Talk:Raven Branwen/@comment-46.5.0.156-20160314230042

Raven remains mysterious indeed. Some aspects I consider currently in more or less historic order:

- I assume that she can turn into a raven or crow herself like Qrow does, and that in this form she has (at least) been following Yang in the Yellow trailer, watched the encounter between Qrow and Winter, and watched the crippled Yang. In my view, the red eyes in the latter two scenes indicate this quite clearly. I speculate that this ability is not a semblance but maybe a faunus trait or at least something in that direction? Could mean that there is a link to the White Fang after all, besides one interpretation of her mask.

- Raven left her partner Taiyang with a newborn Yang and he phrased it (actually Yang does) as if "he lost a love". I think there must be an extremely important reason for a mother leaving her newborn child behind, at least in our world. Possibilities that I can think of are: -- She was and is (or turned) insane. That would maybe match "dangerous", but not her watching over and saving Yang, as well as contacting Qrow with information. Also, if she never wanted the child, why would she break off with Taiyang only after birth? -- She was (or felt) forced to go into hiding. This assumption immediately makes me speculate that she became one of the seasonal maidens and wanted or was ordered to conceal herself from the public as she may have become a target for Salem's lot or others. Could Taiyang knowing about it have been considered a security threat by Ozpin's brother/sisterhood? Very questionable. Going further down this very speculative road, could it be that Raven killed one of the previous maidens who turned sour or who herself became a maiden out of need for power? There are many open questions also on the histories of maidens and their "protectors", and I have the feeling that these stories are not merely sunshine and roses. -- She was (or felt as) a threat to the baby. Even more room for speculation, maybe I will come to that later.

- Yang got a hint on where to look for her mother. Where from and what was it? It made her venture into the forest, but this cannot have been very far from Taiyang's house. Qrow probably followed suite in his raven or crow form (let's maybe call it blackbird form) or he knew where they were heading at some point. The kids arrived to a secluded house where they were attacked by Beowulf Grimm and Qrow comes to the rescue. Did Raven live or hide there? Was meeting the Grimm there just coincidence, the attraction by despair, or was/is there a relation to Raven as well? -- Assuming that the hint Yang found was indeed correct and Raven was there at some point, why would she live solitary in the woods (like hiding, see above)? Were the Grimm actually not a threat to her but somehow aligned with her? Here I think of an alternative interpretation of her her mask.

- Raven saves Yang from Neo but gives Qrow the message that Yang should not expect this "kindness" again: -- The affinity of her portal with the glove effect and the intros has been pointed out. Given that the glove is a Grimm artifact, does the portal link to the Grimm as well? Or is it rather related to the maiden powers, given that the glove affects these and assuming that Raven is a maiden, too? -- People speculate on Raven being aligned with Salem somehow. So far I tend to consider this a remote affiliation at best (maybe that is wishful thinking after all), but there are questions: Raven appeared just in time to save Yang and her checking on Yang before challenging Neo makes clear that saving Yang is what she came for. She does not help Yang's concurrent mission to stop the train and prevent the Grimm attack. Given that she challenged Neo in all serenity, I doubt she had to run off to save someone else right away. -- "Kindness" makes me think of "weakness". This phrasing and Qrows comments on her views give me the impression that Raven may have a very brute attitude towards the civilization that Ozpin wants to save, similar to the phrasing by Salem who appears to not consider herself (and maybe Ozpin) part of humanity. A relation to the Grimm would fit into this picture, but also a relation to the White Fang goals. Maybe Raven found out dark secrets about the Grimm and humanity at some point and does therefore not consider humanity as the good side overall, or this rather applies to humans versus Faunus(-like ...). Assuming she and Salem are maidens (although we have not witnessed Raven's eyes glowing yet), maybe this is actually a similarity to the partially opposed characters of the witches of Oz. -- Raven being an undercover agent infiltrating Salem's lot sounds interesting, but Qrow's comments on her are ambiguous regarding this at best.

Enough for today, and thanks to all RWBY fans who pointed me at one or the other detail I mention here explicitly or implicitly. So much food for thought...