The Narrative Potential of Ruby and Oscar
Magical curse drama. Growth. Redemption.
Beneath the cut is an analysis of everything we know about how their stories are connected, things we can reasonably predict are going to happen, and theories about whatās possible in future volumes.
Oscar has already had a meltdown just a few weeks into his training. He didnāt ask for this. The fighting-a-war part of it, obviously, but much worse: he didnāt consent to his body being invaded by an immortal cursed wizard. He didnāt consent to slowly having his own soul absorbed into the monstrous amalgamation of countless previous souls, slowly losing his own identity unless the curse is broken.
Disturbingly, weāre already seeing how Ozpin is beginning to overtake Oscar. At first, Oscar could give Ozpin control of his body only when he was consciously making it happen, but now Ozpin can already take control whenever he wants (for short amounts of time) without Oscar first trying to allow the change.
Other people in Oscarās orbit donāt seem concerned about it yet, because they think they need Ozpinās wisdom and strength, and they donāt value Oscar as an individual nearly as much. But thatās going to change. Ruby is getting to know Oscar and care about him as a friend. Sheās going to care when Oscar starts disappearing. Sheās going to care when Oscar starts seeing memories that arenāt his and blaming himself for them. Maybe Ozpin was somehow to blame for Summerās death. Maybe Oscar will have a meltdown about that too.
And Ruby is also burdened with an immense power she doesnāt understand, and no one is being completely honest about it with her. But Oscar is going to get Ozpinās memories, and heās going to want to be honest with Ruby about everything Ozpin knew.
Imagine Ozpin trying to take over Oscarās body to stop him from telling Ruby something he doesnāt want Ruby to know, and Oscar having to fight to gain control of his body back so he can do what he feels is right.
Imagine Oscarās loyalty to Ruby being greater than his loyalty to Ozpin, creating a power imbalance that causes Oscarās soul to try to reject the completion of the reincarnation process. Ozpin can onlyĀ āpairā with a like-minded soul. What happens if it turns out they actually disagree about a lot of stuff ethically? What happens if Oscarās emotional attachment to Ruby threatens to interfere with the pairing process and Ozpin isnāt able to control the body when it comes time to fight Salem? What if Oscar cares more about protecting Ruby than about winning at any cost, even if it means his curse isnāt broken in time to save his own soul?
Imagine Oscar curled up and sobbing that itās too hard, that heās getting confused all the time because memories centuries older than him are starting to feel like his own, and the guilt is eating him alive, and he wants it all to stop, he just wants to go back to being the normal teenage boy he was.
Imagine Ruby holding him in her arms while he cries and promising to break the curse. Imagine Ruby looking at Salem with her silver eyes and striking fear into Salemās heart with a single glance, just like the warriors in the old story Ozpin told Qrow. Imagine the look on Oscarās face when she does it.
Imagine Ruby, who thinks every single day about how she was unable to save Penny or Pyrrha, gaining the strength to pull off the biggest, most epic rescue of someone she cares about.
Imagine the amazing visual of Ozpinās soul leaving Oscarās body, and Oscar collapsing, and Ruby using her semblance to get to him before he hits the ground, sweeping his limp body up in her arms and whispering that itās over, he can just be Oscar from now on, they finally did it...
Yeah, this is all extremely premature, but this show is all about fairy tales, and thereās not a more classic fairy tale trope than breaking a curse with the power of love. I feel strongly that Ruby and Oscar building a solid foundation of friendship and trust and complete loyalty in this volume will lead to a lot of very intenseĀ slow-burn star-crossed buildup in a future volume, and an extremely satisfying payoff sometime after that.
This plot might take years to bake, but weāve obviously got all the ingredients, and the oven is already on. Letās not poison the flour before we even see what the dish is going to be.
If something about the ship seems problematic to you now, then thatās okay! Fairy tales, and stories in general, often have problematic elements to heighten the harsh dilemmas characters will face. In really good stories, the problematic elements are not only intentional, theyāre also addressed and completely resolved by the end.
So, hey, if you see someone condemning the ship offhand, remind them how storytelling works. This is probably a big part of what Monty had pre-planned when he laid out about a dozen seasons worth of material for Miles and Kerry to work with years ago, and we should all trust that itās going somewhere really fucking cool.
