Review: RWBY Vol.8 “Midnight”

Overview

For once, we finally get a proper origin story for Cinder Falls, and to put it mildly, it’s every bit as tragic as you can possibly imagine. Much in the same way how most RWBY characters are synonymous with fairy tale characters or books, People forget that Cinder’s fairytale allusion is, in fact, Cinderella. Figuratively and literally taken from poverty into abject slavery by an abusively wicked Stepmother and Stepsisters, etc. But since this is a supervillain origin story, it works within a structured narrative. Much like Catra from Noelle Stevenson’s Netflix She-Ra series, It doesn’t condone her behavior or past actions, but at least gives us better insight into her twisted personality. How screwed up her upbringing was, Her intense hatred towards Huntsmen & Huntresses and authority figures, the Atlas kingdom’s elitism and it’s callous public indifference when it comes to its own people failing address or even stop the kind of corrupt system that somehow allows a grown-ass adult to openly torture a ten-year-old with a shock collar. But then again this is the same kingdom where Weiss’s father, Jacques was able to operate his Faunus slave-like business practices with impunity, so I guess I’m not too surprised. 

When it cuts to the present, Cinder acknowledges her failure after getting a good ass-kicking from Penny, but we also begin to see the duality of how Salem treats Cinder mirroring the very abusers who raised her, and it’s clear she can’t even tell how Salem’s casually plucking the same strings those people did to her, Or maybe she does but she’s too hurt to care. Also, despite Mercury no longer serving Cinder as he’s given new orders. Salem at least gives Cinder permission to seek out Watts and what’s left of the Winter Maiden but will be accompanied by her Hound creature, while Oscar/Ozpin come up with a unique plan and it’s nice to see that both of them are finally on the same page, even if the ultimate implications of that are worrisome. How they’re planning to take advantage of being Salem’s prisoner is beyond me.



Hazel at one point even manages to become rather sympathetic in one line regarding his views on Oz and Salem. I still don’t accept him administering Oscar’s suffering though. He has to know that Oz will just reincarnate in another body and, ultimately, he’ll be no different than the man he hates: causing a child’s death for no reason. But a world-wide message is spread across the land showing footage of a Black Chasm full of Grimm causing geysers, and to make things even more hectic, conflict ensues between Yang’s B-Team and the Ace-Op’s lead by Winter who asks where Penny is, but don’t bother to ask what the hell is inside the black chasm beneath them full of, But shit starts to get real when Salem makes her grand entrance with her flying Whale Grimm known as “Monstro”…



Our Take

Holy Fuck! This episode excelled in what it was supposed to do on every level. For years, the writers have purposely starved us of Cinder’s backstory, but this season didn’t waste any time on giving the full course meal, and it explained everything about her without changing the trajectory of her character. It succeeded in making Cinder a tragic figure who I have immense sympathy for without setting her up for redemption or erasing any of the things she’s done since, and I appreciate the care and attention it properly deserved. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think her backstory justifies anything she’s done; she’s gone from abused to the abuser and hurt a lot of people. But it does explain a lot about her, and I can’t help to feel very bad for her, because she wouldn’t have ended up like this if she had just had a proper support system of people who treated her like an actual person. You have to give Jessica Nigri massive props for her young Cinder performance. You can hear that it’s the same person, but you can definitely tell the age-progression of a 10-15/16-year-old girl within the flashbacks long before the events of Volume 1.

Seeing Winter and the Ace Ops together was kinda cool, but did they really have to be the ones to answer Jaune’s SOS regarding the Grimm Chasm? On a smaller note, the Ace-Op’s member Harriet Bree continues to be both well designed and yet the most infuriating character in the show so far. Part of me wants her to realize what kind of side she’s fighting for and yet this merkin for a mohawk is definitely the MOST committed to Ironwood’s bullshit right now and that irks me. I feel like this is going to culminate into something but given the unpredictable nature of this season, who knows…

Overall, While Cinder’s backstory was long overdue, it still remained a welcoming addition, even if it hasn’t told us how she met Salem in the first place which remains to be seen in future episodes. I once joked last season when I called Adam Taurus the RWBY equivalent of a “Mexican Joker“, but Cinder’s transformation into the ruthless yet self-destructive anarchist that she is now kinda painting her with broad strokes of the same brush, and perfectly captures the broken system Cinder aims to completely destroy, and that’s even before Ironwood took over Atlas.