RWBY Ice Queendom 1x05 "Awaken in a Dream" - reaction & review
Added 2022-08-02 11:21:32 +0000 UTCHey everyone!! Here it is - my reaction to the ep 5 of RWBY ICE QUEENDOM!!!! YES!!! The whole gang is in the dream now, and we are really making the most of our team work! We get to see even more of the inner workings of the dream world here, including getting closer to the fortress where poor real Weiss is being kept. Oh yeah, and negative Weiss is such a cool term and a great way to describe the Weiss we're dealing with! I felt bad for Blake having to see all the anti-Faunus stuff :/ And also, JNPR HAS ARRIVED!!! OMG the angelic ethereal rendition of Mirror Mirror STUNNED ME!!! Pyrrha, you are a true angel <3333 Great ep! Enjoy! ~ MH
Comments
Ooh, good point about the dolls, and it does beg the question of what happens if you're hurt or worse in the dream! Yeah, Shion's semblance does seem to work a bit differently! (I'd heard that confirmation from RT, so cool!) Oh haha good ship to choose, and I see what you mean about the state of everyone's feelings at this point in time. Hmm, good point about the checkpoints and how they relate to Shion's semblance. Also, Weiss has a pretty good opinion of Blake and Yang's fighting skills lol. Oh I saw the dog?! I didn't realize! Ohhhh thanks for clarifying about the whole peace/coffin thing, that is SUPER dark and twisted!! The lighter note does lighten things, and yeah, Ruby might not be the best treasurer for the team! It's topsy turvy for sure to hear Pyrrha singing Weiss' song! While there's definitely some meow moments there considering the love triangle, there is something that oddly fits / some similarities between Weiss and Pyrrha. Awww Jen's gonna do amazing!!! Oh yeah, someone pointed out that wasn't really JNPR, but it is weird that Pyrrha's in the jail with them! Oof, yeah, I'm getting why everyone wants to steer Blake away from whatever the dream version of her is. Oh good call about the bunk bed scene, that's actually a good example of Weiss' confusion! Also good call about the red relic piece, I can definitely see how Ruby's gonna be important for snapping Weiss out of it! So true about Ruby and Blake, I love seeing them work together! They have a nice moment in the series but it comes waaayyyy later! That's an excellent point you make about Blake and Weiss' feelings towards each other too, and how that kind of change doesn't just happen overnight. Lol it was a good essay though, A+ work for sure! ^_^
Melissa Moore
2022-08-04 13:27:30 +0000 UTCYES!!!!!! She's truly an angel here....just like she will always be in my heart <3333 </3
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:16:39 +0000 UTCAh yes, good call! Pyrrha represents the ideal standard. Yeah, that is very interested about the matching knight right!!
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:16:21 +0000 UTCThat's true about Adam's intentions with the masks, as well as Weiss' interpretation of them at this time.
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:15:31 +0000 UTCYAY RWBY Tuesday!!! Thanks for confirming. And yes I need the dolls hehe!
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:15:00 +0000 UTCWHOA!!! I wanna hear her sing it, didn't even stop to think she would when dubbing it over. Something to look forward to!
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:14:43 +0000 UTCHi Spadeas! :) Hmm, that's an interesting theory and makes a lot of sense actually! Blake is the exception perhaps. Yes, I think there is some similarity there between the two! LOL that's a good detail to note, I can see how it would be a win for White Rose in a way hehe!
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:14:14 +0000 UTCOHHHH I did not notice!!! :O
Melissa Moore
2022-08-03 14:10:51 +0000 UTCOh wow I want to hear it!
Manny
2022-08-03 09:52:56 +0000 UTCNope seeing Pyrrha in such a light still cuts like a knife. It just hurt so much 👼 😭 😖
Manny
2022-08-03 09:52:22 +0000 UTCWe know that real world Weiss idolizes Pyrrha, so in the dream she symbolizes the perfect ideal of a Huntress....and Weiss knows she herself doesn't measure up to her...."I'm NOT perfect....not yet....but I'm still leagues better than you." (Weiss, Volume 1) "You don't even know me." (Ruby, Volume 1)....and Weiss feels very lonely and conflicted as she wrestles with her aspirations vs. her current abilities and situation as a member of Team RWBY. Ruby finds a red Knight piece but the matching white Knight is in the glass coffin in Negative Weiss's dining hall. Interesting.
John J Ronald
2022-08-02 23:54:07 +0000 UTCWeiss conflating the White Fang with the Grimm is understandable....to her they're equally evil(?)...and it kind of clicks with Adam's intention for the white Grimm masks that the White Fang wear anyway that he explains in his character short. Adam means to invoke the terror that Grimm inspire in Human and Faunus alike.
John J Ronald
2022-08-02 23:31:43 +0000 UTCIt was cool to have Pyrrha's Japanese seiyuu sing "Mirror, Mirror" phonetically in English....she enunciated the words so clearly I understood all of them (not always the case when I listen to Casey singing)
John J Ronald
2022-08-02 23:27:20 +0000 UTCAnd yes, I agree they should sell Ice Queendom RWBY VWDU dolls in the RT Store.
John J Ronald
2022-08-02 23:10:02 +0000 UTCYay, another RWBY Tuesday with Melissa.....and yes, it is RWBY7 with the extremely "anime" style opening.
John J Ronald
2022-08-02 23:05:48 +0000 UTCI am glad Jen Brown is gonna try and sing it, i feel she may regret it if she didn't do it, and she will try her hardest i am sure
Darren
2022-08-02 20:32:47 +0000 UTCAs usual, there’s a lot to “dive” into here. But let’s start at the beginning. It seems that the dolls are an indication of each dream walker’s current status. Notice that Ruby’s doll got slashed, and that’s why Shion pulled her. It’s a good thing, too, because Weiss was seriously swinging to kill when she was pulled. Which brings up a second question: what happens if you’re seriously injured or even die in the dream? Is this like the Matrix or do you just… wake up? Speaking of Shion, while everything they do is pretty cool (someone at RT clarified the character is non-binary), her Semblance doesn’t really match up with canon rules, it seems like they’ve created an entire office and their Aura works slightly different than others. Team JNPR’s pop in and Jaune’s comment about wishing he could take her place is kind of endearing, even if it hits Pyrrha a bit hard. Keep in mind: we’re pre-Volume 2. They haven’t really become anything other than teammates yet. It also shows that Jaune truly does genuinely care about Weiss as a person. We all know it, but it’s going to take Weiss longer to figure it out. (Also, on a personal note, you can probably guess who I ship Weiss with now. 😉) Everyone started on the same lake Ruby did last time, however it seems Weiss has a much higher opinion of Blake and Yang as fighters than she does about Ruby. Blake’s Gambol Shroud goes for miles when she fires the ribbon - and Yang’s punch levels a tree. So their powers have been completely exaggerated the opposite way. It seems that the checkpoints Ruby made are still intact, but anything that leaves the dream loses its data (like her scroll screenshot). You would think with Shion’s Aura depleting this wouldn’t stick, but it does. Kind of another inconsistency - so I’m hoping at one point they actually say what their Semblance is. The dream seems to be on a loop as the same events that occurred in the last episode occurred again, from the White Fang attack to Weiss’ conversation - that just played out a different way since Ruby hadn’t been detected yet. “Negative Weiss? I’ve never seen a positive Weiss!” - Guys, you’re not helping. But I think there might be a misconception - that IS Weiss physically manifested. But it seems like the dominant parts of her are all the traits that made her so unlikable in V1 - since that’s all she’s ever known. I think Weiss IS definitely in there but right now the better parts and personality of her are being completely repressed by the Nightmare. You’ve seen the dog before by the way, it was carrying around the book Weiss consulted that opened up to Winter, before attacking Ruby. Now given that Weiss responds to anything Winter says, is it going out on a limb to theorize that the Nightmare is masquerading as Winter? Let’s put that one in the mental pot. Okay, it’s mentioned in the episode that Weiss is seeking true peace for the time to come - and Klein reveals that glass sarcophagus that has an apple on it. Now, we know the Nightmare is eventually going to kill Weiss from inside if it isn’t unchecked, and Klein presents this sarcophagus as “a place to achieve true sleep. Only true daughters of the Schnee family may enter.” So now might be a good time to remind you that Weiss is based on a fairy tale. A pretty well known one. One that actually involves an apple, and not in a good way… so it would seem that Weiss’ goal in this world, or at least the way the Nightmare has conditioned her mind - is to actually die. And it’s being presented to her as the ultimate achievement. Yeah, this Grimm’s really got hooks into the Ice Queen, and it’s really doing a number on not only her insecurities but her personal subconscious. What the Nightmare is doing is basically convincing her to commit suicide. That’s kinda dark. Okay let’s move on to a lighter topic. Remember in the last episode how Ruby was so nonchalant spending the twelve coins she had, making decoys and doors? It seems Blake and Yang are FAR more discerning when it comes to using them as they got all the way to the end of the episode using only two, while Ruby used eleven in the previous jaunt. The moral of this story? Ruby should not be in charge of Team RWBY’s finances. Now here’s the twisty part, and it involves the Pyrrha scene. First off, you know things have gone completely upside down when Pyrrha is singing a song tailored to Weiss, especially when you think of some of the cat fighting that took place in the V2 OST (“Dream Cone True” comes to mind), but it’s also the perfect song to sum up Weiss, even in the dream world, as she’s definitely scared of herself. Given the actions of Negative Weiss, it’s not invalid fear. Also, the dub isn’t done yet, but Pyrrha’s English VA did tweet this out. https://twitter.com/The_JenBrown/status/1553876704174686216?s=20&t=8tC8XLPJIXA1q8yNdz9e5Q Good luck, Jen! 😂 Team JNPR is not actually in the dream. These are their placeholders functioning as Weiss views them, including Pyrrha. Who interestingly enough is wearing an outfit similar to Weiss’ Mistral Arc outfit. They’re just responding to stimuli. But it should be noted Pyrrha’s also in jail with them, which is a little strange. The reason I bring up the placeholder thing again is the conversation RBY has afterwards. Ruby and Yang’s dream placeholders are locked in the tower. Blake wonders if she has a placeholder but Weiss keeps mentioning “the girl in the black garments.” You notice how Yang tries to steer her away from that conversation pretty quickly, because she’s picked up on the same thing Ruby did - Weiss’ view of the Faunus is not an appealing one. If I had to venture a guess, her placeholder in this world is literally what Adam was in the real world. That could make for an awkward encounter under the proper circumstances. There seems to be a version of Klein for each butler, so there’s got to be seven in total, right? But obviously Sleepy Klein isn’t a great one to be a door guard. After Ruby and Yang get intentionally captured, Blake picks Klein’s lock with ease, and she comments it was pretty easy to do so. You know why Blake is good at breaking into places like this…? Wait for it… she’s a CAT Burglar. (Which is also a Chibi reference!) The tower room is filled with Weiss’ favorite things, including the bunk bed, but notice on Ruby’s bed that sign of confusion appears again. It also looks a lot like the SDC symbol the more I look at it. But we know part of Ruby and Weiss’ relationship is that they’re both each other’s first actual non-familial friend, and the sign there probably indicates confusion. Weiss at this point in time still doesn’t know how she feels about Ruby and us extremely conflicted at her core. Ruby’s red relic is here as well, and Shion’s explanation says that the Knight piece is a representation of Weiss’ desire to fight the Nightmare off. In the forest, there were two pieces, but Ruby’s wondering if there’s one for each of them where they would be found, or if there’s just two. It should be noted, we’ve already seen the relic piece tied to Weiss. It’s in the glass coffin she is trying to die in… Whether Blake or Yang have them as well, and we have to go on a collect all four relics quest (geez, this sounds somewhat familiar), is hard to say. But one thing is clear: Ruby is going to be an integral part in snapping Weiss out of the dream. Side note: I am actually kind of glad that Yang is the one who drew the shirt straw for staying behind here. I have one simple reason for this: I can count, almost on one hand, the number of times Ruby and Blake actually get to DO something together in the main series. Most of that is because they’re usually in different places, but the two interact so rarely it’s nice to see them get to have some time together. And finally, the last scene. Now Weiss did say at the end of Episode 3 sans Volume 1 to Blake that it didn’t matter to her any more. Blake said something quite similar before entering the dream. But desiring a different attitude doesn’t happen just like that. Both Weiss and Blake have deep hostility towards each other’s represented faction (notice how it was Blake who called out the presence of Jacques everywhere, since they view him as a key enemy in the White Fang), and an attitude change like both of them are desiring isn’t going to happen overnight. And of course, given the current situation the Nightmare is putting everyone in… that relationship isn’t being given any favors at all. In fact, as I said before, while Ruby’s relationship with her might be the primary cog, Blake’s relationship with Weiss might be just as important in freeing her given what she represents. And seeing the embodiment of everything Blake disdains wrapped up in Negative Weiss, will she be able to stick to her resolve to accept change herself with such discrimination and hatred manifesting itself in front of her? It’s one thing to want to change in theory, it’s quite another when the challenge is right in front of your face. Looks up… oops… I wrote another essay… Sorry! I just get going and don’t know when to stop! Maybe I need an air horn! 😂
Tyler Stobbe
2022-08-02 19:28:50 +0000 UTCHi Hime :) It's only a hypothesis for me, but the fact that Blake has only one ear to hide, evokes for me the fact that Weiss understands both her Faunus part, but also the Blake she knew before, that she thought was human. So even though she sees the Faunus and the White Fang as "pure evil", Blake is a special case. Pyrrha who sings mirror mirror, which is Weiss's song, shows that Weiss recognizes herself in her, recognizes this loneliness linked to all the aspirations and pressures placed on her shoulders. Otherwise small detail that I like, Ruby says that there are all the things that Weiss likes in their room... Who are the two people living in this room huh? Can we say that Ruby and Yang are two "things" that she likes too? Whiterose for the win lol.
Spadeas
2022-08-02 18:20:47 +0000 UTCWonder if you noticed, but Dream Pyrrha is wearing Weiss' V4 onwards outfit.
Hound of the red plains
2022-08-02 16:22:29 +0000 UTCOhhhh thanks for clarifying that!!! Yes, Pyrrha is summing up some definite true feelings here. I agree that Pyrrha is probably someone Weiss can relate to in that regard - the responsibility, pressure, loneliness, etc. Perhaps Pyrrha is also in the sillies jail because Weiss deep down is afraid that she, herself, is a silly? So if she recognizes similar qualities in Pyrrha...?? I'd like to see JNPR in the dream too, but I agree that the focus seems more on team RWBY here. Who knows!! We still have a few eps to go!!
Melissa Moore
2022-08-02 14:31:01 +0000 UTCJust to clarify for you Melissa. Team JNPR hasn't entered the dream yet. These are still the dream versions of them. So dream Pyrrha seems to symbolize Weiss' true feelings. Projected into someone she looked up to and identified with. Because this gives us a bit of her reasoning in being so drawn to Pyrrha. Someone like her who is seen as high standing. Lots of pressure and expectations. Possibly lonely too. So yeah of course Weiss would think. This is someone like me. But I need to avoid her because it will crack my resolve. The fact that Pyrrha was put into the sillie jail is interesting. She might be there because by this point Weiss has given up on being friends with Pyrrha. Idk... I would find it interesting if team JNPR did go into this dream with them. But I am starting to doubt it will happen. This seems to be focusing on team RWBY. More specifically exploring them getting closer as a team and Weiss growing. Maybe if Team RWBY is in danger of not escaping maybe team JNPR will help get them out. But idk...
Kayleigh McRae
2022-08-02 14:14:20 +0000 UTC
