Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-6920530-20131125175119/@comment-11188061-20131220085057

No, I'm really considering it. If we are to assume that Cinder Falls isn't the final boss, then it is entirely possible that she's just one of the pawns of something much bigger, and that her appearance in the Season 1 Opening was meant to do exactly that - showing her off as the First Pawn of the game.

It's not wrong, you know, this theory. This is just Season 1 of Volume 1, and RWBY is planned for years at least (with a generous use of time skip). Cinder can be just a pawn in the larger scheme of things.