Penny's "Oh...right." when she thought that Winter was saying that she didn't understand emotions made my heart ache. But then Winter's immediate compassionate "No, no, what I mean is..." was enough to bring me close to tears. These two both cared for each other so much, in their own way. I hope that we can see how Penny living on in Winter affects her in the coming volumes.
This was perhaps the most under-rated and under-discussed relationship in the series thus far and it clearly had some very profound impacts on both of them. Winter tried very hard to suppress her emotions in an effort to be the perfect soldier. While this can be admirable in a lot of ways, it has lead to more than one good man and woman in the real world taking part in atrocities. Although it never came to that in Winter's case, it got to the point that she seemed to even deny her own humanity, this was especially pronounced in the first fight with Cinder where Penny saved her only for Winter to declare that her life didn't matter and in their final conversation where Winter tried to dismiss herself as a machine out of self-loathing for not turning against Ironwood sooner. It was Penny more than anyone else who assured her there was nothing wrong with her having her own emotions and would not allow Winter to cast them aside once Ironwood's actions started taking a turn for the worse. When Winter tried to deny that her life mattered and claimed that she was just a machine, it was Penny that shut down those notions with a simple "I disagree" and "You were my friend" respectively. In essence, Penny helped insure that Winter, unlike Ironwood did not lose her humanity and became someone worthy to be trusted with the power of the Winter Maiden. In Penny's case it was a little more subtle as she was from the beginning a true light in an increasingly dark and morally gray world. However, this also made her innocent and naive. At the Schnee manor it was her interactions with Winter which taught her that emotions are not always pleasant and they can not always be adequately described by human words. Her back and forth with Winter regarding Ironwood's decision to abandon Mantle and the plan to kill Fria to insure the power of the Winter Maiden was kept away from Salem forced her to confront the moral compromises humans must often make, especially in times of war. I think it is worth noting that in Volume 8, it was Penny who first told Ruby to kill her as she fought against Watts' virus and would later have Jaune mercy kill her after being fatally wounded by Cinder, both times it was to ensure that the power of the Winter Maiden did not fall into the wrong hands, a very Winter-like call in both instances. In essence, Winter helped Penny mature and grow. While volume 8 ended as a defeat with team RWBY and Jaune falling into the abyss, who knows how many people dead, and Salem capturing two relics; it was Winter who helped Penny grow into the woman who was able to make the choice that ensured that the power of the Winter Maiden at least went to someone who would not abuse it like Cinder and who would not run like Raven. *Edit* Another scene that really shows just how important Penny was to Winter's character development would have to be from 5:25 to 5:30 to where you see Winter trying to steal herself and not think of the moral implications of Ironwood's decisions but Penny shuts those efforts down with a simple "That doesn't bother you?!". Just look at the expression in Winter's eyes and you can see just how deep that simple sentence cut.
@Jaden Smith Guess that depends on your definition of "responsible". It you mean she is not actively malicious then you would be right. If you mean using it for some kind of noble cause then you would be wrong as she uses it for a combination of leading a tribe of bandits (whom Qrow described as thieves and killers) and her own selfish desires. It's a real shame since Raven is at worst, the third most capable combatant in Remnant at the moment (the only ones who I think could beat her would be Salem and possibly Ozpin).
@Jaden Smith I would trust Raven with Maiden powers due to having some redeemable qualities, she was heroic in past, fallen due to Salem's immortality and pointless war. So does Winter, but not Cinder, she's very power-hungry and abuses it.
Only problem with this is that Winter is in fact complicit with and probably responsible for helping uphold Ironwood's dictatorial regimes, even before shit hit the fan.
@@dannylin5980 She may now have the Winter Maiden powers but she hasn’t fully recovered since she still has her armor to add herself and to have increased durability.
Before v7 i never once thought i would see those two talk to eachother, not only because penny was dead at that time but because i thought winter would never talk or treat a robot like a human
Ironwood, Winter, and Penny. The three of them were the core of the Atlas arc. V7 was Ironwood's story as he was finally pushed over his edge. V8 was Penny's story as she grappled with her desire to live free and fulfill her duty to protect the people. And in both stories, Winter had to grapple with her desires and her destiny. In the end, I think Winter will fight not only in Penny's memory, but in memory of the man that Ironwood had been before it all came crashing down.
That is amazing I never thought of it that way but seeing in on writing made me realize that Winter was struggling in both volumes so much she deserves so much more than she got
I had felt there was no need for convolutions regarding Mettle to factor into it - maniac actions and sacrifice of morals and goodness is completely believable. It could have simply been the case that he was but one man, who stared into the abyss as the abyss stared back. Sadly, he blinked first.
I honestly hope Winter comes to realize that James was always the man she ended up turning against. The only difference is that he wasn't backed into a corner before. Also, I hope she and many of the other Atlesian elites are forced to grapple with their complicity and responsibility for the exploitation and oppression of countless groups of people in Remnant, especially since they are now in Vacuo, the worst victim of Atlesian rapaciousness.
@@rileyduncan3927 this has nothing to do with maiden powers. Just, i dunno, Winter's imagination? Or visit from a better world. This is a fantasy show after all so CRWBY have all rights to do so.
When Winter said the general is making hard choices so we don’t have to, my first thought was “if there are hard decisions, share them with others because sharing the weight can help some people’s mental health so much
ok honestly best friendship and I will say that honestly because winter needed more friends 😅honestly winter say penny as a close sister/ friend and make sure she stayed out of trouble however that ended sadly when she saw penny for the last time 😣now winter has her powers and will honor her name however she can hopefully be reunited with weiss in chapter 9.
Wonderfully done..... 😰👏👏👏👏 I'm misty-eyed once again thanks to you, I'mStrange.... The painful irony of these two opposite souls becoming first friends then joined souls is what makes their story so beautiful. And the next meeting of Winter & Cinder the most anticipated!! Another OUTSTANDING post!!! You never cease to move our feelings.... 😎👍🌹🙏😰
As someone who started shipping them during Volume 7, this is what Volume 8 felt like: Volume 8: Oh, so you like Penny and Winter being together? 😊 Volume 8: Okay! 😊 Volume 8: _I'll give you Penny and Winter being together._ Me: 😭
I can't do that because Winter and Penny always felt like another big sister, little sister relationship, and I feel Winter was trying to do better by Penny than she did by Weiss or Whitley.
Tbh, their friendship felt more real than Ruby and Penny's friendship. And if you think about it, it's a win win because both characters actually had development
I can't help but think Nora should've been the one to kill Penny and fall into the Creation Void instead of Jaune 1) All girls in the other world 2) Less hatred for Jaune for "taking up screentime" 3) Nora was the one spending time with Penny so something that goes into 4) Nora character development outside of Renora
It had to be Jaune, otherwise the powers would've gone to Nora (or any woman who killed her). Penny CHOSE Winter, and if the powers went to Nora, it would've defeated the purpose of Penny choosing Winter. I get that it's annoying that Jaune keeps doing things that Team RWBY should be the ones to do, but Jaune has largely been holding his own lately and I think it's even more annoying when the fandom constantly whines about him ever having any screen time. Whether you like it or not, he's a main character. He has every right to be involved with the main plot as RWBY do.
hang on I noticed something... when penny is giving the power to winter, winter is in her v7 outfit instead of the v8 one. I wonder if there is a reason for this?
This is a sad fact but I think the reason why she’s wearing her volume 7 outfit then is because that’s the last time Penny ever really saw Winter was back in volume 7
yeah, same. :/ they never really interacted through volume 7 or 8. hopefully that will change whenever everyone reunites, since winter has kinda joined the crew. although, they are both quite a bit different now too. qrow is far less sarcastic n stuff after quitting drinking. and, winter is far less attached to ironwood and the military officialness stuff, lol. so yeah, it'll be interesting if rooster teeth actually remembers to have them talk or acknowledge their past.
@@ariannah2834 Yes I missed this interaction so much, they're like knuckles and rouge from sonic X. But, now winter become more mature and independent person after she received Maiden powers whereas Qrow become less aggressive and softly.
Poor Jaune is going to have some major PTSD. Between losing Pyrrha and having to kill Penny so the Winter Maiden power did not transfer to Cinder. My heart can’t take this… 😢
I do wonder how Ruby,Winter,and everyone who was Penny's friend are going to react when they found out that Jaune was the one did what he did to Penny.
Some how in volume 7 and 8 penny and winter were so close like that they were a couple. I feel sad they penny die but also happy that her spirit is now with winter.
Juane really hated seeing penny go…He tried helping her, he even cried while fighting cinder, I just know there will be a scene in vol 10 where team ORNJ and emerald and team RWBY will mourn penny, (cause spoiler! Ruby faints after hearing penny’s second and permanent death in vol 9)
Nah, Penny always had Winter in mind over Ruby, and I think their interactions throughout Volumes 7 and 8 made Penny trust Winter to hold onto a piece of her, even above Ruby.
