Episode 9 came out on the website for non-sponsers today.
I'm going to have to disagree on Cinder and co winning just by outmanuvering the heroes and being smarter than them. For me, this volume has all too often felt like 'and now the bad guys win just because.' One of the most awesome things about Volume 2 was that the heroes, both RWBY and the adults, were actually proactive. Even when they didn't completely foil Cinders plans, they at least did some damage or gained some intel. This time around, Cinder's been in complete control. Team RWBY didn't even suspect anything was going on until the end of episode 8, while the adults actions have been limited to the Maiden plan, which has achieved nothing besides breaking Pryhha. And the fact that, even after potentially several months in-universe, they still haven't realised Cinder's walking around in plan sight at the school, or that the mysterious computer program of unexplained origin (Seriousy, that needs a damn explanation) has managed to so utterly subvert the computer systems of the most advanced military on the planet, makes several characters, especially Ironwood and his people, look hilariously incompetant.
And then there was this ep. The cliffhanger was something of a hope spot. After all the utter horseshit Cinder's pulled this season, Ruby saw Mercurys true face (Namely, a smug, murderous, horrible asshole) and started to put the pieces together. It was clear that she wasn't going to be in time to stop Cinder's plan from kicking off, but maybe, just maybe, she could achieve some small victory. Expose Mercury, save Penny, ANYTHING. Instead, she achieved nothing. In the end, Mercury didn't even bother killing her, clearly enjoying watching her suffer. Everything falls apart, Ironwood fails yet again, Neo manages to hijack an entire ship because they're just that hopeless... It was a well done ep, well animated, well written, well acted, and yet, right now, I just can't bring myself to give a damn. We've had an entire season of the heroes being played like complete idiots. Let them be awesome again already.
I'm going to have to disagree on Cinder and co winning just by outmanuvering the heroes and being smarter than them. For me, this volume has all too often felt like 'and now the bad guys win just because.' One of the most awesome things about Volume 2 was that the heroes, both RWBY and the adults, were actually proactive. Even when they didn't completely foil Cinders plans, they at least did some damage or gained some intel. This time around, Cinder's been in complete control. Team RWBY didn't even suspect anything was going on until the end of episode 8, while the adults actions have been limited to the Maiden plan, which has achieved nothing besides breaking Pryhha. And the fact that, even after potentially several months in-universe, they still haven't realised Cinder's walking around in plan sight at the school, or that the mysterious computer program of unexplained origin (Seriousy, that needs a damn explanation) has managed to so utterly subvert the computer systems of the most advanced military on the planet, makes several characters, especially Ironwood and his people, look hilariously incompetant.
And then there was this ep. The cliffhanger was something of a hope spot. After all the utter horseshit Cinder's pulled this season, Ruby saw Mercurys true face (Namely, a smug, murderous, horrible asshole) and started to put the pieces together. It was clear that she wasn't going to be in time to stop Cinder's plan from kicking off, but maybe, just maybe, she could achieve some small victory. Expose Mercury, save Penny, ANYTHING. Instead, she achieved nothing. In the end, Mercury didn't even bother killing her, clearly enjoying watching her suffer. Everything falls apart, Ironwood fails yet again, Neo manages to hijack an entire ship because they're just that hopeless... It was a well done ep, well animated, well written, well acted, and yet, right now, I just can't bring myself to give a damn. We've had an entire season of the heroes being played like complete idiots. Let them be awesome again already.