Steven Universe | S5 | Ep 16-20
Added 2024-06-28 16:59:51 +0000 UTC... It's hard to put words to this batch. The reveal, man. Absolutely WILD!
Pls tell me all the foreshadowing I missed. My mind is completely blown.
Comments
A Single Pale Rose: I already rambled on enough about the Big Reveal in other comments, so I will not blather on about that here. Instead, I wanna talk about Pearl- and how inventive the boarders got with what’s inside her gem. I adore the idea of Pearl having like… layers of memory/personality all bottled away in there. (wow, inner layering that’s caused by trauma! How apt to how pearls form in real life- as nacre layers form in response to irritants entering an oyster.) And oof, do a lot of Pearl’s issues suddenly make sense now, seeing these inner layers of trauma she’s dealt with. My mind suddenly flashes back to the season 1 episode “Rose’s Scabbard…” where Pearl got really upset at Lion’s existence because Rose didn’t tell her she had a lion and “I was the one she told everything!” Well… seeing this episode, and now knowing that Pearl was there with her since the BEGINNING of this rebellion, since the beginning of Rose Quartz as even an idea, her distraught over that makes a lot more sense from her perspective. Gosh, that whole episode is just brimming with lines that are extra juicy now… Pearl: “I was your mother’s sole confidant— for the words she could share with no one else, I was there to listen.” Steven: “Why’d she keep so many secrets?” Pearl: “She had to, Steven! It’s the mark of a great leader, knowing just what to keep hidden from everyone you’re trying to protect. Everyone except me~!” Hmmm. Yeah. Well, now we know what Rose HAD to keep secrets about, and why. ;D;
Novantinuum
2024-07-02 06:07:00 +0000 UTCOkay, finally rewatched- a few episode specific musings. _ Letters To Lars: Despite being an episode that mostly serves to set up a few important plot details for the next few episodes (like the telescope Ronaldo finds the barn on the moon with, or Pearl owning a phone now), I appreciate that this one takes a rather inventive approach to the way it conveys this information. The “quick scene” format with lil intros given via Steven’s written letter to Lars is cool. And I like how they tie all the scenes together with the small plot line with Dewey— it feels like a natural little endpoint for his character, and in many ways for the Big Donut (as an important location) as well. The reveal that Steven has been sticking through Lars’ hair reading the letter out loud to him will never NOT be funny to me. _ Can’t Go Back: Man, now I kinda want an AU with the little theorization musings you were suggesting with Lapis, ahah. At the end of the day the shadowy figure in Steven’s dream was defo just Pink and their noses are simply similar in shape, but it was still some interesting thoughts! I agree, Ronaldo’s “Not a fourth time!” line IS pretty funny. His moments don’t always land for me but the delivery on this was perfect ahah. I love Lapis’ song here! Very pretty indeed. It’s in the top five for me.
Novantinuum
2024-07-02 06:06:32 +0000 UTCOooh, a very good listing here! Yeah, this covers many of the ones I didn’t mention in my first message. I think some of my other favorite little moments are first… some dialogue from Pearl in the s4 episode Gem Heist, when they were trying to break into the Zoo… “Right, like we could just waltz up as an ownerless Pearl, a fusion and- and you.” She hesitates for just a moment when she tries to find the right words to refer to Steven, and with what we know now I personally imagine the words in her head she couldn’t say were “and a diamond.” Pearl knew she was bringing Steven into a place that could potentially be very dangerous for him if somehow they figured out who he was. Second, a LONG way back in s1… Ocean Gem. Pearl hands Steven the mirror (the one Lapis was still trapped in) and tells him it can teach him all about Gems and their culture. Steven only sees himself in the mirror (Lapis was still hiding) and goes “I must be VERY important to Gem culture!” Of course he’s just being a silly goober here, but it’s a line that’s very funny in retrospect because as the current bearer of the pink diamond gem, he’s right. (Oh, also- just thought of another few hints… Garnet’s story about Rose Quartz just a few episodes ago? Well, you can quickly tell what bits of Rose Quartz’s story were embellished and which were true by the art style. The scenes of Rose “emerging” from Earth and working as a quartz soldier and eventually facing Pink Diamond herself are in a far more sketchy, storybook style when compared to the scene later on where Rose grabs her friends and protects them from the corruption blast. This makes sense given the storyteller… Garnet was THERE for that last part of the story, so we know this is true. But Garnet only heard about Rose’s facedown with Pink Diamond via hearsay, so she can only take her at her word.) (Not to mention… Steven’s “But I felt such a strong connection…” line when he was discussing the dream he had about Pink Diamond with Garnet in that ep. No shit ahahah XD)
Novantinuum
2024-06-28 22:55:27 +0000 UTCI don't think you noticed, but Pearl had a lot of ladies' phone numbers stored inside her gem. Apparently she's been busy lol (this is truly the true plot twist here.) Also, she has been consistently portrayed as refusing to shapeshift throughout the show, always giving some excuse why not, to the point that people theorized she can't do it because of some defect and was embarrassed about people knowing. But the real reason seems to be that this whole "shapeshifting into Rose and pretending to kill Pink" thing was very traumatic for her, so she no longer felt comfortable with shapeshifting. Rebecca Sugar has confirmed that Rose being a Diamond is largely the reason she was able to have Steven: it's maybe not 100% impossible, but extremely unlikely for non-Diamond Gems to be pregnant because they don't have nearly enough shapeshifting ability and general durability to complete such a process (since Gems as artificial beings aren't really meant to have kids in the first place.) Though it was also stated that even Rose had to be very determined to do it. Some general foreshadowing (there are more, though:) - Pink Diamond in general was foreshadowed by the Diamond Authority symbol seen in the training arena: the pink part is broken. The newer Homeworld stuff has the pink part missing, since she was presumed dead and no longer part of the Authority. - Rose had very powerful abilities none of the other Quartz Gems have. And just generally has A LOT of different powers for a single Gem. - It was believed that Pink Diamond was shattered with Rose's sword, but Bismuth (who created the sword) specifically said it was created to never shatter a Gem by Rose's request. Only poof them. - The lawyer Zircon during the trial figured that the one responsible must be one of the Diamonds (it just wasn't Yellow nor Blue.) Zircon also wondered where Pink Diamond's Pearl was when it all happened. - In the Moon Base, Steven sat on a chair and activated a computer that is only meant for "most elite Gems." - Pearl's space suit seen in one Season 1 episode had a Pink Diamond insignia. - According to her fake backstory, Rose was made on Earth with the other Quartzes. But there are few mentions of Homeworld being her home, one she claims to never miss and seems to have bad memories of. - When she didn't notice his feelings and (unintentionally) talked down to him (even for a Gem she was poor with empathy,) Greg yelled at her to talk to him like a real person, which caused her to admit she is "not a real person." - Peridot once called Pearl "fancy" for a Pearl, which makes sense because she belonged to a Diamond. - When baby Steven felt uncomfortable with his gem being covered by his clothes, Greg opened up some of the buttons of his pajamas, which created a perfectly diamond shape (the creators were definitely having fun with this one: very minor detail, but obvious reference in hindsight.)
Vilmu
2024-06-28 21:18:34 +0000 UTC
