Steven Universe S05E11-E12, "Lars of the Stars" and "Jungle Moon".

[kate_nepveu]

Yes, I know I haven't written up the five prior episodes, I watched them on the app while I was about 3/4 asleep in our spare room and haven't since. I'll rewatch before Arisia and post then.

I am about 1/2 asleep now so this will be quick.

I just don't care about Lars, I'm sorry, so the first episode landed with a thud. Get over yourself already, Lars.

The second episode was fun! I loved the bird-blob floating down, and Stevonnie shaving, and the dream-logic, and the Pink Diamond reveal.

I continue to refuse to believe Rose is Pink Diamond, on thematic grounds, and therefore I don't give a fuck about how Stevonnie was able to access Pink's memories; Steven has weird mystical connections to Diamonds, I don't see why those should be limited to live ones, the end.

Comments

[mneme]

I'm a hard ship of the Rose=Pink Diamond connection, but I can see significant reasons to support and to reject the narrative -- Rose's entire journey is transformative and her journey starting out as a diamond would support that. OTOH, (obv), the SU overall narrative is exploration and rejection of the gem-based caste system, so having the leader of the Crystal Gems be a disguised diamond is very problematic.

I agree that Steven being able to access Pink's memories doesn't say much about the idea; we already know Steven has a weird connection to diamonds (was this the first time Stephen experienced a diamond dream first person?). It -is- interesting that Pink was, from what we can see, a (relative) innocent relative to the other diamonds, one who hadn't yet participated in the exploitive kindergardening that characterizes the Crystal civilization, although she presumably benefited from it. Was she relatively young?

[kate_nepveu]

My objection is more on the lines of what it means for Steven -- his coming to grips with Rose shattering Pink Diamond is so important, and if he then learns that Rose didn't, all that complexity is now for naught.

[mneme]

Hmm. That's a valid point, although it can be mitigated by between then and then (I don't remember if it's happened already) he learns that Rose has done -other- "beyond the pale" things.

But also, if would be nice if they addressed -- either by going into greater detail on rose/Pink, or explaining that it didn't happen -- the apparent contradiction of Rose shattering a gem -- and of Rose rejecting (and indefinately imprisoning a gem for) creating a gem-shattering weapon. I do think that if Rose was Pink, the "I am not my Mother" meme gets stronger as it gets weaker; even if Rose never committed that crime, as a Diamond, she presumably did far worse before she started changing.

[kate_nepveu]

My read on that is that Bismuth's imprisonment was before Pink Diamond, and therefore Rose changed her mind; Steven has the same opinion, though it's unclear to me whether that's his inference or the writers expositing through his viewpoint.

[mneme]

Right. The question then is what caused her to shift her mind to the unthinkable?

(Diamonds, it seems, order gems shattered all the time. Which...makes some sense given that gem status seem to vaguely track with hardness).

Until...well, until Jungle Planet, Pink has been a complete cypher, so maybe one way or another, we'll get some more data after this.

[hebethen]

He went beyond just "blah, whatever", I think; he was being actively obnoxious about Sadie.

The dream sequence was pretty cool! Also the shaving, although man... that's some real fine motor control there, isn't it...

[kate_nepveu]

Yeah, Lars was being lousy, it was just over so quick I myself couldn't work up much feeling about it.

And yes, I had that thought too about the shaving!

[rosefox]

I am beginning to wonder whether Rose fused with Pink Diamond at some point, and has access to her memories that way.

Among other things, that would answer the "how did Rose get to Pink Diamond without any of her guards noticing" question. Fuse, change shape to look like Pink Diamond, stroll into her palanquin with no one the wiser. (But I still think Pearl's the former Pink Pearl and the one who did the actual shattering—maybe if she felt her love with Rose was threatened by Rose's connection to Pink.)

The gem Stevonnie sees on Pink Diamond in the dream looks different from the four-sided gem in all the other images of Pink Diamond. nonethefewer thinks she's an off-color and that's why she's small and not treated as an equal by the other diamonds. To Yellow Diamond she's flawed, an annoying brat; to Blue Diamond she's a child or a pet.

I think it's interesting that Pink Diamond sounds like Amethyst (I was surprised it wasn't the same voice actor). Another gem who was supposed to be big, and came out flawed...

[kate_nepveu]

I still think our Pearl was White Diamond's, based on gem placement and being "fancy" or whatever Peridot said. Other than that, no idea . . .

[rosefox]

The gem placement theory is compelling, it's true.

Oh—X pointed out that the silhouette of White Diamond in the Homeworld sky is probably her ship, following the Voltron theory that the pink legs in the desert are the crashed remnants of Pink Diamond's ship and therefore White's ship is shaped like a head and torso. I hope this means we get a glimpse of White Diamond sometime soon. I am extremely curious.

[kate_nepveu]

Oh, me too!