Talk:Emerald Sustrai/@comment-10390252-20140725082127

Okay, I think we can deduce a bit about Emerald even from her two appearances to date (Best Day Ever  and the Lazer Team livestream).

Roman calls her a 'street rat' and I think he's being literal here. She's a homeless orphan who, like many of her class, turned to petty theft to survive. When she was young, Cinder found her and took her in. Seeing potential in her, she's trained her to be a Dark Huntress (watch Emerald and Mercury's actions - they think and act like Huntsmen). Because Cinder has given her everything, Emerald is very, very loyal to her.

The problem? Emerald has an emotional content to her relationship with Cinder that isn't reciprocated. She clearly sees Cinder as a mother figure whilst Cinder sees her as a foot-soldier (potentially an expendable one). I wouldn't be surprised if she has an abused child's rationalisations for Cinder's actions - being burnt by Cinder is, in her view 'an act of love'.

I think that, when Emerald and Mercury are under-cover at Beacon, it's going to be an eye-opener. I think that Ruby's open-hearted nature will be a big shock for her. She can act and pretend but Ruby will genuinely try to befriend her, possibly the first positive emotional connection Emerald has had with anyone since her childhood with Cinder. She won't defect but it will divide her heart and, when the chips are down and she has to face Ruby on the field of battle...? She may question Cinder's actions and she may hesitate in a fight. That may save her life.

I have a mental image in my head of, in the very last episode, Roman, escaping in disguise, is confronted by Emerald. Emerald offers him a fat, bulging wallet she pickpocketed from someone. He smiles, puts it away in his jacket, beckons her to follow and they flee to a blissful life together of petty larceny, house-breaking and street crime.