Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25266931-20170206193307/@comment-25266931-20170212061548

If you let a person slap you and tell you to know your place and you clam up, you've got a problem. It's either lack of self-esteem, hyper devotion, or some mix of that. Emerald is so grateful to Cinder for bringing her off the street and into a life of murder that she will do a lot (if not all) of what she says. She wants to be around Cinder so bad she didn't want Merc there. She does this again when she shoves Merc aside to get near Cinder at Season 4's start. In the hellish prom episode got a vibe there too when Cinder came back from her infiltration mission. Though that might just be me being bias on that one.

Emerald weakness is this devotion. Because if she were on her own calling her own shots, living her own life, she'd not have to die like a dog when Cinder and Salem finally go down. If Em wakes up and shows more of the compassion hinted at during the fall of Beacon, fine. But I think that ship has sailed.

We've discussed Em, Cinder and Merc for a while. But here's an angle that is worth another nod at:

Cinder got harassed by Watts at Season 4's start. Seemed like something he does often. What if Cinder got Emerald and Merc so there would be someone to be loyal to her. For when Cinder plans to bump off the competition, namely Tyrian and Watts for starters. Or maybe Cinder got Emerald and Merc so she could have moral support to help with what could be an "invincible villain" facade. Maybe deep down she knows she the "runt of the litter" in the evil circles around Salem, and so to gain their respect or at least Salem's she's trying hard to build her own little armed force. An assassin and a master thief. Couple that with the power she gained and the fall of Beacon and Cinder likely thought Salem would be pleased. Salem seems to dote on her and I'd even go so far as to think Cinder is her favorite. But I always think that Salem wants to turn Cinder into Tyrian. So Cinder can be her own little zealot complete with all the Maiden powers. A better Tyrian than Tyrian.

If you consider that that might be true, and remember she's obsessed with domination, then is it any wonder why she wants absolute obedience from her posse? She wants to form her own crew and play at being Salem to delude herself that she can become like Salem. As if Salem would ever allow Cinder to stand as her equal. But when you're fixated on something you have a hard time seeing the truth. Truth like "this is wrong" "She's using me" "she only cares about herself" "if I fail too much I'll be thrown away" "if I serve her too long I'll become like him (Tyrian)".