Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-86.152.12.193-20200217181915

So I've seen multiple threads by now going over the writer's personal ideas and predictions for Volume 8 of RWBY. And since I have a tendency to massively overthink theories, I'm going to do that myself, because I NEED A PLACE TO GET THESE OFF MY CHEST. I have six major theories for shit that's going down in Volume 8, and I'm going to list all of them here.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of the theorising, a few quick disclaimers.

1. ''All information below is strictly my own personal thoughts on the matter and should be handled and critiqued as such. ''

2. ''If I step on anybody's toes, know that it is entirely accidental and in no way malicious. ''

3. ''If my opinion happens to contradict yours, please handle it like an adult and not scream at me because we have differing ideas on a subject. ''

4. ''I reserve the right to be wrong, as so many people on this website do. ''

Theory One: The Grimm Are A Threat Again

Rule number one of writing - no piece of media ever gets a second chance to make a first impression. So how can Volume 8 do this? By brutally killing off numerous characters we at least know things about before the title card. While I have not watched Game of Thrones personally, I am more than familiar with the infamous 'Red Wedding', which was a point where numerous characters were all brutally killed off. While V8's hypothetical 'Red Wedding' wouldn't be as brutal, it would be a good way to establish Salem and her forces as a threat. Admittedly, Atlas's defences leave a bit to be desired, but the threat is still there.

Picture it: Hordes of flying Grimm, pouring into Atlas, brutally killing any in their path. The Atlesian military crumbles like flies before them, as larger Grimm ferry ground-dwelling ones into the floating city to continue the devastation. This would be quite neat as, bar the Beringal from the V4 Ruby short, we've never seen Grimm actually working together to accomplish a goal. Now, with the more intelligent Salem in the picture, the Grimm could properly coordinate and continue to overrun the Atlesian forces. Even Huntsmen are useless against the tidal wave of murderous monsters. And hanging over it all is Salem's giant whale, with Salem herself observing the murderous actions of her minions with a serene smile on her face.

Teams FNKI and NDGO (on assignment from Shade's Headmaster Theodore), plus what's left of the Ace Ops, are deployed to fight back, but they're outnumbered and outmatched - particularly the Ace Ops who, besides being a man down, are still recovering from their fight with Team RWBY. They fight well - we observe some nice teamwork between FNKI and NDGO, with Neon deploying her trademark sass, but it can only end one way. Bombarded on all sides, one after another the Huntsmen and Huntsmen-in-training are cut down. Neon falls with a shattered beam of metal in her side. Harriet, still dazed, folds as a Grimm socks her in the chest. Nebula and Flynt fight back-to-back, determined not to go down, but a sudden shriek brings both of them to their knees. A long, bony finger enters the frame just as a Solitas Ursa mauls them.

Yeah. The Apathy are back.

The Apathy are some of the coolest and most powerful Grimm we've seen in-series, so why wouldn't the brilliant chessmistress Salem bring them on board for her attack on Atlas? While they don't have much in the way of combat prowess, they work perfectly as support units. Once the Grimm sniff out a negative emotion, all the Apathy have to do is let out a shriek and the target staggers to a halt so the heavier-hitting Grimm can finish them. It would add a great sense of urgency to Team RWBY's attempts to sneak around Atlas, as they'd be doomed if Ruby can't more reliably summon up her Silver Eyes. All in all, this would work in Volume 8's favour because it would reiterate just how terrifying a Grimm invasion is for ordinary people.

Theory Two: Getting Stronger Every Day

And on that point about Silver Eyes, let's get down to brass tacks - Team RWBY cannot win a fight of this scale and magnitude as they are now. Even with Penny's new Maiden powers, they're vastly outmatched, especially with Tyrian, Hazel, Merc, Em and Cinder (boo) thrown into the equation. The solution? TRAINING!

It's been a damn long time since we've actually had a focus on our gang refining their skills (NO THE MONTAGE BITS IN VOLUME 7 DO NOT COUNT AND NEITHER DOES THE BIT IN VOLUME 5 WITH THE HEADBUTT), so I don't see why we shouldn't bring it back now. While it is technically filler (and I'm going to say this very loudly for the chaps in the back), FILLER IS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING! The dance arc from Volume 2 - that was filler and it had one of the best character-development moments in the series! Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the best cartoons in recent memory, was rife with filler, and the filler episodes were some of the best in the series - Tales of Ba Sing Se, The Southern Raiders, The Puppetmaster... all of them excellent steps along in each character's development. RWBY could do something similar. Have individual arcs centred on overcoming hang-ups to become stronger, developing and evolving their Semblances. Perhaps (and I am merely spitballing here) Weiss's Arma Gigas could be utilised to practice team attacks on larger opponents? I know, I'm a genius.

Theory Three: Cinder Goes Feral

So I noticed something odd in the Volume 7 finale. Cinder's Grimm arm, which in Volume 5 was only below her elbow, appeared to have crept up the Fall Maiden's arm and engulfed parts of her shoulder, exposing the muscle below. Now I have heard the arguments that this is just a redesign, in the vein of the Ursai and Beowolves getting a redesign when we switched to Maya. But I think there's more going on here. Think back to what Salem said when Cinder looked to be in pain in Volume 4 - when we first began speculating that her arm had been replaced with something: "It can sense your trepidation. You must make it dread you." Grimm can sense negative emotion, we all know that. But what if these shadow hands, when grafted to a human, begin drawing power from the human they're attached to - their host, I suppose you'd say. What if when they're fed (with negative emotion), they get stronger and begin to consume and use up their host?

So let's assume that Cinder's Grimm arm is in fact moving further up her body. What does this mean, exactly? Well, I have a theory that Salem is going to notice this when she runs into Cinder and Neo again and begin scheming to push Cinder further into darkness. After one too many failures from Cinder to track down Penny, the new Winter Maiden, Salem basically goes 'fuck it' and has Emerald (after a scene where Cinder says she only wanted Emerald for her Semblance just to hammer home how much of a bitch she is) force Cinder to relive memories from her childhood, where she was abused and worked like a slave under a cruel master (because Cinderella), to feed her Grimm arm even more and turn her into a monstrous chimera of human and Grimm traits.

Salem's plan is to create a being uninhibited by human emotion, but smart enough to think for itself and capable of complex thought - the ultimate hybridisation of Grimm and human. And it works... up to a certain point. See, while Grimm-Cinder is indeed smart, and far stronger than any human, she also retains all of the regular Cinder's worst traits - her pettiness, her obsession, her hunger for power - amplified to dangerous degrees. She also lacks an Aura on her Grimm parts, which will be exploited later, as we shall see. So Grimm-Cinder flies off to track down the Winter Maiden, running into and trouncing Team RWBY a few times along the way, before confronting and fighting Winter in the final act of the Volume. They do battle, with Winter holding the upper hand until Cinder pulls an Anakin Skywalker and starts drawing on her anger, pushing Winter back and brutally mauling her when she refuses to divulge Penny's location. Ruby and Weiss arrive to intervene, but they're too late - Cinder snaps Winter's neck and retreats. Ruby chases her down and they engage in battle, ultimately ending in Cinder's death. Cinder's death would be lacking in any dignity because she would be little more than a monster, and nobody mourns a monster.

Theory Four: Breaking Ruby

Ruby Rose has been through a lot. Between her school getting destroyed by a dragon, watching two of her friends die in front of her, two of her best friends getting stabbed at differing points, her sister losing an arm, finding out her mother died at Salem's hands and whatever the heck was going on with the Apathy, one would expect her to be a wreck at this point! But she's still going, despite the entire world seemingly conspiring to spring one traumatic experience on her after another. Ruby seems almost immune to trauma...

But she isn't. If Red Like Roses Part 2 is anything to go by (and I am going by it), Ruby's bottling up a lot of her negative emotions to put up a strong front for her team. Combined with this, both Ozpin and Coco Adel (consult After the Fall for the evidence of this fact) have told Ruby that she isn't allowed to fail, as if she fails her entire team fails. There's a version of this theory that goes over the specifics and what-have-yous on another thread and because I don't have enough time to come up with my own spin on it, I'm just going to reprint it here because it's really good.

When Ruby's group lands in Atlas after the initial blitzkrieg, the sight of all these dead bodies and the lists of the dead cause Ruby to have what is known as a 'Heroic Blue Screen of Death', which is where the dialogue above comes in. Of course, the stragglers of the Grimm invasion force show up soon after and force RWBY, ALPN and Penny to fight them off, so she doesn't get much time to grieve.

Some time after that, Ruby's been doing fairly well - she's been a bit quieter and more reclusive than usual, but not too severe - when the team gets a distress call from a part of Atlas that had been relatively untouched by Salem's forces. Ruby jumps at the chance to help, but the rest of her team isn't so sure.

Blake: Ruby, I want to help those people as much as you do, but it's too risky. Salem's forces control the skies - we'd need an army to blast our way through.

Ruby: We don't need an army, we have a Maiden!

Penny: I am glad to know that you appreciate my skills!

Yang: That would draw too much attention. We need to be smart about this - pick and choose fights we can win. If we try to fight Salem as we are now, we'll lose.

''Ruby is noticably angry, pacing back and forth and gritting her teeth. ''

Weiss: Ruby, listen...

Ruby (yelling): No, you listen! Ten THOUSAND people died when Salem struck because we weren't fast enough to get there in time! Now we have a chance to make up for that! So I am hereby or henceforth or however the heck you Atlas uppercrusts say it pulling rank as team leader and ordering us to go and help them, and we are not leaving without as many people as we can fit in this ship with us! Are we clear?

The rest of her team agrees, though begrudgingly, and they head out. That mission goes south due to an encounter with a further Grimmed-up Cinder and they escape with only half of the people they had planned to rescue. This sends Ruby into another Heroic BSoD, and she stalks off to her room to brood. Some time later, Yang elects to go and talk to Ruby in the morning, but that quickly falls apart and descends into a full-scale shouting match between the sisters, as I have detailed below:

Yang: Hey, Ruby? Can I talk to you for a second?

Ruby (tersely): Yeah, sure, go ahead.

Yang: Okay. So, we've been going through a rough patch lately, I'll admit that. But Blake, Weiss and I had a talk, and we think you're overexerting yourself.

Ruby (sarcastically): So what, are you going to give me a hug and a pillow to scream into and say it's all going to be fine?

Yang: What gave you that idea?

Ruby: Because you treat me like a kid! You're always pulling the other two away for 'adult conversations' and leaving me out like I'm somehow too immature to get what you're talking about! I'm not a kid anymore, Yang! I'll be eighteen in a few months!

Yang: I didn't mean for it to come off that way. If you want us to treat you more like an adult, then sure, we can do that.

Ruby: Nobody cares what you meant to do, Yang. Nobody cares that I meant to save all those people. All they care about is what you did. And I failed.

Yang: You're still beating yourself up about that? Ruby, it wasn't your fault!

Ruby: Yes it was! I should have made them turn back, I should have made us stand and fight! But I was too scared, I was too weak!

Yang: Being scared isn't being weak! It never has been!

Ruby: Oh, and while we're on the subject of being scared, at least I'm not scared of admitting I love someone who's the same gender as me!

Yang: What's that supposed to mean?!

Ruby: I'm a lot of things, Yang - BLIND isn't one of them!

Yang: What are you implying?

Ruby: What are you inferring?

Yang: Oh, just say it!

Ruby: FINE! YOU'RE AFRAID OF COMING OUT AS LESBIAN!

''Silence. Yang does not know how to respond to this. Somewhere, Bmblb shippers are cheering in ecstasy. ''

Ruby: I just... I need to blow off some steam. See ya.

And she storms off.

Immediately after that, Ruby begins practicing with Crescent Rose in a training area of some kind. At this point, a new song called 'Chains of Command' would start playing, which would sort of be Ruby's answer to Path of Isolation. The lyrics have the general theme of how being a leader is restrictive because you always need to be stronger than your teammates so they have a focal point in you, and showing any kind of negative emotion is percieved as weakness. The music starts out slow and contemplative and becomes faster and angrier the further in we go. If anyone with more songwriting skill than I wants to come up with lyrics to that, I only ask that you include this phrase somewhere: "Can't be sad, can't be angry Cause they need you to be strong Can't be weak, can't be uncertain Can never put a foot wrong" As the song and the training scene progresses, Ruby's fighting style and aim gradually deteriorate and become more erratic and angry, and she starts screaming and crying the angrier her style gets. As the song crescendoes, she's just taking blind swings at the targets, lashing out at anything within range, screaming at the top of her lungs and hallucinating her enemies everywhere. Eventually, as the song ends, she's too tired to even lift her scythe, and she just collapses on the ground and breaks down into breathless tears, having screamed herself hoarse. At this point, Blake enters. She begins walking towards the crying Ruby.

Ruby (through tears): GO AWAY! I hate you! I hate you for always being calm in any situation and I hate Yang for being too scared to admit that she loves you and I hate Weiss for being cold and reserved and icy (faster, more quavering) and I hate Ren and Nora for carrying on a completely stable relationship despite the fact that everything's going down the drain and I hate Jaune for being able to hold his team together while I'm slowly coming apart and I hate Oscar for constantly reminding me that Ozpin said I'm not allowed to be weak and I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL! (descends into sobbing)

''Blake pulls Ruby into a hug. ''

Blake: I'm not going to pretend everything's going to be okay. That's crueler than telling you it's all doomed. It's not either of those things. I just want you to know that I'm here. As a confidant, a friend... or just a shoulder for you to cry on when everything's too much. Right now, I think you need the third one.

''Ruby continues to sob uncontrollably in Blake's arms. Episode ends.''

Ruby is fine for some time after this incident until seeing the again partially-Grimmed Cinder kill Winter causes her to have a violent relapse and go on rampage to catch the fleeing Maiden, straight-up killing the Atlas soldiers who try to stop her. She confronts Cinder and they do glorious battle, fire and lightning are tossed around, etc. until Cinder breaks her Aura and she proceeds to go completely berserk, her eyes glowing white and flash-stepping all over the damn place, taking advantage of Cinder's lack of Aura to get in heavy damage until she kills Cinder by impaling her with Crescent Rose's war scythe form.

Ruby: This is for PENNY! For PYRRHA! For EVERYONE you've KILLED with that SICK, TWISTED SMILE ON YOUR FACE!

Cinder: You... stupid...

Ruby: SHUT UP! JUST! FUCKING! DIEEEEE!!!

Yeah, Cinder's straight-up dead at this point, and Ruby goes into another Heroic BSoD due to her actions while on rampage. This problem is then exacerbated by her discovering (via a call from Raven to Yang) that Yang has been keeping the fact that Raven is the Spring Maiden a secret from them (except Weiss). Another shouting match I don't have the exact specifics on ensues, but Ruby at one point yells 'IT'S BECAUSE I'M STILL JUST A KID TO YOU, ISN'T IT?' and Yang responds with 'YEAH, AND YOU'RE ACTING LIKE ONE!' Blake pries them apart and Ruby storms off again, brooding on a rooftop for a bit until she sees Weiss crying her eyes out over Winter's death. Ruby looks up at Salem's Grimm Whale in the distance and makes the (stupid) decision to fight Salem herself. That plan goes downhill faster than a cart with no brakes and Salem mind-rapes Ruby and forces her to relive all her worst memories while also showing her a fake vision of her mother's death that shows Summer surrendering to Salem and letting the witch kill her. Ruby, completely broken, collapses on the deck of the Grimm Whale, sobbing, and doesn't even resist when Emerald and Mercury toss her in a cell and chain her up.

Ruby: (through tears) Weiss... Yang... Blake... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I wasn't good enough...

The last shot of V8 before the credits is Ruby shaking with silent sobs on her cell bed, her wrists red and raw from the manacles, and her face streaked with tears.

Theory Five: Merlot Enters The Fray

Dr Merlot, main antagonist of RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, might just be a contender to Roman Torchwick's title of Best RWBY Villain. He's got it all - a solid backstory, a solid motivation, and enough muscle in the form of his Grimm Mutants to be a legitimate threat. So why hasn't he shown up in the show?

While Merlot's goal was initially noble, it's long since been twisted into evil, and the methods he uses to accomplish his goals are far from ethical. And since his intellect seemingly rivals that of Watts (who as of Volume 7's ending is imprisoned in Atlas) it makes sense that Salem would want him on her side. What self-respecting evil empress wouldn't want a horde of mutant, superstrong versions of their chosen minions under their control?

So, perhaps during the post-credits scene of Volume 8, we see Merlot on an island, surrounded by his mutants. He speaks to them, crooning and whispering. Then a Seer Grimm appears and begins floating towards him. Merlot is cautious but welcoming, and the Seer cracks and projects a mirage of Salem like in Volume 7. "Who are you?" Merlot says. "That's of little concern to you," Salem replies. "Right now, Dr Merlot, I'm more interested in you. You see, I'm told you're a smart man. And if we're being honest, I could use a few smart men."

Tell me that wouldn't have you hyped for Volume 9!

Theory Six: The Bees (Alternate: Please Do Not Yell At Me Because Of What You Are About To Read I Said At The Start That I Reserved The Right To Be Wrong)

Volume 7 had a ton of Bumbleby moments. Some people were indifferent to them. Some people loved them. Some people hated them. But they happened, and we've got to roll with it.

If Volume 8 will indeed be putting more emphasis on the characters, we're not going to have a better opportunity to explore Blake and Yang's relationship and its potential benefits and drawbacks. As mentioned in the Breaking Ruby theory, Yang could wind up being too scared or apprehensive to admit that she is in fact in love with or at the very least has a crush on Blake (because come on guys, it's kind of obvious they're moving in the Bumbleby direction at this point), while Blake remains unaware until Ruby vents at her. After comforting Ruby and starting the repairs to the training area, Blake goes off to talk to Yang about it, and they have a mature conversation about the whole thing.

Blake: Hey, Yang, can I have a moment?

Yang: Sure, go ahead.

Blake: So I was just with Ruby...

Yang: What?! Is she okay? I shouldn't have yelled at her, I should have been more patient...

Blake: No, no, she's fine. But she said something weird... something about hating you because you were too scared to admit... that you loved me or something?

Yang: (groans) Great. That cat's out of the bag then.

Blake: Why didn't you say anything?

Yang: I... I don't know. A couple of reasons, I guess. For one I thought you were straight, what with Sun and Adam... and because it's dangerous, Blake. You remember when we landed?

Blake: When I was downed by the Sphinx, yeah.

Yang: I dropped everything and just ran over, leaving Oscar exposed. I got a fair bit of flack for that from Ruby - flack I deserved, on reflection. I can't let my feelings cloud my judgement, Blake. It's dangerous. What if the next time it happens I let someone get hurt badly? This is why the Ace Ops try to stay professional. I thought if I pushed it down enough it'd go away. But it just got worse.

Blake: Yang, having a crush on someone isn't a bad thing. I can get not telling me, but why didn't you tell anyone? Find a way around it, rather than running away?

Yang: Because I'm stupid. The only ways I can tackle an obstacle are by going through it or running away. I'm not as strong as you are, Blake. Adam wanted to kill you, and you still fought him. You're better than I am. That's why I got mad when you said you'd protect me. I wanted to be strong enough to not need you.

Blake: (laughter) I'm the strong one? Yang, I've run away from way more things than you have. Adam became angry and abusive the longer we stayed in the White Fang. I ran away. You guys found out I was a Faunus. I ran away. Adam attacked Beacon. I ran away. I was a coward and a weakling, and you were strong and golden and kind to everyone. If anything, I'm the one who doesn't deserve you.

Yang: I didn't exactly say that.

Blake: You were thinking it.

''Laughter from both of them. ''

Yang: So what do we do from here?

Blake: First you're telling everyone in our immediate circle you're lesbian. We'll figure the rest out from there.

Yang: (teasingly) Yes, ma'am.

And from there they try to balance their developing romance and their Huntsman work. They still make a great team, but Yang pairs off with Ruby more than she does with Blake, trying to avoid letting her feelings cloud her judgement. There'd be a few small, subtle moments as well, of what nature I am unsure, but it would generally serve to confirm that yes, Bumbleby is happening, but without oversaturating it to the point that it becomes annoying. A fine balance.

Okay, and we're done. Many apologies for the text wall. Like, I can't apologise enough. 