Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-34633327-20180120015359/@comment-34633327-20180123092015

Alhazad2003 wrote: PisceanWaterbender wrote:

Actually I'd say Yang was trying to protect Raven by keeping her identity as the Spring Maiden a secret. I think it was Fubuki who mentioned that Ozpin and Qrow see the Maidens as pawns or tools, not as people. Yang realized this and thus covered for her mother, thus she is the only hero who knows Raven is the Spring Maiden. Qrow and Ozpin still believe it was Vernal, but now that she's dead, the power has gone to a random host (since Raven is too old to become a Maiden now), at least in their eyes. And now that Raven has fled to Patch, they won't find her anytime soon even if they discover her secret. Now the question is will Tai keep her a secret, or turn her over to Ozpin? Pretty sure we'll find out in Volume 6. Yep, that was me. Right here below.
 * Personally I feel that Yang didn't mention Raven was the Spring Maiden because she didn't need to...I'm sure Qrow is perfectly capable of deducing that or guessing himself...that or Yang will tell him later on.

KingFubuki92 wrote: MetallicArcher wrote: The implication wasn't that Raven did it for power, its that she saw Spring wasn't making progress and was too weak to defend herself, she'd just be a target for everyone. So to spare her from the pain of dealing with that, she Mercy Killed her. I doubt Raven intended for the powers to go right into her, rather I think she hoped the powers would go into someone random.

In a sense, I can see why. Both sides seem to treat the Maiden's more like objects then people. Qrow kept telling Raven to hand the Spring Maiden over, and when we all thought it was Vernal, I was like "What if she doesn't want to go with you though? You gonna force her?", and Watts did outright state the Maiden's were only a means to an end. And seeing as Cinder was perfectly content with killing who she thought had the power, the false Maiden didn't care she was killing a person, she just cared she was taking the power. And had she actually gotten the power and the relic, I doubt Salem would have cared so long as the mission was completed successfully.

Raven seems to view the world in the most cynical way possible. She has seen the depravity of it, faced death numerous times, and seen the evil that is Salem, while believing Ozpin's efforts are futile. So, she does what any person would when they have no hope: They survive. She was afraid, but didn't want to admit it. She lives in fear. I guess she didn't want Spring to be worse than her, to live in just as much, if not more fear, fear of being seen as only a tool, as something to be claimed. I can understand the perspective, seeing as it's one I tend to dip into on my moodier days.