User blog:Zolnir/Zolnir's Completely Random Speculations

As the title says this section would be filled with completely random. thoughts and assumptions that I’ve not put into major blog posts simply because I had not thought of them until afterwards, or just outright forgot. Also this is mostly Episode 8 until I can think of something not from it.



1)     The scene where Nora was riding an Ursa. While it looked like Nora was tormenting the Ursa for fun all the way until she appeared, it actually looks more like she’s after something small (maybe a flower, small animal, etc) and in front of the Ursa right before it fell. Notice that she looked to the ground first – not the Ursa itself – and said, ‘It’s broken.’ If it was the Ursa she was talking about, then wouldn’t it be more natural to say, ‘It’s dead’ instead? Later, she gave the Ursa a long look of disgust and ‘Ew’ for breaking whatever thing that is.

So obviously there are some missing stories here which we won’t get to see until the Blue Ray discs come out.



2)     Team CRDL was meant to have some scenes in the Emerald Forest, but was cut out later due to constraints. Otherwise if they were not meant to have a scene from the start, it would’ve been far more efficient to just leave them as silhouettes during the launch sequence, and reveal them only at the end of Episode 8. The possible significance of their scenes are endless, but it would probably show something like, seeing Team RWBY and JNPR in trouble but decide not to help them, because it’s not part of the mission. Maybe.



3)     The Black magic circle we see Weiss Schnee employed temporarily when she shot Ruby out like a bullet. This is a bit hard to explain without some drawn images, so forgive me if I gave you the wrong idea somewhat.

First, the magic circle Weiss Schnee used had kinetic properties; we already know that. We also know that it could be used to ‘push’ a person, and by that logic it could also ‘pull’ and thus hold Ruby stationary on air.

Now then. There are two ways to explain the black magic circle. One would be that the spell was put ‘on hold’. The basic Schnee circle is white in color, but since Weiss needed to propel Ruby far stronger and faster than the basic form could do, she needed to use a different form of Schnee circle. She needed to use Red Dust in the basic Schnee circle in order to produce the required explosive power. So basically, the black Schnee circle is simply the in between process.

First, Weiss created the basic white Schnee circle (that could push). Then she empties the violet Dust that creates the push motion, leaving only the empty, Schnee circle behind, which was black in color. Note that because Weiss Schnee’ is using an advanced form of Dust technology, the color of the Schnee circle does not necessarily reflect its original Dust color, just as how the basic Schnee circle is white even though Weiss was using Violet Dust.

Later on, she simply loaded the circle with Red Dust, and fired.

The other much simpler explanation would be that, since the White circle pushes an object, the Black (opposite color) would pull it instead. And the Red one pushes harder.

Note that both theories have flaws, and there still aren’t enough episodes that neatly reveal the nature of Dust and the technology surrounding it. These are here simply as food for thought.



4)     You won’t actually realize the enormity and ingenuity of Ruby’s plan until you scrutinize every last bit of it.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">We start by realizing how Ruby was actually a pretty damn good planner when she doesn’t let emotion get into her head. She has somewhat an inkling of Blake’s abilities (scaling usually impassable terrains), understood about Weiss’ Dust abilities (either seeing firsthand in a scene we did not know, or guessing Weiss could do more with her Air Step), and knew Yang better than anyone else. With such a desperate situation at hand (two boss class Grimms and a split up group) she managed to employ every single resource available in her head and come up with the right plan to kill at least one Grimm once and for all.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">The first one would be Yang. Her job would be to lead the bird down a direct collision path with the mountain cliff, which was probably the hardest and most improbable job to do in the entire plan. The Nevermore needed to be distracted long enough that it would not notice – or could not help but fall along that way – that it was crashing into a goddamn cliff. However, Ruby knew Yang had technique, and that she was the best shot out of all of them (Only Yang had consistently hit the Nevermore with Dust fire when they were trying to shoot it down together). Ruby probably only suggested the ‘shoot its eye’ part, but Yang – being the big sister and all – made certain that the Nevermore would crash into the cliff by leaping into its mouth and gave it some much needed breakfast.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">The next one in the loop would be Blake. No, it’s not actually Weiss’ turn yet. You might think that the girl did almost nothing except passing her weapon to Yang to help create the makeshift slingshot, but no, her role was much bigger (and subtle; good ol’ ninja) than that. Remember how Weiss’ Air Steps (The long line of Schnee circles) aligned all the way from the bottom to the top of the cliff? A huge majority of it is Blake’s work. Her job was to sprinkle the Dust (Weiss very likely passed a pouch/vial or two to her) along the surface of the cliff, in a vertical line so that Weiss could remotely activate her long row of Air Steps (When fighting Weiss, go close quarters. Otherwise she’ll violate you from kilometers away LOL). Don’t forget, even with technology Weiss still needs Dusts to actually create all those Air Steps. Again, out of everyone only Blake could scale those walls quickly enough to set up the entire plan, and return in time before the Nevermore fell asleep because of boredom.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Weiss Schnee’s job was to: 1) hold the bird in place with her Ice Dust, and 2) shoot Ruby not just at the Nevermore, but also at that thin, absolutely invisible line of Dusts (though perhaps Weiss could detect it) so that Ruby could actually make use of it, then activate all of them remotely. In a sense, Ruby had entrusted Weiss with 3 jobs (Yang and Blake 1 and a half each), meaning that she trusted – no, not just that, required – Miss Perfect to perfectly complete all of her tasks no matter how hard they may be. The entire setup still would’ve failed if Weiss had slipped up even once (if her aim was just a tiny bit off, if she couldn’t activate the spells etc). So when you see Ruby worrying when Weiss tried to have the last laugh by replying, “Can I?” she really has every right to be.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Ultimately, all her companions did was to set things up, and it was up to Ruby to perform the final, most taxing execution, and she did it beautifully. At this point it was already clear who was going to be the leader of the team. Weiss is a leader herself, but she lacked the imagination to think outside the box, and would always follow the most logical possible path presented (Reach the checkpoint with the relic, because that was the mission). If one day the darkness came invading once more, and the only logical path to take was to lie down and die, Weiss would still struggle and fight with everything she’s got, but that’s all. In the end she will still die, because – this is somewhat hilarious – her fighting style was just too honest. Ruby however, could think of something else. More importantly, she could do things, and that’s a quality most people just don’t have these days.

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd; text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo1">5)     Nora does care for people other than just Ren. She did not disregard Jaune as ‘useless’ and jump over the bridge by herself, despite her rather rough method at sending both of them over. We can assume that she’s a person who does not discriminate.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">However, Nora may come to dislike Phyrra in the beginning, mainly because it was her spear to the Death Stalker’s eye that caused Ren to be hurt. Despite their near miraculous teamwork they barely knew each other (this is true for both teams) and likely we’ll be seeing a lot of discords in the next few episodes, and how they come to work together.

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd; text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo1">6)     Ren’s life with Nora meant worrying for a disaster every second, and cleaning up the terrible mess she made afterwards. He would be the second joke material after Jaune. That, and he gives me the Neville Longbottom vibes, don’t ask me why.

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd; text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo1">7)     The best fighter in the series is Phyrra hands down. Now that I have time to measure their abilities objectively, no one even felt close to being as good as her.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt">Stamina. She ran all the way with a Death Stalker behind her tail, managing to dodge most of its blow except for that one time she got smacked onto the ground. Never once did we ever see her get tired except that one time she unlocked Jaune’s Aura, which was probably more taxing on the mind than body.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Strength. While she could not compare to Nora, remember that she did crash through a bunch of trees like they’re just mere twigs.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Technique and Discipline. Absolutely flawless. Not once did she make a mistake in her moves throughout all of the Emerald Forest episodes. Her triple strike in Episode 8 – First redirecting the majority of the Death Stalker’s blow sideways with her shield before countering with a mean cut to the face; next using the chance created by Jaune’s block to stab at the other pincer with explosive force to punch it away (essentially making sure that her strength is all focused on one point to actually shove that gigantic mass), and finally when Nora covered their retreat she immediately caught onto the exposed opening and tossed a spear right at the Death Stalker’s bigger left eye. Picture perfect, seriously.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Also, remember that when Phyrra gave Nora a heads up, the latter had also fired a Dust shot to propel herself higher, Phyrra timed her push and jump absolutely perfect to provide the maximum burst of force. While Nora may have stolen the majority of the limelight, her support throughout the entire maneuver was absolutely critical and without it, the fight might’ve been completely lost.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Well that, and she has a hilarious stage smile.

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd; text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo1">8)     Jaune. His quickness at taking advantage of the situation, lack of hesitation when making calls, and finally courage to charge in and block a Death Stalker’s attack proved that strength in battle isn’t everything. I’m a little sad that he may be the only ‘normal’ human in the entire cast – though I guess his great Aura would eventually be put to use somehow – but the guy definitely has the makings of a hero.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Also, as mentioned before in a reply, Jaune may not be as useless in battle as many people think. As mentioned by Glynda, Jaune’s transcript had described him to be somewhat successful, so it’s hard to believe that he doesn’t have any redeeming qualities at all other than just leadership skills (since it’s not a measurable quality, it could only be an extra remark among the other measurable ones).

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Remember that Glynda said, “I don’t care what his transcript says, that Jaune fellow was not ready for this level of combat.” This meant that the transcript assumed that Jaune was ready for at least some level of combat. On the other hand, we see Jaune barely able to handle his own shield and never even used his sword once, which was unbelievable at best.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">So either the transcript’s records were faked, or perhaps he was good in the past until he lost his memory or something? That would be incredibly clichéd, but still a reasonable explanation.

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd; text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo1">9)     Weiss Schnee. She is at heart very much a child and acts tough and bitchy on the outside to protect herself. In many ways she was about as childish as Ruby, which was one of the reason why she could tolerate Ruby, because she probably was worse when she’s younger. Take for example when she was hanging onto the Nevermore, all alone and terrified while yelling, “How could you leave me!?” The girl was scared to death to put it bluntly, because it was a situation she did not want to put herself in, and could not imagine a way out of the situation. There might be some limitations to creating an Air Step, but during the launching sequence she did create a platform out of thin air, so the conclusion I drew was: she panicked. She completely panicked and did not know what to do and when she finally fell and her first response to that was to close her eyes and wait for inevitable impact. And then there was her snapping at Ruby when the latter did not react as expected (by praising that she could definitely make the shot, if you hadn’t guessed it already). And don’t even get me started on how she imagined she and Phyrra could take over the Academy or something. That was just plain… like really…

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">My image of Weiss has greatly improved because she has proven herself not to be a bitch, but simply a whiny kid. That, and when she’s falling to her death her expression was so CU - *stomps inner demon to death*

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Her various interactions with Ruby would also reveal the same fact. Take her first meeting with Ruby for example. During that episode I had the image of an intelligent, mature girl so when she acted that way all I could think of was uncalled bitchiness. On the other hand, if we think of her as a child instead then her actions could be explained better. She couldn’t stop her mouth because she wasn’t used to stop her mouth when she was younger, and the habit overrode her control immediately when facing someone who wasn’t an authority, ‘lower’ class and younger. Kids are shitty that way, and you won’t believe what fantastic bullies they can be.

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:18.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0gd">Also, as much as Weiss acted like she didn’t care, she already saw Ruby as a friend, and a younger self who needed guidance to become… less childish. By putting herself above Ruby she’s unconsciously shaping herself to be more mature and calm. Well, most of the time. Some. Erm, actually…

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