Creation
"It seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles!"
Written by Eddy Rivas
Directed by Dustin Matthews
Directed by Dustin Matthews
Jaune: We've been so worried about keeping the Vault closed that we never considered using what's inside!
Ozpin: The Staff of Creation.
Ozpin: The Staff of Creation.
Using the Staff of Creation, Team RWBY summons Ambrosius and makes a request to help save Penny as well as the Atlesians.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Ambrosius straight-up warns Team RWBY that he will create exactly what they tell him to, and won't accept any complaints if they're disappointed by the results. He doesn't know they drew on Ozpin's experience to figure out exactly how to phrase requests, but he does compliment them on clearly having done their homework before approaching him.
- BFG: Ironwood's twin guns can be attached to the side of a larger piece of equipment that transforms the two guns into a dual-handled cannon. He aims it at Penny while her hands are being restrained, but is caught off-guard when "Penny" is revealed to be Emerald, allowing her to quickly disarm him. After he's been arrested, the weapon remains with Winter.
- Become a Real Boy: To save a dying Penny, Team RWBY carefully asks Ambrosius to take away her old, infected robotic body. What's left behind is Penny's soul without a complete body. Ambrosius regards the request as troubling, dangerous and exciting all at once, and warns them that he doesn't know what Penny will actually become as a result of this. As Penny has no alternative, they allow Ambrosius to proceed with the request. The transformed Penny looks like an ordinary human, but there is a strong hint that there's more going on.
- Call-Back:
- Ambrosius's assumption that they know the rules mean he cannot bring the dead back to life is a call-back to "The Lost Fable" where Jinn reveals that the central conflict of the story began because Salem could not accept this very same rule; she instead attempted to trick the Gods of Light and Darkness into resurrecting Ozma, despite being refused on the grounds that it disrupts the delicate balance between life and death, thus triggering a cascade of events that has led the world to its current state of existence.
- Oscar stuns Ironwood with the same rapid stabbing attack that Ozpin used against Cinder in their duel in Volume 3 and attempted to use against Hazel in Volume 5.
- The backflip kick that Emerald uses to disarm Ironwood is the same attack Mercury used in his fights with Yang and Yatsuhashi.
- In Volume 7, Ironwood shuts down the evacuation of Mantle out of fear that Cinder and her cohorts would sneak into Atlas by mingling in with the refugees. In the closing moments of this episode, Cinder is seen hiding among the refugees of Mantle and Atlas waiting to be evacuated to Vacuo.
- The Caper: The heroes plan a two-phase heist and evacuation from the Schnee Manor dining room. Phase One consists of Team JNR, Oscar, Emerald and Winter taking out Ironwood while Qrow, Robyn and Marrow secure the bomb and deal with Ace-Ops. Phase Two consists of Team RWBY and Penny infiltrating the Vault to obtain and use the Relic to save Penny's life and evacuate the kingdom; meanwhile, Team JNR, Oscar and Emerald broadcast a kingdom-wide message about the evacuation plan. The plan relies heavily on Whitley's knowledge of city blueprints and Ozpin's experience with the Relic's tricky spirit; Phase One succeeds while Phase Two experiences some glitches due to Watts's interference.
- Chained by Fashion: Ambrosius wears golden manacles around his wrists, from which dangle golden chains. Around his torso and shoulders, he wears chains that are linked in the centre of his chest by a styalised representation of the Staff's head. The chains symbolise that he's bound to the Relic of Creation, but are also the only items of clothing or accessories he wears.
- Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, a cloaked Cinder is amongst the masses within one of Atlas's subway stations.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Marrow is peeved at being decked by Winter until she irritably points out that it was the only way to save him from being shot by Ironwood.
- Continuity Nod: When Ambrosius's portals start opening over Atlas, there is a shot of a few people regarding it with surprise and wonder. Behind them is a poster featuring Miss Cordovin from Volume 6.
- Exact Words: Ozpin warns the heroes that they must be extremely careful and precise when requesting anything from Ambrosius as he follows the exact wording of the request. He advises they use blueprints and real-world examples to help pin down the details so that they can account for everything the spirit might demand. As a result, Team RWBY has to rely heavily on blueprints Whitley is able to provide of real-world designs and also word their request to save Penny in a very peculiar way to ensure she can survive the process independently of anything else Ambrosius might create. While he notices the peculiarity, they're able to pull it off; when he creates the evacuation system, the virus-ravaged robotic copy of Penny disappears, but the real Penny survives because her form was born from her own soul.
- Eye Lights Out: As Penny's robotic body finally succumbs to Watts's virus, its eyes go dark and the pupils widen.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Penny arrives at Ironwood's location, she is handcuffed and then Ironwood tells her that she's done the right thing. In a voice completely unlike Penny's, she agrees that she has. A few seconds later, the illusion drops to reveal that it was Emerald all along.
- The Glomp: When Ruby asks the newly remade Penny if she's okay, she exuberantly hugs Ruby. Upon discovering how good hugs now feel, she immediately glomps the rest of the team as well.
- Good Feels Good: Once Ironwood tells Emerald-disguised-as-Penny that she did the right thing, she responds "I have. Feels weird."
- How We Got Here: The episode starts with Ironwood's defeat at the hands of Winter, Emerald, and Team JNR, and then cuts to the moment when the plan to save Atlas was conceived, catching back up to real-time as Phase Two of the plan begins.
- Jackass Genie: Subverted. Ozpin is initially ominous and unenthusiastic when describing the tricky nature of the Staff's spirit. However, Ambrosius immediately warns Team RWBY that he'll give them exactly what they asked for, so they can't complain if they don't like what they get. Once he realises how challenging their requests are, he becomes excited and helpful within the limits of the rules he abides by. His complaints about his previous project (the floating of Atlas) imply that Ozma's usual requests may be too mundane or boring for him.
- Last-Second Chance: Before springing the trap on Ironwood, Winter attempts to ask him if he'd reconsider his plan to bomb Mantle, but Ironwood interrupts to ask if she intends to try and talk him out of it. Resigned to the inevitable, Winter sadly comments she's not going to do that because she doesn't think it's possible.
- Loophole Abuse: Ambrosius immediately notices Ruby's wording when she asks him to use Penny's existing robot parts to create a new version of her. Anything Ambrosius creates will fade away when he makes something new; giving Penny a new body from scratch means she'll cease to exist the next time he's asked to create something. The newly remade robot has the virus but no soul and is what disappears the next time something is created. Penny's soul has no body except that which can be brought to the surface from it. The abused loophole isn't the "one creation at a time" rule, but the "cannot destroy" rule. As he's not allowed to destroy anything, Penny's soul must survive; although he succeeds in making it happen, he does warn them that this is actually a very dangerous and unpredictable request.
- Milking the Giant Cow: Ambrosius tends to use exaggerated gestures when talking and thinking out loud, including gesturing skywards as if he's milking a giant, invisible cow.
- Mr. Exposition: The first time since their reconciliation that Ozpin is called upon to share information instead of withholding it, he does so freely, explaining to the heroes exactly how Ambrosius works, what to look out for, and how best to tackle making requests of him. His advice is so thorough that Ambrosius is caught off-guard by just how well prepared Team RWBY is when they make their requests.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Ambrosius seems so bored about providing the power for Atlas to float in the sky that he considers it "pedestrian". Meanwhile, the idea of helping to provide a new form for Penny, a type of being and creation he's never seen before, has him very intrigued. He's actually slightly disappointed that they've prepared too thoroughly for him to play much with the wording of their requests. He is, however, left both nervous and excited by the scale of the challenge in giving Penny a body that will survive his "one creation at a time" rule. In the end, he's forced to warn them that their request is dangerous and unpredictable, even though he's thrilled to be doing it.
- No Ontological Inertia: One of the Staff of Creation's biggest limitations is that it can only create one thing at a time. As soon as it's used to create another thing, the previous object vanishes. This forces Team RWBY to be very specific and very creative about how they want to free Penny from the virus; they also have a deadline to work with, as the Staff is the only thing keeping Atlas floating. Penny's discarded robot body ends up disappearing when Ambrosius makes the portals to Vacuo for the evacuation.
- Out-Gambitted: Ironwood's plan to threaten Mantle to coerce Penny's cooperation is thwarted by the heroes. Thanks to Winter coordinating herself, Qrow, Robyn and Marrow with her sister's companions, they're able to design a two-phase, three-pronged strategy to foil Ironwood. Emerald disguises herself as Penny while hiding JNR and Oscar to ambush Ironwood. Qrow, Robyn and Marrow secure the bomb and occupy the Ace-Ops. Winter aids JNR and Oscar while Emerald hides herself and Ironwood's gun. Meanwhile, Team RWBY take Penny to the Vault via the hole Oscar created in the bottom of Atlas, where they save her from Watts's virus and create an evacuation route for the entire kingdom's population to take to Vacuo.
- Portal Crossroad World: Whitley provides Team RWBY with specs of the AMC headquarters along with the blueprints of the Dust shipment system, which includes the pneumatic tubes between Mantle and Atlas. By creating many doors across Mantle and Atlas for people to end, and only one door to Vacuo for people to exit, a realm is created in the Void Between the Worlds to funnel refugees. The many pathways link via small platforms, gradually converging on one large "central location". It's this central platform that leads to the Vacuan door. However, none of the paths or platforms contain any protective guard-rails because Team RWBY didn't think to ask, and it's only after he's created the realm that Ambrosius warns them to make sure no one falls.
- The Power of Creation: Ambrosius can provide anything asked of him, from powering a floating city (which he considers "pedestrian") to making a new body out of Penny's existing robotic parts to interdimensional doorways that can ferry Atlas and Mantle's citizens to a point in Vacuo. But his powers have limits: he cannot bring anyone Back from the Dead; whenever he creates something new, whatever he previously created fades from existence; and, like any craftsman, he needs specific instructions and blueprints to perform the task expected of him.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Ambrosius breaks his Large Ham persona to sternly warn Ruby to not fall off the bridges in space and time he creates, telling her in a deep, ominous voice that is completely at odds with his prior excitable behaviour.
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: A discussed example. Jacques thanks Winter for agreeing to evacuate him to Vacuo, but she says it was actually Weiss's call, her expression and tone of voice heavily implying that she wouldn't bother to save him otherwise.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Winter saves Marrow from being shot In the Back and teams up with the heroes because she can no longer agree with Ironwood's decisions.
- Sense Freak: When Penny hugs Ruby after being newly separated from her robotic body, she is fascinated by the warm feeling inside, and insists on hugging the rest of Team RWBY just so she can experience more of the sensation.
- Time Stands Still: The act of summoning Ambrosius freezes time for everyone within a certain range of the Staff, except for the ones who are making the request. This saves Penny's life because she is frozen while Team RWBY explain to Ambrosius exactly how they want him to free Penny from the virus that is trying to destroy her.
- Weapon Twirling: When preparing to summon Ambrosius for the second time, Weiss spins the Staff of Creation around a bit for seemingly no other reason than just the fun of it.
- Whole Episode Flashback: A significant portion of the episode shows the planning that went into beating Ironwood.
- With My Hands Tied: A downplayed example. Emerald, who let Winter restrain her as a part of her Penny disguise, is the one to start the attack on Ironwood by disarming him with a flip-kick. She doesn't try to fight him afterwards, instead catching his gun in her bound arms and vanishing with it to keep it out of play. Once he's taken down, she reappears and Winter unties her.
- Wowing Cthulhu: Ambrosius is the spirit of the Staff of Creation; he has the power to create anything, such as Atlas' mechanism for floating in the sky, and requires people to specify exactly what they want him to make. However, human ingenuity can impress him. He's awed by Penny's design and wants to meet her creator, while also being impressed with how thoroughly Team RWBY have prepared their requests to minimise the fallout from his Exact Words nature. He doesn't know they were prepped in advance by Ozpin, who has a long history with the Staff.
"Do not. Fall."
