RWBY Volume 9's release date is finally upon us. Since it's been a while, you might have questions about what happened earlier on. So, here's a recap of RWBY Volume 8 to refresh your memory.
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Salem and Her Team
Cinder goes to Salem, having just captured the Relic of Knowledge. Salem accepts it and forgives her for her previous failure.
Meanwhile, Watts is in custody after being captured by Ironwood in the previous season.
Salem and her associates then prepare to attack Atlas.
The Mantle vs. Atlas Debate
Ruby wants to go with the original plan to release a message about Salem, but Yang disagrees and wants to focus on saving the people of Mantle.
Along with the Happy Huntresses, Yang, Oscar, Jaune, and Ren help evacuate Mantle.
Transmitting a Message to the World
The team splits as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, and Penny -- who has just become the Winter Maiden -- leave with Maria and Penny's father to broadcast a message to the rest of Remnant, warning them about Salem.
The plan succeeds, but the group gets attacked by Cinder. Penny attempts to fight her off, but Cinder damages the colosseum's propulsion and Penny has to hold it aloft using her robot powers.
Ironwood, who wants to get Penny back, disables her with a virus made by Watts. Penny lands at the Schnee Manor where the rest of the team is hiding with a seriously injured Nora.
As the group tries to help Penny recover from the virus, they are attacked by a talking Grimm.
Ruby defeats it with her silver eyes, but the Grimm is revealed to contain a silver-eyed person.
Helping Mantle
Yang, Jaune, Oscar, and Ren help evacuate Mantle, but they encounter the talking Grimm, who kidnaps Oscar. The others attempt to rescue Oscar but they fail.
While returning to Mantle, they discover a river of Grimm heading towards the city. They try to warn everyone but are found by Winter and the AceOps, who put them under arrest.
Against Salem
The river of Grimm oozes its way towards Mantle and launches itself up to the floating city of Atlas. The shield is destroyed and Salem lands on Atlas, attacking with a hoard of Grimm.
Meanwhile, Oscar is being tortured and interrogated to give up the password of the Relic of Knowledge.
Ironwood commands Winter to bomb Salem's Grimm whale. Since Oscar is still trapped, Jaune, Yang, and Ren convince Winter to let them try and rescue him first.
Oscar manages to convince Hazel to turn against Salem by telling him the truth about her. Both Hazel and Emerald decide to turn against Salem and help Oscar escape.
They run into Jaune, Yang, and Ren, but are soon discovered by Salem. Hazel fights her to hold her off and allow the others to escape.
Oscar uses Ozpin's cane to destroy Salem and Hazel along with the Grimm whale.
Ironwood assumes Winter successfully detonated the bomb to destroy the whale.
When he learns Winter still has the bomb, he decides to use it to threaten Mantle and blackmail team RWBY, now reunited at Schnee Manor, to give up Penny.
Team RWBY's Counterattack
Team RWBY, with Ozpin's help, makes plans to respond to Ironwood's threat. Using Emerald's semblance and Winter's assistance, who has turned against Ironwood, they neutralize the latter.
Team RWBY and Penny arrive at the vault and unlock it. At their request, Ambrosius, the spirit residing in the Relic of Creation, makes portals to Vacuo, the only kingdom that hasn't been attacked yet. This will allow them to evacuate both Mantle and Atlas.
Moreover, Ambrosius makes Penny a real girl so that she won't be affected by the virus anymore.
Penny's Sacrifice and Team RWBY's Fall
The portals created by Ambrosius go through a big central void location. As Team RWBY helps the people evacuate, Cinder attacks them along with Neo.
Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Neo fall into the chasm while Penny is mortally wounded. Before Cinder can kill her and take her power, Penny asks Jaune to kill her so that she can transfer her maiden powers to Winter.
Winter becomes the Winter Maiden and defeats Ironwood. Winter then goes through the portal and fights Cinder, with the latter escaping back to Atlas with both relics and reuniting with Salem.
Cinder gives the Relic of Knowledge and the Relic of Creation to Salem, while Ironwood dies as the city crashes to the ground.
Before they can escape to Vacuo, Weiss and Jaune also fall into the abyss. Winter is the last one to get out before the portal disappears.
After a long wait, RWBY Volume 9 is coming on Crunchyroll, and we can't wait to find out what happens next after one of the show's most heartbreaking seasons:
Discover more of our insights and the latest anime news by following us on Twitter @epicstreamanime.
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