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Now that Pink Diamond/Rose has confirmed to everybody that she's gone (as the memes have decreed.) I wonder how the Diamonds will look at him from here on out. Yes, they'll start to (possibly) treat him like family/a friend. But will they start to call Steven by name and address him as a "he," from that point on
You're wrong partly, yes she's gone, but not all of her "data" is, if not Steven would not even have any of her memories. Also 24 fps to 60 fps??? Where you got those numbers from???
I apreciate that they showed how sometimes an abuser isn't aware that they are. Pink never comfronted them about it. Would comfronting Blue before have changed anything or that was only possible because of thousands of years of grief and regret? On Pink's defense, Steven had it easy with how broken the Diamonds were at that point.
That’s actually incorrect. She did not run away because of the treatment the other diamonds gave her, but because she fell in love with the earth. It may have been a contributing factor but it’s not the reason she left.
@@shawnboahene5231 it wasnt just loving the planet. The earth is like her, uniqe. She doesnt get bad treatment for having fun or just being happy. Shes not judged for being not perfect. Earth and human value her personality, her childish and sweet acts. They *accept* her for who she is unlike diamonds. Theres nothing excepted from her because of her gem "its gonna be, just rose" she loves earth, because she feels like its her home, which she couldnt feel on homeworld since everyone refuses to accept her. they dont take her seriously, they constantly blame her, hold impossible exceptetions. It isnt home, its just a prison. "if she was happier on earth maybe this world was failing her"("maybe *we* were failing her") i can actually relate to that. Im in my home country but sometimes i just font feel like i fit in. I dont like the culture as much and i dont like same things as other people etc. Also she is constantly changing like the earth, she so much like human. Gems dont change. They have a purpose and they follow orders until they get shatered. But pink diamond isnt like that, she became Rose, she freed her personality and accepted herself. Flaws and all. Just like human do when they grow up. Then she died, like a human. She is my favorite character of this show.
a loser who likes math but cant be succesful at it don’t be sorry it was a well detailed response. But I do disagree. They (Crystal Gems, humans, etc) did not accept her for who she was because Rose herself was all an act. She really Pink Diamond who was believed to be their nemesis. And again the only reason why she was on the earth to begin with was because she wanted her own colony and the reason she stayed was that she ended up liking where she was and she knew completing it would kill all life that she knew and loved not because of her relationship with the other diamonds. Also her relationship with the other diamonds did not seem that bad as Yellow and Blue constantly lamented her supposed passing. Also with the way how Steven changed their minds all she had to do was stick her guns and they probably would have came around
In my opinion, Rose’s tape is symbolic of a mother saying “I’m sorry I’ll never be able to meet you” to an unborn child because she knew she would die in child birth...
Honestly, I see the Blue and Yellow parts as older siblings in a toxic family who've heard how bad it is for the remaining sibling but don't believe it or they think by making the targeted sibling act a specific way, it'll keep the parent from abusing them worse. It's a terrible way to cope, particularly since they too are abused in their own ways, but it happens. Yellow's bit where she's screaming and denying the problem particularly hits me hard.
This is actually very accurate. I saw Change Your Mind for the first time and afterwards I immediately realized how much of a mother-older siblings-youngest sibling relationship that the Diamonds have. The older siblings, being Yellow and Blue, are trying their best to impress and do right by their mother, White, and in doing so diss the youngest sibling, Pink, if they just so happen to do something that the other three have deemed unacceptable, incorrect, or invalid. This stands out more when you take into consideration that White has the most power of all of them. She has the responsibility over them and their actions. She wants them to do what she deems right. She wants them to be like her (lol just realized that White LITERALLY wants this), just like a mother would. It’s just that White extends this responsibility by willing to do anything to keep balance in her household, or Homeworld, even if it means taking control of her children and their lives entirely.
This is called a problem child dynamic! In 4+ person families with toxic habits there’s usually one sibling that the rest of the family falsely identifies as the root of their dysfunction. This is a common human behavior, seen with bullies who put others down to feel better about themselves or people who seek out toxic partners to compare their own mental health to, but specifically in families it’s used to maintain the illusion that there isn’t anything wrong with how the family functions and therefore that no one has any responsibility to take for this dysfunction. It’s really interesting to compare this to the Diamonds’ dynamic as a family AND a ruling class! On Homeworld, as long as there are gems who don’t stay in line and follow orders(cough cough, be themselves), problems are to be expected. But these problems will never actually go away if the Diamonds don’t address their foundational roots.
Also, in the beginning of season 2,the beginning of the theme has some as well. The way they all stand, is the diamonds representation. Garnet is white:a ruthless leader that the others look up to, and feel that without them, they're nothing. Pearl is yellow:an often quick thinking gem, with a lot of guilt about rose/pink's feudal matters. They take that anger out on other characters (I.E:pearl knocking down Rose's pic while yelling at Steven, and yellow getting angry at blue for coming back to the human zoo. Amethyst is blue:who does what she feels is right, even though their both mad at who they are, an get hurt when talking about the past. And then there's Steven: while not exactly like rose/pink they are all similar in obvious ways. They care about a lot of people, are kind and caring, and show gratitude to every being. And that's what I believed.
I 100% agreed with this video. You made everything about Stevens existence as clear as day. Its weird that people still believe Rose is alive when its clearly not even after CYM. Its like they were hoping she does come back and are in major denial. Thats not the point of the show. The show revolves around a boy not being able to meet his mom and his friends have to live with the grief that someone they know so much is gone forever. There are kids in real life who have family members that died before they were born and this is something to relate to. I never get the chance to meet my Grandpa since I was born so I know how Steven felt for never getting the chance to meet that one person in your family. This is a really good video to make it all clear.
Level: OP wow when you put it that way it makes so much sense. I’ve experienced similar issues with my grandparents, most of whom but one passed before I was born, where my aunts, uncles and parents would comment on how they would’ve been proud of me or something like that and it adds an odd existential pressure knowing that they aren’t actually here to witness my accomplishments but I need to continue to make them proud somehow.
The reason why people still think Rose, Pink Diamond, or whoever is still alive is because White Diamond had a point. He knew things about her that no one should if she were truly gone how could he recover such memories. It doesn’t make sense
@@shawnboahene5231 They're very significant memories, that were imprinted on her gem. Think of her gem as a tool, rather than her being. Like a computer, which can generate an entire personality. Then that personality was deleted. Only the most significant things--so significant, they practically became a part of the programming--survived. For this specific point, I compare the situation to a heart transplant: any heart problems Rose hypothetically had, pass to Steven. They don't affect his being himself, but they do call attention every now and then. So there is a difference between a *Gem* and *their gem.* edit: Wow, maybe I should watch the whole video, as she literally says the gems are (at least) like AI in the video.
bluELFsuma except computers don’t do that. Once something is deleted it cannot be recovered which further emphasizes my point there is no reason for Steven to retain these memories. Also if what you said was true it would create massive plot holes I mean her playing with her pearl is significant enough to remember but not the first day she became Rose or the plan to shatter herself? How come Steven couldn’t reclaim these as they would be much more significant?
@@shawnboahene5231 Why can I remember my mom painting one of her bubble paintings when I was in my high chair as a baby? I don't remember the day we moved to our new town, something that changed my personality and behavior, but I remember that seemingly worthless memory. I don't think they're significant as events, but as aspects of the character's personality. Pink/Rose was playful, and it was sort of expected of her, so it was a big part of her early life. Her formative years, which would influence her to make certain decisions. The computer comparison wasn't very good, and I was taking liberties to help the explanation. But I think the heart transplant one still works, to some degree. Dropping the comparisons, I just think that the gem itself is a tool that can generate a personality. Pink/Rose was wiped, and now it serves Steven (who retains his personality/self without the gem). I don't think the gems are a species that came to be on their own, as they aren't organic. They had to have been created by something else. But maybe they aren't "significant" events, even. Maybe they're entirely random, like real memories.
Rose being half of Steven always came across to me more as a genetic thing, going only as far as any other mother passing on her genes to the child. In Steven's case, this came through in the form of her powers, some aesthetic similarities and maybe some aspects of his personality, but it was mostly learned from the people and world around him. Maybe Rose hoped to keep some form of consciousness, not out of identity, but so that she could still see Steven growing up even if she wasn't physically there. Of course that wasn't the case, but I wouldn't blame Rose for thinking that way.
Mr. Pessimistic 27 How is it being rare make it not selfish? Also, I don’t think it’s that rare, a ton of music and movies push that “moral” and people follow it. Why love yourself when you can love others? That message is more positive, imo
Updates have part of the original and to me that means Steven is actually one of the many sides of Pink Diamond's personality given an independent existence of it's own. Steven's human half can die, but his gem half can't. So...it's very likely that Pink Diamond could actually return once Steven human self dies. If human Steven actually died in Battle Of Heart And Mind then Pink Steven would likely have transformed back into Pink Diamond due to his human half dying.
@@danielblair4413 if you watch the whole video it explains that Pink Diamond/Rose is basically dead. One of the creators confirmed that if Steven died, Pink/Rose would not come back. The question is, will Steven pass on his gem to create a new person?
@@emperor_elkcip4260 The gem itself is a living entity and that entity is Pink Diamond. You can't remove the Pink from the Pink Diamond otherwise it would no longer be a Pink Diamond.
Steven's song at the end hits so hard. It sums up so well how many of us feel about loved ones we distance or cut off because they aren't willing to understand us. And the song isn't sad. It's about how you love and respect yourself. But it still brings up so much pain.
Respecting myself means having a hard boundary. No more second chances. You do not get to “change your mind” after al this abuse. No. This just felt like another false hope, child me would have thought maybe eventually they’ll love me, if they change their mind. They don’t change their mind. They won’t.
I was so afraid that if Steven died, Rose/PD would come back. If it was the case, Steven would be just an experience. A way she found to live like a human for a blink of an eye (for a gem), and then come back, and say wow, that was cool.
Oddly I never really expected that, like I always figured if rose would come back it would be kinda like she had been bubbled, her personality put into a stasis of sorts or at best she experienced what Steven did but in a disconnected manner. In no way did she directly influence Steven That's why when steven started having flashbacks of Pink diamond that might have been rose reaching out to him with the truth in the only way she could. He was searching for answers and she was providing them. Then the Pink Steven scene would have been a nice closure for her character. She had the chance to return, but she had made her decision, and she made it clear to the diamonds by saying she was gone, there is only steven. Before finally getting to meet and embrace the child she gave up her life for and their pure love for each other being what made Steven whole again and saved him. Buuuut, the producers decided to toss the baby out with the bathwater and just unperson rose entirely from steven because it would get them brownie points with current political trends. But hey, its their show, maybe CN forced them to make it that way because pink steven being rose could have been interpreted to much AS pink diamond transitioning. Who knows, I dont personally agree with it, but it is their show. *shrug*
I thought that if pink/rose got out, I think she would be confused and then heart broken seeing her son like that. She would either go back into her gemstone form so that it would keep him alive or a risky move and have her cry over Steven, making him like what happened to lars. It would be very bold of them to pick the later. Would I be angry? Probably not, there's worse things to happen, like I dunno, white diamond basically getting redeemed in a few minutes because she blushed?
She's gone means *She's Gone* that's THAT, Steven makes his own legacy and may NEVER know his mother in any way like the Diamonds did, but he knows who is he loves himself, *and the Diamonds now have a chance to love HIM in honor of Pink just as the CG did in honor of Rose*
You don't know how to read between the lines do you. White Diamond said: You're Pink Diamond...you're just acting like a child. And what was Steven's response? Steven: I am a child. To me that means that Pink Diamond is still alive, but is acting like a child through Steven.
@@danielblair4413 By Steven saying he's a child, he's confirming that he is only steven. Pink is gone. Her power may still remain within steven but she is forever gone as a person. This is why the gem reformed as Steven and even said "she's gone"
@@TheDramaKweeen The gem itself is an immortal entity it can't die, but Steven can, so when you look at it like that then Pink Diamond can't be gone because the gem itself is Pink Diamond. There is no getting around the fact that Pink Diamond still exists and is just allowing Steven's personality to dominate until Steven dies. When Steven dies the personality of Pink Diamond will be free to dominate the gem once again and when the time comes and Steven dies she will be able to return. If the series goes to the point of Steven actually dying then such a thing can in fact be revealed and it won't matter when such a thing happens because the series will be over because Steven will be dead.
@@TheDramaKweeen Also did you catch what White Diamond said about Pink Diamond being a part of her? If Pink Diamond was truly gone then White Diamond would have already known about it because if a part of you was truly gone wouldn't you know about it? The very fact that White Diamond didn't know that Pink Diamond was gone proves that Pink Diamond isn't gone. For now Pink Diamond is Steven, but after Steven dies Pink Diamond can return.
Ruby: “Agh! I can’t see!!” -Jailbreak Fandom: OH MY GOD SHES BLIND!! But yeah, I totally understand what you meant. I’m just making a joke. Have a good one!
Steven was overanalizing EVERYTHING about Rose at that point, he even got to the conclusion that he had a sister and that goes beyond the fandom's overanalizing.
Pretty sure that took place in season 1 where the Gems were almost always literal for comedic reason, so a serious Episode that metaphorical would throw anyone off
The amount of symbolism in the episode was insane! I didn’t notice most of it because of how much I was in shock over what was going on throughout. The only things I really picked up on were Blue and Yellow calling Steven “Pink” and the infamous James Baxter scene.
Crow Rider I’m confused as to why people refer to it as the “Infamous” James Baxter scene. Is it a joke or did people not like it could someone explain it to me?
I was just about to comment about how Pink Steven materializing instead of Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz was because she was erased and replaced with Steven as the gem's default body. I'm currently grinning at the fact that you noticed that too! Though, much as I completely understand why she didn't show up, I'm still kind of sad that we'll never get a scene where she'll meet Steven and the others in the present. I know it wouldn't make sense, but it would've been nice to see.
The whole "she's gone" thing kinda hit close to home. A grandparent on my mother's side died a bit before I was born. And hearing the stories about the grandfather I could have met... i really wished he could have been around. To be honest, that little kid in me hoped that PD was alive so Steven could have met her but the older half had to accept that she was gone and there was nothing anyone could do. And the moment I accepted that, was the moment the little kid in me had to accept that I had no control over how I couldn't be there to see my grandfather (and vice versa). Also, the self love thing really STRUCK me close to home because I deal with a lot of self conscious issues and self loathe as a whole. And seeing that Steven was always himself (and he accepted that) kinda helped me come to terms that I'd always be me. I can't change it. So far... I've grown to love who I am. If I weren't me, I wouldn't have met the friends I've come to know and love. This episode also has a lot more stuff that hits close to home (the abusive parents) but those two struck me the most.
My grandpa died before I was born as well so I totally feel you. Everyone tells me he would've loved me and it's weird to think about being so closely related to someone you have never and will never know.
Feel you. Not necessarily about a family member having been dead before we could get a chance to know each other.. more so that I have not been "myself" for the longest part once puberty hit. I never built up a confident identity to work with but learned from an early age to run away inside of me, hide a lot of what could have become "myself" and instead tried to be the person that was better suited for people I felt I owed it to.. while at the same time growing strange feelings of being caged and a longing for "freedom" and being far away and deep within me, everything resisted. Which led to a whole bunch of issues within me, but nothing too obvious, I "got away" undetected... even by myself, after deceiving myself into believing whatever my brain came up with to cope with that seperation of my truest, rawest self from my reality. I couldn't love myself, couldn't believe in myself, couldn't take myself seriously, couldn't trust. I set for meritocracy bc I lost my basis for real confidence.. As you said, it hits home on many levels - especially because humans are complex and everything is intertwined. Only after realizing I was stuck in a victim mentality, only after understanding that I simply lost myself on the way and I actually am able to love myself unconditionally.. only since last December I am finally starting to live. As "my self" 😂 (3 years of psychotherapy helped with the cognitive, 2 expensive sessions of hypnotherapy helped me get around my brain to my heart lol).. Only now, I can't share that with my grandparents anymore. Now I am sad because now I feel like we never met before. Well but my fam is not the most communicative nor emotional one so I guess I just want to thank my grandma for being really cool, despite that haha (Thx grandma!).. uh.. seeing Steven and Steven hugging it out I totally teared up. Thanks to your comment, I reflected a bit more on the specifics of the resonance - thx! Also I actually just wanted to say.. Feel you. Whatever we've been through, in the end, as long as we realize who we are... Isn't it good being us? 😂 isn't it great and fabulous! As well as having SU to represent that this is not so uncommon as it individually feels and works out! Cheers to all of us
About the self love, there's a line from undertale when you look in the mirror where it says, "despite everything, it's still you" and that was something that really stuck for me. Because I have gone through so much and hated myself for so long, but it made me realize that even though I went through all of that I am still here and still me and its okay now.
@@SuperNovaKat64 interesting. When I came across that line in 2015 and several times later, I got what it was supposed to mean but I didn't "get" it. Thanks for sharing that insight. I'm happy to hear that even something as small as this can have such an impact :) we have great, sensitivs creators these days and I think they are much needed
Actually, the Diamonds calling Steven Pink Diamond and misprouning him was their first stage of the 5 stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Denial. The Diamonds kept calling Steven Pink thinking that it is still Pink Diamond and Yellow Diamond even made the excuse that "Pink Diamond" just had ameshia. That is denial. Anger. The Diamonds got angry for Steven and Connie fusing at the ball and still calling him Pink Diamond. Bargaining. Blue tried to Steven to apologize for fusing and them she would let them out. When Steven refused and asked how many time Blue made Pink cry, she entered the depressed staged and finally started accepted into calling him as Steve. Depression. Yellow had a breakdown as she and Blue were fighting. She was begging Blue to stop using her powers on her and Blue confirmed that she wasn't Acceptance. Once Yellow and Blue were done fighting, they both agreed to help Steven to get back to Earth. They both started calling him by his real name because they accepted the truth that Pink was gone. It took a little long for White to get to that part.
Even though pink is gone. You could hear her laughing with Steven and Pink Steven dancing around. Pink Steven isn't her but it is what Pink left behind to make that half. Her being isn't there anymore but her memory and laughter.
@@shadenox8164 While thats true, there is very clearly 2 laughs going on, you are right in that its Stevens laugh but its 2 laughs, so in a way pink is laughing too, just in Stevens voice
as a trans person i saw the similarities right away and i am happy others did too. the ending song feels even more special from a standpoint of singing it to an unaccepting or abusive family.
Frankly, I don't see any similarity, the gems don't have the concept of gender nor of offsprings, to the diamonds Pink is alive and refusing to integrate to their life's style, they are not in denial (unlike Steven who just sweeps everything under the rug) and misgendering him , is just that he didn't explain to them that Pink is dead and he is her child; see it as a relative with alzheimer that confuses you with someone else and you just play along 'cause is easier to take care of them that way.
I'm a trans guy who has unaccepting parents and this episode really hit spot on how it feels. Having to explain over and over again that you were never the person they think you are and being misgendered all the time. It's really interesting how they made that parallel. Also, I have two older siblings who don't understand the abuse I face from my parents. That's kind of a parallel to Blue and Yellow contributing to the abuse without knowing it.
i love the video, but i just wanted to say that there is ONE more character that accepted steven emediatly and didnt want him to be like his mother. Greg. even though he knew and loved rose for most of his life, he still always saw steven as steven not Rose. and he never expected him to be like her in any way. again, love the video. keep it up
God i don't think there's been an animation moment that just made me straight up smile like this episode did. The dramatic moment when steven was finally accepted for what was just made my heart feel at ease, God i love it
once i really thought about how pink was abused by the other diamonds on homeworld, it really changes how i see rose’s response to greg when he asked if she ever missed her home planet. i always thought she said “no, never” way too soon, almost resentful. damn now i see why
There's another little touch in the Steven split/reformation scene I loved that I don't know if anyone has commented about yet. When Steven regains consciousness, the screen splits into two simultaneous points of view, one for each Steven. Aside from looking neat and interesting, it's very important because one of the central laws of the show is that it *always* takes place from Steven's perspective. Because we are allowed to see through Pink Steven's eyes, it then follows that it *must* be Steven, not Rose or PD taking his form. BTW that was a very cool observation at 5:00 that I hadn't noticed before. The image of authority figures on all sides bearing down harshly on him with their weaponized gaze is pretty striking. It's a strong metaphor for the way he must have felt their equally overbearing (if less literal) gaze all his life, scrutinizing him and sizing him up constantly against the expectations they wanted him to conform to.
"She's gone!" means much more than Steven's "frustration". It's a serious message to the other diamonds that their 'baby sister' is DEAD, and that they blew their only chance to have her in their lives. Pink effectively committed suicide over her family's mistreatment of her. (Which IS a serious thing that happens in MANY young Trans lives when families refuse to recognize them.) I find the finality of that message to have far more weight than any issue of Steven's apparent frustration. The idea that they lost Pink to a murder already crippled their family bonds. Confronted with the fact that she permanently ended her own life over their mistreatment would be the most powerful motivator to making real changes.
Another way of thinking about Steven being half his mother as in a mother/child relationship. You are half your father and half your mother, and that’s what Steven is. Steven just inherited his mother’s gem. So Steven isn’t his mom, he’s the child of Pink/Rose and Greg.
8:50 "... and everyone else finally know it." Well... Steven, Connie, and White Diamond know it for sure. But that doesn't necessarily mean anyone else does(yet). "Wh.. what happened? Where am I?" This is what Pink Pearl said after White Diamond relinquished control of her. Her body language and the way she looked at Steven also suggests she had NO MEMORY of any of the events that took place while she was bleached. Which means Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and NONE of the Crystal Gems have any memory of what happened while they were bleached either. They could have been told in the time it took to repair the Voltron ship and their trip back to Earth, but its equally possible they WEREN'T told.
personally, I think Pink Pearl only said that bc she was under White Diamond's control for THOUSANDS of years. She has that broken eye, which suggests that something severe happened to her, which impacted her more than the bleaching the crystal gems took.
Memes aside from the "she's gone" moment, it actually gave me chills when I first watched it! It was so sudden and the fact that his other half remained stoic while letting out that shriek shook me to my core.
As a trans person, seeing Steven laugh and cry as he dances with Pink Steven makes me cry every time. I know he isn't really trans, but I can heavily relate; accepting something like that after you've repressed it for so long is such a relief and reminds me how much I've grown in my life. It's such a beautiful scene that gets me every single time I see it :')
Rose is part of Steven in the same way any family member or loved one who dies remains a part of the people they leave behind. It's somewhat literal, because Steven literally has Rose's gem, but I think that's just a visual cue the writers came up with to illustrate that idea
I think of steven as pinks reincarnation in way mainly because you don't get your parents or dead ones memories... I think of it like Pink is Steven but Stsven isn't Pink
...I honestly appreciated how he broke through White Diamond's defenses after all this happened. Some people may say its rushed, but I think its beautiful, a true moment of realization. White Diamond realizes she isn't as perfect as she thought she was, and also that being flawed or different is actually not only okay, but a good thing.
I thought the “she’s gone” scene felt not only like a “fuck you, I’m me” but there was also a sense of grief. The realisation that he never will meet his mother.
I can completely agree on the abusive family/toxic family thing, The first time I ever saw that scene I knew immidiately what It was referencing. Poor Pink. :( And also, the part where Steven's slides across the floor and says, "No..THIS isn't normal. How many times did you lock her in here?" Honestly that line hurt my heart physically. I'm so so glad to see abuse represented in a cartoon. Like, god. Also, just saying, you're art (if you drew the gem) is absolutely adorable btw. I love it. :3
The "Pink Steven is secretly Rose" theory is the only SU fan theory I think I genuinely hate. It misses the point of the entire series and the fact that it has traction is infuriating to me
All of what you said about the toxic parenting really hits home, reminding me of how my parents treat me right now regarding my choice of study and me moving out with my boyfriend. But their treatment of me, yelling and ignoring what I want just makes me want it more. Soon I won't need to put up with that or their nagging, I'll live on my own and be much happier and more free. Tmi, but just felt like sharing
Did anyone notice that after Pink Steven screamed at White Diamond saying “She’s GONE!”, Pink Steven explodes a crater in the floor that kinda resembles the shape of a gem? That’s what I think
I took the "she's gone" scene in a very personal way, as my mother passed away a few years ago and I want nothing more than to see her again, in which I know that Steven would really wish to meet his mother. Plenty of episodes express this, though the biggest factor to this I can think off the top of my head being when he screams at Lars "I didn't even get to know my mom!" With this, I took the Pink Steven formation as Steven's consciousness, wanting to reunite with his physical body to catch up to the present time. White Diamond in this scene is the longing one could feel towards wanting to see and hold and talk to that person again, though the consciousness will finally break through the longing to get it through their mind that the person they miss so much is gone and never comin back. Only after this breakthrough in a healthy setting can the consciousness, Pink Steven, catch up with the reality around them, Steven. This is made all the better in symbolism when you realise that Steven was actually dying when Pink Steven wasn't with him. Without a conscious unison of reality and acceptance, the physical reality becomes sick and drained of energy as the consciousness makes a slow path towards being back with reality. In short, that scene made me cry because I still can't get that far with coming to terms with death and I want it to be behind me already and then it was shoved in my face that it can and will eventually happen by my favorite cartoon.
Nah. Telling people they should always forgive is a terrible idea, for one thing its not something you can really choose to do, I mean you can say it but that doesn't mean you meant it. Secondly, if someone can't forgive someone not only is that in their right you are actually creating an expectation that they should which may make them feel terrible about the fact that they can't. Only the person wronged can decide whether they have forgiven someone or not and we shouldn't expect people to do so as a default. I'm reminded of Katara from The Last Airbender. Aang said the path of forgiveness was the right choice when Katara chose not to get vengeance on the man that murdered her mother. And she corrects him saying "But I didn't forgive him. I can never forgive him.". Then she turned around and forgave Zuko, this is a much better message its both okay to not forgive and to forgive. Zuko had also worked the entire episode to try and earn her forgiveness and prove he had changed.
I remember a quote from a Scottish family who had been in recurrent feuds with other families going back hundreds of years (Scottish family feuds got deadly in the old days). It being peacetime between the families, someone said along the lines of "We've forgiven each other... We forgive, but we don't forget." Not sure if it's the best advice, given that the feuds were recurrent in nature, but there's some part of that that feels like a smarter move than "Be a pushover."
@@samwallaceart288 agreed. I forgive the people who have done me wrong, if only to not dwell on it and sleep easier at night. But I haven't forgotten it
What I love is when both Steven fuse and if you listen closely a feminine laugh comes pink Steven. Showing that it's the first time pink diamond held her son. Pink could never hold her infant son when the time came for her to give up her physical form for Steven, now she has a chance to hold him and enjoys every minute of it.
Just one point where I disagree: You say that the fact that "she's GONE" means that Rose wasn't being literal in her videotaped message and that all this "I'll always be part of you" stuff was just meant to be comforting. While that's possible, I think it's still quite likely that she WAS being literal, but was simply mistaken. No one had ever done anything like this before. She didn't really know what would happen, and was likely being overly optimistic. And that, in turn, can be read metaphorically as a comment on how parents tend to be overly optimistic about the degree to which their personalities and values will survive in their children. That's an element of the larger story too. Rose definitely had grand hopes about how Steven would further her plans for the world, but she didn't even know him.
The scene of steven refusing with himself awakened new emotions in me i swear. I cry EVERYTIME I see it (including here) and I'm not even entirely sure why
when Pink Steven and Human Steven are spinning around you can hear Pink Diamond's laugh, reminding us of what she said in the video left to Steven as Rose- "Whenever you love yourself, that's ME, loving *being* you!". Steven's gemsona might still be himself but in my opinion he has the one thing of his mother that matters still in him- a mother's love.
Personally, as someone who has connected with the show on the grief of loss aspect I saw the part where pink steven screams as more his grief over never properly meeting his mother. Sometimes you need to scream it out to get people to move past denial. I've also seen multiple characters as the stages of grief. White is denial, steven is bargaining, yellow is anger, blue is depression, and Greg (and to a bit the crystal gem) are acceptance. This is when everyone who has not fully accepted pink/Rose's passing moves on from it, as much as you can since as I said, some part of you will always be hurt by that loss.
Thank you so much for talking about the Steven and pink Steven fusion scene and actually getting it right it's nice to think of it as Steven fusing with rose but some people don't understand that it's Steven fusing with himself and that his gem half was him and was always him never rose or pink
I started crying really bad when Pink Steven fully emerged because I knew Pink Diamond was gone forever... I still got teary eyed when you had said that too but gahhh that whole episode in general made me cry so much hahaha
Honestly what a powerful scene, it totally shook me when I first saw it. There's something so disturbingly uncanny about the way Pink Steven just yells "SHE'S GOOOONNNEEE!" with a blank face and extremely loud, distorted voice. It really goes to show that Pink Diamond is truly gone, Steven is his own person, and no matter how much the Diamonds or anyone else may wish otherwise, she's never coming back. The thing is, Gems don't experience death, at least not in the same way that humans do. Gems don't age and as far as we know they never get sick, either. They aren't organic beings, their bodies are literally just projections of light that can somehow feel and touch other stuff. Even if a Gem gets mortally wounded (poofed) they don't die, they just regenerate and come back. The only true "death" that Gems experience is shattering/corruption (and even that has been shown to be reversible). So you have to consider, the whole Gem race has no concept of death, no coping mechanisms to deal with such loss or any understanding of grief. Heck, prior to Rose's rebellion probably the only time Gems died was either if they were accidentally shattered while conquering worlds or shattered on purpose as punishment by the Diamonds. It's little wonder the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds have such negative and unhealthy reactions to Pink Diamond's death. Even humans can experience what is known as pathological/complicated grief, so how is a race of aliens with little to no experience with loss supposed to react? That doesn't excuse any of their toxic behaviors or the harmful things they've done in reaction to said grief, but it does kinda put it into perspective why they have such a hard time coping with or even accepting the fact that Pink Diamond is gone. One other thing I wanted to note that I think is interesting are the parallels between White Diamond and Joan Crawford from Mommie Dearest. Both are depicted as abusive, controlling mother figures obsessed with order and controlling everything including themselves. White Diamond's design kinda alludes to her too, with the black and white color scheme (like old-timey films) and the black lips and long, black fingernails. Even her cape reminds me a little of a similar one Joan Crawford once wore.
I mean, I’m sure Rose could also have meant the “part of you” thing as him having her traits as she IS his mother. So naturally he would have some traits from her just like human children gain traits from each of their parents.
Steven fusing with Pink Steven was a beautiful metaphor for transitioning and learning to love who you are. It's not just the deadnaming and misgendering that's a metaphor for being trans. The point is, just like trans women are women, Steven is Steven. White Diamond saying "If you won't be yourself, I'll be you for you" is supposed to reflect a parent forcing their trans child to be someone they aren't. Just like how taking out his gem and the beam didn't work, forcing your child to pretend to be a gender they aren't doesn't work. It will leave the child hurt and feeling like they're not themselves anymore, just like how Steven without his gem was hurt and able to see Pink Steven. The song at the end of the show is a lesson nearly all trans people today learn the hardest and most unjust way. "I don't need you to respect me. I respect me. I don't need you to love me. I love me. But I want you to know you could know me, if you change you mind."
I loved the horrifying scene where he coughs up roses hair because it’s showing us that peoples expectations and his existential crisis are killing him
That whole self love was started all the way from the tape Rose left since she knew she'd be gone forever and there'd be only Steven and she only ever wanted him to be him. She didn't expect him to carry what she had done, she just wanted him to love himself because that way she'd be loving him back.
The song "change your mind" was actually a song Rebecca sugar wrote in the garnet wedding debute, Rebecca was ready to get up and ditch the show if she couldnt get that wedding. They were so special to her that if they didnt get the love they deserved in the show she was ready to leave. She was hesitant to include it in the show because she saw it as something personal, but she added it in in the end. And I'm glad she did. It represents steven learning to love himself dispite what everybody expects him to be. It's a message anybody can look up to to learn to love themselves.
@@Steelstriker it wasnt. It was a key character moment for garnets character and the shows production. That wedding represented that garnet was ruby and sapphires choice, and not somebody elses, Rose's.
@@Steelstriker also I hope you know they would probably shut down the show if rebecca wasnt there, she created these characters, almost every plot point, even some of the animation. The show is the heart and soul of Rebecca's emotions.
I would just like to note that even if an interpretation of a work is not the one intended by the creator, it's equally valid so long as internally consistent. There is no "right" and "wrong" one. I think the fact there are so many good explanations and interpretations on these last few episodes shows how great they are.
Hobojo, the other one. Yeah, but it honestly annoys me when the "shes gone" crowd brow beats those with a different view. Like, some of us sent to see a different interpretation.
But it's _not_ internally consistent to say Pink is still there. While it's possible to interpret something differently, it's also possible to interpret it incorrectly. It's one thing to say Thanos is the protagonist of Infinity War, but it's another thing to say that Howard Stark is piloting the Iron Man suit even though it's been established that he's dead and gone. It's a plot element in the show that Rose/Pink is dead. That's not a metaphorical message that can be interpreted any which way. That's just a fact.
Internally consistent with the rules set by the interpretation. As long as you can produce a logical explanation for you version it's valid. And yes, there are many explanations for Pink being around, just as her not being. Part of why is that there is no way to prove, and no consensus on, what a "person" actually even is.
@@hobojo153alt4 The only way this would be more than just reaching is if by "person," you mean corpse. Because her corpse is around, sure. But it's a fact of the story that she's dead. You can't interpret a dead person to be alive. Also, if you say it's consistent with rules the viewer makes up, then it's not internally consistent. That term refers to the rules of the medium itself, not your own mind. If you extrapolate new rules that aren't within the story, then it's not internally consistent _with_ the story. Logically, I can say the Gem War never happened and that everyone was faking to screw with Steven. But at that point, I'm just making things up. You can't prove that's _not_ the case, but I'd have to b why that to be the case to even entertain that interpretation. Pink is dead. You can reason all you want that she's alive, but you have to create new rules that aren't present in the story. You have to extend the meaning of "person" when it comes to a gem. That meaning has been defined within the story. The most you can be reduced to is having your active consciousness split into shards. Pink doesn't have an active consciousness to say even that much.
Again, by "internally consistent" I meant with the interpretation. As long as you're not breaking your own rules. That "gem war was faked" one is completely valid if you can explain any and all ramifications that would have. Also by person I meant we don't know what a consciousness is, and there are many philosophies on it. As for the last part, the "rules of the story" don't matter because the story only exists in your mind. Again as long as you can present your interpretation in a way that makes sense, it's valid. For example: It's valid to say that Pink Diamond is gone because Pink is now Steven. By erasing her memories she effectively became a new person, not just a new persona. (Instead of Steven is all new and Pink is nothing now) It is *not* valid to say that Pink Steven is actually Greg's van. The lines are blurry, but the point is as long as you can make a case it's fine.
9:15 Well. She did have some influence over him and his accomplishments. Shes passed her magical Inheritance to him, her power, etc. Steven would never have been able to save Lars' life without it.
I meant more so she didn't have any influence over how he acted and solved certain situations. Yeah she passed her powers down to him, but it was also how he himself chose to do things that led to the outcome that they did. In the final confrontation against White Diamond, Steven's powers isn't what convinced White Diamond. It was being himself that did. Steven reacted to situations completely differently than from what Rose/Pink Diamond did. If Steven continued to act like Rose did in the events that happened in CYM, I guarantee you that the outcome would've been 10x's different.
This entire arc perfectly demonstrates what it's like to leave an abusive home, grow up, and come back to heal from their past. To me that's why it seems rushed because I've already been through this before. The dysfunction is so familiar that I'm demanding something to interrupt the story and save me from the tension.
Rose's part in Steven's creation raises really interesting questions about consciousness and death. Like, say all the neurons in your brain had their connections severed, and then those exact same neurons were rewired into completely new patterns to form a totally separate identity with none of your memories and feelings. Would those neurons carry on your participation in this consciousness, so to speak? Would it be a transformation or an erasure? Like, if it's all the same neurons, would that experience of consciousness effectively carry over, would it basically be you becoming another person, or would it be exactly the same as if your whole brain was burned to ash and another brain was placed in your former head - complete discontinuity? Since Rose's gem is still there, could the gem consciousness be considered continuous, even with the identity parts of it completely overwritten? If you'd say the gem itself went from being Rose to being Steven, you could say she *is* feeling being Steven.
I wish you'd have talked about the scene immediately after with White Diamond, but I agree wholeheartedly with your interpretation of the previous scenes.
God this show even from the very beginning, when it was unclear what the end would be like, they still held the same theme throughout the entire show. Loving yourself for who you are. Pearl's song "it's over isnt it?" Hints that rose is gone for real. The change your mind aspect of the season finale followed Steven's main goal since the very first episode. I absolutley love how the show follows this one aspect, it resembles how you can still be yourself dispite anything that happens, it also shows that even if you have old family, you still need to make new family thatll be there for who you are NOW.
I definitely believe his mom is gone but there still is the fact that he connects to her memories. Maybe they are memories and more of massive traumas that burned into the gem and since Steven connects to people and gems through emotion he taps into those emotions unintentially when in high stress situations. Or her memories are still in the gem something is still left of Steven's mom in the gem.
the whole insisting on calling steven "pink" and "she", and white trying to "fix" him resonated with me ALOT as a trans dude... so... steven univerae said trans rights
I also just noticed that when pink Steven reformed, it shows pink with the pink diamond gem, rose with the rose quartz gem, and finally as Steven but with no gem since it's covered by his shirt. The gem is there, but covered up. But I think it symbolises that he's a new entity too. They all have the same gem, but at the same time, they're not the same at all. A different identity
I always tear up at even the thought of this scene. It did come across very clearly to me at least that Steven is Steven is Steven. At times he has tried to play other roles, the whole show is about him experimenting with his identity. At times he tries to take rose’s place and that’s always framed as a toxic and bad thing. In ‘familiar’ he is considering taking pink diamond’s place for the good of the universe, and the moment he breaks out of that is when he and connie are locked up by blue. Steven knows it’s wrong because he’s been raised in a loving family, and he’s unwilling to accept the role pink was forced into playing in the diamond family. Later, white diamond tries to encourage his doubts by suggesting his visions of pink’s life could be memories, he questions himself for the final time. That’s why to me the scene where the two halves embrace each other is a real tear jerker. The look in both steven’s eyes is recognition and homecoming. As he says, he’s always been him. His self-acceptance is so joyful, it’s a loving embrace - and half of him is PINK for god’s sake. Those of us who are LGBT+ know how hard it was/would be to joyfully embrace the part of us that has been treated like an embarrassment by our families. So yeah to me toon ruin’s take is exactly right. A big pink hug to anyone reading, I hope we all reach this level of self acceptance and love ❤️ 😘
That She's Gone scene was so cathartic for many members in the audience, too. Along with Steven, I was sick and tired of the Diamonds refusing to accept that Steven is not Pink to the point where I genuinely wanted them to physically fight (which would've been so stupid, story-wise). Instead it was far smarter to have it shouted out *once* and no more than that.
Very well said. I can see why this episode touched a lot of people personally. For me it was just interesting to see Steven's character come full circle after the whole "I am my mom/I'm Pink Diamond" thing earlier this season. I'd also just like to point out that Steven and Pearl's fusion is still called "Rainbow Quartz" even though Steven's gem isn't a Rose Quartz. I guess that's just one of those things they're not gonna talk about. Steven is still a "Rose Quartz" regardless.
I like to think that if the diamonds missgerndering him was meant as trans symbolism, then the scene where Steven and pink steven fuse is simbolic of a trans person finally accepting and loving their body and the fact that it's an inseparable part of themselves.
great video. im not good with these details so it always helps me figure out these subtle themes/symbolism. i never caught on to the diamonds being types of abuse. so if blue is emotional abuse, yellow is physical abuse, and white is mental abuse then what is pink diamond?
For the scene where White Diamond used to combined strength of all the bleached gems, I'm surprised nobody noticed one key thing. The characters who appear on the screen match with the lines of dialogue played while they're on screen, all 3 diamonds are on when they say "Don't you raise your shield at me", symbolizing their lack of tolerance for Pink's rebellious behavior. When they say "I only want you to be yourself", Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst are shown. For the majority of the series, we've scene these 3 always believing that Rose was in Steven, and as a baby, they had trouble coping with Steven not being Rose, white pearl shows up during "If you can't do that", since we don't know her, there's not much symbolism, but it could be relating to Pink not being able to stop her rebellious behavior, and that ending up in Pink Pearl's bleaching, and finally "I'll do it for you" shows White Diamond, who practically tries to control every aspect of Pink's life.
I wouldn't say her data was flat-out "erased" as it was "scrambled". Obviously, Steven has been involved in the steady process of recovering scraps of that scrambled data since Jungle Moon. As the Crewniverse has said time and again, the scraps can never be made whole again, and some have been irreversibly absorbed and reconfigured by Steven during his upbringing (most notably, the "self-love" that she bestowed on him in her VHS that got the spotlight in a big way during the Steven/Pink Steven fusion), but the ones that stand out deep within his psyche still carry choice nuggets of what she used to be. And those key fragments of her former self went very far informing Steven as to what he generally needed to do to change Homeworld's status quo and get the Diamonds past their dysfunctional orthodoxy. Also, I would attribute the disjointed, "nightmarish" quality of these scraps to the data being too scrambled to be experienced coherently.
7:15 I think it might also be connected to the fact that he never got to know her, a particular frustration we learn of early on. everyone talked about who she was, different parts of her, and he never got to know her himself. as a result it is a dual frustration. people are seeing him as someone they knew, but he never did, and theyre seeing him as only small parts of her.
Something I want to point out becouse no one seems to notice it: when Stevens gem reforms we first see Pink, than Rose in white light, the gem clearly FISIBLE on there belly. But when the gem forms into Pink Steven, you can't see it anymore. That's (in my understanding) becouse the howl gem forms into Pink Steven instead of creating a body made out of light like the other gems do when they reforme.
Or it's because the gem is covered by the shirt, which is quite rare for gem placements. Usually a gem won't pick a form that obscures their gem. Only really Amethyst with her partially obscuring it and Steven by virtue of wearing a regular shirt. I would go have to rewatch Amethyst's reformations to see if it's been obscured partially in some of them to say if that was conclusively significant or not.
OriasRofocale that was a verry good point to bring up. I followed your advice and took a look at Amethysts reformations. As far as I can tell, her gem was completely visible every time even if her reformed appearance partly covers her gem. This lead me to stand even stronger behind my "theory"
After the scene where Pink Steven and Steven fuse, I realized that what Rose had said on her tape was somewhat literal in the sense of how humans create life. While you have half your mom's and half your dad's DNA, you yourself are an entirely different human being rather than being "half" of your parents. So in that sense, what Rose said was somewhat literal because she gave up her form, identity and memories to give Steven her gem. So while Rose is essentially dead, the act of her giving up her form was how she showed her love for her son rather than being a conscious (or unconscious) part of him.
The fact the criticism from some other channels of the Change your Mind ignores all the symbolism and overt subtext is why I am such huge defender of Change your Mind. Great Video.
