In preparation for volume 8, we're taking a look at how Ironwood got to where he is now. This project definitely became larger than I expected. Enjoy Ironwood: the movie!
I'm Strange . This video is amazing definitely got my like & sub. I hate to be this guy but if it's not too much trouble and if you have time. I would love to see something like this for... "Arthur Watts!!" It would certainly be a "Welcome." Also from now on whenever somebody wants to say the changed Ironwood character to make RWBY look good. I'm showing them this.
@@nicolasneal204 you mean besides trusting Oz that his “scouts” could handle whatever was in the south east and not cause some kind of Grimm invasion or something? Or besides trusting the ace ops, winter, and penny with the Salem secrets? Or trusting rwbyqnrjp with the lamp?
@@notallthatevil okay to be fair the scouts were supposed to find the White Fang and then call for reinforcements but Ruby accidentally got captured and the plan changed and has for the Ace Ops, Winter, and Penny he "trusted" them to know truth but made it clear they were to listen and obey his orders regarding the entire situation because only he could be trusted to make the right decisions and while he let them keep the relic it was to never leave Atlas because Oscar was holding onto it and was to remain in Atlas at all times either training or resting if they tried to go anywhere else with it he would've confiscated it immediately
@@nicolasneal204 he didn’t give it to Oscar. He gave it to ruby and said he trusted her to keep it safe. Ruby, gave it to Oscar who hid under his bunkbed
@@alphamon701 A pointless distinction when the result is the same. Only a real sociopath wouldn't care about that much. Not to mention no one gets the right to spend people's lives like disposable coins.
When you look into it, Ironwood has got an unimaginable amount of weight on his shoulders. A councilman, a headmaster, and a general at the same time? No wonder he went downhill. Especially with the fate of the world being on the line. That’s gotta be some excruciating stuff to deal with.
@@justynhill4814 and they still lied to him and went behind his back,he found all of this out after Salem basically said "I'm Here". In my opinion it doesn't matter what they tried to do, it's what they didn't so which was lying to him and defying his orders. Especially when Robbin did absolutely nothing to gain their trust, actually to be completely honest she was basically a criminal so she literally had nothing to prove that she was trust worthy.
@@sirlightning3013- Robyn was the biggest problem that Ironwood was ignoring and the fire that Watts team kept feeding with lie to make her hate Ironwood more. How would you handle her without having mantle getting more Mantle angry with Ironwood and Mantle.
@@justynhill4814 it honestly doesn't matter why she didn't like Ironwood Yang and Blake went behind his back and told a criminal that could have been working for Salem for all they knew what he was doing. We all have our own opinions on these types of things and I take Ironwood's side. Now I'm gonna go have spend some time with my family. Have a good holiday
Or even just "the dangers of thinking like an authoritarian". Or "why trying to fight a war against the concept of terrorism just creates more terrorism." Or "the importance of psychological therapy."
@Carterb92 James was always an anal retentive control freak with a budding messiah complex, the stress in later seasons just made him more violent and aggressive to the point he just stopped caring about keeping up appearances. Honestly it became an autocracy when James willingly seized power from others on the council and instilled himself as ruler. All to prove he was right when he wasn't.
@@igorpachmelniekzakuskov776 THERE IS NO CHARACTER ASSASSINATION, YOU DERANGED IRONWOOD BOOTLICKER! IF HAVE HALF BRAIN YOU WOULD AFTER SEING WHAT HE DID ALREDY PARTLY TO MANTLE, YOU CAN PREDICT HE WILL GO MAD WITH PAST ACTION BEFORE VOL 7!
@@klemenhudobreznik3421 when you're writing in caps like that it's really hard to tell if you're being sarcastic or not. It's like you're asking not to be taken seriously with that juvenile-lookimg behaviour.
@@igorpachmelniekzakuskov776 BECAUSE YOU ARE CLAIMING BS! MAYBE ACKNOWLEDGE IT WAS PREDICTABLE BUT NOT NOTICABLE BECAUSE WRITER BRILIANT HIDDEN IT AS IN JACQUE SCENE (VOL 4)) WE SEE IN FRONT OUR EYES HIM BEING DERANGED DICTATOR IN MAKING BUT THEY USE ALREADY EXISTENT CONFLICT OF WEISS AND JACQUE TO HIDE IT WELL!
@@klemenhudobreznik3421 so you're completeley serious with what you're saying right now? I still can't tell. (Like I said, many people are trolling by pretending to be the stereotypical RWBY stan that likes to take scenesout if context and shows extremeley juvenile behaviour... if you're being serious I guess it really wasn't just a stereotype after all, huh?
No one ever seems to notice the parental motifs between Ironwood and Weiss. He seemed protective of her, likely in part due to Winter. "You'll always have a place at Atlas academy, Ms Schnee." -volume 4 "She's the only one making sense around here." -volume 4 "You'll do WHAT, Jacques?" -volume 7
Yeah, he seems to have a very paternal attitude towards both sisters, but it always had a dark side to it because Ironwood was ultimately as controlling ad Jacques, just in a nicer way. Winter simply ran from one abusive power structure to another, but fortunately, Weiss was able to break free before all hell broke loose.
"No one will fault you if you leave." That's the line that made me go from being neutral to Ironwood and mostly seeing him as a standard/generic stern military leader to him being literally one of my top 3 favorite RWBY characters. He deserved so much better.
@@justsomeguyanimations *You don't need video making skills. So long as you script a compelling story with even just timestamps and still images, you could still make a great video. With proper scripting and verbal delivery, you can make compelling vids. Many history documentaries have shit editing and they can still be gripping. Don't let your dreams just be dreams.*
*TIMESTOPS for both serious, badass and funny moments:* First character appearence - 0:45 End of Volume 2 - 11:29 Dumbledore Army reunion - 11:31 to 12:20 Squad judging the Iron Man - 13:22 Ironwood's worst nightmare - 14:50 to 16:21 Ozpin is using the tone - 17:15 Neo is the Imposter! - 17:48 Ironwood VS Beowolf - 18:52 to 19:18 Mortal Kombat tone: FINISH HIM - 19:21 to 19:27 A bitter "Some VAGABOND has sieze one of my ships." look - 19:45 HEADSHOT - 19:54 Palpatine's voice: Proceed with Order 66 - 21:07 to 21:36 Ironwood rocking those GUNS - 21:53 to 22:02 That detail of Ironwood refusing to use his gun on Qrow and rather use the handle to knock him dow. ;^( - 22:16 Ironwood's ship has sunken - 23:10
So far as I've seen from ironwood he was a man raised and trained for war and his actions show his stress as things get more complicated and i still love him as a character even with what this most recent season is pushing him towards the edge. At the end of the day he is a soldier that's been through a lot.
@@seemeno1 this comments from like before vol 8's release but yes, i agree with you entirely. I hated how they wrote him at the end of vol 7 and the entirety of vol 8. Hes a wasted character and frankly didnt make much sense after.
I think this video has finally crystallized what I think Ironwood's character really exemplifies. In regards to trust, he's essentially the opposite of Ozpin. Ozpin doesn't trust people with knowledge. He thinks that sharing his secrets will end up doing more harm than good, so he limits the flow of information, keeps things from even his most steadfast allies and never spills anything more than he is forced to spill. Half to shield his allies from the stark, bleak reality of the truth, half to shield himself from being confronted by his own flaws and mistakes. He hides things even from people he trusts with his life, with the future of the world, with incredibly weighty responsibilities like running Kingdoms. I think there's a degree of... trauma, I suppose? Back in his second life, he spilled everything to Salem, about the Relics and the Gods and his task, and it went horribly, so now he overcompensates by trusting NOBODY with anything even close to the full truth. He thinks that he knows best, and that people don't need to know things that will only hurt them, even if they DESERVE to know those things, even if they're incredibly important and keeping it from them is actively betraying their trust. However, though Ozpin never gives anyone the whole story, he does trust people to make their own decisions with the knowledge that he shares. He gives them an incomplete story, but he leaves what they do with that story to their discretion, because he trusts that people will generally do the right thing if given certain information. He lets people like Qrow and (in the early volumes) people like team RWBY do what they want, trusting that they will do the right thing and that they will convey information to him if they think it's important. He lets Ironwood, Lionheart and Theodore run their academies completely outside of his control because he trusts them to do the right thing and run their academies fairly and justly. Sometimes that trust is rewarded, in the case of Theodore. Sometimes it's betrayed, in the case of Lionheart. And sometimes, they will do things that he would personally not do with Beacon, but he will understand that other people have different methodologies and that his own way of running things isn't the end-all-be-all, in the case of Ironwood and his more militarized approach. Ironwood, meanwhile, trusts people with knowledge but doesn't trust people's decisions. He gives his allies everything he knows (Penny, Winter, the Ace Ops, not being afraid to share everything with RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar), but he's convinced that his decisions are the objectively correct ones, and he refuses to let people act on their own. When Oscar told Ironwood about what happened with Ozpin and Jinn, he never acted betrayed by their decision to hide that info from him until they were sure they could trust him. He felt betrayed by Ozpin, to an extent, but he got over that really quickly too. When he learned that Blake and Yang had told Robyn about Amity without his go ahead, however, he was furious; in his eyes, it didn't matter if it was the right decision or not, Blake and Yang didn't do what he ordered them to do and therefor they had betrayed him. This shows in his approach to his position as General and Headmaster too; it's full military, all of his subordinates are expected to follow his orders without question, and if they are unwilling then they are traitors. In his mind, he cannot accept an approach that he does not personally subscribe to. Ozpin's tactful, cautious and secretive approach to handling the Cinder situation in Volume 2 and 3 was a genuinely valid way of doing things, a way that definitely would work, but Ironwood didn't agree, and he also didn't trust that Ozpin knew what he was doing. For Ironwood, it's his way or the highway. He's the one with the answers, his approach to a problem is THE OBJECTIVELY CORRECT approach to a problem, and his allies should follow his lead regardless of their feelings or what they think is right. They're both incredibly flawed ways of doing things, and they're both a mix of trusting and distrusting, but in completely opposite ways.
Very well done!!! Honestly I watch these kinds of videos more for the in-depth mental and philosophical analysis by people like you then for the actual content.
I think in all of the time focused around Ironwood one line for me stands out more than the rest "I am not going to end up like Lionheart." It says so much because you can see from this that James is fearful that he would and was determined to avoid that. Ozpin withheld the truth from everyone to varying degrees, Lionheart we don't fully know when he started becoming afraid but it drove him the betray Ozpin's circle trace those things back to Ironwood. He had seen lionheart fail through fear and ozpin through being passive, he did not want to go down either of those paths and tried to forge out his own way of doing it but the fault came to whether he could properly trust people in their actions a trust that pre volume 7 had already been damaged by the reveal of lionheart and possible also the betrayal of Raven if he knew about that. Ironwood was a good man who tried to do the right thing but the breaking of trust and Salems final shattering of his hope concluded his path.
Ironwood arguably has a fairer approach of doing things. He needs people to trust him and the decisions that he makes, but he doesn't mind if they ultimately disagree with him. As long as they don't cause problems, he's relatively lenient. Ozpin lets people make their own decisions, but, because he is the one who decides what information they do and don't have, he is able to manipulate them into doing effectively whatever he wants them to do.
@@evanhunt1863 Yes because he had clear PTSD already from his trauma from the Fall of Beacon. He got all his toys turned against him and remained so salty he tried to prevent from happening again and still failed
@@alexhoughton3305 He’s being written by Rooster Teeth writers. There is no gray area with characters. Either you’re good or your evil. There is no middle ground
@@MrTigracho Turning someone into a villain means removing the traits that made them nice, heroic, and kind in the first place. You don't know anything about character shifts.
He was never normal per say. From the start, he was tense, gung ho, and overly expressive towards military force. He just got worse over time. A lot of fans didn't even pay attention.
1:04:45 Ironwood: I will sacrifice whatever it takes to stop her! Watts: (Chuckles) Oh I hope you do James. (Spits) I hope you do... You can’t say that Ironwood doesn’t understand sacrifice. Giving up his good arm to stop Watts, damn, the amount of willpower this man has is incredible. Guess Salem’s minions really are undermining Ironwood. Watts and Salem understand Ironwood’s single minded determination and know well enough that it’s going to turn back at him
They used his defining characteristics against him. Clever. They dragged him down to their level with a well thought-out plan. I have to give it to Salem, she knows what she's doing.
Spectacular! Seeing his story told in one continuous flow really helps to show exactly why he made the decisions he did and emphasizes that many of his personality flaws were always present. I've always sympathized with his choices made in Gravity (and Team RWBY's, neither is right or wrong, but people seem to take one extreme or the other.) I also have to applaud the editing for the last part before Oscar's final talk with Ironwood, that smooth cut of Clover and Qrow rushing each other to Yang and Elm clashing, to Cinder's attack on Winter. It was perfectly timed.
Ironwood was always a dictatorial strongman from the start, and Atlas as a Kingdom seems like it was built to incubate such people. When times were relatively calm and he was in control, Ironwood seemed friendly, reasonable, and reliable enough, but whenever shit hit the fan, his default response was overwhelming force, and he undercut and overrode his allies when their methods conflicted, showing his previous reasonable and accommodating persona was a facade. Not to mention, he basically took advantage of Atlas's weak institutions and checks and balances to concentrate power on himself and ignore the suffering of those not in Atlas for his "greater good".
@@MrGksarathy No that's not the case at all, he is someone who does genuinely care about other people and doesn't just ignore their suffering for the greater good. From the very beginning his heart has always been in the right place, It's why he had mechanical soldiers, to keep human soldiers away from the dangers of the battlefield because he wants to prevent as much death as possible. When beacon falls he doesn't demand that the kids stay and fight, he gives them a choice and tells them with empathy and understanding that no one will fault them if they leave. Because he knows that no kids should have to deal with something as terrible and dangerous as the fall of beacon. He's someone that genuinely does care about the lives and safety of the people. However he also knows that protecting the relics and the maiden is the most important thing that he has to do because if Salem gets her hands on them, she wins and remnant is doomed. So he keeps them all in atlas and keeps all of his forces there in order to protect them because of his paranoia. However then mantle is attacked by grimm so he sends his most trusted allies in order to protect the people while he lures out Watts and the second he does this, the second he lets his guard down and leaves atlas vulnerable to protect mantle, Cinder gets into his office proving his paranoia right. Showing him that Salem is already completely ahead of him, showing him that if he doesn't act now then she will get her hands on the relics and the maiden and if she does that then all of remnant is finished. It's only natural that his response to this is to double down and get the relics and maiden out of her reach as quickly as possible at the cost of mantle because like it or not keeping them out of her hands is an act in service to *the* greater good not *his* greater good as you put it.
*TIMESTOPS part 2:* Ironwood has grown an Obi-Wan's beard - 29:28 Worried Qrow "James. What you have been doing." - 30:03 Pierrot's updating of Atlas's situation - 30:27 to 31:10 THERE HE IS - 31:24 Irondad is looking proud of his protege -i mean his daughter- - 31:38 Ironwood squad - 32:25 "Unless we destroy her" - 33:12 Awwww. He looks so happy and even kneels down. Soft Ironwood - 36:06 SOFT AND MANLY HUG - 38:24 to 38:29 "And Clover, don't take Marrow." - 38:48 Ironwood getting hit with PTSD - 48:58 to 49:13 OOF. THE REVEAL - 55:17 That hero landing - 58:56 *Ironwood VS Watts* Listen this fight was AMAZING AND AWESOME - 1:00:17 to 1:02:44 "You call yourself a giant." - 1:02:52 You could said that you need a HAND, general. Ba dam tuss. - 1:04:32 "Dramatix turning of his chair" style - 1:05:30 ANGRY IRONDAD - 1:07:18 Mama Salem talking to her rebellious son - 1:08:57 "James. It's what my friends call me. To you. It's general." - 1:17:02
*Sigh*. I just, ahh I loved his character. 🤧 I REALLY hope at some point we learn his backstory. Like, dude is half metal and we don’t even know why??? On top of his Semblance that can be interpreted as a mental disorder, his PTSD from Beacon, and his trust issues, Ironwood’s gotta have some serious past trauma from getting his body torn apart that we don’t even know about. Like, poor guy. I know he made terrible choices in the end, but I did really pity him. Rip my man. Sorry Volume 8, but Ironwood’s still my favorite character haha, and you can’t change my mind! 😉
While it would be cool, I think not knowing what happened shows much more character. Kind of like John Silver from Treasure Planet if you’ve seen that movie. We never know how he became a cyborg but just from his one line “You give up a few things, chasing a dream” you understand so much about him; the sacrifices he’s made, the sins he‘s had to live with that haunt him and motivate him. Ironwood’s design works just the same. He’s a veteran huntsman, and military leader. So he’s bound to have faced plenty of combat in his life. Both people and Grimm, but just from his fight with Watts where you see him practically tear his arm off you and later replace it with a prosthetic you understand more about him. His body is a symbol of sacrifice and he is willing to live with it.
Ironwood is a great character, but it's because his villain arc was so well-written and because he's such a great object lesson for the dangers of militarism, the cult of personality, and authoritarianism.
@@garmadonthesensei59 I hate to say it, but anyone who didn't see his spiral coming was a fool. The only difference between early Ironwood and late Ironwood is whether he was backed into a corner or not. His villain arc pretty much started the moment he appeared.
I think when he fights that Beowulf you can see his semblance at play. For those who don't know, Ironwood's semblance, Mettle, is a passive effect like Qrow's, which strengthens his resolve and overrides any thoughts or feelings that would get in the way.
I understand that several people don’t like James for shooting Oscar, which is fine, but I don’t blame James for that, at which point he saw Ozpin not Oscar. Cap 2 The alleged group of protagonists tells them that Ozpin is no longer there and they hide information from the man, he believes them because he trusts them. Cap. 9 After that they finally tell him the truth at the worst time, obviously for James it is difficult to process seeing that he tended to be burdened with various problems of the kingdom, and that is where Oscar talks to him to encourage him with a phrase which James answers: You say that like you were there? Cap. 11 They discover that Yang and Blake acted behind Ironwood’s back, and where he no longer trusts them for lying to them about Oz, not telling them about Salem, and especially giving information to a woman they didn’t even know well. Cap. Final Oscar tries to talk to him, saying it’s not Oz. You think after everything that’s happened, James is going to trust the word of the brat who says he’s not Ozpin, he’s obviously not going to believe anything. It’s someone from the same group of idiots who have told him lies, withheld information and acted behind his back, when he was at all times open to them. Worst of all, Oscar comes down to talk to him with the same fucking pose Ozpin wears so often.
I think you're taking a lot of unfounded leaps right there. He shows no signs of thinking he's Ozpin, never does. Him saying "you say that like you were there" was connected to him telling Oscar that he won't even recognize who's who anymore. So maybe he thinks they're merging, but still, when he shoots Oscar, he see's him as Oscar. Not Ozpin. He talks to him as Oscar. People can try to justify his actions all they want, and you can make a pretty convincing argument. But at the end of the day, he shot a kid. He is in the wrong.
@@ImStrange_ ¿unfounded leaps? James from the beginning felt that Ozpin was hiding something and made him suspicious. In your video you even put that part next to Glynda. After Beacon’s attack, he felt he should have trusted Ozpin, hence the effort he makes to trust others in volume 7. He was obviously trying to somehow bring Ozpin back, but when they tell him the truth, at the worst of times, he wonders why he had hidden so much from the people who had trusted him. You forgot how Crow reacted when Jin told them the truth, obviously with James it was worse. Even Jaune in volume 6 has the same thought and questions whether Oz was just cheating on them by pretending to be Oscar, after all he has done this several times. Just so we’re clear, I’m not saying what Ironwood did was a good thing, but I understand the reasons why he did it.
@@martinhernandezdominguez8561 The only thing I was referring to with unfounded leaps was that Ironwood shot Oscar thinking he was Ozpin, which I really don't think was the case. He wouldn't have asked who he was speaking to, then upon hearing it was still Oscar, talked to him as if he was Oscar, if he thought he was Ozpin. And yes, I can understand why he does the things he did. I just like making it clear that I do NOT agree with them.
@@ImStrange_ The kid goes down to talk with the same pose that Ozpin uses so much, he’s obviously going to ask if he was talking to Oscar or if in all this time he was with Oz. And seeing as how he tried to stop it, it was better for him not to risk it. Although I admit it must have been built a little more.
@@ImStrange_ There are some hints that he did see Oscar as well... Ozcar. It's been a popular theory for a while. Beyond what's already been mentioned, when he does snap at Oscar, after Oscar tries to give him a speech on fear's effects (which will be somewhat similar to what Oz will tell him in a couple of minutes) He says "That's easy for *you* to say!" The emphasis is on "you", what would make Oscar so special in this case? Because to Ironwood he's a quasi-immortal who doesn't really have to live with consequences. Since he is "above" humanity, it's easy for him to deliver platitudes of this sort. Finally, when pushed to his limit, he says "Even you." Oscar should have been the same relevance as Team RWBY/JNR to Ironwood, but he doesn't bother to mention Ruby in his diatribe against those "getting in the way of doing what's right." This implies that he thinks that the teams may still be taking orders secretly from Oz. If they lied about everything else, who is to say that Oz didn't force them to lie about his presence? Finally, he denies his friendship with Oz (after Oscar calls him "James", which he had never done before.) by shooting him, with the intent to kill. "To you, it's general." An odd thing to say to a boy that should be dead shortly, but makes sense when choosing to leave the path of your former friend and leader. Now this is just one theory and there are others on what Ironwood was thinking when he made those final moves and what his words to Oscar really implied.
I like how they show scenes that mention ironwood it shows what others think of him This video is very good and now i really think that the development of iron wood volume 2-8 was pretty well done.
@gonzalomeadearanda5751 Lmao, the understrengthed huntsmen couldn't even stop the breach in Vale and was stopped only by Atlas' forces in Vale. Ironwood and his forces during the breach proved that he was right to put Atlesian troops in Vale. Heck, the ones who caused panic within Vale were Cinder and the White Fang. No example of any Vale citizen was shown espousing negative feelings towards the Atlesian troops.
Ironwood is such a tragic character. He has so much responsibility and so many lives resting on him, and he has seen more than anyone should ever have to. This entire time he has just been trying to do his best to fight against Salem, whilst people who are supposed to be his allies withhold crucial information and doubt or impede him at every turn. He's broken, his sense of trust is destroyed, he probably doesn't even trust his own body to not try strangle him to death.
Which begs the question of why he didn't have a general staff. The Doylist explanation is that the creators didn't feel like/couldn't put them in. The Watsonian explanation is that HE DOESN'T HAVE ONE. Which leads to an abject lesson in giving one man too much to handle. If we go with the Watsonian view, then Ironwood is a victim of an institutional flaw in the Atlesian military.
@@evanhunt1863More staff members would mean more individuals that would know of Oz's secrets. Afetr Beacon fell Ironwood probably got less and less trustworthy of others besides those he knew held complete loyalty to him, like WInter, Penny and the Ace Ops. Any staffmembers would be loyal to Atlas, not to *him*. not that someone can 100% blame him after the Lionheart incident.
I pressed liked just from the nostalgia at the start lol. Not even 3 mins in. Also I wished Ozpin had his can during that conversation. Would definitely keep his hands or at least one of them busy.
Of course, I love RWBY very much so I wanted to make a channel that gave the series nothing but love. There's enough *cough* "critics" *cough* out there.
@@ImStrange_ Yeah😑 I mean the show OBVIOUSLY isn’t perfect and constructive criticism is totally welcome, but bruh. Some of these people *hate* the show and still pretend to care about it, and they bring so much toxicity to the fandom it’s sad. Also thanks for making this video bro, I needed it for my analysis of Ironwood I made for my school assignment, I mean she did ask what other shows/stories have the theme of fear💀lmao 10:11
Well, a lot of the criticism is valid, they drop the ball often. It’s a show I love, but am always a bit disappointed. I feel like there’s a lot of wasted potential and I just want to see it improve.
@@ofsnope1540 When I said "BEST", I was referring to character development, not his alignment to good or evil lol. But yeah. I don't think this aged well.
The music never ceases to surprise me. You can hear elements of "Hero" starting at 2:17. I don't know how you created the time necessary to put this together, but thank you for the efforts.
@@vsGoliath96 And how was Adam's writing "bad?" He was what he was supposed to be: a fanatical creep with pretentions of being something more. Yes, he was pathetic, but that was the point of his character.
This man exhausted 29:35 - 30:02 30:27 - 31:09 The reason he trust team RWBY 7:50 - 8:55 This is enough reason why he felt betrayed , disappointed and can't trust team RWBY 1:06:48 - 1:07:35 1:10:22 - 1:10:34 The best Villain is the one who think that they're the hero
so, after observing ironwood's prosthetics, i have now come to the conclusion that remnant can keep you alive even if part of your heart is destroyed. he's almost 50% ENTIRELY MECHANICAL....
As flawed as Ironwoods actions are can you even blame him? he WAS right. Everyone and I mean everyone didnt think what he was doing was the best option. and it ended up worsening things. the second Ironwood listened to what everyone was saying, when he let others in. everything was destroyed
But it wasn't because he listened to them. Cinder was the wild card, placing that chess piece in his office. Literally, everything else was happening regardless, Salem just popped up to scare and hopefully divide them. But the biggest wrench in the works was Cinder placing the chess piece, a total coincidence that just so happened to time perfectly with Salem appearing, scaring Ironwood shitless and driving him basically insane. If it wasn't for that one chess piece, I am convinced the civil war would never have happened.
@@ImStrange_ I meant that that was what ironwood was thinking, I agree that if the chess piece wasn't there the conflict wouldn't have happened. it wasnt because he let people in, before that things were already starting to fall apart
Ironwood semblance should have been like a hyper focus ultra instinct type of mode where he processes information much faster than normal and basically becomes like that movie action hero that you see in action movies and that would fit his character and fight scene against watts
respectfully disagree. as someone with his own experiences with depression, stress and trauma i can COMPLETELY see how locking your resolve would be an excellent coping tool and valuable tool in general. Also as the tin man, hardening his heart makes perfect sense.
Ironwood hasn't had it easy. Along with the Atlas,Mantle, and the rest of Remnant he has also had the added burden of carrying the show. His character arc has been a thrill to watch which has me wondering what is going to have me sticking around when he is gone. Roosterteeth feels like its hanging in there by a thread. Can we just have this be the last season and go out on a high note?
Well, we know that RWBY is confirmed for 12 volumes total. 9 in this strange dimension, 10 likely in Vacuo, 11 maybe either back to Beacon or the trip to Beacon, and 12 to serve as the final stand against Salem. Even the villains for each one is laid out: 9 for Neo, 10 for Tyrian, 11 for Cinder, 12 for Salem. It's laid out too perfectly. Ending it here would just not work.
at about 13:30, Oz suggests they find a guardian, something to inspire a sense of safety rather than a sense of worry. And later, what does Ironwood make Penny? The Protector of Mantle, something to inspire a sense of safety. How well that actually worked could be debated, but it's interesting to see that Ironwood still listened to OZ and saw some merit in his words.
First appearance Ironwood: mentions Human touch Volume 8 Ironwood: Loss of Humanity and is now Acting like a Machine rather then a Human Human touch my ass Also if his ship was destroyed how the hell did he get back to Atlas!? Did he use a Bullhead or was his ship repaired off screen That was never established
I genuinely love his character. Progressing from a hero to a villain is one of my favorite character arcs and the fact that it was mostly in the background only served to make it better for me. Seeing Ironwood again after everytjing that has happened came as a shock because gone was the man we used to know and here he is now, a shell of his former self. People may argue that it was badly written and i'd be inclined to agree... but given the show's very clear-cut line between Heroes and Villains, i can appreciate how Ironwood gradually fell from grace.
James is the tragic case of someone who means well, but his pride and refusal to accept responsibility actively causes him to shoot himself in the foot, as when things go wrong he blames everyone around him claiming its everyone else's fault for not listening to him, as opposed to the other way around.
The only part of that I don't agree with is the blaming everyone else part. I think it's less of him refusing to take responsibility and just more of him thinking everything is does is what NEEDS to be done, which it isn't and he's wrong, but he's incapable of seeing clearly. But yes I agree with everything else you said.
@@ImStrange_ Thanks! And thats a good run down too, what I was reffering to by him saying it's everyone elses fault was Stuff like him saying "If Oz had just listened to me from the start" in volume 4 and His ranting "Robyn, the Council, THIS KINGDOM, even, you" in volume 7
@@erickamakeeaina1649 While he does say that, he really does take other people's inputs and remarks most of the time even when they're made in an offensive/angry tone (Jaune & Nora respectively). Most actually being from Ozpin as he clearly respects his decisions some of the time and was genuinely happy at his presence and sad at his disappearance along with always saying he needs Ozpin's advice as if he actually appreciates and needs his guidance at the same time going against it those few times. The last line he made before goddamn shooting a kid I think was just pure anger over being betrayed and proved right that he can't consider everyone's wellbeing and has to make human sacrifices for the 'greater good' (which is a wrong and appropriately inhumane idea coming from the Tin Man w/o a heart) TL;DR Ironwood is a good guy with, ironically, a good heart trying to protect people but defo has the whole 'for the greater good' idea stuck in his head and until he can see that's wrong then he'll be the Tin Man w/o a heart
@@Shadow10345I agree he liked Oz and was sad over his disappearance, it's not like he's pure evil and does care about his friends. He was being slightly reasonable at times wich was what kept him from going full Dictator, but he was still not listening to other very important advice, like telling him to go to Robyn. I don't think it was just Anger, again back in Volume 4 he does it there too with his 'If Oz had just listened from the start....'
@@pigeonfog so true i literally have dealt before with them and they make me lose faith in humanity the more they speak. I in fact have superior understanding compare to those people as i can see he is fanatic who gained power slowly too much while having it too much already(I became one for 3 years after bullying in school).
21:16 no matter how many times I see this scene, I'm still sad that they didn't get shot. They are literally on the ground and the robots missed. Thanks, plot armor
Ironwood has the blessing and the curse of being the most stubborn person on the planet. Stubbornness can help you push through the impossible yet makes you fully blind towards everything else, so much so that he didn't need what makes him like that to render his human arm useless and stopping Watts... that was sheer will. I really wonder if he'll be able to at least compromise before things really turn for the worst (especially if the theory of his Semblance affecting him is correct).
Since reading Before the Dawn it’s amazing to see the contrast between Theodore, Ozpin and Ironwood. I’m amazed how they all got along😅 MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE BOOK BELOW: Especially Theodore and Oz since they seemed particularly close (given how Theodore kept his picture with Ozpin in his office and threw the rest he had with the other headmasters in the bin.)
That’s what happens when you devote your whole life to a system. Becoming dependent on something that has a 50% chance of failing will leave you with nothing in the end.
Even with all the opposition, he was still relatively able to keep himself sane through all of it and listen to the viewpoints of others, but 2 points tore him down. The moment Cinder left him that gift he started to buckle under the pressure, but was doing his best to reign it in. The moment he shot Oz was the instant he let himself go to his paranoia entirely.
ironwood is just a fking great guy! and he handled so much pressure.. its so fking sad he broke the way he did and salem legit just ruined his intire life and lifes work.. I hope ironwood will return one day as either a PTSD villan who is against salem but has his own motives. OR the most likely and better version like a hermit of the woods who plays the right role when needed. this cant be the end of iron i really hope not
I'mStrange: Well done! Thank you for what was clearly a daunting task. I'm impressed. I am definitely one of your new subscribers and look forward to viewing more of your work. Thumbs High! my friend, Thumbs High.👍
a friend of mine pointed out that was likley the case. personal care and grooming is something they teach you in the army, he says, and letting it go unchecked is a bad sign of neglect.
