NEETaku Rants: Why….OH WHY…Did Pyrhha Have To Die?

That…ladies and gentlemen…was the death of Pyrhha Nikos from RWBY that you just witnessed. THIS..was my reaction when I first saw it:

THIS…was my reaction about 2-3 days later:

AND THIS…LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…IS MY REACTION A FULL WEEK LATER!!!

Are you noticing a pattern here, folks?

There are certain truths written in stone when watching battle anime of any kind that cannot be argued. The main hero will always have some form of plot armor, the villains will always have some sort of Doomsday plot that he keeps hidden until the very end and there will Always be one char that is D.O.A ( dead on arrival). No matter how much of an impact said char makes on the cast or the overall plot, in the end they are just there to die. And if you were to apply such a truth to RWBY, the char everyone thought would eventually kick the bucket would be Jaun the lovable loser…

NOT PYRHHA FRIGGIN NIKOS!!

If you have been a follower of RWBY from day one, you all know that Pyrhha was initially portrayed as the stereotypical All-American girl next door who was not only beautiful, but also intelligent & a great fighter. As the show progressed, we come to learn that being perched on such a high pedestal for so long had been nothing but a burden to her, and that what she wanted most was to be treated like she was just one of the gang.

Fast forward to season 3 where it’s revealed that Pyrhha is next in line to take on the powers of the Fall Maiden. Unfortunately, this never comes to pass as the maiden is killed by Cinder before the transfer of powers can occur. And after a heartfelt farewell kiss to Jaun, Pyrhha Nikos was never seen again….alive anyways.

The only thing I found just as shocking as Pyrhha being killed off was just how graphic and disturbing her death actually was. First, she was shot point-blank by an arrow straight through her heart. That alone would be enough to send someone into shock and a state extreme suffering. But then….she was incinerated from the inside out!! I don’t care how relatively quick the 2nd part occurred, the amount of sheer agony she had to be in when it first started…my gosh…it makes me shudder…

Now, there are many who claim that Pyrrha’s death was not only foreshadowed, but that it’s actually a good thing. Needless to say, I find that to be a bunch of hornswaggle!! So, allow me to give my opinion on those two bullet points in hopes that venting about it will allow me to enjoy season 4 of this show!!

Pyrhha’s Death Being Foreshadowed

I’m not sure if it’s the same for other chars, but both Pyrhha and Jaun were both named and fashioned in the image of Achilles and Joan of Arc respectively. Pyrhha’s name comes from the word Pyrrhic, which is normally associated with the word victory. As in, a victory that is achieved at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor. It is this definition that has led people to assume that her death had been in the works the entire time which, obviously, I disagree with.

Monty Oum’s plans for Pyrrha notwithstanding, the theory of her death being foreshadowed by her very name is extremely flawed. If we’re going to use that logic, then Jaun being modeled after Joan of Arc dictates that HE should’ve been the first person to bite the dust from the main cast of heroes! Then there’s the issue with her death being a part of some Pyrrhic victory. You can’t obtain something that never existed. Beacon was, and still is, overrun with Grim and the entire school evacuated. Yeah, Cinder ended up getting wrecked by Ruby’s Silver Eyes Deus Ex Machina, but the fact remains that the bad guys won. So, as much as it might pain fans to hear, Pyrhha’s death amounted to nothing.

In the end…it didn’t even matter…

Pyrhha’s Death Being A Good Thing

We’ve all seen it at least once before. The hero loses a loved one or mentor due to death by plot, and the pain for the loss is used a catalyst to help said hero gain a new level of strength and ability. Basically, Pyrhha was Krillin to Ruby’s Goku in that her being killed was the key to unlocking Ruby’s hidden powers.

That might make sense….if Ruby hadn’t already witnessed Penny being ripped to shreds like an hour beforehand!!

Yeah…remember when THIS happened?!!

Now obviously Ruby had known Pyrrha much longer than Penny, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t as close to the latter. She shed just as many tears when Penny died as she did at Pyhrra’s demise. So, why didn’t her latent abilities surface at that point in time? Is there some sort of morbid threshold that needs to be reached before someone with silver eyes can use their powers?! One death is not greater than another, folks! Both of them were equally sad. Not only that, but Ruby had also saw the aftermath of Yang being mutilated before going after Jaun and Pyrrha as well! There’s no way seeing her sister like that couldn’t have triggered some form of emotional based transformation. I just don’t see how Pyrhha dying could benefit anyone, at least not at this point in time.

Ok…I sort of feel somewhat, halfway better about this nonsense. RWBY is a great series and will no doubt continue to be a great series. I just sort of wish Pyrrha was still around for the ride. Hopefully her death truly does become some form of motivation for her friends in the end. Until then, I’ll just leave this song to play on repeat whilst I mourn her death. I’m NEETaku and this was Just…My Melancholy 2 Cents. R.I.P Pyrhha….