The Ironwood Fixers: Parallels in Ruby’s and Oscar’s Actions in V3 and V7
It’s striking how Oscar’s actions at the end of V7 parallel Ruby’s actions at the start of the Battle of Beacon in V3. Both incidents begin with the exact same pincer manuever on the part of Salem’s forces, a ground attack by the Grimm occurring simultaneously with the reveal that Cinder has corrupted a crucial system of Ironwood’s defenses; at the Vytal Festival the compromised system is Ironwood’s computers, in Atlas it’s Ironwood’s brain.
In the ensuing panic at Amity Arena Ruby and Team JNPR flee to a shuttle. In the ensuing panic at Atlas Academy Oscar and Team JNR flee to a shuttle.
But at the last minute Ruby/Oscar turn back into the teeth of danger to try to fix Ironwood’s problem.
They go to the heart of Ironwood’s power. At Beacon it’s his flagship; at Atlas, it’s the Vault of the Winter Maiden. Here, Ruby tries to save the ship, and Oscar tries to save the man. Both antagonists first express disbelief at the hero’s mission.
“Little Red, little Red, you are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren'tcha?”
“Do you intend to fight me?”
(It doesn’t quite come through in these screenshots, but the strong vertical line pattern on the top of the ship is the same as the strong vertical line pattern on the floor of the Vault. I wondered why the Vault floor looked like a landing strip.)
Then both heroes are informed by their antagonists that they have greatly underestimated the scope of the problem.
“You’re asking the wrong questions, Red! It’s not what I have to gain, it’s that I can’t afford to lose!”
“You still think I’m afraid?”
Both Torchwick and Ironwood are terrified of Salem, and consequently both men feel trapped. Because they feel trapped, both men lash out.
“Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world! You can’t stop ‘em, I can’t stop 'em!”
“You can label me whatever you’d like, but the fact of the matter is I was right! The minute I softened, let my guard down, that’s when Salem had her opening.”
Both men accuse our heroes of not understanding how “the real world” drives them to the actions they have taken, thus trying to deny responsibility for their part in the deeds going down at that moment.
“You got spirit, Red. But this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit!”
“All excellent philosophical points that won’t matter if Salem wins.”
Then both men proceed to state their goal.
“You wanna be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history! As for me, I’ll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat, and SURVIVE!”
“I am done letting others’ inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what’s right. Robyn, the council, this kingdom… even you.”
(When I started this essay I thought I was going to have to gloss over the actual confrontations, but when I looked at the quotes I realized that in his more upper-class speech mannerisms Ironwood echoed Torchwick point for point.)
Shortly thereafter, both our heroes fall, only to be saved by their weapon-based landing strategies. And about the same time, both our antagonists are thwarted in their goals by a supernatural force, Torchwick by a Nevermore and Ironwood by the Winter Maiden.
Oscar failed in his reason for turning back. But in the chaos of the Battle of Beacon, it’s possible to overlook that Ruby also failed in her primary reason for turning back. She wasn’t able to liberate the flagship, but it’s destruction freed the robots from Watts’ virus. Likewise, while Oscar is unable to liberate Ironwood from the General’s crippling terror, his actions free Ozpin from his self-imposed exile.
And in both cases those are well-timed moves, because the very next thing that happens is that the third arm of Salem’s pincer manuever shows up, her air support.
Oscar’s confrontation with Ironwood also parallels Ruby’s confrontation with Raven at the Battle of Haven, so I’ll discuss that in my next post. But let me make one last point. In Ruby’s confrontation with Torchwick he reveals that his actions are based on his conclusion that Salem will win no matter what he does. If Ironwood also concludes that Salem will win no matter what he does and acts accordingly, events will take a very dark turn.
Note: This post has been edited to comply with Tumblr’s photo limit. To see all the pics, go here: http://aminoapps.com/p/kicxzq
I have just been made aware that this fan-made web series “Fixing RWBY” exists and in the latest episode Roman becomes Ozpin’s new host! It was interesting to see another take on the idea (without having to write it myself ).
I tried mocking up their masquerade outfits from Chapter 12 of With Friends Like These with my limited Photoshop skills. They look something like this…
I was channeling Sleepy Hollow vibes for Roman, circus vibes for Neo, and I guess Hot Topic vibes for Qrow XD
This is an illustration I posted to Kurataro’s Comiket 93 Distribution Joint Magazine “Kokodeattagahyakunenme ! (At last your time has come !; I have found you at last)”.
