Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-34633327-20171123054740/@comment-34633327-20171128222048

ChishioKunrin wrote: KingFubuki92 wrote: Any sort of Magic seen in RWBY they initially try to rationalize as Dust, Like Ruby did in Volume 2 with Cinder, 1. Ironwood, not Ruby. All Ruby said was that her clothes glowed when she used certain attacks, and Ironwood was the one who talked about Dust being sewn into clothes.

2. It really was Dust back then because Monty hadn't even thought of the Maidens yet. And just because the Maidens are a thing now, that does not automatically retcon her using Dust in Volumes 1 and 2. I don't understand why some people think it does automatically mean that was retconned. There's no reason to. It can easily be written off as Cinder using Dust so that Ozpin's group would not catch on that she was the one who attacked Amber.

Cinder fought Glynda, who knows about the Maidens, in the very first episode. It would be smarter for Cinder to have used Dust for real during her fight against Glynda, so Glynda wouldn't realize who she is. Cinder fought, but didn't kill, soldiers who report to Ironwood, who also knows about the Maidens. If the soldiers happened to report that she appeared to be using Dust but there was no glow from Dust or weapon containing Dust, Ironwood would've been suspicious. Instead, she wore clothes with Dust sewn into them and actually used that Dust. 1. That wasn't what I was refering too. I was refering to her forming her blades/bow from fire. Admittedly, that was more than likely fire dust, but we also don't know if that was dust either. Did they ever actually confirm Cinder had sewn dust into her clothing, or were we working off of Ironwood's assumption? Because while we don't know what the original plans for Cinder's powers were before Maiden's were a thing, that seemed to be more than dust because when she formed her bow, her eye was glowing. And while her cloths did glow, they also made those light rings when she ran back to the dance, which also didn't look like dust, and she made fire spew from her hand when confronting Roman, in her bare palm. So unless she infused dust into her body, that didn't seem like Dust.

2. As for the Glynda thing, it would have been worse actually for her to use Dust in her fight with Glynda. Qrow never saw her face when she took Amber's powers, and Glynda didn't get a good look either, so they couldn't recognize her by face. Had Cinder used Dust, it would have been a way for Glynda to identify her. Everyone seems to have a unique way of implementing dust into their arsenal, so it could be a tell of sorts (Weiss enhances Myrtenaster with it, Ruby fires Dust Bullets, Blake affected her clones with them during No Brakes, Neon's nunchuku seemed to be powered by them) Since she was infiltrating their school, if she used Dust while at Beacon, if Glynda recognized the application it could give her away. It's why Cinder didn't wear that outfit when she attended (Except for the Breach, for some reason) so as to not give herself away. And since she was (aside from wearing a few errornious scenes) wearing a mask, even if she used the powers, the only link they'd make would be that she was the same person Glynda fought, which they already suspected. So long as they didn't know her face, it would make more sense not to use Dust so they wouldn't link her "tell" back to her.