RWBY Volume 6 Episode 6 - Alone in the Woods: Review

Ruby talks with her uncle, who says that he’s got a bad feeling about this place, especially with him around. Ruby asks if he’s alright and she gets a sarcastic sure from her uncle. He tells her to tell the other to rest up and that he will wake them up just before sunrise. The book Maria picked up is one of a series of diaries written by the head of the household, Bartleby. She tells Oscar that Brunswick farms was founded by Bartleby and several other families in an attempt to live on their own. Apparently, things were fine for a while until some problems arose. Ruby walks in and tells Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, and Maria to get some sleep and that they are heading out early tomorrow. Blake is relieved, while Maria starts complaining about listening to a kid telling her what to do. Ruby just shrugs off Maria’s complaints like a true leader.

Fast forward in time to the morning. Clearly, a certain drunk uncle forgot to wake everyone before sunrise. Ruby is suddenly awakened by the sound of the empty bottle that Qrow was holding dropping on the floor. She picks up the empty bottle as she walks towards a sleeping Uncle Qrow. She is not pleased with him. So she wakes him up by throwing the empty bottle against the wall. Ruby gives Qrow a hug and tells him that he can always talk to her or Yang about stuff.

Just as Weiss finishes welding on a trailer hitch to Bumblebee, Oscar comments “Can we just go back to bed?” Blake responds to him with some her trademark dry wit - “If we’re all so tired maybe we should make breakfast?” Oscar replies to Blake “You wanna make it?” To which she replies with some more dry wit “Not really.” Ruby asks Yang if Bumblebee is ready to roll. Qrow comments that they just have to hook up the trailer. He leans on it. What can possibly go wrong? Then one of the tires bursts. As they say on Top Gear, “That’s not gone well…” Qrow is frustrated and goes and takes a seat on the ground. 

Yang then says “I’m starting to think the universe just doesn’t want us getting to Atlas.” Something feels off here, this remark very uncharacteristic of Yang. She’s a very determined individual who is able to overcome obstacles and see things through to the end. Ruby replies “It’s just a flat tire, I’m sure there’s a spare.” Yang tells her “It’s not just that, it’s everything, storms, crashes, monsters. I’m so tired.”

Blake then comments “Me too. It feels like we’re always having to fight to get by.” Ruby tells Blake “Yeah, but that’s what we signed up for.” Oscar then remarks “We signed up to try and save the world, not just delay the inevitable.” Weiss then says “Last night I...I couldn’t stop thinking, why are we even going to Atlas?” Something's not right here, Yang, Weiss, and Blake keep talking about how tired they are and they are all saying things that are a bit out of character like giving up.




Ruby tells Weiss that they are going to Atlas because they have to. Yang then replies “Why? Ozpin hid the relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?” Yang tells Ruby that the Grimm will find it eventually, but if they were to bury the relic or throw it down the well, it could take the Grimm years. Yang says “But we can be done with it now.” As Ruby unhooks the lamp from her belt, Weiss and Blake walk over to Yang’s side. As Ruby starts walking towards the the well she remarks that she is really tired. Something is definitely off here, what is causing Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang to be so tired and apathetic? Just as Ruby starts to bring the lamp back to her, a pair of creepy red eyes appear from inside the well and she drops the lamp!

She starts panicking and says that she didn’t mean to drop the lamp, Weiss tells her that it’s okay. She tells everyone that something is down there. Yang walks up to Ruby’s side and tells her “Hey, it’s okay. You just said you’re tired. It was probably nothing. Now, lets go.” Ruby snaps at Yang and says “What’s wrong with you? We can’t just leave! We have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back! What was I thinking?!” Qrow comments that they just have to fix the trailer’s flat tire and asks Oscar to go find a spare tire. Ruby them adamantly tells everyone she is not leaving without the lamp. Kudos to Ruby for snapping out of that apathetic feeling that has taken over the rest the team and for staying determined to their goal. Blake lets out a heavy sigh and tells Ruby that she will go down with her. Weiss says that they will go down together. Qrow frustratingly tells Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang to go get the lamp and for Oscar to fix the flat. Qrow goes back into the house to have some time with his flask. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang drop down the well to start looking for the lamp. The water tunnels are very dark and creepy. I’ve got a bad feeling about this...


Back up top, Maria is going through the fourth diary. Meanwhile, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang still can’t find the lamp. Blake suggests that Ruby and Yang turn off the lights on their scrolls and look for the glow of the lamp. In the meantime, Maria is still reading through the diary. Back underground, Blake spots the glow from the lamp. The music has a very ominous and eerie feeling to it. Back with Maria, she turns to the next page in the diary to an entry entitled “The Apathy” and is spooked. Oh boy, hold onto your butts!

As Ruby picks up the lamp, she encounters a hoard of Grimm called The Apathy. She screams in panic and Weiss, Blake, and Yang are alerted of the danger. Ruby runs towards them with the lamp. Yang asks her “What is it?” as the Grimm slow emerge from the connecting tunnel. Ruby fires off some shots from Crescent Rose, but they have no effect. The Apathy let out a piercing screech. Yang comments on the effect of The Apathy’s screech and Blake remarks that her weapon feels heavy. These Grimm seem to be draining the team’s will to carry on. Maria appears and tells the girls to run for it. The music’s tempo picks up and becomes more dramatic as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Maria flee from the Apathy.

The Apathy let another screech as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang keep running down the tunnels. More of the Apathy come out from other connecting tunnels. They encounter even more. As they try to flee, the Apathy let out another screech and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Maria fall to their knees. Yang says “I can’t do this… I can’t.” Maria struggles to get up, but she finds an exit! Ruby crawls towards Weiss and tries to get her to get up. The sound of metal dropping on the ground catches her attention. It is Blake, who suddenly collapses as the Apathy draw closer to her. 









Ruby tells Blake to get up. Blake replies “It’s fine.” Ruby crawls towards Blake just as the Apathy reaches towards Blake. I was freaking out during this scene! Ruby yells out “Blake!” and her Silver eyes activate killing the Apathy and saving Blake!! The apathetic feeling that was clouding the minds of Blake, Yang, and Weiss disappear. As Ruby helps Blake stand up, Weiss runs up the stairs to the exit, only to find that it’s locked. Yang runs to Weiss’ side to help her. The Apathy let out another screech and everyone drops to their knees again. Maria crawls towards Ruby and asks her what color her eyes are. Ruby tells Maria that they are silver. Maria has an epiphany. She tells Ruby to think about the people who lover her and to focus on the thought of them and the way the make her feel. Maria then goes into the following monologue “Life is beautiful, it is precious, and it must be protected.” Ruby then gets up and uses her silver eyes to vanquish the Apathy. Yang continues her way up to the locked exit door and punches it wide open. 

They are back in the house’s wine cellar and bar, where they of course find one Drunk Uncle Qrow who is slouched over at the bar. All he needs now is some George Thorogood and he set for drinking. Anyway, jokes aside, they need get the hell out of here!! Ruby wakes him up and he drunkenly asks what they are doing here. Maria tells him that they are leaving. As Maria makes her way out, Yang grabs Blake’s hand! Yay, Bumbleby fan service!! Weiss then remarks “Not yet.” Meanwhile, Oscar found an air compressor to re-inflate the flat tire on the trailer. He is suddenly alerted as Maria, Blake and Yang come running out of the house. Yang shouts his name and tells him that they have to leave immediately. Back in the bar, Weiss starts taking some bottles of alcohol and throws them at the door that leads down to the tunnels. Qrow, being the Drunk Uncle that he is, asks her what is she doing with all that booze. Just as the Apathy make their way towards the top of the stairs, Weiss lights the alcohol on fire with some fire dust from her Myrtenaster and says “Now we can leave!”

Once everyone is on the trailer, Yang guns the engine as the gang makes their escape.  Sometime later, Maria tells everyone about the Apathy and how they drain one’s will to go on. This is what was happening to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang and why they were saying things about giving up. Eruptionfang’s recent video on how The Apathy were created explains how these creatures affected our heroes. The presence of The Apathy weighed down Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang causing the aforementioned symptoms. This effect was further magnified by the team’s broken spirits after their fall out with Ozpin. Maria goes on about what happened to Bartleby. After Maria tosses the last diary into the woods, Weiss says “I’m sorry for what I said... about giving up.” Yang is also sorry for what she said. She says “Me too. We can’t quit until the lamp is safe.” Now there’s the determination that Yang is known for! Blake tells Yang “It’s not your fault. It was those… things.” Maria lamments that she didn’t see the warning signs. Ruby asks Maria how she knows so much about the Grimm and how she knew what to say to activate the power of her silver eyes. Maria replies “Well, isn’t it obvious girl? I had silver eyes.” The community was right about the theory about Maria having silver eyes! Plus, it was kind of obviously implied from the Volume 6 intro.



This episode was amazing and intense because of the perfect combination of pacing, musical score, strong dialogue, and overall plot. I was on the edge of my seat of this emotional rollercoaster. A huge job well done to the writers and the rest of the CRWBY! They keep raising the bar with every episode in this volume.