CANON NOTES.

[yielded]

WEISS (about Beacon): "This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters."

Beacon's years are undefined (CONFIRM THIS DETAIL): it may be as little as two years, based off comments Velvet makes - Team CFVY are the only non-first years that we meet. NEVER MIND. I remembered that Ozpin clearly says that whoever the initiated make eye contact with first will be their partner for the next four years. So, traditionally, students start at 17 and finish at age 21. It's considered "inordinary" because the students are actually expected to fight monsters. Implies that other academies don't have that same expectation? This might be the reason for Beacon's reputation and the fact that it is the academy chosen to host the tournament and countless exchange students for a semester. Beacon is a finishing school; students are accepted based on their performance at previous academies, typically at age 17. Ruby attended Signal, where Qrow teaches/taught (for some reason?). She left before finishing, saying she had two years left. Pyrrha attended Sanctum.

Dialogue suggests new students were unaware of how teams are formed in Beacon. This suggests that: a) second year students (and up?) are not particularly forthcoming with the knowledge; or b) Ozpin's method of team- and partner-formation changes from year to year.

WEISS: So, Pyrrha. Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual, such as yourself.
PYRRHA: Hm. I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may.
WEISS: Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together.
PYRRHA: (unsmiling) Well, that sounds grand.
WEISS: Great!

WEISS (having a psycho moment): This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class... Together we'll be unstoppable. I can see it now. We'll be popular, we'll be celebrities, we'll get perfect grades. Nothing can come between us now!

JAUNE: You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you.

PYRRHA: (slides right into frame, finally smiling) Nice to meet you, Jaune.
JAUNE (shoves her away): Yeah, yeah. So, Weiss. Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day.
WEISS: Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
JAUNE: Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumours about teams! I was thinking you and me'd make a good one. What do you say?
PYRRHA: Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so...
JAUNE: You don't say. Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team.

What the fuck, Jaune.

Volume 1 is so weird.

WEISS (forces her way between them): Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?
JAUNE: Not in the slightest, snow angel.
WEISS: This is Pyrrha.
PYRRHA: Hello, again!
WEISS: Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum.
JAUNE: Never heard of it.
WEISS: Ugh! She's won the Mistral regional tournaments four years in a row. A new record!

Lower level tournaments, possibly. Not the same designation of tournament that Beacon hosts in volume three, as Pyrrha would have been too young to qualify. Also, Weiss refers to Mistral as a "region" and not a "nation".

JAUNE: What?
WEISS: She's on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!
JAUNE: Hnn! That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters.
PYRRHA: Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you.
WEISS: So, after hearing all this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?
JAUNE: I guess not. Sorry.
PYRRHA: Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader. (touches his shoulder five seconds after meeting him.)
JAUNE: Oh, stop it!
WEISS: Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behaviour should not be encouraged!
JAUNE: Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I can pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?
WEISS: Alright, that's a bit too close. Pyrrha, a little help please?

And then she penetrates him. There's a metallic shing noise as Pyrrha throws her javelin and it catches Jaune by his hood, pinning him to a pillar a few feet away.

PYRRHA: I'm sorry! (she pulls her javelin back out without putting her hand around it)
PYRRHA (in a genuine tone): It was nice meeting you.
JAUNE: ... likewise.

Nora's eyes are blue.

The launchpads should just knock everyone flat on their faces, but somehow they send the students flying off the cliff and into the forest. Part of aura's natural ability or just a quirk of their world?

Pyrrha lands on a tree branch and uses the gun treatment of her weapon as a viewfinder to scope out the area. Seeing Jaune fly off in the distance, she brings her arm back and we see how her weapon converts to a javelin/spear. Using her thumb to mark the point, she fires it off with an audible blast--this might be some sort of dust implement or it might be her Semblance, but there is a quick cloud of fire. This probably happens in less than a second; like Pyrrha's death scene, parts of it are slowed down for the sake of the audience. It shoots off and catches Jaune. Somehow, this doesn't break his neck.

JAUNE: Thank you!
PYRRHA: I'm sorry!

When we see Jaune next, he's trying to pull the javelin out of the tree.

JAUNE (to Weiss): Wait! Come back! ... who's going to get me down from here?
PYRRHA: Jaune? Do you... have any spots left on your team?
JAUNE: Very funny.

JAUNE: Did you hear that?
PYRRHA: Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy.
(she pushes a branch out of the way, but it doubles back and bitchslaps Jaune in the mouth)
JAUNE: Oof!
PYRRHA: Jaune! -- I'm sorry.
JAUNE: Heh. It's okay. Just a scratch.
PYRRHA: Why didn't you activate your aura?
JAUNE: Huh?
PYRRHA: Your aura.
JAUNE: Gesundheit.
PYRRHA: Jaune, do you... know what aura is?
JAUNE: Tshh. Of course I do! ... Do you know what aura is?
PYRRHA: Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burden and shields our heart. Have you ever felt like you were being watched, without knowing if someone is there?
JAUNE: Uh... yeah.

VISUAL METAPHOR INVOLVING REN AND A GIANT SNAKE. It's gnarly.

PYRRHA: With practice, our aura can become our shields. Everyone has it, even animals.
JAUNE: What about monsters?
PYRRHA: No. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of grim (Grimm?); the manifest of anonymity.

The fuck does that mean, Pyrrha. Note: Look up the subs for that particular phrase.

PYRRHA: They are the darkness and we are the light.
JAUNE: Right. That's why we fight them!
PYRRHA: It's not about why. It's about knowing. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both. By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You project yourself and your soul when fighting.
JAUNE: It's like a forcefield! :D
PYRRHA: Yes, if you want to look at it that way. (she's still smiling; clearly, she finds that adorable.)

Pyrrha: (GETS RIGHT IN HIS FUCKING FACE. Jaune is taken aback. She holds his face/neck.) Now, close your eyes and concentrate.
JAUNE: Uh, okay...

Pyrrha closes her eyes and then opens them again, and we can see her eyes trembling. She closes them once more and when the camera pans back, she's glowing.

PYRRHA (v.o.): For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.

I always assumed that "in passing" meant transient, that immortality is only temporary. It may also refer to physical passing, i.e. death.

JAUNE (now glowing): Pyrrha?
PYRRHA: It's alright. I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it.
JAUNE: Wow.

Pyrrha glows red, but Jaune glows white.

Outside a cave.
JAUNE: Think this is it?

Inside the cave.
PYRRHA: I'm not sure this is it.
JAUNE: (sighs) Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humour me for five more feet? (he immediately faceplants into a puddle.)
PYRRHA: Do you feel that?
JAUNE: Soul crushing regret?
PYRRHA: No. It's... warm.

JAUNE (sees something glowing): That's the relic!
JAUNE: Hey! Bad... relic.
JAUNE: Gotcha!
PYRRHA: Jaune...

Pyrrha runs out of the cave while Jaune is crying her name.

PYRRHA: Jaune, whatever you do, don't let--

He flies off into the distance.

PYRRHA: ... go.

She makes no attempt to engage the grimm in combat, despite her record. This suggests that the level the characters at in the beginning of volume 1 is far lower than the level their at in the end of volume 3, when they take on hordes of grimm without hesitating. An implied strict training regiment. Pyrrha considers it, and then darts off. She runs all the way to the clearing, chased by the deathstalker. It knocks her into the dirt right in front of Ruby's feet.

Nora grabs the same relic for her and Ren that Jaune grabs for him and Pyrrha (the white rook). Ruby and Weiss end up with he same relic that Yang and Blake have (the knight). This is how teams are formed.

When the Deathstalker forces them onto the bridge, Pyrrha remains close to Jaune before telling him to go. Thet end up on opposite sides, until Nora volleys herself and Jaune back, knocking off Blake in the process.

JAUNE: We gotta move.

Already, he and Pyrrha are moving in singular motion, taking turns using their shields.

JAUNE: Pyrrha!
PYRRHA: Done. (she hurls her shield, knocking off the deathstalker's stinger.)

He doesn't need to give an exacting order. This is a recurring theme between them, a sort of physical synchronization where he doesn't need to issue her orders as thoroughly as he does for Ren and Nora.

When JNPR goes onto the stage the team formation ceremony, they don't do it in named order. Jaune-Pyrrha-Ren-Nora (coincidentally, the height order from tallest to shortest). When Pyrrha hears Jaune's going to be leader, she punches him affectionately in the shoulder and continues to grin when he falls on his ass.

Pyrrha might be a slow runner. When they're fleeing the Deathstalker toward the ruins, Jaune's initially behind her but quickly overtakes her. When JNPR and RWBY are both running to get to class, Pyrrha's in dead last. It's also possible she's the most likely to pace herself.

Port's class doesn't make much sense. He tells a story for several minutes and then brings out a caged grimm for someone to fight. Weiss, despite having not brought her battle outfit or her weapon, suddenly has both when she engages it. However, Ruby gives Weiss the strategic upperhand. Beacon faculty chooses team leaders based on who has the confidence and observation to issue quick, efficient orders in the face of adversity.

Jaune does poorly in his match against Cardin. Pyrrha watches him with concern.

Glynda mentions the Vytal festival - a few months away - and Ruby and Yang get excited. Pyrrha watches them calmly, leaning back.

In the cafeteria, Jaune is distracted and Pyrrha watches him unhappily. I'm sensing a pattern here.

PYRRHA: Jaune, are you okay?
JAUNE: Huh? ... Oh, yeah. Why?
RUBY: It's just that you seem a little... not okay.
JAUNE: Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look. (gives a thumbs up.)

Laughter in the background. They look over and Cardin is laughing at Velvet. Jaune clenches his fist, the leather in his gloves squeaking.

PYRRHA: Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first day of school.
JAUNE: Who, Cardin Winchester? Nahhh. He just likes to mess around, y'know. Practical jokes.
RUBY: He's a bully.
JAUNE: Tch, please. Name one time he's "bullied" me.
MONTAGE TIME.
JAUNE: I didn't land far from the school.
PYRRHA: Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask.
NORA: Oooh. We'll break his legs!
JAUNE: Guys, really. It's fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone.

They look over again. Cardin is holding one of Velvet's ears, despite her asking him to stop, and his team is laughing at her.

PYRRHA: Atrocious. I can't stand people like him.
BLAKE: He's not the only one.
YANG: It must be hard to be a faunus.