Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20151213162620/@comment-14909251-20151216233449

In all this talk of them not really being from Haven, I think maybe we are missing a key point. Previously, it was said by Rooster Teeth that Mercury and Emerald have their own team that doesn't incude Cinder. The fact their other two team members are not present may suggest they are not part of their little criminal group. When Mercury and Emerald first show up, it is stated they arrived from outside of Vale and right around the time people were arriving for the Vytal Festival. Both Mercury and Emerald are young enough to be students, so perhaps they are students.

Cinder and Neo are obviously not students from Haven for various reasons, but if Mercury and Emerald are students they may have vouched for them as substitutes because their teammates couldn't come. People would be less likely to question the team's legitimacy if two real Haven students were involved. Neo and Cinder only needed to be present for the less visible team portion of the tournament and after that Emerald and Mercury participating would not arouse a good deal of suspicion as they would be actual Haven students.