RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 5 is very somber and uncertain in tone and for very good reason. As we found out in the last few episodes, Salem is more of a tragic than we thought and Ozpin isn’t the man he made himself out to be. This harsh revelation takes a heavy toll on team RWBY as expected.
Yang’s PTSD starts to flare up and she hallucinates. Weiss seems somewhat distant and very silent and the team is just very “down” altogether. Also, I’m sure finding two dead bodies in the house you’re trying to hide from a snowstorm doesn’t do much for mentality or team morale either.
There are two themes that really stuck out to me in this episode, friends trying to comfort their loved ones in times of strife and trying to letting what you truly feel come to the surface instead of burying those feelings. First of all, Ruby tries to offer Weiss some relief by telling her that food always helps her, implying that Weiss should eat as well. Ruby isn’t wrong in the sense that they should try to maintain hope but I feel her approach was off which just goes to show how human this show is.
See, even “technically right” solutions can be wrong in specific situations. Instead of trying to convince Weiss to overcome her feelings with optimism and “feel-good feelings” right off the bat, she should have listened to how her friend felt and come up with a solution from there. Not every situation calls for advice or words, sometimes all we need to do is listen and understand. There are some wounds that words can’t heal and in those times we need to love through listening.
As for the second theme, there seems to be a lot of busyness to the point that it seems like they’re trying to stay busy to not confront their feelings as much as they’re trying to stay safe from the storm. But we see a glimpse of how this can affect the mind in Yang. When she tries to bury her pain her mind forces it to the surface in PTSD flashes. Confronting intense feelings is no easy thing but burying it will not only make that pain more painful but make every pain you’ve ever felt re-emerge with all the more intensity. Let this be a reminder to feel your pain, confront it and come to terms with it.
