#maiden powers

[rwby-confess]

Confession #884

[instantbee]

Penny, Winter, the Role of a Maiden, and Resurrection

This is a very long post is about Penny, Winter, their roles as Maidens, and Penny’s potential resurrection 

Penny Polendina and Winter Schnee. The two would be, then were, Winter Maidens. There have been a lot of Maidens in RWBY so far, and I would argue that Penny and Winter represent the best that a Maiden can and should be.

 (She bounce)

Penny and Winter have so much in common that it’s almost hilarious but the biggest thing they have in common is they have been controlled by others through their entire lives. Most notably their father figures. They share one in James Ironwood, and have almost diametrically opposed ones in Pietro and Jacques. But still, the control that others have on their lives is the central defining aspect of both of their character arcs though in slightly different ways. 

Penny’s the most obvious one here. Pinocchio and strings and all that. Her entire story, her entire life, is about cutting those strings, standing on her own, being her own person. She cuts a lot of them in V7′s finale when we see this

The Apotheosis of Penny Polendina

But she doesn’t cut all of them. All of V8 is about Penny being controlled, literally and emotionally, and those that would choose to use her and her powers for their own ends. Watts, Ironwood, and notably her father when he directly controls her body. Even her friends and loved ones are forced by circumstance to view Penny Polendina as not just Penny, but also the Winter Maiden. They don’t want to, but they have to. Regardless of how much they love her for her, they have to consider her role as the Winter Maiden. The maiden powers themselves are a string on Penny. The last string. And they’ve been cut

Winter on the other hand does not cut her strings when she becomes the Winter Maiden. Winter cuts her strings then becomes the Winter Maiden. The two are not connected. Everything Winter Schnee does in the finale is something she would have done, Maiden powers or no. She cut her strings, picked her side, chose the people over her ties to those who would control her, and fought for them. It is only at that point that we get this shot

The apotheosis of Winter Schnee 

Winter Schnee is a woman finally free of the constraints the world had placed on her, and that she had placed on herself. Her father is gone. The man she replaced him with is gone. Atlas itself is gone. Every single thing that Winter had to guide/control her is gone. Leaving only Winter Schnee. The woman with nothing tying her down but her conscious, her guilt, her two sisters to live up to, and all the power in the world to do it with. 

Winter will be an amazing Winter Maiden because at this point all she wants to do is protect the people of Remnant. And she has the power to do it. The maiden powers aren’t a constraint or a string to her. They’re a tool. Huntress be thou for the people. She’s the Winter Maiden and she’s going to save everyone she can. That’s the only authority she answers to now. She’s finally only Winter Schnee

Maidens are a beacon of hope and they are meant to help save the world and protect people, but for the right reasons. They’re not meant to be controlled. The original maidens in the fairy tale didn’t help the old man because they were ordered to, they did it because it was the right thing to do. Penny and Winter’s story is an illustration of the Maiden Roles and how they’ve been warped by people in order to control when they’re supposed to protect. 

So we get to this

Penny Polendina cutting her last string and giving the powers to a woman who will use them as they are intended. A woman with no one in control of her anymore. A woman free to be a Maiden as they were intended.  Penny is right in a sense. The powers were meant for Winter. She wasn’t ready for them at the end of Volume 7 but she is now. Penny’s strings are gone and Winter has the power to protect the people

Enough analysis. 

It’s speculation time

This leaves us with one last big thing to talk about.  A Chekov's gun that has appeared on stage twice and still never fired 

OH HEY LOOK IT’S PENNY AND WINTER FRAMED BY DIFFERENT PODS OF THE AURA TRANSFER MACHINE WITH THE BLUE FAIRY ALLUSION BETWIXT THEM

If Penny is a part of Winter in a more literal sense than maybe one might think then, this provides an incredible venue for Penny to come back. We’ve spent so much time in RWBY focusing on how Penny is more than her body. She’s her soul. If Penny is a part of Winter now, a part of her soul, then using the Aura transfer machines and the discussion we had with Pietro in V7 then it’s possible for Penny to come back in some new form. 

But if Penny comes back she’d probably come back without the maiden powers. She transferred them to Winter. They were a gift. The powers belong to Winter now. 

Penny would just be Penny. Without any strings at all. Free to be the girl she always wanted to be. With only her life to live and no one and nothing to control her

[oddlyhale]

I do wonder though, with the technology that Remnant/Atlas has, I do wonder if the scientists are capable of containing aura within a weapon or mechanical limb?

When I think about the rules of the Maidens, I tend to think back to when we first and last saw Amber. How her aura was being transferred to Pyrrha before Cinder interrupted.

With that machine and ability to transfer power, then wouldn't it mean that these auras can be transferred into weapons, androids or robotic limbs to let anybody use it, rather than mark one person with all the abilities?

Sure it totally diminishes the importance of the Maiden greatly - but I think something that unique could've been introduced.

I don't count Penny as a hollow container of Maiden Powers, since she was already alive with aura. Technically she is a real girl.

But that also makes me wonder, if Pietro can give half his Aura to Penny while she was just an android, then can't Maiden Powers be used to power newer weapons and the like?

[nitro502]

Ok I seriously need people’s opinions on this because it’s been driving me nuts for months:

Does a maiden’s eye flames match her eye color, or her aura color? (Or does she like… chose it somehow?)

Because so far we’ve only seen maidens on screen who happen to have eye and aura colors that are the same anyways. But, for example, if Ruby became a maiden would her eye flames be silver or red? And if Yang became a maiden, would her flames be yellow like her aura or change between purple and red with her eyes?

[rubyneo]

wouldnt it be older than 30? just considering raven is the spring maiden and she has a 17/18 yr old daughter?, rt please,

nope, raven is ab 40 and summer looks like she was ab 26/27 when she died, which means that raven had yang at 22/23-ish, left, tai and summer got together and had ruby at 24/25-ish and summer passed away/disappeared a couple years later (setting up the timeline). which means from the time yang was born, raven had ~8 years to find the spring maiden, attempt to train her, kill her out of perceived mercy, and gain the powers, and then 10+ years to learn how to use them efficiently.

this of course all hinges on the idea that beacon is a 4 year academy!

[weisscoldglare]

[killjoygem]

What would happen if a maiden died and then was resurrected? What would happen to her powers??

[rubyneo]

Food for thought. How would Maiden powers act with transsexuals? I mean could a trans Mercury for example gain Maiden powers?

first: transsexual is no longer an acceptable term for trans people.

second: we have no clue! i think ive discussed it before in terms of "what ifs".

all we know about the maiden powers is that they have to go to a young woman (younger than 30 i believe). we have no clue if ozpin's magic is a "living" thing or not (as in, can in change with the times). i think it would be FANTASTIC if we were to have a trans maiden!! it would be fucking amazing! and i say that because it can go one of two ways:

the respectful way: ozpin's magic that created the maidens is a "living" thing that has changed the parameters of how it works and respecta gender identity over genitalia. if a woman's last thought is of her trans daughter, the powers go to the her, but if her last thought is of her trans nephew, the powers are cast out randomly to a young woman somewhere in the world.

the transphobic way: the powers go by genitalia and the opposite of the examples i used above happen.

as we currently have no confirmed trans characters in RWBY, having a trans maiden would be a great way to introduce one!

so tl;dr: while we have no clue as to how the maiden powers act with trans people in mind, the most respectful thing for crwby to do would be to confirm that the magic that made the powers is a living thing that takes gender identity into consideration and possibly introduce a trans maiden (past or present)