The total lack of a sense of danger or urgency in the fight undermines the point of everything going on with it plot-wise. Early on, when Yang got smashed into the sewers, I thought they were really nailing it...but no, that was about the last thing any of the Grimm did on offense. And without the sense of fear presented by the Grimm, the rescue by the Atlesian army feels less like "Yay! We're saved!" and more like "Obligatory plot point checked off!" I have no idea why anyone would think the army was needed or necessary, when a bunch of student huntsmen and huntresses were cleaning up. Zwei even soloed one Grimm.
Jaune's fight, for example, why not actually show something of it? Like, that he can now get his shield up in time to defend while attacking, showcasing his improvement over V1.
I was ultimately reminded of the finale of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, where the last battle was just a showcase moment for everybody's attacks while Nana Mizuki rocked out. Similarly here with Team CFVY, which was actually done pretty well--they came in late enough that they could curbstomp the Grimm without screwing the negative.
I was struck by Ren--Jaune's comment indicated that going to that village was somehow important to him. Which means that it's the first time a non-Jaune Team JNPR member was acknowledged as having a personal interese, goal, life, etc.
The girls talking at the end together seemed so ridiculously forced as to be annoying. The scene with Cinder, Emerald, Merc, and Adam at least felt "real," like it was actually reacting to events. I'm not bothered by Cinder's ambiguity here; I'm pretty solidly convinced that there is a plan and it's not going to be absurdly complex, so I'm not too bugged by me not knowing how it all fits together now.
That said, there was also a lot to like about the episode: the abovesaid Ren, the reveal of Raven's name and that she almost certainly is Yang's mother, CFVY, the revelation that Glynda's fixing the tables in Episode 1 was actually foreshadowing for her fixing the tunnel seal here, Roman's general sassiness. But ultimately, V2 ended on more of a whimper than a bang, leaving me frustrated by what could have been rather than awed by what was. Worse yet, the biggest failure was in an area which is generally one of RWBY's strengths. There is a problem when the E1 food fight is orders of magnitude more epic and dramatic than the season finale battle.
Ultimately, while I thing V2 did a lot of good work in fixing the flaws of V1, it also highlighted new flaws of its own which become more significant as RWBY has to now stand on its own as a show, not buoyed by the hype. There's huge amounts to enjoy; I am in love with the characters and their world and want to see and learn more of them, but the writers seem to still be hampered by the lack of time (trying to do too much in too little time available) and are leaving too much unsaid or in the wrong ways.
Originally Posted by Mcjon01
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