 With Roman Torchwick now in custody, the students of Beacon Academy look forward to the vital festival as the tournament is about to begin. Welcome back to Ruby Recap. I am Phoenix Knight, and today we will be covering the events of Ruby Volume 3. The volume begins as Ruby visits the grave of Summer Rose, recounting the adventures she's shared with her new friends at her mother's resting place. As Ruby begins to draw similarities between Ozpin and her Uncle Crow, her father arrives to drop Ruby off at her first match of the tournament. Team Ruby's first match was against Team Auburn from Haven Academy in the Kingdom of Mistral, and through a hard fought battle, Team Ruby is able to pull out a clean victory for their school. Upon winning their first match, Weiss rejects a call from her father, and the team runs into Emerald, who is playing nice in order to gain information. Emerald's team won their first match, and she mentions that it's herself and Mercury who will be moving on to the second round of the tournament. This prompts Team Ruby to reveal that they are sending Weiss and Yang forward from their team. The vital festival tournament is a competition designed to showcase the abilities of students from all four Huntsman academies. The first round is fought in teams of four. The winners then select two of their members to move on to the second round, and, if they are victorious, a single member to move on to the next round. The individual students then fight a single elimination tournament until one victor remains. While trying to buy lunch, Weiss' credit card is rejected, but Team Juniper arrives to save the day. After a heavy meal, Team Juniper then heads to their first match of the tournament, as Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury watch from the stands, seeming to already know the outcome of the battle. The biomes are selected, and the match begins. The tournament is fought in Amity Coliseum, a floating battlefield designed from technology of all four kingdoms, a symbol of their unity. Built into the Coliseum stage is a biome system that is randomly selected for each match of the doubles and teams rounds to showcase the students' abilities to adapt to unpredictable environments. During the battle, we learn of Nora's semblance. She has the ability to absorb electricity and channel it into her muscles, making her much stronger for a short period of time, and, thanks to a supercharged blow from Nora, Team Juniper is victorious. After their victory, we see an unknown man sitting at a bar, unimpressed with the tournament so far. The next match is Team Sun of Mistral against Team Indigo of Vacuo. Team Sun has two members of their team knocked out, before they come back and earn a shocking victory over Team Indigo. The same man at the bar, still unimpressed with the battles he's seen, exclaims he's here for a different fight. And, as an elegant Adlesian ship arrives at Beacon, he stumbles out of the bar to greet them. Weiss also recognizes the ship, and rushes to meet her elder sister, Winter Schnee, an officer of the Atlas military who takes her job very seriously. Despite her stern demeanor though, she does care for Weiss a great deal. As Weiss and Winter head off together, Winter is confronted by the man in the bar, who, without much effort, is able to get under Winter's skin and entice her into battle. Ruby arrives to witness the battle, and begins cheering on the man, who happens to be her uncle Crow, a man renowned for his skill as a huntsman, and his attachment to alcohol. As the fight between Winter and Crow begins to draw a larger audience, it is broken up by General Ironwood and Professor Ospin. They convene in Ospin's office at the top of Beacon Tower to discuss the evil that they and the other headmasters are fighting against, unknown to the rest of the world. Crow informs them that the infiltrator at the school is more dangerous than they know, and berates Ironwood for bringing his army. Ironwood defends his actions, saying it makes the people feel safe, but Ospin relates that it only makes people uneasy, as everyone would wonder, if this is the scale of our defenses, what is it that we expect to fight? As Ironwood leaves the office, his Skrull's connection with the school network gives Cinder another access point, thanks to the virus she had implanted during the school dance. It is revealed that she is manipulating the matches of the tournament, as she sets up the next match for Mercury and Emerald against the members of Team Coffee, Coco and Yatsuhashi. As their match begins, Emerald and Mercury are fully prepared to take on their opponents. Mercury vastly outspeeds them, and Emerald is able to separate the pair. Mercury takes on the monstrously strong Yatsuhashi, and is able to defeat him. Coco struggles in the forest, seeing illusions of her teammate after he has already been knocked out, and is quickly eliminated by Emerald. During a conversation between Weiss and her sister, we learn that the Schnee family is special in more ways than one. So Weiss' semblance of glyphs is actually pretty unique among all other semblances we've encountered in the Ruby series thus far, even going up all the way to Volume 8. Her semblance is completely hereditary, every member of the Schnee bloodline has access to glyphs, and it is the only semblance that has a completely separate and unique secondary ability. Not only can glyphs be made to manipulate momentum in various different ways, but the Schnees, using their glyphs, can also summon past grim enemies to their side, those that have pushed them past their limits in battle. Summoning is something that Weiss struggles with, and Winter encourages her to continue learning more about herself. Weiss has been avoiding her father, causing her credit card to be cut off, and decides that she doesn't need it, instead focusing on her friends and her studies. At the same time, Crow is talking with his nieces, Ruby and Yang, warning them that even though they captured Roman, something is still going on. During this conversation, Crow shows a picture of his old team, Team Stark, consisting of himself, his sister Raven, who is Yang's mother, Summer Rose, and Tai Yang, Ruby and Yang's father. Yang becomes fixated on the image of her mother, who looks exactly like the person who saved her on the train. Noticing her fixation, Crow leaves the conversation, telling them to be careful. The next match of the tournament sees Penny single-handedly defeat the two members of Team Cardinal selected to move on, and is greeted by Ruby after her win. Penny expresses interest in staying at Beacon with her new friend, and has a plan to do so. Despite the likely objection of General Ironwood, but Penny is called away before she can say more, and Team Ruby's next match begins. Weiss and Yang face off against the members of Team Funky, Flint and Neon. This battle saw Weiss knocked out first, and it was up to Yang to fight back against her two opponents to achieve victory. After activating her semblance, Yang is able to force her way through the defenses of the opposing team, allowing Team Ruby to move to the finals alongside Team Juniper as well as Penny and Emerald's teams. Thanks to her new access to Ironwood systems, Cinder learns of Penny's identity as an android, and alters her plan accordingly. In his office, Ospin tells Crow that he has found a candidate he believes is ready to become the next guardian that the world needs. Pyrra is called to Ospin's office at the top of Beacon Tower. She is told that one of her childhood fairy tales is real, and that she is next in line to be a part of it. The Four Maidens, a children's tale about an old wizard who shut himself off from the world, and four sisters that helped him regain an appreciation for life by each reminding him of something precious. In return, the wizard gifts them each a portion of his magic, so that they may spread kindness across the world. A story meant to teach lessons of self-reflection and appreciating one's place in the world, while mixing in a little magic. And as it turns out, the magic part was true. The four sisters, representing the seasons, existed within the world, and their magic remains to this day. Ospin believes Pyrra is meant to be the next Maiden of Fall. Now, this would probably be a good time to touch on the difference between magic, semblance, and dust. Dust is a finite way for someone to manipulate the elements of nature, and semblance grants a singular ability to each individual, as previously mentioned, with, of course, the exception of glyphs. Magic, on the other hand, is capable of much more than either of these, allowing those that possess it in large quantities to freely manipulate the elements of nature, and to a much larger scale. It can also allow someone to manipulate their own body and soul, transforming it, and, even in some circumstances, manipulate other living things. Now, I know this does sound a bit complex, but I promise it will be explained in greater detail a bit later on. General Ironwood and Glinda arrive, and all of those present head down below Beacon Tower, to where Amber, the current Fall Maiden, is being cared for. They reveal to Pyrra that the Maiden powers transfer from female to female. The person lasts in the final thoughts of a previous Maiden. But, with their immense power, there are those who seek to claim it for themselves, and to that end, Amber was attacked, causing a part of her power to be stolen, and leaving her in critical condition. Because of this, for Pyrra to inherit the Maiden powers, she would need to have Amber's aura, her very soul implanted into herself, which could have unknown results for who Pyrra is afterwards. Pyrra is given time to think about what she has been told as the tournament finals begin. Yang is set to face off against Mercury Black, and after exchanging a number of blows, Mercury allows himself to be beaten down by Yang, causing his aura to deactivate completely. Yang sees Mercury try to attack her again after the match ended, and retaliates by shooting his leg, but to everyone watching, it appeared as though Yang attacked, unprovoked, breaking her opponent's leg after she had already won the battle. This act causes panic to spread across the kingdom, and the nearby Grimm take notice, drawn to the growing negative emotions within the city. Before the school year at Beacon began, Cinder had recruited Emerald from the Slums, a thief who could steal from others in plain sight, and sought out Mercury's father, who was a renowned assassin, only to arrive as Mercury killed his father, leaving his own legs irreparably damaged. The trio teamed up with Roman Torchwick, and tried to negotiate with Adam Toros, a leader of the White Fang, and Blake's old partner, but were refused. Cinder then turned to attack Amber, and take the Maiden powers for herself, using Emerald's ability to create hallucinations in others, and Mercury's skill with his new prosthetic legs to defeat her. Cinder used a Grimm beetle to steal the Maiden's power from Amber, but before she could take all of it, Crow arrived to stop her. Having claimed some of the power, Cinder returned to Adam, and forced him to align with their plan. After the match with Yang, Mercury is whisked away by an ambulance, piloted by Neapolitan and Cinder. It was all part of the plan to increase the panic that Roman had started. Mercury was unharmed, and the people continued to lose faith in the Huntsmen and the Academies. The growing negativity continues to draw increasing numbers of Grimm to the city as the situation grows dire for the Kingdom of Vale. Due to the perception of Yang's actions and the doubt held by those in charge, Team Ruby is disqualified from the tournament. Yang turns to her team for support, and at first, Blake is hesitant, having had someone close to her change and become more violent in the past. Yang insists that she saw Mercury attack her first, and Blake decides to trust her friend. Crow meets with Yang afterwards, and tells her that it was Raven who saved her that day on the train, but Raven passed a message through Crow that it won't happen again. Crow also hints that he might be able to help Yang to track Raven down should she ever feel the need. Meanwhile, Pyrrha is struggling with the weight of the decision put upon her, and the thought of losing who she is. Jean tries to offer encouragement, but only feeds into her inner turmoil, causing her semblance to react. At the same time, Ruby runs into Velvet, who tells her about Coco seeing hallucinations during her fight, similar to what Yang saw. This raises Ruby's suspicions as she heads to the next match of the tournament to find Emerald watching from the stands, odd considering her team had supposedly returned to Mistral. Ruby goes to investigate, but is blocked by Mercury, who is completely unharmed. As the next match between Pyrrha and Penny is announced, Mercury remarks about what might happen in a fight between a metal girl and someone who can manipulate magnetism. As Ruby realizes the plan with horror, Mercury prepares to fight her. The world watches as the fight between Pyrrha and Penny begins. With both combatants trading blows, it is unclear who would win. Meanwhile, Ruby desperately tries to get past Mercury, only succeeding to see the end of the match when Emerald's semblance created a hallucination of hundreds of blades behind Penny that only Pyrrha could see. Pyrrha pushed her semblance full force in response, causing the wires of Penny's blades to wrap around her, severing her body, and killing Penny. Cinder then takes control of the Colosseum systems and speaks over the broadcast, furthering the doubt about those in power and the secrets that they keep, pointing to the actions of Yang and the presence of an android disguised as a young girl. The resulting panic brings Grimm's storming to the city. Neapolitan frees Roman from his prison cell aboard an atlesian ship, and the White Fang enter the battle, bringing carriers filled with Grimm along with them. The battle for Beacon has begun as the students gather their weapons in the arena via rocket propelled lockers to battle against the monsters. Pyrrha horrified at what she has done is encouraged to keep pushing forward by Jawn and Ruby. Cinder was to blame, and the professors joined the battle, allowing the students to escape. They encounter Ironwood, who gives them all a choice, defend the kingdom or save themselves. That no one would blame them either way. All the students decide to climb aboard another ship to head to the city and join the battle. At the same time, Roman on the atlesian ship takes control of all of Ironwood's mechanical soldiers using Cinder's virus, who then turn on those they are meant to protect. Ironwood's ship goes down, and Ruby returns to the arena to head to the control ship using one of the lockers. As Blake fights through members of the White Fang, she encounters her old partner, Adam Toros. Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury watch the destruction broadcasting it to the world, and through the panic, a monstrous Grimm awakens from its slumber under the mountain, and heads to the city, spawning other Grimm along its path. Uspin watches the horror unfold, and seeks out Pyrrha, who knows what she must do and accompanies him below Beacon Tower, with Jaune in tow. Ruby encounters Neo atop the atlesian ship as Blake fights Adam to defend an innocent soldier from being killed. Atlesian paladins are giving students some trouble, so Velvet steps in, unleashing the pictures that she had been accumulating to create copies of weapons made of hard light dust. She masterfully mimics her classmate's fighting styles, and destroys one of the paladins before being knocked down by a second. To defend her friends, Weiss steps in and successfully performs her first partial summon of a knight's arm and blade, the very same knight that she had fought in the past that had pushed her beyond her limits. Ruby fights Roman and Neo, and is able to send Neo off the ship, but Roman gets the better of her. As Roman is parading his victory, he is swallowed whole by a griffin, which is swiftly kicked into the ship by Ruby, causing the ship to fall from the sky, but not before Ruby and the griffin make their escape. Glinda and Crow are fighting in the city as Ironwood, who survived his ship's crash, steps in, revealing that approximately half of his body is made of metal. The crash of the control ship caused by Ruby disables the virus controlling the atlesian robots, giving a brief reprieve. Pyrrha agrees to become the next maiden, and begins the transfer process, but Cinder arrives and kills Amber before the power can be transferred. Upon Amber's death, the remainder of the maiden powers transfers to Cinder, and Ozpin tells Jean and Pyrrha to flee. Adam defeats Blake and stabs her, just as Yang arrives to see it happen. Yang attacks Adam to protect her friend, but Adam is too strong, and Yang loses an arm in the process. Blake is then able to use the remainder of her strength to flee from Adam, taking Yang with her, using her semblance to escape. Meanwhile, under Beacon Tower. Ozpin takes on Cinder in an epic battle, both utilizing what appears to be magic. Ruby is then able to reunite with the rest of her classmates. Everyone is exhausted, and Ruby sees the injuries that her friends have sustained. She and Weiss decide to go find Jean and Pyrrha, who are not yet accounted for. Cinder emerges victorious from her battle with Ozpin, and heads to the top of Beacon Tower. Pyrrha and Jean realize what that means for Ozpin, so Pyrrha takes on the challenge of fighting Cinder. She gives Jean a first and final kiss before sending him away from the battle to spare his life. The monstrous Grimm circles the tower as Cinder speaks to it. Pyrrha arrives to face her, and although she is able to surprise Cinder a few times using her skills and semblance, she is outmatched by Cinder with her new maiden powers. During the battle, the Grimm destroys Beacon Tower, disabling global communications and throwing Pyrrha off balance. Cinder breaks Pyrrha's aura and finishes her with an arrow to the chest before incinerating her body, leaving nothing but Pyrrha's crown behind. Ruby arrives atop the tower just in time to see Pyrrha's final breath, and in a flash of silver light erupting from Ruby's eyes, the battle is over. Some time later, Ruby awakens in her family home to see her father at her bedside. Crow shows up and tells Ruby about her silver eyes, and the power that she possesses, the same power possessed by her mother. The legend that those born with silver eyes have the power to vanquish Grimm in a single glance and are destined to lead the life of a warrior. He tells her that the massive Grimm is still frozen atop Beacon Tower, drawing others to it. Beacon is lost and Ozpin is gone, and it is now up to Crow to take up his mission. Ruby reunites with Yang, who is suffering with other burdens along with the loss of her arm. After some time, Ruby decides that she wants to find out how all of this happened. Knowing Cinder was masquerading as a student from Haven Academy in the Kingdom of Mistral, she sets out on a journey with Jean, Ren, and Nora, leaving only a note for her family to tell them where she is gone. They aren't alone, however, for there is a guardian following them, one who knows more than he lets on as he turns into a bird and flies away. Blake has fled, Weiss was taken to her home in Atlas, Team Ruby is separated, Beacon has fallen, and the evil of the world has yet to reveal itself. The evil known as Salem. And this brings us to the end of Ruby Volume 3, a major turning point in the series as Team Ruby's school life has come to a jarring end. Their stories continuing in their individual journeys in the next episode of Ruby Recap. Let me know in the comments below what your favorite moments in Volume 3 were, and I'll see you all in the next one.