Having been rewatching some of Ice Queendom lately, I’d like to talk about something I really wanted to discuss after the series wrapped, but haven’t gotten around to until now.
Namely, the shows use of Jaune, and specifically how it’s one of my biggest issues with the anime.
Now talking about this is somewhat complicated because I don’t have any issues with how Ice Queendom presents and writes Jaune directly. In fact I was actually pretty IMPRESSED watching the show at the frankly keen understanding the writers seemed to have of Jaune’s character and what he’s meant to represent.
Namely, that Jaune is a massive subversion of so many classic male fantasy-hero protagonists. He’s NOT some cool, badass fighter and whenever he tries to be one, he gets his ass handed to him. Instead, he’s able to show his real strength by supporting and helping others.
And there’s a bunch of great subtle details like how Jaune’s dream weapon being this flashy, oversized sword that he just cannot fucking use not matter how hard he tries is just the PERFECT metaphor for his character in the early volumes. A weapon that represents all the ‘big strong hero guy’ expectations Jaune believed he had to live up to at the beginning of the show but is actually IMPOSSIBLE for him to use because that’s NOT what he’s really meant for. And the one time he IS able to wield that sword is though the assistance and support of his friends, namely (dream)Pyrrha, which in turn provides a great hint towards his still-dormant semblance.
Instead, the real issue I have is that every time I look back on Ice Queendom and see Jaune, I can’t help but ask myself ‘Why is Jaune even here?’ Specifically, WHY does the story need Jaune to be Team RWBY’s ‘guest party member’ to go into Weiss’s dream to rescue her from the Nightmare?
Now sure, they bring up the idea that Jaune having just been possessed by a Nightmare basically ‘inoculated’ him to the Grimm and could allow him to be undetected by the Nightmare possessing Weiss. But let’s be real; that’s a justification, NOT a true narrative REASON for Jaune to be going into Weiss’s Nightmare.
Because what actual connection does Jaune even HAVE to Weiss that would give him a thematic reason to be going into her Nightmare? He’s not on her team and they only even met a few weeks ago. Especially given that IQ even removes almost all references to Jaune having any kind of big crush on Weiss. During Ruby’s first visit to the nightmare, we see what Weiss thinks of him:
Lumped in with Nora, Ren, Cardin and literally everyone else she doesn’t have time or patience for.
So what’s the actual narrative potential of Jaune joining Ruby, Blake and Yang to save Weiss? How can he tie into the story of Weiss’s character and Ruby’s, Blake’s and Yang’s attempts to free her?
Simply put, he can’t. And so he DOESN’T. Instead it feels like the only reason Jaune is here is simply because he’s the most prominent supporting character in the franchise.
And the REASON this sticks out to me so much is that I can’t help but think that a different character would have made a far, far BETTER option to join Ruby, Blake and Yang to save Weiss:
I mean, the reasons for Pyrrha going into the Nightmare to help Weiss kinda write themselves, right? From minute one it’s clear the Weiss idolizes Pyrrha, and it’s really all but outright stated she has a huge crush on Pyrrha. It’s only natural that Ruby, Blake and Yang would go to her for help getting past Weiss’s emotional defenses in the dream.
Like I think it’s easy to imagine how Ruby might happen upon this idea: In her first entry into Weiss’s Nightmare, Ruby could note that Jaune, Ren and Nora are all in ‘Silly Jail’, but Pyrrha notably ISN’T. And later while scouting or perhaps while fleeing from Weiss, perhaps Ruby catches a glimpse, far off, of Pyrrha within the walls of Weiss’s castle, perhaps looking out a window.
And when Ruby mentions this to the others, Shion could comment that this means that Pyrrha is special to Weiss, and thus keeps her memory ‘close’ to her. At this point we’d probably get Yang chiming in with a quip about how Weiss ‘Hasn’t exactly been subtle about that.’
Then of course, one of Ruby, Blake or Yang hit on the idea that if they brought Pyrrha into the nightmare, she might be able to get past Weiss’s defenses much more easily. Something which Shion confirms to be very likely. From there, RBY seek out Pyrrha for her help much like what happened with Jaune. But with the difference being that Pyrrha being some kind of ‘secret weapon’ feels FAR more natural based on what we already saw in the show up to that point.
And from that point on, I feel like it’s kind of obvious just how well Pyrrha would fit into the narrative and both Weiss’s and Ruby’s character arcs. Like I joked about a ‘White Rose/Schneekos Love Triangle’ while the show was airing, but that’s kind of exactly what we see potentially set up in the first three episodes of IQ:
Weiss is clearly massively enamored with and idolizes Pyrrha, while Ruby really wants Weiss to like her and be friends with her.
And placing Pyrrha into the nightmare as a major figure alongside Ruby, Blake and Yang for Weiss gives the perfect opportunities to play Pyrrha and Ruby off of Weiss. Exploring what Weiss being so enamored with Pyrrha actually means to her, what that could mean for her feelings about Ruby, and how Ruby and Pyrrha could get her to confront those feelings.
Imagine the story making a point about Weiss having essentially put Pyrrha up on the constructed, idealized pedestal instead of knowing the actual Pyrrha, and then contrasting this by showing that Ruby actually embodies so many of the traits Weiss idolizes Pyrrha for.
Which in turn has Pyrrha being the one to help Weiss realize that.
Not to mention on the flipside, this change would give us a lot of Pyrrha and Ruby interaction. Which I think we can all agree would be VERY fun and interesting.
I mean just picture Ruby really wanting Pyrrha’s help to save Weiss, while also clearly repressing a fair bit of insecurity and maybe even a bit of jealousy over how enamored Weiss is with Pyrrha, which in turn leads to a meaningful and cute conversation where Pyrrha gives Ruby a much-needed pep-talk while also diving into Pyrrha’s own well-hidden insecurities and generally revealing just how similar these two really are.
Which in turn perfectly plays into Ruby’s journey to save Weiss across Ice Queendom.
Finally, there is a more subtle, but perhaps most meaningful reason why I think Pyrrha would have made a much better option over Jaune:
For as well as Ice Queendom writes him, we really don’t learn anything new about Jaune that we didn’t already know. The fact is, we know Jaune pretty well after the (at the time of IQ’s release) eight volumes he’s had in the show.
So what if instead of a character we’ve already spent all this time with, what if Ice Queendom focused on a character we only had three volumes to get to know?
A character who, unlike Jaune, Nora, Ren or basically any of the other supporting characters at this time in the story, is no longer around to get focus or development.
Simply put, Pyrrha being the member of Team JNPR to get the most focus in Ice Queendom would have been a chance to explore and develop a character who we simply DON’T have opportunity to do so in the series proper.
