Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25266931-20161128203912/@comment-5430952-20161202232035

KNN005 wrote: Not just that. To me a story falls apart if there's plot holes or amateur writing. A writing a character to be just super selfish and evil with no reason why and/or no redeeming traits seems like a bad road to go down if the story is suppose to be top shelf stuff. If we accept that Raven "just doesn't give a fuck" and no matter who you are if you're not in her tribe you can burn in hell that's almost like giving the writers a get outta jail free card when it comes to development of character. We as the audience need to challenge the writers to go deeper into their mythos and lore. Why does she feel that way? Is it a facade? Is she really a torture soul bogged down by a tribal tradition? Does she not want to hurt the poor but has to steal to survive? I don't want to just across the board label her as evil and that be that. I feel your pain, KNN, I don't like such shallow characters either. But remember, the writers are professionals, they are not bad fanfiction writers who create such characters so we, the audience, will feel no remorse when they meet their inevitable fate. No, I'd say RT has somethign suitable planned for Raven within the next two volumes or so, what that may be remains to be seen.

As for her being evil, I'd more label her woefully misguided. She's not threatening all life, though she is a real and present danger to the people of southern and central Anima, basically anyone who lives outside Mistral. She seems aware of the looming threat of Salem, but instead of returning to the heroes' side once more, she's choosing to fight the coming threat on her terms. As Arkantos has often said, that's her choice, though said choice will have consequences.

And while I still can't figure out why she left Tai so long ago, it's starting to look like she simply wants to keep her tribe and the Xiao Longs from running into each other. As long as both stay on their side of the fence, all is well in her book. And whatever feelings she does still have for Tai and Yang are buried so down deep that no one can tell she was ever in love. Maybe that was the whole idea, sacrificing her own happiness for their sake, so they'd never have to endure what she did growing up. Perhaps she assumed Yang would be happier in Vale, thus she left her behind and never looked back.

Not to mention if Qrow deemed her a lost cause he wouldn't even keep in contact with her, so he still has hope in her. It's not too late for her, but time is running out. Any more Shions and she may indeed be past the point of no return. And her end will not be pretty, not at all.