Talk:Maidens/@comment-25110963-20160324095332/@comment-410526-20160327174751

...I'm not sure how that invalidates anything I've said?

The Brotherhood's first act wasn't removing the Maidens from public knowledge. They could have existed before the Maidens were secret. Glynda simply says they were founded to protect the Maidens and mankind, Ironwood comments that they chose to remove them from the public eye later.

For the current group, the membership seems to be decided solely by Ozpin. Qrow says Ironwood (headmaster of Atlas) is only part of the group because Ozpin wants him there, which means Academy headmasters are not automatically inducted into the Brotherhood. If it works the same way, membership in the Brotherhood is only by appointment by Ozpin (or whoever the leader at the time is).

And anyway, the Brotherhood probably pre-dates the Academies. The 4 Academies were only set up following the Great War 80 years ago; the Maidens and the Brotherhood have existed for "thousands" of years (according to Glynda).