RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3

RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3

Weiss Has Been Demoted

It’s official: Wiess Schnee is no longer my favorite of the four main girls in RWBY: Ice Queendom. Weiss did everything in her power in Episode 3 to make herself unlikable. At least she’s still pretty cool. She got the only action in this week’s episode.

I guess we’re starting this review off by going over everything Weiss did wrong. So, first up, Weiss gets mad at Ruby for cheering her on. I know she says she’s mad because Ruby was telling her what to do. But, it’s clear that wasn’t Ruby’s intention.

Next, Weiss attempts to have herself designated as the team leader. I’ll concede that Weiss might be more skilled than Ruby is. But, she hasn’t once shown that she has the qualities to be a leader. Who was the one who took charge during the exam? It was Ruby, not Weiss.

Weiss Schnee fighting a boar Grimm from the anime series RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3
Weiss Schnee fighting a boar Grimm

Let’s also not forget that Weiss defends the practices of her family’s company. I know we’re supposed to be seeing both sides of the company vs. the White Fangs. But, the Schnee company is your typical, evil overlord corporation. They have a monopoly on a natural resource.

Defending the Schnee Corporation (I think that’s the name) is like defending Amazon. All it does is show how out of touch you are. And, it doesn’t help that there’s a significant dose of racism mixed into all this. Who are the enemies of the Schnee Corporation? The Fauna (animal people).

Continuing on with racism, Weiss herself is racist. It’s not only that she supports a racist business. She believes that all Fauna are terrorists and criminals.

I’m tired of the animal people representing minorities trope. It’s so overdone. And isn’t that trope itself a bit racist? Comparing people to animals?

Hunting Nightmares

The middle part of the episode seems to have set the stage for the rest of the season. We got an introduction to Nightmares — Grimm that prey upon insecurities. And every single thing mentioned about them made it clear that Weiss was going to fall victim to one.

Of course, at the end of the episode, that’s exactly what happened. But, before then, Juane was the one a Nightmare attacked. He served as the guinea pig so we could learn all about how to defeat a Nightmare. Who would have guessed that it requires the power of friendship?

When a Nightmare infects a host, it puts them into a coma and seals them within their own dreams. During this time, the Nightmare uses the host’s Aura (magic) to produce other Grimm. Are all Grimm produced this way? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.

Shion Zaiden hunting Nightmare Grimm from the anime series RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3
Shion Zaiden hunting Nightmare Grimm

What does matter is that the only way to save the victim from the Nightmare is to enter the dreamscape. And, as far as I understand it, Shion Zaiden is the one you need if you’re going to do that. I guess if she’s not around, you’re out of luck.

But, hold on. That’s not all. Remember, we need the power of friendship to defeat a Nightmare. As it turns out, the only people who can enter the victim’s dreams to save them are their close friends. If anyone else tries, the victim’s heart will close itself off.

The other three members of Team JNPR were able to go into Juane’s dreams and defeat the Nightmare. So, naturally, it’s the remaining three members of Team RWBY who are going to save Weiss.

Or, you know, they could kill her to solve two problems at once. No more Nightmare or Weiss.

The Catgirl is the Best Girl

Due to Blake’s large ribbon, it was clear the inspiration for her design was a catgirl. But, it turns out that she is a catgirl. I noticed that she had some cat-like qualities — such as her reflexes. Still, I didn’t expect her to actually be one.

So far, we haven’t seen that Blake has a tail. Based on the other Fauna in this episode, though, we can assume she has one. And I hope she stops hiding it soon. A very important trait of any catgirl is that she has a visible tail.

Anyway, now that Weiss got demoted to trash-tier, Blake is the new best girl of the series. I still think her whip-guns are dumb. But, aside from that, I’d say she’s good. She has a pretty nice character design and she doesn’t have a terrible personality.

Blake Belladonna revealing her cat ears from the anime series RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3
Blake Belladonna revealing her cat ears

I wonder if there’s going to be an issue with getting Blake into Weiss’s dreams. Weiss hates catgirls. So, wouldn’t that mean that Blake won’t be able to get into Weiss’s dreams? I thought it could also be the other way around. But, that doesn’t make sense.

It can’t be that Blake has to view Weiss as a friend to get into her dreams, right? Weiss must be the one to view those entering her dreams as friends. That’s why it’s her heart that gets closed off if it detects non-friends. Or, it might work both ways. I don’t know.

I’ll be a bit disappointed if there’s no issue getting Blake into Weiss’s dream. Wasn’t the whole point of mentioning only close friends can enter dreams to set up a potential issue? It’s going to be pretty lame if Weiss actually made up with Blake as she claimed at the end of the episode.

Conclusion

What do you think of RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 3? Did this episode hurt your opinion of Weiss? Should Team RWBY even bother saving Weiss? And, did you already know Blake was a catgirl before the reveal? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 4 is available now.

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