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Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 12s

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We lose another 4 volumes with episode 12 so this list is about to get a whole lot smaller going forward. We’re getting a lot of final episodes here. It’s fun to see how active Cinder is in just about every volume. She has really withstood the test of time and it’s fortunate that I’m a big fan. I can see how one could get tired of her with how she’s always around but she has a lot of style so it ends up being okay. Now lets dive into the rankings!

8. Ice Queendom

Ice Queendom has been a fun ride and I’ll definitely have a full review up for it soon. In the meantime this works really well as an epilogue episode. A chance to just see the characters interacting and now that they have all had a lot of character development, they’re the best friends you remember. The series really nailed the characters for Blake and Weiss in particular and why they are so great. Both are usually considered to have the most development from the main group and it’s nice to see how they’ve changed. Even the little things like Weiss waiting for Blake afterwards so they could have one last talk and reaffirm how they will change the world was great.

There’s also a nice adaption of the food fight here. It may not have as much fighting as the original version but it’s really meant to show the characters all having fun as opposed to being more of a serious battle between teams. I definitely hope we get a season 2 announced soon. It’s such a perfect accompaniment to the main series, especially with the main volumes taking so long to come out. Ultimately as an epilogue episode it makes sense that this wouldn’t past the other episodes but it was still a very strong showing.

7. Volume 4

It’s time for the end of Volume 4. We get a massive fight against a large Grimm here which ends up being one of the longest fights against any Grimm creature. It’s nice to see Ruby fighting with team Jaune one last time here. There are a lot of good combinations used and the fight is on point. I have a little trouble believing that they had this much trouble with the creature though. It was a nice way to have one last confrontation before going up against the cabal members more frequently in volumes 5 and beyond. Volume 4 as a whole may have been a lot more mixed compared to the other volumes but it had the tough job of having to get a lot of the exposition out of the way and did a good job with it. It set the stage for all of the characters to lead into Volume 5 and that’s why the wait for the next volume was so tough. It may not have ended in a high spot but that’s because the competition is other RWBY episodes. Put this up against a different series and it would be in a really good spot.

6. Volume 2

Volume 2 goes in next with the final episode and we get a big invasion by the Grimm. It’s a nice showcase for virtually every character in the series to show up and land some combination moves. Even Emerald and Mercury fight a bit in order to keep up their cover. It lacks the tension that the Volume 3 invasion had because there isn’t a whole lot of fear that the Grimm can put into the heroes at this point. They’re all getting shredded but the fights have great choreography as always. It also has the best ending scene from all the volumes as Adam steps in and finally announces his involvement. You figured that he was around somewhere but seeing him like that just made the ending feel all the more real. You knew things were going to escalate and the tournament was mentioned so you had that to look forward to. This really marked the end of the happy days for the team as things would start to get serious very quickly and so it made for a very fun finale. The fact that it is ranked so low just shows how powerful the other episodes coming up are.

5. Volume 8

In this episode we have the heroes finally rise up to take down Ironwood! While the second half is mainly about planning how to save everyone in Atlas and Mantle, the first half is the really powerful moment because Ironwood has been around for a very long time. It’s also impressive that he took on a large chunk of the cast all by himself. It’s always hard not to root for a character getting outnumbered to fight back a bit. Perhaps you’re not rooting for him to win but with odds like that you’re hoping he can put up a resistance and he does. The fact that Ironwood was pushing most of the characters back was really impressive.

By this point in the story he was a complete villain but since you did see him as a hero and just how determined he used to be, you’re glad that this part of him is still there. He is still Ironwood through and through, he’s just unfortunately gone over to the other side. Winter had to make a hard call in changing sides but ultimately she did the right thing and we got to see this with Emerald as well. It may be one of the less action packed episodes in this list but it was still a really solid one either way.

4. Volume 5

Here we continue with the big climax at Haven but unfortunately the chinks in the armor all appear at once. We have a ton of highly skilled fighters going up against each other but the actual animation isn’t up to par. Characters barely move and the power levels make no sense. How does Lionheart go from getting wrecked by Oscar to stalemating Qrow for a while? I have issues with Hazel stalemating Qrow as well the whole time. This would be the beginning of the end for Qrow’s hype. There are so many hype things going on and if the fights looked as good as the ones coming after it then this would certainly rank much higher. As it is it’s still a very intense episode with a great cliffhanger. It’s always a pleasure to see Raven on screen as she is one of the best characters in RWBY and her scenes always leave a very big impact. I would say she mishandled this situation to a large extent but this at least salvages that and of course you know the next episode will end up being a massive one. The budget was all saved for this moment after all!

3. Volume 3

Volume 3 has returned as we come to the end of my favorite volume. The fight with Pyrrha and Cinder was really spectacular. You know that the heroine is outmatched the whole time but she still tried her best to win and at the end of the day that’s all you can do. She didn’t back away from her challenges and went at Cinder head on. We get a lot of emotional bears here and the heroes are really just barely hanging on. When the dust settles some of them really were broken and have lost the will to fight while others press on. To this day it absolutely still ranks as one of the most powerful RWBY episodes and showing off Salem at the end was really big. It was like the Thanos moment of the RWBY verse because Salem has been the big bad that the whole series had been leading up to until now. It’s not a moment that you would ever forget that’s for sure. This was really the end of the original RWBY era as Volume 4 would start what I consider to be the modern saga. No more school adventures, from here on out it would be about finding Salem and taking her down.

2. Volume 6

This is it, the big Adam fight! I’d been waiting for the rematch for so long and this episode doesn’t disappoint. The choreography is really good and the show did a great job of course correcting and making Adam a threat again. The dialogue between Yang, Blake, and Adam is also fantastic as you see just how emotional the fight is. I would still say that in the end Adam became too obsessive with Blake when she was not his primary focus though. I know losing in one punch during Volume 5 is something that’s hard to get over but at the same time you just have to keep on fighting and if he focused on the goals of the White Fang then he wouldn’t be in this predicament.

There is also the subplot with Team RWBY taking on the giant mech but of course it is overshadowed by the Adam battle. It was good to see Ruby showing her leadership and Weiss helping out with the combos the whole time though. Gone are the days when Ruby’s leadership skills were lacking. She’s really come into her own at this point and does a great job with the strategy. All in all Volume 6 really brought out its A game for the climax.

1. Volume 7

We have made it to the greatest episode in the RWBY franchise. Yes, this one is in 1st place and by a decent margin for me. It just managed to do everything right and I’ve seen this episode countless times. The fight with the Ace Ops is perfect. We haven’t seen a full team up fight against another group like this since Volume 3. The heroes got to show off their teamwork and unity against some of the most powerful fighters in the world. It was a really satisfying watch and the song was also amazing. There is just so much to love about this episode and the main fight was so good you almost forget that we also had the big Qrow vs Tyrian rematch.

The subplot is one area where I always disagreed with the fans though. Qrow got a tremendous amount of shots taken at him because people said he teamed up with Tyrian and betrayed Clover. I just don’t see it no matter how many times I watch the episode. Qrow tries to de-escalate 3 times and goes after Tyrian but every time Clover tries to stab him in the back. So yes by the end Qrow has to turn his attention over to Clover but that’s because he had no choice. It was Clover (And Robyn to an extent but I blame her far less since her gut instinct that Atlas would try to mess her over was proven correct in the end) who really messed up here. He should have trusted his friends and not been glued to the orders the whole time. That it what ended up costing him here.

That was a really powerful batch of episodes that’s for sure. The heroes really got put through the wringer here and we got some absolutely massive fights. It all just makes me even more excited for Volume 9 once it finally comes out. That will definitely be a great moment but at least in the meantime it’s great that we have 9 different seasons of content to watch. You can never have enough of RWBY after all. It’s the show that keeps getting better every time you watch it. Stay tuned for the next batch!

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 11s

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It’s time for the first ranking without Volume 1. It’s a bit odd to see the list only have 8 spots instead of 9 but we’ll see which volume takes this chance to nab the #1 spot. With every volume going all out you can bet that the rankings are going to be quite stacked here.

8. Volume 4

Volume 4 has to bring up the rear again but we have a lot going on here. Each of the main plots gets some screen time as we set the finale up. Blake is finally getting ready to fight against the White Fang and Weiss is leaving Atlas. Yang has also decided where she has to go and Team RWBY is face to face with one of the most powerful Grimm that they have encountered yet. This is one of the last times that there would be a Grimm strong enough to take on the whole team like this so you weren’t likely to forget it any time soon. While this episode ultimately couldn’t quite hold its own against the other volumes, it’s still a strong episode all around. It’s part of why Volume 5 was so much fun since the heroes finally got to all meet up again after being apart for so long.

7. Volume 8

This is a bit of a breather episode compared to the rest that we’ll be getting in the season. Ironwood proves that he is quite serious about blowing up the city and any rationality that he may have had is out the window. He’s now a crazed villain through and through which is unfortunate since he was such a good anti hero but that’s how it goes. Ruby gets her next plan underway and it’s always nice to see Yang supporting her throughout everything that happens. It’s one of the many reasons why Yang is such a great character.

It’s still a bit surreal to see Emerald as one of the heroes now. She has certainly come a long way. It’s also good to see Qrow acting more like his old self as he’s back to being a fighter and a team up with Robyn is a good idea. Robyn is perhaps being a bit too cautious while Qrow is too aggressive so it makes for an interesting combination right there.

6. Volume 2

This was always the standout episode of Volume 2 so it’s almost odd to see it be so low but that’s just how stacked the volumes have been. We get the really iconic Yang vs Neo fight, Weiss vs the Buzzsaw guy, and Blake’s rematch with Torchwick. Throw in Raven’s first true appearance in the series and there’s a lot to love here. The fight choreography is absolutely on point and there are a lot of good tunes to check out here as well.

You also see how much Blake has improved since volume 1 and it’s a good bar to use as we can safely assume that the rest of the team also improved a lot since volume 1. Blake effortlessly crushes Torchwick here when of course she was getting demolished when they first fought. Of course part of that is also due to the elemental dust that Weiss supplied Blake with. So you could say the matchup would have been tougher but Blake still would have won based on what we saw here. Yang and Weiss losing their fights was a nice twist because after you saw Blake win hers you would have assumed that they’d all win. That was handled really well and the ending really establishes a lot of danger for the final episode.

5. Ice Queendom

This was quite possibly Ice Queendom’s best episode in the batch. We finally get to see the team fight as a unit on more than one occasion which was really satisfying. The ost was top tier as you’d expect and they really saved up a lot of the budget for this episode. It was an excellent way to wrap up the arc and we got to see how strong Blake would be with the power of Adam. It all goes by really quickly with nonstop action so I had no issues with the episode. It’s just a lot of fun and I always enjoy team fights like this. I hope to see more and more combos from the team in the future.

4. Volume 3

A bit low for Volume 3 standards but that’s just how strong these other episodes are. We get to continue the villains’ onslaught against the heroes. Every time the heroes get some kind of win (Ruby taking back the skies) the villains take another counter like Adam taking down Yang or the maiden being taken out by Cinder. It all really helps solidify the stakes here because the villains actually have backup plans as well. Usually when the tides start changing for the heroes it stays like that but the villains absolutely refuse to let the heroes get too much momentum. It really makes things very interesting. To date Volume 3 still had the most dire situation for the heroes and it’ll be hard to top that. Part of what makes it so effective was how happy the first two seasons were so when the tone started to shift you almost didn’t believe it. If you didn’t before now, then this would certainly convince you as the body count is rising and characters are receiving permanent injuries.

3. Volume 6

With Adam’s big return it was no surprise that this episode would rank really high. The giant mech fight against Team RWBY is cool as well of course but that would not have been enough to get it a really high score. No what got this one way high up was the big battle with Adam and Blake. Then they even squeezed in the fight between Yang and Adam, at least the first chunk of it. I remember watching this one so many times when it came out. I had been waiting for this rematch for years and it was finally here. The fighting is top tier and the story/dialogue is hype to the max. This is RWBY at its best and the kind of episode you could easily recommend to someone who is on the fence about watching it. There is just so much tension here and it never lets up.

2. Volume 5

For a very long time this was my favorite episode in the history of RWBY. It did mean that my disappointment was much greater the next week due to the budget being cut a bit which led to next week’s fights not being as great as they should have been, but the set up here is perfect. Honestly if they ever wanted to redo this episode and the next one with updated fight scenes I’d be all up for it. Every big hero and villain across the series is showing up for a big battle. All of the rematches from Volume 3 are here and of course Team RWBY (Minus Blake but she’s on the way) is back together. This is what you would have been waiting for! The music is perfect and like in a fighting game every character gets some intro dialogue before their fight.

No expense was spared on the setup and this is the kind of episode that is only possible when you have years to build up the story elements. This is the big payoff and it absolutely delivers on that. So no matter what happens afterwards this will always be an all time episode for me. Weiss’ fight against Vernal is actually really solid too. The music was good and I’m fine with Weiss losing because it makes sense that she would have been out of practice. She wasn’t able to train or fight much at all since Volume 3 because she was locked up in Atlas. It’s almost like somebody picking up a game for the first time in a while and only remembering how to do the super attack. Weiss only trying to summon did look bad but I think writing it off as rust is perfectly valid.

1. Volume 7

At the top is Volume 7 with a really outstanding episode once again. Ironwood’s fight against Watts was great. Not just in choreography and music but the story behind it. Ironwood is a character that the heroes have had doubts on for quite a while and I suspect the same would be true for the viewers. Well here he proves himself. There is nobody watching, nobody to impress but he puts his life on the line and takes this guy down. Ironwood even sacrifices his arm to do it and shows that he has the resolve to do whatever is necessary. Such commitment is always seen as an incredible trait for a hero and a very dangerous one for a villain.

Then we also have the villains making their move to scatter the heroes. Unfortunately Team RWBY made this easy with their deceptions that Ironwood found out about at the wrong time. The episode is so stacked that you almost overlook the Tyrian vs Qrow, Clover, and Robyn fight even though it’s great. That’s how much is going on here and it’s really impressive. The ending is certainly a turning point in the series because Ironwood and Ruby are finally at odds. Ironwood makes his first questionable call but Ruby has no real alternatives. It makes for a battle of wills and at the day it’s a difference that they can’t resolve. They are at two completely different positions and so fighting is the only way out of it. You understand the logic from both sides and how peace won’t win the day this time. Fantastic writing all around.

That concludes the episode 11s. Things are really heating up on every level now that’s for sure. It also means we are inching ever closer to the end of the series. With the next episode a few more volumes will drop out since they only had 12 and that means the future writeups are going to start getting smaller and smaller. Still that just means that the rankings will get even more intense as each volume tries to be the best!

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 10s

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Now this is where things get really intense in the RWBY journey. We have one volume that ends here and then most of the others are already deep into the action as we approach the climax. I really had to think hard about some of the placements. You can’t go wrong with RWBY episodes of course but this is where each volume gets a chance to have the best climax ever. Lets see how it plays out.

9. Volume 4

Unfortunately for Volume 4 it’s stuck with a flashback story for this episode so it was going to be hard to keep up. It finally shows us Ren and Nora’s origin stories in the village and how they got to be so close. It’s a pretty solid story all around and in a way Nora was responsible for destroying the whole village with her negative emotions so you get more context for why she is so happy in the present. It’s likely why Ren began holding his emotions in check for so long as well. These were skills that they needed to develop just to survive. The ending begins to set up the final fight for the volume.

8. Volume 2

In this episode we get closer to the end of the mission for Team RWBY. Unfortunately their fearless leader Ruby is kidnapped by the White Fang so the others have to try and find her quickly. It’s a good set up episode and it shows just how powerful even the average grunt is as he tanks Ruby’s punch with ease and keeps on going. I know Ruby isn’t the best fighter but taking her hit like that is impressive. While not explicit, I’d say it further underscores how Faunus do have natural super strength and speed.

7. Ice Queendom

Ice Queendom is getting closer to the end now as we begin the big Blake vs Weiss fight. This episode spends half of its time showing us what led to Blake embracing the powers of darkness and then the second half continues us from where it left off. It’s definitely a very risky plan and one that I’m not a fan of since letting yourself be controlled can really not end well. I’d say just going up there and winning in fisticuffs would be the best way. Try a sneak attack to get the rapier away from Weiss or something like that. Beyond that I enjoyed our classic divide and conquer approach as each fighter will be going up against a different opponent. With better animation I dare say this could really be a top contender but I did enjoy the Weiss and Blake clashes regardless. Seeing Weiss immediately realize that something was up with Blake was also nice to show that she isn’t totally gone yet.

6. Volume 8

Volume 8 is quite busy with a lot going on and this episode is no exception. We see Ironwood slowly start to realize that even Winter may be against him now and goes full villain mode. He even has the shady lights on for his video so he can look extra sinister. At this point he’s lost his marbles completely as he is even willing to take hostages and threaten an entire city. The old Ironwood is long gone at this point which is a shame but it makes the heroes’ job easier since they can just take him out with no regrets now. In the other plot we see the heroes slowly getting ready to have Emerald join the fray. You can certainly understand why as she did cause a lot of damage back in the day but it’s also certainly true that her semblance will be extremely handy in a whole lot of circumstances.

5. Volume 6

The main part of the plot deals with Cordovin as the heroes still have to try to trick her to get through to Atlas. Unfortunately this doesn’t quite work so they get ready to fight with her mech. The true hype begins with the subplot as Adam finally returns to fight Blake. Volume 5 dropped the ball with Adam’s power level so here he finally appears as a big threat again. I remember being excited to see this fight because Volume 6 had taken the fights to a new level and the brief part of the fight that was in this episode definitely lived up to the hype. It was an excellent way to set up the next episode and so all around this was really solid. You feel like the mech isn’t a threat but Adam balances that out nicely.

4. Volume 5

This episode has Ruby ask Ozpin some tough questions but you’re still waiting to ask about the silver eyes. In the meantime we do get Blake’s big climax fight against Ilia though. That fight was a lot of fun and had good strategy throughout. The episode showed that Sun’s still more powerful as he took Ilia out easily but Blake has come a long way and she was also trying to get through to her opponent emotionally as opposed to just going for the win. I may have had issues with some of the Volume 5 fights but this one was really done well and can hold up with the others nicely.

3. Volume 1

This is it, the end of Volume 1! It feels rather early to have a final episode just yet but as the first season it makes sense that it was a bit shorter. Everything wraps up nicely here with Blake getting to confront the White Fang and Team RWBY getting back together on good terms. The fight with Torchwick was excellent and it reminded you that he is still a pro fighter. So Blake losing did make sense although Sun actually holding his own and even winning was really impressive. At this point he and Yang both appear to already be close to pro level or at least above the average student. This was the episode where I really became a big fan of Sun and would look forward to all of his appearances.

Blake was also at her best here and I was glad that Weiss finally got over her issues with Blake. There was a lot of great action and emotional beats in this episode. Naturally there was a scene after the credits as well to hype up season 2 and introduce Mercury and Emerald for the first time. You can’t ask for much more than this out of a season finale. It’ll return when I compare all the final episodes for the series but in the meantime the rest of the RWBY rankings won’t have Volume 1 included so at least it ends on a high note.

2. Volume 3

The big attack by the villains continues in full glory in this one. They’ve still got the upper hand across the board even as the heroes try to get some control back. Blake is really close to meeting up with Adam now and Ironwood gets a really good moment here. One of the things Volume 3 really nailed was that feeling of desperation the whole time as the situation just kept getting worse and worse. Even to date I don’t think there has been a tougher time for the heroes of RWBY than in volume 3. The action scenes are all really great as always but the true standout here is just the atmosphere. You knew that this wasn’t just any normal fight but potentially the final war for all the characters.

1. Volume 7

It’s tough to beat Volume 3, but Volume 7 pulled it out here. Everything was just amazing in this episode. We had Ironwood plan out a whole trap for Watts which was a blast and he finally told the world about Salem. He continues to show why he’s such a great leader as he brings people together and puts a wrench in the villains’ plans. If the heroes had only trusted him sooner than this would be even easier. We also see the heroes out there fighting off the grimm. It’s always nice to see this because as Huntsmen that’s still their main duty. Some of these Grimm are also quite impressive like one being able to take on Penny’s full energy blast output. I dare say that most would have been immediately turned to dust instead.

It’s rare to see the villains on the back foot but Ironwood pulled it off. This was around where he became one of the best characters in the series for me. Adam and Ironwood always fight hard for that top spot in the series as they’re neck and neck, both big strategy mastered on opposing sides. The music is top tier and the story is great, the volume was definitely not holding back at all.

This was definitely the most stacked set of episodes yet and I expect that will only continue to be the case as we go forward. There are quite a few maiden fights coming up and of course Adam will be getting a lot of action soon as well. I’ll be having the 11th comparison episodes up fairly soon so be on the lookout for that. We’re getting closer and closer to the end but it’s been a fun ride.

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 9s

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All right we’re nearly in double digits now! As we inch closer to the climax you can see how each volume is setting things up. Of course Volume 3 goes the extra mile and gives us a big fight on top of that but aside from 3 taking the clear victory, the rest are all fighting hard to rank after it. We’ve got a lot of really solid episodes here so lets dive right in!

9. Volume 4

Bringing up the rear we have Volume 4 which does a good job of cycling through the plots. We get to see what each of the 4 main characters are doing. Ren is starting to crumble under the weight of knowing that he may run into a Grimm soon, Yang learns how to fight a little better, Weiss prepares her big escape, and Blake goes up against Illya. What this episode suffers from is the fights being a little slower as was the tempo for most of Volume 4’s fights outside of the Tyrian battles. I also thought Yang fought really well at the tournament thanks to the great choreography everywhere which does lessen the impact of Tai trying to tell her to fight smarter. After all she wasn’t really relying on her semblance back then.

The worst part though is definitely Sun running out of aura immediately against Illya. Even if you ignore that aura has been shown to have no effect on your semblance (Meaning you should be able to just keep using it without worrying about an energy drain) as we can say Sun’s is an exception since it’s light based, it should not run out in a few seconds like that. It felt like they had to write him into a loss but there was no realistic way to do it since Sun is so powerful. So we had a few forced elements in here and ultimately the set up could not beat the other volumes coming up.

8. Volume 6

With Oscar still lost the heroes all head out to find him but it’s rather difficult as the town is so big. A big chunk of the episode focuses on Jaune finally coming to terms with the loss of Pyrrha since up until now he never really got a chance to get over her tragic death. We also meet someone who may have been the ghost of Pyrrha. Many believe this was likely her mother or sister but I like to think it was Pyrrha herself. Worst resolution would be that Jaune was having a delusion since that would be a cop out. We also get a little discussion with Emerald and Mercury that was really handled well. I always liked seeing any cutaway to these two because they really make for very interesting villains.

7. Ice Queendom

In Ice Queendom the heroes are trying to get closer to saving Weiss but seem to hit a dead end at every corner. It’s just not easy to get to her when she has the home field advantage in the dream world. Blake seems to go with a rather gutsy plan at the end though which leads to a great cliffhanger. The overall episode is a bit on the slow side but the final scene is really what pushes this above the other two volumes. It opens up a lot of fun possibilities for where the arc could go from here and I’m at least looking forward to a really big fight!

6. Volume 1

Volume 1 gets us to one of the big turning points in the first volume where everyone finds out that Blake used to be a member of the White Fang. It’s a fairly big revelation and since Weiss is not on good terms with the group it definitely adds a lot of drama into the mix. It makes for a good episode though and as always the humor here is really on point. There isn’t any real action this time around but the episode flows so naturally and is over in the blink of an eye so it just works out anyway. You don’t even need the action when the episode is this fun. I was glad that Blake and Weiss at least tried to talk things out a bit before it all fell through.

5. Volume 2

In this episode the mission finally begins for real as Team RWBY embarks on their first true adventure. It’s pretty nice to see the group out in the field like this. Zwei is fun as always and having each member of the group give their reason for why they wanted to become a huntress was important. It’s information that you really wanted to know even if they had a hard time expressing this. This episode is certainly set up for the fights that are to come but it’s executed very well which puts it in the top 5 for this list. It also still has a solid blend of humor from the volume 1 days.

4. Volume 5

Volume 5 continues strongly here as most of the episode is a big chess match between Cinder and Raven. Both are basically threatening each other while trying to style this as a negotiation. Raven’s already in a bad mood since Cinder blew up her forces right at the jump and Cinder just wants to get this over with. Raven did especially good here with her thinking up an extra plan on the spot. I always like to see her using some strategic thinking and it’s clear why she is leader of the bandits. The Blake subplot with Sun and Ghira fighting off the White Fang isn’t as epic yet but I did really enjoy the cliffhanger as Blake prepares to fight off Illya. That’s a fight we’ve been waiting a while for after all so now it’s time for Blake to take her down once and for all. The hype was at an all time high with this episode for the Volume 5 climax.

3. Volume 7

Things continue to get worse for Ironwood as he finds out that Jacques let Watts into the system and now Salem is super close to finding out about the amity project. The heroes finally decide to tell him about Salem being immortal as well and then he finds out that Robyn knows about the secret plan so someone spilled the beans. It’s really a never ending barrage of bad news for him which is all hitting at once. Still, he decides to listen to Oscar’s advice and is trying to keep a clear head on his shoulders. Right now you can see how he’s still being very calm about all of this.

One of the reasons why I liked Volume 7 so much was because they really nailed his character. Ironwood is someone who may take more drastic steps than Team RWBY but he is trying to save the day. They just won’t always agree with his methods which is how it goes when you have no good options left in a bad situation. In Volume 8 I would say they fumbled his character quite a bit but right now he’s looking very good. With the villains really closing in on the heroes you were definitely hyped to see what would end up happening next.

2. Volume 8

Volume 8 continues to move very strongly as well with another really powerful episode. The army is launching their big offensive against Salem outside while Yang and her squad head in to free Oscar. This leads to our first true fight against Salem in person. We get to see Hazel take her on with a flurry of blows and even Yang lands a combo. Ultimately her regeneration is a little too good to go down against them but this is the kind of fight we have been waiting 8 years for. So finally seeing her in action is just hard to beat. Right now I don’t think we’ve seen enough to justify Ozpin not having the Maidens attack her earlier or even going in with Qrow since she hardly seems invincible to that extent but we’ll have to see how it plays out. The stakes are really high here and it felt like the beginning of the final battle. The series almost could have ended here depending on what the heroes would decide to do.

1. Volume 3

Finally we have Volume 3 and it’s not surprising to see it here. We get the final big fight of the tournament which was splendid between Pyrrha and Penny. Additionally we then cut to Cinder unveiling her master plan which was built up for the last 3 seasons. Adam shows up as well as a ton of Grimm. Just about every big villain is here and the heroes are in the worst spot possible. Things had never been this dire before so it was a true turning point of the series. This would really begin the turn to a more plot driven series and it would never go back to being more episodic after this. There was no turning back and it was all executed to perfection. The soundtrack is amazing and Mercury’s quick fight with Ruby was also on point. There’s really nothing to dislike here as it’s one of the best episodes in the RWBY series. It really changed the game.

So that’s how the episode 9s shake out for each of the volumes. Definitely a lot going on here and the next list is going to be the final one to have every volume until I do a separate finale episode to kick things off because Volume 1 caps out at 10 episodes. The uneven lengths of the seasons means that these lists are going to start getting a little shorter but either way there is still a lot to discuss. Plus as each season gets closer to the last episode you can bet that things are really going to tighten up among the volumes. Even Volume 3 won’t necessarily be able to stay in the top spot for each episode coming up.

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 8s

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We’re getting even closer to the end of the seasons now but surprisingly this batch may be more dialogue based than the last one. A lot of the volumes are still setting up the climax in this part so don’t expect a lot of big fights. Still, you can feel the payoff right around the corner and so of course that is something to think about as we rank the episodes below. So lets dive in!

9. Volume 4

This is definitely another lore type episode for Volume 4 as Qrow explains the situation to the team. We already knew most of this but it’s new knowledge for the team. I think some of this could have been off screen’d but ultimately it’s a lot of information that is good to have out in the open. In the Blake plot we start to see the White Fang making moves and Blake is forced to address this even though she initially just wanted peace. Blake was not my favorite character during this volume as she had a bit of a slump until Volume 5 but at least this was a step in the right direction. A necessary episode all in all but not the most exciting one so you can see why it didn’t rank much higher.

8. Volume 6

In Volume 6 we are getting closer to Atlas but the heroes are stopped by an old lady and two comic relief guards. I have to say that this plot always felt like a random thing to include just to slow the heroes down. None of the characters are all that endearing or likable which just hurts them the whole time. If they could have a fun scene to make you grin or something then that would be good but it can’t match the classic humor of the old days. Without a lot of strong plot elements to help it out, the episode could not get much higher.

7. Ice Queendom

Ice Queendom is in a similar situation to Volume 4 here. Sure, it’s good that the heroes are getting in a little deeper through the dream and learning more but it does feel a bit like they’re treading water by this point. Not much has really changed since the last episode to the point where it almost feels like this episode could have been merged into the last one. In a way I think I just miss the real world by this point as the dreamscape got old real quick. That being said you can tell that we’re getting close to the climax so I’m ready to see how this all pans out.

6. Volume 1

In this episode Jaune finally manages to overcome Cardin and stops the cycle of being bullied. The whole episode was a rough one for Jaune and the show did a good job of depicting how you can be surrounded by the strongest fighters in existence but if you don’t stand up for yourself then it’ll all be for naught. Jaune refused to ask for help at all during this adventure and that’s what had cost him for so long. He could be a bit annoying in that sense here but the ending is solid. Perhaps a bit cheesy but ultimately it was a well rounded episode with humor and even a little action. Cardin also made for an intense villain.

5. Volume 7

This isn’t an action heavy episode but it was nice seeing everyone be at the table to talk things out. Papa Schnee may be trying to take control of the situation but right now he does have the upper hand and does o effectively. In a way what he is saying does sound reasonable so that makes him a solid antagonist here. As always I think the characters are rather harsh to Whitley the whole time. He seriously doesn’t deserve a lot of what he gets here as it always seemed like he was actually rooting for Weiss and just had to be careful how he expressed it. The heroes just never really tried to understand his side of the story all that strongly.

4. Volume 2

The heroes are getting ready for their first big adventure! This episode mainly gets by on its solid humor which keeps it higher than you may expect. It was nice to see the debut of Zwei and Ruby even outsmarting Ozpin was impressive. While he was allowing himself to be manipulated, it did feel good that Ruby could feel like she had a mega win though and that’s what counts. This was also getting us started on the big mission that would begin the climax for Volume 2 so I’m ready for that. Coco and the others taking longer than expected to complete their mission would contrast well with Qrow finishing his mission ahead of time in Volume 3 to show just how skilled the pros were.

3. Volume 5

This episode finally had the main members of Team RWBY talk things out. It’s the first real downtime they’ve had together and of course Yang still has a big grudge with Blake for ditching them all this time. It makes for an emotional episode and in particular we really see how Weiss has grown. Gone are the days where she would get real excited and jump to conclusions. Now she is someone that is there for the others to lean on and gives the emotional speeches. The action part of the plot was with Blake and she actually did really well this time as she called in Sun and didn’t just try to handle everything alone.

It was a good moment for her character because it showed that she was actually willing to trust Sun this time and the lessons of friendship really stuck. It was also impressive to see her lay out one of the fighters with a single punch. Her physical strength gets a whole lot of credit in this volume and this was just the first instance of that. There would certainly be more where that came from. It was a very strong showing for Volume 5 and while Ghira may not be the most impressive fighter over there, it’s always nice to see Sun fighting. To date Volume 5 still has one of the stronger climaxes or it felt that way so I look forward to seeing how it stacks up with the other volumes in the rankings.

2. Volume 8

We get to see the talking Grimm attack the heroes here and it looks very impressive. Maybe a little too impressive in the sense that I thought Ruby and Blake should have looked way better in the fights this episode. I don’t buy Blake losing against a random acid Grimm and Ruby getting one shotted by this Grimm was a bit odd. Still, it was nice to see her rebound with the Silver Eyes afterwards. Weiss and Whitley finally made up as well. This was a very important episode and while we’re near the end of the season so much more happens in this volume that it’s hard to believe that we’re near the end. With Penny slowly turning to the dark side there was a lot of intrigue set up for next week.

1. Volume 3

Volume 3 is back to reclaim the crown! Not too surprising but it really was close. There is less action than volume 8 as Pyrrha mainly has to try and come to terms with what’s going on. Her talk with Jaune is good but of course the huge highlight for the episode is the cliffhanger. It was nice to see Ruby noticing that something was off and go to investigate. The music that plays when Mercury appears is exceptional and you can feel the dread rising in the air. This was still before the show had gone all the way into getting things really serious and dire so it still hits as a very powerful moment. I was not fully prepared for this back in the day. The episode really does a great job of mixing in humor, drama, and tension. From here on out all of the episodes are 10/10 quality so it’ll be hard to dethrone Volume 3 but of course the other volumes have big climaxes as well.

This is where the comparisons are really going to start getting extra fun so be sure to stay tuned! This has been a fun rankings event that is over halfway over but the best is yet to come. It’s safe to say that all shows want to end strong and RWBY has always accomplished this so now it will be time to see which one did it the best. There are going to be a lot of nonstop fights coming up soon that’s for sure.

RWBY: Arrowfell Review

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Felt like I had to wait years for this game to come out! I was waiting a long time ever since they announced that WayForward would be helping out with this game. They’ve churned out a lot of all star titles over the years and then ArcSystems was also in on it? This was shaping up to be a game of the year contender and the definitive RWBY game at last. Unfortunately it feels like they ran out of development time early on as this feels a whole lot like a cash-in title. That was too bad but at the end of the day it was still a pretty good game. Not amazing in the way that I was hoping for but you’ll have a fun time here.

The story takes place in Volume 7 shortly after the heroes got their professional licenses but before the election since Jacque Schnee isn’t on the council yet. So it’s a rather tight timeline that we’ve got here. A lot of Grimm have been appearing lately including a new group by the name of BRIR so something is amiss. Ironwood asks Team RWBY to investigate what is going on along with the AceOps. The whole world is depending on them so the heroes have to be up to the task.

This is a fairly short game as I completed it in under 4 hours and I obtained the Platinum trophy around an hour or 2 after that. So there is very little replay value here. 100% completing the game in 6 hours and not having any kind of post game to complete is a bit rough on that front. You don’t want to be spending too much money on this one but fortunately it launched at $30 and I suspect that it will be a lot cheaper very quickly. That may feel like shots fired but it just feels like the price would dip quickly. That said it is still RWBY so I would advise you to get this game immediately.

One of the issues with the story here is it feels like Rooster Teeth told the devs they couldn’t do much of anything because the game takes place too recently and they didn’t want to mess with continuity. That’s why it would have been best to make the game not canon so you could just go all out with the plot. As a result it’s not always the most grand of stories. I liked the new villains introduced here in Team BRIR and the final boss is fairly solid in his own right as well. Only issue is that there is a bit of a mystery on who the villain is so any original character made up for the game is deeply suspicious. It makes things just a tad too easy if you ask me. I would have skipped the mystery angle from the jump.

The script also reads like it was created from someone who didn’t actually watch the show. The characters tend to be out of character and it just doesn’t make sense. I’ve never seen Weiss be so upset at Penny constantly. She seems to be really antagonistic to the robot right from the jump for no real reason. It’s a bit bizarre to be honest. Now this may all be sounding a bit dicey but we’re here for the gameplay right? That part is fairly good. It reminds me of the old Cartoon Network web games from back in the day. You can run, jump, attack, and use your semblance. You can also switch between the 4 girls at any time and you need to as each one has an ability needed to get past an obstacle.

It’s like a budget version of Shantae. The hit stun is pretty large so try not to fight any opponents by a ledge or you are definitely falling down. There’s no EXP in the game so you should try and skip all of the enemies that you can. The only benefit to fighting them at all is that they drop coins which is useful for buying items but getting money is quick either way so not much to worry about there. You can buy skill points and heart upgrades that way though. Make sure you buy them all as you’ll need them for the platinum. All of the levels have chests with skill points. You may have to walk a few steps out of your way to get them but I recommend doing this because then the Platinum is even quicker after you beat the game.

The graphics are pretty solid. The character models for the characters are surprisingly low quality but the actual level designs and everything are fun. I wish we could have gotten full voice acting instead of the old text boxes for most cutscenes but one treat is that we do get real fully animated cutscenes in each chapter. Now that was cool and it made you feel like the game did get a big budget somewhere in there that just dwindled over time. Those cutscenes were one of the highlights in the game. Then you also have to consider that the soundtrack here is pretty cool. I liked the new lyrical song that popped up during the first level. It’s really catchy and a lot of fun. There are a few other lyrical songs that weren’t really my thing but I did applaud the effort. It was still impressive to get these in there. So I give the soundtrack a thumbs up because of these songs and it makes up for the repetitive minion theme that plays for each ambush.

I said to skip the villains but that isn’t possible during ambushes of which there are a few in every level. These are points where you have to beat everyone before you can go forward. A bit tedious no doubt but they go down quick. The problem is that you’ll have probably maxed your character out after the first few levels so your attack doesn’t get any higher while the minion health bars just keep increasing. It makes things a little longer even if they are easy to dispatch. I did lose a life once on one of the last bosses though so it’s not a total cake walk. For the most part you can just spam the attack button and beat them before they can drain your health though.

Ruby has the best semblance here as she can go through enemies so I would spam that as I blasted through the levels. I ended up using her the most by far. Blake’s copies are handy though since you can attack in 3 spots at once. Weiss has the worst attack unfortunately but she is good for reaching high places. Yang is strong but her attack is too short ranged so it’s usually better to use Ruby.

Overall, Ruby Arrowfell is one of those games that should have been a whole lot better. Put in the right elements and this would easily be a 9 star game. It didn’t go that route but I would still say to check it out. It’s a pretty fun game that probably would have been a really massive hit back in the GBA era. Now it just feels more standard. The gameplay is good and the big cutscenes help to carry the game. They keep things from getting bad for this one but unfortunately it looks like we’ll have to wait a while longer to get a definitive RWBY game. I know that it will eventually happen though.

Overall 7/10

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 7s

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All right we’ve made it to the Episode 7s of the series. This time the rankings get mixed up quite a bit with some really high ranking volumes taking a lower spot than usual and Volume 3 gets dethroned this time. I figured it had to happen eventually since Volume 3 may be my favorite volume but it’s still hard to see how it can win every episode like that. I’m really looking forward to compiling the rankings later on to see how each volume really stands up. Well, lets dive in as most of the volumes begin to prepare their climaxes.

9. Ice Queendom

It’s Ice Queendom’s first time at the bottom. Mainly this episode allowed Jaune to see into the dream but because of that we’re seeing a lot of things that we already know. The Mini Weisses were fun though and then they even got to turn giant. The cliffhanger is definitely the best part though and that nearly bumped it up a spot but the volume right above this one also had a powerful cliffhanger like that. It’s nice to have Jaune in the mix but I look forward to the volume throwing in some more action in the next episodes.

8. Volume 5

This is one of those Volume 5 episodes that got the volume infamous for how long the heroes just sit on the couch and talk about things. They become more reactive to the plot rather than being proactive. Still, I suppose some of these things are topics that the heroes needed to discuss at some point. I don’t think the outrage over characters being turned into birds was really a big deal but Ruby should have asked about her silver eyes by this point. The heroes would go on to make a lot of tactical blunders by not using this time to the max. The cliffhanger was really epic though with the villains showing up to attack Raven and her clan. Weekly there weren’t a whole lot of moments that could try and top this. We had been waiting for a big Volume 5 fight and this seemed like it was about to deliver.

7. Volume 2

The dance is underway here and the first half is fairly emotional as Jaune finally stops chasing after Weiss and goes to Pyrrha instead. This ended two rather large plots from volume 1 so that’s over now. Meanwhile Cinder begins her infiltration plan which would have a big effect in volume 3 and her fight with Ruby was fun. Ruby is lucky that they were interrupted though because at this point in time she would have absolutely no chance at victory. The gap in power would just be way too much. Good way to end the episode and I always like throwing in some action at the end.

6. Volume 1

There may not be a lot of action in this one but it’s a fun episode with a lot of the retro humor from the old days of RWBY. My only gripe is with how none of the heroes step in to help Velvet at all. Given that part of the episode is the professor talking about how the Faunus are treated badly and face discrimination outside, you’d think that the heroes would prevent this from happening in school. Particularly Blake…cmon now. I do think the whole scene would play out very differently if it was newer since we know Velvet actually can fight and I don’t see her teammates being kept in the dark for long. Once they find out that would be game over for Cardin.

It’s a rough episode for Jaune though as he gets bullied a whole lot. The main issue here is that he’s super weak and knows it but also wants to have enough pride not to ask for help. It’s not a very compatible set of ideals there because then the only option left is to remain weak. We never see him training either and this leads to him getting blackmailed. You feel bad for the guy but this is very much a hole that he dug for himself which is the worst part of it all.

5. Volume 8

Volume 8 has had a lot going on so this is a bit more of a slower episode for the heroes to catch their breath. Team RWBY is berated by one of the Happy Huntresses who comes across as being extremely annoying and out of touch here. She complains that the heroes aren’t doing enough but they’ve done way more than her. At this point the team is starting to split at the seams a bit so the last thing they need is someone on the outside trying to lecture them. Meanwhile Oscar is still being beat up but seems to get through to Hazel a bit. I’m a bit iffy on Mercury letting himself be kicked around by Tyrian the whole time though. I guess Tyrian is stronger but Mercury should go down with a fight. I am looking forward to seeing his role in volume 9 though. As always with Volume 8 the overall atmosphere and intensity keeps things going at a high level even when there are no main fights.

4. Volume 7

This episode sees the team slowly start to keep more and more secrets from Ironwood. Yang and Blake decide to defy orders and tell Robyn all about his plans which was not a great idea. Sure in hindsight it may be okay but they really just took a huge risk in disclosing this all to a character they didn’t personally know all that well. Robyn seems like a nice enough person but you’re going to just trust someone like this who just lost an election and is probably not in the best frame of mind? Later on this would not help matters with trust but the quick fight was good. The constant tension between all of the characters keeps this really high up. I still say Volume 7 easily had the best plot out of all the sagas because you can see how Salem is slowly taking away every good option and increasing the pressure on the heroes. So eventually no matter what option is chosen, the heroes would be split apart about it.

3. Volume 6

We have made it to the Grimm Reaper episode. It’s actually relatively short as far as the modern RWBY episodes go but because of that the whole thing is a big fight from her old days as a huntress. I really liked everything about the fight from the choreography to the individual fighting styles and semblances. The villain with the crooked teeth really made for an imposing character and her semblance preventing damage for 60 seconds is really useful to have. It’s probably one of the best flashback stories in the series with maybe just Cinder’s coming really close or surpassing it.

2. Volume 3

Volume 3 just barely missed out on the top spot this time! We get to see how Cinder formed her group with Emerald, Adam, and Mercury. It’s a really solid episode and I also greatly enjoyed the fight with Amber, the maiden. She put up a great fight and while you know that she has to lose, you still want to see how it goes down. She was very close to winning and that’s impressive considering who she was going up against. Having a whole episode dedicated to the past like this is a bold move but it’s one that works out really well and sets you up for the climax that is going to happen. Cinder’s plan has been going on for quite a while after all so we’re about to see the payoff. It’s just a very effective way to show this off and I also liked that Adam didn’t go along with the plan at first since it wasn’t a great idea for the Faunus.

1. Volume 4

Volume 4 is nearly near the bottom so it’s nice to have it at the top. Unfortunately the volume peaks early so nothing else will rank quite as high as this one. We got the full Tyrian vs Qrow fight here which to date is still one of the best fights in the series. The new song used was excellent and the fight choreography was like something out of Volume 3. It was a high stakes fight with two professionals and we really hadn’t seen anything like that before. This was the first real time and the battle definitely lived up to that.

So those are all of the Episode 7s here! It was a really solid batch and we saw some good shakeups here. We’re getting closer and closer to the big climaxes for each of the seasons so I’m looking forward to covering those. It would have been nice if I finished this and then Volume 9 was ready but sadly it’ll probably be a while until that one comes out. In the meantime at least I’m keeping my RWBY knowledge very fresh.

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 6s

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We’re back with another RWBY episode comparison! Episode 6 would be around the mid season finale for some of these seasons so you’re expecting big things and the volumes don’t disappoint. Interestingly the list is probably the most jumbled yet. Volume 4 finally gets a slot near the top as we get the first big battle against a cabal member and of course Volume 8 continues to hold strong with Cinder. Volume 7 is probably the one that’s surprisingly low considering where it had been ranking prior to this episode. Well lets dive in!

9. Volume 7

This episode is about giving the heroes a day off to watch the election so it is aiming to be more of a low key episode in that respect. Nora and Ren continue to have their drama here as Ren has been shutting down throughout this volume and this has all been too much for him. It is true that Nora’s distraction allowed Tyrian to get in and mess the place up but Ren’s a little too weak to do much about it so either way they would have been absolutely crushed here. The ending is tense but for the most part this is an episode that seems to be buying time so it’s not one of the biggest ones. I also think that with an election this big people would have been watching the polls the whole time so the hacking should have seemed obvious.

8. Volume 2

As with Volume 7, Volume 2 has a party for this episode. The heroes finally get to relax a bit before their next big fight. Blake initially doesn’t want to attend the party because she’s got things to do but Yang basically forces her hand on this one. We get to learn a bit more about Yang and why she is always trying to find leads on Raven and we also see one of the first silhouettes of Qrow. The cliffhanger gets you excited for the next episode but at the end of the day this was more of a romance drama episode so it wasn’t going to be much higher than this. It would also mark one of the last times that Neptune would be relevant in the whole franchise so his fans should try to enjoy this episode.

7. Volume 6

This one plays out like a horror film as the heroes are stuck in a village where they are slowly losing the will to fight. They can barely even move after a while and the new Grimm seem to be inspired by the ReDeads from Legend of Zelda. When they yell you really aren’t able to do much of anything against them. You just freeze in your tracks but this leads to Ruby finally learning how to use her silver eyes. I still blame Ozpin for not teaching her about this sooner since it can quite literally turn the tides of the war against the Grimm. Imagine going to Ironwood and being able to say you have someone who can glance at the Grimm and cause them to instantly evaporate? Would be a real game changer. My only gripe here is that I feel like Weiss should have had no trouble with the door and that even in a weakened state beating the Grimm should have been easy. I didn’t think the tension was really quite earned to the degree they were trying for.

6. Volume 1

Weiss continues to doubt Ruby’s leadership in this episode and it really comes to a boil after Ruby shows Weiss up during the Grimm battle by giving Weiss all the advice for a victory. It’s a little petty on Weiss’ part and she is called out by the teacher. By the end of the episode she learns to finally accept Ruby and so this made for a rather short character arc. She had seemed to finally get behind Ruby in the forest but I suppose that was under duress so it didn’t really count. Either way the battle with the Grimm was fun and the show’s humor is still on point. I liked seeing Ruby doodle and the characters getting the room ready. There’s just that hyper energy that you don’t see after the first volumes.

5. Ice Queendom

Episode 6 has our big group fight against Weiss as even Yang gets involved. Interestingly part of the scuffle actually seemed to transform into CGI which was interesting but it was brief. The episode got to show off it’s animation a little more than the last one as Weiss spammed her energy attacks and the heroes had to deal with it. I’m a little skeptical about the main trip not being able to stop her though. It was shown that Weiss upgraded Yang and Blake’s weapons subconsciously so I like to think that they could defeat her. Just knock her out and then take out the Grimm. That would be the most direct way to solve all of this. It’s been fun seeing more into Weiss’ mind and that’s definitely been one of the most engaging parts of the show.

4. Volume 5

Volume 5 is mainly a solid conversation with Yang and Raven. After all these years it’s great to finally see Raven as the focus here and she makes a lot of good point about why Ozpin cannot be trusted. Of course Raven shouldn’t be trusted too much either but she’s rather open about that and says not to trust anyone. It’s good advice even if the characters may feel a bit iffy taking it from her. While this isn’t exactly an action heavy episode, it’s fairly up there because the story is really interesting here. These are plot elements we’ve wanted to know for quite a long time now. I like that Yang doesn’t back off and the music is really tense. In the B plot with Qrow trying to find huntsmen, you can see how things are dire as there appears to be nobody left. Salem has done her work well.

3. Volume 4

This may be the highest that Volume 4 has been all season and it’s no surprise that this one would do good as Tyrian shows up here for the cliffhanger at the end. It’s nice to see what an evil pro fighter can do. Up until this point we haven’t really gotten to see any of Salem’s Cabal fight all that seriously. Yes we had Cinder and her two minions fighting but that’s about it. The fact that Tyrian is able to take down Ruby’s squad in an instant is impressive.

If it was Team RWBY then I don’t think it would have been quite so easy though but ultimately they would probably lose that one. It’s a really hype way to increase the stakes here and Volume 4 needed a spark so this did the trick. In the subplot we had the Weiss party and as always Ironwood was a good voice of reason here. He wasn’t about to arrest Weiss or do anything like that because he was probably annoyed at how fake the people of Atlas were being as well. I liked the early foreshadowing about Mantle needing some help as well since that wouldn’t become a big issue until Volume 7.

2. Volume 8

After all these years we finally got to see Cinder’s backstory and it really works out well. She put up with quite a lot until the experiences all broke her. If the local Huntsman had handled things a little better then perhaps she wouldn’t have ended up turning out evil but in the end that just wasn’t in the cards. The new track for Cinder was really impressive and this was definitely enough to get the episode really high. Beyond that we also got setup in the present as Salem is sending Cinder back into the fight and Mercury is also finally turning against her. That’s something Cinder needs to watch out for since she is no longer the most powerful fighter around. We also have Team Jaune getting ready to go and infiltrate Salem’s ship which is sure to be a really intense plot.

1. Volume 3

I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone that Volume 3 is at the top here. It’s been doing really well so far and this was no exception. The first half of the episode is a little slow as Ozpin and the team give Pyrrha a lesson on the fairy tales but then we get over to the Mercury vs Yang fight which is where things really get intense. To date this is still one of the most impressive fights in the whole series. The choreography is amazing and there’s just so much great action to enjoy here. The ending is also intense and really marked the change in tone for the series. From here the volume would only get more and more desperate for the heroes and would continue to remind us why Volume 3 is the best out there. So if no Volume could dethrone it before, we’ll see if they can coming up but of course there is a lot of great competition coming up.

So that wraps up the episode 6s here. It’s been a run ride through memory lane and it’s also just a lot of fun to see how the animation has been changing throughout each volume. You can pretty clearly tell what volume any given scene is from of course it also helps that they tend to change their outfits a lot or the scenes are memorable enough where you remember the background.

Ranking all of the RWBY Episode 5s

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We’re getting closer and closer to the midway point of the seasons now! By this point you expect that some good action is probably happening or if not that things are getting close to that point. Will that be enough to shake things up or are we looking at something similar to the episode 4s? Well now it’s time to find out so lets dive in and see how it all shakes up.

9. Volume 4

I liked the synergy with volumes 4 and 5 as they both deal with the Blake plot and naturally continue into each other. This time Blake finally arrives on the island but her father seems to be doing business with the White Fang which is a red flag. Of course they claim that the White Fang is actually not evil and Adam just has a splinter group but of course that’s not very convincing. The episode ending confirms that everyone is working for Adam although we already knew that. Without any real big subplot to add to this the episode naturally doesn’t rank as highly as it could.

8. Volume 5

Volume 5 mainly focuses on Blake and Sun as they try to recruit more Faunus to their cause. It isn’t easy though and it’s easy to see why as joining in would be dangerous and throw you into a fight that you fee isn’t your problem. They would have to leave the safe island to go out and fight to protect someone else which isn’t the most appealing prospect for the masses. Adam also gives his orders here and unfortunately I don’t think that was handled well. He’s panicking on a pre recorded video he sent to his underlings so why not do a reshoot since he lost control here? Unfortunately this would be the beginning of the end for Adam and I definitely was not ready for it. Seeing Adam was cool to further the plot but otherwise this was a very low key episode and the conversation with Blake and Sun wasn’t the most engaging. I can’t say I’ve ever experienced Blake’s tendency to use a word to represent each person. As for the subplot with Oscar, I thought he was a bit unreasonable in yelling at Ruby and panicking. She’s got enough on her mind as it is so he needs to calm down.

7. Volume 7

In Volume 7 we’re focused on trying to get the parts over to Amity Arena so that the world can be told about Salem. It’s a bit ironic that in episode 5 of the very next volume the heroes would succeed only Ironwood has been thrown out of the equation now. This was Robin’s first big appearance and it’s a solid debut. This would ultimately lead to more of a disappointing conclusion for her character but regardless this is how you make an entrance. If Penny wasn’t there then I think Robin would have actually tried to fight. Sure, her team would have gotten absolutely rocked but that fight would have been nice to see.

You can also sympathize with her because from her eyes this does look like more government corruption. Why would Mantle resources be going somewhere else when her district absolutely needs it for survival? Not the best look for Atlas but things are often looking rather shady on their end. Definitely more of a calm episode all things considered though. We do get to see Team neon for the first time in a while though and having them fight Jaune and pals was cool. At this point they wouldn’t stand a chance against the main team so putting them up against these guys was a good play. It’s a fun training battle and we don’t often get to see the heroes training a bunch here so all of those scenes in Atlas were fun. The ending is also a solid stinger as Salem gets ever closer to the heroes.

6. Ice Queendom

Ice Queendom comes back with another big episode as we get to see Weiss square off with Blake this time around. Ruby’s first mission didn’t go great so she brought Blake and Yang this time around but Yang was stuck on decoy duty for a while so it’s more about Ruby and Blake running around. I do like that Yang is a bit more no nonsense about the whole thing and doesn’t mind taking shots at Weiss here. That’s just her personality and it’s good to see her stay bold, it’s the Yang we’re used to after all. While the fight isn’t quite as good as the last one, the episode has a good mix of action and plot main for another solid episode in the saga. The dream world is certainly difficult to conquer.

5. Volume 2

In Volume 2 we get to see a lot of good Pyrrha action which was good to see. Surprisingly Team Cardin is actually rather strong as they give her a good fight. Yes she beats them 4-1 so it’s a bit relative I suppose but their attacks looked good and they had a lot of teamwork. At the end of the day it’s good that Cardin isn’t a bully anymore because clearly he could still defeat Jaune if he wanted too. Meanwhile we also got to see Mercury fight a bit even if he only got serious for a second as part of the master plan. It was a good setup episode and throwing in some big fight scenes really helped to make the episode stand out. It was a really solid adventure for volume 2 and it’s always great to see how gracefully Pyrrha fights. It’s no wonder that she is considered to be s top prodigy.

4. Volume 8

Volume 8 brings us our next big Maiden fight which is always exciting. The heroes finally have Amity Arena up and are ready to give their big speech but Cinder shows up with Neo and Emerald to put a bit of a damper on that. I have to say that I’m still a little skeptical of the grim reaper being able to not only hold off Neo but actually overpower her here. In her prime maybe, but now that she is an old lady? Yeah I don’t see that happening. I suppose it’s nice for her fans but it stretches disbelief just a little too much. It’s my only real issue with the episode though. Volume 8 continues to keep things operating on a high level and the plot is also very interesting. So while the fight is a nice bonus, the non action parts also hold up really well. Definitely another great episode to the collection. (How did Watts actually manage to steal that phone without being noticed though?)

3. Volume 1

This episode finally brought in the famous Nevermore fight. To date it would not be a stretch to say that it’s probably the most well known fight in the series. It was the first time that the team all worked together and was really when the show started to show off what it could do in the action department. Yes the trailers had great action but the show itself hadn’t had too many action scenes yet. The fights hold up really well and we also got to see how all of the characters interacted here. This would ultimately be the launching point for the characters to become better and better. If the competition wasn’t so steep this could have even made a strong case for the top spot here. The song that plays during the fight is also absolutely top notch.

2. Volume 6

Volume 6 gave us the big Neo return here so you can bet that the episode is rather high up. I’d been waiting for this for an extremely long time and the episode did not disappoint. Seeing Neo hold her own against Cinder until the maiden abilities were activated was perfect. I always felt that in pure ability Neo had to be one of the best and her illusions are just hard to beat. They may be different from Emerald’s ability but are close enough to cause a lot of damage.

This led to the introduction of a new song that was great as well. In the other plot we had Ruby and friends go inside the abandoned village and the whole thing plays out a bit like a horror film. It’s all ominous with the snow everywhere and people dying mysteriously. The characters even seem to be getting weaker to its effects. While I think it’s a little less convincing with a bunch of professional fighters like Team RWBY to get nervous, it was a good way to build stakes. This time there’s not an enemy to fight (yet) but still a lot of danger in the air.

1. Volume 3

Volume 3 continues the tournament strong as Yang and Weiss team up against Neon. It’s rare to get tag team battle so I was excited to see this one. The choreography is absolutely on point as you would expect and the soundtrack for the fight is really good. It’s an excellent usage of the tournament since you get to see some new characters and abilities while building off of Yang and Weiss’s dynamic. They don’t really do many combos here but they were picked because they are the strongest. So seeing them have to struggle here and try to make a comeback is very effective. It shows just how strong people on the outside can be.

The most impressive thing for me was when Flynt ended up surviving the explosion that took out Weiss. Yang having to go through a 2 vs 1 was really intense and that built up a lot of drama. I was really impressed with the fight and it’s definitely one of the big ones to remember. Meanwhile we also got to see Penny’s team stomp the competition which should come as no surprise. She really is quite powerful. Not sure how strong her teammate is as we don’t see much of her but I can’t say my first impression as a character was great. She seems a bit rude for no reason.

Well that’s a wrap on all of the episode 5s. We had a solid amount of combat episodes here and some good setup ones as well. We’re now seal enough into the series where you certainly expect a lot of action to be settling in or if not, that the plot is well underway and a lot is going on. This will only become more and more apparent as every volume has an intense climax. I’m definitely ready to see how they all stack up!