RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 3 – Strings
Moving on with our RWBY Volume 8 discussions it’s time for our analysis of Chapter 3 – Strings. Clare, Sophie and Nathaniel are back after a lengthy break (oops) and will be trying to catch up before Volume 8 resumes in February. For now, on with the episode…
Synopsis
The fate of humanity requires our heroes to infiltrate the most heavily-guarded facility in Atlas — all in a day’s work.
Despite the overall seriousness of what’s going on, own up – who laughed at the shenanigans of Ruby (Lindsay Jones) et al sneaking through Atlas Central Command?
C – That whole sequence was pretty hilarious, especially the guy getting tripped up and throwing his coffee everywhere. But even the little moments, like bored Blake (Arryn Zech) spinning in the chair while Penny (Taylor McNee) was doing her thing in the control room, was brilliant.
S – I loved it, the bit where Penny was explaining to the team about Ruby using her semblance was a particular favourite for me.
C – Yep, loved that bit!
N – It was nice to get a detailed explanation of Ruby’s semblance, even if we weren’t expecting Penny to be the one explaining it. I loved watching her use her semblance and finishing in a very Ruby way and Penny’s expression of pure excitement and amazement.
Blake and Nora (Samantha Ireland)’s little heart to heart was pretty emotional, especially Nora’s realisation that she doesn’t know who she is without Ren. Did you have any inkling of what was coming after that?
S – I wanted to hug Nora so bad, also wanting to slap Ren.
N – I feel really bad for Nora even though she doesn’t feel like it, she’s proven a strong character throughout and if anything has stood out over Ren. I’m really hoping this season will develop them both though.
C – I really wanted to hug Nora, and I was so worried about her cos that’s the kinda realisation that usually signals BAD THINGS are going to happen.
Let’s talk about the fight between Penny and the Ace-ops. Penny busting out the full powers of the Winter Maiden was pretty spectacular right?
N – Penny didn’t disappoint in the slightest, I’m so glad we’re getting to see her more. She’s developed so much and this season really is just getting to show how much she’s improved fighting wise and how passionate she is towards her friends. But it was also great to see her powers other than fighting like her view of the building schematics and her hacking skills.
C – Wow. Just… wow. All credit to the animation team for that fight cos it was CRAZY good. Penny was incredible fighting all four of them at once, especially since they have been a team for a hell of a lot longer than she has had her Maiden powers. Still grumpy that Marrow (Mick Lauer) hasn’t seen the light and joined the good guys yet.
S – That was amazing, considering she hasn’t had them long she certainly has a good idea of what she can do. The only thing I thought was off was them getting the advantage over her, she is a robot after.
And Nora going through the door…
C – Was freaking AWESOME although I am so worried about her. I really hope she’s going to be okay after that.
S – Spectacular! Be strong and hit things, pretty much sums it up. I really hope she is ok though.
N – We knew she could take a beating before but this was a whole new level, she definitely showed that we haven’t seen what she’s capable of and her supercharged look was amazing, she couldn’t cope with it though and I really hope she’s ok but I definitely can’t wait to see her show off more.
Right, let’s talk about Idiot…I mean Ironwood (Jason Rose). Working with Watts (Christopher Sabat) of all people to sabotage Penny. Is he beyond redemption now?
S – Yes, for me anyway, how he can think it’s a good idea is beyond me. He locked Qrow (Jason Liebrecht) up for trying to capture Tyrian but it’s ok for him to go work with the guy responsible for his current situation! I hope Qrow punches him in the face.
N – he is thinking purely from a military mindset now, there’s no good or bad for him at the moment. Just assets for him to use to reach his goal, once he has a plan there’s no stopping him sadly at the moment he is just as big of a threat to Atlas than Salem is.
C – Yeah. I think he’s totally beyond saving now tbh. This isn’t even “the end justifies the means” territory, this is flat out madness. I think Qrow might do more than punch him in the face when he finally gets out of prison.
What do you think the title “Strings” referred to in this episode?
C – I think it probably refers to Penny, she gets “puppeteered” by Pietro in the control room and then at least one of her strings gets cut by Harriet when she steals her sword. I am really worried what Watts is going to do to her using that…nothing good would be my guess.
S – I would think strings on a puppet and that puppet is Penny, I hate to think what Watts could do with one of her swords.
N – I have to agree with Clare and Sophie, it’s definitely referring to penny. We’ve seen her being controlled in this episode and we know Watts told the Ace-ops to retrieve one of Penny’s swords which can only be bad news for Penny.
RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 3 – Strings – is available to stream now on RoosterTeeth.com. You can check out our discussion of the previous chapter HERE.
