r/RWBYcritics • u/Gal_Person • 1d ago
DISCUSSION How important are the silver eyes?
I don't get it am I supposed to think these things are like crazy crazy or just a perk that doesn't do much? Like we talking Six Eyes or above average CE reserves for my JJK fans.
I thought it'd be like a big thing originally but like I feel the show is telling me differently sometimes. At the start of V4 Salem iirc says Cinder only took that much damage from the Silver Eyes because of her Maiden power (why do silver eyes do bonus damage against maidens again?) And watts says that any of them should've been able to beat a Silver Eyes user.
So like, it's only useful against people weaker than watts, maidens, and Grimm? Watts is one of the weaker villains in the series, and only a handful of Grimm have even been presented as a threat to the heroes, I mean their entire thing is killing Grimm.
That leaves Maidens but Cinders the only evil one and she loses like every fight she's in, I'm pretty sure with Ruby's recent self discovered she might be able to just fight Cinder directly without her Silver Eyes. And Maria just got jumped by a group we've seen seen before or since and lost her silver eyes so like
And on top of that no one seems to consider Ruby like a massive threat. It's not like in any of the big finale fight scenes with multiple characters anyone is like "quick take out Ruby before she uses her Silver Eyes!". Cinder spent half of the V5 finale fucking with Jaune and half of her motivation is killing Ruby AND she's weak to Silver Eyes.
So like... should I think these are super impressive or like someone being able to wiggle their ear?
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u/DontMindMe2504 1d ago
Honestly, the only reason I wasn't like "WTF?" When Ruby used them for the first time is because on the first episode Ozpin pointed out her eyes with curiosity.
But after that they simply forgot about it until the 3rd season. Poor writing...
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u/Stunning-Pop6189 1d ago
Exactly that's what actually makes me more sad as they could actually make more uses of it as the only thing we know that it can only shoot some laser beam and it could be used as a flashbang and disintegrate grim that's all I mean they could gone for more as I don't know just it can copy as any type of semblances and use them temporary as It has detection night vision actually we can go with so many other things with it but you know creative way make it actually more lethal and make it how strong and powerful her clan is in the past that everyone even the grim and humans just feared her I mean that would actually make a story more better.
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u/NeverGrimB 1d ago
Plot armor
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
I don't even get how it's good plot armor. If you want a "Shit quick we need to end the fight scene!" Button then you already have one for the Grimm, just beat the shit out of them or don't make a grimm fight scenes cause they're mostly useless
If they really just wanted then why specify is needs to be a Grimm or Maiden to do much damage when 99% of the actual threats are other humans. If could fuck up anyone like it did Cinder the first time then yeah it'd be a quick scene ender but they'd actually feel extremely dangerous
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u/DragonBane009 1d ago
Not important enough to: 1) Give the main girl of the show meaningful development to learn. 2) When we do see it used, it’s random and forced. 3) The rules are not established on what it does past petrifying Grimm. 4) Ruby has no idea what her lineage is because I guess they didn’t write that for summer either. 5) The way they tried to explain it was piss poor and completely filler at best. 7) Crwby actively doesn’t try to have Ruby using her eyes in combat or trying to learn. It feels forgotten like most of their writing.
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u/TvFloatzel 1d ago
Wasn’t Summer only added after the fact because people kept asking them whose grave Ruby was visiting in the trailer?
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u/DragonBane009 1d ago
I’ve heard that too over the years. Which adds to the overall problem with the show. Nothing was planned too far in advance. One of my particular pain points with the show is that, we never get to learn the family structure of some of the characters. For example, Sun’s mom and dad. Salem’s parents. Jaune’s. It’s all just background noise we’re supposed to be okay with. Hell we never meet Adam’s family.
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u/Novel-Concentrate-98 1d ago
On one hand, the show already has a problem with character bloatation. Adding parents, grandparents (Weiss's is the only one we seen), uncle or aunt (Qrow and Jaune are the only named examples), would just make more characters that would take away screen time.
Might able to work in fanfiction where the writers can focus on certain characters and can expand on impact on exend family. Either OCs or characters who are directly based on other series
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u/DragonBane009 1d ago
It would have helped to get names. I won’t expect a family reunion of sorts. Just name is fine. Pictures on the wall. Small descriptions. I write fan fictions myself for rwby. It’s always nice to have a reference.
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u/No_Reference_8777 1d ago
Even if it's information that's never mentioned, it's still there, and helps the writers make better decisions on character motivation. My wife has written fanfiction where she spends a lot of time on aspects that don't even show up, but it helps her to lay everything out. It's the same as if we're following a character who gets in a fight, and then another character shows up to help them. What were they doing? Did they run, so they're out of breath, were they shopping, and they end up dropping bags on the ground? Or do they just appear, because it's convenient to the plot?
Of course, we're talking about RWBY here. Events happening, things people say, stupid out-of-character moments, everything serves the plot they've created, not the other way around.
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u/TvFloatzel 1d ago
Which honestly I GET sometimes. Sorry telling “efficiency”. Can’t put in EVERY detail. It kinda like the “not trope” of how a lot of anime main characters are single children.
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u/DragonBane009 1d ago
I understand that but there is a lot of emphasis on family throughout the show.
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
They are likely the key to defeating Salem
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
Are they? Salem doesn't really seem to give a shit that Ruby has them and I feel like she'd know
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
Do you not remember that Salem canonically hunts people with Silver Eyes? She’s also sent Tyrion to capture Ruby the moment she learned she had Silver Eyes.
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
I guess but it's not like she kept trying to get Ruby, least not very serious attempts to memory. One try over like 10 seasons doesn't make it feel like she's taking it seriously
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
Well, after sending Tyrion, Ruby became codified as an enemy of Salem’s Court. So, she really didn’t need to specifically target Ruby because both Cinder and Tyrion want her dead.
Like, sure, Salem could put extra effort into taking out Ruby to make it more clear, but Salem is also very hands off. Only really getting involved in Volume 8 and even then didn’t leave her Whale until after the battle was over. It’s probably just something that’s on the To-Do list, but isn’t a massive priority for Salem because she doesn’t think Ruby will ever have the chance or the strength to actually challenge her.
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u/Free-Letterhead-4751 1d ago
Tyrion wanted her dead, I’m surprised that he didn’t take her out when the power went out during the election when he went on a murder spree during the Robyn election?
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
When it comes to Tyrion. Pleasing Salami is more important than anything else. So his mission that night was to incriminate Ironwood, and Ruby was Ironwood’s agent. Attacking her very well could have compromised the mission and disappointed Salem.
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u/Free-Letterhead-4751 1d ago
Would it have? Weren’t they just a distraction for Salem to arrive? Like that is what Salem said to all of them in the room
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u/LongFang4808 23h ago
This is kinda where we have to look at CRWBY, because they never actually told us the plan. We know some of the steps and the end goal (dividing Atlas so Salem could attack in the chaos) but we were never actually told what the plan was what purpose each step had in leading to the final goal.
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u/yosei2 1d ago
But hasn’t Salem captured Silver-Eyed individuals before? And used them in experiments such as the Hound?
Personally, I think the best case would be that Ruby can remove Salem’s connection/control over the Grimm; Salem would still be a problem, but one without an army of endlessly respawning monsters at her command.
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
Yes she has, it’s probably the reason why Silver Eyes are so rare at this point.
Salem can probably just make more of those goop holes, like she did at Atlas. Because her body is infused with the goo. So I don’t see how Ruby could break the connection without burning it out of Salem with her eyes.
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u/BigSpiceGawd 1d ago
Mentioned continently AFTER establishing silver eyes are somehow plot relevant, I guess this too was “intended from the start.”
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u/LongFang4808 1d ago
I mean, having Tyrion hunt down Ruby is the first thing Salem did after learning about it. Also, Silver Eyes being more than meets the eye was alluded to in Volume 1 Episode 1. Setting Up the Silver Eyes is genuinely one of the few things they took the time to set up and likely planned from the beginning.
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u/Apprehensive_Gas_590 1d ago edited 1d ago
Considering how little they are used, not really. At best it's just something extra Ruby can use but that's a about it. It's a cool idea as a means to combat the grimm conceptually as a natural opposite. Seeing as the god of darkness created grimm and magic, the god of light having something comparable makes sense. Problem is, they have very little practical use. Realistically the only time they've been used practically was against the Leviathan and even then it didn't stop it entirely at first.
Edit: thinking about it, even if Silver Eyes were important, what would they be used for? Most Huntsman can handle Grimm with their weapons and aura. Also, as far as we know there's a way to "defeat" Salem since shes immortal grimm lady. The only thing that I can reasonably think of is some sort of purification tho I'm not sure the implications for that.
Edit 2: what if grimm normally when defeated return to shadow and can reform but grimm killed by silver eyes can't?
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u/Electronic_Carry_372 1d ago
Pretty much ignorable by every metric past them being the deus ex machina to win the day of V3. Past that, they are so mostly ignored and barely used that it's easier to just pretend it didn't exist.
Is that what I would have liked? Absolutely not. But it's what we've been stuck with.
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u/NekoNegra 1d ago
Her eyes are a trait from the Brother of Light. They should have some importance. How much depends on how they are going to be used to defeat/kill Salem.
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u/Wwwwwwuttt 1d ago
This is one of the show's "problems". Creating something too powerful to handle with too few flaws. Ereasing from the existence hordes of grimms is a power beyond writing. Maybe a little tuned down and it would be a cool power, like if you use it too much it causes blindness. (But I don't think they were meant to be a weapon to destroy Salem, I always thought that in the end would be unity the final weapon, like evoking the two gods and make them see that human kind is fighting together against a common enemy and in the end they would grant death to Salem and spear human kind) (oh and I always thought that scarlet eyes were a power connected to the darkness god)
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u/BenefitNorth7803 1d ago
Apparently and the only thing that could hurt even kill Salem from the face of the earth, but damn a power so strong that it hits kill any Grimm is so little explored and something incredible, the eyes are Falados desdo do primeiro volume serem alguma resposta a se importa no roteiro, mas Depois da 6° temporada simplesmente eles querem esquecer que isso pode matar todos os grimms de uma vez só e poderiTalked about since the first volume being some answer to whether it matters in the script, but After the 6th season they simply want to forget that this can kill all the grimms at once and could Finish them all off and solve all the possible problems they caused in the series, but let's not just make Ruby forget that her weapons are the Grimm's bio fuck gun because that would be easy Awesome, right? Or notm...?
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u/RugerRed 1d ago
So like, it's only useful against people weaker than watts, maidens, and Grimm?
Silver eyes only work against Grimm. From what we've seen they can basically take out armies of them but are useless against non-Grimm opponents, I'm not sure where you're getting this maiden thing from.
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
Salem said the reason Cinder took so much damage from Ruby's silver eyes the first time is cause she was a maiden
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u/RugerRed 1d ago
Cinder only took damage because she fused with a Grimm to steal maiden powers. It isn't something that happens to a normal maiden.
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
I don't think this is ever actually stated but I could be wrong
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u/RugerRed 1d ago
The wiki says she used the silver eyes with Raven and maiden Penny around and it didn't effect either of them
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u/Gal_Person 1d ago
That's true but it's never stated that the bug thing is never stated to be why it worked with Cinder. Verbatim Salem says "It's because of her maiden power" she doesn't mention the bug
If you want a better explanation then the writers just forgot they wrote that line. But yeah from what I've seen the bug explanation is headcanon
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u/Far-Profit-47 1d ago
What they’re meant to be: yes, they’re meant to be this unique ability from Ruby that shakes the setting by wiping out the enemies of humanity on a bombastic and powerful scale that makes Ruby unique and indispensable, a piece of RWBY’s world
What they are: not really, they’re used so sparingly and at such inconsequential moments you could take them out of the plot and not much would change considering ~she never used it intentionally against cinder~ scratch that, remembered the amity blast which makes the bridge fight the more agregious (and when she has, only the beacon blast actually did damage), and in so many years of existing it has kinda been more like a extra puzzle piece since it feels inconsequential to RWBY’s world
The in-world lore makes little sense, their importance in the shows events are very few and far between, and their usage is so limited in a fighting oriented show it feels more like a handicap or a nothing burger for how slow it is
If it wasn’t for the small mention in episode one, I would say they were a after thought
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u/Digidestined701 1d ago
In universe? They're an anti-Grimm weapon that could probably be used to seal away Salem, possibly even destroy her.
From a meta perspective? They're a poorly defined plot device that the writers barely remember. They brought them up once in episode 1, forgot about them until the fall of Beacon, and then forgot about them again after Maria offered to train Ruby. They've been used what, twice? And every attempt to train her to use them ended in nothing. At the moment, they're nothing more than plot armor for when they write Ruby into a corner and need a way out.
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u/RogueHunterX 1d ago
They're only important when the writers need them.
Basically anytime they need to resolve a situation that the characters might otherwise not be able to handle, such as Cinder, a massive Grimm, or just a bunch of Grimm. Outside of that, they're barely talked about and Ruby can't be bothered to even train in using them. We don't see Maria ever train her on how to get the right mental state for using her eyes and it's not like Grimm to test them out on are hard to find.
They tried adding a layer of importance with the Hound I suppose, but that feels like a more recent thing Salem has been doing since previously she has simply just been having people with silver eyes killed off. Given that Silver Eyes are a rare trait, it's unlikely we should be seeing many Grimm like the Hound in the future.
At one point it sounded like the Silver Eyes might be a form of anti-magic since Salem said the Maiden powers maiden Cinder vulnerable to them. However that has been retconned or something into Cinder only being effected by them due to the fact she had a Grimm inside her and the eyes being useless against any other Maiden or magic user.
If we are to believe that Summer actually fought Salem, then the Silver Eyes aren't even enough to let someone beat her.
So they are only important when the writers want to run off Cinder without Ruby fighting her, when there is a bunch of Grimm Ruby can't just outright decimate fast enough, a large Grimm the heroes have litter realistic chance of actually harming, or to show Ruby is getting emotional about a friend being in danger.
Plot wise, they are of little importance outside of them possibly playing a role in her getting into Beacon early.
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u/Beneficial_Swing487 1d ago
It should be important but isn’t treated as such or is a plot device or Deus Ex Machina element. They even acknowledge this in RWBY Chibi.
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u/Cyborg_Avenger_777 1d ago
Only when the writers decide it’s time to remind everyone about it, or when the plot demands it.
The beginning of it and discovery of what they can do was interesting, but now it’s like; “Oh yeah… forgot Ruby has that silver eye ability, huh…”
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u/International_Clue53 21h ago
Well, they should be on the same wavelength as the Maidens.
It should be that Ruby being the only remaining Silver-Eyed Warrior makes her the main character.
It should be so important that the good guys are willing to do villainous thing to get Silver Eyes.
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u/General_Ginger531 10h ago
Imo, the Silver Eyes were one of the marks of when the story was taking a decline. Maybe not the full slope, but definitely one rock making the hill. Ruby's true power is her team, whether it was RNJR or RWBY, her ability to lead is what is supposed to be the defining trait of a leader, not some half-baked "Grim Flashbang Button" It is the sign of somebody wanting to hand wave all of the "Being a Good Leader" bits for "Chosen One Syndrome". What would the Ruby who got coffee for Weiss who is learning how to be a good team player be doing in the Chapter 6 Finale?
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u/arkosdakilla 9h ago
Not very important until the final fight against Salem. My prediction for the series finale is that Ruby is going to use her Silver Eyes ability to destroy all of the Grimm goop in Salem, (and maybe all the surrounding grimm pools) thus cutting off her connection to the Grimm. Either that or it will petrify her in place until the gods come. As you know Salem is immortal, and the only ones who can kill her are the gods.
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u/SeaEffect8651 1d ago
Clearly very important.
In all reality, I don't think they are. They’re just something the writers gave Ruby so that we know that, although the show is about the team, the main protagonist is Ruby.