RWBY Volume 6 Episode 13 - Our Way: Review

In a forest clearing at night, a Mistral airship can be seen landing. The doors open, revealing its occupant as Neo, who drops her disguise and is revealed to be wearing a new outfit. She looks to see someone step out of the forest, revealed to be Cinder also sporting some new clothes: a cape which conceals her Grimm-ified left arm as well as an eyepatch that covers the left half of her scarred face. She stops to inspect the airship. Cinder says “It should get us to Solitas. After that, you might want to try materializing yourself some snow boots.” She continues walking towards the airship. Neo rolls her eyes at Cinder's remark. She steps out of the airship and holds her hand out, and Cinder stops walking. Neo then places her hand on the airship, and uses her Semblance to transform it into an Atlesian Manta aircraft. She then retracts the disguise and snaps her fingers with a smirk on her face. Cinder says “You know, Neo, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny.” This is a reference to the episode “End of the Beginning” from Volume 3, where Pyrrha asked Cinder if she believed in destiny in her final moments. The two of them board the airship as Cinder continues her remark “And I'm happy to say I still do.” The two smile evilly as the airship's door closes.

Back in Argus, multiple Manta aircraft engage in dogfights against Manticores and Sphinxes above the ocean. The Leviathan itself slowly trudges through the water approaching the city. Some aircrafts fly by for a gun run on the towering Grimm. The Leviathan, however, simply dives below the ocean and swims. Air Control says “All units, be advised: Leviathan-class Grimm has submerged but is still on approach. Preparing hard-light shields, over!” Elsewhere, Ruby Rose and her friends overhear the radio chatter with looks of horror on their faces. Caroline Cordovin continues to struggle getting the Colossus' arm cannon out of the water with it being covered in ice and rock Dust. Manta Two-Two says over radio “We're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!” Cordovin yells “This is your fault! Do you hear me?!” Well look who’s talking Cordovin, you deranged nationalist military operative who attacked a group of young adults with a giant robot! This mess is all YOUR fault!

Ruby, Weiss, and the others hear Ruby’s named being called. They turnaround to see Yang and Blake running out of the forest to rejoin the group. When Yang says Ruby’s name, the leitmotif from the song “Nevermore” begins to be played in the musical score as Blake and Yang rejoin the group. Ruby is relieved to see Blake and Yang and asks them if they are okay Yang and Blake notice the disabled mech. Blake asks “What happened?” The group then hears the Leviathan roaring. Yang asks Ruby “Was that a giant Grimm?” Weiss replies to Yang “Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it…” The group wastes no time boarding the aircraft. As they begins to fly away, Ruby watches with pity as Cordovin continues to struggle moving the mech.

Back aboard the airship, Blake says to Yang “I'm so sorry…” Yang replies “Don't be. This isn't on you.” Ruby says to Blake “You're safe, that's all that matters.” Blake smiles at her leader and the two hug. Ruby looks to Yang and the two share a smile. This is a reference to the song “All That Matters” from the Volume 5 soundtrack. The leitmotif from this song is heard in the musical score. Maria says “I suppose I have to be the bad guy and say it, getting the lamp to Atlas is still our top priority, and right now we have the perfect opportunity to head straight for it. We may not get another chance like this.” Yang says “No way!” Weiss tells her “We can't leave, not like this.” Blake says to Maria “It's like you said, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end.” Maria looks to Ruby, who just shrugs and smiles. Maria smiles back and continues to fly. Ruby says “We need to head for the Leviathan. Jaune, can you and Ren be ready to mask our ship?” Ren says that he thinks him and Jaune can manage. Jaune ask Ruby if she has any ideas; Ruby says she has one. Suddenly, Qrow lets out a warning - the Leviathan is back.'

The Leviathan swims for a bit before resurfacing above the water, letting out a terrifying roar. Manta Three-Four radios the base “Argus Base, this is Manta 3-4! Leviathan has hit the shallows and resurfaced! We need those shields up now, over!” From the city, a large crowd gathers as they look out to the ocean with concern. Terra Cotta-Arc is seen making her way through the crowd, eventually reuniting with her wife Saphron and their son Adrian, before looking out to the ocean again in concern. As the Leviathan approaches Argus, a hard-light Dust barrier is erected, halting its progress. Manta Two-One says “Target stopped! Engaging, over!” A pair of Manta aircraft are seen firing shots at the Leviathan. Suddenly, the Leviathan unleashes an energy beam attack from its mouth. It shifts the beam over to one of the poles powering the hard-light Dust barrier, destroying it. The Leviathan roars. Ruby and her friends watch in horror from their aircraft.

Atlas Air Control sends out a message to all squadrons, telling them to disengage and begin evacuation procedures. Ruby says “No, wait!” Ruby runs up to the radio. Qrow tries to stop Ruby, but she says “We can stop it!” Air Control asks “Who is this? Identify yourself!” Ruby replies “I'm a Huntress. My team and I are heading to the Leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack!” Everyone looks at Ruby in shock. Jaune asks her “We can?” Ruby replies “I can.” Maria says to her “Ruby, when I said "trial by fire--” Ruby replies “I did it at Beacon and at the farm.” Weiss asks Ruby “You really think you can do it now?” Ruby replies “I don't have a choice.” Air Control says “Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive no support, over.” Ruby replies as she picks up the radio “Fine, we'll do it alone if we have to.” From her mech, Cordovin over hears Ruby's radio chatter. Ruby says “We can hit it while it's stopped at the next barrier. Ren, you're up!” Ren and Jaune proceed to combine their Semblances, masking the airship as it weaves between the air battles between Grimm and Atlas forces.

The Leviathan makes its way to the next barrier and charges its energy breath again. Qrow says “We're too late! Pull up!” The Manta aircraft pulls up out of the way as the Leviathan fires its breath, destroying the next barrier and toppling a cupola off one of the buildings in Argus. Ren and Jaune collapse as their Auras are drained. Blake says “It's on the move again! We need to stop it!” Yang asks “What do we do?” Ruby thinks for a moment, before to looking to Weiss. The Leviathan continues to approach Argus, but suddenly, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group opens up its hatch doors. Nora shouts “Eyes on us, ugly!” Nora and Yang fire their respective weapons at the Leviathan. Blake asks “Is it working?” Maria replies “Unfortunately, yes! Hang on!” Blake runs over to Weiss, who is maintaining a Glyph she activated. Ruby is seen riding on the back of Weiss' Queen Lancer summoning. Ruby says “Okay, okay, you can do this... You have to do this!”

Eventually, Ruby stops in front of the Leviathan. She closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, the noises all around her slowly muting out. Yang says “Ruby? Ruby, hurry, something--” Ruby takes out her earpiece and tosses it into the water below. She closes her eyes again to concentrate. As she concentrates, Ruby thinks back on various memories. She thinks of her father and sister, when Zwei first arrived at Team RWBY's dorm room, when she and her team are about to start a food fight, and when they get noodles after their victory in the tournament. She then thinks of Penny Polendina, then to when she first saw Jaune, of Team JNPR, of Pyrrha… Suddenly, Ruby starts to frown as bad memories start to flood her mind: the night when Jaune trained alone with a recording of Pyrrha, when she saw Blake, Yang, and her friends wounded as Beacon was being evacuated, when Yang sank into depression over the loss of her arm. Ruby whimpers upon remembering the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny...

Suddenly, Ruby opens her eyes again and notices the Leviathan standing face to face with her. Yang says “Why'd it turn away?!” Ruby then remembers she has the Relic of Knowledge on her belt, which caused the Leviathan to have its attention on her. Suddenly, the Leviathan opens its maw and lunges toward Ruby. Ruby panics,then reels backs in fear and shouts "Jinn!!!" Suddenly, time stops. Everything slows down and freezes, even Yang who calls out her sister's name. Ruby then breathes a sigh of relief as she hears the rattling chains of Jinn. Ruby says “I'm sorry... I don't have a question for you. I just... I just needed a little more time…” Ruby turns around to Jinn, who has a stern look on her face. Jinn says “I know... and while you don't seek knowledge, just this once, I shall give it freely. I will not allow you to use me without a question again... (smiling) Even if this was clever.” Ruby nods at Jinn. She then turns to face the Leviathan again and closes her eyes to concentrate once more. Time slowly starts to go back to normal.

Triumphant and heroic sounding music begins to play as She thinks back to when Team RWBY decorated their dorm room, when Weiss gave her coffee, when Blake cheered for Weiss in Professor Port's class, when Yang was training her before leaving for Beacon, when Team RWBY celebrated their victory after saving Vale. Ruby smiles as she thinks back to the Beacon Dance and Team JNPR again, and then to when Qrow arrived at Beacon, to talking with Oscar, and then to Maria, and to Penny again… And finally, Ruby thinks back to her mother, her white cloak blowing in the wind as she overlooks a cliff watching a sunset. She then turns around, offering a warm smile. Her own Silver Eyes reflect back to her daughter's… Ruby's own eyes then shine bright, the brightest they’ve ever been. The new song “Indomitable” is played during this scene. A massive white light engulfs the area, turning the Leviathan to stone. The citizens of Argus and the Atlas military cheer as the Grimm threat has been nullified. Ruby's friends give proud smiles and Maria breathes a sigh of relief.The light retracts back into Ruby's eyes, and she turns around to look at the city of Argus still standing.

Suddenly, Ruby hears a stone crackling behind her. The Leviathan's head manages to move and tries to aim at Ruby. All of a Sudden, Cordovin shows up in the Colossus, its arm cannon now detached. Everyone looks in shock. Without the weight of the cannon, the Colossus begins to run toward the semi-petrified Leviathan. Cordovin says “After all, I was sworn to protect the people!” The Colossus' left hand then transforms into a giant drill. Cordovin uses the drill to destroy the Leviathan, causing it to dissipate. The people of Argus cheer while the Arc family looks on with stupefied expressions. The Colossus then walks over to Ruby. Its cockpit opens up revealing Cordovin herself standing in stern military manner. Ruby says “Thank you. And... I'm sorry.” Cordovin replies “The Atlas military can handle the stragglers.” Ruby says “What, uh... What are you saying?” Cordovin smiles and says “I'm saying I don't think anyone would notice if one more ship went missing in my lengthy report.” Ruby smiles back at Cordovin, who then turns the mech around and runs off to join her men in taking down the remaining Grimm.

The airship Ruby and her friends are in flies through the night sky. Maria says “We should have just enough fuel to make it.” Ruby says “Thanks, Miss Calavera.” Qrow says “Hey, Ruby. You did great out there today, kid. Just don't go giving me heart attacks like that again.” The leitmotif from the song “Indomitable” can be heard in the musical score. Qrow is about to take a drink from his flask, but ultimately decides not to. Ruby hugs her uncle and says “I love you, too.” Qrow smiles at his niece as she walks away to join her friends. Maria says to Qrow “You weren't half bad yourself today, Qrow.” Qrow smiles before sighing. “I feel like they did all the heavy lifting.” Maria replies “But you were there to help when they asked for it, and you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall.” Qrow says “Thanks. You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action.” Maria remarks “Ha, you should have seen me when I was your age!” Qrow smiles as the two of them look out the cockpit's window to the night sky.

In the back of the aircraft, Weiss, Blake and Yang sit together. Weiss says to Blake “I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad Yang was there for you in time.” Blake and Yang smile before Yang takes the Blake's hand. Yang says “We were there for each other.” Nora says “Took the words right out of my mouth.” Everyone then looks to Ruby. Ruby says “Hey, stop it!” Ren says to her “You petrified a Leviathan... after diving down the barrel of a cannon!” Ruby laughs and then says “Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen year old farm hand!” Jaune says “That was seriously impressive.” Blake says “We'd have been stranded without you.” Oscar replies “I... thanks, but... I've been meaning to tell you guys... I didn't land the ship on my own.” Oscar thinks back to when the airship was about to crash land, and tells them that Ozpin came to him while he was panicking and told him stay calm. Nora asks “Ozpin took control?!” Oscar replies “No, he guided me... And then he was gone again…” Yang asks him “Does that mean he's been watching us this whole time?” Oscar replies “I don't know, but... it at least means he was looking out for us.”

Everyone ponders this revelation before Qrow speaks up. Qrow says “Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, you don't wanna miss this.” Ruby and her friends walk up to the cockpit window. Ruby asks “Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?” Yang replies “No, I'll believe we've made it to Atlas when I see it.” Weiss comments “Well... believe it.” The airship comes out of the clouds, and the floating city of Atlas is seen coming into view. Maria comments “You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view. (her prosthetic eyes start to act up again) Oh, come on!” Weiss leans forward and has a nervous look on her face. Ruby notices this. Ruby says “Weiss, what is it?” Everyone looks up, and notice above the city of Atlas many Atlas Airships. Weiss says “The Atlas air fleet... I knew all of our ships were called back, but…” Qrow comments “They're set up like they're expecting an attack…” Suddenly, the radio turns on. Atlas Air Control says “Manta 5-1, welcome home…”

In the Land of Darkness, Mercury is seen looking out the window in the meeting room. Emerald then walks in. Emerald says “Mercury, I wanted to… Suddenly, she notices Mercury's face has an expression of horror as he looks out the window. Emerald looks to where he's looking. Emerald asks “What is she doing?” A Beringel is seen crawling out of one of the black, tar-like pits, with Salem herself standing close by. She then uses her magic as Nevermore wings suddenly sprout from the back of the Beringel. The Beringel gets used to its new appendages, before flying up to join many other Beringels also grafted with wings. Emerald and Mercury continue to watch in horror. Hazel says “There's an old saying.” The two notice Hazel enter the room and stand next to them. Hazel continues “If you want something done right... do it yourself.” Salem looks up to the army of Grimm she has gathered, before turning around and using her magic on the black pools again, engulfing the entire scene… The post-credits scene of Salem with the winged Beringels is clearly referencing the The Wizard of Oz, when the Wicked Witch dispatches her flying monkeys to capture Dorothy. Is Salem planning to kidnap Ruby? Who knows? We are just going to have to wait for Volume 7 to find out.