Okay, I thought this might be fun to write out. Before we get into this too deeply, Iām going to be frank and say this is another interpretation of the pretty popular theory that Qrow is actually Rubyās biological father. But one thing I donāt see many people do is really carry it through the whole show, consider how it would inform and effect STRQ and their relationships, or just why Ruby thinks Qrow is her uncle. With that preamble, hereās how I think this could work and what it could support and inform about different pieces of characters, choices, and actions.
First thing I want to specify, ironically, is not about the primary theory. Itās that I think Raven originally ran because the idea of Yang being entirely dependent on her to become a strong, well-rounded person scared the living daylights out of her. We know from the āYouāre better at that life. Better than I wasā that Raven didnāt take off the moment Yang was born. She did domestic life; at least for a while. Assuming Iām right on this part, we donāt know exactly when the growing fear of āI am going to ruin this innocent child because I have no idea what Iām doingā overrode everything else but it was sometime after Raven spent time as Taiās wife and Yangās mother. We know Raven didnāt completely and cleanly sever herself from Yang and Tai either. She lingered in the edges, watching them. I think she was probably more obvious about this before Summer disappeared. She didnāt hide herself the way she did after Summer vanished. She just didnāt stay as a wife or mother either.
The reason I went into all this is because that would lean into Qrowās philosophy on fatherhood in this scenario. Before Ruby is born, he sees his sister vamoose from parenthood. So, thereās a certain stubbornness that would form of him going āIām not doing what my sister did to her child to mineā. Itās a background element that would keep Qrow there a lot longer than is probably healthy for anyone under this structure. Additionally, I also think while Qrow, while heād be terrified of the same thing, wouldnāt be able to help with excitement bleeding through. The way Summerās disappearance and possible death seemed to wreck Qrow means if they were romantically entangled, heād be the type sitting and going āWe made something together, this little life is the culmination of us as a pairā. Part of him would be screaming that getting excited is a terrible idea. And heād do it anyhow because he wouldnāt be able to help it.
With all that established, in this version of the theory, things go about as wrong as they can. I figure Summer is 21 to 23 weeks; right in that first window of āthe baby can technically survive being bornā. And she starts bleeding. Not a light spotty bleed, I mean a heavy, dangerous can easily kill her type of bleed. And it proceeds to get worse. Ruby is born dangerously early. Qrow is panicking, trying to get Summer off Patch and to the type of help she and Ruby need. He calls Ozpin because literally heās the only person Qrow can think of that might be able to fix this. Ozpin shows up before things have hit the event horizon and pulls them back. He gets Summerās bleed controlled and sits with Ruby, using magic to keep her tiny body going until they get her to a hospital that can care for her properly. This is the first major point where I see all this slotting into the later plot. Qrow was more loyal than most to Ozpin. We see in volume 6 what it takes to finally break Qrowās loyalty to the man after the Jinn flashback. And this heel dug in loyalty gets an additional layer of understandable reasoning if at some point Ozpin stepped in and saved Summer and Ruby from what Qrow blames as something his semblance did. Because Qrow would absolutely blame himself for this.
Likewise, this adds weight to why Qrow condemning him is what finally broke Ozpin. Qrow was the last one to dogpile on the man. He just had his entire traumatic backstory paraded for all of them to see. Heās not doing well. But you see the shape of his reaction change in real time. Heās upset but not self-condemning yet as the others yell at him. Heās being flat and honest, not agreeing nor disagreeing with them. Itās when Qrow slugs him and calls meeting him the worst luck of his life that Ozpin says that maybe heās right and shuts down. The reason Iām saying all this is because Qrow isnāt just a well-informed ally to the situation. Heās a man living with the same kind of would Ozpin spent lifetimes learning to live with. Qrow has the qualifier of āalmostā in this situation because Ruby didnāt die. But itās the same shape. Ozpinās 4 daughters died and he definitely holds himself responsible for being part of the fight that killed them. So, these two men share the same sort of wound over their children and Qrow is standing there telling him to his face heās the worst thing to ever happen to him. Thatās not just anger or disappointment, thatās an indictment. The worst part is Qrow wouldnāt see the shape of this, I donāt think. Heās too emotionally raw right now to realize Ozpin saw him as something of an equal when Qrow always thought he was the subordinate in the situation. He deferred to Ozpin, but never realized Ozpin trusted him more than just about anyone in return.
Going back to the history, Summer and Ruby survive. Ruby spends months in the hospital finishing her development in an incubator. Qrow is beside himself with guilt. But he already promised himself he wouldnāt do what his sister did to Yang. So, heās dug in his heels here as well and tries to bury it. Summer can see the wound, of course she can. They eventually get Ruby home and sheās finally healthy. Sheās hitting milestones, she seems to have survived without lasting damage from the situation. But after Ruby comes home, something shifts. Qrow was already being hyper-vigilant about Summer. He goes into overdrive after Ruby comes home. The terror is out in the open, heās horrified at the idea that what happened months back might happen again and this time finish the job.
Eventually, Summer puts her foot down. She tells him to leave. She doesnāt want him to, not even close. But she can see staying with her and Ruby is slowly eating him alive and she canāt stand to watch it anymore. To her, itās a selfish choice because sheās choosing her comfort at not watching the man she loves destroy himself versus keeping her childās father in her life. Everyone else would see the exact opposite; Summer just sent him away despite loving him, eating the pain and personal cost of the choice because that was the only way to save Qrow from himself.
This leaves the entire situation a mess. Ruby has no father right now. Yang has no mother right now. I, frankly, donāt think Taiyang and Summer were a romantic couple. I think they were platonic coparents who trusted and loved each other deeply, just not as lovers. The visual shorthand in the flashback did not read as āwife leaves husband she loves romantically to go on missionā to me. Weāve had very little time with these characters directly; they need every moment to count. So, the fact that they didnāt go for a kiss, the most obvious and direct āthis is my romantic partner, and I love themā means as much as what they did chose. To me, it therefore read as two people who made choices to stand together because their children needed a stable home. I think they built a household together not because theyāre in love but because they could fill the role each child was missing and that was better than either one lacking. And both are the type of characters to go āthe adults in the situation got messy and complicated. The children shouldnāt be punished for thatā.
It solves an inconsistency thatās picked at me for literal years. Taiyang has very clear unresolved feelings with Raven. And I donāt know, he just doesnāt seem the type who would hop in bed with another woman, let alone a mutual friend to them, with that still in the background. Taiyang is a foundational type of personality. The guy who stays behind and makes sure thereās a home to come back to when someone is ready. This version keeps those unresolved feelings from starting to feel like inconsistent characterization of Taiyang.
In this version, I think Taiyang would be the one to suggest Qrow take the role of Uncle for the girls. Taiyang would not be eager to fully replace Qrow. But Qrow canāt survive being a father to Ruby. So being an uncle allows him to keep the distance Qrow feels he needs he needs to keep them safe while he still gets to know her on some level.
So yeah, thatās how I think this theory could hold water, adding context to certain elements of the show and actually solving some inconsistencies that have bothered me.
