Novel Mike
Member
So more I watch the intro the more I like it. The animation is still hit and miss but the theme and music/lyrics actually fit the slower paced animation. The series basically kicked everything into high gear from the get go and in season 3 that high gear quite literally hit the brick wall that is known as the plot and shattered the status quo we came to expect from the show. This intro largely resets everything we've known about the series thus far. The villains aren't hiding anymore, team RWBY is separated and all gone different paths (and I don't think they'll end up being a team again until much later on, maybe not until the very end of the series) and they aren't really safe anymore and they know that.
Season 3 was largely about pulling the rug out from under all of the kids, making them realize that heroes don't always win, that people die, and likely one day they will to. They've been forced to grow up much sooner then they wanted or expected to.
On the pulling the rug out with under them part, think about what REALLY happens for a moment at the end of season 3 to our main characters.
Blake - Her ex-boyfriend Adam (who is clearly extremely abusive and is likely the main reason she ran away) toys with her, beats her, he purposefully wounds her and tells her that he'll "Make it his mission to destroy everything she loves." Enter Yang, who he proceeds to disarm (no pun intended) and would have killed her for sure if Blake didn't intervene. She runs away likely fearing for her loved ones.
Yang - Because of Emerald and co. everyone thinks shes crazy or just mean/evil for attacking Mercury at the end of their battle, which already makes her feel alone and helpless not to mention very very confused. No one has yet to learn the truth of what happened either, most people who saw that scene likely still think shes a monster or crazy or something. Then when she goes to help Blake who just got wounded (still being the loyal friend she is) she ends up going against what largely amounts to (thinking RPG terms here) a final boss showing up near the beginning of the game and wiping the floor with her, however unlike most games she doesn't just end up getting beat up a bit, she has her arm cut off. Then after literally losing her arm trying to save Blake, her friend. She disappears, making her mental state pretty much bottom out. The world thinks shes a monster, she loses a limb, and to her it seems like her best friend abandoned her when she tried to save her.
Weiss - The character who goes through the least of the drama and actually has a high note with her being able to summon. However, in the climax shes forcefully taken away from her friends by her father who we've learned isn't the most agreeable person.
Ruby - I think Torchwick actually gives her the best possible development. Flat out telling her that if she wants to be a Huntsman then she can die like one like all the rest. Hes telling her that while she might imagine some epic tale of great heroes defending the world the world itself is much more dangerous and random and to cap that off, Torchwick is then eaten by a Grimm reinforcing that no one is safe (I thought this death so random back then, but thinking back on it and the point hes trying to drill into Ruby at the time, its actually rather genius). Despite that Ruby still believes she can be this awesome hero and when Jaune needs help she rushes to help him and Pyrrah, thinking she'll arrive in time to help Pyrrah only to arrive mere moments late. While this is the trigger for her silver eyes power to awaken and she is able to stop the battle from progressing any farther she awakens to find everything has changed. Pyrrah is dead, Weiss (her BFF) is gone, Blake has disappeared, and Yang has lost all hope. Her team is shattered, so she turns to others to try and continue on because she still feels the need to do something, theres far to much she still doesn't understand.
Now Season 4 is about accepting those reality's and moving forward however they can. I think the lyrics in all of these openings do a damn great job representing the theme of each season but I think this seasons really knocks it out of the park, and the intro largely highlights how each of them is ultimately going to deal with the problems.
Blake - Has run away to her parents(?) to protect them from Adam who she clearly is terrified of if she wasn't already after what happened to Yang.
Yang - Shes the one I don't think will recover easily, and the intro largely shows that. Her seeing her reflection of how she once was hits her hard. Shes struggling more then most and it doesn't look like her fathers going to be able to do much to help (I think Raven is going to show up and help her out of this slump if anyone is but thats just guesswork on my part since the intro doesn't suggest such a thing in the slightest).
Weiss - Despite being forced to return home I think her resolve to get stronger is greater then anyones right now which is why we clearly see her practicing summoning in the intro. Shes likely not being allowed to do anything that she wants to do atm but thats not going to stop her from doing what she wants in the end, I think its likely she'll end up running away from home at some point, but perhaps not right away.
Ruby - Ruby has obviously teamed up with Jaune/Nora/Ren and are trying to find out what is REALLY going on but she also knows now about her power. We see her briefly fighting Tyrion but I'm assuming Crow will likely show up to take him on when that happens. Shes not lost hope like the other memebers of her team have, shes still naive I think but shes not going to let everything that happened get her down. She remains positive at least for now... Until perhaps its revealed if Salem or one of her generals is the one who actually killed her mom. I think there are a few hints in the intro that goes to show that while she is trying to keep moving forward its not as if things haven't affected her shes just keeping that largely to herself since she knows perhaps better then the others that things are long from over and she can't let this get her down.
Well that became much longer then I originally intended but yeah, A lot of things at work in this season and its opening.
Season 3 was largely about pulling the rug out from under all of the kids, making them realize that heroes don't always win, that people die, and likely one day they will to. They've been forced to grow up much sooner then they wanted or expected to.
On the pulling the rug out with under them part, think about what REALLY happens for a moment at the end of season 3 to our main characters.
Blake - Her ex-boyfriend Adam (who is clearly extremely abusive and is likely the main reason she ran away) toys with her, beats her, he purposefully wounds her and tells her that he'll "Make it his mission to destroy everything she loves." Enter Yang, who he proceeds to disarm (no pun intended) and would have killed her for sure if Blake didn't intervene. She runs away likely fearing for her loved ones.
Yang - Because of Emerald and co. everyone thinks shes crazy or just mean/evil for attacking Mercury at the end of their battle, which already makes her feel alone and helpless not to mention very very confused. No one has yet to learn the truth of what happened either, most people who saw that scene likely still think shes a monster or crazy or something. Then when she goes to help Blake who just got wounded (still being the loyal friend she is) she ends up going against what largely amounts to (thinking RPG terms here) a final boss showing up near the beginning of the game and wiping the floor with her, however unlike most games she doesn't just end up getting beat up a bit, she has her arm cut off. Then after literally losing her arm trying to save Blake, her friend. She disappears, making her mental state pretty much bottom out. The world thinks shes a monster, she loses a limb, and to her it seems like her best friend abandoned her when she tried to save her.
Weiss - The character who goes through the least of the drama and actually has a high note with her being able to summon. However, in the climax shes forcefully taken away from her friends by her father who we've learned isn't the most agreeable person.
Ruby - I think Torchwick actually gives her the best possible development. Flat out telling her that if she wants to be a Huntsman then she can die like one like all the rest. Hes telling her that while she might imagine some epic tale of great heroes defending the world the world itself is much more dangerous and random and to cap that off, Torchwick is then eaten by a Grimm reinforcing that no one is safe (I thought this death so random back then, but thinking back on it and the point hes trying to drill into Ruby at the time, its actually rather genius). Despite that Ruby still believes she can be this awesome hero and when Jaune needs help she rushes to help him and Pyrrah, thinking she'll arrive in time to help Pyrrah only to arrive mere moments late. While this is the trigger for her silver eyes power to awaken and she is able to stop the battle from progressing any farther she awakens to find everything has changed. Pyrrah is dead, Weiss (her BFF) is gone, Blake has disappeared, and Yang has lost all hope. Her team is shattered, so she turns to others to try and continue on because she still feels the need to do something, theres far to much she still doesn't understand.
Now Season 4 is about accepting those reality's and moving forward however they can. I think the lyrics in all of these openings do a damn great job representing the theme of each season but I think this seasons really knocks it out of the park, and the intro largely highlights how each of them is ultimately going to deal with the problems.
Blake - Has run away to her parents(?) to protect them from Adam who she clearly is terrified of if she wasn't already after what happened to Yang.
Yang - Shes the one I don't think will recover easily, and the intro largely shows that. Her seeing her reflection of how she once was hits her hard. Shes struggling more then most and it doesn't look like her fathers going to be able to do much to help (I think Raven is going to show up and help her out of this slump if anyone is but thats just guesswork on my part since the intro doesn't suggest such a thing in the slightest).
Weiss - Despite being forced to return home I think her resolve to get stronger is greater then anyones right now which is why we clearly see her practicing summoning in the intro. Shes likely not being allowed to do anything that she wants to do atm but thats not going to stop her from doing what she wants in the end, I think its likely she'll end up running away from home at some point, but perhaps not right away.
Ruby - Ruby has obviously teamed up with Jaune/Nora/Ren and are trying to find out what is REALLY going on but she also knows now about her power. We see her briefly fighting Tyrion but I'm assuming Crow will likely show up to take him on when that happens. Shes not lost hope like the other memebers of her team have, shes still naive I think but shes not going to let everything that happened get her down. She remains positive at least for now... Until perhaps its revealed if Salem or one of her generals is the one who actually killed her mom. I think there are a few hints in the intro that goes to show that while she is trying to keep moving forward its not as if things haven't affected her shes just keeping that largely to herself since she knows perhaps better then the others that things are long from over and she can't let this get her down.
Well that became much longer then I originally intended but yeah, A lot of things at work in this season and its opening.
