Rwby Vol8 - Tumblr Posts
Was Ironwood right? Part 2 -
It's difficult to say if Ironwood's plan was the right plan during v8 like it was during v3. v8's theme was about how plans could get ruined due to no fault of anyone's, or perhaps the fault of everyone, and you can't do anything about it.
As it is said; "Man devises, but Heaven decides." Everyone was going to fail in v7 and v8. If RT had not intended it, then the fan outcry ensured it. After Ironwood proved himself more sympathetic than the main characters due to some freak of writing.
Perhaps it is better when discussing whether Ironwood was right in v8, to ask if Ironwood was the villain? Or was he the Hero of the story, in a 'Superman dying to stop Doomsday' kind of way and not 'a Villain is the Hero of his story' kind of way?
Heroism in fiction is selfless action, but must that action be morally right? Our heroes have historically committed acts which we wouldn't consider morally right. Yet fantasy is meant to be unrealistic, and our heroes in our stories should be held to a higher standard.
But ultimately, our Heroes should not be condemned for actions that are immoral. The legends of our historical Heroes are just as fantastic as our comic heroes, and they taught lessons that are as valuable as they are timeless.
So was Ironwood the Hero of v7 and v8? Well since this is a Pro-Ironwood blog ... But to be fair, let's address the two main incidents of Ironwood's 'villainy'.
Ironwood arresting RWBY seems to be a moment that was caused by RWBY. Not in a negative sense, but more in that RWBY were the ones who took the initiative to break the stalemate. There was no right course of action in that situation, and Ruby should have offered to go and evacuate Mantle's citizens to Atlas if Ironwood delayed the launch by an hour. Like any action hero worth his salt would do.
Ironwood would then have said; 'you have ONE Hour, not a second more. Ruby would then reply with a one-liner and shot off to save the world.
But what about Ironwood shooting down the SDC ships heading to save Mantle refugees, and threatening to nuke Mantle if RWBY did not hand Penny over?
First; Ironwood kept his word when RWBY 'kept' theirs, and RWBY followed up the backstabbing streak with a 2-0 score against Ironwood.
Second; Even if Ironwood nuked Mantle, would he be a villain if he did it to save another island city's worth of civilians? Boudica killed three cities worth of innocent Romans for the Iceni Tribe of Britons, and she is still considered a bally heroine today. Ironwood would also have destroyed Mantle for pretty good reasons, as he would have destroyed the key to opening the Vault and would have thus prevented Salem from taking the Staff.
In any case, we won't really know if Ironwood was playing a particularly brutal bluff. I'd say he was bluffing but I like Ironwood so that's a nut and a half. The more important question is whether such a bluff made Ironwood a villain.
I say, no. If Heroism is defined by Selfless, Ironwood in v8 more than fits the bill. Ironwood unironically puts himself on the line to keep Atlas, and in the process Remnant, safe. He is willing to literally tear himself apart to stop Salem. Ironwood is selfless if nothing else.
But if Ironwood is the hero, what does that make RWBY?
I don’t know if I should be proud or ashamed for how long this took me to make
I’m sorry, but did “turning on the power” consist of lighting up candles?!
Babies doubting themselves....
And their friends/sisters comforting them
Flower Power
Nora: Guess what I have!
Ren: What?
Nora: An idea!
Ren: [inhales deeply] no.
ii.
Nora: Ren, Ren, Ren!
Ren: [reading]
Nora: How would you take me out?
Ren: I would certainly not use lightning
Nora: What?
Ren: What?
later in the night
Ren: Oh she meant-! Oh!