Volume 7 continues to prove promising with the episode ‘Ace Operatives’. While the previous episode was dialogue- and exposition-heavy with no time for much else, this episode takes a focus more of a focus on action, with the audience witnessing the professional Ace Ops and ragtag team RWBY working together to do what they do best: hunting the Grimm.
The episode follows team RWBY as they shadow the Ace Operatives on a mission to clear out a Dust mine full of Grimm, as the dust is needed for the satellite construction. Everyone with the exception of Oscar goes on this mission, who stays behind to guard the relic under the protection of Ironwood.
Watching the Ace Operatives in action is really interesting from a developmental standpoint. Team RWBY have been shown to be more than capable of fighting Grimm and holding their own against the monsters, but they are still young and occasionally make mistakes. However, when the audience watches the Ace Ops in action, especially when confronting the Geist towards the end of the episode, it’s like watching a well-oiled machine at work. Each member of the team makes the monster hunting look easy, and as RWBY and their companions are still students, it would be cool to see them get to this level of professional hunting.
And of course, there are the costume changes. While the whole context of the group receiving their new outfits is that Atlas and Pietro are giving their equipment a much-needed upgrade, it’s also kind of amusing that things like Weiss’ new earrings and haircuts throughout the team would qualify as an equipment upgrade. With that being said, the costume changes are absolutely stunning and even the weapons get little alterations. Though the main one is Blake’s sword getting repaired, there are small, but noticeable changes to the other weapons that are fun to pick up on. Also, did the Rooster Teeth guys make a Fortnite reference with Jaune using his shield as a parachute? Don’t know how to feel about that.
As well as testosterone-pumping action, the episode also even has some nice, fluffy moments throughout this episode, like Yang’s adorable reaction to Blake’s costume change, and what looks like the birth of a new ship. Turns out that Clover Ebi, the leader of the Ace Operatives, has a semblance which always provides him with good luck, a polar contrast to Qrow’s bad luck semblance. The way their relationship is portrayed throughout the episode, it’s obvious that Qrow has taken an interest to Clover. Whether that be romantically or simply professionally, the audience will just have to wait and see, though the ship Fair Game seems to have already set sail among the fandom. Both of these are nice breaks away from the action that don’t feel out of place and don’t feel too much like fan service.
As well as these two moments, Oscar and Ruby seem to get some time for themselves, with Ruby entrusting the relic of knowledge to him while the rest of the team go out on the hunt. Oscar has some doubts about keeping the truth from Ironwood, and even Ruby visibly seems to have those same doubts. I’m sure it won’t come back to bite them in the butt.
Now, RWBY as a show has been known for its crazy weapon designs, and in this episode, there are some uniquely awesome examples: between the Ace Ops, they have an assault rifle that turns into a giant boomerang, a set of mechanical arms that amplify the strength of the user, and…a fishing rod. A. Goddamn. Weaponised. Fishing. Rod. At first, it seems like an insane idea to use for a weapon, but kudos to the writers and animators for being able to show the applications of a fishing rod in battle.
As well as the weapons, there are some new semblances to pick up on: among the operatives, Vine Zeki can use his aura to make extendable appendages, and Harriet Bree has a speed semblance which looks almost like the Flash from the DC comics when in use. She also makes an interesting observation: though Ruby thinks her semblance is to do with speed, Harriet comments that she has seen her fair share of speed semblances and that Ruby’s is unlike anything she has seen before.
The Grimm in ‘Ace Operatives’ feature both familiar creatures and new designs. The spooky Geist returns, and while the gang had trouble dealing with one at the start of Volume four, the Ace Ops easily defeat it through their coordinated efforts (and Clover’s daft fishing rod weapon having an all-too-convenient use.) As well as these creatures, a new kind of Grimm makes an appearance: the Centinels, giant centipede like creatures that seem to be at home in the abandoned mine shafts. Other than the Death Stalker and Cinder’s power sapping beetle, these are the only insect-like Grimm, with the rest taking on more mammalian/ reptilian designs. As Yang points out in the episode, gross.
After successfully clearing the mines of Grimm, the episode concludes with Tyrion seemingly killing off the revolutionary who was locked up with RWBY. In the words of Michael Jones in his Dead Space 2 video, “NOOO! RANDOM GUY!” Seriously though, what was the point in showing this scene? We get it, he’s a bad guy. It feels like these scenes have been put into the episodes just to remind the audience that the villains still exist.
For the most part, ‘Ace Operatives’ is a fun episode where the audience gets to see the gang leaping back into some hardcore, fast-paced action alongside a group of professional huntsmen. Hopefully, the scene with Tyrion will eventually lead somewhere, but otherwise, this was a damn decent episode.
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