your post about the four maiden's themes is really good, but I wonder that you didn't mention how well all 4 members of rwby fit them? blake maybe doesn't fit fall quite as much as the others, but... ruby and weiss are perfect fits for summer and winter respectively just as yang is for spring
Because basically every four-person group in the damn show fits the formula.
We have so many Dorothy-Tin Man-Scarecrow-Lion groupings in this show, ranging from heroes to villains to headmasters to parents.
So yes, while Weiss’ story is about her awakening her compassion and gaining strength through human connection, that doesn’t mean she’s gonna become the Winter Maiden. Just like it doesn’t mean Ren isn’t going to be either, despite the fact that he’s the Tin Man of JNPR.
Though you have it wrong, Ruby isn’t a perfect fit for Summer. Ruby would make a pretty good Fall Maiden. It’s Blake that fits Summer.
But I don’t believe Team RWBY are going to all be Maidens by the end of this. For one, I don’t think Penny is going to go anywhere, and neither do I think Cinder is either.
We’ll see what happens with the Summer Maiden, though given how late in the game she’ll be introduced, I’m not too optimistic about her survival rates.
Besides, people really have Maiden identifying all wrong. You shouldn’t be asking the question “Who fits the themes of the Maidens?”, because RWBY loves to parallel and foil characters, you’ll wind up with a half-dozen candidates.
Ask instead “What would becoming the Maiden do for their character arc?”
For Penny, it gave her the validation she’s been craving her entire life. She’s not just a machine, not something less than human, and just because her soul came from a fragment of her father’s doesn’t make her a boy either. The Blue Fairy didn’t make her a real girl, she instead showed her what was true all along: she is a real girl.
For Yang, it’s twofold. For one, it finally gives her what she’s been searching for her entire life: a purpose. A life’s calling. A responsibility that is uniquely hers. Her quest to seek out Raven isn’t just an attempt to understand Raven, but to understand herself, to find out where she comes from and from there figure out where to go. She seeks knowledge of the past to try and forge her future with. Becoming the Spring Maiden would give her great power. And with great power comes great responsibility.
And secondly, it would give her validation too. Yang wanted to meet her Mom to know why she left. Why Raven didn’t care enough to stay. Yang being in Raven’s last thoughts, above anyone else, would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yang has always had Raven’s love, even though she’s been fucking terrible at showing it. And as sad as it would be for Yang, it would still be validating for her.
So, if you’re trying to identify who might become the Summer Maiden, you don’t just ask yourself who fits the themes of the Summer Maiden, but also ask: who’s personal story would it benefit the most?
