Cheryl Watch Party - RWBY Ice Queendom 1-3

So, I'm definitely curious how this plays to a newcomer. They focused on everything needed to establish Weiss' issues, as my guess is that the vast majority of this series is going to be within her nightmare. I did appreciate how they wove the trailers into the narrative and tried to seed more of the show's later elements earlier on (though I don't necessarily have a problem with how they were rolled out originally). Even old fans could probably benefit from seeing the start of the story with a bit more substance injected. That said, each episode did start to feel more rushed than the last and I wonder how well that sticks if it's your first time. They've called this show Canon Adjacent and it's not super clear what that means, only that the team very specifically does not call it or feel that it is an Alternate Universe. Elements merged and streamlined in the earlier episodes mean that this TECHNICALLY can't be the exact same continuity (I like the idea that fairy tales change as they're told, so who's to say what rendition is more accurate? :P) The important changes, though, are in framing how Weiss is handling the conflict with her team. The original show makes it seems as though she mostly resolves her issues with Ruby and with Blake by the end of the Volume. If you think about it, they probably still took a lot of effort from Weiss to work against, as issues like hers don't just disappear with the snap of your fingers, even if you're resolute to change. Ice Queendom puts that idea forward and even demonstrates that maybe even her actions we'd seen in the OG weren't as positively motivated as we might've thought (like with how she treated Ruby after seeing Jauna and Pyrrha). She hasn't even had time to actually attempt to follow through on her assertion to Blake before the Nightmare Grimm sets in. So, all that conflict we'd originally seen resolved in V1 is still an active problem and is presumably the focus of this series. tl;dr Ice Queendom is adding depth to how Weiss resolves her Volume 1 issues. Even though it may be something you can pick up on if you know the show, I do like how they juxtapose JNPR and RWBY in showing how JNPR can function as a team despite their (mostly Jaune's shortcomings) and how that plays a role in how he could be so easily saved from the Nightmare Grimm: Jaune's heart is completely open to his teammates. That'll be the rub with Weiss and why it will likely take the series to rescue her. Unlike Jaune, is Weiss' heart open enough to anyone right now to be saved? That Weiss' last line before the Nightmare Weiss speaks to her is about the bunk beds is likely very intentional. Sorry for the essay. XD

David J Moore