...I swear, if they mess up Ironwood I'll be salty. An extremely cautious and wary politician, who makes controversial choices, but ultimately wants the best for his people? He's one of RWBY's potentially more interesting characters, so I'd hate to see him flanderized. I hope that Atlas is not a one-volume and done story. I also hope that the SDC, being a world spanning company isn't somehow disbanded simply with the defeat/usurpation of Jacques and rather other Schnee have a chance to do some good with it. Actually, I also hope that the idea of Atlas falling out of the sky and crashing into Mantle doesn't happen. Atlas needs to stay right where it is. While a scummy guy I hope that Jacques plays a more enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of role and not just a full on antagonist. I agree wholeheartedly. I love the idea of Jacques being one of those villains that the heroes benefit from. It proves that sometimes you have to choose your evils and have their way in order to get your way. I think Jacques will get "what he deserves " by the end of the series but I can totally envision a scene in which he discloses his care about his children (and wife) and why he felt the need to do what he has done. Flesh out the other kingdoms and the factions in them. This will make the world feel more alive and open up way more plots. For example, Weiss being the only one to cover up for Atlas weather actually contradicts an important piece of world building they could have implemented. I would have the entire team EXCEPT Weiss dress for the winter, and have shots throughout the volume of tourists and the like also wearing winter clothing, visually separating them from native Atlesians, defined by there white hair, pale skin, and clothing akin to summer wear. When questioned by her team, Weiss simply explains: "We Atlesians thrive in these conditions. Absolute zero is room temperature for us." It would be an amazing piece of world building that would go a long way to showing how Atlesians are different than other peoples. And you saying the white hair is a schee family trait (when even light blonde is very recessive genetically) is basically saying the schnees are an incestuous family, which is far, FAR worse characterization. And the worst part? That's how the show portrays them. It's a shallow stereotype of the racist incest family, and lacks any nuance or reasoning. Well, there could be plenty you could use with cold resistance. Like having Atlesians being the only ones who can walk in shadow, as it's too cold for the others. This could also add another dynamic to the fight scenes. We could also have from who utilize ice powers (like breathe) that would give Atlesians an advantage. I say this because obviously the Atlas arc is going to focus on Weiss mostly, so why not take this opportunity to flesh her and her people out while they are at their home turf? The reason why Atlas has such superior tech than everyone else is because what remains of the advanced tech in the Old World survived in Atlas and scientists were able to reverse-engineer how to create such technology. Why does everyone keep saying that there's Faunus slavery in Atlas? It would make no sense, specially from the SDC as they trade with other kingdoms. They have freaking Faunus in their academies, and apparently they even can go to parties (judging by what Neon said) why would they let the "Faunus slaves" do that? Plus there's no actual proof of this happening, all we have is Adam's branding and we don't even know the story behind it. Another thing, you can't have dictator Ironwood and slavery at the same time if he isn't racist. "We offer Faunus the exact same wages given to the rest of our mining staff." Little bit glossed over, but that's from Jacques from Volume 4's gala scene. That's not to say they aren't treated poorly, but they're not slaves. Huntsmen are the only ones that can defend the people from Grimm. There is also the Maidens and Atlas. Ohh, wait....Atlas was made out to be a global force of military power and unrivaled discipline with advanced weapons and infantry (including droids) numbering in the hundreds of thousands BUT the writers have made them incompetent as The First Order in Star Wars sequal trilogy. Their paladins and bullheads got hijacked by terrorist that are supposed to be less organized than them (somehow), Neo (somehow) was able to infiltrate Ironwood's flagship, kill everyone on board (somehow), free Roman so he can corrupt the androids and makes things more harder for the heroes instead of useful for them, their military outposts are constantly getting raided by small groups of less organized terrorists. How were the faunus able to get into the Atlas base in Adam's trailer? So far Atlas also are just there. We don't see them how they are handling the situation with the Grimm or the White Fang. Winter is supposed to be Special Forces but we aren't shown what exactly she is set out to do so far. What does Ironwood have her fight, Grimm? White Fang? So far they serve no purpose for the plot except make the situation for the Huntsmen worse. Miles and Kerry need to find a way to have the military of Atlas look like they can actually solve some issues and win battles and make things better or else there is no point in having a military force in RWBY. Why does the Atlas military even exist if all they're doing is failing and making things worse? Oh, just answered the question there... it's so out heroes look more righteous and better rolls eyes so fucking lazy... For Christ sake, even the military in the Michael Bay Transformers movies seemed like they do more damage to the Decepticons than the Autobots when they are around instead of just being their to die. Explore more of the Atlas vs Vale conflict and the Huntsman vs Specialist(representing Traditionalism vs Modernism and Soldier vs Warrior) conflict. In this AU, have the discussion shift to human labor being outperformed by robots so people are getting less jobs. Now, the SDC are creating robots that can outperform Hunters, which cause a rift between Atlas vs Vale and Hunters vs Specialist. It may be too late to save the SDC storyline? The main issue with "redeeming the Schnee name" as an objective for Weiss going forward is the lack of onscreen evidence of the Schnee Dust Company being either a corrupt organization or tarnishing the Schnee family name. We are repeatedly told that the SDC is a flawed business in need of reform, but not shown, likewise for the Schnee worldwide reputation. Worse yet, when Weiss finally decides to take a stand against Jacques' supposed mishandling of the Schnee name, her behavior does her no favors. Following an incident of uncontrolled summoning that nearly kills a party guest (at a charity event held by the SDC) if not for the untimely intervention of General Ironwood, Weiss shows no contrition and makes no attempt to apologize. Worse yet, she attempts to deflect blame and avoid any consequences for her actions. She demands to leave Atlas at a time of global crisis, when a show of instability from the top echelons of one of the world's biggest companies could only bring further panic. Once confronted on the outcome of her behavior, Weiss proceeds to lash out at her father in an unprovoked attack against his decision to marry into the family. Now, with the revelation that the group will be traveling to Atlas in Volume 6 and presumably spending a deal of time there, CRWBY no doubt expects us to look forward to seeing how Weiss either regains the leadership of the SDC, or redeems the Schnee family name by her own actions. Unfortunately, the lack of adequate worldbuilding for this plotline means that it threatens to ring hollow. By telling us about the SDC's corrupt business practices rather than showing them on-screen, while failing to adequately demonstrate that the Schnee family name is held in less regard than it was in the past, the writers have undercut Weiss' plotline, while Weiss herself has shown self-centered and less than stellar behavior. While Volume 6 and later may be able to undo some of the damage, I think it's safe to say that the show's failures in worldbuilding mean this storyline will never be able to live up to the potential suggested in Mountain Glenn. I think there's plenty of time to flesh out Atlas and show the full state of things. I hope they do, considering it's the most interesting kingdom to me. And what I like about Weiss's V4 plotline is that Jacques's views, while that of a jackass businessman who has no business being a father, its that his views actually make sense. Weiss remains sympathetic to me, but I understand the points against her. Combine that with Jacques' savviness and Ironwood's paranoia, and the potential of Whitley's character, and that makes Atlas a fascinating place to me that I'm glad we're returning to. But it also runs the risk of being squandered. Especially cuz we barely saw any of Mistral and are immediately leaving it. I think it doesn't help that Jacques is literally a mustache-twirling villain. Every scene he's in shows how vain and petty he is instead of intimidating, ruthless, or dark. He's just a dick, asshat of a parent and a person in general. The SDC is inevitably tied to Weiss' dad and he blows. I think one crucial detail that you are missing is that the Schnee Dust Company has only ever been the main focus of the Weiss story line in Volume 4. Every other time it was only a background element of the story brought up every now and then when it fit the story. Considering your username, comment history, and the tone of this post, I'm going to assume this is thinly veiled commentary on how people in the fandom criticize Blake and the White Fang story line so I'll use that as a point of comparison. While the SDC is a background element of the Weiss story line for 4 out of 5 volumes, the White Fang story line is in contrast the main focus of Blake's story line for almost the entirety of RWBY so far. This disparity in focus accounts for why people in the fandom expect more out of faunus racism that they do for SDC corruption. Being told that a company is corrupt when it isn't the main focus of the show is good enough. We as an audience don't need more because RWBY as a show doesn't attempt to be an allegory for corporate corruption like it does for racism in the real world. Corporate corruption also isn't a controversial topic for most in comparison to racism, which causes people to care less about if it's correctly portrayed in comparison to the real world. RWBY as a show doesn't have any grand message that they are trying to tell with the SDC, it's more about how this environment has shaped the lives of the people who own and run the company, the Schnees, and how it affects their interpersonal dynamics. I think the show has done a fantastic job of this so far, and saying that it is "too late to save" is just unnecessary drama. I don't think Weiss and the SDC is immune from criticism like you state, rather that it is better defended against criticism because of how much better it is portrayed in the show. You are correct that they get about the same amount of "on-screen" evidence, but that's more of a problem for Blake and the WF than it is for Weiss and the SDC, and I'll try to elaborate on why I think so. You make the claim that the White Fang isn't a concern for Blake until the last two chapters of Volume 1, and I agree with that, but I also think that Blake didn't have a true story line in Volume 1 until the last two chapters. I would still consider this the "entirety" of her story line in Volume 1, and it consisted of a WF exposition dump and Blake leading an assault on a Roman Torchwick and a group of WF members. The White Fang is obviously the main focus of Blake's story line, not the volume's storyline as a whole. Let's compare this to Weiss. Her story line in Volume 1 involved her dealing with Jaune hitting on her, accepting the fact that she isn't going to be the team leader, and her forgiving a terrorist. Notice anything about the story line for Weiss in volume 1? The SDC is only tangentially related to the very last part of it. This is why I consider it a background element. We can do the same thing for Volume 2. In Volume 2, Team RWBY investigates Roman Torchwick. Weiss goes to the CCT to contact the SDC, but this is just a backdrop for insight into how she has a sister named Winter and a strained relationship with her father. Nothing actually comes of the SDC records, so it's still only tangentially related to her storyline. Blake on the other hand literally attends a WF rally. WF is the main focus once again. After this, Blake's behavior starts to become self-destructive and her teammates have to intervene. In my opinion, this shows poor judgement on Blake's part and Weiss becoming more compassionate despite the fact that she knows that Blake was once part of the WF. Main focus is still on the WF. Fast forward to Team RWBY's mission with Oobleck. This is where your example in the OP comes from and yes, Weiss does bring up the SDC but it really has nothing to do with why they are at Mt. Glen in the first place. It's just talk during down time. The reason they are there is to look for the WF's secret base, which they do eventually end up finding. Main focus still on the White Fang. Are we starting to see a pattern? Volume 3 explores the relationship Weiss has with her sister, her progress in the tournament, and her attempts to use her summoning ability. Again, the SDC is only brought up as a background element for her fight against team FNKI, and is really only used as a means to rile up their team. Compare this to Blake in Volume 3 where her entire storyline is centered around Adam, a person directly involved with the WF, and how their ideologies of how the WF should operate clash. WF is the main focus. I'd also like to call attention to the opening scene of Chapter 8 and highlight what it does for Weiss and Blake's characterizations. Weiss once again shows compassion because she's smart enough to know that Yang wouldn't do something like that, meanwhile Blake shifts the focus away from Yang and to herself and how it relates to her time in the White Fang. I think this is a self-centered and insensitive thing to bring up at that time, and is honestly really similar to how Adam emotionally abuses Blake in the recent Adam short. In volume 4 and 5 the White Fang is obviously the main focus of Blake's storyline, I don't think that requires explanation. The SDC is also the main focus for Weiss in volume 4 so we can skip over that. In volume 5, the story line for Weiss involves her escape from Atlas, letting go of her dependence on Winter, and her realization of how much she misses and wants to be with her teammates and support them. The only thing the SDC is slightly related to is the dust smuggler and sure, Vernal brings up the 'Schnee Name' thing during the battle of Haven but that just the same thing Flynt did during the tournament, a passing comment meant to rile her up. The rest really has nothing to do with the SDC, so once again it's not the main focus for Weiss in Volume 5. The problem here is that you are stripping these characters down to their base level, reducing and trivializing the context that the show puts them in, and analyzing them based on this artificial vacuum that you created. I went through the entire series for the very purpose of putting them back into that context and seeing if your argument held weight, which I believe it doesn't. When you look at it this way, there isn't a double standard because the show itself does not treat their story lines as 'equal', and I highlighted the amount of focus each has as evidence of this. This is why people don't have as much of a problem with it, because it was never really about the SDC in the first place. I've listened to the DVD commentary from the writers and they have explicitly stated that they want to make a statement about racism with their show. Whether or not they have been successful is up for debate, and it's exactly why people get upset about how it's portrayed in the show. Blake's storyline isn't just her personal journey, it's about faunus in general and how their struggles relate to real life. This is the key point where Blake and her story line is different from Weiss. Weiss and her story line is not about how the SDC relates to real life, it's completely about her personal journey and transformation as a character because of it. We are shown how her family members physically harm her in a non-combat situations, whether it be for comedic purpose or out of malice, how their dynamics shape the person that she is. It's on a much smaller scale that Blake's story line, and much more effective because of how natural and realistic it feels. I agree with pretty much everything here. Well said. Also, here's something you can add to the dichotomy of what is said and shown. They (as in the obviously biased terrorists Adam, Blake, and Ilia) claim that the Faunus are worked and paid like slaves but that narrative is undercut and subverted by the most unlikely of sources: Ilia's own backstory. If Faunus SDC miners were truly being paid like shit, then how the fuck did two of them, Ilia's parents, be able to afford to send their daughter Ilia to a private prep school in Atlas? If they were really struggling to make ends meet, they would've barely been able to put food on the table and have a roof above their heads. But apparently SDC Faunus miners are paid enough to be able to afford that but that's apparently still too low. Not to mention that the Schnees' accountability for Ilia's parents' deaths is pretty minimal all things considered. The accident happened because a single miner tripped and agitated a Fust crystal, leading to a cave-in. It's not like it was only Faunus miners who died in that. But the CEO isn't really directly responsible for that incident. He's several tiers in the corporate hierarchy too high to be reasonably held accountable for that accident. Sure, you could try to bring up poor working conditions but minor has always been a dangerous occupation with several occupational hazards, even in the safest mines. Why would Dust of all things be any different? The sdc have used "happy drugs" on their secret labor force in order to harvest the dust when they die. weiss finds out about this and is horrified. Using drugs to keep people positive to ward off the Grimm is rather popular, and the process is similar to the drugs in “We Happy Few” and “Equilibrium”. Due to using drugs that limit negative emotions to ward off Grimm, this makes Ruby’s chipper attitude stand out amongst the stoic populace. In order to mitigate the spread of Grimm in case of an emergency, all households have underground pathways that lead to a bunker.