User blog comment:HalointheSkye/Volume 3 Chapter 8 - Destiny (IN WHICH SH*T'S GOING DOWN)/@comment-25195920-20160111230147

My theory about the fight is pretty simple and easy to break down.

First off, Pyrrha's probably going to win, i can see Penny beating her but i give Penny only about a 5% chance, BUT she will have to use her semblence in an overt manner which would be disatorous all around.

People would first off, see that Penny is not flesh and bone but is a construct and that will make Atlas and Ironwood look bad and get people wondering who is flesh and who isn't. We "know" that Penny is the only one but the people of Remnant don't and Ozpin's comment about Ironwood's fleet from earlier in the volume comes to mind, the one about if this is what it takes to keep us safe.

After that shock settles a bit, people would realize that Pyrrha, a world renowned fighter, the type of person people look up to, has been hiding her semblence and basically lying to the entire world. And with Pyrrha's emotional state, who knows how far she will go when she finally snaps?

And that would help Cinder's plan. My theory about what she is doing in the tournament is simply that she is trying to make people fear Huntsmen and Huntresses, make their great guardians look like villians and tyrants. The trick Emerald and Mercury played on Yang was a good step towards that but what if Penny, the Atlas Military's prized fighter was revealed to be a synthetic (using that word to dodge the android/robot debate) and Pyrrha, a world renowned fighter, was shown to have been hiding her semblence and basically lying to everyone? Imagine the fear and horror, and disgust that would generate. If I'm right, this fight will seal the deal on people fearing Huntsmen and Huntresses.