Talk:Jaune Arc/@comment-27762836-20170314032617/@comment-4010415-20170320134030

Salem: It is because of the Maiden's power. Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment.

We later saw some of Cinder's "treatment", wherein the way Salem spoke made it sound like there was something, possibly a Grimm, that Cinder was dealing with.

Salem: Do you feel it? Don't fight it, girl. It can sense your trepidation. You must make it dread you.

Cinder used a Grimm beetle to steal the first half of Amber's Fall Maiden powers. The beetle came from the palm of a glove, and that glove dissolved on Cinder's arm, followed by her tattoo appearing on her back in a similar fashion.

Qrow said that "a single look" from a Silver-Eyed Warrior could "strike a Grimm down." We know that Ruby's Silver Eye powers were definitely effective against the Dragon, that's for sure. If Cinder has the Grimm beetle inside of her, then Ruby's Silver Eye powers could've targeted the Grimm beetle inside of Cinder (with Cinder's flesh unfortunately in the way) or counted Cinder as partially Grimm, and that's why it actually had an effect on her.

The Silver-Eyed Warriors' powers are specifically said to strike Grimm down and be feared by Grimm, which makes it seem like these are good-aligned powers. The Wizard gave the Maidens magical powers to use to help people, so their origin is good-aligned and has nothing to do with Grimm, the beings that Silver Eye powers are specifically said to affect. I just think it'd be weird if Maidens have a built-in weakness to Silver-Eyed Warriors unless the Wizard actually intended for that to happen.

When the two possibilities we're looking at are "That Grimm beetle is inside Cinder, and that's what she's trying to make dread her" and "All Maidens are weak against Silver-Eyed Warriors", I'm gonna lean toward the former, that the Grimm beetle is inside of Cinder.

Also, when did Qrow ever say that the Maidens were the "turning point" of the war? If you're talking about the Great War, there was never a single mention of Maidens in that. The only indication of Maidens was merely implied in the "unusually violent weather" that made things harder for Mantle and Mistral (possibly Vacuo's leader's doing). Meanwhile, what Qrow actually stated was the turning point was the King of Vale slaughtering Mantle and Mistral's forces, which most theories assume was with the help of at least one Relic.

Quote from WoR: Great War: "But it all ended in the Vacuo campaign. Mistral and Mantle knew that if they could take the Dust mines of Vacuo, they would effectively cut off the supply of Dust to their enemy. It was to be a final devastating blow to Vale and Vacuo. They were only half right. The king of Vale personally led his army into battle alongside the soldiers of Vacuo and decimated the enemy forces. Crown atop his head and armed only with a sword and his scepter, he laid waste to countless men.

As the sand was soaked red with blood, the Grimm came in droves. It was the single deadliest battle of the war, and legends of the greatness and terror of the Warrior King were born that day. Historians will tell you that most of these stories are nothing but grandiose hyperbole. Unusually violent weather conditions, combined with Mantle's unfamiliarity with desert combat, are likely what led to such a high death count. But whatever the reasoning, everyone bowed to the king of Vale by the time it was over. The Great War had ended. The world was ready to live under the rule of Vale. But the king refused."

Nothing about Maidens being the big turning point of the war, everything about the King of Vale who was armed only with a sword and a scepter.