Worthy
"I know I haven't upheld my end of the bargain. I'm... sorry."
Written by Miles Luna, Eddy Rivas and Kiersi Burkhart
Directed by Connor Pickens
Directed by Connor Pickens
"I suppose I have all of you to thank for one last lesson. Sometimes, if you want to win... you simply can't do it alone!"
— Cinder Fall
Team RWBY and their friends begin evacuating the citizens of Atlas and Mantle to Vacuo, but they have to face Cinder and Neo. Meanwhile, Winter must stop Ironwood for good.
Tropes in this episode include:
- 0% Approval Rating: After abandoning Mantle to the Grimm, threatening to nuke it afterwards, declaring the heroes public enemy #1, overthrowing the Atlesian Council and imposing martial law on the city, and murdering and arresting everyone that refuses to go along with his actions, Salem has more allies left than Ironwood. Only Harriet still supports him, and that's mostly out of fanatical dedication to following orders and honoring what she believes Clover would have done rather than Ironwood himself.
- Act of True Love: Yang unhesitantly jumps in front of Neo to rescue her sister. As soon as she sees the attempt on Ruby's life, she throws herself in between Ruby and the assassin. Not only does her Aura break, but Yang is thrown into the Void to an unknown fate.
- Armor-Piercing Question: As Elm freaks out about how the heroes' actions are going to destroy Atlas, Robyn asks her and Vine "What do you think a kingdom is: its people, or the chunk of rock it's on?" Seconds later, Vine tells Harriet following Ironwood's orders to blow up Mantle is illogical because, while the kingdom may fall, the people will be evacuated.
- Bat Out of Hell: The Ravager Grimm are first introduced in the spin-off novel, RWBY: After the Fall. They first enter the show itself in this episode, flying out of a terrible sandstorm to attack the refugees after Ren's Aura depletes. Some of the refugees are seen being carried away by them.
- BFG: The extension Ironwood equipped to Due Process in the prior episode is used here, revealed to turn his twin revolvers into a powerful laser. Firing it at Jacques at point blank range vaporizes him, and it's strong enough to shatter Winter's glyph she tried using to defend herself.
- Big Sister Instinct: When Neo is about to kill Ruby, Yang takes the blow meant for her sister, which shatters her Aura and sends her falling into the abyss below.
- Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, the refugees are under attack from a horde of Ravagers. Ren, Oscar and Emerald are the only three fighters to protect the group, the sandstorm is still raging, and the Ravagers are beginning to carry off refugees.
- Continuity Nod: One of the Grimm seen attacking the refugees in Mantle is a Ravager, a Grimm first featured in the novel RWBY: After the Fall.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: While fighting Cinder, Penny tries bringing out Floating Array. Since the weapons were integrated with her original body she doesn't have anything and nothing happens. She takes a hit for it and creates duplicates with her powers to compensate.
- Darkest Hour: Cinder has attacked the group in the Void Between the Worlds, Yang has fallen into the abyss, Neo is relentlessly attacking Ruby, the refugees have exited into a sandstorm and come under attack from the Grimm, Ironwood is attacking Winter, and Harriet plans to drop the bomb on Mantle. By far the darkest moment of the volume if not the series.
- Deus Exit Machina: Watts rigs a drone to explode, sending it charging at Qrow, Robyn, and the Ace-Ops. Marrow can't keep the Ace-Ops paralysed and deal with the drone because it's coming from a different direction, and his Semblance is uni-directional. Robyn can't stop the drone's charge with her weapons, so Marrow throws himself between the drone and the group. It shatters his Aura and knocks him out, allowing Harriet to take the airship with the bomb.
- Didn't Think This Through: Though Ruby hoped her allies hadn't forgotten anything when devising with their plan to rescue the refugees, she didn't consider Vacuo's desert environment and made the mistake of describing the evacuation design as a "one-way ticket", which strands Ren, Oscar, Emerald and the refugees in the middle of a sandstorm and Ravager horde. They also don't factor in the stolen Relic of Knowledge, which allows Cinder, Watts and Neo to cause mayhem. Team RWBY's plan quickly derails, with devastating consequences for refugees and heroes alike.
- Diving Save:
- Marrow jumps into the path of a kamikaze droid, shattering his Aura, to prevent it from blowing up Qrow, Robyn and the Ace-Ops.
- Yang jumps in front of Neo's blade to rescue Ruby from being stabbed in the back, shattering her Aura, knocking her out and sending her hurtling into the abyss below.
- Dramatic Irony: Harriet tries arguing with Vine that Clover would support Ironwood's current course of action and absolutely trusted him. Clover on the other hand actually subverted his Undying Loyalty to Ironwood as he was dying, admitting to Qrow that someone had to take the fall, and wishing him luck in stopping Ironwood.
- Epileptic Flashing Lights: As with "Ultimatum", there's a warning at the beginning for photosensitive viewers. In this case, Jaune going through the portal for the first time causes a brief sequence of flashing lights.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Ironwood tells Winter that he was always looking out for betrayals, but never expected her to betray him. After she calls him an enemy of Atlas, he sheds a Single Tear before attacking her.
- Everything Is Online: With access to Atlas High Command's terminal, Watts is free to manipulate anything and everything related to the Atlas military network, from the Atlesian Knights to the dropships.
- Evil Gloating: Cinder monologues about how superior she is for derailing a plan as bold as Ruby's evacuation strategy. This time, however, it's a distraction; Cinder deliberately holds Ruby's attention so that Neo can sneak up behind her and stab her In the Back. Fortunately for Ruby, Yang spots Neo just barely in time to throw herself in front of the blade, causing her Aura to shatter.
- Exact Words:
- After Oscar unsuccessfully tries stepping through the portal back into the central location, Ozpin instantly realises it's because of Ambrosius. Weiss described the evacuation method as a "one-way ticket to Vacuo", so Ambrosius made the Vacuan portal one-way. Once people have completed their journey and arrived in Vacuo, they cannot return.
- Ironwood's response to Jacques asking if he will open his cell is a curt, "Sure thing". He fires his weapon at said cell, thoroughly opening it by obliterating the cell's walls...and Jacques in the process.
- From Bad to Worse: Cinder, Neo and Watts use Jinn's last question to discover what the heroes were planning to do. This results in Harriet trying to launch the bomb with Vine, Robyn and Qrow attempting to stop her and Watts assisting her with his hacking, Ironwood disintegrating Jacques with his BFG then attacking Winter outside the Vault, while Cinder and Neo attack Penny and Team RWBY inside the Void Between the Worlds, with Yang falling into the abyss due to Neo.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: An accidental version, in which Harriet is almost talked into not using the bomb, only for Qrow and Robyn to interrupt it.
- How We Got Here: Once Cinder and Team RWBY prepare to fight each other about three minutes into the episode, it cuts to a montage of how Cinder, Neo and Watts found out about it all.
- Internal Reveal: Through the vision of Team RWBY's plans, Cinder learns that Emerald has turned on her and joined the heroes.
- Ironic Name: Ironwood's revolvers/cannon, Due Process, is used to execute Jacques without a trial or any possibility for defense, denying him due process.
- Just Following Orders: Harriet is fanatically committed to following Ironwood's orders, even if their original purpose no longer applies. She thinks it's what Clover would have done.
- Kubrick Stare: Ironwood stares daggers at Winter as he descends in the lift to confront her.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Harriet is willing to bomb Mantle to honour Clover's loyalty to Ironwood's orders no matter those orders might be. While she tries rationalizing it as being a Principles Zealot, Vine calls her out on that and the idea Clover would actually agree with her, almost reducing her to tears.
- No Body Left Behind: After Ironwood blasts Jacques' cell, there's almost nothing left of it — or of Jacques. There's a few green flames and a massive gouge in the floor where Jacques once stood.
- No OSHA Compliance: While asking for the central location to be created, Team RWBY didn't specify safety features. In fact, Yang states that they're requesting it because the Void Between the Worlds is safe. Thus, the evacuation system is full of paths and platforms that have no guard rails of any kind. Once Cinder and Neo strike, people start falling in to the abyss — including Yang.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Jacques has an utterly shocked expression upon realizing that Ironwood is going to vaporize him.
- Neo's face displays a split-second look of alarm when an enraged Blake charges in with a strike to her throat.
- Once More, with Clarity: In the previous episode, Jaune's attempt to get a message out to the kingdom about the evacuation and how to use the doors fails when the CCT signal is suddenly cut off. They have no idea why this happened, but decide to use the doors immediately and spread the word on foot. In this episode, it's revealed that Watts, Cinder and Neo know all about the plan. Thanks to Watts having control of Central Command, he disabled the signal.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: In response to Jacques' request to open his cell, Ironwood uses Due Process to blast him into oblivion. While Jacques is certainly a scumbag and traitor, he was also completely at Ironwood's mercy and no threat to him, making it an act of cold-blooded murder.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: While Ironwood prepares to get the Staff of Creation, Jacques asks him to open his cell. Ironwood curtly says "Sure thing" as he uses Due Process to obliterate Jacques's cell and the man along with it.
- Principles Zealot: Harriet intends to blow up Mantle as a matter of principle, the principle in question being following orders and unquestioning loyalty.
- Sadistic Choice: By the end of the episode Blake has to either help Ruby fight Neo, or help Weiss and Penny fight Cinder. If she picks the first option, she will keep Yang's Diving Save from being in vain, but Cinder could potentially gain the Winter Maiden powers, the Staff of Creation, or both. If Blake picks the second option, she will protect the Maiden, the Staff, and the civilians, but she'll be leaving Ruby to fight Neo alone.
- Say My Name: After Yang falls off the ledge into the abyss below, Blake screams Yang's name frantically while Ruby mutters her name in numb shock.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Vine tries stalling Harriet from arming the Mantle bomb, stating that it's no longer logical to do so given Ironwood's arrest and the people are being evacuated.
- Single Tear: While Ironwood confronts Winter in the Vault, he shuts his emotions down with his Semblance so he can focus on fighting her. However, even though the rest of his face and voice show nothing, a tear slips out, showing how emotionally devastated he is inside from her betraying him, and now having to fight her.
- Smash Cut: Once Cinder, Neo, and Watts enter Central Command, Cinder lights up a fireball and the employees start to scream. The scene immediately cuts to all of the dead staff inside the burning terminal.
- The Snack Is More Interesting: Watts finds a discarded apple in front of a Central Command terminal, wipes some blood off it, and eats it while using said terminal to cause chaos.
- Taking the Bullet: Yang throws herself in front of Neo's attack meant for Ruby. This breaks her Aura and causes her to fall over the edge of the pathway into the abyss.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Once Cinder asks her what Ruby and Oscar's plans are, Jinn is initially shocked, then her expression passes through sadness and into resignation. No matter how she feels, it is her purpose to answer any question put to her.
- Tranquil Fury: Ironwood's face remains completely stolid once he leaves his cell, but by the way he casually executes Jacques and attempts to kill Winter, it's clear that his rage has long since boiled over.
- Undying Loyalty: Harriet is still willing to go through with the plan to nuke Mantle because of the principle of following Ironwood's orders, believing it's something that Clover would do. She's furious when Vine suggests that may mean Clover would be as in the wrong as she is.
- Unstoppable Rage: A subverted example. Blake goes berserk after recovering from her shock over Yang's fall and attacks Neo. She stops however when she sees that Penny and Weiss's fight with Cinder isn't going in their favor and is now left with a choice to continue her attack on Neo or help fight Cinder.
- Villainous Breakdown: Harriet bursts into tears after Vine flat out says that Clover was wrong to trust Ironwood.
- You Monster!: While confronting Winter in the Vault, Ironwood reaffirms he knows what's right for Atlas, and he will do whatever it takes to get the Staff of Creation. Refusing to back down, Winter declares Ironwood an enemy of Atlas.
"I've never wavered in fighting the enemies of this kingdom... and I won't start now."
