May never said her family had a problem with her being trans. Unless this was confirmed in a tweet or something. She said her family was upset when she chose to help Mantle. My take away was she transitioned sometime after her family estrangement.
The problem is that either the Marigold’s didn’t care about May’s being trans which presents dialogue issues, or they didn't which presents a pretty forced plot point. If it is the former, why would May bring it up when talking about her family disowning her? If she’s saying, “my parents hate me for choosing Mantle, and oh yeah I’m trans btw,” that is horribly clunky character exposition. If it was part of the reasoning for her parents disowning her, it just feels forced. Atlas is under attack, the character that was revealed to be trans in a Twitter post now wants to add a tragic backstory as well? Recall that this is when Weiss is trying to convince May not to simply abandon Atlas (the way RWBY and company did abandon Atlas just to try and save Mantle) by inquiring about her family and May doesn’t care for her family or Atlas and responds about how she wasn’t accepted as trans? I laughed at this scene for several minutes.
If May's Transition has nothing to do with her family rejecting her, nor does it have to do with her being pro-Mantle or Atlas, then why bring it up at all? Sounds like that line was pretty thrown in to me.
Not to mention that the line of causality of her sentence structure and the emotion accompanying the statements make it sound extremely heavily as though she specifically chose to transition to spite her parents, right down to constantly announcing her status in the hopes that word will reach back home and humiliate her family.
@@jackzhang8677 Hey guys! I can fix this right now. What if in lore, the Marygolds cherished the women in their family as the strongest and smartest. The transition was a symbol of pride for the family, but by choosing Mantle, was disgraceful enough to disown. In story, this means that the famous Atlas elite Marygolds, try to take pride in the accomplishments of May by family, but as far as May's concern is, is trying to spite her family by not being an Atlas elite. Thus, the family are defending her actions against their direct benefit Or reverse it. Men are the pride so the transition to a woman while being a prodigy embarrassed their name, but the good May does for Mantle has matched or surpassed their assumed honor into rivalry. Whatever the case may be, there needs to be some juxtaposition between both helping mantle and transitioning being important to the family. I doesn't need to prejudice at all, but just breaking tradition in fact.
Except Ironwood is a well known character with incredible development, so good that the writers had to trash him this volume just so RWBY comes out on top, or at least the only survivors. May is just extra baggage carried around to appease a minority that RT should have just ignored.
@@bullmoosevelt4495 woah mate, not cool. First of all, Mai has been carrying her weight way better than say Blake (despite ironically being the expert as stealth); Second, even if it’s to appease, so what? At least she’s well written; isn’t that the important thing?
@@keyki9832 i must be watching a different show. I thought all that happened was we see salem talk down to cinder,cinder do her usual not listen and get trashed and then not receive any fallout because they are gonna redeem her later. Meanwhile ironwood: I'm angry and gonna become a dictator who shoots publicly elected officials,since my plans haven't worked I'm gonna blame some kids and trust the bad guy who just mangled my arm. Oh all while yang yells at people for having feelings. (Ren litteraly express emotion for the first time and yang is like "ew".) Meanwhile team rwby discuss what to do instead of doing things.but twist! Its the same debate as the last two seasons except they forget that the plan they like now is the one iron wood wanted to do but they ruined. Meanwhile oscar tries to talk-no-juitsu angery bear man into the good side because fans like his voice.
@@youtubeisrunbyamonkey the Main characters and the tone of the show is moving away from the "heroes always win/are right" mindset and going in the opposite direction, Ironwood and his goals are being adopted by Ruby herself and they are being challenged to into making morally grey choices which should be celebrated IMO because they'll have to grow as characters with the decisions they make (if the story goes that directions which i hope it does) the thing with Watts is that Ironwood doesn't have to trust him to use his skills, Watts is the only one with skill and know how to get penny back under control seeing as Petro isn't working with Ironwood. Just because we can see it backfiring (which it has) doesn't change the fact they he made the best move with the pieces that he has, and he isn't perfect and no one in the show is perfect so it would weird if everyone just make "the perfect moves" all time because that isn't how stories work.
@@keyki9832 first part i agree to an extent. That not including that their execution of said direction seems to be kinda all over the place at times with characters forgetting their past development. Its cool to change direction, but if you forget/ where you've gone already, its easy to feel lost or like they're in a loop.. Ironwood, to instantly trust Watts to do something you have no way of verifying?ok.. So what,he said "make this robot who I've come acknowledged as being a little girl and now the spirt of a magical maiden to work for me again...using your computer magic". And watts being apparently so being so trustworthy say yes. And then ironwood, who doesn't understand computers, and who must not have a single person working for the nation's military that does either or that can even watch over a; super genius, computer master, criminal terrorist. who just recently plunged the nation into chaos, while they let him use....the military computer system.
@@youtubeisrunbyamonkey let’s assume that watts and petro are the only guys with the knowledge of Penny’s system or how the system would operate. Petro is on the run and watts is in a jail cell that you control and you need Penny back under control to fight off the Grimm or leave the city to protect the relic. You have armed guards watching watts so he doesn’t make any funny moves (which ironwood did). The fact that you have people ready to shoot him if he doesn’t do what you say is clear you don’t trust him but need his skills.
I literally threw my hands up while watching when that happened. Once again ruby weasels out of making any hard choices so she doesn't need to "feel bad".
@@lunarrobot9714 she did make a choice though. If penny hadn't fallen in front of the house then ruby would have said they choose to help atlas since they were already set on that before may came in and tried to convince them that going to mantle was the right thing to do. They were just thinking about how they deal with the whale before they do anything :P
@@Axel_Kasai Penny could've fallen literally anywhere and she conveniently lands right outside the front door of the place the main character is at RIGHT as she's about to answer that important question. Why would the show cut her off if the answer was so obvious? Because the show doesn't want her to pick of her own volition. They want the plot to decide where Ruby should be. And also think about it, Ruby spent the second half of volume seven talking about how important it is to save mantle. That was the whole reason they betrayed ironwood. Now that the whale is there, were supposed to belive she changes her mind and wants to save Atlas all of a sudden? Even though she didn't even stay in mantle to help with the evacuation even though she has silver eyes, and took Penny so that Atlas couldn't escape in the first place. "So who's side is she on anyways?" She's actively NOT helping either side instead of helping both like she thinks she is. She's making things WORSE.
@@lunarrobot9714 At this point someone could say that Ruby is secretly working for Salem and I'd fucking believe. She sowed more chaos than *Cinder* this volume. Maybe that's why Salem wants Ruby back without killing/injuring her, she's one of her own pawns.
@@deamonmindgaming2054 This is sooo accurate it's like the equivalent of going to med school for like a semester never go back and now your calling the shots in an operating room
@@shfhsvomvolakis2318 That's not the part that was illogical she wanted to waste time breaking Qrow and Robin out of jail instead of fighting and saving people as fast as possible
I think that May coming out trans should've not been confirmed or mentioned in twitter like a year ago And when this scene arrives, i'll be like: "Oh, she is trans. Cool."
I literally just had this exact same thought as I was watching this. I was like “Why did they confirm she was trans on Twitter? Wouldn’t it have made a bigger impact in the community and show if we waited for THIS episode to have the reveal?” Then I go here and I’m like I knew I wasn’t the only one!!!
My only problem is while its great they’re the ones with the conflicted thinking the more time they spend fighting rwby and friends the more people dead by grim. Although it is unfair to call out everything they say, i mean ruby wants to free her uncle, honestly I’m on board with that idea, wouldn’t you want a veteran hunter on the field as Salem orchestrating an army of grim and cinder on the hunt for ruby?
Honestly Yang, Penny, Jaune, and Whitley aren't too bad. It's mostly RWB that are just ??? Which is disappointing, Weiss has been my favourite of the girls for many volumes.
Honestly cared more about her confrontation of the girls decision making than her confirmation (nothing wrong with its inclusion tho). someone who can be seen in ruby's camp that doesn't agree with them; nice to see for once.
@@keyki9832 She's still the fan favorite though is the thing. Which is a shame since in V7 they barely did anything with her, but it is what it is. And I'm not sure she wouldn't be on May's side about needing to do something here. Considering what she said in Chapter 1, coupled with her willingness to work with the Ace Ops this episode.
Someone: *says anything RWBY: we heard that before... If people keep telling you the same thing maybe it's because they gotta point and you should listen to them?
@@ninjaked1265 Yeah, Elm asked them who they were loyal to, they said "we're loyal to the people we swore to protect" then have proceeded to do nothing but help themselves whilst hundreds are being killed for their decisions
@@experiencemaster1743 People are literally dying in Mantle because team RWBY led them into a death pit below Atlas, Grimm are killing people in Atlas, and team RWBY is really out here like "Let's not do jack shit, wait on a doctor, and have some hot chocolate while all our wrong decisions are resulting in the chaos outside. Also, none of that is our fault."
@@Not_Ciel True. I mean, wtf RWB are even doing? Ironwood controls Atlas' defence. YJR and Ace Ops are about to storm the whale. Oscar tries to create a discord among Salem's minions. RWB? They drink fucking tea.
I really liked this moment for May. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t a “and suddenly they were gay moment”, and it was well flowed within the story. I’m all for LGBT+ representation and I always hated how a lot of characters in RWBY played the “and suddenly they were gay card”.
The butchering of yang and Blake actually went exactly “and suddenly they were gay” I swear they were basically building up Blake and Sun for 5 volumes then threw it all away in one XD
@@ninjaked1265 there are but I feel like representation shouldn’t be limited to “and suddenly they were gay.” It’s needs a proper introduction or buildup. We should see inclusion of these characters, their lives, and journeys rather than saying there part of the LGBT+ community like some switch suddenly flipped on
Ruby: What can we even do?(sips tea) May: Alright every second we waste means another life at risk, so who are you gonna help Atlas or Mantle doesn't matter to me since everyone is in danger. Ruby: How did it all get to this?(sips tea) May: Didn't you put effort to send a message for help, how bout you put that effort to save someone we cannot wait you already know how long it took you travel all the way here from Haven so CHOOSE!!! Ruby:(Sips tea) How do we fix all of it? Entirety of Remnant: DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!! Ruby: (Sips tea)...................................................What can we even do?.....................................................(Sips tea) May: -_-
yes, she asked help, but even if people belive, who can help? Mistral and Vale are still recovering from attacks that killed lots of hunstman while Vacuo have it's own problems. the closest place, Mistral, don't look like it can just summon an Army, Atlas got the biggest army and yet it did nothing to stop the enemy
@@marrvynswillames4975 I can't be the only one who feels that her little "speech" was the dumbest fucking move yet. Some random bitch sends a world-wide broadcast that Atlas is getting fucked by the largest army of Grimm ever seen, Ironwood is not to be trusted, Vacuo is next, and their headmaster has been keeping very dark secrets. Great fucking plan Ruby.
@@amirshaw671 i think its good plan to tell the world and hoping their help(even its kinda naive) cuz what u can do against salem atm? But yeah called ironwood cant be trusted is kinda dumb it sounds like he is villain too... I think their option is hoping the help come and full force against salem(its kinda immposible to gather army that ready) or evacuate mantle and run away(also taking oscar,penny, robyn, qrow and relics too)
@@dexie135 that hope was small to begin with. But what piss me off is that Team RWBY believes there's some fairy tale plan that'll save Atlas and Mantle with no casualties or the world will show up when Atlas is at its bleakest. Seriously, what was the point of them fucking with everything Ironwood was doing?
@@amirshaw671 i dont even know what their goal is now...the least they can do is just evacuate mantle and go away and stay out of ironwood plan...but i know they cant give penny and relics on ironwood but tbh even they have it i think they cant do much with it
I was REALLY bothered when the scene came through of Ruby, Weiss and Blake sitting in Weiss’s house sipping tea while there’s literally an entire apocalypse going on outside and people are dying left and right and they’re just sitting on their asses sipping tea??? What??? Didn’t you guys want to save people?? What are you doing hiding in the house. I loved May in this episode, and I give credit to her voice actress too, the way she was conveying her frustration and resolve to them was literally how I was feeling while watching this. Team RWBY is losing so many points from me, I swear. Throw the whole team away
@@marrvynswillames4975 Right! Or have Whitley take care of her. There was no need for them to sit around in la la land not even trying to form a plan smh
When was the last time RWBY even worked as a functional team? Like, V2 against Roman? Their fight against Ace Ops was a complete fluke because for some reason they were never detained despite being caught several times. Harriet could've easily detained at least 1 early on and Blake would've been taken out so quickly.
exactly my thought. they stop ironwood from saving the people of atlas and the mantle refugees, provide no plan how to save both, and theyre now sitting on their asses, while an apocalypse is happening. i hate these kids so much.
Don't forget Yang taking all the credit for shit they didn't do in their fight with Ren Yang: We took down a leviathan Reality: Cordovan managed to recover the mech and save the city from the Leviathan you slowed down at best Yang: When we saved Haven Reality: It took an entire town of people to show up and your mom with maiden powers to turn on salem to stop the attack, and if you wanna get real specific Illia saved Haven when she defused the bombs otherwise nothing they did would've mattered since the academy would still be destroyed) Yang: We got the lamp to atlas Reality: yeah you got it there, but you were one of the ones to suggest they just toss it in a well despite recently being told the grimm are attracted to the relics, and then you lost it to Quote Qrow "there's no prize for ALMOST"
May says you can't save everyone and you have to make a choice and the cast listens. Ironwood says the same thing and Ruby goes on global television and tells the world he can't be trusted.
Thing is May wants to save as many as she can. She doesn't want to abandon everyone. Atlas has Ironwood where as Mantle has no one. So she's going to put her efforts into protecting those who cant defend themselves. Where as Ironwood will abandon those who need him the most. He could have saved a lot of people in Mantle but chose to let them die. Now that's not to say that team RWBY's decisions haven't been idiotic.
@@RJLiams The thing is Iornwood has been put in an unwinnable situation, almost completely due to team Ruby actions and lies. There is no scenario that they somehow manage to beat back Salem's army. They are outnumbered, outgunned and running on fumes. As it stand, everyone in both atlas and mantle is going to die. Iornwood understood that and make the tough call. It might seem cold, but saving at least one city, is better than letting them both die just to fight an unwinnable battle.
@@RJLiams it was indicated that Ironwood evacuated a lot of Mantle to Atlas already and only stopped when Salem was literally right about to reach the cities. He had no reason at the time to expect that Salem would wait so long to attack after arriving as she did. Had he known that she would practically sit on her ass outside the cities for a day before attacking he probably would have continue the evacuation. Additionally, he knew that Salem was there for the relic of creation and that actually destroying Mantle or Atlas wasn't important to her at all. Just like how the attack on Vale was just a distraction so her agents could get to the relic of choice, whether the city was destroyed or not was irrelevant to her. Likewise the attack on Haven was also just meant to get the relic of knowledg and the city of Mistral itself wasn't even targeted. The only reason she's attacking Atlas in person with an army of grimm is because of how militarized it is and how well defended the relic of creation is. She literally had no choice but a to do a full scale invasion, but the relic is still her goal. It is entirely possible, likely even, that if he moved Atlas her forces would follow it in pursuit, even leaving Mantle behind and not-destroyed as it's ultimately irrelevant to her.
May is vexed and all of us in the comments, the only ones speaking sense. Hope we see more of May, although its pretty sad when a background character is more likeable than most if not all the main characters. Good video Vexed.
She is sooooo more representative then bumblebee. Edit: I realize that those representations are way diferent, May is a Trans, Bumbleblehh is lesbian couple, but even so, May representation work are sooo better then most transgender representation.
If you are searching for lesbian representation, Volume 6 had Jaune's sister and her wife and it just like with May, it was just there without any cringe dialogue to ruin them.
It just keeps shoving us in our faces how Ruby is a child who sees the world through a story book tinted glasous. But that's always been the case for her. She's never thought beyond being the "hero" that her reality was built upon. Even now, when the world is in danger, she refuses to grow up and waits for everything to turn out fine after making things worse. Now she's dealing with an adult who isn't a pushover or can conveniently be labelled a villain in her worldview. Though with how things are looking, I won't be surprised if reality snaps itself in order to match her reality again.
i’m getting the disturbing feeling that they’re trying to portray May as another Ironwood and while we have higher expectations, I have little hope that they won’t pull a “traitor” card and make May another semi-antagonist for our ‘wonderful protagonist’
@@molo1848 A gay couple doesn't need to kiss on screen to be legit. Think of the plot line, if there was no moment for it then there doesn't need to be a kiss.
@@carbodude5414 I know. But honestly knowing how its being shown in the show if you don't agree with the MC's your obviously in the morally wrong. Especially if by some unholy impossible miracle reinforcements come.
So May's "Deathflag" is now raised; all by being logical. Let's hope she becomes a fan favor-, oh crap, Pyrrah. Nevermind. Farewell, Sweet May. Die a Glorious Huntresses' Death!
"What? No! We can't leave and let this place be burnt down by Salem!" - they say as they sit around and drink tea in response to May telling them to go stop another place from burning down thanks to Salem
May is another great example that shows that the writers do know how to add representation without being too on the nose and disrupting the flow of the story and conversations. The fact that Yang and Blake is still a total train wreck proves to me that the writers did not want to do it, but felt like they HAD to do it and have no actual plan for it.
I think a trans character is always gonna come off as “disrupting” because it’s just not common at all. I see a trans character and I’m immediately reminded that this was written mostly to add a trans character. Instead of adding characters for diversity, just make character attributes by random number generator. If it doesn’t matter to the story, roll a d100. On a 1-2 (or whatever to reflect the actual number of trans people compared to non-trans people), have them be trans. Have a 13% chance for the, not to be straight. 50/50 on man or woman etc. That’s the only way we’re going to represent reality.
@@Ubersupersloth well, even if it was just to add some representation, it doesn’t mean is necessarily bad. Like this case, at least it’s way better written than BB, so...
@@madmask7987 Being written to add representation is inherently bad, though. I get that representation in media actually affects the human mind (because human beings are apparently super suggestible) but adding minorities purely to have them is never gonna come across well because they were added purely because a minority needed to be added. Again: RNG that bitch. As for “being better written than bumblebee”, that’s not a high bar.
@@Ubersupersloth If the writers felt like adding a trans character then they can do so. It does not irritate me and in this case it added a bit more fuel to the relationship between May and her family.
@@GameBreaker1055 It irritates me but, again, that’s mainly because adding representation manually is something I disapprove of and reinforcing the concept of gender is something I disapprove of.
This was ok but... where that Ren Semblance video Vex? Lol keep up the good work on a side note Ruby needs to learn this..... the hardest thing about being a Hero is that you can't always save everyone spiderman and many more taught me that Ruby
Jaune, Yang, and Ren should be pissed at Ruby, Weiss, and Blake for their lack of resolve, considering what they resolved to do this episode. I love May after this episode.
@@ctcdreamer God it makes no sense... Like Yang "signs up for a suicide mission to save her friend" Xiao Long is worried about Blake "this tea is kind of hot" Belladonna thinking less of her? If anything it should be the other way around at this point. Stop making Yang just Blake's armcandy, RT.
I really can't believe how they turned Yang from the definition of badass to the lame character she is now. She could literally die in any following episode and it just wouldn't matter cs it feels like she's a complete new character who just joined the series and we don't know anything about
I think thats how her diaglogue was structured to clarify that the Marigolds shunned May because she'd rather help those in need instead of contributing to her family's social standing, not because she is trans.
@@mr.gameandtime8432 Why? If her dialogue tells us that she was shunned because she was helping those in need, why do you think she was disowned because she was trans? There is nothing to say this and it's not like Atlas or Remnant is anti LGBT or anti female, irregardless of May's dialogue.
@@Slayer398 What? I said she was probably disowned before becoming trans. She got disowned for going to mantle to help and not helping her parents. I never said she got disowned for being Trans, You're clearly misreading what I said. What I meant she got disowned for helping mantle when her family didn't want her too.
May is the one person in this group that is thinking realistically. In world of war, there's no guaranteed chance of saving everyone in the world. Only a few batch. There's no wins, there's no victory, no guaranteed happy endings. Only making the most of what they have and at the least survive with who we have left.
Goddamn, another side character carrying this volume. Ren, May and Farm Boi are going to need back massages from doing what should've been "our hero's" work 😒
I'm starting to wonder what Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are talking about at this point. Seriously, in Volume 7, it was: "We can't abandon Mantle! There are people who need us there! Atlas can hold out against Salem!" At the beginning of Volume 8, it was: "We don't have time to save Mantle! Amity Tower is more important!" Now, it's: "We can't abandon Atlas! There are people who need us here!" Why can't they make up their minds?
I have to agree with you on the representation. Not only was the writing solid but the actor gave a great performance too. This was a really powerful moment.
Oh, look! A character being reasonable and calling Ruby and co. out on their crap. Well, nice to meet you, May. Please sit here and wait a few episodes while I get your membership card for the "pushed down so team RWBY can be lifted up" club ready. Ironwood, Raven and Ozpin can meanwhile fill you in on what the club's all about. :)
we may never see may marigold again after this because u know what happens to people who don't agree with team rwby and friends. she will either be turned into the bad guy or end up being killed off-screen (like Cardin's friends).
I sure do love how the background character is speaking sense while Ruby and co are just lazing around in a mansion and sipping tea bitching and moaning about what they should do instead of actually doing anything.
So May is the one making the tough decisions & challenging team RWBY on their plans. Does this mean that the writers will treat her like she’s in the wrong like Ren or will they make her a flat out villain like Ironwood?
2:57 I love the timing of this statement and May staring at Blake. This is how you make an LGBT character in your story, you don't have to kill character personalities and arcs to do it
Where was Yang's character moment like this in the volume? Her character seems to revolve around Blake now so she feels like she has no substance. She told her mom of without even getting all the answers and Blake came back so now the writers ran out of things for her to do I guess. Same with some off the other characters.
Hm, not bad Vex. I will say though that the whole "representation" angle that I hear a lot of people in the fandom talk about is something I just don't care for. For me I couldn't care less if someone was trans, black, etc. because that's just something outside of ones control. I just care about story and who the characters are. Not what they are
Meh...different types of characters are just nice to see. It gets boring when they all look or act similar or reflect specific backgrounds all the time.
I think that deep down, Ruby wants Qrow and Robyn out, so they can lead, since they are older and more experienced. Behind all of that optimism, Ruby sorta knows full well she's messed things up, and it's very hard to fix it.
I love the quick and well done representation as a trans woman myself, it doesn't feel forced at all yet having a trans character in a show I watch is awesome to me.
I gave up on this show a long time ago, but hot damn, its beyond satisfying that someone threw it in their face that this situation isn't one where everyone wins. But it also frustrating that its LITERALLY what Iornwood was trying to get across to them, but he was made the bad guy for it.
I love the line "if they didn't want me as a son, then they won't have me as a daughter". I like how intentionally vague it was, meaning what they meant is up for interpretation: is this something they wanted, did they do it to distance themselves from/spite their old family, were they forces to play the part of a son until they left etc.
May doesn't have that good a point about Atlas having an army. Atlas is also bearing the massive brunt of Salem's assault. It is Salem's main objective. Thwarting her efforts there take priority, in terms of strategy. Hell, if I'm not mistaken, all of the Mantle refugees are currently hiding in the crater right beneath Atlas? If Salem gets her way, she's probably going to bring Atlas crashing down right onto all those refugees.
That being said, if Weiss, Ruby and Blake want to "stay and help" Atlas, then they shouldn't be sitting around drinking tea, they should be heading to the front lines to fight.
Yeah, and even if May plan to take the refugees before Atlas is defeated, how? They lack transport and non trained citzens lack the long lasting aura needed to survive long enough to reach Argus
Thanks man. I was both overthinking and underthinking her that one "Son-to-Daughter" line. I got she was disowned by her family because of her affiliation with the HH, but when she said "I made sure everyone knew I wasn't their daughter." I was confused on whether or not she was implying her being trans was the central catalyst for this moment in her life. You helped me see her being trans *doesn't* matter... like, at all in this conversation. We can just assume it was just a coincidence that she transitioned her identity after this whole ordeal so it was just a throw away line for the representations sake. I'm so used to RWBY being hamfisted and clunky with its points that I kept replaying that trying to see how those two things related to each other. 😂😂😂
Also, can we just point out how May was more than willing to drop them off to help Atlas if that was the choice they made. This argument only started cause she assumed they wanted to help Mantle just like she did. Plus they spent so much time saying how they wanted to help save Mantle it seemed weird that they suddenly changed their mind. She thinks they would better help Mantle instead of sitting around drinking tea. At the end of the day she wants them to help Mantle, but if they choose to help Atlas she will drop them off, but they need to make a choice.
Words cannot describe the contempt I felt for Blake's self-absorbed "We've heard that before Q_Q"-line. Like, Blake, shut up. You and your friends were ready to doom thousands because you couldn't have your cake and eat it too. Don't act like you have the moral high ground here. And don't pretend like May is being unreasonable or "just as bad" as Ironwood. In fact, weren't y'all slobbering over Mantle in volume 7? Where'd that go?
It pisses me off that Iornwood was painted as the bad guy for saying the same thing May is saying. He knew from the beginning that they had no chance of winning this fight. Now because of Ruby, just about everyone is screwed.
It took me until the end of volume 7 to even remember all of the happy huntresses names that weren't Robin. That's how much it felt like they didn't matter/ were underdeveloped. But this scene gave May a really solid character moment that made you care about her role in the show and trans confirmation that like you said didn't detract from the weight in that scene and felt natural because it wasn't until overblown. The show treated the reveal as normal because it is. Which is a good thing. This scene helped make this probably the best episode of volume 8 for me so far and look forward to seeing more of May in the future. Character moments ftw
I'm so afraid May (and Ren) will die at this point because they've had such great character moments that largely involved them pointing out Team RWBY's constant stupidity.
Mays not going to die because etheyll get the same amount of backlash when clover died. If they kill their only trans character. It reflects badly on them, especially because shes confirmed and clover was only a headcanon
I feel like this would be more impactful to me if I actually saw the "chaos" thats going on in the crater from all I can tell the focus of the grimm attack is on Atlas. However, you make some good points.
It wasn’t big, it wasn’t drawn out, and it certainly wasn’t mediocre. May’s great character moment was everything we shoulda gotten for Cinder’s backstory
I believe its episodes with characters like this that will (i hope) change their mindset on things and actually develop. Its irritating that they've been like this for awhile but a few more steps in the right direction and who knows you might like them like you're supposed to.
@Matthew W Jr. Hasch Yeah, I know, but the thing is Mass Effect also had a similar "Indoctrination Theory" explaining away why the ending sucked, which is why I'm comparing it here right now.
I like how the same people that think Ironwood was wrong for having the exact same stance as May is praising May now, for having the exact same stance Ironwood has...
Its literally common sense, Weiss is just being stupid They’re wanted in Atlas, why do you want to fight for Atlas then get arrested by the Ace Ops? It’s just using 1% your brain to help Mantle
You just know that in the end Team RWBY will end up saving both Atlas and Mantle because they’re the protagonists and, given how the show’s been written thus far, can’t ever be wrong.
I mean, I still don't care for May. But I respect that they're trying to put a sense of urgency through the character and it works. Now if only we could see this in more important characters....
It pisses me off that Iornwood was painted as the bad guy for saying the same thing May is saying. He knew from the beginning that they had no chance of winning this fight. Now because of Ruby, just about everyone is screwed.
I think you're right, because caring about those less fortunate in high society socials, like Weiss had in vol 4, made you an outlier. And when she left , she was no longer their son; a narrative and literal transition to how May's become the woman she is today.
Aww shit... here we go again. Rooster teeth heading down this path again: step 1) They accidentally make a character interesting step 2) People start taking interest in said character, and ask for more step 3) Try to add more to the character (on purpose this time), and end up ruining them instead Well whether its intentional or not, I'll take whatever quality character moments this show can give me. We got Ren, Ironwood, and now May. Not too bad for side cast in the past 2 volumes alone.
the reason why i enjoy this moment was because how team rwby was a hypocrite for saving both atlas and mantle. Rwby only abandoned atlas and just straight up trying to save atlas. And I agree with what may said to team rwby, this is not a situation that everyone wins and play safe. Which has been a bloody migraine factor in team rwby since vol 4-5 or 6. At least may is active of saving people than team rwby sitting their butts drinking tea doing NOTHING and not coming up with a plan.
This was good, I felt an adult was finally taking charge which is good. I wonder what you have to say about Weiss though :0. It's almost like they are attempting to nuke the main 4
A nice condensed look through a single scene in the show and checking if its consistent with what we know so far, and surprisingly to all of us, it is. May has been firm about helping Mantle since her introduction, whether she was trans or not had little to do with it. From what I gathered based on what was said in the scene from May herself, her family disowned her because of her affirmative action toward helping the impoverished. It's an example of classism and her family wanted nothing to do with lower-classed citizens or their daughter (formerly son) who wanted to help them. It's even consistent with Henry Marigold's scene in vol.4 in how he could not be asked to give any fucks about Beacon and the attack on Vale. The problems of poor simply don't matter to their family and May couldn't stand it. Nice video.
Someone posted just the scene of May saying she wasn't their daughter anymore, and there were so many "who cares about her being trans, there are Grimm!" comments, completely ignoring the context of why she said it :)
@@Gabriel__Marques She wasn't like "everybody shut the fuck up, I'm trans!" to bring the show to a halt, she briefly implied that she was trans in a conversation about the grim and their next move. We didn't linger on it, and besides, characters have had conversations about things unrelated to the grim in the past?
whats sad is how the currently confirmed lgbtq or poc characters in rwby are either evil, background characters, or dead. In this case, mays just a bg character who briefly got a spotlight in her debut volume
Funnily enough, she is quite similar to Ironwood. Focused on saving their people, discard anyone who is not willing to follow them, shouts those down who just stall around without results. She just does not have the semblance that makes her cold-blooded.
@@PebphizYes and Vexed already complained about it once. It's called Mettle and helps him to go through with his decisions, basically eliminating self-doubt. It's why he can just step out of the room and kill someone or sacrifice his arm without a second thought.
@@callofhaloinfinite6336 I would call it a good thing. It is a more realistic approach even is she may appear more desperate because of it. And not having Ironwood's semblance is also a positive thing.
May never said her family had a problem with her being trans. Unless this was confirmed in a tweet or something. She said her family was upset when she chose to help Mantle. My take away was she transitioned sometime after her family estrangement.
The problem is that either the Marigold’s didn’t care about May’s being trans which presents dialogue issues, or they didn't which presents a pretty forced plot point. If it is the former, why would May bring it up when talking about her family disowning her? If she’s saying, “my parents hate me for choosing Mantle, and oh yeah I’m trans btw,” that is horribly clunky character exposition. If it was part of the reasoning for her parents disowning her, it just feels forced. Atlas is under attack, the character that was revealed to be trans in a Twitter post now wants to add a tragic backstory as well? Recall that this is when Weiss is trying to convince May not to simply abandon Atlas (the way RWBY and company did abandon Atlas just to try and save Mantle) by inquiring about her family and May doesn’t care for her family or Atlas and responds about how she wasn’t accepted as trans? I laughed at this scene for several minutes.
If May's Transition has nothing to do with her family rejecting her, nor does it have to do with her being pro-Mantle or Atlas, then why bring it up at all? Sounds like that line was pretty thrown in to me.
Not to mention that the line of causality of her sentence structure and the emotion accompanying the statements make it sound extremely heavily as though she specifically chose to transition to spite her parents, right down to constantly announcing her status in the hopes that word will reach back home and humiliate her family.
@@jackzhang8677
Hey guys! I can fix this right now. What if in lore, the Marygolds cherished the women in their family as the strongest and smartest. The transition was a symbol of pride for the family, but by choosing Mantle, was disgraceful enough to disown.
In story, this means that the famous Atlas elite Marygolds, try to take pride in the accomplishments of May by family, but as far as May's concern is, is trying to spite her family by not being an Atlas elite. Thus, the family are defending her actions against their direct benefit
Or reverse it. Men are the pride so the transition to a woman while being a prodigy embarrassed their name, but the good May does for Mantle has matched or surpassed their assumed honor into rivalry.
Whatever the case may be, there needs to be some juxtaposition between both helping mantle and transitioning being important to the family. I doesn't need to prejudice at all, but just breaking tradition in fact.
The trans stuff just felt thrown in there I feel. It didn't need to be there.
Ironwood. May. Ren.
🤝 🤝
Telling the children that their way won't work and not everyone can be saved.
Except Ironwood is a well known character with incredible development, so good that the writers had to trash him this volume just so RWBY comes out on top, or at least the only survivors. May is just extra baggage carried around to appease a minority that RT should have just ignored.
@@bullmoosevelt4495 woah mate, not cool. First of all, Mai has been carrying her weight way better than say Blake (despite ironically being the expert as stealth);
Second, even if it’s to appease, so what? At least she’s well written; isn’t that the important thing?
Nice meme
Ruby: May Marigold cannot be trusted
@@madmask7987 That dude is not well written just better written and that's a low bar.
The fact that a character applying basic common sense is such a breath of fresh air is hilarious to me
there has been quite a bit of it this volume and I'm liking the direction this could be going
@@keyki9832 i must be watching a different show. I thought all that happened was we see salem talk down to cinder,cinder do her usual not listen and get trashed and then not receive any fallout because they are gonna redeem her later. Meanwhile ironwood: I'm angry and gonna become a dictator who shoots publicly elected officials,since my plans haven't worked I'm gonna blame some kids and trust the bad guy who just mangled my arm.
Oh all while yang yells at people for having feelings. (Ren litteraly express emotion for the first time and yang is like "ew".)
Meanwhile team rwby discuss what to do instead of doing things.but twist! Its the same debate as the last two seasons except they forget that the plan they like now is the one iron wood wanted to do but they ruined.
Meanwhile oscar tries to talk-no-juitsu angery bear man into the good side because fans like his voice.
@@youtubeisrunbyamonkey the Main characters and the tone of the show is moving away from the "heroes always win/are right" mindset and going in the opposite direction, Ironwood and his goals are being adopted by Ruby herself and they are being challenged to into making morally grey choices which should be celebrated IMO because they'll have to grow as characters with the decisions they make (if the story goes that directions which i hope it does) the thing with Watts is that Ironwood doesn't have to trust him to use his skills, Watts is the only one with skill and know how to get penny back under control seeing as Petro isn't working with Ironwood. Just because we can see it backfiring (which it has) doesn't change the fact they he made the best move with the pieces that he has, and he isn't perfect and no one in the show is perfect so it would weird if everyone just make "the perfect moves" all time because that isn't how stories work.
@@keyki9832 first part i agree to an extent. That not including that their execution of said direction seems to be kinda all over the place at times with characters forgetting their past development. Its cool to change direction, but if you forget/ where you've gone already, its easy to feel lost or like they're in a loop..
Ironwood, to instantly trust Watts to do something you have no way of verifying?ok.. So what,he said "make this robot who I've come acknowledged as being a little girl and now the spirt of a magical maiden to work for me again...using your computer magic".
And watts being apparently so being so trustworthy say yes. And then ironwood, who doesn't understand computers, and who must not have a single person working for the nation's military that does either or that can even watch over a; super genius, computer master, criminal terrorist. who just recently plunged the nation into chaos, while they let him use....the military computer system.
@@youtubeisrunbyamonkey let’s assume that watts and petro are the only guys with the knowledge of Penny’s system or how the system would operate. Petro is on the run and watts is in a jail cell that you control and you need Penny back under control to fight off the Grimm or leave the city to protect the relic. You have armed guards watching watts so he doesn’t make any funny moves (which ironwood did). The fact that you have people ready to shoot him if he doesn’t do what you say is clear you don’t trust him but need his skills.
May: "YOU CAN'T STAY HERE, YOU MUST CHOOSE"
CRWBY: literally drops the plot on their front door so they don't have to make a decision
Yeah, that was frustrating.
I literally threw my hands up while watching when that happened. Once again ruby weasels out of making any hard choices so she doesn't need to "feel bad".
@@lunarrobot9714 she did make a choice though. If penny hadn't fallen in front of the house then ruby would have said they choose to help atlas since they were already set on that before may came in and tried to convince them that going to mantle was the right thing to do. They were just thinking about how they deal with the whale before they do anything :P
@@Axel_Kasai
Penny could've fallen literally anywhere and she conveniently lands right outside the front door of the place the main character is at RIGHT as she's about to answer that important question. Why would the show cut her off if the answer was so obvious? Because the show doesn't want her to pick of her own volition. They want the plot to decide where Ruby should be. And also think about it, Ruby spent the second half of volume seven talking about how important it is to save mantle. That was the whole reason they betrayed ironwood. Now that the whale is there, were supposed to belive she changes her mind and wants to save Atlas all of a sudden? Even though she didn't even stay in mantle to help with the evacuation even though she has silver eyes, and took Penny so that Atlas couldn't escape in the first place. "So who's side is she on anyways?"
She's actively NOT helping either side instead of helping both like she thinks she is. She's making things WORSE.
@@lunarrobot9714 At this point someone could say that Ruby is secretly working for Salem and I'd fucking believe. She sowed more chaos than *Cinder* this volume. Maybe that's why Salem wants Ruby back without killing/injuring her, she's one of her own pawns.
May: *Being reasonable*
RWB: “We don’t do that here”
Sir, as you can tell by the protag's reddish hair, this is a Wendy's.
She's literally the only adult in the room with them if you think about it.
But these kids are calling shots like they're legit pros. lol
@@VexedViewer hey that's what happens after you do like a year of college and never go back. You think your a pro in your field.
@@deamonmindgaming2054 that sounds hilariously accurate with today's standards
@@DjPrimeVideos All they need now is crippling debt
@@deamonmindgaming2054 This is sooo accurate it's like the equivalent of going to med school for like a semester never go back and now your calling the shots in an operating room
In just a few scenes May has become a more interesting and competant character than Robyn "Only!?" Hill, who was a big focus last series
I KNOW, like Robyn has scenes in both volumes yet May shows how she doesn’t need to take the entire spotlight to be even better
I still think that scene was forced, but compared to Robyn (which is a bottom of barrel standard), I can see that possibility.
I mean, that's not hard considering zwei is more competent than Robin.
Ruby: Please stop saying logical things! You're making too much sense!
Ruby: I can't make tough decisions
why its ilogical? Ruby is right, there are not sides in this war.Either humanity and fanus wins over salem and her grimm or everyone is dead
@@shfhsvomvolakis2318 That's not the part that was illogical she wanted to waste time breaking Qrow and Robin out of jail instead of fighting and saving people as fast as possible
@@MrMoustache144 yes i agree, this is a realy bad plan.
Ruby logic to have everyone listen her and not Iornwood , this is set up failer
I think that May coming out trans should've not been confirmed or mentioned in twitter like a year ago
And when this scene arrives, i'll be like:
"Oh, she is trans. Cool."
Agreed.
Yeah, that and the slightly awkward wording are perhaps the only complains I got about the scene. I think it would have been more impactful
I literally just had this exact same thought as I was watching this. I was like “Why did they confirm she was trans on Twitter? Wouldn’t it have made a bigger impact in the community and show if we waited for THIS episode to have the reveal?” Then I go here and I’m like I knew I wasn’t the only one!!!
Once again, a good idea been screwed up by the people behind the scenes.
Twitter isn't the show
May and Ren are literally the only people i can stand in this volume XD
They have more common sense that's why
Team Rwby are writing thier hero complex fan fiction
Same. They have all the brain cells
My only problem is while its great they’re the ones with the conflicted thinking the more time they spend fighting rwby and friends the more people dead by grim. Although it is unfair to call out everything they say, i mean ruby wants to free her uncle, honestly I’m on board with that idea, wouldn’t you want a veteran hunter on the field as Salem orchestrating an army of grim and cinder on the hunt for ruby?
@@Mashiro42 oh yeah jaune is awesome.
Periodt.
May, Ren, Winter, Penny, Hazel, Oscar/Ozpin, and Ironwood are making this volume for me in terms of characters.
Ren only works because every single person around him acts as his foil.
He is good because the others are so bad.
@@GameBreaker1055 No he's not, I hated him after v7
@@kingraplhmativo5178 I am speaking relatively here.
Also, before 7, he was just Nora's +1
Honestly Yang, Penny, Jaune, and Whitley aren't too bad. It's mostly RWB that are just ??? Which is disappointing, Weiss has been my favourite of the girls for many volumes.
@@emn2375 It's because they have not done anything since episode 3. And yeah, I should have included Penny.
Honestly cared more about her confrontation of the girls decision making than her confirmation (nothing wrong with its inclusion tho). someone who can be seen in ruby's camp that doesn't agree with them; nice to see for once.
the first person who challenged their ideology and isn't immediately labeled bad guy, good thing Yang wasn't there or May would be a bad guy
@@keyki9832 Yang would just get angry and snark at them
Technically Yang and Ren did that in Chapter 1.
@@austin9568AuraMasterDX how yang went from fan favorite to the most bitchy character deserves its own video
@@keyki9832 She's still the fan favorite though is the thing. Which is a shame since in V7 they barely did anything with her, but it is what it is.
And I'm not sure she wouldn't be on May's side about needing to do something here. Considering what she said in Chapter 1, coupled with her willingness to work with the Ace Ops this episode.
Someone: *says anything
RWBY: we heard that before...
If people keep telling you the same thing maybe it's because they gotta point and you should listen to them?
Blake said, “we heard that before” in reference to May asking, “who’s side are you on”
@@ninjaked1265 Elm asked that question and look how that turned out.
@@ninjaked1265 Yeah, Elm asked them who they were loyal to, they said "we're loyal to the people we swore to protect" then have proceeded to do nothing but help themselves whilst hundreds are being killed for their decisions
@@experiencemaster1743 People are literally dying in Mantle because team RWBY led them into a death pit below Atlas, Grimm are killing people in Atlas, and team RWBY is really out here like "Let's not do jack shit, wait on a doctor, and have some hot chocolate while all our wrong decisions are resulting in the chaos outside. Also, none of that is our fault."
@@Not_Ciel True. I mean, wtf RWB are even doing?
Ironwood controls Atlas' defence.
YJR and Ace Ops are about to storm the whale.
Oscar tries to create a discord among Salem's minions.
RWB? They drink fucking tea.
I really liked this moment for May. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t a “and suddenly they were gay moment”, and it was well flowed within the story. I’m all for LGBT+ representation and I always hated how a lot of characters in RWBY played the “and suddenly they were gay card”.
Well, is not really a lot tho, it’s just that the ones more prominent did in a way that, to put it lightly, could have been done better
The butchering of yang and Blake actually went exactly “and suddenly they were gay” I swear they were basically building up Blake and Sun for 5 volumes then threw it all away in one XD
Actually there are very few gay characters in RWBY
@@ninjaked1265 but the ones that are are front line characters
@@ninjaked1265 there are but I feel like representation shouldn’t be limited to “and suddenly they were gay.” It’s needs a proper introduction or buildup. We should see inclusion of these characters, their lives, and journeys rather than saying there part of the LGBT+ community like some switch suddenly flipped on
Ruby: What can we even do?(sips tea)
May: Alright every second we waste means another life at risk, so who are you gonna help Atlas or Mantle doesn't matter to me since everyone is in danger.
Ruby: How did it all get to this?(sips tea)
May: Didn't you put effort to send a message for help, how bout you put that effort to save someone we cannot wait you already know how long it took you travel all the way here from Haven so CHOOSE!!!
Ruby:(Sips tea) How do we fix all of it?
Entirety of Remnant: DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ruby: (Sips tea)...................................................What can we even do?.....................................................(Sips tea)
May: -_-
yes, she asked help, but even if people belive, who can help? Mistral and Vale are still recovering from attacks that killed lots of hunstman while Vacuo have it's own problems.
the closest place, Mistral, don't look like it can just summon an Army, Atlas got the biggest army and yet it did nothing to stop the enemy
@@marrvynswillames4975 I can't be the only one who feels that her little "speech" was the dumbest fucking move yet. Some random bitch sends a world-wide broadcast that Atlas is getting fucked by the largest army of Grimm ever seen, Ironwood is not to be trusted, Vacuo is next, and their headmaster has been keeping very dark secrets. Great fucking plan Ruby.
@@amirshaw671 i think its good plan to tell the world and hoping their help(even its kinda naive) cuz what u can do against salem atm? But yeah called ironwood cant be trusted is kinda dumb it sounds like he is villain too...
I think their option is hoping the help come and full force against salem(its kinda immposible to gather army that ready) or evacuate mantle and run away(also taking oscar,penny, robyn, qrow and relics too)
@@dexie135 that hope was small to begin with. But what piss me off is that Team RWBY believes there's some fairy tale plan that'll save Atlas and Mantle with no casualties or the world will show up when Atlas is at its bleakest. Seriously, what was the point of them fucking with everything Ironwood was doing?
@@amirshaw671 i dont even know what their goal is now...the least they can do is just evacuate mantle and go away and stay out of ironwood plan...but i know they cant give penny and relics on ironwood but tbh even they have it i think they cant do much with it
I was REALLY bothered when the scene came through of Ruby, Weiss and Blake sitting in Weiss’s house sipping tea while there’s literally an entire apocalypse going on outside and people are dying left and right and they’re just sitting on their asses sipping tea??? What??? Didn’t you guys want to save people?? What are you doing hiding in the house. I loved May in this episode, and I give credit to her voice actress too, the way she was conveying her frustration and resolve to them was literally how I was feeling while watching this. Team RWBY is losing so many points from me, I swear. Throw the whole team away
Weiss could be taking care of nora while the other 3 do something
@@marrvynswillames4975 Right! Or have Whitley take care of her. There was no need for them to sit around in la la land not even trying to form a plan smh
When was the last time RWBY even worked as a functional team? Like, V2 against Roman?
Their fight against Ace Ops was a complete fluke because for some reason they were never detained despite being caught several times. Harriet could've easily detained at least 1 early on and Blake would've been taken out so quickly.
exactly my thought. they stop ironwood from saving the people of atlas and the mantle refugees, provide no plan how to save both, and theyre now sitting on their asses, while an apocalypse is happening. i hate these kids so much.
After episode 14 I think your wish came true lmao
I just realized that RWBY got praised for doing the bare minimum
Don't forget Yang taking all the credit for shit they didn't do in their fight with Ren
Yang: We took down a leviathan
Reality: Cordovan managed to recover the mech and save the city from the Leviathan you slowed down at best
Yang: When we saved Haven
Reality: It took an entire town of people to show up and your mom with maiden powers to turn on salem to stop the attack, and if you wanna get real specific Illia saved Haven when she defused the bombs otherwise nothing they did would've mattered since the academy would still be destroyed)
Yang: We got the lamp to atlas
Reality: yeah you got it there, but you were one of the ones to suggest they just toss it in a well despite recently being told the grimm are attracted to the relics, and then you lost it
to Quote Qrow "there's no prize for ALMOST"
Bare minimum of what
@@carrot_lovly See the reply above for answer.
@@Cptsuccess Ohh
May says you can't save everyone and you have to make a choice and the cast listens. Ironwood says the same thing and Ruby goes on global television and tells the world he can't be trusted.
THIS IS MY WHOLE THING!!
Thing is May wants to save as many as she can. She doesn't want to abandon everyone. Atlas has Ironwood where as Mantle has no one. So she's going to put her efforts into protecting those who cant defend themselves. Where as Ironwood will abandon those who need him the most. He could have saved a lot of people in Mantle but chose to let them die.
Now that's not to say that team RWBY's decisions haven't been idiotic.
@@RJLiams The thing is Iornwood has been put in an unwinnable situation, almost completely due to team Ruby actions and lies.
There is no scenario that they somehow manage to beat back Salem's army. They are outnumbered, outgunned and running on fumes. As it stand, everyone in both atlas and mantle is going to die. Iornwood understood that and make the tough call. It might seem cold, but saving at least one city, is better than letting them both die just to fight an unwinnable battle.
@@RJLiams it was indicated that Ironwood evacuated a lot of Mantle to Atlas already and only stopped when Salem was literally right about to reach the cities. He had no reason at the time to expect that Salem would wait so long to attack after arriving as she did. Had he known that she would practically sit on her ass outside the cities for a day before attacking he probably would have continue the evacuation.
Additionally, he knew that Salem was there for the relic of creation and that actually destroying Mantle or Atlas wasn't important to her at all. Just like how the attack on Vale was just a distraction so her agents could get to the relic of choice, whether the city was destroyed or not was irrelevant to her. Likewise the attack on Haven was also just meant to get the relic of knowledg and the city of Mistral itself wasn't even targeted. The only reason she's attacking Atlas in person with an army of grimm is because of how militarized it is and how well defended the relic of creation is. She literally had no choice but a to do a full scale invasion, but the relic is still her goal. It is entirely possible, likely even, that if he moved Atlas her forces would follow it in pursuit, even leaving Mantle behind and not-destroyed as it's ultimately irrelevant to her.
Ruby: We can find Qrow and Robyn! We can see where they are apprehended!
Also Ruby: WE DON'T NEED AN ADULT TO SAVE US OR TELL US WHAT TO DO!
so true
It ticks me off that people don't noticed the mistakes
I dont. 😤
I honestly feel the side characters are better then the main characters.
It's sad how true that is
Of course, if they focused on them like they did the Protags, they'd probably ruin them
Wish I could like this 1000 times.
For sure, tho I feel Weiss is the ONLY good main of the Four.
@@rum5878 facts
May is vexed and all of us in the comments, the only ones speaking sense. Hope we see more of May, although its pretty sad when a background character is more likeable than most if not all the main characters. Good video Vexed.
She is sooooo more representative then bumblebee.
Edit: I realize that those representations are way diferent, May is a Trans, Bumbleblehh is lesbian couple, but even so, May representation work are sooo better then most transgender representation.
True.
Yep! More representative then the confirmed Bisexual Belladonna
Its cuz she wasn't holding up a sign that says "I'm trans"
If you are searching for lesbian representation, Volume 6 had Jaune's sister and her wife and it just like with May, it was just there without any cringe dialogue to ruin them.
@@GameBreaker1055 and choppy animation trying to be funneh
When Whitley takes more initiative than the main characters.. that’s when you know these kids probably need their licenses revoked
It just keeps shoving us in our faces how Ruby is a child who sees the world through a story book tinted glasous. But that's always been the case for her. She's never thought beyond being the "hero" that her reality was built upon. Even now, when the world is in danger, she refuses to grow up and waits for everything to turn out fine after making things worse. Now she's dealing with an adult who isn't a pushover or can conveniently be labelled a villain in her worldview. Though with how things are looking, I won't be surprised if reality snaps itself in order to match her reality again.
The true power of the Silver eyes. Discount Reality stone.
I appreciate moments like the ones with Ren and this with May. But we should be seeing them more with RWBY.
Wait... team RWBY are the main characters?
@@VexedViewer Wait...RWBY has main characters?
wait bro.... you might be on to something
Nah fam their too busy having tea.
at this point all of you just want to hate everything thery do at this point
i’m getting the disturbing feeling that they’re trying to portray May as another Ironwood and while we have higher expectations, I have little hope that they won’t pull a “traitor” card and make May another semi-antagonist for our ‘wonderful protagonist’
We're with everyone unless they disagree with out unrealistic thinking
-RNBW
With how woke RT is, I doubt they'll make a trans character evil but they have done some REALLY stupid stuff before so I dunno
@@sammydray5919 how is RT woke? 1 trans charachter and 1 gay couple that didnt even kiss lmao
@@molo1848 Have you seen their commentary and twitter?
@@molo1848 A gay couple doesn't need to kiss on screen to be legit. Think of the plot line, if there was no moment for it then there doesn't need to be a kiss.
Honestly it felt outright cathartic seeing someone from mantle tell the MC’s that trying to save everyone isn’t going to work.
Which is the same thing Ironwood pointed out but OH! He's a straight white man that's also in the military so he must ALWAYS be wrong!
@@carbodude5414 I know. But honestly knowing how its being shown in the show if you don't agree with the MC's your obviously in the morally wrong. Especially if by some unholy impossible miracle reinforcements come.
So May's "Deathflag" is now raised; all by being logical. Let's hope she becomes a fan favor-, oh crap, Pyrrah. Nevermind. Farewell, Sweet May. Die a Glorious Huntresses' Death!
Ruby: If you're going to be Logical and won't side with us. You're the bad guy now. (Looking at Ironwood)
"What? No! We can't leave and let this place be burnt down by Salem!"
- they say as they sit around and drink tea in response to May telling them to go stop another place from burning down thanks to Salem
It's amazing how with little fleshing out, a background character just applying basic common sense is already more likeable than our current leads.
May is another great example that shows that the writers do know how to add representation without being too on the nose and disrupting the flow of the story and conversations.
The fact that Yang and Blake is still a total train wreck proves to me that the writers did not want to do it, but felt like they HAD to do it and have no actual plan for it.
I think a trans character is always gonna come off as “disrupting” because it’s just not common at all. I see a trans character and I’m immediately reminded that this was written mostly to add a trans character.
Instead of adding characters for diversity, just make character attributes by random number generator. If it doesn’t matter to the story, roll a d100. On a 1-2 (or whatever to reflect the actual number of trans people compared to non-trans people), have them be trans. Have a 13% chance for the, not to be straight. 50/50 on man or woman etc. That’s the only way we’re going to represent reality.
@@Ubersupersloth well, even if it was just to add some representation, it doesn’t mean is necessarily bad. Like this case, at least it’s way better written than BB, so...
@@madmask7987 Being written to add representation is inherently bad, though. I get that representation in media actually affects the human mind (because human beings are apparently super suggestible) but adding minorities purely to have them is never gonna come across well because they were added purely because a minority needed to be added. Again: RNG that bitch.
As for “being better written than bumblebee”, that’s not a high bar.
@@Ubersupersloth If the writers felt like adding a trans character then they can do so. It does not irritate me and in this case it added a bit more fuel to the relationship between May and her family.
@@GameBreaker1055 It irritates me but, again, that’s mainly because adding representation manually is something I disapprove of and reinforcing the concept of gender is something I disapprove of.
This was ok but... where that Ren Semblance video Vex? Lol keep up the good work on a side note Ruby needs to learn this..... the hardest thing about being a Hero is that you can't always save everyone spiderman and many more taught me that Ruby
Jaune, Yang, and Ren should be pissed at Ruby, Weiss, and Blake for their lack of resolve, considering what they resolved to do this episode.
I love May after this episode.
No. You see, Yang is more concerned if Blake thinks less of her...
@@ctcdreamer God it makes no sense...
Like Yang "signs up for a suicide mission to save her friend" Xiao Long is worried about Blake "this tea is kind of hot" Belladonna thinking less of her? If anything it should be the other way around at this point. Stop making Yang just Blake's armcandy, RT.
I really can't believe how they turned Yang from the definition of badass to the lame character she is now. She could literally die in any following episode and it just wouldn't matter cs it feels like she's a complete new character who just joined the series and we don't know anything about
I dont know what ren gonna say if he saw rwb sipping tea and nora sick
May was probably disowned before becoming trans from my understanding.
I think thats how her diaglogue was structured to clarify that the Marigolds shunned May because she'd rather help those in need instead of contributing to her family's social standing, not because she is trans.
@@jcam5 Oh I know she didn't get disowned because of that, I just think she got disowned before becoming trans.
@@mr.gameandtime8432 Why? If her dialogue tells us that she was shunned because she was helping those in need, why do you think she was disowned because she was trans? There is nothing to say this and it's not like Atlas or Remnant is anti LGBT or anti female, irregardless of May's dialogue.
@@Slayer398 What? I said she was probably disowned before becoming trans. She got disowned for going to mantle to help and not helping her parents. I never said she got disowned for being Trans, You're clearly misreading what I said. What I meant she got disowned for helping mantle when her family didn't want her too.
@@mr.gameandtime8432 Okay, reading what you said here, I did misread it, but that's why I asked you why you thought that as it seemed weird.
Thay actually pulled this off without it being Forced. Gotta give M and C props for this one.
They really didnt. M and C are shit writers and I miss Monty.
@@RaZeZeRo1 it’s ok to shut up sometimes, truly.
May is the one person in this group that is thinking realistically. In world of war, there's no guaranteed chance of saving everyone in the world. Only a few batch. There's no wins, there's no victory, no guaranteed happy endings. Only making the most of what they have and at the least survive with who we have left.
Goddamn, another side character carrying this volume. Ren, May and Farm Boi are going to need back massages from doing what should've been "our hero's" work 😒
starting to think this show is a side character driven story
@@keyki9832 Always has been
Agreed! I'd add Penny to the list as well, though :)
Her line at the end where not everyone wins is the best line in the episode glad someone said it
It’s basically what Yang said in episode 1 but better phrased
I'm starting to wonder what Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are talking about at this point.
Seriously, in Volume 7, it was: "We can't abandon Mantle! There are people who need us there! Atlas can hold out against Salem!"
At the beginning of Volume 8, it was: "We don't have time to save Mantle! Amity Tower is more important!"
Now, it's: "We can't abandon Atlas! There are people who need us here!"
Why can't they make up their minds?
Because they’re finally in a situation where their actions have consequences
@@taylorslade8080 And as off now it's no longer the case.
As pulls and mcguffins for all!
1:12 People are dying here too...sooooooo why are you standing around doing nothing?!
I have to agree with you on the representation. Not only was the writing solid but the actor gave a great performance too. This was a really powerful moment.
Oh, look! A character being reasonable and calling Ruby and co. out on their crap.
Well, nice to meet you, May. Please sit here and wait a few episodes while I get your membership card for the "pushed down so team RWBY can be lifted up" club ready. Ironwood, Raven and Ozpin can meanwhile fill you in on what the club's all about. :)
Your PFP fits this Comment in every way.
we may never see may marigold again after this because u know what happens to people who don't agree with team rwby and friends. she will either be turned into the bad guy or end up being killed off-screen (like Cardin's friends).
I sure do love how the background character is speaking sense while Ruby and co are just lazing around in a mansion and sipping tea bitching and moaning about what they should do instead of actually doing anything.
So May is the one making the tough decisions & challenging team RWBY on their plans. Does this mean that the writers will treat her like she’s in the wrong like Ren or will they make her a flat out villain like Ironwood?
2:57 I love the timing of this statement and May staring at Blake. This is how you make an LGBT character in your story, you don't have to kill character personalities and arcs to do it
It's funny how Weiss bring up the family when she literally said get the fuck outa here to Whitley.
RWBY Fans be like: Oh, THIS is what everyones been talking about that this series doesn't have good character moments?!
May and Ren are the voice of reason this terrible script needs.
May, Ren, and Juane are carrying this volume!! Why is Ruby the protagonist again?? Oscar is the real protagonist.
Where was Yang's character moment like this in the volume? Her character seems to revolve around Blake now so she feels like she has no substance. She told her mom of without even getting all the answers and Blake came back so now the writers ran out of things for her to do I guess. Same with some off the other characters.
Yang has a character? Not anymore
Poor, sweet, summer child. There is no Yang....Only bumblebee. :-;
Hm, not bad Vex. I will say though that the whole "representation" angle that I hear a lot of people in the fandom talk about is something I just don't care for. For me I couldn't care less if someone was trans, black, etc. because that's just something outside of ones control. I just care about story and who the characters are. Not what they are
Identifying as trans is not something out of someone's control.
Meh...different types of characters are just nice to see. It gets boring when they all look or act similar or reflect specific backgrounds all the time.
Ruby: "We don't know what to do!"
May: "Stop bitching and move your asses!"
I think that deep down, Ruby wants Qrow and Robyn out, so they can lead, since they are older and more experienced. Behind all of that optimism, Ruby sorta knows full well she's messed things up, and it's very hard to fix it.
Damn. Its almost like everything Iornwood warn about happened. But then again, how was Ruby to know she couldn't beat back an entire army with 8 kids?
May: we need to go people are dying!
Ruby and Weiss: But we haven't finished our tea..... :(
you know the writing's fucked when the side characters are being more active than the main characters themselves
I love the quick and well done representation as a trans woman myself, it doesn't feel forced at all yet having a trans character in a show I watch is awesome to me.
I gave up on this show a long time ago, but hot damn, its beyond satisfying that someone threw it in their face that this situation isn't one where everyone wins.
But it also frustrating that its LITERALLY what Iornwood was trying to get across to them, but he was made the bad guy for it.
Facts
I love the line "if they didn't want me as a son, then they won't have me as a daughter".
I like how intentionally vague it was, meaning what they meant is up for interpretation: is this something they wanted, did they do it to distance themselves from/spite their old family, were they forces to play the part of a son until they left etc.
May doesn't have that good a point about Atlas having an army.
Atlas is also bearing the massive brunt of Salem's assault. It is Salem's main objective. Thwarting her efforts there take priority, in terms of strategy.
Hell, if I'm not mistaken, all of the Mantle refugees are currently hiding in the crater right beneath Atlas? If Salem gets her way, she's probably going to bring Atlas crashing down right onto all those refugees.
That being said, if Weiss, Ruby and Blake want to "stay and help" Atlas, then they shouldn't be sitting around drinking tea, they should be heading to the front lines to fight.
Yeah, and even if May plan to take the refugees before Atlas is defeated, how? They lack transport and non trained citzens lack the long lasting aura needed to survive long enough to reach Argus
Man, What an amazing character backstory reveal with is infinitely better than the slop we got with Cinder.
I agree 100%. An actual side character that I am invested in and who actual is an adult in this show with these smart-mouth kids.
ok that's cute representation and all but they still made Cinder worse with her trash backstory..... god can we get good backstories again first..
I think thats a too much expectation from rwby lol
@@sammydray5919 true... as long as Tyrian and Mercury F shit up that’s all I can hope for lol
To be honest, stuff like this makes me think we got the wrong characters as the main protagonists.
Goddamn. I love the reality check. It's like the heard our voice
Thanks man. I was both overthinking and underthinking her that one "Son-to-Daughter" line. I got she was disowned by her family because of her affiliation with the HH, but when she said "I made sure everyone knew I wasn't their daughter." I was confused on whether or not she was implying her being trans was the central catalyst for this moment in her life. You helped me see her being trans *doesn't* matter... like, at all in this conversation. We can just assume it was just a coincidence that she transitioned her identity after this whole ordeal so it was just a throw away line for the representations sake. I'm so used to RWBY being hamfisted and clunky with its points that I kept replaying that trying to see how those two things related to each other. 😂😂😂
Also, can we just point out how May was more than willing to drop them off to help Atlas if that was the choice they made. This argument only started cause she assumed they wanted to help Mantle just like she did. Plus they spent so much time saying how they wanted to help save Mantle it seemed weird that they suddenly changed their mind. She thinks they would better help Mantle instead of sitting around drinking tea. At the end of the day she wants them to help Mantle, but if they choose to help Atlas she will drop them off, but they need to make a choice.
Words cannot describe the contempt I felt for Blake's self-absorbed "We've heard that before Q_Q"-line.
Like, Blake, shut up. You and your friends were ready to doom thousands because you couldn't have your cake and eat it too. Don't act like you have the moral high ground here. And don't pretend like May is being unreasonable or "just as bad" as Ironwood.
In fact, weren't y'all slobbering over Mantle in volume 7? Where'd that go?
It pisses me off that Iornwood was painted as the bad guy for saying the same thing May is saying. He knew from the beginning that they had no chance of winning this fight. Now because of Ruby, just about everyone is screwed.
Ooh ooh, I vote for May to be the new leader
I like how fluent they added this into the story
It took me until the end of volume 7 to even remember all of the happy huntresses names that weren't Robin. That's how much it felt like they didn't matter/ were underdeveloped. But this scene gave May a really solid character moment that made you care about her role in the show and trans confirmation that like you said didn't detract from the weight in that scene and felt natural because it wasn't until overblown. The show treated the reveal as normal because it is. Which is a good thing. This scene helped make this probably the best episode of volume 8 for me so far and look forward to seeing more of May in the future. Character moments ftw
I'm so afraid May (and Ren) will die at this point because they've had such great character moments that largely involved them pointing out Team RWBY's constant stupidity.
Mays not going to die because etheyll get the same amount of backlash when clover died. If they kill their only trans character. It reflects badly on them, especially because shes confirmed and clover was only a headcanon
Character: *Uses common sense*
Ruby: _FUCKING HERESY!_
I feel like this would be more impactful to me if I actually saw the "chaos" thats going on in the crater from all I can tell the focus of the grimm attack is on Atlas. However, you make some good points.
It's amazing how May made this episode. It had some great writing, which surprises me.
Man all the happy huntresses are pretty cool.
And then you have Robyn...
It wasn’t big, it wasn’t drawn out, and it certainly wasn’t mediocre. May’s great character moment was everything we shoulda gotten for Cinder’s backstory
Great video, Vex!
Is it bad I care more about May than team Rwby?
Nah. I actually like the villains more than the heroes in the show at this point. Lol.
Nah team rwby is so meh at this point that no one could blame you
I believe its episodes with characters like this that will (i hope) change their mindset on things and actually develop. Its irritating that they've been like this for awhile but a few more steps in the right direction and who knows you might like them like you're supposed to.
I like story snobs. Your demands for more just shows you love the series a lot and wish it had more utilization.
Ruby is worst leader jaune is better than ruby
@Matthew W Jr. Hasch
How and why did it all go wrong?
@Matthew W Jr. Hasch
What is this, Mass Effect?
@Matthew W Jr. Hasch Only now? RWBY has never been solid fam.
@Matthew W Jr. Hasch
Yeah, I know, but the thing is Mass Effect also had a similar "Indoctrination Theory" explaining away why the ending sucked, which is why I'm comparing it here right now.
Lol Ozpin made a mistake
I like how the same people that think Ironwood was wrong for having the exact same stance as May is praising May now, for having the exact same stance Ironwood has...
"Who's Whitley?" LMAO
May has protagonist/deuteragonist potential.
Its literally common sense, Weiss is just being stupid
They’re wanted in Atlas, why do you want to fight for Atlas then get arrested by the Ace Ops?
It’s just using 1% your brain to help Mantle
You just know that in the end Team RWBY will end up saving both Atlas and Mantle because they’re the protagonists and, given how the show’s been written thus far, can’t ever be wrong.
Even the side characters have better development than the main characters.
Ruby:wait your telling us we have to save people!?!?,instead of breaking law even further!?!?
*you're telling...
@@HaHaHaHolowence I don’t remember adding three periods😎
@@plzletmein3267 That was just me not typing everything.
@@HaHaHaHolowence yeah I know I was messing
@@HaHaHaHolowence but fr though why does English have to be such a pain
I mean, I still don't care for May. But I respect that they're trying to put a sense of urgency through the character and it works. Now if only we could see this in more important characters....
It pisses me off that Iornwood was painted as the bad guy for saying the same thing May is saying. He knew from the beginning that they had no chance of winning this fight. Now because of Ruby, just about everyone is screwed.
@@Crazieyboy15 facts
I think you're right, because caring about those less fortunate in high society socials, like Weiss had in vol 4, made you an outlier. And when she left , she was no longer their son; a narrative and literal transition to how May's become the woman she is today.
Aww shit... here we go again. Rooster teeth heading down this path again:
step 1) They accidentally make a character interesting
step 2) People start taking interest in said character, and ask for more
step 3) Try to add more to the character (on purpose this time), and end up ruining them instead
Well whether its intentional or not, I'll take whatever quality character moments this show can give me. We got Ren, Ironwood, and now May. Not too bad for side cast in the past 2 volumes alone.
@cLoud unDerWeather your comment has age incredible well! good job😀.
the reason why i enjoy this moment was because how team rwby was a hypocrite for saving both atlas and mantle. Rwby only abandoned atlas and just straight up trying to save atlas. And I agree with what may said to team rwby, this is not a situation that everyone wins and play safe. Which has been a bloody migraine factor in team rwby since vol 4-5 or 6. At least may is active of saving people than team rwby sitting their butts drinking tea doing NOTHING and not coming up with a plan.
When the side character is more of a main character than the actual main characters
This was good, I felt an adult was finally taking charge which is good. I wonder what you have to say about Weiss though :0. It's almost like they are attempting to nuke the main 4
Why is everyone but team RWBY holding up this volume
A nice condensed look through a single scene in the show and checking if its consistent with what we know so far, and surprisingly to all of us, it is. May has been firm about helping Mantle since her introduction, whether she was trans or not had little to do with it. From what I gathered based on what was said in the scene from May herself, her family disowned her because of her affirmative action toward helping the impoverished. It's an example of classism and her family wanted nothing to do with lower-classed citizens or their daughter (formerly son) who wanted to help them. It's even consistent with Henry Marigold's scene in vol.4 in how he could not be asked to give any fucks about Beacon and the attack on Vale. The problems of poor simply don't matter to their family and May couldn't stand it.
Nice video.
Someone posted just the scene of May saying she wasn't their daughter anymore, and there were so many "who cares about her being trans, there are Grimm!" comments, completely ignoring the context of why she said it :)
Literaly creatures of darkness that kill anyone on sight, make this LGBT scenes confusing in all the senses on the story of the show
@@Gabriel__Marques She wasn't like "everybody shut the fuck up, I'm trans!" to bring the show to a halt, she briefly implied that she was trans in a conversation about the grim and their next move. We didn't linger on it, and besides, characters have had conversations about things unrelated to the grim in the past?
whats sad is how the currently confirmed lgbtq or poc characters in rwby are either evil, background characters, or dead. In this case, mays just a bg character who briefly got a spotlight in her debut volume
happy they have good trans rep, wasn't heavy-handed unlike the faunus
Yeah. Remember when a certain group of evil fauna were just fighting for equality but got turned into supremacist
@@redvoco02 it was so weirdly handled
I noticed with her voice and then this scene happened
The main reason I don’t like may is because the majority of people who like her and her ideas think ironwood is wrong and that just pisses me off
Funnily enough, she is quite similar to Ironwood.
Focused on saving their people, discard anyone who is not willing to follow them, shouts those down who just stall around without results.
She just does not have the semblance that makes her cold-blooded.
@@GameBreaker1055 Is that a good thing or a bad thing, on the semblance part?
@@GameBreaker1055 Wait, we know Ironwood's semblance?
@@PebphizYes and Vexed already complained about it once.
It's called Mettle and helps him to go through with his decisions, basically eliminating self-doubt.
It's why he can just step out of the room and kill someone or sacrifice his arm without a second thought.
@@callofhaloinfinite6336 I would call it a good thing. It is a more realistic approach even is she may appear more desperate because of it.
And not having Ironwood's semblance is also a positive thing.