Hello and welcome to another RWBY episode where things may actually be picking up plot wise.
First off, we learn why Pyrrha was called to Ozpin's office. Ozpin tells a tale of four maidens named after the seasons who receive great power for their good deeds. It turns out that Pyrrha is chosen to receive the power of the maiden of the fall. However there are complications. Normally, a maiden's power is passed on to the person on her mind when she dies but the current maiden of the fall had a portion of her power stolen and her life is in danger. Ozpin and the society that he is a part of can't risk having the remainder of the fall maiden's power transfer to the attacker so they decided to do something risky. Ironwood has created a device to transfer the aura of the fall maiden into Pyrrha but with possible consequences to her sense of self. As such, Ozpin gives Pyrrha a choice to decide before the end of the tournament.
I have some issues with this setup. The main reason is that the myth of the maidens was never alluded to or mentioned before. If it had been mentioned before, the reveal of the myth being real would seem like a natural extension of the world's history and myth. Without the world building though, this seems like a random insertion to add tension and drama to the proceedings. Another minor issue is the camera which pulls back twice in two spots to try to do establishing shots of the interior but the times when they did it didn't develop the sense of scale that was intended and merely muffles the dialogue being spoken.
We then transition to a fight between Yang and Mercury. The fight itself was decent enough; the choreography was average with appropriate slowdown for tense moment and contact between the punches and kicks. The camera however is a bit deficient as, instead of doing traditional Chinese martial art film methods and having the camera focus on each hit or exchange of blows, the camera is pulled back too much and diminishes the impact conveyed.
After the fight, there is more story as Mercury, out of aura, tries to fly kick Yang and gets his leg broken as a result. However, Cinder probably had altered the camera to make it seem that Yang had attacked Mercury without provocation. The reactions of the crowd seems to attract the attention of Grimm outside the city and they seem to be ready to attack.
All and all, the episode reaches acceptable and manages to get halfway towards good as the story setup is intriguing but flawed and the fight is acceptable and has room to improve
First off, we learn why Pyrrha was called to Ozpin's office. Ozpin tells a tale of four maidens named after the seasons who receive great power for their good deeds. It turns out that Pyrrha is chosen to receive the power of the maiden of the fall. However there are complications. Normally, a maiden's power is passed on to the person on her mind when she dies but the current maiden of the fall had a portion of her power stolen and her life is in danger. Ozpin and the society that he is a part of can't risk having the remainder of the fall maiden's power transfer to the attacker so they decided to do something risky. Ironwood has created a device to transfer the aura of the fall maiden into Pyrrha but with possible consequences to her sense of self. As such, Ozpin gives Pyrrha a choice to decide before the end of the tournament.
I have some issues with this setup. The main reason is that the myth of the maidens was never alluded to or mentioned before. If it had been mentioned before, the reveal of the myth being real would seem like a natural extension of the world's history and myth. Without the world building though, this seems like a random insertion to add tension and drama to the proceedings. Another minor issue is the camera which pulls back twice in two spots to try to do establishing shots of the interior but the times when they did it didn't develop the sense of scale that was intended and merely muffles the dialogue being spoken.
We then transition to a fight between Yang and Mercury. The fight itself was decent enough; the choreography was average with appropriate slowdown for tense moment and contact between the punches and kicks. The camera however is a bit deficient as, instead of doing traditional Chinese martial art film methods and having the camera focus on each hit or exchange of blows, the camera is pulled back too much and diminishes the impact conveyed.
After the fight, there is more story as Mercury, out of aura, tries to fly kick Yang and gets his leg broken as a result. However, Cinder probably had altered the camera to make it seem that Yang had attacked Mercury without provocation. The reactions of the crowd seems to attract the attention of Grimm outside the city and they seem to be ready to attack.
All and all, the episode reaches acceptable and manages to get halfway towards good as the story setup is intriguing but flawed and the fight is acceptable and has room to improve
