Okay I have to come clean. I hate what they’re doing with Weiss right now.
I hate that they’re rapid-firing through all her development so that they can have her ‘catch up’ with Ruby. I hate that they have to contrive a plot device so contradictory to what the story has established so that her and Yang can get their hug. I hate that they had Weiss successfully sneak out of her family’s home without any confrontation with her father. I hate that we did not get to see Weiss put her foot down and disarm her father with how bold she has grown away from her family. I hate that we get an awesome OST for Weiss that really only serves to exacerbate how little we get to see her development take place. I hate that we, the fans, have to take microscopes to every scene with Weiss just to properly examine and convince ourselves that she’s being developed fine. I hate that we never got to see Weiss take Ironwood on his offer to go to Atlas Academy. I hate that the fandom still believes that Atlas consists primarily of snobby rich folk when we should know that they’re probably not even 1% of Atlas’ general population. I hate that we can’t properly defend Atlas because we never get to see the middle class, the people who go through great lengths to survive the awful environment by being creative and innovative.
I hate that Weiss’ sole reason for going to Mistral is no longer there and now the only reason she’s there is because her friends are there. I hate that Weiss’ goals are so flimsy and that she still hasn’t figured what she wants to do beyond be with her friends. I just hate what they’re doing with Weiss right now.
404fucknotfound replied to your post “Stupid Late Night Theory”
But weren't the relics last used towards the end of the Great War, waaaay less than a thousand years ago?
I had to rewatch that particular World of Remnant video as I wasn't one-hundred percent sure that was true or not, but it doesn't seem to be the case that the relics were used in the war. At least not with certantity. The war is ended, almost single-handedly, in a final battle by the Old King of Vale and it is heavily implied that the overwhelming victory had been the result of a miracle feat of power— or a relic of the old gods —however, the word 'relic' isn't mentioned at all in the video so it seems the team is determined to keep the specifics of that battle as ambiguous as possible. You may very well be right and my theory holds no weight (It honestly doesn't, I don't even have any real evidence to support it) but it's still a possible answer to the many questions this series throws our way.
What if the relics aren’t even real? What if unbeknownst to Salem and Ozpin, the relics no longer contain the power they once held?
What if humanity contains a piece of each relic within them and it manifests itself in the form of semblances as a means to propagate survival against the Grimm?
Each semblance a person has is unique to an individual (barring unusual cases such as the Schnee family trait) but what if you could categorize each semblance and tie them to a particular relic that they share power from?
Yang’s semblance would derive from the relic of destruction for its potential to wield miraculous raw power.
Weiss’s would originate from the relic of creation for its ability to create and form from the limitless potential of the imagination.
Blake’s unique talent to make shadow clones could possibly imply the relic of knowledge. To create another being, albeit temporarily shows self-introspection and wisdom of your strengths and weaknesses. It demonstrates that you can carry on because of the trials you’ve experienced and can carry that knowledge with you everywhere like a shadow.
Ruby’s semblance of speed could be the relic of choice manifesting in its power. She possesses the ability to choose how she engages, whether she runs away or takes on situations head on. She’s fast enough to make the decision herself in most cases.
The idea behind this idea of categorizing semblances is so it becomes easy to understand why some semblances can be similar to each other but carry different aspects personal to the individual that make them different enough to still call them ‘unique’. Also because I think it’d be a funny plot twist if all the effort Ozpin and Salem put toward protecting/getting a hold of the relics was pointless because they didn’t realize that a thousand years could change a lot.
I just had a spaz-tastic epiphany and it’s got me all jittery and excited about this new theory that I’ve figured for RWBY. It has to do with General James Ironwood and Penny and why Ironwood brought Penny to Vale despite being a classified project that the general public was not even supposed to see, much less know about. This idea came from @peanutsandbitterstep ‘s post about Penny and I thought it’d be really fun to try and expand on it a bit more with my theorizing goggles on. Let’s give it a try.
So I guess it’s time to root out a secret I’ve been keeping in a personal closet; I don’t like Penny Polendina. It’s not that I don’t like or appreciate her character’s personality, but more that her character’s relevance to the plot seems like a giant question mark to me up until the end of volume 3 and honestly, I think substituting Penny for another person close to Ruby would have had the same desired effect on her character growth. I just don’t understand the intention or point of a military general allowing a top-secret research project to come with him on an assignment into international territory. It’s fairly easy to assume that she required experience about the world around her to assimilate as a human properly as that would be the intended purpose of her design and appearance, but considering the situation that was quickly becoming more and more dangerous, there really was no reason not to send her back to Atlas before she became exposed for what she was--- a highly dangerous automaton with lasers that can slice through a ship like tissue. It makes even less sense to allow her to participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament with Ironwood knowing how quickly the enemy were closing in and they did not know how to prevent it.
To quote Cinder in Volume 3 chapter 9, “What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as a little girl? I don’t think the Grimm can tell the difference.” And she’s right; her question brings up many other questions about the intent of Penny’s design to look like a human, like a little girl.
Why is Atlas trying to hide her and pass her off as student?
Would she turn on any of us if she got the chance?
Is Atlas trying to start a war by having her sabotage our institution?
The purpose and goal of Penny’s construction and existence is unclear, but it is known that her being what she is, a robot built to trap a soul to generate aura, is a taboo by those who know the consequences of those actions. Still knowing that, Ironwood brings her to Vale and knowingly hides her true nature from Ozpin because he knew to what lengths the conversation would devolve. The question remains though, why?
Pretty simply, because Ironwood intended to use Penny to have a fall maiden that wouldn’t require training or die.
The fact that the maidens can die and their powers are passed on to another host who may not even have any connection to the previous maiden is quite a hindrance on those who aim to protect them. Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules, as said by Qrow himself, the maiden’s powers are transferred to either the person who is last in their thoughts, provided that person is a young female, or a completely random young female. This arbitrary ruling in how power as dangerous as this is given is actually more of a disadvantage to those who want to ensure its safety more than anything. It adds an element of unpredictability that’s completely unnecessary and often puts the world at jeopardy just by existing. It’s fairly easy to assume that someone of Ironwood’s caliber would not be the type to gamble with the lives of those he wants to protect. He wants to protect the world, just the same as Ozpin and the rest, but unlike them he doesn’t mind crossing the line of what’s considered a disrespect to nature itself. He rarely hesitates in decisions that would determine the safety of those he wants to safeguard and if there’s an option that lets him create a fall maiden that won’t die of old age, that won’t easily be beaten in combat, that can be replaced if damaged beyond repair, he’d probably take it.
I theorized that Penny was Ironwood’s ace in his sleeve and that he intended to transfer the soul of Amber into Penny so that she would fulfill the criteria needed by the Maiden’s Rules and become the Fall Maiden. And he would do all this behind Ozpin’s back knowing that the man would hate him for doing it.
I just realized that Qrow is totally a Karasu-tengu (Crow Tengu) in Japanese mythology. (One of the folklore that actually paint crows in a positive light.) They’re winged bird creatures that can shape-shift and take human form, are skilled sword fighting warriors, have great knowledge, and protect the law of the land. They are the deities called upon in prayer by desperate people (Tai) to help their children (Yang and Ruby) get back home. They also play tricks on the arrogant and vain (Winter) while rewarding and helping to train those who are modest and aim to help others (Ruby).
So if you watched the final episode of volume four, you were probably a little surprised by the revelation made at the end that immediately sets up the next volume in a big way. Now I have a number of ideas where this idea can go and I thought I’d run with it since I’m actually in the mood to express my thoughts on my blog rather than keeping it to myself.
The rest will be under a read more since many people haven’t seen the final episode and I’d rather not be that guy.
If you’ll recall as early as episode one of this season’s volume that Doctor Watts was instructed to take over Cinder’s previously assigned job of meeting with Salem’s informant as she was still recovering from the injuries received during the encounter with Ruby. It was after that point that the whereabouts of Doctor Watts went largely unanswered throughout the volume as we were focusing more on journey of all four team members of team RWBY; all we knew at the time was that he was in the city of Mistral, nothing else.
Then episode 12 comes and we learn precisely where the meeting with mysterious informant is and who that person is as well. We learn that Leo Lionheart, headmaster of Haven Huntsmen Academy is the one feeding information directly to Salem and her associates and suddenly the atmosphere of ending to this volume changes in an instant. As we know from information given in volumes 3 & 4, the headmasters of Beacon, Atlas, Shade and Haven Academies are all working together to protect the maidens and ensure that knowledge of them and relics are kept secret from the public. Now that we know that Leo, who had been previously confirmed to be a trusted member of Ozpin’s inner circle, has seemingly turn traitorous and poses a large threat to the people who trusted him to keep the world safe, it’s easy to see why the villains of the story have managed to stay one step ahead for so long.
Questions that had gone unanswered previously now begin to make sense with this revelation:
How did Cinder manage to find the vault underneath Beacon so quickly --- She knew of it beforehand because surely Leo would have revealed it to Salem.
Why did Cinder and Co. impersonate students of Haven and why did no one question the legitimacy of their claim --- As headmaster, Leo would simply confirm their identities as if he had known them as students for years.
Having a headmaster in your pocket gives Salem a massive position against those who aim to oppose her. Ozpin and the rest of his group remain completely unaware that a key member of their circle has turned their back on the world and willingly leads it to ruin. How does one go from wanting to protect Remnant to knowingly handing it over to the worst person you can think of?
I think the answer is obvious in this case: Fear.
If you know the creative background to the designs of Ozpin and his cohorts, you would know that each of them are based on characters from the story ‘The Wizard of Oz’:
Ozpin was obviously created in the likeness of ‘The Wizard’.
Qrow was imagined similar to ‘The Scarecrow’,
Glynda as ‘Glinda the Good Witch of the North’,
James Ironwood as ‘The Tinman’.
Leo Lionheart as ‘The Cowardly Lion’ (Formerly, fans imagined Taiyang in this role given his color scheme and connection to Qrow but its since been revealed that this is not the case).
Leo’s inspiration as character in the story will likely allude to the idea that Salem and her powers are very much the incarnate of fear itself which be a driving motivation in why he chose to align himself with her. He will no doubt play a major role in next volume as an antagonist, but it’s also easy to predict that he will be able to turn it around joining back with Ozpin and trying to make up for wrong he’s committed.
That was an interesting finale; it actually made me forget about all the gripes I had with volume four up until that point. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my hang ups about the direction the writing was taken and several key points in the plot that weren’t as impactful as they should have been, but the final episode was done very well--- Kerry and Miles earned a little mark of recognition from me for that much. I want to write more about my ideas for what direction the story can go from here on, but considering a huge number of people haven’t watched yet, I’ll make another post and tag it appropriately.
Episode 5 for Volume 4 for RWBY is finally almost here and I am so glad for it. No more World of Remnants for a good while hopefully, let’s finally get into the nitty-gritty of the plot.
It was pretty obvious that they were going to dedicate the first four episodes of the volume to re-introducing the main characters of team RWBY and probing where they are currently in the story and how they’re reflecting on the events in the prior volume, but I admit that I wish I could have skipped waiting those weeks to see what the big-bad baddies have planned for the world now that they’ve finally completed the first major step in... whatever plan they have in mind. I want to see who Sienna Kahn is, I want to see who the informant Dr. Watts is meeting--- I just want to see Tyrian attack Ruby already, we know it’s coming, the intro spoiled it for us already, just show us so I can know if Tyrian is a credible threat or not.
Anyway, since we’re going to be focusing on ‘The Adventures in Menagerie!’ with Blake and Sun tomorrow, this might be a good way for them to segway into Sienna Kahn and what he/she has in store for the White Fang’s alliance with Salem’s group.
By the way, was it explicitly mentioned whether they were a guy or a girl, or is that still up in the air? Doesn’t really matter to me, but I’d be more in preference for another female villain. The roster in male villains suddenly shot up and I kind of preferred having the females take the lead when it came to villainy.
I want to give my proper thanks to @viktormayrin, @food-n-comfort, and @nerdgasrnz for taking the time to answer my question, most notably @viktormayrin for actually giving me a direct link to the RTX panel that answered the question. You guys are great and I hope you’ve had a great day.
I understand that there is a common understanding that Sun Wukong is the defacto leader of team SSSN, but I don’t believe that was a fact that was ever mentioned in the show. Is this a thing that the FNDM made, or is there a moment in show that I just missed where that information was brought to light? Heck, I’d be down with the idea if it was off-handedly mentioned in a Q&A with the writers at some point, I just want some sort of confirmation that he really is the leader for his team.
As a closet ‘hardcore’ fan of RWBY, I implore pretty much every in the FNDM to at least check out this video. It’s concise and short and all it really wants to do is make sense of RWBY volumes 1 and 2 as pretty much anyone could tell you that the writing for those volumes were... less than stellar, and that’s the nicest way I could put it. The guy who made this offers some valid points, points that are expanded upon even further in the reviews he has for each volume, but I doubt everyone has the time for those lengthy commentaries--- not to mention the majority of the reviews are very critical of the series, so definitely not everyone’s taste. Regardless, watch it if you want, or don’t.
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