Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-27276671-20160214220907/@comment-410526-20160531140436

Interesting ideas... But I'm not really seeing much textual support for it and I don't think it'd be very elegant in terms of writing if they did go this route, simply because there's no foreshadowing and it would introduce a whole lot of pointless plot contrivances and unexpected swerves into the narratives.

If Ruby had that power, wouldn't Ozpin have attempted to use it, or at least mentioned it, when trying to solve the Fall Maiden crisis? It would really come out of nowhere for them to reveal Ruby is the crux of the Maidens' powers just out of the blue when she hasn't had anything to do with the Maidens in the entirety of Volume 3, where Maidens played a huge part. Unless even Ozpin doesn't know about Ruby's powers... Which still makes little sense because Ozpin and Qrow seem to be familiar with the significance of Silver Eyes. You could make this a plot twist, but it would still need heaps of messy explanations and 'soft' retcons to work.

I also really don't see the point in taking the powers only to give them up again either. If Ruby spends some significant amount of time searching for the Maidens and taking their powers, only to literally backtrack and give them out again (to different girls?), that would make that plotline seem extraordinarily pointless to me. You could justify it with being a misdirect but it'd still be a contrivance the story could really do without.

As for Salem-Ruby... I think it's very obvious that the parallel is between Salem and Ozpin, not Ruby. Salem clearly has something against Ozpin personally, has extended conversations with him directly, and I get the vibe that they've been facing off for a long time. I don't think Ruby, or Summer, or the Silver Eyed Warriors in general are Salem's nemeses. That's not to say the SEW aren't significant in the war, merely that it's Salem and Ozpin on opposite ends of the spectrum, not Salem and Ruby/SEWs.