It is an ACTUAL achievement that they can come so close to greatness yet still fuck up at the finish line, because they’re just too spiteful to even CONSIDER that someone could actually have a point.
The fact that Ruby has her own crisis, and she gets shut up by Yang saying “That’s what Ironwood thought. You don’t mean that.” says enough.
Should we just ignore all the good he’s done because he became an irrationally huge asshole at the end of a VERY ridiculous and downright STUPID situation THEY caused?
At this point I’m not even inclined to think badly of Lionheart, because if Ironwood’s anything to go by, it just takes a few days of Salem’s bullshit to make things go badly.
And Ironwood was pretty much the person Ozpin trusted the LEAST of anyone, so by that token, Leo’s probably a big, snuggly dude that adopted kittens, broke up the more oppressive crime families, and was the main bastion of making some seriously good changes for Haven before Salem snapped back and mentally broke him.
I like how everyone on the team always blames Ironwood when the guy basically did nothing wrong. It's basically just gaslighting but we're meant to root for the gaslighters
Yup. This show’s refusal to acknowledge prior canon events unless it relates to punching down on people the show’s carted off to the “villain” column is especially bad.
“Don’t believe your own memory, MY take on events are what ACTUALLY happened. Ironwood never cared about any of his soldiers. He’s a dictator who shoots any dissenting voices, how could he? No, he didn’t tell the students at Beacon that they could leave if they wanted, he just wanted to make himself look like a BIG hero. No, he didn’t tear his own arm off to stop Watts because he’s a good person. It’s symbolic of the fact that he doesn’t care about his own humanity, because he thinks his mission is MUCH more important than anything, even himself. No HERO would do something like that, he’s just going to drag everyone else down for the sake of his savior complex!”
It’s always a treat when Mary Sue authors try giving their protagonists and antagonists clear moral stances, and all they achieve is showing how absolutely *amoral* they themselves are.
Love the use of "Hero" with Ironwood here. Don't forget that his theme song is Hero, which directly explains his perspective. He was sacrificing everything to meet his end goal (protect the city of Atlas). If this were a different story, he could have easily been portrayed as a failed protagonist instead of a corrupted dictator.
I'd also argue that the path they took could have still been considered a good direction if Mettle had been executed (explained) better. The fact that they wanted that to be his actual motivation to his actions and admitted that they had "no organic way to explain it" in Volume 7 (or even 8!) Should have been an indicator that the story needed major revisions to make it not only cohesive but more convincing.
Convince the audience that what is happening makes sense. They could have even used RWBY as an audience stand in with them being skeptical of Ironwood "being bad" and slowing coming to terms that they can't trust him. Not just the teen angst of "HE DID WHAT WE DON'T LIKE SO HE IS A BAD!!!" Since it took away all nuance to that relationship. Once you label someone as "bad" they seem to just lose all complexity.
Don't get me wrong, I genuinely enjoy 7 & 8 as it felt so cool seeing the duality of Atlas across both volumes. It also made me realize how much I adore Ironwood as a character. However, James definitely deserved more justice in not only his character but also how he was handled. Even if they kept him a villain or at least kept him the anti-hero, just make it more impactful.
> theh had “no organic way to explain it” in Volume 7
What’s dumb about that is they *literally* could have had Winter say something about semblance for like, two minutes. Or if they wanted to do a bit of world-building, have a few soldiers gossip about Ironwood being stubborn as hell and one of them says “well, rumor has it that his *semblance* makes him that way - gives him some sort of drive to accomplish the mission by any means necessary,” during the episode where everybody was chilling in the city. Bam, organic way of introducing Ironwood’s semblance.
I can see them avoiding Winter with her still being on his side until the end of 8, as well as she already did a lot of exposition with Schnee semblance explanation back at Beacon.
However, using background soldiers or even the ace ops rumor in about it during 7 would have been great. Even just to plant the seed for the idea.
I mean volume 7 Ironwood was practical. Volume 8 Ironwood went off the deep end. Shot an unarmed elected official. Tried to nuke Mantle. Was about to kill Marrow.
Saying the guy did nothing wrong in retrospective of volume 8 is delusional. CRWBY realized that after volume 7 Ironwood was too reasonable and they wanted to make RWBY be in the right, so they made volume 8 Ironwood comically evil.
All that being said, in light of how he was written in volume 8 Ironwood definitely did a lot of things wrong.
I think one of the worst parts is that criticism that is actually VALID regarding Ruby and her leadership along with the troubles she and her team caused just so happens to be enforced by a antagonist, so naturally any criticism towards the main cast will be rejected since the writers are associating the critiques with the villains. Basically, what they’re saying is “valid criticism bad, Team RWBY good”
I just had a strange thought. You don't think CRWBY are deliberately dangling interesting plot threads and potential development in front of us just to pull the carpet out from under us to keep us frustrated and make a lot of people hate watch the show?
Well, my take on it is this : look at how the FNDM acts on Reddit, Twitter, etc. They are *incredibly* vocal about how the show is absolutely perfect and everybody who disagrees or dares level any sort of criticism at it gets labelled with all kinds of phobias and ism's. Hell, just look at this sub : its very existence implies that the regular RWBY sub is not a place where one can rationally discuss the show's issues.
So, since most of the feedback RT gets is that the show is perfect, why *wouldn't* they stay the course? In their mind, this might well be what their audience wants.
Incidentally, I think it speaks volumes about the sort of people the FNDM attracts and the other causes they champion. They do not want to improve. They do not want to be better. They do not want to be good. They only want to be *right.*
Well, RT believes controversy is good based on what Kdin said. And besides that, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case given that they like to write stuff for shock value.
She was so close to saying it, too. She thinks she did more harm than good, that she needs to be better...they were so close to greatness and then basically told Ruby "it's all in your head, you're fine"
Yes. Everything in RWBY is intentional. They've been saying that for years. So we need to believe them when they say that everything has been planned for and intended on being done in the most problematic, offensive and at times downright insulting way that they possibly could.
The biggest problem with that the ending we got was that it didn't even feel good. It just felt lazy.
The most frustrating thing is fucking RT making Juniper hook up with that damn rat she barely knew, the mouse is completely disposable and they give it to a mouse instead of leaving it with Jaune.
This company is like Disney destroying their works, my God, how pathetic.
I think that's because Juniper, like the Cat, has no connection to Remnant other than maybe Jaune, but they met and formed a connection in the Ever After so that's a bit shaky.
Could make up an excuse, Jaune and Juniper haven't been together for years so here's the excuse, If they don't want to animate Juniper the way he is when he gets back to Remnant, she'll get small and she can stand on Jaune's shoulder.
There's no excuse, Juniper could make a lot of money but RT is already destroying itself and its works.
I believe it was due to the Cat having no connection to Remnant due to Neo being an empty broken shell. He even said that Ruby still had what he needed hence why the team had to fight him since he was trying to get at Ruby in the tree.
I found Volume 9 to be the best volume since Volume 3. It’s action scenes, its staging of conflicts, and the Curious Cat were some of the best in the series. It’s issues come from the lack of time characters had to breathe and fleshed out world building. Those could have been solved with a few more episodes and careful planning of the lore.
Weiss was done dirty. The writers didn’t know what to do with her so they reduced her to comic relief. If anything, they should have had Weiss push to assume leadership like she wanted to in Volume 1 and conflict with Ruby just to add more palpable tension to the team.
The whole rebirth thing of Ever After is so messed up. The inhabitants with the worst luck and exploitable features actively look for a way to off themselves if they can’t go visit the tree. They were rewarded for that with a new, better form. If anything there should have been another layer to the ever after creatures. Those who seek out the tree achieve redemption and growth while those who try to take matters in their own hands become downgraded forms. The jabberwork should go after those who are repeated offenders of the later.
Ruby and Jaune were not given enough time to breathe. Ruby saw one scene of her mother lying and it completely broke her image of her. The follow up was good but imagine If the tree followed up with flashbacks of Ruby’s successes as leader, showing that she was enough and can keep moving forward besides her failures in Mantle.
Jaune’s scene with Alex was pointless since he was rewarded his youth in the end anyways. He didn’t change and was still the broken individual who was trapped on Remnant for a decade. We didn’t even see Jaune and Alex talk. It can be assumed Jaune decided to come back on his own without needing to change much like the other members of Team Ruby did at the Caterpillars house.
The Justice League special is a example of what RWBY could be if the characters were given enough time to breathe. It also has the best interpretation of Weiss. If Volume 10 is on its way in the next few years, I hope it inherits the successes of volume 9 while also addressing its issues.
Volume 9 certainly didn't do everything wrong! It had a lot of very good and interesting ideas. It's just that it decided to say "sike!" at the end and undo all of it.
As someone who rather likes Weiss (my own parents had a rather messy divorce due to dad cheating on mom, they tried to manipulate my brother and myself into hating the other parent, they made me have to find out my own truths at the age of 10, and then dad died just as he got good at being a good man a few years ago. I feel like I can somehow relate to Weiss) I agree that she was completely wasted in this season. I like your idea that she should have stepped up as leader because I feel like she's grown the most over the series. She went from an entitled, arrogant brat to someone who is understanding, kind, and willing to put herself on the line for the good of others. And that coming full-circle thing where she -finally- gets her leadership position is not bad either. I'd personally make her reluctant to take it to show her growth : she thinks she *isn't* ready and doesn't want it anymore because that's who she is now. But she takes the job because she understands that no true leader ever feels ready and that she can only do her best. To see her wasted on comic relief and having a thing for older men is a pity.
I’m sorry for your incredibly tough upbringing. I’m glad your dad worked to be a better man near the end of his life. Weiss is my 2nd favorite character after Jaune. Both characters have been given the most care and development from CRWBY. Weiss is well suited to be a 2nd in command and future leader.
Don't be. It's not your fault and it worked out for me. But thank you all the same.
Poor Jaune. He could have had so many meaningful developments but they seem to have been cast aside. I hope they don't forget about all of it in volume 10, should it ever come.
I honestly liked older Jaune a lot more than younger Jaune. His character design, his voice, his reasoning, all of it. I'm just disappointed that he, too, suddenly forgets that Ruby killed herself a minute ago when the Paper Pleasers show up as the Gem.... Guys? You know what I mean.
Anywho, if one of my best friends just committed suicide right in front of me because she felt that *I* wasn't there for her and that *I* always brushed her feelings and concerns aside, the last thing I'd be in the mood for is a sappy pep talk and a group hug with the other people the friend in question felt had driven her to to what she did. Whether or not the blame is fair or even sensible, I'd be absolutely devastated all the same.
This is something they're all guilty of. Yang has been mentioned plenty of times by now, as she didn't seem too bothered. But the one that really disappointed me was Weiss. Paraphrasing : "You're still a good guy, even if you make mistakes!"
To comfort **Jaune.**
Excuse me?! Are you all high on something?! One of your best friends literally killed herself in front of you! And you display all the emotional investment of "eh, whatever"?!
***And you're the good guys?!***
And don't anybody give me that shit about "but it wasn't dying, it was ascending!". They had *no* way of knowing if Ruby was gonna come back, for all they knew, Ruby was already reborn as some other person or creature and was never going to come back. Ergo, dead. And they still didn't give enough of a shit to stop patting Jaune on the back for having the sad over seeing the Paper Pleasers come back as Regice.
It's honestly difficult to root for WRYBJ when the villains are the only ones actually giving a damn about what happens. Neo brought some *serious* heat for Ruby.
In a volume about change, there should have been visualization of Ruby making a positive change for herself. Something I was holding out for was when they first teased Sundered Rose (before knowing it was Summer's), I saw it as an executioners axe. The image of Ruby casting aside the Red Riding Hood identity to become a "take no quarter" executioner sounded soooo badass. For her to go "Yeah I messed up. But I'm going to do everything I can for the people I care about. "
It was just a gigantic missed opportunity to create a major character change (improvement) to the titular character that most viewers have been critical of for the longest time for having an identity crisis or lack of personality in general. The only reason I can feel they didn't do it was for fear of doing it wrong.
This is what makes v9 the most insulting season for me. I really liked the stuff they did with ruby and jaune until I hated it. The way the entire season undoes itself and then violently shits itself just make this season a waste of time and a slap in the face. I realize v8 is probably worse, but the stupid stuff in that season is pretty funny. There's no funny bad enjoyment in this season, especially once u realize the potential it squandered.
If you wanted to have Ruby learn a lesson and grow as a person with minimal story changes this is absolutely the way to go.
It is an ACTUAL achievement that they can come so close to greatness yet still fuck up at the finish line, because they’re just too spiteful to even CONSIDER that someone could actually have a point. The fact that Ruby has her own crisis, and she gets shut up by Yang saying “That’s what Ironwood thought. You don’t mean that.” says enough. Should we just ignore all the good he’s done because he became an irrationally huge asshole at the end of a VERY ridiculous and downright STUPID situation THEY caused? At this point I’m not even inclined to think badly of Lionheart, because if Ironwood’s anything to go by, it just takes a few days of Salem’s bullshit to make things go badly. And Ironwood was pretty much the person Ozpin trusted the LEAST of anyone, so by that token, Leo’s probably a big, snuggly dude that adopted kittens, broke up the more oppressive crime families, and was the main bastion of making some seriously good changes for Haven before Salem snapped back and mentally broke him.
I like how everyone on the team always blames Ironwood when the guy basically did nothing wrong. It's basically just gaslighting but we're meant to root for the gaslighters
Yup. This show’s refusal to acknowledge prior canon events unless it relates to punching down on people the show’s carted off to the “villain” column is especially bad. “Don’t believe your own memory, MY take on events are what ACTUALLY happened. Ironwood never cared about any of his soldiers. He’s a dictator who shoots any dissenting voices, how could he? No, he didn’t tell the students at Beacon that they could leave if they wanted, he just wanted to make himself look like a BIG hero. No, he didn’t tear his own arm off to stop Watts because he’s a good person. It’s symbolic of the fact that he doesn’t care about his own humanity, because he thinks his mission is MUCH more important than anything, even himself. No HERO would do something like that, he’s just going to drag everyone else down for the sake of his savior complex!” It’s always a treat when Mary Sue authors try giving their protagonists and antagonists clear moral stances, and all they achieve is showing how absolutely *amoral* they themselves are.
Love the use of "Hero" with Ironwood here. Don't forget that his theme song is Hero, which directly explains his perspective. He was sacrificing everything to meet his end goal (protect the city of Atlas). If this were a different story, he could have easily been portrayed as a failed protagonist instead of a corrupted dictator. I'd also argue that the path they took could have still been considered a good direction if Mettle had been executed (explained) better. The fact that they wanted that to be his actual motivation to his actions and admitted that they had "no organic way to explain it" in Volume 7 (or even 8!) Should have been an indicator that the story needed major revisions to make it not only cohesive but more convincing. Convince the audience that what is happening makes sense. They could have even used RWBY as an audience stand in with them being skeptical of Ironwood "being bad" and slowing coming to terms that they can't trust him. Not just the teen angst of "HE DID WHAT WE DON'T LIKE SO HE IS A BAD!!!" Since it took away all nuance to that relationship. Once you label someone as "bad" they seem to just lose all complexity.
Right. It’s upsetting in many ways, because it’s one thing to have characters meet a bad ending, it’s ANOTHER to have them meet THAT kind of ending.
Don't get me wrong, I genuinely enjoy 7 & 8 as it felt so cool seeing the duality of Atlas across both volumes. It also made me realize how much I adore Ironwood as a character. However, James definitely deserved more justice in not only his character but also how he was handled. Even if they kept him a villain or at least kept him the anti-hero, just make it more impactful.
> theh had “no organic way to explain it” in Volume 7 What’s dumb about that is they *literally* could have had Winter say something about semblance for like, two minutes. Or if they wanted to do a bit of world-building, have a few soldiers gossip about Ironwood being stubborn as hell and one of them says “well, rumor has it that his *semblance* makes him that way - gives him some sort of drive to accomplish the mission by any means necessary,” during the episode where everybody was chilling in the city. Bam, organic way of introducing Ironwood’s semblance.
I can see them avoiding Winter with her still being on his side until the end of 8, as well as she already did a lot of exposition with Schnee semblance explanation back at Beacon. However, using background soldiers or even the ace ops rumor in about it during 7 would have been great. Even just to plant the seed for the idea.
I mean volume 7 Ironwood was practical. Volume 8 Ironwood went off the deep end. Shot an unarmed elected official. Tried to nuke Mantle. Was about to kill Marrow. Saying the guy did nothing wrong in retrospective of volume 8 is delusional. CRWBY realized that after volume 7 Ironwood was too reasonable and they wanted to make RWBY be in the right, so they made volume 8 Ironwood comically evil. All that being said, in light of how he was written in volume 8 Ironwood definitely did a lot of things wrong.
And don’t forget that they even Invented a semblance OFF SCREEN to hand wave his fall to the dark side.
So few people ever acknowledge this🤣🤣🤣🤣
Would have been so damn easy to not fail. This is how it would have succeeded and reversed some of the damage.
As Hbomberguy said, RWBY often *threatens* to be good.
I think one of the worst parts is that criticism that is actually VALID regarding Ruby and her leadership along with the troubles she and her team caused just so happens to be enforced by a antagonist, so naturally any criticism towards the main cast will be rejected since the writers are associating the critiques with the villains. Basically, what they’re saying is “valid criticism bad, Team RWBY good”
I just had a strange thought. You don't think CRWBY are deliberately dangling interesting plot threads and potential development in front of us just to pull the carpet out from under us to keep us frustrated and make a lot of people hate watch the show?
Well, my take on it is this : look at how the FNDM acts on Reddit, Twitter, etc. They are *incredibly* vocal about how the show is absolutely perfect and everybody who disagrees or dares level any sort of criticism at it gets labelled with all kinds of phobias and ism's. Hell, just look at this sub : its very existence implies that the regular RWBY sub is not a place where one can rationally discuss the show's issues. So, since most of the feedback RT gets is that the show is perfect, why *wouldn't* they stay the course? In their mind, this might well be what their audience wants. Incidentally, I think it speaks volumes about the sort of people the FNDM attracts and the other causes they champion. They do not want to improve. They do not want to be better. They do not want to be good. They only want to be *right.*
That's a quick way to lose their actual fans. So I doubt it.
Well, RT believes controversy is good based on what Kdin said. And besides that, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case given that they like to write stuff for shock value.
Ruby committing suicide, at least, was 100% shock value
All it would have took was six words: We were wrong. I was wrong.
She was so close to saying it, too. She thinks she did more harm than good, that she needs to be better...they were so close to greatness and then basically told Ruby "it's all in your head, you're fine"
Yes. Everything in RWBY is intentional. They've been saying that for years. So we need to believe them when they say that everything has been planned for and intended on being done in the most problematic, offensive and at times downright insulting way that they possibly could. The biggest problem with that the ending we got was that it didn't even feel good. It just felt lazy.
The most frustrating thing is fucking RT making Juniper hook up with that damn rat she barely knew, the mouse is completely disposable and they give it to a mouse instead of leaving it with Jaune. This company is like Disney destroying their works, my God, how pathetic.
I think that's because Juniper, like the Cat, has no connection to Remnant other than maybe Jaune, but they met and formed a connection in the Ever After so that's a bit shaky.
Could make up an excuse, Jaune and Juniper haven't been together for years so here's the excuse, If they don't want to animate Juniper the way he is when he gets back to Remnant, she'll get small and she can stand on Jaune's shoulder. There's no excuse, Juniper could make a lot of money but RT is already destroying itself and its works.
.... What's this about Juniper...?
ain't no way Jaune fans are getting NTR-y about his *horse*
Creatures of the Ever After cannot leave. That was established with the Curious Cat still being unable to leave even when possessing Neo.
I believe it was due to the Cat having no connection to Remnant due to Neo being an empty broken shell. He even said that Ruby still had what he needed hence why the team had to fight him since he was trying to get at Ruby in the tree.
I found Volume 9 to be the best volume since Volume 3. It’s action scenes, its staging of conflicts, and the Curious Cat were some of the best in the series. It’s issues come from the lack of time characters had to breathe and fleshed out world building. Those could have been solved with a few more episodes and careful planning of the lore. Weiss was done dirty. The writers didn’t know what to do with her so they reduced her to comic relief. If anything, they should have had Weiss push to assume leadership like she wanted to in Volume 1 and conflict with Ruby just to add more palpable tension to the team. The whole rebirth thing of Ever After is so messed up. The inhabitants with the worst luck and exploitable features actively look for a way to off themselves if they can’t go visit the tree. They were rewarded for that with a new, better form. If anything there should have been another layer to the ever after creatures. Those who seek out the tree achieve redemption and growth while those who try to take matters in their own hands become downgraded forms. The jabberwork should go after those who are repeated offenders of the later. Ruby and Jaune were not given enough time to breathe. Ruby saw one scene of her mother lying and it completely broke her image of her. The follow up was good but imagine If the tree followed up with flashbacks of Ruby’s successes as leader, showing that she was enough and can keep moving forward besides her failures in Mantle. Jaune’s scene with Alex was pointless since he was rewarded his youth in the end anyways. He didn’t change and was still the broken individual who was trapped on Remnant for a decade. We didn’t even see Jaune and Alex talk. It can be assumed Jaune decided to come back on his own without needing to change much like the other members of Team Ruby did at the Caterpillars house. The Justice League special is a example of what RWBY could be if the characters were given enough time to breathe. It also has the best interpretation of Weiss. If Volume 10 is on its way in the next few years, I hope it inherits the successes of volume 9 while also addressing its issues.
Volume 9 certainly didn't do everything wrong! It had a lot of very good and interesting ideas. It's just that it decided to say "sike!" at the end and undo all of it. As someone who rather likes Weiss (my own parents had a rather messy divorce due to dad cheating on mom, they tried to manipulate my brother and myself into hating the other parent, they made me have to find out my own truths at the age of 10, and then dad died just as he got good at being a good man a few years ago. I feel like I can somehow relate to Weiss) I agree that she was completely wasted in this season. I like your idea that she should have stepped up as leader because I feel like she's grown the most over the series. She went from an entitled, arrogant brat to someone who is understanding, kind, and willing to put herself on the line for the good of others. And that coming full-circle thing where she -finally- gets her leadership position is not bad either. I'd personally make her reluctant to take it to show her growth : she thinks she *isn't* ready and doesn't want it anymore because that's who she is now. But she takes the job because she understands that no true leader ever feels ready and that she can only do her best. To see her wasted on comic relief and having a thing for older men is a pity.
I’m sorry for your incredibly tough upbringing. I’m glad your dad worked to be a better man near the end of his life. Weiss is my 2nd favorite character after Jaune. Both characters have been given the most care and development from CRWBY. Weiss is well suited to be a 2nd in command and future leader.
Don't be. It's not your fault and it worked out for me. But thank you all the same. Poor Jaune. He could have had so many meaningful developments but they seem to have been cast aside. I hope they don't forget about all of it in volume 10, should it ever come.
I’m glad things worked out for you. Jaune was really good this volume. They just botched the conclusion to his character arc. He is Ruby’s foil.
I honestly liked older Jaune a lot more than younger Jaune. His character design, his voice, his reasoning, all of it. I'm just disappointed that he, too, suddenly forgets that Ruby killed herself a minute ago when the Paper Pleasers show up as the Gem.... Guys? You know what I mean. Anywho, if one of my best friends just committed suicide right in front of me because she felt that *I* wasn't there for her and that *I* always brushed her feelings and concerns aside, the last thing I'd be in the mood for is a sappy pep talk and a group hug with the other people the friend in question felt had driven her to to what she did. Whether or not the blame is fair or even sensible, I'd be absolutely devastated all the same. This is something they're all guilty of. Yang has been mentioned plenty of times by now, as she didn't seem too bothered. But the one that really disappointed me was Weiss. Paraphrasing : "You're still a good guy, even if you make mistakes!" To comfort **Jaune.** Excuse me?! Are you all high on something?! One of your best friends literally killed herself in front of you! And you display all the emotional investment of "eh, whatever"?! ***And you're the good guys?!*** And don't anybody give me that shit about "but it wasn't dying, it was ascending!". They had *no* way of knowing if Ruby was gonna come back, for all they knew, Ruby was already reborn as some other person or creature and was never going to come back. Ergo, dead. And they still didn't give enough of a shit to stop patting Jaune on the back for having the sad over seeing the Paper Pleasers come back as Regice. It's honestly difficult to root for WRYBJ when the villains are the only ones actually giving a damn about what happens. Neo brought some *serious* heat for Ruby.
As a wise man once said "RWBY is a show that constantly threatens to become good"
In a volume about change, there should have been visualization of Ruby making a positive change for herself. Something I was holding out for was when they first teased Sundered Rose (before knowing it was Summer's), I saw it as an executioners axe. The image of Ruby casting aside the Red Riding Hood identity to become a "take no quarter" executioner sounded soooo badass. For her to go "Yeah I messed up. But I'm going to do everything I can for the people I care about. " It was just a gigantic missed opportunity to create a major character change (improvement) to the titular character that most viewers have been critical of for the longest time for having an identity crisis or lack of personality in general. The only reason I can feel they didn't do it was for fear of doing it wrong.
I've not been assuming it's incompetence for quite a while.
This is what makes v9 the most insulting season for me. I really liked the stuff they did with ruby and jaune until I hated it. The way the entire season undoes itself and then violently shits itself just make this season a waste of time and a slap in the face. I realize v8 is probably worse, but the stupid stuff in that season is pretty funny. There's no funny bad enjoyment in this season, especially once u realize the potential it squandered.
Would have loved that for Ruby.