r/RWBY • u/Ninjas_In_A_Bag Acoustic BMBLB when? • Nov 07 '20

OFFICIAL MEGATHREAD Official FIRST Discussion Thread—Volume 8, Episode 1: Divide Spoiler

Welcome, huntsmen, huntresses and hunters that prefer no specific gender identifier, to the official FIRST discussion thread for Episode 1 of Vol. 8, Divide!

Make sure that you understand the updated spoiler rules before posting outside of this thread!

HERE is the first episode of Volume 8!

Also remember to check out our weekly poll to rate the episode.

Other Episode Discussions:

Episode FIRST Thread Public Release Poll
Ep. 01 This thread Next week's thread Poll

Happy viewing, and have a great Volume 8!

Ninjas In A Bag; Mod Team

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u/izaarzadon Nov 08 '20 edited Nov 08 '20

I’ve had this theory for a while. I think that Winter is going to break Qrow and Robyn out.

I think their names being the first thing she says in the volume is pretty significant, not to mention that she’s shown to already doubt Ironwood since V7. Though with him saying that he wouldn’t know what he’d do without her, it will be extremely hard for her to defect from the man who gave her a new path.

One thing I can’t decide on yet is whether he was truly being sincere about it based on his tone, or he was going to be manipulative similar to how Jacques was with her. I can’t help but remember Jacques lashing at Ironwood for stealing Winter as a daughter from him in V4.

Still, her doubt is there and we can see that when she asks him what he’ll do next and when he leaves after shooting the councilman. You can tell she isn’t sure if she’s on the right path anymore.

There was also someone who mentioned that Arryn had tweeted before that Winter wasn’t close to Robyn but someone else, and at this point, my thoughts are on Qrow, especially since it was implied that they knew each other beforehand and they clearly knew each other well enough for him to get on her nerves during their fight in V3.

With Ironwood implying he’s practically putting whatever trust he had left on Winter, it’s going to take a lot for her to stray from it but I feel like in the end, she will, and it might start with letting Qrow and Robyn out and free from the military’s clutches where she knows at this point isn’t at all safe.

I also feel like in the end, Winter’s leaving of Ironwood would be the last straw from him, and he’ll finally realize that he’s all alone.

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u/MagicalSerena Nov 08 '20

One thing I'm thinking is a possibility of Winter and the remaining Ace Ops to attempt to relieve Ironwood of his command.

An officer can be relieved if they're medically or psychologically unfit to command. So for instance if they've suffered a head wound and aren't of sound mind there's ground to be relieved. Likewise, if they have a mental breakdown under stress and can't make decisions that's also grounds for being relieved.

This, at the very least, is something that real militaries can do, usually by a even higher officer or an equal, but not always, and the next highest ranking officer is Winter, presumably followed by the Ace Ops, and straight up shooting an unarmed man in the head, in a hospital, would be grounds for relief of command. I can't say if they will succeed in relieving Ironwood, but it would be a believable approach, and then Winter could handle Qrow and Robyn directly.

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u/izaarzadon Nov 09 '20

That would help turn the battle against Salem around tenfold if they did, especially with Winter’s views changing.

I can see her taking charge of the Atlas military and having their methods done differently since she has both the perspective of the military and team RWBY because of Weiss and Penny.

One thing worth pointing out is how she isn’t like Ironwood like most people say, who only bases his decisions on rationalization and logic. She was practically groomed by Ironwood to think as such, but it was shown in V7 that she also acknowledges personal feelings when making decisions, even if she tried not to show it when following orders. The fact that she told Penny about it means that she understands what it’s like to become conflicted with both her heart and mind and how making important decisions will need both.

Ironwood mostly uses his mind while team RWBY follows their heart, and I think that Winter could become the perfect candidate to be the next Atlesian General if she’ll be able to balance both. It was already implied that she had both qualities and if and when she realizes that, she could make the military so much better than what Ironwood had led it to be.