Waltzing in Siberia

I'm gonna be tagging shtuff with #rwby8 and #rwby spoilers but there's always a chance I might forget so be careful

yeah I know, I'm against that idea, not only is it ableist (aaand rooted in that trope/stereotype that should die), but also directly contradicts the show and source material for Ironwood's allusion. I agree that Ironwood is human and therefore flawed, but I still condemn his decisions, and since this ask sounds somewhat like defence of his actions, here's my opinion/analysis:

The fact that he chose to cut off a limb really represents the way he treats Mantle. Degloving himself was unnecessary, he could've found another way to get out, still he chose the one that does the most damage and also looks like a "heroic" sacrifice. Amputating that arm is also unnecessary and destructive, he basically forces himself to be perfect by immediately removing every weakness in the most damaging way possible. And while he can do whatever he wants with his own body, this whole thing clearly shows his approach to weakness.

And Mantle is a weakness. Evacuation is the reason they were caught off-guard, it's the reason they're not ready for Salem's attack. And Ironwood, with his terrible mentality, does the same thing he did to his own arm: makes a quick decision with no nuance, decision that he considers hard to make and heroic, but really, it's just his knee-jerk reaction to every situation where he has to make one. He removes the weakness, amputates his arm, abandons Mantle completely. He doesn't consider other options and goes for the most damaging and traumatizing one.

Tin Man kept cutting off his limbs, and Ironwood keeps removing his weaknesses.

But here's the fatal flaw: the people that he's trying so hard to save are inherently a weakness. Where does he draw the line between necessary sacrifice and those who should be saved?

Ironically, Hero actually somewhat makes fun of that: