Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20141031002615/@comment-24891101-20141031013320

Zolnir:

The issue is that since Ironwood is a member of a foreign military, his allegiance to Ozpin is almost entirely down to their friendship. That Ironwood, a foreign general is now in charge of security only for the festival changes little. He brought a battalion with him for that purpose, he's now got a legal mandate to support Ozpin. That he has doubts about Ozpin's ability to hold onto the plot does create a rift, but all this does is make it more difficult to disrupt the Vytal Festival, since Ironwood's security net will be tighter, in procedure, as well as manpower deployment. Ozpin now obeys Ironwood, but only in the context of security; he can continue his investigation, and as soon as he brings actionable intel to his old friend, Ironwood can act on it.

I do see the implications, they're just not as far-reaching as you surmise. Depending on the particulars of the Black Queen, Ironwood's mechanized army might be compromised, in which case it will be easier to disrupt, but that wouldn't change the fact that Ironwood's men would still be there anyway, since he's friends with Ozpin. They now are legally empowered to provide security. This change of security command means that Ironwood will be embarassed in turn, rather than further discrediting Ozpin.

Clearly Torchwick's capture is part of the plan, but I don't see him manipulating his way out. Certainly not past Ironwood, security-paranoiac that he is.