Index | Character Short 1 | Character Short 2 | Character Short 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
Volume 5 Character Short: Weiss
"I am not always going to be around to save you, Weiss."
Written by Miles Luna & Kerry Shawcross
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Gray G. Haddock & Miles Luna
Directed by Kerry Shawcross, Gray G. Haddock & Miles Luna
"I'm sorry. I'll get better."
— Weiss Schnee
Set before the White trailer, Weiss trains herself by fighting pure white Beowolves with glowing blue eyes.
Tropes in this character short include:
- Blue Means Cold: From the opening shot of white roses that are frozen blue to the moonlit light giving the walls and ground a blue tint, everything about the flashback is cold. This includes the battle, where the blizzard winds are blue-tinted, and the Beowolf avatars are white with blue mask patterns and eyes. The only dynamic "warm" colours that appear is the muted, near-white amber lighting that can be seen inside the house. When Weiss summons fire to counter the first wave of beowolves, the vividness of the flames stand out against the cold colours of the setting.
- Call-Forward: Winter's words about Weiss having to get better if she ever wants to leave home is this both to the White trailer (where, according to the Manga adaptation of the same, Weiss had to fight an Arma Gigas as a test; if she passed she could go to the school of her choosing, but if she failed she had to stay in Atlas and under Jacques's thumb), and Weiss's character arc in Volume 4 (with Weiss ultimately escaping the manor and going to Mistral).
- Dance Battler: The short emphasises and exaggerates ballet moves when she fights in a way the show never has. This includes spending several seconds holding a ballet pose before she launches into the next part of the fight.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Inverted. Weiss's hair is pulled back in the flashback, as she hadn't begun tying it to the side (and thus rebelling against her father yet).
- Flashback: The entire short is full of clues that indicate it's an event that occurs before the show's prequel White Trailer. Weiss is wearing her ponytail properly centred at the back of her head, and she doesn't have the scar over her left eye that she obtains during the White Trailer. The training event is a failure on Weiss's part, ending with a lecture by her older sister, Winter, that if she needs to become much stronger than this if she ever wants to escape their father. At the end of the short, it's revealed that the current Weiss is either reminiscing over the memory or daydreaming. She is sat bolt upright, but with closed eyes, inside the cargo hold of the ship she hired at the end of Volume 4 to escape her father and travel to Mistral to find her sister.
- Lonely Piano Piece: The short begins with a slow, sombre piano accompaniment to a song about loss and loneliness, as Weiss stands alone in the falling snow.
- Sad Battle Music: When the battle with the Beowolf avatars begins, the Lonely Piano Piece speeds up into a more dramatic song, but continues to sing of isolation and unravelling under the stress of being forced to conform to the expectations of others while losing the ability to become the person they want to be.
- Tomato Surprise: The entire setting of the short is that Weiss is alone in a garden when she is suddenly attacked by wind, ice and ice-coloured Beowolves. Throughout the fight, Weiss is shown defeating the Beowolves, only to be shocked and alarmed whenever more appear. Only when Weiss is overwhelmed at the end of the flashback does she call out to Winter, who immediately ends the effects and steps into camera view for the first time. This establishes that Weiss knew from the beginning that she was in a training session with Winter.
- Tragic Ice Character: Winter and Weiss are both masters of using Ice Dust in battle. Winter exclusively uses ice attacks and her ice-avatars to test Weiss's abilities. However, even when countering with Fire Dust, Weiss cannot hold Winter off for long. The song that plays while Weiss trains is one of loneliness, loss and emptiness. After Weiss fails to win the fight, Winter makes it clear that Weiss is only going to be able to escape from her abusive father if she becomes stronger and more capable of fighting with her own abilities. The ice doesn't simply symbolise Weiss's cold and lonely family life, but is also the key to helping her escape it.
- The Tragic Rose: The short opens onto a pair of frozen roses, the snow falling around them, and a sombre song about loss. This sets up both the theme and mood of the short, which is about Weiss training in a beautiful ice garden against the ice powers of her sister; failing to achieve her goals, she is warned by her sister that she'll need to get better than this if she ever hopes to escape their father, ending a flashback that uses beauty, snow and ice to emphasise the loneliness of Weiss's existence.
"You'll have to if you ever want to leave."
