User blog:Gundam Legilis/RWBY Retrospects - ''Yang Dindu Nuffin''

Hello everybody!

Today, we'll look at how effective Yang being framed was to Cinder's plan and the story. This comes from the fridge section of TV Tropes, and my own observations.

Okay, so Cinder's group deliberately has Mercury lose the match, and then trick Yang into attacking Mercury, who has no Aura by this point. This causes Yang to be arrested, the Grimm to move towards Vale, and the entire world to boo at Yang, while Merc is whisked away into obscurity.

Well, what does this mean?

First off, Emerald tricks Yang with her hallucination Semblance. This method can be very hard to disprove, since everyone saw Yang attack a defenceless person in real life, and not the hallucination that Mercury attacked her. It would be the same as pleading insanity in a court case.

Second, this happened in front of a lot of people, both the live audience and the people watching at home in their TVs. They'd obviously be pissed because not only was it unsportsmanlike, but it would be the equivalent to a military personnel assaulting an unarmed civilian.

Third, all of the negativity from so many people brings the Grimm towards Vale. This includes the Goliaths, which proves to be a struggle against the Atlesian forces, calling on any available Huntsmen. Where are they when you need them?

Fourth, this affects Team RWBY. They want to believe Yang is innocent, but they saw what happened. Trust issues between Yang and her team will never be the same. They'll be less inclined to do what they usually do because of what happened. This also applies to Qrow, who is not only pissed that Yang would do such a thing, but is now forced to take the heat due to the fact that he's her uncle; given how Qrow started a school fight with Winter over minor grievances and Ruby being a weaponhead, everyone will now see them as violent thugs.

It demoralizes STRQ, taking away any motivation to get involved, and Taiyang as well, who now has to go under another heart attack/depression in dealing with his daughter doing something uncalled for. The guy lost two of his spouses, and is now even more pissed at Yang, who is rightfully arrested for this act. The guy just can't catch a break now, can he?

Fifth, speaking of trust, it not only affects the trust the entire school has for Yang, but the entire world has for Vale. Because Yang is from Beacon and therefore from Vale, the world is in contempt for Vale and Beacon Academy, as seen from the Haven Tourist. This makes the government council pissed and pressured to relieve Ozpin from his post ASAP. It also vindicates some of the animosity Ironwood had for Ozpin in Volume 2, because he is being proven right. Assuming Ozpin will be around to talk to Yang, it looks like he will at least give her a stern talking to.

Sixth, because of her earlier match with Neon, and with Yang's poor situational awareness, the world now sees her as the Public Enemy #1, the world's biggest asshole. And even that's an understatement.

Seventh, unless there are substitutes to be picked, the matchups are going to be accelerated, giving Pyrrha less time to make her choice. Sun, Pyrrha and Penny are next. And two of them are likely to be Maiden candidates. So they're going to receive whatever evil fate befalls them.

Eighth, should Yang be punished, RWBY will go into a depression. Should Yang get away, people will cry out for justice, making things much worse. And RWBY will be branded as outlaws should they break Yang out of prison.

Ninth, the whole thing can be considered a diversion to draw suspicion away from Cinder and her plans.

Tenth, speaking of Cinder, this allows her to exact payback on RWBY for screwing her plans in the past. Having received the info from Neo, this allows her to remove one obstacle from her plan and to move forward with everyone else.

Eleventh, RWBY would be in devastation again, because now they believe Yang attacked Mercury, someone they were friends with. Keep in mind they don't know their true allegiance.

Twelfth, not only will Yang be depressed, but she'll become colder, and more cynical as a result. Sure she'll be wiser, willing to curb some of that hot-bloodedness, but she'll be sadder too. Especially when Neo arrives on the scene.

Thirteenth, everyone assumes that Mercury has flesh and blood legs. Even if they went with revealing to the world that Mercury has prosthetics, it still wouldn't change much - Atlas has been building robots, and the crowd would still be pissed on Yang attacking in general. Hell, it would make them even more mad, because she attacked a paraplegic and a double amputee.

They think that Yang wants to send Mercury back into being a cripple. And assuming that the good guys take a long time to reach Mercury and see his legs, the time spend will allow Mercury to fabricate a lie that because of the damage, he was forced to get prosthetics. It will take nothing short than a full confession or arrogant gloating to vindicate Yang's innocence. And given how the bad guys aren't stupid or demotivated yet, this is nigh impossible to achieve.

So yeah. One event is all it takes, and it is a brilliant way to screw things up for a lot of people.

Thoughts?

-Gundam Legilis

P.S. I like how they provided exposition on Emerald. Back in the ambulance, she says this:

"One mind I can handle, but two is a stretch!"

This is a nice double entendre. Not only is it banter to Mercury, now being his typical Mercury "asshole" self, but it provides insight on the limits of Emerald's Semblance - she has headaches every time she uses her Semblance on more than one person, such as the paramedics.