User blog comment:Marinettedupaincheng1011/Summer Rose/@comment-4010415-20170505194642

Let's see, what information do we have...

There's Yang's story from Burning the Candle. She told Blake that Summer used to do missions around Vale, but then one day, she went on a mission and didn't make it back home.

This tells us that whatever happened to Summer, it happened while she was on a mission.

There's the stone with Summer's name on it, which Ruby visited in the Red Trailer, Round One, and End of the Beginning. Gray Haddock (Roman Torchwick's voice actor, who helps with production of the show) called it Summer's "gravestone". Though, it may just be an empty grave to represent that she's gone, even though her body may or may not have been found. If they didn't find her body, they probably assumed it was eaten by Grimm.

The song Red Like Roses Part 2 seems to be about Ruby remembering how she felt when Summer disappeared or died. It also appears to be an imaginary conversation between Ruby and Summer. If Summer is dead, then it's her "speaking from beyond the grave." The lyrics sang by Casey are Ruby's words, and the lyrics sang by Sandy (the adult woman with a more mature voice) are Summer's words. We even have confirmation that it's Ruby and Summer because Jeff Williams, who wrote the song, said, in reference to it, "Ruby" and "her mother" at a convention panel.

Part of Ruby's lyrics say: "All of the joy that I had known for my life was stripped away from me the minute that you died"

So, at the very least, Summer's family believes that she is dead.

Ruby's lyrics also say: "I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right."

So, at least whatever happened to Summer wasn't planned by Summer.

Summer's lyrics say "I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to"

Protect her from what?

Summer's lyrics also say "I never planned that I would leave you there alone. I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home. And all the times I swore that it would be okay, now I'm nothing but a liar, and you're thrown into the fray"

Summer had every intention on going back home and thought she would see Ruby again. I wonder what she means when she says "you're thrown into the fray". Was it always a possibility that Ozpin and the others would turn to having Ruby help them if something happened to Summer? If so, then by disappearing or dying, she sentenced Ruby to having to face the "evils no one even knows about" (Qrow's words) and that's why her lyrics say "I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to". But this is just speculation.

Summer's lyrics also say "I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do. I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you"

Whatever happened to Summer was probably a result of her having to make a sacrifice, and because of this, Ruby lost her mother.

Summer's lyrics also say "But, baby, please don't do what I did. I don't want you to waste your life in vain"

So, whatever she did, she doesn't want Ruby to do that. She feels that it would mean wasting her life or throwing her life away.

And then we have a moment in the lyrics where they "speak" back and forth to each other:

Summer: "You're not the only one who needed me; I thought you understood"

Ruby: "You were the one I needed, and you left me as I always feared you would"

Summer: "Would I change it if I could?"

Both singing at the same time: "It doesn't matter how. The petals scatter now. Every nightmare just discloses, it's your blood that's red like roses"

Maybe whatever Summer's sacrifice was involved the good of other people, not just herself or Ruby. But Ruby, being a child at the time, was more concerned about the fact that she lost her mother because of her mother's actions. There might be uncertainty if Summer would make the same decision if she had been able to go back in time.

The lyrics "it's your blood that's red like roses" changes the view of the lyrics about "red like roses", both in this song and the first Red Like Roses from the Red Trailer.

From the first song: "Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest." Jeff Williams actually talked about this, while talking about Red Like Roses Part 2, and he said "It's blood." So, these lyrics are apparently meant to give us the image of blood "filling" Ruby's dreams and leading her to the place Summer "rests" (her grave).

The chorus of Part 2: "Red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me always closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you." These lyrics are apparently meant to give us the image of blood influencing Ruby's dreams, bringing her closer to the emptiness and sadness that has taken Summer's place. So, basically, in the place in Ruby's heart where Summer once was, there's just emptiness and sadness. Which I think just means that Ruby feels emptiness and sadness whenever she thinks about Summer. Which makes sense. Lots of people still feel sad when they think about the loved ones they've lost, even years later.

In The Next Step (the first episode of volume 4), Hazel says "We've dealt with their kind before" in reference to Silver-Eyed Warriors. This is the biggest clue that we have gotten. It means that Salem's group have killed Silver-Eyed Warriors before, which means it's possible that they were the ones who killed Summer.

Of course, it's highly unlikely that Cinder was the one who killed her. This is because the crew have told us that Cinder isn't much older than the Beacon students. Students graduate at about age 21. Cinder is likely in her early 20s. Ruby and Yang were young children when Summer disappeared or died, so Cinder was probably just a kid too. This means she was too young to have been Summer's killer. So, it had to have been someone else who worked for Salem.

From all of this, my theory is pretty much:


 * Summer may have been working for Ozpin, using her Silver Eye powers for the more dangerous, secretive missions that were about fighting against Salem more directly.
 * One day, she left home for a mission, thinking that she would survive it and go back home to see her family.
 * During the mission, something happened. She may have ended up fighting someone who worked for Salem. Maybe she had to make a decision and ended up choosing the good of the many over the good of the few, leading to her making a sacrifice.
 * For whatever reason, she was unable to go back home.