WMG / Weight of the World

Theories for Weight of the World.

Wild Mass Guessing is for theories about future developments, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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Confirmed Theories

Sun knows who Vacuo is.

He is from Vacuo, and responded strangely when the personifications of Remnant were brought up. He also said "You remi— told us about the nations." "Remi-" for a cut off "reminded". He already knew about them but kept it a secret to keep Vacuo's identity safe. Since Word of God said she refuses to use original characters as personifications the possible candidates are:

• Neptune. Like Sun, he could originally be from Vacuo.
  • Jossed.
• Sage. Sun would want to protect his teammate.
  • Jossed.
• Scarlet. Same reasons as Sage.
  • Jossed.
• A member of NDGO or BRNZ.
  • Jossed.
• Sun himself. He refused to go to Shade and left Vacuo for a reason.
  • Confirmed. Sun is Vacuo.

Salem will gain a new ally: Atlas

Atlas/Ciel has shown how far over the line she is willing to go and has little concern for other people of Remnant (as seen when her Atlesian Knights massacred Vale's people in Westwind). So why not ally with her enemy to save her own skin?

• Confirmed. Atlas fights with Emerald and Watts to try to capture Canada. She promises to give them the Relic of Creation after fixing her body and puts her petty vengeance over Remnant and her own Kingdom. It doesn't last very long.

Atlas is a Selfish Hypocrite

Linked to the above WMG, Atlas only cares about herself. She goes on and on about protecting Remnant but in reality only cares about herself and will be revealed to be hugely selfish, self-centered and hypocritical. And by "herself" that means only herself: even her own people are expendable in her eyes.

• She may also be a heroism addict.
• Confirmed. Atlas doesn't care about anyone except herself, and only helped to save Vale in order to flaunt her superiority and choose Vale's successor. She didn't stage any heroics, but she was perfectly willing to play the part of the hero so everyone would worship Remnant's savior.

Penny 2.0 is taking orders from Ironwood and will bring America to him.

He is the one who gave her the mission to protect Alfred F. Jones. She is also in contact with him and took specific interest in his allegiances.

• The above is Confirmed. Penny 2.0 leads America into the mines and to Ironwood on Ironwood's orders.
• If that happens America will be captured and taken to Atlas and Penny 2.0 will realize her mistake. She will then turn against Ironwood and free Alfred.
  • Partially Jossed and Confirmed. Penny turns against Ironwood and saves America before he can be taken to Atlas.

A past betrayal.

Ozpin betrayed Vale in the past. It is not clear how the betrayal happened, but there are hints that she despises Ozpin. She says his name with vitriol and later says "Screw Atlas and O—" when talking about people they don't care about saving. Ozpin is the only named character other than Oscar and Oobleck with that first letter in their name.

• More evidence: Whenever she tries to talk about Ozpin, she cuts herself off or chokes even though she's only a voice in America's head. She might have been geased by Ozpin not to say anything incriminating about him.
  • Confirmed. Ozpin used the Relic of Choice to geas Vale so she cannot speak ill of him or share his secrets.

Ozpin will try to kill America.

Characters like Ironwood already said they are willing to murder America if it kept the Relic of Choice safe from Salem. This is Foreshadowing for Ozpin trying the same thing. Ozpin will do this as a last ditch effort to keep America out of Salem's hands. If anyone could figure out how to permanently kill a nation, it would be Ozpin.

• Raven also tried killing America to keep Salem from finding him. Two out of five current/former Ozpinati members tried that tactic. More Foreshadowing?
  • Confirmed. Ozpin realizes how close he is to losing the war and tries to kill America in order to regain some of his lost power.
• Alternatively, Ozpin will try to kill Sun, the personification of Vacuo, to keep Salem from getting him.
  • The Sun section is Jossed since Emerald took part of Sun's Aura and successfully stole the Relic of Destruction for Salem. Ozpin did not find out Sun was Vacuo until after.

The original Penny will never return.

She is Deader than Dead and her Aura is gone forever. Penny 2.0 will instead evolve into her own person.

• Confirmed. Penny 2.0 gets Aura, but confirms it is not Penny Polendina's. Penny Polendina is gone forever.
• Or Penny 2.0 might not evolve at all and remains Just a Machine.
  • This part is Jossed. Penny 2.0 develops emotions and her own personality. She also activates Aura, proving she has a soul.

Hazel will betray Salem.

Of all of Salem's henchmen, Hazel is the one most likely to betray her. Tyrian worships his Goddess, Emerald is too wrapped up in revenge, and Watts is a mad scientist psychopath with a habit of attaching Grimm parts to people. Hazel is different. His reasons for working with Salem aren't currently known, but that work directly conflicts with his principles. The compassionate (and nearly kind) way he treated America as he was trying to capture him hints that those morals may overcome his loyalty to Salem if he's given proper motivation. He did not treat his target as an enemy and showed a lot of reluctance to hurt him.

• Confirmed.

Agent Red Herring

Jasper Tarleton is a Red Herring and someone else is the spy.

• Confirmed. Tarleton is innocent. Agent Aster is the spy.

Ironwood will die.

Specifically, he will die trying to kill Atlas/Ciel. He sees no redemption for himself and is resigned to go down in history as a terrible tyrant. Attempting to kill Atlas will be his ultimate act of atonement, and he will die in the process. Whether he succeeds at killing her or not is uncertain.

• The above is Jossed. Ironwood was not present when Atlas died.
• Alternatively, he dies trying to kill Salem.
  • The Salem part is jossed though the core idea of the WMG is confirmed. Ironwood dies killing the Grimm Dragon.

Jossed Theories

One of the heroes will be arrested...

...for owning a copy of Remnant: The Game. Time was taken to say it has been banned in Atlas. The heroes will cause trouble and someone in authority will use the game as an excuse to arrest them. The most likely victim is Sun or Blake since they are in Atlas.

• Alternatively, Weiss is arrested and taken back to her father.
  • This entire entry is Jossed.

The original Penny will return.

Penny 2.0's "Aura Moderation Module" will turn on and Penny Polendina will come back, emotions and all.

• This is likely Jossed. Penny 2.0 refers to Penny Polendina as "her" and indicates they are two separate people ex: Pyrrha was "her" (Penny Polendina's) friend. "She" (Penny Polendina) was killed by Pyrrha. Penny 2.0 may have Penny Polendina's memories, but she is not Penny Polendina.
  • It's not Jossed yet, though it brings up a new possibility. Since they are implied to be two separate people, if Penny Polendina returns, Penny 2.0's personality will be erased.
  • Jossed. Penny 2.0 gets Aura, but confirms it is not Penny Polendina's. Penny Polendina is gone forever.

Qrow will die.

Because Mentor Occupational Hazard.

• Jossed. He does not die, though he suffers a Career-Ending Injury and is taken out of the fight.

Agent Jasper Tarleton is...

...the Atlas spy in the US government and the one who told Atlas America and Canada's identities. His name refers to a red gemstone and is related to a color, like other people from Remnant.

• Jossed. Tarleton is innocent. Agent Aster is the spy who told Atlas America and Canada's identities.

America will die.

Whether through a Heroic Sacrifice or Vale's status killing him, he will not make it to the end of the series. This may lead to a Bittersweet Ending, or even a Downer Ending if they do not stop Salem. He has suffered constantly throughout the series, and may only find peace in death at this point. There's also the author's track record to consider.

• Jossed. He survives and lives happily ever after.

England will not forget, and he will not forgive.

America has forgiven Ruby, but England will not forgive her for what she said. England cares about her and vowed to protect her, only for her cruel words to nearly push his brother to commit suicide. As shown with Blake and Yang, actions have consequences in this series, and things are not immediately forgiven because someone is sorry. This might not just apply to England either, but most of the nations, as shown by Australia's reaction to her. Ruby might have just ruined her (and maybe her world's) relationship with England and the other nations.

• He seems to be working with her well enough after the incident, though that could be because they're trying to rescue America.
• Jossed. England is amicable enough with Ruby up to when the nations leave Remnant.

Unsorted Theories

Viorel has a twin.

His name is derived from the Romanian word for the scilla bifolia. Bifolia means "twin-leaved." The chapter he reappears in also has two other sets of twins: America and Canada and Qrow and Raven.

The series is a stealth prequel to My Hero Academia.

After the final battle, people on Earth start gaining "super powers"^note  Aura and Semblances and Superheroes start emerging. America, Canada, and Penny are on their way to a meeting in the United States (possibly Rhode Island) to discuss how to handle these Superheroes. One of these meetings will establish the Pro Hero System and the super powers will be dubbed "Quirks". X number of generations later, a boy named Izuku Midoriya is born in Japan...

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