Wow you made me realized that Garnet may have felt guilty about showing fusion of different gems to homeworld because they may have gotten the idea to experiment, considering the context of The Answer
That’s what it’s like to be a member of an oppressed group… those who would see you destroyed start by making a mockery of your traditions. They create a narrative around your behavior that is inaccurate, for the purpose of justifying the persecution and promoting public disgust.
holy shit.. i never thought about that. ive always taken it as its a personal thing, as ruby says in anger when pearl lied to fuse. that makes so much sense
Sapphire’s voice trying to soothe Ruby, saying that they and Rose couldn’t have known Homeworld would do this, breaking as she says it isn’t their fault is some of Estelle’s best work
I now just realized a lot of time could've passed as you see Steven's laundry being finished and taken out, even though at the beginning of the episode you see the gems folding clean laundry. The horror scene has my favorite song in the entire show and it hits different
Another thing to notice is that when the big hand artificial fusion burst out of the pillar (around 7:49 for reference), the pillar broke into pieces. This was directly foreshadowing the purpose of these fusion experiments - to create a big artificial fusion capable of destroying something solid that it is embedded in, and ultimately to set the foundation for installing the cluster in the center of the Earth. This was the information dropped before the "Cluster Arc" - back before we are revealed into what the cluster really was. Makes me appreciate how brilliantly the Crewniverse managed to tie everything up in the plot :D
This is by far one of my favorite episodes in all of SU. I've always found Garnet the most fascinating character in the show, for many different reasons, but I think this episode did an especially incredible job portraying how complex of a character she is. I think this is the first time we see this extremely strong and stable character falter from a very, VERY personal nerve being struck, and the way her components cope with the implications will never not be interesting (and rather heartbreaking). This episode in general was also masterfully done, and the horror sequence definitely delivered every ounce of emotion they were striving for.
Keeping It Together unveiled the vulnerable side of Garnet, a side that we had never seen of Garnet’s before unlike her teammates. Garnet letting the corrupted gems get the best of her to the point where she nearly came undone showed that like humans, gems have flaws too and that they’re not exempt from having emotions. Garnet is the strongest member out of all the Crystal Gems and seeing her heartbroken over shattered gems being fused into monsters and being overwhelmed by them reminded viewers that like Amethyst, Pearl and Steven, Garnet is imperfect too, but masks her imperfections to be an effective leader, as well as keeping the team glued together.
I would unironically watch an analysis of every single episode of steven universe in your format this is SO GOOD And it brought up so many points i never even thought about, like garnet’s guilt over introducing cross-gem fusion. I know this vid is old but its so well-made, even your future one is really impactful. I LOVEEEE these multi-layered analyses of SU episodes because the show in general has so much to cover and i love hearing other people’s takes on it !
I love the episodes that show Garnets vulnerable side. Shes supposed to be the strongest of the team but somehow her vulnerability strikes a chord with you.
I never got that garnet started to divide in that scene and feel guilty, i just see her as like a unity like she says, i forget she's sapphire and ruby too
yeah this episode really stuck with me as something horrific as a kid, also the music just fits the atmosphere and concept so well, it sort of melds together with random instrumentals representing random gems forced together
9:20 The one saying that it wasn't their fault seems to be Ruby, as Estelle is replicating Charlyne Yi's high pitched voice. The one blaming themselves is Sapphire, which have a deeper, yet soothing voice.
No because of the eye focus, the red eye is focused on when she's angry, and the blue eye is focused on when she's trying to mediate it, just like ruby and sapphire dynamic in keystone motel worked
I feel like this episode is one of the best when it comes to character writing. Like every single frame you can tell almost exactly what every character is thinking and that’s really cool to see. Plus too at the end I love that the thing Steven says that gets Garnet to stay together is “This isn’t like you”. Reminding her that while homeworld sees fusion like this she knows the truth of what it means, a big aspect of her character.
This was one of my favorite scenes in the entire series, until it was completely pushed aside to talk about how sad the Diamonds are. Yes, the ones responsible for not only the shattering of the gems that make up these twisted frankenfusions, but also a gigantic one made with a bajillion of shards from tons of destroyed gems from the rebellion literally fabricated to destroy the earth. What a waste of potential, seriously.
I’ve always wondered if the reason the gem creature grabs garnet isn’t to attack but because some of the shards recognize garnet since she said some of the shards used to be crystal gems
I never rewarched the show, so after visiting the past episodes after knowing everything. The writing and foreshadowing is so good. Thanks for making this video!!! I cant wait for Halloween!
Steven Universe is a show directed at children. Children who are in difficult family relationships or other ab*sive circumstances don’t yet have the power to hold those people accountable. While “redemption” for the Diamonds might be a bit heavy-handed, the Diamonds are physically larger and stronger than our heroes, and that’s intentional. The Diamonds often represent ideas more than people, but anytime they do show a moment of “humanity,” they’re framed as authoritarian and parental. It’s important to show children that adults don’t always know what’s best. It’s also important to show that sometimes a bad relationship can improve, because that’s also true. And it’s also important not to reach for v!olence in teaching productive solutions. Especially in a country where the real government hasn’t bothered to do that. The show also gets a lot of well-deserved credit for presenting limited-contact and no-contact relationships as a necessary measure when very few shows targeted to ANY age group talk about justifiable estrangement. The episode when Pearl breaks a warp pad is so well-done and it’s not talked about enough.
I wouldn’t really say they’re redeemed, just tolerated by the end of the series. Steven never seems to really forgive them since he acts awkwardly and tense around them in future, it’s just he either had the choice to befriend them or get killed by them lol
Oooh Honestly, as much as this episode held more meaning than I thought, my favorite horror ep is still Nightmare Hospital I just really related Connie and reveled in seeing her actually prove herself beyond her mother’s expectations, _But the fact that they tried to treat gem fusions as patients was also a hilarious concept as hell to me_ “yeahh there’s no head on this thing and no obvious orifices or sign for it to be a human, but it’s moaning.. So let’s put it in scrubs to see what’s up!”
Ok, I love Steven Universe but I completely disagree with the idea that showing disembodied arms and legs falling from the sky and writhing around is in any way appropriate for a show that's not rated TV-14. I've seen R rated horror movies and that scene was more disturbing then a lot of them
@@thecontentyouwant Its crazy how people in society have decided that if you don't have blood, something is childish and kid friendly regardless of how gruesome and genuienly nauseating it looks
