RWBY Thread III: Time To Say Goodbye

[kokuenDG]

so gotta few things that need to be said real quick.
We get a lot of reports from this thread. A lot of it is just a series of people yelling at each other over arguments that have been rehashed hundreds of times since the end of the recent Volume. And I get that the last Volume - and RWBY in general, really - has some controversial moments that people will want to discuss, argue about, debate, etc.

That's fine. We're not going to stop people from doing that, because that's literally what the point of the thread is. However, there's just a point where it gets to be a bit too much, and arguments about whether or not Ironwood was morally justified in his actions in the recent Volume, or if RWBY and her team were in the right for withholding information from Ironwood out of distrust, or whatever flavor of argument of the day descend into insulting other posters, expressing a demeaning attitude towards other's opinions, and just being overall unpleasant. That tends to happen a lot in this thread. We want it to stop happening in this thread.

So! As of now the thread is in a higher state of moderation. What that means is that any future infractions will result in a weeklong boot from the thread, and repeated offenders will likely be permanently removed. So please, everyone endeavor to actually respect the other's arguments, and even if you strongly disagree with them please stay civil and mindful when it comes to responding to others.

In addition, users should refrain from talking about off-site users in the thread. Bear in mind that this does not mean that you cannot continue to post tumblr posts, for example, that add onto the discussion in the thread, with the caveat that it's related to RWBY of course. But any objections to offsite users in the thread should be handled via PM, or they'll be treated as thread violations and infracted as such.

 

[Psyga315]

Have you seen Chibi Ruby?

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Not to mention Canon Ruby.

 

[Mook]

I love this fandom sometimes.



Also now I reeeeeeaaaaallly want to see Raven to show up in RWBY Chibi soon.

 

[DaBlueSky]

So, as someone who hasn't watched RWBY since season 3, are there any good fight scenes in the other seasons? I came in primarily because of Monty, and after seeing the animation in S3, haven't had much of a reason to come back. Or are the fight scenes just as bland as as s3?

 

[DezoPenguin]

So, as someone who hasn't watched RWBY since season 3, are there any good fight scenes in the other seasons? I came in primarily because of Monty, and after seeing the animation in S3, haven't had much of a reason to come back. Or are the fight scenes just as bland as as s3?

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It's pretty hit or miss. Early V4 fights have spectacle, but are pretty anime (lots of people criticize them for being "floaty," whatever that means). The Tyrian fight is generally well-regarded, but the V4 finale underwhelms. The Weiss and Yang Character Shorts between V4 and V5 tend to be pretty well-thought-of, V5E2 features an aerial magic duel between Weiss on an airship and a bunch of flying Grimm, V5E10 has a pretty good fight scene, but the final four episodes largely crap out despite some good individual moments, with the singular exception of Maidenbowl 2018.

IMHO, V4-5 fights are fine when they realize that they don't have Monty's genius for choreography and go for anime-esque spectacle instead, but fail when they try to imitate Monty and can't cut it. However, other people have radically different opinions.

 

[Mook]

So, as someone who hasn't watched RWBY since season 3, are there any good fight scenes in the other seasons? I came in primarily because of Monty, and after seeing the animation in S3, haven't had much of a reason to come back. Or are the fight scenes just as bland as as s3?

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You can judge for yourself:






Also if you don't mind Spoilers I have some gifs:

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[DaBlueSky]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, "hit or miss" definitely describes it. Eh, maybe I'll come back after the entirety of rwby is complete. Or if RT really starts to blow people's minds.

 

[The Narrator]

I quite liked the short that came out before Volume 4 myself:



That said, there are definitely times in the last couple volumes that I feel like they've gotten lazy with the fight choreography, or gone out of their way to find excuses to avoid having to animate a fight scene.

 

[Mook]

I quite liked the short that came out before Volume 4 myself:



That said, there are definitely times in the last couple volumes that I feel like they've gotten lazy with the fight choreography, or gone out of their way to find excuses to avoid having to animate a fight scene.

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I think it's less laziness and more lack of staff/budget to show all the fights they want and advance the plot and characters. The fights are also getting more advanced with a lot of experimentation with stuff they haven't tried before. Like having fights at sea, the Nuckelavee's arms, the sheer size of the Lake Matsu battlefield or special effects like freezing Ilia's whip sword and setting a house on fire.

I think this will be less of a problem going forward since the team is back together, which should make it easier to make both the plot progression and the fight scenes more focused.

 

[Zam]

Given the number of shows they are working on I am wary to cite budget as a reason though they may be divesting money that could go to RWBY to other stuff but I can't comment regardless.

I tend to think one of the major big differences is that Monty was capable of making incredible fight scenes solo, loved working and held a role not just as the head of that division but as the shows creator.

This means that with only a fraction of the oversight and without any of the back and forth both between those in charge and fellow team members he could create incredibly detailed fight scenes.

In comparison a team has a lot more restrictions and as none of them are as highly ranked, in fact if not in name, as Monty was then they have less freedom and generally everything takes longer and is a bit more complicated.

Dillon Gu for instance can create amazingly choreographed animations solo as can many other solo people. I tend to think this is based on skill, talent and freedom. Differing members of the team will have different levels of the first two along with experience but the last one is something older volumes of RWBY had for its creative team in bucket loads which is no longer the case due to the inherent complexities of working in a team with more oversight.

That's my theory anyway.

 

[Mook]

Given the number of shows they are working on I am wary to cite budget as a reason though they may be divesting money that could go to RWBY to other stuff but I can't comment regardless.

I tend to think one of the major big differences is that Monty was capable of making incredible fight scenes solo, loved working and held a role not just as the head of that division but as the shows creator.

This means that with only a fraction of the oversight and without any of the back and forth both between those in charge and fellow team members he could create incredibly detailed fight scenes.

In comparison a team has a lot more restrictions and as none of them are as highly ranked, in fact if not in name, as Monty was then they have less freedom and generally everything takes longer and is a bit more complicated.

Dillon Gu for instance can create amazingly choreographed animations solo as can many other solo people. I tend to think this is based on skill, talent and freedom. Differing members of the team will have different levels of the first two along with experience but the last one is something older volumes of RWBY had for its creative team in bucket loads which is no longer the case due to the inherent complexities of working in a team with more oversight.

That's my theory anyway.

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The thing about people like Dillon Gu and others like him is that they can easily spend months or even a year or more working on a single fight scene that's a few minutes long at most. They also tend to have very minimalistic environments, rarely have much in the way of lighting and the movement of the characters still tend to veer into the uncanny valley at times. Its a lot easier to polish up fight scenes when you don't need to meet any deadlines or work on anything except the fight itself.

 

[Zam]

It occurred to me, but I do wonder if we have also been somewhat unfair to RWBY in regards to fight scenes. I don't want to make excuses but...

OK so I recently binge watched Cyborg 009 on Netflix and not to disrespect the fans as there is a lot to recommend and the ending got to me way more than expected, but when I compare its animation to RWBY even though it at times looked more physical/expensive, I generally felt RWBY did it all much better. Facial expressions, making the characters look and feel alive, expressive body language and while somewhat hit and miss, rather dynamic, choreographed fight scenes.

Not so say Cyborg 009 lacked all of this, and there is a ton to recommend but I don't think the RWBY team are getting enough props for just how good and natural they make everything look, while also pulling off a very distinct style.

The thing about people like Dillon Gu and others like him is that they can easily spend months or even a year or more working on a single fight scene that's a few minutes long at most. They also tend to have very minimalistic environments, rarely have much in the way of lighting and the movement of the characters still tend to veer into the uncanny valley at times. Its a lot easier to polish up fight scenes when you don't need to meet any deadlines or work on anything except the fight itself.

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That's kind of what I was trying to say, just that, that was sort of the environment Monty had (Plus added support if he needed it) when he was working at RT due to his position and work ethic but that's not something anyone who isn't him can really have.

 

[Mook]

It occurred to me, but I do wonder if we have also been somewhat unfair to RWBY in regards to fight scenes. I don't want to make excuses but...

OK so I recently binge watched Cyborg 009 on Netflix and not to disrespect the fans as there is a lot to recommend and the ending got to me way more than expected, but when I compare its animation to RWBY even though it at times looked more physical/expensive, I generally felt RWBY did it all much better. Facial expressions, making the characters look and feel alive, expressive body language and while somewhat hit and miss, rather dynamic, choreographed fight scenes.

Not so say Cyborg 009 lacked all of this, and there is a ton to recommend but I don't think the RWBY team are getting enough props for just how good and natural they make everything look, while also pulling off a very distinct style.



That's kind of what I was trying to say, just that, that was sort of the environment Monty had (Plus added support if he needed it) when he was working at RT due to his position and work ethic but that's not something anyone who isn't him can really have.

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Yeah I checked out a fight scene from that series and to be honest, not impressed. I mean there's certainly worse fights in RWBY but there are also better ones, and the cost cutting measures where just as obvious and awkward in this anime made by a big studio as the recent ones in RWBY. At the end of the day unless you're able to give the animation studio more time to work on their product than most studios can afford you are going to end up with a lot of bad to mediocre fight scenes that are designed more around cutting corners and saving time/money than looking good and a couple of good to great fight scenes that are more important and therefore get all the time and attention that a good fight scene needs. Even when Monty was with the crew we could see this in action, just compare the fight scenes atop the train and the ones inside it in Episode 11 of Volume 2. Or look at the non-CFVY fights in The Breach and compare them with Team CFVY's debut.

I suggest watching Gigguk's "Animation in Anime" episode on Youtube, which I will not link since it has a lot of borderline NSFW jokes. Mostly about what the "important" scenes are.

 

[Zam]

Yeah I checked out a fight scene from that series and to be honest, not impressed. I mean there's certainly worse fights in RWBY but there are also better ones, and the cost cutting measures where just as obvious and awkward in this anime made by a big studio as the recent ones in RWBY. At the end of the day unless you're able to give the animation studio more time to work on their product than most studios can afford you are going to end up with a lot of bad to mediocre fight scenes that are designed more around cutting corners and saving time/money than looking good and a couple of good to great fight scenes that are more important and therefore get all the time and attention that a good fight scene needs. Even when Monty was with the crew we could see this in action, just compare the fight scenes atop the train and the ones inside it in Episode 11 of Volume 2. Or look at the non-CFVY fights in The Breach and compare them with Team CFVY's debut.

I suggest watching Gigguk's "Animation in Anime" episode on Youtube, which I will not link since it has a lot of borderline NSFW jokes. Mostly about what the "important" scenes are.

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I tend to think their fight scenes had some hit and miss qualities as the models did look a lot better in motions but as you noted, that's presumably a good sized studio given the pedigree of the property and in many regards I would say it came up short in comparison to RWBY. Like, the bodies just kept freezing and looking kinda plastic and the faces didn't seem very expressive, in comparison RWBY did both those things really well without me even noticing. They did a great job with the mechs and flash effects though hose were epic. But yeah, good insights on the time stuff as well and interesting comparison with the train, yeah while good fights they were comparatively self contained and small scale compared to some of what we have seen RWBY do. Some of that could have potentially been blamed on the surrounding circumstances but that's theory at best.

I'll consider it, thanks for the rec.

 

[Mook]

I tend to think their fight scenes had some hit and miss qualities as the models did look a lot better in motions but as you noted, that's presumably a good sized studio given the pedigree of the property and in many regards I would say it came up short in comparison to RWBY. Like, the bodies just kept freezing and looking kinda plastic and the faces didn't seem very expressive, in comparison RWBY did both those things really well without me even noticing. They did a great job with the mechs and flash effects though hose were epic. But yeah, good insights on the time stuff as well and interesting comparison with the train, yeah while good fights they were comparatively self contained and small scale compared to some of what we have seen RWBY do. Some of that could have potentially been blamed on the surrounding circumstances but that's theory at best.

I'll consider it, thanks for the rec.

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Indeed. The scene I saw was a superspeed guy against a devil dude and the super speed was just kind of terrible, its like he didn't actually move but instead locked up his body and then he floated across the screen. And the way the camera always made sure to only show his torso in most of his speed scenes was very noticable.

No prob, its a pretty interesting analysis video and very fun, especially if you're mature enough to indulge in some immature humor every now and then.


Anyway back to RWBY! I just noticed something cool from the Volume 5 opening:



That is a hella cool transition effect that I completely missed when I watched the show. I thought it just zoomed in on Yang's face and then switched scenes but it actually starts with the scene with Ruby appearing in Yang's eye. This is some grade A symbolism, Yang is roaring at full speed down a road on her motorcycle because the only thing on her mind is getting to Ruby as fast as possible. If any of us had caught this detail when the volume first aired I doubt anyone would have been fooled by the "I'm looking for Raven" red herring.

 

[Zam]

Indeed. The scene I saw was a superspeed guy against a devil dude and the super speed was just kind of terrible, its like he didn't actually move but instead locked up his body and then he floated across the screen. And the way the camera always made sure to only show his torso in most of his speed scenes was very noticable.

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Was this a guy in a mask and classy looking suit? Cos I do recall they were doing some weird stuff with his super speed at that point, though yeah that tended to be a mixed bag regardless.

No prob, its a pretty interesting analysis video and very fun, especially if you're mature enough to indulge in some immature humor every now and then.

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I may or may not be but am currently too tired to know XD

Anyway back to RWBY! I just noticed something cool from the Volume 5 opening:



That is a hella cool transition effect that I completely missed when I watched the show. I thought it just zoomed in on Yang's face and then switched scenes but it actually starts with the scene with Ruby appearing in Yang's eye. This is some grade A symbolism, Yang is roaring at full speed down a road on her motorcycle because the only thing on her mind is getting to Ruby as fast as possible. If any of us had caught this detail when the volume first aired I doubt anyone would have been fooled by the "I'm looking for Raven" red herring.

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That is indeed very cool, also wow the eye looks so pretty! Plus Yang's hair is like, shining there? Or are her eyebrows just brighter?

 

[Psyga315]

Indeed. The scene I saw was a superspeed guy against a devil dude and the super speed was just kind of terrible, its like he didn't actually move but instead locked up his body and then he floated across the screen. And the way the camera always made sure to only show his torso in most of his speed scenes was very noticable.

No prob, its a pretty interesting analysis video and very fun, especially if you're mature enough to indulge in some immature humor every now and then.


Anyway back to RWBY! I just noticed something cool from the Volume 5 opening:



That is a hella cool transition effect that I completely missed when I watched the show. I thought it just zoomed in on Yang's face and then switched scenes but it actually starts with the scene with Ruby appearing in Yang's eye. This is some grade A symbolism, Yang is roaring at full speed down a road on her motorcycle because the only thing on her mind is getting to Ruby as fast as possible. If any of us had caught this detail when the volume first aired I doubt anyone would have been fooled by the "I'm looking for Raven" red herring.

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I gotta admit, the looking for Raven red herring was a good plot twist.

 

[StellarSeeker]

As for me, I think that most of RWBY's problems stem from it's really bad case of character bloat.

It's pretty much the only issue that the showrunners have consistently doubled down on.

 

[Mook]

Was this a guy in a mask and classy looking suit? Cos I do recall they were doing some weird stuff with his super speed at that point, though yeah that tended to be a mixed bag regardless.

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Uh, don't think so? Kind of looked like a Gundam protagonist if I remember correctly.

As for me, I think that most of RWBY's problems stem from it's really bad case of character bloat.

It's pretty much the only issue that the showrunners have consistently doubled down on.

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I love Sun and Team JNPR but sometimes I wonder if maybe the series wouldn't have been better off without them, or at least with them as more C-list characters that only showed up every now and then.

 

[The Narrator]

As for me, I think that most of RWBY's problems stem from it's really bad case of character bloat.

It's pretty much the only issue that the showrunners have consistently doubled down on.

Click to shrink...

On that subject, I remember thinking a while back that even though they said that they'd decided to cut down the number of characters after Volume 3, it doesn't really feel like it. We've basically got a group of ten protagonists traveling together right now (four members of Team RWBY, three survivors of Team JNPR, Sun, Qrow and Oscar), we had ten recurring villains in Volume 5 (Hazel, Watts, Lionheart, Cinder, Ember, Mercury, Salem, Adam, Raven and Vernal) of which seven have survived, Iliya is probably going to travel with the heroes now that she's had her heel-face turn, Ironwood and Weiss' family (Jacques, Winter, Whitney and Klein) are probably going to be playing a big role now that we're going back to Atlas... that's already 26 characters that will probably have major roles, plus whoever new gets introduced in Volume 6.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, but RWBY has had a serious problem for its entire run with not taking time to develop characters and their interactions with each other, and with using its screentime efficiently to build and advance the plot. It doesn't make me optimistic for how well they'll be able to balance all these characters with both the overarching plot and whatever character arc Weiss will presumably have.

 

[Mook]

On that subject, I remember thinking a while back that even though they said that they'd decided to cut down the number of characters after Volume 3, it doesn't really feel like it. We've basically got a group of ten protagonists traveling together right now (four members of Team RWBY, three survivors of Team JNPR, Sun, Qrow and Oscar), we had ten recurring villains in Volume 5 (Hazel, Watts, Lionheart, Cinder, Ember, Mercury, Salem, Adam, Raven and Vernal) of which seven have survived, Iliya is probably going to travel with the heroes now that she's had her heel-face turn, Ironwood and Weiss' family (Jacques, Winter, Whitney and Klein) are probably going to be playing a big role now that we're going back to Atlas... that's already 26 characters that will probably have major roles, plus whoever new gets introduced in Volume 6.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, but RWBY has had a serious problem for its entire run with not taking time to develop characters and their interactions with each other, and with using its screentime efficiently to build and advance the plot. It doesn't make me optimistic for how well they'll be able to balance all these characters with both the overarching plot and whatever character arc Weiss will presumably have.

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To bring in some optimism Sun is almost certainly going to stay in Mistral after this. He might escort the group to the Mistrali border territories but he almost certainly won't go to Atlas. Between Mistral being stretched thin by Grimm attacks, the threat of war on the horizon and Leo and Salem culling the independent Huntsmen there's likely a insane manpower shortage at the moment. I really can't see Sun being allowed/allowing himself to leave when his Academy needs all hands on deck to contain the situation.

Ilia could also go either way, its equally probable that she will stay with Ghira/escort the Menagerie army home as it is that she will go with the group to Atlas.

Raven is almost certainly not going to do much or appear at all next volume either.

And with Team RWBY back together I could see JNR taking more of a backseat role, possibly being relegated to Relic/wounded guard duty or off-screen mook disposal.

 

[The Narrator]

To bring in some optimism Sun is almost certainly going to stay in Mistral after this. He might escort the group to the Mistrali border territories but he almost certainly won't go to Atlas. Between Mistral being stretched thin by Grimm attacks, the threat of war on the horizon and Leo and Salem culling the independent Huntsmen there's likely a insane manpower shortage at the moment. I really can't see Sun being allowed/allowing himself to leave when his Academy needs all hands on deck to contain the situation.

Ilia could also go either way, its equally probable that she will stay with Ghira/escort the Menagerie army home as it is that she will go with the group to Atlas.

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I've considered the possibility that Iliya might go back to Menagerie to try to help broker peace with the White Fang. But I would be goddamned astounded if Sun didn't go with the group to Atlas. (I'd be pleased, but astounded.) He ditched his teammates to go after Blake, hasn't mentioned them since, and never seemed to even remember that he was a student at Haven during this Volume. It seems really unlikely to me that they're going to have him suddenly remember that he lives here and decide to stay.

 

[Mook]

I've considered the possibility that Iliya might go back to Menagerie to try to help broker peace with the White Fang. But I would be goddamned astounded if Sun didn't go with the group to Atlas. (I'd be pleased, but astounded.) He ditched his teammates to go after Blake, hasn't mentioned them since, and never seemed to even remember that he was a student at Haven during this Volume. It seems really unlikely to me that they're going to have him suddenly remember that he lives here and decide to stay.

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He mentioned his team when he first met Blake. After that there simply hasn't been a point, especially since there was a dearth of screentime already. Its exactly because he's been away from his team so long that it doesn't make any sense for him to go on another trip. Sun made sense in the Menagerie arc, Blake needed a friend who wasn't part of the team and Sun brought an outsiders perspective on the whole thing. In Atlas though there's no role to play, everyone except for Weiss and Ilia are outsiders to Atlas so he doesn't work that way, Blake doesn't really need the extra support when she has her team back +JNR+Qrow+Oscar. Really if any Faunus friend is going to come along it makes far more sense to bring Ilia since she actually is from Atlas and can bring the perspective of someone from the lower class to contrast with the upper class perspective of Weiss.

 

[The Narrator]

He mentioned his team when he first met Blake. After that there simply hasn't been a point, especially since there was a dearth of screentime already. Its exactly because he's been away from his team so long that it doesn't make any sense for him to go on another trip. Sun made sense in the Menagerie arc, Blake needed a friend who wasn't part of the team and Sun brought an outsiders perspective on the whole thing. In Atlas though there's no role to play, everyone except for Weiss and Ilia are outsiders to Atlas so he doesn't work that way, Blake doesn't really need the extra support when she has her team back +JNR+Qrow+Oscar. Really if any Faunus friend is going to come along it makes far more sense to bring Ilia since she actually is from Atlas and can bring the perspective of someone from the lower class to contrast with the upper class perspective of Weiss.

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I would be stoked if they did that, I don't think they're going to. I think the writers are going to keep Sun around because they're pushing him as Blake's love interest.

 

[DezoPenguin]

I love Sun and Team JNPR but sometimes I wonder if maybe the series wouldn't have been better off without them, or at least with them as more C-list characters that only showed up every now and then.

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I'm...yeah.

Sun's mostly okay in that he's basically Blake's supporting character and 90% of his use is when Blake runs off on her own (...where she's now spent 40% of the show's IRL time @_@ ) he gives her someone to talk to, emote at, and generally not be a solo protagonist about.

But JNPR? I really do not understand the thought process behind their existence. Not "are they good characters" or "have they been used well," but the initial discussions Monty, Miles, and Kerry had where they decided that these guys should exist at all.

Like, I sort of see Pyrrha. She's the sacrificial lamb. Her job is to die. Her entire purpose in the cast is to get killed off at the end of V3, to be the definitive hammer moment for the audience that Crap Is Real. Robots can be rebuilt, arms can be replaced, but dead is (thus far) dead. And for us to care that Pyrrha is dead, she has to be hanging around for the first three seasons and doing stuff.

And we have Jaune. For whatever reason, MM&K decided that Jaune Arc needed to be a full-on protagonist, equally important to the show as the four girls with their initials in the title. I don't want to rehash the endless debate here; maybe they figured that a chunk of their primarily-nerdboy Rooster Teeth audience needed a guy main character (though I doubt it, given that not one piece of marketing the show has ever acknowledged Jaune's importance), or maybe they liked him and wanted to give him more screen time, or maybe they figured they needed the excuse to give Pyrrha a reason to be on-screen and having her hang off the side of Jaune's screen time gave them that excuse.

And they misused Jaune horribly in the first two volumes, by giving him his own story arcs in which the RWBY cast members didn't play a significant part.

Then there's Ren and Nora. God forgive me, because I love Ren and Nora as characters, but their existence is so utterly pointless. They're supporting cast members for Jaune like Sun is to Blake, but they're always there, eating screen time, and the only reason why they had to exist at all was to fill out the four-person team roster for JNPR. If they'd just stuck to partners, they could have had RW, BY, and JP, and the fact that Ruby met Jaune early on and they bonded over their devastating social awkwardness and became friends would have been more than reason enough to have them hang out together.

I pray that Miles and Kerry trim the cast between V5 and V6. Haven Academy is short a headmaster, so how about Qrow staying behind? Sun is a Haven student and Haven's school year is starting, so have him stay behind. Let Ren and Nora go home, or help Qrow catch up on paperwork or something. Ilia can help Ghira and Kali repurpose the parts of the White Fang that didn't go Full Adam. That leaves Team RWBY, Jaune, and Oscar (I'd jettison him, too, but we seem to be stuck with the farmboi) heading for Atlas. A six-character party can be managed, and it clears cast space for Winter, Ironwood, Jacques, and everybody else necessary.

 

[Mook]

I would be stoked if they did that, I don't think they're going to. I think the writers are going to keep Sun around because they're pushing him as Blake's love interest.

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Meh, seems too weak. Romance is not that important in RWBY and they could always bring him back later in the Vacuo arc where it actually makes some sense to include him. The writers are well aware of the cast bloat issues so I doubt they're going to drag a redundant character all the way to Atlas just so that he can make kissy faces at Blake.

Again they pushed him as a romance option/friend in the arc where Blake was basically on her own and needed someone her own age to play off of. With Team RWBY being reunited its far more important to focus on the inter-team dynamics than it is to focus on Blake's marginally relevant love interest. I could maybe see Team SSSN helping escort the Relic to Northern Anima but further than that? Nope, can't see it happening.

There's no reason for Sun to go to Atlas and far to many reasons for him to not go. For one thing he flat out stated that the reason he followed Blake to Menagerie because she was alone and needed support (both emotional and in combat). With her being back with her team he has lost his motivation for following her, especially if Ilia goes with her since that means she has even more friends and capable fighters to back her up. He has also been away from his team for a long time and while he's irresponsible he's not enough of a dick to just ditch them right after he got back. There's also the dearth of manpower in Mistral after all the shit that has happened there and I can't really see him abandoning his friends and their Kingdom just to be a third wheel for Blake. Etc.

We will have to wait and see I suppose but worrying about Sun tagging along does not seem like something worth being worried about.