#Rwby volume 9 speculation

[asm5129]

Long shot theory time—

Scenario: Summer and Raven track down Salem’s hideout. They go to do reconnaissance, see if they can find some sort of weakness before they call in the cavalry. Salem catches them. Summer ends up falling into a Grimm pool. Raven is scarred forever.

Summer now lives as a recluse, similar to what Salem was doing when Oz found her the very first time

she disappeared because she knew that no one would ever accept her as part Grimm, maybe even has to fight against some Grimm instincts

So now she’s like Salem except she didn’t spend as long totally isolated

Creating a really interesting mirror for Salem and definitely a reason for her to be intrigued by Summer

But now, with everything at stake and seeing her daughters message, she finds the courage to come to vacuo

And thus she is the mystery woman in Beyond episode 1 that Neptune and Sun glimpse

And yes I know hiding Summer’s return from Yang and especially Ruby is something that Oz and especially Qrow are dedicated to not doing anymore, but I think Summer being both ALIVE after all this time AND Grimm-y would be enough of a shock and scare that they would at the very least want to be very very sure in how they present it to the girls

So I could see them keeping it quiet for a bit

But that’s just a theory. A RWBY Theory! Thanks for reading.

[currantlee]

A few comments on a recent post about RWBY I made got me thinking about something. Basically, I think that Rooster Teeth – and possibly by extension its parent companies – have artificially inflated RWBY as a media project and franchise rather than letting it grow organically. Therefore, it became a bubble that was bound to burst at some point. RWBY might never have been a profitable IP, which might be very relevant for its future.

This is not a problem that arose after Monty Oum‘s passing, I feel like this was already coming before that. Shane Newville‘s open letter (which absolutely comes from an emotional, mentally unwell state of mind, but has had many of its contents confirmed over the years, even beyond being one of the first descriptions of the toxic work environment at Rooster Teeth) makes a few points that support this impression. Whether you agree with the letter or not, you cannot deny that the first two volumes of RWBY, while they also had merch accompanying them and stuff, were not produced following industry standards – starting with the 3D software used, Poser Pro (Monty Oum‘s preferred tool for animation). This led to some really creative animation work that, while not always high-quality by industry-standards, was certainly pushing boundaries. It was creative and it worked for what RWBY was: a passion project created by someone who saw animation as his strongest suit – as his preferred medium to tell a story. I‘ve seen a lot of people claim that Monty Oum wasn‘t a writer, and while that‘s true, I feel like the implication of that statement is always that he couldn‘t tell stories on his own. I don‘t think that‘s true. I think Monty Oum was a great storyteller when it came to expressing certain things through animated action scenes. It‘s just that he wanted to tell a story that included more than just that and a few lines of dialogue – which is where Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross come in, two at the time very inexperienced writers (who possibly had a fallout with Monty Oum over creative differences later), as well as some talented folks – people like Shane Newville. They were chosen to work on this because Monty Oum acknowledged their potential and liked to work with them, and I feel like that created an environment where they were really allowed to flourish. Volumes 1 and 2 are certainly not flawless, but I feel like I can tell the people making it had fun.

To Rooster Teeth however? I think RWBY (and by extension, Monty Oum as a creator) might have been little more than assets to them. RWBY was first created around a time when RT first tried to be more like, well, an actual company. At least from 2014 onward, but possibly even earlier than that, this included an effort to conform to industry standards more, mostly in order to be able to hire more people – very visibly so in RWBY in the form of the switch to Maya (my opinion about that is, the way they did it didn’t do RWBY any favors at all). I think they saw RWBY and Monty Oum as an opportunity to appear… More important, bigger, than they ever really were.

So what did they do? Again, I kind of have the feeling that they “upscaled” RWBY to a size where it appears like this big thing, but it became far too much to handle. Essentially, they created a mock giant, or a metaphorical quasi-star: something that can appear big from afar, but is actually very small / unstable (and if we go with the quasi-star metaphor, disturbs all of its surroundings). This is what I mean when I say that RWBY was a bubble bound to burst, because no star lives forever – and quasi-stars can only exist under very specific, very unstable conditions (I linked a Kurzgesagt-video in case you’re interested what exactly a quasi-star / black hole star is / was, cosmology is so fascinating IMO). Once these conditions exist no longer, they both fall apart and collapse into the black hole that is their core at the same time.

My main argument for this is that RWBY was essentially a huge money sink for RT (Source: Barbara Dunkelman’s unprofessionalism). They pumped so much money into this… Perhaps even more than they ever made from it. While this isn’t 100% confirmed, it is very much possible (and IMO not exactly unlikely) that RWBY was never profitable — which it might have been if RT hadn’t been so hellbent on creating the illusion of a multi-million-dollar franchise.

This is purely speculative, but this might also be why Volume 10 was never greenlit. We know that Volume 9 was to a significant part funded by Crunchyroll and in fact would not have been possible without them (probably because RT was already out of money at this point). They might have bought into this mock giant, then realized they had pretty much been scammed once Volume 9 aired. This might have led to Crunchyroll’s unwillingness to fund another season for something they knew now was effectively a money sink. Since RT at this point lacked the funds to produce Volume 10 alone and therefore was dependent on investors like Crunchyroll and Warner Brothers… Volume 10 was never greenlit, no matter how hard they attempted to get their fans’ hopes up and start a hashtag campaign on social media (as far as I remember, that was started by Rooster Teeth, not the fans. I don’t have my Twitter account anymore though, so I can’t check). Again though, this is speculation.

The worst part? This refusal of RT to just… Downscale RWBY again, this determination that it had to be this huge franchise… Was all put on the backs of the creatives working on it. We know at this point, from multiple sources, that RWBY and other RT productions have had an incredible amount of crunchtime, working overtime, employee abuse, … going on behind the scenes, which seems to only have gotten worse after Monty Oum’s passing. At the end of the day, all RT does and has ever done is blame others for their incompetence. Like, no shit, I’ve seen fans claim that it’s the FNDM’s job to “keep the show alive” (particularly in the light of #GreenlightVolume10), which… No, that’s not the fans’ job. It’s the job of the company who has been entrusted with this beloved IP, and said company has proven to be utterly incompetent on multiple occasions, which is unfortunate, but a sad reality for all those who love RWBY. And while Rooster Teeth has never directly said such a thing, they have certainly implied it and taken advantage of the existing sentiment within their fanbase, as well as their parasocial relationship with it (again, see #GreenlightVolume10 for reference).

To clarify, I’m not saying none of this would have happened if RT didn’t insist on making RWBY this big franchise (and biting off far more than they could chew in the process) – again, RT was far too notoriously incompetent at everything a company should manage – but I do think it might have played a role. It also isn’t an excuse for all the employee abuse. Again, what they should have done is downsizing the project, not inflating it further and further.

If I’m not somehow completely in the wrong (because IMO this just makes way too much sense to not be at least partially true – but let’s face it, a lot of this is just me connecting dots, and there is always a chance I’m connecting them wrong, even though I don‘t think so), then it kinda blows my mind that there are still people who believe in this scam. Though I will say, emotional attachment can do that to anyone. If anything, I’m honestly sorry that those folks lose something that means so much to them, and that false promises were made to them.

At the end of the day, the story of RWBY (the “franchise”) is twofold. It’s a story about an incredibly talented creator who passed away far too early, who was given the incredible opportunity to make his dream come true. It’s a story of people he trusted taking up his torch, and maybe getting lost in the dark along the way. It’s an inspiring story regardless, and I hope to see it continued at a downsized scale so it can grow organically, preferably in the hands of an indie animation studio like Dillon Goo (🤞)

But it is also a cautionary tale to both creatives and companies who employ them, a tale about false promises, abuse of both employees and fans, as well as how to not run a project. Don’t blow your thing out of proportion too early, don’t create a mock giant / metaphorical quasi-star. Let your ideas and projects grow and flourish organically and sincerely.

[r0semultiverse]

The Summer Maiden is Ruby & Yang's Long Lost Sister

Hear me out, what if Summer was pregnant, but didn't know it yet when she went off on that "mystery" mission?

Perhaps Ozpin's mission wasn't the only mystery at that time.

There's literally so much we don't know about the timeline of Summer Rose & we know she had her secrets too.

Next thing you know, some young girl shows up looking like the spitting image of Summer Rose!

It's possible that Summer Rose went off on this mission without knowing she was pregnant when she went MIA. Raven would have been with her too. Maybe she even died during child birth.

Let's assume she (Summer Rose) is the summer maiden for a moment here. Why isn't Ruby the current summer maiden? Well, Summer knew Taiyang & everyone else in her family would be in danger if she thought of them as she was giving birth. A baby summer maiden of a well known family? That's an easy target for those after the maiden powers & could get her entire family killed.

Raven knows how Summer really died, but is sworn to secrecy because she helped deliver the third sister, our current summer maiden. Summer asked her to protect the child, but Raven is not about that life.

Raven takes Sumer Jr. to Vacuo in secret & essentially just drops the baby on the doorstep, telling them to keep the child a secret & protect her. Summer Jr. becomes the hooded secret protector of Vacuo, being one of the youngest & most experienced maidens still alive. She is raised in secrecy by Theodore or some others in Vacuo. Imagine her surprise seeing someone who looks a lot like her popping up all over remnant.

Summer Jr. is probably shocked & very interested, but is maybe raised very sheltered as a means to keep her out of the public eye.

Summer Jr. could also be the middle child of a previous partner before Taiyang & part of her secret, when she left, was going to check up on that previous partner & her third child.

Another albeit less likely situation is Summer adopted a child on her journeys. Maybe this is also the previous summer maiden's kid & Summer ran into the previous maiden as she was passing on her powers to her child. Summer being very maternal, takes Summer Jr. under her wing for a while.

Regardless of what the actual answer will be, we have a young girl that looks like Summer Rose & Summer Rose is dead as far as we know! Whoever this is will be our smooth tie-in to put Summer Rose lore in the episodes without it cutting away too much from the main plot. She will be our Summer Rose lore segue! We will finally have answers!

How do you all make sense of this? Let me know your thoughts!

[bumblebyfan]

One of the things I look forward to the most in RWBY's next volume: the reunions with everyone, but SPECIALLY Ruby and Qrow, Qrow looked scared and hurt as hell when he couldn't contact them, and honestly, it may go quite similar to Qrow's first appearance with Ruby on the show, which I would find a cute and awesome call back Qrow Branwen and Ruby Rose (RWBY Volume 3) - YouTube Q: "Ruby!" R: "Uncle Qrow!" *They both hug, then Ruby smiles at him* R: "Did you miss me?" Q: *smirk like on that scene, but this time obviously holding back tears, maybe even his voice breaking a bit* heh, nope (note, he definitely did, also, he's the one holding on to Ruby in the hug this time)

[deadbeatbirdmom]

Even if the former atlesians aren’t still wealthy they’re still jerks, Jacques was hardly the only one and, frankly, was enabled every step of the way, the council isn’t blameless in everything he did, plus any number of hired goons, higher ups, investors, etc, at the very least it’ll be fun to see trophy wife forced to rough it in vacuo

Above all else I just kinda hope that atlas’ racism and class struggle aren’t just glossed over now, atlas falling doesn’t mean the people responsible for the deaths of Ilia’s parents have answered for it yet, and I kinda hope the show doesn’t do a generic “we need to,put the past behind us and work together now”

But frankly it kinda feels like rwby doesn’t want to meaningfully address the very real societal,issues it sets up and instead just has Salem destroy the whole kingdo

Admittedly I’m rambling about my thoughts on atlas’ portrayal of classism and their intended message being kinda fumbled in my opinion now, maybe I’ll get into that some other time

Former wealthy Atlesian refugees are absolutely still jerks unless they learned something from the harsh lesson of Atlas falling. And probably still jerks anyway. The sort of attitude they had takes a lot of undoing.

I wouldn't get your hopes up considering Ruby's message to Remnant in Volume 8 was essentially that they needed to work together against Salem, and at least enough people listened for there to be airships from every kingdom over Vacuo at the end of Volume 9.

The societal issues definitely should be addressed, but it might well be beyond the scope of RWBY to do anything but eventually show faunus and humans living peacefully together as equals in some sort of epilogue.

Survival against Salem will mean ignoring issues that shouldn't be, but I'm not sure what choice they have if Salem's breathing down their collective necks like she was in Volume 8. But hopefully those issues can be dealt with after they're not fighting for their lives. They shouldn't put the past behind them forever. Faunus like Ilia deserve better than that.

What I hope for is the hope that they stand a chance against Salem somehow, that coming together to fight her will work against her goal of summoning the gods (well... not really gods it turns out) and humans and faunus being found wanting, resulting in death at last for her. So much for everyone else.

I don't think Salem will win. RWBY's message is that of hope despite the odds. Hopepunk, I believe I've seen it called. It seems a fitting term.

[moondrop04]

Did Lindsey just say Ruby is 19 on a livestream collaboration with Crunchyroll’s V-Tuber????

………

….”inhale”……”exhale”…….ok…..ok……there is nothing to worry about. It’s probably just Lindsey having fun and just projected the number “19” to compensate for the amount of trauma Ruby endured in volume 9. Ruby is still canonically 16/17 so there’s nothing to worry about……

Inner thoughts: “RWBY fandom are going to take this seriously and accept it as canon……”

………. 😑………..

[st-whalefall]

“I couldn’t explain why but I…I was drawn to it.”

“I thought this was lost forever…”

“She saw the world through better eyes…”

The way she holds the sword, man…The way she looks at it. The way she talks about it (Penny).

The way Ruby tried so hard to hold onto the sword…and it got ripped away each time

Another pie in the sky wishlist item I don’t think we’ll get is Ruby incorporating Penny’s floating array maiden edition sword into crescent rose

Just picture it, the jagged edges of the green semi-iridescent blade being retained as the blade of the scythe; like thorns, like leaves

“Does that one interest you?”

“Nothing, no one, is ever truly lost.”

Ruby should’ve been able to keep a piece of Penny in her weapon (extension of her soul) like Jaune kept a piece of Pyrrha

Haunt me!!!

[zexapher]

A Fond Farewell

With Rooster Teeth beginning its draw down, an era has truly passed. The company has lasted more than two decades. 18 (soon 19) seasons, five mini-series, and cameos and references in Halo itself for Red vs Blue. 9 volumes alongside two movies, a chibi series, Ice Queendom, and its own games for RWBY. And so much more beyond that, RT Shorts, podcasts, Achievement Hunter, The Slow Mo Guys, and on and on. That’s a lot, especially for a little startup launching off a web series. I was listening to “This Isn’t Goodbye, It’s See You Later” by Richie Branson while I was making this little memorial post. It’s a song made for another Rooster Teeth show, Camp Camp, and I have to say it’s some very appropriate music for this moment.

The day the news dropped, I wrote up a little comment in response to Rooster Teeth beginning its closing down, and I thought I’d share some of it here. I grew up with Rooster Teeth, a bit of a cheesy line I know, but it’s true for a lot of us. I was just a little kid way back in the early 2000’s, a kid that liked Halo (a game I didn’t even own for a long time, but played at a friend’s house), and was just getting curious about what I could find about it on YouTube. And that brought me into the world of music videos and skits and montages made for that little game I liked.

From there, I discovered a small web series called Red vs. Blue. I’d sneak onto my folk’s computer to watch it since they didn’t appreciate the language, and in doing so I dipped my toes into the wide world of the internet for the first time. As I got older, I eventually hopped onto Reddit for its discussion threads of Rooster Teeth’s latest show, RWBY. I began my first in-depth fandom interactions, speculating about the show, enjoying the flood of fanart, even got into fanfics about RWBY (those fics have had their own amazing evolution alongside the show) and to this day it’s the fandom I’ve followed and bookmarked the most fics from. All the while I was making friends and bonding with people through the community this company and its shows have created.

Watching the shows and people grow over time was, looking back on it, just like watching myself grow. I was never really a social media/internet kind of guy, until it came to Rooster Teeth. The shows, shorts, podcasts, it all opened up a whole new world for me. It’s sad to see it coming to a close, and I hope it gets picked up in the future. But I’m happy, too, that it’s left so much behind, and had such an impact on me. It’s left me with so many good memories. Rooster Teeth, its shows, those that created and worked on it, and above all the community around it will always have a special place in my heart.

So, I bid a fond farewell to Rooster Teeth and its crew, and anyone who may drift away from the fandom in time. I wish you all the best.

[bestworstcase]

watched a video about rwby having a cast bloat, not too many characters but not expanding on the ones they already have and instead introducing new ones to take the place of those old characters. thoughts on this idea?

the core cast in volume one/two is ruby, weiss, blake, yang, jaune, nora, pyrrha, ren, torchwick, and cinder, with ozpin, ironwood, and qrow being key players in the background.

the core cast in volume four is ruby, weiss, blake, yang, jaune, nora, ren, sun, salem, and cinder, with oscar, ironwood, and qrow being key players in the background.

the core cast in volume eight is ruby, weiss, blake, yang, jaune, nora, ren, oscar, qrow, penny, winter, ironwood, salem, and cinder.

the core cast in volume nine is ruby, weiss, blake, yang, jaune, and the curious cat.

in volume ten, the core cast will most likely be ruby, weiss, blake, yang, jaune, nora, ren, oscar, qrow, winter, emerald, theodore, salem, and cinder, with the summer mystery simmering conspicuously in the background.

the narrative has so far spanned four countries, multiple continents, and a primordial otherworld, across nine volumes. the core cast has not significantly expanded in that time and has also not changed very much, barring a handful of major character deaths, new arc villains introduced after the villains of previous arcs were defeated, and promotion-to-main-status of a few characters who began as supporting players who were doing Main Plot things in the background of what amounts to the story’s prologue.

rwby does not suffer from cast bloat. rwby suffers from having a contingent of the fandom that cannot wrap its head around the concept of a “supporting cast” and is consequently so hung up on a bit character who appeared once in volume three that people were seriously speculating that Random Named Extra #27 was going to suddenly be super important in volume 9.

anyone who tells you that introducing new side character locals when the core cast follows the plot to a new location is “cast bloat” or “bad writing” is 1. off their rocker and 2. not acting in good faith.

for having the scope that it does—a globe-spanning cosmic cold war millions of years in the making—rwby has kept a remarkably tight cast. my for want of a nail au fic’s core cast is triple the size of rwby’s and i have hundreds of supporting players. like. lmao

[sir-adamus]

Do you think the RWBY spin-offs (World of Remnant, Chibi, Fairy Tales, Beyond) will also be released digitally or just the main series?

tough to say - it makes some sense for the World of Remnants to release with the volumes they aired in because they were included with the blu ray versions anyway, but they're also still up free on youtube, so maybe not. Chibi is still on youtube for free via official channels, so that one's a tougher call if it'll end up on the other platforms (especially as it's never really had a home release)

Fairy Tales is similar, cos again they're all still on youtube for free, but they were also included on the volume 9 blu ray, so same ambiguity spot as WoR really

Beyond is the hardest to speculate on as it's obviously not currently available anywhere - so putting it up on platforms makes sense, but it also takes up less than 20 minutes total so charging separately for it also feels weird. maybe including it with Vol 9 makes the most sense there

[aingeal98]

Can I know about the rwby summer fic?

Yes! It was a fic I wrote between volumes 8 and 9 I think, Summer centric from her perspective taking the little details we get from canon and building up an entire timeline from Yang's birth to the day she left. Just really diving into how she felt first with Yang then with Ruby watching them grow up while also understanding the danger the silver eyes held for the entire family. It still holds up despite the extra lore we got in volume 9 because Summer Rose is still the biggest damn mystery in the show and she's so fun to speculate on. The strq family gives me so many feelings I had to try and get it out in fic form.

Small snippet below:

It starts the day Ruby is born, and Summer gazes down into a pair of innocent silver eyes, feeling both thrilled and terrified.

But really, it starts two years before that.It starts with Raven in the delivery room, cursing up a storm as Taiyang holds her hand tightly. Qrow is waiting outside, far enough away that his semblance won’t interfere. Summer goes out to him frequently to give him updates, refusing to let him wallow in self hatred and pity.

It starts with a crying baby being deposited into Summer’s arms while Raven catches her breath and Taiyang croons comfort and praise at her. It starts with Yang looking up at Summer curiously, and the swoop of joy Summer feels at the sight.

She’s done a lot of good as a member of team STRQ. Saved lives, made the world a better place. And yet none of that comes close to the level of contentment and satisfaction she feels now. Looking down at the tiny precious life in her arms, and knowing the baby was theirs. This wasn’t so much a team effort as 90% Raven with Taiyang and Summer doing whatever they could to make it easier on her, and Qrow, in his own words, 'staying out of the way'. But raising Yang will be something they do together, and Summer is certain it will be the greatest thing this team ever does.

[blakebow]

Kerry, but Barbara especially, will never give up on bb in favor of blacksun. Not only would the backlash be massive but the controversy could end RWBY right after it barely revived. The only way it could happen is if Viz for some reason demanded blacksun be canon or they will drop the show. There's no sign Viz wants this at all. They probably support the continuation of RWBY from volume 9 and not a reboot like some speculate. Right now lgbt ships are elevated and untouchable so it's a big risk.

ehh never say never.

a majority of fans won't watch a new season if they don't get rid of bees. the only ones who will are the wasps and the shills.

they couldn't do enough to save the show on RT so they won't succeed a second time.

Bees is the one thing that singlehandedly ruined RWBY. it needs to be thrown away, sorry if that's mean but that's the truth.

kerry is a cowardly push over. if he could be coerced into going along with bees, his new corporate overlords could just as easily push him in the other direction.

money talks.

just have bees break up like renora did and everything will be gucci.

[r0semultiverse]

Ambrosius (and Cinder?) in the Ever After

If it’s only Ambrosius, I believe this could potentially take place after the RWBY series finale, when the gods are finally confronted on their unfair bullshit & things get sorted out properly without wiping our Remnant again.

No need for relics if the conflict is over so they either get destroyed & the spirits are freed or they get set free from their chains to the relics, allowing Ambrosius to create whatever he wants, whenever he wants, how he wants, & by his own design.

In the very least, we know Ambrosius has to be involved, unless it's a relic spirit we haven't met yet! Those are relic spirit style doors. All the spirits we've met so far have had that light blue color theme & energy.

I'm thinking back on these interactions & quotes from Volume 8 & it's so intriguing. I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this but, Ambrosius knew about the Ever After!

This all but confirms that Ambrosius not only knows of the Ever After, but has been there before! He probably thought team RWBYJ wouldn't survive down there. If Somewhat isn't talking about Ambrosius, I'm going to look so goofy. 🤡

Wait, what if all the relic spirits or at least Ambrosius were part of these secret creations? Are Jinn & Ambrosius technically afterans? Is Blacksmith tree god lady also their grandmother in this case? 👀

The only possible person I can think of besides Ambrosius is Cinder, unfortunately. She has the staff of creation & the lamp (though as far as we know all the questions are used up).

Though this gives me a few questions if Cinder found her way into the Ever After. How did she get the same or similar blueprints as RWBY & gang? Was it Watts before he died off screen in a spinoff movie?

Also, is she about to use the clock fruits to get more questions from Jinn? 👀 Though I'm not sure how she'd know that information.

Maybe Salem is coming with her & she's had plenty of life times to potentially learn stuff about the Ever After. Salem could also be the only one going for all we know. Salem could absolutely know about the time fruit. 👀

Poor Somewhat is so happy to see whoever it is, but it's probably Cinder or Salem behind Ambrosius.

So anyway this either is a blip because of time dilation or the Ever After is getting invaded. I'll look so silly when I'm wrong on both accounts. 😂 I just know Ambrosius is involved somehow.

[theriveroflight]

an old volume 9 speculation fic dug up from my files, written back in 2021. one-sided-ish ladybug, and somewhat angsty about it

[jayz4dayz]

Team RWBY will become the next generation of Maidens

(Disclaimer, none of the edited images above are mine! I just found them on google lol. Also, SPOILERS FOR VOLUME 9!!!)

So this is kind of just a random theory of mine that I’ve been brewing for a while and I’m sure someone has mentioned it before, but I’m simply gonna explain why this would be the logical and plausible ending for the entire show. 

We know the identity of the current three maidens. Cinder Fall is the Fall Maiden, Winter Schnee is the Winter Maiden, Raven Branwen is the Spring Maiden, but we have interestingly never had a confirmation on the identity of the Summer Maiden. Some fans (including myself) speculate one of two things: the Summer Maiden is someone completely random/character we haven’t been introduced to yet, or... Summer Rose is the Summer Maiden. Now if this were the case, then that means Summer Rose isn’t actually dead. 

The very first scene in the final episode of Volume 9, we see a private conversation take place between Summer and Raven about a secret mission Summer embarks on alone. We aren’t sure about the details of the secret mission except for the fact she had lied to her friends and family about it. To me, that sounds an awful lot like she either faked her own death or nobody found a body when she dissapeared and assumed she was dead. I think Mama Rose is still alive somewhere (possibly lurking around in the Ever After which I’ll circle back on)

As for the transference of the Maiden Powers to Team RWBY, I must address the elephant in the room. A few of our beloved side characters must die. 

I’ll start with the obvious. Raven and Yang.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Raven takes a fatal blow in a battle either from Salam’s forces or possibly even a Cinder battle 2.0 or Salem herself. I know damn well the final person in her thoughts would be her daughter. Go ahead and tell me I’m wrong. She knows out of everyone, Yang is the most trust-worthy and deserving of such power. Even Ozpin himself had once told her “Your mother must trust you a great deal” when Raven told Yang about how Ozpin turned her and Qrow into birds. In this case, it will be Raven’s final act of protection for her daughter to assure she’ll have a better chance of survival. Not only this, the transference of powers scene between her and Yang would be the most memorable and meaningful moment between them in the entire series. (And gods, Yang out of all of Team RWBY would make the most sense to become a maiden. Her hair ignites on fire for crying out loud!)

Next we have Winter and Weiss.

This one will be considerably more painful to witness considering how strong their relationship is and everything they’ve been through growing up together. My best guess is Winter will die battling Salem or possibly alongside Weiss in battle against a different antagonist, but I’m confident it will happen the soonest. And I mean like Volume 10 or 11 kind of soon. Winter and Weiss will likely be reunited in Volume 10 and near the end Winter will meet her fate, giving the Maiden Powers to her sister who will benefit the most from them. With Weiss gaining these powers, imagine her dust glyphs on steroids. She’d be a fucking unit against Salem’s forces (as I’m sure Winter would be too.)

Then, Blake and Cinder.

I actually have quite a bit of evidence to back this one up. Cinder really doesn’t have anybody close to her that she would even consider giving up her powers for. She’s a greedy bitch and would probably think nobody would receive her powers if she just didn’t think of anyone when she died, only come to find out the final person to look into her eyes before her final breath is the one to take the powers from her. Ironwood once mentioned that it’s not uncommon for the powers to be transferred to an enemy who the Maiden faced in her final moments. Blake absolutely deserves the right to send Cinder to meet her makers and snatch up her Maiden powers. It would be so satisfying to see Cinder and Blake meet up in the holding space between life and death, but Cinder becomes furious when she realizes Blake will be the one to take HER precious power. It’s the ultimate justice and the best revenge Blake could ever obtain. (Also, Blake would become the first Faunus Maiden that we know of and she'd be such a girlboss for it ;p)

And finally, Summer and Ruby.

In the end, I think it would be a wonderful way to wrap up the entire series by making all of Team RWBY into Maidens and would be the most logical way they could defeat Salem. Of course, this is also assuming they somehow are able to get all of the relics and use that to assist them in defeating Salem once and for all. Also, for shipping purposes, it pretty much sums up the soulmate parallels for the four of them to become maidens. Blake (Fall Maiden) + Yang (Spring Maiden); Weiss (Winter Maiden) + Ruby (Summer Maiden). I think it just fits all of them so well!

As I previously mentioned, Summer being alive and the current Summer Maiden would open the door for Ruby to receive Maiden powers. I’m not entirely sure how it would look and I could theorize for hours to try and explain it, so I’ll keep this short. My current belief is that Summer is in the Ever After which would mean at some point Team RWBY would have to return to deal with Neo’s bullshit and at some point come across Summer. In a heated battle, Summer knows her time to ascend has come. If we take a look at Ruby’s ascension, she technically didn’t even ascend at all. She chose herself which means she didn’t become a new person with no memories of her past or who she is. However, I’m fully confident that Summer will choose to become a different person. She knows she would lose all her memories of her family, her Team, and everything that makes her Summer Rose. This includes her Maiden Powers. It would make the most logical sense that she’d transfer them to her daughter Ruby as her final act of a mother’s love. It would be poetic and the perfect character development for both Summer and Ruby. Plus, imagine how much more powerful Ruby’s silver eyes will become. With Maiden Powers, her petrifying glow from her eyes might be powerful enough to trap anything that’s Grim, including Salem. She wouldn’t be dead, but she’d be imprisoned in stone and petrify for the rest of time.

[Another minor theory in relation to this: Summer is actually dead and passed on her Maiden Powers to Ruby when she was still an infant which means Ruby's powers would be dormant until the time is right]

[moondrop04]

RUBY ROSE’S ASCENSION PART 1: “TOO MUCH ON THE FANTASY, NOT ENOUGH ON THE REALITY”

During the time that I processed and theorized of what would become of Ruby’s ascension I had a good feeling that she would choose to continue to be herself, but I also had an expectation that she would gain or change something from her choice. Whether it would be her outfit changing, getting an upgrade on Crescent Rose, or having her semblance evolve, I inevitably hyped myself in wanting to see something cool happen to her that she could take away from this.

So when the finale aired I really did like the entire scene of Ruby’s “ascension”, but at the same time I will also admit I was letdown that there wasn’t anything really noticeable that changed for Ruby, that she was still and felt the same. It wasn’t until much later that it was my fault and failure to not notice what CRWBY were trying to convey throughout that entire sequence.

After rummaging through Tumblr, twitter and YouTube for other people’s interpretation of Ruby’s ascension I think I can say that I understand and have a much better appreciation of CRWBY’s intentions for Ruby’s character progression. So much so that I now have a few interpretations for my own of how I perceive Ruby’s character arc leading up to ascension that I would like to share. From how it led to this moment of change for Ruby throughout the series, to where I believe it’ll be taking her character forward into the future of the series…

My first general thoughts of Ruby’s “Ascension” has to begin with what I perceive as Ruby’s belief and ideology of what a huntress is supposed to be and what she ultimately wanted herself to become. From the many fairy tales and stories she had heard, from both Yang and her father, she dreamed so much of wanting be a huntress that she decided at a young age of what she wanted to grow up as. And it was thanks to those stories from her family that she also had a perfect image of what kind of huntress she wanted to be, her “deceased” mother Summer Rose.

A huntress that was strong and courageous…

A huntress who was determined and was a leading example for others…

A huntress that would put the needs of others before her own…

A huntress that was a beacon light and hope to everyone she saved…

A huntress, whose kindness and truthfulness would light a spark into anyone she come into contact with and would never lie…

This romanticized and idolization of her mother eventually became the basis of how she wanted to grow up and would lead her down the path of what inevitably she became throughout the course of the series.

She trained and learned bit by bit to become that “ideal” version of a huntress and for a time it was a clear path that she wanted only for herself and felt that it was “right” just for her.

Unfortunately this ultimately led her to becoming a version of herself that would just be the same as as her mother, and not only that but a version of Summer Rose that existed in fantasy she had long built up within her mind. It eventually grew into so many expectations within her that she ended up putting metaphorical chains and shackles upon herself, that kept her from what she needed to be all along…….

A Ruby Rose that believed that ”Herself” was enough to become the kind of huntress she always wanted to be….

These heavy burdens and expectations, that was born from her idolization and perfectionism of her belief in her mother, restricted her so much that it slowly chipped away at her and made her never want to, at least, second guess on what other experiences and possibilities that she could do for herself on her path to becoming a huntress, because that’s how much she believed in it.

That was until the Tree from the Ever-After helped showed her the truth….that her belief and perfect image of her mother, her ultimate goal of what a huntress is supposed to be…..isn’t so perfect after all.

For the first time, since she was a small child, Ruby witnessed the truth and reality….that her mother…..lied. A single act she believed her mother would never do, because that was how deep her perfect image of Summer, that she constructed…was.

This would undoubtably shake Ruby down to her core because her whole belief system as huntress, which stemmed down from her dreams and fantasies of how she perceived her mother, relied on that perfect imagery for so long that one noticeable correction would break everything she ever believed in.

So now rewatching that scene of Ruby pushing down the glass case of “Sundered Rose” in anger, I feel like THAT was a much needed moment for Ruby for her to realize that it was finally time to let go of her fantasies of a “perfect huntress”……and instead try to build her own version of what Ruby Rose herself can be as a huntress, with all the experiences she had gained up till now and everything she would experience in the future moving forward.

Ruby no longer needs to hold her childhood dreams and fantasies for guidance and empowerment anymore, because what she has become from her experience between Volumes 1 - 9 is more then enough to give her the first steps to becoming who she wanted and needed to be all along……Ruby Rose…..The Huntress.

She no longer needs Summer to help her move forward anymore… what she currently has is enough…..

Ruby……Is…….Enough.