Is anyone really surprised that Argus is under a massive grimm attack right now?
Between the mech fight and the Lantern Relic still bouncing around attached to Ruby’s belt, they may as well have slathered Argus in ketchup and put up a “free buffet” sign.
What bothers me about this from a storytellers perspective is that not one of our protagonists saw this as a potential outcome.
I can forgive the group for not expecting a giant massive mech to appear, but did they really expect Cordo wouldn’t have done anything the moment the airship disappeared from radar?
“Why can they still see us?”
Maria’s feud with Cordo was well established. So even if Blake’s portion of the mission had gone off without a hitch, did they really expect that no one would be watching the radar? The airship is only carrying a Schnee. And yes, Weiss may be a wayward Schnee, but Cordo was making a big deal about how pleased she was that Weiss had decided to return home, going so far as to ask her to put in a good word with Ironwood for her.
“Be sure to tell General Ironwood that for me.”
So, yeah, she’d probably have eyes on that ship from Argus to Atlas (or as far as their radar goes) and the moment it “disappears”, she’s going to notice and react.
And let’s not forget that Maria’s feud with Cordo is well established. It’s not a stretch that Cordo would have assumed Maria (who she knows is also attempting to get into Atlas and is associated with the group she turned away) to be involved, if not the mastermind. And no one, not even Maria, the goddamn Grimm Reaper, the Legendary Huntress herself, thought that Cordo loosing her shit and coming after them was a possibility?! Even without knowledge of the mech, the fact that they weren’t expecting some kind of fight just baffles me.
Let’s add to that that the group knows that the relic attracts grimm. Everyone was present when Oz let that shoe drop on the Argus Limited (except for Maria, but I have a hard time accepting that no one has clued her in on that little detail by now). They even saw it at Brunswick with the Apathy. Though, I’m willing to forgive them not making the connection considering they were under Apathy’s influence plus running for their damn lives. One tends not to think particularly clearly under those circumstances.
But we aren’t experiencing either the Apathy or literally running for dear life here, so I’m not willing to believe that everyone in the group conveniently forgot about the relic. One or two of them? Maybe. A handful of them? Sure. But all of them?
Ok, so let’s say for the sake of argument here that yeah, everyone in the party conveniently forgot about the relic’s little side effect while planning the mission to steal the ship. Why didn’t anyone think of it during the lull in the battle when Jaune mentioned that the mech was probably designed to fight large grimm? I do not accept the fact that they simply didn’t think of it. These are huntsmen and huntresses. Yes, our protagonists are young and yes they are still technically students. However, it has been stressed a lot in the last several episodes that the students – the kids – need to be listened to, need to be trusted, that they are capable to fight and survive on their own. However, this message is undermined by the poor planning that actually went into this plan. That not one of them thought of the potential risks, of what could possibly go wrong, and as a result have left Argus utterly vulnerable.
I’m really hoping that there is a pay off here. That the group comes away with some kind of lesson like while they have come a long way and have experienced more than many adults have, that they still have much more to learn about the type of consequences their actions have. Relating this back to Oz and his decisions and the consequences of those decisions would be an added bonus.
