#meanwhile (young wizard voice) you guys ever think about dying

[extravalgant]

you know what i find funny about the wiz/pirate power scaling going on rn . this would probably happen in universe too

[calliecat93]

RWBY V6 CH3 Review: The Lost Fable

Sorry that this took so long guys. Staying up for Extra Life and a bad case of indigestion REALLY messed me up. I’m still not at 100%, but I didn’t want to fall behind like last year so I finally got this done before Saturday’s episode! Yay!

Ever since around Volume 3, there have been many questions raised about the mysterious Headmaster of Beacon, Professor of Ozpin. Who is he? What is he? Is he truly a hero? Or a villain right under our heroes noses? Why does he reincarnate? And probably most of all,w hat is connection to our villainess, Salem? Add these questions to the headmaster's frequent lies and half-truths and naturally, it makes everyone curious about the true intent of this character. Some think that his reasons are justified. Others think that he is no better than the evil that he is against. But regardless of what side you are, we can all agree on one thing: we want answers.

Well, at long last, those answers have arrived. We last left off with Ruby using the Relic of Knowledge to discover what Ozpin has been hiding. Jinn began to tell the tale of a lonely young girl locked away in a tower. A young girl, named Salem. And now she continues this fairy tale, one that will take many leaps and turns, but will sadly go with no happily ever after. So let us discuss The Lost Fable.

Overview

Jinn narrates to us the tale of Salem, a young maiden locked away by her cruel father because... because? Yeah, Jinn doesn't say. We learn that back in this time, all humans could wield magical forces, but despite this Salem could only sit in her tower and wait for someone to come to her rescue. Many had dared, but all failed. That is until the arrival of a legendary warrior. One who fought for righteousness. One with a heart as pure as gold who had come to free Salem from her imprisonment not for her hand, but because it was right. And this warrior was named Ozma, a reference to The Wizard of Oz books. Which, if that isn't an indicator, this is Ozpin's original identity.

Ozma successfully reached Salem and together, the two fought their way out of the tower and escaped. The two soon fell deeply in love with Salem finding freedom through Ozma and Ozma finding something worth fighting for form Salem. The two planned adventures together and it seemed like a fairy tale ending... but alas, not all stories have a happy ending. Ozma became gravely hill and sadly, he lost the battle. Salem was left devastated, asking why the Gods would allow such a tragedy to befall her. Yes, at this time, the two brothers that Qrow mentioned in Volume 4 were still around, living alongside humanity. Hoping to bring back her lover, Salem decided to approach the God of Light. Which his domain look absolutely gorgeous BTW. And the God of Light's design, a featureless figure composed entirely of light... I truly believe that this figure is a God. And his voice is 100% PERFECT.

Despite Salem's plea, the Light God refuses in order to maintain balance between life and death. Salem is furious, calling it unfair, but the Light God simply tells her to let Ozpin rest. But Salem is unwilling to move on, so she resorts to approaching the God of Darkness. His domain looks a LOT like Salem's present domain to the point that I assume that they are one and the same, especially with the Grimm pools around. The God of Darkness himself is composed of darkness and his arrival is... very creepy. His body contorts uncontrollably and it really, really makes you understand why many don't do to him. But alas, Salem tells him of her loss, but doesn't mention approaching his brother first. Jinn's narration says that she was careful not to, so it seems deliberate on Salem's part, unintentional or not. The Dark God, pleased to have someone actually come to him for once, rewards Salem by resurrecting Ozma.

Unfortunately for Salem, her prayers don't stay answered for long as the Light God arrives in order to fix the balance. The Dark God accuses him of being jealous that someone came to him for once and not him. The two go into Dragon forms, at which point the Light God tells his brother of Salem's deception. Realizing his mistake, the Dark God one more kills Ozma, angering Salem as she tries to attack with her magic. But all that it result sin is her being sent back to the Light God's domain and dropped into his pool, making her immortal. The Gods tell her that she will never be allowed to die and be with Ozma again until she learns the importance of life and death. That is... pretty damn harsh. But I can kind of see what they are trying to do. They want Salem to understand that death is a part of life and that remaining alive forever can be just as bad. She refused to accept death and to move on, so now she has to learn the hard way. Again, it's harsh, but I can see the logic.

Salem, unable to kill herself, creates a new plan. Realizing that pitting the Gods against one another means that they are as fallible as she is, she begins to travel form kingdom to kingdom. She claims to have stolen immortality from the Gods and that if they all banded together, they could kill the Gods and have the power to keep their loved ones form dying. She forms an army and attacks the Gods... but unfortunately for her, it is futile. The Dark God wipes out not just the army... but all of humanity for their betrayal. Okay yeah, that has NO justification at all. WTF dude?! All that remains is Salem as the Gods declare the world a failed experiment. It is simply a remnant of what it once was. They leave to learn from the mistake, telling Salem to learn form hers. As he leaves, the Dark God crashes through the moon cracking it apart. So ti was God who broke the moon! Red vs Blue called it! Salem, now alone and defeated, can only scream in despair as the remains of the moon crash all around Remnant. Hoping to die, Salem returned to the Dark God's domain and jumped into one of the Grimm pools thinking that if the Light God's gave her immortality, then this will remove it. Sadly, it can't and it instead turns her into a Creature of Grimm. And thus, the Salem that we now know of was born.

Meanwhile, Ozma is awakened in between life and death by the God of Light, who informs him of the tragedy. Why is he here? TO grant humanity another chance? He creates the four relics which along with the lamp, includes a spear (Creation), a sword (Destruction), and a crown (Choice). Which they look... a LOT like the four kingdoms symbols... HMM... well anyways! Th Light God wishes to task Ozma to guide humanity as it rises once again, telling him that if the Relics are brought together, then the God will return and pass judgment. If humanity passes, the Gods will remain and they will be whole once more. But if they fail, then they and Remnant itself will be wiped out. Ozma will reincarnate until he has completed his task, but in a way that ensures that he isn't alone by bonding with a like-minded soul. At first Ozma refuses, wanting to be in death with Salem, but the Light God informs him that she is alive. But she is not the same. Sheesh, now who's fault is that, huh?! This is all the motivation that Ozma needs as, like a certain redhead in Volume 3 did, he readily agrees to the deal.

Thus, Ozma is reincarnated as the second incarnation that we saw in the opening. Th good news is that humanity has indeed risen once again, but not like it had before. Towns were different, Faunus had come into existence and locked up like animals, and no one could perform magic without Dust. We sadly don't get an explanation for how Dust and Faunus came to be, though according to Eddy Rivas (an RT Animation, writer and RWBYs official lore keeper) on RWBY Rewind there were a LOT of dialogue cuts that would have explained more of this. Bummer but I can understand timing being an issue, especially since this one alone is 26 minutes, haha... Ozma soon heard of a watch who could perform magic, who eh concluded must be Salem. He approached her house and as he thought, Salem is indeed the witch. When the two see each other they immediately recognize each other, and are once more together. They recount what happened, but not fully. Salem omits her involvement in humanities downfall, blaming it solely on the Gods. Ozpin doesn't tell Salem of the task that the Light God bestowed on him and soon, he is convinced by Salem to become Remnant's new Gods. His heart easily swayed, Ozpin agrees.

It isn't long before the two lovers gain a following and indeed are viewed as Gods. They gain a castle and soon form a family, having four young daughters. And they have a... very similar color scheme that matches the scheme of four certain maidens form a fairy tale. Now I don't think that Ozpin's daughters are the original Maidens for... reasons I'll discuss soon, but I DO believe that the original Maidens reminded him of them and is part of what restored his broken spirits when he was the hermit. All looks well, right? Well... it should have been. But Ozma is becoming doubtful, the Light God's words still lingering in his mind. It doesn't help that Salem is beginning to increase their reach and destroy anyone who opposes them, causing Ozpin to realize that what he is ding is wrong. It doesn't help when one of their daughters displays being able to perform magic, which makes Salem happy but only makes Ozpin more fearful. He finally admits the truth to Salem, and... she takes it rather well. Why? Because in her mind, it doesn't matter. She has developed a God Complex of her own, planning to replace humanity all together. She has become the very thing that she despised, and Ozma knows it.

That night, Ozma rounds up the daughters and tries to escape, but Salem catches him. The two proceed to fight. We don't see it, but we see silhouettes of it and the horrified reactions of Ruby and Weiss... oh yeah the RWBY girls, Qrow, and Oscar have been watching throughout the tale. With all the other animation effect sin this episode alone, I was fine with it plus tbh I think it works better without us seeing the fight. The castle crumbles to the ground and it appears that the daughters have been killed in the crossfire. Ozma is bleeding out and Salem is a dust pile, but her immortality quickly causes her to regenerate. Angered and betrayed, Salem casts the killing blow, burning Ozma to death and truly becoming the wicked witch that she is in present day.

Ozma again reincarnates. He is reincarnated again and again and again. Some lives he was in mourning, others had him simply try to live his life. Eventually he began to learn to live alongside the souls that he bonded with, which may confirm that no, he doesn't assimilate the host body after awhile. Maybe. But no matter who he was, no matter where he went, the constant presence of the Grimm meant that Salem's presence was always near. In one life, the dad-looking guy form the opening, Ozma created his trademark cane and came to realize that Salem couldn't be defeated by any mortal means. In his next life, he seeked out the power of the Relics and came across the Relic of Knowledge. He proceeded to ask Jinn his questions. The first was where the Relics were. The second was what powers did they posses. And the last was how he could destroy Salem. We only hear the answer to the final one, in which Jinn simply answers “You can't”. Which... recognize that I italicized 'he' and keep that in mind for the review portion.

This answer seems to make it clear that Ozpin's quest is truly hopeless as he sinks to the ground. The four RWBY girls also react. Yang looks furious, possibly realizing that her mother may have very well been right about how Salem can't be defeated. Blake and Weiss look like they are in utter shock. Ruby looks no better, but it should be noted that she actually watches Ozpin as he falls to his knees, looking concerned for him. The chapter ends, showing us Oscar, who we can assume is in Ozpin mode in the same knelt position. His secrets are now out in the open, and with it all the pain and guilt that he has carried for all of these years. Team RWBY got their answer, but was this knowledge worth it?

Review

I haven been watching RWBY since the end of Volume One. I have been watching it for five years now.  Many episodes had an impact on me. Hell, Volume 3's finale left me an emotional wreck. But no episode has ever left me utterly speechless, at least not until now. This was the episode that we all had been waiting for for quite some time, but none of us were prepared for what it had in store for us.

First, the animation. This may very well be the best animated episode in the entire series. The blue mist effects as the story changes scenes, the camera work, the gorgeous looking domain of the Light God and the eerie domain of the Dark God, even just the expressions for this episode. It was all absolute perfect. It truly felt like a fairy tale come to life... a dark fairy tale, but still. Actually, it felt more like a Greek myth, what with powerful Gods who make terrible mistakes and causes harsh punishments for the mortals who approach them. I looked at several Greek myths when RvB16 was airing, and... yeah they are fucked up. Many are tragic, and this is no exception. The pacing never felt too fast or slow. It never felt like it was giving us too little or slamming exposition into our faces. It was just the right balance of having Jinn tell us things and allowing the scenes to show us what was happening. Clearly they learned from Volume 5.

So lets talk about the Gods... they're assholes. Not a surprise as, like I said, this is a Greek myth and the Gods in Greek myth are NOT nice. Now IDT they're evil and as I said as harsh as it was, I do see their logic in trying to make Salem learn the importance of life and death by making her immortal. Plus they at least do admit that they have to learn form the mistake and the Light God at least is willing to give Remnant a second chance. But it does NOT excuse wiping out humanity. They call humanity an 'experiment' and act like they own them. They don't. Salem has very good justification in hating the Gods, especially in how they treat Ozma's death and brief resurrections like it means nothing. Their punishments are harsh and only drove Salem into taking her more drastic actions. While Salem's actions provoked humanity's downfall, the Gods are just as to blame for it as she is, maybe even moreso since if they treated the situation more carefully, they could have avoided the betrayal all together. But nope, they leave Remnant and threaten to destroy it if humanity doesn't learn. Assholes.

Then Salem...  Dear God Salem. We've been wanting to know more about our main villain for awhile, and BOY did we get to know her alright. Her story is just... heartbreaking. She was just an isolated girl who finally got her freedom and found love, only to lose it in one fatal swoop. She's so devastated and heartbroken that she tries anything to bring her love back, and the Gods just deny and screw her over She refused to accept that death was a part of life and move on, instead choosing revenge and it caused all of humanity to be wiped out. She blamed everyone except for herself and never learned form her missteps. Her descent into the Grimmified Goddess that we now know her as was just sad. She finally gained back her love, found happiness once again, and had a family. But you could see the Salem that we now know setting in. She was willing to destroy those who refused to follow her. She decided to replace humanity instead of try and redeem it. The Grimm effects on her mind may be part of why, but it doesn't change the fact that she had formed a God complex and was becoming the very thing that caused her so much misery before.

It also shines so much more depth on her and Oz's relationship. I know that a lot had been hoping that they weren't jilted lovers, which we kinda sorta got, but I think that it worked. It felt like a classic fairy tale gone wrong, with the handsome night and fair maiden not getting to live happily ever after and grief destroying them. Plus the way that it all fell apart was a LOT darker and tragic than I think that many of us were expecting it to be. To Ozpin, Salem was becoming  dangerous fore and he had to turn against her in order to save humanity from destruction, whether it be from the Gods or her. TO Salem, ti felt like the love of her life, the one that she suffered for, betrayed her for humanity, and perhaps to a degree the Gods who caused her suffering, over allowing them to start the world over and truly have their freedom. It makes the reason why she hates Ozpin so much so much clearer and makes Salem herself all that more dimensional as a character. A tragic figure who has truly fallen, and now everyone is in danger unless she is put to a stop.

And of course, there is Ozpin. I think that we all expected him to be responsible for Salem becoming Grimmified. I know that I did. But... no. He didn't do ANYTHING wrong up to the point where he was reincarnated. He died, and then got dragged back into something that he wasn't at all at fault for. Sure he  agreed to do it, but... damn man. This episode clearly paints Ozpin as a very tragic figure and makes his secret keeping VERY understandable. Because he initially agreed to be a God alongside Salem, he allowed her to veer into her current mindset and ultimately increased the divide between humanity. Because of how late he came to his senses, Salem fell even more into hate and his own children were killed. It explains why he was so downcast and hid himself away in the Maidens fairy tale, he was ready to just give up on everything until the Maidens restored his hope. Hell, remember the World of Remnant about the Great War? Many have speculated that the King of Vale was Ozpin, and if so it explains why he refused to be the ruler of all the kingdoms. He was once, and it ended in tragedy. He didn't want to cause that again.

This episode, to me, spells out very clearly that no, Ozpin is NOT a villain. He is a broken, good intentioned man who was given what seems to be an impossible task. With each new life, he only suffered more and more. He became more jaded and weary. The kind-hearted, righteous Ozma was tainted and soon became the shady, secretive Ozpin. Haunted by his mistake and losses, forced to live life after life with no end in sight, dealing with betrayal and defeat at every turn in a battle that seems hopeless. It is no wonder that he became the man that we know him as now, as he himself said, his experiences shaped him. Now doe sit justify everything? Mmm... not quite. By keeping his secrets, he paints himself as untrustworthy and now with the reveal of his war appearing to be winless, it means that he's lead people to their deaths for seemingly nothing. Pyrrha's sacrifice? It was for nothing. Which I don't think that Jaune is going to take well, considering the opening. All of Ozpin's actions have been for nothing...

Or is it?

Remember what Ozpin asked? It was how could he defeat Salem. I think that the phrasing here is the key. Jinn is a genie, and genie's are often very literal with their wish granting. It' why they are known as tricksters. Sure Jinn answers questions, not grant wishes, but it could be why she answered the question the way that she did. It could mean that either Salem can be defeated, just not killed or it means that Ozpin cannot destroy her. And I feel that the key may very well be in the hands of a smaller, more honest soul...

But with the info that he has, it explains some of Ozpin's other choices as well. It's why he sealed away the Relics, to both keep them out of other's hands AND to keep them as far away from each other as possible. After all if the Relics aren't brought together, then the Gods won't return to pass judgment. Which buys Ozpin time to find a solution and try to bridge the divide between humanity. It's why he established the Huntsman Academies, after all he can't just leave humanity defenseless, especially if Salem can't be killed. The best solution is to train those whoa re able to use what power that they still posses and teach them to fight so that they have a chance against the Grimm. It can even explain some of his behavior when asking Pyrrha to become the Fall Maiden. He could have easily accepted her ready response to become the Fall Maiden, but because of his own experience when he did that, he tried to make sure that she knew exactly what she was getting into. I think that had the invasion not happened and Pyrrha potentially refused, he'd have reluctantly accepted it and seeked out another. Hell remember, he only began the aura transfer AFTER asking Pyrrha to SAY that she was ready. He didn't want to do it without her conformation because of what he himself went through.

So many revelations came out of this episode. It made me go back through so many moments and so many things just started to sink in. Hell, even just listening ti Divide again caused me to realize SO MUCH. Oh and speaking of Jeff Williams, his and Alex's score this episode was FANTASTIC. From the Latin chanting to the instrumental of Divide, it was epic as much as it was emotional from beginning to end. And of course the voice acting was stellar across the board. The God's VA's convey much conviction while being overall very calm and composed much of the time. They very much made them feel like Gods. Both Aaron and Shannon voiced different incarnations, and they both did an absolute stellar job. But the best by far was Jen Taylor as Salem. Up to this point, Salem was overall always very calm, but here? We saw her go from happy to being in despair to becoming a vengeful demon. Jen portrayed all of Salem's despair, hurt, and hatred flawlessly and truly got to show off her talent now that she got to do more than just sitting calmly. And of course there's Colleen's narration throughout, always remaining calm as a storyteller should be, but still having plenty of energy and charm that her talking never got boring. I loved it!

Final Thoughts

Everyone gave a solid performance int his episode. Hell, everyone who does anything on this show did a solid job. The writing was well paced and emotional, the animation was gorgeous, the music was as amazing as ever, and of course the lore dump was everything that I was hoping for and more. It made me sympathize with both Ozpin and Salem so much as well as understand why they both do what they do. It's hard to say what the fallout is going to be, but... I don't think that it's going to go well. And we're going to see the villains in the next chapter and from what I remember of the season trailer, it's... not going to be pretty. But that is of course for another day. IDK if I'd call this the best episode of the series, but it is definitely up there and so far the best episode of this volume. And it's only the third episode. Holy crap, we still have eleven more to go... how are we going to survive this?! Well regardless, this was an absolutely amazing chapter and one that's impact isn't going to fade from the fandom anytime soon.