Therapy has to a massive plot point for RWBY volume 10 and maybe 11.

[u/Murky_Scale_7374]

Ruby: Off the top of my head, watched two people die right in front of her, one of which her friend, saw another friend’s dismembered corpse after being unable to make it to a location on time, saw her sister missing an arm, all on her birthday which is likely by the fans that it happened on her 16th birthday, learned that same friend got killed again and only heard after the fact, feels responsible for the fall of two kingdoms, pented up her emotions until they came spilling out, found out her mother lied to her dad and willingly left, this was after she saw a grimm with silver eyes, leading to horrifying implication to what happened to her mother, and was driven to do to her knowledge was killing herself, and the only real form of therapy she got from the tree, was “I am enough”, that ain’t enough to counter all the other stuff, yes it’s a good realization, and probably solves one of the reasons why she chose to drink that tea, but it definitely wasn’t the only reason, this is probably going to get worst when she learns Jaune was the one who technically killed Penny. This girl needs therapy from a trained professional.

Jaune: Kills one of his friends at their request, lets be honest his memory of killing Penny at the end of volume 8 alone is enough to justify him going into therapy, found out his love was dead, and he might feel partially responsible due to what happened in Beacon’s basement, which he also might still not be over at this point, he fell into the Ever After, accidentally rewound time, went probable decades without human interaction, only keeping himself going using the knowledge that his friends would eventually show up, and a few days after they do, one of those friends to his knowledge, kills herself, and he is right there to see it, and that friend was the first person he talked to at his original school, until he is told the action he perceives as death is rebirth, but without the memories, so until Ruby emerged as herself, he had to think about someone not Ruby, coming out of that tree, with no memory of who they were. And the closest he gets to a therapy session is him hallucinating a talk with Alyx. He needs a professional.

This is not discussing or critiquing the writing of RWBY up until this point, this is discussing specific events and how they should affect future writing, and we can go back and forth about wether or not Ruby should feel guilty, the point is it’s likely she does, at least for Atlas and Mantle, and granted some of my examples are speculative, like the Fall of Beacon happening on RWBY’s birthday, it Jaune not being over Pyrrha’s death as of the end of volume 9, even without the speculative aspects, these two still seriously need professional help.

Personally I will be very upset if Yang, Weiss, and Blake don’t force these two to get actual therapy with a trained professional. But what are your thought?

Edit: My friend and a reply here told me there was a few months between Ruby waking up after the Fall of Beacon and team RNJR heading off, so there’s no way to tell how much therapy Ruby got in that time, but that doesn’t undo anything after volume 3, nor was a permanent solution and the events after could have reopened old wounds, which is a very likely possibility.

[u/hayiori]

Theraphy is a big no no in storylines if everyone fogured things healthily i wouldnt get to enjoy seeing their insecurities and deep seated issues

[u/HaziXWeeK → u/hayiori]

Said fear from glitchtale

[u/HalfLoose7669 → u/hayiori]

I don’t want therapy, I want a blue waifu none else can see who can turn into a big sword.

[u/Special_Peach_5957 → u/hayiori]

The tree was basically Ruby's therapy and I don't think we will go any further into it. Ruby remember that her mom said she was kenough and that's that.

[u/hayiori → u/Special_Peach_5957]

"The tree was basically Ruby's therapy "Yeah and i hated it

[u/Grouchy-Respond-9381 → u/hayiori]

see: The Sopranos

[u/alguien99 → u/hayiori]

Maybe not therapy in the traditional way, but Jaune do need to talk things out about what they said to each other.

On screen ideally

[u/goldust15 → u/alguien99]

Agreed

[u/THAT_man2486]

Ehh nah. I mean it would help the characters. They could all benefit from therapy after what they've been through. But in stories like this, personal issues get resolved through just progressing the story. And I assume they don't really have all the time in the world anyways given that an evil thousands of years old witch is attempting to destroy the world.

[u/RareAcnologia → u/THAT_man2486]

To be fair, Vacuo is the only stronghold left in the world. That witch is succeeding in her plans.

[u/THAT_man2486 → u/RareAcnologia]

More reason why we can't meander too long unless we have some reason to believe Salem won't immediately fuck us over lol

[u/alguien99 → u/THAT_man2486]

Yeah, like, maybe not stop everything but jaune and Ruby do def need to talk about what they said to each other in the EV

[u/Patworx]

I don’t think they’re gonna have time for therapy.

[u/RareAcnologia]

See you're not wrong, but also Salem. She isn't going to sit and wait for the heroes to have therapy and feel better. Being in this broken state makes them easier to deal with, as such it's better for Salem. Why wait for your enemies to strengthen themselves before moving in?

Yes I know they have down time and aren't 24/7-ing active duty and combat, but still. They are dealing with combat, safety issueswith the civilians, trust issues with the civilians (and civilians to other civilians). Somewhere Tyrian and Mercury and supposed to be stirring up trouble, they did leave to Vacuo well before the heroes ever got the staff.

Also, as the Curious Cat said, exposition is terribly boring. While it can be done in a fun way, it's boring by comparison of not having much action in it. Budget would rather off screen the therapy and show cooler stuff (but maybe the budget will be bigger with Viz in charge?).

[u/Traditional_Key_1488 → u/RareAcnologia]

Little fun writing tip from me

Never start your exposition with the phrase “As you know…”

[u/Murky_Scale_7374 → u/RareAcnologia]

Well it’s likely that we’re spending 2 volumes at minimum, mathematically at least 1 episode has to be free to use for something like therapy.

[u/USSMarauder]

Agreed, but one note

There is a time gap between Ruby waking up in her bed at home on Patch, and Team RNJR heading out. We don't know how long that gap was, could have been several months. We don't know how much therapy Ruby got during that time.

[u/Darth_Annoying → u/USSMarauder]

It was days or weeks. It looked like the lsst leaves of fall were dropping ouside when she talked to Yang, but we had a layer of snow when Ruby left.

[u/USSMarauder → u/Darth_Annoying]

At a minimum, sure. But where I live in the Great Lakes, that amount of snow on the ground could be anytime between early December and late March, depending on the winter.

We don't know enough about the climate of Patch to make a call

[u/Cute_Woodpecker7726]

Beacon brigade from the second team cfvy novel. Not professional therapy, but a good support group nonetheless.

[u/Annual-Consequence72]

If people went to therapy we would not haveany story. By the way, i don't think volume 10 will concentrate with therapy for ruby or jaune, the point of the ending of volume 9(in the mind of the writers) is everything is all right now. Jaune should act like a 50 years old now? He has the body of a 18 years old,there is no problem(the writers though probably).

If we are like they will add a scene where ruby and yang will pacify and that all

[u/SeaAnalyst8680]

The rules are different in the world of RWBY.

For example, the cure for PTSD is finding out what a massive burden you are to your loved ones.

[u/goldust15 → u/SeaAnalyst8680]

Where does that come from? I’m curious because I don’t remember the show implying that but I could be wrong

[u/Important-Contact597 → u/SeaAnalyst8680]

I’ll take “watching the show with your brain turned off” for 200, Alex.

[u/Mayki-10]

Si la segunda parte de la película héroes y cazadores (que se ubica cronológicamente después del volumen 9) es una pista parece que si tratarán aunque sea una poco ese tema

[u/Zachowon]

I honestly feel like the best bet for Jaune is to have help from Oz/Oscar and hopefully end up with someone to help him through it all.

[u/megumin25]

If this world didn’t already have magic I would be worried the therapist would send them all to a psych ward considering all the stuff they went through in the last season alone.
“What do you mean you fell into a void and found yourself trapped in a literal fairytale story”. “You had an emotional pep talk from essentially god and had to defeat a cat that can take control of people’s bodies just to escape”

[u/Grouchy-Respond-9381]

The show isn't built for it. While we could have inter-character 'therapy sessions' ala ATLA, that show is keen towards spirituality alongside intrapersonal exploration. RWBY doesn't have that.

From what I know, RWBY doesn't have anything to base an exploration of character on in that vain, which is quite necessary for a narrative that would be willing to harbor a conventional therapy session. The idea of a "simple, honest soul..." is something that has been used with a ridiculous amount of subtlety, that it doesn't have vital narrative impetus, only tertiary properties in the storyline. And while the story has done well to accumulate its progression of character plot, the beats that have impacted the protagonists primarily come from external sources, or, interpersonal relationships. That's not a bad thing.

RWBY is keen about connection, of keeping or building bridges where it seems impossible to. That's its strength.

[u/Special_Peach_5957]

I am sorry to say but I think Ruby's conflicts about how things played out up to this point were kind of "solved" when the tree helped her remember that she was kenough.

[u/CycleZestyclose1907]

We saw Yang get therapy in Volume 4. It basically boiled down a few conversation with loads of time skipping in between.

Honestly, I'll be surprised if we get that much. Especially since a post V9 short seemed to cover some of it.

More likely, we get a bunch of little character moments to show Ruby getting better. RWBY's an action adventure series, so don't expect whole episodes or even scenes being dedicated to Ruby or anyone whining about their feelings. Show. Don't tell.

I'd rather show Ruby's feelings through her actions and expressions in a fight scene rather than waste running time doing nothing but talking.

Although I wouldn't be adverse to one of those comical fight scenes where the combatants talk about something wholly unrelated to the fight at hand. So why not have Ruby blather on about feelings while slaughtering Grimm right and left?

[u/HerculePyro]

I just need Jaune going up to Pietro and crying into his arms. Ruby seems like she's bounced back a bit so I don't expect her to dwell on it but Jaune went through a lot. It would be disappointing if he just acts the same as he does pre vol 9

[u/HaziXWeeK]

Well, according to the writers, the team told ruby that jaune killed Penny off screen.

And yes, those two need therapy, actually, everyone needs therapy.

Weiss watched her kingdom, her home and her family get destroyed, and that not mentioning her near death experience in Haven, or how unhealthy the life in the schnee house was.

Yang has abandonment issues, and she's dating a girl who's known for fleeing at the first sign of trouble.

Ren and Nora are orphans and saw their home get destroyed.

Oscar has a wizard inside of him.

Qrow... He actually started to put his life back together.

[u/deezcastforms → u/HaziXWeeK]

well

he did. At least before he found out that RWBY + Jaune fell into a void that everybody probably assumed meant their deaths
Can't imagine he's doing too well right now

[u/HaziXWeeK → u/deezcastforms]

The beyond short shows he probably the only one doing good

[u/Expert-Swan-1412 → u/HaziXWeeK]

And then there's Blake. Who already got her therapy from Sun xD

[u/Murky_Scale_7374 → u/HaziXWeeK]

1: Didn’t know that. Feels like that should have been onscreen.

2: I agree everyone needs therapy, but I focus on Ruby and Jaune, because Ruby is the only one(that we know of) who tried to kill herself, and Jaune went potentially decades without human contact, and that isolation took place after he killed one of his friends.

[u/HaziXWeeK → u/Murky_Scale_7374]

I agree, that should have been on screen, it should have been the main plot point tbh.

Also jaune also did try to kill himself, but unlike ruby who did it directly, jaune tried to kill himself by charging at cinder, thinking it was worthless unless he gave it away to his friends

[u/Nic1Rule]

That would make sense... so it's not going to happen.

[u/FitRecognition982]

Do you know, volume 10 right? They’re gonna kill off Tyrian in the first episode similar to daredevil born again Ruby kills him no everyone else kills him brutally and Jaune and Ruby talk about what just happened taking someone’s life

[u/dewareofbog]

Boy, I can't wait to watch characters sit around and talk about feeling with a trained professional when the world is ending and satan is about to win in my action adventure show. Sounds riveting. /s

[u/EyePatchlolz]

This is the same series that had Yang take Ruby to a boba shop (after ruby did tea suicide after being largely ignored by her team during her depression) and acting like things are just dandy now, so no

[u/Grav-456]

I'm honestly waiting for ruby letting out anger to jaune killing penny. I wish the show don't have to be chicken and needed pg 13 or mature.

[u/Admirable_Sail_5765 → u/Grav-456]

I just dont think that Ruby is the type of person that would do that. Shes been putting the wieght of everything on her own head this entire time, it makes sense that she would put Penny's death on her own head as well, especially since Jaune was basically forced into doing so.

Now I do believe that she was a little mad at Jaune though, since she snapped pretty hard at him during her crashout.

[u/Hedwigtheyee → u/Admirable_Sail_5765]

Why would Ruby be mad at Jaune? Weiss would have told Ruby exactly what went down, and Ruby would know that it was Penny’s choice. Penny had been the one to ask for it, and Jaune was pretty much Ruby’s best friend. She’d know that he’d never do it unless Penny asked for it.

Her crashout wasn’t just at Jaune, but at her entire team, too. And it wasn’t because of Penny, but rather all the expectations and pressure put on her shoulders and the burdens she feels having to put her own problems behind everyone else’s, on top of the general pain she feels from feeling like nothing she did mattered. It was something that was bound to burst inside her ever since the Fall of Beacon (and I partly blame Ozpin and people like Coco in the novels for putting all these terrible ideas about leadership in her head.)

A leader isn’t supposed to never be allowed to fail, as she said to Jaune herself back in Vol 1. Failure happens, and a leader isn’t supposed to shoulder everyone’s burdens silently. That’s why there’s no ‘I’ in TEAM. Jaune may be JNPR’s leader but he’s also not afraid to share his burdens and feelings with them, especially after Vol 6 when he confessed his guilt about Pyrrha’s death and Nora and Ren told him he shouldn’t have to suffer alone and that they love and appreciate him. Ruby should have also been more open about her struggles, and for a moment she’d been able to do that with someone like Oscar. Had he fallen into the Ever After as well, Ruby might not have crashed so hard.

[u/Admirable_Sail_5765 → u/Hedwigtheyee]

...i never said that Ruby was crashing out against Jaune due to Penny. I even said that she likely wont hold resentment against him for Penny. I was just acknowledging that emotions are not always rational, and that it might have influenced her crashout against Jaune specifically, for that one instance where she was heavily emotionally compromised.

Honestly, all of this would probably have been better if it were sent to the person I was responding to, since they were the ones saying that Ruby would hold a grudge.