Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26173711-20200204212304/@comment-25936766-20200206005449

It does feel conditional. But the problem is, the condition is simple: if you trust him, he will trust you.

Ozpin basically shot down every idea he voiced, as if he didn't trust on Ironwood or his forces. And yet he demanded Ironwood to trust him always. Thats not the way to build trust, and Ozpin's inaction leading to the Fall of Beacon just works as justification for Ironwood.

RWBY on the other hand weren't as obvious or apparent about their distrust of Ironwood. The worst they got was with Mantle and declaring martial law, but at the time the idea was merely in consideration.

And on top of that they did introduce themselves to Ironwood by being honest about their actions, so he had few reasons to assume they could lie to him or take advantage of him. So he trusted them and even helped them in many ways.

But then it turned out they went behind his back and helped an at-the-time enemy, and even acted like they had done nothing wrong. At least when Oscar told him about Salem he apologized for lying. --- TL;DR: Ironwood trusts you if you trust him. If you don't, then he won't.