Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-34633327-20171002160810

As we all know if we are up to date, Ozpin and Salem are two opposing forces leading the overall plot of RWBY. Salem leads the bad, Ozpin the good. But is Ozpin really any better than Salem? While their goals are fundamentally different (Salem wants to cause Fear and destruction, Ozpin wants to protect humanity with a Guardian and instill hope) their methods seem eerily similar.

1. Both have a "prodigy" under their care they took in specifically to use for their abilities. Salem recruited Cinder to make her into a Maiden, Ozpin recruited Ruby for her Silver Eyes.

2. Both use propaganda to manipulate the public eye. Salem through Cinder lead the people think the kingdoms were on the brink of war, Ozpin tried to maintain a facade of peace.

3. Both create an armed force molded to their design. Salem has the Grimm, Ozpin trains Huntsman to follow his ideals.

4. Both are content with acceptable loses if it can further their goal. Salem sacrificing the Dragon (Assuming not many exist) to allow Cinder access to the Maiden's powers, Ozpin allowing Amber to die so as to get her power into Pyrrha (doing so would have killed Amber), and (assumedly) hoping something would Emotionally trigger Ruby to allow her to awaken the SEW powers.

5. Both have amassed a group of close allies with each seeming to fit a certain category. Speedster: Tyrian and Qrow. Tactician: Watts and Glynda. Physically Imtimidating: Hazel and Ironwood. Powered Prodigy: Cinder, and was supposed to be Pyrrha, now more likely Oscar or Ruby. Makes it seem like they're organizing a set of Chess Pieces.

There in lies one difference between the two though: their openness. Salem so far has been upfront about everything to her circle: she didn't mask her disappointment is Tyrian and Cinder, didn't hide the fact she thought Cinder was lying about killing Ozpin, and told Watts she was displeased with his demeaning of Cinder. Ozpin on the other hand though is extremely secretive, even among his allies. We don't know if all his inner circle knew about his reincarnation power, but so far Ironwood hasn't shown to know about, while Qrow at least seems to know about it. He believes the Maiden's and the Relics should be kept secret in order to avoid people trying to claim them, not that that stopped Cinder from going after the Maiden's, and was content on allowing a 15 year girl to enter his academy with the hopes of her power being useful, without telling her outright why he enrolled her aside from "you have potential".

(Keep in mind that the SEW triggered when Pyrrha, Ruby's friend, was murdered, not long after having to witness another friend get dismembered, and finding her sister de-limbed, meaning the trigger was emotional buildup followed by breaking. Now remember just how much Ozpin let Ruby get away with, letting RWBY go to the WF base in the Southeast, letting Ruby off the hook for the events of Painting the Town and Black and White. Now notice just how close someone close to Ruby nearly died in relation to those three events. Blake would have been killed by Torchwick in Black and White if Sun hadn't been there, they only got out of there thanks to Penny. Weiss was almost killed in No Brakes, Yang would have been killed by Neo if Raven hadn't stepped in, etc. It could be possible Ozpin was allowing this in the hopes Ruby would be triggered earlier)

Ozpin is undeniably the "Good Guy" in the conflict, since he wants to protect Humans and Faunus from the Grimm. But his methods and similarities make him seem no better than Salem sometimes. If anything, his methods are just as bad in that he involves innocents in the conflict without their consent. Aside from the SEW debate, there is his effective drafting of Oscar into it. While it's unknown if the selection was random and it is a neccesary action, he still put a 15 year old boy through the emotional ringer, forced all this responsibility on him, and uprooted him from his normal life. He forced a large decision onto Pyrrha's shoulder's and gave her the illusion of choice, and the events that transpired ultimately helped Cinder's goal (If he hadn't went to get Pyrrha in the middle of the fight, Cinder wouldn't have known where Amber was, and Ozpin could have maybe, I don't know, moved Amber's pod with help from Glynda?) And Cinder beating him is ultimately what made Pyrrha stupidly decide to take Cinder on herself, leading to her death.

Even some of the songs paint Ozpin out in a negative light: Time to Say Goodbye having "Were we born to fight and die? Sacrificed for one huge lie? Are we heroes keeping peace? Or are we weapons? Pointed at the enemy So someone else can claim a victory?" and Sacrifice having lyrics that, if not directly about Ozpin, clearly hold something towards him with lines like "Show them gods and deities, Blind and keep the people on their knees." What did he tell Qrow and by extension RNJR about? The brother Gods. What did he want to do about the impending threat during the Vytal Festival? Lie about it and keep the facade of their being peace.

I'm not saying Ozpin is a bad guy, far from it. But I am saying that aside from morality and goal, he and Salem are alot similar in their methods. Who's to say someone in show won't come to the same conclusion I have? Jaune has already accused Qrow of using Ruby as bait, and while I'm not saying he will turn, there is the chance that someone else will learn about this and become disillusioned from Ozpin. They won't turn bad, but they won't side with Ozpin if his methods disgust them.

Anyone agree with me that Ozpin seems no better than Salem in this regard? 