Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-31953669-20180124124137/@comment-14909251-20180308071751

Alhazad2003 wrote: I'd be pleased as punch if Cinder's dead, if RT planned to kill her off in Volume 5 they did it most appropriately, and poetically. Ever since Cinder returned to active duty, her ego had been out of control. I can believe she saw herself as being, while not on Salem's level, definitely superior to humanity. And she was done in by her own lust for power, had she simply followed Salem's plan to the letter that whole fight would've been avoided. But no, she had to alter it to suit her ends, and wound up getting thrashed, and rightfully so. Near the end of that battle, you could tell she knew she was losing. Just like all bullies, she finally met someone stronger. And disappeared into the darkness, away from the world with no one watching.

This would give Emerald the perfect motivation to go full out evil in hopes of avenging her, if Cinder survives (and she really shouldn't) said motivation is taken away. And for what, I ask. So, as Blizzard said, they could easily show her backstory after her death, just to plug up the holes, if they so choose. But we'll see. I don't see why anyone should care or want Emerald to go full out evil. She is not even slightly as imposing a figure as Cinder. Why shouldn't Cinder survive? None of the reasons given in any way override the highly plausible reasons for her to be alive. Personally, I am beginning to think your first thought is what this is all about. For some reason people take the events of the show too seriously and wish ill on fictional characters so they hope she is dead.

Outside of the undeveloped backstory, there is also the fact that the whole Maiden power factor doesn't play out in any kind of way that is beneficial to the plot unless they go out of character. Either they start another Maiden hunt, which is lame and uninteresting given we just got done with one, or it transfers to someone she thought about. Despite what has been suggested, Emerald is not a likely recipient as that would go against what we've seen of Cinder's character. The likely recipients are either Raven, who already has powers, or Ruby, who really shouldn't be getting additional super-powers before she has even started exploring her current ones.

That alone is a reason to keep her alive and only one of several. Her Grimm parasite is another big reason to keep her alive as rehashing that with another character is a similar problem as having a new Maiden hunt and abandoning the plot point entirely would be a waste of serious potential. It isn't as if the series has not already had plenty of significant deaths to make her dying in any way necessary to darken the plot. Rather, keeping her alive and using it to go further down the Grimm corruption storyline is a far darker route. Plus, having it be a result of her defeat undercuts any suggestion that her not dying meant her loss was without consequence.

Definitely don't think it is "poetic" enough for her to die this way as she lost to someone who had equal power yet greater experience. Either way the loss would be extremely humbling. Only difference is with her alive she can take an even tougher hit to her ego, realize how far she still has to go, and thus drive her into yet greater desperation.