Both Salem and Cinder portray themselves as saviours to their victims. “Follow me, do as I say, and you can have all you’ve ever wanted”.
The difference between them ultimately seems to be that Salem puts in the effort to maintain the power dynamic, while Cinder expects that the promise will be enough.
And that makes sense. Cinder is copying Salem, but Cinder isn’t aware enough of her own abuse to copy it perfectly, and to be quite honest if she was aware enough there’s a good chance she would have broken free of the cycle.
Cinder just doesn’t maintain her control over Emerald and Mercury like Salem does. The one time we see Cinder do so, for lack of a better word, is when we hear her slap Emerald during End of the Beginning. Emerald questions Cinder’s decision making over letting Mercury join their team, and Cinder uses physical force to put an end to the questioning, and reinforce the power dynamic: she is in charge, Emerald is not her equal.
I don’t think Cinder is even thinking in those terms, of course. She’s just been taught that when you talk back to your betters, you get punished.
All in all, while it is manipulation, it’s manipulation in a very blunt manner. It’s honest, in a way. Mercury is fully aware that he’s being used, but he doesn’t care because Cinder is effectively holding up her end of the bargain, right until she isn’t around anymore. Emerald didn’t know she was being used, because she was convinced Cinder cared for her. Because Cinder clothed her, fed her, took her off the streets. Like a parent would.
Did Cinder knowingly cultivate this attitude? I’m honestly unsure. In the past, I accepted it as a given that she did, but as we’ve seen more of them, I’m not sure she set out to create this dynamic. I’m honestly uncertain she knows it exists, given the way she’s neglected it from the beginning.
She might just view the relationship as transactional. But Emerald wants something more, something that Cinder isn’t giving, if she recognizes the desire at all. And it’s the neglect of that desire that is destroying Emerald’s loyalty, because Emerald never really wanted the food, the clothes, the security. Emerald wanted love.
Meanwhile, Salem is absolutely putting in much more effort to manipulate Cinder in a more subtle manner. She doesn’t just want Cinder’s loyalty in exchange for power, she is actively trying to influence Cinder’s behaviour and thoughts. Salem dedicates time to Cinder’s recovery in Volume 4, instead of handing her off to Watts or another doctor. She attempts to motivate Cinder, to make Cinder want to push herself instead of being pushed.
She let Cinder orchestrate the Fall of Beacon solo, teaching her all the skills she needed and gave her free reign on how to accomplish it.
On the other hand, when she wants to crush Atlas, Watts and Tyrian are ultimately the warmup act, as she goes to actually complete it herself.
She also does her best to isolate Cinder. She shows disdain when Cinder arrives on the Whale with Neo, and Mercury’s promotion is an obvious attempt to take away from Cinder’s potential support system. She also blatantly tested Emerald’s loyalty to Cinder against Emerald’s fear of Salem, and was pleased to see that the fear won out.
And when Cinder’s loyalty wavers, she changes up how she punishes Cinder (previous stopping her from going after Maidens vs now simply hurting her with the Grimm arm) and apologizes for getting in the way of Cinder’s desires with her previous punishment. While she wants Cinder to understand that disobeying her is wrong, she also wants Cinder to see her in a positive light. She wants Cinder to think that she cares.
I still see speculation that Cinder is disposable in a way, that Salem’s ultimate plan ends with Cinder dead. I’ve fallen for that mindset myself.
But Salem is absolutely trying to create something out of Cinder. To mold her into something new. She has poured time and effort into crafting Cinder Fall as we know her, and the work is not yet complete.
Salem wants more than loyalty out of Cinder. What she wants, I’m not sure.
