Rising Above Theory: Lie Renās Semblance
Since the last episode, Iāve seen a number of posts theorizing what Lie Renās Semblance is, but I havenāt seen one that quite captures what Iāve been thinking. In the episode, we see a very clear moment of little Lie in full-fledged panic. He sees little Nora, and he sees the Grimm, and his fear results in his incapacity to recognize how he can change the outcome of his immediate reality.
He then fades to an odd sepia color, and weāre given the visual cue that indicates his Aura/Semblance being activated. You can see that cue being used really effectively throughout Vol 4, from when Tyrian is attacking Ruby to when Sweet Boy Sun expends his Aura while using his clone Semblance. So, we know that Lie Ren is definitely doing something Semblance-y when he glows pink.
Ren is also capable of bringing others under his protection, letting themā¦calm down, go undetected, or something along those lines. So, what is the nature of his Semblance, exactly?
It is at this point that Iād like to talk about the shot of the lotus.
This shot is deliberately inserted into the earlier scene of Ren under the bridge, and I think that Miles and Kerry are trying to convey something significant to us through the symbol of the lotus. While the lotus can symbolize many things, a certain saying resonated with me-
āI love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained.ā
- Zhao Dunyi, Confucian scholar
In this scene, Ren is something like that lotus- heās awash in fear and misery, but he rises above; he rises above the smothering darkness, and he acts purely and effectively. He is unstained by evil, he retains his humanity, and he goes to protect Nora.
It seems like his Semblance is a sort of Transcendence, the ability to rise above oneās immediate physical conditions. At first glance, Transcendence appears to be more or less interchangeable with some sort of Emotional Stability Semblance, since both let him reach a point past emotion, or a point of tranquility. But, I think the critical question, the one that hasnāt been looked too closely at, is how he achieves that Stability/Tranquility/Transcendence. I think that it is more complicated than his Semblance just making Stability/Transcendence happen, and that his Semblance is much more than just an emotional centering/reset process.
To begin with, letās look at what happens to Ren and Nora again-
They fade to sepia. They lose their individual colors and fade into the scene together. Now, this might seem inconsequential, but I believe that the loss of each of their individual colors carries major significance. Why? Because, as we know, color isnāt just color in RWBY- color signifies individuality and self-expression, and those two values are so central to modern Remnant that children are typically named with color in mind.
The fact that Ren and Nora fade to sepia implies more than just some sort of stealth visual cue- it is implying that Ren and Nora are briefly losing their individuality. Theyāre literally fading into the background; theyāre transcending their individuality and becoming one with the world.
Thereās even evidence for Renās Semblance being Transcendence back from Vol 1. Remember this?
While it might seem like Renās ability to sense Grimm might just be a function of his Aura, weāve seen that his danger sense is far more developed than just a feeling of being watched.
Ren has a very slight capacity for precognition, but, as Ozpin has implied, magic does not exist in the world outside of Maidens (and ostensibly Silver-eyed Warriors and Artifact-wielders). Therefore, if Renās ability is beyond what an Aura should be capable of, if Ren is not a Maiden, if Ren does not have Silver Eyes, and if Ren is not wielding an Artifact, then his ability to sense the future is almost certainly a function of his Semblance.
For Ren to be able to close his eyes, focus, and sense that a deranged scorpion thespian is sprinting at RNJR with all the speed of a storm, Ren has to be tapping into something greater than himself. He is using his Semblance to tap into the awareness of the world at large, leaving behind the limitations of his physical body as his senses meld with the worldās. This is what allows him to sense a danger that is still approaching the group. Ā
Ultimately, Renās Semblance is Transcendence: it enables him to rise above and out of his own physical body to re-center his emotions, it enables him to merge with the world and fade away into it so as to conceal himself, it extends his sensory powers by extending his awareness through the worldās, and it enables him to bring others into that state of transcendence of the self.
As always, thanks for reading! I hope that you all enjoyed it, and that you found something worth pondering.
If you want to read any of my other writings, whether youāre curious about-
-Semblances
-Summer Roseās backstory
-Weissās character arc
-or the deal with the whole Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen family
click on the corresponding links! Thereās plenty more where this came from.
