Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20151206164217/@comment-26206856-20151212042658

Cinders Plan

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Cinder is crafty, so whatever it is she wants to do will happen while shes far away and safe. She's not up to win the tournament, or get accepted into guardian status for mind games. If she wants to 'take away the power they have', she may be turning the countries against each other.

She's depleting the dust stores so Vale is short handed on it, leading only the wealthy to be able to defend themselves. It also puts strain on Mistral (the SDC) to keep supplying the stuff across terrain. White fang gain more supporters for unfair treatment and overworking the SDC workers which may put that country on edge.

The train/grimm/mech attack likely was aimed at mass casualties/destruction of overseas visitors and the surrounding area, and the impending fear would feed into a massive signal that the grimm would be attracted to, leading them to overrun the place. (They're waiting for the right moment to strike, as Ooblek states and luckily the situation and fear was quelled relatively quickly since everyone was on alert). Even though there is an abundance of hunters on hand, a swarm of infiltrating grimm would be a lot to handle, especially for the lower ranking/ newer ones, likely creating casualties and wearing them out.

The hack wasn't originally intended to get access to Ironwood, but came as a bonus. Likely, it was to disrupt connections during the train incident, increasing confusion and fear (with an added bonus of intelligence gathering beforehand). It would also broadcast select messages outside of Vale or cut off communication all together, essentially giving Cinder free reign over Vale, with the other countries ill prepared to come up against her when they start an investigation. By essentially wearing out the hunters/huntresses and isolating them to one geographical portion, they are easy to take out, and it opens up the other countries for attacks since their best of the best are overseas because of the tournament and dealing with this incident.

Cinder took the mess up in stride, allowing Torchwick to be captured, in hopes that if all violence stops, all fingers point to him being the master and leading everyone to believe they've thwarted the issue when they haven't. (Qrow sees around this with the Taijitsu reference, but Ironwood may not) This may slacken security, and will make it easier for her to move about during the festival.

Originally, she wanted someone to win the tournament, and likely would take them out somehow (probably by the WF) as a display to the public that the strongest of hunters is easily defeated, bringing doubts about them as being able protectors of the public, and higher ranking than police/military. OR, have Em or Merc win and have a public display of them doing something bad (killing someone most likely, like Puma book guy) creating the same doubt. This plays to Atlas (the country least liked in regards to it's methods) becoming a 'strength' or hope that people would switch focus towards from hunters, yet is apparently easily defeated by the queen's abominations, leading to more fear and panic when/ if that happens.

Now Penny falls into her hands. The public already has it's doubts about Atlas, but to have a chance to pit a metal robot vs a polarity huntress gives a high chance of revealing the android (Penny) for who she is and getting people to point a bigger finger at Atlas. (And also reveal Pyrrah's best kept 'secret', weakening her and to some degree, taking away her 'power'.) It also serves doubly to pit Ozpin and Ironwood's top contenders against each other, further embattling the two who are already at each other's throats.

The feeling Winter got when she arrived is exactly what Ozpin described, and Ironwood created. There is already heavy unease because of the ships guarding the festival and the train incident. As far as we know, Cinder's goal is to prime the gunpowder kegs, and hope or wait for an outside source (Black Queen, or the victims themselves) to ignite it, creating all the fireworks she can enjoy while watching the world burn.

The Guardian

The way I take it, the guardian is Ozpin's personal 'solution' for lack of a better term. It's something only he does, and by extension something that only occurs in Vale. This ties in with each country's culture and beliefs. Atlas is very militaristic, combining school and state. Vale is separate, and is likely upheld by or has it's citizens follow the role model of a 'hero of justice', the guardian. As such, he selects those who are liable to qualify, and upon accepting, may or may not fully let them in on the bigger problems going on outside their little bubble. The idea or 'good intention' behind this is to keep the bubble of citizens hopeful and happy, deterring the grimm, but if any of this gets slipped up, it will backfire because top officials are essentially hiding behind mirrors (that will shatter) and lying to the people. Thus both Ironwood and Ozpin have 'good intentions', (Ironwood with preparing with strength for battle) but both walk a very fine grey line of ethics. (That Cinder wants to bring to light and watch them crumble) Ruby will not be chosen yet if at all for this role; she is simply too young and carefree. She is much better suited for getting her nose into things she shouldn't and taking care of it. (The dark side of things outside the bubble) which is more the point behind a huntress.

Ruby

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The reasoning behind why Ozpin accepted Ruby into Beacon wasn't just a whim, her skill or some coincidence/resemblance (though perhaps some of it was involved). It was the whole point of Ooblek's team interview and why he didn't question Ruby at all. She wants to become a huntress to 'PROTECT THE PEOPLE. 'The other 3 are doing it for all the wrong reasons. (Revenge, funzies, just cause?...) I think there's a line between a guardian and a full blood huntress, and then there are the 'huntresses' that are just a title. Guardians oversee the people, are looked up to, and bring peace to the bright little bubble. Huntresses do the dirty work outside the bubble with the real dangers, and actually protect the people. The others that just make it through graduation get left in the bubble, thinking they're doing something or often fail/give up/ become stagnant after graduation.

Remember, there are continents without a main city, which could be either vacant, or overrun by another faction (likely the Black Queen and her abominations).

Ozpin's Fairy Tale?

What I want to know is why Ozpin asks about a favorite fairy tale, and who he asks. If he's asking Pyrrah, I would imagine it's to gather her character as an individual based on which she resonates with most before letting on about the guardian. A... 'final test' if you will. Or.. it will be a random lead-in to someone's backstory.