Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20160110165745/@comment-5414218-20160112015925

Zolnir wrote: I wonder how Cinder evaluates Ruby.

Because out of all the individuals in Team RWBY, Ruby probably appears (and even is) the weakest link despite being appointed a leader.

Yang is the onesan and approved best solo duelist in the team (beacuse she's selected to participate in the singles fight).

Weiss is a perfectionist whom we know scored the highest in dueling classes. We have to assume that her study grades are great as well.

Blake is a former terrorist and has showed the tendency to be prone to correction by force. Not to mention she's crazy good to use in Grimm Eclipse.

ruby is the only one who hasn't 'proved' herself on show that she's a fighter equal to her teammates, even though she supposedly wielded one of the deadliest weapons in history. Yes, her ability to come up with crazy ideas and unite her team is an asset, but ultimately her role thus far has been to support her team through and through. Never forget that she was the one who got took out in a snigle punch by a White Fang mook. In the end, she is just 15 years old.

So yes, it's certainly important to take down Ruby to defeat RWBY, since she is the core that holds them together. But did Cinder underestimate Ruby's combat capabilities just because she doesn't shine as bright as her teammates? I don't think Cinder has given such a deep analysis about team RWBY and probably cares equally about each member, which is still probably not much.

That said, Ruby is the lucky bastard that was always there at the right time. In the first episode with Roman, later during Cinder's infiltration, in Mountain Glenn and now with Mercury. Even if she's the least accomplished of the team, she qualifies as "the annoying one", which is more than what WBY represent to Cinder.