#rwby volume8

[gainnopain]

volume8 was just character assisnation against ironwood just to make team rwby look good.

[baltharino]

[neopoliitan]

Theory: RWBY’s Oz allusions are played in reverse.

So by now we’re all familiar with the fact that RWBY has multiple characters based on or inspired by characters from L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels - specifically those seeming to have close ties to Ozpin and the old guard. There’s always been a sort of general idea of how each character ties into their allusion, but I’m going to attempt to convince the reader that RWBY’s Oz characters are specifically designed as an inverse or reverse of their Oz counterpart.

Let’s start with someone simple.

Professor Ozpin & The Wizard of Oz

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” is what they say about the Wizard in the Oz books. In the source material, the main cast spend their adventure assuming that the Wizard is a grand magician who can solve all of their problems. As it turns out, he’s little more than a con man who can put on a decent show. 

Contrast with Professor Ozpin; while the main four cast members assume he’s just another huntsman, it’s revealed he is an extremely powerful Wizard who has reincarnated potentially thousands of times. He takes the Wizard’s concept and reverses the steps.

Leonardo Lionheart & The Cowardly Lion

Leonardo is one you have to read between the lines for. Despite his role on-screen being portrayed as a one-note coward, he remarks that he’s ‘not the fighter he used to be’, Ozpin speaks somewhat fondly of him in Volume 6 and he was trusted with the protection of a vault.

The Cowardly Lion is, well, cowardly, and at the end of his story ‘gains’ his courage by finding out he had it all along. In contrast, Leonardo seems to be a man who had courage, but lost it at the end of his story.

James Ironwood & The Tin Woodman

Ironwood is a very clear cut case. Characters like Watts remark that his heart has cost him his mind. He’s open, welcoming and apologetic at the start of volume 7. In volumes 2 and 3 he praises Ruby for going after Cinder alone at the dance and tells the students no one will fault them if they leave during the Fall of Beacon. All symptoms of a man who tries his best to care.

But after the fall of Beacon, James’ fixation on finding a solution sees pieces fall apart around him. He’s constantly backed into a corner by Salem and paranoia, and both figuratively and literally cuts himself off to find some small amount of victory, be able to assure himself that he definitely saved someone.

The Tin Man has no heart and ‘gains’ one. James Ironwood had a big heart, but he’s losing it.

Qrow Branwen & The Scarecrow

Qrow Branwen is initially presented as Ozpin’s most trusted lieutenant, to the point he has been granted a small amount of magic with which he can perform scouting missions. But as it turns out, Qrow was kept in the dark to a lot of Ozpin’s history, and the fact he had no plan to defeat Salem, and is shattered by the realisation.

The scarecrow, meanwhile, hopes the Wizard can give him a brain. If we assume the brain is reflective of knowledge, well - the Scarecrow gains it, while Qrow founds out that he knew nothing.

Of course, it’s also worth considering that Qrow’s mental state as of late volume 7 and volume 8 may be reflective of the Scarecrow losing his mind.

Oscar Pine & Tip AKA Ozma

With Oscar, you’re going to have to take my word for how he ties into the Oz lore, as even though he’s been around for five volumes Word of God still hasn’t come out and given us an allusion for him.

In my mind, he’s reflective of Tip, a young boy who lives alone on a farm with a witch-like woman named Mombi. As it turns out, Tip is actually Princess Ozma - kidnapped by Mombi and turned into a lowly farmboy so she could not ascend to the throne of Oz.

So Tip’s true form is Ozma, and Tip was merely a deception. 

Meanwhile, Oscar Pine is a young boy who lives alone with his aunt on a farm, but the responsibility of becoming Ozma’s next incarnation is thrust upon him and he resists.

In Oz, the identity of Tip is thrust upon Ozma. In RWBY, the identity of Ozma is thrust upon Oscar. In Oz, Ozma was always the true form of the character; in RWBY, the farmboy is his real self.

And if we’re going backwards... Ozma was forced to become Tip, then became Ozma again. Might Oscar be forced to become Ozma, then regain himself later? We can only hope.

Salem & the Wicked Witch of the West

I can sum this one up extremely simply;

Water is what killed the Wicked Witch of the West at the end of the story. Water is what cursed Salem to never die at the beginning of the story. What this means for her is hard to say, but how the Wicked Witch began may give us a clue on how Salem might end (but who knows).

Professor Theodore & Dorothy

So here’s the skippy - we don’t know nearly enough about Theodore other than his garish wardrobe being an extremely heavy handed reference to Dorothy, but we can still do a bit of exploring for funsies.

So Dorothy’s character arc in Oz is that she wants to get home to Kansas. “There’s no place like home” and all that. If Theodore’s arc is played backwards, it’s possible he may want to leave Vacuo - that might add reasoning to him constantly challenging people to beat him in a fight and take his role as headmaster - he wants to get out of there.

There’s a little more about Theodore that I might write about, specifically regarding that despite it all he may not actually allude to Dorothy and the similarities are a complete misdirect - but that will have to wait till another post.

For now, take what this post has told you into consideration (and also give me the benefit of the doubt because there’s probably a lot of confirmation bias), and go forth into the end of Volume 8 wondering if that Tin Man is going to lose even more of his heart.

While you’re here - maybe check out my RWBY fancomic, Team RAIN, too!

[issacthebraveandgay]

Petition to get crwby to rewrite Volume 8 Episode 14

I have the plot idea already

They all just fucking go to therapy

[rebenoscar]

Episode 11 got me feeling like

[rwbymotivation]

Good luck today!

[eshden]

YANG FUCKING FELL

[localboop]

SORRY ITS SO GLITCHY BUT OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD, DOES THIS MEAN IRONWOOD KNOWS OSCAR IS ALIVE? AND IRONWOOD IS SERIOUSLY TRYNA ARREST PIETRO AND MARIA NOW GOD THIS IS GONNA BE A HELLA GOOD VOLUME, 8 MORE DAYS OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD WE LIVE IN FEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

[rookiewritersho]

If the opening of this Volume and the cinematography of that last scene reminding me of the farm’s cellar isn’t hinting that there is a shitload of Apathy’s just chilling under the ice...

I hope I’m wrong though, but I don’t know what I’d rather have; regular hypothermia/earthquake danger, the ‘there’s something huge Ice Age 2 style in the ice’ or Apathy army marching towards Mantle. 

BUT OH BOY THIS DOESN’T LOOK GOOD!

[localboop]

MARROW WE LOVE YOU AND WE BELIEVE IN YOU, YOU CAN DO IT.

No one:

Me: Marrow leave the AceOps and join the gang dude we all know you want to.

[01whiterose]

Crumbs?

[baltharino]

Creation | Amity

[thethunderbirdrising]

What show are these mfers watching where they see an emotional, climactic scene triggered by a character giving a speech about how "all life is precious" and then two seasons later they complain about how the heroes didn't let the military dictator abandon half his population to their deaths?

[issacthebraveandgay]

Ambrosius: Ok we have the central location, now we need the secondary location.

Ruby: Nah nah nah sister, you ain’t getting me to no secondary location, you want my wallet? Go get it

[rubyxoscar4life]

How Qrow escapes

Qrow: *turns into a crow*

Guards pass by and see Qrow is gone

Guards: wth?!? Where did he go? *proceeds to open jail cell and the crow flies out*

Guards go tell jimmy that Qrow switched places with a crow

Jimmy: wtf! You idiots! The crow WAS Qrow!!

All Atlas military start arresting every crow they see or find and turns Qrows jail cell into a bird cage

[yusoraume]

RWBY Volume8 Chapter4  Fault

I try BLEACH cover art style.

BLEACHの表紙っぽく。 色塗りは台無しにしそうなので諦めました…。