TL;DR “Sorry Mario, but Salem lives in another castle”, “Dark Magic” exists, Raven and Salem aren’t coworkers, and Grimm can respawn like in Call of Shooter.

This theory will stem off two older ones I made back in Volume 3; linked here and here.





Before diving too deep in the things I’m speculating, I want to go over what we do understand from the show.

Grimm:

They inhabit most of Remnant. We know how a Grimm is born (not the lore behind it though); from a blackish goo that can drop off other Grimm (See the Grimm Dragon) or in cesspools in Salem’s domain. We know they have some sort of intelligence, as WoR: Grimm indicates they learn from past experiences. They “evaporate” upon death. They exclusively target humanity and what it has created. They are drawn to negative emotions.

Salem:

Unless we soon meet some other force, she is the main antagonist of the show. She controls, or at least leads the Grimm. Her control of them clearly is not one of a Hive Mind, like Kerrigan of Starcraft, but rather, is more of a passive leader. This is evident with the Seer seeing in V4E3, as she instructs it to carry a message to other Grimm, rather than mentally informing them of her plans. As well, this would explain how Grimm still target people working for her (see the death of Roman). She is the leader of Cinder (including her people), Hazel, Tyrian, and Dr. Watts. She has enlisted the White Fang as another branch of soldiers. Lives in a strange looking domain.

Now, I want to start by dispelling the theory that Salem and Summer Rose are one in the same. First, when comparing their looks, they don’t match. Salems chin is longer and sharper, her hair is much longer (though that is not solid proof either way), and in V4E1, Hazel refers to having dealt with Silver Eyed Warriors in the past. This like would have happened fairly recently, well after Salem “employed” them, and that the only known Silver Eyed Warriors we know of are Ruby and Summer, he must have been referring to her, thus Salem and Summer are not the same person.

Now there are multiple components of this theory, one more supported than the other.

First, Salem’s Domain must exist in some other Dimension.

This is the more supported theory. When looking at the scenery seeing in the finale of Volume Three and the premiere of Volume Four, there is no way that can be the same plane of existence as every other location seen in the show. The ground is a reddish brown, the sky is permanently black and crimson, and crystals of black and purple shoot out of the ground. But, one thing people point to when looking at this is the Moon, as it IS the same one seen everywhere else in the show. My response however, is this location is just simply an alternate reality of the Remnant we know. We know for a fact the ability to teleport is possible, as we see the Scarab Grimm teleport to Cinder’s glove, and Raven teleporting after saving Yang from Neo. Some may, and have said that Salem’s domain must be somewhere on the currently unnamed dragon shaped continent on the north western section of Remnant’s maps, as if it were the case, the Grimm concentration would be the strongest, and the settlements that once existed there would easily fall. This does make sense, but coupled with the fact in WoR: Between Kingdoms, Qrow says practically all of Remnant has been mapped out. He does add that there are areas that people have never come out of alive, which could be describing this dragon continent, but I don’t believe that’s the case. We see on this continent that most of the northern areas of it are completely black. I believe this is due to large volcanic activity (reflecting Basalt rock), rather than reflecting the geography of Salem’s domain. As well, if this were her location, following the “no ones came out of there alive” argument, Ozpin, Qrow, and the other members of the Ozluminati would be able to know for certain where she is, rally people behind invading it to take her down.

There’s a sort of “Dark Magic” at play in the RWBYverse.

As mentioned in my first theory on these portals, they appear to be the same across all the times we see it. My belief is this is some sort of energy source that allows Salem, Grimm, and others to do “magical” things. My reasoning is while is appearance stays the same across all the times it’s seen (whether or not the one from the Volume 2 intro is it or not I’m not sure), it’s effects differ. We’ve seen Cinder use it twice to cause explosions, and all the other times we’ve seen it, it has been used as a portal.

Raven does not work with Salem.

Some will then take the next logical step and ask, “Does this mean Raven works for Salem?” My response is no, and here’s why. Although her portal looks exactly like the others, it doesn’t have the same sound. As many hardcore fans can tell you, sound is a very important detail in understanding things, such as hearing Emerald’s woosh every time she’s used her semblance on screen. As well, when Qrow talks to Yang about her in Volume 3, he says that he can tell her how to track down Raven. The two of these ideas together make me feel Raven learned of this power, whatever it may be, and it allowed her to teleport, and likely other things. I do not feel this is her semblance, for the aforementioned facts on this energy, and the prevailing belief her semblance is shapeshifting into a Raven, like her brothers is to a crow. As well, though she may seem to be a harsh person, she clearly cares about those close to her, as she saved Yang from Neo. Assuming the previous statement about Salem’s minions killing Summer Rose is correct, I highly doubt she would work with after the fact. And finally, if she were to be under Salem’s watch, why was she not present in the meeting during V4E1?

Grimm “respawn” every time they are killed.

This theory, resides on the belief there has been no inconsistencies between WoR and the actual show. We learn in WoR Grimm that as a Grimm grows older, it grows smarter. Also, from this scene in the WoR, we see a young Grimm’s spines, and bone like growths starting to protrude from it as it ages. Both times we’ve seen a Grimm be born in the show, they are born with these bone appendages already visible (Though we have no reference for young Creeps and Ursai, young Beowulves are completely free of appendages, as seen in this WoR, and the Red trailer). This must mean they are born aged. It would work similarly to how monsters work in the Percy Jackson series, they are killed, go back to the Underworld, and reform over time. This would give reasoning to why Grimm turn to smoke when they die, their bodies are going back to areas where they can reform, and do just that. That would also give another reason why after all these years, and advancements in technology, it’s still extremely difficult for kingdoms to expand; the Grimm grow smarter and smarter every time they are killed. This is like Survival of the Fittest on meth.

So this was a really long theory, and one that I hope is true to at least some extent, please please please give me some feedback! Reblog too, if you agree with me :D