thinking about Robyn and her role in volumes 7-8
because Robyn is really woven in narratively in opposition to Jacques running for the council seat before she shows up
and i think that juxtaposition is important in how they both serve as counters to Ironwood
because Jacques, as i've made posts on in the past, is there to be so obnoxiously selfish and vile that you don't want to agree with him even when he's right about Ironwood - his criticisms are easy to dismiss because they're coming from a place of selfishness and deceit, and he makes Ironwood look better by comparison. Jacques is there to obscure
Robyn by contrast, throws Ironwood's actions into sharp relief - Robyn, on a narrative level, is there to represent the common people, and Robyn is sincere in her goals and ideals. Robyn is there to remind the audience (and the protagonists) that there are lives on the line and that those lives have value - they can't just be sacrificed for some clandestine scheme to 'save the world' (as if they're not a part of the world to be saved). Ironwood doesn't care about the human cost of his ambitions - he dismisses the suffering of Mantle (suffering he is causing by rerouting the supplies the city needs to his Amity project) as the complaining of "a few city blocks", and he never backs down from that viewpoint (despite it screwing him over as Mantle running the old security system allows Watts to just walk right back in because Ironwood doesn't think Mantle is worth keeping up to date); much like every other time he's criticised, he gets pissy and just shuts down until the topic is changed. Ironwood believes he's the most important person in the world and the only one suffering, because he has it in head that he's Salem's greatest enemy, that she's out to get him personally, and because he is the Hero, only his plan is viable. only his plan is allowed to work. and if people suffer and die? if an entire city gets abandoned so he can heroically run the fuck away from the mean scary witch? well, 'we' all have to make sacrifices for the Greater Good, don't we? the most telling aspect of this is his ultimatum to Penny where he talks about how everything he's done has been for the good of Atlas and never once mentions the people, while we see the people he's threatening to annihilate huddle in dangerous underground tunnels scared for their lives
it also plays into the big themes of Trust throughout the volumes - Ironwood says he values trust but he only values obedience; he doesn't want peers in the room giving him feedback, he wants subordinates who do what he says without question. and he lies to his fellow Council members about what he's doing, is constantly making decisions behind their backs and taking actions he should be getting their approval on and citing obscure loopholes to get away with it (and getting pissy when he's called out on it). and he would clearly rather there not be anyone new elected to the Council so he can maintain his majority, but he seems to especially take exception to Robyn being on the Council
because his other option is Jacques, who he's familiar with. who he's threatened before. who he clearly thinks he can bully into compliance if it comes to it. who is a non-combatant Ironwood clearly doesn't take seriously
and then you have Robyn. Robyn who doesn't take his shit lying down. Robyn with her lie detector Semblance - that communicates immediately that truth is a very important aspect of her character; she basically has a way of immediately proving if you're trustworthy - he didn't want Robyn on the Council because she would challenge him on his crap and force his lies into the open.
and then when Robyn loses the election and goes, in Clover's words "full on vigilante" (read: stealing back the supplies Ironwood is stealing from Mantle) in response to Ironwood doing. essentially nothing following the deaths of citizens but say "nuh uh the footage was doctored and it wasn't Penny" and doing nothing to actually address what happened (except enforce stricter curfews and point more guns at civilians with more soldiers in the streets), he doesn't put a warrant out for her arrest, he tries to have her black-bagged off the street and silenced. the man cannot stand a challenge to his authority and doesn't want Robyn on the board at all
hell, beginning of volume 8, Robyn is in a jail cell despite her not being on the arrest list Ironwood put out to round up RWBYJNROQ, and not involved in Clover's death because she was knocked unconscious in the crash. Robyn was arrested because she was there, and Ironwood doesn't like her.
Robyn's priority is always on the people; what will help them, what will protect them. it's something she has to call Qrow out on when he gets too fixated on avenging Ironwood's stupid attack dog instead of doing anything constructive. Ironwood's lofty (unrealistic, outright already impossible after Salem parks the whale on Atlas) goals don't factor in the people at all; they are an obstacle at best that he's all too happy to ignore in order to be the man who saves the world, and it costs him everything and helps nobody
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