User blog comment:Zolnir/RWBY Volume 3: Theories/@comment-3257939-20151016032527/@comment-11188061-20151016050156

1. It's an assumption on the weapon part. I concede that it can easily be a sword/scythe; it's just an interesting take because for the longest time, I assumed that Ruby wanted to learn the scythe because that's what Summer uses.

2. We already know Winter/Weiss relationship is rocky. Even before looking towards Qrow her expression is a frown at best, further emphasized by Weiss' smile fading the moment Winter looked away.

3. Same goes with Qrow. I concede it's hard to see his expression with only half the face showing at the beginning, but the impression as he faces the screen is cold. This is further emphasized by Yang not smiling until Qrow walks away, and Ruby holding her silly grin as Qrow walks to Winter. You can argue that I'm overanalyzing, but Qrow isn't looking good in my opinion.

4. Not going to argue on Yang's backstory because either mine or yours fit regardless.

5. I'm not rambling, you're just not seeing. Yes, I'm saying that at the beginning after Summer's death, Taiyang and Qrow's way of protecting Ruby is to keep her safe behind locked doors. That means no Hunting whatsoever despite Taiyang telling a million stories about fantastic and glorious Huntsman adventures.

But after their close brush with death Taiyang and Qrow realizes that danger can come from anywhere, even from an innocent accident (in which Yang pulls her sister miles away from home and encounter Grimm) and they cannot always be there to protect Ruby all the time. Moreover, Ruby herself obviously wants to be a Huntress because she grew up listening about how cool being a Huntress is. So they have to make a choice.

They can either keep Ruby locked behind even safer doors, which is unrealistic because she's technically half a grown-up and insanely curious about everything. Or, they can teach her how to fight, and not just fight well, but become the best Huntress she can ever be. This is the best way they can think of to make sure she's safe - to become deadlier than anything in the world that may bring her harm. In case you didn't notice, yes, that includes teaching her to use one of the deadliest weapon in the world so she can be deadly to others, and let other be deadly to her.

So if you can't be bothered to read through things thoroughly, TL;DR, they are overprotective at the beginning, but no longer.

Also, Ruby always has people supervising her in secret. During her Signal years Uncle Qrow personally watched over her all the way to make sure she isn't hurt. When she was scouted into Beacon, she became entrusted to Professor Ozpin, whom we know is the strongest person of the Good side (Ozpin's VA called him a super end boss who won't fight until the world is literally ending during his interview), so she has always been in good care. Obviously, Team RWBY is a bunch of troublemakers and they've likely created trouble that even Professor Ozpin's didn't expect, but he has faith that Team RWBY will survive through the dangers despite unexpected variables.

6. I'm not going to argue about Taiyang; I've already said it can go both ways: either it's because he's crippled physically or mentally, or he's tied up with some business.