Why Steven Universe is Incredible (Spoilers Under Cut)
So after watching the first two episodes of ‘In Too Deep’ I had a few thoughts to add on the whole cluster ordeal that occurred in the second half. We get to see Steven’s obvious discomfort with going with intentional purposes of hurting the Cluster - THE VERY “ABOMINATION CREATED TO DESTROY THE EARTH - and tells Peridot of his discomfort.
What she tells Steven though is that the Cluster is so.. “shattered, they don’t know who they are, what’s happening around them”. More to the point, they’re mindlessly trying to find their missing pieces that, unknowing to them, won’t find.
But when they reach the Cluster…
Steven FREAKS OUT. He doesn’t know what’s happening, because he’s seeing the Cluster. But..
Steven doesn’t just see gem shards.
Steven isn’t just seeing the Cluster.
Steven’s gem is reacting.
He’s experiencing and seeing them for what they really are. (Cough cough… Thnx Pearl)
They’re lost; the shards contained within the Cluster are so shattered, so broken down that they don’t know what’s happening; and only Steven can hear their cries and anguish as their being forced to fuse.
But he knows that they are not just that.
But what does he do instead of hurting the Cluster, just as everyone else had planned to do? What does he do instead of following along to Peridot’s mission and drill through it? (Which probably would have just made multi-mini-clusters to be frank..)
He does what Steven ALWAYS does. Steven befriends the Cluster – he sees the GOOD in them, and talks to them through the powers of his Gem, telling them they DON’T have to fuse - because he knows they don’t want to hurt the plant (hearing them say know made me want to cry tbh) - that even though they’re missing pieces of themselves they can find so much within themselves, and get to know each other’s pieces; and ultimately Steven helps the Cluster make peace with itself.
Knowing the only way to save them is the bubble them, he tries to bubble the Cluster, only bubbling five and asks for them to work together to bubble itself so the earth can be safe, and the cluster be at peace.
I mean.. wasn’t that the theme of the episode? To work together and you can make something great? ( Just look at how cute P looks, she did great)
tdlr; Steven teaches us an important lesson: work together and even the seemingly impossible will become achievable.
Rebecca Sugar: ...So then, we're going to bring back Malachite, and-
Crewniverse member: Wait, Malachite? But we're not doing a Jasper arc until later. How can we justify her not being around if she's not trapped in the ocean anymore?
Is how Peridot remarks how it hurts that she can never go back home but, that it’s ok because she has “something different now”. And what’s really great is when Steven asks what she means she says “You… guys”
Peridot considers herself apart of their family and that’s beautiful.
This really stood out to me, because you could make the argument that Steven possessed those watermelons. He speaks of it very innocently (being “in” a watermelon), but it does have darker implications about his powers.
It’s especially interesting considering that Rose led armies of plant soldiers. We’ve been guessing we’ll learn something dark soon about Rose as a military leader, and it’s interesting to see Steven taking up that military leader role, and sacrificing the lives of his subjects, even if they’re just watermelons.
He’s becoming more like Rose and it might also mean facing a lot of her demons.
EDIT: TO CLARIFY because I’ve gotten 5 messages about this post
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
