The Grimm Reaper
"How exactly does a legend just disappear?"
Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Kerry Shawcross & Connor Pickens
Directed by Kerry Shawcross & Connor Pickens
"You're the Grimm Reaper, and these... are the last sixty seconds of your life."
— Tock
The Grimm Reaper was one of the world's greatest Huntresses, and her disappearance was one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. Until now.
Meanwhile, Cinder seizes the unexpected opportunity that has come her way.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Assassin Outclassin': Despite losing her eyes to Tock, Maria managed to kill her and escape. Nonetheless, the trauma of losing her eyes and the fear of more assassins coming after her to finish the job scared her so badly that she went into hiding.
- Breather Episode: After the emotional trauma of the past several episodes, Team RWBY's part of the episode consists of reuniting with Team JNPR in Argus and meeting some of Jaune's family when they're given a place to stay in the home of Jaune's older sister, Saphron. They're introduced to Saphron's wife and son, and are able to enjoy food, tease Jaune over being Saphron's baby brother, and play with an adorable toddler. Although the episode includes the flashback of how Maria lost her eyes and Cinder plotting with Neo, most of the episode is a chance for Team RWBY to decompress and relax after the emotional roller-coaster they've been through since the train crashed.
- Break the Badass: In her youth, Maria was known as the Grimm Reaper, a legendary Huntress whom Qrow idolised so much he designed his weapon after hers. However, on her final mission, she was attacked by assassins sent to kill her due to her Silver Eyes, and while she survived, she was left permanently blinded. Even after undergoing surgery to get her Electronic Eyes, Maria was so terrified of more assassins coming after her that she quit being a Huntress completely and went into hiding. She now regards herself as a failure who betrayed what it meant to be a Huntress.
- Call-Back:
- In Volume 5, Nora's reaction to learning about Ozpin's reincarnation merge with Oscar is to refer to her former headmaster as "Cute Boy Ozpin", much to Ozpin's dismay. When Nora locates Team RWBY upon their arrival in Argus, she shouts "Cute Boy Oz!" across the street and tackles Oscar to the ground with a huge bear hug. This time, Ozpin isn't around to protest.
- Way back to Episode 1, when Jaune threw up on an airship, earning the nickname Vomit Boy. It's his contact name in Ruby's scroll.
- Career-Ending Injury: When Maria lost her eyesight, she was left terrified that other assassins would come to finish the job Tock started. Even after surgery gave her back her eyesight, she was so frightened of being assassinated that she gave up being a Huntress and went into hiding for the rest of her life.
- Continuity Nod:
- As they travel Argus, Jaune and Ren bring up how Argus is a result of Mantle and Mistral's alliance before the Great War, first mentioned in the World of Remnant short on the Great War.
- Jaune once told Pyrrha that he has seven sisters. He also once told Team RNJR that, when camping, he was allowed to have his own tent because his sisters wouldn't stop braiding his hair. This episode introduces his older sister, Saphron, along with her wife and son. On a bookshelf in the background is a photograph displaying all the siblings: seven sisters surrounding a fed-up Jaune, whose hair has been tied up in bunches.
- Cool Mask: In her prime, Maria donned a skull mask that concealed the top half of her face and made it impossible to see her eyes. It was designed to hide her identity when she went out in the world, but it's destroyed by Tock.
- Cruel Mercy: Tock tells Maria that she was ordered by her master to kill Maria because of her silver eyes. When she blinds Maria, she mockingly states that she could just let her live now since she's solved the problem of the silver eyes without killing her.
- Cuteness Proximity: When Jaune becomes grumpy over Saphron calling him her 'baby' brother and teasing him, Adrian attempts to mimic his uncle's behaviour with a cross face and folded arms. Yang and Weiss are completely overcome by this and start gushing over what an adorable baby he is.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode title is "The Grimm Reaper". This is the name by which Maria was known when she was a young Huntress. She hid her identity whenever she went out in the world behind a mask that was shaped like a skull. She fought with two sickle-weapons that appear to be kama, which gave her the appearance of 'reaping' her enemies like many skeletal depictions of Death. Her enemies were predominantly the Creatures of Grimm. As a result, she was The Grimm Reaper both in appearance and quite literally.
- Dual Wielding:
- In her prime, Maria wielded twin kama. Each one was infused with Gravity Dust, allowing her to pull her and her enemies in the direction of one of the kama that she's thrown or to recall a thrown kama by attracting it to the one she was still holding. She could also merge the two together at the base to form a dual-tipped scythe. One was broken in her fight with Tock, and the other she currently uses as her cane.
- Tock was the Crocodile Faunus tasked with killing Maria. Her default method of fighting was to use a pair of swords in battle. She uses one of the swords to take Maria's eyes.
- Exact Words:
- Cinder tells Neo that she isn't allowed to kill Ruby because Salem wants her alive. However, Salem only instructed her to not kill Ruby; she did not instruct her to hire someone else to kill Ruby on her behalf. She wants Neo to kill Ruby because Salem didn't order Neo to do anything.
- Tock tells Maria that her master ordered her to kill Maria because of her silver eyes. Due to destroying Maria's eyes, Tock mockingly suggests she could get away with letting Maria live because she's destroyed the silver eyes either way.
- Eye Scream: Tock blinds Maria by slashing her eyes, which also destroys her ability to wield the power of the silver eyes. Since then, Maria has had surgery to give her artificial eyesight via her mechanical goggles.
- Failure Hero: Maria states she shouldn't be regarded as a hero and that no-one should aspire to be like her. A Huntress is supposed to fight to protect life to the bitter end, but she didn't do that. When she lost her eyesight, she was so terrified that assassins would keep hunting her down until she was finally dead that she quit being a Huntress and went into hiding for the rest of her life. She bitterly tells an alcoholic Qrow he's well on his way to becoming the exact same disappointment she's turned out to be.
- Faking the Dead: After Tock blinded her, Maria was too frightened to continue being The Grimm Reaper and went into hiding. Since no one knew her face or even her name when she went into hiding, everyone eventually assumed she had simply died in battle.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Saphron mentions Terra is a technician for the relay tower in Argus, but the Military's radar system is there too and their presence is causing problems, which Terra and the other workers are being blamed for. Shortly after Ruby mentions wanting to go there to see if they can get to Atlas, it cuts to the tower gates closing on Team RWBY and the military being unable to let anyone in.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: During the shots of passing scenery while everyone's travelling by tram, a cinema can be seen in the background advertising the films that are currently showing, but freezing the frame is required to see what the film posters are actually revealing. The star billing is Tryst in the Mist, whose poster consists of a silhouetted man and woman holding hands, and their silhouettes are similar Salem and Ozma's from the time of Ozma's first reincarnation when they set themselves up as 'gods' to unite humanity. Also showing is Demon of the Deep where the billed monster is a Creature of Grimm, a partially hidden poster that is a "Coming Soon" advertisment for gen:LOCK, and a documentary film called The Fall of Beacon.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The scene cuts to black right before Maria decapitates Tock with one of her kama.
- The Glomp: When Nora spots Team RWBY across the street, she screams "Cute Boy Oz!" and tackles Oscar to the ground with a huge bear hug.
- Hero of Another Story: When Maria was a young woman, she was a world-renowned Huntress known only as "The Grimm Reaper" because her identity was never revealed. While her exploits made her a legend in her own lifetime, they're not explored. Maria only mentions what happened the day she lost her eyesight to explain how it happened and why she stopped being a Huntress.
- Hero-Worshipper: Qrow is stunned when he finds out Maria used to be The Grimm Reaper. He tells her that he wanted to be just like her and was inspired to design his weapon, a combination of sword, gun and scythe, from the weapons The Grimm Reaper used, which were two kama that unfolded from skull staffs. Maria tells them that no-one should aspire to be like her because she betrayed everything a Huntsman is supposed to represent; after having spent a couple of episodes disapproving of Qrow's increasing problems with alcohol, she bitterly tells him that's he is well on his way to being like her — a big disappointment.
- Hour of Power: Tock can only maintain her Semblance for exactly sixty seconds. During that time, there is nothing Maria can do to hurt her; once the time runs out, Tock's Aura immediately breaks and a blinded Maria is able to kill Tock easily once she's able to identify Tock's location in relation to herself and her weapons.
- I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Maria doesn't see herself as a great hero, but as a disappointment for running and hiding once she lost her eyes rather than doing the job of a huntress and continuing to fight. When Qrow tries to compliment her for being a great hero and say he wanted to be like her, all she can do is call herself a disappointment and imply that Qrow's alcoholism means he's well on his way to becoming just as big a disappointment as she is.
- Internal Reveal: Cinder spends this episode bringing Neo up to speed on everything she's missed while they sit in the Vault of the Spring Maiden to talk. Cinder's plan is to use Neo to circumvent Salem's instruction for her subordinates to not kill Ruby. As Neo wasn't given this kind of instruction by Salem, there's nothing stopping her from killing Ruby.
- In the Back: When Tock blinds Maria, her attempts to fight back are useless because she can no longer see what she's doing. Tock therefore drops her guard and stands right over Maria, mocking her lost sight and speculating whether or not to kill her or let her live with her disability. She therefore ignores Maria scrabbling for, and grasping, the weapon that's next to her body; this allows Maria to activate the gravity Dust and recall the discarded Karma, which embeds itself in Tock's back due to Tock standing in the path of the weapon's recall flight. This enables Maria to rise off the ground just enough to decapitate Tock.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Tock's Semblance gives her Nigh-Invulnerability for 60 seconds. Her fight with Maria while her Semblance is active takes place over the course of 60 seconds in real time.
- Living Legend: Maria was once known as The Grimm Reaper, a legendary Huntress and Grimm slayer. After mysteriously disappearing, most thought her dead. In truth, she went into hiding after a group of assassins were ordered to kill her and took her eyes. Qrow himself idolized her, and designed his weapon Harbinger after hers. By extension this means Ruby was influenced by her via Qrow's admiration leading him to trying to be like her which got passed down to Ruby in her fighting style.
- Loophole Abuse:
- Cinder wants Ruby dead, but is constrained by Salem's order to bring her back to Salem alive. However, she believes that Neo can get away with killing Ruby because Salem didn't instruct Neo to not kill Ruby.
- When Maria is blinded by Tock, Tock speculates about whether she should kill Maria or let her live, forever blinded. She mentions that her master ordered her to kill Maria for her silver eyes but destroying the silver eyes has solved that problem without killing Maria. Her debate is therefore regarding whether or not this is enough to meet the terms of the contract.
- Magic Countdown: Averted. Tock sets her timer to countdown sixty seconds. When the clock's time limit passes, Tock's Semblance ends and her Aura breaks, but she has just succeeded in defeating Maria. The scene takes sixty seconds in real life, too.
- Mood Whiplash: Maria's talk with the group about how she's failed to live up to the standards a Huntress is supposed to represent and how she is someone people should never aspire to be, is interrupted by Ruby's scroll ringing. The mood immediately switches from gloomy to excited when they scroll signal means they've reached Argus without realising it. The rest of Team RWBY's scenes are much more light-hearted and happy as the two teams reunite and meet Jaune's sister, who is giving them a place to stay.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Tock is a Crocodile Faunus, and has replaced her teeth set of steel jaws similar to that of a bear trap. A single bite from those jaws allows her to bite right through one of Maria's kama, breaking the dual scythe mode they were in and leaving Maria defenceless.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Tock's Semblance is described by the creators as being an Aura amplification that renders her completely invulnerable to all harm — but only for sixty seconds. At one point during the fight, Maria attempts to decapitate her with a kama, only for it to bounce off Tock's neck and fly out of her hands. When the sixty seconds end, Tock's entire Aura shatters, leaving her defenceless. This time, Maria's attempt to decapitate her succeeds.
- Off with His Head!: After impaling Tock with one of her kama, Maria finishes her with a swipe of her other kama to the neck, decapitating her. A Gory Discretion Shot causes it to cut to black before the swipe is completed.
- Red Baron: Maria was once known as The Grimm Reaper, a legendary Huntress who slayed the Grimm with sickle weapons known as kama. She kept her true identity a secret and hidden behind a skull mask, so no-one had no idea what to call her other than The Grimm Reaper.
- Scary Teeth: Tock's teeth are made of metal and each tooth is a sharp point. the screws bolting the teeth to her gums are visible and she can bite with enough force to break Maria's weapon in two.
- Sinister Scythe: As the Grimm Reaper, Maria wielded a pair of kama, sickle-like weapons, that were imbued with Gravity Dust. She could combine them at the base to turn them into a double-ended scythe. One of them was broken when Tock bit into it, and the other one is currently used by Maria as a walking cane. Qrow reveals he designed the scythe portion of his weapon Harbinger specifically after Maria's own weapons.
- Taken for Granite: Maria's silver eyes turn the Nevermore to stone in mid-air. Its own weight then sends it crashing to the ground where it shatters into pieces.
- Underestimating Badassery: When Maria has been blinded, Tock thinks she's now helpless and therefore drops her guard. However, Maria can remember where her weapons fell, allowing her to reach for the one that's lying next to her so that she can activate the Gravity Dust that recalls the second weapon back to her. Tock, who is standing in between Maria and the recalled weapon is impaled in the back by the returning kama's blade. This allows Maria to swing the other kama in front of her to decapitate Tock, whose Aura has been drained by the deactivation of her Semblance.
- Weapon Twirling: As Cinder is explaining their situation to Neo, she is forming, breaking, and reforming a glass dagger, before settling upon just spinning it in her hand.
- You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: When Maria is surrounded by a group of mercenaries that have come to kill her, she informs Tock that they have no idea who they're dealing with. Tock informs her that is fully aware that Maria is the legendary Huntress known as the Grimm Reaper. After their fight is over, Tock explains to her that she has been sent to kill Maria by someone who considered Maria's silver eyes to be a problem.Maria: I don't think you realize who I am.
Tock: 'Course I do. You're the Grimm Reaper. And these... are the last sixty seconds of your life.
