Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4141313-20181110034633/@comment-10390252-20181114134149

Sorry for the double-post but something has just occurred to me.

What if the final outcome is like this: Ruby decides that, whilst Salem cannot be destroyed, she can be stopped. Her personal motivation turns to trying to somehow unite all of humanity and faunuskind against Salem and her faction.

Things go badly and Salem ends up with all of the relics just as the United Army attacks her palace in the Dark lands. Even antagoinist groups (the various bandit and mafia groups) and some of her former followers (maybe even Cinder, Emerald and Mercury) are part of this. Salem summons the Gods only to find, much to her horror, that by forcing the world to unite against her, she has actually succeeded in fulfilling Ozpin's mission for him - Making humanity one again.

Things then go very Babylon 5, with the Brothers annoucing that they will once again take their place taking the lead, only for Ruby to (politely) tell them to get lost. Humanity's success and unity are their own achievement and the gods' long absence has stripped them of any right to have a part of things going forwards. The rest of Team RRAYNBW line up behind her, followed, after a moment, by Cinder and her ally group.

There is a long, dangerous silence before the Dark Brother starts laughing and congratulates Ruby on passing The Final Test. Humanity would not be ready for the restoration of magic if they were not ready to lead themselves.

The Brothers then rip Salem's soul from her body (which collapses into ash like any other dead Grimm). Suddenly Oscar collapses and a luminous version of Ozpin struggles out of his body before running over to an equally-luminous Salem (who looks like she did before she mutated). The two spirits kiss and vanish in a bright light and, when everyone looks around, the gods are also conspiculous by their absence.

"The experiment was a success," Oscar says. "From this point forwards, we are to make our own path." Then he collapses in a faint.

I imagine that there will be an epilogue set in the new Beacon Academy a few years later.