User blog comment:Zathronas/Speculative author, Volume 3: Jaune Arc/@comment-25258408-20141121050739

I'm not going to lie: I'm kind of pissed at the idea of him beating Emerald and Mercury and winning the tournament. They work for Cinder so they have to be very good; I can't imagine Cinder's right-hand people being anything less than above average. Plus, Merc was fighting on equal terms with Pyrrha; Jaune's not getting to that level anytime soon. And in the volume 2 opening, we had Emerald vs Weiss and Mercury vs Yang, two fighters who are out of Jaune's league. There's no way he's taking Emerald of Mercury out, much less both. Jaune taking such a leap in skill over such a short period of time would be very hard for be to accept. Regardless of overconfidence or conventiant Semblance manifestation, he simply doesn't have the skill and experience necessary to take on these kinds of threats. Neo and Roman showed that skill can be used to overcome Semblances; it's far from the deciding factor in fights. Of course, Ruby could be used to argue that Semblance is highly crucial in taking down threats stronger than you (there's no way she's stronger than the combined might of team JNPR or even Pyrrha alone), but the food fight isn't something to take seriously anyway.

Anyway, sorry if I'm coming off as a bit of an asshole. I just take issue with Emerald and Mercury (Emerald in particular; I really like her) being beaten by the weakest protagonist by far; Roman's defeat at Blake's hands has shaken my faith in the villains' strength enough. And besides, I feel that him suddenly becoming so powerful would spit in the face of why I like his character. I have my fair share of issues with Jaune, but one of the things I like about him is that he has to really work to become a skilled Huntsman. He doesn't get some random, completely ridiculous powerup to put him on the level of the other protagonists, even with his strong Aura. He accepts that he has ways to go before reaching the level of his teammates and he doesn't let it bother him; he just keeps on growing. He has to push himself harder than anyone else, and that's why I like him. He has developed the humility and inner strength to accept his weaknesses and imporve upon them.