Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-35361750-20181016151806/@comment-10390252-20181017125644

Here's my thoughts:

Opening Narration

This is very obviously Salem talking to Emerald about the ground rules under which she will accept her into her service. Salem understands humanity well enough to know that Emerald cannot divorce herself from her feelings but that, the very moment they distract Emerald from her first priority - doing Salem's will - Salem will make her wish she died with Cinder.

I suspect that Tyrian is going to ram that lesson home and remind Emerald the degree to which she is vulnerable and in danger around Salem's cabal without Cinder to protect her.

The Floating Man

I'm guessing that Volume 6 will ram home the degree to which The Wizard is Remnant's equivalent of the Avatar of the Spirits. He's lived life after life and filled many different roles. Sometimes, he's been venerated, maybe even worshipped as demi-divine (which may be close to the truth, if he is the Light Brother's son).

The Floating Man is a previous incarnation of The Wizard; I suspect that he will turn out to be the one prior to Ozpin, making him the Wizard at the time of the Great War.

The Old Woman

The minute I saw her, I immediately thought: "Yep! Maz Kanata expy!" She's going to fill the same role as Maz did in The Force Awakens too: The Wise Old Sage who will be teaching the youngsters little bits of truth and reminding the older characters of some old and still-painful mistakes and the consequences of these to the present day.

I suspect that The Old Woman is going to be the widow of The Floating Man and thus knows Ozpin and Oscar on a certain uncomfortable level. I suspect that she's along for the ride because no-one outside of the group knows as much about the defences on the Relics as she does and Ozcar really doesn't want her left around for Salem's cabal to pick up and interrogate.

The Parting of the Ways

I agree with other posters on the Trailer's talk thread that RWBYOQ and JNR will be separated in some way during the Train-top Fight.

I suspect that JNR will be stuck in Anima whilst RWBYOQ will head on by foot to Solitas (looking to cross the ocean by way of a fishing boat or something from a northern Mistrali village). JNR will encounter the female gang-boss, called The Madam by some posters (who I think will be Mistral's answer to Roman Torchwick but closer in moral alignment to Junior). In order to be smuggled to Solitas, JNR will need to do a job for her or solve some mystery that has long plagued her, all without sacrificing their moral and ethical standards.

Oscar's Despair

I think that RWBYOQ will grow closer to the old lady who, although grumpy, will become their mischievious old surrogate grandma. That will make it all the harder when Salem's forces strike at mid-season and either kill or capture her. That will be what sets Oscar off. In the end, despite all of Ozpin's help and their preparations, he had failed her, just as he has failed so very many women (and possibly men too) that he has loved over the centuries.

This may create an interesting subplot to any Rosegarden or other Oscar-centired ship. He may be wary of letting anyone he feels affection for get too close to him because he's afraid of losing them too.

The Relic of Knowledge

I thnk that Qrow will be very surprised when Ozcar insists that Ruby carry the Relic of Knowledge. However, when it resizes itself to fit on her belt, it becomes very apparent that she is indeed its rightful Bearer. I wonder if being around the relic will affect Ruby, vastly increasing her knowledge and thus also improving her ability to create tactics and strategies. Yang, especially, will be very disturbed if the ancient magic of the Relic starts changing her baby sister too dramatically.

What of the scene where a frightened Ruby is holding the Relic protectively whilst Yang, Weiss and Blake are about to mess up Oscar badly? I'm wonderiing if, like a certain Ring, only certain ones, destined Bearers, can hold the Relics without being corrupted by its power. Oscar is still young enough that he is haivng a hard time resisting the Relic's Call and tries to snatch it from Ruby, only to get a face-full of Yang's prosthetic fist and Weiss and Blake ready to make jerky of him.

Even hurting and with Ruby quite terrified of his savage need for the Relic, Oscar can't