Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4010415-20170717151617/@comment-14138255-20170718021406

The Devil&#039;s Advocate WP wrote: People can complain about it being a flashback, but to me this is actually very interesting. When Winter first showed up in Volume 3, I felt their relationship was a bit curious. This short just drives home my belief that Winter is not significantly better than Jacques. She is definitely less self-interested than Jacques, but the cold harshness is still present. Probably some impact from being the first-born of Jacuqes and also probably a product of her military history. This probably foreshadows a bit at the dynamic we might expect when Weiss shows up all: "Hey, sis, I ran away from home. Can I stay with you?" Winter may not give her quite the warm welcome she expects, not that I expect her to be extremely harsh.

Anyway, let's talk about that song, specifically the opening line: "It starts with the unexpected loss of something dear. The warmth that comforted and cradled just disappears." I mean, woah, what is that about? That is far more intense than the kind of lyrics she has had in her past songs. What it sounds like is that a sudden death had a very major impact on Weiss or the whole family. One possibility is that it refers to Nicholas Schnee, but that wouldn't be unexpected based on what was said in World of Remnant. Another possibility is this relates to the White Fang and the "executions" and "disappearance" that happened in their conflict with the SDC. Before anyone suggests it, that lyric makes it seem like far more than something more figurative such as a "loss of innocence" from dealing with the reality of her family. Perhaps not a death, but something of similar magnitude. I'd say that's true, but for different reasons. Jacques is cold, but it's genuinely because he doesn't (or at least stopped at one point) care about Weiss' wellbeing and desires, while Winter is cold because she wants Weiss to be self-reliant so she herself can fufill her dreams.

Weiss breaking out of her house and expecting to stay with a no doubt overworked Winter, who might be more prone to snapping at her due to the stress of being stationed in a country that doesn't trust them (and is also practically the White Fang's capital).

I still think it's foreshadowing Winter's death or motal wounding, supported by Winter saying she won't always be there to save her, and we can probably assume Winter was the major mother figure in Weiss' life, guiding her from her own experience for the day she'd rebel on her own.