History FridgeHorror / RWBY

* During this volume, Jaune is broken by repeated failures against Salem, grows a scraggly beard, becomes mentally unstable, and becomes fixated on his own hero complex. This sequence of events also perfectly describes Ironwood's character arc, and Jaune could very easily have walked the same path the fallen general of Atlas did.

* In one of the shorts released after Volume 9, Yang takes Ruby out for boba. At first, this seems like a sweet gesture... Then you remember boba is a form of ''[[TraumaButton tea]]''.

* In one of the shorts released after Volume 9, Yang takes Ruby out for boba. At first, this seems like a sweet gesture... Then you remember boba is a form of ''tea''.

* Ultimately, Ironwood's philosophy of prioritizing the mission above friends and family, no matter cost is proven right. Jaune made the hard choice and killed Penny, which ultimately worked out in the end by giving Winter the much needed power boost. However, because Winter prioritized saving Weiss over grabbing the Staff, it resulted in ''Cinder'' grabbing it and ultimately scoring one for Salem, causing ''more'' destruction in the process.

* Ultimately, Ironwood's philosophy of prioritizing the mission above friends and family, no matter cost is proven right. Jaune made the hard choice and killed Penny, which ultimately worked out in the end by giving Winter the much needed power boost. However, because Winter prioritized saving Weiss over grabbing the Staff, it resulted in ''Cinder'' grabbing it and ultimately scoring one for Salem.

** Also, the defense of Mistral after the CCT went down was likely coordinated in the same office. If Salem or Watts was listening in, then Lionheart (wittingly or otherwise) sent his own staff and huntsmen to their deaths.

* All the problems in the world that RWBY cannot solve, such as racism, authoritarianism, crime, and systemic oppression, end up getting eradicated in the end when Salem or her cronies exploit them for their own ends, either because RWBY finds a way to fix the problem with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer a more direct, violent solution]], when Salem or her cronies just [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness dispose of the problem outright]], or a combination of both. As such, the main problem of needing to stop Salem herself becomes a problem in of itself when one realizes that ''she's'' the one ironically fixing Remnant's problems, directly or otherwise, and to stop her would be to allow those problems to fester.

* While they present Neo's ascension as a positive redemption arc, it's also worth noting that her status is that she is put in a wooden statue while her soul is put into a pseudo-afterlife where she will be put through the same anguish that she put Ruby through and, unlike Ruby, she won't have someone to remind her to BeYourself. Meaning she'll either [[DeathOfPersonality come out as a completely different person]] at best or [[AndIMustScream trapped inside a state of limbo unable to move on]] at ''worst''. What was essentially Neo being [[PutOnABus written out of the show]] turned out to be more [[LaserGuidedKarma laser guided]] than anyone had thought.

* While they present Neo's ascension as a positive redemption arc, it's also worth noting that her status is that she is put in a wooden statue while her soul is put into a pseudo-afterlife where she will be put through the same anguish that she put Ruby through and, unlike Ruby, she won't have someone to remind her to BeYourself. Meaning she'll either [[DeathOfPersonality come out as a completely different person]] at best or [[AndIMustScream trapped inside a state of death unable to move on]] at ''worst''. What was essentially Neo being [[PutOnABus written out of the show]] turned out to be more [[LaserGuidedKarma laser guided]] than anyone had thought.

** Volume 9 [[https://twitter.com/RobinRising_/status/1709715345575989450 DVD Commentary]] confirms that Neo was irredeemable as the person she was. She needed to be punished and will have to pick a different person to be if she ever wants a shot at redemption ([[DeathOfPersonality as a different person]]).

** With the [[https://twitter.com/RobinRising_/status/1709715345575989450 Commentary on this very scene]] saying how Neo needed to be punished and acknowledging the DeathOfPersonality being a thing, this has officially become AscendedFridgeHorror.

* When Ruby vents to Yang and Blake about how everyone was happy for them finally kissing, while it might have been LampshadeHanging at the notion that [[WillTheyOrWontThey it took them forever to get to that point]], when you factor in that Ruby was processing the loss of Penny and how one of the more popular ships with Ruby ''was'' with Penny, it can read differently as her being envious at what Blake and Yang have. The final nail in the coffin? Jaune [[BlamingTheVictim blaming Ruby]] for him having to kill Penny and [[ItsAllAboutMe making it seem like it traumatized him more than her]], as her next words after Jaune's own snapping was to tell Blake to shut up.

* During the [[RevisedEnding original epilogue ending]] of RWBY, we see that FNKI was not at Vacuo when many of the other teams were, implying that they had indeed died at the Battle of Atlas.
* While they present Neo's ascension as a positive redemption arc, it's also worth noting that her status is that she is put in a wooden statue while her soul is put into a pseudo-afterlife where she will be put through the same anguish that she put Ruby through and, unlike Ruby, she won't have someone to remind her to BeYourself. Meaning she'll either [[DeathOfPersonality come out as a completely different person]] at best or [[AndIMustScream trapped inside a state of death unable to move on]] at ''worst''. What was essentially Neo being [[PutOnABus written out of the show]] turned out to be more [[LaserGuidedKarma laser guided]] than anyone had thought.