#summer maiden cinder

[strqyr]

sometimes dreams come true 🥰

[bestworstcase]

“unreliable narrators” is not code for “arbitrarily cherry-pick what you believe to be true from the text based on vibes and what you want to happen, and ignore any textual evidence that contradicts your theory-fanfic on the grounds that narrators are unreliable” it means you have to be skeptical and think critically about what every character says. only by evaluating the text in a holistic manner is it possible to determine the narrative truth.

you cannot just say “well this character is just lying/wrong, because unreliable narrators” – you need to actually interrogate the context. are there discrepancies between what this character said and what has been said by other characters? what about things we’ve been shown, not recounted to us through the lens of a character’s dialogue? does this character have a motivation to lie? are there relevant facts of which this character is not aware that might change their view? is the character stating a conclusion based on logical reasoning from the information they have or are they speaking from emotion? does the character have any biases that might inform their interpretation of what they know or see?

[anthurak]

Okay so I mentioned this as part of a bigger post a few years back, but I thought it would be worth bringing it up again.

Thus far, each of the three Maidens we've been introduced to not only each have a connection to one of Team RWBY, but all share a very SPECIFIC narrative link:

Obviously Winter is Weiss's older sister and Raven is Yang's mother, but they have ALSO served as important foils and even ideological antagonists. Raven of course ended up being the main antagonist to Yang in Volume 5, even if their actually 'fight' was a verbal one. And while Weiss and Winter never came into direct conflict, we nonetheless see them (particularly Winter) struggle with how much they seem to be on ever-more opposite sides in Volumes 7 and 8.

It's also clear that for both Winter and Raven, a MAJOR part of their character growth coming out of that conflict was to essentially follow the example of Weiss and Yang respectively.

And of course, it's pretty clear that the same is/will-be true of Cinder and Ruby. Cinder is the great ideological opposite of Ruby; the girl determined to be optimistic and see the best in people pitted against a girl who has spent her whole life knowing nothing but the absolute worst of people.

So if this trend continues, we should be seeing a Summer Maiden with the same thematic link to Blake. And I think it's pretty clear that we've already got a perfect candidate:

Ilia.

It's actually fascinating just how perfectly Ilia's character arc in relation to Blake parallels Winter's arc to Weiss and Raven's arc to Yang. Just like them, Ilia was only a major personal and ideological antagonist to Blake, and now sees Blake as a role model.

So yeah, I'd say seeing Ilia Amitola becoming the Summer Maiden sooner or later is pretty likely. Not to mention it seems rather natural that we'd see a faunus maiden at some point.

[stoneillustrations]

THE SUMMER MAIDEN??

What if Glynda is the Summer Maiden?

In Vol. 3 they tried to transfer the Fall Maiden powers from Amber to Pyrrah. Why do that when a trained and experienced Huntress was already right there? Reason: Maybe Glynda already has the Summer Maiden powers.

The Fall Maiden (Cinder) is supposed to be able to unlock the Beacon vault (Sword of Destruction), but Ozpin put extra measures to keep this vault hidden. The sword sounds like the perfect reason to add extra protection to this particular relic.

When Cinder arrived, Ozpin told Pyrrha to get Glynda and Qrow, but she didn't. She tried to face Cinder alone. Maybe aside from the Academy and himself, Ozpin kept one of the Maidens there to help protect this one very dangerous relic.

Meaning that if Glynda was there, she would not only provide another layer of defense, but the Crown of Choice (in Vacuo) could not be opened either because it's Maiden (Summer) was not there (Atlas was Winter and Mistral was Spring).

The Fall Maiden (Amber) was found too late, the Winter Maiden (Freya) was with Ironwood in Atlas. Everyone had been looking for Spring (Raven), but no one knew who she was. The last season (Summer) no one seemed concerned about her whereabouts...unless they already knew who she was.

In the very first episode we meet Roman, Ruby, Ozpin, someone in the shadows (Cinder), and Glynda. When Roman and Cinder try to make an escape, Glynda conjures a storm above their airship. Only maidens can conjure weather.

Glynda has had such a small part in the series, that I could see her arrival in the "third act" as having some significance. Ozpin, Qrow, Ironwood...all the inner circle we have a lot of backstory about, but not Glynda.

What do you think? Could Glynda be the Summer Maiden?

ALSO: A lot of people are saying Glynda is too old and thirty is the supposed cutoff line, but what if Glynda gained the power when she was younger and still has it now? Freya was an old woman who had the ability. Glynda, if she's say...40, may have gotten it years ago? Just something to think about.

[chlothequeen]

RWBY Beyond teasing stuff has me really hopeful they get volume 10 picked up because. Holy shit

[short-wooloo]

What a twist it would be if Cinder actually manages to collect all 4 of the Maiden powers

Like, that's not something you usually expect, the villain rarely if ever "collects em all" in fiction, usually they get all save one or only briefly has all the macguffins before the heroes pull a last minute win

That is the usual way these things play out, and RWBY loves going against the expected

Furthermore, I feel that based on the rule of three format, Cinder will get the Summer Maiden's power as she has already failed twice to claim the powers of the other Maidens, and once she has 2, it will be all the easier for her to take what's left from Raven and Winter

(To clarify, I'm not saying Winter and Raven will die, we already know there are ways of transferring the powers without death)

Which leads us to the final question:

What happens when Cinder has all the maiden power? What will she become, what will she do?

Cinder is defined by always wanting more power, so what does she do once she's the most powerful non immortal character?

[hadesisqueer]

I'm bored but probably none of these

[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]

[moltensmusings]

I'm just saying if Cinder actually killed a well loved member of the faculty to steal her identity, flawlessly integrated herself into the daily life at haven while also securing spots in the academy for her subordinates, made it so that Lionheart was aware of what she'd done to strike fear into him and ensure he wouldn't act against her as she secured her position constantly near him, and eventually made it ao that she was the faculty head representing Haven at the Vytal festival with Lionheart's approval; that would instantly make her more horrifying and calculating while also setting her up amazingly as an act 1 villain. And the fact that she was under orders would've actually made Salem's reveal more effective and instilled a foreboding feeling in the viewer as we think "if this was only one of salem's subordinates, how bad are the others?"

[pedanticat]

So for the longest time, I've thought about how things must be hard in Vacuo in terms of food supply since now there's an entrie kingdom to feed plus Vacuo own limited resources. But then something clicked in my brain last night. That won't be a problem because of Winter and the Summer maiden! It's easy to forget since we've only seen them be used offensively, but maidens can use their magic to cultivate the land and grow crops.

[strqyr]

thinking about haven, ruby sounding just like her mother and that being enough for raven to open a portal so cinder can shoot a fireball at ruby.

it's a grudge thing. both raven and cinder have a grudge against a rose.

a different kind, of course, and for different reasons, but at its core... it's there. and when i think about cinder, being told by salem to not kill ruby but finding ways to circumvent her orders, ultimately succeeding with ruby falling into a black void, something everyone thought meant death...

it wasn't, though. ruby is back on remnant, same as ever but also different, in a way. a process has happened, even if it's not outwardly apparent.

then there's summer's mission that raven was present for. taking into account summer's attitude towards raven before the mission had truly even began, the way she was framed during the scene, and the way raven views summer in the present, safe to say something went terribly wrong between the two; their friendship completely broken as the result.

it doesn't really matter who started it, but if these parallels are intentional, my gut says summer—just as cinder's grudge against ruby began at the top of the beacon tower, summer shot first; "if you're going to shoot me, shoot me. that was insulting."

the fight ends just as it did between cinder and ruby at the bridge, with summer hanging above a pool of darkness, with raven the opportunity to take the high road, to be the bigger person, only to be the cause for why summer ultimately fell.

and maybe, had raven stayed around for longer, she might have seen summer crawl her way back out from what everyone believes to be a certain death. of course, there's always the possibility that raven knew afterwards thanks to her semblance, but we haven't been given any strong reason to believe raven has a bond with summer, no confirmation of any kind despite there being opportunities to do so.

in a way, i would find it poetic if she didn't. raven's semblance is so tied to her 'one save' rule (no matter how bullshit it may or may not be when push comes to shove) that there's something about her saving those she's bonded with, but the one person she isn't gets the opposite.

[bestworstcase]

It'd also be kinda funny if it turns out Vale wasn't completely razed to the ground, but just like, the area around Vale nearest to Beacon, but Port and Oobleck (viewing things from the perspective of the anti-Grimm Academies that you mentioned before) just jumped to conclusions. Port: Well, I might have exaggerated a little. It was a bit hard to see...

i think rwby is better than doing a bait-and-switch like that, but i also think “salem came to vale. there’s nothing left.” has an interesting band of possibilities as to what exactly that might mean:

only one ship in the animatic, but port refers to having “led the civilian retreat”—which makes it sound like a fairly orderly process of getting civilians out of the city (and implies that salem gave advance warning or left a corridor for retreat, or else moved slowly and didn’t pursue the emergency evacuation) in contrast to something like “we gathered what survivors we could find” or a more explicit “we’re the only ones who made it out”—and even if they only have the one ship, if they had the time to load that ship to capacity and then retreat in an orderly fashion, it’s more likely than not that they’re not the only ones who survived. if that’s the case, then you might have a situation where vale is in ruins and there are refugee camps further out, like on patch, which make planning any counteroffensive quite a bit more complicated.

her sacking of atlas is a data point worth taking into consideration here because there is a pretty sharp division between how her forces interact with civilians (chase into the subway tunnels, do not follow them inside) versus military targets (literally ripping battleships apart like tissue paper) with the casualties in mantle being, presumably, mainly wild grimm drawn by the panic. i see no reason why she wouldn’t take a similar approach to vale.

there’s also—if she wants to provoke the vacuo coalition into taking the sword out of the vault a counteroffensive—a meaningful strategic end served by ensuring that 1. there are survivors, and 2. those survivors witness her flattening the entire city. she knows that people will unite against a common enemy—she knows that razing vale will harden the resistance to her and give people a much more powerful reason to want to take the fight to her, namely retribution.

so if she’s dealing with the need to remove vale as a problem at her flank by sacking vale anyway, might as well go all the way and raze it completely.

[joshy-tomato]

I was thinking, I'm team "Summer maiden is a little faunus girl" but what if she's also has silver eyes.

A silver eyed maiden, the most overpowered character in the series being a little girl of like 5.

If Cinder fight with Raven and the 1sht one with Penny ended badly for Cinder this one will be humiliating.

[alkaria]

really just putting as much manifestation in to the universe as i can for Maidenbowl 4: Now There's Three Of Them

[starwarskawaii]

BUCKLE UP CHILDREN, IT'S THEORY TIME!

So, every maiden we have met has ended up being someone we know. The Spring Maiden is Raven, Cinder Fall is the Fall Maiden because CRWBY loves puns apparently, Winter is the Winter Maiden because puns, and so far we don't know the Summer maiden. So here's the theory;

(I wanna preface this by saying that every maiden has had a country that it matched the climate of so far. And a maiden that is from that country. Atlas is wintry, Vale is Fall-ish, or at least it's associated with school, which seems fall enough, Mistral is spring-y, and Vacuo is literally a desert. So, this theory doesn't totally line up with current patterns. BUT, Ruby finding out in Vacuo could still sort of count for this. And I guess we don'tknow for sure where Cinder is from.)

I think Ruby Rose will be the Summer maiden. One, she's special. She's the main character, for starters, but her entire theme with her silver eyes is that she is light. He mother is named Summer. The Summer Maiden's relic is destruction, which Maria says the silver eyes are the opposite of, because they are preservation. I think she balances it out.

Obviously, lots of people think that Summer is/was the Summer Maiden. I personally do not. But I think Ruby is being set up to be the Summer Maiden when she arrives in Vacuo. Ruby has always wanted to be the fairy tale hero. This would make her all she has ever wanted, after her much needed growth this season.

It would be an amazing way for the writers to connect who she is, what she wants, and all her suffering and talent into an essential piece of the plot.

[rwby-is-the-best]

oh shit

i was thinking about the maidens again and how on our side we have winter the winter maiden and maybe raven the spring maiden a little bit, and on salems side we have cinder fall, the fall maiden. when salem gets to vacuo she's going to need the summer maiden to open their vault there and get the sword of destruction, and it would make sense for the summer maiden to be on salem's side so that the teams are balanced and can fight more epicly.

yeah . summer rose...