Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-72.233.169.11-20160215142931/@comment-27564588-20160216202424

72.233.169.16 wrote: LiveandSound wrote: Except that we already know how. It's the "why" that matters. Okay, where exactly does it say how Salem will attempt to achieve her goals? If her plan was "just have the Grimm attack people repeatedly" there's no reason for her to go through this long process. Sure, it takes away peoples defenses, but there are still lots of hunstmen, dust and weapons. Just because the kingdoms aren't working directly with one another doesn't mean that they are completely at her mercy. For all intents and purposes, each kingdom could continue on individually: the series never says that the reason the Grimm haven't destroyed humans is because Remnant's people are working together.

Besides that, since we don't know why she's doing this, we don't know if her plan is almost complete or if there still is a way to go. In fact, her monologue at the end implies that we don't know some things, as she states she wants to take away hope from humans. While what happened at Vale was a trajedy, it isn't enough to get people into such despair they can't/won't fight the Grimm-or at least, stop doing whatever it is that is impeding Salem's plans.

There are only four kingdoms and Huntsman academies in the world. One of each is now down, along with any military, economy, or technology (like the tower) that they had. In addition, the Atlesian military has taken massive hits in leadership, manpower, equipment, and PR. The presence of the White Fang during the attach most likely sent Faunus rights back decades. Not to mention that since the Vytal festival was at Vale, who knows how many young Huntsmen (children, mind you) are missing or even dead because of the attack.

Vale was so much more than a tragedy, it was a calculated blow to mankind's collective throats.