A lot of fantastic things happened in Chapter 10 and I could go on for days talking about it. However, for right now I want to talk about this shot here:
Notice how everyone is positioned. Ruby is out front, taking control and leading. Jaune, Ren, Nora and Oscar all standing together ready for orders and to back her up, with Oscar standing a little in front.
The group is shown here as being strong and unified behind Ruby.
And then we have Qrow standing off by himself. When I first saw this shot I thought the reason he was off to himself was because he really didn’t want any part of this plan and was there grudgingly, however, as the episode progressed, I realized that’s not the case at all. He’s isolated himself, something we’ve seen him do all throughout the season. Hell, we’ve seen him do this as far back as Season 4, first while tailing team RNJR and leaving a trail of slaughtered grim or watching RNJR from a safe distance in another inn. Even when he officially joins them, he keeps his distance, opting to sleep away from their encampment.
He’s doing it again now because he knows, or at least believes, that if he gets too close he’ll ruin not only their plan, but their one chance to get to Atlas.
This is underlined by the way he reacts when the plan does go south. I highly doubt that Qrow’s semblance had anything to do with Adam showing up and ambushing Blake and preventing her from disabling the comm tower, but he doesn’t know that. At this point none of them know what’s happened. We don’t know much about what Qrow’s life growing up was like, but we can infer from things he’s said (“…crows are a sign of bad luck…it’s how I got my name”; “Nobody wanted me. I was cursed.”) that his semblance, and him by extension, were blamed for a lot of things that went wrong in others’ lives. When you are told something over and over and over again, you start believing it, even if it isn’t true. So it’s easy to see that when things go wrong with the plan to steal the ship that Qrow would instantly hold himself accountable.
Then something important happens. Its like this is the final straw that finally breaks him and he starts opening up, just a little bit by revealing that he holds himself personally responsible not just for their current situation, but for everything that’s happened up to this point as well as he current state of the world. That is a lot to carry on one’s shoulders, whether its justified or not. Some may see this as over reacting or another instance of him being all “emo” and shit. I don’t. Instead I see this as a pivotal moment for Qrow because he’s finally showing the pain, frustration and anger he’s been keeping bottled up inside (no pun intended).
And Ruby’s reaction to this is amazing. She recognizes what’s actually happening here. Throughout the volume she’s started to realize the problems and flaws her uncle has and see them for what they are. She’s also a person who is able to sympathize with others. So now she’s drawing connections between her uncle’s drinking, his semblance and how he sees himself. He hasn’t told her in so many words, but he doesn’t really have to either. What Ruby says in response to Qrow’s outburst is probably the best little speech she’s ever given. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she knows he’s always done the best he can, even though things didn’t always turn out well for him or those around him. He doesn’t have to carry the burden of blame when things go wrong, she doesn’t expect or want him to. And after everything is said in done, she still considers him one of her role models. After Qrow’s line “You gave me a place in this world. I thought I was finally doing some good” in Chapter 4, hearing and seeing that his niece really does see him as a good person is absolutely vital.
Which leads us to this shot:
I love this shot. Just like the first one, we have a visual establishing of the team’s dynamics. JNR + Oscar are standing unified, but this time, Ruby is bridging the gap between that unified group and Qrow. She hasn’t quite made it all the way there yet, but she’s a hell of a lot closer now than she was before. It’s a fantastic moment for both Qrow and Ruby and I am an utter sucker for moments like this in which both characters share an emotional moment and both grow from it.
I don’t think that this is the end of Qrow’s character arc. He has a lot more he needs to work through, but I do think that this is a pivotal moment for his character that marks a shift from his downward spiral towards something better. At least, I hope so.
