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miso-vicious · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 1 (Spoilers)

Welcome back, everyone. It’s been too long, and yet at the same time, it feels like only yesterday season 6 had ended. Now that season 7 has premiered, it has opened up a whole new world of excitement and problems for our favorite heroes. So let’s try and break down what has happened and what possibly lies in our future.

It should go without saying, but there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

Welcome To Atlas

After a whole season worth of traveling, our heroes have finally reached Atlas. While we did spend season 4 here, we only ever saw the Schnee manor. This is the first time we’ve seen Atlas in all of its glory. Only, it seems as though Atlas military has taken over the skies and grounds. Most likely due to James Ironwood’s increasing paranoia of Salem. Beacon has fallen, Haven almost fell, it stands to reason that Atlas is next on Salem’s list. Especially since Qrow forewarned him of their impending arrival. And bad luck follows this group like a dark shadow.

And it’s abundantly clear that if you aren’t lucky enough to be born into wealth, you are immediately put at the bottom of the food chain. More specifically, you live on the ground, at risk of crime and Grimm attacks. While the wealthy get to live on the tethered city in the clouds, free from land Grimm, but riddled with corruption.

This is a basic rough draft of the possible hierarchy of power in Atlas, but our information is limited. So don’t take this as fact. As you can see, Military is at the top of this pyramid. Below is Arms Makers and Scientists. This is an all encompassing of what makes Atlas one of the most powerful Kingdoms in the world due its technological and military innovations. Leaving the noble families, first and foremost the Schnee family, at bottom of this pyramid. Because while they bring in at least half of this Kingdom’s income with their Dust Company, the Ironwood had no problem cutting of trade going in and out of the Kingdom, thus cutting off the Kingdom’s and the Schnee Family’s income. But if I can say anything about that bastard Jacques Schnee, is that he isn’t going to let a military ban stop him from making his millions.

Next comes the white collar works, the blue collar workers, and finally, the bottom of the pyramid. It consists of the Dust Miners, Criminals, the Homeless, and the Faunus. Caroline Cordovin’s cold reception of Blake Belladonna in Argus is indication that Atlas is the worst place for a Faunus to be. But since most of the world is prejudice against Faunus, Atlas is a place for desperate Faunus to get work in the Dust Mines belonging to the Schnee Dust Company. Which we all know is dangerous, even life threatening, work, but no one seems to care as long as they keep getting their Dust for their war.

There Is No War In Atlas

In the opening sequence, we see a group of angry civilians yelling at one of Ironwoods propaganda messages. And when one of them throws a rock at the hologram, it glitches and reveals Jacques Schnee. This could imply that Ironwood’s paranoia has been spurred on by Jacques. If Salem were to kick down their door tomorrow, who would be the first to go? Everyone who is on the ground. Most of the military seems to be focused on protecting the main capital, where the Relic is most likely hidden. But there’s no protection for those less fortunate, and I’m sure Jacques wants it to stay that way. I guess it will be Qrow’s job to convince Ironwood that his hologram messages can’t protect these people from Salem’s flying monkeys. And now with two Relics and possibly the Winter Maiden all in the same Kingdom, Atlas is now the most dangerous place to be. With Cinder being unable to fully tap into her Fall Maiden powers (as well as her disappearance), and with Vacuo being a wasteland of sand and death, Ironwood knows that Salem’s next move will be towards Atlas.

And let’s not forget that Winter Schnee has also been drinking the kool-aid. So now the team feels less secure in calling Ironwood and Winter for aid.

And part of his paranoia, Ironwood has drones roaming the streets. They seemed to be keen on Yang’s prosthetic arm, and even took her picture. They’re most likely there to record and document any suspicious activity, people of interest, or dangerous weapons. This is a clear violation of civil liberties and right to privacy, all in the name of “protecting” the people. How would you feel if a drone took your picture because you looked “suspicious”?

And our team has a quick run in with what seems to be drunk upper crust Atlas employees, who are upset because everyone views them as the enemy. And they try to pick a fight with Blake due to her being a Faunus.

Follow The Green Light

Maria Calavera points their destination towards her Doctor’s office, the one she originally intended to visit to fix her eyes. Dr. Pietro is apparently an Atlisian scientist who spends his spare time on the ground in his personal pharmacy, volunteering his time to help those in need. He even works along side Ironwood.

He points out the core of Ironwood’s paranoia: someone hacked into their security system, reprogrammed their military drone forces, took down their flag ships, and many people died due to this. Atlas has some of the best technological achievements, has the greatest developments in robotic based soldiers. And all of it meant nothing. Whomever hacked into their system was either a technological genius, or it was an inside job. Little do they know, it was one in the same.

It has already been established that Arthur Watts is a disgraced Atlisian scientist, as well as a doctor, and we’ve only seen glimpses into his technological feats. While the infiltration into Beacon was lead by Cinder, it’s become clear that Watts was most likely the brains behind the virus that brought down the Atlas military and the CCT tower. He also designed a new stinger for Tyrian Callow after his original one was cut off by Ruby Rose. He even created armor plating for the rest of his tail. It’s not clear what Watts’ angle is, aside from taking down the government that turned their back on him. It could be possible that Dr. Pietro might have had some run ins with Watts in the past. Some have theorized that Watts is Dr. Pietro’s son. But that might be stretching it. While season 5 focused on Cinder, Hazel, and Raven as the main villains, it seems that Watts and Tyrian will be taking the helm this time.

What’s more surprising is that he recognizes Yang’s prosthetic arm, and notes how she painted it yellow. And once Ruby stepped forward, he recognized the girls as Team RWBY.

Cut to a fight between our team and a bunch of tundra themed Grimm. Even after the grueling battle they experienced earlier that same day, they come out on top.

My Fancy Way Of Saying Hello

And we even get a beautiful reunion with our favorite Cybernetic Ginger and Ruby Rose.

We then learn that Dr. Pietro is Penny Polendina’s creator/father. He was able to retrieve her core from the wreckage of Amity Arena, and he rebuilt her. And she’s got a few new updates, including but not limited to a new hair cut, rocket legs, and laser beams. Perhaps he removed her metal cords/swords since it lead to her untimely death. It’s unclear if she is still the same Penny we remember, nor is it clear if she remembers exactly how she died. But this is the first time we’ve had one of our dead characters come back to life, so let’s try and enjoy it.

Here We Are Safe, Here We Are Free

And of course, the reunion is short lived. Penny makes a quick exit at the sound of alarms, leaving our team behind. They are arrested by A.C.E. OPs; most likely Ironwood’s personal secret police. Apparently their efforts to protect the city were illegal, since most of them aren’t actually licensed Huntsmen.

They confiscate our teams weapons, take the Relic from Ruby, and are being driven to places unknown.

Mirror Mirror, Who Can I Trust?

Now that concludes what happened in the episode, lets go into what may happen in the future. Namely, the future for the Schnee Family. Now that Weiss Schnee is back in her home Kingdom, she is bound to have a run in with her father and brother. The last she saw of them both was when her father revoked her place as heir to the Schnee Dust Company, right after hitting her. And Whitely Schnee, who played the part of her loving brother, revealed that this was the outcome he wanted all along. With Winter rejecting her place as the heir, and Weiss being removed, Whitely is now the sole heir of Schnee Dust Company. Weiss believes his betrayal is because he’s jealous of her and Winter, because he does not have the trademark Schnee semblance. Even though he claims it to be barbaric, it has to take a toll on him that Winter and Weiss are everything a Schnee should be (smart, powerful, elegant), and he is just... there. It takes more than just a head of snow white hair to make a Schnee, no matter how often Jacques must dye his own.

Even if Winter is pro military, she’s the only Schnee Weiss can trust right now. And it will be interesting to see how Jacques and Whitely have taken to Weiss disowning herself and becoming confident enough to stand up to both of them. Perhaps Whitely will finally see that fame, money, and their company mean nothing to Weiss, she would rather spend her time trying to save the world than kiss their father’s boots. Whitely coudln’t survive one day in the real world. And if he gets a real look at what Weiss has been fighting, maybe it will be all three of the Schnee children against Jacques. Some people believe that that Winter is the current Winter Maiden, hence her name. Which would explain why Ironwood keeps her at his side, since only a Maiden can access the Relics, and her powerful abilities. But I feel like it would be too obvious if it were her.

Atlas Operatives: ACE

It’s unclear if these ACE OPs will be a thorn in our team’s side throughout this season, or if they will be the support system they need. While RWBY, JNR, and Oscar try their best and have come a long way since the beginning, Qrow is the only trained Huntsmen on the team. It will be SO helpful if they had some actual Huntsmen on the team. But knowing our luck, at least one of them will either die or betray us.

Spa Day and Upgrades

RWBY and JNR are getting more than just haircuts and a new wardrobe. They’re also getting weapon upgrades. We probably won’t see them for a couple of episodes, but we got our first glimpse at Jaune’s upgrade in the opening sequence.

He’s like Steven Universe. Jaune’s first instinct isn’t to attack, it’s to deflect, assess his opponent, and protect the one’s he loves. So of course he shield got a big upgrade. Now he has what looks like the shield wall that protects Argus coming out of his own shield. Since all Jaune had to do in this fight sequence was deflect the Cyber Tooth Tiger Grimm with his new shield it for it to disintegrate, it's more than just a shield now. It will certainly give him a new edge when he combines his sword and shield in battle.

Protect Mantle

Who is she? We don’t know. We see her face plastered on posters all over the city that say “Protect Mantle”.

For those who don’t know, Mantle was once the capital of Solitas. The first large settlement made in this northern continent, due to the harsh conditions and the Grimm, it was a hard place to live. Until Atlas came to be, merging their military, governemnt, and school together, they took Mantle’s greatest minds and made one of them most powerful Kingdoms. And everyone in Mantle was left behind. “Mantle was old news- and the Kingdom of Atlas was born. A golden age of prosperity, they called it- but those left behind in Mantle would probably tell you it was the coldest winter they ever knew.” No one in Atlas cares about Mantle. Whoever this woman is, she seems to be the poster child for an uprising in Mantle.

We do see her fighting Tyrian along side Qrow, wielding a crossbow like weapon.

Due to a possible scarcity of Dust down in Mantle, she has to rely on actual bolts instead of Dust to load her weapon. And based on her fighting skills, she may have been a high Atlesian solider, maybe part of Ironwood’s inner circle, but when Ironwood turned his back on those in Mantle, she left to protect them.

On The First Day, The God of Light Created...

Finally, we have what they’re all here for. Through the power of photoshop, I’ve created an image of the Winter Maiden’s Relic: The Relic of Creation.

Of course, they would put Monty Oum’s credit in front of this Relic, since he is the creator of RWBY. And it makes sense that this would be the Relic that would be in Atlas. Atlas is known for it’s amazing innovations/creations. Perhaps, this Relic had certain influences over the Kingdom, giving them the power create things beyond imagination. Since the Relic of Knowledge isn’t a weapon at all, but a host to a being of infinite knowledge, we can only guess what lies in this Relic. Maybe if there’s another being resting in this Relic, they can help our team stop Salem. And since all that remains is Vale and Vacuo, I’ve theorized that the Relic of Choice is in Beacon (the most liberated Kingdom, who is accepting of all its citizens), and the Relic of Destruction is in Shade (the setting of the end of the Great War, and a dangerous tundra of sand).

Look Towards The Future

Here, we have our main team this season. This is the biggest group we’ve ever had. I’m looking forward to where this season will take us. If you made it to the end of my horrible rambling, I commend you. And if you have any additional information or theories to add, please tell me. I’m always interested in all things RWBY. See ya’ll next Saturday!!!

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