Hero (feat. Caleb Hyles) by Jeff Williams with Lyrics

"It takes twenty years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only twenty seconds of war to destroy him." ~ Boudewijn I, King of Belgium

I'm sorry, but am I the only one that notices the repeating line of "Take my Hand" when in the fight that this song plays, Ironwood literally sacrifices his remaining non-cyborg arm to break out of Watt's hardlight shield? Cuz that alone makes the writing in this song incredible.

Caleb Hyles + Gen. Ironwood + FlyntofRWBY = PERFECTION

I really like the lyrics “You can’t believe In honesty That your children can win a war” because it makes a callback to volume 3 when Ironwood asks Ozpin if he really believes that the children at the Academies can win a war.

Caleb hyles has knocked it out the park with this one, Ironwood's heart is fading away and his actions as a "hero" may turn out for the better or for worse. "You can't believe in honesty that your children can win a war." I really felt that.

This song fits him too well. Feels like he's pushing himself so much, hell makes me wanna give the guy a hug.

I love the line "I am due process." Its the name of Ironwood's gun, isn't it?

Caleb’s voice was just perfect for this song

Ironwood went from just another character to my single favorite character in this entire series in one volume. You got to see who he is as a character through so many different situations. Even before the big shift in Gravity, you know him as a character well enough that you already knew what was going to happen. He was done so well. You get to see him as a competent leader at the start, actively taking advice from the Ace Ops and Team RWBY, with a solid plan (Maybe not the best plan, but definitely a better plan than anyone else had provided him with), rewarding Team RWBY for all of their help, trusting them with the relics, and overall being the best display of an authority figure in the show. But throughout all of that, you get the little hints of his more 'Unfortunate tendencies' as Lionheart put them. Unilaterally taking the old Schnee mine, jumping immediately to declaring Martial Law when the situation turns, sending his troops against Robin as an alternative. You get to see both sides of him through the volume, so when the shoe drops, you understand exactly what is going on, and you're left hoping you're wrong. For what little it's worth, I'm of the opinion that Ironwood is right. Obviously, saving people is what you should do, but the fact is that it's pretty easy to see why Ironwood would believe that it's not possible. They don't have time to evacuate, the resources they stock piled to fend off Salem were used up early to quell the invasion Watts caused, the army is exhausted, and Salem herself, an immortal magic wielding, grimm infected monstrosity, is coming to do the deed herself with no way to stop her. It would be wonderful to save the people of Mantle, but doing that runs the risk of saving no one. You can either try and save everyone or almost assuredly save some. It's a heartless decision, but sometimes, you have to save what you can. Besides, as far as people to try and change Ironwood's mind, team RWBY probably isn't the best choice since they spent the first 2/3 of the season keeping important information that may have changed everything from him. Had he known what he does now, maybe he'd have used that time to expanded Atlas, evacuating the people of mantle to safety so that when this situation came up, they could save everyone. Not saying it would have, but it's not outside the realm of possibility that he'd change his plan from a direct assault when he finds out she can't be killed.

Daaaaamn, that artwork is chilling. Hero or antagonist, no question that Ironwood carried this whole volume. And Caleb's voice was the lynchpin in a song that carries the whole soundtrack.

Honestly ironwood had some of the best character development "I will fight for you no matter how I am despised" that deep

If you was on Gen. Ironwood position. Having the biggest military power in the whole world, and knowing that EVIL itself was coming to get something that would kill many. You can't tell anyone close to you about that EVIL, you can't trust who is allied or not with Salem. And to make things even worst, later someone comes to you and say: "Salem can't be killed", shattering any hope you have. Would you make better choices than him? I'm sure would not. What a great character Ironwood is.

No RWBY song ever captured the essence of its character's personality as much as this one.

Didn't expect that broadway singing at the start, but holy shit it's fire!

A lot of people in this comment section caught the Due Process thing, but not many people caught the “Mettle I’ll deploy” line, which is a reference to his Semblance. Speaking of Ironwood’s Semblance, it may just be the stupidest thing in RWBY, because ALL IT FUCKING DOES IS GIVE HIM DETERMINATION. It’s not even a Semblance at that point.

My father served in the army before me and now it is my turn to carry out his legacy. He is a kind man and Ironwood reminds me a lot of him. But during his birthday he was not allowed to come and visit me due to the corona virus, the roads were blocked and he was left alone. He was so sad when i called him to check up on him. After i finished talking with him, i sent him this song and told him that he is my hero. And now here i am, an army officer making his father proud, i can't wait to see him again.

This feels very juxtaposed against “Sacrifice”, which has to be intentional.

Ironwood was my favorite character this volume. He was so emotionally and motivationally complex. His VA and his facial expressions were just: mm yes. And his fight with Watts was one of the most visually spectacular this volume ALSO CALEB HYLES IS ALWAYS A YES YES YES I'm so glad he got to be on the soundtrack!! Thanks for the video Flynt! It looks amazing as always!

The chorus can be read in two ways. Either as a hero who will risk his life to keep others safe, or as a tyrant who will do what he thinks is best for you whether you like it or not.

The worst part about all of this is that Ironwood is not completely wrong. He goes to extreme yes... but well... "There are people in this world who only deal on extremes, and if you think you can beat them with anything less then extreme measures, then you are naive"