Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-27745202-20160206133651

Alright, so in anticipation of the final 2 episodes of season 3 and the madness that is sure to ensue, my mind has been just as busy as many others with speculation as to what fate lies in store for Pyrrha. To clarify just a little, Pyrrha, a character whose main inspiration is the Greek hero Achilles (if it wasn't obvious to everyone reading this already), is about to take on the duty of great power at the same time the antagonist, Cinder, aims to steal it. Involved in all of this is also Pyrrha's teammate and (as of yet) unrequited love interest, Jaune, as well as Ozpin, the latter of whom is extraneous and need not be elaborated upon - for the sake of this theory, that is. I'll let you decide if this is at all a weakness or not.

Okay. So, the prevailing theories I've seen all seem to suggest that either:

a) Pyrrha attempts to gain the fall maiden's power, and whether she is successful or not, has it then subsequently stolen by Cinder. Pyrrha may live or die, but either way, Cinder carries the day

- or -

b) Somehow Pyrrha comes out on top and kicks Cinder's ass, which is admittedly rather damn unlikely

I'm sure others have speculated well beyond this, and for all I know I might not even be the first person to have come up with the theory I am about to present. I don't know, but these two basic scenarios seem to be the overwhelming consensus, albeit with some dispute on all of the specifics. These theories appear to be based around the (well-founded) notion that, Pyrrha, being based off of the hero Achilles', will eventually fall to Cinder's bow, much like how Paris ultimately slew his foe, Achilles, in the Iliad. Now, I'm willing to grant that this is all fine and dandy speculation. But, for the most part, the thought train seems to end here; Achilles gets shot by an arrow, how poetic. And I don't know about you, but something about that outcome seems a little bit too easy to telegraph, and I think the RWBY production team is liable to recognize this. It'd be kind of like if Nora fought a “world serpent” grimm, only to die from its' venom ten steps after slaying it; I wouldn't discount the possibility of such a connection altogether, but I find it unlikely that they would only take inspiration from the mythology so literally.

So then...in an effort to carry all of this speculation a little further, I've come to conceptualize an extension of this theory from merely “Achilles” to “Achilles' Heel,” a name the meaning of which should become apparent once we consider the legend of Achilles a little more closely. Now, as I'm sure most people probably already know, “Achilles' Heel” is a phrase which refers to a fatal weakness, especially in something otherwise regarded to be ostensibly flawless. As it pertains to ancient Greek mythology, Achilles himself was described as having been made invincible by his mother, who bathed him in a sacred fountain while still in infancy. Bathing his body in these waters was said to have made him invincible as a result, with a single, oddly specific exception; his heels were not bathed in these waters. Achilles then goes on to become the greatest warrior in the world, not unlike Pyrrha Nikos, who herself is even referred to explicitly as “the invincible girl.” Inevitably however, Achilles meets his downfall at the hands of the Trojan prince, Paris, slain by an arrow that pierces his one true weakness.

Now, let's say that Pyrrha has her own “heel,” something which I don't think at any rate would be too bold to assume. What could such a thing possibly be, if presumably not a literal heel? Well, after watching every episode featuring Pyrrha again, I can say with a fair deal of confidence that no such PHYSICAL weakness is ever really made apparent. Powers over polarity and her own prodigious skill have yet to reveal any kind of a fatal flaw in her defences, unless perhaps you get very creative with turning polarity against itself; I kinda doubt they're gonna aim for too much of a theoretical or scientific explanation though, if only because they kind of already spent such a concept on ruining Penny's day. It's true that Ruby bested her once, debatablely, but not by any means that would be special to Pyrrha.

So then, what would that leave in way of possible mental or emotional weaknesses? Well, it is true that Pyrrha has been shown to perhaps doubt herself too much sometimes, at the same time she struggles to handle the pressure which comes with everyone expecting her to forever be perfect. She has difficulty expressing her most tender or volatile of emotions, particularly as it seems to concern communicating with her teammate Jaune, a boy whom Pyrrha appeared to develop a powerful crush on damn-near seemingly at first sight. Perhaps there's more to be said of it, but generally speaking she is presented as kind, earnest, thoughtful, humble, compassionate, brave...a pure heroine, all things considered. Besides, I believe we might have already touched upon what Pyrrha's Achilles' Heel very well could be: Jaune.

Of course, this theory is going to require some unpacking, especially as I can already imagine some people getting a bit miffed at the idea that Jaune only represents a “weakness” to Pyrrha, as if that entails in and of itself that he would somehow be responsible for her downfall at the hands of Cinder. Quite the contrary, I believe it rather possible that Jaune will sacrifice himself, in some way or another, to rescue Pyrrha from Cinder, if even only for a time. This would seem to suggest that Jaune would serve as a “shield” rather than a weakness, at first seemingly contradicting the theory, but I strongly think martyrdom would play into his own character development, especially as it concerns representing the mythology of Joan of Arc, whilst simultaneously causing Pyrrha so much, duress that it either outright breaks her for a time or otherwise somehow changes her so fundamentally, to the point where she may as well have “died” in some other sense. Granted, the actual influence of mythology on JNPR has been so far, relatively minimal, but I think that need not be necessarily from a lack of concern for such, so much as desire to better establish the characters first before delving into any kind of “destined outcomes” for them. And yes, any attempt to combine mythologies is liable to start looking fuzzy fast.

Back on track, let's better consider the idea that Joan of Arc, and Jaune himself, is meant to at-once represent a leader, martyr and symbol for a greater cause. Jaune himself already leads JNPR (albeit his leadership skills are still questionable, but that's neither here nor there at the moment), and sacrificing himself to protect the “greatest champion,” Pyrrha, would also make him both a martyr and symbol for a greater cause, provided his own downfall serves as a rallying cry for the rest of the protagonists. Also worth noting is the fact that Jaune's semblance is overdue to activate, and what better time than now? Given that his semblance has been hinted to at the very least have some kind of vaguely “protective” quality, his weapon of choice is a sword+shield, and also that Joan died in defence of her homeland, it could stand to reason his power will activate at such a time to protect Pyrrha, as others have suggested.

However, most theories I have seen so far seem to suggest that the activation of Jaune's powers must happen only AFTER Cinder steals the Fall Maiden's powers, a solid possibility which I am still no longer convinced is the most (or at least not only) likely outcome. If we were take this representation of Joan of Arc a little further, we would find that she died upon being burnt at the stake by her foes, under the pretense of recompense for her supposed “witchcraft.” Now, some may consider this a little bit of a reach, but given that the antagonist's name is literally CINDER, I believe it possible that she might be the fire meant to set Jaune ablaze. Granted, the case may be that Jaune is not being accused of any witchcraft, and that rather Cinder herself arguably fits that bill very well. But when you consider the fact that Joan of Arc has long since been considered free of guilt even by the same culture of people who martyred her, I don't find the idea of an innocent hero falling to the same evil they were accused of (well, all the huntsmen + huntresses were “accused,” I suppose) to be all that incredible of a stretch.

I've also now realized that the idea of Jaune being an Achilles heel could be understood in a further sense that would not contradict what else I have just presented. In short, Pyrrha is “the invincible girl,” expected to put on her armor and defend the world. But just as armor can be physical and protect from external threats, it can be metaphorical and protect from emotions. This is to say, that before meeting Jaune, Pyrrha was never able to lower her shield and be herself, the expectations on her always too high. She had to defend herself from even the praise of others, or perhaps just the fear of not living up to that praise, and Jaune was the first person not to place any such obligation on her at all. He fails to see the pedestal she's been forced to stand on, and given just how profound this is to her (along with other possible factors...she admires his determination to grow stronger, for instance) all of her defences seem to melt away around him; Jaune is the chink in the emotional armor. He is her Achilles' heel. And when that heel is struck by the arrow...it's hard to say what will remain of the warrior still standing.

I'll admit that such is the limited extent of my theory and evidence thus far, and I imagine there isn't a whole lot of time left to further speculate. Whether or not I have convinced you of what I think is a strong outcome, I'm just honestly glad I got the chance to say my piece before the next episodes air.

In the end, even if I were totally correct about my theory, many questions would remain. Pyrrha could still be defeated at some point, and just her being saved says nothing of how she responds to Jaune. And it might be the case that Jaune is put into a coma and does not die, or hell, maybe the “Spring Maiden's” powers will have something to do with “new life and rebirth,” and Ruby (I personally believe she's the most likely candidate so far, and her sister for the summer maiden, though I confess this is based off of rather loose evidence, and part of me thinks they wouldn't have two members of the same team both be maidens...but there's little good reason that couldn't be the case either, so for now it's moot) will help him pull a second coming of suave. I've heard somewhere that they had no intent on killing off anyone in the main 8, but I'm not sure from where; coma =/= death; plans can change, in any case. But now I'm in the realm of pure speculation, so I'll stop my tangent here. Thank you for reading.

P.S. This doesn't directly support my theory so much as it critiques the prevailing hypothesis, but I also must mention that part of me kind of doubts they would introduce the fall maiden, presumably give her backstory, let her speak with Pyrrha, come to terms with her own mortality, etc, have Pyrrha be in some way profoundly impacted by her death, only to then have Cinder come in and IMMEDIATELY crap all over that character development, rendering it a near-pointless build-up. Furthermore, it is suggested that the fall maiden's “essence” might in some way infuse itself with Pyrrha, and provided they take this angle (I find it more likely that they would actually use it, given they bothered to bring it up at all), it would seem like kind of a waste to then have this development be, again, IMMEDIATELY stripped away before it could in anyway be developed in meaningful capacity. Though, granted, it might be very interesting to see what could happen if her essence were to directly conflict with Cinder's, but I digress. In any case, at least forcing Cinder's retreat would allow the heroes a Pyrrhic victory, maintaining the direness of the overall situation without raising the question of “but why aren't they all dead, NOW?” Cinder could be challenged but ultimately remain undeterred in her master plan, more amused (if not a bit annoyed) than anything else. But I've little more than intuition and circumstantial evidence to support all of these highly contingent outcomes, so we'll just have to wait and see what waits in store.

P.P.S. If Jaune sacrifices himself to protect Pyrrha, that could mean giving up his own further character development, at least for a time. Even so, I believe the very act of saving Pyrrha might serve as his greatest moment of development of all, when he both realizes just what it means to be a hero and what it means to be in love with your best friend...a little too late, but tragedy sells. And, well, past that point, I personally think Pyrrha might just have more room to grow as a character. Jaune's development often seems to involve coming to terms with what he can and can't do, whilst Pyrrha's inner turmoil involves coming to terms with what is expected of you when you're capable of doing anything – everything.

P.P.S. I've realized that Jaune's bully, “Cardin,” could be understood as a reference to “Henry Beaufort,” the cardinal who sentenced Joan of Arc to die; I think being burned by “cinders” is still quite relevant. 