Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4141313-20190126081959/@comment-35455126-20190214163325

BlizzardDragon wrote: It was the Apathy, but it wasn't meant to be taken literally, it was symbolic. The ones dragging Qrow were meant to represent how easily he fell to their effects. Ruby fighting off the many trying to grab her was meant to represent how she was initially the only one fighting off their effects but nearly succumbed to them.

I think the Apathy were supposed to represent despair. The Apathy dragging Qrow in the opening actually represented his despair, rather than...well, the Apathy.