#I Would Prefer Not To | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jessimiko · 1 year

Text

My thoughts on the idea of resurrecting Penny

So first off I'd like to preface this with clarifying that this is not an attack on anyone or your theories, I don't want to ruin your fun and if you disagree that's fine! I just wanted to discuss my own thoughts on the matter and my opinions on popular theories. If you don't want to read about like, me criticizing the idea of Penny coming back then this is your warning, I guess?

So right off the bat, I'll say that I think brining Penny back again would be a bad writing decision. It takes away any possible stakes for not only her, but for everyone else too. If we set this precedent that people can just be brought back to life over and over again, even in a human body, then is there really anything at stake anymore?

Two, it goes against the main conflict of the story. This all started when Salem just refused to take no for an answer and wouldn't let Ozma rest. Now, you can think whatever about the Gods, that they punished Salem appropriately or they're total dicks or something in between. But like surely we can all agree that Salem was in the wrong in bringing Ozma back? Like... when she first went to the God of Light and begged for her beloved back, that I can understand. Obviously she's heartbroken and she's mourning, she didn't do anything wrong there. But like, the God of Light was right, life and death is a delicate balance. And I guess you could argue it's different in a fictional world where it IS possible for the Gods to bring people back to life, but... Accepting death and mourning your loss so you can move on is a part of life, no? Like I'm having trouble putting what I mean into words but y'know, the circle of life. Two sides of the same coin. Etcetera etcetera.

Where I'm going with that point is that bringing people back from the dead upsets that balance. And it's because Salem disrupted that balance that this is all happening. We've already seen what happens in universe when people are brought back from the dead. And it's uh.....BAD. Plus, as you'll remember, the God of Darkness brought Ozma back and he was freaking out and and screaming "Where am I?!" So like, people coming back to life is potentially an absolutely horrifying experience for them, so maybe lets not???

(You could also argue that the Gods themselves broke their own rules and disrupted the balance by punishing Salem with immortality. That's it's own discussion but like we all know the Gods fucked that one up. Because it lead to....*gestures at The Lost Fable* But that doesn't mean Salem was in the right for bringing Ozma back. And yeah, the Gods are capable of bringing people back to life, doesn't mean they should.)

Thirdly, it takes all the weight out of the absolutely crushing defeat of the volume 8 finale. It makes it all kinda meaningless. Y'know how frustrating it is when a story ends with something like ✨and it was all a dream✨? It's like that. Plus, I can't really see them putting Jaune through the horrifyingly traumatic experience and the subsequent emotional turmoil of killing her, only to be like "lol jk"

(you could argue that Penny being killed disrupts the balance of life and death, but bringing her back would just be another thing that disrupts it, they wouldn't cancel each other out)

Now, I'd like to also put in my two cents on some popular theories about it happening. Again, I'm not making fun of you or anything for having these theories and ideas, this is just how I feel about them personally. But I'm glad y'all are having fun theorizing /gen

Pietro will give the rest of his aura and sacrifice himself to bring Penny back.

It makes sense. Pietro loves Penny, and it's obvious he would do anything for his daughter. And that's exactly it, he would do anything for her.

This is how that scene went, and what Pietro said specifically:

Ruby: You gave her part of yours?

Pietro: Yes. And each time I rebuild Penny, it takes a little more. If the people get their wish and she's destroyed, I won't be able to--

There's obviously no sacrifice that Pietro won't make for his daughter. If he could sacrifice his own life to bring her back he would do it in a heartbeat. But he can't. He won't be able to.

Whether it's that he doesn't have enough aura left, or it's literally not possible for him to give up ALL of his aura, it's very clearly not possible.

They will take part of Pietro's aura and/or the part of Penny that's inside Winter to bring her back.

So the "part" of Penny that's inside Winter is linked to the winter maiden's power, and based on volume 3 I assume that the maiden's power, magic, is bound to your soul. There's no separating it from your soul. Hell, the reason Oscar can use magic is because of his soul merging with Oz's.

So what the idea is here is that they put Winter in the aura transfer machine thing and rip her soul apart to put the maiden powers in someone else? Y'know, literally exactly what Cinder did to Amber? Yeah, I can't see them doing that.

Part of Penny is inside Ruby because of what she said to Ambrosius "We kinda want to keep her around a little longer than that."

I...don't really understand how this idea came to be, to be honest. Like Ambrosius' whole thing is that he's very literal. He'll give you exactly what you asked for, not what you meant, not what you might have meant, exactly what you asked for. I don't really think Ambrosius like, reads between the lines and creates his interpretation of what he thinks you meant. Also sticking a piece of Penny's soul inside of Ruby isn't creation, and wouldn't it have y'know...fucked her up? Maybe both of them? So yeah, this one doesn't make sense to me, sorry.

Penny's swords should have disappeared when she died, but they didn't (I guess the theory is that she survived somehow?)

Okay but like, we have no reason to believe they should have disappeared. Sure we have no reason to believe they should still be around, either, but hear me out. We've seen two other maidens create weapons with their magic (not their aura, if they did it with their aura then anyone on Remnant could materialize weapons out of nothing.) Raven, and Cinder. Raven we've only really seen make that huge sword at Haven, and Cinder is making weapons for herself all the time. In both of these instances, these weapons were probably deliberately destroyed, I mean a distinct part of the way Cinder fights is she makes weapons and throws them at people and makes them explode. We've never seen these weapons disappear after a maiden's death, obviously, because Cinder and Raven are still alive. Thus we don't really have a reason to believe that Penny's swords should have disappeared.

Edit: seems like I was wrong about the swords disappearing! Still, we never actually see them dissipate/disappear, so maybe they went flying off the edge or something? And I still highly doubt her swords/the one Ruby found are like the secret to reviving her, like containing some of her aura or soul. Why would that be the case?

The way Penny said "Trust me." to Jaune must have meant something

I don't really know what to say here, either. Is the theory that she came up with some plan of how to survive or bring herself back or something? But like...how?

I think it's more likely that she was just convincing him , I guess? Choice was actually a pretty big part of Penny's narrative in volumes 7-8, and how she struggled with not being able to live her life the way she wanted to.

Penny: I was the protector of Mantle. But now, I am much more than that. And I wish I was not.

Even becoming the winter maiden, she chose to do that, but because she didn't really have a choice. She didn't want that responsibility. And once she had it, she wanted to use it to help her friends, and to help with the mission. But even her father wouldn't let her at first. And when Penny explains to him that she's trying to live her life, but he isn't letting her, Pietro understands and let's her do what she wants, even if it puts her in danger.

And then we get this shot:

She feels so free. Even if what she's doing is dangerous, she chose this.

And she chose to sacrifice herself to keep the winter maiden's power from Cinder, and by extension, Salem.

Edit: She also got to choose to give the winter maiden's power to Winter, rather than letting them go to Cinder or someone random if she just bled out.

And it was tragic, but I think, narratively, it would be a disservice to take that choice away from her.

Penny's character allusion, Pinocchio, came back twice, so it makes sense for her to come back twice, too.

I'm sorry I really hate to rain on your parade, but like... she already came back twice. The first time, after she "died" at the Vytal Festival, and the second time was when she was saved from the virus, which would have killed her, and became a "real" girl.

Plus, how would they bring her back when she died in a human body? Just doesn't seem possible to me.

Little is Penny

While I think this idea is super fuckin cute, I don't really understand. Why would that have happened?

Like, I totally get it y'all are GOING THROUGH IT, and I'm not here to ruin your fun or fight with you or anything. This all just been sitting in my brain and it wanted to come out. Again these are just my thoughts and I understand if you do not agree. I hope you keep having fun with all this 🙏

#rwby #rwby9 #I've also seen some people saying we're gonna see ruby in her 'salem arc'#and I'm like.#I Would Prefer Not To #but that's a whole other thing #and hey #whatever floats your boat

10 notes · View notes