Did You See That? RWBY Vol. 6 Ep. 3

The masses who don’t have Rooster Teeth First have finally been able to watch the third episode of the Volume 6 of RWBY. It is a doozy! This is one of the longest episodes to date, especially for a non-premiere or non-finale. Now it is time for the lovely warning of spoilers. Please remember to not post things from future episodes in the comments section.

First, let’s address a theory brought up last time. I would argue that my theory about Ozpin creating Salem was wrong. I don’t believe that Ozpin/Ozman was responsible, but rather Salem’s selfishness and inability to cope with loss were the start and then her stubbornness really took over and pushed her over to what she is now.

I still think Salem is based on Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West. Jinn describes her as wicked at one point, which really sells it to me personally, but there’s more to it. For instance, they’re both obsessed with obtaining an object of power. Salem wants the four relics (we’ll get to that in a minute), and Elphaba wants the ruby slippers. Also, they both have abnormal skin colors. I was talking to my resident Wizard of Oz/Wicked expert and they helped me understand a few things. One, they both seem to have good intentions with their actions, but those actions tend to make things worse. Elphaba essentially creates the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion by trying to help people. She also leads to the death of her sister with the ruby slippers. Salem wanted the love of her life, who was a good person, to be resurrected and ended up basically dooming humanity. This is just some food for thought.

This episode was an incredible way to tell us the story of Ozpin and Salem, and it sprinkled in other things such as how the moon was destroyed. It also dropped why the world is called Remnant, which is something I wasn’t expecting at all. I loved how the God of Darkness wasn’t an evil god. He was a little prideful and hotheaded, but he wasn’t chaotic like similar characters are often portrayed. Once it was brought to his attention that the God of Light had already denied Salem’s request, he apologized for going against the agreements that the two gods had created. We also saw magic as part of human life, and then we saw it taken away for its abuse.

I did get confused at one point, though. The gods mention how they wiped out humanity and left Salem to be alone. However, then they resurrect Ozman, and there are people. Was anyone else confused by that? Can you explain it to me?

We eventually see Ozman and Salem have a family, which was shocking because I figured that after diving into the Pool of Grimm that she would become straight up evil and just a shell of the person she used to be. However, she seemed as if she still cared deeply for Ozman. Was she twisted? Yes. However, they loved each other enough to build up a home and have four daughters who I can only presume were the inspiration for the four maidens (I’ll talk about this in theories).

Overall, the episode was handled beautifully in my opinion, but I was left with a question and some theories. My question is in regards to Salem’s desire for the relics. During the first half of the episode I figured Salem’s goal was to acquire the four relics so that she could wipe out humanity which would allow her to finally die. However, towards the end, it seemed like maybe she wants to summon the gods and destroy them instead. I felt like they tried to explain Salem’s goal, but also wanted to make it ambiguous and it has just left me a little confused. What do you think her goal actually is at this point?

It’s time to theorize based on the new information received in the episode. I was talking to a friend, and they suggested that Oz’s and Salem’s daughters were the original four maidens that we learn about in Volume 3. I don’t quite agree. We see the daughters with Oz when Oz gets into a physical fight with Salem and then we don’t see them, but we see the castle in ruin. My theory is that they died, but later in life Oz found four maidens that reminded him of his daughters and so he bestowed upon them their powers.

Theory #2 today is that Oz blames himself for Salem. While I don’t think that Oz is responsible for creating Salem, I hypothesize that he doesn’t agree. I think he sees Salem as his creation.

Theory #3 is that we will see the return of Neo, aka Mary Poppins. In the credits, we see Torchwick’s hat fly by Cinder, but we know that Torchwick got eaten by a Nevermore. The only question is, what role will Neo serve? I think she’s going to work with Cinder again. I think we’ll essentially have three factions: the heroes, the villains, and a small band of Cinder and friends.

What do you think of these theories? What are some of your theories? Do you like Volume 6? What was your reaction to Jinn telling Oz that Salem can’t be destroyed? That was a big “WHAAAAAT?!” moment for me personally. Please, be respectful and DO NOT comment anything from future episodes.