I know virtually nothing of the series, but will try to converse as it seems you're pretty passionate about it.
Here's my entire information base going in: the TVtropes articles, some random ScrewAttack video (something called "Death Battle"...)
ughhh. sorry but I'm not a fan of this. TVTropes tends to be a massive oversimplification things that tends to put any element of story in a negative and/or critical light, and Death Battles are cool but can only be taken so seriously given that they have to combine the rules of multiple universes together... so it's also not a great source of info
but that being said I'd feel bad just ignoring everything you said so *reads*
yeah, it has a lot of cliches. arguably based around them to some extent.
it's based around fairy tales and even has fairy tales within the story, lol.
no, it should not be taken too seriously. I kind of complain a lot when about all the flaws of the show. there are a ton IMO. I think the show is at its best when it's being funny or just focusing on action. does it technically have the most well-animated scenes out there? no, but along with the astounding (IMO) soundtrack and the absolutely crazy weapon designs, it's generally VERY thrilling to watch these 3D fights. in other words, I like the show because of the over-the-top action, so when that isn't satisfying me (see: 95% of season 3, whereas season 1 and 2 did much better for me) it's pretty bleh. I don't want to criticize the people who made it too much because they're people and they work super hard on it and no, they're probably not super experienced professionals and no, I probably couldn't do better, but there's definitely room for improvement.
that being said, the last two episodes of season 3 did take a turn that people weren't sure would happen, because it was relatively light-hearted up to that point.it's still not the darkest/most mature thing but it definitely has added enough weight to the story for me to actually be even invested a bit outside of just liking characters because they're cool/funny/whatever, lol.
and yeah, it doesn't explain in-universe rules a lot. one of the many things I have complained about, I think. you can guess about the rules a lot but it really doesn't clearly set them up which bothers me. I look a good mix of thinking for myself but having clearly set boundaries so we don't just have to assume everything. One Piece does a good job of this IMO though of course it's huge/super old and long-running so it has flaws. Hunter x Hunter also did well.
*reads more*
I don't expect this to get too crazy, tbh. They do have to appeal to the audience that they've inadvertently gotten which is not a super dark audience, so in that sense I feel like they can't take it farther than a "T for Teen" rating, lol.
As far as the dead character goes, yeah, there's no body, so... :| basically that's why I'm doubting anyone is really dead. there were no funerals and such. I have been in denial before (such as recently in Tokyo Ghoul) but it's like, hey, if you really see the dead body, I mean... come on. But if you don't and it's not just something else weird (and it's not some crazy fantasy deal where they turn them into a zombie on the enemy side or whatever), then uh... ._.
anyway, it did give me something to discuss in the end, so I do appreciate that, hahaha. and it was worth reading in the end + you're cool and didn't just jump to a ton of crazy conclusions off of TVTropes, thankfully. I know you're not the kind of person to do that but I can't help but be afraid. TVTropes (and tropes in general) aren't really inherently good or bad, but I feel like people tend to use them in bad ways >>'
I'll start with Torchwick is dead for sure. They confirmed this in the livestream on Friday. It sucks but apparently he wasn't meant to last this long anyway and only stuck around because of popularity with the fans and the team.
With Yang I think they will definitely go the robot arm rout. The entire right side of Ironwood's body is robotic so we know the technology exists in the RWBY universe. I'm also interested in how this will effect her relationship with Raven. In the one glimpse we've had of her she was wearing a grimm mask so she could be a rogue huntress or maybe undercover. If she is rogue she may try to persuade Yang to join the grimm queen (that's what I'm calling the creepy lady at the end of episode 12). Personally I doubt she's helping the grimm but I would love to see her and Yang teaming up.
Penny is a robot so naturally they'll be able to fix/rebuild her.
One really cool thing I saw in episode 11 is that the giant knight Weiss is fighting in the white trailer is her summon. We only see his arm and sword in the episode so be looking forward to seeing the complete summon down the road.
With Pyhrra it looked almost like Cinder absorbed her. When she was in the vault getting Autumn's power she seemed to absorb at least some of it before Cinder stopped the process. So maybe what we saw was Cinder absorbing the rest of Autumn's power out of Pyhrra.
While I am interested in the pair up of Ruby with the remaining members of JNPR I am worried things may be streched too thin in season 4. We have each member of team RWBY separated meaning we'll get four seperate story arcs or some of the characters will be ignored. Ignoring any of them is bad because let's face it, we want to see what is happening with all of them. On the other hand the episodes can be really short so doing four stories at the same time doesn't seem like a good idea.
That's all I've got. I'm not much for speculation but I had a few thoughts so I thought I'd contribute.
EDIT: After reading a set of tweets on Jen Brown's twitter Pyhrra is definitely dead. Apparently when she got the part Monty told her that this is how she was going to die.
oh man, really? official confirmation too, uh, wow O_o I just... well then. It's not like actually a huge deal, I'm just kind of surprised. The main reason I doubted it is basically because this show doesn't have precedence for people dying/how much they can take and such, so... ._. welp, thanks for telling me, that's good to know. I'd have kept on wondering if we'd secretly see a zombie Torchwik.
I will say two things on him though. First, I also liked him a bit, mostly because I thought he was funny and such (in part due to his voice actor) , and second, I'm disappointed that he didn't get his butt kicked by Ruby in the end. Like come on Ruby, show him who is boss. >_>'
@Yang, super likely, yeah, but it'd be awesome if they subverted our expectations and did something different. Be all "hey, I know ya'll are thinking she'll get a robotic arm, especially because we showed/hinted it's possible, but IN ACTUALITY... she's gonna (insert plot twist here)". I could dig that, haha. A little unpredictability can go a long way.
Supposedly, though will she have everything that she did back? Idk. Again, just a matter of not really setting precedence/rules for things = I'm not sure what to expect.
Yeah, that's what it seemed like. Those trailers are canon after all, IIRC.
That's certainly possible. Also reminded me of her aura in general. However, how the heck do you absorb a person? Does that mean Pyrrha is still alive in some form or what? See, I just can't freaking explain any of this. It's all just crazy magic b.s. right now which is kind of upsetting. We don't have much on rules for aura and semblance in general except how aura is limited and heals wounds and other small, trivial details, so >___>'
You make a fair point and it'll probably feel like a dragged out 2 or 3 seasons to some unless they just start making every episode 20+ minutes so they can fit in more content to show what everyone is doing... but I don't expect that.
Huh, wow...
...
*reads edit*
no way ._. /denial I... I can't even. That for real? What a way to go. That's just so dark if so that it just doesn't mesh with my overall image of RWBY in the least. They killed Jaune's love interest, one of characters that got so much attention she actually had more fights than Ruby, the MC? .___. I mean, again, in a way it makes sense—you could say they were foreshadowing it—but at the same time it just seems way too gutsy for this show. Plus that means Jaune and everyone else have to get over that somehow and move on knowing that she's actually dead... and the fact that they seemed to already be doing a little ok is... bleh... I don't even know. in a way it's good and in a way it's bad. I have mixed feelings. I'm not particularly bummed about Pyrrha being dead (even though she was definitely a cool character that will be missed dearly) so much as it is being confused about how to feel about the show in general with what they're doing and stuff. It's all kind of a headache-inducing mess I can't make sense of. Maybe I need to rewatch the finale again. Maybe RoosterTeeth needs to do a better job of writing their stories so people don't have to be so confused/unsure of what's actually happening and how this world works amongst other things. idk. >_>'