REVIEW: ‘RWBY: Ice Queendom,’ Episode 10 – “Mirror of Darkness”

RWBY: Ice Queendom is an action/fantasy anime produced by Shaft. With the situation growing more dire and the team running out of time, Blake proposes a bold strategy that may be the team’s best chance at saving Weiss, but at great danger to Blake herself. With few options left to them, the team is forced to adopt Blake’s radical new plan in RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 10.

This week’s episode leverages the momentum built up in last week’s narrative to continue to propel its story forward at a strong pace. With time being of the essence, the show pushes its characters towards hard choices that set up a significant level of risk to keep the stakes rising as the series barrels towards its season finale. I was pleased to see the show painting this energy as it felt hard won after its repeated stalls and restarts over the last several episodes.

While RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 10 utilizes these dangers well in order to strengthen its overall tone, there is a bit of a hiccup that comes with them as well. Namely, why such a risk would be taken on in the first place. With the team barely having been formed before Weiss succumbed to the nightmare, that the other members of her team, in this instance Blake, would be willing to go to such extreme lengths for her feels a bit forced.

Despite the level of conviction being somewhat questionable, I did enjoy seeing Blake take the spotlight for much of this episode. While she has been active in the plot throughout the series, this was her first chance to truly take center stage and the series lets her claim it all for herself. This includes a new visual design for the character that looks awesome and certainly sells the idea that she may now be a match for Dark Weiss’s powers.

While Blake takes center stage in RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 10, the rest of the cast is certainly kept busy. Juane and the mini-Weisses fight around the train continue as they struggle with the enemies around them. Meanwhile, Ruby continues to march towards her confrontation with the Nightmare that rests at the core of their problems.

With plenty going on throughout this episode, the animation and visual design do a good job of delivering everything the show has to offer. From the action to the story’s tone, all the elements of this week’s narrative are served well through the show’s visuals.

When all is said and done, RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 10 continues the series’ recent moves in the right direction. With new plans in motion and the big confrontations this arc has been building to finally looming imminently, the show just needs to land a couple more strong episodes in order to manage a solid season overall.

RWBY: Ice Queendom Episode 10 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.