Index | Character Short 1 | Character Short 2 | Character Short 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
Dread in the Air
"Can you find a pair of islands we can fit between?"
Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Gray G. Haddock & Miles Luna
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Gray G. Haddock & Miles Luna
"Passing by some of Lake Matsu's floating islands. The gravity Dust that forms in these things is giving us a little turbulence. Nothing I can't handle, but the islands sometimes hide some nasty Grimm."
— Atlas cargo pilot
Professor Lionheart's method of passing information to Salem is revealed and Weiss' transport runs afoul of the Grimm. Meanwhile, Adam and Hazel meet with Sienna Khan, who is extremely angry with Adam's attack on Beacon Academy.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, Weiss's airship crashes, leaving her injured on the ground. Attracted to the scene are a couple of men who stand in front of her as she weakly asks for their help. The men are revealed to be bandits from the Branwen tribe when she shows up to see what's going on. Deciding she can make use of Weiss, Raven stamps on Weiss's face to knock her out. The Fade to Black that occurs as Weiss loses consciousness ends the episode.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: Sienna Khan is the White Fang High Leader, mentioned a few times in Volume 4 as opposed to Adam's violence and what transpired at Beacon Academy; the references set up a possible storyline where the White Fang may have different factions at war with itself over when to use violence and how much to use. Sienna's first appearance occurs in this episode doing exactly that: trying to shut down Adam's activities because of the negative impact it will have on the White Fang's attempt to achieve Faunus equality. However, the scene does not set up an ongoing conflict, it instead reveals Adam's true goals for the White Fang and ends with her murder, putting Adam in charge of the White Fang and making him a wildcard that Salem doesn't control as well as she thinks she does.
- Floating Continent: Lake Matsu is a giant body of water in the continent of Anima. Above the lake are many floating islands, held aloft by naturally forming crops of Gravity Dust. Airships travelling through the field of islands have to be very careful because of the strong pull of the Gravity Dust on their engines. The islands are also home to Creatures of Grimm such as Lancers which seek to take advantage of any airships that do fly over the lake.
- Frame-Up: Adam deliberately invites Hazel into Sienna Khan's throne room, violating a rule forbidding the presence of humans which is a crime punishable by death. Hazel, who is there to negotiate on Salem's behalf, is shocked when Adam murders Sienna instead of negotiating with her. Adam explains that his plan is for the White Fang to believe that Sienna Khan has been killed by a human; he hopes this will inflame and radicalise them against humanity, allowing him to lead a White Fang assault on Haven Academy. Hazel is angry with this plan as he feels it's unnecessary killing and not in line with Salem's plan.
- Impairment Shot: At the end of the episode, Weiss is badly injured on the ground after her airship crashes and looks up at the people who have arrived in the hope of getting help. Cue a POV shot of Weiss looking up at Raven as she knocks her out cold.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: Adam explains his murder of Sienna to usurp her leadership was his way to ensure that the attack on Haven will be carried out, as making her a martyr will gain them more support and now they won't have to worry about Sienna refusing them, since with him as their new leader, the White Fang will do exactly what Adam says. Hazel isn't pleased with this because he had wanted to negotiate and thinks there was no need to kill anyone. As he's walking out of the room, Adam settles on Sienna's old throne, smirks and states that killing really was necessary.
- Out of the Frying Pan: Weiss defeats the Queen Lancer that is threatening the airship she is travelling on, but not before the Grimm manages to take out one of their wings. Weiss uses her gravity glyphs to try and slow their descent but the ship still crashes hard, leaving her injured. The people who are attracted to her location are Raven's murderous bandits. After deciding she can make use of Weiss, Raven kicks her unconscious.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Sienna believes that the White Fang should only use violence wisely and as necessary to achieve Faunus equality. She therefore condemns the Beacon attack and vetoes any attack on Haven because such actions will turn White Fang into a target, forcing them into a war with humans they have no chance of winning.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: When Weiss is flying through the floating islands of Lake Matsu, she and her pilot encounter a distressed ship that is being attacked by a swarm of Lancers, hornet-like Grimm. When the Lancers notice Weiss' airship, they regroup as a swarm and chase the airship until they get close enough to use their stingers as grappling guns to hook onto the ship and reel it in.
- Slouch of Villainy: After murdering Sienna, Adam sinks onto her throne, casually slumps against its right arm and smirks.
- Trapped in Villainy: Lionheart is not working for Salem by choice, being controlled by her through fear, threatening to do terrible things to him whenever he shows a tiniest spark of rebellion. He constantly looks anxious, fearful and unhappy with Watts' every demand, and even his mere presence. When Lionheart tells Salem about the Spring Maiden, he gives only the bare information and doesn't explain how he came by the knowledge. It's Watts who tells Salem that Qrow is involved; the look Lionheart shoots Watts for revealing that is horrified but still submissive and fearful.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Sienna is mentioned several times throughout Volume 4 as being the High Leader of the White Fang and strongly opposed to what Adam did to Beacon Academy. When she finally makes her appearance in Volume 5, it's to be murdered by Adam in the very same scene so that he can take control of the White Fang.
- Wicked Wasps: Lancers are huge hornet Grimm that are the size of a grown adult. They live among the floating islands of the Lake Matsu in Anima and attack any air ships that attempt to travel through their airspace. They have the ability to use their stingers like grappling guns, hooking onto ships and reeling them in, whereupon they use their powerful mandibles to chew their way through the ship's hull. A small swarm of Lancers can be enough to overwhelm even airships that have Huntsmen on board. Queen Lancers, however, act alone. They're mammoth creatures, easily dwarfing cargo ships; In addition to being able to use their mandibles and tail stingers the way ordinary Lancers do, they have the ability to fire multiple darts that burst out of each side of their bodies. A Queen Lancer is so tough she can easily survive being hit by an explosion caused by multiple crates of Dust igniting at the same time.
Bandit: What do you think?
Raven: I think... we just hit the jackpot.
Raven: I think... we just hit the jackpot.
