#officially fallen back into the atla rabbit hole

[strawberri-draws]

The boy

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Remarks: The Ice-cream is A Lie! Debunking the Neopolitan Conspiracy.

I’m not sure if this is topic has already been defused in the FNDM community. Nevertheless, this squiggle meister still wanted to weigh in her full $5.50 on this subject matter. So let’s dig into it.

Heya kiddies, remember when the official V6 Opening dropped and everyone lost their shit when a mysterious hooded figure alluding to Neo was shown during the intro?

You should remember because it only happened about a week ago. I’m not going to lie. During my first viewing of the opening, my very first impression of mystery female was that it is Neopolitan. However my main justification for that, as I’ll assume is the key reason why everyone pondered the same thing, was because of this shot here: 

The shot of a very familiar-looking black and red striped bowler hat floating aimlessly through the streets of Mistral. That was the only clue I had that made me think of the possibility of Neo returning. But while the fandom exploded into their excitement of their favourite ice-cream themed villainous making her grand return, this squiggle meister was skeptical.

Why, you might ask? Well, for starters, not to knock the Neo fans but…why on Earth would the CRWBY Writers bring back Neo of all characters especially now when the Mistral Arc is in its final chapter?

In all honesty, I understand that Neo is a fan favourite amongst the FNDM community. However outside of Roman Torchwick, Neo’s character doesn’t exactly have a story of her own.

Sure, the CRWBY Writers could still entertain us by introducing a Neopolitan backstory into RWBY. However I don’t think Volume 6 is going to be an appropriate place slip that in.

If the CRWBY Writers honestly wanted to include Neo back then… shouldn’t they have brought her back for the start of the Mistral Arc as someone who would succeed Roman Torchwick and continue from where he left off? Even if their plan was to eventually resurrect Neo from the pit of obscurity for the Atlas Arc, her comeback would feel rather out of place. At least to me it would, especially since we spent the last two seasons not even teasing her re-emergence.

Apologies to the Neo stans but…that ain’t yuh girl in the V6 opening. The ice-cream is sadly a lie. But admittedly a very cleverly laid out lie, might I say.

I think the mysterious person is obviously Cinder Fall. I mean it has to be her. Her silhouette is in the volume poster, dagnabbit.

Not to mention that the Writers left her story on a cliff hanger. I mean…they did the same thing with Neo too but unlike the ice-cream flavoured Charlie Chaplin, Cinder’s happened last volume. Not a whole two seasons ago.

C’mon. Who else could it be but Cinder?

But if for some reason, you’re not convinced that the figure is Cinder, then allow me to present to you some evidence to support my claim. While scrubbing through the V6 opener, I found two key clues that say it’s Cinder.

Exhibit A: The Weapon of Choice

During the opening, the hooded female could be seen fighting with a blade in hand. Upon further inspection, I realized that the weapon carries a resemblance in shape to the dual blades that Cinder once wielded back in V3. Not only that but it especially replicates the fire emblazoned crimson dagger that Cinder Fall forged with her semblance and Maiden magic last season during her combat with Jaune in the Battle of Haven.

This is unfortunately the best quality screenshot I could take. I had to brighten the image but you can still make out that the shape of the blade is like Cinder’s Dagger. That’s my first evidence. My second evidence is the most obvious one of them all.

Exhibit B: The Claw

May I direct your attention to the obvious clawed white hand on mystery girl? Might I also point out that it’s her right hand---the same side as Cinder’s amputated Geist Grimm arm from V5?

Unless Neo’s umbrella flew her into a tub of radioactive purple ooze that turned her into some kind of pale-skinned mutant humanoid creature with claws for a hand, then that is clearly NOT her. It’s Cinder because we all know that Cinder possessed the Geist Grimm now which, as we can see, has now been blended into her skin turning it white---like Salem.

I’m curious to see Cinder’s face now. I want to know if she looks more like Salem now or was it just the arm that fused fully with her body turning the half of Salem’s body damaged by Ruby ghastly white while the rest remained normal. This should be cool to see.

So yeah, see now? It’s not the ice-cream. It’s the pepper sauce. Sorry Neo fans.

Now this pegs a curious question? Why would the CRWBY insert the trademark Roman Torchwick bowler hat while alluding to Cinder?

Either the CRWBY are trying to be slick again by tossing out another red herring to bamboozle the FNDM into believing it’s not Cinder Fall or…there is something very symbolic of the Roman hat?

Symbol of Failure

Think about it. Who was Roman Torchwick? Another fan favourite villain with charisma for days. Yes. A snappy dresser. Sure. But above everything else, Roman Torchwick was a failure in his conquest.

What was it that Roman told Ruby Rose in his big speech from V3?

“...Ya got spirit Red. But this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit! You wanna be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history!

As for me, I’ll do what I do best. Lie. Steal. Cheat and Survive!”

 He says all of this before he is rather laughingly eaten alive in the very next frame by a Grimm during the attack on the Vytal Festival that he helped orchestrate. Still one of the most ironic deaths in RWBY history but the truth still remains.

Even with all his tricks and schemes, what eventually became of Roman? He failed, died and now his name means nothing as Remnant moves on. Even with all the power and influence he once possessed, he died a powerless man. Torchwick is symbolic here because he’s the one villain whose pursuit of conquest resulted in his very own demise. Now Cinder has fallen down the same path.

She too followed in her selfish aspiration to become powerful and where did it lead her? Right back to the very bottom of the societal food chain where her origins probably began. You can almost say that Cinder’s fallen down her very own little rabbit hole of disappointment and now from the dirt, she is forced to crawl back out again and start over. That’s if, she even has the same desires as before.

It’s almost like the bowler hat is following Cinder, mocking her own failures. I wonder if this will lead to Cinder having realistic hallucinations of Roman. Her own negative emotional state of displeasure taking the form of the one villain in RWBY whose failure left him rock bottom---the digestive system of a Griffin Grimm kind of rock bottom---would be to seen explored in the series.

Similar to how Blake’s anxiety over being back with the team after the events of V4-V5 taking the haunting form of Adam Taurus, perhaps it’ll be the same for Cinder. Imagine…Roman returning as a figment of Cinder’s messed up psyche to ridicule and belittle her. That could be cool to watch.

Plus it’d be great to hear Gray Haddock reprise his role in the series again outside of the Chibi-verse. I mean, it’s a nice idea.

Perhaps…in the beginning, Cinder was another minion to Roman but that all changed when she met Salem. 

Maybe Roman and Cinder even share a past together long prior to RWBY’s main story.

Perhaps Cinder Fall started off as Roman’s partner-in-crime---the Bonnie to his Clyde? Or perhaps she was one of his lower level pawns but ultimately rose to the top due to her skills. But even after becoming number two to King Roman, Cinder desired to be more. While I’m not sure on how Salem found Cinder or vice versa, I would much rather the mystery character be Cinder because it makes more sense for it to be her than Neo, continuing from V5.

I know Neo is connected to Roman because she was his side kick. However let’s not forget that before Neo came into the picture, Cinder Fall was originally introduced as Roman’s accomplice in the very first episode of RWBY. She was the one seen flying the helicopter that Roman used to escape from Ruby and was also the one who fought with Glynda Goodwitch as she stepped into protect Ruby.

Cinder was later switched out for Neo and made into someone who was superior to Roman instead of being just his fateful right hand. Who knows? Maybe there is a deeper untold history between Roman and Cinder Fall that us fans never knew about. The untold story of how the two of them met and how Cinder eventually rose to become the megalomaniac we know her to be.  

The Faceless Lady

Cinder was later switched out for Neo and made into someone who was superior to Roman instead of being just his fateful right hand. Who knows? Maybe there is a deeper untold history between Roman and Cinder Fall that us fans never knew about. The untold story of how the two of them met and how Cinder eventually rose to become the megalomaniac we know her to be.  

Do you know what would be interesting? If the mysterious person is Cinder but in like a new body or with a new face?. Like what if…after dying, Cinder fused with her Geist Grimm arm completely and now she’s become this Grimmoire (Grimm-human hybrid) who can steal another person’s identity by devouring them.

Y’know how in Game of Thrones, Arya Stark is a Faceless Man and can assume the identity of anyone she’s killed by stealing their face? What if we get something like that with Cinder where, because she is half Geist Grimm, she can utilize the Geist’s key trait to possess and take control of another’s body.

But in Cinder’s instance, she’s able to do it with mortal men and woman because of her human side. It’d also be interesting if, just like Arya Stark, Salem develops her own little vendetta to get back at everyone who has wronged her in her life, starting with her past leading up to her recent mortal enemies---like Ruby Rose and Raven Branwen.

Queen of the Mafia

I have this theory that Cinder was the daughter of a known mafia boss who was notorious on the black underground market of Mistral that we were told about in the World of Remnant episode on the kingdom.

Y’know how in the Cinderella story, we had the evil mother and her wicked stepsisters? When I think back to the V6 trailer, remember this shot of the bandit lady that most RWBY theorist pointed out as a mafia boss?

What if…these three characters---the mafia lady and her two lackeys that stand behind her are RWBY’s version of Cinderella’s evil stepmother and wicked step siblings. Only instead of two step sisters, it’s a brother and sister?

I’m just tossing out an idea here. I don’t believe that the CRWBY would choose to highlight these three characters if they weren’t important. Obviously these three aren’t connected to the heroes. But perhaps, they’re connected to Cinder or at least her side of the story for V6.

 Maybe…they are from her past?

What if…Cinder was the daughter of some big Mistralian crime boss who was well renowned around the Mistral black market until he was murdered, leaving his empire left for grabs for the vultures of the Mistral underbelly to squander.

This lady and her two accomplices could either be the equivalent of Cinderella’s evil stepmother and her siblings who probably abused Cinder after they stole her father’s empire from her and tossed her to the slums, powerless to stop them. Or…what if…it’s not the lackeys who are important but the Head Lady?

Remember how in last week’s V6 kick-starter episode, we met Dee and Dudley who the FNDM agreed were based off of the infamous pair of Tweedledee and Tweedledum from the Alice in Wonderland fairy tale?

What if…those two knuckleheads won’t be the only trademark Alice in Wonderland characters that will be referenced in RWBY for this volume?

What if…this Mafia Lady’s characterization is actually inspired by the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland?

Think about it. Imagine if the notorious black market of Mistral is basically the Wonderland of the canon RWBY-verse and similar to the Queen of Hearts, this mysterious Mafia lady is the head honcho that rules it with an iron fist.

I quite like this concept. She certain exudes the same impatient and tyrannical aura as the Queen of Hearts. I just need her to yell “Get Them You Fools!” and/or, of course, “Off with their heads!” or something along lines.  

Now mind you I could be incorrect in everything I said in this post. Except the Cinder being the mystery figure part, I really am sure that’s her for sure as the hooded mystery girl. As to what her story will be for V6. 

If anything V6 is definitely going to touch base on Cinder’s past and resurrection or so I presume. I know it’s only another theory, but that’s as much as I have to say on the Fallen Maiden for now.

 More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)