Editing Openai/69178dec-5630-8002-a438-570506d7f194 (section)

==== 2. The chain that leads to Jaune becoming the Rusted Knight is contingent, not necessary ====

A predestined outcome would require the story to imply “this had to happen.”

Look at the chain instead:
# Cinder attacks the vault the way she does.
# Ambrosius’ door behaves the way it does.
# RWBY + Neo fall at that exact moment in that exact way.
# Jaune jumps after Ruby and Neo.
# The Ever After chooses to process Jaune’s guilt and trauma in a specific way.
# Jaune decides, over years, to keep fighting, protecting, and rescuing people instead of giving up.

At every step, there are clear alternatives:
* Cinder could have done literally anything else.
* Jaune could have stayed behind.
* The Ever After could have “re-cast” him differently (the way it does with other people).
* Jaune could have broken, gone catatonic, or become something hostile.

The text never says “this outcome was inevitable.”
It shows a messy, contingent line of decisions and accidents that just happens to end with “Rusted Knight.”

Predestination needs necessity. RWBY only gives you contingency.