Episode Nine: The Stray
The penultimate episode in the season introduces a lot of plot elements, a couple of new characters, and a plot twist that rocks Team RWBY to its core. Major spoilers ahead. So, Team RWBY wander the docks of Vale in preparation for the Vytal Festival, an upcoming cultural festival and battle competition for the world’s major Hunter academies. Weiss is interested in observing the competition, but all she gets in a stowaway monkey-tailed Faunus named Sun, who she quickly deems a thief. It turns out Weiss is distrustful towards Faunus, but moe specifically, the White Fang, a group of activists turned military-esque terrorists who have had a long-standing conflict with Weiss’ family. This doesn’t at all please Blake, who has been in the background for the most recent episodes, and she and Weiss have a falling out.
We also learn that Roman Torchwick, the shady thief from the first episode, is still robbing Dust stores and may be connected to the White Fang. Just as things are about to boil over for Blake, we meet a new character – the strange girl Penny. A bit like Ruby but twice as loopy and even more awkward, Penny is a very funny character and “combat ready” as she reveals that she is participating in the tournament. She also immediately bonds with Ruby when she casually refers to her as “friend”.
The plot returns to Weiss vs. Blake as the quiet bookworm finally snaps and storms off in anger when Weiss compares the Faunus to trash cans. Ouch. Their argument goes all the way back to Beacon where Weiss reveals she is a victim, implying her childhood wasn’t all that great thanks to the war between her father’s company and the White Fang. And then Blake accidentally drops a bombshell on her friends – she is both a Faunus herself and a former member of the White Fang. It is quite the shocker and explains a couple of things we’ve seen of Blake, or not seen. Back in the early episodes, the first years were sent into a forest and had to make their own ways to the ground safely. We never saw Blake’s landing, because as part-cat, she would’ve landed perfectly on her feet. Anyway, Blake runs off and cries, before being found by Sun.
This is the best episode of the season, bringing some much needed tension between the characters after Blake and Yang haven’t gotten much development this season. Penny is a very likeable and funny character, and we’ll get to see more of Sun in the next episode. I like the story picks up stuff left back at the beginning and it is still going in the background. Now, on to the finale!
Episode Ten: Black and White
The season finale of RWBY’s first volume is a bit of a clunky end, but still works well as wrapping up things up. Blake and her new friend Sun are going through the motions and Blake spills the beans on her association with the White Fang. Meanwhile, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang are looking for Blake while dealing with their own feelings on their friend’s revelation. Penny shows up to add some companionship for Ruby after Weiss and Yang make a hasty retreat, while also developing as a character. Blake and Sun track down a shipping of Dust to the docks, discovering the White Fang are in league with Torchwick, Blake attempting to intervene but everyone involved quickly resort to kicking ass, before wrapping up its storyline rather hastily.
The highlight of the finale is Penny taking on the White Fang, taking down two helicopters, and implying she might not be a normal girl. Everything else is a little shaky. The resolution between the four girls is accomplished in about five lines of dialogue, Yang gets absolutely nothing to do, Blake’s sudden newfound hatred towards Torchwick despite never meeting is bizarre, and the ending is rather abrupt. On the positive, Sun acting as a foil to the oh-so-serious Blake works well, it was great to see Torchwick again, and I do particularly like the closing song “Wings”.
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