Let's Talk About RWBY Volume 8 Episode 5 - 'Amity'
The fifth episode of RWBY’s eighth season is out for Rooster Teeth First members, and in my opinion, it’s the best episode we’ve watched all season. If you haven’t watched the episode, this is your warning that spoilers abound. You’ll definitely want to watch this episode, it’s visually very gratifying.
We got quite a bit of action in this episode which is always a lot of fun to watch and one of my favorite things in this show, but there was also a lot of heart in it. The episode took time to breathe, and it took time to let you feel and I really appreciated it. Maria, Penny, and Pietro are working on getting Amity launched so they can get a message out to the world. Amity wasn’t completed, so to launch it, the group has rigged a big dust explosion to help with the launch.
As they’re ascending, Cinder, Emerald, and Neo crash in expecting to find Ruby who they all dislike. They don’t find Ruby, but rather Penny who fights Cinder and Maria who engages with Neo. The fights are so much fun to watch. I love Maria, and it’s phenomenal to watch her still fight. I was kind of hoping that her cybernetic eyes would’ve helped her when Emerald used her semblance to help Neo, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. I did love it when Penny was able to not fall for Emerald’s semblance while fighting for Cinder. I hate Cinder; she’s so stupid and short-sided, so it’s fun whenever she gets her butt kicked.
Sadly, Cinder’s entrance ends up damaging one of the stabilizers that Amity needed in order to stay afloat, so they begin sinking before the message is able to get out. Penny then goes to help push it and get it high enough to broadcast it despite Pietro’s wishes to keep her safe. This is actually something that I loved about the episode. Pietro knows how dangerous everything is, and he doesn’t want to lose his daughter, Penny. He’s already lost her once, and he has this amazing opportunity to have her back. This leads to him having very fatherly instincts and not wanting his daughter to come to harm. He knows that she’s capable of some things, but when things get riskier, he really starts to push back. I also love how Penny finally talks to him about wanting to live and be free and Maria trying to help Pietro let go a little more. Penny does go help lift Amity, and they are able to launch the message.
The message is Ruby telling the people of Remnant that the Maidens are real and Salem’s real. She points to Glynda at Beacon and Theodore at Shade as being able to corroborate the story. In addition, Ruby says that Ironwood cannot be trusted. Unfortunately, Ironwood uses Watts to become even more of a monster. Watts is able to use Penny’s sword that the Ace Ops procured to more or less hack into Penny, and she shuts down while keeping Amity up. This causes her to start shorting out and eventually shut down and fall from the sky. She’s not sure what’s going on, Pietro doesn’t know either, but he knows something’s wrong, and it creates a sense of urgency and panic. Then, I almost lost it when he asks her to say something and she simply responds “I love you” as she starts to fall to the planet below. There is zero redemption for Ironwood at this point. He is becoming more and more heartless which fits his character as the Tin Man, and I hate it. To be fair, he does seem to realize something’s up with what Watts did, but he doesn’t really seem to care.
With Penny falling, Amity also begins falling, and the broadcast becomes interrupted. Watts seems to be sneaking something (I didn’t get a good look at it) back to his cell which I’m sure he’s going to use to escape and backstab Ironwood. Also, Jaune, Ren, and Yang notice something going on when the broadcast is interrupted and they run out and find a literal river of Grimm heading for Mantle and it’s scary.
One final thing I want to touch on is that during the broadcast, we see various characters. We see Whitley Schnee, Glynda, Ilia, and Sun and Neptune watching it. This does raise questions for me after reading RWBY: Before the Dawn. I’m surprised to see Sun and Neptune alone together. I would’ve hoped to see them with Sage and Scarlet at the least, but also expected team CFVY and maybe our first look at Theodore included as well. It would’ve really helped tie the books back to the series. However, having Sun and Neptune alone admittedly has me questioning a bit of what is happening.
What did you think of this episode of RWBY?