Sooooo…what are you bets on Cinder actually being dead?
On the one hand…
Cinder being truly dead would be an interesting twist: she was obsessed with power, but was beaten not only by someone with the same power, but also more skill and experience. It’s fitting, in a way.
Also, if she is indeed dead, this would probably lead to Salem attempting to use Emerald as her new Maiden. If Emerald didn’t already have second thoughts about this whole business, she does now, possibly kicking off a betrayal of Salem and maybe a redemption arc? Heck, this could even set up an interesting choice for Mercury: stay behind and continue to sell out your humanity to Salem, or run away with Emerald and risk becoming her target?
And one final interesting thing is…Jaune and Ruby would never get closure, their revenge for Pyrrha’s death. You might think that awful and unfair, and it is, but life is like that sometimes, unfair. It’s not always going to be so convenient as to set up a final confrontation between you and your enemy, just so you can put her to rest personally.
But on the other hand…
People WOULD complain about this big antagonist that’s been built up for, what, four entire volumes and all the character development that comes with it, suddenly made moot, unless we somehow find Cinder’s relatives who can tell us who she was before she entered Salem’s service (which is unlikely, as she wouldn’t be so angry and power-hungry if she HAD any friends or relatives to fall back on).
However, if Cinder survives AND finds out that Salem had written her off as a loss, THIS could kick off some feeling of betrayal in Cinder and cause her to form some third party that is against both Salem and Team our protagonists.
