I honestly can’t even watch the show anymore, which is so frustrating. I feel like I can’t help but sympathize with all the people they say are wrong and I’m starting to hate the protagonists, who feel like cardboard kinda Mary Sues. Just glad I’m not the only one frustrated.
Definitely not alone in that regard, anon. I too find myself sympathizing just as much—if not more—with the characters supposedly in the wrong, which would make for a truly excellent show if RWBY did a better job of acknowledging those gray areas. Or crafting situations wherein characters are actually in the wrong but you nevertheless feel for them. A “cool motive, still murder” setup. But consistently over the last two volumes the show has undermined both possibilities. Even more-so with Ironwood in Volume 7 than the issues we saw with Ozpin in Volume 6. We’re painting a supposedly complex scenario… only to insist in the last 2-3 episodes that there is clearly a “right” answer to all this and that answer, of course, comes from Team RWBY. Ironwood is supposedly a misguided guy… except he’s right in his stance that fighting based on what they currently know is the height of stupidity and leaving with Atlas is the only plan they have with hope attached (I’m not even going to get into the stupidity of his shooting Oscar. That falls under Point #1: previously gray character swerves to become outright evil in order to boost the supposed heroics of the protagonists).
There’s so much potential there which, yeah, makes it all far more frustrating than just a generically badly written show. RWBY keeps setting up really excellent concepts—The group has to grapple with Salem’s immortality! They must find a strategic and creative way across the boarder! They’re repeating Ozpin’s exact actions! Penny is framed! Ironwood isn’t the crazy dictator everyone assumed he would be in the first few minutes of 7.1!—only to either outright drop the idea or twist it into a conclusion that doesn’t match up with everything that came before it. The viewer ultimately has no trust in plotlines or characterization, particularly the latter. You can’t trust that a previously stubborn special operative will logically continue to bar the group entry. You can’t trust that a previously traumatized man will act on that trauma by fighting the man who tried to kill him and kidnap his niece. Cordovin praises the group. Qrow teams up with Tyrian. Yang trusts Robyn over Ironwood. Ironwood shoots Ozpin and Oscar. Robyn guns for Ironwood instead of Jacques. Ruby repeats the actions of Ozpin, a man she says she can’t trust. Qrow praises those same actions while simultaneously denouncing them. Weiss doesn’t trust her sister to know her own boss. Nora continues to support the tower plan even while yelling about its downsides. Oscar pushes Ironwood to trust the group even though he’s been the one treated the worst by them pre-random movie night.
Really, the only characters whose actions lined up with their previous characterization are:
The Ace Ops, who remained loyal to Ironwood
Blake, sort of, in that she did everything Yang suggested
Ren, but only because we don’t yet fully know why he’s pseudo-siding with Ironwood. That’s a bit up in the air and thus I’m not going to comment yet on whether it makes sense for him or not
Jaune, because Jaune didn’t really do much this volume except help kids cross the street and fight Neo. There wasn’t really time for him to make any unexpected decisions
In such a large cast only having three main characters whose actions (kind of) make sense based on what we’ve seen from them previously/what makes sense in the way of growth is not great.
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