I think he’s already there. Ozpin was dethroned as leader this volume, his second in command (Qrow) couldn’t step up, and the kids announced passionately that they’re in charge now. They believe their decisions have always been superior, even though consistently their decisions have resulted in messes that are fixed by an adult’s greater physical strength (Qrow saving their lives), greater experience/wisdom (Ozpin helping them through their White Fang mission), or greater authority in the world at large (Cordovin letting them off scot free because as special operative of the base she can swing that).

In theory I love this theme: the younger generation stepping up and being better than the one before them. Growth and all that. The problem is that this kind of story depends very heavily on kids succeeding as kids, when they still possess that supposedly intrinsic innocence and haven’t faced decades of complex scenarios. Dumbledore was Harry… until he had to survive another century of life and came across a situation that didn’t have such an easy solution. (That is, Harry gets to sacrifice himself to stop Voldemort. Dumbledore is asked to sacrifice a child. One is more easily seen as heroic than the other.) Stories usually have child protagonists complete their mission as children or right as they’re reaching 18–young enough still to stand apart from the 30+ adults. We don’t see them afterwards unless it’s a quick look at a bittersweet family life (Hunger Games) or a perfect family life (Harry Potter). Very few stories remind us that the child hero is destined to become the flawed mentor once the next crisis arises. (Luke in Star Wars being one of the few I can think of off the top of my head). Because at that point in their life they’re not a simplistic kid who charges ahead while the adults around them pick up the pieces of their reckless decisions, unseen in the background because the story doesn’t care about them. They are the adults now, and as such aren’t allowed the immediate assumption of being heroic. Their responsibilities are too complicated for that. The adult’s life doesn’t lend itself to the black and white simplicity of a child’s quest.

The current issue with RWBY’s handling of this trope is that the group has already hit that complexity. Meaning, they haven’t defeated Salem straight out of Beacon and we haven’t been left to ignore the difficulties that come later in life. They’re already making the exact same decisions as their mentors–keeping secrets, telling lies, putting others in danger, all in the name of their mission–which would be incredibly interesting to explore, but the show is continuing to frame their actions as intrinsically heroic because of their younger generation status. But it doesn’t work like that. Harry Potter gets away with it because it’s from Harry’s perspective: the audience is almost fully immersed in a child’s world-view. Hunger Games works because Katniss is literally fighting for her life most of the time: her actions are largely moments of immediate self defense (and beyond that the story actually emphasizes the complexities of her choices). RWBY? It gives us an omniscient perspective, puts our group in relative safety for a volume, and lets us get to know the adults just as much as the kids (no Dumbledore seen only twice a year, an unknowable and therefore suspicious figure). RWBY does all this and then expects us to ignore that, with this knowledge, we can see that the kids are currently acting just like the adults are… so how are they better again?

You either need to limit the audience’s view so we only have one half of the story to root for, or actually make the next generation better. Steven Universe managed that wonderfully. That show has given us a protagonist who actually acts in a manner entirely different from the adults he’s challenging. RWBY is having the kids repeat the adults’ mistakes, then trying to paint those mistakes as growth.

So yeah… Ozpin isn’t their leader anymore, but they’re not doing any better on their own yet.