audience would maybe put 2 and 2 together. - Yssa Badiola (Purple Paper Pleaser) was a Rooster Teeth employee as well as one of the episode directors for Volume 9. - The Roman Holiday novel indicates that Trivia sometimes wore contacts because she was forced by her parents to hide her real eyes.

Enchanted_Echo

Neo's break up arc: Stage 4 & 5 Depression Acceptance ? Neo hates Ruby because she was the last person with Roman and because of Ruby, Neo wasn't there to help/protect Roman from Cinder's plan, which is why she went for her in 6. But she does more blame Ruby than Cinder which is why she didn't go for Cinder again and again and worked with her to get to Ruby. Especially as Cinder ALSO wants Ruby. I guess you could say it was the ONE THING she had and was taken from her. Also I’m sorry but it was really funny with your first reaction to volume 9 and word for word said Little’s fate with Neo

BGTitan

Ep 7: So, while listening to the commentary, they mentioned that they spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Jaune would have been doing during all those years waiting for RWBY after his journey with Alyx ended. Apparently, the meeting went something like: “Well, he can’t have been doing nothing, that would be really disappointing.” *Beat of silence* “Oh, that would be really disappointing.” Evil geniuses. It’s such a complicated thing. Because every time they did try to ask “hey, you good” Ruby shut them out or something interrupted them. That’s not even taking into consideration that they’re all so focused on trying to leave the Ever After. It’s all just a really big mess. Ruby’s completely valid in her feelings, this has been building for such a long time, but it’s still so hard to see her yelling at her team. And Jaune… oh boy. That’s another messy issue. This dude has always had a hero complex, like Ruby in some ways. “I’m tired of being the idiot stuck in the tree, I want to be the hero” to paraphrase his speech in V1. But now, mixed with all his trauma, it’s gotten to a point where he’s interfering with the Afterans’ way of life based on incomplete information and his own assumptions/biases. Miles and Lindsey killed it this episode though, holy shit. On the plus side… the Bees are more in sync than ever and that fight choreo was super smooth. So there’s that silver lining. Ep 8: Yeah… this episode is… rough. Not because it’s bad, it’s just brutal. Genuinely I think this is the darkest episode of RWBY just for how brutal and bleak it is. Which I imagine just reflects Ruby’s own inner turmoil. I remember that I was so overwhelmed and sick with dread the first time I watched the episode that I didn’t actually absorb it all properly. It took me a second watch through before I got really emotional about everything that happened. Oh Neo. Was this everything you ever wanted? Huh? Was revenge all it was cracked up to be? Didn’t think about what came after, did you? Spent a year or so with nothing but vengeance keeping you moving forward… And now, you’re being controlled by a being with more malice than even you were capable of mustering. Not that she certainly didn’t give it the old college try, holy shit. That was one of the most visceral physical and mental beatdowns of a character I have ever seen and the nonchalance with which Neo did it? Having all of Ruby’s perceived failures take literal and figurative shots at her? Having her cut down Oscar before watching Little get crushed? The fact that Yang watched her sister, the person she loves most in this world, the person she practically raised and spent most of her life protecting, end her own life? I mean, just look at her after Ruby disappears, she’s completely catatonic. Blake steps in front of her when the Cat blasts them because Yang doesn’t make a move at all. I never trusted the Cat entirely, but I never expected this of them, holy hell. That is some nightmare fuel. Roman is voiced by two people in this episode, Chris Wehkamp (who also voiced Clover in V7), along with Billy Kametz who was originally going to be Roman’s replacement voice before he passed.

Enchanted_Echo

Oohhhhhh so that's why. I thought it was just because of the semblance evolution thing. I really need to do a better job lookin for that kind of stuff.

Solus

Yes, these were the two episodes I wanted to see Elijah's reaction to the most, mostly because I have been where Ruby and Jaune have been, after getting out of the military I had a hard time reintegrating back into normal society and suffered from depression, still do but I am able to manage it with friends, so I can relate to thoughts I have had and dealt with and because these two episodes dealt with heavy themes I understand the situation, and I really like watching other reactors who watch RWBY reaction to these two episodes specifically because I wanna hear what some of their thoughts are for these two episodes. I really enjoyed Elijah's reaction to these two episodes and her thoughts on them.

Andy

Neo, the Mad Hatter

BGTitan

I believe in the commentary Miles commented that the Cat was watching and trying to figure out which of the girls would work best for their plan up until episode 4 and then after the Herbalist they settled on Ruby and even waited for the right moment to interrupt her drug trip.

julia

#neverforget crunchyroll dropping the ball like crazy with the thumbnail on this ep drop 🥴

Karel Hill

Nice catch with the tea being made with the leaves of the tree... Where else have we seen characters ingest the leaves of the tree? Anyways the HORROR!!!

Etheriell

Thank you for saying this. Because I felt like a lot of the fandom missed The reason that the other three didn't seem to notice what was wrong with Ruby. It's like they didn't realize that a, all of this happened so quickly. The fall of Atlas and all of volume 9 takes place over the course of less than a week. Nobody has had any time to process anything. They're all traumatized and hurt by it, but a big part of the problem that they running into is that Ruby never learned how to speak up. Weiss did. Blake did. Yang did. They've also got a couple years on her, they've had a couple more years of their lives to put things together and she hasn't. And not only that, she shut them out. The few times that anybody did show concern for her, she dismissed them and walked off. Which I thought was well portrayed because that's how a lot of people in these situations get. They feel alone and so they push people away making themselves feel even more alone. They don't want to burden the people around them, and they don't even know how to accept help. And I think so many people missed that, missing that we're seeing this from an omnipotent perspective with plenty of time to think about what's going on between episodes and volumes. They've had no time to think of anything. No time to sit down and really try and figure out how they felt or how she felt. And then the last thing people forget is these are still teenagers. WBY are 19. Ruby is 17. I've never met a teenager who knows how to handle somebody else's mental health problems. So I always felt that the fandom just wasn't really taking extenuating circumstances into account, and I'm glad to see there's other people who did. Who understand why Ruby's break down makes sense, and why it makes sense that the others didn't have a chance to really help her. It wasn't that they did anything wrong, or that she necessarily did anything wrong either because she can't control these feelings and just traumatize. They all are. It's that the situation fucking sucked lol. In truth, the ones most at fault were the world itself. Definitely one of the darkest episodes, but I'm glad that somebody else understood the same thing I did lol

RetroBeastto

As a long time fan these episodes messed me up. Every mistake and death coming back to bite back at the main character was to much. Damn I’m sorry you’re going through the motions

KAYOS

These eps are VERY special to me, Rubys arc in particular and so I hope this won't be too long but i've waited for these eps since you've started reacting to RWBY and been wanting to say this for so long haha, rubys arc this volume is Me to the core and so relatable I love it, I do hope this is not too long. But heres some of my think pieces. It's the way that Yang protected Blake when Ruby shouted at her but when Jaune got in Rubys face and shouted at Ruby saying the most soul crushing things you could say to Ruby, Yang didn't also step in to try and protect her. Not fault of Yang but i find that just interesting too like, ofc ruby would get even more upset at that "oh ofc protect your new lover and ignore my feelings again" not saying it's right or healthy but just so sad to see :( , all volume whenever they did attempt to ask if Ruby is okay, they were always interrupted, and then of course Jaune has to have a breakdown at same time as Ruby (Also valid of Jaune, not faulting him). Ruby can never have her own time in the volume and it's so heartbreaking to see. Weiss always yelling at her to hurry, she means well but in Rubys state was not the best. Seeing them be happy still when Rubys entire character, ideology and penny, has ended, her crashout is so valid and heartbreaking. I'd be so mad at everyone too. Her saying she doesn't want to be herself anymore always hits home. This volume made Ruby Rose one of the best main characters in fiction to me and most relatable, always loved her but this volume does wonders for her character. Ruby trying to explain how she's feeling and how we "gotta stay positive" is not helping and then Blake following it up with nother typical positive message she's hear amillion times before and Ruby is like "yall still are not listening to me, please shut up, don'tdo that" i get her so much, even if she's being too aggressive. Team RWBY realising they haven't been there for her like she has for them is so interesting and I love that dynamic. BTW not hating on any of the characters or saying yang is a bad sister, she clearly isn't. It's just stuff kept getting in the way of her trying to be there for Ruby which sucks. Then Neo getting ruby to.. leave the world.. so messed up but i've been there so many times too. Ruby despite everything finally fighting vs Neo and saying "I'm trying my best" even if she don't believe if and Neo putting her down even more after she's saying that is even more fucked up considering how she's been all volume too. Her panic attack on the floor.. always gives me chills. Love this volume, can't wait to see the rest of your reactions too it! <3 Love, A fellow gay.

Zyl

Elijah in v9c1: NOBODY BETTER STEP ON LITTLE AND KILL THEM Prophetic.

EmberPanther

And now we get to the reason that this Volume is one of my favorites, because the show is finally able to slow down enough for Ruby to try and process all her struggles, but it also shows clearly just how desperately you need to communicate with your support system for you to be able to process trauma safely. When Ruby’s first reaction to emotional distress is to isolate herself, it puts her in a lot of danger, not just because of Neo attacking her but also because she might end up hurting herself, intentionally or not. The other girls never ment to put pressure and stress on her, but because she doesn’t talk to anyone about her struggles and because Ozpin told her in Volume 1 “If we are not always performing at our best, then what reason do others have to follow you?” As I think back on the show, we never see Ruby even take a second to breathe and try to process until Volume 8, and that is constantly interrupted by the threats caused by Salem. I have had mixed emotions around Neo ever since I first watched this, because I understand her backstory and ache for connection she only ever got from Roman, but Chapter 8 makes her firmly someone I would want nothing to do with. It may be possible for her to change, but the fact that she literally physically and mentally tortured Ruby until she essentially committed very possible suicide in front of her sister and teammates is something that I don’t know if I could EVER forgive. I have struggled a lot with depression and physical health complications, and Ruby’s struggles throughout this Volume have hit extremely close to home. I am extremely grateful to have a good support system of people I am able to talk to, so seeing Ruby fall down the sinkhole of self-hate and dispare is deeply tragic. Many fans have shared the headcannon that Little represented the last of Ruby’s hope and will to go on, since we have repeatedly seen them essentially act as an emotional support animal and friend for her. The way Ruby pushed her away when she was upset and just succumbed to dispare after Little was killed feels to me like the story is definitely using Little as both support and symbolism for Ruby.

Taigan

I heard her say that and just went 😬

7Lights13Darknesses

Is anyone else having trouble getting it to play? Every time I put in the password and get to the video it just gets stuck on loading when I hit play. Same for the other video uploaded today too.

SportySpice

I have mixed feelings about Ruby’s crash out and the way the show manufactured isolation (e.g., every time Y/W/B noticed Ruby faltering, the plot interrupts them), but I won’t belabor it. But it was still well done / well acted, and I think the Ruby/Jaune aspect is one of the show’s best examples of something just being messy / understanding where everyone is coming from (it’s not about “who’s right”). It’s also fascinating to see the way Ruby and Blake have almost switched places since their first meeting, which is why I think Ruby was so caustic and resentful towards Blake in particular. Whenever folks bring up Roman Holiday, I get a little bored. On a fundamental level, viewers shouldn’t have to do homework to watch a TV show. Nor from what I’ve heard does that backstory give any real hook into a redemption or redeeming qualities. In the show, Neo is a callous, cruel, and destructive person, who doesn’t care who gets hurt in the crossfire of her grudges. She still tried to straight up murder Yang in V2 before Roman died. She is who she’s always been. I did laugh a little early in the Volume when you said “Neo better not step on Little.” I couldn’t believe it. I know the writers were adamant the episodes needed to stand on their own (and I commend them for that), but upcoming Ep 9 is the worst victim of them having to basically cut 40 minutes out of the Volume due to budget cuts after things had already been scripted, voiced and storyboarded. It’s a shame, but honestly episode 9 is kind of disjointed and hard to watch without that context so fair warning for upcoming eps…

CheetsAC7

I remember when people got upset over Yang's reaction to Ruby's breakdown in 7, which is still so bizarre to me. To me, Yang reacted that way BECAUSE Ruby is her sister and family. She had to be the one. Family isn't blind obediance or 100% side with on everything. You support and work together on things but also confront problems and have conversations when someone is lashing out. It reminds me of when we saw Willow for the first time, and Weiss was firm with her. Weiss didn't coddle or soften her words with her mom, she had to be strong and resolute. None of this to say that Ruby's breakdown isnt valid, because it 100% is and Ruby really needed to let that out. But Yang's response is equally valid, in my opinion.

.

This whole volume is great imo.

CrowOfAFeather

And so we begin the traumatizing episodes. Yeah that's the thing, neither Ruby or Jaune are "wrong" - or rather, it's not about who is right and who is wrong. Both are suffering and it came to a point that they are venting in an unhealthy way towards people who don't deserve it. Neo was indeed born with heterochromia, and her father forced her to wear contacts or something. Cinder's backstory and childhood was definitely worse than Neo's, and yet people want Neo to have a redemption based on...I dunno, she hasn't done anything to warrant it. People always just brings up her design and that's about it. Yes, Neo wanted freedom, but she freely opted to stick with a criminal and has since been a criminal, murderous sociopath who gleefully aided in the Fall of Beacon with a smile on her face. Nobody forced her nor did she show any regret. Or when she kicked a dying person in the face last volume. Or how she killed every crewmember on a Atlesian airship just to free him and have him use it to shoot down another, which crashed onto a third one. Nope, it's not the same VA for Torchwick. The original one hasn't been working with RT/CRWBY since he stole from the V5 budget to fund his own show. "Neo you're such a bitch right now-" again, she's always been. Yes, tragic backstory, but it doesn't excuse any of her actions in the book or since her introduction V2. And before anyone comments, yes I know you can like a villain and still hate what they're doing, but ep 8 is one of the major reasons (more to come) why I absolutely hate Neo. I don't see how she can be redeemed after this and yet so many cling on to her design and "it would be so cool to see her on the side of good." But she has done nothing to earn or deserve it. Ilia showed remorse and regret and was a lost soul who needed a friend like Blake. Hazel died for his. Emerald showed some disdain to what happened in V3 and only ever did the horrible things bc she felt she owed it to Cinder. Now she's working for it. But Neo? Again, gleefully and willingly did horrible things in the book (she kills a guy) and everything since V2, "all with a damn smile on her face" as Jaune put it. I don't see how Ruby, Yang, or Blake especially could forgive, forget, and tolerate her. Like, Ruby is still a minor too, and this is what Neo does. What's really horrible too is that Ruby probably saw her sister and friends and thought they were Neo's illusions. For disclosure, I'm sorry you're going through it with Neo's culminated antagonism, I know she's your favourite character aside from Blake/Yang, but it wasn't a sudden change. Two more episodes to go and then you've joined the Hiatus Club as we wait for V10.

Rupert Anderson Jr

Episode 7: Ruby finally crashes out! For me its been a cathartic reminder that one person can't stay positive and strong indefinitely. There are limits to "You must never show weakness." The burden of a leader is something Ruby took seriously since volume 1, but its also important to share that burden or else you could be crushed under the pressure. (Quite literally in Ironwoods case.) Talking to her teammates about her issues and trauma is the simple solution, but in practice can be difficult. More than anything, Ruby wants to be there and be strong for her teammates, and the idea of letting them down is devastating. So she puts the pressure of being perfect on herself, and now we see the negative side effects rising to the surface. Our sweet boy Jaune has been hurt so badly. The pressure of leadership has affected him too, but has been worsened by years of isolation, leaving him to think about all his failures, which makes it easy to understand why he was so desperate to protect the paper pleasers. It feels good to actually be useful, to actually succeed and not fail again. It's a shame that the ever after doesn't have therapy. Episode 8: So anyway lets talk about NEO! I kinda feel bad for Elijah, she clearly wants a hot villain with redeemable qualities to simp for. Things didn't work out with Cinder and they had to break up, but by the end of this volume maybe she can patch things up with Neo. (Although stomping on little crossed a line.) With or without the context that Roman Holiday gives, Neo has been pretty consistent. Being free and chaotic with a partner that respects her. While also being cruel and manipulative. Neo is not "evil" like Cinder clearly is, but she is far from a good person. In DnD terms I would consider her Chaotic Neutral. I think her perspective is "The only person I ever cared about is gone, so all of you can eat shit and die! Especially you Ruby! Fuck you specifically!" I think Neo's reaction after convincing Ruby to ghost-type herself, shows that she probably knew deep down that revenge wouldn't actually satisfy her or bring Roman back, but it was the only thing she had left, the only thing that kept her going. In most cases characters don't think about what's next after vengeance, because it can be such an all consuming goal that nothing else matters. Now that its done, Neo feels empty, which leaves her open for the curious cat to come over and ask her opinions about vore. One last thing, is Neo technically a cat girl now?

Phoenix_mercury

Yeah it's very "if you hadn't sent me away he would still be here" thinking, which understandable and definitely *possible*

Janice Marie Audio

Thank god you weren’t there during the “Ruby is Homophobic” meme that got out of hand SO FAST 😔😩😫

Taigan

Yet another video where Elijah takes a screenshot early on and I say to myself “Nope. That’s not the thumbnail you’re gonna use.”

Red Demonica

You dont even understand the emotions I felt when you predicted Neo killing Liddle in that VERY SPECIFIC WAY! My jaw literally dropped. 🤣😭

Tammy Ragsdale

Yes, that's pretty much what is happening with Neo's powers. She was so angry with both Cinder and Ruby when she fell her semblence evolved. Then, being as her power is overactive imagination, it got to be really powerful in the fairy tell world. As for her eyes, that was her parents trying to make her more "normal." They had the portrait painted that way. She was born with her eyes two different colors. I think that is in the book somewhere. Poor Yang could hardly stand after seeing Ruby drink the tea and go through the floor. Blake's having to help hold her up. No wonder she tried to step in front of the blast, she was probably worried Yang couldn't take it. For White Knight shippers, Weiss and Jaune move closer together, too. Jaune even holds his hand out a bit and is the first hit with the blast.

Flufux

Roman's original voice actor was kind of a prick who is (no joke) the reason why Volume 5 had extreme budget cuts, so no, they did not want him back for this. However, in this episode, he's actually voiced by two different voice actors: Billy Kametz and Christopher Wehkamp. Billy you might know since he was in a relationship with Erica Lindbeck, who voices Loona in Helluva Boss and Emira Blight in the Owl House. However, Billy Kametz died before he could finish all of his lines for Roman in this volume, so Christopher Wehkamp filled in to voice those lines. Also on a side note, as someone who has also read Roman Holiday, I'm pretty sure Trivia was forced by her parents to wear a coloured contact lense to hide her heterochromia.

Jyoster

Yeah... Remember that "top of the mountain" comment I made last episode? I purposely withheld the info that the face opposite of the mountain had a sheer cliff. So yeah... these pairs of episodes pretty much the bottom of the barrel morally speaking. And this was the thing I was talking about at the start of the volume, on how Volume 9 has its controversies. These episodes single-handedly altered the perspective of a friend of mine about this show, for the worst I'm afraid. Now it's hard to even talk about the show without our differing viewpoints clashing with each other. Volume 9 is a wonderful volume, even with its tragedies, but it torn up a bit of that friendship with them. Thankfully, we hit the bottom for this volume. All we have left is to go up. See you at the top of the tree.

Dyamalos

I can understand some people having issues with the season because it's a massive tone shift for the most part. Like, we ended season 8 with Atlas falling and Salem getting both relics and the half the main characters falling into the void. Then we wake up in literal wonderland and it's a jarring experience, which it's supposed to be, but I know a lot of people don't like that kind of story telling. I've never understood how people can hate a show by what the villains do. Like, they are supposed to do bad stuff, and the more "realistic" their bad things are the more you hate them. People in real life have done a lot of messed up stuff and nobody thinks of themselves as "evil". Characters should be complex and not just over-the-top "doing things for the evils". It's the same thing with people acting as if learning Cinder's backstory is "redeeming" her. No, she isn't redeemed nor is she redeemable at this point, but understanding her motivation, and her hangups, is what makes her a better character. Villains aren't usually born, they are made. There are a few like Salem that are just petulant and selfish, but most are made from growing up in a world that seems against you, which is relatable to a lot of people, and how you respond to it. Neo in this episode is another example of understandable but certainly not justified. I've not read the book, but even from the show it's obvious she was very attached to Torchwick and all she knew was Ruby was the last one to see him alive. Her relationship with Cinder was obviously not healthy, but she was focused on her obsession with Ruby because after Torchwick was gone she had nothing left, as shown by her intimidatingly shutting down after getting what she thought she wanted... and realizing it didn't actually fix anything or even make her happy or satisfied. Nothing Neo can do can give her redemption for what she's done, but she is a very good example of what people can end up doing in real life when they are only obsessed with revenge.

Ryan

(two hours later) Elijah: "Get that? What is that? What is THAT!?" Chapter 7: Jaune is clearly running in place with the Paper Pleasers, endlessly trying to atone for Phyrra, for Penny, by protecting them. Ruby, meanwhile, is just stuck. Chapter 8: I wonder if you would still be clinging to hope for Neo if you hadn't read "Roman Holiday"... Ruby: "I don't want to be me anymore..." Something that jumped out to me during one of Mosco's last reaction... Maria talking about her semblance. "And that's how you become the Grimm Reaper!" Ruby could become the Grimm Reaper. It's not death, it's rebirth... Elijah: "I still have hope for Neo." CRWBY: "And we can fix that!" This must be so confusing for Mosco. One episode, Elijah comes out giddy as a schoolgirl, shouting "You can't know, you're only in volume six!" The next two episodes she's face down on the floor sobbing for an hour after the reaction. Then she flips her entire room upside down in glee. And now she's screaming and throwing things. I hope for her sake, she's still in town when she gets to volume nine. --- Neo... Neo, that's not how you're supposed to eat pussy.

Adrian ruiz martinez

One thing that makes this set of episodes harder to watch, is that lindsay jones (ruby's va) has talk about how they struggle with bipolar disorder and suicidal idiealation.

Jyoster

Yeah, though my friend has issues with previous volumes, which Volume 9 pretty much spring-boarded. It's to the point where they're focusing on what it could've been rather than appreciating what we do have, even if it hurts.

CrowOfAFeather

This.^ Like, Ruby either ignores the help or something interrupts them whenever the rest try to ask her how she feels. Roman Holiday, while a good book, doesn't really show Neo as redeemable, indeed. Her backstory is tragic absolutely, and one can sympathize that she just wants to get away from obligations and cruel parents. But as you said, she is still cruel and willingly has done horrible things. She ejects a guy from an airship and doesn't care whether or not he had a parachute for example, so when people bring up that she is redeemable because "she's cool" or "I want to see more of her on the good side" just makes me roll my eyes a bit. Ep9, after learning about this, did become weird to me. But I could move past it, but I do have questions for the writing on certain parts in ep 10..

CrowOfAFeather

Same, I don't see how any of team RWBY and co would or could tolerate or trust Neo after all she's done. I'm sorry about what you've gone through. I hope you're doing better now.

Ryan

Pure speculation here, but the cat seemed to intimate that the gods, the two brother, created the Ever After and also abandoned it, and we still don't know where Summer Rose went when she disappeared but her axe is here so I'm putting my money on she somehow made it to the Ever After to try and find the gods and convince them to undo Salem's curse. If I'm right, may the red dodgeball of prophecy bounce off my face with a satisfying thump.

EmberPanther

Thankfully I am doing much better after being able to reach out and get some support! Thank you for the kind reply.

CB Jones

So Jaune lived here for decades, knowing team RWBY were on their way, and he didn't have the paper pleasers build a spare room? Or even some extra beds? Ok, serious time. Ruby and Jaune's breakdown is built up and executed perfectly and both preformances are exceptional. I've always seen Yang stepping infront of Blake as just as much about protecting Ruby as Blake. Yang has known Ruby her whole life, cared for her through the aftermath of Summer's death, she's dealt with Ruby's anger before. What it looks like she's doing is trying to make herself the target. Yang knows that Ruby can throw anything at her and Yang won't let it hurt their relationship. She's trying to stop Ruby burning bridges with Blake or Weiss by directing Ruby's anger at herself. And it was particularly cruel for Jaune to end up with the paper pleasers, the boy traumatized by killing Penny at her own request trapped in a village full of people who wanted, as far as he could see or understand, to die. And yeah, Ruby drank the tea not knowing whether the people infront of her were real or just more of Neo's illusions, she'd been essentailly intensively gaslit until she couldn't recognise that help had arrived. One note of comfort though is that Little's body fell along with Ruby, so they're returning to the tree to be fixed up and made new.

CrowOfAFeather

It's easy to judge her though. Her bodycount is high and she has done a lot of horrible things willingly, and with a smile. :/

Suplee215

Not really. For me, motive matters a lot more than acts. Nit entirely but when it comes to judging Neo, and her motive is extremely hard to grasp.

TheCasualNerd

I had some trouble earlier too but its cleared up now. Try it again and see if it works better. Mightve just been the site having high traffic or something

TheCasualNerd

She also mentioned wanting to try the rainbow tea in the opening at one point and I just winced lol

CB Jones

"I've never met a teenager who knows how to handle somebody else's mental health problems." is so true, and especially given that as modern as Remnant seems none of these kids have anything close to a normal education. Psycology doesn't seem to be on Beacon's curriculum. And if all you have to go on is your own experience then you have enormous blindspots when it comes to the different ways people deal with trauma and depression. And add to that that the cat had been trying to wear her down even further this whole time? They had so few options genuinely open to them.

TheCasualNerd

Really Elijah you wanna go make yourself tea after this? Tea specifically? Are you sure? 😆😅 sorry I had to

Tammy Ragsdale

Can't believe I forgot these things, but the voice acting in ep 7 is off-the-rails good. Miles with that scream and his breakdown. The way Lindsay's voice is so cold and distant. Even Barb's HEY is amazing. Also, Neo connected more with the Ever After than the others, hence, her crazy powerful semblance. Defeating/getting revenge on Ruby was her purpose. Once she had completed that, there was nothing else for her. She's, as The Cat said, empty. I don't think it's a spoiler to point out that the fans usually call the combo of The Cat and Neo, Neocat...

Ruby

There is a singular reason why I think Neo is "redeemable" but it very much isn't a redemption at the same time.

Martin E Melcher

Definitely one to put a trigger warning before hand. This is maybe the heaviest episode or RWBY yet

futureguy51

One thing I've noticed on rewatches is how much of Ruby's issues are hinted at throughout the entire show, but especially in the first volume. If you go back and watch her conversations with Ozpin and Jaune about leadership, you can see her unhealthy view of shouldering everyone's burdens, how a leader can't fail, and how a leader always has to be everyone else's rock begin to form and take shape. On first watch it always seems great and shows how Ruby is growing as a leader, but when viewed through the lens of what she goes through these past few episodes, it takes on a much darker tone.

Ruby

I think in this context it was the best way to do it simply because we had seen Yang attempt to talk and if they weren't so distracted, I think Yang would've eventually forced a conversation out of her, however I do wish they did focus more on Ruby shutting things down like she did early on (Yang asking Ruby if she's okay, with Ruby changing the subject and talking about Neo instead)

Dyamalos

This is part of the reason I rarely engage with fandoms. It ends up devolving into the most dumb stuff. Between the actual homophobes claiming it is "suddenly gay" and people ignoring the obvious mental state that Ruby is in from the start of the series when she finally starts lashing out as a response to John lashing out it tends to suck the fun out of anything..

Adrian ruiz martinez

Also PLSSSSSS REMEBER THAT THE FINAL EPISODE OF EVERY VOLUME HAS 7 TO 8 MINUTES OF CREDITS, IT SAYS 26 MINUTES BUT IS ACTUALLY 19 MINUTES!!!

Symbolic Remnant

“When I get to heaven, Yang, I’ll tell your arm not to expect the rest of you.” - Ruby, before guzzling tea. So, you know that one meme about Jinx from Arcane… THAT one… about what she quickly became… well, let’s just say that it got transferred to Ruby, and I know this will be unpopular here: but it was absolutely hilarious… at least in every version that wasn’t just sticking a slur in an existing quote.

Symbolic Remnant

She also plays the most important character in RWBY: Ciel

bloodyshadow1

this is actually why I never care for the people who act like cinder is gonna get a redemption arc and therefore it is wrong to judge her as a villain. like Neo, she doesn't care about the harm she causes as long as she gets what she wants. sometimes it's okay for villains to be the villains no matter how hard their lives were or how hot they are

Luminaxtea

Fun fact about Chapter 8: The original thumbnail for the episode on Crunchy Roll's website was of Roman, which people complained was spoilery, so they changed it to an even more spoilery image of Pyrrha and Penny sitting at the table looking normal. Clearly someone didn't realize that all these characters are dead and the spoilery implications of them being present for it to happen TWICE.

Eric Smith

"Help Pyrrha with her HW :)"

Eric Smith

I'd still put Neo under Chaotic Evil, just with Chaos more prominent. She's way too prone to murder for me to think neutral.

SportySpice

I will always defend CRWBY’s “economical” approach to storytelling given their budget/runtime and I think they mostly manage it well. And I am going to commit to not belaboring my gripes, since I did enjoy this volume on the whole. So I’ll just say I agree the show should have done more of Ruby pushing them away than just “blink and you miss it” outreach before the plot interrupts. I want to blame budget cuts, but I also think it’s a weird mix of this show becoming allergic to letting the characters sit around and talk after V5’s backlash, added with the Ever After consuming so much of the framing and budget this volume. I’m admittedly vague posting, but it’s because I dont want to long post. ☺️

Ashley Silver

Hey, look on the bright side. We got confirmation that Neo eats pussy! :3

Lisi Stoire

Ok so, I know it wasn't with bad attentions here, but can we PLEASE stop over read Yang's reaction when Ruby is shouting at her and Blake ?? x'D Just because she's standing here doesn't mean that she's "choosing" between her partner and her sister ;w; and I'm so tired of people forcing this narrative of "bumbleby standing between Ruby and Yang's relationship", so that's why "Yang became a bad sister", and that's why "bumbleby is ruining the series" and blablabla - -' I'm not saying it was what Elijah meant to say (because obviously not), but when I watch this scene (on my first watch as much as today), I don't see "Yang choosing Blake over Ruby", I just see Yang standing her ground because her sister is shouting at them all for (in her mind) 'whatever reason'. And I'm betting my money that Yang would've reacted this way even if it was just her and Ruby alone or if she was with someone else than Blake (obviously it was with Blake because these two can't be away from each-other more than 5 minutes UvU but still)

Cali Jester

SUCH A GREAT SET OF EPISODES FOR TRAUMA LOVERS

Ann_Temki

I’m glad you saw the helpline bit at the end because I’m pretty sure you accidentally skipped over the “distressing topics of death” disclaimer at the beginning of the episode

Lisi Stoire

Also to answer your question about Neo/Trivia's eyes, you might have forget it but it was specified in Roman Holiday that her parent made her wear a brown contact lense to hide her pink eye when they were taking family pictures

Zirkumflex

Welcome to RWBY! Now with more vore! As it is in RWBY after a kiss there comes trauma. We also saw Pyrrha in the new style and it only cost us a Little. Do we all remember in V9C1 when Elijah said that the rainbow tea in the intro looked delicious? I sure do.

Lisi Stoire

I KNOW 😭what a pain it was (and still is...) to endure that ! I swear, nuance is dead in many fandoms - -'

Lisi Stoire

My point exactly 👏👏👏👏

Symbolic Remnant

Everyone who was *into the FNDM culture* basically got called a mean name one time by a shipper who disagreed with them and decided that a web series, of modest popularity and containing a glacially-paced love triangle with a gay side, was the key battlefront of the American Culture War… it was all supremely lame.

Wil DeYoung

You may not have recognized Yssa by name but perhaps you will remember her as Ciel Soliel, Penny's partner from volume 3

supersoaker

FYI, Summer's weapon is an axe not a scythe

defy4bees

I too hate those comments that Yang "doesn't care about ruby any more" like, she's literally standing there in shock after Ruby drinks the tea, and is so worried as they're looking for her beforehand. People just want to be homophobic so bad. Yang loves Blake AND Ruby, (and Weiss too) she's not a one dimensional character who can only see her partner, the show is literally showing the audience that this is not the case too (in upcoming eps).

Bryan Forquer

It's understandable that Ruby is struggling and severely depressed. But it's not acceptable how she reacted. Weiss, Blake, and Yang each tried to comfort Ruby but everytime they did. Ruby just ignored them or pushed them away. Not to mention that Yang has been Ruby's emotional support system for most of Ruby's life, ever since Summer disappeared. Yang pretty much became a second mom to Ruby, and always put Ruby's needs ahead of her own. But despite all the sacrifices that Yang made for Ruby. Ruby still treated Yang like she was being selfish just because Yang wanted to take 5 minutes to figure out her feelings for Blake.

defy4bees

I think it's worth mentioning it has been said by the writers that the end of Vol 9 specifically got some budget/time/script cuts along the way, so the end of the volume here is going to feel a little short and quick to the point, like we don't get much time to process. I think it still works well for what they were able to write around, but it is worth keeping in mind they did cut around some stuff (I don't know if Eddy ever said specifically said what was cut out, but from what I remember he said it wasn't anything that important, please correct me if I am wrong).

Lisi Stoire

The thing about Neo (as I interpreted it) is that she didn't really cared if Ruby was really at fault for Roman's death or not ; she just needed someone to blame so she could justify her anger to have lost him and have a semblance (haha) of purpose again. Because as you pointed out, Roman was really important for Neo ; he was the one who gave her her umbrella, partially trained her to fight and teached her everything he knew to be a good criminal. But most importantly, he didn't juge her for being mute, he saw the potential in her semblance and he gave her a place where she could be free and herself. Loosing him meant that she lost everything and didn't have anything left to lose. And it's also important to point out that she didn't go after Ruby at first ; she was after Cinder. Because in her mind, Cinder was responsable for Roman's death since she was the one who "recruted" him to prepare the attack on Vale and putted his life at risk (we can still debate if that's a good reason or not, but as I stated, Neo needed someone to blame more than an actual culprit). And she accepted to team up with Cinder to take down Ruby, not because she necessarily was convinced by Cinder, but because she KNEW Ruby was a more accessible target than Cinder was. Neo is skilled and impulsive, but she's not stupid ; she's not going after people she knows she can't defeat. When Raven appeared to protect Yang in volume 2, she didn't even try to fight her, she just ran away. And when she realized Cinder had all the powers of the Fall maiden, she stopped attacking her and listened to what she had to say. In that sense, Neo kinda remind me of Hazel ; he blamed Ozpin not because he was actually more responsable of Gretchen's death than Salem was, he blamed him because Ozpin was the only one he could take it out on. He already tried to kill Salem, again and again, but he couldn't, so he let her give him someone to hate more, who was actually accessible and "killable" (to an extent). He only did that to make himself "feel better", not to avenge Gretchen, just like Neo isn't doing it for Roman, but for herself.

Sir_Adamus

Jaune, a man who spent much of the early volumes with a white rabbit emblazoned on his hoodie, and gains a connection with a pocketwatch-esque item in this volume: "i'm late! i'm late!"

Luke Byers-Jones

It was funny at first, but got old real quick.

Rixec2

Yeah, this was a heavy episode for us all. And despite its short length, the impact of it is still plenty hard. If they went on any longer it would have been too cruel. And Neo is fascinating as a character. Plenty to study. She's definitely projecting a lot onto Ruby. She used Penny to explore her own feelings of how she failed Roman when he needed her. How he died alone while she had been flown off in the wind after Ruby opened her umbrella. And then Cinder went and got in her head about Ruby being the one to blame, especially once her power was shown to be too much for Neo. Only to then realize too late taking out Ruby was never going to help her. Roman was the only one to really treat Neo right. He never pitied her or wanted to change her. He understood her perfectly and loved everything about her. And Neo clung to him. But once he was gone, she lost everything save a desire for revenge, only for that to give her nothing once done.

jemmasinclair

Note for watching part 1 of the crossover with mosco: Part 1 is set somewhere between V7E4 "Pomp and Circumstance" and V7E5 "Sparks". So you can watch that when she reaches that point. Part 2 is set AFTER the end of Volume 9, so you would have to wait for her to finish Volume 9. Edit: Also to note; It is considered "canon-adjacent" which means it IS canon to the RWBY universe, but they are not likely to reference it in the main story in any way.

swan

I think a lot of people forget this kid is what she was when she was shouldered with the title as leader, a kid.

Luminaxtea

So at this point in RWBY history everyone had created bingo cards in the 2 years between volumes full of predictions of events to come. Pretty much everyone called Jaune = Rusted Knight, Bumbleby kiss/confession, Cat = Evil, and Summer Rose mentions. However, not a single person had Ruby committing the Ever After's equivalent of suicide and the Curious Cat demonically possessing Neo via vore. Also, this makes Ruby the Romeo to Penny's Juliette (the parallels are too strong to be a coincidence you can't tell me otherwise).

Mx Bubbles

Honestly, I kinda hope Neo is dead after what she did to Little, if she isn't, I'm hoping Ruby will get to finish her off, it would be very poetic and add salt to the wound if it's Ruby who beats her.

dainbramage7

Elijah: *having a legit crashout over Little and Ruby* Mosco: "Have you eaten yet?" Girlfriends, amirite? :D

Stars CM

One of the things I "love" (though I'm using that term loosely) about the Tea Party scene is that it takes Neo's perspective and what she'd know into account. In Volume 6 we learn that the official story is that Leo died fighting 'bravely' alongside the Huntsmen at Haven. She wasn't involved with the Cinder or Salem at that point, she assumes he died a hero alongside team RWBY. She doesn't know the Ace Ops were at odds with Team RWBY at the time Clover died or the details of how it happened - she was busy stealing the Lamp from Oscar/JNR. She didn't know Penny died in the Central Location because she fell before it, but is able to piece it together from Ruby's reactions, which is why she frames it as a question ("I died again in Atlas, didn't I?")

Gänz

So I'm just gonna mention RWBY Beyond and the Volume 9 Epilogue. Those are really important honestly, because they aren't spinoff things, but just actually Canon Post-Volume 9 content of the show. Like there are what we can assume are the beginnings of the storylines coming in Volume 10 and onward. Also really heartfelt and meaningful.

Gänz

To my knowledge Volume 9 was originally supposed to be 12 episodes, but after already having had wrapped up production for 8 episodes the Team was spontaneously informed that their budget was going to be reduced. Thus meaning not having enough money for the full 12 episodes. Most of what was cut is what we now know as the Volume 9 Epilogue Animatic, so we didn't really "miss out" on something. However from interviews with Eddy Rivas, one does really notice that he very politely talks around out-right saying that the breathing room, for having some things process for a moment are missing in the last 2 Episodes. (Still phenomenal episodes mostly imo though :] )

Symbolic Remnant

That’s… how memes work? They have a shelf-life.

Bowser's Rage Stage

Ah the most difficult to watch episodes in the entire series. That was absolutely ROUGH, and your reactions conveyed that. Ruby and Jaune's mutual breakdowns were so well written. Also, I want to preface this statement by saying I do love Neo and think she's really fun, but goddamn she really did torture a teenager with the intent of intentionally driving her to suicide over something she actively knew wasn't even her fault in the first place. Cause remember, she went after Cinder first for putting Roman in that position, only to quickly shift gears after realizing how much stronger then her Cinder is. But anyway, hugs to Elijah for going through those episodes and RIP to Billy Kametz (the voice of Roman who died during the production of Volume 9). PS: Crazy getting accidentally spoiled by your in-laws lol

Jadyn P

I laughed out loud at that, classic 😂

Enchanted_Echo

I will be honest; these 2 episodes were SO heartbreaking to watch for Ruby. For someone who was always so optimistic from Volume 1 and full of joy to what happened now in Volume 9 it’s so sad but in her shoes………..100% understandable. Even with Volume 1 if you listen to Red Like Roses Part II, you can hear the trauma being pushed down about her mom and it slowly started to build. And being placed as the leader just added even more responsibility and while even trying to make friends with someone with a cold heart at the time. - Volume 3: The Betrayal of Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury, Penny’s death, The Fall of Beacon, Her Team being badly injured, Pyrrha’s death, Yang being broken, leaving her dad and sister without a proper goodbye - Volume 4: The towns in ruins, Grimm on the rise, few dead hunters too - Volume 5: Thinking on the past, worrying about Yang, Raven/Her Mom, Seeing who Salem is - Volume 6: Ozpin’s secret, Having to keep the team together and keep going to Atlas, The Farm and Apathy Grimm in it, Keeping an eye on Qrow, The division of Atlas forces, doubt within everyone - Volume 7: Penny’s framing, Ironwood, Salem mentioning her mom, Being on the hunt - Volume 8: The teams separation, The War between Atlas, Mantle AND the grimm, The hound and……their eyes, Realizing what may have happened to Summer, Penny’s corruption, Not sure what to do with Ironwoods threat, Yang possible death and no time to process And now with Volume 9……..with everything that went on……I get it. She was grasping for straws of hope and the news of Penny broke the camel’s back. Even throughout the volume they're were small instances of the team trying to communicate she shrugged it off or they didn’t really push far enough. And with Blake and Yang living a fairy tale and now being together and Weiss being there and Ruby trying to comfort her as a leader when she was already struggling, it just kind of added fuel to the fire. Even in small instances when they talk to her like with Weiss complaining about not grabbing to ingredients to grow it just added more with her feeling like what she did was wrong and it’s her fault. Same with her thinking it’s her fault with Salem now having 2/4 relics. When she was finally about to talk about it, All attention went to Jaune and side lined Ruby which I get why, but even so they just forced Ruby to try and be up lifting, they just assumed that Ruby can join in the positivity and kind of ignored Ruby struggles which was heartbreaking She was even showing sings of early on in the volume of committing Su***** with how depressed she was, sometimes anger moments, with her seeing who she was trying to be and knowing that it’s nothing how she thought it would be, she was less talkative, and even gave up her valuables without a second thought just to keep going until there was no going back…….And I don’t blame her in the slightest. I still do wonder if Qrow or even Oscar was there would that have changed anything as they do have a deep bond with Ruby or if her sister couldn’t help (even if someone was preoccupying her) would think have changed at all. Story wise though I am happy they went this way as it makes A LOT of sense until the glass finally broke after all the buildup. Still shoutout to Lindsay Jones, Miles Luna and Neo’s voice actress, and the writers because they did a really good job with the scenes in episode 8. She is only 17 with the world being put on her shoulders….

SportySpice

I think about half of what was cut is the V9 epilogue. They lost about 40 minutes total I believe. So across the Original Eps 9, 10, 11 and 12 (with 12 being the epilogue), they immediately struck the epilogue so had to find about 20 min of content across episodes 9, 10 and 11 which became the final 9 and 10 we see. I think Ep 8 got trimmed a bit too to borrow from Original Ep 9 since two writers are credited on that too (so they stitched episodes together). I think unfortunately it is very evident in episode 9 that a lot was cut and reordered and patched together. It sounds like they kept the crucial stuff, but it’s pretty clear a lot of cohesion and flow was lost. Eddy even mentioned (on twitter I think later) that some of the writers had different views on what to keep and what to cut so it seems the end product required some compromise and judgment calls (which we have no way of knowing were the right ones). I’m not trying to harp on Ep 9 ahead of time, because there are extenuating circumstances, but it’s pretty disjointed and undercooked as a follow up to Ep 8.

Icebelle

The amount of times I cried😭💔

Icebelle

No stop it😭

Mare

Oh LOL, I remember that 😅. I swear this is wha makes her the “RWBY-whisperer” because of how incredibly spot on she is sometimes. It’s almost eerie that she’s like the Nostradamus of the RWBY narrative 😂

Mare

Yeah I agree with you on the whole lack of “communicating and talking things out” element. I’m almost inclined to believe that CRWBY’s approach to storytelling is the Aristotle approach to narratives with the characters being secondary. Although I may be wrong. The other thing might be, because due to their budget being unstable at the time, it was very much a race against time and money to find away to keep driving the storyline forward and check off each of the items on Monty’s road map. Kerry mentions this “road map” a couple times so I wonder if (since in the past) not knowing where their funding will be coming from has him desperate to hit those plot points first, and any time they have left over will eventually be character focused. It’s all conjecture for me but I can’t help but shake that feeling. Although the difference now is that they don’t have to speed things up since they have a stable source of funding from Viz and a normal production schedule. The only caveat is that they’re not as transparent about their production progress like most normal studios. That’s there Rooster Teeth was different as well as naive and very unorthodox when it came to animation. Just hoping this time that the working conditions will be a lot better and will enable CRWBY (or what’s left of them) to carefully plan out the narrative. Because yeah, Volume 9 brought out so much discourse over so many elements that were missing in context.

Mare

Oh yeah, it really did get out of hand. I had wished no one came up with that meme because in this fandom it was bound to end up as “hate” fuel for the “critics.”

Mare

Thank you! 👏👏👏👏👏! Louder for the back because of all the projection that some viewers put into these scenes.

8-bit_cookie_thief

This episode broke me more than any other piece of media. Even G_Witch didn't make me cry this hard... But kudos to Talor McNee (Penny's VA). She and Lindsay are devout Nuts n Dolt shippers, so that delivery must have been so painful. But at least you got a new cat girl!

NamelessSoul

These two episodes are so brutal. Ruby breakdown is long coming but so heartbreaking.

8-bit_cookie_thief

Also tragically, Lindsay Jones was struggling with mental health issues and suicidal ideation while they were producing this volume (not because of it, just coincidentally). They are in a MUCH better place now. Lindsay is such a wonderful person, it hurts that they were actually going through the same thing as Ruby. It is often difficult to reach out to friends or family when you are in a dark place. But there are ALWAYS people out there who can help. Don't anyone out there forget about the hotline, or the Trevor Project, or any other of these resources! If you know anyone who may be struggling with this, these are some steps you can do to help, according to the National Institute of Mental Health: 1. Ask if they are thinking about suicide (this gets the conversation started; note that this does NOT increase the likelihood of them acting on it) 2. Be there and listen (acknowledging and talking about suicidal thoughts often decreases their influence) 3. Keep them safe (remove access to means of self-harm) 4. Help them connect (help them connect with the suicide hotline, community resources, or friends/family) 5. Follow up (staying in contact decreases the likelihood of a relapse and supports their mental health) Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/5-action-steps-to-help-someone-having-thoughts-of-suicide Sorry for being a downer. I hope that I have not broken any community rules, but it is better to be prepared beforehand. It can be very painful trying to help a friend going through something like this, and not knowing what you can do to help. (My friend is fine by the way, but it was a bad experience).

Thalia Robinson

I never read Roman Holiday (so I can't say anything about whether she seems redeemable there) but in the show I think Neo's one of my most disliked villains. She takes a spot right after Adam and Cinder (for obvious reasons) She's cute in chibi, I will give you that, but in the show, she's cold, heartless, and petty. Cool abilities? Definitely. But she was willing to drive a teenager to suicide because of a grudge over a death she had no way of knowing if it was even her. Sorry if it sounds callous, but if she feels empty now that she's accomplished her one desire in life of killing said teenager? Not even because she feels bad about it, but just because she doesn't know what to do anymore? Yeah, no, sorry but she's not getting any sympathy from me.

Enchanted_Echo

Wait really! Whenever volume 10 comes we must do this again for another round of the RWBY hiatus

8-bit_cookie_thief

Absolutely! People are just looking for reasons to justify their own homophobia. I seriosuly doubt they would be making these comments if Yang was dating Neptune or some other guy (*shudder*). They very conveniently forget that Yang literally SACRIFICED herself to save Ruby in vol 8.

8-bit_cookie_thief

Rewatching RWBY really is like watching a completely different show. The amount of foreshadowing is crazy (even Ruby's pajamas, although I'm not sure if that was intentional or coincidental). Not that Oz was giving bad advice at the time, she was goofing off and not taking her role seriously. Little did he suspect that this 17 year old would be deciding the fate of an entire nation just one year later. He was probably expecting to have more time to groom her. That conversation really takes on a darker tone in retrospect. I feel like she was failed by every adult, except Maria and v7 Qrow.

8-bit_cookie_thief

To answer your question, she is absolutely a cat girl now! But I can see her as either chaotic neutral or chaotic evil, depending on the perspective. I love how this show depicts revenge as being empty, it is very refreshing compared to so many other shows which glorify it. It is also interesting thinking about the many parallels between Neo's childhood and Weiss's. They aren't identical, but there are a lot of similar themes going on. Yet they both went in very different directions. Unfortunately for Neo, Weiss has everything Neo ever really wanted. Freedom from her forced family AND people who genuinely care for and accept her. I don't think anything can redeem Neo after what she has done, but I truly feel sorry for her.

8-bit_cookie_thief

Nope! This episode haunted my waking and sleeping mind for about a month. It finally started to fade a little, then they released Trapdoor and I relapsed hard. But, it finally drove me to actually interact with the fandom after 10 years of keeping my distance. I needed the solace of bumbly content and community interaction after this episode took a sledgehammer to my knees.

Konrad Dunbar

yeah this episode is/was really hard to watch as someone who's dealt with suicide since they were young :( it's a very hard thing to watch ruby go through that it makes rewatching ozpin give his speech in the Badge and the Burden really difficult to take and then the advice she gives to Jaune later really hard because both of those conversations lead to both of Jaune and Ruby having a warped mindset with the pressure and then the constant losses. I know Ruby is actually really happy for her sister and Blake but it's been pretty obvious she's been feeling disconnected from Yang the whole season with blake coming off as more important than her own emotions and mindset. I get why Yang felt said what she did but when it came down to it, Yang DID choose Blake over in that moment of her outburst, so no wonder she told Blake to shut up. Meanwhile she's been distant from Weiss for a good bit even when they were in atlas, so Ruby can't talk to Weiss about what's going on in her head. feels super lonely despite being around people who cares about her. It's like they've all noticed the signs and new something was up but by the time the though to address it Ruby's already gone and then Neo happened. I've been eagerly waiting to see your reaction since you love Neo so much haha this all said Lindsay and Miles KILLED it voice acting wise though they did such a good job with their deliveries. it tugs my heartstrings every time ugh I'm gonna need to go through a mind cleanse. Thank you for the video, hope you have a good rest of your week!

Littlespider07

I know that the reason roman sounds different is due to a new va. But my headcanon is that its been that long neo is slowly starting to forget what he sounds like.

SauceyRed

Yeah so these two episodes and the next two are my favorites of this volume. Jaune's breakdown (and Miles' actually PEAK performance), the build-up of Ruby's depression and subsequent lashing out, Neo breaking down Ruby even more, Ruby drinking the tea, the Cat, just... everything was so good and so sad. I'm SO ready for the reaction to the finale, shit's really good.

May

Yes! I felt the same. Also I felt like the times that Ruby and Oscar talked were interesting because it felt like Oscar actually understood Ruby in a way her team didn’t. It felt like Oscar was good at motivating her. She was already starting to become worse mentally speaking in volume 8 since the group split up due to disagreeing on the course of action they should take. I think she was having a hard time deciding what was the right thing to do. But Oscar was good at mediating and encouraging her a bit. I think she probably needed that after Yang chose to help in a different way, disagreeing which her course of action for the first time.

May

Hey, I think you replied to my comment. I deleted the og comment, since you seemed to have misinterpreted comment and that wasn’t my intention. It was still up and was allowing me to reply to you, but after I tried it seemed the whole thing disappeared. I can’t really type the whole thing out again, but I still kinda wanted to reply to you just to specify that I was absolutely not trying to say it was anyone’s fault. But just because it’s not their fault doesn’t mean that there weren’t ways they could’ve done better. Ruby, as said in the song, feels unseen and unneeded by her teammates. And I was simply analyze exactly why she felt that way. I was saying it makes sense for Ruby to feel like Yang cares less about her than before. I absolutely was not saying that Yang actually doesn’t care about her as much. The plan failing is what really caused her mental state to deteriorate, but that doesn’t mean that other things such as the actions of her teammates, weren’t a factor. Neo and Jaune didn’t need mentioned because both of those things happened AFTER she lashed out which is what I was focusing on. I guess that’s the summed up version. Though I wish I didn’t loose my actual reply. I just really wanted to clear that up lol. Not trying to start an argument. I just like discussing things, so I still wanted to say what I wanted to.

SportySpice

I deleted my comment because I saw you deleted your comment, assuming you had retracted your post. I cant remember your full post word for word, but you did actually fault the characters. In fact, you ranked Yang, Weiss, and Blake by who was most at fault to least at fault. Like, I am glad you re-thought your post and stuff, but this is spin on what your OG post said. I’m also not here for an argument, because frankly discourse on this episode has been done to death and I do think you are trying to be friendly. So I think we just say we took away different readings from this episode and call it at that! 🙂

Cinder's Apologist

this is RWBY. suffering is mandatory. I don't make the rules; Monty and his friends did when they set out to make this story over a decade ago, and we are just hanging on for dear life. so a lot of things to cover... first off, I implore you to go back and read through the list that Jaune made. some of the things on there will make you laugh - and maybe cry. but it's quite amusing. second, I was disappointed that you didn't stop to appreciate Yang's snoring! that's actually a tiny bit of continuity they kept from the beginning... way way back in v1, there's a scene when Weiss returns to the dorm and you can hear snoring, and it is obviously Yang who is snoring. so Yang is canonically the snoring type - which is clearly why Blake wasn't cuddling her :P I can't say much about Jaune's deal right now because I don't want to get ahead of the next two episodes, but yeah, this crash-out was also long time coming for him too. it wasn't as obvious perhaps but it was inevitable. speaking of which, as others have undoubtedly said: go watch The Badge and The Burden again from v1. volume 9 has several plot points that come full circle regarding stuff that happened in v1 and v2, but Ruby and Jaune crashing out correlates to a very specific moment from that part of v1. when Ozpin gives his advice to Ruby about how being a team leader is a badge you wear constantly... "If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" and how does Ruby relay that to Jaune a bit later? "You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure." WELL HOW HAS THAT WORKED OUT??? also yes, voice acting is a whole other level this volume, along with the lighting and even the poses at times. if you look closer, you'll notice the way Ruby gets left out of the frame - first when WBY goes to Jaune's side after the village floods; and then after Jaune's outburst and he tries to backtrack, where he is literally obscuring Ruby from view. because Ruby is feeling so overlooked that even Jaune's agony is overshadowing her own. because you never expect The Hero to ever suffer like this. because they are supposed to always know what to do, right? RIGHT?? soooooooo yeah. Neo... I was so scared when you declared Neo was your new villain fave because... well. however, I do feel for you in regards to feeling sympathy for her and wishing she could have some sort of redemption or whatnot. "Roman Holiday" really deepens Neo in an incredible way that you can't help feeling bad for her, even though she tends to live for the chaos. iirc she always had the heterochromia but her parents forced her to wear a contact lens to make her pink eye look brown, hence her appearance in that first portrait. also the portrait that you see of Neo on the street with her back turned to the viewer... in the distance is the Wyvern frozen atop Beacon Tower. that portrait is a nod to Neo losing Roman, finding his hat and grieving him. as for the portrait of her and Cinder? I believe it expresses Neo's wish to be seen as partners with Cinder, to have what she had with Roman. but as you noticed, Cinder was not interested in partnership and thus Neo's frustration. I do feel for you about seeing Pyrrha in the new model. it hurts so bad that this is how we got the new Pyrrha - that it had to come with gut-wrenching emotional scenes. but fun fact! the animator who was behind this new version of Pyrrha is a HUGE fan and was gushing so much about having the chance to bring her to life, so to speak. oh, and you are correct about Roman's VA. like Qrow, the old VA was fired (lot of history involved there, not fun) so this was a new guy. personally, I like this voice a lot more.

Cinder's Apologist

ah damn, nearly forgot... Yang stepping in to shield Blake is, in my opinion (and others might agree), not just a girl defending her lover. it's Yang stepping in as Big Sister Who Has Very Likely Seen This Shit Before. remember that Yang raised Ruby - Ruby said so herself! can we honestly believe that at no point in that crazy, broken childhood home they shared that Ruby never once raised her voice or got upset around Yang? sisters fight, shit happens. no doubt Yang learned long ago how to try and defuse a situation, even if it rarely happened. I could be wrong but I just think there was more going on than just "Yang protecting Blake, her lover" from a volatile Ruby. Yang was just trying to take the heat while getting her sister to back off or snap out of it.

Cinder's Apologist

oh damn, I don't remember hearing that if I did... but appreciate you lifting all this up.

Kendal

My personal opinion I think Ruby throughout this entire volume hasn’t had the attention she needed from her team. Like don’t get me wrong a lot was going on so I get it. But any time Ruby was about to talk she gets cut off or the attention shifts over to Jaune. So Ruby’s frustration and mental state just keeps building up without any outlet. And it’s hard to see Ruby and Jaune both in this state because they are both some of my favorite characters. Not to mention that the two of them have always been super close to one another. Which makes their fight even more heartbreaking. Not trying to say the Jaune doesn’t deserve to have attention when he’s not okay. But I feel for Ruby more because I can understand how she felt that it seemed like Jaune had more attention so to her she felt that she wasn’t as important. But I love theses episodes because they are so real and just so much to break down. ❤️❤️❤️

Dayash

i never was able to get too much into the Neo hype because eh but this episode just made me outright dislike her because i found the "push a child to suicide" instead of just fighting her outright (knowing that she, Neo, would win) to be just deplorable like you just suck as a person and no part of me cared about any sort of positive ending for her (i know shes prob compelling on her novel but thats past content and in the present timeline she sucks so idc abt that much) after that like u cant work w her lol Anyways i hope u enjoy the rest of the volume !!

ElizabethTheMermaid

Welcome to one of the most heartbreaking and yet really well done episodes of RWBY. Can i start a petition for you to release the next reaction early for everyone's sake?

Hollyhock

If i was having a breakdown and told my sister in law to shut up i'd fully expect my brother to step in and go 'if you wanna yell, yell at ME' which is how i read the scene

Isadora

I've always loved Yang being a canonically loud snorer, it's even mentioned in one of the comics I believe. Another moment of her snoring that often gets missed is in volume 7, episode 5: right at the beginning, when Penny is about to wake the team up, we can hear snoring in the background. As soon as I heard that, I *knew* who it was lol.

GlitchedLetters

Gosh, this episode was a long time coming. I don't think everyone knows this little detail, but Ruby's story, along with her theme, is all very gothic. Losing her mother when she was just a toddler, her sister had to raise her because of their dad's emotional absence, being thrust into war while in high school. As she laments in this episode, and what's been building up since honestly volume 3, is that she finds herself to be a death omen. Her mother, her friends, her teachers, and people she knew who died. Volume 7 was a brief moment for her to feel a semblance of stability and revitalized hope, but that was stomped down by Vol 8 and then turned to dust when she realized she lost Penny. So now that you've reached this episode, did you know that scene with Penny was like 47 meteor strikes for the Nuts & Dolts (Ruby/Penny) community? We had gone through 3 whole volumes of Ruby grieving Penny, then got her back and had to fight for her to stay safe at every moment, only to lose her again; and then you have Penny firing all that grief and pain right back into Ruby's face because of Neo's torment. Talk about a twist of the knife. I'm so happy you mentioned that Ruby is supportive of the Bees, but at this time, she is struggling and can't really feel joy for others. There was an awful time online when the episode aired because a bunch of haters and people who had never seen the show turned Ruby's breakdown into a homophobic thing. This was a pretty bad timing effect after the Bees were made canon due to intense ship wars while the show has been running. Though, to offer some food for thought, it would be a bit interesting if her difficulty in feeling happiness for Yang and Blake is partly due to her grieving Penny, and mourning what she wasnt aware she wanted before?

Leon Lesser

Regarding Neo being born with Heterochromia, you are correct, but if I remember correctly her parents made her use her semblance to hide her pink eye, whenever there were others around

Orion

Juan has been in the ever after for as few as 10 and as many as 20 years according to the showrunner

Dragonrune

Mosco is STILL on/in Volume 6! Poor Mosco seeing Elisha's reactions with NO context.

Fred Smith

I know the parallels to suicide are pretty obvious, thus the PSA, but I always liked thinking of it as ‘someone who is terrified and distrustful of mental healthcare starting medication and therapy. Ruby doesn’t really want to die here, she just wants to not be her anymore. For some people that’s how they think of mental healthcare. As something destructive that tears down the person you were to make someone more useful. Imagine Ruby’s surprise when the medication just gives her the space to think and her therapist gently guides her to a place where she can be confident in being herself again?

TheyWereMarried

I think Ruby is broken. When shit happens to us and we become traumatised, depressed etc we break. But here's the thing; going to therapy, talking to people about it & healing in whatever way we need to is us putting the pieces of our broken selves back together like kintsugi. Kintsugi (Kintsukuroi) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, literally meaning "golden joinery" or "golden repair". Instead of hiding the damage, kintsugi highlights the cracks as part of the object's history, treating breakage and repair as significant, beautiful events, reflecting the wabi-sabi aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection and embracing flaws as sources of strength and unique character

Cinder's Apologist

ooh I gotta rewatch that v7c5 one! never caught her snoring there lol. but yes, love that it's canon

GeminiRosche13

You should definitely try and go back and read the entries in Jaune’s schedule. It’s pretty cute, and wild what kind of disasters the Papers get up to.

GeminiRosche13

That absolutely is not the original VA for Torchwick. He was initially voiced by Gray Haddock, who was the head of RT animation for a time before being ousted for mismanagement of funds to push his own project Gen:LOCK and screwing over other shows. There might have been other issues too, but that’s the thing most folks remember. Part of these Torchwick lines are done by Billy Kametz, who sadly passed away during the production of this volume. The rest are done by Christopher Wehkamp.

man-of-bvz1n3ss

Not sure if you noticed, but Jaune being obsessed with being "on time" is a reference to the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" His attempts to save the Paper Pleasers are kind of colonialist if you think about it. He's imposing his own value system on the Ever After and preventing the natives from following their practices because he assumes he knows better. It's symbolic of his attempts to find any way to be a hero after failing so badly in the Evacuation. Jaune lashing out at Ruby here is REALLY uncomfortable for me. He's a grown man yelling at a teenager with some serious mental issues, and then he makes everything about himself rather than let her share her emotions at all. Jaune's always had anger issues and the Ever After only made things worse. He basically caused Ruby's suicide attempt, alongside Neo. This guy seriously needs to grow up. Little has been representative of Ruby's spirit and sense of self throughout this entire Volume. Once Ruby truly pushes them away, that's when she starts losing touch with her identity, and once Little dies, Ruby's will to live is gone completely. While Neo was born with heterochromatic eyes, her parents always left that out of the paintings. Neo seems to have recreated the Vanille manor down to the last detail. Torchwick's voice actor is indeed different. I like to think the in-show reason for this is that he's been dead long enough that Neo has started forgetting what he sounds like. And after 9 Volumes, Neo finally gets an allusion... the Hatter of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is her true self- concerned with nothing but utter hatred and spite for Ruby. I don't think she even wants acceptance, that died with Torchwick. And with Ruby dead, she is truly nothing. Interesting that out of all people, it's OSCAR dying that sends Ruby into a breakdown... Rosegarden intensifies. Not sure if you caught that line from the Cat about "their creators". Wonder what kind of "creators" we've seen before in this show.... :P They are in my opinion a really great villain, and I can't wait for you to see what happens next with them.

man-of-bvz1n3ss

"Stop the goose"- did he get dropped into the Untitled Goose Game? I really wanna know what the "Unfoldening" is...

Jittercritter

There are so many layers to Yang stepping between Blake and Ruby there. A lot of people were mad about it, but I feel like those people are forgetting that Blake very SPECIFICALLY has trauma tied to her leader lashing out at and abusing her in the past, which Yang knows better than anyone. Not to mention this is Ruby we’re talking about—she’s almost definitely going to feel bad for lashing out when she calms down, which Yang likely understands. It’s not like Yang goes off on Ruby or anything, just gives her a simple and calm ‘hey.’ She’s trying to diffuse the situation, she isn’t ‘taking Blake’s side.’ This is Yangs ‘this is a kid I’m responsible for’ side coming out.

Hi-Viz

Unfortunately actual hompohobic people keep making it even nearly 3 years later, so yeah it is fucking unfunny

Symbolic Remnant

That’s not all of us who do. Some of us just like playing heel.

Joy (a.k.a. Gentle Lionheart)

THIS! Exactly. Couldn't agree more. As a Nuts & Dolts shipper, I feel like this volume solidifies the idea that Penny meant so much more to Ruby, but she never had the chance to figure out those feelings. So she is left longing for what could've been. I feel like even if they did not have romantic feelings for each other in the show, they understood each other and had a strong bond that could've developed into something more... making it even more tragic

Connor

I would argue saying it's just Jaune being a grown man crashing out at a mentally unstable teenager ignores the fact that he is ALSO a mentally unstable "teenager". Think about it: Jaune is supposed to be only 2 years older than her. While he technically has had more time to process what happened and get better - on the flip side - he's also had more time to wallow in his own self-pity and anger which could make him worse. Mentally, maybe he never got to mature past his age when he fell since it seems like even after falling, he's experienced even more betrayals and death. Not to mention the thing with Penny arguably hitting Jaune JUST AS HARD - IF NOT HARDER - than Ruby since he had to be the one to actually stab Penny (effectively killing the same friend Pyrrah killed back in Vol 3 a second time... with a sword adorned in Pyrrah's gold. And this time, that death being unquestionably permanent.)

Connor

(cont'd) All that to say that it's more two mentally ill people having a volatile argument, rather than an adult yelling at a child. And Jaune's crashout is in direct response to Ruby's specifically worded crashout.

Alexis Cardillo

Poor Moscow is getting so confused by your reactions, she getting scared of what”s to come

Faroth

You know when you see it

Eli Williams

it has taken me two weeks but now im caught up on all the reactions 😂

man-of-bvz1n3ss

While Jaune indeed had his maturation halted, that's his responsibility to manage, not Ruby's. He has his reasons for behaving this way, but it's very much "cool motive, still caused your friend's suicide".

SincerelyKiwi

I remember when episode 8 first came out, I don't think there was a warning at the beginning originally (I don't think your version has it either), but they had to add it because people were having major panic attacks at the entire mansion scene. If there was a warning, I think it was just a flashing lights warning but they changed it to a suicide warning. I remember people immediately talking about how they needed a better content warning and I think they changed it within the day it came out or the next day. It goes to show how much they care about their audience really

Rythen Eugea

It doesn't feel like it now, but for me, Volume 9 is Catharsis

Rythen Eugea

Also imagine how Blake must feel having someone she's looked up to, her leader, come up to her in anger. She probably had that a lot from Adam, and now she was probably reliving some of her trauma as Ruby went up to her.

Rythen Eugea

Pyrrha's VA was so fucking happy to torture us about this btw But also - Roman's voice is different! ...twice. Billy Kametz did most of the voice acting in Volume 9 until his unfortunate passing, with Christopher Wehkamp filling in for what Billy couldn't voice.

E-Patreon-name

...Yeah. So there you go. For me, the emotional high point (Bees!) and low point (This s***!) of the ENTIRE SHOW... all NINE VOLUMES... are packed together in this one volume. And they're two episodes apart.

Adrian ruiz martinez

I'll say that because the weekly release and the fact that 8 and 9 were release almost 3 years apart from each other, we then no realize that everything between episode 8 of volume 7 and this episode is technically the same week, and volume 9 until this point was the same day, like no one is been able to catch their breath, and they do care but her but they want to trying to process and get over what's happening in front of them before hand, which is what It tends to happen in real life to.

Simon Davis

♪ You don't need me any more No, you don't see me any more ♪

Luis Longo

For obvious reasons they had to get a different VA for Roman. Also hearing Moscos reactions in the background was hilarious.

BGTitan

There was a warning but it was just a very vague 'talks of life and death ideations' or something and didn't at all prepare people for just how visceral and brutal episode 8 was. Which was apparently a Crunchyroll call, I think. They did however include that hotline number at the end....which was at least something.

BGTitan

It would have to be around 20 due to the fact that everyone read The Girl Who Fell Through the World when they were kids and most of our main cast are 18 years old.

KingKAi BAckup

Roman's original voice actor passed away I believe

Luna Methner

It was mentioned in Roman Holiday, but you might’ve forgotten-Neo was born with heterochromia, but her parents made her wear a colored contact lens to try and look more “Normal” in public

Kori

No, he got fired. Billy came in to be his new voice actor and died. So Chris finished his lines.

Ky McKenna

Theres also a concept final episode that was released as Rooster Teeth shut down thats online. Also worth watching imo, even if its not 100% canon.

Alexandru Ulesan

Casual chat between Elijah's exes: Cinder: This one child disfigured me and thwarted my quest for mad power repeatedly, so I hunted her across several continents and I'm pretty sure I killed her. Neo: You didn't. And since my partner in crime died during a terror attack he helped cause and this girl was near him, I successfully psychologically tormented her into essentially committing $uicide. Cinder: ... B!tch what the f@ck???

Shaky Tail Studios

One of the interesting things in this volume were that we did see moments of WBY trying to reach out t Ruby but her pushing forward, or her efforts to reach out being interrupted (Usually by something chaotic happening like losing the cat) But more than that, Ruby's suffering is very quiet and reserved, it stands out to us more cos we get musical stings and stuff from her perspectives. By contrast Jaune's suffering is extremely loud and thus easily distracting.

man-of-bvz1n3ss

Yeah Neo is genuinely a worse person than Cinder. Cinder's childhood was a living hell, Neo's a spoiled nepobaby who got mad her mommy and daddy didn't love her.

Alexandru Ulesan

My read's more like Cinder is a petty narcissist with a god complex the size of a planet, but she does have the slightest justification for her grudge with Ruby, while Neo is a full on psychopath

Christopher Groenewald

I honestly wish they stuck with dark Ruby a bit longer. Really dive into a darker, more cynical side of Ruby that completely contrasts the kind of person she usually is