Jaune's most devious lick yet: the Rusted Knight
There's been some Jaune discussion recently. One of the things I've seen is that some people are confused as to why Jaune is considered to be stealing other people's screentime, or otherwise surprised at this concept. Allow me to demonstrate with Jaune's biggest thievery of time that should've gone to someone far more interesting and fitting, greater than even how he monopolized Cinder's attention in V5 after setting up Cinder's hatred for Ruby. I'm not talking about Jaune being in the Ever After *in general,* though I think it's arbitrary.
I'm talking about the title: stealing the Rusted Knight... but also yes every plot point Jaune gets in the Ever After and probably *will* get in the Ever After with him falling down the tree. Being the deuteroganist of the Ever After in general.
But how? And for that matter, who did Jaune steal it from?
#Weiss (Is Not A) Schnee
Allow me to explain: Weiss Schnee does not exist any longer. There is no Weiss Schnee. She is useless. She serves no purpose.
* She's not the heiress to the SDC: that was previously given to Whitley. * She's not related to the SDC much at all: the SDC is either gone or irreversibly crippled. * She's not Winter's sister: as far as she knows, Winter may very well be dead. * She's not Ruby's partner later on: Ruby kills herself. * She's not Atlesian: that doesn't exist anymore. * She's not rich: her wealth doesn't exist anymore. * She's not influential: her influence is gone.
And with only the slightest tweak of tying her into Ruby's plot, she can easily believe that her status as Huntress or hero is in question.
*Weiss does not exist.* There is no answer to "How do you Weiss?" There is no answer to "What is a Weiss?" That's why her role in V9 was reduced to little more than comic relief even on a meta level.
Weiss started V1 as one of the most powerful and important women on the entire planet. She had endless resources, endless potential, and endless opportunities. The *only* thing in Weiss' way was Jacques, and now Weiss has ***nothing.***
And the person who becomes a faceless knight in the desperate pursuit to fulfill a purpose and get a rush from saving people, the person who is the secondary character in this story about purpose, loss of identity, and ego death to become something new, the person who is no doubt going to get *his own* little ascension scene of becoming a better person and moving on to achieve a new purpose is ***Jaune.***
#Why Jaune? (And Why Doesn't He Deserve It)
Because he killed Penny. Something *else* he didn't deserve: a plot point set up for Ruby and stolen away. Which, as a side note, is another thing with Jaune's plot thefts, that being the circular logic involved. Often times, the idea that Jaune is a protagonist is whipped out as this big, throbbing reason why he's getting all of this stuff. "He's a protagonist, and you've gotta deal with it!" energy.
Except him being a protagonist is because he gets plot points stolen from others(or undeserved). Because he's the protagonist. Because he gets plot points stolen from others(or undeserved). Because he's the protagonist. Repeat until you get to the only thing that makes Jaune important is arbitrarily being given Pyrrha as a love interest to die for his character development. Also having a penis and not being taken.
In conclusion: *Weiss* should've been the Rusted Knight struggling with their identity, *Weiss* should've been the one obsessed with the rush of saving people because she knows she's lost every possibility to do so outside, *Weiss* should've been the one bitter over Ruby(the last remnant of her *own* identity) failing to act, *Weiss* should've been the one lashing out at Ruby for the destruction of her home, and *Weiss* should've been the one to potentially ascend alongside Ruby.
Is Jaune getting that, especially after Weiss barely had anything in the two volumes that should've been most about her, the first time he's been given time on a silver platter that belonged to someone else? No. Jaune gets his own arc in V1, Yang got nothing. Jaune plays a big part in the V2 dance arc, Weiss gets scraps. Pyrrha's sacrifice in V3 is made about Jaune. Jaune gets to mourn Pyrrha in V4, Ruby gets zero focus regarding it. Cinder goes after Jaune in V5, Ruby gets scraps. Jaune gets the statue scene in V6, Oscar's entire character arc is skipped over. Hell he even gets the most and most powerful buffs in V7 while everyone else got scraps or aesthetics.
But it is by far the most extreme. His most devious lick yet.
anyway thanks for comin to my TED talk
*(Oh and PS if they needed to drop a member of Team JNPR in, it should've been Ren: the other person who has nothing, just broke up with Nora, tried to be a hero and had a full breakdown over being unable to, was searching for a purpose with Ironwood, and would've fit even more with the Paper Pleasers because inaction is what his father explicitly told him was wrong. Also he could've grown to look like his father further highlighting what Ren wants to be, and leaving him dangerously on the cusp of choosing Ruby's temptation: to be the paragon they believe their parent to be).*