Risk
"You've got an Aura, Penny! A soul! That's who you are! Our friend, not a machine!"
Written by Eddy Rivas, Kiersi Burkhart and Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Paula Decanini
Directed by Paula Decanini
"Ruby, they’re not called sure things, they’re called risks, and in case you didn’t notice, my plan for Mantle didn’t work either. But we got Oscar back, and did a lot more that was never in the plan!"
— Yang Xiao Long
Team RWBY reunites with their friends, but they must stop a corrupt Penny from carrying out Ironwood's mission. Meanwhile, the Ace-Ops and Winter struggle with Ironwood's decision to bomb Mantle.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: When Nora sourly opines that her contributions all amount to "be strong and hit stuff" along with being the dumb comic relief of the team, Ren replies that Nora's supportiveness and positivity helps bolster everybody's spirits. He then haltingly admits that it's also why he loves her.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After a distraught Ruby asks Yang what the Hound's identity means, the latter tries telling her not to worry about it. Ruby says "That's what happened to Mom.", which instantly reduces Yang to tears.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Though Yang is frustrated with Emerald's sarcasm about Ruby not being her usual optimistic self, Oscar persuades them to accept that Emerald's no longer their enemy, leaving Emerald looking visibly touched by his words. After that, she remains within Oscar's vicinity for the rest of the episode, and smiles when he helps her stand up after she helps free Penny from the virus.
- Big Sister Instinct: After Ruby falls into despair from the pressure of the impossible choices they currently face, Yang pursues her. However, Ruby's most upset by the realization that their mother probably met a similar fate to that of the Hound, which starts to break Yang, too. Despite her own tears, Yang continues trying to lift Ruby's spirits.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Back in Volume 1, Nora and Ren successfully teaming up leads to Nora tapping Ren on his nose and saying "boop". Here, when Ren confirms he's happy for Nora to concentrate on finding herself before they get together as a couple, he taps her on the nose and says "boop".
- Broken Pedestal: Ironwood's willingness to bomb Mantle destroys all of Marrow's remaining faith and loyalty in him. Marrow points out that he believed in the general, that they were working towards something better, and so he wore his rank with pride. Now Ironwood's throwing it all away, doing Salem's job for her, and he wants no further part of it.
- Broken Record: When the heroes try thwarting Penny from carrying out Watts's mission, she repeats variations of the phrase "I must open the Vault, and self-terminate" every time they interfere.
- Broken Tears:
- Yang usually tries covering up her feelings with a joke and up-beat spirit. She tries cheering up Ruby by joking that Ruby one-upped her by defeating the Hound that gave her team so much trouble. However, once Ruby points out that Yang knows that the Hound's identity means Summer must have suffered the same fate, Yang breaks down in tears.
- Fiona is usually an energetic, up-beat person who never stops trying to help the people in the crater improve the situation they're in, no matter how small or practical. However, after hearing Ironwood's announcement that Penny must surrender herself or Mantle will be bombed within one hour, she bursts into tears. May and Joanna quickly comfort her.
- Call-Back:
- Ren boops Nora's nose to show his affection, something Nora affectionately did to him during Initiation in the first half of Volume 1.
- When he realizes Ren and Nora's conversion are referring to each other, Jaune quickly excuses himself from the room. In "Destiny", Nora saw Jaune talking with Pyrrha, and quickly pulled Ren/herself away so that they could be alone.
- Cooldown Hug: A subverted example occurs when Penny is submitting to Watts's virus. Ruby tackles her in a hug, holding on even as Penny tries flying off. As the rest of the heroes fight to ground her, Ruby keeps hugging her, but is unable to help because Penny's problem isn't emotional. After she and Nora realize that the solution lies with Penny's soul, Jaune boosts Penny's Aura enough to temporarily resist the virus.
- Diving Save: Ironwood is about to use his Hand Cannon on Marrow for his insubordination, when Winter tackles Marrow to the ground to arrest him. After Winter informs Ironwood she'll take Marrow to the brig, the general allows Winter to lead him away. Winter witnessed Ironwood shoot Councilor Sleet in "Divide", so it's heavily implied that she intends to rescue Marrow from a similar fate.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: As Marrow walks away after calling out Ironwood for his plan to bomb Mantle, he freezes when he hears the sound of Ironwood cocking his revolver behind him. Fortunately, Winter tackles Marrow to the ground and prevents Ironwood from shooting him by acting like she is arresting Marrow.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Ironwood's eyes are completely blank and dull during his scenes, indicating that he's emotionally shut down in order to follow through with threatening Mantle.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When they're trying to restrain Penny, Nora calls out to her that her machinery is just a part of her and that the fact that she's fighting back proves she's more than that. It makes Ruby realise that Penny's soul is fighting the virus, which leads to Jaune amplifying her Aura to enable her to temporarily regain control.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Ace-Ops and Winter are deeply disturbed that Ironwood is actually following through with threatening Mantle, having assumed it to be a bluff, and all of them are shocked when Ironwood nearly kills Marrow. While Harriet and Vine defended bombing Mantle moments ago, even they're left rattled and aghast by Ironwood pulling a gun on Marrow.
- Forgiveness: Ozpin apologizes to everyone for not trusting them with the truth about his past and then running when they learned it. Thanks to the recent events, they assure Ozpin that they now understand his situation and just how much of a risk trust is. When he asks them if they'd be willing to take another risk on him, they accept.
- Former Bigot: The Racist Grandma from earlier in the volume makes a return during Ironwood's ultimatum. However, this time she is seen with one of her arms wrapped around her grandson and his Faunus friend, while her other hand is holding the hand of Fiona's uncle, the current crisis having clearly made her reevaluate her views.
- Headbutt of Love: After confirming how they feel about each other and that Ren is willing to wait while Nora figures out who she is as a person, they finish their talk by pressing their foreheads.
- Heel–Face Turn: When an indignant Emerald tells Yang and her friends to accept there will be times in war when they do get knocked back, and that she's going to be upset if they quit just as she's switched sides, Oscar brightly points out that she just admitted that she has indeed switched sides, leaving everyone amused by her embarrassed self-realization.
- Heroic BSoD: Ironwood's ultimatum to deliver Penny in one hour or Mantle will be destroyed causes Ruby to fall into despair, unable to see a way out of this without people dying. Though Yang tries cheering her up, it becomes clear that Ruby's break is the culmination of Amity's failure, no-one coming to help Atlas, learning the Hound's true identity and realizing what it means for Summer's fate.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Nora continues to tear herself down as just another dumb bruiser who got herself hurt and isn't worth anything. Ren reassures her that's not true.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When Jaune realizes that Ren and Nora's conversation is no longer team-related and about their very personal relationship, Jaune realizes he's just become the Third Wheel and flees the room to see if Klein needs help with Penny.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: When Ruby talks to Yang about the Hound, Ruby refers to the Hound as an "it" even though the Hound's host was a man. It implies Ruby doesn't feel certain about the Grimm hybrid being a person anymore.
- I Will Wait for You: A variation. Ren and Nora make it clear they do love each other, but Nora wants to delay them getting together so that she figure out her own identity first. Ren is fully supportive.
- Lack of Empathy: Harriet's response to the possible destruction of Mantle and the deaths of thousands of innocent people is to say "Who cares?", showing an almost sociopathic lack of concern for life.
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: When the team conversation turns to the very personal relationship between Ren and Nora, Jaune quickly excuses himself and flees the room, so they can continue their discussion in private.
- Mercy Kill: Believing she can't fight the virus trying to control her, Penny asks Ruby to kill her so that she can pass on the Winter Maiden powers to her. This would ensure that the Vault won't be opened for Ironwood or Salem while still leave the powers in the care of the heroes. Luckily for her, they think of another way.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Although the Ace-Ops initially believe Ironwood is bluffing about bombing Mantle, when they learn he is completely serious, Harriet and Vine continue to support him if it means getting the kids to comply. Elm does so hesitantly, but Marrow refuses to follow Ironwood any further.
- Oh, Crap!: After telling Ironwood and the Ace-Ops how he really feels about the current situation, Marrow turns his back on them to leave. However, Marrow visibly panics the moment Ironwood trains his Hand Cannon on him.
- Parental Abandonment: According to Nora, her mother left her behind to save herself when the two were fleeing from Grimm. She met Ren soon after, making it clear there's a link between her mother's abandonment and her ending up as a street orphan in Kuroyuri.
- Rage Breaking Point: After spending the volume so far wracked with guilt and indecision over his orders, Marrow finally lets Ironwood have it for his decision to wipe Mantle out this episode. Winter quickly arrests him for this insubordination, with the heavy implication of doing so to save his life from Ironwood (who was about to shoot him).
- Rebuilt Pedestal: After two volumes of learning what it really means to place trust in others and dealing with the consequences of keeping their own secrets, the heroes are willing to forgive Ozpin for not trusting them with the truth about Salem and accept his offer to trust him once again. Their ability to resolve their mutual trust issues contrasts with Marrow and, by implication, Winter losing faith in Ironwood as he plans to follow-through on his threat to bomb Mantle and threatens the lives of anyone who disagrees with him.
- Revenge Before Reason: Qrow plans to kill Ironwood immediately, even though they have very few resources and the consequences will be dire if they fail. Robyn points out that while she understands his anger and pain, he's being selfish at the moment. They have to find a better way and put the lives of Mantle before revenge.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: A subverted example. While Yang tries to uplift Ruby's spirit during her Heroic BSoD she tells her sister that blind optimism is bad but having no optimism means there is no hope.
- Scars Are Forever: No matter how much Jaune boosts Nora's Aura, the scars she received when her Semblance overloaded refuse to heal.
- Stalker Shot: When Ruby calls Ironwood to tell him that Penny will return to him, he tells her where they'll meet. The scene cuts to Watts, who is tampering with an Atlesian robot and using the broken scroll he stole from Ironwood. He, Cinder and Neo overhear the conversation, giving them the time and location of the meeting.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- A downplayed example occurs when Robyn points out Qrow's selfish intentions to kill Ironwood instead of rescuing the Mantle citizens.
- Marrow calls the other Ace-Ops on their Blind Obedience towards Ironwood, asking them if they even believe in anything. He even calls himself out saying that he used to wear his rank with pride, but has now realized that it's just a collar and no longer wants any part of Ironwood's plans for bombing Mantle.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- When Nora bitterly starts mocking herself for being injured because she's just being her useless, ditzy self, Ren interrupts to tell her that she's so much more than that and that's the reason why he loves her.
- While trying to convince Qrow to put aside his selfishness, Robyn tells him that she thinks he's a better Huntsman than Clover ever was because he fights for what's right. She tells him not to give up on that part of himself.
- Emerald tells the depressed heroes that they're in a war, so they need to accept that they'll sometimes take hits. However, they always get back up and they always keep fighting, so that's what they need to do this time, too.
"She'll do it."
